by Emily Nagle
The first weekend of May was the most profitable box office one of the whole year so far, thanks to the release of Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”. Altogether, the top 10 highest grossing films for this weekend added up to $220.3 million. For perspective, that’s almost twice the amount earned during the long Easter weekend.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of May 6-8, 2022
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once ($3.5 million)
4. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ($4.3 million)
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($6 million)
2. The Bad Guys ($9.6 million)
1. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4 million)
The long-awaited “Multiverse of Madness” carried movie theaters this weekend, grossing nearly $190 million. Most of this was earned during its opening day on Friday, when it grossed $90.7 million. This interdimensional superhero blockbuster has had the biggest opening weekend all year, as well as the second biggest pandemic-era opening weekend (with first place going to “Spider-Man: No Way Home“). A sequel to “Doctor Strange” (2016), the film follows the eponymous neurosurgeon-turned-sorcerer (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he casts a forbidden spell that unleashes the Multiverse, creating immense danger. Now, it’s up to him, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and Wong (Benedict Wong) to contain the threat, which has introduced the team to alternate versions of themselves. It’s been praised by critics for its direction and performances.
With “Multiverse of Madness” soaring to number-one at theaters, “The Bad Guys” was demoted to second place for the first time in its 2-week release. Family films like “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” have continued to thrive at the box office several weeks after premiering, creating a diverse list of titles: from speedy blue hedgehogs and animal criminals to wizards and interdimensional thrillers, there’s something for everyone!
by Emily Nagle
Recently, HBO Max debuted the third season of their original series “Close Enough”, which first premiered in summer 2020. I reviewed its second season when it first debuted last spring, and wrote about how much I loved its creative, quirky stories, and compared it to “Regular Show”, one of creator J.G. Quintel’s older projects from Cartoon Network.
As a refresher: “Close Enough” is an adult animated series follows Josh (J.G. Quintel) and Emily (Gabrielle Walsh), a couple in their early thirties who live in a Los Angeles duplex with their 6-year-old daughter Candice (Jessica DiCicco). It’s no ordinary living arrangement, as they are joined by their divorced friends Alex (Jason Mantzoukas) and Bridgette (Kimiko Glenn), in addition to their landlord Pearle (Danielle Brooks) and her son Randy (James Adomian). Each episode features one of the residents experiencing a small problem that escalates into large-scale, often supernatural situations. I’m talking things like Josh and Emily hosting an adult party in the garage during Candice’s birthday party, but then a magician whisks them away to an alternate dimension to teach them about being there for their daughter.
Over-the-top, surreal plotlines continue in “Close Enough’s” new season. My favorite episode from season 3 was “Candice Candice Revolution”. In this episode, Candice decides rules are meant to be broken after being served pancakes for dinner, and then proceeds to turn her whole elementary school upside down. With her classmates causing complete chaos, it’s reminiscent of “Lord of the Flies”: they’ve constructed a giant baking soda/vinegar volcano, lit things on fire, and tied up their teacher so he can’t stop them. It’s absolutely wild, and it all started when Candice experienced the magic of breakfast for dinner.
I know the show is about the adults, but I love Candice. Her excitable, impressionable nature makes for some pretty wacky stories; she’s only six, so she’s still at that age where nothing is impossible. Even if the episode doesn’t focus on her, she’s still an important character, and not some little kid who’s just kinda there. Candice adds a lot of heart to the show; take, for example, the second segment of episode 5, called “The Weird Kid”. In this episode, Emily feels like Candice is drifting away from her, and the next morning she wakes up as a 6-year-old, and befriends Candice as she pretends to be a new student at her school. Even though it’s a sci-fi-esque story, it’s wholesome and has a lot of humanity behind it; it’s a dilemma that’s sure to hit home for thirtysomethings, who, like Emily, might have kids of their own who they’re having trouble relating to.
Just like in the previous seasons, each episode is about 23 minutes long, and there’s only 8 of them. It’s an easy binge, clocking in at about 3 hours. And if you haven’t watched the first two seasons, you can spread it out over a few days. Or if you’re feeling particularly bold, you can get comfy on the couch and watch the entire series in 9 hours!
I loved the new season of “Close Enough”! It was worth the wait, and didn’t disappoint with even more crazy stories. However, as surreal as it is, the show is authentic. All the absurd misadventures the duplex residents get roped into stem from relatable young adult dilemmas, like family and work problems. It’s been renewed for season 4, which doesn’t have a release date yet.
by Emily Nagle
The end of April was a relatively quiet weekend for theaters across the U.S., with the few new titles such as “Memory” and “Acharya” not having a particularly wide release. However, this is just the calm before the storm that will erupt next weekend, when Marvel’s long-awaited “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” will premiere.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of April 22-24, 2022
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once ($5.5 million)
4. The Northman ($6.4 million)
3. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ($8.3 million)
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($11.5 million)
1. The Bad Guys ($16.2 million)
Breaking into the top 5 is A24’s sci-fi black comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. In an unusual pattern for an indie release, it grossed 2.2% higher than last weekend, when it grossed $5.4 million. While its opening weekend back in late March was weak, only grossing about $500 thousand, it’s been performing increasingly better since April, particularly during the long Easter weekend. Michelle Yeoh stars as struggling Chinese immigrant American Evelyn Wang, who is being audited by the IRS. An unexpected call to action comes when she discovers a multiverse; to protect the world from immense disaster, Evelyn must team up with these alternate versions of herself.
