Well I sure got my guess as to what I'll be reviewing next wrong.
No seriously, the fact that this song is still popular is mind boggling. We already have two squeaky voiced Canadians in the top five, do we really need a third? Apparently so based off of this song's staying power over the summer into the fall and now getting into the winter. So let's discuss Shawn Mendes.
Remember last week when I talked about how Justin Bieber's career was pretty much on life support after all his legal and personal troubles the past two years? Well the music industry sure noticed this so we got a whole influx of brand new teenage pop stars to fill the void. We watched as record executives tried desperately to find Justin Bieber's successor. Remember Cody Simpson, Austin Mahone, and Cameron Dallas? Yeah neither do I. The music industry tried to make all these replacements stick badly, but none of them were able to gain any sort of traction.
Well fear not, 2015 we found a new teen heart throb in the form of Shawn Mendes. I had a feeling this kid was going to be big the moment Elvis Duran gave him an artist spotlight on his morning show early in 2015. The same thing happened early last year too with 5 Seconds of Summer and look what that did for them. But the moment I heard Shawn Mendes belting and strumming his guitar talking about melodramatic subject matters that are way too big for a kid like him, I had a feeling he would catch on.
And sure enough, there he is. Sitting in the Top 5 with his smash hit about a melodramatic subject matter that is way over his head. I can't be the only one who finds this song utterly wretched. For a song about heartbreak, he sounds absolutely uninspired. It doesn't help matters that he is covering up his lack of personality with a guitar. Adds even more fake sincerity to his lack of selling emotional distraught.
Everything about this song is straight up awful. The production is dull, the singing is horrendously boring, and the lyrics are chalk full of cliches that I swear I was back in the 1970s with all this kitsch. Words cutting deeper than knives, asking to be brought back to life, bleeding until he can't breathe, falling onto his knees...if he is going to use lines like these, the least he can do is sing them as over the top as possible. Because here they come off as just meaningless and everything about it is fake.
At least other white guy with acoustic guitar songs can do a good job covering up their shortcomings by at least trying to sound sincere. But I don't buy it when it comes to teenagers like Shawn Mendes, who don't have nearly as much life experience to know what love really is and what heartbreak actually feels like. At least when Justin Bieber was that young, he was awful in a hilariously interesting fashion. This is just a stale bland horrible in every sense of the word imaginable and I hope Shawn Mendes fades into obscurity not soon enough.
You'll have to excuse me being a day late on this. I had a busy day yesterday at work and then going to see one of the movies that debuted this weekend last night. I could have sworn I posted this after writing it up last night but I apparently did not. So let's do this thing...a day later...
Last Weekend's Recap:
Our new releases had zero to little impact as expected which means Spectre finished number one again with 34 million. While this one isn't going to fly the heights of Skyfall, this will still be the second biggest Bond ever. It's probably going to earn it's budget back overseas though, seriously Sony why would you spend a quarter billion making this. The Peanuts Movie still held well to finish but not nearly as well as I expected with 24 million. I should have seen this coming in retrospect since Peanuts is not a new property and it already has a built in fanbase. That being said, it should still do well as it's going to be profitable. Third place went to Love the Coopers as this one made a bit more than I expected but thankfully not much with 8 million. We'll see if this still holds up well through the holiday season but my gut instinct is no. The Martian spends it's first weekend not in the top 3 with 7 million as it continue to perform greatly. The 33 underperformed to fifth with 6 million as Warner Brothers has another flop this fall. This studio needs a hit and badly to make up for how many bad releases they've had this year.
Now for the bottom half. Goosebumps and Bridge of Spies both finished with 4 million apiece. Eighth was another new release, but not the one I covered. It was Bollywood movie Prem Ratan Dhan Payo with 2 million. For the record, My All American flopped that badly that a Bollywood movie finished in the domestic top ten above it. Hotel Transylvania 2 came in ninth with 2 million as I expect this to be gone finally with more competition coming. Ten is The Last Witch Hunter and it's done after this. Surprised it lasted in the top ten for four weeks but after seeing how a majority of the new releases have underperformed, I'm not totally surprised.
This Weekend: NOTE - Friday Estimates are available online already but I have not viewed them yet out of respect to give myself a fair chance at predicting.
Mockingjay Part 2
So it's the end of an era. No more Hunger Games movies and this will be the last time Lionsgate has a true smash hit franchise for awhile probably. The Hunger Games franchise will forever be known for being far more powerful than anyone ever expected it to be. Take a look at how the Harry Potter movies and Twilight performed. Both movie franchises had far bigger fan bases and were lucky to crack 300 million for one or two movies. Then we have lesser known Hunger Games that had an Academy Award winning actress with no real box office appeal and an interesting concept that was a hard sell. Now, these movies are outperforming by margins over the other two franchises and Jennifer Lawrence is one of the biggest names in Hollywood. They say timing is everything and I can't picture a more perfectly timed franchise and casting choice than The Hunger Games. So of course Lionsgate wanted to make as much money as possible seeing how the first two made a combined 830 million plus domestic and a ton more worldwide. Hence the splitting of the last book to two movies dad that really needs to cease from existing.
So after Part 1 the boring stuff, we now have Part 2 the action. This will be an interesting performer for sure. Primarily because Part 1 did not break 400 million domestic like it's predecessors. Probably due to so-so reviews, but despite the less than expected opening, Part 1 still ended up holding very well and made 335 million domestic. Primarily because it had no real competition to take away viewership over the Christmas box office bonanza. But this year is different. While the only real competition Part 1 had was the final Hobbit movie. Part 2 is going to have tons of competitors in the forms of Pixar, The Chipmunks, big name holiday comedies...and oh yeah STAR WARS. While Part 1 had other counter programming, it's nowhere near as strong as this year's.
So yeah it will be interesting to see the long term prognosis for Part 2, but I still expect a 120 million opening weekend. How it does after this weekend though will be a mystery.
The Night Before
I saw this movie last night due to sellouts for Mockingjay. So I'll keep this short. It's funny, yet cliched. Full review will come in a couple days.
