Weekend Movie Guide: The Martian, Sicario, The Walk

Ryan
3101 days ago.

The Martian, Freeheld and Sicario are among the movies opening in theaters this weekend around St. Louis. See Sicario and The Martian starting tonight at MX Movies in downtown St. Louis.

Don’t pay regular price for a ticket to see one of these new releases in the theater. Sign up now for MoviePass at MoviePass.com.

The Martian, Sicario and Freeheld open in movie theaters around St. Louis this weekend.

Recapping Last Weekend

Hotel Transylvania 2 easily topped the weekend box office and set a record for a September opening over the weekend with $48.5 million. The Intern opened with $17.7 million in second place while Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials finished third with $14.3 million. Everest moved into wide release, after opening in IMAX theaters last weekend, and pulled in $13.2 million. Black Mass rounded out the top five with $11 million in its second weekend of release.

The Visit finished just outside the top five in its third weekend of release. Have no fear for the M. Night Shyamalan crew, however. The film still managed to take in $1.6 million dollars more than its $5 million budget and now stands at $52.6 million thus far during its theater run..

 

The Martian

Probably the one review you need to read before going to see Matt Damon in The Martian, is this review from former US astronaut Clayton C. Anderson. If actual astronauts liked the film, it sounds like a pretty good bet you will enjoy it too. The Ridley Scott film is based on the novel by Andy Weir. What would become the novel and then the film actually started as a few chapters published on Weir’s personal blog and then an e-book available on Amazon for $0.99. The Washington Post wrote an entire article about how Weir’s book may have save the space program. It’s no surprise that Weir is a big proponent of private space travel. Russian screenwriter Mikhail Raskhodnikov is suing Fox and saying that they stole a script he wrote back in 2008.

EW gave The Martian an ‘A-‘ in their review of the film. Neil deGrasse Tyson is excited for the film. The Mary Sue calls the film “joyful, smart cinema“.

Saba Hamedy of the Los Angeles Times says The Martian could make between $45 and $55 million this weekend. A screening of the film in Silicon Valley is a sign of how the film has those in the science and technology fields quite excited.

The Martian trailer

Sicario

Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin star in drug trade crime drama Sicario. The film was released last weekend on 59 screens across the country and made $1.7 million, or $29,107 per screen. The mayor of Juárez, Mexico is encouraging people not to see this movie, which means you should see it.

Angela Watercutter of Wired called Sicario the “True Detective season two we deserved” for its use of drone shots and its storyline. The film currently sits at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Deadline predicts Sicario will make $8-$10 million this weekend.

Sicario trailer

Freeheld

Ellen Page and Julianne Moore star as a lesbian couple fighting for equality in Freeheld. The fim is based on the true story of Laurel Hester, a woman who fought for her pension benefits to pass on to her domestic partner after her death. Moore praised Hester, who died in 2006, praised Hester at a recent premiere of Freeheld in New York City. Freeheld was also the name of a documentary by Cynthia Wade that won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.

Jacques Billeaud of The Associated Press says that “authentic peformances drama Freeheld“. He praises the work of Moore, Page and Steve Carell, Michael Shannon, who plays Hester’s partner Dane Wells, spent time with Wells before portraying him on-screen. Page recently came out as gay and says this story is very personal for her.

UPDATE While listed as a new release this weekend, Freeheld is not playing at any theater within 200 miles of St. Louis this weekend. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Freeheld trailer
 

The Walk

Much like The Martian last weekend, The Walk gets an exclusive IMAX release this weekend. Joseph Gordon Levitt stars as Phiippe Petit in this film directed by Robert Zemeckis. Petit was is a French tightrope artist who rose to international fame in August of 1974 when he put a wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York and walked across it. Gordon-Levitt prepared for his role in the film by walking a wire, albeit not 110 stories in the air, with Petit. Curious about how the real story compares with the film? Check out this piece from Curbed.

The Atlantic calls The Walka hokey drama with a thrilling climax“. Grantland calls the film “a breathless, exhilarating moviegoing experience“. . . during a 25-minute period.

Be prepared if you go see The Walk this weekend. There were reports in New York of people experiencing vertigo while watching the climax of the film and doing not-nice things to movie restrooms.

Around St. Louis this weekend, The Walk is showing at Ronnies 20 Cine, Regal St. Louis Stadium 18, AMC Chesterfield 14 and the AMC Showplace Edwardsville 12.

The Walk trailer

Catch It Before It’s Gone

Keller 8 Cinema in South County welcomes Ant-Man and The Gift this weekend.

Ant-Man trailer

Make It A Redbox Night

Kevin Bacon comes to Redbox this weekend with Cop Car. The film currently holds a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  Bruce DeMara of the Toronto Star gave it 3 out of 4 stars and notes that Bacon brings his “A-game” to his role.

Cop Car trailer

Movie News

New Trailer For Marvel’s Jessica Jones

The Washington Post breaks down the new trailer for Marvel/Netflix’s Jessica Jones. The series will debut on Netflix on November 20.

 

Stars of Hunger Games Trilogy Look Back On The Franchise 

Entertainment Weekly recently sat down with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth to talk about The Hunger Games franchise. After earning $2.3 billion already, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 will signal the end of the franchise when is opens in theaters on November 20.

Brad Bird Talks Tomorrowland

Director Brad Bird talked to Entertainment Weekly about making an original movie like Tomorrowland. “It was like walking a tightrope in a windstorm.,” he said.

Bird also shared this deleted scene from Tomorrowland.


 

Tomorrowland, which I enjoyed, comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on October 13.

Kate Winslet Keeps Her Oscar In The Bathroom

Kate Winslet recently told the Wall Street Journal that she keeps the Oscar award that she won in 2009 in her bathroom. Her perfectly good reason is that it’s there for people to pose with in the mirror and practice their own acceptance speeches.

Lucille Ball Biopic Not Coming Just Yet

Back in early September, we were one of the outlets to pick up the story that Cate Blanchett was set to play Lucille Ball in an Aaron Sorkin-helmed film on her life. Sorkin now tells Cinema Blend that the film doesn’t have the green light just yet. Sorkin just finished the script for a film about Hollywood’s “poker princess”, Molly Bloom.

Aside from talking about the Ball film, Sorkin also had a mic-dropping rebuttal to Apple CEO Tim Cook that he later apologized for.

Brought to you by Mills Apartments

 

Ryan

Ryan is a weird dude. He doesn't cook, yet owns a plethora of kitchen gadgets. He rationalized buying a SodaStream while unemployed. He counts Step Up 2: The Streets as one of his favorite movies along with Footloose, Rent, Grease and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. He loves Mizzou but only wants them in the SEC so he can tailgate in Nashville. He owns a ShakeWeight and AbLounger, but still loves him some John Donut and Billie's Fine Foods. You can get more of Ryan at iLoveSoulard.com or just check the stool on the far end of the bar at iTap in Soulard.

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