Box Office Report 08-17-15 (Straight Outta Compton, Man From U.N.C.L.E)

I've decided to try something a little different. I've always been a fan of websites or video channels that report on the box office earnings of movies every week. After listening and watching so many, I've started to find this information on my own and form my own opinions. After doing this independently for many months, I've decided to use this useless knowledge to my advantage and form a new article series. So, without further ado, here is the top 5 for the week of August 17th, 2015!

#5

The Gift - $6.5 Million

In it's second weekend, the Joel Edgerton directed and produced thriller is holding strong at number five, moving two places down the list. Down just over 40%, "The Gift" is already a hit for Blumhouse productions, with a current total of $23.5 million, which more than covers its $5 million budget. It would seem that Blumhouse's strategy of making movies on the cheap is continuing to payoff, after hits like "The Purge" and "Insidious", and lesser but still successful films like "The Lazarus Effect" and "The Gallows".  "The Gift" is also on the short list of non-horror themed releases from the company, joining the likes of Oscar winning "Whiplash". Mixed with its incredible reviews from critics and good word of mouth, "The Gift" will likely stay in the top 10 for a few more weeks, but it may not last through September as bigger releases start to roll in, including Blumhouse's own "Sinister 2".

#4

Fantastic Four - $8.1 Million

What a train wreck this has been. Premiering at number two last week, Fox's "Fantastic Four" reboot has only sunken further down the list. Falling 68.2%, which is abysmal for summer blockbusters, this film has been plagued with terrible critical and audience reactions (It currently has 8% critic approval and 22% audience approval on Rotten Tomatoes), which have been blamed for its poor performance. Having only made $42.1 and needing to double $120 million, it's unlikely that even the worldwide box office can save this flop. In the end, "Fantastic Four" was doomed from the start, and it's likely to fall out of the top 10 by the end of month, if not sooner.

#3

The Man From U.N.C.L.E - $13.4 Million

While not as big a disaster as "Fantastic Four", "U.N.C.L.E"'s lack luster opening weekend leaves a lot to be desired. The reboot of the 1960's t.v. series has been in production for decades, but now it would appear to have been a lost cause. Though it has a cast of movie stars in the making, "Man of Steel"'s Henry Cavill and "The Lone Ranger"'s Armie Hammer in the leading roles, this spy film just couldn't catch any heat. With a reported $75 million budget, this film has the possibility of being saved by the foreign release, but that remains to be seen.

#2

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - $17.1 Million

Slightly dropping from its two week rain at number one, the latest "Mission Impossible" sees another profitable weekend in the face of more competition. With a 39.7% drop and a total gross of $138.3 million, the Tom Cruise franchise is shown to still have some legs in the heavy

 blockbuster season. Now that a sequel is most definitely in the works, it looks as if Cruise's rise back to stardom has found its place with "Mission Impossible", but hopefully he can keep the momentum going after three years of solid films. 

 #1

Straight Outta Compton - $60.2 Million

The highly acclaimed bio-pic about 90's rap group N.W.A has shattered previously held predictions of a $40 million opening and is currently the fourth biggest opening of August, right ahead of "Signs" but missing "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" by five million, but at this point who's complaining. The film's success can be attributed to multiple factors; there's the overwhelmingly positive reactions from critics and audiences, who all came out of the theater with glowing praise. Another is the appeal to multiple generations, those being the youth of the early 90's who lived through this and the youth of today who know the names (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre) but not the origins. There's also the timely issues of police brutality and the worth of black lives, which are central themes of not only the film but N.W.A's music. While it's not a surprise that "Compton" was a hit, no one expected it to be as big a hit as it is, especially with an R rating and cast of unknown actors. 

Next Week's Predictions

There are three big releases this weekend, "Hitman: Agent 47", "Sinister 2" and "American Ultra". "Sinister" is expected to be the biggest earner, while "American Ultra" will find a comfortable spot somewhere in the middle. "Hitman" will be the black sheep, probably bombing hard in the next few days. Yet, none of them will top "Straight Outta Compton", which is expected to hold its throne for a least one more week. 