Critics love this arthouse comedy, praising it for its vibrant visuals, cast performances, and scope – “Everything” has a rich, imaginative story that addresses big themes like nihilism and existentialism. The concept of multiple realities has been toyed with in fiction for ages, but has become bigger in recent years with Marvel’s release of films like “Doctor Strange” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home“. As a result, fans of “Everything” may find themselves going to see “Multiverse of Madness”, even if they’re not particularly into the superhero genre. The film, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (also known as the Daniels), puts a comedic spin on the multiverse concept, and has a lot of heart. Critics have said that it’s not just a tale of alternate universes, but one of family and humanity that will hit home for audiences across the world.
by Emily Nagle
It’s a new month, and there’s so many titles both new and old rolling out to streaming platforms almost every day! Here’s what’s coming to a few of the most popular streamers this May…
On Netflix, users can look forward to the arrival of critically acclaimed films like “Forrest Gump“, “Crazy, Stupid, Love“, “Dirty Harry“, and “When Harry Met Sally…“, which are all premiering on May 1. Netflix Original films arriving on the platform include “Senior Year” starring Rebel Wilson (May 13) and “Operation Mincemeat” (May 10), and original Netflix series “The Circle” and “Bling Empire” will be returning for their fourth and second seasons, respectively. And, a long awaited new season: after nearly three years, “Stranger Things” will be returning for its fourth season, with the first volume premiering on the streamer on May 27.
Disney+ customers have several new movies to anticipate this month, such as musical comedy “Sneakerella” (May 13), which puts a modern spin on the classic fairy tale, in addition to live-action/animated “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” (May 20), which will continue the story introduced in the 1988 animated Disney Channel series. The first two episodes of the upcoming “Star Wars” miniseries “Obi-Wan Kenobi” will be premiering on May 27. The final episode of “Moon Knight” will premiere on May 6, concluding the miniseries that began in late March. Check out Don’t Tell’s review of the first 4 episodes!
HBO Max is adding a variety of content to their catalog. Last year, WarnerMedia announced a massive expansion of their children’s and family-oriented content, meaning that there’s a lot in store for kids this month! One new series, “Sesame Street Mecha Builders”, is set to premiere on the streamer on May 10, a day after its premiere on Cartoonito, which is Cartoon Network’s preschool-targeted morning block. Throwbacks like “The Rugrats Movie“, “Rugrats Go Wild“, and “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” will be rolling out to the platform on May 1. Max Original series “Queen Stars Brazil”, “Las Bravas F.C.” (May 5), and “Who’s By Your Side” (May 12) will be premiering this month
by Emily Nagle
After seven seasons on The CW, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” has been cancelled.
“Thank you to our fans; your love and passion for our strange band of misfits has made every break, every script, every daily, every cut, and every mix worth all the hard work,” Co-showrunner Keto Shimizu posted to Twitter on Friday night. “We see you, we love you, and you’ll always have a place on the Waverider. ❤️”
News of the series’ cancellation arrives right after “Batwoman” got stopped at three seasons. The reason for its cancellation is unclear, but seems to have been unexpected, as the show ended on a cliffhanger.
First airing in 2016, “Legends of Tomorrow” is a spin-off of “The Flash” and “Arrow” featuring characters from both shows, in addition to new characters. It has been praised for its visual effects, humor, and quirky characters.
While this DC series will not be returning with new episodes, DC fans can get their fix with more seasons of “The Flash,” in addition to “Lois and Walker,” both of which got renewed back in March. Other shows set to return to the network include All American, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, and Walker.
by Emily Nagle
Earlier this month, the long-awaited “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” released in theaters.
Since the success of the original 2 years ago, fans speculated Paramount would create a sequel featuring other characters from the Sonic games, including double-tailed fox Tails and fierce red echidna Knuckles. The mid-credits scene teased at least one more film, so of course when the first trailer for “Sonic 2” was released in December, the Internet went nuts – especially when they discovered Idris Elba would be voicing Knuckles (and he’s absolutely perfect in the role!). The casting is strong in this one – Jim Carrey returns as Robotnik, and he’s even more goofy and Robotnik-like than in the first “Sonic” film.
This one picks up several months after the events of the first film. Sonic has been living with Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), and using his supersonic speed to unsuccessfully serve as a vigilante for the town of Green Hills, which ends up causing chaos rather than helping. Itching for his moment to be a hero, Sonic’s chance finally arrives when Dr. Robotnik shows up at the house while Tom and Maddie are away for a wedding. Having finally escaped from the mushroom planet he was transported to at the end of the first film, Robotnik on a mission to find the Master Emerald, which would give him enough power to enslave the entire planet.
Film adaptations of video games are notorious for being bad, but “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (as well as its sequel) dodges this bullet. It’s sweet and silly, and puts a real-life spin on its source material. In other words, it’s not just a story about Sonic and his friends teaming up to protect the Chaos Emeralds, but a story of family and friendship. When we first meet Knuckles, he holds a grudge against Sonic due to his clan going extinct during a war with the owl tribe that Sonic was raised under. Despite this, Sonic rescues him from drowning after he is betrayed by Robotnik, refusing to leave him for dead. From there, the two make peace and join forces to defeat Robotnik once and for all. By the end, they’re playing a friendly game of baseball with Tails and the Wachowskis.
The attention to detail in the CGI is incredible. Tails is super fluffy, making him look realistic despite his giant blue eyes and two propeller-like tails. Upon looking closer at his design, I noticed tiny eyelashes, which blew my mind – it’s clear the animators spent a great deal of time working on the characters.
Even though it isn’t what people watch movies for, the end credits for “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” are well-made. and worth waiting for. It’s an homage to the original Sonic games of the 90s, animated in a pixel style reminiscent of the games. They’re also followed by a post-credits scene, so don’t leave the theater right away!
Of course it doesn’t compare to the first movie, but if you enjoyed “Sonic the Hedgehog”, you’ll love the sequel! It’s already been confirmed for a third film, as well as a spin-off series featuring Knuckles, so fans can look forward to seeing more of SEGA’s beloved characters on the big screen.
Get Some Strange!
