A season for cinephiles

 

        As I write this, I am reminded of the plot from a movie that I personally enjoyed. Melinda and Melinda by Woody Allen asked a very simple question; is life inherently comedic or is it inherently tragic? I am of the opinion that life is inherently tragic because every single individual will eventually cease to exist and we must continue to watch our physical and mental gifts decline as we age. Not to get too morbid but between the inevitability of one’s own mortality and the consistent regurgitation of disinformation, bigotry, hate, fear, and idolization of celebrity status, I think the world is tragic. It is in that vein that those who believe as I do turn to a respite. For me, that respite has always been going to the movies. I have always adored the experience of going to the movies, ever since I was a young boy. More than just the concessions, the audience, it was the escape. I have never traveled out of the United States, but with film, I could see other countries and even time periods that I never could otherwise. The summer movie season was always the best season for people like myself who loved going to the movies. Every single week provides a new film to delight in. Things have slowed down significantly since my adolescence in the mid to late 1990s, but I have a feeling that the summer of 2026 could possibly be a return to form for movies.

            The prevalent excuse for the decline in audience viewership in multi-tiered. Many people blame the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. I will admit that a worldwide pandemic will dampen the desire to go to a crowded movie theater, sit, and enjoy a movie. But even before the pandemic, people do now actually go to movies as much as they used to.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2019 There are no movies in the top 10 from the 21st century. Gone With the Wind will probably never be challenged. The cost to go to a movie, particularly with a family, has become very high. But I do believe that it is possible to rekindle the spirit of going to the movies and spark the imagination of the populus. I think this summer could be the first time, in a while, to get that happens on a large scale. There are always outliers, like Top Gun: Maverick, Barebie, Oppenheimer, Inside Out 2, and The Super Mario Bros Movie. But those outliers don’t reflect an actual strong overall box office total.

            My wife and I took our son to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. He fell asleep, which is not the most glowing review, but the movie was entertaining enough. The film is doing very well domestically and internationally. The summer season kicks off officially in May with The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Sheep Detectives, and Mortal Kombat II. They all have different target audiences, but I believe that both can find box office success. I never saw The Devil Wears Prada. It just didn’t “speak” to me. I adore Anne Hathaway, but I just am not into fashion that much, so I wasn’t feeling it. I did see Mortal Kombat in 2021. It did not create a big box office splash, but it was received well enough to spur on a sequel. I wasn’t expecting Karl Urban to take on the Johnny Cage role, but the guy is a credible actor and has been at the center of several major franchises, so I think the movie will be ok. Full marketing, no Covid-19 restrictions, preferable release date. Still has two weeks before the Mandalorian and Grogu movie comes out. The Sheep Detectives could take advantage of the Mother’s Day crowd and have a decent box office run. Hugh Jackman still has box office appeal and animal centered films tend to do well. But then again, what sane person could say no to Paddington.

            Disney is taking a big gamble, but Star Wars usually is a money machine. I have faith that the movie will benefit from a Memorial Day weekend release and not have to contend with the juggernaut of Toy Story 5 for almost a complete month. Toy Story 5 I am very confident will gross close to 1 billion dollars. That franchise and Pixar movies in general have such massive appeal that I think it will have legs for a while. Until Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes out at the end of July, which is also right before most kids go back to the massive success; the appeal of nostalgia. The possibility of reintroducing the Man-Spider saga to a new generation of viewer and a new class of X-Men, could be massive.

            I would be remised if I did not mention Masters of the Universe, which is coming out June 5. At first, I thought a live-action remake would be a joke. The original live-action Masters of the Universe (1987) was a box-office disaster of biblical proportions, which pretty much destroyed The Cannon Group and their film production division. Dolph Lundgren looked the part, but the script was awful, the effects were shoddy (even for the 1980s), and even with a valiant effort from Frank Langella as Skeletor, the film couldn’t be saved. I saw it with my dad in the theater when it came out, and thought it had a charm about it. But I was 7 years old at the time. There have been other incarnations of He-Man and She-Ra, particularly in animated form. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Revelation by Kevin Smith I thought was good. Some creative choices divided the online community, but I thought it was a solid effort.

