April 26, 2024
The Hot Blog
amit on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
Christian on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
YancySkancy on: Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Hcat on: Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: I Should Be Doing Box Office
Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
Review: Little Women (no spoilers) - The Hot Blog
Box Office First Look - The Hot Blog
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree - The Hot Blog
Quote Unquotesee all »
It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Neon’s picked up the two Cannes titles I am most jazzed to see. Please Please Please, Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire releases this calendar year. They seem to have a quick turnaround for their festival films so hopefully they get these out relatively soon.
Whatever happened to A Million Little Pieces that screened at a festival last year. I know it didn’t get a good reception but you would think there would be some kind of release…even if it is VOD…anyone know anything?
I second that Hcat. Very much looking forward to both of those and the sooner the better.
Wow I completely forgot about A Million Little Pieces. You’d think it would at least warrant a VOD release. Can’t find anything written about it since September.
No one seemed to have picked it up. I agree that it is weird, no matter what you would think ‘by the director of Fifty Shades of Grey’ would be sellable somewhere for something.
Didn’t take long, Parasite opens in limited on October 11. Not anywhere near me, but the sooner its released, the larger the possibility it can hit my tiny market. Or the sooner I can rent it.
I am checking out the roundtables on HR, they’re a little silly but I like them quite a bit, and it struck me that not only on the actress roundtables that not only were there no broadcast channels represented, but streaming outnumbered cable by a good portion as well. I know that’s the trend but weird to see it come to pass. It makes it reassuring just to see Late Night get a theatrical release.
So what at the over/under predictions for the weekend?
Does Godzilla land at one or does Alladin hold on? It feels like sixty million, anyone read any tracking?
Ma will top twenty right? Mayyyyybe 25? With Rocketman in the middle?
Whatever happens this looks like the most fun movie weekend of the summer.
I think “Ma” will “underperform” (or be perceived as underperforming). Admittedly, it’s on less screens than the usual Blumhouse product or the weekend’s other new wide releases.
Not expecting “Rocketman” to do even half of the $50-million opening for “B. Rhapsody” last November.
Which is a shame since it’s the better movie in every respect.
“King of the Monsters” will do…? Because the international numbers will remain strong whatever it does (or doesn’t do) domestically, it’s a newish franchise that’ll be sticking around awhile.
Variety has a box office story up today. Godzilla is aiming for $55 million. Rocketman and Ma around $20 million. Though they add that rival studios say Godzilla could be closer to $70 mil and Rocketman $30 mil. I agree fun weekend.
I’m probably gonna be in minority on this but OK so yea. Critics are mostly right. Godzilla KOTM is completely stupid and idiotic. ID4 level. Almost nothing makes sense. Kyle Chandler spends the running time looking concerned in the rain. Bradley Whitfield is “Countdown Guy.” Everytime there is a countdown he does it. But I also found it ID4 level entertaining. I had a fantastic time I laughed at the stupid stuff. The FX work on the monsters is wonderful. They have a lot of character and that makes up for moments of less than perfect CGI. Mothra is beautiful. It pretty much all works if you watch it with your 8 year old lizard brain. The final scene is a fucking hoot. Dougherty, who I’m a big fan of, knows where to put the camera. It’s fun. It delivered what it promised. I make no apologies!!
I know Poland hated it. Gutted it on Twitter. Hope he doesn’t read this and excommunicate me.
Bill that’s similar to many other reviews I’ve read, and I am totally fine with that. Can’t wait to see it on the biggest screen possible.
Brightburn is OK. Made for a solid matinee. There are some fun sequences and it’s very mean. I loved the ending. Has some nasty gore. I also appreciated the brisk running time. But the writing is pretty terrible and it feels like a missed opportunity. Could have been something really special and is instead so-so.
Bill, curious how you felt about the 2014 Godzilla and how the new one is in comparison? Is this a step down, more of the same? More Monsters = More Fun?
I have to admit when I watch the trailers the first place my mind goes to is ‘Jeez Anne, Stay outta the Sandbox!’
I really like the 2014 film even though it’s light on monsters and the characters aren’t that great. The money stuff is SO good it makes up for the rest, for me.
GKOM is maybe a lateral move? I can’t say it’s better. It’s much sillier than ‘14, but also more fun. And there is way, way more monster action. All 4 get their share of screen time. Gidora is very impressive and fun to watch.
