Dragonlord's 2015 Movie Guide

[Anung Un Rama]

Is this out On Demand yet over there?

Yup.. Watched it the other night. Not bad. 6.5/10.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

TOMORROWLAND

Release Date: May 22 (Wide Release)

Genre: Science Fiction Mystery Adventure

Director: Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol)

Cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Thomas Robinson, Kathryn Hahn, Judy Greer, Keegan-Michael Key, Tim McGraw, Aliyah O'Brien, Lochlyn Munro, Pierce Gagnon

Synopsis: From Disney comes two-time Oscar (R) winner Brad Bird's riveting, mystery adventure "Tomorrowland," starring Academy Award (R) winner George Clooney. Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as "Tomorrowland." What they must do there changes the world-and them-forever. Featuring a screenplay by "Lost" writer and co-creator Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird, from a story by Lindelof & Bird & Jeff Jensen, "Tomorrowland" promises to take audiences on a thrill ride of nonstop adventures through new dimensions that have only been dreamed of.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 49% Approval Rating (72 out of 147 critics like it)

Critics Consensus: Ambitious and visually stunning, Tomorrowland is unfortunately weighted down by uneven storytelling.
___________________





POLTERGEIST

Release Date: May 22 (Wide Release)

Genre: Supernatural Horror

Director: Gil Kenan (Monster House, City of Ember)

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, Nicholas Braun, Susan Heyward

Synopsis: Legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Evil Dead, The Grudge) and director Gil Kenan (Monster House) contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter captive, the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 36% Approval Rating (24 out of 66 critics like it)

Critics Consensus: Paying competent homage without adding anything of real value to the original Poltergeist, this remake proves just as ephemeral (but half as haunting) as its titular spirit.
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WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE

Release Date: May 22 (Limited Release)

Genre: Famiy Fantasy Animated Drama

Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi (The Secret World of Arrietty)

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, John C. Reilly, Vanessa L. Williams, Geena Davis, Kathy Bates, Kiernan Shipka, Ellen Burstyn, Catherine O'Hara, Ava Acres, Grey DiLisle

Synopsis: Sent from her foster home in the city one summer to a sleepy town by the sea in Hokkaido, Anna dreams her days away among the marshes. She believes she's outside the invisible magic circle to which most people belong - and shuts herself off from everyone around her, wearing her "ordinary face". Anna never expected to meet a friend like Marnie, who does not judge Anna for being just what she is. But no sooner has Anna learned the loveliness of friendship than she begins to wonder about her newfound friend... Based on the novel by Joan G. Robinson, When Marnie Was There is the newest film from Studio Ghibli, and the second feature film by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of The Secret World of Arrietty.

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Rotten Tomatoes: 84% Approval Rating (21 out of 25 critics like it)

Critics Consensus: When Marnie Was There is still blessed with enough visual and narrative beauty to recommend, even if it isn't quite as magical as Studio Ghibli's greatest works.

 

[5crew]

I saw Poltergeist review on another thread so I search it in title and saw this thread. Noticed Tommorrowland and Hugh Laurie is a cast? Any reviews from fellow Sherdoggers on that? Might watch it tomorrow.

EDIT:
Shit.. just saw the trailer on YT, looks like a freaking Spy kid movie. On another thought, maybe not wasting money on a kid movie unless someone says otherwise.

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

I saw Poltergeist review on another thread so I search it in title and saw this thread. Noticed Tommorrowland and Hugh Laurie is a cast? Any reviews from fellow Sherdoggers on that? Might watch it tomorrow.

EDIT:
Shit.. just saw the trailer on YT, looks like a freaking Spy kid movie. On another thought, maybe not wasting money on a kid movie unless someone says otherwise.

It was pretty fun movie, a real Disney movie and very imaginative. It is a kids movie but still entertaining for me.
They totally ripped-off the theme from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade though, can't find any mention of it online so maybe its just me.

@1.20

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Weekend Box Office:

Tomorrowland Beats Pitch Perfect 2 in Disappointing Debut

Brad Bird's tentpole Tomorrowland has narrowly pulled ahead of blockbuster Pitch Perfect 2 at the Memorial Day box office with an estimated three-day debut of $32.2 million, putting its four-day domestic launch at a disappointing $40.7 million for powerhouse Disney.

Tomorrowland came in behind expectations in North America, and will need to overcome its so-so B CinemaScore and enjoy strong word of mouth in order to end up in the black, considering the live-action fantasy adventure cost $180 million to produce. Even more problematic, the tentpole was soft overseas, launching to $26.7 million from 65 markets.

Heading into the long holiday weekend, most expected Tomorrowland to gross between $45 million and $50 million for the four days domestically, giving it a wide lead over box office sensation Pitch Perfect 2, now in its second weekend. Instead, Pitch Perfect 2 continued to sing in perfect tune, thanks to its ardent female fan base. Pitch Perfect 2 earned an estimated $30.3 million for the three days, putting its four-day domestic gross at a projected $37.9 million.

