Now Showing: Kylie Dates New York City

Kylie Dates New York City
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Director: Nancy Meyers
Writer: Walter McKnight
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Adam Scott, Cheryl Ladd, Chris O'Dowd, Anders Holm, Henry Golding, Lamorne Morris, John Michael Higgins

Plot: Kylie (Reese Witherspoon) lays in bed with the covers over her head. There is a knock at her door. Kylie puts a pillow over her head to try to drown out the knocks. Kylie's phone then begins to ring. Kylie declines the call. From out the hallway of Kylie's apartment, her mother Jacqueline (Cheryl Ladd) begins calling out for her to open the door already because she isn't going anywhere. Kylie begrudgingly gets out of bed and lets her mother in. Jacqueline looks around the apartment and is shocked by how messy it is and how little effort her daughter is putting toward being presentable. Kylie asks her mother what she wants. Jacqueline explains that she knows that Kylie has been depressed since her boyfriend left her. Kylie corrects her mother, saying her fiance left. Jacqueline says that she has been trying to figure out a way to help her get her life back to normal and has finally come up with something. Kylie asks her mother what he genius plan is, and Jacqueline tells her that she has signed her up to meet with New York City's number one matchmaker, Mr. Match, who will set her up with five eligible bachelors. Kylie tells her mother to cancel it, but Jacqueline tells her she can't cancel it because Mr. Match is going to be there any minute.

There is a knock on Kylie's door, and Jacqueline lets Mr. Match (John Michael Higgins) into the apartment. He immediately begins grilling Kylie with questions about herself while he snoops around her apartment. He asks her age and occupation and why she is single at this stage in her life. Kylie becomes defensive and refuses to answer his questions. Jacqueline tells Mr. Match that Kylie is 40 years old. Kylie glares at her mother. Jacqueline continues, stating that her daughter is a prominent magazine editor and she's single because her boyfriend left her. Mr. Match stares at Kylie for a long moment, before announcing that he has all he needs and leaves the apartment.

Kylie arrives at a fancy restaurant for her first date. She is seated at an empty table and awaits her date. Finally, Mike Smith (Anders Holm) arrives, wearing medical scrubs. He takes a seat across from Kylie when the waiter tells Mike that he is not dress-code compliant for the establishment. Mike loudly berates the waiter, informing them that he just got out of surgery where he saved the life of a child caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting and didn't want to be late for his date with the lovely Kylie. The waiter leaves, embarrassed. Kylie says that it's great that he was able to save the kid's life. Mike laughs and quietly tells her that he made that up so the waiter wouldn't hassle him anymore. He actually spilled some soup on his clothes at lunch and the only clothes he had at work were his scrubs. There was no kid, although he did perform a liver transplant, so that's something. Kylie is confused by Mike's story and asks him how long he's been a doctor. Mike sighs and tells her that he doesn't really want to talk shop, he just wants to get drunk and potentially get lucky. Kylie sips at her wine and looks at her watch. Mike proposes they get out of there and go back to her place, but Kylie declines. Mike shrugs and leaves the restaurant, taking his drink with him. Kylie calls her mother and complains about the date, calling Mike a tall scumbag.

For her second date, Kylie is supposed to meet the man at Central Park. She sits on a bench waiting, when Freddy Jenkins (Lamorne Morris) arrives, wearing an FBI windbreaker. He brusquely asks her if she's Kylie. She nods her head. He introduces himself as FBI Special Agent Freddy Jenkins, her date. She asks if he's on the job or something. He tells her that as an FBI special agent, he's always on the clock. As they walk through the park, Freddy eyes everyone they pass suspiciously. A man selling flowers comes up to them, and Freddy pushes Kylie away and demands to see the man's hands. The man drops his flowers and puts his hands in the air. Freddy demands to know what the man wants, and the man tells him that he was merely asking if he wanted to buy flowers for his date. Freddy asks Kylie if she wants flowers. Stunned by the situation, Kylie shakes her head no. Freddy orders the man to move along. Kylie's phone begins ringing. She looks at it and sees that it is her mother. She quickly answers the phone. Jacqueline asks how the date is going. Kylie pretends that there is an emergency and ends her date with Freddy early.

Kylie goes to Mr. Match's office and complains about the dates he has set her up on. He rejects her criticism, stating that he has set her up with a renowned surgeon and a successful FBI agent, so she should have nothing to complain about because he's doing his job - it's her job to go on the dates and be desirable. Mr. Match then tells Kylie that her next date should be a good one - it's with a famous chef who has his own TV show.