Like I said, the adult in me knows it’s junk but the kid in me loved it. It’s pretty ambitious as far as plot/MacGuffin, world building. Those things don’t get enough attention but I can forgive that.
I also like 2014. Rewatched it a week or two ago with one of my kids. I’m also surprised when people say they passionately hate it. I think there’s enough onscreen mayhem and it’s fun. Not spectacular or anything, but a solid time filler.
The headline that said GKOM finally got kaiju right was all I needed to be onboard. Saying it’s like ID4 is even more reason to go. Dumb fun in the summer, weird right? Seeing it on Sunday.
Solid take on Brightburn, Stella. It could have been more but it at least delivered what it promised unlike Pet Semetary. I know it only cost $6-7 million but some of the writing could have been better and fresher.
But the sheet nastiness of is admirable to me. It’s freaking dark and I loved that commitment
It is vastly superior to Pet Semetary 2019. I also admired its meanness and the ending is great. While watching I veered back and forth between liking it and wishing it was better.
Alright, so does this map the way forward to Kong ? Is only having two monsters duke it out seem like a step back from this all hands on deck battle? Or does Kong have enough charisma it won’t matter.
I think it does. There’s a post credits scene that might point at what we’re gonna see.
My daughter and I decided that Kong and Godzilla will fight at first then team up against other monsters. They are both “heroes.” You can’t make one a bad guy all of a sudden or kill one of them. That just seems stupid. Also, this is one of the most idiotic paragraphs I’ve ever written and the silliest topic I’ve ever put deep thought into lol.
Biggest worry is Adam Wingard. I like him but he’s never been visually imaginative and he’s made nothing but small movies. I don’t understand his hiring. Dougherty has a great visual style. Trick or Treat and Krampus look fantastic even if you don’t like the movies. It’s a curious hire. Hope he shows he has the chops
Haven’t seen the new Godzilla, but it HAS to be better than 2014. Consider me one of those who “passionately hate” that one. I loathe the film, and I’ve tried more than one viewing to see if my initial revulsion wore off. It didn’t.
“Ma” is darn good.
Next to “Get On Up,” it’s my favorite Tate Taylor movie to date.
Spencer’s Ma is every bit the equal of Kathy Bates’ Number One Fan in “Misery.”
Like Bates, she’s scary, funny, but always recognizably human.
Loved that the high school characters look like actual teenagers: that may seem like a small point, but it really makes a huge difference.
Very disappointed in Netflix’s “Always Be My Maybe.”
Ali Wong is OK (she reminds me of an Asian-American Valerie Bertinelli), but I found Randall Park super grating.
It’s nice that Netflix is trying to be all things to all people. Too bad this feels more condescending than empowering.
“Crazy Rich Asians” it ain’t.
Want to see DuVernay’s Central Park Five mini, HBO’s “Deadwood” movie and DePalma’s “Domino” On Demand.
Seems like there’s never enough hours in the day to see everything worthy of my attention.
And I wish I had Hulu for the weekend if just to watch Clooney’s “Catch-22.” Has anyone seen it?
My weekend plans are to fit in STARFISH and ARIANNA. An existential doom double feature.
Seeing MA on Monday. Risking DARK PHOENIX Thursday although that could change.
Anyone pick up the Blue Velvet Criterion Edition? Is it worth upgrading from the Blu Ray?
I disagree a little Bill. I like Trick r’ Treat and Krampus a lot, but I still was surprised Dougherty got the Godzilla gig. Krampus has weak production values and looks really cheap. Always looks like a soundstage to me. Not crazy about it visually. But I’m glad he pulled off Godzilla.
I used to love Wingard. You’re Next and The Guest are great. But Blair Witch and Death Note are not good. Wish he was returning to his roots and doing something small. Pretty skeptical of him of Kong v Godzilla but we’ll see.
Is Netflix actively attempting to be new haven for rom coms or do they just produce a shit ton of content and rom coms happen to be some of them?
Deadwood The Movie is fantastic. Sure it’s a little rough around the edges and while watching there were many times I wished it was a few episodes instead of a single movie. Feels a little rushed and forced at times. But the dialogue is as wonderful as ever and it’s really tense at times. Acting is as good as ever. And I choked up a few times. Just a joy to spend more time with those characters and that town.
Yeah there’s so much to see this weekend. Ma. Godzilla. When They See Us. Domino. Luther. NOS4A2. Still haven’t started Chernobyl. I’m curious about Catch-22 but there’s so much other stuff I want to see more.
