Weekend Box Office Report (June 8th - June 10th)

Weekend Box Office Report (June 8th - June 10th)

Disclaimer: Every Monday, I will post the top five movies that grossed the most money DOMESTICALLY (in the United States), with some brief thoughts about each film. 

1. Ocean's Eight ($41.61 Million): Say what you will about the necessity of this film (or many others this summer for that matter), but Ocean's Eight has come out and made well over the expected mark at 41 million dollars. This puts it as the highest opening weekend mark for any Oceans film, and opens the door for more capers with the characters introduced in this film. 

2. Solo: A Star Wars Story ($15.75 Million): While, yes, Solo: A Star Wars Story did manage to stay in the top 2 spots, it took another dip. Reports are saying that Solo may not even hit 200 million dollars domestically, which is lower than Avengers: Infinity War's opening weekend, domestically. Needless to say, unless this film has a massive run (which it will not), Solo is officially a bomb. 

3. Deadpool 2 ($14.15 Million): Yet again nearly catching the latest Star Wars film, Deadpool 2 continues to chug along. While it has heavy competition, much more than it had for the first film which was released in February, Deadpool 2 is making good money for Fox, and will open the door to the X-Force film that they've been talking about. 

4. Hereditary ($13.56 Million): The newest film by A24 has been met with critical acclaim. As such, it is rewarded by making a cool 13.5 million at the box office, nearly catching both Deadpool and Han Solo for the 2 and 3 spots, which is impressive. This could be a case of long legs, or perhaps it may not be, we'll just have to wait and see, but regardless, this is a win for A24. 

5. Avengers: Infinity War ($7.24 Million): The behemoth that refuses to leave, Avengers: Infinity War may yet be here next week, depending on how much Solo drops. But chances are that the Incredibles 2 will knock Infinity War out of the top spot. That, however, doesn't overshadow the fact that this film is just barely under 2 billion and will, without a doubt, hit the 2 billion mark this week. 

Director of Solo Responds to Box Office Bomb

Director of Solo Responds to Box Office Bomb

It's no secret that Solo: A Star Wars Story is an unmitigated disaster at the box office, and now, director Ron Howard has come forward to share his thoughts on his film's lack of success. Taking to Twitter, Howard said this:

"I'm proud of #SoloAStarWarsStory and the cast and crew worked hard to give fans a fun new addition. As a director I feel badly when people who I believe (and exit polls show) will very likely enjoy a movie... don't see it on a big screen w/great sound."

Howard's comments do reflect the general consensus behind the film, which is that while not critically acclaimed, the film was enjoyed by most of the audience with a Rotten Tomatoes score in the 70s, but the box office not an accurate reflection of how many people actually liked the film.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is in theaters now. 

Feige Gives Quiet Update on X-Men to Marvel

Feige Gives Quiet Update on X-Men to Marvel

While it has been awhile since Disney and Fox seemed to close the deal to merge, the deal seems to have been stalled due to the nature of the deal itself as well as another competitor in Comcast. Some implications of the deal would be that the X-Men characters would head back to Marvel and the MCU under the guidance of head Kevin Feige. However, Feige has given a quick update on the status of the deal. Speaking to Fandomwire, Feige had this to say:

"I'm just sitting, waiting for a phone call to say yay or nay, but obviously, it would be nice to have access to that entire library."

As we presumed, Disney and Fox have not finalized anything, and because of this, there have been no discussions as of yet about X-Men.

It: Chapter 2 Adds Final Piece

It: Chapter 2 Adds Final Piece

As It: Chapter 2 nears the beginning of production, the cast seems to have assembled as the final piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. According to Chosen Jacobs, who played young Mike Hanson, Mustafa is confirmed to be playing the adult version in the upcoming film. Mustafa, known for his role in the Old Spice commercials, will be joining A-listers such as James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, and Bill Hader.

It: Chapter 2 will hit theaters on September 6th, 2019.

