Every now and then there is a time in theatres when there is only one wide release scheduled. It usually signifies a stand out performance is expected and there is little that wants to go up against it. It isn't necessarily the case with all blockbusters, as sometimes counter programming offers options for those that don't want to watch the latest Star Wars. This weekend is one where there is nothing else in sight other than fast cars and tuned up bodies.
Two years ago, around the same time of year (give or take a week earlier) Furious 7 burst into movie theatres across the continent and set forth the largest April opening weekend on record with $147 million. It also sits in fifth place for the highest world wide opening weekends of all time with $397 million. Furious 7 was a movie that turned a lot of heads and got a lot of people to flood the theatres, and Universal is looking to repeat that with this year's offering.
However, I don't think that it is going to perform as well as the previous attempt. There was something going for Furious 7 that the latest instalment does not have, and that is the death of Paul Walker. His passing gave new light to the movie, and inspired an ending to it that was a farewell to the deceased actor. That boosted interest in the movie is now gone, and it is going to come down to general marketing and audience interest to get the wheels spinning on this one.
There have been a few additions to the cast to add to the already beefed up star power, but I don't see Helen Mirren as a talent that fans of the franchise know too much about. They could be excited to see Charlize Theron playing the villain, which is something that positive reviews of the film point out as being a quality performance.
Even with the bigger cast, it is often extremely difficult to maintain excitement and buzz for a franchise. It is incredibly difficult to see box office numbers get bigger as a franchise goes along, and I can't see this being the case for the Furious films two outings in a row. I expect that it will see a decent sized drop this weekend compared to the 2015 instalment, but it will by no means be a failure. Universal is still going to see a lot of money come from this film, just not as much as perhaps they are hoping for.
The Fate of the Furious Opening Weekend Prediction: $125 million
That's about it for this weekend. The other thing that will be interesting to see is if Beauty and the Beast will end up on top of The Boss Baby this weekend. At this stage of their releases, I think that anything's possible, but I will be surprised if Beauty and the Beast manages to overcome The Boss Baby. Out of the two films, it is the one that stands to lose the most audience members to The Fate of the Furious, with The Boss Baby having a younger demographic to lean into that won't be seeing this month's hottest movie. I could be wrong, though. It has happened once or twice before.
Showing posts with label Helen Mirren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helen Mirren. Show all posts
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Monday, August 11, 2014
The Hundred Foot Journey
As a fan of both viewing and devouring wonderful food, 2014 has provided two attempts to satiate my desires with Jon Favreau’s Chef a few months ago, and now The Hundred Foot Journey. Wondrous times, these are. After first glance of the trailer for The Hundred Foot Journey it became a most anticipated film to watch, one which promised the glory of cooking passion as well as interesting character stories.
The tale is about a family from India, close knit and bonded around a heritage of cooking, who lose their restaurant and suffer family loss which prompts them to bring their flavour to Europe. Settling in a picturesque town in France, they open a new venture directly across the street from a Michelin Star winning restaurant owned by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). Mallory is the definition of staunch refinement, a purest in all that is classic about classical dining, and she sees the new-comers as tacky and the opposite of everything her restaurant stands for.
The film primarily revolves around Hassan (Manish Dayal), who learned the passion of cooking from his deceased mother, and who struggles with his own ambitions for greater recognition. This is more of an assumption that I am making based off of how the story unfolds, because we do not really get a tactile understanding of this portion of his character throughout the film. There is an insertion of expository items to inform us, but never the actual experience of feeling it. It is this issue that is mirrored in many other aspects of the film, as dramatic elements unfold before our eyes, but not completely resonating in the heart.
Throughout this movie, which does excel with charming and heartwarming snippets, both circumstances of tension and drama never quite feel as though they have been allowed to arrive organically. Because of this, there is a disjointed nature to the rhythm of the film as the tone shifts left and right without the benefit of properly integrated transitions. This is most likely the reason why I was convinced when the credits rolled that the film had been two and a half hours, only to have IMDB blow my mind, insisting to me that it was a mere two hours. Oddly enough, I believe that if the film was twenty minutes longer, focusing on allowing the dramatic elements to breath deeper it would have actually felt shorter than it was.
