2015 In Film

[INDYjon22]

Can I just state how excited I am for Jurassic World!?! I don't mark out often, but with each day bringing me closer and closer to the release date I can't help but nerd out a little bit. Lets examine the interesting pieces this film already possesses, based on the trailer:

Cooperative velociraptor study- First off we have the cooperative velociraptor study that is shown prominently throughout any trailer you see. Chris Pratt working with and alongside raptors. They have long been the antagonists of this series, but now we get to see what they are capable of from the other side. It's an interesting angle to take with what is probably the second most popular dinosaur in the franchise.

Predator X- Predator X is the single most ferocious sea creature of all time. Crocodile head, pleasiosaur body. Eat it Megalodon. Just the cameo of this beast in the trailer gets me excited.

Crossbred Hybrid Antagonist- The big bad is some hybrid dinosaur, seemingly it is T-Rex merged with something else, my guess is the Spinosaur. This concept could get a little messy, but I am excited to see what they come up with, good or bad.

The park is finally open- Lastly, THE PARK IS OPEN! Visitors, concessions, balloons, the whole shabang. Jaws 3 pops up in my mind, but this is so much better. The rides were talked about in the first book, i.e. Predator X tank, the interactive car tracks, the pterodactyl birdcage. The little kid in me really looks forward to seeing what I could theoretically ride if such a place truly existed.

The fanboy in me is too excited for this film and I really help it pans out. But, this is a film for the fans, which will hopefully jumpstart a brand new aspect of the franchise.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The park is finally open- Lastly, THE PARK IS OPEN!

Some of the best parts in the trailer. I'm hoping they'll take the time to explore a functional park before they unleash the chaos. Hopefully, they won't downplay the enormity of turning Hammond's dream into a reality, because I have a bad feeling we'll only see ten minutes or so in a peaceful park.

Crossbred Hybrid Antagonist- The big bad is some hybrid dinosaur, seemingly it is T-Rex merged with something else, my guess is the Spinosaur. This concept could get a little messy, but I am excited to see what they come up with, good or bad.

Hoping the payoff delivers, because they're taking an unusual approach to the hybrid. Unless I missed something, they're only showing brief shots in the trailer, and they're trying really hard to keep everything under wraps for a big reveal in the movie.

American Sniper

Similar story with Still Alice. American Sniper received a limited release on Christmas Day, but January 16 is the official date for the wide release, so I'll drop it in here.

I'll go with a 7/10, but for the life of me I don't understand why Bradley Cooper received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Focus

TOUGH rating, but I'll go with 6/10.

One of my bigger problems with Focus is the movie really peaked after the big con at the Super Bowl, and the fallout with Will Smith and Margot Robbie.

After that, Focus hits a few boring and tedious slumps, and Rodrigo Santoro's character is supposed to be one of the primary antagonists, but his character doesn't appear until the tail end of the film. To add to that, his character is lost in the shuffle, because for the most part, they shift the focus of the story to Smith's character trying to fix a broken relationship with Margot Robbie's character.

A few bonus points for one clever reveal during the final moments of the movie, and I get the whole idea behind the "anything can happen" thought process in Focus, but the big finale is completely preposterous. Also, the curveballs didn't fool me, because it's obvious what's going to happen between Smith and Robbie in the end.

March 6-8 & the upcoming weekend

No real surprise with Chappie taking the #1 spot to bring the current worldwide total to $31,312,761. Meanwhile, Focus dropped to the #2 (current worldwide total sits at $75,227,415) spot, and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened in the #3 ( $33,360,265 for the current worldwide total) spot.

And it looks like we have another flop with Unfinished Business. Unfinished Business opened in the #10 spot, and the current worldwide total sits at $8,977,755, and Unfinished Business had a reported production budget of $35,000,000. Vince Vaughn needs to take a break from leading roles for a while. He's not bad in supporting roles, or when he sticks to his sidekick routine, but his shtick is tiresome in leading roles.

Box Office Mojo.com is predicting an easy opening weekend at #1 for Cinderella, while Run All Night debuts in the #2 spot. And Chappie is expected to take a big hit with a drop to the #6 spot.

Run All Night currently holds a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Liam Neeson consistently delivers, so I'm looking forward to the movie.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Here are the top ten highest grossing films so far of 2015....


1. Fifty Shades of Grey
$546,477,000

2. Taken 3
$289,526,344

3. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$276,673,000

4. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$270,891,000

5. Jupiter Ascending
$171,180,000

6. From Vegas to Macau II
$139,650,000

7. Cinderella
$132,453,000

8. Dragon Blade
$113,360,000

9. Focus
$101,732,000

10. Wolf Totem
$99,710,000


I was expecting higher numbers than that for Cinderella, but it will probably climb up a few spots by next week. Fifty Shades of Grey extends its lead to nearly twice as much as the #2 film, Taken 3. Insurgent is the most likely of this week's releases to make it onto the list. I never saw the first one and I never watch series out of order, so I'll be skipping it. For now anyway.


Upcoming releases:
3/20: Do You Believe?
3/20: The Divergent Series: Insurgent
3/20: The Gunman

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Chappie-8/10

There's a chance I'll change my mind on a second viewing, but for the most part, I enjoyed Chappie.

A few solid action sequences, but you won't see anything you haven't seen before in other sci-fi films with the humans and robots dynamic. To add to that, if you can't buy into Chappie's relationship with Ninja, Yolandi, and Deon, and the ups and downs in their mission to humanize Chappie, there's a chance you'll quickly lose interest in the movie.

