2015 In Film

[Mitch Henessey]

Hot Pursuit- 4/10

Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara share good chemistry together, but their routine as an odd couple is stale after the first twenty minutes or so. Witherspoon pokes fun at Vergara's thick accent, and her personality, as the materialistic and narcissistic "trophy wife." Vergara teases Witherspoon about her height and her controlling personality, and they go back and forth with the same material over and over again. To add to that, they constantly beat a dead horse with two running jokes about Vergara's age and Witherspoon's height during news reports.

Although, they take a refreshing approach to Witherspoon's character here. At first, you get the impression Witherspoon's Cooper is an overbearing and obsessive control freak/pain in the ass, but that's not the case. Cooper is a misunderstood and likeable character, and it a fresh change of pace for a number of reasons.

Usually, in action/comedy films or romantic comedy films (Hot Purist is a little bit of both) similar to Hot Purist, the female lead is a prudish bitch with a snobby attitude, and she refuses to open up to or listen to anyone. Towards the end, she realizes she needs to change and open up, and it's a tiresome and predictable step by step/through the motions formula, but Cooper doesn't fall into the familiar mold.

I laughed a few times, and they throw in a few surprising twists throughout the movie, but overall, Hot Purist is a mediocre film.

Tomorrowland-6/10

Mixed feelings on this one.

Tomorrowland wants to be an ambitious and awe-inspiring sci-fi action/adventure film, but the story and the big mystery surrounding Tomorrowland was too ambiguous for my taste, because Tomorrowland ends with one too many unanswered questions (i.e. the secret behind Nix's youth).

Spoiler

Also, and HBKistheHOF touched on this, but you'll only see a few glimpses of a prosperous and glorious Tomorrowland. Basically, everything you see in the trailer is nothing more than a "commercial" from Casey's pin. It's an advertisement to lure potential prospects to Tomorrowland. And during the big final showdown with Frank, Casey, Athena, and Nix Tomorrowland is a desolate wasteland.

The allure of and having the chance to actually see a glorious and spectacular wonderland was one of the main hooks in the commercials and the trailers for Tomorrowland, but it's a different story in the actual movie.

Tomorrowland is not a terrible film. But it's a mixed and muddled bag with messages of hope, positivity, never giving up on your dreams, the mystery behind Tomorrowland, and sporadic action sequences.

May 29- 31 & The Upcoming Weekend

San Andreas debuted as the new #1 film to bring the current worldwide total to $125,162,753. Meanwhile, Aloha is on a fast track to joining 2015's list of box office flops. Aloha debuted in the #6 spot, the current total sits at $11,660,238, and that's against a reported production budget of $37,000,000.


Entourage opens in theaters today, and the movie currently holds a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. I was a fan of the show years ago, but I lost interest in Entourage after a while, so I missed out on the final two seasons. Also, I skimmed the snippets from full reviews on RT, and some of the reviews are trashing the movie for being nothing more than an extended episode of the show.

Spy currently holds a 95%, but when I look at the trailers, I just see the same old Melissa McCarthy routine, and Insidious: Chapter 3 opens on Friday.

Chapter 2 is a terrible film. Focus Features changed Chapter 3's release date more than once, and that's never a good sign. Insidious 2010 was a surprise hit, but from a critical and quality standpoint, Chapter 2 failed to capitalize on the momentum. If the powers that be have serious plans to run with Insidious as a real franchise, Chapter 3 needs a strong run at the box office, or we're looking at another forgettable (for the most part) horror film series.

Picking a new number one film is a tricky task, so I'll go with The Rock and San Andreas for a repeat, because there's too much uncertainty surrounding Insidious and Entourage.

Upcoming releases:

6/3: Entourage
6/5: Spy
6/5: Insidious: Chapter 3
6/5: Love & Mercy (limited)
6/5: Testament Of Youth (limited)

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Furious 7
$1,510,000,000

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,348,512,198

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

4. Cinderella
$531,878,884

5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,612,059

6. Home
$364,090,607

7. Taken 3
$325,771,424

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
$311,594,032

9. Mad Max: Fury Road
$307,804,000

10. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
$275,188,488


No newcomers in the top ten this week. Avengers is catching up to Furious 7, the two films are currently the 5th and 4th highest grossing films of all time at the moment. Avengers might still be able to dethrone Furious 7, as both titles are closing in on the original Avengers film in the all time listing. We do have a big release this week, one I could see making far up the top ten. Jurassic World. I loved the first film so although I didn't like any of the sequels, I plan on seeing the new one. It looks good.


Upcoming releases:
6/12: Jurassic World

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Jurassic World: 7/10 - Overall a very predictable film but still very fun & enjoyable. The acting isn't spectacular & there isn't much depth to the story beyond playing God with the dinosaurs & the laws of nature, which has been there since the beginning, yet the movie takes itself light enough & references the 1st one in very good ways that feels like it is sort of playing off of it. The effects are overall very good & the amount of CGI really didn't bother me much, if at all. I also give them a lot of credit for the way they used Deus Ex Machina (which since it is foreshadowed it's arguably not true D.E.M.) & their explanation for the raptors behavior/cooperation, both could have turned out very stupid in the end but I thought they actually worked rather well & made about as much sense as they could. My biggest critique would probably just be the lack of any real suspense or surprise & the fact that the trailers showed so much (much of which were the biggest scenes of the movie), that I really feel like I watched this movie even before I saw the movie & I don't really feel any different now that I have seen it. Good film to take the family to & eat some popcorn but don't expect tons of introspective dialogue with tons of back story, Oscar nominated performances, or even any well orchestrated fight choreography cause your just not gonna get it here. What your gonna get essentially is Chris Pratt's screen test for Indiana Jones playing opposite a bunch of CGI Dinosaurs.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Furious 7
$1,510,783,000

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,354,943,000

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

4. Cinderella
$532,688,000

5. Jurassic World
$511,800,000

6. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,700,931

7. San Andreas
$373,320,914

8. Home
$366,228,000

9. Mad Max: Fury Road
$333,707,827

10. Taken 3
$325,771,424



A few changes this week. Jurassic World is doing well considering this is the film's opening weekend. $511,800,000 is impressive. I predict it to be #3 by this time next week since it's already caught up to Cinderella and Fifty Shades after one weekend. San Andreas has also made the top ten. Furious 7 and Age of Ultron still sit at 4th and 5th respectively for the all time listing, with Furious 7 closing in on the original Avengers movie. Two new films will see releases this week. Inside Out might do well, I'm not so sure about Dope though.


