2016 In Film

[Jack-Hammer]

The nominations for the 74th Golden Globe Awards were announced today and it was fairly surprising to see Deadpool earn two nominations, one for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Ryan Reynolds and one for Best Picture - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

You don't usually see comic book adaptations nominated for major industry awards in the acting or best picture categories, so it's kinda cool to see comic book films continue to break new ground.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I have doubts about a repetitive sequel and future sequels, but I give Deadpool credit for trying to be something different in the superhero genre, with the non-linear style of stroytelling, the fourth-wall breaking, and the mocking and parodying of numerous cliches in superhero films. And it helps that Ryan Reynolds is tailor made for Wade Wilson/Deadpool, playing to his strengths as the sarcastic, cocky jerk.

Sometimes the Golden Globe nominations might give us a clue for how things will play out for the Oscar nominations, and while I highly doubt Deadpool or Ryan Reynolds will receive any nominations, stranger things have happened in the past. Johnny Depp was nominated for Best Actor as Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates Of The Caribbean film, Robert Downey, Jr. received a Best Actor nod for his role in Tropic Thunder, and Blame Canada from South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut was nominated for Best Original Song.

I haven't seen all the nominated films, but Jeff Bridges for his work in Hell Or High Water is well deserved, because he easily delivered the best performance in the movie. Denzel looks great in the trailers for Fences, and he really delivers, when he's playing a more flawed and troubled character (Flight for a recent-ish example).

December 9-11 & The Upcoming Weekend

Moana held on to the #1 spot in the week-to-week charts for two consecutive weeks, bringing the worldwide total to $243,646,105. Meanwhile, Office Christmas Party received its fair share of negative reviews (a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes), but OCP debuted in the #2 spot to bring the worldwide total to $39,559,408.

Of course, the big story for the weekend is the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and according to numerous reports and predictions, Rogue One is expected to pull in $280,000,000-$350,000,000 during its opening weekend.

I'm still not sure what to expect from Rogue One. I know it's supposed to be "different" and breaking the mold from what we usually see in Star Wars films, but I'm still not sure if Gareth Edwards was the right choice to direct this one. Godzilla is one of those films I enjoyed in theaters, with the big screen, the sound, and everything that comes with watching a monster film at a movie theater, but I'm just bored with it now.

With all that said, Rogue One has the benefit of riding a massive wave of momentum after The Force Awakens, and the anticipation is there. According to reports, IMAX had their second highest day of pre-sales for early Rogue One tickets, and pre-sales crashed Fandango's website. The Star Wars name and the brand basically gives Disney a license to print money. There's a chance Rogue One might fall short of all the predictions and the projected numbers, but there's no doubt Rogue One will have a big opening weekend.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

31- 5/10

Imagine a painter, and he's in the middle of a masterpiece. But for some strange reason, he snaps out of nowhere, starts throwing buckets of paint on the canvas, he rips everything to pieces, and when it's all done, he pulls down his pants and he shits on the wreckage. That's what happens in most of Rob Zombie's films, but to be fair, 31 doesn't have a bad freefall problem, and it's one of Zombie's more coherent films.

While it's not as bad as I thought it would be, average is the best I can do for praising 31. I've said this before in here, but Rob Zombie REALLY needs to get someone to write his screenplays for him. I get it. The protagonists are supposed to be sleazy and trashy backwoods hillbillies, and the Heads (the bad guys) are whacky lunatics. Still, a lot of the dialogue throughout 31 is just cringeworthy.

One of the bigger problems in 31 is, occasionally it's kind of hard to suspend disbelief and take it seriously. It's too zany more often not, and the comedic stuff undermines the plight of a group of people fighting for their lives during the game.

