2023 Week 17: Week ending April 29

Introduction 

Hello film world! This is Film Cell Weekly, and I’m your host, Cell, back for another week of movie releases. We’ll review the weekend box office of the newest releases from last week, then get into previews for those upcoming films. Letterboxd is my platform of choice, so you’ll find links to all the movies discussed here in the show notes. Also, be sure to check out my web page over on https://filmcellweekly@blogspot.com, where you can read transcripts and leave comments. Constructive criticism is always welcome! 

Box Office 

Let’s delve into this past weekend’s domestic box office for the wide releases we mentioned last week. First out of the gates is “Evil Dead Rise” which took in a healthy 24 million dollars. That brings it pretty close to the 2013 remake. “The Covenant” followed behind with 6.2 million dollars. “Chevalier” was the third wide release we mentioned and it came in 1.5 million dollars. Its per screen average was quite a bit lower than the others. The box office continues to be dominated by the “Super Mario Brothers” movie, with “The Pope’s Exorcist”, “Renfield” and “Suzume” seeing second week drops in the sixty percent range. None dropped harder than “Mafia Mamma” though, with a 77% drop in box office in its second week of release. 

Streaming

It’s time to head into new releases on streaming!  

First up is the movie “Peter Pan and Wendy” on Disney Plus. Return to Neverland, with all the beloved characters including Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell and the villainous Captain Hook in this live action adaptation of the cherished children’s novel by J.M. Barrie. This adventure is directed by David Lowery, known recently for “The Green Knight” and previously with an adaptation of “Pete’s Dragon” and stars Alexander Molony as Peter, Ever Anderson as Wendy and Jude Law as Captain Hook.  

On Hulu (and possibly Disney Plus in some markets) is “Clock” a thriller directed by Alexis Jacknow. “On the eve of her 39th birthday, a woman desperately attempts to fix her broken biological clock.”  

Finally, we have A K A hitting Netflix. “A steely special ops agent finds his morality put to the test when he infiltrates a crime syndicate and unexpectedly bonds with the boss’ young son.” Directed by Morgan S. Dalibert and starring Alban Lenoir, this French film promises to fulfill your action thriller needs. 

Theatrical 

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Based on the beloved coming-of-age novel by Judy Blume, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" tells the story of an 11-year-old girl named Margaret who navigates the ups and downs of adolescence while searching for a deeper connection with a higher power. 

The movie is directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, known for her work on "The Edge of Seventeen," and stars Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret, with Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates also in the cast. 

The film promises to be a heartfelt and relatable coming-of-age story that captures the confusion and excitement of growing up. It explores themes of friendship, family, and faith in a way that will resonate with audiences of all ages.

 

Big George Foreman

“Fueled by an impoverished childhood, George Foreman channeled his anger into becoming an Olympic Gold medalist and World Heavyweight Champion, followed by a near-death experience that took him from the boxing ring to the pulpit. But when he sees his community struggling spiritually and financially, Foreman returns to the ring and makes history by reclaiming his title, becoming the oldest and most improbable World Heavyweight Boxing Champion ever.” “Big George Foreman” is directed by George Tillman Junior and stars Khris Davis as the once and future heavyweight champion of the world.  

This film goes wide in approximately 3,000 screens on April 28th and promises to keep this streak of true-life sports stories alive, as it follows the previous “Air” and “Sweetwater” - be sure to check this one out! 

Return of the Jedi

You heard that right: it’s “Star Wars Episode Six: Return of the Jedi” seeing a limited theatrical re-release for its 40th anniversary! You know the characters, you know the story, this is Star Wars, so if you haven’t had an opportunity to watch this classic on the big screen, now may be the time to do so. From what I hear, this is the version with all the latest updates, so don’t hold your breath that this is the original theatrical version from 1983. 

Sisu

Another “limited but not as-limited” release is “Sisu”, a Finnish war action film. “Deep in the wilderness of Lapland, Aatami Korpi is searching for gold but after he stumbles upon Nazi patrol, a breathtaking and gold-hungry chase through the destroyed and mined Lapland wilderness begins.” Sisu is tracking well, with a 3.4 average rating on Letterboxed. This is in 900 theatres, so keep an eye on your local market.  

Closing 

And that's a wrap for now! Thank you for listening, I really appreciate you being here for this adventure.  … Be sure to support your local theatres and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone when deciding which movie to watch next. Enjoy your film journey! 

 

2023 Week 16

2023 Week 16: April 16-22 

Introduction 

Hello film world! This is Film Cell Weekly, and I’m your host, Cell, back for another week of movie releases. That first episode last week was a lot of fun to put together and I am excited to do more of these. I hope you enjoy it too! The show should be listed on a variety of podcast hosts now, including the big ones like Apple, Google and Spotify. If it’s missing from your platform of choice, please let me know and I’ll try to get it listed there. You can reach me via email at the moment, with the address film cell weekly at gmail dot com. 

 

Box Office 

The box office remains firmly planted in the Mushroom Kingdom, with the “Super Mario Brothers” movie continuing to stomp on the competition with 87 million dollars. In terms of new releases, “The Pope’s Exorcist” debuted with 9.15 million, and Renfield further below in fourth place with 7.7 million. “Mafia Mamma” hits 2.04 million, and “Sweetwater” came in at 350 thousand dollars.  

I didn’t mention it last week, but Ari Aster’s “Beau is Afraid” debuted in four screens and brought in 320 thousand, for an impressive 80 thousand dollars per screen average. It has a wide release scheduled for April 21. 

