1. Less Than Shining

Incredibly, upon release, The Shining received quite mixed critical attention. It even got multiple Razzie nominations. So Opinionated Strangers’ sentiment is not unshared. Although since The Shining is now considered a classic, many may view this opinion to be as deranged as Jack Torrance.

2. The Boy Who Bored You Senseless

Harry Potter is one of the biggest film franchises ever and a special part of many childhoods, J.K. Rowling’s horrific transphobia aside. But not everyone could fall under the series’ spell. Jodie’s post proves that.

3. Mars Attacks vs Arrival

Arrival was loved for the interesting way it dealt with the Alien visitation concept. It dealt with language barriers, perceptions of time, and human nature. Nevertheless, according to Vin Hlz Mars Attacks, a critical disappointment, is much better at what it does than Arrival. Sometimes you just want a good old-fashioned alien invasion movie.

4. Oliver Stone’s Unsung Masterpiece?

How can you definitively state Oliver Stone’s best movie when Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, and Natural Born Killers are in his filmography? Well, Eric Rowe believes his best movie is actually the underseen Nixon. It’s always nice to see love for an underappreciated film.

5. An Offer Refused

As Family Guy showed, not loving The Godfather is a hard position to hold. And to not like other highly-rated gangster films like both Scarface movies and Casino as well? If nothing else one must admire FKA “Bulletproof Heart” Leo London for being honest. That’s the kind of talk that can leave someone sleeping with the fishes.

6. An Impossibly Underrated Sequel

One mission that mostly proved impossible for the Mission: Impossible series was getting people to praise Mission: Impossible 2. Unanimously considered the series’ low point. Thankfully this goal was finally accomplished thanks to Hasta Lavista Baby.

7. Dragon Wars

There have been several occasions when two movies with strikingly similar themes or plot elements have been released close together. Think Armageddon and Deep Impact. And in this battle, it would be easy to write off Wish Dragon given how high-profile Disney’s dragon animation Raya and the Last Dragon was. But sometimes underdogs can strike a chord with fans. As Wish Dragon did with TheCinematicBandicoot.

8. Defence of the Dead

It’s fair to say from the lacklustre reactions that many general moviegoers were probably expecting something different from what The Dead Don’t Die delivered. But to those familiar with Jim Jarmusch’s work, like Eden Limchawalit-Smith, it provided a unique entry into the zombie subgenre.

9. Not So Quiet on the Sequel Front

Both Quiet Place movies garnered a huge amount of praise from audiences and reviewers. That said ScareCandy Podcast thinks that the second film was much less effective because it felt like a repeat of Part 1. And no matter how good something is repeating the same thing is likely to wear patience thin quickly.

10. Calm Down Raging Bull

Last time we discussed how one Twitter user saw Martin Scorsese as a lesser filmmaker than Brian De Palma. Now we find user Reuben throwing shade at Raging Bull, widely considered one of Scorsese’s best works and the film which earned him his first Oscar nomination for directing. What a left hook sting.

Do you agree or disagree with these hot takes? And what unpopular film opinions do you hold?

Also Read: #FilmTwitter Gives Their #UnpopularOpinion On Movies – Do You Agree?

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Even More #UnpopularOpinions From #FilmTwitter appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

10. Chinese Doctors ($197,143,218/£142,009,160)

Despite only seeing a major release in China, Australia, and New Zealand this tale of a group of doctors working together in Wuhan to combat Covid-19 has become an unlikely hit at the box office.

9. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ($201,965,074/£145,472,413)

The latest instalment in the popular Conjuring franchise, based on the real-life trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, was the first main series entry not directed by James Wan. Instead, it was directed by The Curse of La Llorona’s Michael Chaves. And although not as highly regarded as the other main Conjuring movies it definitely encouraged horror fans to return to the cinema.

8. Cruella ($222,184,131/£160,035,897)

Released simultaneously on Disney+ and in theatres this origin story for everyone’s favourite dog skinning maniac managed to outperform Disney’s previous live-action reinterpretation of an animated classic, Mulan (2020). But it remains one of Disney’s lowest-performing live-action adaptations of an animated movie.

7. Free Guy ($242,943,984/£175,030,208)

Free Guy follows a videogame NPC (Non-Playable Character) called Guy as he slowly becomes self-aware and breaks out of his predetermined path. Currently, Free Guy is one of the highest-grossing original IPs of the year.

6. A Quiet Place Part II ($297,372,261/£214,243,332)

While not quite as successful as the original, A Quiet Place 2, which takes the Abbot’s into the wider world outside their home, still performed admirably after a long release delay. And is currently the year’s highest-grossing horror film.

5. Black Widow ($372,376,568/£268,328,969)

Marvel’s highest-grossing film this year follows Black Widow as she goes off-grid and confronts her dark past. But its release has been mired in controversy. The film’s star Scarlett Johansson announced she would be suing Disney (Marvel’s owners) over Black Widow’s simultaneous streaming release. This is because it allegedly breached Johansson’s contract, which said the film would be released theatrically with her salary being tied to its box office earnings.

4. Godzilla vs. Kong ($467,863,133/£337,135,156)

The fourth entry in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse managed a higher income than its prior entry, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. And it also marked the second time the classic movie monsters have fought. The first being in 1963’s King Kong Vs Godzilla.

