Movies Opening in Connecticut – Weekend of June 14, 2013

Only two major releases this weekend as we hit June’s mid-point. One is a presumed blockbuster and the other a wise counterprogramming move:

Man Of Steel - (RT: 59%, MC: 55%) Following 2006′s forgettable Superman Returns…Superman, uh, returns with this franchise reboot.  Brit Henry Cavill steps into the tights this time out surrounded by an impressive supporting cast including Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner.  Christopher Nolan and David Goyer (The Dark Knight, Batman Begins) write and produce while Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) directs.

Despite Snyder’s less-than-encouraging resume, the first two trailers for this were exceptional.  Unfortunately, general consensus from the non-geek press is iffy. While the film is earning high marks for Cavill’s performance, the effects and general scope: the screenplay and all-too-serious tone are taking a beating.  ”Joyless” is a word commonly used.

While Snyder has succeeded in raising the bar on scale, he’s apparently failed to make it interesting.  The hour-long climax reportedly becomes tedious as CGI Cavill and Shannon endlessly battle through the streets of Metropolis killing thousands*.  

The film is vital to Warner Brothers’ superhero franchise roadmap so it’s going to be fascinating to watch this weekend’s box-office unfold. Personal interest factor: 6

This is the End – (RT: 83%, MC: 67%) Superbad/Pineapple Express writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg make their directorial debut with this well-reviewed, although almost offensively cheap-looking, end of the world comedy.  The all-star cast includes Rogen, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson and a horde of cameos (including Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Paul Rudd, etc).  Should be a safe bet.  The film had a strong opening on Wednesday and should enjoy a healthy run until The Heat opens on June 28th.  Personal interest factor: 9

Also opening:

Wish You Were Here:  Some “white people get into trouble abroad” picture.  I phased out within the first 30 seconds of the trailer and still don’t quite understand what it’s about.  Maybe it’s good, I’ll never know.  Personal interest factor: What was I talking about again?

For classic fare: The Criterion in New Haven is running the James Bond adventure Goldfinger (1964) and Ghostbusters (1984) Friday-Sunday.

Yale is running a retrospective,”The Documentaries of Spike Lee and Sam Pollard”, starting Friday with the filmmakers in attendance.  Screenings include: 4 Little Girls (followed by a Q&A w/ Sam Pollard), If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise (Q&A with “A panel of scholars and documentary filmmakers”), Bad 25 (Q&A with Spike Lee) and Slavery by Another Name (Q&A w/ Pollard).  The full schedule can be found here.

*Many note that Superman makes no attempt to stop the battle or actually save people (ala the Enterprise crew’s reaction to the destruction of San Francisco in Star Trek Into Darkness).  Is casual indifference to the loss of human life a trend this year?

Movies Opening in Connecticut – Weekend of May 31, 2013

After back-to-back mega-budget tentpoles throughout the month of May: we wind down with Oblivion, er After Earth, the Summer’s second “Scientologists exploring a future Earth ravaged by disaster” picture. Jaden and Will Smith star for M. Night Shyamalan (The Happening, The Last Airbender) in what appears to be a straight director-for-hire gig . Critics are savaging the film, which probably shouldn’t be much of a surprise given the talent involved.

Louis Leterrier’s (The Incredible Hulk, Unleashed) magic caper film, Now You See Me, is the weekend’s only other release. Little to no buzz on this one despite a somewhat intriguing trailer.

Once upon a time I thought Leterrier was a talent to watch, but that was before his catastrophic 2010 Clash of the Titans remake. The greatest question about this feature,which reunites Zombieland‘s Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, is how the hell it ended up in a May release slot. It’s sure to be trampled by the competition and quickly forgotten.

Also opening:

Francis Ha (RT: 91%, MC: 81%): Terrific-sounding Noah Baumbach indie.

For classic fare: The Criterion in New Haven is running the James Bond adventure Dr. No (1962) and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980)

Movies Opening in Connecticut – Weekend of April 19, 2013

With two weeks remaining until the kick-off of the Summer movie season: the studios continue to unload a few remaining features that aren’t competitive enough to survive prime time.

The weekend’s major new release is Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi picture Oblivion (RT: 58%, MC: 54%).  The film stars Tom Cruise as a technician working to salvage resources on a post-apocalyptic Earth who discovers an unsettling truth about his situation.

Critics are universally hailing the film’s visuals, but are less enthused by the film’s mash-up of story lines from classic genre pictures (Wall-E and Total Recall being the most obvious).  Tracking is iffy and exhibitors polled at CinemaCon this week expressed little enthusiasm, particularly in comparison to May’s roster of blockbuster sequels.  While the general public perception of Tom Cruise has rebounded nicely post-Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, theaters owners remain skittish and his presence was cited as their #1 concern regarding Oblivion‘s domestic prospects.

