Your time is valuable and at the end of a long week, the discretionary time must be spent to its maximum value. In order to help narrow choices down on the film, television, and gaming fronts, every Friday we’ll give you the rundown of your options and an educated guess as to which ones make the most sense.
Nick Nunziata and I predicted the box office returns for these films last Sunday.
At the Movies
Finding Dory
Directors: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane
Stars: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill
Current RT Meter: 94% Fresh
My box office prediction last Sunday: $92,000,000
Nick’s box office prediction: $105,000,000
It’s rare for a Pixar film to completely whiff it (*cough*Cars 2*cough*) and things seem to be looking good for the Finding Nemo sequel. The narrative is intriguing — Dory is searching for her parents — and there’s plenty of heart and humor to go around. There’s still the looming fear of sequelitis but it sounds like Finding Dory won’t succumb to such easy failings. A strong cast and a solid direction for the story look to make this one of the best pictures of the year.
The Verdict: If you’ve got kids, there’s no question what you should be doing with them this weekend.
Central Intelligence
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Danielle Nicolet
Current RT Meter: 59% Fresh
My box office prediction last Sunday: $50,000,000
Nick’s box office prediction: $31,000,000
Two of the most bankable movie stars in recent years team up for a buddy cop comedy. What could possibly go wrong? While the chemistry between Dwayne “He’s Always The Rock to Me” Johnson and Kevin Hart looks pitch perfect, there’s been little to grasp onto when it comes to Central Intelligence‘s story. The movie has been sold almost purely on the charisma of its two leads, and that doesn’t bode well for the actual movie they are playing around in.
The Verdict: This will make a good Sunday afternoon rental in a few months.
On the Tube
Orange Is the New Black
Netflix’s prison dramedy has been kicking ass and taking names for three years now, and the fourth season doesn’t look to deviate from that. Along with House of Cards and Daredevil, Orange is the New Black is one of Netflix’s most popular shows and that’s pretty fantastic. It’s a show focused on female characters, many of whom are women of color, proving that good fiction involves stories about all kinds of people. And you get the inherent drama of a prison story! What’s not to love?
The Verdict: Lock yourself in and put on your binge-watching pajamas.
The Last Ship
Note: We are running this piece again due to The Last Ship’s premiere being rescheduled to this weekend in the wake of the tragedy in Orlando.
TNT’s apocalyptic thriller has managed to milk its sci-fi premise — a virus wipes out most of the human race, leaving a single naval ship in control of saving what’s left of the world — far beyond its initial idea. Things have certainly gotten crazier in the last season, though the Michael Bay produced show might be a little too over-the-top for some.
The Verdict: It’s better than watching Battleship.
For the Gamers
Minecraft (Wii U)
Do you love Minecraft? Do you own a Wii U? Now you can finally bring these two together. The phenomena of Minecraft (I remember watching my college roommates playing the alpha version) knows no bounds and it has now decided to conquer Nintendo’s home console. I’m sure the next step is to beam Minecraft directly into our brains.
The Verdict: It’s Minecraft. You know how you feel about Minecraft.
