What did you see this weekend?
Sunday, July 12, 2015 at 4:49PM As expected those talking yellow dildos (thanks Tim) won the weekend in a big way, though they didn't quite beat the top opening of all time for a toon -- which, I hate to remind you, is held by Shrek The Third. The others held fairly well, particularly Magic Mike XXL which keeps inspiring interesting conversation and dropped only 25% in its second weekend instead of the usual 40 or 50%. The least advertised hit was Baahuball, the Beginning, a spectacle from India on only 236 screens.
BOX OFFICE
July 10th-12th Weekend
01 Minions $115.2 NEW Tim on the Minions phenom
02 Jurassic World $18.1 (cum. $590.6) Jurassic Articles
03 Inside Out $17.1 (cum. $283.6) Inside Out Articles
04 Terminator Genisys $13.7 (cum. $68.7) Review
05 The Gallows $10 NEW
06 Magic Mike XXL NEW $9.6 (cum. $48.3) Review
07 Ted 2 $5.6 (cum. $71.6)
08 Self/Less $5.3 NEW How many Ryan Reynolds movies have you seen?
09 Baahuball: The Beginning $3.5 NEW
10 Max $3.4 (cum. $33.7)
Among notable films in limited release, the documentary Amy (reviewed) had a great second weekend taking in nearly $2 million, the energetic must-see trans comedy Tangerine (raved right here) made $64,000 on 4 screens (with hopefully more to come when word gets out on how raucously fun it is), and the doc Do I Sound Gay? earned $11,000 on 1 screen. Robin Williams bummed out final film Boulevard (reviewed here), didn't fare that well with only $7,000.
What did you see this weekend?
I ended up hiding from the heat and binge-watching UnReal against my will -- but The Boyfriend does whatever Emily Nussbaum at the New Yorker tells him and she had raved about it. I had absolute zero interest in it based on the subject matter (behind the scenes drama at a show not unlike the women-as-chattle reality series The Bachelor) but it's a stunner -- so cynical, provocative, and superbly acted. Constance Zimmer and Shiri Appleby - wow!
Minions, Tangerine, UnReal, box office
Reader Comments (28)
"he Boyfriend does whatever Emily Nussbaum at the New Yorker tells him." Wise, wise boyfriend.
never heard about "unreal", will check it out. (only know emily nussbaum from her "smash" recaps, so she's reliable I think)
I just started The Fosters -- another Nussbaum cause de celebre -- and I'm hooked.
Is there a decent way to watch UnReal? I tried watching with ads on the Lifetime website and found it unbelievably annoying. Liked what I saw though.
I also binge watched all of the UnReal episodes this weekend so good! Jake D, I also watched the episodes on Lifetime, but didn't get any commercials. It seemed strange, so maybe I just lucked out? I didn't sign in if that helps at all.
I can't wait to see where the rest of the season goes. I am enjoying the moral ambiguity, and that the characters for the most part have dimensions.
Off to see Magic Mike tonight
I finally watched The Immigrant and was left thinking, yet again, that James Gray isn't appreciated enough. The Immigrant, We Own the Night, The Yards - he's made some very high-quality films.
" Magic Mike XXL" a feel good road comedy stripper musical which could have used less talk and more dancing. The script took some interesting detours and it has a feel of something that was improvised on the spot. Mike needed at least one Gene Kelly like showstopper. The very inclusive film knows how to please one segment of it's target audience - the ladies in the audience loved every minute of it - but i do wish at least one of the crew might have had a gay or least bi encounter- the scene in which Mike and Tito bond on that king size seems to be leading up to a big reveal but it safely cuts to the next hetero safety.
This weekend, I drove up to Hartford to present panels at ConnectiCon. I spoke to 400 people on Animated Horror from Around the World and another 100 this morning on Comic Book/Comic Strip Musicals. A great weekend, I'd say. A young boy led the audience in a singalong of "Ring of Keys" when I played the clip from Fun Home at the musical panel. I wanted to cry. So cute.
I'll definitely be checking out The Gallows this weekend. I'm working on a theater horror panel concept and a slasher set in a HS theater where a student died in a tragic stagecraft accident certainly fits.
Saw DOPE! Quite a fun film.
I saw Gilda and Silkwood for the very first time, so I had a winning actressexual weekend.
No movies this week, because we had family visiting. But that family included young'uns, so I got to help introduce Spirited Away and Ernest & Celestine to their target audience, which was pretty special.
Going to have my first Satyajit Ray experience tomorrow with a screening of World of Apu, and I can't freaking wait.
I saw Lava/Inside Out this morning. Right now, that's in my top 5 Pixar films. I was a wreck.