Avengers: Age of Ultron will jump the $400 million mark at the domestic box office sometime on Sunday, becoming the first film to achieve that feat since The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen, both released in November 2013. Age of Ultron has now grossed $860 million internationally, including $210 million in China, for a global haul of $1.263 billion, the seventh-bet showing of all time and passing up Iron Man 3 this weekend.


Box Office: 'Tomorrowland' Narrowly Beats 'Pitch Perfect 2' in Disappointing Debut

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

It was pretty fun movie, a real Disney movie and very imaginative. It is a kids movie but still entertaining for me.

Was looking forward to Tomorrowland primarily because it's from Brad Bird (The Incredibles, M:I4) but the poor reviews were not encouraging. I'll just probably wait for it on home video.

 

[Tebowned]

Was looking forward to Tomorrowland primarily because it's from Brad Bird (The Incredibles, M:I4) but the poor reviews were not encouraging. I'll just probably wait for it on home video.

The teaser had me pumped. The trailer not so much.

 

[minute bull]

In all seriousness why doesn't mad max appeal to the general pop as oppose to something like Terminator 2?

Look at Arnold's films between TERMINATOR and T2 and you'll get an idea of the juggernaut he was from 84 to 94.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Just got back from Tomorrowland. Yea it's not very good. Great visuals but poor story and acting even by Clooney. The main girl character will annoy the shit out of you.

 

[5crew]

Just got back from Tomorrowland. Yea it's not very good. Great visuals but poor story and acting even by Clooney. The main girl character will annoy the shit out of you.

Thanks, I guess I saved me that few bucks then. Only movie due for release this month for me is San Andreas. Then movie drought til Jurassic World on mid June, which is a must whether it's good or not.

 

[europe1]

Poltergeist was an uninspired remake. Almost everything was cheap bo-scares. In essense, a horror movie that isn't scary or eerie at all. There where a few intresting ideas (seeing what the other side looks like) but even those fell flat in excecution. The only positives I can think of is that the acting was servicable and that it was paced nicely.

There was also a guest apperence by Japanese poltergeists!

 

[minute bull]

A potorageeza?! Sa!

TOMORROWLAND frontloaded all its amazeball sequences and left little more than sadness and weirdness for the second and third acts. I think we're missing a series of YA novels. Maybe two series. One about Frank and another about Casey. And Hugh Laurie has got a thankless role. What the hell, House.

There's a lot to work with but they don't take it far enough.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

May 22, 2015

Dragonlord's Review of Melissa McCarthy's SPY (No Spoilers)

Bottom Line: A fun spy comedy flick bolstered Melissa McCarthy's non-obnoxious lead performance, some decent action and a great supporting cast.

Synopsis: Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an unassuming, desk-bound CIA analyst, and unsung hero behind the agency's most dangerous missions. She is also in love with her partner Bradley Fine (Jude Law). But when he falls off the grid and top agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) is compromised, Cooper volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of deadly arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne).

Review: Actress Melissa McCarthy has her fair share of detractors. The hate is not surprising since she seems to specialize in playing obnoxious, offensive loudmouth characters film after film (though I did enjoy Bridesmaids and The Heat). But in Spy, she does the complete opposite and plays a sweet, intelligent, kindhearted CIA analyst Susan Cooper who is always looked down upon or completely dismissed. McCarthy's brash, potty mouth persona does show up later on but only as a temporary cover.

From her boss, her colleagues, to the bad guys, Susan Cooper is always underestimated. And that's a big part of the charm of the movie (who doesn't like to root for the underdog?). There's even a funny running joke of her being constantly given crappy, stereotypical identity covers on her missions. And then there's the hilarious scene where their version of Q supplies her with unglamorous spy stuff.

People will be surprised how funny Jason Statham is in this film. Statham plays as an intense, hardcore special agent, and he and McCarthy have good chemistry together. The lovely Rose Byrne (mine!), who excelled at playing the cold, snotty antagonist in Bridesmaids, plays it similarly and just nails it again. Peter Serafinowicz is also amusing as the horndog secret agent Aldo. Allison Janney, Jude Law and Morena Baccarin are also good in their respective roles.

There are some surprisingly pretty good action scenes throughout the film. Looks like writer-director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat) has another hit on his hands. On a related note, I believe Feig's Spy is one half of the reason (the other is Sacha Baron Cohen's Grimsby) why Matthew Vaughn exited X-Men: Days of Future Past to work on Kingsman: The Secret Service so that he could get ahead of the pack.

Overall, a funny and entertaining spy comedy flick bolstered Melissa McCarthy's non-obnoxious lead performance, some decent action scenes and a great supporting cast. Probably would have rated it a bit higher if the superior Kingsman wasn't still fresh on my mind. There's still a chance the rating would rise a decimal higher in future viewings at home.