Hugh Jackman's performance is one of the major highlights in the movie. Jackman plays this slimy and sadistic asshole, who can't stand Deon, because Vincent (Jackman) is old, out of touch, and bitter, but Deon is the young prodigy, who's willing to change with the times.

Spoiler

Towards the end of the film, Chappie nearly beats Vincet to death after Vincent murders Yolandi. Long story short, Chappie developed a close bond with Yolandi (or "Mommy"), so he snapped, when Vincent used MOOSE (an attack robot) to murder her.

Throughout the movie, you're waiting for that one moment, when Vincent finally gets what's coming to him. He's a detestable character, so they delivered a great payoff with Chappie's lopsided beating.

The ending is preposterous, but if we're ranking Neil Blomkamp films from best to worst, Chappie is slightly better than Elysium.

Cinderella easily grabbed the #1 spot with a dominant opening weekend to bring the current worldwide total to $135,088,668. Meanwhile, Run All Night opened in the #2 spot, and the current worldwide total sits at $18,488,540.

Run All Night had a reported production budget of $50,000,000, and when you consider Cinderella's dominance and the list of upcoming films for Friday, there's a very slim chance for Run All Night sticking around in the top three. To add to that, there's a good chance we're looking at a flop for Neeson.

You could say we're reaching a point, where people are just burnt out on Liam Neeson and his run as an action guy, but I think it's a case of bad timing. For starters, Cinderella opening at #1 with a dominant weekend was a foregone conclusion, and Taken 3 hit theaters in January. You don't have a lot breathing room between January and March, and from what I remember, they started running ads, trailers, and promo spots for Run All Night during Taken 3's theatrical run.

As far as the upcoming weekend goes, I can't say I'm too excited about the list of new releases. Insurgent currently holds a 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Divergent was a formulaic and cliched YA adaptation, with a dystopian setting, and going by the trailers, Insurgent looks like the same film all over again.

Shailene Woodley is a promising young actress, but she's not the type of person, who can carry a film. And I'm not familiar with the books, but Kate Winslet's character was a bland villain in Divergent.

The Gunman currently holds a 24%, and I have a hard time buying into the idea of Sean Penn as an action guy. A Cinderella repeat at #1 wouldn't surprise me, but with all the hype behind the movie, I'll go with Insurgent as the new #1 film. To round out the top four, Cinderella drops to #2, while The Gunman opens at #3, and Run All Night should slide into the #4 spot.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Here are the current highest grossing films of 2015....


1. Fifty Shades of Grey
$558,322,000

2. Taken 3
$311,086,472

3. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$295,170,000

4. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$279,994,000

5. Cinderella
$253,141,000

6. Jupiter Ascending
$175,802,826

7. From Vegas to Macau II
$150,580,000

8. Focus
$120,403,000

9. Dragon Blade
$116,780,000

10. Wolf Totem
$107,460,000



Cinderella jumped up to #5 and Fifty Shades of Grey is getting even closer to doubling the amount of the #2 film Taken 3. I'd expect Insurgent to have made the list by next week, sort of surprised it didn't yet. This week will see the releases of Get Hard and Home. Get Hard might make the list, however I'm not really interested in it myself. 4/3 is the next BIG release though in Furious 7, but that will have to wait another week.


Upcoming releases:
3/27: Get Hard
3/27: Home

 

[Dagger Dias]

The current highest grossing films of 2015 are....


1. Fifty Shades of Grey
$563,862,000

2. Cinderella
$336,222,000

3. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$327,725,000

4. Taken 3
$325,386,116

5. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$287,908,000

6. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$180,094,000

7. Jupiter Ascending
$179,295,718

8. From Vegas to Macau II
$154,130,000

9. Focus
$134,329,000

10. Dragon Blade
$117,680,000


Cinderella moves up to #2, that's probably as far up as it will get what with Fifty Shades of Grey on its way toward the $600,000,000 mark. This week we have our first huge release of 2015 in Furious 7. I won't be watching it anytime soon as I won't watch series out of order and I never got around to watching the 4th entry in the Fast & Furious series. I expect it to take the #1 spot easily.

Upcoming releases:
4/3: Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
4/3: Furious 7
4/3: Woman in Gold

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Run All Night- 6/10

An extra bump from the bare minimum for Liam Neeson’s performance. It’s a refreshing change of pace to see Neeson step outside of his invincible bad ass comfort zone every now and then. In Run All Night, Neeson is a depressed and broken man. He’s an angry alcoholic, who’s haunted by his past as a former enforcer/hitman, and his son hates him. Neeson did a good job of portraying a conflicted character, because Jimmy (Neeson) is torn between a second chance with his son and his family, and his relationship with Sean (Ed Harris), Jimmy’s one true friend in the world.

To add to that, the relationship between Sean and Jimmy is one of the major highlights in the movie. You can believe in the conflict between both men. Jimmy doesn’t want to betray his one friend, and the man, who took care of him, but at the same time, Jimmy has to protect his son. Sean is torn, because he values his friendship with Jimmy, but he wants vengeance for his son’s death.

Spoiler

Truth be told, I would go with a higher score, but the ending is just ridiculous. Jimmy is going to die, and he does. That’s obvious after the opening moments of the movie, but Jimmy’s invulnerability is preposterous. Throughout the film, I lost count of the number of gunshot wounds Jimmy suffered. During the finale, Common (he’s a cold and calculating hitman) shoots him in the back twice, Jimmy is shot multiple times during a shootout in the woods, and somehow he manages to shoot and kill Common with a shotgun? Unbelievable.

