Movies Dragonlord's 2014 Movie Guide

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Friday Box Office:

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Explodes to $37.8 Million on Friday

James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy topped the Friday box office with $37.8 million, putting the quirky superhero movie on course for a $92 million debut and providing a needed respite from the summer box office slump. It's doing far more business than expected and marks another sizeable victory for Marvel Studios as it launches a new franchise outside of the Avengers series.

The Marvel and Disney tentpole will easily pass up the $69.2 million domestic debut of The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007 to nab the top August opening of all time, not accounting for inflation.

It's also set to secure the best showing of the year so far for an original property and is opening on par with 2014 franchise installments Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95 million), Godzilla ($93.2 million), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91.6 million) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8 million).

Heading into the weekend, the Marvel and Disney tentpole was projected to gross $65 million to $70 million in its domestic debut. The film's over-performance points to stellar word-of-mouth and its originality. The movie earned stellar reviews with a 92% fresh rating in Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" CinemaScore from Friday audiences.


Box Office: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Zooms to $37.8M Friday for Likely $92M Debut

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Weekend Box Office:

Guardians of the Galaxy Breaks August Record with $94 Million

1. Guardians of the Galaxy -- $94,000,000 weekend; $94m total
2. Lucy -- $18,300,000 weekend; $71m total
3. Get On Up -- $14,000,000 weekend; $14m total
4. Hercules -- $10,700,000 weekend; $52.3m total
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes -- $8,700,000 weekend; $189.3m total

Rousing the ailing summer box office to life, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy opened to a record-breaking $94 million in North America, the top August debut of all time and besting every other summer tentpole save for Transformers: Age of Extinction in another sizeable victory for Marvel Studios. Overseas, Guardians also dazzled, debuting to $66.4 million in 42 markets for a global opening of $160.4 million. It's only playing in 50 percent of the foreign marketplace.

The Marvel and Disney tentpole did far more business than expected after receiving glowing reviews for its originality and an A CinemaScore from audiences and 92% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes. The movie, launching only the second in-house Marvel franchise after the Avengers series, received the widest release ever for an August title (4,080 theaters), and easily surpassed the debut of previous August record-holder, The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.3 million). Guardians also secured the best showing of the year so far for an original property.

Still, Guardians of the Galaxy won't be able to rescue the ailing summer overall. The weekend may have been up from last year, but summer revenue is still down by a large margin. Hype around Guardians has been so high that Marvel and Disney have already announced plans for a July 28, 2017 sequel, with Gunn returning to direct.


Box Office Report: Guardians of the Galaxy Amazes With Record $94M U.S. Debut

 

[JBSchroeds]

Guardians of the Galaxy
Score: 7/10
Genre: Space Opera/Comic Book
Director: James Gunn
Staring: Chris Pratt as Star Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and Lee Pace as Ronan

TL;DR Review: The film looks amazing, better than anything else Marvel has put out to date. Chris Pratt does a very solid job in the lead roll and Cooper's Rocket is a standout. Unfortunately the rest of the core cast isn't as good and the script was uneven. But still, it's far superior to both Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, and at least on par with Cap 2.

Full Review: Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel's first real risk, and, on the whole, they do an admirable job. The movie looks like it's going to be a really big success and I hope it paves the way for more space opera and original sci-fi.

The most impressive part of this movie is the visuals. It would not be a stretch to call it one of the best looking movies in recent memory. It amazes me how much they were able to do with their $170mil budget. Visual effects are everywhere with two fully realized CGI characters, extended spaceship battles, and multiple unique worlds. What they were able to accomplish on this front should put other studios on notice.

Speaking of CGI characters, the real break out character for the movie is Bradley Cooper's Rocket Rac00n. The character is a lot of fun (and the leg/eye gag being particularly funny) and Cooper's voice work really brings him to life. Vin Diesel's Groot is alright, but not as notable as Rocket (it's hard when you've only got one line).