Rating: 7.5/10

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

SAN ANDREAS

Release Date: May 29 (Wide Release)

Genre: Disaster Action Adventure

Director: Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island)

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Paul Giamatti, Archie Panjabi, Ioan Gruffudd, Will Yun Lee, Art Parkinson, Todd Williams, Colton Haynes, and Kylie Minogue

Synopsis: After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot (Dwayne Johnson) and his estranged wife (Carla Gugino) make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter (Alexandra Daddario). But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. And when they think the worst may be over

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Friday Box Office:

SAN ANDREAS Eyes Seismic $48 Million Debut; ALOHA Bombing

Who doesn't love a good disaster movie

 

[EvilDDS]

I saw San Andreas today, thought it was pretty good. Didn't expect a serious plot movie, so just went in expecting to see good visual effects, which this film has.

I saw it in 3D, hadn't seen a 3D movie in ages. The gf usually doesn't like to see them in 3D but we saw it in the VIP theatres and it was only offered in 3D. She enjoyed it.

Paul Giamatti is solid in a supporting role. The Rock is his usual self, does well though. The girl who plays the daughter, Alexandra Daddario, is hot. I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before, so googled when I got home. She was in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Theatre wasn't jam packed but we always go to the earliest showing to avoid crowds.

 

[Tebowned]

The girl who plays the daughter, Alexandra Daddario, is hot. I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before, so googled when I got home. She was in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

My GF wanted to see it but I passed.

She's better in True Detective.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

I saw San Andreas today, thought it was pretty good. Didn't expect a serious plot movie, so just went in expecting to see good visual effects, which this film has.

I saw it in 3D, hadn't seen a 3D movie in ages. The gf usually doesn't like to see them in 3D but we saw it in the VIP theatres and it was only offered in 3D. She enjoyed it.

Paul Giamatti is solid in a supporting role. The Rock is his usual self, does well though. The girl who plays the daughter, Alexandra Daddario, is hot. I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before, so googled when I got home. She was in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Theatre wasn't jam packed but we always go to the earliest showing to avoid crowds.

Even though the reviews for San Andreas aren't that good, I'm a sucker for epic disaster films and kinda want to watch this film on the big screen.

The girl who plays the daughter, Alexandra Daddario, is hot. I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before, so googled when I got home. She was in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Try googling or downloading True Detective episode 2 and thank me later.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Saw San Andreas this weekend. I enjoyed it. It had great suspense and some pretty emotional scenes. I thought it was better than 2012 and Day After Tomorrow.

Rock was solid. Carla Gugino was a bad-ass. Paul Giamatti over acted a little but was good. The visuals were top notch. Just an entertaining movie.

I dont think it will get the best reviews but it was fun. Really, the suspense is worth giving it a watch.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Weekend Box Office:

SAN ANDREAS Scores Seismic $53.2M Debut; ALOHA Bombs

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson proved he can open a tentpole film all by his not-so-little lonesome with San Andreas's estimated, beefy $53.2 million domestic take, which was much better than the predicted $40 million for the Warner Bros. disaster flick. With an A- CinemaScore, it looks like the film will have domestic box-office aftershocks for some weeks to come. Overseas, San Andreas opened with an international cume of $60 million (on 14.5k screens) resulting in a worldwide cume of $113.2 million.

The real winner in this story, however, is Johnson. San Andreas is the best opening for him where he was not part of an ensemble, such as the Fast and Furious or the G.I. Joe flicks. Last year's underwhelming performance of Bret Ratner's Hercules cast some doubt whether Johnson really could act as the main attraction. But Warner made him the focus of the marketing campaign and Johnson did his usual above-average participation to promote the film.

On the sad part of the box-office spectrum, the other major wide release, the D.O.A. Cameron Crowe movie, Aloha, sputtered to an estimated $10 million in 2,815 theaters. Interestingly, if that $10 million holds, which is not assured, Aloha will actually open better than Crowe's last film, 2011's We Bought a Zoo ($9.3 million in 3,011 theaters). But that has to be cold comfort for Crowe and crew who wound up at 6th place in the top 10.

Pitch Perfect 2 was in second place, actually adding 100 theaters and ending up with $14.3 million and a domestic cume of $147.5 million. Internationally the film seems to be following in the footsteps of the original film, that is, lagging behind domestic. The sequel's international weekend estimate is $10.4 million in 46 territories for a total of $80.7 milion. The worldwide total is at $228.2 million.

Mad Max: Fury Road landed in the 4th position with $13.6 million. That's 44.7% off of last week in 3,255 venues for a $115 million domestic cume. Internationally the film made $21.6 million on approximately 9,742 screens in 70 release markets. The international cume is now $165 million with the worldwide cume standing at $280 million.

In 5th place for the week the still-impressive Avengers: Age of Ultron made $10.9 million domestically, which it tossed onto its new domestic take of $427 million. Internationally the film added $17.6 million to its fearsome $894.2 million in 91 territories. That's a worldwide sum of $1.32 billion.


Box Office: San Andreas Rocks with $53 Million Debut; Cameron Crowe's Aloha Bombs