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Tag Archives: jennifer lopez
IRWIN ALLEN WOULD BE PROUD
1. San Andreas/WB Wknd/$ 53.2 Total/$ 53.2
3. Tomorrowland/Disney Wknd/$ 13.8 Total/$ 63.2
2. Pitch Perfect 2/Universal Wknd/$ 14.4 Total/$ 147.5
4. Mad Max: Fury Road/WB Wknd/$ 13.6 Total/$ 115.9
6. Aloha/Sony Wknd/$ 10.0 Total/$ 10.0
7. Poltergeist/Fox Wknd/$ 7.8 Total/$ 38.3
8. Far From the Madding Crowd/Fox Wknd/$ 1.4 Total/$ 5.4
9. Hot Pursuit/WB Wknd/$ 1.4 Total/$ 32.4
10. Home/Fox Wknd/$ 1.8 Total/$ 168.1
IT DWAYNE JOHNSON'S THE BOX OFFICE!
San Andreas opens at number one and this is very important to Dwayne Johnson for two reasons. Number 1: that's the only name associated with this. "The Rock" is nowhere to be seen. Probably there's a good chance Jim McMahon owns it, in yet another way the straight entertainment industry and porn intersect. So to be able to keep all the money he makes, Johnson needs to put The Rock in his rearview as much as humanly possible. Number 2: he's the only star and it's not sequel. While clearly successful, that Johnson's career hasn't exactly gone the way any one had thought isn't a secret. While a boost to sequels, he has failed to carry films all by himself. Probably because he and his agents/managers have horrible, horrible middle-0f-the-road, being-too-safe tastes. I mean look at this. It's straight up, by-the-numbers disaster porn. It couldn't be any safer if it actually was a sequel. Like any genre film, no one is really coming to see him as much they are to see Los Angeles and San Francisco die horribly. I mean, it'd be great if there were a charismatic star there to help it along, but it's not really required. He's here for the same reason Dennis Quaid was in The Day After Tomorrow and John Cusack was in 2015: they were of a certain age and needed an easy pitch to boost the resume. San Andreas is actually better disaster porn than The Day After Tomorrow and 2015, not simply because Johnson is more fun to watch, but because they eschew the disaster film trope of multiple storylines around the event. It's basically two: Johnson and Carla Gugino trying to get to their daughter in San Francisco and their daughter trying to stay alive until they come. Okay there's Paul Giamatti and "The Scientist Who Knew It Was Coming" but that's it. All he does is warn people there's no dramatic struggle on his end. That not only pares the film down, but clearly allowed them to put that money into more bloodless carnage. People fall and are crushed, but there's no sign of corpses. Seriously. Every one dies perfectly hidden by the rubble so Johnson's pretty daughter is spared having to make her way through a city of the dead and dying. In your typical disaster film, she'd be picking up survivors on the way, but this spares us that cliché for a leaner, clearly meaner disaster film. And honestly the less of this "writing" the better because it's as clichéd as you can imagine. Just like every other disaster movie the hero and his wife are divorcing due to a tragedy in the past (they lost a daughter). And just like every other disaster movie the guy she's now with is handsome, rich and successful. And just like every other disaster movie, the new guy is ultimately shown to a coward, leaving Johnson's daughter trapped in parking garage (2015 actually avoids this cliché making this film less daring than a Rolan Emmerich film if you can believe that). To be fair, the man is clearly broken by the magnitude of the events around him. He's actually trying to find help when the person he's talking to dies in front of him, missing him by literal inches. That's when he runs. After that, however, he's a pure save-myself-coward. Even his sister is shown to be a total bitch before biting the dust. That's how black and white simplistic the script is. Oh, the daughter they lost? She drowned so guess what Johnson has to save their other daughter from in the final act? I'm giving nothing away. It's in the trailer. So yeah, less of this "writing" and more watching The Golden Gate bridge get hit by both an earthquake and a tsunami the better.
TOO BAD, KID
Pitch Perfect holds at number two, followed Tomorrowland down to number three and as the ostensible star of this is Britt Robertson. She'd be the clear-cut star if the film didn't flat out open with George Clooney's face. Yeah, she's talking to him off-camera and it does eventually switch to her, but all the while you're waiting for Clooney to come back so they can get to the trope of "Cynical Older Person Who's Given Up Brought Back By Kid Who Still Believes." As I mentioned before she goes from being smart, optimistic and innovative on her own to just being this annoying person who constantly asks questions when she hooks up with Girl Robot and George Clooney. The movie becomes almost meta when Clooney asks her "Why can't you shut up and simply be amazed?" because that's how the character should be. The character was originally a boy and I have to wonder if he'd have been allowed to be nearly as annoying or would have be been the typical fantasy stand-in for the writer/director kid boy genius they way they always are in these movies. He would have been amazed and still would have asked smart questions. Poor Britt. Between this and The Longest Ride it looked on paper like she had two sure fire successes, but both have underperformed. It seemed like she was about to break out, but she's still stuck under the dome. Get it? She's on that show. It only runs in the summer. See what I did there?
YOU BALLS WON'T GET SMALLER, BUT MAYBE A LITTLE SMARTER
Mad Max Fury Road is down to number four and while not doing dazzling box office numbers there is no better critically nor audience reviewed film out there. Hopefully this will give it legs, because it's always a tragedy when a film this good doesn't perform as well as it should. I mean despite all the talk of it being so smart it's still a movie where cars go really fast and things go boom. Don't be afraid, Fast & Furious fans. You'll still like it even if you don't understand why afterward your girlfriend starts making more decisions in your relationship and why you're comfortable letting her.
SIGH. GUESS THIS MEANS NO SATAN CLAW EITHER
Avengers: Age of Ultron is holding at number five which actually says something given it's now sharing theaters with San Andreas and Mad Max: Fury Road. In the film far too briefly is Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Strucker. In the comics Strucker was an enemy to Nick Fury in World War II, afterwards as head of Hydra and of course sometimes bumped heads with Captain America. He's in the film for about ten minutes before being killed off-screen by Ultron. This is a waste of a good actor and a good character. Almost as much of a waste as the whole damn Hulk/Black Widow storyline. Sorry, but the more I think about it the worse it gets. Hopefully, we'll see his evil twin children whom he genetically altered as embryos to have superpowers. Later when the sister is killed, brother keeps her tanned skin on his sword to retain his superpowers. Ewww. Maybe we'll leave that part out.
