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Good the Trailers suggested it would be horrible
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Dragonlord's 2015 Movie Guide
- Thread starter Dragonlordxxxxx
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Weekend Box Office:
Depp's MORTDECAI Flops; AMERICAN SNIPER Hits $200 Million
Clint Eastwood's American Sniper remained a phenomenon in its second weekend, earning a stunning $64.4 million and quickly becoming the No. 2 war film of all time at the North American box office, not accounting for inflation. Its domestic total through Monday is $200.1 million for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow.
In only 10 days in release, American Sniper has eclipsed the $198.5 million earned all in by Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor, and it will soon overtake the $216.5 million grossed by Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in 1998. Taking inflation into account, Private Ryan would earned more than $300 million by today's terms; Sniper is sure to eclipse that number when all is said and done.
At the other end of the spectrum, Johnny Depp's newest film, Mortdecai, tanked in its domestic launch, earning an estimated $4.1 million, the actor's worst opening in the post-Pirates era. Moreover, it's his third big-budget dud after Transcendence and The Lone Ranger.
Depp's film lost handily to an unlikely competitor
Depp's MORTDECAI Flops; AMERICAN SNIPER Hits $200 Million
Clint Eastwood's American Sniper remained a phenomenon in its second weekend, earning a stunning $64.4 million and quickly becoming the No. 2 war film of all time at the North American box office, not accounting for inflation. Its domestic total through Monday is $200.1 million for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow.
In only 10 days in release, American Sniper has eclipsed the $198.5 million earned all in by Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor, and it will soon overtake the $216.5 million grossed by Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in 1998. Taking inflation into account, Private Ryan would earned more than $300 million by today's terms; Sniper is sure to eclipse that number when all is said and done.
At the other end of the spectrum, Johnny Depp's newest film, Mortdecai, tanked in its domestic launch, earning an estimated $4.1 million, the actor's worst opening in the post-Pirates era. Moreover, it's his third big-budget dud after Transcendence and The Lone Ranger.
Depp's film lost handily to an unlikely competitor
sohocanaan22
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Not at all surprised, and you couldn't pay me to go see it; HOWEVER, the Mortdecai books by Kyril Bonfiglioli are absolutely fantastic. Some of the funniest work I'm aware of.
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January 24, 2015
Dragonlord's Review of Joe Lynch's EVERLY (No Spoilers)
A woman holed up in her apartment is forced to fend off a relentless horde of assassins sent by a Yazkua boss to kill her. The paper-thin premise coupled with the fact that the entire film takes place in one night makes this exploitative action thriller sound intriguing. It's sort of a mix of Die Hard, The Raid and Kill Bill in video game horde mode. Unfortunately the execution just felt short.
Starring as the titular character, Salma Hayek gives a surprising turn as a bad-ass action heroine. The film does a bang up job highlighting the actress' luscious curves and scrumptious cleavage. What's even more astounding is that Salma is 48 years old but looks like someone in her early 30s in here. But there's just something about Salma's accent that takes me out from totally immersing myself in the story and at times makes the film look like a parody. It doesn't help that Everly was shot at the side of her abdomen early on but treats the wound as a minor inconvenience.
As much as I wanted to love this, I just felt disconnected to a lot of what was transpiring. It seemed like they concocted the big action pieces first but failed to produce a link that naturally and seamlessly connects them all together. The action scenes were fun, violent, and creative but at times bland and repetitive. Having the heroine holed up in her apartment, spying on her attackers from her CCTV system and conveniently waiting for them to show up deflates a lot of the tension. The final showdown was a letdown as it was poorly choreographed and suffers from too much monologuing.
One of the fun aspects of the film are the assortment of killers from greedy hookers to Yakuza goons to the bellhop with the vicious German Shepherd. The most notable of them all is The Sadist (Togo Igawa) who treats torture like a work of art. He's accompanied by The Masochist (Masashi Fujimoto) and four Kabuki assistants. There's the Yakuza member simply known as "Deadman" who turns out to be a pretty decent chap and one of the very rare likable characters in here. On the flip side, Everly's mother was at times annoying and Everly's daughter, though adorable, was too affected to the point of nauseating.
Even though the film didn't really fully gel with me, I would still recommend Everly to hardcore action fans to check it out for themselves as I see some possibilities others might have a more positive reception and get a kick out this low-budget ultraviolent action extravaganza. On a sidenote: Action fans, don't forget to watch the awesome Kingsman: The Secret Service coming out two weeks from now.
