2017 Spring Movie Preview

Hey, this is Steve Blum, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Today on this

week's episode of The Cinema Geeks, we take a

look back at our winter predictions. We find

out who took home the crown for overall predictions

in 2016. And we begin the 2017 season with our

spring preview. All that and more coming up on

today's episode with The Cinema Geeks. episode

of the Cinema Geeks and I am one of your Cinema

Geeks optimists solo joining me today for our

spring preview episode is Hard Candy Mandy hello

hey hey it's not hey oh cuz it's not that episode

huh no it's not not time for the hey oh Miyazaki

okay we'll wait for that till the next time also

with us movie revolve Dan Don't know I don't

have a funny thing. I guess I don't know trying

to think of something on the spot like that was

funny It's almost hello movie, but no Just like

Amanda stole his thing he stole my I don't have

a thing thing So like I don't know all I can

think about is the switch though. That's not

even a movie Get your video game talk out of

here. Hey! Oh, okay. I'm just kidding. A lot

of people are excited for that one. Alright,

so we are here for a spring preview episode if

you are... Longtime cinema geek fans, you'll

remember these from 2016 when we did our different

seasonal previews usually two or three months

at a time where we made some Fox office and some

rotten tomatoes predictions We're gonna be doing

the same thing here in 2017 We're gonna change

it up slightly which we'll get to in a little

bit But before we get to the new stuff for 2017

we still have a little bit of business to go

through as far as the Results from our winter

preview as well as our overall results for 2016

as a whole. Amanda, how are you feeling? Not

great. First thing to do here is look at what

the standings were going into the winter preview.

So for box office, Dan you are leading the way

with 20 points going into the winter preview.

Amanda and myself were tied with 15. And Matt,

you were last with 11, but remember you didn't

have any chance to score points in the first

couple that we did. So not too bad. You're only

four points behind Amanda and myself. Dan, how

are you feeling about your five -point lead?

Pretty good. Yeah. After the Oscars, though,

it's hard to, you know. I'm not even sure if

that's really a 20, you know, if I really have

20 points, I'm gonna find out that somehow La

La Land won. I don't know. It's just, who knows?

Sorry to keep up. That was quite the, uh, quite

the fiasco, not just for Oscar fans, but for

our Film Fantasy League last year, because it

was down to the winner of the best picture was

gonna decide who won. And, uh, Danny, you pulled

it out. We didn't think you did, but you ended

up pulling it out after La La Land's win got

taken away from them. So congratulations on that.

I feel personally responsible for that, which

is great. It came right after Hiro tweeted at

me that he won the championship, and I'm like,

well, he did. And then miracles do happen, as

they say. Like 1980, I think it goes like neck

and neck with 1980 upset of the Russians and

Olympic game. It's about equal, so. It's the

year of upsets because there was, what was it,

the basketball? Championship there was a three

one lead in baseball the Cubs were down three

to one So it's all about those comebacks. It's

not over till it's over. So we'll keep the trophy

in the cinema geek Sometimes it's even when it's

over. It's not over Yeah, exactly So yeah, you

had the five -point lead going into the winter

preview which for all intents and purposes means

that you would have had to get all of your predictions

wrong When it came to box office and myself or

Amanda would have to get all of ours correct

in order to make it interesting. So your first

pick to click for the winter was Arrival. And

Arrival ended up with a budget of $47 million

and a box office domestically of $100 million.

So currently, as 2016 came to a close, Arrival

is 29th overall at the box office for 2016. That

is enough to give you a point for your pick to

click. Amanda, your first pick to click was Moana,

and we don't have a budget for Moana because

Disney has not released it, but I'm pretty sure

the $246 million that it made is going to be

higher than whatever its budget was. It's number

11 overall for 2016, so that's enough to give

you a point as well. Yessir. Yessir. My first

pick I would rather not bring up... But for some

reason, I decided to go with Billy Lynn's long

halftime walk. For the record, I was just going

with the fact that a lot of times, patriotic

films seem to do well at the box office. I think

it's more so the patriotic films that come out

in January and February, though, for future reference.

Because Billy Lynn's halftime walk made no money.

Like, almost literally no money. Let's see if

I even have its budget here. Its budget was $40

million. And it made one. Oh, ouch. I will not

be trying to take a point for that one. Matt,

your first pick was a Monster Calls. And a Monster

Calls budget was... Oh, there it is. $43 million

was the budget, and a Monster Calls only made

three. Man! So not a big box office juggernaut

there either So Matt and I will sit the first

round out as far as point collecting goes Dan

for your second pick you went into the world

of animation with Singh So even though we did

a bad job in our overall yearly box office predictions

As far as Singh went you at least got a chance

to redeem yourself when the winter predictions

came because Singh on a 75 million dollar budget

made 267 currently in the top 10 for 2016 so

Clean sweep of picks to click for Dan. Amanda,

your other pick was Fantastic Beasts and Where

to Find Them. Budget 180, pretty high budget.

Box Office Domestic 230. So also a clean sweep

for Amanda. Needed it, I needed it. My next pick

was Moana. We already talked about that with

Amanda's first pick, so I got a point for that.

Matt, your second pick was Office Christmas Party.

budget 45 box office 54 So that is in the green

so a good pick for office Christmas party Let's

switch it over to bet to bomb which films did

not do well over the Christmas season Dan your

first pick was bad Santa to bad Santa to budget

of 26 box office 17 So not making its budget

back domestically at least so bad Santa to is

a proper prediction on your part Amanda you and

I both decided to go with the space between us

Which didn't come up There's that So it's a free

point, right? Because it made no money. Yeah,

clearly it did not make its budget back in the

winter. And Matt, your first pick was Assassin's

Creed. We all know how that turned out, and that

will be a point for you because that was definitely

a bomb. $125 million budget, and it made about

$54 million. So, way under half. Dan, your second

bet to bomb was Office. Christmas party which

we talked about in the picks to click Matt got

that one right you got that one wrong so in the

in the head -to -head battle Matt actually did

a better job with that one Amanda your second

pick was edge of 17 How you feeling about that

one? I'm not so sure not so sure edge of 17 budget

9 million and the box office of 14 So it made

its budget back. I'm sorry. What a low -ass budget.