I think Scar-Jo 3:16 put a curse on Ryan Reynolds ever since he decided to ditch her for a bimbo.
Steven-that wouldn't explain his film choices prior to their divorce though. I think it might just have been God that cursed Ryan Reynolds with the body of a Greek god and the acting skills of a wet mop.
Didn't go to the movies this weekend but I watched Kingsman: The Secret Service on Apple TV and enjoyed it just as much as I did in theaters. As for Unreal; I'm definitely digging the show and just caught up on the last two episodes a few days ago (glad it got renewed for season two).
Steven/Anyone - Sorry to be this out of the loop, but can you explain what ScarJo "3:16" means?
Saw Branagh's Cinderella, which was utterly enchanting, Slow West - which gradually won me over and then delivered a killer ending; and `71 - which is both a debut and a masterpiece, like a perfect fusion of 70s John Carpenter and Paul Greengrass.
Rented Blackhat. TERRIBLE film, awful script, bland cast...etc. So boring. Michael Mann hit a new low.
I was not a fan of Miami Vice or Public Enemies but they at least had some good stuff going on.
The missus and I saw "Self/less" and "Max". I know I have a well-earned reputation for low standards, but we both thoroughly enjoyed both films.
The boyfriend and I totally saw the Minions movie (we're suckers for the stupid mindless little nubs), so we're definitely part of the problem. I found it surprisingly weird for a kids' movie, but not weird enough - like it could have been like the first half of Wall-E what with the silent aspect, although in this case it's gibberish language, but they got scared and not only made the language of the Minions MUCH more understandable, but added lots of human characters to make it fit more in the Despicable Me franchise. We still had fun with it (it's total mindless slapstick for kids, but it WORKS), but it was a bit long. The minions are best in small doses - I'd have far preferred a series of TV specials or maybe a series, where we only have to live with them in 20-30 minute spurts (something that worked quite well for the Penguins of Madagascar, before they decided to get their own cinematic starring vehicle).
After a week away from home at a conference and visiting family, I binged on the weekend. Saw TOMORROWLAMND (not bad, but ultimately another sappy Disney movie), JODOROWSKY'S DUNE (fascinating), GARDEN OF EVIL (dull. Another movie to entrench my negative view of Westerns) and GIGI (good, but bewildering as to why it won Best Picture. I am assuming there was something in the zeitgeist at the time about the French and/or lusting after young girls).
Caught "The Last Picture Show" on PBS. What can I say? I was probably too young (early 20's - 15 years ago) when I first saw it to appreciate all the richness of the movie. It is one of the best edited movies I've ever seen. I get the feel it was story-boarded entirely. The sparse dialogue combined with the camera angles/editing and vulnerable acting from all the cast create something so uniquely desolate and fragile I don't think I have quite experienced something like that in my film-going life.
I saw Tangerine and can say that TFE's endorsement is well-earned. It's both raucous and sweet, rough-hewn and just right. See it if you can!
I also finally caught up with I'll See You in My Dreams. It was okay, but mostly I was just happy that there was a film that broke the older female plot mold.
I just got back from A Poem is a Naked Person, a great Les Blank doc about Leon Russell that is playing at Film Forum. An essential 70s time capsule film.
Friday I saw The Wolfpack, which played like a horror movie until those poor kids finally broke out of their apartment and started living.
Last night I watched The Boy Next Door. I was hoping for something a little more campy, but this is just a straight forward genre schlockfest. Not unentertaining at times, but totally paint by numbers.
It seems indian epic BAAHUBALI is having a great start!
Watched Futuro Beach yesterday, not realizing that much of it is set in my alternate hometown (Berlin), where I'm spending most of the rest of the summer. And I'll be on a mission to meet Clemens Schick while I'm there.
The Gallows because, apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment. As someone who loves the horror genre more than most others, I wish the industry would take a chance on producing more original, more inspired, better executed material -- especially considering how little it costs to make most of these movies (unknown casts, hired-hand directors).
I never thought much of Shiri Appleby before, but she is just KILLING IT on UnReal. Such a rich, nuanced character and she is nailing every beat, even as the tone of the show shifts frequently (not in a bad way).
I saw Lincoln over the Weekend and wow, there was a lot of talking. I don't mean that in a negative way of course, so probs to Tony Kushner. That might have been the most deserving Oscar for the movie. DDL DID look impressive as Lincoln, but I have to admit I was overall more impressed with TLJ. That was a great scene.
Yesterday I've seen The Big Sleep and I really liked it. I've noticed some special "style" of dialogue in film noirs that is quite serious AND funny at the same time. I don't know the word for it....
Finally saw The Counselor. As bad as I heard but not bad enough to be entertaining. That dialog was godawful. Cameron tried but didn't pull it off.