Marvel Vs. DC: A Fan War.

It’s nothing new for the Marvel and DC comics to go head to head against each other. So it’s also no surprise that the battle’s been taken to the big screen. Enter Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League.

Let’s start with Thor, which was a very well done and put together sequel. Did you expect anything less from Marvel though? Top three reason Thor is still a blockbuster hit:

1. This is just one in a line of sequels for many Marvel stories, but what’s important is that it helps set the stage for The Avengers: Infinity War, which comes out May 4, 2018.

2. It’s funny! Marvel has mastered created movies that are both lighthearted and serious which is a great combo for a superhero movie.

3. Chris Hemsworth. If I’m being perfectly honest, a major motivation to go see this movie was to see Thor’s new hair style. I’m a girl. We like these things. Plus Chris Hemsworth is just really nice to look at.

Now Justice League. DC had really good momentum coming off of Wonder Women. So Justice League had to be good, right? I have to say I didn’t totally hate this movie. Top three reason to watch Justice League:

1. All-star cast. Ben Affleck as Batman is literally one of the best casting choices. Throw in Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller and you’ve got a pretty dang good cast on your hands.

2. Action packed to the max. SO. MUCH. ACTION!

3. Let’s be real, you need to see for yourself how DC is measuring up to the Marvel Cineamtic Universe. That’s all the motivation you need to watch Justice League.

So how’s Box Office looking? Well… Thor has been out for a month now., and Justice League is on its second week. During its opening weekend, Justice League definitely stole the show. But now that things have settled down… Thor still remains on top!

Overall DC has been making some decent movies. And maybe in 10 years DC will reach Marvel status greatness! But Marvel  will probably always be dominant over DC. That’s just my opinion though!

“The real killer is right here.” -Hercule Poirot, Murder on the Orient Express

I finally got to watch Murder on the Orient Express, and it did not disappoint! First of all, That. Cast.! Name a more iconic movie cast… I’ll wait. Can’t think of another one? Me either and that’s because this cast was perfectly casted, however their amazing acting abilities were completely utilized.

But for me, this movie was more of a beloved literary work coming to life on the big screen once again. I remember reading “Murder on the Orient Express” my sophomore year of high school and to this day was one of the best I have ever read! The mix of whodunit crime solving and physiological aspects makes the story take a turn you really don’t expect.

In the book there is more character development, but  it’s a book, so duh! Books can take more time developing characters. If you read the book then watch the movie, you’ll love it. If you watch the movie first, you’ll be left wondering about certain things. So read the book then watch the movie again, and then you’ll love it . But really this is a movie for Agatha Christie novel lovers. If you are one of those people, I feel like you will appreciate this movie.

I won’t spoil the movie for you, but I will say that the way the story was transformed for the big screen still took my breath away. And Kenneth Branagh, who stars as the famous detective, Hercule Poirot, directed this movie. His style of cinematography is beautiful to watch!

My favorite scene, which was featured in the first movie trailer, is when Poirot informs the passenger on the Orient Express that another passenger was murdered. He tells them this as he walks through the cabin and camera moves as though you are walking through the train as well, and you are seeing everyone’s reactions to the murder. That scene is pure magic!

Overall I enjoyed the movie, maybe the hype was bigger than the movie, maybe not. But I’d go back and see this movie in a heartbeat!

 

MIDNIGHT MOVIE MADNESS!

Way back when, movie theaters held midnight premieres for popular films on their opening weekend. We don’t do midnight screenings anymore, but here’s a little know tip, we have 7 p.m. showings on Thursday nights before opening weekend! Wow! Shocker! I know, but a lot people don’t realize this and don’t take advantage of it. And a lot of times, theaters host special events for new movies. For example, a few months back we screened the first two Planet of the Apes movies before the third sequel premiered.

This past week Thor: Ragnarok premiered. On Thursday night at 6 p.m, we held a special fan event where guest could pay a certain price to watch the new movie in 3D and received a special lanyard and a collectable Thor coin.

And even thoughnot all Thursday night showings are fan events, they are still premieres. Since a lot of people don’t realize we have showings the night before the advertised release date, these shows don’t sell out so there’s plenty of room for you!

Keep this in mind for the next big blockbuster you want to see! Elmwood Palace 20 in New Orleans has a Star Wars double feature on December 14; StarWars: The Force Awakens followed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

December is stocked full of blockbuster releases! So go ahead and pre-order your ticket for a Thursday night showing!

