Eh. Still not into it. The first Neighbors was just okay, and to me this one looks to be doubling down on the problem with Rose Byrne in the first movie, which is the idea that girls can be fun, but only by being exactly like boys and doing what they want them to do. Let's be honest- sororities are different from fraternities. They might have just as bad behavior, but in totally different ways, because girls are different. But this is a Seth Rogen movie, so of course they just want to redo the first one. Meh.
Felicity Jones Gears Up in 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Teaser
Here we go with the now annual Star Wars hype. This time it's The Theory of Everything's Felicity Jones in the lead, as we see what went down with the building of the original Death Star before the first Star Wars movie in 1977. I think this doesn't look bad, but I have a couple of nitpicks, as is inevitable and kinda part of the ritual for anything SW-related these days, and why not? The material no longer belongs to George Lucas, but to the general public, and since the films are now being driven by fan fiction, it's my turn to chime in. One, why does everyone in the Star Wars universe now have british accents all of a sudden? Do they think that makes everything look and sound more "serious"? And two, if this Jyn Erso character turns out to be Rey's mother, as I'm almost certain is going to happen, I really really hope Luke is not her dad, because I HATE the idea of him having had a totally offscreen, but apparently very important, relationship that we were never privy to. Other than that, this one was directed by Godzilla's Gareth Edwards, so if anything, I'm sure it's going to be more visually stylish than The Force Awakens. And by the way, that IS actually Genevieve O'Reilly reprising her role as Mon Mothma, apparently with the aide of the same tech that was used to put Michael Douglas's 1980's face back on his head in Ant-Man. Oh god. They're not going to do that for Luke with Mark Hamill, are they?
Mark Rylance is a Giant in 'The BFG' Trailer
I don't quite know what to think of this movie, since I never read the Roald Dahl book it's based on. And Spielberg hasn't done a family film in a long time, so who knows how this one could turn out. But with a screenplay from the late Melissa Mathison, there's some hope that it could end up being worthwhile, as long as they get the CGI rendered giants right. Newly minted Oscar winner Mark Rylance takes on the key role of the giant here, and the movie's coming out July 1st. Here's hoping.
BOX OFFICE 4/01-4/03: 'Batman v Superman' Plummets 68% but Stays on Top
So, even though BvS stayed in first place in its second weekend in theaters, the big story is the 68 percent drop-off from the week before, which indicates toxic word-of-mouth, as was expected after poor reviews and a not so great Cinemascore from audiences. It fell further than Man of Steel did three years ago, and with pretty much zero competition to boot. Audiences are clearly indifferent to this superhero team-up at best, and even though it's grossed 681 million worldwide at this point, the staggering 82 percent drop-off in China of all places, probably has the studio more concerned than anything else. There's some question as to whether it reaches 1 billion globally now, which is what it needed to be profitable, given the budget. I wish the movie had been an even worse failure to ensure that WB changes course and fires the director, but I guess the brand name of the superheroes is bulletproof as far as initial interest is concerned. Still, if money is the bottom line, as it always is for the studios, they should at least be aware by now that if the movie had actually been any good, they could have easily made more. A lot more.
On the other hand, Zootopia has exhibited tremendous staying power in second place, falling a teeny 16 percent from last week and bringing in another 20 million, for a 275 million domestic total, and 787 million worldwide at this point. With Japan being the last international market for it to open in, there's a chance the well received Disney film could cross that billion dollar mark. As it is, it will be only the tenth animated film to make more than 300 million in the U.S. The rest of the top five was filled out by My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which held nicely from last week, the new release God's Not Dead 2, which disappointed with 8 million, and the other faith based movie Miracles From Heaven, which is holding up well and is now at 46 million total.
Top 5:
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice- 52.4 million
- Zootopia- 20 million
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2- 11.1 million
- God's Not Dead 2- 8.1 million
- Miracles From Heaven- 7.6 million
In limited release, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some opened in 19 theaters, earning 323k for the weekend and scoring a PTA of 17k, which is decent enough, while Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, opened on 4 screens for a strong PTA of 30k. Next week it's Melissa McCarthy's new comedy The Boss against the actioner Hardcore Henry, both opening in wide release. We'll see, but I think it's possible McCarthy's fanbase can get The Boss to take first place away from Batman/Superman, especially if it continues its steep fall.
10 Side-Splitting Comedies for April Fool's Day
April 1st may be the day where you can't believe anything you read on the internet, but my list of favorite comedies is the exception to the rule. You can definitely trust this one. I use this holiday to celebrate raucous comedies for the entire month, not just one day, and so you can go to our Movies For Every Month page to read about what I think makes a classic comedy. The list includes Tootsie, A Fish Called Wanda, His Girl Friday, Office Space, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Ghostbusters, just to name a few. Then head over to the April movie page to see the complete list of my ten all time faves, with the original trailers, to sit back and laugh with all month long. Happy April Fools everyone!
Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt Voice Act in Red Band Trailer for 'Nerdland'
Hmmm. Are animated movies for adults making a comeback? First Sausage Party and now this movie, the style of which resembles something more akin to the old Beavis and Butthead cartoons than the dominant CGI style of today. But at least it's something different. Who knows- maybe it could be good.
Jonah Hill and Miles Teller in Trailer for 'War Dogs'
Ugh. This is obviously another movie about insufferable assholes acting insufferably, with a whole Wolf of Wall Street vibe, but for gun runners instead. Lovely. But frankly, it really doesn't help matters that this movie is starring two actors who tend to give off that vibe in real life as well. I don't know who would want to sit through this one.
Emilia Clarke Stars in 'Me Before You'
So, I'm guessing this is Britain's version of a Nicholas Sparks adaptation? Sure looks like it, with all the requisite tearjerker elements included. I'm iffy on Emilia Clarke's acting skills, but she looks alright here, and I figured she was going to try to break out from Game of Thrones eventually. The cheese factor looks dialed up to eleven though, doesn't it?
Surprise Second Teaser for 'The LEGO Batman Movie' Pops Up
Looks like the marketing campaign for this one is already in full force, with a surprise second teaser being released in the same week. The jokes and the references to the live action movies are already reflective of the hyper self aware humor in the social media/meme era we live in- I'm sure people are going to go nuts for this the same as they did for the last one and Deadpool and other movies of a similar ilk lately.
Patty Duke 1946-2016
Oscar winner Patty Duke has died at the age of 69, passing away from a ruptured intestine. The actress won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16 for her performance as Helen Keller in 1962's The Miracle Worker, a role she originated on Broadway, before going on to become the star of The Patty Duke Show, which ran from 1963 to 1966. She continued to act in films and television, earned 10 Emmy nominations and three Emmy awards, and served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988. She was also a longtime advocate for mental health, after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. She is survived by her sons Sean and MacKenzie Astin, both actors in their own right, her other son Kevin Pearce, and her three granddaughers.
More Harley Quinn and the Joker in International 'Suicide Squad' Trailer
Rumor has it WB execs are currently in the editing room with this movie as we speak, frantically trying to get it to match the tone of the more recent trailers, which are apparently popular because of Bohemian Rhapsody, in my opinion. Early footage indicated it was more of the same, dour, depressing DC universe crap and not the Guardians of the Galaxy rip-off the new trailers implied, so it looks like we may be in for another cobbled together mess, potentially. Can't wait.
Alice Goes on a Wild Ride in New 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' Trailer
Based on the teasers for this movie, I couldn't tell if this really looked better than the first one, which was awful, or if it was just that Jefferson Airplane classic fooling everyone into thinking what you're watching is actually cool. From this new trailer I'm tending to think it might be the latter. Looks like kind of a mess.