I'M SURE THE IRONY OF THE NAME IS NOT LOST ON HIM
Aloha opens at number six and once upon a time a new Cameron Crowe film would have me at the theaters opening weekend, but Elizabethtown is apparently something neither he nor the audience can overcome. Since then it's only been We Bought A Zoo in terms of narrative film work and I kinda gave that a pass for the same reason I did this: I'm pretty much done with movies where an older male protagonist is renewed by a much younger blonde (no, it didn't help that Hawaii, the only state where white people are a minority is depicted as lily-white, but my main gripe is the May/December plotline). It was Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in We Bought A Zoo and now it's Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone. I actually like Emma Stone, but she's got to stop playing the younger girl the older man can't help himself but fall for (she also did it in a Woody Allen film with Colin Firth). Worse still, Rachel McAdams whom I absolutely adore is also in this but am prevented from seeing by this damn romantic subplot. Given Crowe's recently divorced from Nancy Wilson (yes, of Heart) I fear this has origins in his personal life and fear only more in the future.
SHHH! IT'S HIS SECRET SHAME!
Poltergeist is down to number seven and I still have not seen an ad for this. I live in fucking New York! It's a media hub! How is this possible!?! Sigh. Back to milk the dead cow is none other than Sam Raimi who's listed as producer. He's also doing an Evil Dead TV series. So I guess original work is for young people, huh, Sam?
THE REST, THE END
Far From The Maddening Crowd is down to number eight, followed by Hot Pursuit at number nine and inexplicably holding on to number ten is Home.
LESS OLD IS MORE LIKE IT
So, the summer TV season hasn't kicked off yet, but I've been drawn into some springtime TV on freaking TV Land, which is a spin-off of Nickelodeon. And let me tell you, it ain't really for kids. Younger is about a divorced 40-something who, when she can't find a job because of her age (striking closer to home than I'd like) gets a makeover and starts pretending she's 26. Now, while there are real life examples of similar things happening and there's actually an actress who's been playing teenagers for 20-years, there's no way like Sutton Foster is passing for 20-anything. She she probably didn't look 26 when she was 26 (theater people age hard). Even the book this is based on drew the line at 29. It's also from Darren Starr so between that and trying to buy anyone accepting Sutton Foster as 26, I gave it a pass. Then, while channel surfing I came across a rather explicit sex scene. And by explicit I mean that even though she still had her bra on is Sarah Jessica Parker fashion they clearly he was going down her. They then moved to multiple position montage including doggystyle and reverse-cowgirl. Reverse cowgirl on a channel associated with Nickelodeon. Wow (I won't even get into the pixelated nudity that actually does happen with another character who celebrates what she calls "Topless Tuesday" for her Twitter followers). So I watched for a little context and…it's not too bad. Plus they appeal to my weakness: the show is clearly shot here in New York. I still fast forward any time there's some horribly contrived scene where she's hiding her age (she has a college aged daughter, but strangely knew nothing about Twitter), but it's some reasonably entertaining springtime viewing.
ORIGINAL ANGRY GEEK.COM
Tags: 2012, Almost Famous, Aloha, angrygeek, Anna Kendrick, Baron Strucker, Bradley Cooper, Britt Robertson, Cameron Crowe, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Captatin America, Carey Mulligan, Carlal Gugino, Charlize Thereon, Chris Evans, chris hemsworth, Darren Starr, Disney, Don Cheadle, Dwayne Johnson, Earthquake, elizabeth banks, Elizabeth Olsen, Elizabethtown, Emma Stone, Far From The Maddening Crowd, film reviews, George Clooney, Green Lantern, Guardians of the Galaxy, hawkeye, Heart, Home 2015, Hot Pursuit, Hugh Laurie, idris elba, iron man, James Spader, jennifer lopez, jeremy renner, Jim Parsons, JLo, Mad Max, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Marvel Comics, Mel Gibson, movie reviews, Nancy Wilson, Nicholas Hoult, nick fury, Paul Bettany, Paul Giamatti, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, Poltergeist, Quicksilver, Rachel McAdams, Rebel Wilson, reese witherspoon, Rhianna, Riley Keough, Robert Downey Jr, Rosie Huntignton-Whiteley, Sam Raimi, Samuel L. Jackson, San Andreas, Scarlett Johansson, Sex & The City, Sofia Vegara, Stan Lee, Steve Martin, Sutton Foster, television reviews, the avengers, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Black Widow, The Day After Tomorrow, The Road Warrior, The Rock, The Scarlet Witch, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann, thor, Thor: The Dark World, Tomorrowland, tv reviews, Ultron, War Machine, weekend top ten box office, weekend top ten film, Weekend Top Ten Movies, Wild, X-Men, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Younger, zoe kravitz
BETTER LUCK ON MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE THE MOVIE
3. Mad Max: Fury Road/WB Wknd/$ 24.8 Total/$ 88.3
– Poltergeist/Fox Wknd/$ 22.6 Total/$ 22.6
5. The Age of Adaline/Lion's Gate Wknd/$ 15.0 Total/$ 39.9
SOMEWHERE JOHNNY DEPP LAUGHS, "NOT SO EASY, IS IT?"