“Let’s all go to the movies!” -Daddy Warbucks

Imagine sitting at home with your family, and then suddenly decide, “Hey! Why don’t we all go see a movie? (Insert movie here) just came out this weekend!” Then you get in the car and drive over to theater without making plans and checking showtimes. The only problem with that is showtimes for a popular movie on its opening weekend will be busy. So plan ahead! And here my top 3 tips to how to plan your movie going experience before you come to the theater.

1. Purchase your tickets online. Yes, there is a fee for purchasing ticket online, but you’re saving yourself from standing in line at Box Office for at least 15 minutes. And the machines outside to purchase tickets aren’t always reliable.
2. Make sure you get to the theater at least 30 minutes before the showtime. If it’s ridiculously busy, we’ll put the guest in a standing line until the theater is ready to seat. By showing up when the movie starts, you risk not finding seats for your entire party to sit together, or you’ll have to sit in the very first row all the way up by the screen.
3. Find your seats then go to concessions. Split your party up. Half of you find seats and save them and the other half stand in the concessions lines. That way you get your popcorn and a good seat, all before the movie starts.

EXTRA TIP: Plan out your bathroom breaks. Go during the trailers when the lines are shorter. There are also plenty of website online that tell you the best times to go to the bathroom during the show, if you don’t mind missing a few minutes of the movie.

“There’s no place like AMC!”

Yesterday was Halloween, and at AMC we got to wear costumes to work. Since I work at a movie theater, I thought I should keep the movie theme with my costume. So I give you…. Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz.

Dressed as one of the most iconic movie characters in cinema history, only about 70% of the guest who came to our AMC last night recognized who I was. Which made me really sad! As a little girl I looked up to Dorothy for her cleverness, caring abilities, and her courage. Seeing people not recognize who I was dressed up as brought up a valid question.

Are we so concerned with new high-tech movies that we don’t take the time to watch and appreciate old Hollywood movies anymore?

As a lover of classic movies, it hurts my heart that people haven’t seen movies like Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, or My Fair Lady, and can’t even recognize the leading character in one of the most popular films of all time.

Some AMC theaters show classic films. Elmwood Palace 20 in New Orleans has an upcoming showing of Casablanca for the movie’s 75 Anniversary. Showings like this hopefully bring in people to enjoy classics back on the big screen. And I’m definitely a fan of educating today’s youth on the classic Hollywood movie magic!

 

“There’s only one way to go from here, and that’s UP!” -SING

2017 was supposed to be a HUGE year for Hollywood. Unfortunately the movies haven’t lived up to all the hype. The “summer blockbuster” season managed to only give us sequels from a long line of other sequels (Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Planet of the Apes), the third installments for two kid’s movie franchises (Cars, Despicable Me), and the third full reboot of Spiderman. Can you see why ticket sales were down for the summer? And the movies Hollywood claimed were new, weren’t actually new e.g The Mummy, Dark Tower, and King Arthur. With only three months left to 2017, I’m hoping Hollywood gives us some gems that make a year of okay movies worth having watched.

Here is a list upcoming movies for the next three months that I’m expecting and, let’s be honest, praying will be fantastic and redeem 2017 of it’s first 9 months of box office blah!

•  Geostorm (Oct. 20)
• Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (Oct. 20) 
• Jigsaw (Oct. 27)
• Bad Moms Christmas (Nov. 1)
• Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3)
• Murder On the Orient Express: (Nov. 10)
• Justice League (Nov. 17)
• Wonder (Nov. 17)
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Dec. 14)
• Jumanji (Dec. 20)
• Pitch Perfect 3 (Dec. 22)

 

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“We’ve got a bit of a “save the world” situation here.” – Kingsman: The Golden Circle

I finally got to watch the newest Kingman movie this week. Not only was it a movie that I was looking forward to seeing, but a movie that was highly anticipated by a lot of people after the success of the first film.

As far as sequels go, they tend to not be as good as the originals. And that’s true for this movie, but only by a little bit. The charm and actions that made you love the first movie are evident in the sequel. It just lacks an equally as interesting story line.

I found myself accurately predicting how the movie would play out. So when the movie ended, I wasn’t surprised. And there were a few scenes where I was confused, mainly because I couldn’t figure out how they were relevant to the furthering the story.