Upcoming releases:
6/19: Dope
6/19: Inside Out

 

[Scotty]

So I saw Jurassic World this weekend and man I loved it. Sure, there wasn't any top notch acting but I went into this movie I didn't go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece. I went in expecting nothing but nostalgia maybe an awesome dinosaur fight.

Needless to say I enjoyed myself. Sure there were some plot points that I didn't really care for, but nothing that couldn't be overlooked for the overall enjoyment of the movie. A lot of the people that I know that saw it didn't like the CGI but I personally had no problem with it. I mean in this day in time they would not be able to do a whole movie with animatronics. At least not a summer blockbuster.

At the end of the day I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who was a fan of the first Jurassic Park solely for nostalgia purposes. 8/10

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Inside Out - 8/10: IO is a very adorable family film with a surprising amount of depth to it & some spectacular animation to boot. The movie does slow down quite a bit in the middle & there really isn't much to the general plot & what's happening to the the main characters in the "real/outside world" but the overall premise of the film is so intriguing & it's presented in such a fun & imaginative way with the characterization of the emotions that it's almost hard not to stay at least a little bit invested, even though the audience is not necessarily given that much to go really "sink their teeth into" at times. I'm very curious to see if Disney does a sequel because there is clearly a lot more to explore in this universe & the movie definitely leaves it open ended enough to do more with Riley or even another set of characters if that's the road they choose. Also on a side note, which I'm sure I'll be in the minority on, but I really didn't care for the short film before the main feature entitled "Lava". Usually the shorts are my favorite part of any Pixar movie but I was really unimpressed with this one. The song is sort of catchy I suppose but nothing I'd want to listen to or watch again & the whole thing just felt kind of corny & forced. I know it was supposed to be sweet but I think it actually would have benefited greatly from not having such a cliche, "Disney" ending in this particular scenario. Overall a really well done & enjoyable film but still ultimately ranking somewhere near the middle/bottom-ish of my favorite Pixar films of all time.

(Semi-Spoiler)
P.S. - This really isn't an issue brought up in the film (which actually makes it that much cooler) but after all the hoopla surrounding Mad Max & feminism I just thought I'd mention that it was really cool to see a young girl in a film portrayed as having other interests & hobbies outside of boys & texting. I know she hadn't hit puberty in the film yet but it was really refreshing to see that she liked things like Hockey & her room wasn't covered in unicorns or whatever, it made her feel that much more authentic & easier to relate to.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Insidious: Chapter 3- 7/10

A big thumbs up!

For starters, The Man Who Can't Breathe really works as the primary antagonist. The bloody footprints are a nice touch, and when you throw in the breathing mask and his scrawny body, The Man Who Can't Breathe looks like a creepy stalker, who's more than capable of making your skin crawl with his physical appearance.

Also, I'm glad they eliminated all the zany and borderline campy character traits and physical attributes from entities in the first two films for The Man Who Can't Breathe. I wont go as far as intimidating, but The Man Who Can't Breathe is a malicious and merciless character. A prime example is the scene, where he forces Quinn (the main character) out of her apartment, while she's still in a wheelchair, and The Man Who Can't Breathe throws her on the floor.

The Man Who Can't Breathe easily takes the number one spot for entities/demons in the Insidious film series. Looking back, they ruined the Lipstick-Face Demon's mystique in the first film, when they revealed his body (resembling a centaur) in The Further, and to make matters worse, he's playing a piano . In Chapter2, we learned the truth about Parker Crane (the bride in the black wedding dress with the red candle): he's a loony cross-dresser, and his abusive mother resented him, because she wanted a daughter. And I'm sorry, but the Michelle character (Parker's mother) and the pasty-faced make-up caused one too many unintentional laughs for me.

The horror and non-horror sides of the story feature a few tropes, but the overall solid cast delivers convincing performances, so it's enough to overlook the familiar cliches.

Although, one of my complaints for Chapter 3 is the Insidious series is starting to fall into a trap with a predictable and routine pattern for the storyline. Character X is trapped in The Further, and after a LENGTHY debate and a series of failed experiments, the cast of main characters finally realize someone from living world needs to go into The Further to recuse the trapped victim. If you've never seen an Insidious film, think about Carol Anne and the ending in the original Poltergeist film.

Anyway, Insidious is sticking to a route formula (for the most part), and there's a chance they'll hit a stale point with more films.

Still, it's a good directorial debut for Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye easy delivers her best performance in the series, and Chapter 3 is definitely a step in the right direction for the future.

Mad Max: Fury Road- 10/10

Flawless.

Charlize Theron is my favorite actress, she delivered another outstanding performance in Fury Road, and Imperator Furiosa belongs in the all-time top five for her career with The Devil's Advocate, North Country, Monster, and Young Adult. Fury Road has to be the front-runner for the best action film in 2015, and it's number one on my top three in 2015 so far.

San Andreas (in 3D!)- 7/10

An enjoyable and entertaining disaster film, with a handful of thrilling close-call sequences. The believable family chemistry between The Rock, Gugino, and Daddario really surprised me. I'm not saying I had low expectations for the acting, but I believed in Rock's character, as this haunted man, and the desperation with Gugino to save Daddario and reunite before it's too late.

The Upcoming Weekend

Jurassic World's dominance at the box office continues. Jurassic World held on to the #1 spot in the week to week charts, Jurassic World is the fastest film to $400,000,000 domestic, and according to Box Office Mojo.com, the current worldwide total sits at $987,200,065.

According to reports, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the only film with a realistic chance of surpassing and breaking JW's opening week/early run record(s). The Force Awakens is expected to receive the widest theatrical release ever, with a reported opening weekend nearing the $540,000,000 mark.

Ted 2 and Max are the two high profiled releases for Friday. I really enjoyed the original Ted, so I'm looking forward to the sequel, but with the way things are going, Jurassic World could hold on to the #1 spot for three consecutive weeks.

Upcoming releases:

6/26: Ted 2
6/26: Max
6/26: Big Game (limited)
6/26: A Little Chaos (limited)
6/26: Escobar: Paradise Lost (limited)

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Furious 7
$1,511,516,643

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,371,528,000

3. Jurassic World
$1,084,500,000

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

5. Cinderella
$538,725,513

6. San Andreas
$419,395,513

7. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,780,948

8. Home
$367,755,000

9. Mad Max: Fury Road
$356,378,000

10. Taken 3
$325,771,424


Jurassic World made it into the top tier. San Andreas also climbed up some spots, taking the #6 spot. We'll see a couple of new films get released this week such as Faith of Our Fathers, Magic Mike XXL, and Terminator Genisys. Other than Terminator Genisys I do not expect any of them to make it into the top ten. We'll see what happens.


