Water Bottle's Monthly Movie Guide

January 2017

 

February 5, 2016

 

The Choice (Adaption)

Genre: Romance

Movie Stars: None

Minor Stars: Teresa Palmer (Star Power: 0.87), Tom Wilkinson (0.46)

Director: Ross Katz (Director Power: 0.00)

Writers: Bryan Sipe (Writer Power: 0.00)

Important Producers: Peter Safran (Producer Power: 1.19)

 

Logline: Travis Parker falls in love with his brand new neighbor Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer).

 

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 11.44/27.51: A confusing marketing campaign (I saw a trailer and had no real idea what the movie was about) and the recent box office performance of Nicholas Sparks doesn't inspire much confidence. I believe the only people who will choose to see this movie are the Sparks die-hard fans.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 38%: Nicholas Sparks movies simply don't get good reviews. That seems to be a rule and there's nothing whatsoever to suggest that the Choice is going to break that mold to get a fresh from the site.

 

Hail, Caesar! (Original)

Genre: Comedy

Movie Stars: George Clooney (1.02), Ralph Fiennes (Star Power: 1.16), Jonah Hill (Star Power: 1.44), Scarlett Johannson (Star Power: 1.24), Channing Tatum (Star Power: 1.22)

Minor Stars: Josh Brolin (Star Power: 0.85), Frances McDormand (Star Power: 0.61), Tilda Swinton (Star Power: 0.47)

Director: The Coen Brothers (Director Power: 0.57)

Writers: Joel & Ethan Coen (Collective Writer Power: .50)

Important Producers: Joel & Ethan Coen (Producer Power: 0.55), Tim Bevan (Producer Power: 0.37), Eric Fellner (Producer Power: 0.41)

 

Logline: Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a Hollywood fixer who has to collect $100,000 to rescue movie star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) after a kidnapping.

 

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 36.33/96.84: This is a very difficult movie to predict since there is a lot of star power and the Coen brothers do have a fanbase BUT it is a comedy that in it's second weekend will face not one, not two, but three different comedies. This will mean it's second weekend drop will be harsher than normal and I believe that will stop the moving from hitting the $100 million mark.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 66%: The Coen Brothers are great directors who have made some might fine films but they aren't perfect and this movie got stuck in February for a reason. I imagine this means the movie is good but it's not great.

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Adaptation)

Genre: Horror Comedy

Movie Stars: None

Minor Stars: Lena Headey (Star Power: 0.55)

Director: Burr Steers (Director Power: 0.63)

Writers: Burr Steers (Writer Power: 0.94)

Important Producers: Natalie Portman (Producer Power: 0.49)

 

Logline: Elizabeth Bannet and Mr. Darcy must fight off zombies as they discover their romantic feelings toward each other.

 

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 7.96/17.03: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter opened to $16 million and made a total of $37 million in June. This suggest there's a limited audience for this kind of movie. There's plenty of other comedies coming out this month so this movie suffers a lot of competition. I don't see this doing well at all.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 49%: Reviews have started to come in and I have a feeling it's going to stay negative. If it's lucky it'll stay within the 50% range: one that suggests the movie is mediocre instead of bad. This has to be better than the Nicholas Sparks movie, right?

 

February 12, 2016

 

Deadpool (Franchise)

Genre: Superhero Action Comedy

Movie Stars: None

Minor Stars: Ryan Reynolds (Star Power: 0.92)

Director: Tim Miller (Director Power: 0.00)

Writers: Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese (Collective Writer Power: 1.50)

Important Producers: Simon Kinberg (Producer Power: 2.53) and Lauren Schuler Donner (Producer Power: 1.47)

 

Logline: Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a mercenary who is left with superpowers after an experiment. He hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

 

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 57.86/158.47: The X-Men franchise is pretty popular and while Deadpool could have benefitted from more high-profile X-men characters, there's no reason to believe this movie won't do well. A strong marketing campaign definably sets Deadpool apart even if it's R rating will limit it to adults, teenagers and apathetic parents.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 41%: Ryan Reynolds so far appears to be cursed to appear in only badly recieved superhero movies (remember Green Lantern? X-Men Origins: Wolverine?) and the humor frankly seems juvenile. That might make it true to the comic but that doesn't mean it will make it a good movie.