   

 

Gravity: NR #52

ONCE AGAIN, I apologize for missing last week. I was out of town and it was late by the time I got home. Luckily, I'm going to review last week's newest release, a realistic start-studded survival film. This movie is...

PLOT
Ryan Stone is a doctor who's on her first mission to space, a routine mission to fix a satellite. She's accompanied by Matt Kowalski, an experienced astronaut who's on his very last mission. While working on the satellite, fast moving debris hits the satellite, leaving Stone and Kowalski as the lone survivors a drift in space. Now they both must survive long enough to reach another ship and hopefully escape alive from the harsh realm of space.


PROS
Sandra Bullock does a great job as the lead of this film. The film never leaves her perspective and almost never leaves her side, so you need someone the audience can relate to and feel for. Bullock is the perfect person for the job and carries the movie well.

The special effects are spectacular and constantly amaze you. They're so realistic that I kept forgetting this was filmed on a green screen and just got caught up in the film.

The camera work is also amazing, constantly moving and spinning with and around the characters. It's almost a character itself.

The film does a great job at conveying a sense of isolation. It accomplishes this feat by having scenes go on for 10-15 minutes at a time, never leaving Bullock's side, and keeping the silence of space silent. What I mean is that besides the score, there is little to no sound, with what sound there is muffled. It creates a mood and pulls you into the movie's world of empty space.

Unlike most films, the 3D is great and works very effectively. There were times when I literally ducked and flinched when something came towards the screen.

Tension is this movies speciality. I was close to yelling at the screen so many times I was that tense. True Story: "Gravity" is 1hr 30min. long, 1hr 15min. in I released I'd been tense this whole time and finally relaxed.

The cinematography is gorgeous and constantly boggles the mind. There are tons of breathtaking moments in the film and are worth seeing in the theater just for that.


CONS
I hate to say it, but I don't have any real complaints with this movie. I always try to find something to fault in a film, but this one is near perfect.


CONCLUSION
"Gravity" is a truly astounding film. It is the reason why we go see movies. It finally brings back the notion that art films and mainstream blockbusters can coexist as one. I absolutely adored this movie and would love to see it again and again. This is one of the best movies of this year and is a must see for anyone who can stomach the near constant tension this film exudes.

RATING
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Lee Danials' The Butler: NR #51

To continue my reviews of older theater releases, this week I'm reviewing a movie that's been a huge surprise success, at least in the eyes of the studios. A movie that is all about the performances and historical figures and events. This week, I'm reviewing...

PLOT
"The Butler", based on the life of a real White House butler, follows the life of Cecil Gaines, a man whose been taught from childhood in slavery to be subservient and to never speak up. In the late 50's, during Woodrow Wilson's term, Cecil becomes a butler at the White House. During this time, Cecil's son, Louis, is going off the college and is involved in the budding civil rights movement. Father and son clash as their two different views on life and of each other change over a period of 30 years.


PROS
This movie is all about its performances and it delivers. Everyone gives a great performance, the stand-out being Oprah, who plays Cecil's wife. She truly is a great actress and it's a shame she's not in more films.

Cecil's relationship with his son is the best part of the this movie. The scenes they have together are all great and are the true backbone of the film. Seeing these two different people from different times and different philosophies clash is very interesting and help to keep the movie going for its 2 hour length.

There are a few reenactments of famous moments from the civil rights movement and they're all done very effectively and hit me hard. I was close to tears during all of them and while they may be a tad over dramatic, they still convey their point very well.

This is a very black focused movie, which I really appreciate. Most movies about the civil rights movement or about a black person over coming something usually have to have a white person there to help them out and do most of the work, like the person can't do anything without the help of a white person, "The Blind Side" for example. Luckily, this film avoids that completely and is better for it.



CONS
A big part of the advertisements for this movie is the actors playing famous presidents. Sadly most of the actors don't do a good job playing their parts. While the actors aren't bad, they just don't bring anything to the table and it can be hard to tell who's playing who. A good example is John Cusack as Nixon. He looks and sounds nothing like Nixon, he's just being John Cusack and we're told he's Richard Nixon.