            Based on the final trailer from Masters of the Universe (2026) and some fairly positive test screenings, I think that the film will do better than expected. Nicholas Galintzine seems, based on trailers and set photos, to have put in the work in the weight room. But more than that, the man comes from a dramatic background. The biggest mistake that film studios make are getting physical specimens and make them credible actors. It is much more feasible to take competent actors and transform them with nutritionists and personal trainers into superhero shape, i.e. Tobey Maguire, Edward Norton, Robert Downey Jr., and Christian Bale. The best thing that the new incarnation of Masters of the Universe has going for itself, is the intoxicating aroma of nostalgia. Even my mother-in-law is clamoring to see the movie. Do I think the film will make $500 million? Probably not. But I believe in the track record of director Travis Knight, and I think that the movie will be profitable and if the film is wise, it will set up future sequels and a possible team up with She-Ra and that could be epic.

There are other movie releases coming out that I believe could be successful. I am nervous about Supergirl. I think it might go the same way as The Marvels, which was a solid movie. Very entertaining. But it never really found a large audience during its theatrical run. I do not know if it’s because of a female centered cast or if having a female director hurt but I am keenly aware that it did not perform well. I hope Supergirl thrives, but female led action movies don’t have the best track record, i.e. Furiosa, Wonder Woman 1984, Birds of Prey (which had a PHENOMENAL soundtrack), and The 355.

            The live action Moanna I believe is a bad idea. I get the economic rationale behind it, but I just don’t think it’s necessary. And the trailer did not blow me away. I’m sure it will make a profit but if it’s a shot for shot remake, like the Lion King (2019), I don’t know how that will resonate with fans. I really hope Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey delivers all the epic scope and grandeur that Homer envisioned, but I also do not know how it will translate on screen.

            Evil Dead Burn provides an opportunity for a different genre to be marketed during the summer season. I am not a big horror movie fan, but I do know some people are and deserve to see a movie they enjoy on screen. I saw Evil Dead Rise at home and thought it fulfilled its mission of being a legitimate horror movie. The tension that film had and the general creepiness of the tone just made the film have a feel akin to the original The Evil Dead from 1981.

            The month of August provides some opportunities to close the season strong Super Troopers 3 has its fanbase. It will perform well on streaming. My wife has already told me that we will be seeing Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, so I assume other families will make similar plans. And since this is the 3^rd film in the franchise, I believe it’s fair to assume that the movie will perform well. Coyote vs Acme is a wildcard. It has been shelved for a while, but it will finally get a theatrical release. The first trailer has been recently released. Could potentially be a “sleeper hit” as the advertisements used to say in the late 1990s.

            No matter what film one chooses to watch this summer, the point is to get out there and watch movies in a movie theater. I will always contend that going to the movies is one of the greatest social experiments left in society. In the theater there is a group of different ethnicities, social classes, people with different hopes, dreams, fears, biases, idiosyncrasies and imperfections all brought together for 2 hours to share a cinematic experience together. The reaction to the experience is where real movie magic happens. There has been a lot of discourse over the years, especially post-Covid-19, on why people do not go to movies in the same way they used to. Some people believe that the fear from the pandemic still lingers in the mental rolodex of some, some people blame the surging prices of concessions and ticket prices, but the biggest argument is the establishment of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and others. I can be a homebody at times but watching a movie on my couch with my snacks is vastly different from going to the movies.          

            Quentin Tarantino once said that going to the movies was special when he was a kid and the movie theaters catered to that sentiment. The presentation of the movie was not just sitting down in a dark room with strangers. It was a show. Aside from the lost art of customer service, I am sure that I would not feel the same way watching Die Hard with a Vengeance in my home as how I felt when I watched it in the theater with a crowd. I distinctly remember how I felt the first time I saw Independence Day at Union Station in St. Louis with a group of friends. I remember how I felt when I saw There’s Something About Mary or The Matrix at the local Wehrenberg theater near my hometown. Nostalgia is very intoxicating but also it reminds those of us of who genuinely have a passion for movies that getting stories on the silver screen can potentially change the way people feel and how they process their daily lives. And the best thing about the movies is talking about them afterwards. The modern conversations about movies have sunken to rage baiting sessions with varying alliances to companies or brands. I miss having those fun talks and I think contemporary society could gain a lot by talking to one another and reinvigorating the art form.