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While several April titles look appealing, only release gets our full attention...again. Story by Matt Cummings For a year that's supposed to be the highest-grossing in the history of cinema, February and March 2015 did nothing to help that expectation. In fact, both have turned out to be something close to disasters, with March delivering the lowest box office since 1997 ($461.9m). Even Cinderella's very nice $156m monthly haul wasn't enough to offset Chappie 's scant $30m, or Run All Night 's $24m). Home and Get Hard could turn in decent money by April's end, but none of that is guaranteed. So, it's with a bit of sheepishness that we present you yet another month with very few - ok, only ONE - film that we know could singlehandedly keep April alive. And while there's potentially appealing stories about corporate greed (Ex Machina), a comedy about growing old (While We're Young), and a drama about a man on the FBI's most wanted l...

Coulson’s abilities are questioned, as well they should be. Review by Brandon Wolfe When Gonzales (Edward James Olmos, another impressive “get” for the series), the head of the “real S.H.I.E.L.D.,” informs Hunter of all the reasons why Coulson is not fit to run the agency, it’s hard to argue with any of them. Coulson has been infused with alien DNA, leading him to make erratic decisions. The deaths that happened on his watch were indirectly his fault. Moreover, the success rate in the apprehension of villains under his command is a big, fat goose egg and he runs his unit more like a squishy den mother than a lead agent. Coulson is the pits, and it creates a sort of cognitive dissonance in the viewer when the person making the most sense is someone we’re supposed to immediately distrust because he dares to oppose the chief protagonist. If Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were a smarter show, I’d think that perhaps it purposefully intended to call into question the competency of its hero...

We reflect at some of the biggest box office developments from 2014 and theorize how they might affect 2015. Story by Matt Cummings With all the movie highs ( Captain America: The Winter Solider , Guardians of the Galaxy , and Mockingjay, Part 1 ), there were a lot of lows to report, beginning with the bottom line: numbers. According to our friends at BoxOficeMojo.com, the 2014 domestic box office was down 5.3% from 2013, taking in $10.347 billion. It's also the lowest number for the past 5 years, with 2011 being the only competitor at $10.174 billion. But the misery doesn't end there. July totaled a paltry $966 million, which is down 30 percent from last July and marked the first time since 2002 in which a July fell short of selling $1 billion in tickets. But 2014 also failed to boast a $400m film, something that hasn't happened since 2011. Numbers like these can get confusing for films released in November, with their totals seemingly divided between 2...

As 2014 comes to a close, we look back at several movie questions we've posed throughout the year. Story by Matt Cummings The fourth quarter of the movie season is much like the holiday season: theaters crowded with customers and Hollywood licking its chops in hopes for strong returns. As 2014 has unfolded, it's clear that Hollywood's business plan was not as strong as one would have hoped, showing off a great Q1, a good Q2, and a frankly awful Q3. And while the year has delivered the great ( Captain America: The Winter Solider and The LEGO Movie ), the very good ( The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 ), and the surprising ( Guardians of the Galaxy ), several of our Big Movie Questions were yet to be answered. With the holidays wrapping up, we can close out 2014 by unwrapping the rest of our gifts. We've collected all the questions we've asked this year into one article so you don't have to look back to see them all. Welcome to our 2014 Big Movie Q...

Marvel Pits Captain America & Iron Man in a Cinematic Civil War The classic Marvel Comics storyline set to spring to life in 2016! Come 2016, it’ll be hero vs. hero as Marvel’s “ Captain America: Civil War ” erupts onto the big screen! Chris Evans will once again reprise his role as Captain America, joined by Robert Downey, Jr . as Iron Man and Chadwick Boseman , who will make his big screen debut as the Black Panther in the film. During a special presentation announcing the full slate for Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige brought all three actors out on stage, officially announcing the long-rumored title for the third Captain America adventure. Please Leave A Comment- Source- Marvel

Guardians leads again, but the Summer was one of the worst ever. Someone once said that you never know the bottom of something until you're down in it. Summer 2014 will definitely have something to say about that, as it attained levels of infamy unseen in over 30 years. While Guardians of the Galaxy easily held on to first place for the third-straight weekend, the news about the overall health of the Summer market was fairly grim. According to our friends at Box Office Mojo, the top 12 movies this weekend earned approximately $51.9 million, making it the lowest-grossing in two years ($51,85m). You would have to go back to September 5-7 2008, when the top 12 grossed $50.3 million, to see a similar competitor. The reason for such a horrible performance is simple: only one new film was released this week, at nearly one-third the theaters of a standard release. That film - the poorly-received The Identical - arrived at 11th place with just $1.91 million. Yes, you hea...