Netflix has made a concentrated push at Romcoms. Since the Christmas Prince or whatever the hell it was called and then last summer they had success with kissing all the boys or whatever. If they are truly going to poach the cable audience they need to grab the hallmark audience as well (though I would think Netflix would have a much superior product).
It makes a bit of sense, these are made for a fraction of what they spent on Bright and their marketing team gets a ton of press when they drop a new one. Not like the studios give em competition. As we saw again this week a moderately priced film that performs moderately is called a bomb.
Title Friday
5/31
(Estimates)
1 GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
Warner Bros.
4,108 $19,605,000
— / $4,772
$19,605,000 / 1
2 ALADDIN (2019)
Buena Vista
4,476 $11,907,000
+85.5% / $2,660
$154,604,174 / 8
3 ROCKETMAN
Paramount
3,610 $9,200,000
— / $2,548
$9,200,000 / 1
4 MA
Universal
2,808 $7,240,000
— / $2,578
$7,240,000 / 1
5 JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM
Lionsgate/Summit
3,604 $3,000,000
+74.9% / $832
$117,652,812 / 15
6 AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Buena Vista
3,105 $2,065,000
+81.6% / $665
$809,753,784 / 36
Loved the Deadwood movie. Managed to feel like a proper send-off even though it was a bit under two hours. Amazingly, it even technically leaves the door open for a follow-up, even if I doubt one is coming. Is this eligible for this year’s Emmys or is it past the deadline? McShane, Malcomson, McRaney and Weigert would seem to be the most likely nominees among the cast.
Robin Weigert is one of those character actors who always does a phenomenal job but eludes attention. I know she was nominated for an Emmy before for this role, and I’m hoping she gets her due this time.
Your Godzilla review is spot on Bill and pretty much how I feel about it. Just two hours of big dumb summer fun. Entertaining monster mayhem occasionally interrupted by stupid humans. I enjoyed myself. Kid loved it. Asked who my favorite monster was and all sorts of monster-related questions.
Also a recommendation Bill. Third season of Slasher on Netflix. Not high art but insanely, comically gory and mean and a whole lot of fun. A must for slasher fans.
Totally agree with the accolades singled out for Deadwood cast but I’d add Olyphant. He’s better than ever. Scene with Samuel where he gets emotional is incredibly powerful and moving. He holds his own with the rest.
I loved S1of Slasher. I’ve heard S2 isn’t great so maybe I’ll jump into 3. Thanks Stella
Rocketman was kind of amazing. I’m not a huge Elton fan, I like all the standards same as most. Had no idea (or interest) in his life story, so it as a favor to a friend who is a big Elton fan. This was brilliantly constructed. At times it’s shattering. Im sure there will be people shitting on the typical biopic elements, but the musical sequences are fantastic. Wasn’t a big Egerton fan prior to this movie but he sold me. He’s a star.
Just did not see it coming. Despite the reviews.
Watched the new DePalma On Demand.
I kept thinking, “That sounds like Pino Donaggio!”
Weirdly, it was.
I didn’t even know Donaggio was still composing scores. Or, for that matter, was still alive.
The script is pretty bad and the performances aren’t great, but DePalma directs the s**t out of it.
It’s probably his most virtuosic film (on a stylistic level) since “Femme Fatale.”
Nicely shot by Almodovar’s regular d.p., too.
Wish somebody would give DePalma an “A” budget for a studio film. But that ship probably sailed around the time of “Mission to Mars.”
The Godzilla returns kinda bum me out but what can you do? Maybe 2014 film turned too many people off. Shame because they’re missing a fun time.
I would think Kong will boost the box office of the next film. So the franchise isn’t dead yet. But it’s in trouble
May 31-June 2, 2019
Weekend
1 N Godzilla: King of the Monsters WB $49,025,000 – 4,108 – $11,934 $49,025,000 $170 1
2 1 Aladdin (2019) BV $42,335,000 -53.7% 4,476 – $9,458 $185,032,174 $183 2
3 N Rocketman Par. $25,000,000 – 3,610 – $6,925 $25,000,000 $40 1
4 N Ma (2019) Uni. $18,260,000 – 2,808 – $6,503 $18,260,000 $5 1
5 2 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum LG/S $11,100,000 -54.9% 3,604 -246 $3,080 $125,752,812 – 3
6 3 Avengers: Endgame BV $7,813,000 -54.6% 3,105 -705 $2,516 $815,501,784 $356 6
Yeah it is a bummer Bill. I couldn’t believe how empty theater was when I saw it. Heavy rain outside on a Saturday afternoon and maybe 20 people present. And that was on the ultra screen which is a huge auditorium so the almost empty theater looked strange. Thought the trailers were pretty good. And they’ve been ubiquitous for many months. Not a great opening.
