Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week. After a disappointing opening, Blade Runner 2049 has four new wide releases and two new limited releases looking to retire it from the top of the box office.
What Culture put together a great list that I never would have thought of on my own, but is so true: the best performances by actors who just gave up. Sometimes you can tell, clearly, that an actor is not at all pleased to be in a film and the performance comes across (Marlon Brando in Superman; Brando appears TWICE in a nine person list). Sometimes, the actor knows the movie is truly awful and decides to steal it with a legendarily good performance in a legendarily bad film (Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). Sometimes a great performance comes across despite an actor being miserable on-set (Chevy Chase in Community or Robert Shaw in Jaws), but whatever the reason, it’s always interesting to get a behind-the-scenes peak into what made a memorable performance so memorable.
Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week. September 2nd looks to be the only weak opening weekend in an odd year where the quality in September (usually the elephant graveyard of studios) is better than October. At least we’ll hope it is. Five subpar movies try to knock Don’t Breathe out of the top spot. Continue reading In Theaters This Week (9/02/2016) – The Light Between Oceans, Morgan, The 9th Life of Louis Drax, Yoga Hosers, Skiptrace
Kung Fu Panda was a film that had to overcome a WHOLE lot with me. First….I thought the concept was stupid. Second, the trailer made the entire film look stupid. Then reviews started rolling in; really positive reviews, but I still didn’t see it in the theater. I did give it a chance at home though, and within the first 2:16, I was on-board. Po’s Dream sequence is over-the-top stupid funny, kung fu awesomeness with enough tongue-in-cheek that it wiped my preconceptions and I genuinely liked the first film very much. I thought the second was lazy and piggy-backed off the first, but the early reviews for the third installment, really the fist 2016 release of any note, are very positive. Should my area thaw by the time it release this weekend, I may even go see it……or Star Wars again.
When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise.
I am a big fan of the first Kung Fu Panda, which surprised the heck out of me by being as fun as it was (plus it introduced the word “squidoosh” into my already potent vocabulary). I thought KFP2 was ok, but forgettable. I’m hoping the series returns to form, but honestly the thing that worries me the most about it is that Dreamworks has it set for a January 29, 2016, release date. That’s not a place you release something you have confidence in; it’s a time you dump something hoping to make back a fraction of the production costs. We shall see.
Killing Time 