3. Detective Chinatown 3 ($686,257,563/£494,506,906)

Chinese cinema continues its presence in the top 10 with the Detective Chinatown series’ highest-grossing entry so far. This time detectives Tang and Qin are involved in a battle with the strongest detectives across all of Asia to solve a case in Tokyo.

2. F9: The Fast Saga ($710,873,160/£512,244,536)

F9 follows Dom and his crew as they battle against a new threat. Dom’s estranged brother. F9 is the highest-grossing Hollywood movie so far this year and the highest-grossing Hollywood film since the Pandemic started.

1. Hi, Mom ($822,009,764/£592,327,906)

So far the highest-grossing movie of 2021 is not a huge blockbuster, instead, it’s a small movie about a young woman travelling through time, who befriends her own mother and tries to give her a better life. It’s exceptional taking also makes Hi, Mom the highest-grossing film ever made by a solo female director.

This concludes our look at the highest-grossing films at the 2021 box office so far. And while the receipts for the high scorers are not as high as those of 2019 they are still higher than those of 2020 and the films are an interesting mix. With 3 foreign language films (all produced in China), 3 films not based on pre-existing material, 2 horror films and only 3 Disney/Disney affiliated movies being included. It shows that cinemagoers are looking for different film experiences to sit alongside big blockbuster releases. Let’s hope for even more diversity when the year-end list comes.

Also Read: Did High-End TV Replace The Mid-Bidget Indie Film?

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Top 10 Highest Grossing Films At Cinemas Worldwide In 2021 (So Far) appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

For me, A Quiet Place came out of nowhere. One day I heard there was a new film coming out where the hook was none of the characters spoke or made noise in the film. This was A Quiet Place and while it wasn’t as silent as the original stories suggested to make a film with so little dialogue was very ambitious. The film could have been a disaster, it could have been a gimmicky movie that just didn’t work and it’s a testament to all involved that it was a great film. With IMDb estimating the budget at $17,000,000 and it making around $50,000,000 in its opening weekend in America it’s not terribly surprising that a sequel is coming out.

What happened in Part I?

A Quiet Place showed a post-apocalyptic world where society had completely collapsed, the cause was terrifying monsters who hunted by sound but essentially couldn’t see anything. The film followed the Abbott family as they tried to survive in this world, going to extraordinary lengths to not make any noise. Viewers immediately picked up on one potential problem which was Evelyn Abbot was pregnant. The film was a masterpiece in tension with the audience constantly on the lookout for potential causes of noise – at one point a loose nail sticking out of a floorboard was shown and everyone knew it was a matter of time before someone stood on it. At the end of the film, Evelyn managed to give birth but they lost the dad, Lee Abbot (played by Josh Krasinski), who sacrificed himself to save his family.

The Trailer

The trailer shows us some glimpses of the moment these monsters arrived and the chaos they caused but mainly focuses on the life of the Abbot family, forced to leave their home and find somewhere safe. The sight of them trudging out is not at all hopeful and not long after reaching a deserted city they set off a trap. Fleeing this trap leads them to Cillian Murphy’s character who seemingly saves them. They join a community of survivors of which Murphy is a part, but whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is not quite clear.

Potential Pitfalls

The monsters – in the first film the monsters were barely glimpsed, sometimes you saw a flash of movement, sometimes not even that. Yet in the new trailer, it is clear you see more of the monsters. It’s long been a cliche of horror films that you shouldn’t show too much of the monster as it will always be disappointing (Alien perhaps being the classic example of getting this right with only glimpses seen until the very end of the film). Secondly, while many monsters are terrifying it’s often hard to imagine how they would seemingly overwhelm modern armies. Yes, they’re good at killing, but are they better than helicopter gunships?

Stretching Credulity – the first film had a very contained environment, most of it revolving around the family’s home consisting just a few buildings in a secluded area. The family went to extraordinary lengths to limit the sound they made and that was how they survived. It’s hard to imagine the family simply taking off and managing to keep the requisite level of silence – and, of course, they also have a newborn baby. And as the trailer shows – they are going to find a lot of people, how will their survival be explained?

Losing The Mystery – People always want to know how a situation came to be, in this case, how did these monsters destroy society but it’s not always a good idea to give them what they want. Sometimes the mystery is better.

Lightning Never Strikes Twice – A Quiet Place is ninety minutes long, which is about as short a film you can get away with these days, the director, also Krasinski, knew that after a while an audience would get sick of the confined world of virtually no dialogue. It’s a very clever idea but it could very easily have been a bad film and it is very risky thinking that idea will stretch to a second film. It’s a good sign that Krasinski is back to direct but I’m not sure it’ll be enough.

Should There Even Be A Part II?

I’m sure we all have examples of films where you wish the sequel hadn’t been made; where an interesting and original film was left as a complete story. Will A Quiet Place II be one of those films? I’m not sure as I am intrigued by the trailer but I certainly think the first film did not need a sequel. There was no need to continue the story, especially as the first film ended on a note of tragedy the sequel cannot possibly match. Still, whatever happens A Quiet Place will remain a great film.

Also Read: The Best Horror Films of the Decade

The post A Quiet Place Part II: A Film Too Far? appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.