Kylie meets television chef Shane McNally (Chris O'Dowd) at a coffee shop for their date. Shane seems charming enough when they first meet, which is a relief to Kylie. Jacqueline then enters the coffee shop and pretends to be surprised to run into Kylie and her date. Kylie reminds her mother that she told her exactly where the date was going to be. Jacqueline claims she forgot and introduces herself to Shane, telling him that she's a huge fan of his show. Shane invites Jacqueline to join he and Kylie for coffee. Kylie glares at her mother hoping she'll leave, but she sits down at the table. Shane begins talking to Jacqueline, leaving Kylie out of the conversation and seemingly forgetting that he's on a date with her and not Jacqueline. Once they are all done with their coffee, Kylie asks her mother to leave so she can finish her date with Shane. Jacqueline agrees to leave, but Shane says that he actually has to get to the studio to shoot his show. When Shane is gone, Kylie yells at her mother in the coffee shop for ruining the first date she's had so far that was going well. Jacqueline apologizes to Kylie, saying she just couldn't help herself since she watches Shane's TV show all the time.

Kylie's next date is at the ice skating rink at the Rockefeller Center. She finds her date, Alex Newman (Adam Scott) waiting for her. He rents some skates for the both of them and get out on the ice. Kylie asks Alex to tell her a bit about himself. He explains that he is a middle school math teacher. He jokes that he knows that must sound super boring to her, but he loves teaching and he always had a knack for math so it is a pretty good fit for him. In front of them, a kid falls and is hurt. Alex quickly helps the kid off the ice to the kid's parents. After they are done ice skating, Alex offers to walk her home and she accepts his offer. While they are walking down the street, they run into Jacqueline and Shane walking hand in hand. Shane admits to the awkwardness of the situation, but tells Kylie that after meeting Jacqueline, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Kylie begrudgingly congratulates them and continues the walk home with Alex. When they arrive at her building, Alex kisses Kylie on the cheek and tells her that he would like to see her again.

Kylie meets her next date, male model Victor Chan (Henry Golding) at a trendy nightclub. Kylie feels very out of place amidst the loud music and dark lighting. Victor talks about himself and his modeling career the entire date, without ever asking Kylie about herself. A group of younger women approach Victor, having recognized him from a magazine. He gladly begins talking to them, asking them if they want an autograph or to take a selfie with him. Kylie takes the opportunity to slip out of the night club. When she is finally outside of the club, Kylie looks at her phone and finds that Alex has texted her a math joke: "I knew a mathematician who couldn’t afford lunch. He could binomials." Kylie laughs and calls Alex to see if he wants to meet her for a drink. He says that he has class in the morning so he probably shouldn't be hitting the town, however he was just cooking his "world famous chili" and invites her over to his place. Kylie agrees and he gives her his address.

When Kylie arrives at the building, she is surprised that a middle school teacher could live in such a nice, luxurious building. Alex comes down to the lobby to meet Kylie. They head up the elevator to his apartment, which is massive. Kylie asks Alex how he can afford such a nice place, and he explains that his family owns the building, as well as several other buildings in the neighborhood. He tells her how his family all works for the family business - a large New York City real estate company, but he never wanted to live in that world. He does say it's nice that his family charges him well below market value for rent though. Alex leads Kylie to the kitchen where the table is set up with two bowls of chili and a bottle of wine. Alex leans in to kiss Kylie. She happily kisses him back.

One Year Later:
A large wedding is underway. Kylie stands up at the altar, not as the bride, but as the maid of honor to her mother Jacqueline as she is getting married to Shane. After the wedding, Kylie and Alex are together on the dance floor. Alex then gets up on stage and borrows the microphone from the wedding singer and proposes to Kylie, who accepts as Jacqueline, Shane and the guests all clap.

Release: The Hit Maker

The Hit Maker
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Musical
Director: Craig Brewer
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Christian Bale, Stephan James, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Alicia Keys, Kenan Thompson, Malcolm Barrett, Logan Browning





Budget: $40,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $78,290,775
Foreign Box Office: $71,576,333
Total Profit: $79,606,328

Reaction: Excellent numbers for this musical project, which becomes the studio's third highest grossing musical film, behind The Phantom of the Opera and Chad Taylor's own Oklahoma!