I know last week was a holiday weekend, but several of the percentage drops this weekend are eye-poppingly awful: BRIGHTBURN, A DOG’S JOURNEY, LONG SHOT and POMS all over 70%, with at least a couple others not far behind. Yikes!
The hold for Aladdin however was pretty good. Audiences are ignoring the initial negative responses to the trailer, and obviously have no problem with Will Smith Smurf. It’s the family film of choice and making all the coin it can make until Pets 2 next weekend.
It will be very interesting to see what Pets 2 will deliver. With the disappointments of toon sequels lately, namely LEGO, and the so so result of How to Train your Dragon, toon sequels aren’t sure fire hits. It could benefit however in being the first toon of note since Dragon.
The local multiplex playing “Godzilla” has it on multiple screens, but the first regularly-priced show isn’t until 5 P.M.
There are more than a dozen premium-priced showings per day, but only three that aren’t in 3-D or XD.
Which really sucks, and which also seems patently unfair.
The last spoken line of DOMINO coincides nicely with De Palma’s credit.
I’ve already forgotten it, Ray.
It was my fourth movie of a five movie day.
Refresh my memory.
Not too many people are talking on here about Rocket Man…what can I say…deep down I know it is kind of a terrible film..but it is so enjoyable…Taron Egerton gives such an amazing performance and the musical numbers are so entertaining and jaw-droppingly good that I will probably see it again this week. This film provides the dazzle which allows it to get away with moments like SPOILER: Elton is healed by embracing his inner child in therapy where all of the major players from his life are brought in and circle him.
MovieMan, agree about Always Be My Maybe…it played like someone who somehow survived the 1990s and has returned with the lost recipe for the rom-com and tries to apply it to 2019….both the leads are grating and best/worst about it SPOILER AGAIN?) is that Keanu Reeves gives a career-defining performance where he plays a very wooden….yes, Keanu Reevees. He seems to have learned his dialogue phonetically, without really understanding what he’s saying.
Am I the only one who thought that there are already enough damn Godzilla movies and there is no reason for another one? I had zero interest in seeing it and with the meh response, I’m not alone.
I can’t imagine ever thinking that there are too many $200 million movies featuring giant monsters fighting but hey to each their own.
Considering that Godzilla as a character is pretty fucking limited…you are basically just making the same movie over and over again..and, who needs that? Really?
It could be said that the same arguments can be made about Bond and Planet of the Apes. And while Godzilla is not my bag those two certainly are, So dismissing a long living franchises attempt at reinvention outright seems shortsighted, not liking an individual movie or trend is certainly reasonable.
Bill was right. Godzilla was a good deal more ridiculous and brain dead than I could have even imagined, but those monster fights were epicly great. I got my money’s worth. The tone could have been a tad bit more fun, but overall they nailed putting big monsters into the big city.
I’d watch more of it for the same reason I want to watch more space ships flying around in new Star Wars movies or more cars flying around in new Fast and Furious movies or more superheroes flying around in new Avengers movies. I mean, the familiarity of the audience is the whole point of making more, right?
And in Always Be My Maybe, Keanu is a delight as always. Glamour, if you see him in interviews on talk shows, he pretty much always sounds like that. If he’s playing himself, I don’t know what else you’d expect.
since the humans are consistently the most uninteresting and useless element of the epic monster boffo, why not do it from the behemoth’s pov instead; the monsters are the main characters with arcs and all, lots of dramatic musical score-inducing emotion instead of the usual dumb human dialog — still have people but just running around like incomprehensible little ants, and any supporting human characters are puny with super high-pitched subtitled voices that our behemoth tries to understand. what are these infestations of miniscule critters with such humongous buildings
Good idea leah. Geez lighten up a little Glamourboy. Don’t be such a Grumpy Gus.
I love leahnz ‘s idea!! You wouldn’t even need subtitles if it’s well done. Especially considering (SPOILER) a monster death is far more affecting than any of the human deaths(END SPOILERS)
“This film provides the dazzle which allows it to get away with moments like SPOILER: Elton is healed by embracing his inner child in therapy where all of the major players from his life are brought in and circle him.“
Gee, I wonder what fueled all those epic musical set pieces, and what made them epic.