All in all, the action sequences are solid, with Neeson and Harris delivering the best performances, and the rest of the supporting cast is decent enough. I didn’t have a big problem with story. True, it’s loaded with clichés, and Jimmy’s fate during the finale is too predictable, but overall, Run All Night is a satisfying Liam Neeson action/thriller (just a step below Non-Stop), but you’re not missing anything special, if you decide to skip this one.

The Gunman-5/10


The Gunman is nowhere near as bad as lot of people are making it out to be, but at the same time, it's nothing to write home about either. A few sporadic thrills, and the action sequences are decent, but The Gunman hit one too many dull slumps for me.

Spoiler

Javier Bardem sudden death in the early stages really hurts the movie, because his performance, and his character are on a short, short list of highlights in The Gunman. I guess I need to read the book to really understand the source material, but after Bardem's death, they give you the clichéd and generic greedy businessman character, who wants to cut all of his loose ends as the main protagonist.

Sean Penn is not bad in the leading role, and his performance is decent enough. Again, The Gunman is not terrible, but after the first fifteen minutes, you realize The Gunman will be another ordinary action/thriller about a character, who's haunted by his past. He needs one more mission to clear his name, so he can get out of "the life," but his plan takes an unexpected turn, when the bad guys kidnap his ex-girlfriend.

Get Hard-3/10

It's what I expected, and that's not a good thing. Will Ferrell is the rich snob/wimp, and Kevin Hart is the trainer, who's trying to prepare him for life in prison. After twenty minutes or so, I was already burnt on all the sodomy and dick jokes, so the whole movie turns into one big waiting game, because you're waiting to see Ferrell's reaction and the fallout after Hart's character is exposed as a phony.

One of the major downsides for this film is the lack of screen time for Alison Brie's character. She had some potential as the narcissistic control freak, but her screen time is limited to three appearances.

Bottom line, Get Hard is just another formulaic "rich guy goes to jail" comedy with two big name comedic actors. I laughed a few times, and Hart and Ferrell share good chemistry, but it's a forgettable film overall.

It Follows- 10/10

Creepy, genuinely terrifying, suspenseful, It Follows features the perfect soundtrack, and kudos to director David Robert Mitchell for maintaining an eerie sense of tension throughout the film. Also, Mitchell deserves credit for taking a restrained approach to blood and gore. You’ll see a fair share of gross-out moments in It Follows, but the bloody and gory stuff doesn’t overwhelm the movie and the story to the point, where it’s too excessive. The young cast did a good job, and Maika Monroe delivered a strong performance in the leading role.

It’s the perfect mix of a supernatural horror film, with a refreshing urban legend, and a coming-of-age story. Jay (Monroe) believes she’s experiencing the glory years of being a teenager, when she meets Hugh, but her life descends into a downward spiral, when Hugh reveals his reasons for luring Jay into the trap. I have to stop here, because I know I’ll ramble on for six or seven paragraphs about how much I love this movie. I know it’s still early in 2015, but for now, it’s safe to say It Follows is the best horror film in 2015.

I’m glad It Follows expanded to a wider release last week, and I almost lost it, when a commercial for It Follows popped up on one of the marathons for The Simpsons on FXX. There’s a slight chance I’ll change my mind on the perfect score on a second viewing, but I’m definitely adding this one to my collection, when the time comes.

Furious 7 taking the top spot is a foregone conclusion this week. According to Box Office Mojo.com, Furious 7 opened with $63.7 million on Friday, and the movie is expected to pass the $150,000,000 mark during the three day weekend. Furious 7 will have a strong run at the box office, so Furious 7 will catch Fifty Shades Of Grey, and it’s only a matter of time before Furious 7 knocks the movie out of the top spot.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The current highest grossing films of 2015 are....


1. Fifty Shades of Grey
$566,065,000

2. Cinderella
$397,251,000

3. Furious 7
$384,023,000

4. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$369,779,000

5. Taken 3
$325,507,987

6. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$296,816,000

7. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$223,585,000

8. Jupiter Ascending
$181,260,790

9. Home
$179,421,000

10. From Vegas to Macau II
$154,130,000


Furious 7 only made it to #3, but give it another week and it should dethrone Fifty Shades of Grey. Nearly $400,000,000 in one weekend? Yeah, I doubt it won't be #1 by this time next week. Home joins the top ten as well. Three films will be released this week.


Upcoming releases:
4/10: Broken Horses
4/10: The Longest Ride
4/11: Candlestick

 

[Akhilleus]

Run All Night- 6/10

An extra bump from the bare minimum for Liam Neeson’s performance. It’s a refreshing change of pace to see Neeson step outside of his invincible bad ass comfort zone every now and then. In Run All Night, Neeson is a depressed and broken man. He’s an angry alcoholic, who’s haunted by his past as a former enforcer/hitman, and his son hates him. Neeson did a good job of portraying a conflicted character, because Jimmy (Neeson) is torn between a second chance with his son and his family, and his relationship with Sean (Ed Harris), Jimmy’s one true friend in the world.

To add to that, the relationship between Sean and Jimmy is one of the major highlights in the movie. You can believe in the conflict between both men. Jimmy doesn’t want to betray his one friend, and the man, who took care of him, but at the same time, Jimmy has to protect his son. Sean is torn, because he values his friendship with Jimmy, but he wants vengeance for his son’s death.

Spoiler

Truth be told, I would go with a higher score, but the ending is just ridiculous. Jimmy is going to die, and he does. That’s obvious after the opening moments of the movie, but Jimmy’s invulnerability is preposterous. Throughout the film, I lost count of the number of gunshot wounds Jimmy suffered. During the finale, Common (he’s a cold and calculating hitman) shoots him in the back twice, Jimmy is shot multiple times during a shootout in the woods, and somehow he manages to shoot and kill Common with a shotgun? Unbelievable.

