The Infiltrator Review

Is Bryan Cranston just choosing his roles now depending on how much deceit his characters must exude? After playing Walter White for five excellent seasons on Breaking Bad, he's played Dalton Trumbo, a man who wrote screenplays in secret, and now, in his newest motion picture The Infiltrator, Cranston plays Robert Mazur, a man who regularly does undercover work (see where the deceit comes into play in this past?) for the U.S. Government. After a mission leaves him with a particularly nasty injury, he has the chance to retire...but he can't give up the chance to partake in a new mission that could take down tons of high-profile figures in the world of drug trafficking.

Ghostbusters Spooks Up $3.4 Million At Thursday Night Screenings

I'll be seeing Ghostbusters tonight but it looks like quite a few moviegoers decided to catch it last night at Thursday night showings that started at 7 PM. The Paul Feig remake/reboot of the classic 1984 Ivan Reitman motion picture took in $3.4 million last night. It's hard to find comparisons for the film, mainly because it's hard to tell if it'll play more like a conventional summer blockbuster (which would make it more frontloaded) or a conventional comedy since its been marketed as kind of both. In terms of summer blockbusters, this $3.4 million haul is bigger than the $2.55 million taken in by The Legend Of Tarzan, the $2.5 million take of The Martian (which debut outside of the summer) and slightly behind the hauls of Summer 2015 titles like the $3.7 million gross of Mad Max: Fury Road and the $4 million haul of Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation. It also made 70% more than the Thursday night gross of Sony/Columbia's mid-July tentpole action/comedy from last year, Pixels.

The Secret Life Of Pets Review

In order to save some time, cut out the middle man and all that, Illumination Entertainment should just pass out flyers containing toys and ancillary products related to their newest motion picture just before the movie starts. After all, if Despicable Me 2, Minions and now The Secret Life Of Pets proves anything, the studio is more of a factory to shovel out movies that can spin out cuddly Funko Pops! bobbleheads and beanie babies than a place where noteworthy pieces of cinema can be crafted. It's not an inherently bad thing to embrace the world of commerce, but rote nature of The Secret Life Of Pets is pretty blatantly just an excuse to craft toys prime and ready to be turned into toys rather than a chance to explore a potentially interesting, funny or heartwarming story.

As the title suggest, The Secret Life Of Pets focuses on your pets and their shenanigans that go on while you're away. Some party, others wait for their owners to come back.And then there's Max (Louie C.K.), a pooch who loves his owner very much and adores their close bond. But then she gets a new dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet), a big o'l canine who begins to intrude on Max's previously serene life. The moment Duke enters the story super early, the sloppy script (penned by Brian Lynch) already begins to go off the rails. Duke is not so much a character as he is a liquid, constantly changing himself to fit the scripts needs. He lacks discernable personality and that becomes a massive problem for the film as a whole.

Think about all the great duos in cinematic history, ranging from recent highlights like Mellissa McCarthy and Jason Stahtam's characters in Spy or classic examples like Clarke Gable and Claudette Colbert's characters in It Happened One Night. These duos had contrasts in their demeanors that created plenty of humor, conflict, the whole deal. Since Duke doesn't really have a concrete persona to speak of, yeah, it's hard to get attached to him as a singular individual, much less buy him and Duke as at first rivals and then friends. It doesn't help at all that their growing kinship is handled rather poorly, they just sorta become best pals by the end not because of coalescing character arcs but rather because the credits are about to roll.

The issues with the script go way deeper than just one flubbed character though. Take a scene later on in the movie where Duke decides to return home to his old owner. It's fairly apparent this is supposed to be the films equivalent to the opening sequences of Up or Finding Nemo, an emotional gutpunch that truly sticks with the audience. But it's bungled in its execution in practically every way imaginable. It's introduced one scene prior in an abrupt manner, so there's no real build-up to it and its impact on the overall narrative is minimal. It doesn't really drive Max and Duke apart or bring them closer, it's just killing more time so this movie can barely inch its running time across the 90-minute mark.

That's the kind of lackluster effort that's gone into everything in the movie, from its humor (which relies heavily on bathroom jokes including plenty of on-screen defecation and urination) to even the  supporting cast, which consists of individuals who range from either being just one-note gags stretched out too far or various critters who don't have a purpose in the movie beyond just ensuring that every household pet imaginable is in the feature at some point. One notable exception is Tiberius, a carnivorous but lonely hawk voiced by Albert Brooks who has to constantly resist the urge to eat his cuddly co-stars. Brooks knows good comic timing like the back of his hand and he totally delivers in his underwritten but surprisingly amusing role that I wish got substantially more to do in the script.

On that positive note, I will say the animation in The Secret Life Of Pets is fine, even if the cost-cuttimg measures of Illumination Entertainment's animation department do seep through (notice how empty certain parts of New York City are that should be hustling and bustling with human extras for instance). Alexandre Desplat also has a great score that really evoked old timey New York City for me in a number of its music cues. Really, The Secret Life Of Pets isn't "dismal" or whatever, it's not even the worst animated family movie I've seen this year (never forget Norm Of The North). But its inability to do anything really innovative, interesting or fun really does get to you after awhile, as it becomes pretty apparent that The Secret Life Of Pets is just going through the motions and has no greater ambitions on its mind than hawking merchandise to younger viewers. Audiences of all ages deserve better cinema than that.

Saw Is Back And Its Eighth Movie Is Stealing Its Title From The Second Tron Movie. That Bastard.