That's why My second pick was Collateral Beauty.

Collateral Beauty's budget was 36, Box Office

31. So not quite enough for Collateral Beauty,

which means it's enough for a point for me. And

Matt, even though you might have beat Dan in

the head -to -head matchup with Office Christmas

Party, you're gonna lose the Singh matchup because

Singh definitely was not a bomb. Yeah All right

wild card Matt your wild card pick was rogue

one would be number one for 2016 and That it

is with five hundred and twenty nine million

dollars. It's sitting in the number one spot

still Dan your wild card Assassin's Creed would

have a smaller opening weekend than Warcraft

Do you know what the results of that one are?

I do not I do not right Assassin's Creed opening

weekend ten point two million Warcraft opening

weekend 24 .1. So, Warcraft more than double.

It's just sad how bad SS3 did considering Warcraft

was one of the biggest bombs of the summer, so

there you go. But Warcraft wins the video game

battle, I guess. Amanda, your wild card was that

nocturnal animals would outperform a rival. How

are you feeling now that you've seen both films

and we've been through all that? Dang, I doubt

it. Nocturnal Animals made $10 million and Arrival

made $100 million. When looking at the preview,

I have more faith in Nocturnal Animals. Now seeing

the movies, whoa, I was wrong. I was also wrong

because for some reason I was confident that

three of the top five grossing films for the

year would all come out in November and December.

I was like, you know, you have Star Wars, you

have Harry Potter, you have Sing Moana from the

animated realm, you have Doctor Strange. I thought

three of the five were gonna be released that

month and I am wrong because only one of the

top five was released and that was Rogue One.

Sing and Moana were 10th and 11th Fantastic Beasts

and Dr. Strange were 12th and 13th. So I was

way off on that one. So that means that we add

1 2 3 4 points to Dan 1 2 points to Amanda 2

points to myself and Matt 3 points I felt really

bad about those 2 points until you said that

you had 2 points too and then I felt not so bad

about that. So final standings through the winter

results for box office Dan, you win with 24 points.

Amanda, you and I are still tied at 17. And Matt,

you are at 14. So that's how things ended when

it came to the box office. All right, so other

bombs that we didn't talk about that you guys

could have picked for your bet to bomb picks.

Passengers would have been a correct pick for

a bet to bomb. We talked about Assassin's Creed

and Collateral Beauty and Bad Santa 2. Allied.

Actually would have been a box office bomb nocturnal

animals And then some of them are it's kind of

unfair to say because of the limited release

but loving the silence did not make their budget

back 20th century women bleed for this incarnate

a monster calls rules don't apply miss Sloan

Billy Lynn and Shut -in which by the way if case

anybody's wondering shut -in has to be one of

the worst films that came out in 2016 we just

watched it other films that were picks to click

Besides Star Wars, Sing, Moana, and Fantastic

Beasts, we had, you could have picked Doctor

Strange, Trolls, Hidden Figures, La La Land,

Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Y Ham, Fences, Office

Christmas Party, Manchester by the Sea, and a

couple others. So a lot of picks as far as films

that made their money back. Alright, let's switch

things over to the winter results for Rotten

Tomatoes. It's a little bit closer of a race

going into the winter here. So Dan... At this

point, you were in the lead with 11 points. I

was only two points behind you with nine. Matt,

you were only two points behind that with seven.

Amanda, for the total year points going into

the winter, you have three. For rotten tomatoes?

Yes. I feel so awful about my life right now.

Well, let's see if the winter results will help

boost your self -esteem. Dan, your first certified

fresh pick was 20th Century Women. How do you

feel about that one? Pretty good. Pretty solid.

Yeah, 20th Century Women has an 89 % currently.

That's good enough for a point. Amanda, your

first pick was The Founder. Any thoughts? Did

it even come out? Yes, it did. Very limited,

but enough to come out and have an 82%. So that

is a point for you. What? Four points. Look it

up. My first certified fresh pick was for Loving.

Loving currently has an 89 % so that's good enough

for a point as well. Matt, your first pick was

Passengers. Passengers currently has a 31%. I

went all in on the wrong movie last year, clearly.

Passengers not doing any favors. Alright, for

the second certified fresh pick, Dan and myself

both have La La Land. Clearly that is worth a

point with all the buzz and critical acclaim

it got. 93 % at Rotten Tomatoes. Amanda, your

second pick for fresh film. Do you remember what

it was? Nope. What if I told you it was Billy

Lynn's Halftime Walk? Don't feel good about it.

You shouldn't. Because that is not going to get

you a point in any way shape or form it does

have a 45 % So it seems like a higher score than

what most people have said when it comes to that

film Matt your other certified fresh pick was

a monster calls Even though it didn't make a

lot of money from box office. It does have an

87 % on rotten tomatoes So that would be where

you were right with the monster calls as far

as it being certified fresh Let's go to let's

go to rotten Dan You kind of did the flip of

Matt. Matt had Passengers as a certified fresh

film and got that wrong. You had Passengers as

a certified rotten film and that's actually wrong

too. So it was obviously in the middle at 31%.