I actually loved Run All Night. I admit when I originally saw the previews I thought it was going to be Taken 24. Another Liam Neeson action movie where someone is trying to kill his kid and he's an unstoppable monster killing all kinds of dudes. I guess in a sense that's pretty much the plot, but it was way different. Ed Harris was just fantastic the entire time...that whole relationship between his character and Neeson's is just so rich with history. He of all people should have known Neeson's abilities, he's the one he sent to take out the trash when it got in the way, while he sat buy and did the day to day operations. Neeson was more of a field agent while Ed Harris was his handler. There was no way Harris was going to win that fight.

Yeah, you could piece together the entire ending after that apartment fire scene. That still didn't bother me though because it was just a fun to watch. I mean it wasn't a knockout great movie of the year type of thing, but I went and saw it in theaters on release day because I had nothing better to do, expecting it to be a Taken clone, and I was very impressed.

I'd give it at least 7/10.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Neeson was more of a field agent while Ed Harris was his handler. There was no way Harris was going to win that fight.

Spot on, and the train yard shootout/standoff is one of the best scenes in the movie. You could tell Jimmy and Sean were reluctant to pull the trigger on each other, but they quickly realized they were past the point of no return. Sean and Jimmy played their parts in causing too much damage on both sides of the friendship, so someone had to die.

The Divergent Series: Insurgent-6/10

A noticeable upgrade over the first film, but unfortunately, there's nothing mind-blowing or awe-inspiring about Insurgent. Honestly, it's not an awful film, but the glaring problem with The Divergent film series is, both films are not good enough to stand out amongst the pack in the YA adaptations crowd.

Also, the Divergent film series is probably not the launching pad she was hoping for, but Shailene Woodley is a true star in the making. It'll take some time, but Woodley has what it takes to be one of the top actresses in Hollywood.

A lot of limited/VOD releases this week with Danny Collins, Ex Machina, and Ryan Gosling's Lost River. The vast majority of Pacino's modern films are pure garbage, but I want to give DC a chance. Ex Machina holds a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I'm really looking forward to it.

The Longest Ride is the only new film with a wide release this week. I have no interest whatsoever in the movie, because TLR looks like a cliched and contrived love drama, and the movie currently holds a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Longest Ride opened with an estimated $5,500,000 on Friday, while Furious 7 continued a dominant run with an estimated $18,800,000, so barring some freak occurrence, Furious 7 should hold on to the #1 spot for two weeks in a row.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The current top ten highest grossing films of 2015 are the following....


1. Furious 7
$807,520,250

2. Fifty Shades of Grey
$567,786,930

3. Cinderella
$437,633,138

4. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$391,626,137

5. Taken 3
$325,652,235

6. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$303,628,355

7. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$250,962,004

8. Home
$243,561,365

9. Jupiter Ascending
$181,636,904

10. From Vegas to Macau II
$157,000,000


Well, that's quite a jump for Fast 7. It's going to take The Avengers to dethrone the current #1 film of the year. Fifty Shades of Grey finally started slowing down, with Cinderella still catching up to it. This week will see 5 more films released. None of them will even come close to catching Fast 7, but a few look worth checking out. Paul Blart 2 might be funny.

Upcoming releases:
4/17: Child 44
4/17: Monkey Kingdom
4/17: Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
4/17: True Story
4/17: Unfriended

 

[Mitch Henessey]

No new movies for me this week, and all signs point to Furious 7 holding on to the #1 spot in the week to week charts again. The official numbers are not out yet, but the estimates are giving Furious 7 the edge over Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 currently holds a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the scathing reviews are really tearing the film apart. Some are calling it one of the worst sequels ever made, and others are saying it’s a front-runner for the worst film in 2015 so far.

Going by everything I’ve seen in interviews, Kevin James seems like a really nice and down to earth guy, but his routine is beyond stale. Basically, James’ shtick is to be the bumbling, fat buffoon, who falls down a lot, and he usually endures an endless amount of accidents for laughs in his films, and that’s about it. I never took the time to watch the first Mall Cop film, because it didn’t interest me, and James “monkey hopping it” in the Mall Cop 2 trailer was enough to kill my interest in the sequel.

So with all that said, Unfriended (a shitty name for a movie) is only film I’m really looking forward to. The movie currently holds a 66% on RT, and the premise is loaded with potential, but I have a bad feeling we’re looking at another generic found-footage horror film.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Here are the highest grossing films of 2015....



1. Furious 7
$1,152,710,000

2. Fifty Shades of Grey
$567,913,775

3. Cinderella
$457,724,000

4. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$396,371,000

5. Taken 3
$325,659,280

6. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$309,102,000

7. Home
$269,909,000

8. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$255,905,000

9. Jupiter Ascending
$181,659,541

10. From Vegas to Macau II
$157,000,000


Wow, look at that! Furious 7 after just a couple of weeks has already made enough money to make it the 7th highest grossing film of all time. It has already made more than last year's top film, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and looks like it will keep increasing its lead over the other top 2015 films. That's extremely impressive and it makes me consider getting caught up on the series again. The last one I saw was Tokyo Drift and I won't watch out of order so I'd need to see 4 through 7, but I'm strongly considering it now. Two new films will be released this week. Neither look like anything I'd be interested in, or anything that will make the top ten.


Upcoming releases:
4/24: Little Boy
4/24: The Age of Adaline

 

[JamJam]

Furious 7

I've watched this movie twice already. I've watched it with people who have watched the entire movie franchise and with people who have watched one or two movies from this franchise. I've kept up with this franchise so I wasn't lost in some parts. Either way, both groups really liked the movie and the ending caused me to shed a manly tear, won't lie about that. Especially the first time but even when I knew what the ending was the second time I watched, it still got to me.

