Your weekend time is valuable and at the end of a long week, the discretionary time must be spent to its maximum value. To help narrow down your choices on the film, television, and gaming fronts, every Friday, the Weekend Preview gives you the rundown of your options and an educated guess as to which ones make the most sense.
Drew and Nick predicted the box office returns for these films last Sunday. Check it out!
At the Movies
Office Christmas Party
Director: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller, Kate McKinnon
Current RT Meter: 45% Rotten
Drew’s box office prediction: $29,000,000
Nicks box office prediction: $23,000,000
As the year winds to an end, we all need to blow off a little steam. What better way than with lovable and reliable funny people Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Kate McKinnon and, T.J. Miller and more. Let the wild holiday hijinks begin! The reviews on Office Christmas Party have been lukewarm but sometimes lukewarm is the best you can hope for with a raunchy comedy. Audiences didn’t respond to Bad Santa 2, will they come check out this one instead? The cast is delightful, the premise seems wild and fun- it’s likely that will bring in a decent amount of people.
The Verdict: After a long draught, audiences are likely ready for a laugh-out-loud, dirty comedy. Expect this one to bring in a respectable crowd.
Miss Sloane
Director: John Madden
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alison Pill
Current RT Meter: 61% Fresh
Drew’s box office prediction: $4,000,000
Nicks box office prediction: $2,750,000
Jessica Chastain is easily one of the best stars in the business. She brings her A game even in bad movies (looking at you, The Huntsman: Winter’s War). So it’s no doubt that Chastain alone is worth admission for Miss Sloane. The favorable reviews will also help the film but it might get lost in all the larger pictures currently filling theaters. However, everyone goes to the movies this time of year, including adults who want something smart and dramatic…and have already seen Arrival. It’s not in as many theaters as it could be but and it’ll probably create more buzz than revenue but this is one worth checking out.
The Verdict: Jessica Chastain is the star. Nothing else needs to be said. It’ll open small but will bring in reviews from those who seek it out.
On the Tube
Fuller House (Netflix)
It’s hard to judge a show like Fuller House. Is it bad? Well, yes, technically it’s not a well-written show. But fans of the series aren’t looking for something deserving of Emmys. No, they want to spend time with the Tanners, the lovable and odd ball family they grew up with. This weekend, Netflix’s expedition into sitcoms continues with the second season of Fuller House. Expect more family-friendly gags, more cameos from the older stars and more jokes about Kimmy Gibbler. Will it make you think or stir you deeply like, say, Westworld? Nope, and it has no intention to.
The Verdict: Fans who weren’t turned off by the lackluster first season will probably spend much of this cold weekend returning to the Tanner house.
For the Gamers
The Last Guardian
Like last week’s Final Fantasy XV, The Last Guardian is a game that people have been anticipating for some time. Unlike FF XV, Guardian isn’t a grand, team-based RPG but an intimate and emotional story about a boy and his… giant dog dragon. Guardian is from the creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. If that gets you excited (and it should) then you’re probably already well aware of The Last Guardian. After months of AAA, open world games flying off the shelves it’s nice to see something more intimate and classically artistic. People are very excited for The Last Guardian – and they should be.
The Verdict: You want to play this, even if it isn’t your typical type of game. You get to fly on a dragon, for goodness sake.
Dead Rising 4
For every The Last Guardian, there is a Dead Rising 4. You know exactly what you’re getting with this game: lots and lots of dead zombies. It’s tongue-in-cheek, purposefully broad and dumb and hopefully a lot of fun. Have holiday crowds left you feeling agitated? What better way to work out your frustrations than laying waste to wave after wave of mindless zombies?
The Verdict: This won’t have the heart and artistic touch of The Last Guardian but it will have lots of blood and guts so that’s something.