by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of March 25-27, 2022
5. Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie ($4.6 million)
4. Uncharted ($5 million)
3. RRR ($9.5 million)
2. The Batman ($20.5 million)
1. The Lost City ($30.4 million)
After 3 weeks as the highest-grossing film across the United States, “The Batman” has been demoted by “The Lost City”. Written by sibling filmmaking duo the Nee Brothers, the film stars Sandra Bullock as Loretta Sage, a successful yet depressed romance novelist who gets kidnapped by quirky billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), who is convinced she can lead him to an ancient treasure.
“The Lost City” marked Radcliffe’s first gig as a villain. In an interview with the New York Times, he revealed that he found the experience to be “a huge amount of fun”, despite it being physically exhausting for his fellow costars. He also added that playing a villain was liberating compared to his previous roles as the hero, explaining that there’s no pressure to act a certain way or be liked by viewers.
Another new release that topped weekend ticket sales was “RRR”. Created in India and released in Telugu language, this epic historical fiction film is set in the 1920s, and follows two revolutionaries’ time away from home before they return home to India to fight against British colonialists.
by Emily Nagle
Recently, Netflix debuted the sci-fi time travel flick “The Adam Project“. It quickly blew up on social media outlets, primarily TikTok, where videos tagged #TheAdamProject have racked up a total of 7.4 billion views. It most likely is trending due to its well-known cast members. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as Adam Reed, a time pilot from the year 2050 who, after crash-landing in 2022, encounters his 12-year-old self (played by Walker Scobell). Together, they embark on a mission to save the future. Also featured in the credits are Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Catherine Keener, and Zoe Saldaña.
Something I liked about the movie was the dynamic between Scobell and Reynolds. They had excellent chemistry onscreen, and the relationship between adult Adam and young Adam was entertaining. 40-year-old Adam wants to warn his younger self about the scary things awaiting him later in life, but of course his 12-year-old self just wants to know if he’ll get laid. Not to mention it was super badass to see the two of them team up to save the future.
The CGI was mostly lacking. I didn’t have any problems with the shorter effects, like the ones applied to soldiers from 2050 who have been sent to bring Adam back to the present day. In one scene, the soldiers had this really cool-looking effect applied where they morphed through a window like it was water. However, the more prominent graphics, like the scenes of the time planes, were plastic and artificial.
At times, “The Adam Project” doesn’t really know who it wants its target audience to be. It’s rated PG-13, but there were moments where it’s more like a family movie, especially the ending part with Ruffalo’s character Louis, who is Adam’s father. Back in 2022, Louis had recently died in a car accident, so when the Adams travel back a little earlier and see him again, they don’t want to experience losing him all over again. Louis and the Adams tearfully embrace at the end before heading back to their respective time periods, and the whole thing is weirdly out of place, since most of what we were watching up to this point was action-packed comedy. We don’t learn much about Adam’s relationship with his father until later on, when it’s revealed he wasn’t around much due to working a lot.
My final thoughts? Overall, “The Adam Project” doesn’t really bring anything unique to the classic time-travel film genre. It felt watered-down compared to other movies from the genre. They did name Adam’s dog Hawking to pay tribute to “Back to the Future” (and as a dog lover and a fan of “Back to the Future”, I wholeheartedly approve of that creative decision!). However, if you’re bored at home one night and just wanna grab your favorite snack and veg out on the couch to a movie that isn’t super complicated, then “The Adam Project” is perfect for you!
“The Adam Project” is available to stream now on Netflix.
by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of March 11-13, 2022
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($4 million)
4. Dog ($5.2 million)
3. BTS Permission to Dance on Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing ($6.8 million)
2. Uncharted ($9.2 million)
1. The Batman ($66.5 million)
This weekend marked the premiere of the BTS concert film “Permission to Dance On Stage”. With a limited release of only 803 theaters across the United States, the movie received a special one-day release on Saturday that grossed $32.6 million worldwide – this is more than most pandemic-era releases made in their entire opening weekends.
For the second week in a row, “The Batman” was crowned the number-one highest grossing film for the weekend. Click here to read our review of “The Batman”!
by Emily Nagle
Discovery+ and HBO Max will combine into a single streaming platform following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
This is a surprising, yet smart move – while companies like Disney have chosen to include streaming content from its other companies such as ESPN+ and Hulu in a bundle, combining all content into one place does seem to make more sense. With a plethora of content from Discovery and WarnerMedia in one convenient place, customers won’t need to manage as many subscriptions. As for the media companies, it truly eliminates competition.
In the meantime, the folks at Discovery and WarnerMedia have to decide exactly how they will consolidate their content into one place. Discovery CFO (and Warner Bros. Discovery’s future CFO) Gunnar Wiedenfels said in a statement that it may take a while to decide the most efficient and customer-friendly approach to this situation – HBO Max and Discovery+ boast more than 100 million subscribers combined, hailing from drastically different demographics.