Tomorrowland opens at number one and between this and Mission Impossible 4, I'm glad Brad Bird is returning to animation with a sequel to The Incredibles, 'cause live action is clearly not his thing. There are clearly too many compromises you have to make with people that you don't have to with drawings. Though it's where the writing is concerned that things go astray. Granted, the simple fact that Damon Lindelof is on as a co-writer here automatically means suckage, but you'd think as director Bird could overcome it. He cannot. This seems to be the logical (and by "logical" I mean only in the mind of someone shamelessly chasing money) extension of Pirates of the Caribbean. That is, Disney making even movies based on their theme park rides. The mistake is while Pirates of the Caribbean was/is a theme park, pirate movies are an old, established genre. You could have called it anything else and still had the same movie. This, however, had to be totally original and how exactly do you tell the story of a future that never came to pass? Well, judging by this, you don't. Ironically we see more of "the future is now" in our first encounter with the protagonist, Casey (Britt Robertson), than for any other part of the movie when she sneaks onto the Cape Canaveral base using her iPhone to control a toy helicopter. You can use your iPhone to remote control a vast number of things and this has happened in the last decade. It's amazing but it doesn't seem to register. Anyway, her father is a NASA engineer and in some naïve way she's hoping to stop the dismantling of the space program by stomping the dismantling of the launch platform. She's not only clever, but an incurable optimist and these are the reasons she's sought out by recruitment robot that looks like a 12-year-old girl. We see this robot earlier when the younger version of George Clooney's character goes to the World's Fair in Queens in the 60's to submit his jet pack idea. The robot helps him sneak into Tomorrowland when House—I mean Nix as played by Hugh Laurie rejects him because his jet pack doesn't quite work. In Tomorrowland one of the robots fixes it so it does and he's allowed to stay. Later, however, when the robot drops Casey off at Clooney's place—after avoiding other killer robots—we learned he was kicked out under pain of death if he ever talked about Tomorrowland. We also learn that Casey was selected because she might be able to fix what's wrong with it, something Clooney helped to create. As they make the journey back, we learn that the origins of Tomorrowland started with Thomas Edison, Jules Verne and Nikola Tesla…and they apparently built a rocket in the Eiffel Tower which is just cool as fuck. Of course you might wonder how no one knew there was a rocket there, not even The Nazis when they took the place, but honestly it's so nice I give it a pass. What I cannot give a pass to is basically the whole concept. A world established over hundred years ago in another dimension for the betterment of mankind…that apparently has never done anything for the betterment of mankind and then gave up in 1984. Yeah, that's how subtle the film is at yelling at you for letting the planet go to hell. Bear in mind they built a freaking rocket in The Eiffiel Tower which was constructed in 1889, had jet packs and robots in the 60's (not to mention some kind of fountain of youth shake) and never shared any of it, but it's our fault. The movie never comes close to explaining why all they seemed to was plan for a better tomorrow but never actually did anything (actually that would have been a better reason for Clooney's exile in that he realized they never would). Also, the girl robot has been recruiting dreamers, but while Casey makes the cut, Stephen Hawking and Steve Jobs never did (no, I don't see them asking Bill Gates)? Another problem is that Casey is flat out annoying, something both Clooney and the robot mention and they're not wrong. When Clooney tells her to just shut up and be amazed for once, he's speaking for all of us. Speaking of Clooney the most mystifying flaw of the film beyond him vanishing off-screen for half-an-hour, is that they give him a 12-year-old girl robot as a love interest. Yes, she's technically as old as he is, but when it comes down to it, what you see onscreen is George Clooney and a 12-year-old looking lovingly at one another (which sounds like some kind of bizarre comedy Woody Allen would write where the protagonist keeps insisting that it's okay because she's a 50-year-old robot while the world wants him dead). Yeah, I'm sure it was cute on the page that he's harboring a love from childhood but fully realized it's just creepy. That no one saw this as a problem in the initial planning stages shows you this was doomed from the beginning.
Pitch Perfect 2 is down to number two and returning with a promotion for this one is Elizabeth Banks who was actually one of the producers for the original as well as co-starring. Again, this remains a double-edged sword of success in Hollywood. A female driven film is one of the biggest films of the year so far, but it's about something "silly." As opposed to the gritty realism of The Avengers, no doubt. But this is the excuse that will be given for no increased presence of women behind the camera despite this being one of two biggest openings of the year being alongside 50 Shades of Grey. But all props to Elizabeth Banks who was the comedic woman of the moment after The 40-Year-Old Virgin back in…'08. Holy shit! Has it really been that long!?! Unfortunately most of her subsequent roles as the female lead tanked. She had the misfortune to be in both Meet Bill and Meet Dave neither of which anyone wanted to meet. She then fell prey to the attempts to make Ryan Reynolds, Sam Worthington and Chris Pine into stars, but luckily The Hunger Games appeared to give her a new lease on life. After that came Pitch Perfect and this year alone she'll be in the Magic Mike sequel as well as the final Hunger Games movie. So basically the more female driven her work, the more she succeeds. Now there's a lesson.
SHE USED TO BE MY GIRL
Speaking of female and driven, no matter what the title of the film Charlize Theron is the clear star of Mad Max: Fury Road, which is down to number three this week. But honestly when you think about it, Max is never really the driving force behind any of his movies beyond the first. He's just trying to die with his pain in the wasteland when he's caught up in someone else's schemes to try and rebuild the world, which usually climaxes him driving a big rig that's beset by the scavengers of the apocalypse. Seriously, that's the plot of every movie and I don't have a problem with that. Like Banks, the more Theron stays away from simply being "pretty girl lead" the better off she does. Her last big hits were the far from critically beloved Hancock, Snow White and the Huntsman and Prometheus but in none of them was she the leading man's love interest. And she damn sure isn't one here. Also it was her call to shave her head. Yeah, pretty people live for messing up that beauty thing whenever and wherever they can.
AND WHO WOULD HAVE A CLOWN DOLL ANYWAY!?!
Okay, apparently the remake of Poltergeist opened this weekend, but it actually doesn't show up on some box office charts. Which would make sense as I've seen not one commercial, billboard or even print ad for it. It's almost like it's a literal ghost film. I saw the original back when I would do the scary, but honestly if I'd known this was coming out I might have given it a shot as it always felt more like science fiction (girl trapped in alternate dimension) than horror. Well, aside from that fucking clown. Whoever thought to include that (and the tree) tapped into the childhood fears of the collective planet.
TIME TO WORK FOR A LIVING
Avengers: Age of Ultron is down to number four—or five—and finally making an onscreen appearance is someone who's been part of the Marvel movies all along: Paul Bettany, who's been the voice of Jarvis. Something he admits to forgetting in interviews. Must be nice to make money that easily. Well, not anymore as he has to be painted and suited up to be the android known as The Vision. You say you want a brief comics history of the character? Well, don't mind if I do. Shut up. You were too thinking it. The Vision is created by Ultron to help him destroy humanity, but turns on him, becoming an Avenger and ultimately marrying The Scarlet Witch. And they have two kids! Well, kinda. They're made of magic and…okay even that's too much for me. But Bettany does a good job with a limited role that only pops in the last half hour of the film. But he's lost that easy Iron May paycheck.
SISTERS ARE DOING IT PT II
The Age of Adaline actually rises to number five (or six), followed by Hot Pursuit at number six (or seven), Furious Seven at number seven (or eight) and Far From The Maddening Crowd rising to number eight (or nine). Okay let's tally it up. Britt Robertson is the protagonist of Tomorrowland, followed by the women of Pitch Perfect 2, Charlize Theron and all the women of Mad Max: Fury Road, Blake Lively in Age of Adaline, Reese Witherspoon & Sofia Vergar in Hot Pursuit and Carey Mulligan here in Far From The Maddening Crowd. That makes six out of the top ten (or eleven) films female driven. Sadly, that's kind of impressive and won't be lasting very long now that the summer movie season has formally begun. So enjoy your moment, ladies!
Paul Blart is either number nine or ten depending how you count it and Home is either number ten or finally removed from our sights.