Upcoming releases:
7/1: Faith of Our Fathers
7/1: Magic Mike XXL
7/1: Terminator Genisys

 

[Dave]

I'm really disappointed in the opening that Ted 2 managed. I'm a huge fan of Seth MacFarlane and, given the level of hype around the sequel, I was expecting it to do a little better honestly. The last time I looked at its takings, it was struggling to make past its budget and that has for to spell the end for the film series after this installment, no?

Of course it has still to open in the UK as well as a few more overseas territories, so perhaps it won't be too bad at the end of play. But still, that's a really disappointing result for MacFarlane; who seems to have outstayed his welcome on the big screen at this point. A Million Ways To Die In The West was a pretty big let down and now Ted 2 has pretty much flopped. Of course, a lot has still to happen and it is only the first week. But opening up against Jurassic World was a horrible spot for Ted.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Poltergeist-6/10

A competent remake.

Honestly, it's not as bad as the critics are making it out to be. If we're talking about the critical reception, Poltergeist was doomed from the word go, because the vast majority of critics feel the need to shit on "unnecessary" remakes. If the final result is not some near flawless masterpiece, you can expect a barrage of negative reviews, easily.

Is Poltergeist 2015 as good as the 1982 original? Of course not, but the overall cast is solid, with Sam Rockwell delivering the best performance, and Kennedi Clements did a good job as the modern day Carol Anne (or Madison).

Sam Raimi as the director (he's a producer for this one) could've generated some more buzz for this remake, but Gil Kenan provides some slick and impressive visuals. All in all, if we're talking about overall quality, Poltergeist 2015 is decent, and they did a good job of paying homage to the original, so it's definitely worth a try, if you're a fan of the 1982 film.

Pitch Perfect 2- 7/10

It's a step by step predictable sequel. Of course, they had to go through the motions with Anna Kendrick and others fearing life after college, priorities, the real world, and growing up, but Pitch Perfect 2 is still an enjoyable film, with a fair amount of laughs. Also, after reading the cast list, I can see Lana had a part in the film, but I didn't notice her throughout the movie, so I'm guessing she had a small role.

Spy- 9/10

An outstanding action/comedy with consistent laughs, a good cast, a few surprising twists, and it's a good rebound film for Melissa McCarthy (Tammy was just atrocious). Also, and I'm not taking anything from McCarthy for laughs, because she did a good job in the leading role, but Jason Statham is hilarious as Rick.

Entourage- 3/10

What the fuck was the point of this?

The Entourage movie doesn't feature one singular and cohesive storyline. Way too many subplots, and Entourage feels like a collection of episodes smashed together to fill the time for a full length feature.

Yeah, the Rousey/Turtle storyline pulled a few laughs out of me, but that's about it. There's some promise with Billy Bob Thornton as Larsen McCredie, but his screen time is limited to sporadic appearances.

And what about Eric and Sloan? Sure, it's heavily implied they're back together, but nothing is 100% confirmed. Too many loose ends, Entourage doesn't provide closure, and after watching the movie, it's safe to say one more season of the show on HBO (or another network, or an on-demand streaming service, I guess) would've been the better option.

Ted 2- 7/10

Simply put, if you enjoyed the first Ted film, you'll love the sequel. A lot of good laughs, and the second half film takes a detour towards the more serious side of the story in certain parts, but overall Ted 2 is a lot of fun.

Spoiler

Although, one of my main gripes with the film is the return of Giovanni Ribisi (the kidnapper from the first film), because Ribisi returns for an anticlimactic revenge plot against Ted.

Of course, if we're talking about the financial side of things, Ted 2 is currently having a disappointing run at the box office. Ted 2 is a funny and enjoyable R-rated comedy, but it's a case of bad timing for a release date. To add to that, a fair amount of negative reviews really hurt Ted 2's chances of a profitable run.

I'm sure everyone knew Jurassic World was in for a successful run at theaters, but Jurassic World as this box office juggernaut was unexpected. Inside Out's current worldwide total sits at $282,344,477, and when you throw in the releases for Terminator: Genisys and Magic Mike XXL today, and it's only a matter before Ted 2 fades into obscurity in the box office standings.

The Upcoming Weekend

According to Variety and various movie websites, including Box Office Mojo.com, it'll be a tight race between Terminator: Genisys, Magic Mike XXL, Jurassic World, and Inside out for the #1 spot in the week to week charts.

When you consider the trailers, all the promotional material, and Arnie's return to the franchise, it's obvious Genisys is banking on nostalgia for a strong run at the box office. Although, I'm not so sure this approach will work, because we're slowly reaching a point, where the Terminator franchise is a damaged brand, especially in the eyes of the fans. To add to that, the majority of critics are tearing Genisys apart with scathing reviews.

I plan on watching Genisys, because I'm a die hard Terminator fan, but I can't say I'm too excited for it. We haven't seen a truly great/good film since T2, the franchise showed early signs of going downhill with Rise Of The Machines, and they almost hit rock bottom with Salvation.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Furious 7
$1,511,636,779

2. Jurassic World
$1,385,037,000

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,383,499,000

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

5. Cinderella
$538,986,777

6. San Andreas
$443,568,000

7. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,788,617

8. Inside Out
$403,500,000

9. Home
$368,076,000

10. Mad Max: Fury Road
$357,290,000



Whoa, look at Jurassic World! That's a large jump for that film this week, dethroning Avengers as the #2 film of the year so far. Furious 7 is at the #4 of all time spot, inching in closer on entering the top 3 of all time. Inside Out also joins the top ten this week, I could see it continuing its climb up to perhaps #5 by next week. Speaking of next week.... we have a couple of more releases coming up on the 10th. Minions is probably the only one that has a shot at making the top 10. Whether any of them will or not remains to be unseen.


Upcoming releases:
7/10: Minions
7/10: Self/Less
7/10: The Gallows

 

[Dave]

Minions

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the Minions movie. But having seen and enjoyed Despicable Me 1 and 2, I was more than willing to give it a chance. My main reservation about the movie was around the depth of the characters because they don't actually speak any English in the aforementioned movie series. More than that, it seemed odd to me that they would be able to create a movie based off of characters who weren't even central characters in the Despicable Me series. Yes, they were an entertaining party of the series but they didn't exactly scream "depth" to anyone, did they?

But I am pleased to say that I couldn't have been more wrong if I tried. Let's be honest, this movie is not going to win any Oscar awards but it was genuinely entertaining. The reservations I had about character depth was really with fantastically well from the very start and although they couldn't speak a word of English, there wasn't a time in the entire movie that I couldn't understand what was going on. I guess that the addition of a narrator to the film helped a lot. The narrator was able to set the scene and, even more so, was able to pish the story forward when it needed to be done.