In this day and age of franchises, where even Snow White & The Huntsman can get a high-profile theatrical sequel, it's interesting how long-standing horror movie franchises seem to be the one place Hollywood decides to show some frugality. Interestingly, 2009 and 2010 are the two years where Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees were last seen slicing up teenagers. Oh sure, sequels are in development, but Michel Myers and Jason Vorhees have been stuck in development hell for ages. Pinhead? MIA at the box office for years now. Chucky? Aside from one direct-to-video sequel back in 2013, he's also been missing for the past decade. At least Leatherface will be back to terrify audiences in his own prequel depicting a younger Leatherface in High School.

The First Trailer For La La Land Is Packed With Gorgeous Visuals And Ryan Gosling Harmonizing

Look, I love Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. And I love musicals. And I loved Whiplash, Damien Chazelle's feature film debut from 2014 that changed how the world saw J.K. Simmons and drums forever. So the concept of seeing those three elements merge in La La Land? Yeah, that's a tantalizing prospect, especially given how scarce original live-action musicals are in a post-1950's world. Today, the world got its first look at the highly anticipated project in the form of a teaser trailer that you can watch below!

The BFG Review

At this point, Steven Spielberg knows the name of the blockbuster game. Hell, he pioneered it with Jaws, which was far from the first movie to bring spectacle to the big screen, but it was the first movie to utilize release patterns and box office grosses that are all too familiar today. And while his newest The BFG isn't technically a "summer blockbuster", instead being a family movie, it's still got oodles of visual effects and a prime 4th of July summer release date, both elements that are familiar terrain for one of cinema's rightfully most celebrated auteurs. Returning to the realm of family fare for the first time since Hook (not counting his 2011 effort The Adventures Of Tintin), one might understandably query if the man's absence from this avenue of storytelling might leave him rusty, perhaps out of touch with the times.

The Secret Life Of Pets Is the Cats Meow At The Box Office While Mike & Dave Don't Save The Date

Looks like Minions aren't the only thing Illumination Entertainment can spin into gold, as evidenced by the opening weekend of The Secret Life Of Pets, which grossed a massive $103 million this weekend. That's the biggest opening weekend ever for an original film (i.e. one that's neither a sequel nor an adaptation of a previously existing property) as well as the first time an original film has ever grossed $100 million in its opening weekend. It's also only the sixth animated movie ever to gross over $100 million in its opening weekend. On a $75 million budget, it's pretty clear that this is a runaway hit for Universal and Illumination.

The Dissolve (2013-2015): One Year Later

"Life is brief,
Fall in love maidens
Before the raven tresses begin to fade
Before the flame in your hearts
Flicker and die
For those to whom today
Will never return" - a passage from Life Is Brief, a 1915 song prominently featured in the 1952 Akira Kurosawa film, Ikiru

A lot can change in a year.

Think about it. That's 365 or 366 days, a notable portion of one's life that can feel like a contradiction in terms of how quickly it can pass. Sometimes, time slows down to a crawl, to the point where each moment one is living can feel like an eternity. Then there are the times where looking back on past events that have transpired leaves one in awe of how quickly time has flown by. That is an emotion, I'm sure, felt by so many film-loving individuals today as we mark the one year anniversary since the film criticism website The Dissolve closed its doors. It's webpage still remains 366 days later, a bittersweet reminder of a tremendously impactful site that was not long for this world.

Let us go a little bit farther back in time now to two years prior to The Dissolve shutting down, specifically to the date of July 8, 2013. Here is the day The Dissolve launched, a brand new sparkling domain filled with potential. The staff producing content for said site was stacked as hell, basically making it The Avengers of film journalists. Nathan Rabin, Genevieve Kosiki, Scott Tobias, Noel Murray and Tasha Robinson were among the first of these writers, with numerous individuals like Rachel Handler and Charles Bramesco eventually joining their ranks in the two years ahead. From the get-go, there was a welcome amount of diversity in the type of content produced by the site. This was not a website content to limiting itself solely to conventional definitions of "low-brow" and "high-brow" art.

A weekly column, appropriately entitled Movie Of The Week, which had various staffers examine a certain motion picture, serves as a perfect example of the level of variety found in the sites cinematic coverage. Everything from MacGruber to Chungking Express to Zelig to The Muppet Movie was covered here and all given the same level of exceptional and introspective writing. Covering such a wide spectrum of motion pictures in this column and on the entire site allowed for the expansive nature of cinema to be fully explored. There are so many types of films to be watched in this world, why should the writing about the very art of cinema not be as diverse? The extremely talented writers at The Dissolve seemed to fully agree.

And then there was the community that grew out of the comment section. Internet comment sections have a reputation for being a cesspool of racism, misogyny and cruelty and one glance at the comment sections over at sites like YouTube or SlashFilm prove such an assumption to not be unfounded. The Dissolve comment section proved to be the antithesis to the conventional traits of internet comment sections, an area where avid moviegoers from across the planet united in their pursuit to appreciate every facet of the world of film. We became a tight-knit group that managed to create lasting friendships that I honestly cannot imagine my life without. As someone who struggled socially to fit in at school and other similar environments, to have an entire community of individuals as dedicated to the world of cinema as me was a revelation and I doubt I'm alone in that feeling.