As for the prognosis on how this will perform. I get that Christmas comedies usually come out in November but I can't help but feel that this could have done better if this had come out last weekend. Competing the same weekend as one of the year's biggest movies seems like a bit of a misfire in scheduling. I think the decent reviews can give this some solid legs to keep it around until Christmas, but I definitely think money was left on the table in terms of making even more.
So instead of the 20 million this could have made with better scheduling, I think this will more than likely open with about 12 million.
Secret in Their Eyes
So this is apparently a remake of an Academy Award winning foreign film. Did not know that since it looks like every other thriller of the past five years or so. This stars Julia Roberts, who is one of the more interesting A listers in Hollywood. She is very famous and has an audience...but for some reason doesn't want to be famous by showing up in as little movies as possible. I guess it's cool to see that even the biggest stars don't really want to be stars and live normal lives like the rest of us.
Roberts star power aside, it wouldn't surprise me at all if this flops. I've seen so little publicity and plus as Bradley Cooper, Sandra Bullock, and so many more have proven to us this fall, it doesn't matter who you are. If your movie looks boring, it will flop. And this looks as boring as the rest and the reviews aren't as good either. I will give it 7 million because it's Julia Roberts and maybe people still want to see her since it's a rarity when she does act. But it wouldn't surprise me if it's less.
As for holdovers, Spectre should still do ok and make 16 million. Peanuts should too although I don't know if it's going to get a sequel anymore after seeing it. Let it be unless you have an actual idea and not a cash in Blue Sky. I'm guessing 14 million. The Martian could continue to hold well with 5 million. As for the rest? I'll guess Love the Coopers with 4 million, The 33 with 3 million (heh), and the Top 10 rounding out with Bridge of Spies and Goosebumps with 2 million.
Come back next time when this should be on time...and earlier since it's Thanksgiving. Which means earlier projections because it's a holiday weekend and more releases are coming along with it.
So yeah I've been missing all my Talk sessions lately. Maybe I should replace something else with them? Because even though this has been happening by accident, there are some weeks where I struggle to think of something to actually talk about because...well sometimes there is nothing to talk about that I really deem newsworthy. So if anyone has any ideas please let me know below in the comment section.
In the mean time, to make up for no Talk, I went to go see one of the newer releases last weekend in The Peanuts Movie with my family. So I'm definitely willing to share my thoughts about the second family movie I've seen in the past two weeks. Is it better than Goosebumps? Definitely. But how? And what are my exact thoughts about this? Let's discuss.
For starters, to really understand the impact this movie has not only with my family and I, but in pop culture, let's go back about fifty years. Author Charles Schultz created a daily comic strip about a loveable yet unlucky kid named Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy, his little sister Sally, and his friends Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Pigpen, Peppermint Patty, etc. What did they do? Nothing really. Just living life. Til this day, how Peanuts lasted this long remains a mystery. It's just about a kid who lacks self confidence and has the world around him against him. Yet, the appeal of Peanuts is quite simple. We all have those days where we think the world is conspiring against us as nothing seems to go our way. Why not read a daily strip and witness this happen to a kid every day. Peanuts is literally the greatest American unsuccessful story. Not only is it still the longest lasting daily comic strip (granted it ended fifteen years ago after Schulz's untimely death, but it's still syndicated daily in classic strips) but spun-off into an entertainment franchise with cartoons, holiday specials, movies, clothing, and so much more.
So needless to say without any real new Peanuts material in nearly fifteen years, that soon changed once 20th Century Fox and their animated production company Blue Sky Studios bought the rights to make a new CGI full length feature. Now as someone who has read his fair share of Classic Peanuts comics, watched all the holiday specials as a child growing up, seen the countless tv series and movies as well, I was nervous. Not with excitement mind you because I was completely open for a brand new Peanuts movie. No, I was nervous with who was producing the movie. Blue Sky Studios is absolutely my least favorite mainstream animated movie studio. Their track record is ridiculously shaky and I hate a larger portion of their library in comparison to it's competitors. I'll even go on the record to say that their best movies really aren't that great. The first two Ice Age movies are decent enough. But when your B plot has been and always will be the best part of your marquee franchise as a movie studio, you know your movies aren't that memorable. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Scrat's subplots regarding his nut are far more entertaining than whatever Sid, Manny, and Diego are doing in the Ice Age movies. The rest of the company's movies really aren't that much better. Robots is terrible, Horton Hears a Who is forgettable for a Dr. Seuss adaptation, Epic is boring, and the Rio movies really are nothing to write home about....I guess the first one is okay enough, but the sequel looks like it has no reason to exist. Notice how I haven't mentioned the other two Ice Age movies? Yeah, if Rio 2 has no reason to exist, the other two Ice Age movies are literal cash grabs at the expense of historical inaccuracy. Absolutely hate those two movies. So yeah, with Peanuts on the way, I kept begging for Blue Sky to not fuck up one of my favorite franchises. Because I could deal with these characters becoming CGI, but with Blue Sky's adoration for pop culture references, modernizing for the sake of modernizing, and uncreative humor, I was afraid what they would do to the Peanuts franchise.
So was my fear warranted? Yes, but not at the expense of what I saw on Sunday. What I saw on Sunday was a timeless classic franchise being brought back to life for a new generation while still making fans of the past happy. This was Blue Sky honoring the legacy of the Peanuts while still making it accessible for potential new fans that don't know the effect of Peanuts on a pop culture landscape. Now some would point out that this movie was very simple. To them I say....so? Have you read the Peanuts? In it's fifty years of existence, Peanuts has never been an epic narrative with so many twists and turns. They don't need to be over-complicated. It's just about watching kids live their lives daily. Charlie Brown wants to learn how to be a winner, no matter how much the world he lives in enjoys watching him fail. That's already epic enough because the whole existence of Peanuts is watching Charlie Brown falter. And the movie is as clever about it as the adaptations before it. They play his failures as light hearted as possible just like Charles Schulz did beforehand. I'll give tons of credit for Fox and Blue Sky bringing aboard Charles's sons not only as producers, but as writers. Clearly, Bryan and Craig Schulz learned about their father's characters and how to write them because they are absolutely near perfect adaptations of them. Like Lucy being bossy and controlling, Linus being the intellectual light of the group while still insecure without his blanket, Sally being the bratty little sister, Snoopy being....well Snoopy down to the completely creative imagination. It's just those small tidbits that really go a long way.
