Beautiful Creatures

What to Rent

What to Rent: New DVDs This Week

Parker and Stand Up Guys are also available on DVD this week.

Parker and Stand Up Guys are also available on DVD this week.

Beautiful Creatures

Alice Englert stars as a witch in this romantic, fantastical movie that may fill the void left by the end of the Twilight franchise. Set in the South, the adaptation of the young-adult novel follows Lena (Englert) as she discovers her powers and falls for local boy Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich). Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson, and Viola Davis add some actor credibility to the cast, but it's Ehrenreich's charisma that makes the biggest impression. The DVD comes with a trailer for author Margaret Stohl's next book, plus deleted scenes.

45%


Side Effects

Steven Soderbergh directs Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum in a stylish thriller that puts antidepressants under the microscope. When Emily's (Mara) therapist (Jude Law) prescribes her a new drug to treat her anxiety, she comes out of the daze she's been in since her husband (Tatum) returned from prison. But soon enough, she begins to experience unexpected and dangerous side effects that involve her in a murder. Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and some fake drug-company commercials.

85%


The Last Stand

A former LAPD narcotics officer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) moves to a quiet border town following a botched operation. Hoping to find solace there, he instead gets caught up in capturing an escaped convict: a notorious drug kingpin who threatens the security of the town. Schwarzenegger proves he's still capable of firing off one-liners, but the humor is generic, as is the action. The DVD will come with several featurettes as well as deleted and extended scenes.

59%


Movies

Box Office: The Competition Is No Match For A Good Day to Die Hard

A Good Day to Die Hard celebrated its first weekend of release at the top of the box office with $25 million.

A Good Day to Die Hard celebrated its first weekend of release at the top of the box office with $25 million. Last week's No. 1, Identity Thief, slipped to the second spot, earning $23.4 million. A couple of the week's other new releases, Safe Haven and the animated film Escape From Planet Earth, followed up with $21.4 million and $16 million, respectively. Warm Bodies fell to fifth place with $9 million, and fellow fantasy romance Beautiful Creatures came in with just $7.5 million.

Video Movie Reviews

Watch, Pass, or Rent Video Movie Review: Beautiful Creatures

A new young adult supernatural book series comes to life with this week's release, Beautiful Creatures.

A new young adult supernatural book series comes to life with this week's release, Beautiful Creatures. This story follows Lena (Alice Englert), a witch who wreaks havoc in a small Southern town when she falls for the charming Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich). Is it a love story worth seeing in the theater? Check out our review to find out if it's a watch, pass, or a rent!

Movies

Movie Sneak Peek: Safe Haven, A Good Day to Die Hard, and Beautiful Creatures

If you're looking for the ideal movie to catch, this weekend brings the release of three very new and very different films.

If you're looking for the ideal movie to catch, this weekend brings the release of three very new and very different films. Bruce Willis's John McClane is back on the big screen in A Good Day to Die Hard, and he's bringing reinforcements. For the romantics at heart, the newest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, Safe Haven, pairs Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough as star-crossed lovers. If you're well into Twilight withdrawal, check out the latest supernatural teen fantasy, Beautiful Creatures. Browse through all the pictures and let us know which movie you'll be seeing.

Movies

Beautiful Creatures Stars on Valentine's Day Horror Stories

Beautiful Creatures — out today — is based on a YA book series and follows the relationship between a magical being and and a mortal.

Beautiful Creatures — out today — is based on a YA book series and follows the relationship between a magical being and and a mortal. But don't be too quick to disregard it as yet another paranormal romance. With its smart dialogue, literary themes, touching love story, and all-star cast (including Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum, Viola Davis, and Emma Thompson), we think it deserves to stand on its own.

The film's greatest strength may be its stars, newcomers Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich. The pair play star-crossed teen lovers in the Deep South, with Alice as a new girl in town who happens to be a witch (or "caster") and Alden as bookish popular guy Ethan Wate. We recently chatted with Alice and Alden about Valentine's Day horror stories, their favorite books, and awkward bonding with their costars over foot massages. Watch now to see what they said!

Movies

Beautiful Creatures: Works Its Guilty-Pleasure Magic

Now that the Twilight movies have wrapped, there's a little room in the world for a new supernatural teen romance, and Beautiful Creatures nicely fills that void.

Now that the Twilight movies have wrapped, there's a little room in the world for a new supernatural teen romance, and Beautiful Creatures nicely fills that void. Romantic, fantastical, and, yes, slightly cheesy, the movie depicts the love story between Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) and Lena (Alice Englert). She's a caster (in common parlance, a witch), he's a mere mortal, and they both live in the sleepy, suffocating Southern town of Gatlin, SC, where not much happens. That's why the largely religious community takes such an interest in Lena and her suspiciously strange family (which includes Uncle Macon, played by Jeremy Irons). It's also why the relationship that blossoms between Ethan and Lena is so exciting — both for their characters and for the audience.

Based on the young-adult book series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures doesn't bring anything too new to the already-inflated supernatural genre, but there is enough to set it apart. Aside from distancing itself from the usual vampire and werewolf fare by focusing on witches, the female character isn't the damsel in distress; she has to cast spells to keep her human love interest alive amid her family's powerful magic. There's an extra layer of intrigue since Lena is also hurtling toward her 16th birthday, when she'll be chosen to be a light or dark caster. If complicated young love is your thing, then you'll be spellbound by Beautiful Creatures. Keep reading to find out why.

Movie Trailers

Beautiful Creatures Trailer: Teen Romance Is Tough When You're a Witch

If you think transferring to a new school is hard, try doing it when tragic accidents and death seem to follow you everywhere you go.

If you think transferring to a new school is hard, try doing it when tragic accidents and death seem to follow you everywhere you go. That's the case for Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) in the big-screen adaptation of bestselling young adult novel Beautiful Creatures. The broody teen is on her fourth school, and with her 16th birthday looming, she must decide whether or not to "go dark" and use her inherited sorcery powers for evil. Of course, she must do this all while juggling a romance with an understanding peer (Alden Ehrenreich) and facing an entire town that has turned against her. Talk about pressure.

If you've read the book, you know that Lena is a "caster," but that's not exactly clear in the trailer; she comes across as a kind of generically magic person. Emmy Rossum looks great as Lena's cousin, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Viola Davis, but I'm holding my breath on whether or not this supernatural story will be the next Twilight saga. The movie will be released on Feb. 13 of next year, but you can watch the trailer when you read more.

Books

Witchy Book Series Beautiful Creatures Headed to the Movies

Book franchises being adapted for the movies is a pop culture hot topic right now, as we wait for the next installments in the Harry Potter and Twilight sagas to roll into theaters.

Book franchises being adapted for the movies is a pop culture hot topic right now, as we wait for the next installments in the Harry Potter and Twilight sagas to roll into theaters. So while it's no surprise that teen witch book series Beautiful Creatures has been optioned by Warner Bros. for a movie series, what is interesting is that the book is not yet a franchise.

In fact, the first book was just released today by Little, Brown (who published the Twilight books), with five books to come in the future. That won't slow down movie production though — the director and screenwriter, Richard LaGravanese, has already been hired.

Another thing that's intriguingly different from the supernatural series we're used to? This time, the unusual being is the female, and the ordinary human is the male who "hates living in a small in South Carolina where nothing happens — until he meets and becomes bewitched by Lena Duchanne, a 16-year old whose family has moved back to town," and must "confront an age old curse that has haunted her family for generations, as she comes to grips with her powers." No damsel in distress? Sign me up.