John Lasseter to Leave Disney by 2019

John Lasseter to Leave Disney by 2019

After almost 20 years of serving as one of Disney and Pixar's highest creative executives, John Lasseter is leaving the animation studios by the end of the year. According to Disney, John Lasseter, who was on leave of absence for the past 6 months due to allegations of abuse and harassment, will leave his positions in Disney Animation as well as Pixar on December 31st, 2018. In the meantime, he will serve only as an advisory consultant. The news was not much of a surprise, seeing as the director of such films as Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2, publicly acknowledged mistakes that he made throughout his career that may ultimately end it.  

MCU Rewind #15-18 - Guardians 2 - Black Panther

MCU Rewind #15-18 - Guardians 2 - Black Panther

Since there are reviews for all of these films already up on the site, and my thoughts have not drastically changed for any of them, I decided to recap my quick thoughts on my rewatch here in one article.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 - As per usual with comedies, this film didn't quite hold up. It was a good film, and I like it more than most people do, actually, but I found that the majority of the jokes didn't hold up quite as well as I would have hoped. The character development of Star-Lord was great, especially considering what happened to him in Infinity War, but I felt that Gunn didn't know what to do with some of the characters, especially Gamora. 

Previous Rating; 8.9/10

New Rating: 8.4/10

Spider-Man: Homecoming - My stance on this movie stands - I love this film. I've seen this a few times and it's brilliant. It takes all the elements of Peter Parker and Spider-Man that we loved from the previous iterations, gently includes some great scenes with Iron Man, and has a FANTASTIC villain, one of the best, with Vulture in Homecoming. I love this movie and can't wait for the sequel. Tom Holland IS Peter Parker and Tom Holland IS Spider-MAn. 

Previous Rating: 9.6/10

New Rating: 9.6/10

Thor: Ragnarok - Again, as with most comedies, this film goes down a little, but not NEARLY as much as Guardians 2. And what I found great about this film was that it's incredibly rewatchable. You can watch some scenes in this film over, and over, and over simply because it's so entertaining to see certain interactions between certain characters. Jumping from scene to scene, there is not a moment where you are bored, watching Dr. Strange, Loki, Thor, Grandmaster, Valkyrie, and Hela (although, upon further viewing, I did not like her as much as I used to). Overall, a truly entertaining film. 

Previous Rating: 9.1/10

New Rating: 9.0/10

Black Panther - There was a lot of hype surrounding this film, and I found myself caught up in it slightly. While it's not the most rewatchable film in the world, it is still a great one. It has a very potent message about discrimination, and has one of the BEST MCU villains to date (and then came Thanos). The unique footprint that it leaves on the MCU may never be replicated (we'll see about Captain Marvel, but I doubt it) and I believe that it will always be remembered. I quite enjoy the film, have a couple issues (read the review), but it's definitely worth a watch. 

Previous Rating: 9.2/10

New Rating: 8.9/10

Editorial #7 - My Thoughts on Marketing Misdirects

Editorial #7 - My Thoughts on Marketing Misdirects

**WARNING** MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR AND DEADPOOL 2 AHEAD. READER DISCRETION ADVISED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

As more and more big budget tentpole films emerge, as do their marketing campaigns, we find ourselves in a conundrum; with more and more studios deciding to use their marketing to trick fans and avoid spoilers, should they do this? And more importantly, what consequences do they have on their films?

It all started last October, October of 2017, when Avengers: Infinity War released their first trailer. The only thing is, none of us had any idea because we all saw the trailer, we lost our minds when we saw the final shot (above) with the Avengers charging through the woods of Wakanda.

Unbeknownst to ANY OF US, this shot was a complete misdirect, and was NOWHERE in the film. Nowhere. 

Perhaps it was edited out? Not likely. Here's why. 

Remember how throughout the entire film, Hulk did not want to come out? There were scenes all throughout the film that had Bruce Banner fighting with his alter ego to bring him out. This wasn't a last minute change. If this was a last minute change, then you would be forgiven in thinking that if this was a last minute change, this shot in the trailer was one that was shot early, but cut. But it wasn't. 