Rating: 6/10
Spoiler thoughts below
Dragonlord's Review of Joe Lynch's EVERLY (No Spoilers)
A woman holed up in her apartment is forced to fend off a relentless horde of assassins sent by a Yazkua boss to kill her. The paper-thin premise coupled with the fact that the entire film takes place in one night makes this exploitative action thriller sound intriguing. It's sort of a mix of Die Hard, The Raid and Kill Bill in video game horde mode. Unfortunately the execution just felt short.
Starring as the titular character, Salma Hayek gives a surprising turn as a bad-ass action heroine. The film does a bang up job highlighting the actress' luscious curves and scrumptious cleavage. What's even more astounding is that Salma is 48 years old but looks like someone in her early 30s in here. But there's just something about Salma's accent that takes me out from totally immersing myself in the story and at times makes the film look like a parody. It doesn't help that Everly was shot at the side of her abdomen early on but treats the wound as a minor inconvenience.
As much as I wanted to love this, I just felt disconnected to a lot of what was transpiring. It seemed like they concocted the big action pieces first but failed to produce a link that naturally and seamlessly connects them all together. The action scenes were fun, violent, and creative but at times bland and repetitive. Having the heroine holed up in her apartment, spying on her attackers from her CCTV system and conveniently waiting for them to show up deflates a lot of the tension. The final showdown was a letdown as it was poorly choreographed and suffers from too much monologuing.
One of the fun aspects of the film are the assortment of killers from greedy hookers to Yakuza goons to the bellhop with the vicious German Shepherd. The most notable of them all is The Sadist (Togo Igawa) who treats torture like a work of art. He's accompanied by The Masochist (Masashi Fujimoto) and four Kabuki assistants. There's the Yakuza member simply known as "Deadman" who turns out to be a pretty decent chap and one of the very rare likable characters in here. On the flip side, Everly's mother was at times annoying and Everly's daughter, though adorable, was too affected to the point of nauseating.
Even though the film didn't really fully gel with me, I would still recommend Everly to hardcore action fans to check it out for themselves as I see some possibilities others might have a more positive reception and get a kick out this low-budget ultraviolent action extravaganza. On a sidenote: Action fans, don't forget to watch the awesome Kingsman: The Secret Service coming out two weeks from now.
Rating: 6/10
Spoiler thoughts below
I thought the plot of having the mother and daughter be present at the apartment was a good idea but just not well thought-out. I didn't like the logic of Everly to have them both come to her. My alternate solution would to have the Yakuza boss abduct them and brought to her apartment.
The Die Hard montage is really obvious as you hear Christmas songs being played and characters whistling holiday tunes. I felt the use of the Christmas songs was too manipulative and fake.
I was amused when Everly was talking to her mother on the phone. Her mom still on the phone can be heard getting in her car driving off. We hear gunshots as the goons shot the car. What's absurd is you can clearly hear the silencer sound through Everly's cell earpiece.
One of the things that I didn't like about the film was how come Everly suddenly became a gun expert and one-woman killing machine. I may have missed it but the lack of explanation for her combat prowess annoyed me. After watching the movie, I read that Everly is or used to be a hitwoman. Well that makes sense. Wished they put that info in the actual movie.
There was a minor idiotic scene when Everly was hiding behind her bed with her back behind the headboard. The reason why it was stupid was because there's a big empty space in between the headboard. It would have been strategically logical if she just faced forward so that she could see the incoming threats.
The final confrontation between Everly and mob boss Taiko was not well thought-out. Lots of wasted motion. He ties her neck. Removes his jacket. Threatens her with his sword. Backs off. Talks. Rolls up his sleeves. Threatens her with sword again. Talks some more. Threaten her with sword again. Grabs her hair. Tosses her to the bed. Kicks her off the bed. Drops sword willingly. Switches to a knife. Anyway, you get the picture.
The Die Hard montage is really obvious as you hear Christmas songs being played and characters whistling holiday tunes. I felt the use of the Christmas songs was too manipulative and fake.
I was amused when Everly was talking to her mother on the phone. Her mom still on the phone can be heard getting in her car driving off. We hear gunshots as the goons shot the car. What's absurd is you can clearly hear the silencer sound through Everly's cell earpiece.
