Audiences didn't feel divided about Civil War

Only two new wide releases hit this weekend but there was only one Money Monster and it wasn't Money Monster but that superhero-filled Civil War. Naturally the good Captain didn't make room for them in his second weekend, planting himself like a tree. "No, you move." Speaking of plants with no give - The Jungle Book isn't budging either. The next two weekends will be a tougher test for both The Avenger's and Mowgli's staying power since five new multiplex friendly movies enter the fray soon: Angry Birds, The Nice Guys, and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are next (I'm hearing surprisingly good things about all three. WTF?); and for Memorial Day Weekend the Alice in Wonderland and X-Men sequels challenge all of them for summer box office dominance though they're sure to win the gaudy sweepstakes.

Which of those five upcoming pictures are you planning to see and what did you catch this weekend?

Arrows indicate losing or gaining screens

TOP WIDE RELEASES
01 Captain America: Civil War $72.6 (cum. $295.9) Review
🔻02 The Jungle Book $17.1 (cum. $311.1) Articles
03 Money Monster $14.7 NEW Jack O'Connell
04 Darkness $4.9 NEW
🔺05 Mother's Day $3.2 (cum. $28.7) 

TOP TEN LIMITED
Excluding previously wide.
🔺01 Sing Street $619K (cum. $1.9) Review
🔺02 The Man Who Knew Infinity $508K  (cum. $.9)
🔺03 Green Room $411K (cum. $2.7)
🔺04 The Meddler $372K (cum. $1)  Review
🔻05 Hologram for the King $233K (cum. $3.8) Review
06 The Lobster $190K NEW Reviewish
🔺07 A Bigger Splash $189K (cum. $.3) Reviewish
08 Love & Friendship $133K NEW Review
09 AmeriGeddon $131K NEW
🔻10 Compadres $150K (cum. $2.9)

 I saw Love & Friendship on Jose's recommendation and it was delightfully arch and funny. I especially enjoyed Chloe Sevigny's awful American accomplice to Lady Susan's shady lady antics. Then I returned to Civil War because my bestie wanted to see it. My opinion didn't budge an iota from the first time (which is generally not a good sign that the movie will continue to grow in estimation). In short: good movie but the least of the three Captain Americas, largely because it's much slower, longer (they've been jumping 10 extra minutes with each Cap movie!)  and loses the focus on the All American Super Soldier to set up multiple future franchises from Spider-Man: Homecoming to The Black Panther to Avengers: Infinity War Pts 1 & 2 (the latter two will be getting a title change and won't be Parts 1 and Parts 2 as the public has finally caught on to that cheat for extra dollars for one movie).

Recommended Elsewhere...

Seven things I quite enjoyed reading this weekend.

"We're still friends, right?"Seventh Row Is Tom Hiddleston's charm getting in the way of greatness as an actor? 
Meta Komik I've recently discovered that "Doubtman" has been my arch enemy all along (3 pages)
Cinesnark lovely piece on the tiny arc of Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier within Captain America: Civil War
The Onion "Aging succubus lowering standards for men ever since she turned 40,000"
Thrillist why Black Widow is Marvel Studio's Best & Worst character 
New York Review of Books a classic from Joan Didion on Woody Allen's new "serious" phase (originally published in the late 1970s but it's most definitely still brilliant.)
Pajiba which of the Avengers would be the best in bed? I support the results, actually, except for the absurd undervaluing of Agent Peggy Carter (it is *very* clear they haven't watched Agent Carter). On the other end of the spectrum now I feel even worse for tragic Bucky.

Tweetweek

Just for Sunday fun, Tweets that amused this week. Plus beautiful actresses (duh). But if you'll excuse me let's start with this weirdly flattering twosome. 

@nathanielr this morning I was talking American Lit and said, "I bet he has to read Nathaniel Rogers." I meant Hawthorne. lol

— @jazzt (@jazzt) May 13, 2016

Haha.  The Golden Statue > The Scarlet Letter.

Right?

Safe to assume my first draft was filled with corny awards show jokes abt category fraud. #Empire (cc: @nathanielr) pic.twitter.com/t6URKeD59H

— Jamie R (@jamieeros) May 12, 2016

Huzzah Jamie! This long time TFE fan is now on the writing staff of Empire. We live for corny awards show jokes about category fraud so I hope at least one survived (I am a few episodes behind on Empire but will catch up this week).

More after the jump including Goldie Hawn, Blake Lively, The Lobster, and X-Men Acopalypse advertisements.

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Q&A: Everybody Wants Drop Dead Gorgeous Editing & Combative Personalities

It's the time again: Reader Questions hooray. I picked 8 to answer this week. Thanks to everyone who asked. I can't answer all but who knows - the unanswered might well inspire something down the road, conciously or otherwise. You never know...

MARSHA: Are people like Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump just so evil and insane that they are beyond parody, or are there actors and directors you can think of who could convey their humanity and worldview?

NATHANIEL: Marsha, I promised I wasn't going to talk about politics until September, remember?!? Don't tempt me.  All I will say is that a great actor can perform magic even under impossible circumstances. Remember how deep Julianne Moore was able to go with Sarah Palin?

JB: Can we discuss Drop Dead Gorgeous. In spite of having all the right ingredients, it's never quite hit cult (gay) status like I always assumed it would. Why do you think that is?

lots more after the jump...

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Cannes Review: Woody Allen's "Café Society"

This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad. It's reprinted here in a slightly expanded version...

Few things in life are as regular as Woody Allen movies. For the past 40 years or so they arrive exactly once a year. In recent years they generally premiere out of competition at Cannes and predictably reignite the endless cycle of media wars about Woody Allen.

The only thing irregular about the experience is the reviews, box office, and Oscars. For the past 10 years or so it’s been especially hard to predict. In that time he’s delivered critical and commercial Oscar winning hits that the media fawned over (Blue Jasmine, Midnight in Paris), well received films that didn’t quite crossover to that same extent (Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona), critical flops that did surprisingly okay at the box office (To Rome With Love), trifles that people tolerated (Scoop), reanimated abandoned projects that everyone wished had stayed dead (Whatever Works), as well as a critical and commercial flop (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger) and one that didn't actually seem to exist at all (Cassandra’s Dream).

In short (too late!) his films come with a lot of history and even more baggage.

His latest, Café Society, begins with very little literal baggage as a young optimistic man named Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) leaves New York for Hollywood for reasons that don’t extend much beyond “trying something new.” [More...]

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