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Showing posts from May, 2015

Weekly Box Office Round-Up: San Andres Shakes Things Up

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This weekend, San Andreas and Aloha opened in theaters. Let's take a look at this past weekend's box office.
#1 San Andreas- $53,215,000

On its opening weekend, San Andreas came in first place. We are officially in the summer blockbuster month, where big releases are coming out week after week. I was actually really interested in seeing this movie, but it unfortunately didn't work out for me to see it. It's not surprising that the film made the money it did. It was perfectly advertised as Dwayne Johnson versus an earthquake, and from everything I've heard, that's exactly what San Andreas is. I think it will probably stick around a while longer in the top 5 as we enter June.
#2 Pitch Perfect 2- $14,381,000

In its third week, Pitch Perfect 2 came in second place. This film has been doing remarkably well, surpassing any and all expectations of it. The film has grossed almost $150 million domestically in three weeks. That's incredible, considering the first one …
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Suicide Squad- Set Pictures Confirm Batman Will Appear

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Ever since Suicide Squad was announced to be the first DC movie to follow next March's blockbuster Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, there has been a lingering question of whether any of the (pre) Justice League members would appear. Especially when the Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) were announced to be part of the Squad, many wondered if Batman himself (Ben Affleck) would show up in the movie. While Warner Bros. hasn't given an official statement, it's pretty clear that Bruce Wayne/Batman will make an appearance in Suicide Squad. 
A series of set pictures have been leaked online, revealing Ben Affleck on the set of Suicide Squad, as both Bruce Wayne and his vigilante counterpart. You can view them below.

This picture was taken a while ago, showing that Bruce Wayne would be in the film. The next few images were leaked just the past couple days, showing a car chase between the Joker and the Batmobile, as well as a Batman stunt double riding on the …
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Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens- Andy Serkis is Playing...

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Ever since the cast list for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was announced with Andy Serkis among the names of talent, the prevailing question has been who Serkis would play. Will he be a regular person, or a motion-capture alien? The closest thing we got to finding out who Serkis would be was when it is was confirmed that he was the one who did the narration for the first teaser trailer (you can read our initial article on that here). That was definitely not the voice of the owner of a puppy farm. But as to what kind evil character Serkis would play was still unknown. Would he be Darth Plagueis? Would he be some other sith lord, or a bounty hunter? Now, we know.
Along with this image of Serkis in his motion capture suit (confirming his role would be performance capture), it was revealed that Serkis' character is named Supreme Leader Snoke. 

Snoke is not a character from the previous movies or the expanded universe, so he is an entirely new character. Other than the fact…
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Deadpool- Could Hugh Jackman Have a Wolverine Cameo?

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Right now, I think Deadpool is my most anticipated film of 2016. It is finally giving one of my favorite comic book characters his own movie, with the perfect casting of Ryan Reynolds. It will be rated R, and everything we have heard coming out of this film has been incredible. I just hope I can lower my ridiculously high expectations a bit before February 12th so that I don't walk out of the theater ultimately disappointed. But one thing that would probably have my excitement for this film go through the roof is a cameo appearance by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. While this seemed like a long shot before, now it may actually become a reality.
In a recent interview, Reynolds answered the question of if we could see Jackman cameo in the film, saying:
“God I hope so, that would be really nice. I dunno, we'll see. It seems like he's open to it, but it's gonna be more of a scheduling issue than anything else."

It's funny. Jackman was actually supposed to have a cameo…
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Weekly Box Office Round-Up: Tomorrowland Makes Money Today

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This weekend, Tomorrowland and Poltergeist opened in theaters. Let's take a look at this past weekend's box office. Note- these numbers are for the three day weekend, not the four day Memorial Day weekend. 
#1 Tomorrowland- $33,028,165

On its opening weekend, Tomorrowland came in first place. This was a pretty slow weekend, and a disappointing haul for the film. On an almost $200 million dollar budget, $33 million for an opening weekend is not a good sign. Maybe it will stick around in the top 5 for a while and maybe approach breaking even, but I think Tomorrowland is ultimately going to be the big flop of the summer. It's sad too, since this is an original piece by director Brad Bird. However, it seems like the blame can be put more on the marketing. I never really bought into the film, and I said for a while that I didn't think it was going to make bank. Unfortunately for the movie, I was right.
#2 Pitch Perfect 2- $30,811,800

