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Star Jennifer Lawrence looks tough in armor and added on wings on this fiery poster for Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Catniss is in mourning over Peeta's death, when she learns that he is actually still alive but held captive. The resistance movement now position Catniss as their mockingjay, the leader and inspiration for their rebellion.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is written by Peter Craig (Blood Father (2016)) and Danny Strong (The Butler (2013)), adapting Mockingjay (2010) by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games (2008)), and directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine (2005)). It is the 3rd film in the Hunger Games franchise.
Jennifer Lawrence (Passengers (2016)) is still good as the natural center for the films, leading with big emotions and in this one also singing. Mockingjay 1 is a piece of entertaining, youth-centered science fiction with a certain amount of brains behind it; for instance the film also shows how the good heroine is also staged for effect. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is good but feels a bit like a long middle chapter.
[The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 premiered 10 November (London) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place back-to-back with Mockingjay Part 2 from September - December 2013 in Germany, including in Berlin, Paris France, Georgia, Boston, Massachusetts and in Los Angeles, California. Lawrence was paid 7.5 mil. $ for her performance in the film. The film opened #1 to a 121.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends at #1 and two more in the top 5 (#2-#5), grossing 337.1 mil. $ (44.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 48.6 mil. $ (6.4 %) and China with 36.5 mil. $ (4.8 %). Co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman died of an overdose at a late stage of production, and the film is dedicated to him. It additionally made in excess of 73.1 mil. $ on the home video market in North America alone. The final film in the original saga was released as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), which was Francis Lawrence's return as a filmmaker as well as Jennifer Lawrence's return as a star. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is fresh at 70 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1?
A disturbing shadow over a sleeping blond girl on a surveillance cam still makes up this poster for Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's Paranormal Activity 4
Several years after a mother and her son go missing, they suddenly turn up, apparently without having aged, in a home across from a normal family with an adopted son, who in turn becomes friends with the reappeared boy...
Paranormal Activity 4 is written by Christopher Landon (Viral (2016)), with Chad Feehan (Banshee (2016, TV-series)) contributing story elements, and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish (2010), both). It is the 4th film in the Paranormal Activity franchise (2009; 2010; 2011).
The filmmakers skip explaining why the family has recording devices capturing everything that happens in all the rooms of their house. Some are webcams that never turn off (...) but apart from these? This makes the scares limited, as we follow the blond girl around, while she also records everything.
The family is gratingly ordinary, making at least me wonder if I would also appear that ordinary if captured on various devices in my home (impossible!) But the naturalness achieved is nevertheless impressive. SPOILER Children that shift loyalty to unseen forces are scary, and the film's last minutes, before a regular witch army is revealed for a very short time (witches again, yes), are effective. But the formula shows its weak points too often here in the 4th chapter.
[Paranormal Activity 4 premiered 27 September (Austin Fantastic Fest, USA) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place in the summer of 2012 in Nevada and Los Angeles, California. The film opened #1 to a 29 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#4), grossing 53.8 mil. $ (37.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.5 mil. $ (6.7 %) and Australia with 7.8 mil. $ (5.5 %). It additionally reportedly made more than 9.7 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. The franchise returned with Paranormal Acitivity: The Marked Ones (2014) with Landon taking over as director, and 2 more sequels. Joost and Schulman returned with 5 shorts and a video prior to their theatrical return with Nerve (2016). Paranormal Activity 4 is rotten at 23 % with a 4.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
A shade on the wall behind two children asleep provides chill factor on this poster for Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's Paranormal Activity 3
We go back to the roots ... As a girl Katie's family was also plagued by the supernatural back in 1988.
Paranormal Activity 3 is written by Christopher Landon (Viral (2016)) and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish (2010), both). It is the 3rd film in the Paranormal Activity franchise (2007-).
Chapter three also comes with its own story weaknesses. - For instance, the mentally awake viewer may rightly wonder how this gigantic home is possible with one home-owner apparently spending the days video-taping at home. Also; what happened to the girls' father?