"Christian Bale once again disappears into a role with long hair and a comical albeit accurate German accent in the role of Frank Fabian. It also doesn't hurt that director Craig Brewer knows his way around a film like this." - Mark Gilbert, Boston Globe

"The plot is fairly by-the-numbers, but it gives Bale a fun role to sink his teeth into and surrounds him by quirky characters all involved in the absurd true story." - Lisa Winger, Newsday

"While Bale always commits to his roles, I feel like we never really get to what makes Frank Farian tick in this one. The film is still well-made and well-performed, but I was honestly hoping for something with a little more bite to it."  - Brian Edelstein, Time Out

Rated PG-13 for some language

Last Resort Films Jukebox: The Hit Maker

1. "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" - Andy Gibb

2. "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" - Billy Ocean

3. "Girl You Know It's True" - Milli Vanilli

4. "What's On Your Mind" - Information Society

5. "Blame It On the Rain" - Milli Vanilli

6. "Pump Up the Jam" - Technotronic

Now Showing: The Hit Maker

The Hit Maker
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Musical
Director: Craig Brewer
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Christian Bale, Stephan James, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Alicia Keys, Kenan Thompson, Malcolm Barrett, Logan Browning

Plot: Music producer Frank Farian (Christian Bale) watches his television set intensely, even though it is simply showing a toothpaste commercial. After the commercial, music variety show Soul Train resumes and the quartet Boney M. performs. Their lead singer, Maya (Alicia Keys), has an energy that draws the attention of the camera but the group’s performance as a whole is flat. At his home, Farian looks displeased. He picks up a phone and, upon someone answering, is emphatic in his first words: “DISCO. IS. DEAD.”

Days later, Frank meets with Maya in his office. He tells her that the band just isn’t connecting without their former frontman, who recently left the band. Maya takes offence to this as a slight to her but he assures her that it is not. He leaves his desk and puts his hands on her shoulders but she pushes them away and asks if this means the group is done. He says that they could try her as a solo artist but she says no, in solidarity with her group-mates.

Frank finds himself frustrated with his place in the music business. It is the mid-80s and music is getting taken over by videos and television. His back is against the wall and he needs a way to survive. He listens to a number of tapes sent to his music label for potential new artists.There is a lot of sameness in the various tapes until he gets to one that catches his ear. It is a male duo whose voices work well in harmony and seem distinctly attuned to this era of pop music. He calls Maya and has her listen, and she confirms that they have something. He lounges back in his chair with money signs practically in his eyes.

There is a hard cut to Frank sitting in front of the two singers at his desk: Val (Kenan Thompson) and Marcus (Malcolm Barrett). The money signs are all but gone from Frank’s eyes. In an age where image is key, these two are less-than-ideal options to be music video stars. Two slightly overweight men in their forties is not what MTV is looking for. However, he doesn’t tell them this to their face and instead lies and says that he is unfortunately signing someone else. He shakes their hands and thanks them for their time, much to their disappointment.

Frank has dinner with Maya. It is clear that they may have had a thing in the past but they’re currently in the “off-again” phase. Maya asks how much he signed that duo for and Frank tells her that he couldn’t sign them. She is shocked and he shows her a picture of them, to back up his decision. She chides him still, saying that their voices are what should matter most in the music industry. He disagrees, saying this is the image business. Still wanting to stick up for them, she asks why doesn’t he just do like he did with her group. Frank’s eyes widen. Before she can even finish talking, he says they could hire models to lip sync the songs. Why spend an infinite number of hours trying to solve the impossible task of finding a good looking person who can sing and dance when you could just manufacture it? Maya is a little taken aback, going farther than she expected but she can tell Frank is fully committed. He says that he will call Val and Marcus back and let them know.

Frank sits in office and watches hours of music videos and fingers through piles of magazines, taking notes on the looks of the top stars. Val and Marcus visit his office and he proposes to them the deal. They will sing on the tracks and get a good cut of the profits but someone else will be the avatars of the group. They are hesitant to accept but realize that it is still a big opportunity so they accept. Next comes the casting phase as Frank, Maya, Val, and Marcus scout potential models for the roles of the frontmen. The first is obvious: Fab Morvan (Stephan James), a back-up dancer with striking good looks, long hair and the dance skills to put on a show. Upon hearing of the project, Fab suggests that he has a friend who he thinks would make for a good duo. He brings in Rob Pilatus (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and the panel is blown away by seeing the pair together. They all agree that this is it.

Marcus says that when he was on vacation in Turkey, he saw an advertising slogan that seemed like a band name to him: Milli….Vanilli. After a beat, everyone in the room laughs. Frank then conceits that it is kind of catchy and so it sticks. Milli Vanilli is now a thing.