One of the things that I didn't like about the film was how come Everly suddenly became a gun expert and one-woman killing machine. I may have missed it but the lack of explanation for her combat prowess annoyed me. After watching the movie, I read that Everly is or used to be a hitwoman. Well that makes sense. Wished they put that info in the actual movie.
There was a minor idiotic scene when Everly was hiding behind her bed with her back behind the headboard. The reason why it was stupid was because there's a big empty space in between the headboard. It would have been strategically logical if she just faced forward so that she could see the incoming threats.
The final confrontation between Everly and mob boss Taiko was not well thought-out. Lots of wasted motion. He ties her neck. Removes his jacket. Threatens her with his sword. Backs off. Talks. Rolls up his sleeves. Threatens her with sword again. Talks some more. Threaten her with sword again. Grabs her hair. Tosses her to the bed. Kicks her off the bed. Drops sword willingly. Switches to a knife. Anyway, you get the picture.
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Just watched " Why Don't You Play in Hell"
Motherfucking awesome! Gonna rewatch it tonite with my bro. Can't wait!
Motherfucking awesome! Gonna rewatch it tonite with my bro. Can't wait!
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In terms of movies he's headlining in, five flops in a row.
The Rum Diary
Dark Shadows
The Lone Ranger
Transcendence
Mortdecai
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So my buddy hooks me up with free movie tickets, so II decided to get high and watch it. I'm in the theater all by myself. True, yet sad story.
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Got nothing against Depp, he's a great actor. But he can't draw audiences as a lone star of a movie, even with Angelina Jolie in one of these movies, it flopped.
Quick! Bump up production for a new Pirates sequel! Seriously, I actually would go and see that. I love the 4 that's been released.
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Just saw Taken 3. Can't stop thinking the main character sounds like Optimus Prime every time he speaks
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No comments on whether if it was a good or bad movie? Not even a rating?
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PROJECT ALMANAC
Release Date: Jan. 30 (Wide Release)
Genre: Sci-Fi Found-Footage Adventure
Director: Dean Israelite (feature film directorial debut)
Cast: Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Amy Landecker, and Virginia Gardner
Synopsis: As a group of friends discover plans for a time machine, they build it and use it to fix their problems and personal gain. But as the future falls apart with disasters, and each of them disappear little by little, they must travel back to the past to make sure they never invent the machine or face the destruction of humanity.
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% Approval Rating (18 out of 50 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Project Almanac isn't without wit or originality, but its thin story and irritating found-footage camerawork ultimately make it difficult to recommend.
___________________
BLACK OR WHITE
Release Date: Jan. 30 (Wide Release)
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Binder (Reign Over Me, The Upside of Anger)
Cast: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Jennifer Ehle, Anthony Mackie, Bill Burr, Gillian Jacobs
Synopsis: Black or White is the story of a grandfather (Academy Award (R) winner Kevin Costner) who is suddenly left to care for his beloved granddaughter. When the little girl's paternal grandmother (Academy Award (R) nominee Octavia Spencer) seeks custody, a legal battle ensues that forces the families to confront their true feelings on race, forgiveness and understanding. Anchored by an all-star cast and based on real events, the movie is a look at two seemingly different worlds, in which nothing is as simple as black or white.
[YT]NKjJIpR7C3c[/YT]
Rotten Tomatoes: 34% Approval Rating (21 out of 62 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Black or White has more on its mind than your average family drama, but the film's approach to its thought-provoking themes too often lives down to its title.
___________________
WILD CARD
Release Date: Jan. 30 (Limited Release)
Genre: Crime Action Drama
Director: Simon West (Con-Air, The Expendables 3)
Cast: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garc
Release Date: Jan. 30 (Wide Release)
Genre: Sci-Fi Found-Footage Adventure
Director: Dean Israelite (feature film directorial debut)
Cast: Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Amy Landecker, and Virginia Gardner
Synopsis: As a group of friends discover plans for a time machine, they build it and use it to fix their problems and personal gain. But as the future falls apart with disasters, and each of them disappear little by little, they must travel back to the past to make sure they never invent the machine or face the destruction of humanity.
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% Approval Rating (18 out of 50 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Project Almanac isn't without wit or originality, but its thin story and irritating found-footage camerawork ultimately make it difficult to recommend.