The really great thing about the movie was how funny it was, even for someone who is a quarter century. The characters were very lovable and very entertaining. It was amazing to me that they were able to make me care about the characters without really having to do too much. It really goes to show that less is more when it comes to character development. The character of Bob was the absolute star of the show and made me laugh on so many occasions. Yes, the plot was basic and anyone with half a brain could tell what was going to happen at the end, it didn't take away from the actual enjoyment of the movie.

I really can't praise it highly enough.

9/10

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Jurassic World (in 3D!)- 5/10

A tough rating for Jurassic World, and I have a lot of mixed feelings for this one. I understand Jurassic World is not supposed to be some artsy sci-fi action/adventure film with a rich plot, characters with real depth, and thought-provoking storylines. But Jurassic World as this extravagant thrill ride and a jaw-dropping summer blockbuster? I'm sorry, but I'm not seeing it.

I guess I'm in the minority with this one, but Jurassic World honestly bored the crap out of me in certain parts. I'm not saying the movie is a snooze-fest overall, but JW definitely hit one too many tedious slumps for me.

The characters? Chris Pratt was a decent enough leading man, but overall, there's nothing to brag about it, if we're talking about the quality of his performance, and the Owen Grady character is kind of dull. I also don't get the point behind the constant shaming for Bryce Dallas Howard's character. "You don't want to settle down with kids and a family? You're focused on you're career? What's wrong with you!"

It's one thing if they chose to portray Howard's character as some cold-hearted bitch, but that's not the case, because you get the impression Claire (Howard) is a good person, who's trying to do her best. Also, he changes as the story develops, but the older brother is a borderline unlikeable character in the early stages of the film.

To add to that, Jurassic World throws in too many unnecessary plot twists towards the end. Indominus Rex really works as a terrifying (and cerebral) foe, but I had a hard time buying into all the hype behind Jurassic World as one of summer's must-see events.

If we're comparing it to the other films in the series, I'm tempted to put Jurassic World over The Lost World as a default choice. Jurassic Park III is still at the bottom, because the movie easily features one of the worst endings in the series, and for me, it's one one of the worst endings I've seen in any type of film.

The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)- 1/10


As usual, if you have a strong moral compass, you should avoid a Human Centipede film.

Oh boy. When Bree Olson delivers one of the best performances in the movie, you know you're in trouble. Dieter Laser was genuinely creepy and callous as Josef Heiter in the first film. In The Final Sequence, he's unbearably annoying and cringeworthy as Bill Boss, the prison warden. Boss shouts and yells every five minutes, and you can barely understand what Laser is saying half the time.

For the most part, The Final Sequence is boring and dull, and for the love all things holy it's a chore to sit through. To make matters worse, the grand finale is anticlimactic. The problem with The Human Centipede is, if you've seen one centipede (or two), then there's a good chance you'll have a lukewarm reaction to a new centipede.

That's a problem, because Tom Six (the writer/director for the series) obviously relies on gross-out reactions for everything that goes into making (the prep, the surgery, the finished product, a functioning centipede etc.) a Human Centipede.

Six tries to play up the enormity of the "BIGGEST HUMAN CENTIPEDE EVER MADE" at the halfway point, but you won't see anything new or different with the prison inmate's centipede in The Final Sequence. It's just the same old, same old for the centipede in the Final Sequence, and that's about it.

If we're talking about vile and disgusting gross-out moments, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence ) is still the #1 film in the series, easily. The Final Sequence features a handful of barf bag moments (a very graphic castration scene, and Boss's request after it's over), but when you compare Final Sequence to Part II for vile and explicit content, it's a tamed film.

On top of all that, Final Sequence doesn't feel like a a finale. Honestly, Final Sequence is just another forgettable sequel, and hopefully, it's the last film in the series, because it's clear Six is running out of places to go with the premise.

Everly-5/10

Eh, I'll give it a guilty pleasure pass, because truth be told, I actually enjoyed Everly. Although, Salma Hayek in the leading role is a bit of conundrum. I understand she's supposed to be this lethal and bad ass, and Hayek delivers a solid performance.

If you pay close attention to Everly's path of destruction, and maybe I'm over analyzing here, but the vast majority of Everly's kills happen after stupid mistakes from the bad guys, and a handful incomparable dumb luck scenarios. I'm not saying I had trouble buying into Hayek as a bad ass, BUT Everly is supposed to be this lethal killing machine, and more often than not, she looks like a klutz, who's riding an unbelievable (and ridiculous) streak of luck.

I rolled my eyes at the typical "cocky villain sabotaging himself with an unnecessary speech" trope during the final fight scene, and The Sadist's (a torturer) scene is cringeworthy from start to finish, but Everly is harmless B-movie fun. A fair amount of inventive (and bloody) action sequences, and I have few problems with her character, but Hayek is entertaining in the leading role.

Also, I know there's a 1% chance of this happening, but I'm open to a sequel (or sequels) for Everly, because they tease an "it's not over yet" cliffhanger at the end.

The Upcoming Weekend

Critics are trashing the film, and currently Terminator: Genisys holds a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. Another interesting tidbit in all of this is, Genisys's opening (domestic) seven day total is significantly lower, when you compare it to Terminator Salvation's seven day opening total. Salvation opened with $71,859,503 over the course of seven days.

Meanwhile, Genisys currently sits at $49,884,090, and Salvation wrapped up its box office run with a worldwide total of $371,353,001. On the other side, Genisys currently sits at $135,384,090 with the worldwide total, and that's against a reported production budget of $155,000,000. Of course, Genisys will break even with more time, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just more bad news for the Terminator franchise.