The plan becomes clear: write a few catchy songs, have Val and Marcus sing them, and then make music videos and promote with Rob and Fab. This is not as easy as it looks, especially the first part. As the trial and error rolls on, Fab and Maya grow close and flirtatious as he pursues her. She initially tells him that they can’t let this go to far. He thinks that she is alluding to her weird relationship with Frank but she says it is more about the age gap between them. Fab laughs this off and says that she can’t deny the chemistry between them, she knows it’s true. While she neither can confirm nor deny this, she says that sounds like a song. “Girl you know it’s true...ooo ooo ooo, I love you”. Fab agrees and they write it down and rush to the studio.

Frank likes the song and has Val and Marcus sing it. After a few tries, they get a good master recording. They send it out to various radio stations and it gains traction. This moves them onto the next stage. They shoot a music video on a lower budget and follow it up with promotional shots of Rob and Fab. ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ catches on like wildfire, both on the radio but especially on TV. As Frank had predicted, the looks of Rob and Fab is key to the group becoming successful.

Frank and crew scramble to capitalize on this sudden success. They record enough songs to make an album and more videos. Rob and Fab go on a promotional tour. Despite their broken English (given that they are both German), they do decently with the questions due to Frank’s pre-written lines beforehand. As burgeoning pop stars, the duo is swarmed with passionate fans pining for their attention and affection. Fab playfully takes this all in while Rob is more reserved and denies any attention from the female fans. Maya notices Fab’s behavior on the trail and realizes that she does find herself a bit jealous. She admits this to Fab, who tells her he knew she knew it was true. Maya advises him to loosen up a bit and be himself instead of merely Frank’s puppet. They finally kiss but she still insists they keep this on the down-low.

Frank realizes that the next step to cashing in on this success is setting up a world tour. This is obviously tricky as Rob and Fab aren’t really singing. However, while looking upon the group’s fans, he realizes that they don’t really care about the singing. As long as they go up on stage as themselves, dancing and looking good then the crowd will leave happy. They can pipe in music that they’ll lip-sync to and it should work like a charm. Surprisingly, it does. The first night is a little shaky as Fab forgets a line but Rob covers for him and the show is a huge success (as are the succeeding nights on the tour).

While on tour, they get the call from Frank that they have been nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys, the most prestigious awards show in music. At the Grammys, Frank, Rob, and Fab take in all the glitz and glamour of the night. In what will be the biggest night of their career, they win the award and accept it on stage. At home, Marcus and Van watch on - beginning to feel a little jaded that they are not the ones up there.

With this award, Frank becomes even more aggressive in promoting the band. Recording more songs and booking more dates is the name of the game, to the exhaustion of the crew. Everyone is starting to grow more frustrated with him. Fab vents about it to Maya, who opens up more about how she knows Frank. In the early 70s, he was a singer himself (in addition to being a songwriter). However, he was always shy to the public eye and so he recruited his back-up singers to be the public image of his band while he pulled the strings behind the scenes. She was one of those singers. Fab asks if they ever got close and she says occasionally but nothing serious. Frank was always focused on his career. He asks about what happened to her group and she says the music style fell out of favor, as did the group with Frank.

Frank books them a live performance on an MTV spring break special with other top acts. They meet MTV VJ “Downtown” Julie Brown (Logan Browning), who tells them they might be the hottest act out there today. During their performance of ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, the unthinkable happens: the backing track begins to skip during Fab’s vocals and repeat the same line over and over. The duo panic and rush off of the stage. Brown tracks them down and says that they’re live on TV and they need to get back out there. They are flushed with embarrassment and terror but she tells them she doesn’t really care. When the music rebounds and is corrected, they decide to go back out there to finish the song. They get a huge roar, implying that the crowd did not even notice.

While the live crowd did not seem to care, all hell starts to break loose at Frank’s office. He begins yielding calls from MTV executives, who are yielding calls from confused and outraged viewers. They become the target of immense media scrutiny as the validity of the group is under examination. Amidst this, album sales start to drop and bookings are canceled, even though Frank is adamant that all is as it seems. This is the final straw for Marcus and Val, who do an interview with an evening news program and reveal that they are the real singers for MillI Vanilli. Frank scrambles and offers to pay them a large sum of money to retract their statements.