It's honestly different to judge this movie in terms of basic storytelling because the Peanuts have always had a conventional story arch that not many other movies can really replicate. For example, the object of Charlie Brown's affection is one-dimensional. She has no name, no real defining character traits, hell not many lines either. But she gets more screen time than the likes of Schroeder, Pigpen, and others because the story revolves around Charlie Brown trying to impress her. Other movies in modern times would be chastised by critics on Rotten Tomatoes for a flaw this glaring. But to me? It's always been that way. The Little Red Head Girl has always been a moral compass for Charlie Brown. Whenever she has speaked previously, it's been for the sake of the story. Here, when she speaks, it's to give Charlie Brown's quest purpose. I can definitely see any other movie being nitpicked to hell over this, but it works because it's Peanuts. They don't need to modernize anything or fall into conventional trends. They just need to stay true to Charles Schulz's storytelling to satisfy it's fan base.
And that they did. I mean I am thankful Blue Sky didn't modernize this like they've done to so many other movies. I don't see Charlie Brown on his iPad gaming with friends. I see Charlie Brown and his friends playing outside. How odd is that in 2015? Hell even Snoopy and Woodstock are still being voiced by Bill Melendez archived footage. Speaking of which, the CGI is absolutely glorious as well. Especially in Snoopy's Red Baron subplot where they images and visuals just take your breath away. All while not showing the bottom of Snoopy's dog house, just like in the cartoons. See, it's just the little things in this movie and how loyal and faithful it is to the source material that just makes me happy to love this movie. Hell, even the ending where Charlie Brown wins, which goes completely against the status quo of the series. It felt worth it because the storytelling in this just absolutely worked on all cylinders.
That being said, if I can offer one criticism. It's not something that I'm going to hold this movie entirely accountable against in the long term, but I kinda led onto it earlier when I was talking about the Little Red Head Girl. I kinda wish more Peanuts characters got more screen time if that makes any sense. Linus could have gotten a few more minutes of focus because after all, he has always been Charlie Brown's best friend. At the same time, Schroeder I felt got a little undercut and was just Lucy's crush the entire time. We could have gotten a few more piano melodies and maybe a few lines in. I know that Schroeder was far more silent, but when he spoke in the old cartoons, it was always dry sarcasm that I kinda like. I wanted to see more of that. Because you know it's bad for some of these guys when Violet and Patty get more screen time when they have always been background characters more than main ones.
Overall though, I loved Peanuts. I haven't been this content full of nostalgia since Disney successfully brought back The Muppets in 2011. This was as successful of a revival as that and now I eagerly await more Peanuts adaptations. You all know they are coming and I welcome them with open arms. One of the best animated movies of 2015 and definitely in contention for my Best Movies of 2015 list come next month.
So I don't know if you guys heard but Justin Bieber is back.
After taking some time away from the spotlight...and by that I mean cleaning up his bad boy persona, he is back and apparently bigger than ever. So let's figure out how....
....seriously how. Because 2013 and 2014 we learned a lot about Justin Bieber that I wish I didn't know. Because before then, when I thought about Justin Bieber, I thought of this:
Yeah feels like just yesterday when Justin Bieber use to be considered the worst thing ever because of the fact that he was a little kid singing about subject matters that were way too hilarious to be taken seriously. But yeah after 2013 and 2014, when I heard of Justin Bieber, I would think about this:
Granted this news story took place in 2014, but it was the cream of the crop of the fall from Justin Bieber has taken. That's not all he did that got him in trouble. Drunken tirades, pissing in mop buckets, egging neighbor's, destroying property, making controversial comments about Anne Frank, seen going to brothels, getting pulled over in tour buses multiple times for illegal drugs. Guys, if Justin Bieber wanted to stop being viewed as a child star, that sure worked because around this time period, I viewed Justin Bieber's recent behavior as thug-like. All of this bad PR was near career suicide if you ask me. But nope. If I learned anything from the Chris Brown's despicable actions towards Rihanna back in 2009, people are more than willing to give you a second chance despite being a total tool of a person. Plus, unlike Chris Brown, it seems like Justin Bieber is actually trying to clean up his image.
But I can sit here and talk about Justin Bieber the person for awhile. Plus it will run me dry of material for next week's song review since I'm all but certain I'll be reviewing his other big hit right now "What Do You Mean" next week anyway with the new album release this past Friday. So let's talk about his present big hit "Sorry".
Yeah with the amount of times Justin Bieber apologizes in this song, I can't help but think of the BP president apologizing over the top ridiculously in South Park. You're welcome by the way, if that sticks with you now too reader.
As for the song itself, I can get behind the production. Justin Bieber isn't the only one who is trying to evolve the older he gets. Skrillex seems to actually be maturing his music too this year which is helping a lot. Long gone are the days where Skrillex tries to rape your ear drums with over the top monstrosities in terms of production:
New Skrillex seems to be toning it down a bit and not letting the production overpower the song and it makes the production here for Sorry really catchy. Like I can definitely get behind this Skrillex because the blending of the horns and the percussion just works so well.
It's just a shame that the really good production is wasted with the presence of one Justin Bieber. Because if I am noticing a recurring theme with Justin Bieber songs this year, they are really pissy. Yes Justin Bieber keeps asking if it's too late for him to say he's sorry, but then he throws in his fair share of complaints about how she's gotta go and get angry at all of his honesty. Since when did Justin Bieber start evolving into such an angsty little prick? What do you mean? Where are you now that I need ya? Has Justin Bieber been heavily influenced by the nu-metal fad of 2000's rock music because if I didn't know any better, Justin Bieber is evolving into Chester Bennington of Linkin Park except I actually like Linkin Park. If I hear Justin Bieber scream dddrrrooowwnnniiinnnggg innn myyy tteeeaarrrss, my day will be made.