We should have a new front-runner to take the top spot as the new #1 film in the week to week charts with Minions. If we're talking about the other new releases, I lost interest in The Gallows after the release for the first full trailer, and I'm not 100% sold on Self/Less right now.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Terminator: Genisys - 6/10: Terminator: Jenny Smith a.k.a. T5 a.k.a. Terminator: Worst Title Ever, was alright at best. It has a couple of fun action scenes, Arnold is basically the same old Arnold (just actually old now) & I enjoyed the actor who portrayed John Connor as well as the guy who used to be Dr. Who, which story line & character wise, is hands down the best part of the film. But the story can be pretty difficult to follow, especially if you haven't seen the other 4 recently & are interested in how it all fits together and/or how it really doesn't. Also the main thing that didn't work for me, aside from the numerous plot holes, the weak writing/plot & Jai Courtney, was Sarah Connor's relationship with "Pops" a.k.a. Arnold & how her character seemed so wishy-washy. Their relationship was kind of weird, seemed super forced & didn't connect at all & every other scene Sarah went from being a badass & shooting stuff to crying or whining about something & acting too vulnerable. I don't watch Game of Thrones & I'm not familiar with the actress who played her but while she worked okay as a cool chick trying to kick some ass, she didn't work so well as an emotional little girl. That may be all in the writing though, I don't know. She may have a much greater range than shooting a gun & wearing a leather jacket but in this movie, I didn't see it. The ending was also lame/awkward & felt like a super forced reboot ending, like the ending of Days of Future Past x10! They clearly just wanted to bring the Terminator franchise 30 years into the future so they could make a giant comic book type movie universe & make a whole bunch of more money like every other studio wants to do, but IMO they failed pretty miserably.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - 9/10: This movie is kind of hard to review because it is basically just about life. It's one of those movies that's not necessarily about the ending but more so about the journey along the way. Some people may find these movies a little "boring" because there isn't a whole bunch of explosions or nudity or anything like that but if you just like well done films that may get you thinking about your life and/or the lives of others around you, this is one of the best. In fact, I believe this is tied for my favorite film of the year so far in both rating, as well as just my overall enjoyment. It's a drama, it's a comedy, it's almost a fictional biopic in a way. It's simply one of the realest & most genuine films I've seen, possibly ever.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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

1. Furious 7
$1,511,636,779

2. Jurassic World
$1,465,838,000

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,388,522,000

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

5. Cinderella
$539,384,467

6. San Andreas
$449,201,000

7. Inside Out
$435,438,000

8. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,802,136

9. Minions
$395,700,000

10. Home
$368,868,000


Jurassic World is catching up to Furious 7, it might even dethrone it! The fact that it passed Avengers was surprising enough. Minions joined the top ten this week. I could see it climbing up a few more spots. 4 new films will be released this week. The one that catches my interest the most is Ant-Man. It will surely make it into the top ten at least in the bottom half of it.

Upcoming releases:
7/17: Ant-Man
7/17: Bajrangi Bhaijaan
7/17: Mr. Holmes
7/17: Trainwreck

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Terminator Genisys-3/10

My initial reaction was "Eh, it's not that bad." Maybe I'll give it a bare minimum pass, but I've had a few days to think about it now. Yeah, Genisys is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but for me, it's still an underwhelming action/sci-fi film with sub-par special effects, and a convoluted and messy time travel storyline.

When the nostalgia from the 1984 original wears off after the first fifteen or twenty minutes, and the Genisys side of the story kicks in, it's all downhill with a series of one too many plot twists and alternate timelines mumbo jumbo.

And the Terminator (or T-3000) John Connor twist.....just wow. Of course, there's a better chance for the twist having genuine shock value, if they didn't reveal the Terminator John Connor twist in the trailers (easily one of the biggest boneheaded decisions to market a movie in recent memory), but Jason Clarke is really dull and bland as John Connor.

From the moment the casting decision was made, I knew Clarke was a bad choice for Connor. He's decent enough in supporting roles (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes for a recent choice), but as John Connor? Sorry, but he doesn't embody the screen presence as the ultimate hero or mankind's last hope.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, I don't watch Game Of Thrones, but Emilia Clarke is a solid (Linda Hamilton is still #1, so I'll put her a step below Lena Headey) Sarah Connor. Unfortunately for her, the writing for Genisys Sarah Connor is borderline hideous. Jai Courtney is.....well he's just there as Kyle Reese. As usual, Courtney just goes through motions as another Hollywood action drone, and that's about it. Also, I could not buy into the forced and unbelievable chemistry between Clarke and Courtney.

I thoroughly enjoyed Arnie's performance and his return to the series, and they did a good job of playing up Schwarzenegger's (or "Pops") status as an aging ("old, but not obsolete") Terminator, and the relationship between Clarke and Schwarzenegger is on a short list of highlights here.

Spoiler

Eh, I understand the point behind Matt Smith's character as SkyNet's secret weapon/Terminator (or the embodiment of SkyNet). But overall, his screen time in the movie MIGHT add up to two minutes, so looking at the big picture, his presence in the movie feels meaninglessness. /

Still, Arnie's return to the series and Clarke's performance are not enough to save this one. I have to watch Salvation (God, I hate Salvation) again with Rise Of The Machines back to back, but Genisys falls into the mix with mediocre, awful, or forgettable post T1 and T2 films.

A terrible marketing campaign (reset the future!), and a series of dull trailers really hurt Genisys. This was supposed to be a film that delivered the enormity of earth-shattering changes, but it's just another disappointment for the Terminator franchise.

And it's not as bad as Arnie's "talk to the hand," moment in Rise Of The Machines, but Clarke's "bite me" moment is close enough. Maybe I'm being too nitpicky, but Sarah Connor saying "bite me"? Ugh.

Escobar: Paradise Lost- 5/10

I'll give it a pass for Benicio del Toro's performance as Pablo Escobar. Del Toro's distinct aura and his commanding screen presence is undeniable, but the love story/drama side of the film featuring Josh Hutcherson's Nick and Claudia Traisac's Maria? It's just awful.

Sorry, but I could not buy into the setup and the "love at first sight" premise behind Nick and Maria's relationship and Nick and Maria falling in love. Nick and Maria's storyline feels contrived, and Nick's character is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Nick makes one stupid head-shaking mistake after another, as the story progresses, and Nick sees more of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, and truth be told, Hutcherson's character is a naive dolt.

That's the big problem with Paradise Lost: they're trying to simultaneously tell two stories at once (Pablo Escobar's story, and the story of a young American moving to Colombia, and falling in love), and towards the end, both storylines intersect in an inevitable and muddled collision.

Del Toro is excellent, and I'm glad they didn't waste too much time trying to explain and elaborate on a backstory, because you should know or at least have some clue as to who Pablo Escobar is. But the tedious love story between Nick and Maria really drags the quality of this one down. In the end, after watching Paradise Lost, it's hard to ignore the potential for a rise and fall biopic centered around Del Toro as the main character, but they squandered a real chance to create something special and memorable.

The Upcoming Weekend

I’ll watch Ant-Mant out of morbid curiosity, and well, I’m a fan of all things Paul Rudd. But I’m setting the bar low for expectations, because the trailers are decent at best. I'll admit, I’m not familiar with the source material, but as a character, Ant-Man is not enough to blow my skirt up.