With all that said, 31 is decent enough, if you're a horror fan, and you're looking for an extreme and energetic gore fest. Zombie gives his fans what he wants, with lots of blood, and grisly, brutal violence. Sherri Moon is a competent leading lady, and predicting the final girl is pretty easy, but 31 ends with a nice cliffhanger. And 31 goes off the rails every now and then, but I'll give credit where credit is due for the build to Doom-Head's arrival. Richard Brake is one crazy and creepy dude here, and Zombie actually did a good job of building him up as this menacing threat, and the seemingly unstoppable final boss in the game.

December 16-18 & The Upcoming Weekend

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's current worldwide total sits at $305,881,681, and Collateral Beauty's current worldwide total sits at $12,002,085, and that's off of a reported production budget of $36,000,000.

According to Box Office Mojo.com, it's the worst wide opening for a film with Will Smith in the leading role, and it seems unlikely now, but it's going to be a real uphill battle to break even. Rogue One will surely have a dominant run at the box office, and Collateral Beauty has more heavy competition with so many big name releases starting this week, and all the way up to Christmas Day. On top of that, Collateral Beauty has a lot of bad reviews, and the movie currently holds a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. Will Smith's status as this surefire box office draw has taken a big hit after so many mediocre and sub-par films, and there's no denying it.

Why Him? looks like a predictable and formulaic romantic comedy. Bryan Cranston will reach a boiling point, and he'll flat out refuse to accept James Franco as his son-in-law, and he'll put his foot down, as the overbearing father. But Zoey Deutch will give some big speech about being all grown up, and Cranston will realize she's not a little girl anymore, and he'll have to accept her decisions. And when it's all said and done, Franco and Cranston will bury the hatchet to be best buddies. Also, I'm really not looking forward to Why Him? anymore after catching one of the uncensored commercials during the South Park reruns a little while ago, because you get the feeling it's going to be a typical James Franco comedy, loaded with dick jokes and a lot of hit-and-miss humor.

Passengers? I dunno. Passengers has a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can tell they're really trying to push the duo of Jennifer Lawrence and Christ Pratt, and the big twist in the commercials, the promo ads, and the trailers. Nothing in the trailers really catches my attention, because Passengers looks like another forgettable big budget Hollywood sci-fi action adventure flick.

Assassin's Creed should be a lot of fun, but video game adaptations have a pesky stigma attached to them. Assassin's Creed holds a 16% on RT, and Michael Fassbender is a big name, so it'll be interesting to see if Fassbender and fans of the game are enough to overcome the early wave of negative reviews.

Sing has a 76%, and according to reports, the movie is expected to pull in $65,000,000-$75,000,000 during its opening week. Out of all the holiday releases, Fences is the only film I'm truly looking forward to. A 94% on RT, and after watching the trailers, I'm sure Denzel will deliver another great performance.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I just got home from seeing Assassin's Creed with my wife and decided i would do a little review. Because it just came out yesterday and my review may spoil the movie for some I'm putting it in Spoiler tags.

Spoiler

I'll start off by saying if you're looking for a direct adaptation of one of the games then you're going to be bummed out a bit. This movie is set in the Creed universe but is a stand alone movie. It takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and follows the Assasin Aguilar de Nerha. His decedent in the present day hooked to the Animus is Callum Lynch both played by Michael Fassbender.

Other then that they stayed incredibly true to the games. Abstergo is still a front for the Templar Order and the CEO Alan Rikkin (played by Jeremy Irons) is still hunting for the Apple of Eden and a young woman named Sophia Rikkin (played by Marion Cotillard) is the one actually doing the work with the protagonist and the Animus).

The Bleeding Effect that is prevalent in the second game plays a part in giving Callum his skills as well.

All your favorite weapons from the various games are in the movie from hidden blades, swords even smoke bombs and Connor's Bow & Arrow from A.C. III. And for those that love the leap of faith it's in the movie...twice

There is one huge change from games to movie and that's the Animus itself. In the first game at Abstergo the Animus is a table Desmond lays on. In the second game and it's sequels it's a chair he sits in. In the movie it's a robotic arm that attaches to Callum's waist and lifts him in the air. The memories he's reliving are like a hologram in the Animus room and the Animus helps him go through the motions. It goes from Aguilar to Callum frequently while he's in the Animus so we see it from both sides. If Aguilar is fighting a group of soilders Callum is going through the exact same motions with the exact same intensity. If Aguilar is climbing a building or running across roof tops Callum again is doing the exact same thing in the Animus room.

