Hail, Caesar!, The Choice and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies open in movie theaters around St. Louis this weekend. Regression begins showing  at Keller 8, while The Visit, The Last Witch Hunter and Bridge of Spies are among the movies now available to rent at Redbox.

Fifty Shades of Black premieres at MX Movies in downtown St. Louis this weekend. Kung Fu Panda 3 and Ride Along 2 are also playing.

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.

Recapping Last Weekend

Kung Fu Panda 3 met expectations with $41.3 million in its debut weekend. It easily took the weekend box office crown over The Revenant‘s $12.8 million. Panda brought in another $51.3 million in China over the weekend.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was taken off 809 screens, but still showed on 2,556 over the weekend. It sold just more than $11 million of tickets and will most likely pass the $900 million mark at the domestic box office this week. It will lengthen its lead as the all-time domestic leader, but is likely set on the Domestic Gross list when adjusted for inflation and the Worldwide Gross list.

The Finest Hours was the top debut over the weekend with $10.3 million in receipts. Fifty Shades of Black brought in $5.9 million while Jane Got A Gun, playing on just 1,210 screens, brought in just $835,572

What I Saw This Week

I saw Fifty Shades of Black over the weekend and must say the “spoof” genre just isn’t for me. I should have known since I never really saw any of the Scary Movie films. The movie has its funny parts, but I felt that too many of them were in the trailers for the film.

I also never saw or read Fifty Shades of Grey so,  it really could be completely my fault that I didn’t “get” the movie.

Opening This Weekend

Hail, Caesar!

Salon raves about the latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen starring George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson and featuring a host of others, like Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. A.V. Club says that parts of the film are the funniest work the Coen brothers have done since The Big Lebowski.

The Verge calls Hail, Caesar! “an overcrowded ode to Old Hollywood“. Star Clooney told Good Morning America that he wished Jonah Hill had more of a role in the film

Todd M. Thatcher predicts a $14.3 million opening weekend for Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! trailer

The Choice

The Nicholas Sparks train is pulling back into the station with the debut of The Choice this weekend. The novel, originally published in 2007, was Sparks’ 13th book. This will be the 11th Sparks movie with the first being Message in a Bottle back in 2009. The films have grossed a combined $556 million at the box office, led by The Notebook‘s $81 million back in 2004. His last two films, including last year’s The Longest Ride, have been the lowest grossing of the franchise.

As you might imagine, the curmudgeons that make up the movie critic employment base are a little over Nicholas Sparks and his movies.  Paul Byrnes of The Sunday Morning Herald calls this entry “maudin, manipulative and nauseating in its folksy wholesomeness”.

The fact is, there are plenty of people who are eager to snap up what Sparks is peddling. Whether its ladies wanting a “date night”, dudes wanting to impress a lady, hopeless romantics or people that just have  crush on Alexandra Daddario, people will go see this movie. Those who go see it will know what they are getting into and enjoy the movie.

Daddario, who gained fans alongside Dwayne Johnson in San Andreas and will play Summer in the upcoming Baywatch film, plays a supporting role in The Choice. Benjamin Walker, who played Abraham Lincoln in Abraham Lincoln in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and was most recently seen in In The Heart of the Sea, plays the male lead, Travis.

Teresa Palmer plays Gabby, the female lead. She was most recently seen in the awful Point Break remake, but don’t hold that against her. The Australian was working at a retail outlet in there when she was cast in 2:37 on the spot without an audition. The former flame of both Topher Grace and Russell Brand was slated to appear in Mad Max: Fury Road, but delays on the film led her to film I Am Number Four instead. Her Mad Max role was filled by Charlize Theron.

Todd M. Thatcher predicts an opening weekend of $9.6 million for The Choice. That total would be the lowest for a Sparks movie, “beating” The Best of Me‘s $10 million opening in 2014.

The Choice trailer

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a step in the right direction for the “mashup” genre according to Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune. He envisions a day when we eventually get to see “Richard Nixon vs. the Kraken vs. Sharknado“.

The movie is based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s expansion on the Jane Austen classic. Grahame-Smith also wrote Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and The Big Book of Porn.

Lily James stars in this film as Elizabeth Bennet. The Downton Abbey veteran was seen last year in the the live-action Cinderella and Burnt. Bella Heathcote, Ellie Bamber, Millie Brady and Suki Waterhouse play the Bennet sister.

Todd M. Thatcher predicts an opening weekend of $8.1 million for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trailer

Catch It Before It’s Gone

This week, we recommend seeing a movie at Keller 8 that is new to theaters in the St. Louis area, rather than one that has been showing for awhile.

Regression is a “psychological thriller horror” film starring Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson. The film was originally released back in October in Spain and has played in various other countries, making around $17.6 million. It is just now being released here in the United States. Keller 8 is one of only a couple theaters in the St. Louis area showing the film.

The Good Dinosaur and Misconduct with Julia Stiles, Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino are also showing at Keller 8 this weekend.

Check out the trailer below for Regression.

 

Regression trailer

Make It A Redbox Night

The Visit, Bridge of Spies and The Last Witch Hunter are among the movies now available to rent at your local Redbox.

Entertainment News

Get A Job Trailer

Zach Sharf calls Get A Job the “star-studded comedy you had no idea existed until this trailer“. Dylan McKidd directed this film back in 2012. Anna Kendrick is of course in this movie because she seems to be in all the movies like this. Miles Teller also stars along Bryan Cranston,Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Alison Brie in this film about recent college graduates trying to find a job. Hopefully this is better than The Last Five Years.

Get A Job is set for a limited released in theaters on March 25, 2016, when it will also be available on video on demand.

Get A Job trailer 

Matt LeBlanc Named Co-Host Top Gear On BBC

Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc will co-host auto show Top Gear on BBC. LeBlanc will team with Chris Evans, who was previously announced as a host of the show that’s aired for almost 40 years. BBC has said that more hosts are expected to be announced soon. Former host Jeremy Clarkson did not have his contract renewed after he punched a producer, among other things.

Craig Robinson To Host Caraoke Showdown On Spike

Spike TV is at it again. With the success of Lip-Sync Battle, the network is again taking a popular sketch from a late-night show and making it into a show on their network. Caraoke Showndown will be hosted by Craig Robinson and produced by Howie Mandel. It’s based on the Carpool Karaoke bit from James Corden.

Caraoke Showdown will air later this year as a special event on Spike TV. It’s expected that the network will move on with a full series of the show if it is successful.

 

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