But at this point, the floodgates open beyond Frank’s control. Rob & Fab go into public exile as the tabloids hone in on them. With the main duo off limits, the paparazzi start to target their families and Maya, which frustrates them. This gets Rob to come out and make a public statement that they indeed did not sing on their first album but they plan to make it right and release a real album in the future. Lawsuits start to come in by fans who say they were victims of fraud. By this point, the damage is done and, in a devastating blow, the Grammys announce that they are rescinding their award.

Both Milli Vanilli and Frank are released from their contracts at the record label and their top-selling album is shockingly taken out of print. Rob and Fab begin to work independently on an album while Marcus and Val do the same, under the name “The Real Milli Vanilli”. Neither were all that successful, Maya tells Julie Brown as she is interviewed for MTV’s Behind the Music a few years later. When Julie asks about Frank, Maya simply says “Oh, you know Frank…”

We see Frank moving on to his next project, which is not all that different from his previous ones - just with whatever the newest music style is.

LRF NOW Director's Cut: Drugstore Perfume

Drugstore Perfume - Director's Cut
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Alex Conn
Writer: Alex Conn
Cast: Alex Wolff, Aubrey Plaza, RJ Cyler, Jason Ritter, Abigail Breslin

Plot: Peter (Alex Wolff) wakes up and he gets a text from his girlfriend to meet her at a coffeeshop. He goes to the coffeeshop and his girlfriend Emily (Abigail Breslin) is there. She is wearing a lot of makeup and she looks sad and Peter is talking to Emily and Emily then says she’s breaking up with him. She also says she starting seeing a man named Joseph. He sees this and there is a hard cut to Peter in his bedroom getting super stoned. He calls his friend Ryan (RJ Cyler) who is at SUNY purchase and Ryan plans to have a big hangout when he gets back to Westchester.

He flies to his hometown of Mamaroneck New York. He is cyberstalking Emily and her new boyfriend Joseph. His family is excited to see him and so are his friends. His friend Ryan organizes a boys night where they go to dinner and a movie.

At dinner Peter and Ryan are talking about the women that Ryan has been having sex with. Peter looks jealous and Ryan notices and Ryan says he could hook him up with some girls. She seems solemn and the boys encourage him to go up to her but Peter says that it’s probably illegal for them to date or something. Ryan then backs off.

The boys then go to a movie right after. They then see Samantha (Aubrey Plaza) the English teacher again. She is still sorrowful. Ryan then convince Peter to talk to her and he does.

Peter then talks to Samantha and she asks him how college is treating him and Peter thanks her for the nice recommendation letter she wrote him and the conversation kinda is going nowhere until Samantha invites him for lunch.

His friends then say he did a great job and he goes home and masturbates about Samantha and old fantasies about her come back up. We then cut to Samantha fantasizing about Peter.

Peter then goes to lunch with Samantha. Samantha meets her at the place which is a thin crust pizza place. Samantha is obviously shaken and depressed but tries to keep a happy face. Peter presses on her and presses on her and it is revealed that she is in a really unhappy relationship and Peter asks about her ring and she says she’s engaged. Peter then asks when she’s supposed to be married and she says September. Samantha then asks Peter and Peter then talks about his ex girlfriend Emily and how she is dating this guy Joseph. Peter then shows Samantha a picture of Joseph and she comments that he is way more attractive than Joseph.

Samantha then texts Peter and they agree to meet at a library in 2 days. The next day Samantha gets her hair and nails and makeup done. Peter says that she looks great and they go to the library and read books before Peter offers to go back to her place and have sex.

Peter then goes to Samantha’s place and they have sex and after it they smoke weed which Samantha says that she hasn't smoked weed in ages. As they smoke weed Peter asks Samantha isn't it funny that her and her fiance basically have the same name and she said when she was in college when they met people would often make jokes about their names. Peter than asks Samantha why she is getting married and she says that he's sweet enough and he tries sometimes but he's not the same anymore and she feels like having a husband like Sam gives her the image that she wants but not the love that she wants.

Peter then talks to Ryan about this and Ryan is impressed but thinks it’s a one night stand but Peter says he’s actually in love with her and Ryan is worried that someone is going to get in trouble at the end and Peter reminds Ryan that he was the one who convinced Peter to talk to Samantha and Ryan says he only thought it was going to be a one night stand.

We then cut to Samantha who for the first time feels happy she is texting Peter a lot and Peter is very happy and she is very happy. They start seeing each other more and more. They go to an art museum and examine the art and they one time have sex in a library after hours. But after they have their fun she always has to go back to her horrible relationship.