As the two years went on, the discussions in the comment section grew and grew, to the point where a feature called LoveFest, where commentors would pick a movie they enjoyed that recieved universally negative reviews and talk about what they liked about it, was started. The various essays, comments and ramblings between the denizens of this comment section only further cemented the bond between the various individuals on the site and it also allowed for interaction between the writers and readers of The Dissolve. The various authors on this site frequently engaged in lengthy conversations with readers in the comment section, lending a unique form of personal connection for the readers of the site quite unlike anywhere else on the internet.

As the two years of the sites existence wore on, the friendships between the readers of this site continued to flourish (in-jokes surrounding taco breaks, Deadpool and Clockstoppers soon flooded the comment section) and the exceptional writing began to stack up. But as Taylor Swift once said, "nothing lasts forever". On the date of July 7th 2015, things came to an abrupt halt. A newspiece about the film Northern Limit Line that arrived in the early afternoon proved to be the last piece published by the site aside from a final farewell essay penned by Tasha Robinson. Considering The Dissolve normally didn't stop putting up news pieces until later in the day, the lack of content after that slice of writing was extremely concerning. When that Northern Limit Line piece first went up in the early afternoon, it only had one or two comments. After only a few hours, the comment section was overflowing with concern and fear.

Had something gone haywire? Was this the end of the line? What had happened to The Dissolve? The uncertainty surrounding that afternoon will forever be seared in my memory. While many tried to keep their hopes up, the following morning the worst was confirmed in an essay penned by Tasha Robinson simply titled ". The credits began to roll on The Dissolve's existence all too soon. Looking at the comment section of that day, a cavalcade of emotions unfurled from countless individuals. the pain of that felt by myself and so many others felt like it would never fade away.

The sorrow felt on that specific day has never vanished my mind. But not only did that day pass, but so many other days also managed to pass by. Here we are, one year later and the unity that made The Dissolve such an amazing website still stands. Many members of The Dissolve still mingle and discuss the pleasures of cinema in a Facebook group while The-Solute (which started nearly a year prior to The Dissolve closing) has had several readers of The Dissolve try their hand at the world film writing. Meanwhile, the various writers of The Dissolve, an incredibly stacked group of talent if there ever was any, have managed to find their own niches that utilize their talents, including Nathan Rabin reviving his My World Of Flops column over at The A.V. Club and Charles Bramesco now writing for Rolling Stone.

July 8, 2015 was a heavy day for both the writers and readers of The Dissolve emotionally, that goes without saying. But with the benefit of that o'l trick hindsight, I now regard that day less as the credits rolling on a wonderful website and rather a scene transition for its writers and readers. That's not to downplay the emotion felt the day we lost that great site, rather, it's simply a reminder that time does end up marching on, for better or for worse. But that doesn't erase the emotions felt by us all on this very day last year and so I wanna say to the writers, editors and personnel over at The Dissolve today what I felt the very day the site closed up shop: thank you. Thank you for inspiring us with your words, your work and your dedication to the artform of cinema. Your dedication and work will endure and I cannot thank you enough for offering it to devotees of cinema like myself and those in generations yet to come.

Blow Out Review (Classic Write-Up)

Sound is a key component for any non-silent movie. The tiniest creak of a door opening or a car starting up can add multitudes of personality to the world of any given individual motion picture. Of course, the best sound work can be best summed up by an old axiom (which I’m paraphrasing) referring to the equally important world of visual effects; your work is truly successful when nobody even notices it. In other words, the phrase refers to how the best visual effects seamlessly incorporate themselves into the story and don’t call attention to their own virtues. The same can be said for exceptional sound work, which can be easy for even a cinema devotee like myself to take for granted.

Finding Dory Rules The Box Office Again While The Purge Rampages, Tarzan Does Better Than Expected And The BFG Has Small Debut

All of the numbers discussed in this column are for the three-day weekend.

And so, yet again, Finding Dory ruled while big-budget fare faltered at the domestic box office.  This weekend’s blockbuster casualties were a new take on Tarzan as well as Steven Spielberg’s newest motion picture. But first, Finding Dory, which continued to rake up big bucks at the box office. Dory and her underwater pals grossed another $41.9 million in their frame of release, a 42% decline that’s smaller than third weekend dips of past PIXAR follow-ups Toy Story 3 and Monsters University. Finding Dory has grossed $372.2 million in 17 days and should cross $400 million by next weekend. Next up: overtaking Shrek 2 as the biggest animated film ever domestically (not adjusted for inflation).

Expectations were basically in the cellar for The Legend Of Tarzan. Hell, I didn’t expect it to gross more than $20 million over its opening weekend. Yet, the film did surprise by opening to a much bigger than expected $38.1 million. Unfortunately, with a $180 million budget looming over its head, this debut is still nowhere near enough to make the film a hit. This bow looks to put The Legend Of Tarzan in the same financial range as recent Warner Bros. summer blockbusters Edge Of Tomorrow and Pacific Rim, two other non-sequels carrying budgets in the $178-190 million range. Neither one really fired up the box office, though they weren’t excessive money-losers, which looks to be where Tarzan is heading.

The Legend Of Tarzan likely got a boost by the dire lack of compelling summer blockbusters in the marketplace as well as the fact that everyone knows who Tarzan is; he’s a dude who swings around in the jungle and is friendly to apes. With a marketing campaign that emphasized a more unique plotline and with better reviews, perhaps Tarzan could have really gone the distance at the box office. As it stands, at least Tarzan will cross $100 million domestically, a mark movies in already established franchises like Ninja Turtles and Alice couldn’t hit.

