Irrelevant But Awesome

Joel:  Later this month, we will see the release of Tomb Raider, a movie that’s aims to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise, loosely based on the video game that rebooted the Tomb Raider franchise back in 2013. This is the latest attempt by Hollywood to make the first good video game movie. Now, you personally might have enjoyed one of the movies based on video games that have come out in the past, I personally have enjoyed quite a few of them, but most people will agree that most of the movies based on video games have been bad. And so far there hasn’t been a single one that has been universally acclaimed. Super Mario Bros., the first movie based on a video game, came out in 1993. Since then there have been over thirty theatrically released movies based on video games with none of them scoring higher than a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. But still Hollywood pushes forward, with two more scheduled to come out this year. (The aforementioned Tomb Raider and Rampage) So it’s time to take ...

10. Pacific Rim Uprising Pacific Rim is on may people’s top ten list of 2013 movies, and deservedly so. A big budget, sci-fi action, monster movie based on a completely original idea, it felt like a miracle that Pacific Rim was made at all, not to mention how good it turned out. Unfortunately despite glowing reviews, Pacific Rim woefully under performed at the Box Office losing to Grown Ups 2 in its first weekend. It’s thanks to the movies success in other markets, most notably China, that we’re getting this sequel, but after watching the box office return of the first movie, the fact that we’re getting a sequel seems like just as much of a miracle as the first movie existing at all. With Kong: Skull Island out last year and a Godzilla sequel coming out next year, monster movies are coming back in a big way and it’s good to see some good original ideas getting made alongside the nostalgia acts. 9. Paddington 2 Already released in the UK back in November, Paddington 2 is one of the...

We live in interesting times. Justice League grossed 96 million dollars in its opening weekend, yet all of the box office analysis of this past weekend are talking about it like Justice League is a disaster financially. How can this be? In what world can 96 million dollars be considered a flop. Sure maybe it performed below expectations or desires, but a disaster? A flop? How is that possible? So, it’s worth it to take a little bit of time and break down the box office results of Justice League this past weekend, to see exactly where it sits. (Note: nothing in this article is meant to be a review or commentary on the actual quality of the movie itself. Just a look at the business side of the movie) First of all, we need to take a look at the budget of Justice League . Justice League reportedly had an estimated budget of $300 million. And keep in mind that this is just the production cost. If you want to include the advertising budget, distribution cost, etc., traditional rul...

This past week, our Netflix movie of the week was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves from 1991. While we had some differing opinions about the quality of the film itself, one thing that’s stuck with me is how much it’s a product of its time. Robin Hood, it seems, is a story that gets adapted again and again throughout the years, often molding itself to the filmmaking and storytelling styles that are popular at the time. For example, the most recent Robin Hood movie was the Russell Crowe movie Robin Hood from 2010, which was more or less a gritty reboot of the character at a time that gritty reboots are all the rage. But that’s the last time the Robin Hood story has been adapted for theaters. Thinking it might be time for Hollywood to take a look Robin Hood again, I wanted to see if any studios were working on trying again on making a Robin Hood movie. It turns out that everybody is planning on doing something Robin Hood related. At least seven different “Robin Hood” projects are...

March 3rd Logan : Hugh Jackman’s final performance as Wolverine is here. Encouraged by the success of Deadpool last year, 20th Century Fox is allowing this to be a rated R superhero movie, which means we might get some of the more violent bits of the Wolverine story that have been absent from the PG-13 X-Men movies up until this point. The trailers at the very least, have given the movie quite a different feel that earlier Wolverine movies. Slower and more grounded, the trailers make this movie look more like a tone poem than an action flick. Thought I’m sure there will still be plenty of action here. The movie’s going to be rated R for a reason. March 10th Kong: Skull Island : This more you think about this movie the stranger it is that it even exists. It’s a King Kong movie, but not a remake of the classic story, but one that instead focuses entirely on the time on the island. But it’s also set in the same universe as the 2014 Godzilla so that we can have a King Kong vs. Go...

First and foremost this month, we need to address that December is usually full of movies that are trying to win an Oscar, which means that while there technical release date falls somewhere in December, it’s usually a limited release date with the wide release happening sometime early in the next year. So while we will be categorizing this by release date, it’s very possible that some of the following movies will not be available in your local theater until early in 2017. That being said, let’s jump into the lineup for December. December 2nd: Jackie: Natalie Portman Plays First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the days following the Assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. It’s not really a biopic as it only focuses on that one brief moment in her life, but it looks to be a powerful film that addresses a lot of things most people didn’t even consider about those days. In addition to grieving for her husband, Jackie Kennedy had to console her children, prepare to leave her home (sinc...