HBO Go Makes It Harder to Stop Problematic Content
On Oct. 15, HBO officially announced that it was uncoupling its programming from cable television. Sure, viewers can still buy a cable or satellite package with HBO, of course. But starting in 2015, folks will also be able to watch HBO via its HBO Go app—without a cable package at all. Experts thought that something […]
Movie Monday: Gone Girl Here Again
What happened to Amy Dunne? I don’t know, since I haven’t seen Gone Girl. But wherever she is, this cinematic girl keeps collecting fistfuls of cash. A goodish vampire and a very bad day couldn’t slow the roll of Gone Girl. The R-rated mystery thriller earned another estimated $26.8 million to repeat as the box […]
Movie Monday: Gone Girl
Forget Gone Girl. For execs over at Fox, their R-rated mystery thriller might’ve been called Here Cash. Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck as his wife’s possible killer/victim, buzzed its way to an estimated $38 million weekend—a pretty big figure for the normally dowdy month of October. It’s also the biggest opening for a David Fincher-directed […]
No Moviegoer Left Behind
It’s been quite the year for Christian movies. We’ve seen the story of a 4-year-old boy who says he went to heaven make $91.4 million (Heaven Is for Real), a class in Apologetics 101 haul in $60.8 million (God’s Not Dead) and a repackaging of a History Channel special collect $59.7 mil (Son of God). […]
Movie Monday: The Equalizer
Don’t mess with Denzel Washington—especially if he’s armed with a nail gun. The Hollywood A-lister proved that yet again this weekend: The Equalizer took an estimated $35 million slice from moviegoers and hammered down the No. 1 position at the box office. You might say it was a constructive victory, plane and simple. The Equalizer […]
The Fault in Our Movie Nights
Sometimes bad movies can be good. You know what I’m talking about: Most of us have likely seen one or two. Movies can be both problematic and resonant. They can be filled with bad behavior and good messages. You find films that you or I couldn’t recommend to a friend … and yet, if that […]
Movie Monday: The Maze Runner
When I stepped into an early screening of The Maze Runner last week, the theater was only about 80% full. Well, that’s odd, I thought. Normally these events—even for the most obviously horrible movies—are stuffed to the gills with folks. People stand in line for hours to see Machete Bakes a Cake. So when the […]
Pushing Past the Culture Clash
You never know where Plugged In might show up. We’re on your computer. We’re on your phone. And if you don’t understand a word I’m saying right now because you only speak Arabic, we’ve got that covered now too. Plugged In has a site for the Middle East, dedicated to dealing with pertinent entertainment issues […]
Running the Maze of YA-Themed Movies
The Maze Runner dashes into theaters this Friday. And while Thomas and his buddies are hoping to leave their green glade in the movie, its makers are hoping to make a little green. Given the movie’s young-lit pedigree (it’s based on a bestselling book by James Dashner), they probably feel like they’ve got a shot at […]
Movie Monday: No Good Deed
One featured a creepy killer. The other featured a tail-less dolphin. Together, they managed to do something that even a certain megalomaniacal villain with an Infinity Stone couldn’t: Topple Guardians of the Galaxy. After nearly two solid months of superhero domination—mainly by Guardians but with a solid assist by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—another film scaled […]