In Theaters: May 2nd, 2014

Spidey really is all alone in his next outing, because he's the only wide release this weekend!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Let the Summer begin!  Summer is blockbuster season.  That means non-stop big movies opening from the first weekend of May to about the second weekend of August.  But Non-Stop actually came out in February this year.  If that last sentence is confusing just ignore it and read on.

The Amazing Spider-Man came out ten years after Spider-Man.  Now, ten years after Spider-Man 2 (can you believe that?), we get The Amazing Spider-Man 2!

Director Marc Webb (yes his last name is actually Webb and he actually directs Spider-Man movies) is known for almost nothing except the first Amazing Spider-Man and (500) Days of Summer.  Personally I think he's the right man for the job.

The writing team includes a slight cause for alarm.  Now legendary writing team Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci were brought on for the sequel, joining two other writers.  Kurtzman and Orci have written about half of everything you've watched since 2007.  Yes, they wrote Star Trek.  But they also wrote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  It's hard to say what will happen with these two.  But it could be great.

Early reviews seem to hint that Mr. Webb and his talented cast ultimately save an overcrowded story.  I just don't want a rehash of that double team nonsense from the end of Spider-Man 3 back in 2007.  As much as I don't want that the fact remains there are at least three villains in this movie.

I hope it's good.

      The one.  The only.  Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 25th, 2014

Three wide releases this weekend.

Brick Mansions

Brick Mansions is about two policemen that stage an operation to infiltrate some dangerous crime organization.  One of the policemen is Paul Walker and his dad was killed by the boss of this particular group of criminals.  Also, these two policemen seem to have had some serious ninja training.  They jump around a lot and do flips and stuff in the trailer.

The important name attached to this film is the producer Luc Besson.  He is the man when it comes to action movies.  Every movie he touches has a distinct action feel to it.  The director is Camille Delamarre and she is a newcomer.  She's mostly been involved in the editing department of other Luc Besson productions.  But if Luc Besson hired her she's probably fairly good for action.

In terms of pure sentimentality - Paul Walker is in this movie.  I think that will have a minor drawing effect.

Good or bad this movie will be in-your-face action to the max.

The Other Woman

The basic premise here is that three women discover they are all dating (one is actually married to) the same man (John Tucker Must Die, anyone?).  From there they decide to make him pay.

The director, Nick Cassavetes, has a filmography that is all over the place.  He actually directed The Notebook ten years ago.  And now he's doing a comedy about destroying relationships.  Hmm.  It gets weirder.  Between then and now he also did a hardcore gangster crime drama and a sappy family drama/tearjerker.

The Other Woman comes from first time writer Melissa Stack.

Side note: this movie originally received an R rating but that was appealed.  Evidently they were successful because now it's PG-13.  I'm not clear on what that means for content.  It could be the same content that was originally deemed R.  If you're like me this information can be useful.

The Quiet Ones

The Quiet Ones comes to us from relatively new horror director/veteran horror writer John Pogue.  It is found footage horror at least partially.  The story centers around some college students in the 1970's performing unorthodox experiments to treat patients with - I believe - mental illnesses.  Anyway it all goes horribly wrong I'm sure.  And it's all very scary of course.

I just don't like horror movies.  It's so rare that a horror movie will go for tension or psychological horror over cheap bumps in the night.

As stated on the poster this is from at least one producer of The Woman In Black, which I thought was a cut above most horror movies of today.  So that's something.  Who knows?  Maybe this one will stick.

      The one.  The only.  Big Shot Critic

Why Spider-Man Will Never Be An Avenger

The world of Marvel is a bit crowded on the silver screen.  Guardians of the Galaxy later this year marks a massive thirty-three live action films produced and released in theaters based on Marvel characters since the year 2000.  Comparatively, the total number of live action films produced and released in theaters based on DC characters in the same time frame is nine.  Through 2018 there are ten more Marvel based movies with scheduled release dates.  There is only one DC based movie scheduled for release in that time frame.

How is this possible?  In the comic book world these two are giants.  How is one totally dominating the other on film?

The answer is simple.  All DC releases these days come to you exclusively through one studio.  Warner Bros.  The Marvel universe is divided among THREE studios.  Sony, Fox, and the in-house Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney.  Let me break this down for you.

In the years leading up to the release of X-Men in 2000, Marvel was a comic book company and Disney did not yet own them.  They didn't have the resources to produce their own films so they aggressively licensed their characters and properties to larger studios.  Fox got X-Men, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four (and all associated characters of each).  Sony got Spider-Man (and all associated characters).  Universal got Hulk.

Under these licenses the studios were only allowed to sit on these properties for a set amount of time.  In other words every minute a movie wasn't produced was a minute closer to the rights reverting back to Marvel.  This was essentially a non-issue at the time, since Marvel had no in-house production capability.  Losing your license just meant wasted money.