For the human (or at least human acted) characters Pratt's lead of Peter Quill/Star Lord is definitely the best. He's charismatic and funny without feeling forced and they avoid going too far over the top with him. Unfortunately the rest of the cast isn't on the same level. Zoe Saldana's Gamora felt uneven (and for a "living weapon" gets beaten far too easily) and Dave Bautista as Drax was just plain awful. I cringed at his delivery of almost everything. They went with him as a budget choice and, well, they got what they paid for. Lee Pace is a more lively villain than Eccleston was in Thor 2, but I still didn't really feel it with the character. His motivations are only given through exposition and inference so his devotion to a war that has ended feels closer to plot device than genuine characterization. Benicio Del Toro's inclusion felt extraneous and seemed more like Marvel saying, "Hey, it's that dude from the after credits scene in Thor 2! Remember him? He's important...but not right now. Later. Just don't forget him!" He delivered some exposition and then *poof* the plot moves on and he no longer matters.

Other than Bautista stinking up the joint I think my biggest problem is with the script. It has a ton of ground to cover with a whole new aspect of the MCU and more than a dozen characters. Being so stuffed means that the character development isn't allowed to breath properly and most of it feels forced as a result. The team comes together far too easily and I didn't feel the finale was earned. The films also a bit cheesy. It's not the sort of terrible cheese that was in IM3 or Thor 2, but some of it didn't quite feel earned. You've got to earn your cheese. Even Farscape, a favorite of mine which can be almost cartoonishly zany at times, needed to establish it's characters and setting before pouring it on.

The last thing I want to comment on is the soundtrack. I wasn't thrilled with how it was handled. Bowie's Moonage Daydream fit great, but most of the rest of it felt like Gunn stuffed them in there because they are favorites of his instead of working in the scene.

Spoilers:

Spoiler

Oh man, that Jackson Pollock joke killed me. The theater had a lot of little kids and I was one of the only people laughing. The joke went right over the kids' heads and I don't think many of the adults got it either. But god damn it was funny if you understood it.

I have a huge problem with the ending on Xandar and the Nova Corps' performance. They just signed a peace treaty with the Kree after what is implied to be decades of conflict, and yet we're supposed to believe the only force they can muster to defend their home world is a bunch of dinky ships that form a net? Please. They should have had some other sort of planetary defense.

Michael Rooker's Yondu was a bit too "space redneck", but the scene where he crashes and then we finally see the arrow he's been threatening everybody with get used was quite good. Maybe a little long on the dramatic pause, but I'm glad that we see his rank get justified.

Conclusion: Guardians of the Galaxy is probably Marvel's strongest entry into Phase 2. It looks great and manages to set up an entire aspect of the MCU we've seen very little of. While somewhat flawed, I'm still looking forward to seeing the sequel and hope we get more of this aspect of the universe.

 

[BayAreaGuy]

Guardians of the Galaxy

This movie lives up to the hype. Spectacular visuals, and it was a lot of fun all the way through. It was the first Marvel movie I've seen in the theater, and probably the most fun theater movie I've seen, in terms of being a roller coaster ride.

9/10

Go see it.

On a side note, a lot of these intergalactic stories are becoming visually the same. Between this, Mass Effect, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Elysium, it seems like those movie all had very similar endings, with a similar looking futuristic society.

 

[shonuf]

is there a guardians of the galaxy poll thread?

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

is there a guardians of the galaxy poll thread?

Here it is:

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f4...-94-million-debut-92-rotten-tomatoes-2643699/


Astounding poll numbers. Haven't seen this type of reaction to a Marvel film since The Avengers.

 

[JBSchroeds]

Astounding poll numbers. Haven't seen this type of reaction to a Marvel film since The Avengers.

GotG > Avengers

Spoiler

Joss Whedon is a hack writer and couldn't direct his way out of a wet paper bag. *dons flame suit*

 

[pinkybrief]

Just saw Lucy, her boobs was awesome! Oh yeah and the story was pretty lame. It's as lame when superman reverses the earths rotation so he can ressurect lois

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Just saw Lucy, her boobs was awesome! Oh yeah and the story was pretty lame. It's as lame when superman reverses the earths rotation so he can ressurect lois

She showed her chesticles again?!

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Had a chance to see INTO THE STORM a while ago but decided to wait for the critics' reviews.

I knew I said before that I love this type of epic disaster films and the full trailer won me over but the clip I saw gave me a bad feeling about this one. The acting was pretty wooden and not believable when reacting to the danger the characters were in. Plus the characters were kinda obnoxious.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

I don't believe it

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

I don't believe it

INTO THE STORM 2, 3, 4 before HELLBOY 3.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

That, I believe

 

[heavyarms21]

The Biggest name in In the Storm is Laurie from the walking dead and Thorin Oakenshield both aren't exactly houshold names so its not exactly banking on star power or quality acting to carry it.

