Rotten movies blame Rotten Tomatoes for rotten returns

What happens when Pirates 5 and Baywatch lead the US domestic box office to its worst Memorial Day weekend showing in nearly 20 years? Do the teams blame the writers, the director, the production, world events, the cast, the weather, or even supernatural occurrences? No to all the above. The logical step is to blame a reviews aggregator.

According to Deadline, fingers are being directed at Rotten Tomatoes for their negative scores for both films with Pirates 5 standing at a rotten 30%, with Baywatch even lower at 20%. The internal belief is that these movies “aren’t built for critics but rather general audiences, and once upon a time these types of films — a family adventure and a raunchy R-rated comedy — were critic-proof.” Ah yes, as critics despise all ‘fun’ movies and just love sitting through terrible films for fun…? All this drama has even led the happiest man in Hollywood to let a critique or two let slip on his Twitter account.

So yes, never mind that audiences may not fancy the fifth sequel to an ever-dwindling franchise, or a reboot of 1990s TV show that nobody asked for, it’s all those foolish tomatoes that are to blame.

Using gold coins for chocolate coins

Me hearties, as we sail past the wreckage that is Pirates 5, a fascinating tidbit has emerged from the press tour for the latest outing. Jack Davenport who played Commodore James Norrington in the first three films has revealed the budget behind the snacks for the first trilogy. You’ll never feel guilty about your binge shop ever again.

Davenport mentions “I remember saying to him [craft services] one day ‘What is your budget for all this?’ He looked me square in the eye and said ‘essentially unlimited.’ I was like ‘What does that mean?’ He was like ‘I don’t know, $2 million.’ I was like ‘For snacks?’ And he was like ‘yeah?’ That sounds frivolous but it wasn’t. He obviously had to keep people fed. The point is that was just a snack line item.”

There’s further gems in the interview with The Hollywood Reporter including the loss of hundreds of mobile phones to the sea (damn you Poseidon!), and being taught to sword fight by a lightsaber master. We’ve led with the $2 million on snacks though because it’s just really impressive. Next time you grab yourself that extra pack of Pringles, just know you’re not as greedy as bunch of Pirates.

Oh no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was the giant dinosaur that killed the beast.

As Kong: Skull Island finishes its theatrical run with a tidy $565 million return, Universal is moving full steam ahead with its monsters cinematic universe. With that in mind, Adam Wingard has been chosen to bring their biggest heavyweights together in Godzilla vs. Kong (not yet the official title).

We’re fans of Wingard. Whilst Blair Witch was considered a flop – both critically and financially – You’re Next and The Guest are vibrant injections of refreshing and relevant cinema to the horror genre. With a budget likely to be north of $125 million, we’ll be keen to see what he can do. To temper your wild hopes and expectations, the film’s scheduled for a 2020 release. Shockingly that’s just a smidge over 1,100 days away. In other words, you’re old, we’re old, and Godzilla vs. Kong is a thing we’re mildly intrigued by. [via The Hollywood Reporter]

Hailee Steinfield might have a Bumblebee in her bonnet

Outside of our hilarious byline, there’s very little that immediately captures you about this project. A Transformers spin-off series? Ho-hum. Digging even a microcosm deeper, there are more than a few details that draw us in. Hailee Steinfield’s potential involvement certainly buys our interest as she continues a strong run of form, fresh from the excellent and criminally underseen The Edge of Seventeen.

Up next in nuggets of information that makes us surprisingly interested in the project, Travis Knight – of animation studio Laika fame – is set to make his live action directorial debut. We were tremendous fans of his last outing in the sublime Kubo and the Two Strings, so there’s certainly an air of fascination to see how that styles translates in the arena of robots in disguise. Details are minimal at best, but Michael Bay and his team have a script prepped and ready to roll. So, yeah, we’ll be watching this space with tremendous curiosity. [via Variety]

The Moustache is the killer!

Oh what a cast! Kenneth Branagh has truly gone for broke in facial hair and acting options in this latest version of Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery. Filled with Oscar winners such Judi Dench and Penélope Cruz as well as the rising stars of Leslie Odom Jr. and Daisy Ridley, this is a cast for the ages. Plus there’s the bonus fact that viewers will get to watch Johnny Depp be murdered several times. If that’s your bag, of course.

In all honestly, the trailer has a wondrous gravitas to it, and whilst it will take us significant time to overcome the fact that David Suchet is not Poirot, we’re certainly up for one more ride on the Orient Express.

The curious case of the vanishing Spider-Man 3

With the release of the latest iteration of Peter Parker’s life and time this July, a mysterious re-edited cut of the much-maligned Spider-Man 3 appeared on the US version of Amazon. The production troubles before, during and after are well-documented. Director Sam Raimi and co. all walking away from the series soon after the domestic release. Why? It was all down to the editorial control, and anyone who has seen Spider-Man 3 can immediately appreciate that all the right notes were not necessarily being played in the right order.

Back to this past weekend where an ‘Editor’s Cut’ of Spider-Man 3 was made available for customers to purchase on Amazon. According to Blu-ray.com’s forums, there were significant changes at hand. To quote io9 directly, “the scene of Aunt May in Peter’s apartment giving back his engagement ring has been cut entirely, as has the entirely bizarre scene where Peter apologizes to his landlord while trying to call MJ. Tragically, the moment Willem Dafoe yells “FIRST, WE ATTACK HIS HEART!” from beyond the grave at James Franco’s Harry Osborn is also left on the cutting floor. Added in the new version of the film includes shots from early trailers of Peter wearing the symbiote suit in the broad daylight as he flew through the streets of New York, as well as a full restoration of Christopher Young’s score as the soundtrack for the film, meaning several scenes now have new music attached.” Alas, the item is no longer available.

No-one is chomping at the bit for any versions of Spider-Man 3, and we sincerely doubt these edits would have revolutionised the final product. Always interesting to see what could’ve been though. [via io9]

We’re lucky to have Logan Lucky

Oh Steven Soderbergh, we’re so glad you’re back. It’s been three – long – years since the talented writer/director provided us with any of his gems. Luckily the wait is over with the electric-looking Logan Lucky. The plot seems to go

Long term ORWAV favourites Channing Tatum and Adam Driver star as blue-collar brothers Jimmy and Clyde Logan, who together cook up a harebrained scheme to rob a local NASCAR event. Thankfully the terrifically named, bleach blonde felon Joe Bang, played by Daniel Craig, is there on hand to help. This light touch, tongue in cheek tone reminds us of Soderbergh’s work with Oceans 11 and Behind the Candelabra – frankly we couldn’t be happy. With Katherine Waterston, Seth MacFarlane, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes and Hilary Swank all in tow, August cannot come soon enough.

Brendan Fraser is BACK!

At One Room With A View, we’re not really TV experts. It’s not our forte. When Brendan Fraser comes up, we cannot ignore this exciting news. Following several years in the wilderness, there appears to be a revival in the fortunes of our favourite 90s star. After bit parts in shows like The Affair, Fraser has signed on to Danny Boyle’s newest TV project Trust.

The anthology series, which will launch with a 10-episode first season, focusing on the 1970s kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, heir to the family fortune and snatched from the streets in Rome for a hefty ransom demanded by his mafia captors. There was much drama at the time as his grandfather, J. Paul Getty, initially refused to pay. Fraser will play an “eccentric Texan fixer” in the form of James Fletcher Chace, the senior Getty’s private investigator. He’ll be joined by Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank, and we couldn’t be happier to see Fraser’s stock on the rise once again.

[via Variety]