Dragonlord's 2015 Movie Guide

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Weekend Box Office:

FURIOUS 7 Remains on Top in 2nd Week with $59.6 Million

With $59.6 million, Furious 7 easily held on to first place at the domestic box office. It also got off to an incredible start in China, where it set the opening day record with $68.8 million.

On Sunday, Furious 7 passed Fast & Furious 6 to become the highest-grossing entry in the franchise with $251.5 million. Without any serious competition for the next two weeks, the movie is guaranteed to earn at least $350 million total. Worldwide, Furious 7 is already the highest-grossing Fast movie with $801 million. It's now on track to become one of the biggest movies ever with at least $1.2 billion.

DreamWorks Animation's Home (2015) held on to the second spot with $18.5 million, which is down 31 percent from last weekend. To date, its earned $129.1 million, which is ahead of The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon 2 through the same point.

Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Longest Ride opened to $13 million from 3,366 locations this weekend. That's above last Fall's The Best of Me ($10 million), and essentially on par with past Sparks movies The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe.


Weekend Report: 'Furious 7' Repeats for 2nd Week, Sets Opening Day Record in China

 

[BayAreaGuy]

Child 44

Easily one of the best thrillers in the past several years. Tom Hardy turns in another fantastic performance in the past several years. The cinematographer was great. Great directing. This movie does a wonderful job of creating a bleak atmosphere and it takes you to another place that's entirely believable. The script was solid and densely packed with storyline.

9/10

Go see it.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Box Office Milestone:

FURIOUS 7 Breaks Record, Crosses $1 Billion in Just 17 Days

In just 17 days, Furious 7 is crossing the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. It's a new record for the fastest climb to the major milestone. (The Avengers, Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 crossed $1 billion in 19 days.) Plus, the film is the first Universal project to make it to the $1 billion mark in its original run. (1993's Jurassic Park reached $1.044 billion after the 3D rerelease in 2013.)

Furious 7 has earned an estimated $735.2 million overseas in 17 days and an estimated $273.7 million in North America after 15 days. The film could go as high as $1.3 million to $1.4 million by the end of its run. Furious 7 has propelled the Fast & Furious series past $3 billion worldwide ($3.392 billion).

The film's other records include the second-biggest worldwide opening of all time ($397.2 million) behind only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and the highest-grossing domestic ($147.2 million) and international ($250 million) openings in Universal history.


Box Office Milestone: 'Furious 7' Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide in Just 17 Days

 

[lifelessheap]

This thread is awesome. Thank you TS.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

PAUL BLART: MALL COP 2

Release Date: Apr. 17 (Wide Release)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Andy Flickman (Race to Witch Mountain)

Cast: Kevin James, Neal McDonough, Raini Rodriguez, Daniella Alonso, David Henrie

Synopsis: Everyone's favorite bumbling mall cop returns in this sequel from Happy Madison and director Andy Fickman. Original Paul Blart: Mall Cop screenwriters Kevin James and Nick Bakay reteam to pen the script, which finds Paul Blart (James) and his daughter Maya in Las Vegas for a security guard expo. When a band of menacing art thieves attempt a daring heist, Blart attempts to stop them with the help of the cynical casino security staff who once ridiculed him. Meanwhile, Blart contends with a crafty rival (Nicholas Turturro).

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Rotten Tomatoes: 0% Approval Rating (0 out of 37 critics like it)

Critics Consensus: Bathed in flop sweat and bereft of purpose, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 strings together fat-shaming humor and Segway sight gags with uniformly unfunny results.
___________________





CHILD 44

Release Date: Apr. 17 (Wide Release)

Genre: Drama Thriller

Director: Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Easy Money)

Cast: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Charles Dance, Vincent Cassel, Dev Patel, Tara Fitzgerald, Paddy Considine, Sam Spruell, Josef Altin, and Nikolaj Lie Kaas

Synopsis: Based on the first of a trilogy by Tom Rob Smith and set in the Stalin era of the Soviet Union. The plot is about an idealistic pro-Stalin security officer who decides to investigate a series of child murders in a country where supposedly this sort of crime doesn't exist. The state would not hear of the existence of a child murderer let alone a serial killer. He gets demoted and exiled but decides, with just the help of his wife, to continue pursuing the case.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 26% Approval Rating (12 out of 46 critics like it)