 

How to be Single (Adaptation)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Movie Stars: Leslie Mann (Star Power: 1.18), Rebel Wilson (1.68)

Minor Stars: None

Director: Christian Dittier (Director Power: 0.00)

Writers: Dana Fox, Abby Kohn, and Marc Silverstein (Collective Writer Power: 3.31)

Important Producers: None

 

Logline: Sex and the City but with Rebel Wilson and Leslie Mann?

 

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 52.35/176.79: While Deadpool is appealing to men, How to be Single will take the women. Rebel Wilson will add yet another hit to her resume and introduce Alison Brie to a larger movie-going audience. I feel like this is a good counter-programing move to the male-oriented comedies.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 40%: It's February, the director isn't promising, and Dana Fox has a habit of writing hits that are poorly received. This is all to suggest that How to be Single will not be a well received movie.

 

Zoolander 2 (Franchise)

Genre: Comedy

Movie Stars: Ben Stiller (Star Power: 1.46), Owen Wilson (Star Power: 1.39), Will Ferrell (Star Power: 1.42), Kristen Wiig (Star Power: 1.01)

Minor Stars: Penelope Cruz (Star Power: 0.52)

Director: Ben Stiller (Director Power: 0.95)

Writers: John Hamburg, Ben Stiller, Nick Stoller, and Justin Theroux (Collective Writer Power: .57)

Important Producers: Ben Stiller (Producer Power: 0.95), Scott Rudin (Producer Power: .69), Clayton Townsend (Producer Power: 0.98)

 

Logline: Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) re-unites with Interpol to take down an assassin of famous musical celebrities.

 

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 26.13/97.40: You know what's in right? Superhero movies. It's facing Deadpool and that's going to hurt Zoolander 2-especially since the first movie was only a modest hit in theaters. Will Ferrell has only gotten more famous since the first movie and the first movie remains popular so it should still increase from the first movie's adjusted gross.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 55%: The first movie had a good, if not spectacular, reception. It's hard to make a satisfying comedy sequel: it's almost impossible to do that when more than ten years have passed. It does have a talented team and Ben Stiller is a good directo so expect a mild reaction to this.

 

February 19, 2016

 

Race (Original)

Genre: Biographical Sports Drama

Movie Stars: Jason Sudeikis (Star Power: 1.30)

Minor Stars: None

Director: Stephen Hopkins (Director Power: 0.00)

Writers: Joe Sharpnel & Anna Waterhouse (Collective Writer Power: 0.00)

Important Producers: None

 

Logline: Jesse Owens overcomes racism as he competes at the 1936 Berlin Games.

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 11.28/31.07: This should do well for a sports movie as it has Americans beating Hitler at the Berlin Games while being an inspirational story about a black man who struggled with the times he lived in by excelling. It's a great American story.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 33%: The writers and the director give me pause behind-the-scenes as well as the lack of a strong producer. A February release suggests that Focus Features doesn't have a lot of confidence in the final product.

 

Risen (Adaptation)

Genre: Epic Historical Drama

Movie Stars: None

Minor Stars: None

Director: Kevin Reynolds (Director Power: 0.94)

Writers: Kevin Reynolds & Paul Aiello (Collective Writer Power: 0.14)

Important Producers: Patrick Aiello (Producer Power: 0.24)

 

Logline: Clavius must investigate the mad claim of a risen Jewish messiah while having to squash an uprising in Jerusalem.

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 11.07/39.99: Christian movies have done well recently and a story that concentrates on Jesus' resurrection should play well with that crowd for a decent box office gross. Alas, this spiritual sequel isn't an actual sequel to the Passion of the Christ otherwise this could do a lot better.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 43%: Alas, Christian audiences don't exactly hold these kind of movies to high standards. With Easter a month away from the release of this movie (being the exact right time to release this movie) suggests to me Colombia Pictures doesn't have confidence in this movie.

 

The Witch (Original)

Genre: Horror

Movie Stars: None

Minor Stars: None

Director: Robert Eggers (Director Power: 0.00)

Writers: Robert Eggers (Writer Power: 0.00)

Important Producers: None

 

Logline: A Puritan family living alone at the edge of New England fear their daughter is a witch as they suffer an attack from an unknown evil.