When Samantha goes home her husband to be Sam (Jason Ritter) asks why she hasn’t been home. He says the house is a mess and Samantha says that she is a free independent woman and that we need to have a serious talk about their relationship. He then walks out and drinks at a local bar and then gets home completely drunk.

The next day when Sam goes to work Peter visits her and brings flowers. They then have passionate sex in

After that they sit on her bed and Samantha and Peter start having serious talks about their future and Samantha is thinking about breaking up with Sam.Peter is ecstatic that Samantha is thinking about breaking up with her fiance. Samantha is worried just about how it is going to look with her dating seriously her student and Peter then jokingly says Macron the President of France did it and she laughs. Peter then leaves.

Sam and Samantha then have Samantha’s family over and Samantha’s mom hugs her and Sam. Sam is unusually nice during this evening. Samantha is actually kind of charmed by Sam in a way she hasn’t felt since they started dating.

After the parents leave Samantha and Sam have a talk and Sam says he wishes to be a better man for Samantha and they have sex for the first time in years. After the sex Samantha looks through old photographs of them when they were in love.

Samantha then breaks up with Peter saying that she is now back in love with him and Peter tries to win her over and saying it is just a phase and that he’s just manipulating her. Peter then is on the plane ride back to college and he checks Samantha’s Facebook posts and he sees her marrying Sam. Peter closes his computer and looks out the window towards the future.

Premiere Magazine #164

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 17 Round 4)

 

We're already getting close to the halfway point of the season, here's The Roundup....

3. After
Despite playing to several well-worn post-apocalyptic genre tropes, Meirad Tako's latest still feels completely original due to more eccentric story elements (and that ending).

2. Suburban
The story of this one was nice. The main character goes through a real emotional journey. Plus, nobody looks at Facebook or eats at McDonald's (or any other fast food chain)! Don't get me started on the soundtrack though...

1. Box Office
It's always a nice round when all three films manage to turn out profitable. Not much else to say.

3. Profits
While all three films ended up in the black, they were all only slightly profitable, leaving the studio without much income for the round.

2. Hex: The Cult of Cain
This was a big letdown of a sequel. I really enjoyed the first Hex, but pretty much every thing that first film got right outside of the casting of Brad Pitt, The Cult of Cain missed on. Bad, bland supporting cast/characters and little personality in Hex's actions.

1. Colin Firth
I firmly believe that Suburban would have been a certified Must See film if Conn had nailed the casting of the lead role. Firth just doesn't pull off the dark places the character goes to in this one. He's a charming and affable enough actor, but this role definitely did not play to his strengths as an actor.

On Location (Season 17 Round 4)

Hex: The Cult of Cain
- Glasgow, Scotland

Suburban
- Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

After
- Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

Box Office Breakdown (Season 17 Round 4)

Hex: The Cult of Cain
Budget: $100,000,000
Total Box Office: $225,552,570
Total Profit: $1,558,173

Suburban
Budget: $31,000,000
Total Box Office: $76,179,186
Total Profit: $9,751,926

After
Budget: $26,000,000
Total Box Office: $79,878,890
Total Profit: $6,775,146

Box Office Facts:
Hex: The Cult of Cain
This sequel performed worse in every box office category compared to the first film. It had lower domestic box office, foreign box office and a smaller profit, barely breaking even this time around.

Suburban
In his third film for the studio, actor Colin Firth has now finally appeared in a profitable film after Obsession and Isla Vista failed at the box office. His films are still in the red overall with a small $6 million total loss.

After
After is actor Jamie Bell's fifth film for the studio and the fifth consecutive profitable film, although this latest film earned the smallest profits of the list.



Genre Rankings:
Hex: The Cult of Cain
Western: #3
Action: #102

Suburban
Drama: #92
Thriller: #45

After
Action: #129
Adventure: #34
Sci-Fi: #86



Season 17 Round 4
Total Box Office: $381,610,646
Total Profit: $18,085,245

Season 17 Totals
Total Box Office: $1,892,301,582
Total Profit: $766,774,497



Season 17 Box Office Summary
1. Super Mario - $879,072,958
2. Skyrim III: Dovahkiin - $585,936,144
3. Alien: Out of the Shadows - $377,769,450
4. The King of Hearts - $300,678,164
5. Hex: The Cult of Cain - $225,552,570
6. Pulp - $95,866,240
7. After - $79,878,890
8. Whammy - $78,105,335
9. Suburban - $76,179,186
10. He Kills - $45,681,834
11. A Life - $27,524,140
12. 1965 - $7,698,362

Release: After

After
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Director: Peter Berg
Writer: Meirad Tako
Cast: Jamie Bell, Nat Wolff, Jade Pettyjohn, Niles Fitch, Matt Smith, Michael Madsen





Budget: $26,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $17,490,837
Foreign Box Office: $62,388,053
Total Profit: $6,775,146

Reaction: Despite a very disappointing gross at the domestic box office, a surprisingly strong showing at the foreign box office has carried After to a small unexpected profit.