Then Marvel Studios began producing their own films and before you know it Iron Man is a runaway success.  Disney notices, says, "Hmm."  And buys Marvel.  With Marvel now armed with full capability of production, and backed by the resources of Disney, and superhero movies becoming very profitable - Sony and Fox had to hold on to their licenses for dear life.

Since then Hulk and Daredevil have reverted back to Marvel.  The Fantastic Four were almost out the door and on their way back to Marvel when Fox hired a writer with literally days to spare.  They will show up again next year.

The main takeaway here is that these studios don't play all that well with each other.  They compete directly.  For example there are four Marvel based films this year.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4th), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (May 2nd), X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 23rd), and Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1st).  Note that the first three are all crowded in to a two month span but the fourth one is way out in August.  That is because the two that are farthest apart (Cap and Guardians) are both in-house Marvel films, and at that span there won't be any moviegoers making a choice between the two - thus they won't cannibalize each other's market share.  Maximum profits.  The other two are lookin' out for numero uno and that's it.

Why will Spider-Man never be an Avenger?  Because he's with Sony and they are with Marvel Studios.  Will it ever happen?  Maybe.  But remember when I said Sony and Fox are clinging to their licenses for dear life?  I can illustrate that point by answering another question.  Why was the Spider-Man franchise "rebooted" so quickly after Spider-Man 3?  You will remember there was a five year gap between Spider-Man 3 in 2007 and The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.  Would anyone care to venture a guess at the production time limit on that license?  That's right!  Five years.

"But seriously," you're asking, "will it ever happen?  Are crossovers possible?"  Not likely, but possible.  Let me tell you about a couple funny things that have happened as a result of this mess.

Not very long ago Bryan Singer (director of X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and this summer's X-Men: Days of Future Past) announced that Quicksilver has been cast in Days of Future Past.  To be played by Evan Peters.  Less than six months later it was revealed that Quicksilver would be in Avengers: Age of Ultron! (for the uninitiated that's the Avengers sequel due next May) Except in Age of Ultron Quicksilver would be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.  The same Marvel character played by two different actors in two different movies - from two different studios!  This made a lot of people go, "What!?"

Apparently both Fox and Marvel have claim on the character.  Fox's license on the X-Men includes Magneto (and, in fact, all mutants) and Quicksilver is Magneto's son so they have claim on him.  In the comics Quicksilver becomes an Avenger, so Marvel Studios has claim on him as well.

This is going to have A LOT of moviegoers confused in the next year or so.  And it doesn't stop there.  Something else funny has happened.

Evidently the end credits to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will feature a scene from X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Is it a tease at a team up??  No.  The director of the Amazing Spider-Man movies, Marc Webb, was under contract to return and direct a feature for Fox, but Sony wanted him to do The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  The compromise: Sony gets their director but Fox gets their movie promoted for free.  In the middle of the credits.  I'm not saying it was a good move for Fox or Sony, I'm just explaining how it happened.  They do talk to each other.  That's something.

I've been stalling.  Back to the point!  Will there ever be a crossover with Spider-Man, the X-Men, or the Avengers?  I say don't hold your breath.  Most likely not.  The box office prospects of such a crossover would be astronomical to say the least.  But the legal and logistical headache of where the profits go and how it all gets produced would be equally huge.  Maybe huge enough to prevent it entirely.  That's not even mentioning how each studio would undoubtedly want their favorite director at the helm.  I don't think it will happen.  That's the way it looks so far.  And that's why Spider-Man will never be an Avenger.

      The one.  The only.  Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 18th, 2014

There are a whopping FOUR wide releases this weekend.  All different enough to not cannibalize each other's market share.

Bears

This one is a documentary.  And it's about bears.  DisneyNature hasn't been around for very long, but I think this is their fourth or fifth movie.

I know very little about the documentary world except that it's usually boring and commonly full of emotional manipulation.  Nature documentaries, however, are less boring to me, and usually not as manipulative in my experience.  Until they talk about "climate change" and how humans are evil because we drown seagulls in crude oil or whatever.

This one here will probably be very straightforward.  The only potential issue I see here is a rise in bear-related incidents from kids seeing this movie and thinking they can cuddle with wild bears because "they're so cute."  That would be a problem.

A Haunted House 2

It may surprise some readers to know that there actually was another one of these movies.  My opinion at the time still stands.  It's good that somebody is making fun of found footage horror movies.  Because there are WAY too many of them and they take themselves WAY too seriously.

Unfortunately this movie seems to cater to a pretty narrow audience.  Fans of the Wayans brothers and people who never got sick of the Scary Movie franchise.