The film can get a little over dramatic and cliched at times. While it's not a huge deal, it does take some of the tension and seriousness away from scenes.



CONCLUSION
"The Butler", while an average bio-drama on the surface, rises above by focusing on the relationship with Cecil and his son and less on the presidents and Cecil's affect on historical events. It's a well made film that follows all of the classic beats, but does them well and is worth seeing if you haven't yet


RATING
WALK TO

Double Review, Contraband, Ghost Protocol: NR #15 & 16

That was a mediocre Golden Globes wasn't it? Everyone got the award they were predicted to get, Rango got jibbed as an animated movie, and Attack the Block was sadly no where to be seen. They could have at least nominated it for best original score, I mean have you heard that score? Anyway, I'm not here to debate the "Please watch this show/movie that no one watches" awards, I'm here to do my 4th double review or two action movies, some have more action than others, but they both seem to be making a ton of money. I'm talking about..

Let's Begin

CONTRABAND

PLOT

Chris Farraday is one of the best smugglers in the world, but has since retired to a simple life by settling down with a wife and kids and starting up his own security system business. Meanwhile, Chris's brother-in-law is caught in a bad situation when he losses the drugs he was smuggling in for a drug dealer. Now this dealer is threatening to terrorize his sister's family; Chris's wife and family. Now Chris must get back into the smuggling business to get the money to save his family.

PROS

Giovanni Ribisi as the villain is the best part of the movie for all the wrong reason. He is so unintentional funny that he becomes the most non-threatening villain I've ever seen. I was praying that he would come on and make me laugh or at least get some emotion out of me.

CONS

Mark Whalberg is sleep walking through this entire movie. He's not bad yet not memorable, and that's a problem.

My biggest complaint is that this movie is SO BORING. I was bored to tears and then some. It starts out slow, then it picks up with the twist, and gets boring again.

We have no stake in what is happening. You don't care about these bland, cookie cutter characters because they are bland and cookie-cutter.

The film is too predictable, the group I went with were guessing crucial plot points that would happen at the end of the movie in the middle of the movie.

CONCLUSION

It probably seems like I hate this movie, but I don't. I can't explain it, but I never at any point hated this movie and I may feel this way since I can barley remember this movie. I feel that you don't need to see it in theaters, but if you are interested in seeing it wait 'till DVD or when it comes on cable.

RATING

RENTABLE

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4: GHOST PROTOCOL

PLOT

After an IMF agent holding nuclear launch codes is killed, IMF decides to bring Ethan Hunt back to save the world again, but with a team this time. When a mission at the Kermlin is botched and it explodes, the blame is put on Ethan and crew. The president then initiates Ghost Protocol and disbands the IMF. Now Ethan and company must discover who set them up but with only the limited resources they have left.

PROS

Remember when I said Tintin had the best action scenes of last year? Well this sure gave Tintin a run for its money. The action scenes here are some of the most tense scenes of 2011. I found myself almost falling out of my seat I was so close to the edge.

The biggest complaint against the Mission Impossible films has been the fact that it's never a team effort, it's always the Tom Cruise show. Well here it's always about the team. Everyone has a moment to shine and be helpful. Tom could never do anything here alone.

The direction is great, and we have Brad Bird to thank for that. You may not know the name, but you definitely know the movies. He's the director of such classics as The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. You may notice that all of these films are animated, well he makes a seamless transition from animation to live action.

This is a personal Pro, but Simon Pegg is given a lot of scenes to do what he does best, be funny. He even gets a few scenes to be action packed.

CONS

The script is actually pretty bad, but Brad's directing and near constant action keeps your from thinking about the story. But the script is still stupid.

CONCLUSION

This is an action-packed rollercoaster ride full of adrenaline that will leave you tired and worn out by the end of it. I had a lot of fun and think you will too. And if you can help it, see it in Imax, It supposedly is amazing in Imax.

RATING

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