Tags: 2 Fast 2 Furious, angrygeek, Anna Kendrick, Anthony Ingruber, Big Trouble in Little China, Blake Lively, Britt Robertson, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Captatin America, Carey Mulligan, Charlize Thereon, Chris Evans, chris hemsworth, Disney, Don Cheadle, elizabeth banks, Elizabeth Olsen, Escape from New York, Ex Machina, Far From The Maddening Crowd, Fast and Furious, Fast and Furious 6, Fast Five, film reviews, Furious 7, George Clooney, Gina Carano, Gossip Girl, Green Lantern, Guardians of the Galaxy, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford, hawkeye, Helena Bonham Carter, Home 2015, Hot Pursuit, Hugh Laurie, idris elba, iron man, James Spader, jennifer lopez, jeremy renner, Jim Parsons, JLo, Jordana Brewster, Justified, Kevin James, Kurt Russell, Lil Bow Wow, Lucas Black, Ludacris, Mad Max, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Marvel Comics, Mel Gibson, Micahel Huisman, Michelle Rodriguez, movie reviews, nashville, Neil McDonough, Nicholas Hoult, nick fury, Paul Bettany, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Paul Walker, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, Poltergeist, Quicksilver, Rebel Wilson, reese witherspoon, Rhianna, Riley Keough, Robert Downey Jr, Ronda Rousey, Rosie Huntignton-Whiteley, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vegara, Stan Lee, Steve Martin, television reviews, The Age of Adaline, the avengers, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Black Widow, The Fast & The Furious, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Outer Limits, The Road Warrior, The Scarlet Witch, Thomas Hardy, thor, Thor: The Dark World, Tomorrowland, Tony Jaa, tv reviews, Ultron, Vin Diesel, War Machine, weekend top ten box office, weekend top ten film, Weekend Top Ten Movies, Wild, X-Men, X-Men: Days of Future Past, zoe kravitz
MAD MAX: I-95, EXIT 23
1. Pitch Perfect 2/Universal Wknd/$ 70.3 Total/$ 70.3
10.Far From the Madding Crowd/Fox Wknd/$ 1.3 Total/$ 2.6
MAD MAX: ROUTE 12, EXIT 15!
Pitch Perfect 2 opens at number one with Mad Max: Fury Road opening at number two and this is bittersweet triumph for female-driven films. The sweet is obvious. The number one film in the country was written, directed, starring and co-produced by women and nothing about it suggests they gave flying fuck if anyone with a "Y" chromosome saw it They were rewarded for this with a $70M opening off estimated $30M budget. This means whomever approved the third film even before this was released looks like a genius. The bitter is the hit taken by any who hoped for more action movies driven by women as the wonderful hi-octane (literally) Mad Max: Fury Road is beaten out for the number one spot. It's also female driven from its plotline to its actual hero, Charlize Theron. Yeah, it's called Mad Max, but everything in it is about her and her plan to save five of her fellow models from The Humungous, er, I mean Immortan Joe, who uses them as his personal breeding stock. And if you think I'm kidding about the models part, the film is very self-aware about it. There's not one, but two scenes where people stop and gape at them because they're so different from everyone else. When Max first sees them, he stops dead in his tracks because the women are literally soaking wet in off-white gossamer fabric. It looks like he wandered onto the set of a music video (at any moment you expect the camera to pan over and show INXS singing). The other is such a great scene I'd rather not spoil it. Max is also a prisoner of Immortan Joe's empire: providing healthy blood for the tumor-ridden mutant "half-life" boys. In fact, Max only gets free because of Theron's efforts to free the girls and goes from reluctantly helping them to be willing to die for them. Yes, he does help to save the day in the end (his name is in the title after all), but it's Theron's show all the way, which is why her name comes up first in the opening credits and she's the most prominent in the posters. She also has a great name: Imperator Furiosa. But you know someone somewhere is going to fault all these things as to why the latest sequel in an action franchise came in second to a movie about chicks singing. Which I'll never see because I hated the first Pitch Perfect. I find Mad Max more grounded in reality than anyone anywhere liking Anna Kendrick singing "No Diggity."
AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU ASKED ME? SHUT UP. YOU WERE THINKING IT.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron is down to number three and if you thought it was getting beaten up before on account of how it treated The Black Widow, just wait now that they've got the giant hammer that is Mad Max: Fury Road. The other prominent female superhero in this film is The Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen. Yes, sister to the Olsen Twins, who's been carving out a critically acclaimed acting career these last few years and now has stepped up her game to big, mainstream action movies. That's gonna get a lot of indie films no one will ever see financed. In the comics she and her brother Pietro, aka, Quicksilver are the children of Magneto and were part of his original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants alongside Toad (who was in the first X-Men movie) and The Blob (seen in the first Wolverine movie). In the most recent X-Men film, Days of Future Past where Quicksilver also appears there's a passing reference made to Magneto being his father and a cut scene where his sister (who would be The Scarlet Witch) is referenced.
MAYBE SHE CAN MEET UP WITH BRIDGET JONES!
Also female driven, but hardly a success story is Hot Pursuit, down to number four. Besides being directed by a woman and starring women, both Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vegara are onboard for this as producers, so they truly have to take some of heat for its failures as they were making some of the decisions. I'm thinking it's to put on the pink one more time and bring back Elle Woods. Get it right this time and put her where she's looked down upon and is the underdog, something a pretty blonde coming from money is not in Washington DC. Now, England on the other hand…
AND IT LOOKS LIKE BALLS TOO
Paul Blart holds at number five and women should be proud they had nothing to do with this. Writers, director and producers…all men. This is an all-ball production. Pure scrotum, if you will.
TOO PRETTY TO DRIVE FAST, MUCH LESS FURIOUS
Furious Seven is down to number six and while Jordana Brewster is back it's in a role so slight it's almost a cameo. She never got to develop into a butt-kicking action star like almost all the other women in the series. She went from love interest to wife and mother. It may have something to do with being the prettiest cast member (behind Paul Walker, of course). There's a montage of all the stars from the beginning of the franchise until now and it's amazing how she's gone from looking like Demi Moore's daughter to her sister. I'll let you discuss why amongst yourselves.
CAPTAIN AMERICA VS. SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN!
The Age of Adeline is down to number seven and I'm still disappointed no one has combined the trailers and produced an "Avengers: Age of Adeline" mash up yet. Me? I'm busy.
CLEARLY MY TUTION WAS FOR THAT PRIME GREENWICH VILLAGE ADDRESS—AND I'M OKAY WITH THAT
Home is down to number eight, followed by Ex Machina at number nine and Far From The Maddening Crowd opening at number ten. This is based on the famous novel by Thomas Hardy and NYU should be ashamed of the fact that I graduated with a degree in English Literature and never read it. Ashamed I say! No, I won't see it. That would be cheating.
