Pixar is known for churning out all different kinds of 3-D animated films with relative success. The premises of these films are almost always unique and tell stories that keep people engaged. While these movies are marketed towards children, they are meant to be watched by people of all ages. They will make any adult be able to find their inner child and can bring emotions out of everyone. Most recently, Pixar released the movie ‘Onward’ which received favorable reviews and not too long from now they will be releasing another film.
‘Soul’ tells the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher who has dreamed of performing jazz music onstage. Eventually, he manages to get a chance to impress other musicians with an opening act at the Half Note Club. Not all things are meant to last when, in an accident, his soul ends up seperated from his body. His soul is sent to The Great Before, a world where souls develop personalities, quirks, and traits before being sent off to Earth. Gardner must work with souls in The Great Before in order to return to Earth before he can’t return anymore.
‘Soul’ stars Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad, Daveed Diggs, and Angela Bassett. The movie is directed by Pete Docter who also worked on Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out. Docter also wrote the screenplay for the film along with Tina Fey, Kemp Powers, and Mike Jones. ‘Soul’ is being produced by Dana Murray who also produced the short ‘Lou’ for which she was co-nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ‘Soul’ will officially release on June 19th, 2020.
There are plenty of ways in which men get involved in a life of crime, and a lot of the time it isn’t necessarily what they want to do with their lives. With that being said, those men can take a situation that they didn’t want a part of and turn it into something greater. ‘Arkansas’ is a film that is going to show us how two men are drawn into a fight they never wanted simply by making a few bad decisions. This draws them into the cross-hairs of the man they originally worked for.
‘Arkansas’ tells the story two men, Kyle and Swin, posing as junior park rangers during the day, they are actually low-level drug couriers by night. Working for drug-lord Frog, the two are constantly watched over by his proxies. Swin ends up settling into his day job and ends up in a relationship with Johanna. Kyle, on the other hand, decides to look into Frog who they haven’t ever met before. With Kyle investigating him and Swin standing out despite being told not to, Frog decides to target the two of them, mistakenly thinking they are a threat to his empire.
‘Arkansas’ stars Liam Hemsworth (Kyle), Clark Duke (Swin), Michael Kenneth Williams (Almond), Vivica A. Fox (Her), Eden Brolin (Johnna), Chandler Duke (Nick), with John Malkovich (Bright), and Vince Vaughn (Frog). This film is Clark Duke’s directorial debut and he also helped write and produce the film. The movie is also being produced by Patrick Hibler, Jeff Rice, and Martin Sprock. Duke wrote the screenplay for the movie alongside Andrew Boonkrong based off the novel by John Brandon. The movie releases on May 1, 2020 (In Select Theaters, on Apple, Amazon, and On Demand platforms) and on May 5, 2020 (Blu-ray™ and DVD).
With Covid-19 being declared a pandemic, this past weekend didn’t really bring much at the box office.
1. Onward– ‘Onward’ only brought in $10.5 million for a gross total of $60.3 million, though I’d like to think it would have brought in a lot more.
2. I Still Believe– Among a few movies that released this past weekend, ‘I Still Believe’ did the best with a gross of $9.5 million.
3. Bloodshot– In its opening weekend, ‘Bloodshot’ followed close behind ‘I Still Believe’ with $9.3 million for a gross total of $10.5 million.
4. The Invisible Man– ‘The Invisible Man’ goes into its third weekend having brought in $6.0 million for a total of $64.4 million.
5. The Hunt– Like a few other movies that released this past weekend, ‘The Hunt’ probably didn’t bring in as much as it normally would have with $5.3 million for a total of $5.8 million.
6. Sonic the Hedgehog– Like other affected movies, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ only brought in $2.6 million for a gross amount of $145.8 million.
7. The Way Back– ‘The Way Back’ didn’t do so well in its second week with $2.4 million for a total of $13.4 million.
8. The Call of the Wild– At the end of its first month, ‘The Call of the Wild’ brought in $2.2 million for a gross total of $62.1 million.
9. Emma.– ‘Emma’ is continuing to not do very well with only $1.4 million for a total of $10.0 million one month after initial release.
10. Bad Boys for Life– After this past weekend, ‘Bad Boys for Life’ still sold out a few seats with $1.1 million for a total of $204.3 million.
By George Robbins
[usr 4.7]
First off, to go on record, I would like to just simply put it out there that I loved this movie and don’t have many negative things to say about it. Even though I say that there are negative things, the movie builds a unique and well-spoken narrative and those things don’t mean much. ‘Onward’ tells a story about family bonding, but with a twist. After all, it isn’t often in movies that casts are full of characters made up of magical beings or creatures. Pixar movies usually consist of those things, but this is kind of new, even for them. The only issues I had with the film revolve around the fact that the plot seems a bit similar to other Pixar movie plots. This might just be because I am old enough to see a lot of consistent tropes in films, especially Pixar films.