In its second week, Pitch Perfect 2 came …
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Mad Max: Fury Road SPOILER-FREE Review

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It's funny. For a long time, I wasn't interested in Mad Max: Fury Road. I saw the trailers and I just wasn't buying into it. I mean, I thought it visually looked great, but I didn't think it was going to be that good. Looking back, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. As the release got closer and the film ended up with a 99% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and every critic I listen to raved about the movie, then I went from zero interest to dying to see this movie. I couldn't opening weekend but I finally got to see it this weekend, and oh my God. This is one hell of a ride.
Mad Max: Fury Road opens with our titular hero(?), now played by Tom Hardy, captured and taken prisoner. Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) is the leader of an almost cult-following civilization. The movie kicks off when one of his trusted followers, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), who is supposed to be getting gasoline from an outpost, betrays him by stealing his wives and escapi…
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The Martian- First Look at Matt Damon

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Unfortunately, Ridley Scott's last few films have kind of tarnished his name. With disappointing releases like Robin Hood, Prometheus (which I actually liked), The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings all in a row, a lot of people have lost faith in Scott. I still hold on to faith of the brilliant director who brought us one of the best science fiction films, and one of my favorites, Alien. So even though he hasn't been on a good streak lately, I have been very interested in his upcoming film, The Martian. It has a fantastic, A-list cast including Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Kristen Wiig, Sebastian Stan, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Donald Glover. Yet, so did The Counselor. But it's Scott going back to his science fiction roots with such a brilliant cast, that I have faith in this project. I am crossing my fingers hoping it's good.
In the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly, the first official images of The Martian will be shown, which…
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X-Men: Apocalypse- Oscar Isaac Talks the Villain's Motivation

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One of my more anticipated films of 2016 has to be X-Men: Apocalypse. Director Bryan Singer's follow-up to last year's X-Men: Days of Future Past has big shoes to fill, and has everyone excited. But the one thing I am most excited about is seeing the iconic and titular villain on the big screen. This is going to be a big, epic movie and I feel like the filmmakers can do a lot to make Apocalypse a really cool and compelling villain. He has a lot of potential, and I hope that they utilize him well and make him a well rounded, three dimensional villain (like Magneto) instead of just some threat the X-Men have to face. From everything we've heard so far, it seems like we will be getting the former.
In a recent interview, Oscar Isaac, who plays Apocalypse in the film, talked a bit about the character, saying:
“I've been reading the script a lot and trying to come at for me, an interesting angle. Definitely focusing on the fact he is the embodiment of the second coming of th…
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Black Mass- Trailer 2

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Johnny Depp hasn't been doing so well lately. Between The Lone Ranger, Transcendence, Mortdecai and others, Depp has been at a low point in his career. It is kind of to the point where a lot of people have forgotten how good of an actor he can be, and he is no longer given the benefit of the doubt. However, his next film, Black Mass, has really caught my interest. Depp plays Whitey Bulger, a notorious Boston mobster who operated for years without being caught until just a couple years ago. Being from Massachusetts myself, this film really interested me. The first trailer for Black Mass (you can see it here) was excellent in my opinion, so when I saw that there was a second trailer out, I was excited to see it.
I am officially pumped for this movie. Depp doesn't look to be phoning it in-- it looks fantastic was Bulger. The supporting cast looks excellent with Dakota Johnson, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott, Peter Sarsgaard and Corey Stoll. I loved t…
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Tink- Reese Witherspoon Starring in Live Action Tinkerbell Movie

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Disney has recently gone into a phase of remaking all of their classic animated films into live action movies. This year, we saw the release of Cinderella, and we know that movies like Beauty and the Beast and Mulan are on the way. While these film aren't necessarily my type of movie, they still interest me from the basic level of the acting talent involved, especially Beauty and the Beast, which may have one of the best casts I have seen before. And with this rush of live action Disney movies, we now know about another one on the way.
THR is reporting that a live action Tinkerbell movie, titled Tink, is being produced with Reese Witherspoon as the lead. It will be written by the upcoming Finding Dory screenwriter, Victoria Strouse. Like I said before, these movies aren't my type of thing, but I still think this sounds interesting. Witherspoon is an Academy Award nominated actress, so I think she adds something to this production. However, I think calling the movie "Tink&q…
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Top 5 Favorite Moments From: The Avengers