The movie was filled with most action I've ever seen in a Fast and Furious movie. Complete with great fight sequences and even more exhilarating stunts. I know that Paul Walker finished at least have the movie but I'm not sure which parts weren't Paul Walker. But the second time I watched the movie, I finally caught some scenes where it's clearly not Paul Walker. They tried their best to try and not show his face but when they did, it looked kind of distorted but it worked.

The whole team was back together for this one and then we had about four new people in this movie. Kurt Russell really stole the show here imo. Known as Mr. Nobody, Russell played the leader of a secret government ops team that helps Don Toretto (Vin Diesel) in whatever he had to do. Tony Jaa was a very welcoming addition to the movie as well. I loved the feud Tony Jaa and Paul Walker had throughout the movie. I almost forgot that Paul Walker was an ex-FBI agent in this movie franchise so he was the perfect person to go against Tony Jaa's character.

Not every scene in the movie was action-packed and serious though, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej Parker (Ludacris) along with Bryan O'Conner (Paul Walker) provided some comedic scenes with Pearce using his charisma and natural humor. I think the movie did a great job mixing it up and not going full-on action the entire movie. There were essentially three acts in this movie and were all very well-paced in my opinion.

Overall, the story for Furious 7 was actually really good and made a lot of sense. Some loose ends were tied up while a lot of new opportunities opened. Vin Diesel confirmed that there will be an eighth movie and will be taking place in New York. He also said that Furious 7 opened up opportunities for at least three more movies. Wow. If those three top what Furious 7 did then these next movies will be awesome. The only reason I didn't give this movie a 10 is because some of the wrecks were ridiculous. You'd have to be superhuman to survive these types of wrecks so they weren't very realistic. Also, there always seemed to be a car at the right time for a getaway so that was kind of weird as well. But overall, the movie was awesome and paid great tribute to one of it's leads, Paul Walker.

Verdict: 9/10

 

[INDYjon22]

I caught Into the Woods the other night. Pure dog shit. From beginning to end this film was a trainwreck. I've always believed Meryl Streep to be overrated, but she is still a more than competent actress. That said, she couldn't even save this film. The problem is they tried to do too much. There were way too many stories interwoven with each other with little payoff in the end. The resolution was weak as well. We introduce these characters and then they are gone with very little explanation. The highlight of this film being a Johnny Depp cameo.

Into the Woods- 1/10

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Unfriended-6/10

Another tough rating, and there's a good chance I'll change my mind on a second watch, but for now I'm going with a positive score.

The entire movie takes place during a group Skype video chat, and you see the movie through Blaire's (one of the main characters) POV on her laptop during the Skype chat, and when Blair hops on Facebook, Google, and other websites.

It's a unique and gutsy approach at first, but towards the tail end of the film, the gimmick feels tiresome and tedious. To add to that, they cross the line for overkill with the Skype/laptop POV.

I get the whole point of trying to deliver an authentic experience, but for the love of all things holy, there's no real need to show Blaire correcting ALL of her typos, Blaire closing and minimizing each window throughout the film, and Blaire's useless conversations with her boyfriend on Facebook.

Spoiler

With all that said, I'll give credit where credit is due for Unfriended pulling the strings with an intriguing back and forth guessing game.

Throughout the movie, it's not 100% clear why billie227 (the anonymous guest, who disrupts the group Skype chat) is causing so much trouble. Is he or she a hacker? A troll? OR is billie227 an alias for Laura's (the girl, who commits suicide in the trailer) vengeful ghost?

One things is clear, when any member in the group disobeys or decides to break one of the rules in billie227's game, said person will suffer a brutal death.

As the story progresses, it's clear billie227 IS Laura, and she's using supernatural powers to kill each member of the group one by one. Laura wants to know, who shot and posted the embarrassing video with her laying on the ground after a party.

During the finale, it's revealed Blaire (oddly enough, Blaire was Laura's lifelong childhood friend) and her boyfriend shot and posted the video on the internet as a prank. Blaire is the sole survivor after Laura's slaughter fest, and the movie ends on a cliffhanger, as Laura's ghost pops up behind Blaire, and she closes Blaire's laptop to end the movie.

Also, before the closing moments of the movie, Laura uses her powers to reveal Blaire as the person, who posted the video of Laura on Facebook, and Laura's page is instantly flooded with hateful comments, with the vast majority pushing Laura to commit suicide.

A genuinely surprising twist, and Blaire and her boyfriend look like real scumbags in the end, because they KNEW they were the ones, who shot and posted the video of a drunk Laura. But Blaire and her boyfriend constantly lied about the video, while Laura murdered everyone in the group.

I enjoyed the movie, but at the same time, Unfriended is a double-edged sword. They actually took the time to explore an intriguing premise with social commentary for the ugly side of the internet and social media. Laura's uncensored video is a nasty sight in the actual movie, because you can clearly see urine stains on her shorts and a cluttered mess of feces on her backside, and the culprit(s), who posted the video get a taste of their own medicine, when they receive hateful comments on their Facebook page.

BUT the excessive obsession to stay within the confines of the Skype chat/Facebook laptop POV overshadows a story about friendship, betrayal, and revenge. And if we're taking things a step further, Unfriended hits a few boring slumps, because "BLAIRE IS FRUSTRATED WITH HER BOYFRIEND, BECAUSE HE'S NOT RESPONDING TO HER MESSAGES DURING A SECRET FACEBOOK CONVERSATION!!!!"