___________________
BLACK OR WHITE
Release Date: Jan. 30 (Wide Release)
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Binder (Reign Over Me, The Upside of Anger)
Cast: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Jennifer Ehle, Anthony Mackie, Bill Burr, Gillian Jacobs
Synopsis: Black or White is the story of a grandfather (Academy Award (R) winner Kevin Costner) who is suddenly left to care for his beloved granddaughter. When the little girl's paternal grandmother (Academy Award (R) nominee Octavia Spencer) seeks custody, a legal battle ensues that forces the families to confront their true feelings on race, forgiveness and understanding. Anchored by an all-star cast and based on real events, the movie is a look at two seemingly different worlds, in which nothing is as simple as black or white.
[YT]NKjJIpR7C3c[/YT]
Rotten Tomatoes: 34% Approval Rating (21 out of 62 critics like it)
Critics Consensus: Black or White has more on its mind than your average family drama, but the film's approach to its thought-provoking themes too often lives down to its title.
___________________
WILD CARD
Release Date: Jan. 30 (Limited Release)
Genre: Crime Action Drama
Director: Simon West (Con-Air, The Expendables 3)
Cast: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garc
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Friday Box Office:
AMERICAN SNIPER Adds $10 Million; Three New Releases Flop
American Sniper earned more than all three new releases combined on Friday, which sets it up to easily take first place for the third weekend in a row. The Clint Eastwood war drama added an estimated $10.02 million yesterday. Sniper now seems poised to fall around 50 percent over the full three-day weekend ($30 to $32 million). Through 15 days in wide release, American Sniper has earned $227.1 million. That ranks ninth among 2014 releases; by the end of the weekend, it will move up to sixth place ahead of Transformers: Age of Extinction.
In second place, found footage time travel movie Project Almanac flopped with $3.2 million. In comparison, Chronicle, The Woman in Black and Warm Bodies all opened over $8 million on the Friday ahead of the Super Bowl. Over the three-day weekend, Almanac will likely wind up with around $8 million.
Black or White took third place with an estimated $2.27 million. That's about on par with past Super Bowl weekend dramas like Big Miracle ($2.27 million) and Labor Day ($1.92 million). The Kevin Costner drama is now on track to earn around $6 million this weekend.
Playing at 1,841 locations, The Loft bombed with $1.18 million. It's now on pace to earn around $3 million
AMERICAN SNIPER Adds $10 Million; Three New Releases Flop
American Sniper earned more than all three new releases combined on Friday, which sets it up to easily take first place for the third weekend in a row. The Clint Eastwood war drama added an estimated $10.02 million yesterday. Sniper now seems poised to fall around 50 percent over the full three-day weekend ($30 to $32 million). Through 15 days in wide release, American Sniper has earned $227.1 million. That ranks ninth among 2014 releases; by the end of the weekend, it will move up to sixth place ahead of Transformers: Age of Extinction.
In second place, found footage time travel movie Project Almanac flopped with $3.2 million. In comparison, Chronicle, The Woman in Black and Warm Bodies all opened over $8 million on the Friday ahead of the Super Bowl. Over the three-day weekend, Almanac will likely wind up with around $8 million.
Black or White took third place with an estimated $2.27 million. That's about on par with past Super Bowl weekend dramas like Big Miracle ($2.27 million) and Labor Day ($1.92 million). The Kevin Costner drama is now on track to earn around $6 million this weekend.
Playing at 1,841 locations, The Loft bombed with $1.18 million. It's now on pace to earn around $3 million
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Inherent Vice is special. I read the book a couple of years ago, loved it, and worried for PTA, because there's a lot of threads and loose ends, that often demand reconciliation in movie format presenting a narrative. I did remember there was a chance to pull it off because the point with the novel is not to worry about the threads. To follow the leads as Doc Larry Sportello does. To go with our gut like he is going with his. This doesn't mean inattention. It means being present through every interaction so cause and effect isn't lost. As long as one manages this much, Pynchon's worldview comes through like a sledgehammer.
The question for Anderson, I'm guessing, was, could he recreate the essence of that worldview despite the fact that he had to kill so many of Pynchon's darlings t make the narrative more coherent? Did he do it? For me, absolutely. If one compares a film scene to its counterpart in the novel, the faithfulness is astonishing. A lot of this has to do with the actors killing it and with the imagining of physical space being almost disconcertingly accurate. Anderson lops off chunks of narrative but deftly creates composites of conversations that retain the spirit of the film. This amplifies as the film reaches its conclusion, conceit needing to be more and more tied in with narrative.