Godzilla: DO THEY SHOW THE MONSTER FIGHTS OR IS IT 2014 AGAIN)? This is the only question I need answered in order to see this giant piece of shit.
The funny thing with the Godzilla cast is that if they were in any other film, it would be the greatest cast ever. The level of talent is incredible. But here they’re just complicit in being pawns for whatever dumb plot we need to have before more monster scenes. They’re wasted but it’s still nice to see them having jobs.
I enjoyed Brightburn. Wish it could trade box office numbers with Pet Cemetery as that was completely a waste of 90 minutes. With the sheer rejection of Brightburn and Booksmart, all those complaints about too many Marvel/Star Wars/Sequels/Reboots/Reimaginings should all cease. The audience is getting what it deserves.
Stella’s Boy: Yeah, I should’ve included Olyphant as a potential Emmy nominee.
I, too, like leah’s kaiju idea. The sound design could be like a Tati film, where you don’t really register much of the dialogue at all. It would be all about the visuals, only it would have much larger-scale destruction than Tati. 🙂
one behemoth could be rampaging and look down upon all the tiny humans it’s squashing and have a buddhist-style epiphany so that it has to tippy-toe around, trying not to step on the fleeing people, then there’s the cloverfield monster in there just eating people for snacks and the newly-buddhist behemoth has to a put aside its newfound principles of non-harm to stop cloverfield’s carnage, not today satan.
(will the gojira/kong monster universe one day do a mash up with the cloverfield universe to form the ultimate behemoth universe)
I’d love it if Evangelion somehow got involved. The mythology of all the monsters reallye evoked Eva’s world to me a little. Don’t know if there are any anime fans, but to me that’s a holy grail of live action adaptations, and one that might potentially improve on a series that was considered badly ended.
First episode of When They See Us is a hard watch, as it should be, but I could never binge that show. What a gut punch. Go back and forth between anger and sadness for an hour. But it’s constructed really well. Really effective in how it conveys what those long interrogations were like. Able to easily follow what’s going on and who’s being questioned. Very good and very powerful but when that hour’s up you need a break.
MA was meh. Octavia Spencer is a great villain but the rest was ordinary. It didn’t overstay it’s welcome though. 90 minutes and out. That’s refreshing. I appreciate movies that get their shit done quickly. It’s why I like Lights Out. And the Ramones. Johnny once said their songs were short because “people have things to do.” Word.
Agree re: Ma. Spencer is fantastic, but the movie is only so-so. It touches upon some interesting themes but fails to do anything with them. And it isn’t ever suspenseful or scary. Also seems like it can’t decide who it wants to root for. I was never bored, but that’s only because of Spencer. Oh and every time a movie clocks in at under two hours these days it feels like a gift.
And there seem to be some plot holes in MA.
SPOILERS
A couple murders are committed that get not attention. No reference. No police presence. Maybe it implies the last half hour takes place over a short period of time but none of it is clear.
END SPOILERS
When does the Dark Phoenix embargo lift? I’m eager to read what folks think. I have mild hope. Will it be dashed?
MA SPOILERS
Yeah that is rather bizarre Bill. She runs over and kills Mercedes in broad daylight. The body is left in the middle of the street. Yet apparently no one finds it or wonders where she is. Same with the veterinarian (and wow what a waste of Allison Janney).
END SPOILERS
Watched the first episode of The Weekly on Hulu. Really liked it. Only 25 minutes so not much time investment required. But have to wonder if there’s much of an audience for this. Is it also airing on FX or do new episodes go straight to Hulu? In this era of seemingly endless new content I have no idea how this show works.
Saw someone say that Dark Phoenix embargo ends tonight. He said he saw the best superhero movie of the year and was frustrated because he’s under an embargo which ends soon and hates it when he likes a movie and has to wait to share that he likes it. Didn’t name it but has to be Dark Phoenix.
Godzilla was Perfectly Acceptable. I prefer the “fat dog” Godzilla from 2014, but this was all kinda cool regardless. No idea: I like the Titans mythology. Shrug.
Godzilla opening numbers dipped down from estimates. Looks like WB might need to revitalize things. A Mothra origin story, perhaps?
Wouldn’t it be something if Dark Phoenix turned out OK? I hope so.