Tags: 2 Fast 2 Furious, angrygeek, Anna Kendrick, Anthony Ingruber, Big Trouble in Little China, Blake Lively, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Captatin America, Carey Mulligan, charlize theron, Chris Evans, chris hemsworth, Don Cheadle, elizabeth banks, Elizabeth Olsen, Escape from New York, Ex Machina, Far From The Maddening Crowd, Fast and Furious, Fast and Furious 6, Fast Five, film reviews, Furious 7, Gina Carano, Gossip Girl, Green Lantern, Guardians of the Galaxy, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford, hawkeye, Helena Bonham Carter, Home 2015, Hot Pursuit, idris elba, iron man, James Spader, jennifer lopez, jeremy renner, Jim Parsons, JLo, Jordana Brewster, Justified, Kevin James, Kurt Russell, Lil Bow Wow, Lucas Black, Ludacris, Mad Max, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Marvel Comics, Mel Gibson, Micahel Huisman, Michelle Rodriguez, movie reviews, nashville, Neil McDonough, Nicholas Hoult, nick fury, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Paul Walker, Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, Quicksilver, Rebel Wilson, reese witherspoon, Rhianna, Riley Keough, Robert Downey Jr, Ronda Rousey, Rosie Huntignton-Whiteley, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vegara, Stan Lee, Steve Martin, television reviews, The Age of Adaline, the avengers, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Black Widow, The Fast & The Furious, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Outer Limits, The Road Warrior, The Scarlet Witch, Thomas Hardy, thor, Thor: The Dark World, Tony Jaa, tv reviews, Ultron, Vin Diesel, War Machine, weekend top ten box office, weekend top ten film, Weekend Top Ten Movies, Wild, X-Men, X-Men: Days of Future Past, zoe kravitz
EVERYBODY LOVES A CHICK FIGHT. EVERY. BODY.
1. Furious 7/Universal Wknd/$ 60.6 Total/$ 252.5
2. Home/Fox Wknd/$ 19.0 Total/$ 129.6
3. The Longest Ride/Fox Wknd/$ 13.5 Total/$ 13.5
4. Get Hard/WB Wknd/$ 8.6 Total/$ 71.2
6. The Divergent Series: Insurgent Wknd/$ 6.9 Total/$ 114.8
7. Woman in Gold/Weinstein Wknd/$ 5.9 Total/$ 9.3
8. It Follows/RTWC Wknd/$ 2.0 Total/$ 11.8
9. Danny Collins/BST Wknd/$ 1.6 Total/$ 2.5
10. While We're Young/A24 Wknd/$ 1.4 Total/$ 1.4
CHICK FIGHT!
Furious 7 holds at number 1 and in addition to Tony Jaa the other martial artist in this is MMA Champion, Ronda Rousey. Like Jaa she has to pretend that her opponent wouldn't be toast in 30 seconds. Just as Paul Walker's character suddenly became a master of hand-to-hand combat, Michelle Rodriguez's character also developed martial skills. Not only does she take on Rousey, but a team of female Arab bodyguards before that. And in the previous installment she took on Gina Carano. But like Carano and Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee before her Rousey clearly made it part of her deal that she wasn't going to lose in a straight-on fight to some actor. Yes, Jaa loses, but not because Walker punches him out or anything. Similarly, Rousey's fight with Rodriguez ends in a draw, which is good, because if my eyes had rolled back any further in my head I'd have seen my own brainstem. But don't get me wrong. I am perverse enough to enjoy a good chick fight and I'm not alone considering this was twice as long as the Carano fight. Though the fact they were in evening gowns is clearly someone else's fetish. Seriously, you just know that's his kink because he views it as some kind of clever irony. It's not.
HE HAS HIS OWN SUPER POWER: PANTY DROPPING
Home holds at number two, followed by The Longest Ride opening at number one and the most notable thing about this is that the male lead is Scott Eastwood. Yes, it's his son, if you couldn't tell simply by looking at him. Now I will give him credit for at least attempting a career without using his famous name (he used his mother's surname), but he quickly realized that it's stupid not to use every advantage you have. Especially when you actually like your dad unlike say, Angelina Jolie Voight. But let's face it, if a name really did anything for you, Tyrone Power Jr. would have been a giant star, as would Jennifer Grant (yes, Cary Grant's daughter). And do we have to once again bring up the sad story of the other son of Kirk Douglas who was an actor? Not everyone can be Jeff and Beau Bridges either. Needless to say the simple fact it's based on a Nicholas Sparks novel guarantees this a place on the crap list, but I'll never know because I will never, ever see it. In fact, I'm still angry I was tricked into seeing The Notebook (and by "tricked" I mean a really pretty girl I knew named Jennifer wanted to see it). But being in one has never hurt a career if you're young (Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Miley Cyrus, Amand Seyfried), so it's a smart move on his part. Another smart move is getting into a comic book movie. Learning that he's going to play Steve Trevor actually made me interested in a Wonder Woman movie for the first time.
IT'S AN ABOMINATION
Get Hard is down to number four, followed by Cinderella at number five and yes, they are making live action versions of everything now, including Winnie The Pooh and Dumbo. Now, Pinocchio I get, because that has been made into live action features before, but Winnie The Pooh and Dumbo? Why!?! Simply because CGI means you can doesn't mean you should. May god have mercy on their money grubbing souls…which they clearly gave up long ago.
NOW BEST KNOWN AS A NAME IN AN EMINEM SONG…
The Divergent Series: Insurgent is down to number six and let's rundown the adult cast in this thing: Oscar winner Kate Winslet, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, two time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts, Ashley Judd, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q, Tony Goldwyn, Daniel Dae Kim and Mekhi Phifer. Remember when he played the male lead to Beyonce in MTV's version of Carmen? Me neither. Though judging by his size on House of Lies last season, brutha hasn't missed many meals.
IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE
The Woman in Gold holds at number seven and also in this is…Katie Holmes? Well, it makes sense given this is little more than a TV movie that escaped into theaters, though the smart move would have been to be an adult in one of the YA novel film adaptations. I also recommend taking that "hot mom" role on a TV show. After all, it's where you began. Dawson and Pacey have already accepted their small screen fates. Time to join them, Joey.
HOLDING MY WUSSY GROUND
It Follows is down to number eight and yes, I still refuse to see this.
IMAGINE IF THE LETTER HAD BEEN "YOU SUCK. QUIT NOW."