The style of Paranormal is repetitive but also effective: It is creepy to see something homely so obviously assaulted by something unreal. SPOILER A girl in joined forced with evil spirit 'Toby' is frightening, and the witch ending is terrifying but very quickly over, unfortunately.
Paranormal Activity 3, the franchise's highest-earning chapter, is almost at par with the original in terms of quality.
[Paranormal Activity 3 premiered 14 October (Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival) and runs 84 minutes. Shooting took place from April - May 2001 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #1 to a 52.5 mil. $ weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#4), grossing 104 mil. $ (50.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 16.9 mil. $ (8.2 %) and Germany with 8 mil. $ (3.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Joost and Schulman returned with Metropolis II (2011, short), A Brief History of John Baldessari (2012, short) and theatrically with Paranormal Activity 4 (2012), the next in the franchise, after which another 3 movies have come out. Paranormal Activity 3 is fresh at 66 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
With new stars stepping up alongside franchise cornerstone Johnny Depp, a traditionally adventure-promising poster for Rob Marshall's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Captain Jack Sparrow appears in London, where he helps his first mate Gibbs escape and start on a new adventure, - this time to find the Fountain of Youth!
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (The Lone Ranger (2013), both)), loosely based on the novel On Stranger Tides (1987) by Tim Powers (Powers of Two (2004)), and directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago (2002)). It is the 4th film in the Pirates franchise (2003; 2006; 2007).
Johnny Depp's (Transcendance (2014)) Sparrow act is getting a bit old, and although there is still some fun left in the character, in the film's best lines, On Stranger Tides doesn't add anything considerable new, which makes it feel as if it runs down-hill in neutral gear, figuratively speaking.
Penélope Cruz (Sahara (2005)) is sexy but confused in a story without any semblance of reality to it, while Geoffrey Rush (The Best Offer (2013)) again succeeds in blowing worthwhile life into his character, Captain Barbossa. When the musical theme plays, one might almost forgive that there is no really good story at play here, and sure in glimpses the handsome animation (costly VFX take over large parts of the film) and great hair- and makeup jobs can be appreciated, - but none of these elements can save this heavily loaded and simultaneously light-as-a-fly sequel. Another problem is that the post-climactic scenes feel endless.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a failed attempt at resurrecting the series after the dreadful third film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007).
= Box office success (returned 2.76 times its cost)
[Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides premiered 7 May (Disneyland Anaheim, California) and runs 137 minutes. Depp was paid 55.5 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from June - November 2010 in Puerto Rico, Hawaii and in London, England. Despite aims at lowering the film's cost from the previous two back-to-back shot films' budgets, 3D-camera shot On Stranger Tides' budget ballooned to the point where it became the costliest film ever made at the time. The cost fell from 410.6 mil. $ due to a 32.1 mil. $ tax rebate in England. The film opened #1 to a 90.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#4-#5), grossing 241 mil. $ (23 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 108.8 mil. $ (10.4 %) and China with 70 mil. $ (6.7 %). It was the 3rd highest-grossing film of the year, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It additionally made in excess of 102 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. The franchise returned with Depp and Rush in the 5th film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), the last Pirates film to date. Marshall returned with Into the Woods (2014). Depp returned in The Rum Diary (2011); Rush in Green Lantern (2011); Cruz in To Rome with Love (2012); and Ian McShane (Hellboy (2019)) in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is rotten at 33 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?
+ Best Action Adventure of the Year + Best Pirate Movie of the Year+ Most Profitable Movie of the Year 201.44 mil. $ range
Exciting, fantastical scenarios and big, attractive stars lure from this poster for Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Beautiful newly wed couple Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann are demanded executed, and Captain Jack Sparrow contracts a terrible curse that results in a raging Kraken!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (The Lone Ranger (2013), both) and directed by great Tennessean filmmaker Gore Verbinski (Mousehunt (1997)). It is the 2nd film in Verbinski's Pirates trilogy, coming after Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and before Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007).