‘Onward’ was, of course, going to be a film that was respected solely based off the talent that was brought in for the voice acting. With Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer appearing together in the film, it was bound to do well. The credit for the movie’s success goes to everyone who worked on it as well, of course including director Dan Scanlon who joined Pixar in 2001 and most recently directed ‘Monsters University.’ The art and animation team working on the film are the ones who made it all possible and regardless of what anyone thinks of the plot, the movie itself is animated beautifully.
There is not a single shadow of a doubt that the film wouldn’t be an artistic beauty of a film, because Pixar always improves upon their previous films. Either that or they keep up their standard that keeps them at the top of their game. The character design lends to the world around them, and that world is simply designed with its own atmosphere. A magical world where technology is the main way that people live their lives instead of actual magic is an interesting concept. With character design in mind, I think the casting was nailed down perfectly. The main duo of the film play off one another so well because their voice actors, Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, played so well off one another. Their brotherly dynamic feels like it is real and feels like it comes off the screen.
The dynamic between the two main characters ends up taking the film in a direction many may not have expected. I feel like this next bit will be a massive spoiler, so it is safe to bail now. While many may have expected the film to be about a journey for two brothers to find a way to see their deceased father one last time, it is actually a story about two brothers bonding on a journey they never would have expected to be on. Main character Ian, played by Holland, discovers that the people you have always known are more important than the ones you may want to know. This film is one that made me appreciate the story it told and the messages it was trying to convey. It will definitely go down as one of my favorite films from Pixar because it just felt like a good- heartwarming film by the end.
Normally, unless a film is a documentary, a movie does not involve what are supposed to be real reactions from people in real life. However, there are movies that do actually record the reactions of onlookers in order to make a film. We have already seen this with movies like ‘Jackass’ and ‘Bad Grandpa.’ The entire premise of these films is that the actors in the films play pranks on people or one another and turn it into a feature length film. This gives us a more realistic style comedy to watch as oppose to a completely scripted one.
‘Bad Trip’ is another movie from a producer of the ‘Jackass’ and ‘Bad Grandpa’ films with the main premise being a cross-country road trip. Along this trip, two best friends are a part of pranks that pull the real-life audience into the movie itself. This movie is meant to be a film that draws out pure laughter from people by giving them a more familiar experience that feels more realistic. With incredible talents being a part of the movie to give it more weight, it is going to put a smile on the face of those who see it.
‘Bad Trip’ stars Eric André, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, and Michaela Conlin. The movie is directed by Kitao Sakurai who is known for the Eric André Show. The film is produced by Jeff Tremaine, who is responsible for the original ‘Jackass’ series, Eric André, David Bernad, and Ruben Fleischer. There is an actual story to the film that was made up by Dan Curry, Eric André, and Kitao Sakurai. André attended Robert McKee’s Story Seminars and consulted Jeff Tremaine and Nathan Fielder during the conceptualization of the film in order to make it properly. In order to make sure that the film was up to proper standards, he also screened it for Sasha Baron Cohen before release. ‘Bad Trip’ will release theatrically in the United States on April 24, 2020.
Ever since the launch of its premium streaming service, Disney has been releasing all kinds of content to Disney+. Among the new content is original movies that aren’t necessarily made to be blockbuster films. These films are something akin to the Disney Channel original movies that used to release on a regular basis. The movies that are released are not always that great but when Disney releases films onto their streaming service, they don’t have to worry about them bombing. With that in mind, Disney has a new film coming to the service on March 13, 2020.
‘Stargirl’ is a drama film that is based off a novel of the same name that was released in 2000 that tells a story of independence. The film tells a story that explores tense emotions, non-conformity and self-expression of teenagers in high school. On top of that, it explores the exuberance of someone’s first love. The main plot of the film involves a teen girl going to high school for the first time after being homeschooled. She is unique and free-spirited which makes her stand out among her peers and a young teen finds himself falling for her. Her very existence creates strong, enduring memories with the entire school.
‘Stargirl’ stars Grace VanderWaal, Leo Borlock, Giancarlo Esposito, and Karan Brar. The movie was directed by Julia Hart who also wrote the screenplay for the film alongside Kristin Hahn and Jordan Horowitz. Hahn and Horowitz also produced the film alongside Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman. The movie is based heavily off of the novel of the same name by Jerry Spinelli. Disney is treating the film as an official release making it a sort of direct video for people to watch on Disney+.
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