This is one of those tearjerker mystery movies about a kid who cheats death and a doctor who goes Inception on him to find out the truth in the kid's unconscious mind. Super cheesy, I know. When will Jamie Dornan get to finally be in a good movie? He was SO good on that show The Fall, with Gillian Anderson and he's getting stuck in the 50 Shades of Grey movies and now this. Too bad.
See the Second Look at 'Bridget Jones's Baby'
I wonder if there will be any interest in this movie when it comes out in September. It actually doesn't look AS bad as that second one did, but come on. Choosing between Patrick Dempsey and Colin Firth? And I hate to say this, but...I don't totally buy that Bridget could just get pregnant by accident with her first child in her late forties. I guess it happens sometimes, but that's extremely uncommon, especially with your first baby. As a premise, it's a little bit distracting, actually.
Kate Mara in the Trailer for Sci-Fi 'Morgan'
This looks a little more interesting from today's batch of new trailers, a sci-fi/horror flick that's the directorial debut of Ridley Scott's son Luke. Actually, it looks kinda reminiscent of Ex Machina, with Anya Taylor-Joy, from The Witch, playing the human-esque creature who goes nuts on everyone after being experimented on. The release date of September 2nd is questionable though- usually if a studio thinks it's got something good that's not the best spot to place it in, so obviously Fox is unsure about this one. But it caught my attention.
Maria Bello Stars in Horror Movie 'Lights Out'
With Don't Breathe and now Lights Out, it looks like there's a new trend in horror movies for really simple concepts easy to fill with jump scares. It doesn't look too bad, but I'm just not much of a fan of this James Wan style of horror, which seems to me to be mostly packed with false starts, followed by things constantly jumping out at you from the side of the room, around the corner, etc. There are other ways to do horror, but I guess not for mainstream audiences right now.
New 'Star Trek Beyond' Trailer Debuts Rihanna Song
Just when I was happy that the trailers for this were getting better, they decide to release a third one with a new Rihanna song attached to it. Is a Star Trek movie really the best place to do that? Is this song in the movie? Clearly Paramount is confused who the audience is for this and is just trying to attract a younger crowd, but come on. Aside from that oddity, this still looks better, but I'm weary. Not that it matters of course. For this one I'll be there it even if it sucks.
BOX OFFICE 6/24-6/26: 'Dory' Crushes 'Independence Day'
The 20-years-later sequel to the '96 hit Independence Day turned out to be kind of a bust this weekend, with critics and audiences, as it opened with just 41 million and a lowly "B" Cinemascore, after getting savaged by critics on Friday. It joins the ranks of 2016's sequels no one asked for, while last year's winner Finding Dory continued to dominate, pulling in 73 million and now on track to be Disney's highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grosser of the year, period. It has 286 million in the can already and looks well on its way to surpass The Jungle Book, Zootopia and Captain American: Civil War, possibly headed for a stunning 500 million finish.
Meanwhile, Blake Lively's B-movie The Shallows, did better than expected, coming in with 16 million for the weekend, on top of decent reviews as well, and could hold up in the coming weeks as fun counter-programming of sorts, with not much else out to compete for its audience. Central Intelligence held well, with another 18 million, bringing the new total to 69 million and a likely 100 million grosser for Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, while newbie Free State of Jones rounded out the top five with just 7 million, a disappointing open for Matthew McConaughey's first starring wide release since Interstellar.
Top 5:
- Finding Dory- 73.2 million
- Independence Day: Resurgence- 41.6 million
- Central Intelligence- 18.4 million
- The Shallows- 16.7 million
- Free State of Jones- 7.8 million
Nicholas Winding Refn's Neon Demon flopped hard in release this week, opening in over 780 screens with a pitiful PTA of 775 dollars. Why on earth they put that movie out in relatively wide release is anyone's guess. And the Daniel Radcliffe "farting corpse" Sundance movie Swiss Army Man actually made about 114k from just three screens, so I guess you can probably attribute that to curiosity more than anything else, because it certainly did not get great reviews. Next week it's the 4th of July holiday, with Spielberg's The BFG and The Legend of Tarzan opening, neither of which are expected to break out exactly, so that's good news for the continued reign of Finding Dory. It's been a pretty dismal summer for movies thus far. I just hope maybe Star Trek or Bourne can break the mold in July.
Trailer for Ewan McGregor's Directorial Debut 'American Pastoral'
Even though this is McGregor's first film, it actually looks kind of intriguing. Although, perhaps I'm being fooled by the music in the trailer. Based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Philip Roth, it's about a man conflicted by the turmoil of the late 60's and 70's, and it looks like Dakota Fanning is playing his activist teenage daughter here. May be one to keep an eye on.
Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot are Crazy Neighbors in 'Keeping Up With the Joneses'
I love Jon Hamm, but I gotta be honest- this Neighbors meets True Lies ripoff looks pretty terrible. Actually, watching this trailer, what concerns me most is Gal Gadot, not so much because of whatever she's doing in this movie, but because if this is a better look at her acting ability than Batman v Superman gave us....oh boy, is Wonder Woman in trouble. Seriously, can this woman act at all? Yikes.
Tom Hanks on a New Quest in 'Inferno' Trailer
A longer look at this movie actually makes it look worse than the first trailer did. Is it more or does this remind anyone of some crazy episode of a procedural CBS show or something? Or an even more low rent version of National Treasure, but without the benefit of the special Nic Cage brand of crazy. Yeah, this looks pretty boring.
'Star Wars' Leads the Saturn Awards Winners
Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues its roll in the genre and people's choice awards shows, picking up eight prizes from the Academy of Sci-Fi/Horror last night. Some of these other winners are pretty suspect though- I mean, Harrison Ford for Best Actor and Costumes for Age of Ultron? Really?
Best Science Fiction Film: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture: Ant-Man
Best Fantasy Film: Cinderella
Best Horror Film: Crimson Peak
Best Action/Adventure Film: Furious 7
Best Thriller Film: Bridge of Spies
Best International Film: Turbo Kid
Best Animated Film: Inside Out
Best Independent Film: Room
Best Actor: Harrison Ford, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Actress: Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Supporting Actor: Adam Driver, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Crimson Peak
Best Performance by a Younger Actor: Ty Simpkins, Jurassic World
Best Director: Ridley Scott, The Martian
Best Writing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Production Design: Crimson Peak
Best Editing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Music: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Costume: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Best Make-Up: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Special Effects: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Nat Turner Rises in New Trailer for 'The Birth of a Nation'
Nate Parker's Oscar contender is out with a new trailer today, one that gives you much more of the story and heavily emphasizes the religious roots behind Nat Turner's slave rebellion in the 1800's. This is expected to be a major awards player already, but the initial reaction to it in Sundance was very positive, so I expect it to get good reviews when it comes out in October as well.
Shia LeBeouf in the Cannes hit 'American Honey'
It's probably a stretch to call this a "hit," as it actually got mixed reception in Cannes. The reaction was apparently very divisive, with some critics loving it and others hating it. It's a three hour epic about lost youth and from this trailer I can tell it's going to have a lot of montages of partying, drug use, etc. One of those. The director is Andrea Arnold though, who made one of my favorite films of the last decade, Fish Tank, so there may some good stuff mixed in there with the overindulgent.