In third place was The Purge: Election Year, the newest installment in this horror franchise that’s showing remarkable financial stamina. Grossing $30.8 million, that’s only 10% below the opening weekend of the first movie and is also above the debut of the second film. The positive word-of-mouth on the second film obviously gave this third entry a boost, as did timely marketing (like that “Keep America Great” tagline) that tied it into this years political landscape. This one was super front-loaded, as is the nature of horror sequels, though the more front-loaded nature of all films this weekend indicates that could also partially be chalked up to the holiday weekend.

In the back of the pack of this weekend's three new wide releases was The BFG, which debuted to only $19.5 million, a dismal bow that puts more in the realm of the $15 million opening of notorious box office bomb Pan rather than the box office heights hit by director Steven Spielberg’s biggest movies. This opening weekend is on par with the debut of The Huntsman: Winter’s War from a few months ago, $500,000 above the debut of The Spiderwick Chronicles  and only 11% ahead of the opening weekend of notable summertime Disney fantasy family movie box office dud The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

The feature got solid marks from critics across the board, but the reviews weren’t strong enough to compensate for weaker TV ads, posters and even a jumbled title (couldn’t they just call it The Big Friendly Giant instead of that acronym that most people are unfamiliar with?) that turned off audiences. I’d also say that opening it directly in-between Finding Dory and The Secret Life Of Pets wasn’t exactly a brilliant move. With direct competition coming next week from guaranteed box office smash The Secret Life Of Pets, it’s likely The BFG will vanish quite quickly and could even struggle to get past $60 million domestically. Who’da thunk Steven Spielberg’s smaller-scale drama Bridge Of Spies from last fall would end up making more domestically than his second most expensive movie in history?

Bill Pullman and crew were unable to save face in the second weekend of Independence Day: Resurgence’s release, losing 60% for a second weekend gross of $16.5 million, taking its 10 day cume to $72.6 million. While ID4: Resurgence will squeak past $100 million domestically, that’s a nearly 70% drop from the first movies domestic gross and that’s before taking inflation into account! On a happier financial note, Central Intelligence held well in its third frame, losing 32% to gross another $12.3 million, bringing its 17 day domestic gross to $91.7 million. This one could end up grossing over $120 million domestically, which could be enough to make it one of the ten biggest movies of this summer.

The Shallows lost 46% in its second weekend, taking in $9 million for a 10 day total of $35.2 million, already doubling its $17 million budget domestically. Looks like this shark themed movie will gross well over $50 million domestically, a great haul for the micro-budgeted film.  Coming in at eighth place was another movie that debuted last weekend, Free State Of Jones, which lost 45% to gross another $4.1 million. Matthew McConaughey’s newest drama has grossed $15.1 million in its 10 days of release and will end its domestic run somewhere in between $20 and $25 million, meaning its final gross will be in the same neighborhood as the far lower-profile Matthew McConaughey drama Mud.

Right outside the top ten in eleventh place was Swiss Amy Man, which expanded into wide release, specifically 636 theaters. It grossed a decent $1.44 million for a per-theater-average of $2,276. Another small-scale drama from an indie movie studio, Our Kind Of Traitor, debuted to $1 million at 373 locations for a per-theater-average of $2,685.

Losing 598 of the 783 theaters it was playing in last weekend, The Neon Demon plummeted 77% to gross another $134,558. It has now grossed $1.09 million domestically, interestingly making it only the second Nicolas Winding Refn movie ever to gross over $1 million domestically. Meanwhile, The Innocents debuted in 3 theaters to $31,500 for a per-theater average of $10,500. Also bowing this weekend in limited release was Life, Animated, a documentary that opened to $26,547 in 3 locations for a per-theater average of $8,849.

The Top 12 movies this weekend grossed $181 million, the fourth biggest three-day frame ever for a first weekend in July. It’s also up 42% from this same weekend last year when Inside Out topped the box office in its third weekend while Terminator: Genisys and Magic Mike XXL had underwhelming bows.

The Legend Of Tarzan Review

At this point, I'm as tired as big-budget blockbusters this summer sucking as much as anything else in my life. Sizzling hot Texas weather always make this time of the year one that I wish could just speed right along, but with dismal movies like Warcraft, Alice Through The Looking Glass and Independence Day: Resurgence roaming around theaters, well, it's making my yearly endurance of summer all the more difficult to manage. The Legend Of Tarzan, despite the notable pedigrees of the cast (seriously, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou and Christoph Waltz are incredibly talented individuals) and crew it's working with, is yet another dismal motion picture that has me begging for Labor Day to get here sooner rather than later.

The Shallows Review

Ever since Steven Spielberg ushered in the age of the summer blockbuster with Jaws, sharks have been synonymous with big dollars in the world of pop culture. Sharknados are the rare piece of bad weather that people love and Shark Tale was one of last decade's most thought-provoking examinations of overtly sexualized aquatic wildlife and what happens when animation studios try to cash in on the success of Finding Nemo. The Shallows is the newest attempt to turn sharks into a license to print money and the strong box office returns for this Blake Lively feature suggest such a goal has been achieved.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 Has An Official Release Date!