“Wouldn’t it be something if Dark Phoenix turned out OK?”
Well. Goodbye to all that.
How happy is Marvel/Disney when this thing dies quickly?
Yea. Forget I said that. I was drunk or something
Digging the “Ad Astra” trailer this A.M.:
https://youtu.be/SYLQdxec5lM
Digging the new Wonder Woman poster too.
https://twitter.com/PattyJenks/status/1136351641563738112
The problem with Dark Phoenix is that why do I care about a throwaway character from the last movie? I love the actors, but it just seems like they’re wasted. I’ll probably see it because I have AMC A-list, but I’m not surprised by the negative reception.
Whoa… the new WW poster.
Did they change the name of the film from “Wonder Woman 1984” to “Wonder Woman Studio 54”?
Nausea-inducing WW poster. I’d rather see a Lynn Ramsey version of the heroine, who would wield a ball-peen hammer rather than the golden lariat.
I’m gonna get raked over the coals for this but I rather enjoyed Dark Phoenix. My expectations were low, and I am admittedly an easy mark for X-Men shit. But after all the delays and reshoots I think they salvaged a fun little movie. There’s nothing particularly new but it’s nimble and barrels along. It features some great moments for Nightcrawler and Beast. Orroro gets treated as the powerful mutant she is. Storm has always been short-changed. She’s pretty bad-ass. The plot is vague, Jessica Chastain phones in a dull performance. The dude playing Cyclops barely registers. Dazzler IS IN IT….for about 30 seconds. And it’s not a faithful adaptation though it tries to work in some themes between the explosions. It’s better than Apocalypse. Fox is done with them now and I hope an MCU reboot comes in a few years. Lighten up the tone. It should be fun being an X-Man. Mix up the roster. ICEMAN!! COLOSSUS!! KITTY PRYDE!!Whatever. Fuck you. I’m pleasantly surprised. I may be damning it with faint praise, and I don’t have the critical eye others do so take this with a grain of salt.
I may wake up tomorrow and regret this. Leahnz will gut me in her charming and entertaining manner. But I’m honest.
“It’s better than Apocalypse.”
Sideshow Bill – MovieCityNews
That’s gonna be in the next TV spot.
LOL. I’d be honored.
I’d pay $5 to see Dark Phoenix on a Tuesday or Thursday. Maybe next week. Was looking at box office projections for the weekend and was reminded that three years ago The Secret Life of Pets opened with almost $105 million. The kids want to see part 2 so might have to suffer through it this weekend. Not exactly a thrilling weekend in terms of new releases.
I used to call that “taking one for the team,” Stella. I sat through so much junk for my kids. Aliens In The Attic. Beverly Hills chihuahua. Underdog. Alvin and the Chipmunks. Everybody’s Hero. Luckily I’d like occasionally get an Iron Giant but mostly it was dire. My kids are grown now and I wish they weren’t but I’m glad I don’t have to watch lazy kid crap. I much prefer lazy adult crap. Like Dark Phoenix.
I’m right there now. A lot of kids movies are bad, but I’m always surprised when one of them gets me. Like, I enjoyed Storks. A surprisingly amiable movie about parenting. Or A Dog’s Way Home (my kid loves the Dog’s Purpose ones). It was terrible but had some nice moments in the VA that actually got to me. There are way worse things to do with a kid than take them to even bad movies (has anyone been to a Chuck E. Cheese lately?).
Agree Mike. Even the bad movies sowed the seeds of movie love in my kids. I’m glad for that.
I third that sentiment. Even the bad ones have their moments and more often than not a kids movie is short. Plus the kids always like whatever we’re seeing and experiencing that with them is fun. And now that they are getting older I can take them to stuff I want to see, too, and that’s awesome. What’s much worse than a bad kids movie in the theater is when we’re at home and they want to watch The Grinch in June and we just watched it in May.
Finished When They See Us. Tough watch but so glad I saw it. It’s so powerful and moving. Cast is incredible. Some episodes are stronger than others but it’s always compelling and the whole is excellent. Ava DuVernay did a remarkable job. It’s worth making time for.
Wow weak projected opening weekend for Pets 2 ($47 million) and Dark Phoenix ($36 million). Didn’t expect Pets 2 to come near the $100 million-plus opening of part 1 but didn’t think it would make less than half that. Dark Phoenix not exactly a surprise but yikes that’s not good.
Pets 2 is missing that Louis CK starpower…
Not everyone seems to like the new WW poster.
