Superman Can’t Win

So the bad press has begun with the box office results for Superman. It’s day one and since it didn’t break every box office record, it’s obviously on its way to failure.

Look people, calm down. The movie opened on a Wednesday before a long 4th of July weekend, what did you expect. No one is anticipating this movie more than I am and even I decided to wait until the weekend to see it. Why try fitting it into my Wednesday in the middle of the work week, when I have 4 days that I can go see it at any time.

I would be highly surprised if by next Tuesday night it hasn’t collected a cool $150 million and the article will be complaining that it didn’t make $200.

People are expecting Spider-Man 2 numbers but this isn’t Spider-Man 2. The anticipation for Spider-Man 2 was incredible after Spider-Man and the box office showed that. People need to realize that Superman Returns is following not just 2 bad movies, but 2 of the worst movies ever. Superman 3 and 4 were so bad, that the director is basically asking the audience to pretend like they don’t exist.

And I don’t understand where the ‘gay’ campaign is coming from. I guess since Bryan Singer is gay that everything he works on is all of a sudden ‘gay’. Like that’s a bad thing or something.

But people, Superman is a love story between Superman and Lois and the last time I checked. Lois was pretty feminine. And in the last couple of Superman incarnations, pretty darn beautiful to say the least. I guess I’m trying to say that Superman doesn’t appear to be attracted to the same sex.

It’s funny to me that of the 3 X-men movies, the one that has the ‘gayest’ message is the one that he didn’t direct. So why people are looking for hidden messages is beyond me.

So, lets just go enjoy the movie. It’s getting pretty good reviews around the country and will make a ton of money, even if it doesn’t become the next Titanic.

Personally, I’m betting about $310-$330 domestic and close to $600 worldwide.

A Prairie Home Companion

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this film. The cast is large and I’m a fan of most of them. But having never listened to the radio show on which this is based I had nothing to go into the movie with.

Although, I usually prefer not having any preconcieved notions. I usually end up liking the films more that way.

It was an interesting film. Not much actually happens in the film, and yet there are numerous little plots throughout the movie.

It could probably be best descibed as having someone with a camera walking around and capturing some private conversations.

The only plot running through the entire movie is that the theater is shutting down and tonight will be the last performance. But even that plot point doesn’t seem to weigh on the movie too much.

The movie is funny and filled with dialogue. Be prepared to pay attention if you want to enjoy the movie to the fullest. You could miss half the jokes if you let your mind wander during this movie. The characters don’t seem to shut up. Ever.

With all that, I have to say I liked the film. I found it quite funny, especially Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly’s characters and their songs.

If you haven’t seen it by this point, you’re probably not going to catch it in the theaters. It’s almost finished it’s run. But I would definitely recommend it as a rental.

Nacho Libre

The more previews I saw for this film the more excited I got to see it.

I think I left this movie a little disappointed. It was funny, definitely funny. But there was no balls-out funny parts. It was more like a constant 90 minute giggle.

Maybe I’ll need a second viewing, like I did for Napoleon Dynamite. I mean I did like it, I really did, but I just can’t help but feel that it was missing something.

I’ll have to think more about this.

The Break Up

Well, finally maybe we can stop hearing about Vaughnistan, or whatever the hell they are calling this couple, now that the movie has been released.

This movie is the perfect example of how Hollywood gets it wrong. They don’t understand why movies are successful and can therefore never consistantly put out good movies.

I feel like I am being forced to accept Jennifer Aniston as a Hollywood star. Someone who can open and carry a movie. I’m sorry, but you’re not going to get me to admit that Anniston was responsible for any of the money made on this opening weekend.

I’m sorry, she may be able to make a good movie every once in a while like Friends With Money, but she is nothing more than a tabloid star, not someone who attracts people to the theater. As evidenced by Friends with Money, Rumor Has It, Derailed, The Good Girl and Rock Star. Her only mildly successful movies starred Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey.

I know it seems like I’m bashing and being overly hard on her. But come on, lets just calm down.

Now the reason we are all here, of course, is Vince Vaughn, and he’s funny. No doubt. But lets look at this for a second.

Vince Vaughns’ followup to last years smash Wedding Crashers gets it wrong most of the time. Wedding Crashers worked because it went for the jugular and didn’t quit. Vince Vaughn excels at that fast talking, take no prisoners type of humor. You can’t follow up a movie like Wedding Crashers with a dumbed down, nicer version for younger audiences and think you’re going to have the same success.

Wedding Crashers proved that you can make a hard-R and still pull in an audience. A cutesy, nicer version only stands to lose audience, not gain it.

And I love Vince Vaughn but this isn’t what he works well in. I want the Vince from Old School, Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers, not The Break Up.

That being sad, lets talk about the movie.

It has a few funny moments, mostly the scenes with Vaughn and Favreau, but struggles for most of its laughs. While Vince Vaughns’ character obviously had a problem with being selfish, the movie presented no reason why he would want to get back involved with the Aniston character. She was hardly likeable while playing breakup mind games with Vince.

Don’t get me started on the ending. Very weak.

If you like Vince Vaughn or Jennifer Aniston and only need a few laughs to enjoy a movie, go ahead and see it. Otherwise, I would recommend waiting for video or cable.