Monday, July 11, 2016 at 12:20AM 
Let's do another Q&A column. I'll pick 8 to 10 questions to answer this week. So ask away. [Please note that questions requiring top ten lists or big essays to answer are less likely to be answered them simpler ones.]
Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 1:00PM This weekend Dory swam easily past Captain America to become the biggest grossing US hero of the year. (Captain America still leads internationally by a lot, which is funny if you think about it). That's quite impressive for a forgetful blue tang who could have gone 'straight to video' -- Wait, are we still saying that? If not, what's the new phrase. I'm scared of what this means for the future with all those cheapie animated sequels but it is what happened. The current top ten of 2016 includes only two originals (Zootopia & Central Intelligence) but otherwise it's all brand extensions / revisions. It didn't use to be this way but it's been a slow erosion. Consider by comparison: 2006's top ten had 5 originals; 1996 had 6; 1986 had 7. Since we get less original hits every year how soon until we have none?
It should be noted that an original won the weekend but since The Secret Life of Pets famously steals so shamelessly from the Toy Story template, and since it's been promoting itself for what seems like YEARS already it feels like it's a sequel to itself so should it count? Animated films continue to be the safest box office bets.
Mike and Dave performed fairly well in its opening weekend and The Legend of Tarzan had a strong second weekend. In platform release Captain Fantastic had a decent debut with a teensy tiny theater count: not terrible, not great. Will it win strong word of mouth? We deserve more Viggo in our lives but if we don't support his movie we won't get it.
TOP WIDE
800+ screens. arrows indicate gaining or losing screens
🔺01 Secret Life of Pets $103.1 NEW
🔻02 The Legend of Tarzan $20.6 (cum. $81.4) Review
🔺03 Finding Dory $20.3 (cum. $422.5) Review
🔺04 Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates $16.6 NEW
🔺05 The Purge: Election Year $11.7 (cum. $58.1)
🔺06 Central Intelligence $8.1 (cum. $108.3)
🔻07 Independence Day: Resurgence $7.7 (cum. $91.4)
🔻08 The BFG $7.6 (cum. $38.7) Review
🔻09 The Shallows $4.8 (cum. $45.8) Costume Honors
🔻10 The Conjuring 2 $1.7 (cum. $99.3) Heroes and Villains
🔻11 Now You See Me 2 $1.3 (cum. $62.2)
🔻12 Free State of Jones $1.3 (cum. $19.2)
TOP LIMITED
Less than 800 screens. Excluding previously wide.
🔺01 Sultan $2.2 (cum. $3.2) NEW
🔺02 Our Kind of Traitor $731K ($2.2)
🔻03 Swiss Army Man $690K ($3.1) Best Actor
🔺04 Hunt for the Wilderpeople $413K (cum. $754K) Review
🔻05 Love & Friendship $326K (cum. $12.9) Review, Podcast, Best Picture
🔻06 The Lobster $309K (cum. $8) Reviewish, Podcast
🔻07 Maggie's Plan $180K (cum. $2.9) Review
🔺08 Cold War 2 $165K NEW
🔺09 The Music of Strangers $144K (cum. $566K)
🔺10 Weiner-Dog $105K (cum. $288K)
🔺11 Captain Fantastic $98K NEW Review
🔻12 Genius $80K (cum. $1.2) Review
What movies did you catch this week? Remember to watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on Netflix for Tuesday night's "Best Shot" party.
Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 11:00AM 
Helena Bonham Carter & Cary Elwes star in Lady Jane (1986)On this day in history as it relates to the movies
1553 Lady Jane Grey takes the throne in England. Her reign is just nine days long and Helena Bonham Carter plays her in her feature film debut (filmed just before A Room With a View though it was released second)
1856 Nikola Tesla, famed inventor and futurist is born in the Austrian empire. He's later played by David Bowie in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige (2006) but isn't it strange that he has never received his own major biopic given his fame and eccentricity and pop culture relevances (bands named after him, characters based on him, etcetera)?
1871 Marcel Proust, French novelist is born.
1925 The "Monkey Trial" in which a man is accused of teaching evolution in science class, begins in Tennessee. It's later adapted into a famous play and the Stanley Kramer film Inherit the Wind (1960) nominated for four Oscars
1936 The Devil-Doll, a horror flick directed by Dracula's Tod Browning opens in US movie theaters starring Lionel Barrymore, who masquerades as an old womenfor nefarious purposes (!), and Maureen O'Sullivan.
1937 Ingrid Bergman gets married for the first time at the age of 21 in Sweden to Petter Aron Lindström. They are married until 1950 when she divorces him to marry Italian director Roberto Rossellini (Stromboli, Journey to Italy) temporarily making Bergman persona non grata in Hollywood for her scandalous adultery
1946 Sue Lyon, Kubrick's Lolita (1962) is born. She won the now defunct award "Most Promising Performer" from the Golden Globes that year but her career was rather shortlived
1958 Fiona Shaw, British great of stage and screen, is born
1959 Ellen Kuras, great cinematographer (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Summer of Sam) is born
1966 AO Scott, Film Critic for the New York Times is born. He recently released the book "Better Living Through Criticism". Happy 50th, A.O.
1977 Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oscar nominated star of 12 Years a Slave, is born
1983 Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (star of About Elly and The Patience Stone) is born. Charlie McDowell is born to actors Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen on this day as well. He has recently become a director with the Twilight Zone like romantic dramedy The One I Love and next year's scifi romance The Discovery starring his girlfriend Rooney Mara as well as Riley Keough and Jason Segel
1992 Roland Emmerich's Universal Soldier battles it out with the live action animated hybrid Cool World and the romantic dramedy Prelude to a Kiss on their opening day in US movie theaters (none of them are unable to unseat A League of Their Own, which stays at #1 in its second week.)
2020 Marvel Studios has already blocked out the date - supposedly for the penultimate film in their "Phase 3" plan though we don't yet know what that is.
Saturday, July 9, 2016 at 9:16PM In the effort to stay au courant we're going to try to do "new to streaming" weekly, alternating between Netflix and Amazon Prime sometimes, big lists, sometimes highlights. This will also give us a chance to link to previous coverage of the old films that are "new" again via the power of the internet. But first a last chance notice...
Last Chance Netflix (Expires July 16th)
-Y'all were watching I take it. Did you see us fight?
-No.
-Trap."
Serenity
I've been curious to watch Serenity (and Firefly for that matter) again to see if you can easily chart Joss Whedon's growth from self-created warm-up to Studio-hire mega-success in The Avengers. He was always good at selling team dynamics, though. That was clear from the earliest episodes of Buffy. We previously covered Serenity in Season 3 of Hit Me With Your Best Shot. I miss Whedon as TV creator on his own urges -- Agents of SHIELD just did not do it for me.
New to Netflix
We've freeze framed nine more titles totally at random to share whatever popped up for your amusement. Here we go...
-Lot of smug looking people here.
- It's like someone hit a piñata filled with white people who suck at golf."
The Big Short (2015)
Remember when this was suddenly a major Oscar player last season. That took me off guard even though I was at the actual premiere. It won Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars. Serious films with funny memorable lines are often popular in those categories.
I've decided to join the human race again.
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Babs. Babs. You're really overworking this monologue...
Saturday, July 9, 2016 at 11:00AM 