Still, with a 61M international bow last week: the studio should enjoy a modest hit overall.

Also opening:

The Lords of Salem  (RT: 43%, 60%):  Rob Zombie horror film.

No Place on Earth  (RT: 76%, MC: 67%):  History Channel-produced Holocaust documentary scoring a theatrical release in advance of it’s television premiere.  General consensus: fascinating subject, average filmmaking.

Gimme the Loot (RT: 95%, MC: 82%): Comedy about a gang of Brooklyn graffiti artists who plot to tag The Mets’ homerun apple.  ”Presented by Jonathan Demme”.  Solid reviews.

For classic fare: The Criterion in New Haven is running Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry (1955) and Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers (1997) Fri-Sun.

Yale’s 8th Annual Festival of New Italian Cinema continues through Sunday at The Whitney Humanities Center.  Weekend screenings include 2012′s Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die); 2011′s Habemus papam (We Have a Pope) and Italy, Love It or Leave It; and Io Sono Li (Shun Li and the Poet) from 2009.  Screenings are open to the public and tickets are available online via Eventbrite.

Oldboy remake poster in the wild

Cool poster for Spike Lee’s upcoming remake of Park Chan-Wook’s Oldboy (FilmDistrict, October 11th).   I’ve long wondered how they’re going to market this thing so it’s nice to get a taste.  Imagine a trailer should arrive in the next month or so.

(Via Collider)

Movies Opening in Connecticut – Weekend of March 8, 2013

One major studio release this weekend and a whole bunch of random indies that are unlikely to make waves.

Oz: The Great and Powerful (RT: 56%, MC: 45%): Disney’s Spring tentpole, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz.  Directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, A Simple Plan, Evil Dead) and starring James Franco, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.  Reviews appear to be decent, although it sounds like it loses steam in the second half.  Tracking indicates a significantly stronger showing that last week’s disastrous Jack The Giant Slayer, which is certainly good news for the 200M film.

Dead Man Down (RT: 40%, MC: 42%): Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace co-star in this glossy, B-grade suspense thriller from director Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).  I have to say I’m fairly shocked this is a wide release.  There’s no real hook, Farrell has proven time and time again that he can not open a picture and Oplev’s unremarkable skills seem better suited for television crime procedurals (which he’s been doing for CBS) rather than full-fledged motion pictures.  Anyway, I can’t imagine there’s any reason to see this theatrically.

Emperor (RT: 35%, MC: 45%):  Tommy Lee Jones / Matthew Fox WWII drama that somehow landed a (contractually obligated?) theatrical release.  Roadside Attractions is the distributor so look for this on Netflix streaming in, at most, a few months.

The Monk (Le Moine) (RT: 66%, MC: 62% ): Gothic horror picture starring Vincent Cassel.  I read the description several times and still couldn’t grasp what it’s about. Something involving monks and a mysterious stranger who leads them into temptation (spoiler: almost certainly the devil or something).  Enjoy.

The Gatekeepers (Shomerei Ha’Saf) (RT: 93%, MC: 90%):  Documentary about Israel’s Secret Service.

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (RT: 88%, MC: 74%): Werner Herzog documentary about inhabitants of the Siberian wilderness.

For classic fare: The Criterion in New Haven is running Dark Victory (1939) starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart and Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein (1974) Fri-Sun.

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Movies Opening in Connecticut – Weekend of March 1, 2013

March and April begins the pre-Summer box-office season: a collection of studio releases that aren’t capable of opening up over the Holidays or May-August timeframe out of fear of being lost in a crowded marketplace (due to lack of quality, marketability or audience appeal).

Bryan Singer’s fantasy epic Jack the Giant Slayer(RT: 49%, MC: 51) is the only major release this week and is pretty much the epitome of a Spring tentpole release. Originally scheduled to go toe-to-toe with things like Snow White and the Huntsman and Brave last June, Warner Brothers moved the film into an fairly-uncompetitive* March 1 berth.

I can’t imagine that the studio is expecting this to launch a franchise or anything at this point. This has had the stench of damaged goods around it for well over a year and Singer’s immediate retreat to the safe harbor of X-Men sequels is probably telling. Box office-wise this could be a surprise like Alice in Wonderland or another Eragon. Lord knows.