But it won't be made on here because I don't like Justin Bieber's part of Sorry. The fact that he's trying to lessen and deflect the blame completely undercuts his own song. Not to mention the fact that Justin Bieber really doesn't sound sorry to begin with. If you want to sound sincerely sorry and make a dance pop song that's fine. But actually sound like you mean it. Otherwise, you'll be coming off more like Jason DeRulo and less like Usher. And that comparison isn't a compliment for the record since I absolutely loathe Jason DeRulo as an artist.
So yeah, sorry Justin. I don't accept this apology.
So I ended up missing Movie Talk again. Sorry, but I was burned out after writing three blog posts back to back to back. But hey, after two days off from writing, let's do the recap...too bad the new releases feel as lifeless as last month.
Last Weekend's Recap:
Before we go over the dreck, let's talk about how great it was to see the box office so alive last weekend. Our new number one was, as expected, Spectre. It was obviously impossible to reach Skyfall's heights, but Spectre still made the second highest opening weekend in Bond franchise history with 70 million. I do think the analysts who consider this disappointing need to tamper their expectations a bit. Of course it's going to be hard to make this one profitable because Sony stupidly spent 250 million at least to make this for some god forsaken reason. But the fact of the matter is that Skyfall was Bond's 50th anniversary film, had an amazing Bond film name, and featured a supremely popular Adele song as the theme. No way in hell was this going to make 300 million, but I don't think 200 million is out of the question for 007's latest venture. We'll see how it holds up the weeks ahead, especially with the final Hunger Games right around the corner.
Our second place feature was Peanuts as it made 44 million. I don't think this is a bad start either. Especially for a franchise that hasn't been as popular in nearly fifteen-twenty years. I knew expectations had to be tampered a bit with predicting 50 million plus because rarely do animated films have 50 plus million opening weekends unless it has the market to itself, which Peanuts did not. That being said, I am all but positive the legs for this movie will be much stronger over the next few weekends. Hell, this can still hold up well past Thanksgiving because of all those Peanut holiday specials making this more relevant around holiday season. Great start for Fox and Blue Sky as they have a new franchise in the making for them.
Honestly the rest of the box office really isn't worth reporting on because so much crud, but I will make a few notes. The Martian had a damn solid hold, especially against the new competition and finished third with 9 million. That's amazing that it fell barely over 20 percent in it's sixth weekend. Biggest hit of the fall season for now and awards season will keep this one going strong for awhile. That movie I just wrote a review for came in fourth with 7 million as I contributed to keep this one still in the Top 5. Fifth went to Bridge of Spies with 6 million as this one should still be relevant come awards season as well. Sixth is Hotel Transylvania 2 as this one keeps outperforming the already popular original with 4 million. Seventh is Burnt with 3 million. Should be gone soon. Eighth is The Last Witch Hunter with 2 million. Should be gone soon. Ninth is surprisingly the return of The Intern with 2 million because of all the amazing flops these past two weekends. This has somehow made 71 million after a so-so opening weekend. The final Paranormal Activity is tenth with 1 million. Goodbye.
This Weekend:
The 33
You know I'm LEGITIMATELY surprised that this is our biggest release this weekend. What stupid releasing for any of our major box office releases that flop over the next few weeks for not releasing it this weekend because when your biggest title is failed Oscar bait, you know you missed a chance at an additional 5-10 million at least. The second weekend of November is usually successful for major blockbusters for a reason.
That being said, this had a chance if more effort was put into it. I like the primarily Hispanic casting choice because for an event like the Chilean mine collapse, you need to cast carefully. Sadly, this had potential before all the negative word of mouth regarding reviews for this soured this project's hopefuls incredibly. But I still give this a chance to make some money before it falls away into irrelevant Oscar hopeful category. I'm guessing 7 million.
Love The Coopers
Now here's a film that I could be underestimating entirely. Holiday films tend to be really popular around November and December because who doesn't love the spirit of Christmas? Movie goers tend to eat up holiday films like crazy. Especially when they have big named stars like Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde. Where could this possibly go wrong?
How about the fact that this looks incredibly terrible. The trailers give it away that this movie is limp, lifeless, and most importantly: unfunny. I mean I can't be the only one that thinks that, right? If you don't believe me, this movie is getting pounded to death by critics and the almighty Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Because society loves to reap the benefits of film review sites to save them the ten dollars for a ticket.
But hey, there are people out there that made terrible Christmas movies like Christmas With the Kranks and Deck the Halls box office hits. Please America, save yourselves the money and wait for the possibly better Christmas movie The Night Before next weekend. I'm guessing 6 million opening weekend because I have faith in society.
I guess that's everything, now onto.....what? There is another wide release this weekend?
My All-American
What....how? How is this possible? I've at least seen trailers and ad spots for everything else I've covered on this blog. Even that Scouts vs Zombies movie and Rock the Kasbah. How the hell have I never seen a single advertisement for this? I watch television. I go to the movies. I even have that fucking trailers app for my smart phone and this somehow passed my radar entirely. Clearly Clarius Entertainment has no faith in this being successful hence the microscopic 1500 theater wide release count. I don't know....2 million? Wouldn't surprise me at all if this is less.
That leaves our holdovers and I think it will be a much closer race for number one this weekend between Bond and Peanuts. I still give the edge to Spectre making 33 million this weekend, but Peanuts will be very close because of it's great reviews and family friendly rating with 30 million. The Martian at this rate will probably still hold well and could possibly still be Top 3 this weekend too with 7 million. Bridge of Spies and Goosebumps will both make 4 million as Hotel Transylvania 2 and Burnt will round out the Top 10....yes I'm giving that movie I've never heard of a fighting chance to make the Top 10 only because of virtually no competition to hold well otherwise.
Next weekend will be much more lively though with the final Hunger Games becoming one of the biggest releases of 2015, a Seth Rogen/Joseph Gordon-Levitt R-rated Christmas comedy that looks legitimately funny (and that's coming from someone who has grown slightly weary of Rogen's stoner shtick), and Julia Roberts is back with a new thriller The Secret in Their Eyes. Should be a good one.