So Passengers is it just failing everybody? No,

it's not making any fans here from the prediction

group. Amanda, your first certified rotten pick

was, I don't even know if I'm saying the film

right, Solas? What solace Solace Either way is

acceptable So losses entirely out. All right

Amanda 24 % You got it. It's another rotten tomatoes

pick for Amanda For my first one it was incarnate

and incarnate currently has a third 15 % so correct

choice there. Matt, yours was bad, saying a 2,

which has a 23%. So three of us getting points

there in the first round of rotten picks. Dan,

your second pick was Office Christmas Party.

Office Christmas Party squeaked away with a 41%,

so not low enough to get a point there. Amanda,

your second pick was Collateral Beauty. Collateral

Beauty currently has a 12%. Another point. How

are you feeling? a little bit better about my

life. Man, I don't want to be last on this one

too, Amanda. Sorry, sorry. For my second rotten

pick, I picked Kidnap, which was supposed to

come out the same weekend as Incarnate, and it

got pushed to sometime in 2017. It still hasn't

come out, so I can't get a point for that. Matt,

your second pick was Friend Request, which also

got pushed. So neither one of us can get points

for films that did not come out yet. All right,

that means grand total at the end Damn, you kidnap

for not coming out, but Dan you have 13 points.

I have 12 points Matt you have nine home and

Amanda you have six Doubled your score so Dan

the double I don't know what we're gonna call

it. It's not really I wanted to say triple crown,

but there's only two categories so the Double

win here for you box office and Rotten Tomatoes

you win 2016 when it comes to these seasonal

previews. How do you feel? Well, at least 2016

gave us gave me one positive thing. So I don't

give the world Danny you're on a roll here You

win both the box office and the Rotten Tomatoes

for the seasonal previews. You win the film fantasy

league Maybe that sounds like a triple crown

to me. Yeah, maybe maybe a lotto scratch ticket

is in your future I don't I don't know or something

but Amanda At least you doubled your point, so

it's somewhat respectable. No? Somewhat respectable?

Dang, dude. That sounds like, that sounds like

in Pretty Woman when he just dressed her up in

some nicer clothes, okay? She's somewhat respectable

now. She's still a hooker, but she's in nice

clothes. Well, in a minute, you're gonna get

to turn a new page in 2017 and you can just start

off with a bang and show us what's up. So I'll

be Aaron Brockovich then? Sure. For the record

if we're reviewing the films that were possible

to choose for the winter There was a ton of films

that we could have gotten right for certified

fresh there was only six films that you could

have picked for certified rotten and We picked

four of them So out of all of our picks we got

four out of the six that means there was two

left That we did not pick so we got Bad Santa

II, Incarnate, Collateral Beauty, and Solace

were four of the six. Does anybody want to take

a stab at the other two that are rotten? You

see, was it Billy Lennon? I know Billy Lennon

was 40%. I have no idea. Matt, any guess? I really

want to say Sing, because I don't like the previews

for that, but I know that can't be possible.

Nope, the other two would have been Assassin's

Creed, all the way down at 18%. And then the

film that I just talked about shut in 6 % That

was the winner for the lowest shitty movie. It

was a terrible movie But all the films man, there

was a ton of films. It is a word season So I

guess it makes sense, but there was a ton of

films that you could have picked for certified

fresh Does anything Dan? Do you want to take

a stab at what the highest film was out of all

the ones that came out those two months? There

was wow was a long film Moana would have been

number two Moana and edge of 17 were tied at

95 % the highest out of all of them would have

been Manchester by the sea at 96 % So it went

Manchester by the sea then Moana edge of 17 then

arrival at 94 Then La La Land and fences at 93

hidden figures 92 dr. Strange all the way up

at 90 Loving and Jackie and 20th century woman

all got 89 % a monster calls 87 hacksaw Ridge

86 lion 86 rogue one 85 Silence 84 and the founder

82 So a lot of opportunities just to score points.

I guess when it came to the certified fresh alright

Enough with 2016. Let's let's clear the scoreboards

clear the clear the point tallies Give everybody

a fresh start. Matt will be with us from the

beginning this time. Amanda has a year of experience

now. Dan will be defending his crown. And I'm

just along for the ride to commentate I guess.

I'm getting the death look over here. Let's go

over a few quick changes before we get to it.

We're gonna broaden things a little bit. All

of 2016 we were just doing what we just did as

far as the reveal goes. Two of the box office

picks to click, two bombs, a wild card, two certified

fresh and two certified rotten. We're going to

expand the rotten tomatoes a little bit. We're

going to introduce something called Versus where

we just pit two films against each other. So

it doesn't matter if they are above 75 % or lower

than 25%. It's just how they're doing in relation

to each other. So that way we can kind of...

Not just focus on the high and the low, but maybe

a little bit in the middle as well. For the record,

I named this Rotten Tomatoes Versus Battle because

I think it sounds cooler. Rotten Tomatoes Versus

Battle. Can we do it? Can we make that a thing?

Yes. It says it right on my paper. Alright, you

already have it typed up. And then we're also

going to be inserting a kind of a technical rule

here to allow us to talk about more films. Nobody

can use the same film twice in their predictions.

So for example if I use Last let's say last December

if I would have used rogue one as a box office

picked a click I could not have used that also

as a certified fresh film so you can only name

a film one time just to try to add to the diversity

and Then one clarification on that. Yes. What

about the wild card which is way different than

all like the wild card if it involves a film

it's i think it's going to be a different enough

that we can probably allow that so i'm for it

um all right only because looking at this first

month i kind of do do that And then we're also

going to do something that starting with the

next one here We might we will do a test run

this time But we're gonna have a spotlight film

or like a featured film that we use each seasonal

preview and nobody's gonna be able to do any

predictions based off of that film and instead

what we're gonna do with that film is we're gonna

try to actually predict the box office specifically

and the Rotten Tomatoes specifically and whichever

of the four of us is closest to the box office

domestic total or the Rotten Tomatoes score will

gain a point there so only one person can get

a point for each thing with that featured film.