Unfriended is worth a try of you're a die hard horror fan, and if you're interested in someone taking a shot at something different for the found-footage sub genre, but you're not missing anything special, if you wait for this one at home.

Ex Machina-9/10

An engaging, thought-provoking, and mysterious sci-fi thriller with a tense and well-executed finale, featuring a series of genuinely shocking twists. It's a refreshing change of pace to see a sci-fi thriller that doesn't rely on dazzling special effects, and Ex Machina has to be a legit contender for one of the best films in 2015 so far.

Spoiler

The final twist with Eva turning on Caleb, and using Oscar Isaac's house as a tomb to seal him inside until he slowly dies was a legit shocker. Eva manipulated Caleb throughout the film. She planted the seeds, so Caleb would believe in this fantasy with Eva as his girlfriend in the real world. He bought into it hook, line and sinker, and Eva used the fantasy against him.

She used him to escape, and she eliminated Caleb, when he outlived his usefulness. An excellent twist, and I can honestly say I didn't see it coming.

Furious 7- 9/10

A pure adrenaline rush, with great action sequences, and a genuinely moving send-off for Paul Walker. I said this after Fast Five, but I don't know how they're going to top this one. I agree with Jam's takes on the wrecks, and that's one of the reasons why I'm not going with a 10/10. That, and for me, Statham was a tad bit underwhelming as the primary antagonist.

The Age Of Adaline- 7/10

It's safe to say Blake Lively delivers the best performance of her career in The Age Of Adaline.

On the flip side of that, it's also safe to say Blake Lively has a LOOOONG way to go before she reaches the level of a superstar/headliner. That, or you can say we're at a point in her career, where she's plateaued as an actress.

I've seen the vast majority of her films (as far Hick goes, Livley or anyone else had no chance in hell at saving that train-wreck), and TAOA features her best performance, easily.

But at the same time, it's clear Lively can't carry a film as the lead actress. Harrison Ford deserves a good amount of credit on the acting side of the movie. Things really pick up, when Harrison Ford's (old Harrison Ford) character appears during the tail end of the film, and I couldn't shake the feeling of a different outcome for TAOA, if Ford had more screen time.

Overall, TAOA is a satisfying enough romance fantasy drama, but Michiel Huisman's character is a generic and dull love interest/boyfriend, and the sporadic narrating annoyed the shit out of me. I understand the point of trying to add the touch of a modern day fairytale, but the narrating was just too corny for my taste.

Upcoming weekend

We all know Age Of Ultron will be the new #1 film in the week to week charts. Age Of Ultron dominating the week to week charts until Mad Max: Fury Road hits in a few weeks is a foregone conclusion, and we have a few limited release this week.

Upcoming releases:

5/1: Avengers: Age Of Ultron
5/1: Far From The Madding Crowd (limited)
5/1: Welcome To me (limited)
5/1: Hyena (limited)
4/29: Iris (limited)

 

[Dagger Dias]

Here are the current highest grossing films of 2015....


1. Furious 7
$1,428,539,000

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$626,656,000

3. Fifty Shades of Grey
$569,502,594

4. Cinderella
$494,251,000

5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$401,338,257

6. Taken 3
$325,726,680

7. Home
$326,229,000

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$310,897,000

9. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$272,692,000

10. Jupiter Ascending
$181,840,105


Avengers did really good after only being out for a couple of days here in the states. It still has a bit of a ways to go to catch up to Furious 7, but out of any other film being released this year it has the best odds of taking the #1 film of the year spot from Furious 7. I have not been able to see the new Avengers film yet and plan to this week. Can't wait! Furious 7 is already the 4th highest grossing film of all time and we are not even halfway through the year yet. That is an amazing accomplishment. Anyway, two films will be released this week.

Upcoming releases:
5/8: Hot Pursuit
5/8: Maggie

 

[Dagger Dias]

The highest grossing films so far of 2015 are....


1. Furious 7
$1,466,420,000

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$875,989,000

3. Fifty Shades of Grey
$569,751,467

4. Cinderella
$513,066,000

5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$402,514,101

6. Home
$327,812,942

7. Taken 3
$325,857,627

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$311,952,667

9. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$273,048,046

10. Jupiter Ascending
$181,987,723



Avengers is doing well but still has a ways to go to catch Furious 7. It should be able to pull it off, so we'll see next week how much the gap decreases. Home also climbed up a spot. Avengers was good so if you have not seen it yet, go see it. I'd get into that more but I'll save that for a bump to the "Rank the Film Series" topic. Three new films will be released this week.


Upcoming releases:
5/15: Mad Max: Fury Road
5/15: Pitch Perfect 2
5/15: Where Hope Grows

 

[Mitch Henessey]

True Story- 4/10

A dull mystery thriller. James Franco and Jonah Hill deliver two solid performances, but Franco and Hill’s performances are on a short list of highlights here.

After thirty minutes or so, the scenes with Franco and Hill together are tedious and boring. I get the whole point of Franco and Hill feeling each other out and playing mind games with each other, but the tensionless game of cat and mouse between the two drags on and on, and after a while, you get the impression you’re just watching two guys having a normal conversation. And it’s a big problem, because a good 80% of the movie revolves around the seemingly never ending chess match between Hill and Franco.

It’s refreshing to see Franco stepping outside of his comfort zone (i.e. weed and dick joke comedies) every now and then, but still, True Story is a misfire. Jonah Hill has what it takes to be a serious actor, and this is something Tdigle said in here a while ago, but he needs to stay away from James Franco for a while, because he’s too hit and miss.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron- 7/10

I need more time to digest this one, and there’s a chance I’ll change my mind on a second watch. For the most part, AOU is a fun superhero film, and Ultron is an entertaining villain, but towards the end of the film, I was burnt out on all the anarchy and ceaseless mass destruction.