Well, the release slate for Walt Disney Animation Studios got an update today, as director Rich Moore and actor John C. Reily announced that Wreck-It Ralph 2 is arriving March 9, 2018! An image released to commemorate the occasion, showing Ralph and Vanellope looming over buildings with names obviously parodying the likes of Amazon and Google suggest that the forthcoming follow-up will take Ralph and his pals to the internet and perhaps even modern day gaming. I personally loved Wreck-It Ralph, it's got a great script, a terrific vocal performance from Reily and its world seems perfectly suited for new adventures. So yeah, I'm jacked for more Wreck-It Ralph movies!

Hook Review (Classic Write-Up)

You can practically see the head of TriStar waxing poetic on how much of a slam dunk Hook is conceptually. "It's got two of the biggest actors on the planet, one of the most well-known fictitious characters of all-time and it's directed by Steven Spielberg! How could this not be a runaway hit?" For sure, Hook made a pretty penny in its initial theatrical release (its $119.6 million cume back in 1991 would be about $246.1 million in 2016 dollars), but its critical reception was some of the most negative ever experienced by Spielberg and it's since faded from the public consensus. Today, 90's kids, from my experience with this age group, are more likely to have fond memories of fellow high-seas set family movie Muppet Treasure Island than they are of the first time Robin Williams and Steven Spielberg joined forces.

"Get The Show On, Go, Play!": Smash Mouth Was The Last Voice Of The 20th Century And The First Voice Of The 21st Century....For Better And For Worse

The 1960's had The Beatles. The 1970's had many of Queen's greatest hits. The 1980's had a bevy of hugely successful music ranging from Aerosmith to Journey. And among the biggest musical acts at the tail end of the 20th century and in the first few years of the 21st century was...Smash Mouth. A band that's mainly a punchline today and has only released one album since 2006. From 1997 to sometime around 2002 though, man, these guys were everywhere. They tapped into the zeitgeist of the era like fee bands at the time did. In fact, I'd argue their work was so linked to the era in which they were produced that it's hard for their music to work in a modern context. Not only is there not a whole lot in terms of vocals or interesting lyrics to take in, but it truly feels like only in the brief era in which they were so popular could they have flourished so greatly.

A New Trolls Trailer Brings On The Justin Timberlake Tune (You Know Which One) And Fecal Cupcakes

DreamWorks Animation next big bid to get a new franchise going (following non-starters like Rise Of The Guardians, Turbo, Mr. Peabody & Sherman & Penguins Of Madagascar) is Trolls, a movie adaptation of those Troll dolls that have been big toy business for nearly 60 years now. In terms of toy to movie adaptations, DreamWorks obviously hopes this one will be more on the order of The LEGO Movie than Battleship. Well, there's a new trailer out now for you to watch and get a better look at the world Trolls has concocted for its tiny fantasy critters to inhabit.

War Of The Worlds Review (Classic Write-Up)

The horrific events of 9/11 thrust American pop culture into a new age marked by uncertainty, particularly when it came to American Summer Blockbusters. In the twenty-six years since Jaws was released, Hollywood had been churning out big-budget affairs each summer to capture the masses worldwide. Obvious concerns soon came up that this escapist fare would have to change in order to fit into a post-9/11 world, especially given that most blockbusters in the past five years had been attempting to replicate the success of Independence Day, which featured scenes of well-known buildings and landmarks being destroyed that wouldn't fly as cinematic reverie now.

The Neon Demon Is A Glowing Example Of Thoughtful Absurdity

I pity the poor human being tasked with writing out the plot summary that has to go onto the back of the DVD's and Blu-Ray's of Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon. What can you possibly type up that'll adequately prepare a prospective buyer/renter of this title for what they're in for? The Neon Demon isn't just littered with moments that are difficult to recount due to their absurdity, the film practically thrives on seeing how far it can push moviegoers in terms of throwing an ever escalating series of unorthodox images and scenes in their direction.

Finding Dory Has Exceptional Second Weekend While Independence Day: Resurgence Becomes Newest Summer Blockbuster Dud And The Shallows Is A Surprise Hit

The incredible box office run of Finding Dory continued unabated this weekend, with the film grossing an additional $73.2 million in its second frame. That's the fifth biggest second-weekend of all-time, only behind the second-weekend grosses of the two Avengers movies, Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's also only a 46% decline from its opening weekend, on par with the second-weekend dip of Monsters University and better than the second-weekend hold of Toy Story 3. In ten days, Finding Dory has grossed an incredible $286.5 million, the ninth biggest ten-day gross in history.

The Fundamentals Of Caring Review

Ben (Paul Rudd) could really use some cash. In an effort to get some financial stability in his life, Ben decides to take a six-week course to become a guardian for someone with physical disabilities. The individual he gets paired up with turns out to be Trevor (Craig Roberts), a foul-mouthed British 20 year-old with muscular dystrophy. Trevor has a strict adherence to his routine, which entirely entails him staying in his living room sans a brief weekly trip to the park on Thursdays. In an effort to get him out of his comfort zone and see the greater world, Ben decides to take Trevor to see various tourist attractions (all revolving around the concept of being "The World's Biggest", i.e. The World's Biggest Cow) that the dude is obsessed with.