Entering the top ten at number nine is Danny Collins, which is based on the true story of a folk singer to whom John Lennon once wrote a letter of encouragement, but since no one really gives a crap about a folk singer, the movie makes it a rock singer and if you're having trouble seeing Al Pacino as an aging rock singer, come sit right next to me. Yes, he was the same age as John Lennon, but still it doesn't seem to fit. That said, the movie follows this fictional character who like the real life folk singer never received the letter until 40 years later and it makes him reevaluate his life. Honestly, though I still don't give a crap about folk singing, I'm more interested in how the real life guy handled it, not this clichéd story of about a man trying to re-connect with the son he's basically ignored for almost 40 years. Not helping is that his growth is also indicated by him dumping his 20-something girlfriend and becoming more interested in the older manager of the hotel where he's staying, played by Annette Benning. Pacino is 74. Benning is 56. That's not age appropriate. Not even close. God forbid you give an actress his age a job. Last I heard Julie Christie is still working. How about giving her some fucking work?
OLD PEOPLE NEED MORE SLEEP
Speaking of age appropriate casting, Ben Stiller is forced to submit to it in While We're Young, entering the top ten at number ten, since age is kinda the focus of the movie. It's about two 40-somethings played by Stiller and Naomi Watts (two movies in the top ten this week) who reevaluate their lives after striking up a friendship with two 20-somethings, played by Amana Seyfried and the actor, Adam Driver, who plays Hanna's creepy boyfriend, Adam, on Girls. This is from writer/director, Noah Baumbach (whom I've loved since Kicking & Screaming) who's banging a 20-something in real life while getting divorced from Jennifer Jason Leigh so like most of his work it's drawn from his real life. I'm not going to say what's keeping me from seeing this is because it strikes a little too close to home (not the banging a 20-something part), because it's not. I'm just lazy. That's the real reason.
FORMERBOY WONDER PHOTOGRAPHY
Tags: 2 Fast 2 Furious, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Allison Brie, Amanda Seyfried, Annette Benning, Ben Stiller, Brie Larson, Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, Danny Collins, Divergent, Fast & Furious, Fast & The Furious, Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift, film reviews, Furious 7, Get Hard, Gina Carano, girls, Gustave Klimt, Home, It Follows, jennifer lopez, JLo, Katie Holmes, Kevin Hart, Michelle Rodriguez, Miles Teller, movie reviews, Naomi Watts, Nicholas, Noah Baumbach, Paul Walker, Rhianna, Ronda Rousey, Ryan Reynolds, Scott Eastwood, Shailene Woodley, Steve Trevor, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Tony Jaa, Vin Diesel, weekend top ten box office, Weekend Top Ten Films, Weekend Top Ten Movies, While We're Young, Will Ferrell, Woman In Gold, wonder woman, Young Adult Novels
THE FUN AND THE STUPID
1. Furious 7/Universal Wknd/$ 143.6 Total/$ 143.6
2. Home/Fox Wknd/$ 27.4 Total/$ 95.6
3. Get Hard/WB Wknd/$ 12.9 Total/$ 57.0
4. Cinderella/Disney Wknd/$ 10.3 Total/$ 167.3
5. The Divergent Series: Insurgent Wknd/$ 10.0 Total/$ 103.4
6. It Follows/RTWC Wknd/$ 2.5 Total/$ 8.5
8. Kingsman: The Secret Service/Fox Wknd/$ 1.7 Total/$ 122.3
9. Do You Believe/PFR Wknd/$ 1.5 Total/$ 9.8
10. The 2nd Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Wknd/$ 1.0 Total/$ 30.1
WE HAD STUPID FUN, LITERALLY.
Furious 7 (don't ask me why it's not Fast 7) opens at number one and this is the most over-the-top and ridiculous entry yet, which is saying something given we've seen a giant safe dragged through the streets of Rio and a tank on the highways of Europe. Let me put it this way: it opens with Jason Staham basically destroying a hospital single handedly while demanding they take care of his brother, who was the bad guy in Fast 6. Yeah, they're really gonna see to him care now. It's stupid fun with equal emphasis on both "stupid" and "fun." Once again a government agency feels the need to recruit a bunch of criminals to do a job for them. In return they'll help them find Jason Staham who is after the team for crippling his brother. At least this time they have Kurt Russell explain that "officially" that his agency was forbidden to do it themselves, so they need to outsource the job. Hell, all that's missing is a tape saying if they're caught the secretary will disavow any knowledge of them then self-destructing. Of course the only way Vin Diesel & Company can do a job is through an utterly ridiculous and convoluted use of cars, as if no other devices or options exist. This time it's dropping muscle cars out of a C-4 transport plane to intercept an armored transport bus on a mountain pass. Understand that actual covert operative, Jason Statham manages to get there too without doing that and no one seems to notice. Also ignored are the basic laws of physics, but that happened once the series stopped so much being about racing and became an urban-Ocean's-11-by-way-of-James-Bond. Ludcaris was once just a guy who set up races, but became a hacker genius, while Paul Walker who was a cop then FBI agent is now basically Jason Bourne, a master of hand-to-hand combat skills going toe-to-toe with Tony Jaa. Yeah, that guy from Jackie Chan's stunt team who became a martial arts star in his own right. Watching it makes you think of when Bruce Lee fought Robin on the old Batman TV show. Extensive suspension of disbelief is required. Also ignored is basic biology as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who falls out of building onto a car (with another person on top of him), heals himself and breaks out of his cast Hulk style to…no. Telling you would only ruin the ridiculous fun of it. Honestly it's as much of a cartoon as anything you saw Bugs Bunny in, only here Bugs Bunny is played by Jason Statham and he wants you dead.
WORSE YET, IT WASN'T EVEN PIXAR
Home is down to number two and also a voice in this is…Jennifer Lopez. Ouch. You know it must have been sobering to get the call for this and be told you were supporting Rhianna (especially since JLo has that little girl voice). Hell, 20 years ago she was the hot 20-something, barely-can-sing pop star best known for being hot. And it hurts me that I'm old enough to remember this. I'm sure Steve Martin felt the same crushing touch of time when he was called and told that Jim Parsons would be the funny lead. Especially when Steve Martin at his peak was like Eddie Murphy at his peak, something Parsons isn't even remotely close to. Not to mention Martin was and is actually funny, something The Big Bang Theory has never been.
BRITTANY MORGAN FAIRCHILD (YOU HAVE TO BE OLD TO GET THAT JOKE)
Get Hard is down to number three and also in this is Allison Brie, whom I keep confusing with Brie Larson even though one is blonde and one is a brunette and I've only ever seen one thing from either of them. Allison Brie is on both Mad Men and the horribly overrated (but still better than The Big Bang Theory) Community while Brie Larson was Envy Adams in the horribly underrated Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and was briefly also on the horribly overrated (but still better than The Big Bang Theory) Community. The only other difference is Allison Brie will pose in her underwear for men's magazines, though I'm sure that's not the sole reason she has a more successful career. I mean, Brie Larson is blonde and we know that matters more than anything.