“One of the most important items here is that we believe in a combined product as opposed to a bundle…We believe that the breadth and depth of this content offering is going to be a phenomenal consumer value proposition,” Wiedenfels explained. “The question is, in order to get to that point and do it in a way that’s actually a great user experience for our subscribers, that’s going to take some time. Again, that’s nothing that’s going to happen in weeks — hopefully not in years, but in several months — and we will start working on an interim solution in the meantime.”
Said interim solution may be a bundle until the new conglomerate figures out the best way to combine the two content fronts. Wiedenfels added that his vision for the new streaming service is one that is stronger than ever before, so it may take at least a few months to get situated.
Having been in talks since last summer, the long-awaited Warner Bros. Discovery merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. Until then, HBO Max is available for $9.99/month with ads or $14.99/month ad-free, while Discovery+ goes for $4.99/month with ads, or $6.99/month commercial-free.
by Emily Nagle
[usr 5]
Yesterday, Pixar’s 25th animated feature, “Turning Red“, released exclusively on Disney+. Set in 2002 Toronto, the film follows 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), who discovers that she transforms into a giant red panda when experiencing strong emotions.
“Turning Red” broke several barriers upon its release, most notably for being the first Pixar film to be directed solely by a woman (“Brave” featured Brenda Chapman as co-director, alongside Mark Andrews). It’s also the first to feature an Asian protagonist; director Domee Shi has been known to drawn inspiration from her experiences growing up as a child of Chinese immigrants for her projects, as shown in her short film “Bao”.
I could write for hours praising the incredible representation in this film – which features strong, well-developed female characters, talks about puberty like it’s no big deal, and includes several background characters with diabetes (another first for Pixar) – but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll discuss the bigger picture, like the story and animation.
As per usual, Pixar didn’t disappoint in the visuals department. I enjoyed the color palette for the film, which bright and youthful, just like Mei herself. Many of the scenes had a glow to them that felt almost dreamlike. I think the first part of the film where the animation really made me go “WOW!” was the cooking sequence at the beginning, when Mei’s father is chopping and stir-frying vegetables and steaming dumplings for the family’s dinner. I loved the attention to detail; the sparkling juice droplets that came squirting out with each slice were pure magic!
Something else I liked about the animation was that it didn’t have the usual 3D Pixar style for the entire film. What comes to mind is when Mei’s mother Ming (Sandra Oh) explains the origins of her mystical powers, and we discover that they were gifted from the gods to her ancestors. The visual style shifts to resemble a traditional Chinese art style that has a unique storybook feel to it. There’s also a brief moment at the beginning of the film on the day before Mei’s transformation, when she draws a picture of cute convenience store clerk Devon, and it winks at her, adding a cartoonish layer to a fairly human situation.
That’s another part of the movie I loved: the characters all feel so real. The close bond between Mei and her friends Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), Miriam (Ava Morse), and Abby (Hyein Park) reminded me a lot of my own childhood. They actually ended up playing a big role in the movie as Mei discovers they calm her down enough to neutralize her powers. The stakes get even higher when Mei, who’s been obedient to her mother’s strict rules for her whole life, must decide between keeping her powers to make her friends and herself happy, or following her family’s wishes by undergoing a painful ritual to get rid of the panda.
Everything in this movie felt like it was adequately explained; I remember in Pixar’s previous film “Luca” (which blew up on TikTok last summer), there were so many aspects of the film that I felt could have been explained better, such as why Luca’s grandmother covered for him when he would sneak out to the surface. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in “Turning Red”. Mei’s father Jin (Orion Lee) doesn’t seem to be as bothered by her powers as her mother, and it is later revealed why: he witnessed Ming’s highly destructive panda in the past. While Ming has since abandoned her panda, Jin didn’t see anything wrong with Mei’s, having discovered videos of her and her classmates having fun with her fluffy alternate form.
Even with characters that feel so human and relatable, there were a lot of fantasy parallels in this movie. The parts where Mei went into the bamboo forest during the ritual and met her ancestors felt like something out of a Studio Ghibli movie. There’s also the part when Ming’s panda gets unleashed, and it’s revealed that Jin wasn’t exaggerating about its dangers: she transforms into a kaiju-like being that nearly takes out an entire stadium. In order to stop Ming from destroying the city, Mei’s relatives spring into action, unleashing their pandas in an anime-esque sequence that reminded me of shows like Sailor Moon and Miraculous Ladybug.
