Comic-Con of course brought us some big time trailers this weekend, one of which is the much anticipated Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot as the titular iconic heroine in her first ever feature film. So what do you think? I'm only gonna say a couple of things. One, I don't trust any single DC movie until they get rid of Zack Snyder from any trace of the production, and I know that his fingerprints are all over this one, including the screenplay. So there's a red flag. Two, I am pretty mortified by Gal Gadot's acting here, but acting is less of a problem for superheroes than not having a screen presence. And she looks to be entirely missing that last part, which is crucial. I mean, that beach scene with Chris Pine? Man, that looks bad. Finally, I see a lot of self-serious slo-mo action in this, another Snyder stamp, and frankly, Wonder Woman as a violent WWI-era actioner makes no sense to me whatsoever. So I'm not very optimistic about this movie- I know some people think it looks great, but I have serious doubts. And I HATE that horrible, god awful theme music they're bringing over from her appearance in Batman v Superman. WHY??? I also really don't like her costume. This is just not the Wonder Woman movie I would have wanted to see.
Baby 'Moana' Introduced in New International Teaser
This gives us a slightly more intriguing look at Disney's Moana, which is coming out this November. Looks better than that other teaser did, and the water effects here are cool. I think more focus on the latest Disney princess is a better move than showcasing whoever the Rock is voicing, like the last one did.
Garry Marshall 1934-2016
Film and television titan Garry Marshall has passed away last night at the age of 82. He was an actor, director, producer and writer of some the most beloved movies and television shows of the last century. He started out as a joke writer for comedians on television in the 1950's, before going on to become a writer for shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Danny Thomas Show and The Lucy Show. He eventually created the sitcom Happy Days and its spin-offs Laverne and Shirley and Mork and Mindy (this after discovering Robin Williams) developed Neil Simon's The Odd Couple for television, and then went on to direct many notable films in the 1980's up to today, including The Flamingo Kid, Nothing in Common, Beaches, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride and The Princess Diaries. His most recent was Mother's Day, again starring his longtime friend Julia Roberts, who became a megastar thanks to his Pretty Woman. He also acted himself in many movies and television shows, going all the way back to the 1950's, including a recurring role on Murphy Brown in the 90's, voice acting on The Simpsons, and most recently guest appearances on shows like Louie and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. His contributions to pop culture and entertainment were enormous and continue to live on to this day.
Full Trailer for 'Magnificent Seven' Shows Off Diverse Cast
I though the first look at this was extremely generic, but this new one looks a little more intriguing. I do like the diverse casting part of it, and it doesn't look like it's inviting comparison to any past versions at all, which is always a wise move. Then again, like Girl on a Train, this is being helmed by a director of only average style or talent in Antoine Fuqua, so the original generic feel may be right on the money. Coincidentally, also like Girl on a Train, this movie has the JLaw clone again, this time with red hair instead of blonde. Odd.
Steamy New Trailer for 'Girl on a Train' Drops
I think I've said before that Emily Blunt pretty much does nothing for me, and I still don't get it even as this trailer tries its hardest to show off any potential Oscar moments she might have. The whole thing looks like a low rent Gone Girl, which, let's face it, was kinda low rent material to begin with, only elevated by David Fincher's Hitchock-ian directing style. I don't think we'll be saying the same for Tate Taylor, director of The Help. I'm also kind of distracted by this JLaw lookalike playing the murder victim. Anyone else see the clone-ish resemblance there?
BOX OFFICE 7/15-7/17: 'Ghostbusters' Comes in Second to 'Pets'
So the long-awaited all female reboot of Ghostbusters finally arrives, and overall the reviews were in the "kinda okay" range and the box office results turned out similarly. Now ordinarily I would say a 46 million dollar opening for a comedy is quite good, in fact it's Melissa McCarthy's best opening, who comes with a fanbase that tends to turn out for all of her movies. But with this one, the budget happened to be a much higher than usual 144 million, which makes this opening more along the lines of just "alright." Still, it's the highest opening for a comedy since last year's Pitch Perfect 2 opened with 69 million. With a "B+"Cinemascore, it's hard to tell if it will have lasting power like McCarthy's Spy or The Heat, so we'll just have to see if it holds on in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Secret Life of Pets repeated at No. 1 with another 50 million, bringing its total to 203 million, and Tarzan hung on in third, allowing it to cross the domestic mark of 100 million, much to the studio's surprise, although it won't recoup its massive production budget either. Finding Dory dropped to fourth with a new domestic haul of 445 million, while Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates rounded out the top five, dropping 55 percent since last week.