So my plan originally was for my first movie review to be either Peanuts or Spectre, but due to rescheduling plans to see both films, I ended up seeing a different movie entirely this past weekend. If you told me four months ago that I would pay to see the film adaptation of Goosebumps, I would have told you all that each and every last one of you is out of his or her mind. I thought the trailer for this movie was horrible. The CGI looked limp and uninspiring. Jack Black looked like he was doing this movie for the paycheck. It just came off as terrible execution all around and I thought for sure this would be a flop. That hurt me because I was genuinely looking forward to this movie as somewhat of a fan of the Goosebumps books growing up. Goosebumps was huge when I was in elementary school. Granted I only read like probably eight to ten of the books in the series, I found them to cheesy entertainment like the Captain Underpants books (now that movie will probably be as terrible as expected). Once news broke this was going to be Jumanji lite in terms of plot, I was a little skeptical, but not completely against the idea. Then, as previously stated, that trailer came out and it didn't look nearly as zany as one would expect an adaptation of Goosebumps to be. So once the reviews came out saying this was a light hearted good time, I thought to myself....really? Did these critics actually enjoy a movie that I thought looked completely disappointing? I knew that eventually I would have to end up seeing this out of shear curiosity.
And what did I think.....it was better than I expected it to be. Not saying this was a great movie. Far from it. I don't even know if I would consider it one of the better movies of 2015, but for what it was worth, it was pretty decent. For starters, the trailer COMPLETELY undersells the frantic nature of this movie. The movie does suffer from it's pacing and it's definitely noticeable at the beginning. You get introduced to all these characters right off the bat in a semi-rushed fashion. We get to know about why the new kid Zach (Dylan Minnette) and his mom (Amy Ryan in an unexpected casting choice to be completely honest) moved to suburban Delaware, that his neighbors include the girl next door Hannah (Odeya Rush) and an overprotective father in the overly secretive "Mr. Shivers" (Jack Black), the loser new best friend Champion (Ryan Lee), the dating hot mess aunt (Jillian Bell) and you literally meet all these characters so quickly and they get forced into their plot roles so fast that it doesn't let you sink into the characters in such a short amount of time because they want to get right to the plot.
But once the plot does kick in, it let's the characters breathe a bit so we can learn more about them while also handling the situations that arise so they can avoid being more than just tropes for the movie to the real stars: the antagonists. While we don't get to see all of the monsters obviously, it's R.L. Stine's creations that are the stars of the movie. Watching them interact with their surroundings is just great to see and it's done cleverly as well. Watching the Yeti at a frozen ice rink? Priceless. Seeing The Werewolf of Fever Swamp get distracted by a chew toy and raw meat? Hilarious. Seeing the giant praying mantis from A Shocker on Shock Street attack the city like a B-movie 50s horror film? Nostalgic. I honestly loved watching the creatures from the Goosebumps universe run havoc across the real world because it does remind me a bit of those classic B movie horror films from yesteryear and they interact with the surroundings they are put in so fittingly that I highly enjoyed those aspects of the movie. My only complaint about any of the Goosebumps characters was it's most iconic creation, Slappy from the Night of the Living Dummy saga. The fact that Slappy was the ringleader I had absolutely zero problems with. Of course he was because he's the face of the Goosebumps franchise with the amount of books that feature the character. But I really wish they explored his relationship with R.L. Stine more because it was heavily implied that he and Stine went way back. Was it more than just the Night of the Living Dummy saga? Because while I won't entirely spoil the plot twist of this movie, I thought it was obvious that his daughter was his greatest creation. Did Slappy loathe Stine for more than just being locked away in a book? That subplot could have used more explaining and detail to be honest.
As for the acting, let me get this out of the way now. This was the most on point I've seen Jack Black in a live action movie in nearly a decade. His comedic timing here reminded me why I enjoyed him because unless you count the Kung Fu Panda movies, Jack Black has been uninspiring in so many movies for so long that you could tell he was just going through the motions to get paid. However here, he didn't really need to do as much physical comedy or overacting as he's done before. He just had to do his role and just act like he's the master of this universe, which he does. He approaches everything with a serious, yet light-hearted pace. Whether it be making sure that his daughter Hannah stay away from Zach, knowing his creations and their weaknesses, acting like a mad scientist evil genius, being an author and knowing how the plot goes and how it should end accordingly. I enjoyed Jack Black here. Also the kids don't do too bad of a job here either. I would especially like to point out that while I'm unsure if Zach Minnette will get more of a spotlight boost from this, I think Odeya Rush could be featured more in the future. She seems to be a young actress who can get more roles being the girl next door type role. Amy Ryan is a great actress and I was definitely surprised to see a multiple time Academy Award nominee in a family horror comedy like this. She did great and that's no surprise to me. But may I ask in what universe would it be believable that Jillian Bell who is nearly twenty years younger than Amy Ryan would be her sister? I had a problem with that casting choice, not because Jillian Bell didn't do good. She was hilarious and it's easy to see why she is getting so many roles coming up (she'll be in Seth Rogen's new comedy next month as his wife), but that was a ridiculous sell to make us not notice that huge age difference.
Of course the comedy here was hit or miss. You have genuinely funny people in this movie at least in Jack Black and Jillian Bell, but holy crap was the humor here subpar what felt like most of the time. Sure you get a clever reference here and there and even a funny actual R.L. Stine cameo. But if you've heard one family comedy joke before, you'll hear it here again too. Like so many of these jokes have been used time and time again like saying save yourselves only for someone to run away and have the character say they were just joking for example. The moments the movie is legitimately funny is when it's trying not to be. Like watching these CGI monsters interact with their surroundings, that's funny. Watching the gym teacher try to be the obvious romantic interest for Zach's mom, only to constantly get turned away? That's hilarious. I wish the movie didn't try so hard on it's comedy aspect because it's the little things that make this movie good in terms of comedy.
So overall, while it's not great, I was legitimately surprised by Goosebumps. It just goes to show that first impressions are not always accurate because it turns out that I enjoyed my trip to go see Goosebumps. While this is not a movie I'm going to be craving to sit through again any time soon, I think Goosebumps was money well spent for a one time sit through. If anything, at least this wasn't the worst adaptation of a source material from my childhood (granted I haven't seen it, but I don't need to pay to tell you all that Jem and the Holograms will be atrocious). But yeah, this movie is decent enough. Just don't expect a new Halloween classic and you won't be disappointed.