VERSION 1A
Cinderella is down to number four, followed by The Divergent Series: Insurgent at number fit and I forgot to mention the star, Shaliene Woodley (buds with Brie Larson by the way), who is most often compared to Jennifer Lawrence, which she doesn't understand. Well, honey, unless you can name another young female star heading a Young Adult science fiction novel based movie franchise who also has indie movie and Oscar cred under her belt then you need to suck it up. It's not simply that you both have a pixie haircut. She also takes Jennifer Lawrence's honest talk in interviews to a new level. Actually she takes it to a flat out, weird-ass hippie level about eating, clay walking around barefoot and sunbathing your vagina. Honestly, I can get behind that last one because I often feel my balls could use a little sunlight. Lead us (and our junk) out of the darkness, sister! But you or your agent or your manager should seriously be pitching a fit about the shitty photos in your Elle magazine spread. I mean, they made me feel better about the shitty photos I take, they're so bad.
LITERALLY AN ART FILM
It Follows is down to number six, followed by Woman in Gold opening at number seven and this looks like yet another Hallmark Hall of Fame movie that escaped to the big screen. It's based on the true of a woman who sued the Austrian government to get back a Klimt portrait of her aunt that was stolen by the Nazis in WWII while they insisted it was part of their cultural heritage, given that Klimt was Austrian. Now, I loves me some Klimt, but this just looks too antiseptic and filled with forced cuteness between Helen Mirren and trying-hard-to-comeback Ryan Reynolds, who at least seems to have learned that no one wants to see just him and he needs an actor with some actual weight beside him. And what's heavier than an Oscar-winning English actress?
THERE AIN'T NOTHING LIKE SOME DAMES
Kingsman: The Secret Service is down to number eight, followed by Do You Believe at number nine (which always makes me think of that Huey Lewis song) and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at number ten and apparently Maggie Smith and Judi Densch are friends and have been for sixty years and doesn't that just make perfect sense? Wouldn't it be great for Maggie Smith to show up in the next Bond film as M's sister and ask him why the fuck he got her killed? No, I will never miss an opportunity to tell you how much Skyfall sucked.
Tags: 2 Fast 2 Furious, Alison Brie, Batman TV Series, Bruce Lee, Colin Firth, Do You Believe, Fast & The Furious, Get Hard, Gustav Klimt, Home, It Follows, Jennifer Lawrence, jennifer lopez, Jim Parsons, JLo, Judi Densch, Kevin Hart, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kurt Russell, Ludacris, Maggie Smith, Michael Brown, Michael Caine, Mira Sorvino, Paul Walker, Rhianna, Richard Gere, Samuel L. Jackson, Shailene Woodley, Steve Martin, Targon Egerton, The 2nd Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, The Ipcress File, The Replacement Killers, The Spectacular Now, Tony Jaa, Vin Diesel, Will Ferrell, Woman In Gold
FLASH! HE CAN STILL SAVE EVERYONE OF YOU!
1. The SpongeBob Movie/Par Wknd/$ 56.0 Total/$ 56.0
2. American Sniper/Warner Wknd/$ 24.2 Total/$ 282.3
3. Jupiter Ascending/Warner Wknd/$ 19.0 Total/$ 19.0
4. Seventh Son/Universal Wknd/$ 7.1 Total/$ 7.1
5. Paddington/Weinstein Wknd/$ 5.4 Total/$ 57.3
6. Project Almanac/Paramount Wknd/$ 5.3 Total/$ 15.8
7. The Imitation Game/Weinstein Wknd/$ 4.9 Total/$ 74.7 8.
8. The Wedding Ringer/SGems Wknd/$ 4.8 Total/$ 55.1
9. Black or White/Relativity Wknd/$ 4.5 Total/$ 13.1
10. The Boy Next Door/Universal Wknd/$ 4.1 Total/$ 30.7
I DON'T WATCH ADVENTURE TIME EITHER
The SpongeBob Movie opens at number one and I've never seen the show. That whole hipster moment totally passed me by. And while the trailer did look exceptionally funny I feel it's a little late to hop onboard.
CAREERS DESCENDING
American Sniper is down to number two, followed by Jupiter Ascending opening at number three. Now this was supposed to be one of the big summer movies last year, but got pushed back, which is never a good sign. That they chose to release it in February made it perfectly clear the studio thought it was a dud and unfortunately they were right. The Wachowskis (no longer the brothers as one has become a woman) have never made an unattractive film, but they've only made two actually good ones: Bound and The Matrix. The others range between messy but entertaining (Cloud Atlas, Matrix Reloaded Speed Racer) to flat out bad (The Matrix Revolutions). This sadly goes into that latter category, though like always is easy on the eyes. It thoroughly embraces the idea of eye candy in space opera which has basically been lost since 2001: A Space Odyssey utilized actual science in its production so the "look" science fiction space operas has been utilitarian ever since. Seeing this makes me wish they'd done an adaption of Flash Gordon instead as they could have brought the beautiful imagery of Alex Raymond's work to life, all the way down to women in slutwear being a fashion universal. I never enjoyed the film more than when they just showing gigantic spaceships that basically looked like chandeliers flying through space. And honestly that's all I had, because The Wachowskis once again utilize the idea of an ordinary person who is in fact a very special person who enters into a fantastic world that was around them all the time. The difference being while Neo became an actual participant in that world, Jupiter is always the spectator or the damsel to be saved. She's the protagonist, but not the hero. The story would have been better told from the perspective of her savior, Channing Tatum, a human spliced with a wolf to be a better space soldier who tracks her down as a result of the inner struggles of a family space dynasty. Yeah, I make it sound more interesting than it is. Basically, she's the genetic recreation of the matriarch and is now a pawn between the matriarch's three children as she "owns" the earth, which would make her richer than all of them. Okay, it's actually as dull as that sounded. It's so ill conceived, that one of the siblings is totally dropped by the third act and you don't even miss her, nor do we see what happens when one of them dies, which literally changes everything because the whole fucking movie is driven by sibling rivalry! I think it's telling that Channing Tatum, who is best known for his body didn't feel the need to get in top shape for this despite the fact that the movie has him shirtless for half-an hour for no real reason. A weak script isn't worth crunches or dieting. And what's the point of having reincarnation as a central plot point when the character is only the physical reincarnation and has no memories from their previous life?