Heaven Is For Real (Wednesday Release)

Heaven Is For Real is based on a non-fiction book about a small boy who has a near death experience.  Afterwards he is able to report things he saw and people he met in Heaven.

The bad news is that movies like this (good ol' fashion Christian beliefs aren't Hollywood's typical M.O.) also stoop to emotional manipulation, just like other movies.  The main difference being that the people who make these kind of movies are less practiced at it so it's easier for the general public to catch.

The good news is that there are still movies like this getting wide release!  Who knows.  With Easter (and bad reviews for Transcendence) this might take the weekend!

Which leads us to Transcendence

Once upon a time there was a man named Wally Pfister.  He was the cinematographer on every Christopher Nolan movie (except Interstellar which was produced concurrently with Transcendence).  And one day he decided he would try his hand at directing a movie of his own.  This is where Transcendence comes from.  So you see it's much more accurate to say this is Wally Pfister's new movie than it is to say it's the new Johnny Depp movie.

This movie has been in the news for a long time now, mostly because it's Wally Pfister's first and everyone wants to know how it will do or what he has up his sleeve.  Or (worst case scenario) if he will have to go running back to Mr. Nolan for job security.

Time will tell.

Or has it already?  Early reviews are in and they are not favorable.

I don't know if I would like this movie or not.  For that reason I will most likely not see it in theaters, and for that reason I cannot recommend for or against it.

      The one.  The only.  Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: April 11th, 2014

There are three wide releases coming this weekend!  And it's a very special weekend.  Read on to find out why!

Draft Day

this is the 2nd time this year Kevin Costner has been on a movie poster, dressed up, tie loosened, squared up to the camera, filling the frame, object in right hand, with the word "day" in the title.  Coincidence?  Definitely.

I know very little about the NFL.  The trailer for this movie tries to be as informative as possible, and it does a very good job of it.  From the trailer I learn that it takes place in Cleveland, the title obviously refers to the day the NFL teams draft from the college teams, Kevin Costner's character is under a lot of pressure to do something amazing, and he ignores whatever conventional wisdom has been used before.  I am impressed because that is a lot of information to get across in two minutes.  It only leaves one question: why is this exciting?  Why is it worth making a movie over it?

Ivan Reitman is a director from the old world.  He had a lot of success in the late 80's and early 90's with movies like Ghostbusters, Dave, and Kindergarden Cop (and Ghostbusters 2).  After that, however, his resumé gets less consistent without any particular type of movie shining through.  But then Kevin Costner is an actor who peaked in that era too, isn't he?  And he's been able to remain quite valid.

The writers have done - well one of them is literally credited with nothing before this.  The other is credited with three television episodes for two different shows.

So we have two people that are very new to this field and two others who are riding the line between valid and has-been.  And they're making a movie about an old dog franchise manager bringing fresh faces into his team.

Is life imitating art or is art imitating life?

This is not a philosophy blog.

Oculus

If you read much of this blog you know I don't care for horror films much.  This looks like a strong candidate to be one of those movies that aims for a layered story but instead is just convoluted.

The writers and the director are the team responsible for the short film upon which this feature is based.  And as far as I can tell that is the only qualification they have.

Horror movies are a staple of film school weirdos.  I don't think anyone knows why.  And it's a fair bet this director simply emerged at the top of the weirdos and that is how he got produced.

I don't have much hope for this one.

Rio 2

I think this movie looks really dumb, but a lot of that has to do with my personal distaste for Jesse Eisenberg.  And Anne Hathaway.

Rio 2 is from the same director as Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Rio.  So if you liked the first one you'll like the second one.  But if you don't like Jesse Eisenberg (or Anne Hathaway) then you probably won't.

      The one.  The only.  Big Shot Critic

And the reason this weekend is special is because all these films come out on my birthday!  Woo-hoo!

In Theaters: April 4th, 2014

There is only one wide release this week.  But, oh boy, it's a big one!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The one we've all been waiting for!  Well, I've been waiting for it.  And anyway it's the first Marvel movie this year.  Early reviews are very good.

Captain America is directed by the Russo brothers this time around.  They mostly do television but seem to have had a deft transition to film here (their only prior film directing credit is You, Me, and Dupree).  The Russo brothers were an unusual choice, but Marvel has sort of made a business of that recently.  In fact they have started a trend of unexpected choices to helm large and important features.

The writers are a team that also wrote Thor: The Dark World.  And I have nothing interesting to say about them.

I don't even know what else to say about this movie.  I'm just excited for it.

I will tell you to expect a pretty big opening this weekend.  The Captain already drew a HUGE $75,000,000 from a few other markets last weekend.

If you love Marvel movies (and honestly, who doesn't at this point?) you'll love this one.

And, as usual with Marvel movies, stay after the credits!

The one.  The only.  Big Shot Critic