 

[pinkybrief]

just saw in the storm, lol I saw lorie, merle GOTG, daryl dixon (my ps3) all in a week span lol. Didn't care for the characters, but when that tordnado came I was giddy like with Godzilla came out the screen

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Release Date: August 8 (Wide Release)

Genre: Martial Arts Action Adventure

Director: Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans)

Cast: Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Whoopi Goldberg, Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher, Danny Woodburn, Abby Elliot, Minae Noji, Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub

Synopsis: The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder

 

[TheStruggle]

Double Toasted Review: Rental

 

[FwappyEnding]

She showed her chesticles again?!

No. No and NO. That was the main reason I went (to see them) and she never showed them off... I mean, aside from looking good while dressed, there wasn't too much 'sexy' in the show.

Spoiler

aside from the seductive look she gives that guard while spreading her legs to lure him in

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Box Office Report:

NINJA TURTLES Opens to Strong $4.6 Million Thursday Night

Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took in a strong $4.6 million Thursday night, a solid start as the family friendly film competes with juggernaut Guardians of the Galaxy for the No. 1 spot at the North American box office. Earlier this summer, family title Maleficent earned $4.2 million Thursday night on its way to a $69.4 million domestic opening.

Based on Thursday's showing, Paramount is now projecting that the $125 million film will gross in the $45 million to $50 million range, versus $40 million to $45 million. Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes shepherded TMNT for Paramount and Nickelodeon films in the hopes of launching a film franchise based on the well-known turtles (there's already a new television series).

Guardians will pose significant competition after debuting to $94.3 million last weekend and enjoying record-breaking weekday numbers. Through Wednesday, the Marvel Studios and Disney tentpole has grossed nearly $130 million domestically, pushing its worldwide haul north of $200 million in less than a week.

TMNT is tracking strong among families despite being rated PG-13. In the film, four outcast brothers rise from the sewer and discovery their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when working with a fearless reporter (Fox) to save New York City from Shredder and his evil Foot Clan.


Box Office: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Opens to Strong $4.6M Thursday Night

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Critics Review of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Rotten Tomatoes: 19% Approval Rating (17 out of 88 critics like it)

Consensus: Neither entertaining enough to recommend nor remarkably awful, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may bear the distinction of being the dullest movie ever made about talking bipedal reptiles.

Entertainment Weekly - C+
Turtles contains a spectacular car chase down a snow-capped mountain that recalls Bay's hyper-adrenalized highway stunts in Bad Boys II, and it opens with a bravura comics-inspired credit sequence. Those too-brief thrills only shine a harsher light on the film's laborious pacing and cringeworthy one-liners spilling from the maws of the ninja teens. Still, it can revel in this tiny victory: In the battle between Bay-produced jumbles of '80s kid nostalgia, Turtles is head-and-shell better than Transformers. Cowabunga?


New York Daily News - 0/5
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” comes to the summer blockbuster season like an ugly creature someone left at a pet store. This loud, incoherent anti-entertainment may hold a small bit of interest for 10-year-old boys familiar with the title’s earlier iterations — an ’80s animated series, a live-action series, some junky but successful ’90s movies. But even youngsters may wonder why any hint of charm or fun has scurried away. Those new to the franchise may withdraw their head into their neck, turtle-like.


USA Today - 1.5/4
Is there a word that means the opposite of Cowabunga? If so, that's the word for the charmless, dull and derivative new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Most will find the film frenetic, overblown and un-exciting. The screenplay is ham-fisted, the dialogue riddled with cliches. While there's nothing particularly playful, fun or clever about this big-screen Turtles re-boot, there is some good news, however feeble. The ninja turtles are more enjoyable to watch than Transformers. That's damning with faint praise, but, at least they don't take themselves as seriously or leave as much destruction in their wake.


James Berardinelli - 1.5/4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doesn't really work as a movie, but that's not surprising. It functions primarily as a 100-minute commercial for the toys. It looks and feels like a big-screen, 3D video game. The final confrontation with Shredder plays out like a "boss level." Give the filmmakers credit for knowing their audience. Teenage boys love video games; one of the difficulties getting them to theaters is pulling them away from their consoles. By making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come as close to the visual and audio immersion of a game, the movie's production crew gives it a chance with those kids.