The Movie I’m Rooting Like Hell For: Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15th)
Certainly I got to see the film first, but all indications are that this will be a damn good movie. The Mad Max franchise certainly has its followers, but its success was long ago. A lot of time has passed, and I’m not sure this is going to resonate with a lot of people in 2015. It shouldn’t flop, but for it to make meaningful box office to garner the already planned sequels, it’s going to have to get extremely good word of mouth, which is definitely possible. Opening two weeks after the Avengers is a little dicey, but hopefully there will be enough separation.
The Surprise Hit of the Summer Could be…Pixels (July 24th)
This is a real head scratcher. The concept is absolutely brilliant, and filled with box office potential. The problem is the team in place (Team Adam Sandler). Are they the right team for this? Possibly. I wrote in my Top 10 Most Anticipated 2015 Movies article that if given the right material, Adam Sandler can deliver the goods. I still believe that. Unfortunately, we still got Kevin James running around in a key role, but Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, and Michelle Monaghan ain’t too shabby. After watching the first trailer, this could go either way. I love the video game visuals. I’m sure people would much prefer a Joss Whedon or Edgar Wright type helming this, but then it becomes witticism and pop culture overload. There’s certainly potential for the other side of the spectrum though with Adam Sandler involved. I’m really hoping Sandler and writer Tim Herlihy can reach back into their glory days and pull off something hilarious. If this gets the buzz, there could be some big bucks. It’s the biggest wild card of the summer.
The Movie That Haunts My Dreams Award: Trainwreck (July 17th)
This boiled down to three candidates. Yeah, yeah, I considered Spy, the new Melissa McCarthy comedy. It certainly looks awful, but I’ve seen worse, and Melissa McCarthy even had a few funny lines in the trailer. A close second was Masterminds, the new Zack Galifianakis comedy from director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite). If you ever want to get me riled up, just mention how you think Napoleon Dynamite is one of the greatest comedies ever made. Masterminds looks like Jared Hess’ typical brand of crap. But when I saw the trailer for Trainwreck, there was only one winner. Wow. This trailer had me shaking in fear. Whenever I hear the name Judd Apatow, a shiver goes down my spine. Not a fan. His characters are usually unlikable and gloriously unfunny. This stars Amy Schumer, who I suppose has her fans, but even in a two minute plus trailer, she comes across as one of the most obnoxious characters on film this year. She’s like Kristen Wiig’s character in Bridesmaids on steroids. You got to be kidding me with this. Throw Bill Hader (ugh) into the mix, Lebron James acting, and I think we have a film that appropriately earns the title “Haunts my Dreams.”
The “Battleship” Memorial Flop of the Summer Award: Terminator Genisys (July 1st)
Last year I predicted Jupiter Ascending, but got screwed over because it got delayed. The film being delayed proved my point though, so whatever. Time to move on. I was all set to write in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and call it a day, but after ruminating a bit more, Terminator: Genisys sadly seems inevitable. This one hurts. The first two Terminator films are obviously classics, brilliant, yadda, yadda, yadda. I actually think the third film is an admirable effort, and Terminator Salvation wasn’t completely awful, so there hasn’t been a Terminator film I’ve disliked yet. I was really excited about this movie until the trailer happened. Everything I’ve seen so far looks absolutely horrible. The acting is bland as hell, in particular Jason Clarke, who plays the crucial role of John Connor. The director (Alan Taylor) isn’t exactly a guy I have a lot of faith in either (Thor: The Dark World, anyone?). My expectations have been drastically adjusted, but aside from my personal feelings, it just seems like nobody gives a damn about this new Terminator movie. Even an aging Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t save it. The last movie barely broke $125 Million, and I fear this will be even worse. I’m not even sure it will open #1 for its weekend going up against Magic Mike XXL. If that happens get ready for negative articles galore. Yikes. For this to have any chance whatsoever at being a box office hit, the early reviews are going to have to be downright incredible, and I just don’t see that happening. I know they claim to have planned sequels, but if you’re a diehard Terminator fan like me, this might be the eulogy for this franchise, so soak it in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGSxss7gWak
[php] wp_link_pages(array(‘before’=>’
‘)); [/php]
============================================================================================================================================