Top 5:
- The Secret Life of Pets- 50.6 million
- Ghostbusters- 46 million
- The Legend of Tarzan- 11.1 million
- Finding Dory- 11 million
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates- 7.5 million
In limited release, Woody Allen's Cafe Society posted the biggest PTA of the year, earning 355k from 5 locations for an average of 71k, proving the director's older audience is still out there waiting for something to go see. Next week it's Star Trek Beyond and the horror release Lights Out, both of which are surprising with very positive critical reception so far, so we'll see if they can break out. See you then.
'Birth of a Nation' Gets a Provocative New Poster
This one's bound to raise some eyebrows, don't you think? This movie by the way, about the infamous Nat Turner slave rebellion in the 1800's has never felt more timely and seems destined to generate a lot of discussion come October, given the unrest that's been going on in the country in recent weeks/months.
Hailee Steinfeld Stars in Coming of Age Comedy 'Edge of Seventeen'
Hailee Steinfeld's been plugging away ever since True Grit in various teenage roles, and now she stars in this one from first time director Kelly Fremon, which is said to be kind of inspired by John Hughes films from the 1980's. She looks fine, but the movie just looks a bit too cute for its own good, or maybe that's the Woody Harrelson character alone. Blake Jenner is actually in this too, which...ick. It comes out on September 30th.
New Poster and Footage Debut for 'Rogue One'
Given the reports of re-shoots going on with this film after studio execs reportedly prefer that the Gareth Edwards directed early cut they saw resemble JJ Abrams' Force Awakens more, I wasn't sure what to think about how this one will turn out. But this new footage looks...interesting, I suppose? Supposedly we're getting looks at Darth Vader and a young Han Solo in it, which...of course we are. Can't let any of these films stand completely on their own, can we? Even the supposed spinoff ones. Felicity Jones gets another awkward line of dialogue, or maybe she just delivers these lines in an odd manner. I didn't think the super self-serious style of the director of the most recent Godzilla movie would be a great match for the Star Wars universe anyway, so it doesn't surprise me if Disney wants what will make them another 2 billion or whatever it is the last one made. The tone here certainly resembles more of a war film.
Poster:
Warren Beatty Returns to the Screen in 'Rules Don't Apply'
Warren Beatty hasn't directed a movie since 1998's Bulworth, and he's been wanting to do this film about Howard Hughes for something like 25 years. I never thought it would actually get made, but lo and behold, here's the trailer. It looks a bit rough, but...well, yeah it just looks rough. But if a guy who hasn't made a movie in almost two decades can come back not rusty it'd be amazing, right? We'll see I guess.
Sundance Movie 'White Girl' Gets a Trailer
This one on the other hand, will come nowhere near Oscars, as it mostly looks like an exploitative film about teens and drugs in the vein of 1995's Kids, as it was compared to at Sundance. If the white girl in question looks familiar, it's because she was demon spawn Dana Brody on Homeland. I know it's not fair to hold grudges against actors for characters you absolutely despised, but I can't help it- no offense to Morgan Saylor but when I saw that it was her in this, I cringed. I will not be keeping an eye for this movie.
Oscar Season Kicks Off With Trailer for 'Loving'
Speaking of Oscar contenders, here's one sure to be in the race, at least for acting. Jeff Nichols directs this drama about the couple whose marriage ended up going all the way to the Supreme Court in 1967, when the court finally struck down the remaining bans in southern states against interracial marriage in the famed Loving v Virginia decision. Ruth Negga, known to me from Agents of SHIELD of all things, is said to be the big standout in this, which premiered at Cannes to respectable, if not ecstatic, reviews. Nichols is kind of a muted director overall, in my opinion, so that kind of reaction isn't surprising to me, but you can tell from this that Negga and Edgerton brought their A-game. Be on the lookout for it when it comes out in November.
