Summer Loser: The R-Rated Comedy

The R-rated comedy is going to need to be revamped heading into next year because aside from Girls Trip, they landed with a dud.  The best comedies this summer were all indie comedies and I’ll have more on that when I visit the summer winners on Monday. Snatched, starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn, opened against King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.  But a front-loaded opening weekend of $19 million wasn’t enough to keep it…

"Summer Loser: The R-Rated Comedy"

I Won’t See The Emoji Movie

(Hi there, if you’re being directed here from an article about TJM’s email, please click here). Heading into the tail end of last week, there was no score reported on Rotten Tomatoes for The Emoji Movie and there’s a reason for this–it wasn’t offered to us as a press screening.  In other words, if we wanted to consider this film for awards season, we’ll have to see it ourselves. I’m not going to consider it…

"I Won’t See The Emoji Movie"

The House Fails and What’s Going On With Comedy Movies This Summer?

Comedy movies have taken a toll at the box office this summer.  What’s going on with this and how can it be fixed? Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros. have taken a hit with Baywatch, Rough Night, and The House, respectively.  I’ve seen and reviewed both Baywatch and Rough Night.  The House, however, was not screened for critics. Baywatch has struggled since it’s release.  It’s made just over $57 million against a $69 million budget.  It’s…

"The House Fails and What’s Going On With Comedy Movies This Summer?"

Studio Tentpoles are hurting this summer

There’s no denying the power that Rotten Tomatoes has on making or breaking a studio tentpole. This is something that we’ve been seeing at the box office since the summer movie season started.  Studio tentpoles aren’t critic-proof no matter how many times these actors or filmmakers say that it wasn’t made for the critics.  Critics are people, too.  The first thing I ask myself when I start to write a screenplay is whether it’s a…

"Studio Tentpoles are hurting this summer"

Baywatch is A Complete Waste of Time

Baywatch had so much riding on it but it just couldn’t live up to the original series. Directed by Seth Gordon, Baywatch stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Jon Bass, Kelly Rohrbach, Ilfenesh Hadera, with David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson. The critics were not what brought down the movie.  It was just poorly executed.  No disrespect to the cast–they are all talented–but some things are just better left untouched.  Given the horrible…

"Baywatch is A Complete Waste of Time"

Summer Box Office: Is Tentpole Fatigue in Play?

Memorial Day used to mark the kick-off of the summer movie box office season but that changed the minute that Sony dated Spider-Man for release at the start of May 2002. Many films released this past month have opened below studio expectations.  Are audiences tired of these tentpoles or are movies thought to be critic-proof no longer critic-proof?  Before I started writing reviews regularly, I would turn to the likes of Roger Ebert for my…

"Summer Box Office: Is Tentpole Fatigue in Play?"