The plot is almost impossible to recount, and the film is a bit messy with a hackneyed monster ending and a long middle sequence in which Orlando Bloom's (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)) Turner appears as yellow as bile. Despite the questionable color-grading job and excessive use of CGI, Dead Man's Chest is still a role-model study in franchise handling - and it's maddeningly entertaining. It has wacky, wonderful humor and a grand Hans Zimmer (The Son (2022)) score.
[Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest premiered 24 June (California) and runs 150 minutes. Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)) was paid 20 mil. $ for his performance; Bloom 11.9 mil. $. Shooting took place from February - September 2005 in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Bahamas, Dominica and in California, back-to-back with the third Pirates film, At World's End. Depp's stunt double Tony Angelotti was nearly killed in an free-fall stunt accident. He later sued Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer but the suit was dismissed. The film opened #1 to a record-breaking 135.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends at #1 and then another 2 in the top 5 (#2-#3), grossing 423.3 mil. $ (39.7 % of the total gross), selling approximately 64.6 mil. tickets there. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 98.6 mil. $ (9.2 %) and Japan with 84.5 mil. $ (7.9 %). The film was the year's highest-grossing, Disney's highest-grossing up to that point and the fastest to reach 1 bil. $ at the box office (63 days) at the time. It later made in excess of 320.8 mil. $ on the home video market. It was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning for Best Visual Effects. It lost Best Art Direction to Pan's Labyrinth, Sound Mixing to Dreamgirls and Sound Editing to Letters from Iwo Jima. It won 1/5 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Grammy, among many other honors. Verbinski returned with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), the next Pirates film and the end to his Pirates trilogy. Depp returned in At World's End; Bloom first in Love and Other Disasters (2006); and Knightley first in At World's End. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is rotten at 53 % with a 6.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest?
A familiar array of characters, tense situations and peak stunt moments are teased on this poster for Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
A secret AI super computer is going rogue, sinking a state-of-the-art Russian submarine. Control of 'the entity' is a matter of world domination rights. Two split keys are central to that control, and IMF agent Ethan Hunt and Co. will naturally need to do the impossible and secure both of them...
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is written by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers (2001, miniseries)) and co-writer/co-producer/director, New Jerseyite master filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun (2000)), whose 5th feature it is. It is the 7th film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, following its strongest entry, masterpiece Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018), also by McQuarrie.
After some increasingly thrilling M:I films, the franchise finally loses its grip here in a mammoth epic length first part of a two-parter, predictably committing the familiar sin of going overboard.
Dead Reckoning has exciting action sequences, co-producer/star Tom Cruise's (Valkyrie (2008)) driving off a mountain on a motorbike being its hype centerpiece, but the film's one really memorable action set-piece is the one near the end, set on the Orient Express, whereas entries 4 (Ghost Protocol, 2011), 5 (Rogue Nation, 2015) and especially 6 (Fallout,2018) all had 2 or more truly memorable action sequences. The new film has a Rome-set car chase with built-in tongue-in-cheek humor that mirrors a big city chase scene from one Pierce Brosnan-led Bond movie (you guess which.) The fiercely antagonistic CIA operatives of the preceding film have turned into amiable more or less bumbling fools in the shape of Shea Whigham (Fancy Dance (2023)) and Greg Tarzan Davis (Top Gun: Maverick's (2022)). The 'entity' AI McGuffin plot devise, a dialog dense and a bit long Venice section that doesn't come with a clear explanation (except for the obvious one that a franchise of this magnitude naturally at some point needs to go to Venice it seems...) and the quaint Orient Express choice for the finale setting (you'll wonder if that train actually still exists, it's so 20th century) - it all reeks of Hunt's bigger brother opponent in the spy franchise business, Mr. 007. And so does the inflated runtime.