Kevin Feige, along with Mark Ruffalo, have explicitly stated that Bruce Banner/Hulk has a definite three-movie-arc starting with Thor: Ragnarok and ending with Avengers 4. This second-installment, Avengers: Infinity War, had Hulk struggling with himself, and I'm sure that Avengers 4 will have these issues resolved somehow and Hulk will come back. But going back to the original point, Hulk was not meant to be in the film at all.

So that trailer, above, was fake all along, and Marvel knew it from the start, the Russos knew it from the start, and Kevin Feige knew it from the start. Additionally, there were other shots throughout the trailers that only showed Thanos with 2 infinity stones, when in reality, he had 4 or 5. 

So this begs the question; is this okay? Should movie studios be doing this?

The answer, in my humble opinion, is no, but not a definite, concrete no. 

The whole idea of a trailer is to get you excited for a particular movie. The trailer is supposed to use whatever footage is available to promote the upcoming feature film. The trailer can use whatever tone that they want, as evidenced with a film such as Suicide Squad. If you want to see a film with two trailers that are so drastically different from each other, watch the first and second trailer for Suicide Squad. The first trailer promised a dark, gritty, real-world kind of film, while the second brought forth a campy, edgy, light-hearted tone with Bohemian Rhapsody.

So technically, Marvel was not wrong in putting this scene in the trailer, because yes, technically, it was promoting the film using some footage that existed. HOWEVER, I believe that they shouldn't have simply because it was selling a movie that we did not get. And this is only a minor example; think about it - when you see a trailer like this, you expect Hulk, simply because you see Hulk. So when the Battle of Wakanda comes around, and you begin to realize that Hulk isn't coming, you see that this trailer shot is a fake. And then you begin to realize that the trailers lied about a great deal many things.

Look at Deadpool 2. They used their trailer to market this idea of X-Force, only to kill them all off in the middle of the film. And that's OKAY, simply because it wasn't selling the film to be X-Force centric - it was setting up a joke. This is a different scenario because the Avengers trailer was DELIBERATELY tricking audience members with fake shots. The Deadpool trailer was using existing shots to manipulate the audience into thinking one thing.

I believe that there is a concrete difference with manipulating the tone of a trailer versus inserting shots into the trailer that aren't in the final film. The problem with the first option is not that you sell a false movie, but perhaps you sell a better movie than the one that was actually delivered. For example, in the case of Iron Man 3, I loved the tones of the trailers far more than I liked the tone of the actual movie, but that was in no way the fault of the filmmakers; that was just the trailer editors (who are often separate from the filmmakers) making the film (using existing footage) look like something that it's not, and coincidentally, we got a better trailer (in my opinion) for Iron Man 3 than the actual film.

So in the end, yes it's up to the film makers to do whatever they want and make whatever movie they want, but, like Infinity War and the Russos, it's important to realize that we expect a certain level of certainty when we see a trailer. We expect a certain level of finality - so when they give us false information deliberately, it causes us to wonder: what can we trust?

The Incredibles II - First Reactions

The Incredibles II - First Reactions

As The Incredibles 2 approaches, here are some social media reactions from around the Internet from the fortunate press who were able to see the film early.

Chris E. Hayner: Just walked out of #Incredibles2. It improves on practically everything from the original. Its visual style is stunning to look at, the characters are fantastic, and the adventure is a blast. There's a little bit of predictability in the story, but I was so down for this ride.

Simon Thompson: #Incredibles2 is a giddy, slick bundle of fun. The action set pieces are tasty, impressive, never over-egged. Plenty for kids and adults to get their teeth into and a few belly laughs too. The design, audio and visual, really make it op. A worthy sequel to a tough act to follow. 

Eric Eisenberg: Wow!! #Incredibles2 is a blast. It does a great job building on the characters and the world, and it's super funny and action packed throughout. I had my doubts, but was thoroughly impressed. Will go down as one of the best titles of the summer.

Perri Nemiroff: #Incredibles2 is such a friggin delight! Family dynamic is brilliant yet again but WOW is Jack Jack a scene stealer. And that score! More A+ work from Michael Giacchino that I'm gonna need to own.