But it’s like nothing I’ve seen in film advertising, which leads me to think the film will deliver something bonkers as well. At this point, that kind of risk-taking excites me.
Friday
6/7
(Estimates)
1 THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2
Universal
4,561 $16,500,000
— / $3,618
$17,425,000 / 1
2 DARK PHOENIX
Fox
3,721 $14,000,000
— / $3,762
$14,000,000 / 1
3 ALADDIN (2019)
Buena Vista
3,805 $7,034,000
+48.1% / $1,849
$214,919,926 / 15
4 GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
Warner Bros.
4,108 $4,200,000
+58.6% / $1,022
$67,257,097 / 8
5 ROCKETMAN
Paramount
3,610 $3,760,000
+71.8% / $1,042
$40,258,756 / 8
OMG I just remembered something RE: Disney remaking their animated films. When that atrocious Tarzan movie came out a few years back one of my teen daughters said with a straight face “I can’t believe they made a live action film of Disney’s Tarzan character.” I about died. I educated her but she had a 4.0 at NIU so I remind every now and then
I also like the WW poster. Can’t wait for that movie.
“Dark Phoenix not exactly a surprise but yikes that’s not good.”
The movie was drenched in flopsweat before we all knew it was the bookend to a now dead franchise.
Yeah, I didn’t realize this was supposed to be the last X-Men film. I had avoided a lot of the press about it but I’m still surprised that didn’t seep in. I have a hard time believing more won’t be coming within the next 5-7 years but judging by the quality of Dark Phoenix, it probably would be a good idea for it go hibernate for a decade or two.
*** Dark Phoenix Spoilers!! ***
I’m not sure how long it was before I thought how apropos to be set in 1992 cuz all I could think of was “Wide Right!” I wondered if I looked as confused sitting there as Bowden running onto the field as time expired, “Wait, huh, what? How’d he miss that?” But the farther I got into I thought this is more than Kinberg screwing the pooch but that colossal failure was a group effort. Plenty of blame from development to acting to spread around.
Surprisingly stiff and clunky. I was wondering was it ego, why are all the actors talking like it’s a cross between Saturday 1960s matinee exposition and the old animatronic Hall of Presidents? Real funny thing, I started thinking, “I don’t know if J-Law should really be in this series” and like two scenes later, they killed her. LMAO! She was so good in X-Men First Class, I don’t know what happened here??
Did anybody notice this: Prof X is preaching inclusion, inclusion people and mutants need to be accepting of each other even in their difference, but then sees an alien and is like “What the hell is that thing?! Kill it!”
I was more forgiving of X-III Last Stand because of the time constraints they had and how it all fell out the way it did. I thought it wasn’t a bad action movie, just not a good X-Men movie, but here there doesn’t seem to be any excuse for not knowing the characters. Sure, they can draw ’em up anyway they want, not have to bound by tradition but I didn’t think Kinberg proved what he was trying to say about the characters. But, again, why did Fox sign off on this?? As much as I railed against the acquisition as the death of creativity, they Willie Hortoned me by throwing out generic “you, woman, cannot control your emotions” and “we will conquer this primitive species” cliches.
I didn’t understand what had to be done to kill an alien. Not sure why Jessica Chastain needed the special power if she was already indestructible. If it was really to be the last, it didn’t seem like they tried to tie anything up.
*** END SPOILERS ****
I’ll be glad when MiB comes out. Not that it looks at all appealing, I’m just getting tired of seeing that trailer every time I turn around.
This puts Universal at Four for four for sequels this year underperforming their predecessor (five if you count dreamworld Dragon) and three of them look to come in at fifty percent under. Luckily they were all budgeted so they will still be profitable, but maybe they should try to beef up the originals a bit?
If they can’t keep the mojo up for Despicible and Pets how confident Will they be about Sing 2 come Monday morning?