Trainwreck? I get the feeling they’re going overboard with all the hype. An 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, five star reviews, and the recent-ish "AMY SCHUMER IS A GREAT COMEDIAN, AND YOU NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE, BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME!" push is kind of annoying. Still, I'll take a chance on it for Cena, and I enjoy most of Judd Apatow's romantic comedy films.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Jurassic World
$1,513,474,000

2. Furious 7
$1,511,726,205

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,393,509,000

4. Minions
$625,792,000

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

6. Cinderella
$539,501,359

7. Inside Out
$490,163,000

8. San Andreas
$459,754,766

9. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,802,136

10. Home
$400,053,135


It did it! Jurassic World did it! it dethroned Furious 7 and is now the highest grossing film of the year as well as inching its way toward becoming the #3 highest grossing film of all time. Minions also made a climb, all the way up to the #4 spot for the year. I'm surprised to not see Ant-Man in the top ten yet, but it should make it in by next week. Four new films will be released this week. Pixels looks really good.


Upcoming releases:
7/24: Smosh: The Movie
7/24: Paper Towns
7/24: Pixels
7/24: Southpaw

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The Gallows- 2/10

Awful. Just awful.

Charlie's character is a real conundrum. On one hand, they did a good with the backstory for Charlie/The Hangman (the primary antagonist), and playing up the dark mystique surrounding his character, as this malevolent bogeyman.

But you're in for a real disappointment, when Charlie unleashes his reign of terror on the teens at the high school. They stick to a boring and tedious formula, with Charlie stalking the teens throughout the movie, and unless I missed something, they only show the aftermath for Charlie's murders, not the actual deaths as they happen. In certain horror movies, the "use your imagination" approach really works, but that's not the case here.

The Hangman's Noose is lame and unconvincing as a lethal weapon. Sure, I get the whole point behind Charlie using a noose. He wants his victims to suffer an agonizing death, similar to the agonizing death Charlie suffered during the accident, but come on now. To add to that, I thought it was hilarious how they tried to compare The Hangman's Noose to Freddy's bladed glove, Voorhees' machete, and other famous signature weapons for known horror villains in some of the promotional spots for The Gallows.

To make matters worse, The Gallows is loaded with stupid and annoying characters with no real depth. Sorry, but it's hard to root for the main cast of characters to survive, when you have an airhead, a clueless dope, and a narcissistic jackass.

The Gallows is dull, boring, and the movie ends with an anticlimactic (when you're using a noose as a weapon, you can only do so much to pull a reaction out of the audience) grand finale. Also, the movie is loaded with nauseating shaky cam (including an unbearable smartphone POV in sporadic scenes) garbage, predictable jump scares, and the scare tactics ("The locker just opened and closed by itself!" ) are laughable at best.

I'll give The Gallows some credit for Pfeifer Brown's performance, as the perky geek, and the mythology for Charlie's character, but it's still an atrocious film. The Gallows had the potential to be a decent enough movie, but unfortunately it's another run-of-the-mill found-footage horror film, and you can definitely add this one to Blumhouse's list of failures.

The Upcoming Weekend

Three high profiled releases this week with Paper Towns, Pixels, and Southpaw.

The critics are tearing Pixels apart (the movie currently holds a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes), but according to Box Office Mojo.com, Pixels should debut in the #1 spot in the week to week charts with a slight edge over Minions in the #2 spot. Meanwhile, Paper Towns is expected to open in the #5 spot, and Southpaw is expected to open with $13,000,000 (placing the debut somewhere in the bottom half of the top ten).

As far as Pixels goes, it looks like it could be a fun movie, but it's a movie starring Adam Sandler, so you had to expect an overwhelming amount of negative reviews. Paper Towns? I'm not so sure about it. Granted, I've never read the book, so I'm not familiar with the source material, but going by the trailers, Paper Towns looks like your typical coming-of-age film, where the nerd chases the hot girl, who's out of his league.

The lukewarm reviews for Southpaw are a bit disappointing, because I was hoping for an Oscar nomination for Jake Gyllenhaal. And it's on a limited release, but I'll probably take a chance on The Vatican Tapes. Yeah, there's a good chance it's another forgettable and cliched exorcism horror film, but hopefully the combination of Djimon Hounsou and Michael Pena will be enough to produce an effective horror flick.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Jurassic World
$1,541,503,000

2. Furious 7
$1,511,726,205

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,395,930,000

4. Minions
$759,420,000

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

6. Inside Out
$550,135,000

7. Cinderella
$539,595,109

8. San Andreas
$460,651,731

9. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$403,802,136

10. Home
$369,408,583


Jurassic World has become the 3rd highest grossing film of all time. Not bad. Inside Out climbed up a spot too. I'm surprised Ant-Man didn't make it into the list yet being part of The Avengers series but by next week it should be. Three new films will be released this week, one of which is the 5th Mission Impossible movie. While I loved the first one, I didn't like the 2nd or 3rd as much and I never saw the 4th one. So I doubt I'll be seeing this new one. It might make it into the top ten though.

Upcoming releases:
7/29: Vacation
7/31: Karachi se Lahore
7/31: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

 

[Dagger Dias]

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

1. Jurassic World
$1,559,500,000

2. Furious 7
$1,511,726,205

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,396,074,044

4. Minions
$854,691,000

5. Inside Out
$602,300,000

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

7. Cinderella
$539,649,158

8. San Andreas
$461,137,883

9. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$406,737,128

10. Home
$385,907,366


Inside Out moved up to #5. There wasn't much else that changed this week. Still no Ant-Man in the top ten, that's odd. Several new films will be released this week. Among them is Fantastic Four. I honestly really didn't want this to get another remake. I think it's too soon, but I may be in the minority there. Debating on whether to see it or not. None of the others for this week interest me. I don't predict any make the top ten, not if Ant-Man still hasn't.


Upcoming releases:
8/7: Boruto: Naruto the Movie
8/7: Dark Places
8/7: Fantastic Four
8/7: The Gift
8/7: Ricki and the Flash

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Ant-Man (in 3D!)-6/10

Harmless fun.

It's the best way to describe Ant-Man, and I can't say I have any real problems with the movie overall. A solid supporting cast, Paul Rudd did a good job in the leading role, and Corey Stoll was a decent enough villain.

Ant-Man is an enjoyable superhero film with a good sense of humor (with Michael Pena providing most of the comic relief), but if they have plans for a sequel, I can't say I'm too excited. Ant-Man as a solo film works better as a one-off deal to introduce the character, the supporting characters, and his backstory, because Ant-Man is a forgettable film, when you compare it to the other films in Marvel's cinematic universe.

Maggie-8/10

A slight chance I'll change my mind on a second viewing, but I really enjoyed Maggie.