Peter Sciretta: #Incredibles2 is a serviceable sequel, a fun adventure but not on the same level of the original. Jack Jack and Edna steal the show, (please tell me the are making a short film with Edna babysitting Jack Jack). Fantastic production design, another great score by @m_giacchino.

Steven Weintraub: So happy to report @BradBirdA113 delivered a fantastic sequel to 'The Incredibles'. Absolutely loved #Incredibles2. And @m_giacchino score is, as always, awesome. Can't wait to see it again.

Kristian Harloff: Man #Incredibles2 was fantastic! It was fast paced, full of laughsm action, emotion...I really liked the first one, I LOVED this one.

The Incredibles 2 hits theaters on June 15th, 2018. 

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Official Trailer Review

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Official Trailer Review

The first trailer for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has arrived. Does it deliver? 

Thoughts: I loved the first two How to Train Your Dragon films. They blew me away, and were, by far, the best quality Dreamworks films that I had ever seen. They were the only two animated films, in my opinion, that comes close, and even surpasses, some to some Pixar films.

And I'm going to be completely honest; I didn't like this trailer. 

Let me preface this by saying that this is not a trailer made for my demographic. This is a trailer made for kids, and in that respect, it totally works. It shows a bunch of gags that kids will enjoy immensely and will sell well when played in theaters. But in my opinion, watching the trailer, this reminded me of all the films that Dreamworks has done more in the vein of "kiddy" kinds of movies. 

THAT BEING SAID, I felt the exact same way watching the trailers for the first two films in the franchise. Those trailer hid all of the "deep", "darker" moments. So am I worried about the final product? Absolutely not. I will still be there when this film hits theaters. 

Did it Raise Excitement? Oddly enough, even though I didn't quite like the trailer, I am excited by this, simply because of the fact that this trailer reminds me of the trailers for the first two films, and I loved the first two films. 

Trailer Rating: 6/10

MCU Rewind #14 - Doctor Strange

MCU Rewind #14 - Doctor Strange - Review

Release date (US): October 20th, 2016

Directed By: Scott Derrickson

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Benedict Cumberbath, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Benedict Wong

MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned. 

Previous Rating: 8.7/10

Expectations/Background: I had fond memories of this particular film. I remember this being one of the first MCU films that truly "wowed" me. Captain America: Civli War was the other film earlier in the year, and that also stunned me, but in a different way, in a more fulfilling way. This film took all my expectations, and completely upended them, truly showing what visual effects could do. Granted, I had not seen Inception, and many people had said, viewing the trailers, that the visuals "ripped off" Inception. However, keeping that in mind, I thought that the kinds of visual stunts that they pulled off were incredible. That being said, I didn't remember much from the last time I saw the movie. I remember mildly liking the film, but I was curious whether or not this would turn into an Ant-Man situation or an Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

The Movie: Definitely the latter - after seeing this film, I found myself wondering why I hadn't seen this film more, as well as why I didn't like this movie more than I told myself I did. Certainly, this film isn't the most complex, the most in-depth, or most "mind-blowing" film of all time, but what really stunned me was the heart.

Positives: Getting to the performances right away, Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the arrogant, jerky, but brilliant narcissist (a la Tony Stark) in such a way that it captured the essence of the stereotype, yet differentiated itself from the likes of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. He also adds an extra dimension, and his performance especially shines after he was injured, as you feel his desperation and hurt going through all the different kinds of procedures that he puts himself through.

The supporting cast are all brilliant as well. There's no one specific person to highlight simply because all of them brought their A-game. Rachel McAdams was great as always, and I actually bought her relationship with Doctor Strange more than I remembered. Chiwetel Ejiofor brings a gravitas and a Shakespearean element to the film which was fun to see. And Tilda Swinton was wonderful as well. I only remembered her as the evil white Witch form the Narnia films, but in this film, I was thoroughly impressed to see a genuine, kind, yet fierce performance from her (all while being bald).

And as mentioned in the expectations, the visual effects are mind-blowing. The scenes especially where the entire New York is being flipped and inverted was something that I had never seen before (yes, granted I had not seen Inception). The scenes at the end where time is being reversed blew my mind, and to this day, I have no idea how they were able to do those. 