As Q3 comes to a close, we look back at several movie questions and make bold new predictions about the third quarter of 2014. As 2014 has unfolded, we've learned just how precarious the Hollywood film system is. Before summer arrived, we could see serious gaps in programming, especially once May ended. That did in fact happen, exposing a decent July (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Hercules, and The Purge: Anarchy) and a pretty awful August, with Guardians of the Galaxy being the only thing we could recommend. The year has delivered several memorable films ( Captain America: The Winter Solider and The LEGO Movie ), but what lessons have we learned about 2014 so far? Several questions we pondered back in January have finally had a chance to play out, so let's get to them. Has 2015 talk already eclipsed 2014? No, but there is some lingering concerns . 2014 has brought some amazing films like Godzilla , X-Men: Days of Future Past , Captain America: The Winter Soldier ,...

Director says fans " are going to freak out " about the third Cap movie The movie won’t be released for almost two years and isn’t even in production yet. That doesn't mean that the publicity machine for Marvel Studios' Captain America 3 isn't already working at full strength, with co-director Anthony Russo already hinting at what to expect in the Star-Spangled Avenger’s next solo outing. “I can’t divulge who is going to be in the film, but I think fans are going to freak out when they hear about it,” Russo teased when talking to Movies.com. It’s possible he was referring to Hawkeye, who Jeremy Renner hinted would be making an appearance earlier this week, but Russo refused to name names. “We wanted to push the character forward into the modern age with The Winter Soldier, and we want to keep pushing the character forward. We always want to be true to who Captain America is, but we want to surprise people about where he can go and what he's capable of. T...

After making a huge splash with his last solo outing, The Winter Soldier , Chris Evans ' Captain America has won the chance to make another. And the sequel’s directors, Joe and Anthony Russo , are back developing ideas for the next story, which will hit screens in a couple of years. While they’re naturally secretive about such an embryonic project, they have shared a little something with Yahoo . From the sounds of it, Cap’s major themes will continue over into the new film, which will also likely have to digest whatever he goes through in Avengers: Age Of Ultron . It’ll also be interesting to see if any follow-up can raise the stakes beyond taking down SHIELD and exposing the beating, slimy Hydra heart within. “The character was invented for an explicitly political purpose. So it’s hard to get away from that nature,” Anthony tells the site. “It’s also important that Captain America doesn’t become another disillusioned antihero.” And according to Joe: “his morality is part of ...

Read on to learn how Marvel's announcements mean bigger changes to the Cinematic Universe. This week's news of major changes within Marvel Comics are potentially bigger than those when the company relauched its comic series under the new banner Marvel Now! nearly two years ago. At that time, the shifting of writers, the introduction of new lines, and the re-positioning of characters like Rocket Raccoon and The Guardians of the Galaxy made their introduction into the Cinematic Universe possible. But as news this week of shake-ups for Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man were slowly rolled out on various television talk shows, two things became very apparent. Before getting into that, let's look at the changes themselves. On Monday, Marvel announced that Thor was losing his ability to wield Mjolnir, and that his power was being transferred to a woman. On Wednesday, The Colbert Report announced that Captain America will soon be replaced by The Falcon, as America...

As Q2 comes to a close, we look back at some movie questions and make bold new predictions about the second half of 2014. As we began 2014, the distinct feeling among SJF writers was that 2015 was about to seriously dominate any discussion about the coming year. But 2014 has stood its ground, delivering memorable films and enticing moviegoers to come along. You'll have to wait for our upcoming Quarter 2 financial report to see the specifics, but for now we've tackled several questions we pondered back in January and you'll surprised by some of our answers. Enjoy. Has 2015 talk already eclipsed 2014? No - 2014 has brought some amazing films like Godzilla , X-Men: Days of Future Past , Captain America: The Winter Soldier , and The LEGO Movie . Meanwhile,2015's Batman/Superman movie was postponed to 2016 and Fast 7 has been shrouded in mystery since Paul Walker's death. We've seen large crowds at the theaters (not just for our screenings) and the genui...