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 0.27/12.50: This movie will likely have a limited release before it expands. The movie should more than recoup it's $1 million budget as it builds up word of mouth.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 91%: It got a great reception already at Sundance and the marketing looks amazing. I'll be shocked if this movie turns out to have a mixed or negative critical reception. More exciting is this points to a strong directing career for Robert Eggers.

 

February 26, 2016

 

Eddie the Eagle (Original)

Genre: Comedy Sports Drama

Movie Stars: Hugh Jackman (Star Power: 1.75)

Minor Stars: Taron Egerton (Star Power: 0.90), Christopher Walken (Star Power: 0.56)

Director: Dexter Fletcher (Director Power: 0.00)

Writers: Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton (Collective Writer Power: 0.00)

Important Producers: Matthew Vaughn (Producer Power: 0.49)

 

Logline: A totally nonathletic guy makes it his life mission to represent the UK in Olympic ski jumping because why not?

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 12.75/45.59: It's hard to imagine Americans being interested in this specific story nor has the marketing for this movie been impressive or even noticeable. I'm not sure there's a lot of awareness in this movie which will lead to a soft opening. Some word of mouth might give it good legs.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 35%: Brand new writers and a February release makes me skeptical that this movie is that funny. Even though early reviews are promising, this doesn't just strike me as one that's going to end with a positive rotten tomatoes score.

 

Gods of Egypt (Original)

Genre: Fantasy

Movie Stars: Brenton Thwaites (Star Power: 1.47), Gerard Butler (Star Power: 1.15)

Minor Stars: Chadwick Boseman (Star Power: 0.87), Geoffrey Rush (Star Power: 0.85)

Director: Alex Proyas (Director Power: 1.00)

Writers: Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Collective Writer Power: 2.96)

Important Producers: None

 

Logline: Bek (Brenton Thwaites) unites with Horus to stop Set (Gerard Butler) from ruling the Egyptian empire.

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 42.96/121.00: I'm not sure that this is going to start a new franchise but I do feel like Gods of Egypt could become a low-end blockbuster hit. I don't feel like general audiences care about the whitewashing and this does have a lot of action plus people do like mythology. In an era where Marvel has turned Thor into a franchise, this could be a sign that there is an audience for this.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 50%: The movie itself might not be that good-and I feel like critics are really going to punish this movie for whitewashing even though this is a systemic problem not a movie problem. This isn't to say this movie would get a positive reaction if it wasn't for the whitewashing just that critics would be even harsher on the movie that they would already be.

 

Triple 9 (Original)

Genre: Crime Thriller

Movie Stars: None

Minor Stars: Casey Affleck (Star Power: 0.71), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Star Power: 0.83), Anthony Mackie (Star Power: 0.96), Woody Harrelson (Star Power: 0.94), Kate Winslet (Star Power: 0.86)

Director: John Hillcoat (Director Power: 0.21)

Writers: Matt Cook (Star Power: 0.00)

Important Producers: John Hillcoat (Producer Power: 1.95)

 

Logline: A group of corrupt cops must kill a cop (Casey Affleck) to distract the police while a group of criminals pull off an impossible heist.

 

WB's Box Office Prediction: 13.59/48.61: I don't feel like marketing has been that strong in this movie plus it's premise is a complicated sell. This feels like a movie that will fall under the cracks of the audience's attention.

WB's Rotten Tomatoes Prediction: 50%: A February release probably means this former Blacklist script didn't translate to a good movie. It doesn't help that I haven't really heard anything about this movie. It does help that Hillcoat does make well received movies so Triple 9 probably isn't a bad movie: just a difficult one to market when it will only get a mixed reaction.

 

 

Major February Films:

Original Films: 6 (50.00%)

Adaption: 4 (33.33%)

Franchise: 2 (16.67%)

Total Films: 12 Films

 

Major 2016 Films:

Original Films: 12 (52.17%)

Adaption: 7 (30.43%)

Franchise: 4 (17.39%)

Total Films: 23 Films