"Prepare for the latest mind-bender from Hotel California writer Meirad Tako. The story is a bit hard to follow at times, but it just keeps pushing its momentum forward." - Brenton Smalls, Playboy

"This one will leave audiences just as confused as its lead character, if not more so. That very well could have been intentional on the part of the filmmakers, but I don't think it served the story well." - Jason Helm, New York Observer

"While Peter Berg's more grounded approach as a director probably wasn't the best fit for this story, the story itself gets pretty crazy and should please fans of the writer. I would call the film a mostly successful take on just about every post-apocalyptic sci-fi trope around." - Samuel O'Brien, Sight and Sound Magazine

Rated R for violence and language

Top 10 Meirad Tako Films

 

Sherman J. Pearson here for another edition of Top 10. Like I recently told him, it wouldn't be long before a Top 10 list featuring the films from writer Meirad Tako.

Top 10 Meirad Tako Films
10. Real is Better
9. The Story of the Assassin
8. Merdeka
7. Driving Around the Time
6. 1965
5. What I Need To Do Is Survive
4. Police Story: The Return
3. Police Story: Extradition
2. Hotel California
1. Mr. Earthling

Now Showing: After

After
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Director: Peter Berg
Writer: Meirad Tako
Cast: Jamie Bell, Nat Wolff, Jade Pettyjohn, Niles Fitch, Matt Smith, Michael Madsen

Plot: The earth is dying, the whole world turned into a waste land, the sea is barely exist and so is the nature.

Conrad (Jamie Bell), a young man is walking alone in the middle of nowhere, he fell to his knees and pass out. Not long after that, a Jeep-like suv come and stop near him. An old man get off the car and take Conrad with him.

Conrad woke up on a bed, weak. He look around, wondering where is he right now, the old man came into the room asking his condition, he told him that he found him pass out on the ground. he asked him where is he going. Conrad is speechless, he tells the man that he doesn't remember anything and where is he going, the only thing he know, there is a little bit memory in his head, a girl, telling him to keep walking south. Rex is nodding, understand. he invite him outside to have a bite.

In the dining room, he meets Charles (Nat Wolff) a geek, wearing headphone while playing tablets. he is a cheery person, while eating, he keeps talking about a film Mad Max and telling Conrad that their world is pretty much like Mad Max but more peaceful and empty, nothing happened, no weird people killing people with big cars. Conrad just nodding, he doesn't actually know anything about what Charles is talking about.

After eating, Conrad was planning to continue his journey before he was stopped by the old man, he tells Conrad that if he is not mind, he wants Conrad to bring Charles with him, he tells him that Charles have been dreaming to have an adventure, and also he is very smart so he might be helpful on the way. Conrad accept it, he doesn't know what the world have for him in the future so a company is more likely to help him. So, Conrad bring Charles with him, the old man give them his car, Charles seems so happy and they left to the wilderness. On the way to nowhere, Charles show Conrad a map that he found years ago, he point out there's supposed to be a big, big, BIG city 3 days away from here. Conrad seems to remember something and he felt a bad headache but soon disappear. 2 days passed, and surprise, surprise, they are out of gas and force them to continue on foot, not really far from them, they found a car and a girl (Jade Pettyjohn) unconscious, they try to wake her up, and she did, weakly he told the boys to save her friend that was taken by a group of soldiers. There was a tracker on the car, Conrad take the wheel while Charles try to give her some food and water to consume on the back seat, a couple of hours past they arrive at some kind of cave with metal walls, they can hear crowds inside it.

Charles said it feels like the underground city in old Anime called Votoms, he feels something's fishy. Conrad again, feel a headache as the place doesn't look strange to him. after thinking for a while, they decided to enter the cave.