Beefcake Kellan Lutz Seems To Be In The Running To Play He-Man In That Live-Action He-Man Movie

I'm more than a little surprised we haven't gotten a live-action He-Man movie in the 21st century yet considering how successful that live-action adaptation of fellow 80's toy/kids TV show property Transformers was. Such a project is finally coming to fruition, with McG coming onboard to direct this past January and now Kellan Lutz has dropped a tweet on the Twitter that indicates he's likely playing the real role. Here's the tweet:

Independence Day: Resurgence Is A Repugnant Fusion Of Noise And Tedium

Sometimes you leave a summer blockbuster feeling elated, the imagery and characters on-screen having just about made one's day. Other times you leave with mixed emotions", not having despised what occurred but also certainly not enjoyed it. And then there's how I felt about upon leaving Independence Day: Resurgence, a movie that left me only feeling aggravation. By the end, of the motion picture, I felt a great kinship with The Grinch since  all of the chaos on-screen only registered to me as "NOISE! ALL THE NOISE NOISE NOISE!"

Independence Day: Resurgence Begins Its Box Office Trek With Decent Thursday Night Box Office

If there's one blockbuster this summer that's always felt like an unpredictable fellow, it's Independence Day: Resurgence (a movie that I'll be seeing this morning and hopefully will have a review up for that one as early as tonight). This Roland Emmerich movie has had meek marketing but it does feel like there might be more potential nostalgia for this property than there is to, say, see the Ninja Turtles and X-Men in perfunctory adventures just two years after their last romp. The Thursday night box office for the title doesn't seem to indicate quite how it'll do over the weekend, but it looks like it might be on track to at least avoid becoming a total dud over the weekend.

Underdogs Is the Worst Animated Movie You've Never Even Heard Of

Harvey and Bob Weinstein really wanted to get some payback at their old bosses at Disney, who they continuously clashed with at their times as studio heads of the then-Disney-owned company Miramax. As Harvey and Bob set out on their own with The Weinstein Company, they looked to have their own steady output of animated cinema to get back at Disney and their animated motion pictures. But in the decade since they started up the company, well, they've hardly made a dent in the world of American animation cinema. Films like Hoodwinked Too! and Escape From Planet Earth faced production woes while others experienced numerous release date delays until they were just pulled off the schedule altogether. Underdogs is in the latter category of animated cinema that comes from The Weinstein Company.

The Conjuring 2 Review

Like other well-known sequels such as Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties and Muppets Most Wanted, The Conjuring 2 takes its supernatural activities to the U.K., to allow for a distinctly new environment for paranormal investigators, Ed (Patrick Willson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) to inhabit and, hey, if it also helps boost the box office in that country, then who's gonna complain? In the 1970's, the duo travels to the country to investigate a young girl who appears to be possessed by the spirit of a man named Bill Wilkins and the possession itself is causing all sorts of problems around the household, as your demons tend to do.

Ikiru Review (Classic Write-Up)

There are plenty of amazing moments to be found in Hamilton, many of which show a sense of wisdom that can only be accurately described as "remarkable". One such moment arrives in one of the final songs of the musical, as Alexander Hamilton is about to finally succumb to death, something he imagines so much it feels more like a memory. As the darkness envelops him, he comes to a shocking realization over what the word legacy truly means. I'll let Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrics take it from here:

R.I.P. Anton Yelchin (1989-2016)

Anton Yelchin, taking care of some ducks.

Many things in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek caught my eye, but perhaps most noteworthy of that movies revelations was a then little-known actor named Anton Yelchin playing the role of Chekov. Just having turned 20 two months prior to the films release, Yelchin popped onto the screen as a plucky, young and instantly likable personality. Amidst the impulsive Kirk, the pessimistic Bones and the logical to a fault Spock, he (along with Simon Pegg as Scotty) provided a sense of light-hearted enthusiasm to the proceedings, the kind of optimistic drive that propelled man to want to explore the cosmos in the first place.

Finding Dory [Insert Pun Revolving Around The Word "Finding" Here] Record-Breaking Opening Weekend While A Big Johnson Does Well And Warcraft Surrenders

Of their past sixteen movies, PIXAR has managed to launch all but two of them (the underperforming Cars 2 and the money-loser The Good Dinosaur) into varying levels of box office stardom, ranging from the solid hauls of A Bug's Life and Brave to the monster blockbuster levels of Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo. Now it looks like they're up to fifteen box office smashes after this past weekend, which brought their newest release, Finding Dory, to a massive $136.2 million opening weekend, by far the biggest opening weekend for an animated movie (beating out the $121 million debut of Shrek The Third nine years ago).

Finding Dory Review

There's been some understandable apprehension lobbed at the slate of future movies emerging from PIXAR Animation Studios, namely in the fact that three of the four films the company will be releasing until the end of the decade are follow-ups to existing motion pictures. It's easy to see why such a feeling exists, not only because I've felt it time after time again, but also because the studios output has included features like Up, WALL-E or Inside Out whose basic premises seemed to defy conventional family-friendly American animation routines. To now see Cars 3 and Toy Story 4 on the horizon from a studio championed for its originality can't help but leave one with a tad bit of disillusionment.

Central Intelligence Review

For all of Dwayne Johnson's accomplishments in his career (one of which includes finally becoming a viable leading man with last summer's San Andreas after box office non-starters like Faster and Hercules), the charisma and charm that got him this far as world renowned celebrity are on full display in his turn as Bob Stone in Central Intelligence. Playing a dude who was a portly misfit in high school whose grown up into a naive super-assassin, Johnson always carries a smile on his face and tosses his entire being into the role. He's a hoot-and-a-half turning a pretty rote archetype (specifically the dude who looks like a conventionally hyper masculine individual that has similarly conventionally feminine interests) and breathes new vibrant life into it.