Critics Consensus: There's a gripping story at the heart of Child 44 and a solid performance from Tom Hardy in the lead, but it all still adds up to a would-be thriller that lacks sufficient thrills.
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UNFRIENDED

Release Date: Apr. 17 (Wide Release)

Genre: Horror Thriller

Director: Levan Gabriadze (Lucky Trouble)

Cast: Shelley Hennig, Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki, William Peltz

Synopsis: One year ago, Laura Barnes (Heather Sossaman) decided to commit suicide due to ridicule received over an embarrassing video of her passed out at a party. Six of her classmates were especially horrible in their treatment of her, as they were unpopular and Laura was the most popular girl in school. Tonight, those same six classmates have decided to get together to talk with one another via Skype, but are ill-prepared when an uninvited seventh person logs onto their Skype chat and shows that they know quite a bit about the prior year's events. The unknown person threatens the group and states that if they log out or stop talking, someone will die. As the chat progresses, the truth about who posted the video begins to emerge and other secrets are revealed.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 66% Approval Rating (47 out of 71 critics like it)

Critics Consensus: Unfriended subverts found-footage horror clich

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

This thread is awesome. Thank you TS.

 

[Conan Lerehcob]

Amazing thread, can anyone recommend me a top 5 "must watch" movie of 2015?

Thus far I haven't gone to the theaters much this year, last movie I watched was american sniper and I want to order a couple good movies for this week, would be appreciated.

Feel free to delete my post if it's not meant to fit in such thread

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Amazing thread, can anyone recommend me a top 5 "must watch" movie of 2015?

Thus far I haven't gone to the theaters much this year, last movie I watched was american sniper and I want to order a couple good movies for this week, would be appreciated.

Feel free to delete my post if it's not meant to fit in such thread

Thanks. Here's a Top 5 must-watch films of 2015 so far. The list offers different choices of genre (action, sci-fi, horror, comedy, drama) that should give you some variety. I've only seen Kingsman among that list.


1. KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class), Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency

 

[IFightInVegas]

How the fuck does Kevin James keep getting work?????

 

[El Chimpo]

where was the demand for a paul blart 2?

 

[Michaelangelo]

They Make easy money off Paul Blart. Budget was like 30 million or something.

 

[Tamriel Terror]

damn fast and furious made bank fast

 

[Anung Un Rama]

I saw '71 and it was really good right up to the epilogue which was really lazy.
I'd give it a 7/10 because of that, but it was def 9/10 up to that point imo.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Watched Child 44 this weekend. Borring as hell. 5/10

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: April 20, 2015

FURIOUS 7 Beats PAUL BLART 2, Passes $1.1 Billion Worldwide

Furious 7 fended off solid newcomers Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and Unfriended to top the domestic box office for the third weekend in a row. More importantly, the movie had another stunning weekend overseas. Specifically, it continued to do massive business in China, where its earned nearly $250 million through its first eight days.

Furious 7 has now grossed $1.15 billion worldwide, which ranks seventh all-time. Even if it falls off quickly from here, it still has a real chance of making it past $1.4 billion by the end of its run. Domestically, Furious 7 fell 51 percent to $29.2 million. To date, Furious 7 has earned $294.5 million; it could still reach $350 million, but would need to hold up well against Avengers: Age of Ultron in two weeks.

Playing at 3,633 locations, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 opened to $23.8 million this weekend. That's the second-biggest solo debut ever for Kevin James behind the original Paul Blart, which took in $31.8 million in its opening back in January 2009. The sequel has a rare zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, weak word-of-mouth ("B-" CinemaScore), and a more competitive upcoming schedule (specifically, Avengers).

In third place, microbudget horror movie Unfriended opened to $15.8 million from 2,739 locations. Considering how little Universal seemed to spend on a very targeted marketing effort, this initial result is definitely a win. While it has a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, word-of-mouth is poor ("C" CinemaScore), and the movie's younger audience (74 percent under 25) can be unreliable after opening weekend. Look for this to ultimately crawl to $40 million.


Weekend Report: 'Furious 7' Beats 'Paul Blart 2,' Passes $1.1 Billion Worldwide

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

April 21, 2015

Dragonlord's Review of Avengers: Age of Ultron (No Spoilers)

The film starts with a dazzling action piece with the Avengers storming a Hydra castle. It's a fun, fluff intro as our heroes easily dispense the faceless bad guys while exchanging quips with each other. It's here we're introduced to the twins, the speedster Pietro Maximoff and the mind-witch Wanda Maximoff. Wanda puts a whammy in Tony Stark's head which results in him restarting his Ultron project later on. Ultron comes to life but now wants to exterminate all humans on Earth.