Not just because of Christmas and everyone showing holiday cheer. It's also due to the year end listings. I love reading and watching critics countdown their favorites/least favorites of this past year for the medium of entertainment. It's always interesting to see what others think when it comes to their choices and why. I've been doing this myself for the past four years on social media and internet forums myself. So we are nearly a month away from Billboard posting it's year end Hot 100 listing and that's what I like to use as my source material when it comes to my song countdowns of the year. I've been speculating for months as to what will or won't end up on here and while I have a pretty good idea on some aspects, I'm going to go ahead and share some of them with my readers tonight. Plus I had a late day at work and instead of completely brainstorming a topic for hours, I just went for an easy thought piece instead.
-Without a doubt, Uptown Funk will be Billboard's number one hit song of 2015. It almost broke the longest chart reign record, has been in the Top 40 for nearly a year already, and all signs point to it securing number one pretty handily.
-Number two will be where it gets interesting. After thinking about all the possible choices, I think it will be one of these three: Thinking Out Loud, Blank Space, and See You Again. Thinking Out Loud due to it being number two for nearly three months during Uptown Funk's winter and spring domination. Blank Space because we can't count out that this was number one for nearly eight weeks before 2015 became the Uptown Funk special. Then of course we had See You Again which was number one for only two weeks less than Uptown Funk at a total of twelve weeks. That's what I personally think will end up as number two, but without a doubt this will be interesting.
-I think a surprise entry in the year end Top 10 will be Watch Me by Silento. While it never reached number one (thank god), we can't deny the fact that this was in the Top 10, hell I think the Top 5 for nearly six months. Why America decided to let this last that long is beyond me.
-For the first time in seven years, we won't have a Katy Perry song in the Year End Hot 100. Let that sink in for a minute because that's one of the biggest pop stars of the past decade who has been completely absent from this picture.
-Due to the many weeks and months of stagnancy, it wouldn't surprise me if we had entries onto the year end list that didn't even reach the Top 20 just like we did in 2014.
-It will be interesting to see who is featured most on this list this year. It will definitely be between Taylor Swift (she'll have 5) and Meghan Trainor (4...possibly 5 if Marvin Gaye makes it on there). If I could make a prediction though, despite his massive amount of output this year, Drake won't have nearly as many hits on there as people think he will. I'm going to guess 2...maybe 3 if one of his mixtape collaborations with Future sneaks on there, but I doubt it.
-Of course we'll have the amounts of 2014 backwash that didn't go away as fast as we wanted it to. If you want to be specific, I couldn't care less about what songs they were, so I'll just say that anything that charted in the Top 10 from September 2014 onward has as good a shot as anything else to make it.
-I already have a few locked best list choices, but the worst list is a little trickier. Usually the worst list is the easiest for me to come up with. That being said, I have at least three locks, but everything else is honestly fair game.
-My last prediction? Number 100. The one that I take a complete total guess on. And my prediction is the number 100 spot will go to...and honestly it wouldn't surprise me if I was either right or wrong because of unpredictability, "Flex" by Rich Homie Quan. Because I think it lasted long enough in the 20s region past 20 weeks to sneak on there.
Of course these are all predictions. I don't expect to get all of these right, especially that last one. But I can't help the speculation. I'm beyond excited that I can start charting my annual best/worst lists. For sure I will definitely be sharing them all with you guys.
And speaking of sharing, I get to share my first official movie review on this blog with you all. Coming tomorrow.
Let's rewind back to 2011. We were knee deep in a pop chart landscape dominated by club music. Around this time period, it was easy to indicate how stupid pop music was getting with the rise of anything that just screamed let's party, catchy enough production, and autotune. It led to some of the stupidest songs becoming number one hits.
That's when 2011 brought us a breath of fresh air in Adele. Listening to someone with a powerful voice talk about actual human emotions made us vulnerable and Adele single handedly became one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. One of the best selling albums of all time, multiple Grammys, multiple number one hits. Adele literally set fire to the rain of the pop music industry. Then she disappeared...and the pop music landscape changed. Don't get me wrong, the club music is still around but the pop landscape is far more serious than it was five years ago. We have Lady Gaga doing duets with Tony Bennett, Wiz Khalifa doing tribute ballads, just far more slow to mid tempo hit songs and it makes me kinda miss the stupidity of the late 2000s/early 2010s to be honest. I'm not saying that I hate this new serious phase pop music, but I much prefer to listen to Lady Gaga's nonsense syllables than her sing about domestic assault
...I still can't believe she tried to release that as a radio single.
But what does this have to do with Adele? Well I started to witness this change in the pop music climate shortly after Adele dominated it four years ago. While she isn't the sole proprietor of this change, it has her finger prints because don't sit here and tell me that Sam Smith would have became as big by his own merits or that Sia wouldn't have become far more mainstream. It's because someone needed to fill the soulful pop void that Adele made so popular that we got so many artists that we didn't know what to do with.
So enough prologue, how do I feel about Adele? Well...I don't love Adele as much as everyone else around me seems to. I mean I have always liked her, but I don't really love her. 21 was a really good album and Adele obliterated her ex to smithereens. But there was only so much piano ballads that I could take and you can notice a slight decline in the song quality until you get to the end where Someone Like You just made the decline worth it to get a song that powerful. I think Adele is an amazing vocalist, but there is the one thing I have never been fond of when it came to this soul pop genre. You can only take so much before every song just starts to sound the same that you can't really differentiate it.
That's why I was afraid when Adele said she was releasing her new album. I thought to myself do we really need a new Adele album at this point and time when we have so many other soul pop artists doing the same thing she does? I mean yeah she was a breath of fresh air but will she still be? Then I read Adele was trying to go in a different direction with 25 in comparison to 19 and 21. That put some cautious optimism into my mind because let's face it. We all evolve the older we get and that's especially true when it comes to the music industry. Artists need to evolve otherwise they can get left in the dust if they don't adapt to the climate change or try to set the new standard.
