Movies Seen In Theatres This
Week: The Place Beyond The Pine, The Company We Keep, Iron Man 3, Pain &
Gain
Lesson 5. The Marvel Backlash
This week we’re starting and ending with Marvel. My favorite
part of going out to see movies is the trailers. I love getting to see what’s
coming out next (no matter how dumb it looks *cough* Pacific Rim *cough). There have even been times where I’ll change a
movie times if I’m going to miss even one trailer. (Jeff’s Note: You have an iPhone sir, connected to the
ENTIRE internet, though I know it’s not as fun as the big screen). No
matter how many times I go to a movie, it’s still an event for me.
So while I’m waiting for Iron
Man 3 to start (with my good friend Max) trailers play for Marvel’s The Wolverine and Thor: The Dark World. Knowing that we’re getting four more Marvel
films next year, that makes a total of seven films within a year and half span.
I worry that it’s within the realm of possibility that there could be a
backlash against Marvel or at least a substantial drop in sales, no matter how good the films turn out to be. There is
something to be said about making your audience wait for something good rather than
pumping out film after film. The first Iron
Man came out in 2008 and it took until 2012 for The Avengers to hit theaters. If money is an indicator, it’s clear
that people will pay, and wait for, GOOD product. Out of the films in
Marvel’s Phase 1, two are excellent (The Avengers, Iron Man), two are fine (Thor, Captain America), and two are poor (Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk). (Jeff’s Note: I would switch Iron Man 2 and Thor in this
ranking) My point here is to take your time, Marvel, give us a good product
with a good story and we, the audience, will reward you in spades. Pump them
out at a break-neck pace and care more about money than the story and you will
enter a backlash phase that could kill your momentum even faster than you built
it up.
Lesson 4. I Would Like to Take a
Moment to Thank the Dum-Dums
Moving
away from Marvel for a moment, let’s talk Michael Bay. Bay’s newest film Pain & Gain sadly isn’t a flop; the
studio only gave him $26 million to make it, so it’s 33 million total gross so far
has made it a small success. However… it is Bay’s lowest grossing film! We did
it! Congrats everyone, America watched a Michael Bay film and didn’t toss
millions upon millions of dollars at it!!! We all can see how bad this movie is
and we didn’t support it!! The Dum-Dums didn’t unite behind Bay!!!
This
“comedy” is awful. I didn’t laugh once where I was supposed to, no moment of
this film worked and never did this film do anything new (even for Bay). As a director on the forefront of the action
film genre, this was sad. Bay somehow, someway, (Jeff’s Note: Money.) keeps getting good actors to be
in his films and Pain & Gain is
no exception. The cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie, The Rock, Tony
Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson, Ken Jeong, Larry Hankin, and
Peter Stromare. But he wastes the talents of each and every one of them. If you
look back at the history of Bay films, it seems clear that he wants to work
with actors who know how to act, why? SO HE DOESN’T HAVE TO DIRECT THEM! I’ve
said it before and I’ll say it again, Michael Bay would make an amazing visual
effects supervisor, but instead we're stuck with him as a full-on director.
Well, at least we’ve got one failure of film. Let’s hope this is a trend.
(Jeff’s
Note: An alternate reason that this film
might have done more poorly than any other Bay film might simply have to do
with its marketing budget, not with a sour audience reaction. Since this wasn't a 100+ million dollar film, the marketing budget was likewise vastly smaller
than any of his blockbusters. Instead of carpet-bombing viewers with ads for
this film, like the studio usually does for Bay’s flicks, it had to rely on a
much smaller, not-so-clever campaign. I love that you have such faith in your
fellow man, Josh. But I don’t think the dum-dums are learning, I think they
just weren't told when to show up.)