Nicholas Hoult, fresh off the success of Warm Bodies, leads his first big-budget blockbuster. I was very impressed with his work as a child actor, but I’m really not feeling the guy as an adult lead. He seems like a taller, blander, Twink-ier ersion of Elijah Wood, whose career now involves direct-to-video erotic thrillers with Sasha Gray. The presence of Ewan McGregor as the film’s alpha male would typically be worrisome, but advanced word is that he’s one of it’s more enjoyable elements. Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane and Eleanor Tomlinson co-star.

Also opening:

Masquerade (RT: 100%, MC: n/a): South Korean mega-hit costume drama from Chang-min Choo (Late Blossom, Lost in Love). I’ve never heard of it. Any good?

The Last Exorcism 2 (RT: n/a, MC: 63%): Eli Roth-produced horror sequel.

21 and Over (RT: 28%, MC: 37%): Project X-capitalizing comedy “From the writers of The Hangover”. No.

For classic fare: The Criterion in New Haven is running the soapy Bette Davis/Claude Rains drama Now Voyager (1942) and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) Fri-Sun. Yale’s Whitney Humanities Center has a screening of La Dolce Vita (1960) open to the public on Saturday.

*I’m a little confused as to why they didn’t go February 21, as it would have bought them a full two weeks before the similar (and similarly-questionable) OZ: The Great and Powerful opens and consumes much of it’s audience.

About time…for a return trip to the CONGO

Universal announces tons of sequels. No word on continuation of ‘Battleship’ saga

Universal is promising more Bourne pictures, a Kristen Stewart-starring Snow White and the Huntsman follow-up along with sequels to Identity Thief, Mama and The Fast and the Furious as the studio continues to focus on franchise-building:

http://moviehole.net/201362145universal-chief-on-identity-thief-2-bourne-5-snow-white-2-50-shades-of-grey-van-helsing

Oddly, not a peep on Jurassic Park 4 – which comes out in a year and change despite not having a director, cast or start date.

Also – where is news on the Battleship quadrilogy?! Audiences MUST* know what happens next to the boring guy from all those bombs last year, random hot blonde girl, black Oscar Pistorius and Rihanna.  At the very least, I want a prequel titled Battleship: B4.

Via Moviehole

* Must!

Jumping the gun a little

Do not understand apology

Newtown

HAGEBOC 12 – Week 2 – November 30 – December 2, 2012

Predict the #1 film for the weekend of November 30 – December 2, 2012. The one who predicts closest to the total Friday to Sunday gross for the #1 film wins 4 points. Runner-up gains 2 points. Predicting within half a million earns 2 extra points.

Bonus 1:
Will Killing Them Softly earn more or less than 11M in the Fri-Sun timeframe?

Bonus 2:
What will the #2 film of the weekend be?

Bonus 3:
Will Red Dawn fall over or under 67% in it’s second weekend?

Bonus 4:

Create a banner for the contest. The winning entry will score 1 point AND one 12-hour extension on a deadline!

Deadline is THURSDAY (not Wednesday, sorry about that!) 11:59 pm EST. Good luck!

SCORES
Jackrabbit Slim – 5
Joe – 2.5
Rob – 2
Filmman – .5
James – .5
Juan -

HAGEBOC 12 – Week 1 – November 23-25, 2012

Welcome back!

Predict the #1 film for the weekend of November 23-25, 2012. The one who predicts closest to the total Friday to Sunday gross for the #1 film wins 4 points. Runner-up gains 2 points. Predicting within half a million earns 2 extra points. Remember: Wednesday and Thursday’s grosses ARE NOT counted!

Bonus 1:
Will Red Dawn earn more or less than 7M in the Fri-Sun timeframe?

Bonus 2:
What will the #2 film of the weekend be?

Bonus 3:
Create a banner for the contest. The winning entry will score 1 point AND one 12-hour extension on a deadline!

Deadline is Wednesday at 11:59 pm EST. Good luck!

SCORES
Rob – 1.5 points – Winner: 1 point for winning warm-up round + 1/2 point awarded for Bonus
Jackrabbit Slim – Winner: 12-hour extension of deadline awarded for Bonus

Pre-HAGEBOC 2012 Thread: ‘Twilight’ Edition!

While HAGEBOC will officially begin next week, someone (Brian?) noted that Twilight opens in a few days.  Since the film is bound to put up some record-breaking numbers, let’s kick off the contest with a quick single-point preliminary round:

1) What will Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 earn the weekend of November 16th-18th? 

BONUS:  
What will Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 earn during it’s Midnight showings on Friday, November 16th?  

In an HAGEBOC first – the person closest to the actual total gets their choice of bonus:

1) 1/2 point
2) One extension on a missed deadline, up to 12 hours.
3) The ability to take away 1/2 point from a competitor of their choice at any point in the contest.

Deadline is Thursday at 11:59 PM EST.