Reviews 

Let’s head into Letterboxd and Rotten Tomatoes and pull some quotes and averages for those new releases. “Renfield” currently sits at a 3.2, which lines up with Rotten Tomatoes critic rating of 59%. Audiences enjoyed it more, perhaps it was that Nic Cage factor, as Tomatoes has an audience score of 81%. 

Although “The Pope’s Exorcist” did better at the box office, it’s not doing as well in reviews, currently sitting at a 2.7 average on the film enthusiast site. Critics liked it less as well, with 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, however, the audience score is a bit higher with 83%.

Rounding out last week’s new releases is “Mafia Mamma” with a critic rating of 20%, an audience score of 64% and a Letterboxd average of 2.8. 

 

Streaming and Video on Demand 

Okay, well, we do seem to have quite a few movies hitting the digital airwaves, so to speak. Let’s dig in! 

First up, are two movies “The Reaper Man” and “Andy Somebody”, a horror and a comedy, respectively. Reaper Man is pretty scant on details, although my contact at IMDB trivia tells me that the writer, “Jaron Lockridge” also serves as the director, cinematographer, grip, editor and executive producer of the film. That’s a lot of roles to tackle! Be sure to check out the trailer on that to see if it tickles your fancy. 

 

As for “Andy Somebody” … the plot outline specifies: “Andie Fielder, a depressed Chicago accountant, steals three million dollars from his boss, a corrupt plastic surgeon, and runs off to Los Angeles to start a new life.” Well that sounds...like a movie full of hijinks. 

Netflix is absolutely smothering us with content this week! Up first is a documentary called “Longest Third Date” which has a pretty decent sounding premise, as it follows a newly matched couple who end up getting stuck in Costa Rica when the world shut down at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. 

“After tragedy strikes, an unlikely hero takes her rightful place among the Power Rangers to face off against the team’s oldest archnemesis.” That’s right, it’s “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always” hitting Netflix! At first I thought this was a documentary of sorts as the cast reunites, but this is a narrative feature that DOES feature much of the original cast from the ninety's television series. If you were a fan back then, you probably owe it to yourself to check this one out. 

Then Netflix is bringing us “One More Time” which again, maybe I’m easily intrigued, I don’t know, but has an interesting premise: “On her 40th birthday, Amelia makes a fateful wish to be 18 again back in 2002 but soon regrets it when she’s stuck reliving the day over and over again.” Another “Groundhog Day” mechanic mixed in with a reverse “Big” magic trick. This is Jonatan Etzler’s directorial debut. 

The last Netflix film for the week is “A Tourist’s Guide to Love” starring Rachael Leigh Cook. “After an unexpected break up, a travel executive accepts an assignment to go undercover and learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam. Along the way, she finds adventure and romance with her Vietnamese expat tour guide and they decide to hijack the tour bus in order to explore life and love off the beaten path.” Ahh yes, what’s a better foundation to a loving relationship, than crime in a foreign country. Sounds fun! 

Hulu has one film hitting their service this week, called “Quasi” from director Kevin Heffernan. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he is a member of “Broken Lizard” comedy group, who made such movies as “Super Troopers”... “Beer Fest” … and “Club Dread.” I think they had some success in crowd-funding a sequel to “Super Troopers” and it looks like much of the gang is back for “Quasi” which is described as...”A hapless hunchback who only yearns for love, finds himself in the middle of a murderous feud between the Pope and the King of France when each orders the hunchback to kill the other.” 

Finally, we have the movie “Ghosted” premiering on Apple TV plus, starring Ana de Armas and Chris Evans. “Salt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie — but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.” I recall the trailer for this catching a bit of flak a couple of months ago, but this could be a fun romance adventure-action film. Chris Evans doesn’t typically disappoint either! 

Theatrical Releases

"Evil Dead Rise" is a highly anticipated horror movie directed by Lee Cronin, who's best known for his work on the acclaimed horror film "The Hole in the Ground". This new movie is the fourth installment in the "Evil Dead" franchise and promises to be just as terrifying as its predecessors. 

The movie follows the story of two sisters, Beth and Ellie, played by the talented Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan, who find themselves in the middle of a demonic invasion in the city. With the help of a third character, they must fight for their survival and find a way to defeat the evil forces that have taken over. 

This movie promises to be a nail-biting and spine-tingling horror experience that fans of the "Evil Dead" franchise won't want to miss. So mark your calendars for the release date and get ready to be scared out of your wits! 

Hot off the heels of Guy Ritchie’s “Operation Fortune” comes his next film, “The Covenant.” This war movie stars Jake Gyllenhaall and Dar Salim and is described as follows: “After an ambush, Afghan interpreter Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save US Army Sergeant John Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down.”  

I was asking my pal ChatGPT to hype me up about this film, but it didn’t seem to know of the movies existence. A few months back, Ritchie changed the title from “The Interpreter,” and you may see it referred to as “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” which is a practice that I can, um, really get behind. Just like John Carpenter throwing his name in front of his movies, Ritchie’s name would be at home on most of his filmography, considering his unique directorial voice. 

 

Finally, in theatres we get “Chevalier” directed by Stephen Williams, who is most notably known for his television work, including being one of the directors involved in the “Watchmen” television series.  “The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court. Inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.” … Kelvin Harrison Junior stars as the titular character, and the film also stars Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton and Alex Fitzalan.  This movie is tracking well, with a 3.3 average rating on Letterboxd at the time of me having a peek. 

Closing

That’s all I have for now! Thank you for listening/reading, I really appreciate you being here for this new adventure. Links to all the movies mentioned should be in the show notes, and you can find transcripts on our new web page: “film cell weekly dot blogspot dot com.” You can leave comments there as well as any constructive criticism as we refine the show’s format. … Be sure to support your local theatres and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone when deciding which movie to watch next. Enjoy your film journey!