Weekend Movies: It’s Hammer Time!

The box office numbers should be interesting this weekend. Three different genre films come to the big screen, but will they be able to unseat the two giants still reigning, ‘Fast Five’ and ‘Rio’?

Opening in IMAX, 3D and 2D is Marvel’s pre-‘Avengers’ comic book flick, ‘Thor‘. Having already opened in a few international markets, ‘Thor’ has brought in some big bucks overseas, and has received a strong critical response. The question is whether that international success will carry over to the United States. Combining the reality that we live in with the fantasy world of Norse Gods is a difficult task, one that requires the audience to suspend a lot of disbelief and just go with it. I don’t doubt the mighty power of ‘Thor’ (with its Shakespearean spirit, the film is bold, fun and brilliant), but it’s hard to believe that there will be enough comic book enthusiasts to pull general audiences away from ‘Fast Five’. While it’s definitely not expected to set any opening weekend records, positive word of mouth may give ‘Thor’ a healthy theatrical run.

While action-hungry male audiences are off seeing ‘Thor’, you might expect the female demographic to attend the new Ginnifer Goodwin/Kate Hudson romantic drama ‘Something Borrowed‘. But negative reviews and reactions may give it less-than-expected results. I’ve heard many women say, “I should want to see this movie, but this one just doesn’t interest me.” Perhaps the darker subject material is turning people off? After all, who wants to root for a central character who’s having an affair with her best friend’s fiancé in a movie where you know from the beginning that at least one of the main characters is going to get hurt?

The upper and lower classes go head-to-head in ‘Jumping the Broom‘, a light comedy about a guy from a poor upbringing who marries a girl from a wealthy family. Just like Tyler Perry’s films, ‘Jumping the Broom’ is expected to make its low budget back on opening weekend, followed by a major drop-off in the weeks that follow. Already playing ‘Fast Five’ and ‘Thor’ will substantially lessen the success of its opening weekend compared to the Tyler Perry’s movies.

Opening in limited release is Jodie Foster’s first directorial work since 1995, ‘‘The Beaver‘. A story about a depressed father (Mel Gibson) who creates a beaver puppet alter ego to deal with his unhappiness should be interesting enough on its own, but it’s not. A subplot about his son (Anton Yelchin) and his girlfriend (Jennifer Lawrence) is more entertaining than the controversial one that earned the film its title.

Shockingly bad and disgusting Sundance horror film ‘Hobo with a Shotgun‘ also opens on a few screens. Going above and beyond anything Tarantino and Rodriguez did in their ‘Grindhouse‘ double feature, ‘Hobo with a Shotgun’ has already earned its cult status as the real deal. ‘Hobo’ is made for those who delight in the intentionally bad. If you can laugh at bad dialogue, ridiculous characters, the most disgusting violence, and obscene vulgarities, ‘Hobo with a Shotgun’ may be right up your alley.

12 comments

  1. I think that Luke’s title for this post is perfect. However, I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to change it to “The Hammer is My Penis.” 🙂

    • With the current state of the adult film industry, such a movie would nonetheless be called something like “The Beaver: A XXX Parody of That Movie That Has the Similar Title but Wasn’t Actually a Porno Even Though This One Is Because We’re Making a Spoof and It Has Sex in It.”

    • The fight scene with the frost giants and the backstory that Odin tells are worth the price of admission.

      Oh and the rainbow bridge looks so damned awesome in this movie, it has to be seen to be believed.

  2. A friend and I watched HOBO with a shotgun on my AppleTV, and I have to say, it’s probably the best movie of it’s type since Robocop. The Violence is so over the top it’s almost funny at times. And Rutger Hauer is awesome. Unfortunately while this movie may never make as much as the original Robocop did, I can’t recommend it enough. Just make sure you understand this is pretty gory at times and is strictly for adults.