Mad Max: Fury Road currently holds a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’m beyond pumped for this one. It’s too early for any official numbers right now, and it wouldn’t surprise me of Age Of Ultron holds on to the number spot in the week to week charts for three consecutive weeks. But the vast majority of reviews for Fury Road are positive and with all the hype behind the movie, I have to believe Fury Road will debut as the new #1 film.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

American Sniper - 8/10: I know this movie technically came out in 2014 but I didn't see it until early 2015 & forgot to review it until now. Overall AS is a very good film that seems to be depicted in a pretty accurate way that really makes you feel like your living the action scenarios out with the soldiers. The effects are all fantastic (although I wish they've would've used more real squibs & less digital blood splatter) & there were a few intense battle/hostage type scenes that really had me on the edge of my seat. I wasn't a big fan of the actress that plays the main soldiers' wife & I thought a lot of the scenes they had together felt kind of cliche & forced but ultimately it doesn't effect the characters or they're development seeing as a lot of the tense battle scenes actually have a lot of heart to them & really develops the characters & plot without pushing the action aside. Besides that my only other critique of this movie would be that the ending felt a little forced & like it was making it out to be some super Pro-USA war film, when really I think the parts of film that succeed the most are about this one man's journey & his human struggles.

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter - 9/10: Contrary to the other films reviewed here, this film is rather slow & methodical & instead of being an action film, it's actually much more about the lack of action people can take. It's a beautiful, artistic journey through the human psyche & through one girl's journey of wonderment & discovery. All of the acting is phenomenal, I loved the mix of languages & subtitles & although the plot is not very dense, it's actually the lack of real plot or questioning character motivations that make this film such an interesting & yet very enjoyable watch. I also absolutely loved the ending & felt that it embodied the film perfectly.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron - 8.5/10: I'm still really torn on this movie in many ways. I've seen it twice now & although I actually liked it more than the original the 1st time around, I seemed to find a lot more flaws in it the 2nd time. Which is funny because that's the exact opposite of how I felt initially walking out of the 1st Avengers movie. I actually wasn't all that impressed with Avengers at 1st but I love it more & more every time I've watched it since. Which at the end of the day sums up exactly how I feel about both films. Everything the 1st did right, AoU did wrong & everything the 1st did wrong, AoU did right. Mainly I think AoU had better action & was funnier but the overall plot & story of the 1st is better & told in a much cleaner & more concise way, where as AoU feels very jam packed & flows a lot less than the 1st with it's awkward & sometimes chaotic pacing. Basically, I think the 1st one had better story telling but kind of took too long to really get to the action & really feel like it was an Avengers movie. Where as the 2nd one is super action packed & it feels a lot more like the Avengers are a real team this time around from the start but the story feels kind of jumbled around because there is so much going on & so much to cram into 2 & 1/2 hours (which I'm super curious if Whedon will ever release his 4 hr. directors cut because I have a feeling that was actually a better movie in many ways). & I didn't care for Thor's little side quest in his Hot Tub Thor Machine that led to Vision being created in what was a very weird & awkward scene up until the point Vision actually appears. But once again that just seemed like a side effect of too many things going on & trying to connect all of those things. Overall I really enjoyed the movie & I loved a lot of the artistic "risks" they took like how they portrayed Ultron being "born" or the way they portrayed the team having trippy visions. If it was more fleshed out & focused less on random side quests & more on the new characters we wanted to learn more about, I really think it would've been better than the 1st.

Also just on a nerdy side note: Where the hell was Falcon at the end battle when War Machine showed up?!?!? Not only were they in an air battle (Falcon's specialty right?) where they could've used some help but thinking back he is literally the only Avenger to not lift a single finger in the fight against Ultron. Even Maria Hill got to fire her pistol a couple times in the movie!

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Mad Max: Fury Road - 7.5/10: MM is an insane thrill ride that hardly ever lets you even breath until you leave the theater. It's essentially the most beautiful 2 hr. car chase/heist scene you will most likely ever see in your life. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous & I loved all the character designs, set designs, vehicle designs, etc. Unfortunately I do feel the movie suffers from an overall lack of real narrative & plot. In some ways the lack of dialogue & lack of explanation for certain things enhances the mythos & lore of George Miller's cinematic world but at other times it feels like there is somethings missing & some viewers could end up feeling confused or a little lost at times. Also I was a little confused in terms of continuity between this film & the others. Mainly the fact that Max still had his old car & seemed to have a daughter that was haunting him & giving him premonitions. But I thought Max's child that died was an infant boy? Not a young girl. Originally I heard this took place after Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior but is it a total reboot? Or maybe just a semi-reboot? Or maybe "Mad Max" is just a moniker that any decent man trying to survive in the Post-Apocalyptic world may take on? Once again in some ways it's cool because it makes you think about all these things but in other ways it feels a little too open-ended & like not much of anything was really explained or even happened (aside from tons of exploding spears beings thrown & the crazy-awesome guitar guy strumming his car along of course). It's definitely meant to be seen on the big screen & although the score did seem very minimal & repetitive, it also seemed fit the film extremely well. I also had conflicting opinions about the sped up frame rate. The 1st time I saw it in standard 2D & I actually kind of liked the sped up frame rate, especially during the initial opening scenes where Max is being chased. But the 2nd time I saw it in RealD 3D & the sped up frame rate really hurt my eyes, so I guess I'd just suggest not seeing it in 3D. Overall this movie is awesome but I think it's other main flaw comes in the form of multiple viewings. Unless your a crazy action/adrenaline junkie there just isn't that much there to care about or really invest in past a fun viewing with your friends in the theater the 1st time. It's really good, just not great. & while I'm curious to see if Miller does follow up with a sequel, I definitely think this film should have been called Mad Max: Furiosa & then he could've called another one Fury Road, which I think most people who have already seen the film would agree with.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Here are the top ten highest grossing films so far of 2015....