Even so, I really enjoyed the movie, and here’s why:

• Eggsy is the heart and soul of the movie. He provides comic relief (not that this is a super serious movie) and continues to be that character that you keep cheering for. If he wasn’t a main character in the sequel, I wouldn’t have even considered watching it!
• Surprises that aren’t really surprises. The trailer gives away a huge plot detail, *cough *cough Harry is not dead, however the way they incorporated him back into the story was not what I had expected, which made me want to keep watching just to see what was gonna happen to him.
• It’s charming. There’s a ton of action. There’s a bit of crude language, but that’s what makes the movie great. The sequel stays true to the brand it started with the first movie, which in my opinion, makes the movie worth watching!

 

“You shall NOT pass”…into an R-rated movie!

This weekend is one of those rare situations where the majority of our movies are Rated-R. We have 7 Rated-R, 1 PG-13, and 2 PG movies. The problem is that kids that are not 17 and don’t have parent watching the R-rated movie with them, can’t see the movie that they hoped to see. So naturally, what do these kids do? Yep, they try to sneak into movies they aren’t allowed in. Which causes problems considering IT is still selling out and Kingsman: The Golden Circle is in it’s opening weekend and also doing extremely well. There’s literally no room for these kids to sneak into the movie, so we’re force to be extra strict with checking ID’s and ultimately kicking kids out of the theater.

Now I can’t exactly say there’s a wrong or right way about sneaking into a movie. But I can say, that there are certain red flags that let me know if a group of kids are going to try to sneak into a movie.

• If you show up with a group of friends and they all purchase Rated-R tickets, and then you buy a PG-13 ticket. I’m willing to bet my next pay check you are gonna go into that Rated-R movie with your friends. Then I go after you and kick you out without a refund.
• If you drag a mom up to box office to purchase a Rated-R ticket for you, but then get told you still can’t see the movie so you buy a ticket for a non Rated-R show. I know you’re still going to go to the R-Rated movie. Then I go get you and kick you out without a refund.
• If you buy a non Rated-R ticket for a show that started an hour ago and the only movies starting now are the R-Rated ones. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO. You’re not that sneaky, and I will have to get you out of the movie to kick you out without a refund.
• If you ask to buy a ticket to an R-Rated and then tell me you don’t have an idea, but still by a ticket to another movie…I STILL KNOW YOU ARE SNEAKING INTO A RATED-R MOVIE! Then I go get you and kick you out without a refund.

90% of the time, I can tell when kids are planning on sneaking into movies they aren’t allowed in. So moral of this story, just wait till you are 17 to see a Rated-R movie and spare everyone the trouble… or…. if you must see an R-Rated movie because your life depends on it, bring someone who’s 21 with you! Offer to buy them some popcorn then make them sit a few rows below you in the theater. Throw in a soda and some nachos and I promise they’ll take you to whatever Rated-R movie you want to see!

P.S. Dont sneak into a movie because I don’t want to have to make you leave. And then you’re basically wasting money because I can’t give you a refund if you get kicked out.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Film Crew

My job as a film crew member has me running around like crazy when I’m at work! So I feel like it’s important for me to let you know exactly what it is that I do, and hopefully shed some light so you understand just how hard our film crew actually works! So here are the four main spots film crew members work:

• Box Office: This is probably the first place you’ll encounter a film crew member. You can purchase or pick up tickets here and find out all the movies and showtimes we have. TIP #1: when you walk up to box office, speak clearly into the mic and say how many tickets you need, specify any adult or child’s tickets, and say what movie you are seeing. This helps us ring up your tickets quickly without having to ask you multiple questions to figure out what you need.
• Greeter: This where the ticket taker stands and tear your tickets. TIP #2: all you need to do is hand us your tickets and pay attention to which direction and theater we point you to. If you’re talking or trying to walk past me, chances are you’ll miss my directions and go to the wrong theater.
• Concessions: This is often the busiest spot for a film crew member mainly because we are running back and forth between taking your order and fixing your food. TIP #3: try know what you want to order before you get to the counter. It just makes the process go faster so you can get into your movie quicker.
• Usher: This is the crew member that basically clean up the entire theater. When a movie, they exit great and then go in and clean up all the popcorn and spilt drinks. They sweep the lobby and keep the bathrooms tidy. TIP #4: if you have any problems, the usher is the closest person who can stop and help you.

As a film crew member, I can work in any of these areas, which often keeps things new and interesting each shift. Sometimes it’s nice to have a greeter shift that’s not busy, and sometimes working in box office on a busy weekend makes me want to yank my hair out. But regardless working at the movie theater is one of the funniest jobs to have!