First of all, Maggie is not a pure 100% horror film. It's more of a post-apocalyptic drama with horror themes. Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin deliver two strong performances, and the excellent father/daughter chemistry between the two is believable. A few bonus points for Henry Hobson (the director) creating the perfect dreary and desolate wasteland, and Maggie deserves credit for taking a chance to try something different for zombie films.

Instead of the usual "AHHHHHHHHHH!! Zombies!!! Kill 'em all! What are you waiting for? Do it now!" reaction (with a slight, emotional pause in the middle before he or she decides to kill said zombie), Maggie takes the time to explore how a family member or friend's infection affects the relationships with those close to or around him or her. The heartache, the uncomfortable decisions, the confrontations, everything. Maggie's thoroughness is refreshing for a zombie film, because it's not about gore, blood, and gruesome deaths. No, Maggie features a real thoughtful story, as the main characters are forced to deal with an unavoidable conflict, because they're forced to choose between a mercy killing, protecting and caring for a zombie, when you know damn well what's going to happen when the transformation is complete, abandoning family members or friends and turning a blind eye to whatever happens next, or they're forced with the choice of turning a zombie over to the police and the government, so they can suffer a fate that's worse than death.

Although, Maggie is a bit too melodramatic at times, and the ending.......

Spoiler

So Maggie's transformation is 90% complete (well, you have to believe Maggie is still in there somewhere, because she gives Arnie a goodbye kiss on the forehead) in the final moments of the film, and while Arnie is sleeping (in reality, he's playing possum), Maggie sniffs her father. She leaves Arnie alone, and Maggie jumps off the roof. Meanwhile, they show Arnie loading a shell into his shotgun, and he leaves the house. The final shot of the film shows (from Maggie's eyes) Maggie falling to the ground.....and that's it.

Eh, maybe I'm being too nitpicky here, but Maggie is a zombie. Am I really supposed to believe there's a chance she'll successfully commit suicide after a fall from a regular two-story house?

Also, as a fan, I hope Schwarzenegger sticks to a more "outside of the comfort zone" approach for his roles in the future. You can count the number of times Schwarzenegger picks up a shotgun on one hand in Maggie, and at this point, it's safe to say a lot of people are having a hard time buying Arnie as an action guy now a days. The Last Stand and Sabotage flopped at the box office, and the vast majority of reviews for Genisys are negative. I'm not against more action films for Schwarzenegger, BUT you have to remember he's inching closer to 70.

The Vatican Tapes-5/10

I'll give it a pass for Olivia Taylor Dudley's (hard to believe she had a part in that piece of shit Chernobyl Diaries, and yes, she's that good in TVT), and I'm a sucker for diabolical endings, because The Vatican Tapes is just another run-of-the-mill exorcism horror film. Dudley's performance is on a short list of redeeming qualities in The Vatican Tapes, because the movie features one too many unintentional funny moments, and a barrage of exorcism horror cliches.

You're not missing anything special if you decide to skip TVT, and maybe I'm alone on this, but It's hard to ignore the feeling of Michael Pena just mailing it in here. Throughout the movie, Pena's body language, his facial expressions, and his performance reeks of someone, who's disinterested and bored. Maybe a paycheck was Pena's sole motivation for taking a part in this one, and there's nothing wrong that, but I was hoping for more. And Djimon Hounsou's screen time is limited to here and there appearances for the most part.


July 31- August 2 & The Upcoming Weekend

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation debuted as the new #1 film in the week-to-week charts to bring the current worldwide total to $120,520,089, and Vacation opened in the #2 spot with $21,003,442, and that's against a reported production budget of $31,000,000.

Rogue Nation's critical and financial success is no real surprise, and I remember reading a story somewhere about Vacation's attempt to re-brand the National Lampoon's franchise, but I can't see it working out. I haven't seen the movie, but the trailers and commercials for Vacation were atrocious, and I honestly can't remember any real hype or excitement for the movie. Also, we're way past the point for salvaging the NL series, because the franchise has suffered way too much damage over the years.

If we're talking about new releases, I'm really looking forward to The Gift and Fantastic Four. The casting choices for Fantastic Four sparked a lot of complaints, but if I had to pick one positive, Kate Mara looks like the right choice for Susan Storm/Invisible Woman.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Ant-Man - 9/10: Easily one of the most enjoyable times I've had at the movies all year long. The action is great, it's incredibly funny & the way Peyton Reed & his team approached all the shrinking & the sub-atomic/quantum realm was fantastic. All around the performances are pretty good too, although Paul Rudd is a little "Paul Ruddy" at times, I really would've have liked to have seen more development from Evangeline Lilly's character & while I personally loved Corey Stoll as the villain, several of his scenes felt like they were just the same thing over & over again, so I guess once again just some more development would've been nice. Overall though it's tied with GotG for my 2nd favorite MCU movie (behind The Winter Soldier) & it turned Ant-Man from one of my least favorite Marvel characters into one of my more favorite characters in the MCU & one of the ones I'm most interested in going forward.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - 7.5/10: The 5th installment in the M.I. franchise, Rogue Nation is a solid follow-up to the acclaimed Ghost Protocol but pretty much what you'd expect from the franchise if you've seen any of the other films. The action is good, the villain is kind of interesting & the lead female is the clear stand-out but overall it just feels like any other action movie. & all I've heard people talk about is how Tom Cruise does his own stunts & that one plan scene, which is admirable & a very cool scene but that's about as good as the film get's & it's spoiled in the trailer. Maybe it's because I've never been a huge fan of Cruise but overall I just didn't find myself getting invested at all. It's a fun, mindless action flick but not much more than that.

Dragonball Z: Resurrection "F" - 7/10: As a huge fan of DBZ since I was a kid & considering Battle of Gods was my all-time favorite Dragonball movie (not counting the History of Trunks special), I was actually pretty let down with the Revival of Frieza film. To be fair I wasn't big on a lot of the details revealed prior to it's release anyways, like Frieza being revived again, the new blue haired SS God SS mode, Golden Frieza, Gohan's awful new tracksuit design, etc. But in the end a lot of those things weren't really even the things that bugged me. The story is very slow, there is not nearly as much or as good of humor as BoG, it takes forever just for Goku & Vegeta to even appear on screen, Beerus & Whis are pretty much pointless this time around, the ending is pretty stupid & even the action wasn't all that amazing (even the CGI doesn't look as good as it has in the past). The best moments are probably the little fan service moments like Krillin shaving his head again or Vegeta being a badass which either seem kind of pointless or shoehorned in by the end of the film. BoG really had me pumped for things to come but this movie was a step down IMO & the new Dragonball: Super has been a pretty dull re-telling of what we've already seen too, but I'm still holding out hope that they can turn things back around.

