Weekend Movie Guide: Krampus, Chi-Raq & The Letters

Ryan
3039 days ago.

Krampus, Chi-Raq and The Letters open in movie theaters around St. Louis this weekend. My All American opens at Keller 8, while Amy, Self/Less and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. are among a host of movies now available to rent at Redbox. Catch Secret in Their Eyes starting tomorrow 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.

Chi-Raq, Krampus and The Letters open in movie theaters around St. Louis this weekend. It's the Weekend Movie Guide from RealLifeSTL

Recapping Last Weekend

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 again topped the weekend box office. The final film in the franchise sold $52 million worth of tickets in its second weekend of release. The Good Dinosaur was the top debut film of the weekend with $39.2 million, ahead of Creed‘s $29.6 million. Spectre brought in $12.9 million in its fourth weekend of release and The Peanuts Movie rounded out the top five with $9.7 million in its fourth weekend of release.

Spectre has now brought in $167 million domestically and $750 million worldwide. The Peanuts Movie has passed its $99 million budget with $128 million in receipts.

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Opening This Weekend

Krampus

Krampus focuses on a family who is missing the “Christmas spirit”. A demon, Krampus, is then sent down to punish them.  Krampus is a mythical figure in German folklore who punishes naughty children. Here’s a featurette explaining the Christmas demon. Michael Dougherty, who directed this film, calls it a horror/fantasy/comedy film. Johnny Brayson of Bustle advises that you don’t see Krampus alone.

Todd M. Thatcher predicts a $7.1 million opening weekend for Krampus.


Krampus trailer

Chi-Raq

Chi-Raq (or Chigaq) is the newest controversial film from director Spike Lee. The title is meant to compare Chicago to the war zone in Iraq. Lee has maintained this is a serious film with just a bit of comedy. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel  has voiced his displeasure with the title of the film. Lee says he wants to show what life on the streets of Chicago is really like.  It’s hard to disagree with Spike Lee when the cast of the musical includes the likes of Nick Cannon, Teyonah Paris, Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack and Jennifer Hudson.

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Amazon are all partnering together to release Chi-Raq, although it is actually Amazon’s first original movie. The film will get a limited release in theaters this weekend and then become available on Amazon Instant Video.

Check Fandango for Chi-Raq showtimes around St. Louis.

Amy Ho wrote a blistering commentary piece criticizing Lee and his movie in the Chicago Tribune. GQ says Chiraq is sexy and violent to go with the controversial. 

Chi-Raq trailer

The Letters

The Letters bills itself as “the untold story of Mother Teresa“. Juliet Stevenson plays Mother Teresa in the story that’s told from the viewpoint of a Vatican priest looking back at Mother Teresa’s life after her death. Parade calls The Lettersa revealing look at Mother Teresa“.

The Letters trailer

Catch It Before It’s Gone

Keller 8 Cinema in South County welcomes Our Brand Is Crisis, My All American and Goosebumps this weekend. I haven’t seen the Sandra Bullock movie, but Goosebumps was pretty enjoyable.

My All American comes from the writer of RudyHoosiers and The Game Of Their Lives, Angelo Pizzo. The Game Of Their Lives focused on the 1950 U.S. soccer team that beat England 1-0. The movie was filmed largely in St. Louis as five members of the team hailed from here. It was renamed The Miracle Match for distribution and is an excellent film. Pizzo makes his directing debut with this film.

My All American tells the story of Freddie Joe Steinmark, who was the starting safety on the University of Texas Longhorns football team that won the 1969 National Championship. The screenplay that Pizzo wrote is based on Courage Beyond The Game. Men’s Journal has the story of how several Facebook message got Pizzo involved in the film.

My All American trailer

Make It A Redbox Night

Among the new movies at your local Redbox this week are The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Self/Less and Amy.

Amy uses interviews with those that knew her and archived footage to tell the tragic story of the late singer Amy Winehouse. It has a series chance at winning the 2016 Oscar for Best Documentary.

Amy trailer



Entertainment News

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Trailer

The newest trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer
 

Studio Says Leonardo DiCaprio Is Not Raped By A Bear In The Revenant

Fox has been forced to deny claims that a scene in Leonardo DiCaprio’s upcoming film The Revenant depicts the actor being raped by a bear. Anyone who has been a guest at an early screening of the film was reportedly forced to sign an agreement that they wouldn’t talk about the film until tomorrow, December 4th. Fox felt the need to address these rumors after they became prevalent on the internet on Tuesday.

Zoolander 2 International Trailer

Derek Zoolander  and company return to theaters on February 12, 2016 in Zoolander 2. This Zoolander 2 international trailer reveals some new footage that the first trailer did not include.

Zoolander 2 trailer
 

Television Executives Argue Against Streaming Services

A growing number of television executives are sounding the horn for the network television industry as they’ve come to know it. Analysts both for some networks and Wall Street are warning that networks are letting too much of their best content go to streaming services like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. They are saying that while these deals bring money up front, like the $2 million per episode that Netflix paid for The Blacklist,  they aren’t good for the long-term health of their core businesses.

Ride Along 2 Trailer

Ice Cub and Kevin Hart team up again in Ride Along 2, in theaters January 15, 2016. The pair is joined by the likes of Olivia Munn, Glen Powell, Ken Jeong , Tyrese Gibson and T.I.

Ride Along 2 trailer
 

Mark Hamill Will Return For Star Wars 8

The focus is of course currently on Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens, but what about Episode VIII? We know three things: 1) filming is currently being done for it 2) Mark Hamill will have more of a role in it as Luke Skywalker and 3) Rian Johnson is directing it.

His character has been absent from any of the marketing for The Force Awakens, which is a strategic play by director J.J. Abrams. No one seems to really know why and finding out before The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18 would be like a 7-year old seeing all of their Christmas presents before December 25.

Finding out Episode VIII‘s secrets will be the talk of 2017 as the film will hit theaters on May 26, 2017.

Live-Action Version Of The Wiz Premieres Tonight On NBC

The Wiz won seven Tony awards in 1975, including Best Musical. It’s said that it had a huge effect not just on the future careers of its cast, but also on the theater industry as a whole. It was also made into a movie starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

The Wiz Live! premieres tonight on NBC. The show will air at 7 pm central. Among others, the cast includes Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Common, david Alan Grier and Uzo Aduba of Orange Is The New Black.

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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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