What Did You See This Weekend?
Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 1:00PM I had a busy movie weekend with Southpaw (better than it should be), Ant-Man (fun but also *shrugs*), a second viewing of Tangerine, and a double-podcast recording session (coming soon). Last night I nearly slipped into a coma of boredom when accidentally catching a half hour of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. (As I type this The Boyfriend is watching The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One but not even Julianne Moore can get me near that. The appeal of that franchise continues to escape me -- not scary, not moving, dull action sequences -- and since it does I'm not sitting through a padded four-hour finale.)
Pixels high concept was so review and quality-proof that it seemed likely to explode just from brand(s) familiarity alone (like, oh, Jurassic World). But nope. Slightly lower on the list Jake Gyllenhaal had his best opening where he was the main draw since Jarhead in 2005. (I'm not counting Prince of Persia since the video game was the main draw and no one seems to remember that movie just 5 years later, including Jake Gyllenhaal).
What did you see this weekend?
BOX OFFICE
Early Estimates. July 24th-26th Weekend
01 Ant-Man $24.7 (cum. $106)
02 Pixels $24 NEW
03 Minions $22 (cum. $261.5) Tim on the Minions phenom
04 Trainwreck $17.2 (cum. $61.5) Podcast
05 Southpaw $16.5 NEW
06 Paper Towns $12.5 NEW
07 Inside Out $7.3 (cum. $320.3) Podcast
08 Jurassic World $6.8 (cum. $623.7)
09 Mr Holmes $2.8 (cum. $6.4)
10 Terminator Genisys $2.4 (cum. $85.6) Review
Reader Comments (26)
I guess Jake will have to wait for a better film...horrible Southpaw and even worse 50 Cent. Jake tries, but the film is shit.
I saw Mad Max: Fury Road in 3-D and it was long and male but thoroughly entertaining. George Miller deserves some kind of Oscar for capturing action and adrenaline. Charlize was fine but that cranky I need coffee vibe is her natural state so I would not nominate her for anything for scowling. Tom Hardy continues to impress. Hot and charismatic guy.
I saw "The Stanford Prison Experiment." It's a gripping re-enactment of that famous experiment with very strong performances from its young cast and Billy Crudup. Ultimately, though, it does not illuminate anything about the experiment, but perhaps that is the point. Does brutality and subjugation really exist because we allow it with nothing more than a literal and metaphorical flip of a coin?
Nothing yet, but it's "Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting" night.
This comment is brought to you by taking a break from the work I need to complete to earn a movie tonight.
I live in LA's Koreatown, where one of Korea's major multiplex franchises has a theater -- they regularly play Korean films with English subtitles, and American blockbusters with Korean subtitles. This weekend, fortunately, they erred more on the former, so I saw two very different Korean films:
NORTHERN LIMIT LINE, the true story of a peacetime naval battle in 2002 between North and South Korea, which was heart-wrenching to watch but sometimes a little difficult to follow.
THE PIPER takes place after the Korean War, and takes its inspiration from the Pied Piper legend -- a piper and his son arrive in a small, remote village with a rat problem. I loved it -- an angry film about paranoia, power, and the small-mindedness of large groups. See it if you can, though it gets pretty grisly in its second half.
I saw Paper Towns and Trainwreck in theaters. I enjoyed both but thought they each could've gone a little deeper than they did.
At home I watched Kumiko the Treasure Hunter and fell in love with Rinko Kikuchi all over again.
The Straight Story and The Player.
"Prince of Persia" was pretty but dull- those old Simbad movies are ten times more exctiing- Jake as Simbad is not a bad idea...nothing new but I did see Jaques Demy " The Young Girls of Rochefort" which is visually dazzling and has a gorgeous score.
Re:hunger games. The first one was good I thought but sort of stupid too (eating poison berry threats, CGI monsters and Peeta camouflage skills anyone?) The second one was much better and actually introduced some interesting supporting players. The third one was flat out awful. I don't have much hope for the fourth but will probably eventually rent it since I've come so far already.
Isn't Mockingjay the first Julianne Moore film you've missed? (It's actually a lot worse than Catching Fire IMO.)
Saw Eden, Southpaw and Inside Out from this year. Southpaw is awful, Eden and Inside Out are fine but not life changing. However most of film viewing has come from revisiting 1995 because whenever you guys do the smackdown I decide to revist not only the supporting actress lineup but the best of the year. Going back to 1995 was great because it's easily the best year of the 90's for me because of how actress heavy it was and how female lead/directed films made for some of my favourite pleasures of the year/. This past week I especially love seeing Clueless (celebrated it's 20th anniversary this past Tuesday), Muriel's Wedding and Leaving Las Vegas, Each so brilliant and each so different.
Go see Christian Petzold's Phoenix, it's spectacular!
In theater: Mr. Holmes. Didn't like it at all. Hugely disappointing given the talent involved.
At home: The Man Who Left His Will On Film (on Hulu). That was actually my rebound film after I watched Sharknado 3 with friends last night. "So bad it's good" movies are lost on me - I always just think they suck and feel like I'm wasting valuable viewing time - so it's a good thing I had Hulu and Nagisa Oshima to help me feel better about my life choices.
