This week: the box office is one part peculiar, one part explosions, and one part dumb criminals.
BOX OFFICE WINNERS AND LOSERS
We’re starting to see some changes at the box office, and it’s because we have some solid films (that have garnered FAR more interest than the August fare) that are now out for your entertainment. The Magnificent Seven was quite good, and had a great opening weekend – earning $35-million domestically in the opening weekend, but slowing down significantly heading into Friday. It’s about to surpass the $45-million mark. While the movie has a great cast (we’re talking Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke), it didn’t really ‘wow’ me as much as I thought it would; you can read why here. With that, Sully has dropped to number two, but it’s still doing alright. This is one of two wide releases for Hanks this year; he also starred in A Hologram for the King, which is his lowest-grossing feature film (his now second-lowest feature film was released in 1986). At number three, it’s WB’s Storks, which includes the voice talents of Jennifer Aniston and Andy Samberg. Bridget Jones’s Baby is number four, while Snowden is number five.
OUT IN THEATRES
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Based on the best-selling young adult novels by Ransom Riggs, the film stars Dame Judi Dench and Eva Green. It is directed by Tim Burton, who, some would argue is going through a bizarre slump. What’s more, this film has been bashed for not having a diverse cast. In an interview with Bustle, he gave a weird answer, which, if I could paraphrase, I guess he was saying it was “normal” to have this kind of cast for this kind of film? I don’t know, it’s incredibly…peculiar. (See what I did there? Huh? Huh?!)
But let’s talk about the plot: young Jacob Portman (Asa Butterfield) is trying to find some purpose after a family tragedy, and that journey takes him to another reality. It’s where “peculiar” people find sanctuary – for instance, invisible children, a girl with an extra mouth on the back of her head – even a woman who can turn into a bird. When they come under attack, Jacob finds out he may play a part in saving their lives. I had a chance to watch the film, and you can read my review of it here.
Deepwater Horizon
Similar to The Magnificent Seven, we’ve got a great cast for this film: Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell. This film is a retelling of the real-life Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill that happened in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. As was the case with Sully, some of us know what happened here, but the telling of the story in this film is said to be quite good. Take a look at the trailer below!
Masterminds
Zach Galifianakis leads a pack of funny people in this film – including Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Kristen Wiig (you may remember them from the recent Ghostbusters film). The bad news is, this long-suffering film (it’s been cast, re-cast, moved to other dates, and so on…you get the idea) is apparently very “been there, done that.” I’m not interested in this at all; nor are most critics.
OUT ON BLURAY, DVD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD:
Earlier this week we had The Neon Demon with Elle Fanning, a horror/thriller vehicle, as well as Warcraft, based on the very popular online/PC game. You can also pick up The Shallows, which sees Blake Lively go up against a shark. I didn’t like it very much, but other critics enjoyed it. You can also pick up Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, starring Zac Efron.
Next week, if you’re feeling, erm…political, you can get The Purge: Election Year. Or, you can go the music route and pick up three re-releases of Prince’s feature films: Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon, and Graffiti Bridge.
This week, instead of trailers, I talked to a high school student and a 101-year-old Vancouver man who worked on a short film together. Their goal is to stop ageism, and crush the stereotypes about young people interacting with older people. You’ll hear a touch of the interview below in the segment. Stories will run on CKNW this Sunday morning, and you’ll be able to hear their story on Close Encounters of the Film Kind.
And, speaking of that….
Close Encounters of the Film Kind is my podcast that takes some of the fun nuggets we talk about – briefly – during The Reel Report. During Close Encounters, we’ll explore some of the stories at the box office – and even beyond! You can find more information about the podcast here.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE BELOW!
The Reel Report: Magnificent 7 Stays Magnificent https://t.co/JIQdxC6jpd
— Ria Renouf (@RiaCKNW980) September 30, 2016
Renouf Writes 
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