May 30th, 2024
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The Memorial Day weekend box office turned out to be a disappointment in what should have been a healthy four-day stretch to kick off the Summer movie season. Topping the domestic charts were two of the three newcomers, with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga narrowly edging out The Garfield Movie, with $32.34 million to $31.26 million from Friday through Monday. This weekend will undoubtedly see the two reigning leaders remain on top, although there’s a good chance the roles will be reversed.
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October 15th, 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp is the second film in the Ant-Man franchise and the 20th film in the MCU. I liked the first film more than the average critic, because I’m a huge fan of heist movies. This film won’t have the same heist angle, so will it not work with me as much?
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December 6th, 2015
Ant-Man had the fourth worst global box office for a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It earned over $500 million and was still the fourth worst in the franchise's run. That's impressive. One of the reasons for the franchise's success is the quality. No MCU film has earned a Tomatometer Score below the overall positive level, this includes Ant-Man. Is it worthy of this? Or is this the first MCU film I didn't like?
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July 1st, 2015
June was a much better month than expected due to two films, Jurassic World and Inside Out. Had those two films merely matched expectations, then 2015 would have likely fallen behind 2014. As for this coming month, there are five weekends in July and each week there is at least one film with the potential to reach $100 million. Most weeks there are two films that at least have a shot at getting to the century mark. The biggest hit of the month will likely be Minions, which has already opened in several international markets and it's ahead of Despicable Me 2 at the same point. That film made more than $300 million and nearly $1 billion worldwide, so any growth would be fantastic. There are also a number of potential $200 million films, led by Ant-man. Ant-man is the latest release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that has averaged $300 million domestically over eleven films and all of the past six films have reached at least $200 million. I'm not saying this one is guaranteed to do the same, but you can't dismiss that possibility. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and Pixels have smaller chances to get to $200 million, but you have to at least entertain the possibility. Additionally, last July was a lot weaker than this July looks to be, so 2015 should win in the year-over-year comparison most weeks. Or I might have let the box office success of June cloud my judgment. We will soon find out.
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September 30th, 2014
Jon Favreau's career behind the camera started out with smaller movies. He co-wrote Swingers and wrote and directed Made. However, recently he has directed a number of major movies. He was the one behind the camera for the first two Iron Man movies, for instance, and the average budget for his three most recent films he directed is close to $175 million. With his latest film, Chef, he went the opposite direction and created a much, much smaller film. Was he able to still maintain his usual high level of quality? Or does he need the spectacle to make a compelling movie?
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November 3rd, 2013
When Lovelace was first announced, there was a lot of good buzz surrounding it. The film is a biopic of Linda Lovelace, arguably the first porn star that had mainstream name recognition. However, when it finally hit theaters, the critical response was mixed and it failed to find an audience in theaters. Is it busted Oscar bait? Or does it deserve a second chance to find an audience?
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February 9th, 2013
I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Nurse Jackie. On the one hand, there's a lot to love about the show, including the central performance by Edie Falco. On the other hand, the central character is flawed in such a way that it becomes frustrating to watch her in action. I think having a main character with flaws improves the show. However, if a character makes the same mistakes and never learns, it makes the show repetitive. The first three seasons of the show danced close to the line, and occasionally stepped over, but overall I enjoyed watching it. Which direction does it go in season four?
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