Alright, the business is out of the way so now

let's get to the actual predictions so people

can speak besides me because everybody listening

is like, when is he going to stop talking? Amanda's

raising her hand, she's one of them. Alright,

let's start with the box office. Maybe Amanda,

I'll assume that Amanda was just raising her

hand because she wanted to go first. Sure, we'll

go with that. Alright, so Amanda, your first

box office prediction and where are you going

to start? Are you going to start with a pick

to click, bet to bomb, wild card, what are you

going to do? Yikes, let's just, I'm going to

go right down my paper and we're going to go

picks to click. Give us one. This is going to

be super easy, but I have a lot of faith in this

movie and I'm super excited about it. So I'm

going to go with Beauty and the Beast. Obvious

choice, but I need points. She's trying to get

the points right off the bat with Beauty and

the Beast as a pick to click. All right, Matt?

Yeah. What do you have for a pick to click? Yeah,

Beauty and the Beast. Good option. Good option

here. Smart choice, Matt. Smart choice. We'll

totally own third and fourth place this time,

Amanda. All right, well, I do not have Beauty

and the Beast as one of mine. I don't know, Dan,

do you? I do not, no. Okay. Dan, what's one of

yours then? I'm actually gonna, I'm gonna try

to, I feel like, you know, with all the winning

and I have to try to, you know, be braver, try

some new things, you know, take some chances.

And I'm gonna go with The Shack. The reason being,

it's a religious film and those tend to do well

with limited budgets. And it's coming around

Easter time. So again, it might make some change.

I'm going to go with the shack. Well, hopefully

it makes more than change if you would like it

to click as your pick here. But I can definitely

see the logic in that one. Some films in previous

years have definitely succeeded with that formula.

All right, for my first one, I had to change

this last second because of our new rule. So

I'm going to. Go ahead and go with Fate of the

Furious as one of my picks to click. Even though

I think it might make quite a bit less than the

last film did, I still think it'll make well

over its budget. So I'm going to go with Fate

of the Furious as a pick to click, Amanda? That's

also my second pick to click. Alright, so Beauty

and the Beast and Fate of the Furious are the

two for Amanda. Matt, what's your second? Yeah,

no, I like Amanda's things Alright new rules

are being formulated in our heads as we speak

Alright, so beauty and the beast and fate of

the furious double down on both of those for

those guys my second pick Even though it's kind

of coming out as we're talking about this dance

turn. Oh Because Amanda would like Dan to go

next Dan, what's your second pick? Well, I want

to take chances, but I also don't want to lose.

So I'm going to go with the fate in the Furious

of the Furious or whatever, whatever they're

calling it. That next pass in the Furious movie.

The Furious over the Furious. So we've accomplished

one thing and that is nobody will gain or lose

points based on the fate of the Furious, since

we all picked it. My other pick is going to be

Logan. I think the buzz is positive the reception

so far is positive So I think it's gonna make

a bunch of money and why not go with comic book

films So fate of the viewers and Logan will be

my two selections Amanda. We're back to you.

Then let's get negative Negative I'm gonna go

with a little gem that I just saw a preview for

and I think I'll shake my head the whole time

and that's unforgettable Katherine Heigl. Is

that what her name is? Yeah. Yeah looks looks

not so good, but it's forgettable. I'm scared

for Rosario Dawson I think I've seen this film

before in a couple different ways. So, unforgettable,

interesting pick there. I can see that happening.

Dan or Matt, who do you want me to go with next,

Amanda? You're the boss. I am the boss. I don't

know. You guys rock, paper, scissors, but I can't

see you, so I guess that wouldn't work. Let's

just keep going in order so I don't get confused.

Go with Matt. Matt, what's your first bomb? Oh,

man. The Power Rangers, because Jesus Christ,

what the F? What the F? So you don't think it's

going to make its money back? Oh, man. You know

what? For both of my best to bomb, I'm going

to do properties that I love the originals and

I think they shouldn't have touched, which isn't

giving anything away because goddamn this spring

is everything's a remake or a sequel. I had Power

Rangers on mine, but I had to delete it as I'm

switching pictures around. Because it's going

to be certified rotten, too. So I did not go

with it as a bet to bomb. Dan, what's your first

bomb? I'm gonna go with Lost City of Z. I just

think it's, I wonder if people are gonna be interested

in seeing it. It looks like it's a pretty big

budget and I just, I don't know. I was trying

to find something that has a chance of just not

clicking and I just wonder if people have any

interest in watching a adventure film. I hope

it does well, I don't think it's, but I have

a feeling it won't. There's a lot of those films

too that end up, if they're not one of those

big names or don't have that recognition, that

end up getting like, not much of a shelf life

in the theaters, and that can kind of help as

far as them not making their budget back. So

I can see that happening. A lot of those kind

of get lost in the shuffle. My first bet to bomb,

I'm going to go with chips. I don't know, I just

don't know if that's... Maybe I'm wrong because

we've had like Miami Vice and we had a couple

of those other You know TV shows from back in

the day that have done. Well, maybe vice it well

that was one of the only movies I've ever seen

people walked out. I thought it did Well, maybe

that's just the true bromance guys. I love it

so much that are always talking it up, but I

just didn't like the show I'm sorry they did

but chips I don't know I don't see that as resonating

too much with today's audience and yeah there's

a couple you know notable people in there but

I don't even think that it's got enough star

power either so I don't know I'm I'm kind of

mixed on chips but I can see it not making its

budget back but that might be somewhat of foolish

too because it probably doesn't have a huge budget

either so Maybe a tough call, but I wanted to

try to go out there and since I couldn't pick

Power Rangers I had to go with something different

so chips is my first bomb Amanda What's your

second bomb? This is one of the picks that I'm

a little Uneasy about okay, but the other ones

didn't make so much either That's gonna be Smurfs,

The Lost Village. Boss Baby's coming out like

right before it, like a week before or something.

