Kong is King this week at the box office! Kong: Skull Island brought in 61M$, throwing Logan down the hill, which had a 38M$ intake. I'm a bit surprised, because I thought that Kong may falter a bit, but I was wrong. Get Out, The Shack, and The LEGO Batman Movie filled in the rest of the top five with around 20.5M$, 10M$, and about 7.5M$ respectively.

This weekend may see one beast tackled by yet another with the release of Beauty and the Beast. T2 Trainspotting is also opening this week, but I've always thought the original as more of a cult classic, so not expecting large numbers for the sequel. These live-action retellings of Disney classics, however...

Aftermath (4/7/2017):

I don't think many of Schwarzenegger's (Sabotage, The Last Stand) movies post politics have really done exceptionally well, though I have enjoyed some, but I'm hoping the more drama based ones like this do. Ones that aren't strictly full-blown, high-octane action. Something more along the lines of Maggie (though, I've yet to see it). Aftermath should offer us much more of an emotional range of his acting ability and I really think he will show himself to be more than simply an action star.

I was afraid this trailer was maybe showing too much, but I like where it finally stops. I'm hoping it's not been revealed in chronological order, though it appears to. The dreaded "true events" were thrown around, but merely inspired by, rather then attempting to portray this as anything factual. Not even Sully could resist embellishment and/or inventing alternative narrative. I have some high hopes for this movie, because I love me some Arnold, so it better not disappoint!

Maggie Grace (Lockout, Lost), Kevin Zegers (The Colony, The Entitled), and Scoot McNairy (Sleepless, 12 Years a Slave) also star.

The Circle (4/28/2017):

When not busy being a Disney princess, Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast, Regression) is apparently getting herself indoctrinated into creepy NSAesque, spy-on-everyone cults. No big deal! I wonder how well this movie will do, with the recent release of real life data dumps from Wikileaks exposing the C.I.A.'s use of exploited security vulnerabilities and use of our own technologies to spy on us (who didn't think they were doing that, though, really? I don't even hook up my Kinect!), it could be hot topic. Plus the Snowden movie coming out last year, highlighting the NSA's overextending reach. Seems like the perfect time for a movie like this.

The trailer for The Circle is really well done, with building up Emma's character and slowly hinting at a potentially more sinister position behind the company she has just been hired at. Along with the song choice alluding to that creepiness. Admittedly, I like the idea of Tom Hanks (Inferno, Sully) taking on a role that is a bit more nefarious than what we are generally accustomed to. I'm very interested in seeing this movie and I'm curious how large Bill Paxton's (Training Day, Nightcrawler) role will be. This may be one of his final releases since passing away.

The Circle also stars Karen Gillian (The Big Short, Doctor Who), John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Imperial Dreams) and Patton Oswalt (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Keeping Up with the Joneses).

Rough Night - International Trailer (6/16/2017):

Soooooo at first, as the trailer was playing, I thought this was potentially some retelling of Very Bad Things with slight variants and gender swapping (instead of men with a female hooker at a bachelor party, women with a male stripper at a party). Mind you, I've not seen Very Bad Things since it was in theaters, but eventually it felt more of a mix of that (maybe less violent) and Weekend at Bernie's! I don't know, maybe I'm stretching.

Regardless of any of that, I think this looks pretty hilarious! Maybe I'm just a Johannson (Ghost in the Shell, Sing) fan, but almost every one of the ladies had funny moments in the trailer — especially Jillian Bell (Fist Fight, Office Christmas Party), who I'm not quite familiar with. And maybe I'm just so used to seeing Scarlett in light romantic comedies or action flicks, that this looks like a movie that will really let her comedic chops shine! We'll see!

Zoe Kravitz (The LEGO Batman Movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Kate McKinnon (Masterminds, Finding Dory), and Ilana Glazer (Broad City, The Night Before) round out the rest of the main cast stuck with attempting to dispose of a dead stripper and meeting many hardships along the way. I may not rush out to theaters to see Rough Night, but I'm not opposed either...

There's also a Red-Band trailer out there, if interested.

The House (6/30/2017):

I've fallen behind on many of Will Ferrell's (Zoolander 2, Daddy's Home) movies. They seemed to be fairly mediocre, light comedies, if you know what I mean. That's not necessarily bad, but I've just not been drawn to them. I'd be more prone to watch them if they popped up on Netflix. I was fairly skeptical of The House, going into the trailer. That being said, however, apparently throwing in Amy Poehler (Sisters, Blades of Glory) with some good crude humor means I'm game!

Sure, it's nothing groundbreaking, and honestly, I'm not even sure if they've already spoiled most of the funny parts, but the chemistry of Ferrell and Poehler is fantastic. The deadpan, stupid humor works really well here, heightened by their physical animations. I'm excited to see the two of them play off of one another and throwing in Jason Mantzoukas (Dirty Grandpa, How to Be Single) just sweetens the pot.

It may be a gamble going all in, but I think it's a safe bet that this is a flick I'd really enjoy!

Atomic Blonde - Red-Band Trailer (7/28/2017):

I've seen this movie being compared to Salt (which I never saw), but I don't recall that movie appearing so brutal. This has more of a John Wick feel to me, though maybe possibly the Bourne franchise as well. Both of those had some great choreographed hand-to-hand combat and gunfight scenes (and car chases). I'm assuming this trailer (I couldn't find a non-Red-Band trailer) features the majority of that beginning fight and some of the gun play, where a standard trailer would leave them out. Personally, I think I'd prefer Charlize Theron (Kubo and the Two Strings, Mad Max: Fury Road) over Angelina Jolie.

The introduction of James McAvoy (Split, X-Men: Apocalypse) in the trailer is great. I think the whole trailer is really well done. From the cutting between scenes, introduction of characters and plot, to the music selection. I find it to be really top notch and it definitely leaves me wanting more. I'm really impressed by it!

The casting of Sofia Boutella (Star Trek Beyond, Kingsman: The Secret Service), John Goodman (Kong: Skull Island, Patriots Day), and Toby Jones (Kaleidoscope, Wayward Pines) brings even more talent to the project and the snappy dialogue will surely keep my attention, aside from the visceral violence...

Did any of the featured movies interest you?