Indoor movies theaters reopened their doors in Silicon Valley last month. I’ve wondered how long they would stay open before the coronavirus pandemic got worse. That question got answered this week. Most California counties returned to the restrictive purple tier. Movie theaters are once more closed to the public. I saw three movies in three weeks: Tenet, Goldfinger, and Freaky. What was it like to watch each movie inside a theater during the pandemic?
Read more “3 Movies I Saw Before Indoor Theaters Closed Again”Final Release Dates for Tenet, Mulan, Bill & Ted Face The Music
Over the last three months, I made five videos about drive-ins and movie theaters. A constant theme that ties them all together was the rescheduling of “Tenet,” “Mulan,” and, recently, “Bill & Ted Face The Music.” Just when you think the studios finished rearranging the schedules, they reschedule everything again. Will the studios stick to newest release dates or reschedule everything all over again?
Read more “Final Release Dates for Tenet, Mulan, Bill & Ted Face The Music”AMC Theaters VS Universal Studios Video On Demand Deal
Universal Studios simultaneously released “Trolls World Tour” in theaters and for premium video-on-demand (VOD) last April. AMC Theaters retaliated by banning Universal movies from their 11,000+ screens. The banning of a studio by a theater chain had no immediate impact with most theaters closed for the coronavirus pandemic.
That was three months ago.
Orion Pictures announced a simultaneous release of “Bill and Ted Face The Music” to theaters and for premium video-on-demand last week. None of the theater chains cried foul and threaten retaliation like they did for “Trolls World Tour.” AMC and Universal Studios announced earlier this week a deal that could change the way movies are release to theaters and for premium video-on-demand.
Read more “AMC Theaters VS Universal Studios Video On Demand Deal”Will Movie Theaters Still Reopen This Summer?
As I pointed out in my previous video, movie theaters throughout the United States will probably reopen in mid-July for the release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Disney’s Mulan. Quite a few things have changed since then.
- Two weeks ago AMC Theatres announced that they will reopen most theaters throughout the United States and the world by July 15, 2020.
- Tenet rescheduled from July 15th to July 31st to give Mulan the honors of opening first on July 24th.
- And then the coronavirus pandemic got worse in the United States, as confirmed cases surged in Arizona, Florida, and Texas.
Not surprisingly, Tenet rescheduled to August 15th, Mulan rescheduled to August 21st, and AMC delayed their reopening to July 30th. Will movie theaters still reopen this summer?
Read more “Will Movie Theaters Still Reopen This Summer?”Will Drive-In Movie Theaters Make A Comeback?
The last movie I saw before the shelter-in-place order took effect in California was “Bloodshot” starring Vin Diesel. With people already staying away from the movie theaters, two-dozen people watched the Saturday afternoon IMAX showing in their own row for proper social distancing. Since then I missed going out to the movies every weekend to break up the week-to-week grind. Every day in Silicon Valley is Christmas morning with few people walking about and cars on the street.
If only there was an alternative for watching movies at the movie theaters. Silicon Valley still has a drive-in movie theater called the Capitol Drive-In in San Jose. The chain that operates that location is West Wind Drive-In, which has its Sacramento, CA, and Glendale, AZ, locations open for business during the pandemic. Other regional drive-ins in the U.S. are also open for business.
Will drive-in movie theaters make a comeback for today’s social distancing?
Read more “Will Drive-In Movie Theaters Make A Comeback?”See It First Vs. Gofobo For Free Movie Preview Tickets
Have you ever noticed how some reviewers post a review of a forthcoming movie just days before it opens to the general public? Yet they never disclose how they got free tickets to see a preview screening.
- Are they sleeping with the teenagers behind the concession stand at the movie theater?
- Do they know someone who is waiting tables to make it big in Hollywood?
- Are they taking cash payments from the movie studios?
Last Spring I saw two movies, Disney’s “Aladdin” and Amazon Studios’ “Late Night”, in free preview screenings. I slept with no teenagers, I know no one in Hollywood, and took no cash payments. I did accept free tickets from two third-party websites, See It First and Gofobo, that anyone can sign up for.
Read more “See It First Vs. Gofobo For Free Movie Preview Tickets”The Rise of Skywalker Flickering Light Warning
We are less than one week away from “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” coming out in the movie theaters. Disney issued a warning “that visuals and sustained flashing light” in the movie could affect those who are photosensitive. If this seems like a familiar problem, it is. Pixar, also owned by the House of Mouse, had to put out a similar warning for “The Incredibles 2” after it came out in theaters. A problem that Disney partially fixed when it came out on Blu-Ray. You would think that Disney wouldn’t have avoided making the same mistake twice.
Read more “The Rise of Skywalker Flickering Light Warning”Can’t Wait For Black Widow? Watch Anna!
The teaser trailer for “Black Widow” came out this week for the long-awaited origin movie of Marvel’s most famous kick-ass heroine. The movie, however, won’t come out until May 1, 2020. If you can’t wait until next year, you can watch “Anna” that came out this year. “Anna” is not a superhero movie but an old fashion KGB spy thriller. While she doesn’t fall through the air as everything explodes around her, Anna can her hold her own in an extended ass kicking contest.
Read more “Can’t Wait For Black Widow? Watch Anna!”Lucy In The Sky WITHOUT Diapers
With this year being the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 manned moon landing, it’s not surprising that movies about astronauts are coming out. First Man, a biopic about Neil Armstrong being the first man on the moon, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2018 and went into general release in October 2018. First Man was a controversial movie because conservative politicians claimed that it didn’t show the astronauts planting the American flag on the moon. Never mind that the movie had plenty of flags, and the flag planting scene wasn’t relevant to the inner space of Neil Armstrong as an astronaut, husband and father. Another astronaut movie, Lucy in The Sky, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival this year, and coming out in general release this month. Although the movie poster features the moon looming large in the background, the moon has nothing to do with the real-life event of a female astronaut losing her POOP on earth. While this made-for-TV movie is loosely based on the “astronaut love triangle” of 2007, the diaper scene was left on the cutting room floor.
Read more “Lucy In The Sky WITHOUT Diapers”Late Night (2019) Movie Review
Last week I saw a preview showing of Late Night, an R-rated movie about late night television, opening in limited release this weekend and wide release next weekend. Emma Thompson plays Katherine Newbury, a white, middle-aged English talk show host who never had a female writer on her all-male writing staff. Mindy Kaling, the writer and producer for Late Night, plays Molly Patel, a woman of color who becomes the first female writer for the show. What could possibly go wrong in this comedy-drama? Quite a bit.
Read more “Late Night (2019) Movie Review”