So maybe people will still be going to see that

and not see that shitty Smurfs movie. So you

think the Smurfs are kind of at the end of their

rope? I think so. You think the Smurfs movie

looks worse than Boss Baby? Dude, Alec Baldwin

at least has got some star power in that one.

I mean, he's got some, this is some pull. Oh

man. I wish the kids had a good movie. Matt,

what's your second bomb? the second bombs ghost

in the shell I know there's some hype around

it but oh man I am NOT enthused about this one

I didn't know where to go with that for box office

I can see that I was torn I didn't know if it

would resonate with some people or if it would

not if there's a big enough crowd I don't know

enough about fans of the property so it looks

so expensive Like and if they if they do it right

if they do it right, it's gonna be like Marvel

movie budget and Like and if it does that like

it's not gonna have it's not gonna have the same

draw that the Marvel movies have right? Like

it's an anime like it's already got some stigma

from that I'm gonna go with life. Actually, you

know what? I'm gonna switch that up Yeah, I Had

I had chips I'm like no I'm gonna go with life

and then I but I mean I'll stick with it I'm

gonna go with life. I just I don't know again.

It looks expensive It's it's gonna be competing

the parent Rangers, which is gonna make so much

money Yeah, I'll keep it different go with life

It's a good bet that one of the films that comes

out on March 24th, at least one, is going to

do terrible. Because Power Rangers Life and Chips

all come out that day. I was going to pick all

of them in some way of doing bad, but I didn't

have enough slots. For my second bomb, I'm going

to go with Kong Skull Island. The reason being

mostly for where it's coming out. Because it's

coming out a week after Logan and a week before

Beauty and the Beast. And I just don't know if

enough people will care to go see that Maybe

there is a big King Kong, you know, I did pick

it as a something that was gonna make a lot overall

But it's got to have a fairly large budget as

well From all the effects and stuff like that.

So yeah, but Tom Hiddleston's in it There's a

lot of ladies who dig them some Tom Hiddleston.

All right, it's also got Sam Jackson another

funny guy John C Riley I'm excited. I'll give

it my money. But if you only have one opportunity

to go to a movie in that two -week period, are

you gonna go see Logan or Kong Skull Island?

See, the funny thing is, I'm at the movie theater

every week, okay? So I'm not the person asked

that. Okay, if you only had one chance though,

which one are you gonna go see? Logan, right?

Out of either Logan, Beauty and the Beast, or...

No, just Logan and Kong Skull Island. Oh, yeah,

I'm gonna see Logan. Okay. What if you only have

one choice between Kong and Beauty and the Beast?

Beauty and the Beast. Alright, I rest my case.

Alright, so those are the bent to bombs. We'll

have to see which one of us is right, which one

of us is wrong, and how we kind of start out

2017, but we still have some box office talk

to get to, and that is via the wild card. Amanda,

how wild is your wild card? Oh, I don't know

about how wild, but I don't think... Matt, I

don't know if you're gonna like this. Uh -oh.

But, uh, I'm gonna say the Ghost in the Shell

outperforms Power Rangers. Whoa. So I think that's

like a lose -lose for you anyways, like you don't

care. So, I don't know. Yeah, they ruined two

things. So Ghost in the Shell outperforming Power

Rangers in a battle of the TV properties, I guess

you could call it TV properties, going to the

big screen. Matt, what's your wild card? Okay,

so my wild card I did that the live -action Beauty

and the Beast is going to outperform the original

one at the box office The original ones had like

20 years just keep accruing money It's been and

that's gonna mean that it's gonna have to make

more than the live -action Cinderella one did

I think that's an interesting enough wild card?

Should be interesting to see if it gets up that

high. I am I'm liking your pick there. I think

you're gonna score some points Dan. What's your

wild card? I want you know before the the beast

battle and movies gonna have them battle in the

box office and I'm gonna say that Godzilla will

end up making more money than Kong Skull Island

will be made by Godzilla I mean them the one

from two years ago. I Think I think I think it's

gonna outperform Kong Skull Island Alright so

Battle of the Monsters. I just went overall for

the entire month of March and April and I'm just

going to say that Beauty and the Beast I think

when all is said and done will have out of all

the films that came out in those two months it

will have had the biggest opening weekend. So

I'm going to say that Beauty and the Beast has

a bigger opening weekend than Logan, and a bigger

opening weekend than Fast and the Furious, and

there's a couple other big ones on there, so

I don't think it's necessarily a gimme, but I

like the chances of Beauty and the Beast ending

up with the biggest opening weekend over the

two month period. Alright, so those are all of

the box office predictions. Five points at stake

there. We'll have to see who can cash in on some

of those. opportunities. Let's move to Rotten

Tomatoes then. The categories that we're expanding

a little bit but let's start Amanda with something

we're used to. Let's start with Certified Fresh.

What's one film that you think at the end of

the time here is gonna be Certified Fresh? I'm

gonna say The Zookeeper's Wife. I think that

there's enough like historical backing to all

the heartfelt stuff that you're gonna get and

I think that they're you know Jessica Chastain

Some really good stuff, and Daniel Bruhl is also

kind of a powerhouse, so I think that some good

stuff will happen out of this. All right. Zookeeper's

wife, certified fresh in Amanda's book. Matt,

what are you hoping to be certified fresh? I'm

really liking the look of going in style. I think

it looks fun, and I think it's got some star

power, so fingers crossed. All right. Old men

robbing banks. Dan, what do you have being fresh?

