FilmCrave Movie Blog 05/2015

Weekend Box Office: San Andreas Shakes Things Up, Aloha Falls Flat

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/31/15 at 09:44 PM CT

Those who doubted the drawing power of Dwayne Johnson after his less-than-stellar Hercules showing can doubt no longer. As a solo act, Johnson can finally call himself a true action hero. On the other side of things, Cameron Crowe continued down the road of mediocre as Aloha failed to crack the top five in its opening weekend. With Aloha failing to spark much excitement, there weren't a lot of …

New in Theaters May 29: San Andreas, Aloha

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/28/15 at 07:46 AM CT

After a rather dull and sleepy Memorial Day weekend, hopefully Hollywood is ready to get back on track. With Max Max and Avengers still rampaging across the box office battlefield, is there room for another monster action film? If Dwayne Johnson has anything to say about it, then yes, yes there is room (and I'm not going to argue with a man whose arms look like they could crush skulls with …

New on DVD and Blu-ray Week of May 26-June 1

Harley Lond - wrote on 05/26/15 at 04:36 AM CT

THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
Like so many greats of world cinema, Rainer Werner Fassbinder has been woefully neglected on American DVD and Blu-ray. Fortunately for us, the folks at The Criterion Collection are plugging gaps in the Fassbinder library with, most recently, releases of "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul" (1974), "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant" (1972), "World on a Wire" (1973) and "Eclipse …

Memorial Weekend Box Office: Tomorrowland Wins in Unremarkable Fashion

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/25/15 at 10:15 PM CT

Memorial Day weekend is usually not a barn-burner when it comes to weekend grosses. That being said, this year was a ho-hum state of affairs as, year-to-year, the weekend was off about 19% compared to last year. One could argue this year didn't offer up enough of a compelling slate, even with George Clooney front and center, thus leading to the lackluster results. Don't worry, the summer is …

New in Theaters May 21: Tomorrowland, Poltergeist

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/21/15 at 07:48 AM CT

Things have been hot at the box office as of late. First, The Avengers: Age of Ultron officially kicked off the summer movie season in stunning fashion. Last week, the women of Pitch Perfect hit a high note with their opening while the high-octane action of Mad Max: Fury Road followed in a respectable second-place showing. This week two more movies join the fray. We have George Clooney and Britt …

New on DVD and Blu-ray Week of May 19-May 25

Harley Lond - wrote on 05/18/15 at 05:13 PM CT

THIS WEEK'S THEATRICAL RELEASES:

At 84 years old (he turns 85 on May 31), Clint Eastwood is still cranking out enjoyable films and, like another elderly statesman of American film, Woody Allen (who turns 80 Dec. 1), some are hits and some are misses. "American Sniper" was a monster of a hit (a surprise one, at that, given its topic), due mostly to Eastwood's tight and excellent direction and …

Weekend Box Office: Pitch Perfect 2 Hits High Note, Mad Max Trails Behind

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/17/15 at 11:09 PM CT

It was set to be a battle of the sequels this weekend (well, one sequel and one reboot) and it did not disappoint. The women ruled the box office - in more ways than one - as a girl-powered musical topped a girl-powered action extravaganza. Though I was a bit surprised by just how wide the gap was, it was a stellar week for new releases. It was also a stellar weekend for Age of Ultron, as it …

New in Theaters May 15: Mad Max: Fury Road, Pitch Perfect 2

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/14/15 at 07:46 AM CT

With Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron entering its third weekend after two very successful top finishes, it's finally going to get some competition. We have a full shotgun-blast-to-the-face action film and a musical sequel looking to hit all the right notes. One thing is for certain, it's going to be a three-way race to see which film has the edge over the weekend, but no matter which film …

New on DVD and Blu-ray Week of May 12-May 18

Harley Lond - wrote on 05/12/15 at 11:20 PM CT

THIS WEEK'S THEATRICAL RELEASES:

"Still Alice": Julianne Moore won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Alice Howland, a renowned linguistics professor, happily married with three grown children, who -- in an irony not lost on her -- begins to forget words. When she receives a diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, Alice and her family struggle to cope with the deterioration of …

New on DVD and Blu-ray Week of May 12-18

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/12/15 at 08:08 AM CT

Harley's blog will be slightly delayed, so until then I will highlight the top new released of the week, at least until the normally-scheduled blog appears tomorrow. Lucky that there is a bit of everything this week: drama, comedy, action - granted, some of the movies didn't exactly light up the box office (and, in fact, some did the exact opposite) but maybe you can rent them - and feel a …

Weekend Box Office: Age of Ultron Easily Tops Sputtering Hot Pursuit

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/10/15 at 09:58 PM CT

It was another slam dunk for Disney and Marvel at the box office as The Avengers: Age of Ultron had little competition to worry about and easily retained its number one position. Meanwhile, the pairing of Reece Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara opened to soft numbers as withering reviews and a lukewarm audience response kept it at a very distant second place. Ultron isn't going to have it as easy …

New in Theaters May 08: Hot Pursuit, The D Train

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/07/15 at 07:46 AM CT

The final tally for The Avengers: Age of Ultron turned out to be even better than first reported - over $191 million. The next test for the monster movie will be how much of its audience it will be able to retain in its second weekend out. Although it will be facing competition from two comedies (targeting two very specific audiences) I see little reason Ultron should be worried. It will be …

New on DVD and Blu-ray Week of May 5-May 11

Harley Lond - wrote on 05/05/15 at 07:05 AM CT

THIS WEEK'S THEATRICAL RELEASES:

"Selma": With a tour-de-force performance by David Oyelowo, "Selma" is a heartfelt and gripping drama about the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Oyelowo) led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march …

Weekend Box Office: Age of Ultron Dominates, Falls Short of Record

Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/03/15 at 09:25 PM CT

There was no questions what film was going to reign supreme over the weekend - the only question was how big was it going to open? It turns out the Avengers couldn't quite stand up to the might of The Avengers - but it wasn't for trying. The film still set some records and its numbers helped push Disney across the $1 billion mark in the international market for 2015. There's no question that …



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