The Movie Paradise

This weekend, We Are Your Friends, No Escape  and War Room  opened in theaters. Let's take a look at this past weekend's box office. #1 Straight Outta Compton - $13,240,000 In its third week, Straight Outta Compton  came in first place. This is the third consecutive week Compton has been number one at the box office. No one expected this film to be as big as it's been. It has so far made over $140 million dollars, which is fantastic for its smaller budget. This movie has a great social message about police brutality, freedom of speech and racism, and it's a film that should be seen. It may even get some Oscar buzz later in the year. I am thrilled for Compton 's success, and I hope it goes on to make even more money. You can read our review here .  #2 War Room - $11,000,000 In its opening weekend, War Room  came in second place. This movie came out of nowhere, and was the highest grossing film for Friday. It had a $3 million dollar budget,

I never really bought into the trailers for American Ultra . I'm not a big fan of Kristen Stewart . While he was good in The Social Network , I don't really like Jesse Eisenberg . The plot seemed dumb. I just never bought into it. Then the movie came out and, even though the Rotten Tomatoes  ratings were low, a lot of film reviewers I trust said they had a fun time with the movie. So I decided to check it out. I thought that it might be a dumb action comedy that was just some good entertainment for a couple hours. And in a way, it is. But in other ways it really fails. Eisenberg plays Mike Howell, an unassuming stoner living with his girlfriend, Phoebe (Stewart). One day, he is attacked by a hit squad sent by Topher Grace 's Adrian Yates, and he suddenly becomes a badass, showing skills he never knew he had. That is when he learns that he is part of a government experiment to create essentially super soldiers. And now he's on the run from this same organizati

In this editorial series, I will be doing a weekly collection of all things nerdy. Some of the article will be a wrap-up of some movie news, perhaps casting rumors or images; stuff that doesn't necessarily warrant an entire article but are still important. Then the rest will be different geek culture items, such as memes or videos. I will try my best to post these every Saturday. So let's get our hands nerdy (okay, that was terrible) and check out the geek picks of this week. The News A short, 30 second clip for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, was released online the other day. You can view the clip later in the article. It's comprised of mostly new footage, with the money shot being the movie's lead, Finn ( John Boyega ), wielding a blue lightstaber in the same snowy forest that we've seen Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver ) in before. A D23 Expo  poster had revealed already that Finn would be getting a lightsaber (read about that here ),

In this new editorial,  Food for Thought , we will be taking a popular story in the world of movie news and really analyze it. We'll talk in depth about the pros and cons of the story and really get our hands dirty. Now, these topics will be more than a casting choice or something we can easily write an article about otherwise; these will feature more grey topics and highly opinionated discussions. So, without further adieu, let's get started! In this installment, we will talk about whether blockbusters need more experienced directors.  This month, Fantastic Four  opened in theaters. It failed miserably with critics and fans, and even at the box office. After its release, I posted an article explaining the continuously developing story of what happened behind the scenes, which you can read here . The story sounded like one we have heard a lot as of late-- the studio had an inexperienced director at the helm and they were able to bully him, resulting in a mess

Marvel  had yet another successful year this year with the releases of Avengers: Age of Ultron  and Ant-Man . Though they both weren't Marvel's finest work, there were good additions to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe . Next year will be even bigger, with the release of the highly anticipated Captain America: Civil War  and the new flick Doctor Strange . But Civil War  is the one in the forefront of the news right now. The movie just wrapped filming (which you can read about here ), and also debuted footage for the audience at the  D23 Expo  (which you can also read about here ). So with the film's May 2016 release date getting closer and closer, it seems only natural that little tibits would be dropped here and there. And today we may have gotten one of those. New concept art for the film was put online, revealing the sides of the Civil War. The first is led by Iron Man ( Robert Downey Jr. ), and has War Machine ( Don Cheadle ), Black Widow ( Scarlett Johans

One movie coming out soon that I am very interested in is Assassin's Creed , starring Michael Fassbender . The film will be one of a couple video game adaptations (the other being Warcraft ) that are crucial to the future of the genre. Plus, Assassin's Creed  is a video game I really like. I have been on board with this film since its inception, and I grew even more excited with the casting of Fassbender, who is one of the best in the business right now. It will reunite him with his Macbeth  director Justin Kurzel  and co-star  Marion Cotillard . Right now the film has a 2016 release date (which may very well change), so some movement had to begin soon with this film. And now it seems some has. Yahoo Movies did an exclusive on the movie, revealing some interesting information as well as our first look at Fassbender in costume. Fassbender's character will not be from the video games, and is named Callum Lynch. Yahoo stated this as the description of the film: &q

