As you should know by now, I have less than zero interest in anything Kristen Stewart ever does- some people just continue to have completely inexplicable careers in movies, and she's one of them. But I do like Nicholas Hoult, probably because I have a soft spot for him ever since About a Boy.
New Look at 'The Huntsman: Winter's War' Features a Battle Between Sisters
This battle of the sisters stuff looks nuts, and the whole idea of the ice sister seems to still be cashing in on the appeal of Frozen after all this time. But the effects don't look too bad, unlike both films it's advertizing the similarities to- Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent. I don't know though. I kinda like the idea of all three actresses in this as warriors, but it still looks essentially dumb, like all these movies have been.
Final 'Batman v Superman' Trailer Shows Off Batman in Action
Looks like WB's marketing department finally figured out how to cut a semi-appealing trailer for this film. It may be too late though, as rumors are swirling that the movie is a disaster and the studio's panicking. If this is true, it would be the biggest non-surprise of the year so far, at least for me, but it does put the whole slate of upcoming DC universe films into disarray. If this one sucks who's going to want to see a Justice League movie next year, right?
Matt Damon Returns as "Jason Bourne"
The Super Bowl premiered the first look at the new Bourne movie coming out this summer, and hey it's Matt Damon returning to his signature role, and we can mercifully forget all about Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy. Director of the second and third films Paul Greengrass is back as well, although he surprisingly doesn't look like he's reprising his own signature shakicam style, which became associated with the franchise. I always loved this original trilogy, so I'm excited. This is a sucky title though- seriously, you couldn't think up anything more creative than his just name? How about Bourne Again? Even that seems more obvious that this.
BOX OFFICE 2/05-2/07: 'Kung Fu Panda 3' Stays on Top of Super Bowl Weekend
The box office was slow this weekend, as expected, with none of the new releases making much of an impact, allowing the third Kung Fu Panda movie to stay on top with 21 million. The Coen Brothers' Hail, Caesar only pulled in a paltry 11 million and a dreadful "C-" Cinemascore, so expect a huge dropoff on that one in the coming weeks, while Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a total bust, coming in with a mere 5 million for the three day frame.
The Nicholas Sparks movie The Choice managed to make it into the top five, but with just 6 million, making it the first Sparks adaptation to make less than 10 million on opening weekend. Meanwhile, Star Wars stuck around in the top five, bringing its new total to a whopping 905 million and crossing the 2 billion mark worldwide, and Oscar hopeful The Revenant earned another 7 million for a 149 million total domestic.
Top 5:
- Kung Fu Panda 3- 21 million
- Hail, Caesar- 11.4 million
- The Revenant- 7.1 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- 6.9 million
- The Choice- 6.1 million
Again this week there's not much to report in limited release, so let's just move on to what's coming next week, shall we? Finally, we have a couple of films with a real chance to break out, and that's Deadpool and Zoolander 2, so we may have a real dude bro audience out in force next week. See you then.
Alejandro Inarritu Makes History By Winning the DGA Two Years in a Row
Wow- we have a real Oscar race, people. For the first time since 2004, every major guild has chosen a different film as the year's best. PGA went with The Big Short, SAG went to Spotlight, and now the all important Directors Guild has gone with Alejandro Inarritu for The Revenant. Which of course means Inarritu is the first person in DGA history to win the award two years in a row, and likely means he will go on to win Best Director at the Oscars. Best Picture however, is another story. If Inarritu wins director, as now seems inevitable, he will join John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz as the only directors in Oscar history to win the award in back to back years. But neither of those director's films won Best Picture two years in a row, so if The Revenant were to win that, it would be unprecedented. It's not impossible, but the signs to me say we're looking at a split year. And in a split year, I still think that the PGA is the most important precursor, simply because they use the same preferential ballot that Oscar uses for Best Picture, and none of these other guilds do. So I'm going to go with The Big Short for Picture and Inarritu for Director- but there is a chance for The Revenant to catch some momentum to make this interesting in the final voting, which hasn't started yet. One of the most unpredictable Oscar years in recent memory.
- Feature: Alejandro Inarritu, The Revenant
- Documentary Feature: Matthew Heineman, Cartel Land
- First Time Feature: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
'Inside Out' Dominates the Annie Awards
The animated feature Oscar has been an open and shut case for months now, and Inside Out's utter dominance of tonight's Annie Awards just laid it out even more plainly. It won just about everything it was up for- one of the biggest nights for any movie at this ceremony in its history, in fact. By the way, I'm rarely invested in this category, but World of Tomorrow won the Best Animated Short here, which I really hope repeats at the Oscars, and if anyone is curious to check that out, it's currently streaming on Netflix. It's a beautiful, visionary short and you won't regret watching it, trust me.
- Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
- Best Animated Short Subject: World of Tomorrow
- Best Animated Feature-Independent: Boy and the World
- Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production: The Good Dinosaur
- Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in a Live Action Production: Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production: Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production: The Revenant
- Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Feature Production: Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production: Pete Docter – Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production: Michael Giacchino – Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production: Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production: Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production: Phyllis Smith – Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production: Inside Out
- Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production: Inside Out
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Michael B. Jordan wins Best Actor for 'Creed'
'Straight Outta Compton,' 'Creed' Win Top NAACP Image Awards
Michael B. Jordan wins Best Actor for 'Creed'
The Image Awards last night honored films like Straight Outta Compton, Creed, and Beasts of No Nation with its top picks- in other words, movies that should have been nominated at the Oscars, but weren't, at least not in top categories. Interestingly, when Sylvester Stallone showed up to introduce Creed he was greeted with yet another standing ovation from a genuinely adoring crowd, much to his surprise. Yeah, I think that Oscar is already engraved with his name on it, don't you? People really just want to see him win.
- Best Film: Straight Outta Compton
- Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan, Creed
- Best Actress: Sanaa Lathan, The Perfect Guy
- Best Supporting Actor: O'Shea Jackson, Jr., Straight Outta Compton
- Best Supporting Actress: Phylicia Rashad, Creed
- Best Independent Film: Beasts of No Nation
- Best Director: Ryan Coogler, Creed
- Best Screenplay: Creed
'Star Wars' Picks Up Most VES Awards
The Visual Effects Society anointed Star Wars: The Force Awakens as their designated winner of the most visual effects guild prizes- that's something of a surprise, since I kinda thought it would go to Mad Max. In fact, MM didn't even come in second- that was The Revenant with its amazing animated bear. So yeah, I would pay attention to this when it comes to predicting the Visual Effects Oscar- normally they pick a Best Picture nominee, but Star Wars' dominance here is nothing to wave aside. They may want to give it something to acknowledge all of its success this year, and this would be the place.
2016 VES WINNERS
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature: The Revenant
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature: The Revenant
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature: Mad Max: Fury Road
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature:Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature: The Revenant
10 February Romances for Valentine's Day
Happy February everyone! As usual, it's time to celebrate movie love with my favorite romances put on film. From romantic comedies to tearjerkers and Jane Austen classics, this is one of my absolute favorite months of the year, because I'm such a sucker for a great romance. And they don't really make too many anymore- the most recent on my list is 2005's Pride and Prejudice, which, if you can believe it, now came out over 11 years ago. So head on over to the Movies For Every Month page to read more about the theme, and click here for the full list of ten romantic films to sweep you off your feet this month. Happy Valentine's Day!
'Mad Max' and 'Revenant' Win ADG Awards
The art directors guild bestowed its top production design awards to Mad Max, The Revenant and The Martian, leaving no real clues where Oscar will go in this category, since it was thought to be between The Revenant and Mad Max anyway. My guess is Mad Max, since Revenant is mostly natural locations and less actual production design- but if they adhere to that description than frankly, Bridge of Spies and Carol were robbed for this. We'll have to see what Bafta chooses for this one.
- Best Production Design- Period: The Revenant
- Best Production Design-Contemporary: The Martian
- Best Production Design-Fantasy: Mad Max: Fury Road
BOX OFFICE 1/29-1/31: 'Kung Fu Panda 3' Injects Some Life Into the Box Office
The third Kung Fu Panda movie opened below its predecessors but still scored the biggest weekend of 2016 so far. The kids movie earned 41 million from Friday to Sunday and an "A" Cinemscore, as there's not a lot else in theaters for the family audience at the moment. It managed to crush the other new releases, one of which was Disney's The Finest Hours, which earned just 10 million for fourth place, while the Marlon Wayans' spoof Fifty Shades of Black fell flat as well with only 6 million. The biggest flop though, belonged to Natalie Portman's long-delayed western Jane Got a Gun, which made just 803k in 1200 locations, for an average of 664 dollars per theater. Yikes.
Meanwhile, the holdovers continue to stay the course, with The Revenant earning another 12 million for a 138 million total, as Leo continues to cruise towards his inevitable Oscar win, and Star Wars made another 10 million this weekend for an 895 million total, well on its way to the landmark 900 million domestic gross. Globally it's getting closer to 2 billion, but still behind Avatar and Titanic, worldwide. Ride Along 2 rounded out the top five, bringing its total to 70 million domestic.
Top 5:
- Kung Fu Panda 3- 41 million
- The Revenant- 12.4 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- 10.8 million
- The Finest Hours- 10.3 million
- Ride Along 2- 8.3 millon
In limited release, there's not a lot to report, except for the various Oscar nominees' respective totals. Spotlight is at 34 million, while Brooklyn is chasing its total, having just crossed 30 million. Room has doubled its gross since the nominations, having now gotten to 9 million total, and The Big Short crossed 60 million this weekend. Next week sees the release of Hail, Caesar and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so tune in then- but of course it's Super Bowl weekend as well, so the box office might be down for another reason.