June 7-9, 2019
Weekend
1 N The Secret Life of Pets 2 Uni. $47,110,000 – 4,561 – $10,329 $48,035,000 $80 1
2 N Dark Phoenix Fox $33,000,000 – 3,721 – $8,869 $33,000,000 – 1
3 2 Aladdin (2019) BV $24,500,000 -42.8% 3,805 -671 $6,439 $232,385,926 $183 3
4 1 Godzilla: King of the Monsters WB $15,540,000 -67.5% 4,108 – $3,783 $78,597,097 $170 2
5 3 Rocketman Par. $14,000,000 -45.6% 3,610 – $3,878 $50,498,756 $40 2
6 4 Ma (2019) Uni. $7,820,000 -56.8% 2,816 +8 $2,777 $32,768,075 $5 2
7 5 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum LG/S $7,400,000 -33.2% 2,776 -828 $2,666 $138,662,998 – 4
8 6 Avengers: Endgame BV $4,800,000 -40.3% 2,121 -984 $2,263 $824,365,940 $356 7
So….that’s a thumbs down, Triple Option? 😉
I stand by my Thursday post but I’ll admit I haven’t thought about it since then. I’m too easy on some movies. I’ll cop to that.
As an X-Men fan I’d like to see Feige and the MCU reboot it in about 5 years. A lot of things went wrong in the Fox series (Tom Rothman micromanaging it did a lot of damage) but one thing the MCU will certainly fix is tone. It should be fun being an X-Man. Well, not for all of them. But being Beast would be a hoot.
Ok. Enough about that. And yes. The MIB trailer is on everything. So is Stuber. I won’t see either
Credit where credit is due X-Men was the first blockbuster of the Marvel era, and X2 was near summer movie perfection, they were hit and miss after that but they at least tried to make smarter summer films. I would hate to see them go all Ant-man. The angst is baked into the storyline, and if I am presented with a dozen comic films a year I will go crazy if they all have the same ‘fun’ tone. I remember a quote from EW decades ago that said the problem was not that Hollywood made bad movies but they just keep making the same movie.
Does the flop of DP hurt Sophie Tucker’s film career?
Unlike Brandon Routh after Superman or Taylor Kitsch after John Carter, I don’t think Turner is going to take this on the chin. Which, both of those guys continued to work, just not to the scale one would’ve expected. Kitsch also had Battleship in the can before John Carter was DOA. So it could’ve been the combo that did him in, not just a single bomb. One thing working against them, while neither of those films got stellar reviews, there wasn’t necessarily one aspect that was universally hated, so I think by default the blame sorta feel on them.
I don’t think Sophie’s name has come up too much in all the Dark Phoenix hate that’s getting spewed about, which has had its pointed foes. Also, there still a few layers of, “Well, let’s look at who’s NOT there in Wolverine or Halle Barry or Sir Ian or Patrick Steward or Bryan Singer,” as well as “Well, J-Law isn’t the pull outside of Hunger Games we thought she was,” as well as “Fox was too busy concentrating on the merger to see this baby all the way out,” before Hollywood gets to “Sophie Turner’s poison. Get Chloe Moretz on the line!”
“Does the flop of DP hurt Sophie Tucker’s film career?”
Sophie Tucker died in 1966. 🙂
Are any of the Thrones alums likely to have film careers? Its of course very early to tell anything and having a rabid fanbase helps, but there is a different type of IT for television and movies (for instance in another thread someone mentioned Cranston eventually winning an Oscar, on television he is a force of nature but I haven’t seen that translate to film yet, though I have likely missed the prime examples). Not sure if Turner can command the big screen as well as she did the little.
Hcat, Cranston already has one Oscar nom under his belt for Trumbo. There is just so much goodwill for him that transcends the medium of television.
So many GOT actors deserve good film careers. I really liked Dinklage from The Station Agent, and someone needs to come up with another vehicle for him.
Dinklage will be fine. He had a solid career before GOT. The others will survive even if the end up doing DTV stuff. “Kit Harrington in BATTLESHIP 2.”
Also, I LOVED Rocketman. Musicals are not my thing but this beautifully put together and very affecting in the way BR was not. Mr. Robot’s Oscar needs to be revoked and give to Taron Egerton. I also appreciated so much that they did not whitewash Elton’s sexuality in anyway whatsoever. No vague allusions or confused storytelling. It was wonderful.
Also, again, Ray Pride we need another BYOB. Do us a solid, brother.
Second the Dinklage/Station Agent love. He’s so good in that. Good little flick, too.
Dark Phoenix, is, uh, a movie. I think. I didn’t hate it. Cast is strong and there are some interesting ideas here and there, but it’s not very good. The aliens and visual effects are so goofy and don’t work at all. I also can’t believe how cheap it looks considering what it cost (I feel that way about a lot of Marvel movies). Atlanta looks nothing like NYC. And it doesn’t seem like anyone spent more than a few days on set. Only spent $5 and got about $3.50 worth of entertainment.