Lorne Balfe (Black Adam (2022)) is back scoring the film but the percussive, muscular sound of Fallout is evaporated. SPOILER Rebecca Ferguson's (The Snowman (2017)) Ilsa Faust gets knocked off. Esai Morales (SuperFly (2018)) is the villain, though he looks so much like a handsome male model, it's hard to find him too intimidating. An androgynous Pom Klementieff (Westworld (2020, TV-series)) and flustered Hayley Atwell (Chicken/Egg (2017, short)) are game as fellow new characters. The rubber face changing scenes (by now old hat) and Cruise running scenes are there, but mostly because they have to be, it seems, and not because clever writing make them necessary in the plot. Another issue for the talk-heavy script is that, despite all the 'entity' talk in Dead Reckoning, it is missing a scene that illustrates for us why the AI thing is so powerful and dangerous, ('Russian sub down' doesn't cut it, as they're the enemy, and they're already on a submarine...) It remains a mysterious McGuffin in an overlong first part picture, the first time yet that the long-running M:I franchise doesn't really score. We have to hope that the second part, set for next summer, is a more original and compelling work.
[Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiered 29 June (Rome) and runs 163 minutes. Shooting began in February 2020 but was shut down due to the China Virus pandemic, and begun again in September 2020, finishing in September 2021, as both Part 1 and Part 2 were shot back-to-back. It took place in Norway, Italy, UAE and England. Corona shutdowns and other problems made the film's costs balloon, becoming the priciest film of Cruise's career. He earns 13 mil. $ from each of the films, and a back end percentage. The film opened #1 to a 54.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America. McQuarrie returns with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 (2024), also set as Cruise's return. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One?
The chilling footage from a home surveillance camera makes up most of this poster for Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity
Micah and Katie have moved together in a nice house in San Diego. But strange occurrences begin to take place at night, so Micah begins to document the happenings with home surveillance cameras, as Kate divulges that the supernatural is nothing new in her life.
Paranormal Activity is written, produced, directed, photographed and edited by debuting Oren Peli (Chernobyl Diaries (2012, writer)). It is the first film in the Paranormal Activity franchise.
Although the film sometimes almost gets stuck in the conflicts that make its otherwise sweet central couple pathetic, the effects of the simple shock footage, - and especially of the really scary ending, - are impressive and effectively spooky. The marketing and over-all feat of the film must here be taken into account and recognized as incredible. SPOILER The demon overtakes Katie. Mad scary.
A video of scary clips from the film - DON'T watch this if you haven't yet seen the film
Cost: 215k $
Box office: 193.3 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 899 times its cost)
[Paranormal Activity premiered 14 October (Screamfest Horror Film Festival, USA) and runs 86 minutes. Katie Featherston (Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)) and Micah Sloat (The Death and Return of Superman (2011, short)) were initially paid 500 $ each for their performances. The film originally had a 15k $ budget. Shooting took place from in just a week from April - May 2007 in San Diego, California. In a hectic period leading up to Paramount acquiring the film's release and sequels rights for 350k $, spending 200k $ by shooting new endings and editing the film, DreamWorks first had a plan to buy the film to remake it immediately, but a decisive screening left an impression that the film was effective as was. Paramount's overtaking DreamWorks meant that the release was delayed for a long period, finally getting a broad release in 2009. It opened #48 to a 77k $ first weekend in 12 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #1 and in 2,712 theaters (different weeks), grossing 107.9 mil. $ (55.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 16 mil. $ (8.3 %) and France with 9.6 mil. $ (5 %). The film was nominated for an Independent Spirit award. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The film's success, sometimes referred to as making it the most profitable of all time (compared to its budget) spun a franchise of 6 direct sequels so far, as well as an unrelated sequel and a wave of similar found footage low budget horror films. The first sequel is Paranormal Activity 2 (2010), without Peli or the original stars front and center. Peli returned with Area 51 (2015). Featherston returned in Psychic Experiment (2010); Sloat in Paranormal Activity 2. Paranormal Activity is certified fresh at 83 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