But as aforementioned, the heart of the film was what truly made me appreciate it. It's not quite something that I could pinpoint, and I still quite can't, but I do feel that there is  a beating heart through and through. There is genuine thought and care made to develop  the character of Stephen Strange. From the start, you see how he goes from this arrogant prick for lack of better words, and then comes to realize that there is more to life than just his work, and by the end of the film, you really do buy his transformation into Master of the Mystic Arts.

Negatives: One small complaint I do have with the film is the humor. While it is funny on first and potentially second viewing, by the third or fourth rewatch, the humor really lands flat. This film suffers from the usual "Marvel-humor syndrome", something that Age of Ultron stumbles with as well.

Another small nitpick I have is the pacing, but not in the traditional sense. Many people have wondered how long Dr. Strange was in Kamartaj, and while the film makers have said a year or so, it didn't feel like it at all, which didn't bother me during the film, but afterwards, it was something that I thought about. Another point in the film that the filmmakers clarified was during the time-loop with Dormammu. The filmmakers said that Dr. Strange was in there for many cycles, but I didn't feel that at all.

And as great as Rachel McAdams was, I felt that her character, as well as Mordo (although they do hint that he will be back) were wasted. They played their respective characters very well, but their characters had very little to do. There was one scene in particular where Mordo was just spewing exposition, and I found myself taken out of the film for a little bit.

And finally the villain. Kaecillius was not the worst MCU villain, but out of all the MCU Phase 3 villains we've had (and almost all of them have been great), he was one of the worst. He had very little motivation, he looked like a maniac, and I didn't feel for him at all, unlike Thanos or Killmonger. 

The Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. It has action, humor, spectacular visuals, and a beating heart that pulls you in. It shows you that you can take whatever concept, whatever character, and as long as you put him in the right story with the right supporting cast, you find yourself with a great movie. Letter Grade: B+. Number Score: 9.1/10

Should I Skip?: Definitely not, especially with as integral of a role he plays in Infinity War and potentially moving forward. 

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.

A- to A+: Amazing

B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed

C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed

D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws

F: A Failure of a Film

9-10: Nearly Perfect

8-9: Very Good

7-8: Good

6-7: Okay

5-6: Average/Mediocre

4-5: Apparently Flawed

3-4: Heavily Flawed

2-3: A complete and utter mess

0-2: A Failure of a Film

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Early Review Roundup

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Early Review Roundup

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will hit theaters in a couple weeks, but the review embargo has lifted. What are critics saying about the upcoming sequel in the beloved franchise?

Another Summer Movie

No matter what critics are saying about the film, the general consensus seems to be that this is another "summer movie". There is action, jokes, a strong lead, scares, laughs, and the like that we have come to expect (and love?) about summer films. 

Better than the First?

And while many aren't hailing this as the savior to the Jurassic Park/World franchise, many people are saying that this is better than the original. They praise JA Bayona's direction over Coiln Trevorrow, and say that this is definitely a step up (for the most part) over the first film. 

Genuine Scares

One thing that stands out for many people are the scares. While the first Jurassic World had a couple of little jump scares, this new entry in the Jurassic World film has genuinely scary scenes that has a level of tension that was lacking in the first film. It hearkens back to the scariness of the dinosaurs of the original Jurassic World. 

Lots of Dinosaurs

There are lots, and lots, and lots, of dinosaurs as we sew in the trailers, and yes, critics are confirming, there are lots of dinosaur action and fun to be had with the film. 

Boring or Fast Paced?

A couple of reviewers have expressed differing opinions about the film's pacing. A couple of reviewers have said that this is one of the most boring films of both the Jurassic Park franchise as well as of the summer. However, a couple other critics praise the film's fast-paced, exciting, tense storyline. The jury is still out.

Overall?

Overall, the main consensus seems to be that the film is a fun action-ride that you can sit with your friends and eat popcorn with, enjoying a few scares, a few laughs, same old Chris Pratt, and a lot of dinosaurs. Overall? Not bad, we hope.