Does Hello do that? I'll let you listen and be the judge. Because I don't hear an artist setting the new standard. I hear Adele still doing what she did off of 21. Talking about how she was sorry for breaking this guy's heart. Adele, didn't you just do this song four years ago in Someone Like You? This doesn't sound like an artist going in a new direction. It’s the sound of someone understandably declining to fix something that wasn’t broken. Hello could have been on 21, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about its sound and its quality. It’s the kind of lovelorn epic ballad that made Adele one of the biggest stars in the world.
That being said, Adele's talent is on full display here as she has one of the best voices in the world and sells the hell out of this song. It's easy to see why she is one of the biggest stars in the world when even a song as middle of the road as this, can tug at your emotions as well as Adele does. Like I couldn't picture Sam Smith being able to make an emotional connection to this like Adele does. If anything, it's Adele being able to shower her raw power all over this that saves this for me. It shows how much better she is than the sea of soul pop singers we have in 2015.
Otherwise, this song is just a disappointment and is only ok in my eyes. Keep in mind that Adele chose this as her lead radio single for 25. This is the song she chose to make her listeners hyped for her new album this month. If you are giving your fan base more of the same from 21, then how is that an introduction to the new you? Maybe it's just me expecting more from Adele than just doing what she did previously and automatically getting a number one hit. But if you are expecting me to think 25 will be as groundbreaking as 21 was to the pop culture landscape, this single did not do it for me. It's just longing for me to find someone else to come breathe some fresh air into this stagnant landscape that is pop music.
Sorry for no Movie Talk this Wednesday. I had a health related problem that preoccupied my blog time as well as a few other things that I'd rather not get into. Hope you guys understand.
It's holiday box office time as this is the start of the end of the year box office boom. November and December are famous for having summer box office caliber opening weekends as multiple mega releases as well as Oscar caliber films. So after an incredibly rough October, this is just what the box office needs right now. Two huge films that have the potential to open over 50 million or more this weekend. Let's get it started.
Last Weekend's Recap:
It sucked.
The Martian, Goosebumps, and Bridge of Spies once again repeated the top three with 11, 10, and 8 million respectively. Congrats to all of them, but holy crap is the box office just in unbelievable bad shape right now. You want to know the only successful October releases this month? You're looking at them. Hotel Transylvania finished fourth with 6 million as it's also a winner this fall because nothing else wants to bother competing. Plus it shows Sandler still has a following. Now onto the rest of the not even worth talking about. The Last Witch Hunter collapsed but held better than the rest of the releases. It will probably end with 25-30 million domestic. Our highest new release Burnt finished sixth with 5 million. About one million less than I expected it to be. Called this flopping. Paranormal Activity fell hard to only 3 million and it probably won't make anymore than 17-18 million. Our Brand is Crisis finished in eighth and man this is officially the worst performing movie of Sandra Bullock's career. Worst opening ever with 3 million and this is a mega bomb if I've ever seen one. Crimson Peak also made 3 million and finished ninth. Not much left to say about this one's performance. And Steve Jobs finished tenth with 2 million. Yeah this one's Oscar hopes are nearly done except for Michael Fassbender.
Yeah not much else to say about this. Thank god for this weekend.
This Weekend:
Spectre
Bond is back. This is the follow up to the most successful performing James Bond movie ever in Skyfall and this is also Daniel Craig's last James Bond movie....maybe...is it...he keeps saying it is but then backtracks to confuse the hell out of me. I don't even know anymore. Anyway, Skyfall was a monster opening with 90 million and going on to gross 300 million domestic. That's nearly double the highest grossing James Bond movie prior. So no wonder they brought back nearly everyone involved with Skyfall to make Spectre except bring in Christoph Waltz as the new Bond villain (dream casting tbh) and Dave Batista as a villainous henchman (huge wrestling fan that makes me glad to see him get launched to the big time). However, despite all this, I don't think this will be as successful as Skyfall. Primarily because this looks darker than the other and also the reviews for this are not nearly as strong. Regardless, I still think this will be good enough to make 75 million or so. We'll wait and see.
Peanuts
Now this one, I'm a little unsure of. Don't get me wrong, I think this is still going to be big. Families need a new movie to see and Peanuts has over fifty years of property value. Also the reviews for this are great. However, some forecasters are unsure and think this won't be nearly as big as predicted...and I can kinda see it. The Peanuts films were never that large at the box office in the past and who knows how many kids are actually interested in seeing this. Of course me on the other hand, I completely disagree with those other forecasters. Peanuts has aged well to the point that I'm sure the youth are as excited to see this as much as the older demographic. Parents will want to take their kids to see Charlie Brown and friends and I'm certain this will be a great performer. However, I'm going to be safe and say 42 million opening weekend just because Disney knows how to market these movies better when it comes to this time frame and Fox doesn't. Fox could have marketed this to the point that I would feel more confident about a 50 plus opening weekend.
Everything else will be in a dogfight for relevancy. I think The Martian can still make 7 million this weekend, but everything else will be around 5 million or less. If you want my guess from greatest chance to still be profitable to least, well here ya go:
So here's a true story about me, I grew up in a country music household. Everyone in my family loves country music and I was a die hard country music fan back in the day. For a majority of the 1990s and the early 2000s, I had a wide assortment of country albums in my life. Heck, I still have Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Brooks and Dunn.....guys I can be here all night. I was that far into the country music scene. Now why am I confessing this? Because....what the hell is this shit they are calling country music?
I absolutely hate modern day country music. Not because it's terrible. It's because country music is far more capable of doing much better than what they are making popular. It's like they are throwing songs to the wall and trying to pray it sticks to the point that it crosses over to mainstream radio. Because of that this is what we have popular now:
Shameless rip offs of mega popular pop songs.
Country artists borrowing heavily from rap music.
Whatever the hell this atrocity is.