At no point, through all the hilarity, sex, drug-fueled excess, has he forgotten what the story is about - the end of an era and the confusion and paranoia that accompanies its death rattle. The 60s are over. But the people that made it what it was are still around, and their opponents, as with most adversaries in great stories, are getting stronger, to the point of being intangible.
The film is a slice of someone's life in that period. Someone who, while on a whole other investigative trajectory involving a favour for his ex-girl, finds out more and more about nothing. The film doesn't quite piece together because it mirrors the frustration of the times. Who the fuck is really pulling the strings? Why don't they want us to know things? The world they inhabited once had a story. But that story was being taken from them, replaced with what higher powers felt was best. The film is a time capsule of that very cognitive dissonance. There's a scene in the end between Phoenix and Brolin that had me shattered, a point at which one man pities the other for his lack of happiness from being on the side he's chosen, magnified by the fact that seconds earlier it seemed like they were less divided by this inevitable dissonance as they apologised to each other at exactly the same time. It's a beautiful moment.
If there's a major change thematically, it's that he plays up the romance, and this has an effect on how he changed the final scene. I think it's a lovely choice.
In terms of technique, there's not much new here. PTA's trademark long takes are present as ever. I will say this is my favorite of his soundtracks. I find he keeps the soundtrack pretty loud in the audio mix, sometimes to point of making it difficult to decipher dialogue. It's less pronounced here, and I'd say he's used it with far more regard for context than usual.
Make sure to see it. It's funny as heck, it's tragic in the most hopeless sense. It's not as experiential as I thought it would be. There's lots of the absurd, but never to a point of confusion. I haven't mentioned too many specifics in terms of scenes and performance because I see no point in colouring anyone's viewing. Watch it scene to scene, soaking it in, and you'll enjoy it. Watch it with a little attention to detail, and it might be a more shifting experience.
The question for Anderson, I'm guessing, was, could he recreate the essence of that worldview despite the fact that he had to kill so many of Pynchon's darlings t make the narrative more coherent? Did he do it? For me, absolutely. If one compares a film scene to its counterpart in the novel, the faithfulness is astonishing. A lot of this has to do with the actors killing it and with the imagining of physical space being almost disconcertingly accurate. Anderson lops off chunks of narrative but deftly creates composites of conversations that retain the spirit of the film. This amplifies as the film reaches its conclusion, conceit needing to be more and more tied in with narrative.
At no point, through all the hilarity, sex, drug-fueled excess, has he forgotten what the story is about - the end of an era and the confusion and paranoia that accompanies its death rattle. The 60s are over. But the people that made it what it was are still around, and their opponents, as with most adversaries in great stories, are getting stronger, to the point of being intangible.
The film is a slice of someone's life in that period. Someone who, while on a whole other investigative trajectory involving a favour for his ex-girl, finds out more and more about nothing. The film doesn't quite piece together because it mirrors the frustration of the times. Who the fuck is really pulling the strings? Why don't they want us to know things? The world they inhabited once had a story. But that story was being taken from them, replaced with what higher powers felt was best. The film is a time capsule of that very cognitive dissonance. There's a scene in the end between Phoenix and Brolin that had me shattered, a point at which one man pities the other for his lack of happiness from being on the side he's chosen, magnified by the fact that seconds earlier it seemed like they were less divided by this inevitable dissonance as they apologised to each other at exactly the same time. It's a beautiful moment.
If there's a major change thematically, it's that he plays up the romance, and this has an effect on how he changed the final scene. I think it's a lovely choice.
In terms of technique, there's not much new here. PTA's trademark long takes are present as ever. I will say this is my favorite of his soundtracks. I find he keeps the soundtrack pretty loud in the audio mix, sometimes to point of making it difficult to decipher dialogue. It's less pronounced here, and I'd say he's used it with far more regard for context than usual.
Make sure to see it. It's funny as heck, it's tragic in the most hopeless sense. It's not as experiential as I thought it would be. There's lots of the absurd, but never to a point of confusion. I haven't mentioned too many specifics in terms of scenes and performance because I see no point in colouring anyone's viewing. Watch it scene to scene, soaking it in, and you'll enjoy it. Watch it with a little attention to detail, and it might be a more shifting experience.