It was a silent road, they can still hear crowd in the distance but they crowd doesn't feel to become nearer but it keeps become farther than it was before until it become a dead silence, only the car's engine that can be heard. Charles again keeps referencing things that Conrad doesn't understand, the silence continue until it was broken by exploding tire, the front tire exploded because someone shoot it from behind, Conrad look through the mirror and see 2 people with a hover-board with a gun on their hands and shooting them. Charles starts to panic and his panic he take out things from his bag and made some kind of "Emergency Gun" and hand it to Conrad, he adjust his position and shoot a steel projectile straight to one of the them, knock him. the other guy stop to check his friend and Conrad take the advantage to full throttle the car. when Conrad feels it is far enough, he decided to go on foot, Charles try to argue with him, but he tells him, if they keep driving the car, the sound will tell the enemy their position, while their hover-board doesn't have a sound it only give them disadvantage. Charles shuts his mouth up, and carry the still concussion girl on his back.

They arrive to some kind of a dead city inside of the cave, they were walking before a laughing voice made them run to hide, Conrad peak from behind a wall, it was some guys wearing the same outfit as the people that shot them earlier. They stop near their hiding spot to sit and talk about a "traitor", they talk about a member named Conrad, what a coincidence. Conrad remember that he was running with a girl, but it was still a blur. when the people start to separate Conrad take down one of them and told Charles wear the outfit and blend, he also told him to gather some information and food. Charles refused but he was afraid of Conrad so he accept it. He wonders with the outfit and it looks totally safe, he gathers with the other to eavesdrop some information but he made a mistake to not salute a person with a different outfit, he was drag and interrogate. hours pass and Charles has not yet come back, Conrad sit near the girl when suddenly she woke up, she seems shocked and asked Conrad why is he here. Conrad doesn't know what to say, he tells her that he might have an amnesia since he doesn't know anything. She sigh, she tells them that they know the secret of the Leader of Via City, the city they step on right now, he was an alien.

Conrad seems to remember it, it was this Girl that's with him but they did not run, they were on a car, with another person, A boy (Niles Fitch), they were rained by shooting by the soldiers, the boy said that he only have a little power left to use and they decided Conrad have to go, and tell the Nation Leader about the real reason why Earth started to go worse and worse. The Girl told Conrad to keep walking north and tell send the people their message, The Boy concentrate and with his power Teleport Conrad out of the cave. Conrad back to the moment after realizing, they, are, fucked. he was about to do something when many foot step enters and in no time they were surrounded by many soldier with their Leader Marlion (Matt Smith), he drop Charles to the ground, dead. he claps. he applaud Conrad's bravery to go back, he needs a little bit of revenge anyway, he told his men to back off a little bit. Conrad is ready to rush, but the Girl stop him, Marlion's head starts splitting open and from it came out another head, an alien head with a tentacle-like blade as a hair and starts attacking them. Conrad push the girl away and dodge the blade, the blade swing wildly, Conrad can't keep up with it and eventually gets stabbed and pass out due bleeding. He woke up tide up in some kind of tube, and was greeting by a much older man, the leader of the city, Vlacos (Michael Madsen), he welcome him with laugh, he didn't expect Conrad will be back, he wonders how did Conrad escape. Near him is The Boy, many wire attached to him, he is a robot!. it shocked Conrad. The boys tells him through telepathy that he would try the teleportation thing again, and hopefully it would have the same result. Conrad agrees, and just like a deja vu, Conrad disappear , leaving Vlacos blabbering behind.

Conrad on the same place from the start, he can't remember anything but he remember a boy telling him walk forward and so he did.

Release: Suburban

Suburban
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Todd Field
Writer: Alex Conn
Producer: John Malone
Cast: Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Woody Harrelson, Bruce Greenwood, Ellar Coltrane, Bella Thorne, Bailee Madison, Ray Romano, John Magaro



Budget: $31,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $50,483,182
Foreign Box Office: $25,696,004
Total Profit: $9,751,926

Reaction: Decent numbers for a mid-budget dramatic thriller. Based on how well films like this performed last season, we were hoping for a bit more, but we won't complain about a profitable movie like this.

"The film's plot is almost an upper middle-class suburban take on Death Wish, which is a pretty clever twist on the concept. The film isn't without faults, namely some of the casting could be better (Firth especially), but the story itself works well." - Michael Wilmington, Rolling Stone

"Director Todd Field excels at the suburban drama where seemingly good people are left to make difficult decisions that affect their fate. He handles the material here with that same reliable skill. The film may not have worked as smoothly with a less skilled hand behind the camera." - Allen Poole, AV Club

"I think the story itself is one rife with potential, but Colin Firth is simply not capable of pulling off the range required of the dark lead role here. And as we know, a film is not going to work if the lead role doesn't work. It was a major flaw that made the film not work as a whole for me." - Richard Park, Globe and Mail

Rated R for language, violence, and some drug content