They wanted something different and to not have the Animus compared to The Matrix and this worked perfectly and it gives us a great idea of how the Bleeding Effect works and gives the Protagonist the skills of an assassin.


I'll end with what surprised me and this deviated from the games as well. Abstergo succeeded in finding the Apple of Eden and were extremely close is their goal of wiping out free will. Of course Callum and the other Assassins that broke out of Abstergo stopped him but they came alot closer than any of thr games. It worked for the movie because it sets up a sequel perfectly. Callum has the Apple and Sophia looks like she may switch sides in the next movie. She did let them kill her father and take it right out of Templar HQ in London after all.

That's pretty much the end of the movie.

As a huge fan of the games I really wanted to see this movie but at the same time went in a little apprehensive that it was going to be screwed up.

It wasn't though and I would definitely see this movie in theaters agiain if the opportunity came up.

*****

 

[Dagger Dias]

Here are the highest grossing films of 2016 as of 1/1/2017....


1. Captain America: Civil War
$1,153,304,495

2. Finding Dory
$1,027,771,569

3. Zootopia
$1,023,784,195

4. The Jungle Book
$966,550,600

5. The Secret Life of Pets
$875,457,937

6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
$873,260,194

7. Deadpool
$783,112,979

8. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
$772,540,251

9. Suicide Squad
$745,600,054

10. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
$706,054,705


There are still some 2016 films being shown so if there are any major changes to the top ten I'll be on the lookout for them although other than Rogue One climbing up a couple of spots I do not anticipate any further changes.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Jackie-8/10

A thorough and fluent biopic, featuring a damn good performance from Natalie Portman. It's a nuanced performance, and Portman really did a good job of expressing her emotions with her mannerisms and facial expressions, because you really get the feeling you're watching a woman, who's just frozen in a state of shock.

Jackie also deserves credit for keeping the spotlight on Jackie Kennedy for the majority of the movie. One of the concerns I had for this is, the powers that be basically using Jackie Kennedy as storyline fodder to make an unconventional biopic about JFK's assassination, but that's not the case here. It's all about Jackie. What she goes through, how she fights to move on, the decisions she has to make, and Jackie doing her best to hold everything together. Also, blending actual real-life footage of JFK and Jackie Kennedy into the movie was a nice touch. The movie only features a few real-life clips, but the footage gives the movie more of a documentary-esque feel every now and then.

I know some will say it's too pretentious and boring, but Jackie is easily one of the best biopics (or the best) in 2016. I haven't seen every film that's a potential Oscar nominee, but I have to believe Natalie Portman is the front-runner to win the Oscar for Best Actress now. Jackie has an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Portman's performance has received rave reviews.

Well, 2016 is over, and Rogue One's box office run is far from over (three consecutive weeks at #1 in the week-to-week charts) , so I'll just talk about Miss Sloane and Passengers.

Miss Sloane joins the list of 2016 flops. The movie had a reported production budget of $13,000,000, but the current total sits at $3.4 million. I haven't seen the movie, and yeah, you could say it's just obvious Oscar bait, but I was kind of hoping for a more successful run with MS, because Chastain is one hell of an actress (although, to be fair, she has cooled off a bit after a string of really good films and performances four or five years ago).

And Passengers is currently having a rough run at the box office. The current total sits at $50,950,201, and that's off of a reported production budget of $110,000,000. I said it before, but the trailers made Passengers look like the typical big budget Hollywood sci-fi/action adventure we've all seen so many times over and over again. The duo of Pratt and Lawrence wasn't enough to spark a significant amount of buzz for the movie, and pushing the big twist/reveal in the trailers and promo ads was a bad sign from the start.