This is not to say that it was any kind of horrific film. The cast involved holds a level of talent that elevated a great number of the scenes and was able to nail the charm when needed. The father of the family (Om Puri) showed a pleasant relationship with Madame Mallory, one that seemed due to the talent of both Puri and Mirren. As well, Dayal worked well with his female counterpart Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon). So many of the greatest scenes in the film were quiet moments between these two, and, unfortunately, they were only fleeting within the larger scope of the movie.
Food, which is the binding power of the story, becomes a lost image as the story rolls on. During the introductory phase we are treated to wonderful visuals of ingredients and preparation, as well as gaining insight on an almost spiritual relationship between Hassan and the dishes he prepares. It was such a strong connection that really established who Hassan was, and it was unfortunate that director Lasse Hallstrom did not revisit it throughout the film. Instead, Hassan is no longer built as what we are told he was; a passionate chef with a deep understanding of flavours. As with the dramatic elements of the movie, we are told that it exists even though we cease to experience it and understand it.
Rating - 2 out of 4 stars
The tale is about a family from India, close knit and bonded around a heritage of cooking, who lose their restaurant and suffer family loss which prompts them to bring their flavour to Europe. Settling in a picturesque town in France, they open a new venture directly across the street from a Michelin Star winning restaurant owned by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). Mallory is the definition of staunch refinement, a purest in all that is classic about classical dining, and she sees the new-comers as tacky and the opposite of everything her restaurant stands for.
The film primarily revolves around Hassan (Manish Dayal), who learned the passion of cooking from his deceased mother, and who struggles with his own ambitions for greater recognition. This is more of an assumption that I am making based off of how the story unfolds, because we do not really get a tactile understanding of this portion of his character throughout the film. There is an insertion of expository items to inform us, but never the actual experience of feeling it. It is this issue that is mirrored in many other aspects of the film, as dramatic elements unfold before our eyes, but not completely resonating in the heart.
Throughout this movie, which does excel with charming and heartwarming snippets, both circumstances of tension and drama never quite feel as though they have been allowed to arrive organically. Because of this, there is a disjointed nature to the rhythm of the film as the tone shifts left and right without the benefit of properly integrated transitions. This is most likely the reason why I was convinced when the credits rolled that the film had been two and a half hours, only to have IMDB blow my mind, insisting to me that it was a mere two hours. Oddly enough, I believe that if the film was twenty minutes longer, focusing on allowing the dramatic elements to breath deeper it would have actually felt shorter than it was.
This is not to say that it was any kind of horrific film. The cast involved holds a level of talent that elevated a great number of the scenes and was able to nail the charm when needed. The father of the family (Om Puri) showed a pleasant relationship with Madame Mallory, one that seemed due to the talent of both Puri and Mirren. As well, Dayal worked well with his female counterpart Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon). So many of the greatest scenes in the film were quiet moments between these two, and, unfortunately, they were only fleeting within the larger scope of the movie.
Food, which is the binding power of the story, becomes a lost image as the story rolls on. During the introductory phase we are treated to wonderful visuals of ingredients and preparation, as well as gaining insight on an almost spiritual relationship between Hassan and the dishes he prepares. It was such a strong connection that really established who Hassan was, and it was unfortunate that director Lasse Hallstrom did not revisit it throughout the film. Instead, Hassan is no longer built as what we are told he was; a passionate chef with a deep understanding of flavours. As with the dramatic elements of the movie, we are told that it exists even though we cease to experience it and understand it.
Rating - 2 out of 4 stars
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About Me
- Scott Martin
- I'm smarter than a bat. I know this because I caught the little jerk bat that got in my apartment, before immediately and inadvertently bringing him back in. So maybe I'm not smarter than a bat.