-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘PRINCE OF PERSIA’
The Lion of Central Casting Disney’s Prince of Persia was a bold endeavor. With a $185 million price tag, it shattered the ceiling for video game adaptation budgets. The House of Mouse made a bet, and it was a big one. Unfortunately, it was also a bad one. The Prince of Persia franchise is popular, but general audiences have rarely flocked to movies based on games. Thus, despite it being the most successful of the bunch—grossing $336.4 million worldwide—its receipts weren’t enough to warrant a sequel. Poor reviews, 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, coupled with a soft domestic opening, under $91 million, doomed its franchise prospects. What it’s really remembered for, though, is its bizarre…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE’
Knuckle Bump The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is an ode to Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia. Born from an idea Nicolas Cage had, it builds an entire mythos from that brief section of the aforementioned film. Balthazar Blake, Cage, is a sorcerer searching for the rightful heir to Merlin—his former master. He was given a ring by the legendary wizard as he lie dying. That ring will signal the chosen one, who happens to be a bumbling nerd, Dave (played by Jay Baruchel). Anyway, it’s all fairly silly and dumb, but also decently fun. That is thanks in part to Alfred Molina’s Horvath—the sorcerer who betrayed Merlin and Balthazar, aligning himself with the evil Morgana.…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘THE ROCKETEER’
The Antifa Adventurer That isn’t Dr. Jones The Rocketeer is a beloved 1991 Disney film. Based on Dave Stevens’ comic series, which debuted in 1982, it revolves around stunt pilot Cliff Secord’s (Bill Campbell) fortuitous discovery of a jetpack created by Howard Hughes. Of course, adventure ensues. The character was created as a tribute to the 1930s serials that had inspired wonder in the youth of their day. Both the comics and film execute that homage perfectly. The Rocketeer is indeed a cult classic. Loaded with charm—which is anchored by the majestic score of James Horner—it serves as a delightful reminder of the comic book films of yesteryear. Those films had to rely far…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘THE LONE RANGER’
Wendigo Hammer The Lone Ranger is a modern adaptation of the popular 1930s radio series, as well as the late 1940s/1950s television show. It features a masked hero, the titular one, and his trusty Native American sidekick, Tonto. After decades of inaction, Disney went big to bring the duo back. They re-teamed Gore Verbinski with Johnny Depp—who’d collaborated on the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies; and they essentially wrote the director a blank check. In retrospect, that was a mistake, as was Depp’s baffling decision to play Tonto. With a budget ranging from $225 to $250 million, its modest $260.5 million take was disastrous for the House of Mouse. Depending on who…
-
A Thousand Generations: Five Ideas to Refresh Star Wars
A Thousand Generations: Five Ideas to Refresh Star Wars Now that I’ve watched Mandalorian (and dived back into Star Wars The Old Republic) Star Wars is back on my radar and one thing I’ve noticed is things have gotten a little… Shall we say “contentious?” I’m not going to step on any third rails so don’t expect that, but there is a bit of a problem that I think there might be a relatively simple (simple doesn’t mean easy mind you) solution. There’s been eleven movies and counting, animated cartoons, television shows and more on the way. All of them take place within a hundred year period and essentially come…
-
Spoiler Free Review: Pixar’s SOUL
When the aspiring musician Joe ends up in trouble, he finds himself becoming a mentor in something he least expected. When I started my viewing of Pixar Animation Studio’s latest movie, a feeling of nervousness started to creep up. Everyone and their grandmother hailed this movie as Pixar’s next cinematic masterpiece. And as the credits started to roll, the shoulder started to ease up. While I might not find the movie to be the animated answer to Citizen Kane, to call Pixar’s Soul deserving of a place in the hall of fame is an understatement. One of the factors that makes Soul such a phenomenal experience is that they dare…
-
How HAMILTON’S Lost Song Changed Everything
If you listened to the cast album of Hamilton, you pretty much had the entire play pumped into your ears long before the musical landed on Disney+. There are minor differences you’ll notice when watching it up close for the first time, like King George’s damp performance in You’ll Be Back or how My Shot is referenced (visually) in The World Was Wide Enough. The album is fantastic and alone is one of the greatest works in Broadway’s history. However, it missed one song and that one song recontextualizes everything. Miranda intentionally cut Lauren’s Interlude (Tomorrow There’ll Be More of Us) from the album. Saying he wanted: “at least one…
-
The 10 Best Songs from HAMILTON
Hamilton hits Disney+ this weekend, and millions will be watching the show for the first time. The Broadway production has been around for five years and produced some fantastic songs. Today, we’re going to rank the Top 10 Songs of Hamilton. 10. Yorktown (The World Turned Upsidedown) The Seige of Yorktown is a massive moment in our nation’s history. In this showstopping number, we see just how that battle went down. The music is incredible and creates a feeling of action and excitement. Hercules Mulligan’s rap is easily the best part, but the whole number feels like a grand finale. The immigrants got the job done. 9. Alexander Hamilton A…
-
5 Live Action Disney Remakes That Could Actually Work
Disney has become known to remake many of its classic animated movies. This trend has seen its ups and downs, as well as a few critics. But when they are successful, they hit big. Movies like The Lion King and Beauty & The Beast grossed over $1 billion apiece, while The Jungle Book came close to that figure and earned rave reviews with groundbreaking technology. Recently, it was announced that Hercules is being remade, and many more remakes are on the way. Of course, as long as these movies make money, we’re going to get more and more of them. But that doesn’t mean all of them are good ideas.…
-
Why The Lion King Sucks
The Lion King (1994) is a cinematic masterpiece. It created a world we all fell in love with, featuring iconic characters and crafted a majestic story that still hits you even if you’ve seen it 100 times. It accomplished all of this with a runtime clocking in under 90 minutes. Not only that, but its theatre show is one of the highest-rated productions on Broadway, making over eight billion dollars over its 20-year run. I can talk about the legacy of The Lion King and how it reshaped both animation and Broadway as we know it, but that’s a story for another time. Instead, we are talking about the most…
Your source for DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Valiant, and more!
