Thursdays at the Theater Vol. XVIII

Hello there once again Titans, this is Joshua Volkers coming right at you with yet another Thursdays at the Theater and it looks like it’s going to be the penultimate one. At least, from me. Ah, dry your eyes there! Don’t get all sappy on me now! It’s not goodbye just yet, and if you’re going to let the tears flow, you’ll just have to save it for pouring your eyes out after seeing a very emotional film.

I was unfortunately not able to see any new movies in the past couple of weeks - graduation and all - but that doesn’t mean I can’t give the rundown on what’s coming out and give you my insight on all of it!

Last week we saw the release of Alice through the Looking Glass and X-Men: Apocalypse. While neither were received very warmly by critics, Apocalypse ended up being the one to pull through based on brand recognition, along with the fact that it is being viewed by most as superior to Alice, which bombed with a measly 33 million dollars over the 4-day Memorial Day weekend. It is not expected to draw a profit, and as a point of comparison, the first Alice movie drew in 116 million dollars weekend domestically, which would add up to a total of 1 billion dollars worldwide. Apocalypse is expected to stay strong despite the criticisms leveled against it by critics and some fans, but with praise given to the spectacle as well as the prospect of a new timeline for X-Men to play around with, I would expect Apocalypse to do just fine. It’ll end up being on the tail-end of a lot of the other superhero movies this year, but it will do well.

For the next couple of weeks, we’ve got a good selection of variety in front of us. There is the romantic drama, Me Before You, starring Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke as a young woman who forms a special connection with a recently paralyzed young man (Sam Claflin). There has been some controversy in regards to the movie’s portrayal of disabilities as some feel it depicts being disabled as purely being a burden and advocates for euthanasia. Whenever these topics of offensiveness come up, I have more of a leisurely attitude towards it, and as somebody who has insight into the world of the disabled and as well as filmmaking, I can tell you that messages can be interpreted in so many different ways and can be changed in so many different ways. If this movie ends up being offensive, then treat it as what it is: Just a movie.

Stepping forward from that, we get the mockumentary from the Lonely Island called Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and is an obvious parody of the popstar lifestyle. Expect outrageous humor, constant Bieber barbs, and total idiocy. And then we’ve got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows, the sequel to the 2014 surprise hit that was able to get audiences going enough to turn a profit. The sequel promises more crazy action, more CGI animals, more Shredder, more insanity, more of Megan Fox’s April O’Neil and more Green Arrow - I mean, an introduction to Stephen Amell’s Casey Jones. From what I’ve been hearing, if you liked the first one, then you will most definitely enjoy this one. It’s not for me, but I hope that anybody going to see it has fun.

Next weekend, 3 movies are going to be releasing yet again - quite the crowded market, eh? - and this one also seems to be fairly well balanced. We’ve first got the Conjuring 2, the sequel to the horror phenomenon from 2013 that sees Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga returning to star as paranormal investigator/married duo solving a case in London, this time, to rid spirits from the home of a single mother and her four children. This is based on the most documented case of paranormal activity in human history, so with a premise like that, I would expect some good thrills, especially from proven director James Wan. Right alongside that we’re going to be seeing Now You See Me 2, yet another sequel, this time to the magic-filled romp Now You See Me. Most of the cast returns except for Isla Fisher and Melanie Laurent. Additions to the cast are Lizzy Caplan and Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe. This film sees the Four Horsemen embroiled in yet another fright-inducing affair. Radcliffe plays tech genius Walter Mabry who somehow transports the group to China and forces them to pull off their most impossible heist yet. I’m going to be honest, I’ve seen the trailers and while I enjoyed the first one, this new one looks like it’s going to double up on the magic and not add much else. I mean, come on, I know it’s an ‘illusion’, but some of what they’re doing just ain’t stage magic folks. I think they took a summer course at Hogwarts or something. Fitting since Harry Potter’s in this movie - ah, darnit, already used that joke!

The last movie we’ve got for the weekend of the 10th is Warcraft, an adaptation of the world-famous video game series that takes place all the way back before the first game. It is said to be a part of the games’ canon. As someone who’s been rooting for video game movies to take off and being a fan of director Duncan Jones, I’ve been sorely disappointed that the movie is getting rather poor reviews. Of course you always have to judge for yourself, but I doubt the film is going to impress very many. I’ve seen a lot of video game fans complain about ‘critics being wrong’ or other such nonsense without even having seen the movie yet, but this is what you have to understand: A movie is a movie. A game is a game. Both are very different, and a lot of games don’t even have storylines while it’s a necessity for a movie. Warcraft obviously has a story, but I’m just pointing it out. I love experiencing a story, I love going through stories in games, I love stories in movies, but if it’s just not well executed as a film and drowns itself in lore in the hopes of grabbing the attention of the public, which is it’s biggest criticism so far, then chances are you haven’t made a very good film. Just my two cents.

That shall do it for this edition of Thursday’s at the Theater, folks! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and remember to keep loving movies! If you want to stay up to date on everything we do here, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook. This is Joshua Volkers signing out, and stay strong Titans!

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