It's just awful. The bro country movement is just stupid. It feels like country music is embarrassed to be country music these days...but is bro country slowly dying out? I mean you still have plenty of bro country still on the radio right now, but I feel like it's not reflecting on the state of modern country music these days. You still have your Luke Bryan's and Florida Georgia Line's still selling out arenas and crossing over into mainstream, but their radio singles aren't charting as high as they were back when bro country was massive in 2013 and 2014. As I look over 2015 in country music, I think it's safe to say the two biggest hits from this genre were "Girl Crush" by Little Big Town and "Take Your Time" by Sam Hunt. While Girl Crush was huge due to being "controversial" with it's lyrical choices and because country radio is still a predominantly conservative genre, Take Your Time became popular due to radio inertia and it lasting long enough to find a pop radio audience. I mean who doesn't like a good ole song about picking up girls and....
....I'm sorry but what the actual fuck is this music video. It completely missed the point of the song in such a massive fashion that....sigh, I'm getting off track. Anyway, I think the popularity of Take Your Time is telling of how country music is these days. Hope a song has long enough radio inertia to crossover into the mainstream and become even more popular. I guess "taking our time" does mean something. It means waste our time long enough to be popular. Because let's face it, country music is recycling songs at a rapid rate to find that next huge song that will make the genre relevant in the mainstream.
This is not what country music. If country music wants to become as boring as a majority of the mainstream radio, it can go right ahead. But I know this genre is capable of far more because it's audience deserves better than what it's giving it. Because there are still great artists out there that know their roots and can get popular in their own merits. They don't have to try and be something the genre is not. It's more pathetic than anything else to see a genre sell itself out this blatantly just to get credibility amongst it's peers. Because otherwise, country music will just turn into a pop hybrid and that won't be good for anyone.
So yeah...how about that new number one hit Hotline...what are you telling me internet? You mean Drake does not have a number one hit? You mean despite all the publicity that music video got, it's not number one? You mean Drake's wish was not granted? Isn't there always next week? What? You mean Adele is pretty much a lock to be number one for pretty much the next month? Wow....talked about a failed opportunity. I don't know who's fault it was whether it be Birdman mismanaging Drake and not telling him that Apple Music streaming doesn't count towards the Billboard charts or whether it be not even releasing to YouTube fast enough, but Drake screwed up his chance at finally reaching number one. Terribly. Good luck on your future chances there Drake. Hope you see why Cash Money is a sinking ship management wise.
But despite his failing at politicking, Drake has had a pretty solid year so far. He has the only one million plus selling record of 2015 (so far), he's dominated the rap genre like few others have lately, and he's just on absolute fire. Sure he's reaching dangerous levels of over-releasing new music, but his quality....yeah the quality isn't nearly as strong as it's been in past years. Part of me does think that's due to trying to release way too much at once, but it's not like he's released anything too terrible. Sure he's guest spotted on some pretty wretched songs like Tuesday, but Drake's parts weren't that bad. Not his fault that the artists he collaborates with aren't up to his level right now.
That being said, easily his biggest hit of 2015 is without a doubt Hotline Bling. How in the hell can a song with a title that corny be one of Drake's biggest hits of his career, let alone of 2015. It may not be his best this year (his diss track to Meek Mill, "Back to Back" is fantastic), but it's easy to see why it's his most popular. When Drake gets his R&B on, the room for crossover appeal is limitless. So what is Drake swooning about this time? It's about...oh who am I kidding? What are all Drake R&B songs about? Wanting to hit up a late night booty call....or at least all they are about lately:
Hell it was just two years ago this was popular and while the production on this was great, Drake was at his most uninspiring here. Listening to him talk about how this girl is a good girl and she knows it just came off as incredibly insulting and telling her just hold on we're going home sounds like he is talking to a child instead of a sexual conquest. I got so sick of this quickly....but wait Bobby. You just said Drake is doing the same thing here and dealing with the same subject matter. Well yeah. You are right internet reader. Hell, he even reuses the "good girl" line here too. So does that mean I hate this? Actually no, I like this. I like this a lot more than I should. Because of one key reason.
Drake actually sounds like he cares about this. A lot.
Sure he sounds more monotone than usually in this and doesn't really sing as much as he does in past R&B crossover hits, but actually reading the lyrics for this tells a story. This girl used to call Drake on his cellphone and ever since Drake left Toronto, she's been seeing other guys and Drake actually sounds like he cares about this girl....a lot. I actually took the time to read about the inspiration behind this song and it's about a former girl he use to have an on again, off again relationship with for many years. As a guy who has had his fair share of relationships crumble and wonder how someone he use to have deep feelings for is whenever he sees pictures of her online, I can't help but wonder myself and reminisce. Sure I may not get that...."hotline bling"...god I feel stupid even saying that...but I can totally respect where Drake is coming from. I understand completely. I don't see how this is "trolling" like internet critics I follow say it is. Maybe I'm oblivious, but the fact that Drake actually put effort into this song compared to the one above makes me appreciate this a lot.
Also while I know everyone is not a fan of the production, I dig it. It samples Timmy Thomas's Why Can't We Live Together" and mixes in the Cha-Cha to just create an addicting earworm that as soon as I hear it, it gnaws away like an ear piranha that I can't get it out of my head....and now my mind thanks to the music video. It matches the tone of this song perfectly and it's the rare instance that Drakes does have the production work that matches his music. Btw for the record, as fun as it is to mock the music video and as much as I enjoy all the parodies of it, I like it for the fact that it's memorable. Something that I appreciate from my music videos.
But it's not all positive here. I have to admit the bridge is pretty weak.
Doing things I taught you, gettin' nasty for someone else You don't need no one else You don't need nobody else, no Why you never alone Why you always touching road Used to always stay at home, be a good girl You was in the zone, yeah
Drake you made it clear that you have had other flings too. Of course she's going to get some from other people. She's only human and has the same sexual cravings you do. What she does in her down time is absolutely none of your business no matter how much you wish she doesn't. Also, just in general, even though I like this, Drake has done this sort of song much better four years ago when Drake's quality had more effort put into it.
So yeah, despite the minor nitpick here and there, I actually am willing to stick up for this. It's a good song, even if it's Drake's B game. His B game is better than his competitors to be honest because Drake actually has a personality. It's a shame that this won't hit number one for the forseeable future, if not at all. That shouldn't reflect that this is actual quality which is all I ask for from Aubrey. Look at it this way though, at least the Drake solo song that got big this year was a good one. It could have been worse folks.