Age of Ultron has a much darker undertone than its predecessor but the story and execution are a bit flat. An artificial intelligence taking over/destroying the world has been done countless times by other movies and television shows. So it was surprising to learn last year that writer-director Joss Whedon chose this type of story for the sequel. Thought there would be some new clever of way of approaching the subject matter but alas there wasn't. Ultron's dominion wasn't even all-encompassing as he was more or less limited to just building robot armies of itself instead of taking over all communications and electronics around the world.

Due to Stark's actions, the team is divided and moralities are questioned. Unfortunately, there is no satisfying resolution and the internal conflict is either glossed over or completely forgotten by all parties. Same goes to the aftermath of destruction and international laws being broken. Still, it's an amiable buildup to next year's Civil War event. What's also missing is the point of view from the world's government and the media on the Ultron threat which could have raised the tension and stakes dramatically.

Not a fan of the characterization of Ultron. It seemed like they gave him too much of a kooky personality to make up for the absence of Loki in this sequel. Voicing Ultron is James Spader who seems to be channeling his other characters from The Blacklist and Boston Legal. Spader as Ultron's voice is fine by itself but add the snarky personality in the equation and it becomes too distracting especially to those that are very familiar with the actor's work on television.

From the sensational Hulkbuster high-point fight to The Matrix Reloaded-like chase sequence in South Korea, the big, spectacular action pieces are what saves the film from being mediocre. The Hulkbuster fight was epic, from the beautifully executed carnage to Stark's cool arsenal at his disposal. There's also some pretty sweet team-up maneuvers in battle mostly involving Cap. The film ends in a lengthy well-coordinated large-scale battle sequence reminiscent of the first film. Could be a reaction to the criticisms Man of Steel received but Age of Ultron makes it a point to show the heroes saving as many innocent bystanders while simultaneously dealing with the big bad.

Really happy with Captain America's portrayal in here. Not only is he acknowledged as the leader of the Avengers from the start, he has been given some of the best action scenes in the film. Impressively, he goes toe-to-toe with Ultron for an extended period of time. Cap's costume here is also the best version of the Captain America suit yet and the magnet upgrade in his backhand to summon his shield is very cool. Aside from the magnificent Hulkbuster fight, Iron Man's action scenes, especially with Ultron, were kinda drab. But those are nothing compared to Thor whose highlights were performing party tricks with Mjolnir and being a herald for Infinity War. Thankfully Tony Stark's obnoxiousness and corny one-liners are at a minimum compared to the first film.

Hawkeye's role is expanded and given some nice personalized scenes especially when the team does a TMNT and stay on a farm to regroup. Black Widow and Bruce Banner are now being shipped and it sort of works with both individuals providing some heartfelt moments. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff is mesmerizing while Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro was pretty decent but the role could have been beefed up a bit. As for the battle of the Quicksilvers, X-Men: Days of Future Past wins hands down. Vision, played by Paul Bettany, was a literal Deus ex Machina. The lack of explanation on Vision's powers and the rushness of his introduction were a minus. Plus, Vision stole a historic moment that should have belonged to Cap. Still, it was very cool seeing one of my favorite Avengers finally onscreen and being a badass to boot.

Lastly, there is a mid-credits scene but no post-credits scene.

Preliminary Rating: 7.5/10

 

[BoomStronk]

2nd from right in the front row of dudes - Dime Billion??

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

2nd from right in the front row of dudes - Dime Billion??

I think that's Tsuyoshi Ihara

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0407296/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

EX MACHINA

Release Date: Apr. 24 (Limited Release)

Genre: Science Fiction Mystery Thriller

Director: Alex Garland (feature film directorial debut)

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, Corey Johnson

Synopsis: Alex Garland, writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes his directorial debut with the stylish and cerebral thriller, Ex Machina. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Weekend Box Office:

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Opens to $201 Million Overseas

For the fourth weekend in a row, Furious 7 took first place at the domestic box office. Also, thanks to its record-setting performance in China, Furious 7 is now just the third movie ever to earn over $1 billion overseas.

Playing at 2,991 locations, Age of Adaline opened in third place with an estimated $13.4 million. That's over $11 million less than The Other Woman (2014)