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This is the fourth installment of this new series where I basically take a movie and pick my personal five favorite scenes from that movie. Then, you can go into the comments and say why you either agree or disagree with me. With the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron this month (read our review here), the movie I am doing is The Avengers. Warning- there are spoilers!
(Make sure to check out our other "Top 5 Favorite Moments From" for The Dark Knight Rises, The Matrix and Rise of the Planet of the Apes- all right here)
The Avengers

#5 Iron Man v Cap v Thor

After Thor (Chris Hemsworth) steals the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prisoner Loki (Tom Hiddelston), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) decides to show Thor's who's boss, and pretty much has his ass handed to him. It is truly god versus the machine in this scene, where Thor and Iron Man fight in the woods, with and endless amount of commentary by the latter. "Does mother know you weareth her drapes?" and "Shakespeare…
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Pixels- Trailer 2

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Pixels is a movie I have been very mixed about. I think the premise of the movie is fantastic- aliens attack the world in form of 80's video games and the world's best gamers have to team up to defeat them. I think that's a really cool plot. However, I am nervous about the team putting it together. My interest in this movie died when I heard it was an Adam Sandler film. There's very few people that can immediately turn me off with their name, and it's a trinity of Sandler, M. Night Shyamalan and Michael Bay. Yeah, try that marathon. But I'm been mixed about this movie, because the plot sounds really good but the people involved make me very worried. I didn't really like the first trailer they put out. It just looked like Sandler trying to do the same old sh*t with all his buddies. 
However, this second trailer came out and I actually didn't mind it. I'm not going to the extraneous length that I liked it, but I didn't want to gorge by eyes out wi…
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First Trailer for Steve Jobs

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There has been a lot of drama surrounding this film, Steve Jobs. It originally had David Fincher as the director, which I was really excited for. It then lost Fincher and got Danny Boyle, who is still an Academy Award winning actor. The role of Steve Jobs was going to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio, then Christian Bale and now it is left to Michael Fassbender. I love Fassbender as an actor, but I think I would have been more excited to see the other two actors in this role. At first I didn't buy into Fassbender looking like Jobs at all, but this trailer proves me otherwise. With the glasses and the haircut, Fassbender looks fine. I am very excited for this movie. Even though I wish they got their first or second choice, and I am still very much looking forward to seeing Fassbender in the role. I am also very interested in seeing Seth Rogen taking on a dramatic role different from his usual comedy. I also think the idea of the movie being three thirty minute scenes is fascinating,…
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The Movie Paradise is One Year Old!

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One year ago, to this day, I published my first article on "The Movie Paradise". You can actually read it here. I didn't think much of it. I just had a passion for movies and wanted to talk about it. Sure I cared about how numbers and stuff and if people read what I posted, but I was surprised that anyone actually read anything I posted. I slowly crafted my writing style and tried to post on a regular basis. One year, 408 articles and 5,538 page views later, I am writing this now. 
I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I created a movie blog, but I am so glad that I did. This has been a fantastic experience for me, and I have actually gained a bit of a following. My website has expanded with daily trivia, celebrity birthdays and an abundance of editorials. I have even been able to bring on my friend Rob as a secondary writer, who has helped out when I haven't been able to keep up with everything. When I started this, I wasn't prepared for how man…
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Weekly Box Office Round-Up: It's Back, Pitches

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This weekend, Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2 opened in theaters. Let's take a look at this past weekend's box office.
#1 Pitch Perfect 2- $70,300,000

On its opening weekend, Pitch Perfect 2 came in first place. This was a surprise upset this weekend. Everyone (including myself) thought the fight for top spot would be between Mad Max: Fury Road and Avengers: Age of Ultron, but no one was really thinking that Pitch Perfect 2 would get in there, let alone take top spot by a good $30 million dollars. It'll be interesting to see how it does over the next couple weeks, considering Fury Road will probably gain more of audience after word-of-mouth spreads. We'll have to wait and see.
#2 Mad Max: Fury Road- $44,440,000

On its opening weekend, Mad Max: Fury Road came in second place. Like I mention earlier, many people thought that the race for number one was between this movie and Avengers: Age of Ultron, and I was giving the upper hand to Fury Road. But still, over $44 …
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