The Lobster Review

This summer has brought a deluge of sequels and an equally large (if not even greater in size) amount of online editorials decrying the amount of follow-ups crowding movie theaters. In a season where neighbors, X-Men and turtles proficient in the ways of being a ninja have returned for obligatory sequels, in comes The Lobster from Greece auteur Yorgos Lanthimos with a premise that's, well, it's unique, that's indisputable. The Lobster basically saunters into this sequel-heavy summer all decked out in a classy suit, a golden pocket watch clasped in its palm and whistling a cheery tune. In other words, The Lobster practically emanates confidence in its idiosyncratic nature.

Cue The Applause; Lady Gaga Is Starring In A New Version Of A Star Is Born With Bradley Cooper

Three-time Academy Award-nominated actor Bradley Cooper has played many roles in his career. He's been an American Sniper, a guy who said Aloha and a gun-toting raccoon. Now he'll take on a new challenge; directing. Yep, Mr. Cooper is going behind the camera for the very first time. He'll be directing and starring in a new feature film remake of A Star Is Born. They've been looking for a leading lady before going full steam ahead on the project and it appears they found someone to star in the project with Mr. Cooper: Lady Gaga!

Finding Dory Breaks Some Box Office Records In Its Swimmingly Thursday Night Box Office Grosses

Finding Dory was always presumed to be a box office juggernaut in its opening weekend, but good Lord do these Thursday night numbers seem to signal that the film is well on its way to become a monster at the box office this weekend.

Ranking The PIXAR Short Films (Part Two)

OK, last Friday I started out my examination of the short films of PIXAR by ranking all 17 of them (not counting short films starring characters from PIXAR movies) from worst to best. Today, we look at the 9 best PIXAR short films, starting with....

That Popular Wicked Musical Is Finally Getting A Movie Adaptation And Even Has A Far Off Release Date

We as human beings always grapple with the future. It comes toward us like a ceaseless thundercloud full of worries. Will our future be full of medical problems we cannot escape? Can we grapple with the time when our loved ones begin to vanish from this Earth at a substantially increased pace? And now a new query about our uncertain future can hover all of our collective heads for a good four years; will that Wicked movie be good or even end up getting made?

Warcraft Review

Now, the story of Duncan Jones 2016 motion picture Warcraft is a tad complex, so let's get the plot summary right out of the way, shall we? The world of the Orcs is dying and they need a new home. Their leader, Gul'Dan (Daniel Wu), uses green mist to extract energy from innocent people to power a portal to the human world where a large group of Orcs intend to gather enough human prisoners to power up the portal to a point where it can bring all of the other Orcs over. Among these Orcs is Durotan (Toby Kebbell), one of the few explicitly "good" Orcs and one of our lead characters of this movie who ends up having no impact on this narrative whatsoever.

The New Trailer For Ben-Hur "Bens" Over Backwards To Appeal To Christian Moviegoers

Cinema strictly revolving around Christian themes had existed for decades prior to 2014 (just ask the likes of Reverent Herbert Jump and the various directors who worked for World Wide Pictures), they became a big business in modern day Hollywood when God's Not Dead, Noah and Heaven Is For Real made big bucks in quick succession. As both a Christian and cinema devotee, I wish more of the movies made in the wake of such financial success to more cues from one of 2014's most underrated features, Noah, by sparing no expense on interesting characters, darker themes and glorious production values.

The First Trailer For The Next Walt Disney Animation Studios Movie, Moana, Has Hit The Shores!

Ron Clements And John Musker are two of the most prolific figures in the history of Disney Animation thanks to their directorial credits on (deep breath) The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet and The Princess And The Frog. Yeah, this duo has one helluva track record and their newest directorial effort, Moana, arrives this Thanksgiving. The first trailer for Moana has hit the interwebs and you can watch it below!

Conjuring 2 Possess The Box Office While Warcraft Is A Domestic Bomb, Some Audiences See Now You See Me 2 And Ninja Turtles Have Hefty Second-Weekend Dip

After three weeks in a row where major sequels underperformed, Hollywood got that "sequelitis" slightly cured with a solid bow from The Conjuring 2. Just like the likes of Neighbors 2, Alice Through The Looking Glass and TMNT: Out Of The Shadows, The Conjuring 2 opened below its predecessor, but only by 4% for a domestic opening weekend of $40.3 million. That's about 8% above the opening weekend of the Conjuring spin-off Annabelle and 19% bigger than the bow of The Purge, another R-rated horror film that debuted in June three years ago. Plus, it grossed $50 million in its first overseas frame, about double what the original took in in its first foreign frame.

Lin-Manuel Miranda And Phillipa Soo To Exit Hamilton On July 9th

All good things must come to an end. The sun must set, the show must end and cast members of the Broadway sensation Hamilton must leave the program after nearly a year of constant performances. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the actor who plays the titular role of Hamilton and also created the book, music and lyrics for the show, was confirmed to be vacating the show a few days ago on July 9th, a not shocking development given his incredibly jam-packed schedule.

The Fifth Element Review (Classic Write-Up)

The Fifth Element is a walking-talking contradiction of a movie when it comes to its story. Namely, it's a film stuffed to the gills with characters, concepts and mythology, all of it newly created (it's not based on a toy, comic book, TV show or previously existing source material). There's so much going on, yet, it all flows as seamlessly as a peaceful river. All of the various subplots co-exist in entertaining harmony, one of the many positive aspects of The Fifth Element that makes it such an exciting and memorable adventure.