1. Furious 7
$1,469,133,495

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,142,508,000

3. Fifty Shades of Grey
$569,751,467

4. Cinderella
$521,028,000

5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$402,883,314

6. Home
$341,232,764

7. Taken 3
$325,871,424

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$311,137,767

9. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$274,188,058

10. Jupiter Ascending
$181,987,723



Nobody new made it into the top ten this week but Age of Ultron is closing in on Furious 7. I still think it can pull it off and become the #1 film financially of the year. We have 4 new films being released this week also. I don't currently plan on watching any of them and really doubt any make the top ten. Poltergeist is a maybe, but I am often unsure about remakes and reboots. As for The Human Centipede 3, I didn't even know there was a second one. I had no desire to see the first, so there's no reason for me to see the third as I don't watch series out of order.


Upcoming releases:
5/17: 3 Bahadur
5.17: Poltergeist
5/17: The Human Centipede 3
5/17: Tomorrowland

 

[Mitch Henessey]

No new movies for me this week, but we have a new #1 film in the week to week charts. Pitch Perfect 2 opened in the #1 spot to bring the current worldwide total to $107,316,890. Meanwhile, Mad Max: Fury Road opened in the #2 spot, and the current worldwide total sits at $110,438,128.

I overlooked and underestimated the popularity of the first film. I guess you can say it’s more probable for a lighthearted musical/comedy debuting at #1, especially when you compare the sequel to an R-rated action film.

Poltergeist and Tomorrowland are the high profiled releases for Friday. Tomorrowland should be a fun and imaginative sci-fi action adventure film, but I’m still not sold on the Poltergeist remake. I’m sure Sam Rockwell will deliver a solid performance, but when I look at the trailers, I just see another tamed, dull, and forgettable horror remake, and Poltergeist currently holds a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.

As far as The Human Centipede III goes, there’s no chance for the movie having a significant impact at the box office, because it’s a limited theatrical release with a simultaneous VOD release. If we’re talking about the movie itself, I can’t say I have any real hopes for a quality film. The original Human Centipede film was creepy, suspenseful, and grotesque, but Part II was atrocious.

It’s still early, so I only see three reviews (two rotten with a 0/4 and a 0/5, and you get the feeling the snippet for the fresh review is nothing more than a guilty pleasure pass) for Part III on Rotten Tomatoes. If Six follows the pattern for Part II, Part III will be another terrible film, and it’ll be safe to say Six is/was nothing more than a one hit wonder.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Cinderella - 6/10: A very tame & modest approach at a Disney classic. I think most people like this real-life adaption the most out of the bunch so far just because it doesn't take any real risks & it's probably the closest to the original Disney animated classic so far (minus the songs & talking mice, which actually kind of bummed me out since the original music is so great & all the CGI animals looked super fake anyways). Overall it's just a bland, paint by the numbers adaption (token black servant guy included) that felt a lot like your run of the mill ABC movie of the week.

Tomorrowland - 7/10: This movie is kind of odd, the majority of the film feels like it's shrouded in mystery until it kind of just ends & lays it's messages & morals out on a silver platter for all the children but it still leaves a lot of details out & leaves a lot of unanswered questions. The entire movie feels like a giant build to something epic but that something epic never really comes. Some of the best parts of the film were the scenes of young Frank Walker (the younger version of George Clooney's character) but not only are they few & far between but they are all flashbacks shown in unusal ways, which were great stylistically but I wanted a lot more of them since they were some of the only real interesting parts of the movie that answered anything. They really should have just cut out the character of Casey all together & made the story about young Frank, heck they could have even kept George Clooney on as older Frank if they wanted to since the movie touches on time travel. Also (this is kind of a spoiler so don't read if you haven't seen it but...) the movie only shows roughly 10-15 min. of actual Tomorrowland in all it's glory, which was a real bummer to me since A.) It's called "Tomorrowland" B.) Once again that is one of the best parts of the movie & once again it's very short-lived & C.) A bunch of those scenes were already shown in the trailer. So overall it's enjoyable but it basically felt like watching a Disneyfied episode of "Lost" about the future.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The highest grossing films so far of 2015 are....

1. Furious 7
$1,499,687,000

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,181,478,000

3. Fifty Shades of Grey
$569,651,467

4. Cinderella
$521,242,446

5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,167,276

6. Home
$344,100,751

7. Taken 3
$325,771,424

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$311,349,163

9. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$274,617,111

10. Mad Max: Fury Road
$219,840,000


Well, Avenger's still hasn't caught up to Furious 7. Both films are currently in the top ten of all time, not just in 2015. Age Of Ultron is #8 of all time at the moment while Furious 7 is #4 and on its way to becoming #3 if it makes more money than (ironically enough) the first Avengers movie. The new Mad Max film has made it into this year's top ten also. Two new films will be released this week. I like some of the people in Aloha although I haven't decided if I want to go see it yet. San Andreas doesn't interest me despite The Rock being in it, so I plan on skipping it. I doubt either make it into the top ten.


Upcoming releases:
5/29: Aloha
5/29: San Andreas