What are you up to this weekend?

This Memorial Day Weekend isn't on fire at the movies. Nobody much cares about Baywatch (which is neither exciting like an action movie or funny like a comedy, but can still be amply defined as an "action comedy") and a new Pirates of the Caribbean is getting only the usual flock of lemming moviegoers for an established franchise and no one else. This is, by a very wide margin, the worst opening for a Pirates sequels. Elsewhere in sequel land the news isn't much better. Alien Covenant is the least popular Alien film yet if you adjust for inflation (and dont count those Predator crossovers because why would you?). Will Wonder Woman turn things around next week for audience interest or is counterprogramming that Big Hollywood rarely does anymore what they actually needed to do this very summer?

In limited release, slightly better news. Two unconventional romcoms are performing pretty well: Israel's 'wedding without a groom' film The Wedding Plan and the unfaithful ole marrieds of The Lovers are still expanding to decent business.

Weekend Box Office (May 26-28)
W I D E	L I M I T E D
1.🔺 PIRATES (5) $62.1  NEW	1. 🔺 THE LOVERS $665K (cum. $1.3) (443 screens)  REVIEW
2. GUARDIANS (2) $19.8  (cum. $333.2) REVIEW	2. LOWRIDERS $539K (cum. $5.1) (334 screens)
3.🔺 BAYWATCH $18.1 NEW (cum. $22.7)	3. NORMAN $503k (cum. $3.0) (324 screens)
4. ALIEN (6)  $10.5 (cum. $57.3)  REVIEW | FRANCHISE	4.🔺 PARIS CAN WAIT $456k (cum. $860k) (70 screens)
5. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING $6.1 (cum. $21.5) REVIEW	5.🔺 THE WEDDING PLAN $311k (cum. $595K | 91 screens)
🔺 = new or added screens numbers from box office mojo

What did you see this weekend? 

In Celebration of "Top Gun 2"...

25th Anniversary: Alien 3 - the theatrical cut vs. the assembly cut

Tim here. With Alien: Covenant opening to #1 over the weekend, it's fortuitous timing that today marks the 25th anniversary of Alien³.  The 1992 sci-fi thriller is probably best-known today for two reasons: introducing music video director David Fincher to the world of theatrical features, and knocking all the shine off of the Alien franchise for the first time (and alas! not the last).

 Underperforming at the box office, and outright flopping with critics, Alien³ has never since recovered its reputation; if time has been kind to it, it's only because at least we can now say, "well, at least it's not as bad as Alien: Resurrection"...

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I'll link you again in 25 years...

Cartoon Brew utterly savage (but 100% correct) on the Emoji Movie trailer
LA Review of Books on Netflix's Sense8 as metaphor for Netflix is. (I have no idea
why a book site is  reviewing this but the piece is absolutely terrific)
LA Times talks to Robin Swicord, only now with a second feature (Wakefield) long after the success of The Jane Austen Book Club. Her debut was profitable (always Hollywood's end goal) but Hollywood wouldn't hire her to direct? We've heard this story all too often!

Screen Daily in terrible terrible news they're still not going to let the once genius but totally played out Terminator franchise die and Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron plan to be involved in the next one. Doesn't anyone in Hollywood want to do something original even more? It's not like Cameron couldn't get funding for literally ANYTHING he wanted to do. (sigh)
Film School Rejects on Disney's self cannabilization and the particular folly of trying it with Fantasia
Variety TV is invading Cannes with many auteurs now doing both
Vulture Tilda Swinton and Steven Yeun on making art in the new impossible-to-avoid-politics era
AV Club Janelle Monáe and Leslie Mann are joining Steve Carell in Robert Zemeckis's next film
MNPP Tom Hardy to play Spider-Man villain Venom in a standalone film
Jezebel the only reporting on the Roseanne revival which includes Luis Buñuel asides
Cinematic Corner visual parallels between Logan and Mad Max: Fury Road
Hugh Jackman 'see you soon Japan' - he's still on his Logan promo tour!
Out people are still shook about that shocking Drag Race elimination. (I rewatched it and it's astonishing how furious you can tell RuPaul is at Valentina for making her job so difficult)

Just For Fun
My Giant Nerd Boyfriend "Horror Movies" (I'm absolutely in love with this webcomic about this Asian girl with a super tall boyfriend)
Cards Against Humanity - cool story from the Emerald City comic con floor

Sage Advice
Daily Actor "18 Ways to Self-Tape Like a Pro" - smart ideas here about self-taped auditions (which are increasingly popular

Twin Peaks is here!
Twin Peaks Season 3 begins today so it's probably a good idea to reacquaint yourself with the previous two seasons and Fire Walk With Me. If you don't have time to rewatch them (*raises own hand in solidarity*) there are articles around to jog your memory. Unicorn Booty recaps where several storylines left off at the end of Season 2, and K Austin Allen of The Ringer takes a deep dive into the movie prequel that was honestly kind of reviled back in 1992 but has since grown rather beloved amongst Lynch fans and cinephiles. Perfect anecdotal evidence from my own life: my best friend who was an absolute Twin Peaks nut in the 90s and then hated Fire Walk With Me which we saw together in 1992. I saw him yesterday -- he had just rewatched it was like 'Have you ever watched Fire Walk With Me again? I remember hating it, somehow, but it's incredible!'

Box Office: The face huggers still got it!

By Nathaniel R

It was a battle for box office dominance in outer space as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and Aliens Volume 6 (shut up) faced off. The champion was those nasty acid-blooded face huggers rather than the comic bro huggers. Not that Drax and Starlord have anything to worry about having just crossed the $300 million mark domestically.

It's also worth noting that Demian Bichir has both #1 movies -- he has a small role in Alien Covenant and a big one in Lowriders, which logs a second week on top of the limited release chart. Charts and a few more comments are after the jump... 

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