THE MUSTACHE ABIDES
Opening a number four is The Seventh Son, another delayed film whose February dumping boded ill and once again that decision was dead on. This film is about Jeff Bridges' mustache and a male model in their battle against Julianne Moore paying the bills so she can do Oscar-worthy indie film work. Yes, this is yet another attempt to create a franchise out of a Young Adult novel and yet another failure because they don't seem to realize that unless it's a mega success like Harry Potter or Twilight in print form it's not coming with a built-in audience of millions. You actually have to but something behind it. This is just a waste of actually talented actors and a decent CGI budget because it lacks a better director who realizes you just can't say there's light in the villain and dark in the hero, you have to show it. That way you get fully realized characters. And if you want just a big cartoon (which is fine too) then you have to drop those concepts and amp up the pace. It does neither of those things. But it didn't bore me like Jupiter Ascending did.
TO BE FAIR, NO ONE SAW HER MOVIES WHEN SHE WAS MRS. CRUISE EITHER
Paddington is down to number five and I suppose I should say something about this since it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. Um, Nicole Kidman is in it. Clearly making movies her kids can see…or that someone, somewhere might even want to see.
Project Almanac is down to number six, followed by The Imitation Game at number seven and that actually sounds like the title of a science fiction movie too, but it's just about real science.
IF YOU WANNA BE A STAR, GOTTA ACT LIKE ONE
The Wedding Ringer is down to number eight, but has more than doubled its budget, so while not a runaway hit, it ain't no failure either. Both Kevin Hart and Josh Gad have done better but Kaley Cucco needed it. Especially if she insists on hyphenating her famous maiden name with her less known rebound-married name. Courtney Cox did that for a hot second then realized her error and wound up dropping both it and the man it came from.
ONCE IS HAPPENSTANCE, TWICE IS COINCIDENCE, MORE THAN TIMES IS A CURSE!
Black or White is down to number nine and also in this is Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and while yes, the lack of change in her career is partly racial and partly sexist, I feel it's mostly the curse of Best Supporting Actress. I mean, seen Melissa Leo lately? Marcia Gay Harden? Rachel Weisz? Mo'Nique? Jennifer Hudson? It even took down Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta Jones after they won it. Tilda Swinton seems unaffected because she never gave a crap about mainstream success anyway, but Cate Blanchett is the only survivor of the last decade.
CRITICS DON'T PAY YOUR BILLS!
Finally, The Boy Next Door closes out the top ten at number ten. $30M from a $4M budget and JLo was also a producer. Make that money, girl.
Tags: American Sniper, Black or White, channing tatum, film reviews, Jeff Bridges, jennifer lopez, JLo, Josh Gad, Julianne Moore, Jupiter Ascending, Kaley Cucco, Kevin Costner, Kevin Hart, movie reviews, Nicole Kidman, Octavia Spencer, Paddington, Project Alamanac, Seventh Son, Speed Racer, The Boy Next Door, The Imitation Game, The Matrix, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, The Wachowskis, The Wedding Ringer, weekend top ten box office, Weekend Top Ten Films, Weekend Top Ten Movies, YA Novels, Young Adult Novels


Spanish Mastiff, Polish Tatra, and Maremma. The Spanish Mastiff's I obtained are true working dogs, referred sometimes as "aboriginal" Spanish Mastiffs, that are found on sheep farms in Spain. This is a different dog than the larger, heavier dog bred for show and pets found on the internet. The foundation dogs that we obtained were brought over by Mary Falk. These were pups that were selected from sheep dairy farms have been continuously bred for generations to guard sheep. Juanita, who was sourced very near the Portuguese border bears a striking resemblance to the Cao de Gado Transmotano. At the time she was acquired the Cao de Gado was just becoming organized as a breed. We suspect she shares some ancestors with the Cao de Gado.
For almost a decade we had an outstanding Polish Tatra male who sired a large number of highly successful LGDs for us. Unfortunately four attempts to obtain a suitable purebred mate for Koci proved futile, so we wound up breeding him to our Maremma and Spanish Mastiff females. The result were over 250 puppies that went to working farms with over a 97% success rate. It is Koci's descendents out of the foundation females on this page, that make up our current pack of livestock guard dogs.
Bonnie has been an outstanding Maremma and is the grand dam to a number of our dogs.
My present make up and management have kept our sheep safe from packs of up to 6 coyotes and at least 10 wolves since 1999. Looking ahead, we will be breeding some of our crosses to Jj (Spanish Mastiff x Polish Tatra) or a Maremma, and also plan to import some new dogs in the future.
A word about puppy sales: I do occasionally produce pups as we need to produce replacements for our own working pack. My pups are sold with a written health and performance guarantee, but are not available to just anyone. These are serious working dogs and are not recommended for small acreages or situations where barking dogs are likely to annoy the neighbors. In return for our guarantee, I ask that my puppy buyers keep in touch with me regarding their pup, especially if they have any concerns. Many problems can be averted with some pretty simple management changes. Please review my blog on "how to raise your LGD puppy".
Cool, glad your line of dogs is still going!
Great looking dogs! Have you heard of or ever seen a Caucasian Shepherd doing its job? We have 4 of them on our high fenced game ranch in Texas. Ours are more of a personal protection dog,no unannounced people ever coming into our ranch! We have not trained them for livestock, I have seen many videos of the Caucasians guarding and protecting animals. They have a bite force of 700 pounds and go from a being big cuddly teddy bear to a terror like never seen if, and only if needed.
Just thought I would make mention. Enjoyed your pictures and story!
Yes, the Caucasian Shepherds are among dozens of different breeds and sub types used throughout Europe to protect livestock and property from predators and theft. They are all very awesome dogs that provide a great service to sheep and shepherd.


A new series of buckets has been released by Rototilt, which it said provided an optimal combination of weight, design and durability, and is on display at Intermat 2018.
The series includes trenching buckets, excavation buckets and grading buckets. The three bucket families are designed for all excavators between 1.5 and 32 tonnes, said Rototilt.
The company added that it was important to use the right bucket with its tiltotator, and the new range is now available.
They are made of high quality structural steel. Areas that are prone to wear are reinforced with HB 500 wear-resistant steel, with floor and side plates in HB 450. The buckets have curved floor plates, smooth and progressive digging movement, and optimal box construction, the company said, adding that the buckets performed best with Rototilt tiltrotators and quick couplers.
Also at Intermat, the new Rototilt R1 tiltrotator is said to be designed for compact machines between 1.5 and 3.5 tonnes. It is based on the same concept as the larger models of the Rototilt R platform, with integrated swivel and greater flexibility with different control systems.
Sven-Roger Ekström, product line manager, said, "With the R1 and R2 tiltrotators, the product line is now complete, with the ICS (Innovative Control System) smart control system.
Rototilt said that ICS provided a wide range of smart functions. The in-cab display allows operators to adjust settings and gives a complete overview of the tiltrotator system.
The R1 replaces the RT10, and will be ready for delivery in May.