Movie News

American Ultra: Stewart And Eisenberg Shine Together Despite Disappointing Opening Weekend

Published

5 years ago

August 24, 2015

American-Ultra-Interview-Kristen-Stewart-and-Jesse-Eisenberg Movie Spoon

OK, honestly, how many of you were on a Kristen Stewart death watch?

I mean, really; for those of you who thought the Twilight movie series was for sophomores who were dating freshman, Kristen Stewart was like a franchise that had run away from home. Just like those of us waiting for Jennifer Lawrence to complete her contract with the Hunger Games and do some serious acting for a change, Stewart had gone into Sell-Out Haven, a gated community for teens who buy their parents swimming pools.

For us snobs who remember Stewart from the Panic Room and a gem of a cameo in Zathura, Stewart was the unrequited stunner next door. Here was this kid who could really act and she was playing mummy warrior with some foreheads from GQ’s junior academy. It was embarrassing.

But now, Stewart is back from the Twilight Zone. With a like-minded Jesse Eisenberg, who matches her performance step by step, Stewart has put together a snappy, smart, endearing performance in American Ultra in which she plays the girlfriend of a hometown stoner, who works at a late night cash and carry, but whose life is focused on one loser episode after another – run ins with the police and all that.

He has panic attacks, which feeds into his sense of chronic under-achievement. On the side, he works privately on graphic novel about a gorilla slash superhero. For dinner: A joint and some leftover pizza.

But all this turns out to be a ruse. The panic attacks are programed responses, because Eisenberg turns out to be a shut down CIA asset – a super-lethal fighting machine whose mission was canceled, so he was brainwashed to live out his days with his handler, Stewart, in middle town obscurity.

That’s fine until all hell breaks loose. It takes some self-serving idiot at the CIA to touch off the mayhem, which starts off as a simple shut-this-asset-down mission, but ends up as an all-out war: Eisenberg with a joint in one hand and a wedding ring in his pocket versus the agency that betrayed him.

Of course, this set up is old hat, but Stewart and Eisenberg and director Nima Nourizadeh create an explosive, funny, fatalistic masterpiece of comedy. Throughout the battle scenes, Eisenberg and Stewart keep up their domestic, puppy-love lifestyle. They were settled. And they were stoned. Who needs this shit?

This is the stoner culture having the last laugh and it’s ;also the best goof-ball spy film since, well, since Mellisa McCarthy’s Spy. But this one is about sweet, young love that will not quit, even when the going gets rough. And it gets very rough. Thought the opening weekend only brought in $5M in domestic box office sales, the film sported two top notch performances, a funny script and a music video director directing his second feature film and doing everything just right, or so we thought.

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Izzy

Movie Magic: The De-Aging Technique of The Irishman

Published

11 months ago

November 20, 2019

Matt

Have you read Izzy yet? If so, you know that Izzy makes the apples that give the Gods their youth and immortality. It also seems Robert De Niro discovered one of Izzy’s apples too… In Martin Scorsese’s upcoming biographical film, he stars as Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, a labor union leader and alleged hitman for the Bufalino crime family. The trailer for the movie, which will premieres NEXT WEEK (!), also features a “de-aged” De Niro. “We’re so used to watching them as the older faces,” Scorsese said in an interview on the A24 podcast. “Does it change the eyes at all? …If that’s the case, what was in the eyes that I liked? Was it intensity? Was it gravitas? Was it threat?…How do we get that? I don’t know.” Some might consider this magic and I for one can’t wait to see the impact of Izzy’s apples on screen for myself. ????

Movie News

“Captain Marvel” Retains Top Slot at the Box Office

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2019

Mark McPherson

It’s no surprise that in its second weekend, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe of 2019 is still riding high. Captain Marvel, the latest in the MCU with Brie Larson starring as the lead, generated another $69 million over the weekend, placing its domestic total at $266 million. Tallying up the international box office, the film’s global total to date is $760 million. Despite the online controversy, the film is looking to be another strong box office smash for Disney and Marvel.

As for the premieres for the weekend, and there were plenty, they were all over the map. Just below Captain Marvel was the animated adventure Wonder Park, bringing in $16 million, another film with controversy when the director’s name was removed from the picture after sexual harassment charges. Five Feet Apart, the dying teen drama about a romance amid cystic fibrosis, only came in at #3 with a weekend gross of $13 million. And debuting the lowest in the top 10 for debuts was Captive State, a sci-fi dystopian tale, only making $3 million. The film debuted so low the little film No Manches Frida 2 was able to sneak about it at #6 with a gross of $3.8 million.

Drops were fairly low all around for the returning films, mostly because Captain Marvel was dominating the previous weekend. The only milestone worth noting is that The LEGO Movie 2, after six weeks at the box office, finally cracked $100 million. And the sun is now setting on Green Book’s post-Oscar run by coming in at #10 for the final weekend of its top 10 run over the past few weeks.

View the full top ten weekend box office results below:

Captain Marvel ($69,318,000)

Wonder Park ($16,000,000)

Five Feet Apart ($13,150,000)

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($9,345,000)

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral ($8,085,000)

No Manches Frida 2 ($3,894,000)

Captive State ($3,163,000)

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part ($2,135,000)

Alita: Battle Angel ($1,900,000)

Green Book ($1,277,000)

Next weekend, Captain Marvel may very well have some competition when Jordan Peele’s new horror film Us hits over 3,600 theaters.

Movie News

“Dragon” Continues To Soar, “Funeral” Close Behind, “Green Book” Back

Published

2 years ago

March 11, 2019

Mark McPherson

With little competition for the weekend, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the third in the animated fantasy saga, was able to secure the box office once more. In its second weekend, the animated epic made $30 million to push its domestic total to $97 million. So far the film has done about the same as the previous film and is on track to stay in the top 10 for a few more weeks in March.

Debuts this weekend were small with one big exception. Tyler Perry’s latest Madea film, A Madea Family Funeral, naturally made a relatively big splash with its dedicated audience. Starting at #2, the film made $27 million for its first weekend. No word on the budget yet but it’s most likely on a budget as most Tyler Perry productions are, so it’s safe to call this a success, especially for debuting with a box office so close to Dragon.

The rest of the premieres were not as strong at all. Greta, the new thriller starring Chloe Moretz, debuted all the way down at #8 with $4.5 million box office. To be fair, however, the film was in a constant battle for its spot as three other films also reported earnings around $4 million for the weekend. Of note, Green Book, fresh off winning the Academy Award for Best Picture one weekend ago, splashed back into more theaters to arise even higher in the top 10 with its domestic total now sitting at $73 million. Don’t count on it remaining there long as bigger blockbusters will be swooping as we plow through the last remnants of winter movies.

Check out the full listing of the top 10 box office weekend results below:

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($30,046,000)

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral ($27,050,000)

Alita: Battle Angel ($7,000,000)

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part ($6,615,000)

Green Book ($4,711,000)

Fighting With My Family ($4,691,284)

Isn’t it Romantic ($4,645,000)

Greta ($4,585,000)

What Men Want ($2,700,000)

Happy Death Day 2U ($2,516,000)

Next weekend is once again all about Marvel as their latest superhero solo film, Captain Marvel, will be appearing in 4,100 theaters.