A Look At The Short Films Of PIXAR (Part One)

Next week, PIXAR Animation Studios releases their seventeenth motion picture, Finding Dory. And with said movies release comes the unveiling of a new short film entitled Piper. At this point, short films accompanying each new PIXAR movie is a grand tradition that started with A Bug's Life and hasn't ceased since. To tie into the release of Finding Dory and Piper, I've decided to examine the PIXAR short films by ranking them from worst to best in a two part essay series. Just a heads up before we go ahead, I have decided to look at only short films that aren't spun-off from PIXAR movies, so no Cars Toons or BURN-E to be found here.

Love & Friendship Review

Let it not be said that Love & Friendship skimped on its shooting locations because the various locales that its large cast inhabit are mighty impressive. Ditto for the costumes of the movie, which are a colorful cavalcade of time period appropriate (the film takes place in the 18th century) outfits that are absolutely glorious, major kudos to costume designer Elmer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (who frequently works on notable European set projects like Calvary) for her stunning work here.

The Finest Hours Review

Chris Pine has struggled to really take off as an A-list leading man now that Star Trek has made him at least a well-known, though admittedly not quite a household name, kinda guy. I've always liked the dude, and even in otherwise crappy movies (like Horrible Bosses 2) he usually still gives it 100% percent. But there's no denying that some of his post-Star Trek efforts haven't quite taken off, with the likes of This Means Wars, Rise Of The Guardians and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit being non-starters at the box office. On the positive side of things though, he had the best moment, far and away, of Into The Woods and his 2010 effort  Unstoppable with Denzel Washington was a rip-roaring fun thriller.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Review

The Lonely Island has experienced massive success in terms of album sales and their music videos going uber-viral, so it's kind of bizarre how poorly their motion picture ventures have fared at multiplexes across America. Nine years ago Hot Rod became a major box office misfire and their second movie, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, has somehow fared even worse despite factors like inflation and the groups increased exposure in the years since Hot Rod. It's a real shame Popstar isn't faring well at all financially, but the good news is that this newest movie is yet another runaway success from the comedic music group.

The Trailer For Yoga Hosers Is Just The Wurst

Next month, a new film from Kevin Smith will be released. No, it isn't the long-gestating Hit Somebody. No, it isn't Mallrats II; Mallbrats. No, it isn't Clerks III. No, it isn't Moose Jaws. No, it isn't a reincarnated form of Superman Lives. The filmmakers newest feature (and only his second film to carry a PG-13 rating, if I'm not mistaken) is the Canadian horror film Yoga Hosers. It looks...pretty terrible, honestly. Check out the new trailer for it below.

Why Do Adam Sandler Movies Hate Women?

I've seen Adam Sandler fight Pac-Man. I've seen Adam Sandler use super-speed to disarm a one-eyed Will Forte. Hell, I've even seen the guy actually give a fantastic performance in Paul Thomas Andersons Punch-Drunk Love. Yes, I've witnessed Sandler do many different things in his..."comedies". But there is a recurring motif in his projects that he never directs but typically writes. Hell, even in films he has no hand in screenwriting this recurring aspect of his work always pops up. The movies Adam Sandler typically stars in have a major tendency to treat women the same way the actor treats the very concept of comedy; very very very poorly.

Ninja Turtles Win The Box Office With Much Smaller Opening Weekend Than Its Predecessor While X-Men Plummets And Me Before You Surprises

In their sixth theatrical film outing, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles found their newest movie, Out Of The Shadows, doing meh business domestically, with an opening weekend substantially lower than its immediate predecessor. Out Of The Shadows had an opening weekend of $35.2 million, which is 46% lower than the bow of the 2014 Ninja Turtles outing, making this the third weekend in a row (following Neighbors 2 and Alice Through The Looking Glass) where a sequel has opened to 45+% less than its predecessor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows Review

Two years ago, we were, I guess blessed, with the presence of a live-action/CGI adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It made a bunch of cash at the box office but it was a mess of a movie. It lacked any interesting characters or involving action scenes that might have saved its deplorable screenplay and its fair to say that its financial success was motivated more by nostalgia than actual adoration for the film itself. With all that money comes, of course, a sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows.

It Happened One Night Review (Classic Write-Up)

Frank Capra spent 35 years directing feature films for Hollywood, accumulating a resume brimming with noteworthy titles today well up by film historians as some of the best motion pictures ever made. Hell, It's A Wonderful Life alone would give Capra a pass even if the rest of his filmography solely consisted of him directing direct-to-video Land Before Time sequels. But like I said, there's plenty of other significant projects that the fellow helmed back in the day, one of those features being the subject of this review, the 1934 romantic-comedy It Happened One Night.

There's A Trailer Now For That Extended R-Rated Cut Of Batman v. Superman. This Calls For A Sarcasm Coated "Excelsior!"

It's the punching bag of the media this year. The very word "MARTHA!!" has gone from being a common name to a term that inspires titters of laughter from individuals across the planet. It's one of the most front-loaded blockbusters of all-time at the domestic box office, even more so than the likes of Ang Lee's Hulk and last year's Fantastic Four debacle. Hell, even actor Jeremy Irons has already declared that the movie was "deservedly so" torn to shreds by critics. To say the reputation of Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice has slipped down to one of the lowest levels possible of a major American blockbuster is a gross understatement indeed.