Although it was no surprise that 42 was the number one movie last weekend, the surprise was how well it did.
At $27.5 million, it was the best opening ever for a baseball movie and that includes an impressive list of movies like Moneyball, A League of Their Own, Bull Durham and Field of Dreams.
What was even more impressive was audiences giving it a rare A+ CinemaScore (www.cinemascore.com), which is more important than critical reviews because it measures the opinions of Joe Public. This means the word-of-mouth on 42 is excellent, which is the best marketing that any movie could hope for.
Although Tom Cruise is getting acclaim for his performance in his new sci-fi action movie Oblivion, it is Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda who should get equal billing. His eye-popping cinematography for Life of Pi was a huge part of that movie’s success and he again brings his visual talent to the future landscapes of Oblivion.
In the year 2077, Earth has been irrevocably changed after an alien attack 60 years earlier and all human life has been evacuated to Saturn’s moon Titan. Cruise plays a security repairman stationed on Earth as part of a massive operation to protect vital resources still being scavenged by the aliens.
With only two weeks left before he leaves to join his fellow evacuees, his reality is put into question when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed aircraft.
Also starring Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo, Oblivion opens tonight at the Landmark Cinemas Xtreme 8 in West Kelowna.
On the heels of the success of 42 last weekend, another inspirational baseball movie opens this weekend at the Paramount Theatre. Home Run is a faith-based drama about a baseball all-star whose life is spiralling out of control after a DUI conviction and a team suspension.
Desperate to save his client’s career, his agent sends him back to the small town where he grew up and he is forced to enter a recovery program and coach the local little league team. His young players help him rediscover the joy of the game and give him hope for his future.
It is time to start looking forward to the summer movie season with Iron Man 3 opening on Friday, May 3, and Star Trek Into Darkness opening Friday, May 17. Both movies will have sneak previews the night before their official opening and advance tickets are on sale now at www.landmarkcinemas.com.
To get everyone in the mood for Star Trek, the Landmark Cinemas Xtreme 8 in West Kelowna is exclusively showing the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Best of Both Worlds, gloriously remastered into a feature-length presentation. This is the episode where Captain Picard gets captured by The Borg and Commander Riker and the crew must go up against a much superior enemy to mount a rescue and save Earth and The Federation.
It is showing for one show only next Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets are one sale now at www.landmarkcinemas.com.