On the TV front, I watched three episodes of Hannibal, 3 episodes of Transparent, and 2 episodes of Bojack Horseman, and found them all to be well worth my time.
suzanne -- i have missed a few now because some were barely released (like i haven't seen THE ENGLISH TEACHER) or I was morally opposed to them (CARRIE remake)
CHILD 44 - not bad, but I can see why the distributors were nervous and dropped the ball
INSIDE OUT (finally) - Best. Pixar. Ever. At THAT Bing-Bong scene, a child started howling and for the first time in a theatre, I didn't mind because I also felt like howling!
WOMEN HE'S UNDRESSED - Gillian Armstrong's documentary about Oscar-winning costume designer Orry-Kelly. Very good, particularly for Oscar obsessives and actressexuals.
THE PEACH GIRL - 1931 silent Chinese film. Good stuff.
INGRID BERGMAN: IN HER OWN WORDS - not bad, but more affectionate tribute than moving life analysis.
The train service around my area sucked this weekend, so I just stayed home and watched The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy I DVR'd off of TNT Last Sunday. I love those films to death but I'm waiting for the Super Duper Box Set of all six Middle Earth films (Extended Editions) before I buy them on Blu-Ray.
Saw Southpaw this weekend. It was enjoyable but contrived (formulaic to a fault really), and Jake is easily the best thing about the film.
Also, apparently even you've forgotten about Prince of Persia. That film is six years old, not five :P.
Bad weekend for movies. Southpaw--horrible. Mr. Holmes--boring; perhaps I was in the wrong mood. Wet Hot American Summer--still stupid, thought it would grow on me, but it didn't, maybe because I'm not 16?
N--English Teacher and Carrie are awful. Don't waste your valuable movie watching time, unless you want to be a Moore completist.
On the TV front--Wayward Pines is kind of interesting...catching up with it on Hulu.
Paper Towns - A sometimes fun (but ultimately forgettable) teen drama that subverts the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. Not sure Nat Wolff can carry a film, really. But Cara Delevingne's performance is promising; she's very good for a (known) model-turned-actress. Enjoyable soundtrack... even if some tunes are indistinguishable from others.
Pixels - A snooze. Few in the primary cast seem to care. The concept is great, but the narrative execution of it is a mess, even though the nostalgia-heavy visuals provided some escapist fun. The final action sequence is fun enough, but the stakes never feel real. Perhaps most importantly, that <I>Variety review was on point when it comes to the Gamergate crowd.
Southpaw - I'm somewhere in the middle (but probably leaning negative) with this one. Then again, sports films are my personal nightmare, so I'm not the best person to judge. We know what's gonna happen, and the transition from the second to third act felt a bit cheap. Not a fan of those new songs, either. I know I'll be the odd one out, but I felt Naomie Harris was the MVP... until the script had her acting out of character all of a sudden (just in time for the big finale) to make everything more convenient. Jake Gyllenhaal's great, of course, but I was more impressed with his body transformation than the actual performance; his turn in <I>Nightcrawler >>>>
That Sugar Film, which just became the highest grossing Australian documentary of all time. The more you know, eh? It's greatest strength is the fun visual style that the director/star Damon Gameau utilises to tell his SUPER SIZE ME-esque tale of a man eating strictly "healthy" foods and documenting the results (it's better than Spurlock's film, too, because duh eating McDonalds is bad for you why is that even a question?)
I saw Trainwreck and felt like it played like an episode of Inside Amy Schumer only that the skits were loosely tied together. It was like she thought of funny plot points A, B, C,... and M, and then worked in a plot as a means to connect them. The John Cena plot did not seem to have a real purpose and I kept wondering why her 60-something Dad was in a nursing home despite being in good shape.
I saw Trainwreck and really enjoyed it. I normally prefer Amy Schumer's writing to her performance, but she really delivered here. Also, any excuse to support a Brie Larson film is a good excuse to go to the movies.
I saw Do I Sound Gay? which was entertaining though not especially enlightening, though I suppose I knew a lot of the topic going in, not only because I know gay history but also because I've had voice and speech training back when I was an actor.
Sens8. Not perfect but is entertaining, visually interesting and the various, diverse leads are appealing.
We went to Trainwreck, and Amy should be a new star. Tilda cleans up nice. Also, on DVD, Home Before Dark, a well-done melodrama starring a terrific Jean Simmons. She should have been a much bigger star.
Working through films from 1940, I finally saw "His Girl Friday" which was somewhat disappointing. The first third was very charming but then it becomes extremely repetitious, with everyone squawking at each other in the same vocal pitch, characters committing suicide in the middle of a comedy and no one even really cares and scenes that go on forever. Cary Grant, though, is of course fantastic and swoon-worthy and Rosalind Russell was divine.
Nat - "The English Teacher" is (or was? I saw it within the last yer) streaming on Netflix. Not great, nothing you haven't seen her do better in better films.
Evan - The John Cena plot was to show you how she navigated a romantic relationship with a man (as opposed to just one-night stands) to help her grow so she learns how to treat someone like Bill Hader better (eventually). Her dad has MS so he had to live in an assisted living home.