Fantastic Four - 6.5/10: There has been a lot going around about this film & apparently this isn't really even the final product director Josh Trank wanted to make in the 1st place but before all of that nonsense I'd just like to say that this was clearly the ULTIMATE version of the FF with a bit of a monster movie twist thrown in it. Just by the tone of the trailers alone this looked like a cool Sci-Fi, Monster movie but NOT a Fantastic Four film. & while I would even agree this might be technically the best film to date to have a FF title on it, it's easily the worst FANTASTIC FOUR film. Except for their powers & the FF title, there isn't any part of the movie that feels like the FF IMO. But that aside, it's actually an interesting take on the FF & the 1st half or so of film felt like a real character study of who these characters would be if they were younger & existed in our current day real world, & I really enjoyed that part. Once they get their powers though the film really shifts tone & started to fall apart. Aside from Reed, Ben & their friendship, all of the other characters/relationships are underdeveloped & never really end up developing at all aside from a quick quip or one-liner made near the end of the film. The action is very few & far between & the ending action sequence is just awful, not to mention the ridiculous follow-up ending scene. & Doom looks like a sack of wet garbage. His character has little to no motivation & seems extremely forced the whole way through, not to mention his powers seemed unlimited until all of a sudden they just aren't because of teamwork? Even though the team doesn't even appear on screen together until the end of the film, are still at odds with each other, never really fix anything & most are shown to not really work well together or with others at all? Umm.. okay? & except for Reg E. Cathey, the performances were average at best (although that may have just been the material they were given to work with). In the end it just seemed like there were just way too many ideas going on, not enough time to fit everything in & it was all "fixed" with re-shoots, lazy editing & slapping together whatever they had.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Jurassic World
$1,581,227,000

2. Furious 7
$1,511,726,205

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,398,442,727

4. Minions
$912,554,000

5. Inside Out
$635,475,000

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

7. Cinderella
$539,714,555

8. San Andreas
$461,502,202

9. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$406,737,128

10. Home
$386,127,677



No new additions to the top ten this week, and still no Ant-Man. Odd. I really thought it would have made the list by now. Three new films will be released this week, none of them look all that interesting though. Over in the all-time rankings.... Jurassic World, Furious 7, and Age of Ultron are currently in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th all time spots while Minions has made it to #35 on the highest grossing films ever listing.


Upcoming releases:
8/13: Shah
8/14: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
8/14: Straight Outta Compton

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Self/less-5/10

I'll give it a pass for a few decent action sequences, sporadic thrills, and a solid performance from Ryan Reynolds. But overall, Self/less is a disappointing and frustrating film, so I'm not surprised this one flopped at the box office.

The thought-provoking premise is loaded with potential, but when Ben Kingsley (as Ryan Reynolds) learns the truth about his new body, Self/less hits a dead end. Kingsley realizes he made a mistake after the switch, and when Kingsley confronts Albright (the primary antagonist), they jump into the predictable "you don't have the right to play God" argument.

After the halfway point, Self/less devolves into a series of car chases and shootouts. Kingsley's decision to do the right thing is obvious after he meets Reynolds' widow and his daughter, and you can see the ending coming from a mile away.

Self/less reminds me of The Island 2005 starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson: An action/sci-fi film with a promising and intriguing premise, but instead, they only scratch the surface, and the powers that be settle for an average and predictable film.

Mr. Holmes-8/10

If you're looking for a pure crime drama/mystery film starring the Sherlock Holmes character, Mr. Holmes is not for you, because Mr. Holmes is more of a drama featuring the Sherlock Holmes character.

In Mr. Holmes, Holmes is a feeble old man, who's haunted by a tragic case. He's a vulnerable recluse, who made the choice to live out the rest of his days in exile. Every now and then, you'll see a handful of "he's still got it" moments from McKellen, but for the most part, Holmes is just a shell of his former self here.

Throughout the movie, you'll see flashbacks of Holmes during his glory days (although, the flashbacks only focus one case, the case that drove Holmes into a downward spiral), but still, the flashbacks are from the tail end of Holmes' career. Also, there's a running joke with Watson exaggerating details in Holmes' cases and his appearance to help build Holmes' mystique as a larger than life figure, Holmes' being uncomfortable with Watson's changes, and Holmes' fans and other people showing disappointment, when they actually meet Holmes in person, because his physical appearance and the aura surrounding him doesn't live up to the legend and their expectations.

Yeah, Mr. Holmes is tedious at times, and the movie drags a little bit during the home stretch, but it's a refreshing, thoughtful, and emotional drama, featuring a top notch performance from Ian McKellen. And Laura Linney deserves her fair share of credit for her performance as the caretaker.

The Upcoming Weekend

Well, it's no secret by now, but the vast majority of critics slammed the new Fantastic Four film, and the movie currently holds an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Fantastic Four is currently the worst reviewed summer blockbuster for 2015 (with Pixels and Terminator: Genisys rounding out the top three).

It's just a big mess with director Josh Trank disowning the final product on Twitter (I think he deleted the tweet, but it's too late for that now), and Fantastic Four debuted at #2 in the week-to-week charts, with Rogue Nation holding on to the #1 spot for a repeat. It's a flop, and I'm kind of bummed out about by all the negativity surrounding the film, because the trailers looked good, and I was looking forward to this one.

Straight Outta Compton currently holds an 85% on RT, but I'm not so sure it'll take the #1 spot in the week-to-week charts this weekend. The positive reviews should give the film a good head start, and I don't doubt any anticipation surrounding the film, BUT it's an R-rated biopic and the overall runtime clocks in at 2 hr. 27 min.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.? Eh, I soured on the film after the new trailers and commercials debuted. I'm sure the movie will find a spot in the top three, but I have feeling we're looking at a lukewarm box office run for this one.

 

[Dagger Dias]

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


1. Jurassic World
$1,606,232,000

2. Furious 7
$1,511,726,205

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
$1,398,677,917

4. Minions
$957,469,000

5. Inside Out
$637,026,075

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

7. Cinderella
$539,731,891

8. San Andreas
$468,209,716

9. Kingsman: The Secret Service
$406,737,128

10. Home
$386,329,300


No changes to the top ten this week. Over on the all-time listing, Minions has now made it up to #29 of all time while the year's current top 3 are still #3, 5, and 6 respectively on the all-time listing. Minions is currently the 5th highest grossing animated film ever and looks to climb further up that list. Three new films will be released this week.


Upcoming releases:
8/21: American Ultra
8/21: Hitman: Agent 47
8/21: Sinister 2