When you go with what I think is looking at the

list probably one of the highest one most anticipated

thumbs I have Going into this spring season and

that's Wilson starring Woody Harrison. I just

think it looks great Love Woody Harrelson love

the director. So like this is more of a personal

choice to someone say this is gonna be certified

fresh I'm gonna go with the circle Just because

I think again, there's a lot of buzz behind that

Film based on the cast and the director etc and

some good track record with those people that

are involved So I'm saying sort of the circle

is going to be certified fresh Amanda your second

fresh pick. I'm gonna go with the Shaq Certified

fresh. Yes Alright, so kind of in the same boat

as Dan with it making some money. You think it's

also gonna make some critical Yeah. Yeah. All

right, Matt. What do you got being fresh? I Put

down. Well, I accidentally doubled up even though

I thought I had fixed all it So I'm gonna pull

an audible and do a mistake and then put chips

and certified fresh because I like Eric Estrada

All right, so you're going to kind of somewhat

against me I don't think it's gonna make much

money, but that doesn't always dictate if it's

gonna be certified fresh or certified rotten

Dan, what's your second fresh pick? I'm going

to go with the Discovery, a Netflix film. I love

the trailer. I think, you know, Netflix has,

they've had some bad, most of their bad movies

have involved Kevin James or Adam Sandler and

they don't seem to be a part of this. So I think

it'll be a solid film. So I'm going to go with

the Discovery. Nice, nice. For my second pick,

I did not pick it as a pick to click so I could

save it for this round and I'm going to go with

Beauty and the Beast being certified. fresh regardless

of how much money it makes I think it's definitely

gonna be certified fresh because the critics

seem to love these these Disney live -action

films for most all intents and purposes here

I guess all right so rotten Amanda what's rotten

I'm gonna say before I fall I think it looks

fucking stupid and I just yeah I don't like it

so I'm gonna say it's gonna be rotten I didn't

even realize that was one of the options. It's

like Groundhog Day. Okay. But with teenage girls

who bully people. Oh yeah. It came out this weekend

with Logan. I missed it. Before I fall off, I

would remember the preview. I might have thought

about that one because it did look pretty terrible.

Yeah, it puts Bill Murray in a place where he

just needs to hate little girls because his movie

is way better. Alright. Matt, what's one of your

rotten picks? Uh, talked about it before, Boss

Baby looks terrible. I agree. For some reason

when I think about that film it makes me think

about Nine Lives from last year. Yes, that. So

I'm all with you on that one even though I don't

have it as one of my picks but I can definitely

see the logic there. Dan, what's one of your

rotten picks? Yeah, it's hard with animation

because like I feel like sometimes I give it

a pass. Right. But when it comes with animation

and live -action melted together not so much

So the Smurfs is gonna continue its streak of

being awful And I'm gonna say it's gonna end

up being rotten. So that's my pick Whatever whatever

niceties people would have put towards the Smurf

movies would have been to the first of the Smurfs

films. And then even less for the second one.

I think this is the third one. There can't be

anybody left that's going to say anything nice

about this venture into the Smurfs. Who is asking

for more Smurfs films? I don't get it. So I'm

with you as far as it being rotten. Amanda, what's

your second rotten pick? I'm going to go with

Chips. Sorry, Michael, paying you. But I don't

know how good this is going to be. All right.

Chips. We're all over the board on Chips. A lot

of people predicting different things for Chips.

Matt? What do you have as your second rotten

pick? Also, the Smurfs, because, I mean, can

we get some good movies for kids, please? Matt

is not a big fan of the animation coming out

in March and April. That is for sure. Yeah, we

need something better, probably. Dan, what do

you got as your second rotten pick? Yeah, another

movie we've been talking mostly negative about,

and for good reason. I'm going to say The Power

Rangers, because I saw the trailer, and it made

me want to cry. Yeah That's also my pick Dan

We're in the same logic there I'll have to try

to do better next time and switch things up.

I'm not as good as Matt I can't pull an audible

right on the right on the spot here So Smurfs

Lost Village and Power Rangers I think two properties

that aren't gonna receive a lot of love when

it comes to their newest incarnation So alright

now for you. Go ahead I thought about going with

the Belko experiment just because it I kind of

want to see it but I feel like it's very similar

to a lot of movies and looks like it can be kind

of weird so I thought about going with that but

then I saw Power Rangers trailer again I'm like

no no those Zords look worse than the TV show

in the 90s somehow so yeah. Those putties are

made out of rocks it's not right. Oh they've

revealed the putties I saw the first trailer

and I was like oh I'm done. I have no idea what

you're even talking about. They ruined our childhood.

They're trying to. You guys are speaking another

language because I don't know what any of those

words are that you just used. I was looking at

the toys in Target the other day and I just,

no, they were so wrong. Okay. Alright, for the

new category when it comes to Rotten Tomatoes,

what are we calling it, Amanda? The Rotten Tomatoes

versus Battle. Alright, what's your Rotten Tomatoes

versus Battle pick? I'm going to say that Table

19. Going to have a higher Rotten Tomatoes score

than the last word Table 19 with Anna Kendrick

the comedy there and last word. What was that

with Amanda Seyfried? So more love for the Anna

Kendrick film yes, all right, so that's your

versus matchup Matt. What do you have? So we

just choose two that are coming out in this period

and we're comparing those two or one from here

and one from the past okay it's it's anything

that it's essentially a wild card a rotten wild

card basically but it's a versus paddle oh man

i want to get the battling going and in two films

pitted against each other how about this how

about i say the boss baby will be better at rotten

tomatoes than that one that we talked about with

the cat kevin spacey cat movies Nine lives. It's

gonna be one percentage point higher. Don't put

any qualifiers. It's going to be at least, how

about? Okay, at least one percent higher for

Boss Baby than nine lives. I think that's an

interesting prediction. Dan, what do you have?