This weekend, Hitman: Agent 47, Sinister 2  and American Ultra  opened in theaters. Let's take a look at this past weekend's box office.  #1 Straight Outta Compton - $26,364,020 In its second week, Straight Outta Compton  came in first place. This movie has been dominating the box office. It has already made over $100 million domestically. It's looking to be yet another money haul for Universal , which has already broken the record for highest gross for a studio in a year ever (read that article here ). The N.W.A. biopic has attracted audiences of all ages, the middle-aged people who grew up with their music, and the new generations who like rap music. And now it's looking like more rap biopics are on the way with Compton 's continuous success. You can read our review for the film here .  #2 Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation - $11,451,746 In its fourth week, Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation  came in second place. This movie has been a b

So I got to see an advanced screening of this film, No Escape . It was a really cool experience, but I didn't have high hopes for the film going in. I thought for sure this movie would end up being a piece of garbage. The trailers hadn't sold me on this film at all. It's something I totally would have skipped seeing. But, it was a free screening, so why not take advantage of that? So I saw No Escape , and let me tell you, it surpassed every expectation I could have had.  Owen Wilson  plays his first dramatic role in years as Jack Dwyer, a father of two who has to move with his family overseas in order to partake in an international program involving the company he works for. Just as the family gets settled there, a coup arises among the indigenous people, throwing the country into total chaos-- and they're looking for Americans. Dwyer has to protect his wife, Annie ( Lake Bell ), and his two daughters Lucy ( Sterling Jerins ) and Beeze ( Claire Geare ). But wit

In this new editorial series, I will be doing a weekly collection of all things nerdy. Some of the article will be a wrap-up of some movie news, perhaps casting rumors or images; stuff that doesn't necessarily warrant an entire article but are still important. Then the rest will be different geek culture items, such as memes or videos. I will try my best to post these every Saturday. So let's get our hands nerdy (okay, that was terrible) and check out the geek picks of this week. (**And yes, I know this is a day late. I apologize**) The News Marvel 's next film, Captain America: Civil War , has officially wrapped filming. A trailer for the film was shown at the  D23   Expo  last week, which you can read about here . However, the footage was not released for the mass public online. With the film now concluding filming, it lends more credence to the thought that we could be getting that trailer soon. It also allows for a larger marketing plan to go into eff

The Martian  is a movie I am really looking forward to, but I'm cautious about it. Director Ridley Scott  has brought us some incredible movies in the past, but he hasn't been on a role lately. He's been having critical and financial bombs one right after the other. But I have hopes that The Martian  can change that. The cast looks incredible, with the talents of Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor , Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Sebastian Stan and Michael  Peña . I also really liked the first trailer. It may have spoiled a little too much, but I still rather enjoyed it. I have high hopes for this movie, and I think it can be a really exciting science fiction thriller. However, this second trailer is not up to par, simply because it is practically the same trailer as before. It has the same beats, the same jokes, with only bits of new footage sprinkled throughout. I don't feel as if it added anything new, or gave me any other reas

Victor Frankenstein  is (yet another) retelling of the classic Frankenstein monster story. This time, the mad doctor is being played by James McAvoy  and his helper Igor is played by Daniel Radcliffe . We all know the story: Frankenstein tries to create life by assembling random body parts and making an amalgamation of bodies, which comes to life as a monster. Under the direction of Paul McGuigan , Victor Frankenstein  puts a new twist on the story by changing up the mythology. Dr. Frankenstein is not an older man, but a young man full of ambition. Igor is not a hunchbacked monstrosity in of himself, but rather a brilliant scientist who serves as Frankenstein's partner. I think the story of Frankenstein is a fascinating one, and it is definitely one of those source materials that is ripe for a new interpretation every few years. However, this trailer did not do it for me. The trailer was too flashy and retro for what a Frankenstein movie should be. The song used was very m

This past weekend was the  D23 Expo , basically a mini  Disney  comic con, where the studio had panels for their upcoming films, showed footage and even announced new movies. A lot of exciting and interesting information came out of the expo, so let's break down the news that broke this weekend: This is the second part of the breakdown. You can see Part One  here .  The Jungle Book One of the more interesting and unexpected hits of D23 was The Jungle Book  presentation. The film is the first of two adaptions, with this one being helmed by Jon Favreau  and being a live action adaptation of the Disney animated film. The second will be directed by Andy Serkis  for Warner Bros.  and will be an adaptation of the original Rudyard Kipling  novel. The Disney film has an impressive cast, including Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Christopher Walken, Ben Kingsley and Lupita Nyong'o . Despite all of this, I wasn't very interested in this film. I prefer

This past weekend was the D23 Expo , basically a mini Disney  comic con, where the studio had panels for their upcoming films, showed footage and even announced new movies. A lot of exciting and interesting information came out of the expo, so let's break down the news that broke this weekend: This is the first part of the breakdown. You can see Part Two here .  Pixar Pixar started off strong with talking about their upcoming 2016 sequel, Finding Dory , which takes place only six months after its 2003 predecessor. Many people, including myself, have questioned why the story of Finding Nemo  even needed a sequel, especially after 13 years. Director Andrew Stanton  apparently thought the same thing. In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly , gearing up for the film's D23's presentation, Stanton realized that Dory's story wasn't over, saying: "I wanted to know that if this charming, forgetful fish ever got lost again, that she would be