Lesson 3. An A for Effort
Sometimes
you get an “A” for effort, like Robert Redford with The Company You Keep. Redford directs and co-stars in this film, and
it’s fine. This is one of those films that have a famous actor in every part
and all of them shine with what they are given simply because they can ACT. The Company You Keep features Shia LaBeouf, Susan Sarandon, Julie
Christie, Anna Kendrick, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Terrence Howard, Stanley
Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Brendon Gleeson, Brit Marling, Sam Elliott, Stephen
Root, and of course Redford. This film tells its story well, holds tension in
the right moments, and even has a few surprises along the way, but can I say
it’s worth your time? No.
There is something lackluster about the end product, and that's that the film seems to have no solid point of view on its
subject matter. The Company You Keep explores
the story of a domestic terrorist/protest group in the 1970’s known as The
Weathermen and what happened to them after they grew up. Most of them just
became upper-middle class Americans with guilty souls, but when one member
submits herself to the police the other members must decide whether to run or
give themselves up as well. It all sounds great, but it’s not clear if Redford believes
his characters are in the right or the wrong, nor is it clear if he believes
their cause was right or wrong, nor does he examine their generation's effect on
the present time. The film becomes a waste of a good idea. It could have been much
more, but instead simply gets an “A” for effort.
Lesson 2. Some Snacks are not
for Everybody
The Place Beyond the Pines is a visually stunning film. This
is my kind of eye-candy. Finding the beauty in a difficult situation, finding
the beauty in the world around us, and finding the beauty in even the darkest
corner of life, these are thing that I adore about this film. Pines is an epic tale of fathers and
sons told in three parts, examining the nature and relationships of a father
and son and coming to a pretty bleak conclusion. The Place Beyond the Pines works on many levels for me personally,
but on the flip side, I can understand how it wouldn’t work for others. It’s a
violent and slow film with a negative view on society in general. I think the
story being told is worth watching, but you should do your research to know if
it’s something you’d enjoy. Watch the trailer, read some spoiler-free reviews,
and know that the film is rated R for a reason. If after doing some research it
look like it’s not your cup of tea, then stay away, but I personally recommend
it.
Lesson 1. A Quick
List of Pros and Cons
Of course this week I saw Iron Man 3 and at the risk of giving away spoilers, I’m going to
skip a more in-depth review and give you list of pro and cons.
Pros:
Robert Downey Jr. is awesome as always as Tony Stark.
Great fight sequences that you can follow and understand at
all times.
Iron Man gets his Short Round!
Fantastic, but not distracting, special effects.
A good balance between comedy and action (except for one glaring
moment).
Good use of back story and sets up the next chapter in the
film.
Great tie-in with the Marvel universe.
The final credits cut scene worth sticking around for.
Compelling characters
Director Shane Black does a very good job of making the film
his own, while still being faithful to the Iron Man/Marvel Universe
Moves at a great pace, never boring
Cons:
The Mandarin.
Box Office Totals for the Weekend
of May 3-5
Rank
|
Film
Title
|
Weekend
Gross
|
Total
Gross
|
Budget
|
Weeks
in Theatres
|
1.
|
Iron Man 3
|
$175.3
|
$175.3
|
$200
|
1
|
2.
|
Pain & Gain
|
$7.6
|
$33.9
|
$26
|
2
|
3.
|
42
|
$6.2
|
$78.3
|
$40
|
4
|
4.
|
Oblivion
|
$5.7
|
$75.9
|
$120
|
3
|
5.
|
The Croods
|
$4.2
|
$168.7
|
$135
|
7
|
6.
|
The Big Wedding
|
$3.8
|
$14.2
|
$35
|
2
|
7.
|
Mud
|
$2.1
|
$5.1
|
--
|
2
|
8.
|
Oz The Great and Powerful
|
$1.8
|
$228.5
|
$215
|
9
|
9.
|
Scary Movie 5
|
$1.4
|
$29.6
|
$20
|
4
|
10.
|
The Place Beyond the Pines
|
$1.2
|
$18.6
|
$15
|
6
|
All Numbers are in Millions and numbers are from of
Box Office Mojo.com
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