SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 13, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Three films are available for home viewing today.
“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” opened in theaters June 3 to a first-weekend total of $4.6 million. Despite having a 77 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Universal Pictures pulled the comedy after just three weeks in release. The film has a domestic total of $9.4 million.
“The Conjuring 2” fared much better in theaters, as it was hailed by critics and audiences for its fresh and scary approach to the horror genre — the sequel scored an 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film premiered June 10 and took home $40.0 million during its premiere weekend. “The Conjuring 2” brought home $102.4 million domestically and a worldwide total of $319.4 million during its 12 weeks of release.
“Captain America: Civil War,” starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Sebastian Stan and Scarlett Johansson opened in theaters May 6 to a first-weekend total of $179.1 million.
With a 90 percent score from Rotten Tomatoes, the third of the “Captain America” films earned a domestic total of $408.0 million and a global total of $1.1 billion in its 22-week run in theaters.
The Reviews:
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Starring: Andy Samberg and Bill Hader
Rated R
When his new album fails to sell records, pop/rap superstar conner4real, played by Andy Samberg, goes into a major tailspin and watches his celebrity high life begin to collapse. He’ll try anything to bounce back, anything except reuniting with his old rap group, The Style Boyz.
Shot as a mockumentary, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” is a comical look at the excesses of the music industry and its stars.
I am sure everyone will compare “Popstar” to “This is Spinal Tap,” because “Spinal Tap” was probably the best of its genre and still holds up after 32 years, but “Popstar” is more like an elongated Saturday Night Live sketch.
The film offers up a few laughs, and its biggest saving grace is the film’s cameo appearances by Simon Cowell, Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg and Usher. But mostly the movie is a kind of comedy free-for-all, replete with offensive music, silly situations, sloppy jokes and some good laughs.
“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” gets a B and is rated R.
The Conjuring 2
Starring: Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga
Rated R
Ghost investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.
“The Conjuring 2” is possibly the best sequel done in this genre. Almost everything in the film is done precisely to up the scares and chills over the last film, without becoming a parody of the original 2013 release.
Director James Wan (the “Saw” franchise and “Annabelle”) understands this type of filmmaking well and shows us that a little is a lot. Wan creates a chilling world using his camera to emphasize the escalation of horror, all the while keeping the pace of the film steadily increasing.
Both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson put in solid performances. In this second outing, both actors seem more comfortable together, allowing the audience to feel a sense of familiarity with the ghost-chasing couple.
While there are a few CGI moments, the real scares come from Wan’s use of his cast, intertwined with one of the best scores for a horror film ever.
“The Conjuring 2” is not a perfect film, but it sure was a scary good time. It gets a B and is rated R.
Captain America: Civil War
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan
Rated PG-13
With many people fearing the actions of super heroes, the government decides to push for the Anti-Hero Registration Act, a law that limits a hero’s actions. This results in a division in The Avengers.
Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check, otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed, but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world.
This escalates into an all-out war between Team Iron Man (Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine, and Spiderman) and Team Captain America (Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Sharon Carter, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man) while a new villain emerges.
“Captain America: Civil War” is a nonstop, edge-of-your-seat action film. Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, the film never lets its guard down. The script is crisp and makes full use of each character as they decide whether to have sanctions and limitations imposed upon them, which arguably will hamper their superhero activities.
Chris Evans is perfect as “Captain America,” and equally perfect is his counterpart, “Tony Stark / Iron Man,” played by Robert Downey Jr. There are some great, humorous scene-stealing moments from “Spider-Man” Tom Holland and Paul Rudd as “Ant-Man.”
As I stated above, the film could not work without a script as well written as Christopher Markus and Stephen Feely’s brilliant screenplay.
The film shifts seamlessly from dialogue to action without losing a single beat, all the while captivating the viewer as each superhero has that all-important screentime.
Needless to say, “Captain America: Civil War” is everything I expected and more. It is simply the best film in the Avenger Universe to date.
The film gets an A and is rated PG-13.
