Best New Trailers (trailers in hyperlinks):
“In the Heart of the Sea,” starring Chris Hemsworth
“Unbroken” Trailer #2
“Foxcatcher,” starring Channing Tatum and Steve Carell
“Focus,” starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie
“Mr. Turner,” starring Timothy Spall
“Citizenfour,” an Edward Snowden documentary
Last weekend’s box office:
“Fury” easily took first place with a $23 million debut, overtaking “Gone Girl,” which has already passed $100 million worldwide.
“Birdman” earned one of the highest dollar-to-theater ratios of all time in its limited art house release to just four venues, earning $103,750 per theater. That is second this year to “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which earned $202,792 per theater in its limited release. This win at the box office secured more support for a Best Picture win for “Birdman” at the 2015 Oscars.
Major movies opening this week:
“John Wick,” starring Keanu Reeves. Amazing trailer here.
“Ouija,” by the incredibly talented and critically acclaimed Michael Bay.
“White Bird in a Blizzard,” starring Shailene Woodley and Eva Green.
“Tracks” and “Dear White People” at the Lyric Cinema Café.
Best Netflix movies I saw last week:
“The Cook, The Thief, The Wife & His Lover” — the third highest grossing NC-17 movie of all time, starring Helen Mirren and Micahel Gambon, a.k.a. Dumbledore. Prepare for an extremely weird, artsy, nsfw film.
“The Grandmaster” — a martial-arts film about the man who trained Bruce Lee, which received Oscar nods for costume design and cinematography. I’m a sucker for martial arts movies and this is one of the best-looking fight movies I’ve ever seen.
“Biutiful” — a multiple award-winning film from Mexico about the life of a man (Javier Bardem) who knows he is about to die of cancer, and tries to ensure better lives for his children. It is slow-paced and confusing at times, but “biutiful” nonetheless.
“Nymphomaniac,” Volumes I and II. If you can handle a three-and-a-half hour epic about explicit sexuality with what I think is a horrible ending, “Nymphomaniac” is a fantastically made and extremely weird film. Very, very, very nsfw.
Film Festival News:
The London Film Festival just closed, with the Russian film “Leviathan” and “Whiplash” taking home the top awards. The only major film festival left before the Oscars is Sundance.
Superhero Movie News:
Jason Mamoa has confirmed his role as Aquaman for DC’s “Justic League” film.
Marvel and DC have announced an extensive lineup of films to be released in the next few years, explained in this article.
David Ayer will be directing “The Suicide Squad,” a DC film about a league of super villains, much like Spongebob’s “Every Villain Is Lemons.”
Marvel’s “Captain America 3” is rumored to be Captain America v. Iron Man, a comic-book rivalry about Iron Man and Captain America’s disagreement about the registration of all super-powered beings on Earth.
Collegian A&E Film Beat Writer can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @MDSFilms.