I want to say in the World of the Monsters, like

I did with my wildcard to box office, I'm going

to say Colossal, which is another monster film,

will have a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than

Kong. Colossal over Kong. I'm just I'm just like

I'm kicking Kong while he's down. I guess If

that does well, I am scared Looks badass like

I'm scared of King Kong for once like the old

school black and white I was like I felt bad

for him You know what I mean? Like I always feel

bad for King Kong because they're just like mean

to him and shit But in this one, I'm like dang

he is gonna like rip somebody in half. He's gonna

be marking people and I'm gonna be scared of

them I'm not gonna feel bad for his ass He does

get set on fire, though. Like, I felt bad about

that. But then he just comes through, and he

just walks through. He's on fire, and he doesn't

care. Like, he's a badass. And I'm scared of

Kong. You've had more thoughts about Kong than

I was anticipating so far. Have you not seen

how big my eyeballs get every time we see the

trailer? When he, like, beats on his chest, I

want to beat on my chest like that. Okay, it

might be an interesting theater experience when

we go see that one all right for mine I was torn

I was gonna go with the discovery versus colossal

battle But I think I'll switch it up, and I will

go with a ghost in the shell and life I'm gonna

say regardless of how much they make or don't

make I'm gonna say ghosts in the shell ends up

with a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than life

isn't this about Rotten Tomatoes, so I gotta

bring box office into it Just reminding people.

Don't confuse people. Just reminding people.

You're going to confuse them. Alright, so those

are the Rotten Tomatoes predictions. So we talked

about quite a few of these films, but there's

definitely a lot more films that are going to

be coming out over the time here. So I wanted

to get kind of a breakdown of what you guys were

thinking overall from... from the months, from

March and from April, what's coming out, what

you're excited about. So Amanda, let's start

with you. What are your thoughts overall when

it comes to the spring? I think there are some

big movies coming out and my excitement level

is pretty high. Some of the movies that I'm looking

forward to the most are, of course, Beauty and

the Beast, Logan, believe it or not, I still

really wanna see Power Rangers, also Ghost in

the Shell, I think looks pretty badass, kinda

came out of nowhere for me, but ever since I've

seen these trailers, I'm really excited to see

it. And, of course, I gotta see one movie that's

gonna make me freakin' cry, and that's Sue Keeper's

wife. So, I feel like there's a lot of potential

here, but also a lot of potential for some shit

to come out. So. My hopes are high, and hopefully

they're not dashed on the rocks of hopelessness.

Alright. Matt, we already know that you're not

looking forward to any of the films that are

coming out geared towards the kids, at least

in the animation route. What are your thoughts

overall? What films are most likely to get you

to the theater in March or April? Oh man, so

I think of the whole run of March and April,

Logan looks the best, but you can't come out

on Switch Weekend, bro. I'm gonna be playing

Zelda like I can't I can't deal with that So

I might see Logan like, you know the weekend

of the 17th or something But weirdly enough like

I want I kind of want to see Kong I think they're

gonna do a better job than that Godzilla movie.

That was terrible I kind of want to see Beauty

and the Beast I feel like I owe it to my generation

who made that movie what it is And goddamn dude,

I almost want to see Power Rangers because it

looks so bad. Like I love that growing up Like

just asking to be tortured and trust me I've

been through this I saw the transfer first transformers

live -action film you don't want to do this to

yourself Probably not and then even more if it

if it like Makes a lot of money. Oh, it's gonna

kill me inside like it looks so bad I think there's

already like a lot of hate surrounding it from

people who did Love the TV show as kids. I'm

just hoping that it modernizes it makes a little

bit fresh and doesn't totally suck so I can like

it. Like I wanna like it. I do. Is there a single

cartoon or kids show from the 80s or 90s that

has been turned into a movie that was done well?

Okay, Transformers has made a lot of money. Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles was awful. Transformers

was awful. Power Rangers looks awful. Whatever

happened to that? That was terrible, I haven't

seen it, but by all accounts that was terrible.

But this could be okay, like maybe shit looks

a little fucked up right now, but maybe it's

a really cool way of putting it out there, like

it kinda looks like - No, you're fooling yourself.

No, they changed the premise! Like, they're no

longer athletic teenagers with attitude, they're

just people that Spider -Manned. They do get

some fantastic four powers. That's probably the

best - It's basically - It's basically Chronicle,

but with Power Rangers, so Yeah, we were gonna

get the guy who directed Chronicle, but then

he kind of made Fantastic Four and that was awful

So we'll just take his idea and then add in some

of our own little things. So I Can't think of

one that was good based on any of those shows

Dan am I missing something? Mean if you like

if you count live -action 21 jumpstreet, but

that was more because it was like, you know,

it went a completely different direction But

I I don't I mean I like the original Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtle Dan what's your thought overall