I watched this movie last night, and I already want to rewatch it (preferably multiple times)! I think I’d go so far as to say this is Pixar’s best film in years. I’d recommend “Turning Red” to anyone who’s suffered through the awkwardness of middle school, fans of mythology and fantasy stories, or loves the idea of a fluffy, 8-foot-tall red panda!
by Michael Nagle
This weekend Robert Pattinson’s turn as Batman came out like gangbusters and generated $258 million worldwide at the box office. Directed by Matt Reeves, “The Batman” is dark, wet and murky. All of the early concerns about Pattinson’s worthiness to wear the cape seem to have gone away. The bigger question might be whether or not Pattinson can equally portray a convincing Bruce Wayne.
The dreary and always rainy Gotham City is in the grip of a criminal who is killing city VIPs involved in law enforcement. The masked killer seems to believe he’s removing the bad element from city leadership who have helped themselves to funds initially set aside for improving the city rather than using it for its initial intentions.
The film score is ideal for the visuals. Nirvana’s, “Something In The Way” comes on early and might be the most upbeat song you’ll hear in the next two plus hours. Against the brooding backdrop of Gotham City, it sets the mood perfectly.
Starting off with the bad, the film is long and could have easily been trimmed by thirty minutes or more. In contrast with “Joker”, this view of Gotham City appears even darker. That may stem from the fact that “Joker” was essentially one characters’ view of the world around him. Here, The Batman looks out at his own city and sees nothing but darkness. Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne hasn’t recovered from his childhood trauma of witnessing the murder of his parents. When he is departing a murder scene and learns that the victim was found dead by his own son, you can see the weight of the memory on Batman and equally observe his recognition of that on the child he makes eye contact with. It becomes more personal for Batman at that instance. It would be helpful of Pattinson was allowed to do something other than whisper through all of his dialogue. Even when unmasked, Bruce Wayne is portrayed as a reclusive hermit who is still best known as the son of murdered parents. Here the Bat Cave looks more like a rat cave.
Zoe Kravitz portrays Catwoman (Selina Kyle) and she eats up every scene that she’s in. Unfortunately, her storyline is paper thin and seems alternately forgotten at times. Kravitz has a chameleon-like appearance and through wig and costume changes, she’s never an afterthought when she’s on screen. Her Catwoman distracts the hell out of Pattinson’s Batman and it is easy to see why.
The sole member of the police force who Batman seems content to trust is Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) who does his customary solid job by never overacting in any scene he’s in.
Wright, Pattinson and Kravitz accomplish something impressive by portraying iconic characters without trying to duplicate even acknowledge whatever has been achieved in past portrayals by other actors. I should also say the same for Colin Farrell (as Penguin) and Paul Dano (as The Riddler). Farrell is unrecognizable and the prosthetics aren’t even a distraction. He’s probably among the least acknowledged actors of his generation in terms of his ability. Whoever cast Paul Dano as Riddler must have witnessed a hell of an audition. Dano’s brooding and disturbed minimalism in the role is pretty jarring. He becomes even scarier once he’s unmasked. That’s when Dano turns on the crazy without turning it into every cartoon-like crazy character you’ve ever seen on screen. Once he’s locked up, Dano’s Riddler almost seems excited by the prospect. Once he starts chatting with his neighbor in an adjacent cell, the audiences’ imagination can really kick in.
Reeves as Director manages to handle material that could easily get him blacklisted by Batman fans and walk away having accomplished something unique and darkly emotional. I’m not sure that he did as great a job as he could. Turning a Batman movie into a pseudo mafia story probably wasn’t necessary.
There are problems with the plotline. Some of the usual staples rear their ugly heads – the endless conspiracy where EVERYONE is involved (or could be), the tortured hero (we know Batman’s backstory but if he’s always so depressed or depressing what depth can the audience find when he should seem angry or sad about something happening now?), and a few more. Hard to call out some of them without spoiling the film for those who’ve not yet seen it.
Still, credit to the cinematography that this film in several instances looks as though it was lifted directly from the pages of a comic book. Silver and white raindrops are the sole illumination visible in otherwise blackened scenes. The fight scenes are so dark that by contrast, the “Games Of Thrones” war seemed better lit.
Pattinson seems at ease and agile in the suit. Probably better than any of his predecessors, he’s the right age for the fighting and the gymnastics involved. At one point when Batman swings over to prevent a catastrophe and saves the lives of people in danger (including the young boy referenced earlier) it almost felt like an old Errol Flynn movie where the audience might jump out of their seats and cheer (they didn’t in my theatre). It had that hero momentum and believability.
None of the 90s camp and cheeky humor from that era’s Batman films can be found here. Jim Carrey as Riddler seemed barely adequate then let alone now. And while Christian Bale is thought by many to have played the role best (or Michael Keaton), Pattinson’s Batman seems to put both in the rearview mirror by a comfortable margin. His Bruce Wayne needs some work and his Bat cave could use a serious scrubbing. And based on the box office numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets the opportunity to flex that muscle.
Get Some Strange!