March and April? What are you most excited for

I? Mentioned it already with Wilson. I think

that's probably when I'm really excited for Also,

but I think there's like it's a really interesting

month we have almost like a summer preview because

you have a lot of movies where I think They could

have easily come out in the summer like a Power

Rangers like a Kong the Fast and Furious So I

think we're getting a lot of big blockbusters

for this this time of year, which is surprising

but also some Movies that you think could almost

be Oscar contenders with like the zookeepers

wife also something like the lost of the easy

There's a historical drama with Isaac Oscar Isaac

and Christian Bale and the promise the the circle

I mean that that to me looks like it could be

great and I'm looking forward to that so it's

and then you have some of the Netflix films that

we talked about too that are coming out, so I

I'm actually kind of optimistic for March and

April, much more than I have been in the past,

so I'm hoping that some of these movies live

up to their potential. One thing that we will

probably see here in March and April, though,

regardless of all the potential, is everybody's

been somewhat amazed, I think, as far as how

January and February went, because almost every

film has been somewhat successful. Like, there

hasn't been, like, a huge, like... unless I'm

just forgetting something or having a mind blank,

but like Split did well, Get Out did phenomenal,

you know all these films have been doing very

well so it's leaving it open for March or April

to give us our first big bomb of the year for

sure. I think one thing that I'm intrigued about

is the science fiction films that are coming

out in March and April and it's gonna be a kind

of a sign of things to come throughout all of

2017 because there's a lot of sci -fi that's

coming out this year and this is kind of the

tip of the iceberg so we get kind of a couple

of them that you guys have already mentioned

in the Discovery and Colossal both kind of science

fiction films you have Ghost in the Shell which

obviously has its sci -fi you have Life so I

mean there's there's going to be quite a few

science fiction films that are coming out not

real good for like matt said for the animated

films nobody mentioned the other two animated

films that are being either released or at least

released in america with spark and leap to join

smurfs and boss baby not an impressive slate

there of films but i think there is like dan

said there's some almost oscar type movies or

movies that you know come out early that could

have potential of maybe creeping into people's

top 10 or top 20 if they actually live up to

their promise so it's gonna be definitely interesting

to see how it all plays out now we said we're

gonna do a test run on this other on the feature

film idea now obviously in the future we're gonna

be picking a film and nobody will be able to

have made any predictions about that because

nobody knew about that beforehand This will be

a film that some people have made predictions,

but they haven't made specific predictions. So

we're going to throw you guys all on the spot

as a little test run here in the spring preview.

And the feature film that we're going to go with

for this section is going to be The Fate of the

Furious. So The Fate of the Furious, we have

to try to all come up with the exact Rotten Tomatoes

score and the exact box office. So Dan, since

you were the king last year, why don't you lead

the way here and give us a starting point. What

box office is it? Throw out a number that you

think the fate of the furious is going to be

able to attain. Starting with box office? Actually,

I looked up what every single I'm trying to think

of what the last one did I really don't know

I don't do as well as that I'm going to go 280

million. Dang. 280 for Dan. I will go next and

I will say 260. I'll go a little bit lower. 260.

Amanda? I'm going to go 255. Really? You're going

to be that girl? Yes. You ever see prices right?

All right, Matt, what do you got? We had a 280,

a 260, and a 255. A 280 what? No. I'm going to

go with 300. I think Dan is probably going to

take this one based on just the last two or three.

But I mean, it looks fun, guys. All right. Well,

let's switch it then. A lot of high 200s up to

the 300 mark. Interesting to see where it will

fall within that. What about Rotten Tomatoes

though? This is a wild card I think what is the

fate of the furious gonna score Rotten Tomatoes

wise Dan you get to start I'm gonna go with 75

% 75 % for the fate of the furious Amanda. I'm

gonna go 45 45. Yes, so we're already running

the Gauntlet between possible scorers Matt. We

got a 45 and a 75. What do you think? I'm gonna

go with like no joke 76 because that was what

I was gonna go with it's like Two of the last

three have been right there like 77 79 so 76

just a tick lower than those two But still certified

fresh. I think it deserves that probably I'm

gonna kind of split the middle between Amanda

and you guys and go somewhere in the 60 range

because I don't know if it's gonna score quite

as well, but I could be wrong. You guys could

be more on track there with the critics more

so getting on board with what this franchise

is and kind of scoring it based on that. So it'll

be interesting. 75, 76, 60, and 45. I'm a risk

taker. Risk taker. She did really well on the

Rotten Tomatoes one last year, so listen to her.

I doubled my score in the final round. So she's

on a hot streak. I can't touch this. All right.

Anybody else? Any closing thoughts on the spring,

March, April, something to look out for or anything

else that you want to say, Amanda? It's morphin

time. It's morphin time. I don't know of a better

way to end than that. All right. So you have

to let us know if you think our picks are crazy,

who you think is going to come out with the early

lead after the spring predictions are revealed

to be right or wrong. You can always visit the

website www .geekcastradio .com, find the episode

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You can also follow the show on Twitter. The

Twitter handle for the show is at Cinema Geekcast.

You can also follow us individually on Twitter

if you'd like to kind of interact with us there

and start a conversation. Amanda, what's your

Twitter? First I want to give a shout out to

my kitty because it's his birthday today and

he just turned two. So happy birthday Mad Martigan.

So if anybody wants to give shout outs to Mr.

Mad Martigan. You can tweet me at Hard Candy

Mandy. I's no wise. Excellent. Dan, how do they

tweet you? Through Twitter at movie revolt. I

do not have any cat birthdays, but you know next

time I am a Fridley set. I think the last time

we recorded was one of our cats birthdays, but

I'm not good. I don't follow that. What is that?

Amanda got presents and everything and we had

a whole unveiling It was a big thing. He loved

his presence, man. I wish he would like cake

because I make him a cake Yeah, I mean, I'm sure

Amy did the same for her cat. Alright, and you

can interact with me at Optimus Solo. But also,

keep in tune for other things Cinema Geek related.

We have more episodes coming out in our video

game series as well as our Hayao Miyazaki series

as we kind of get closer to the end of that one.

And a lot of fun stuff planned for 2017. So tune

in next week for another chance to listen to

the Cinema Geeks.