Deal: Digital Movie Deals for May 19, 2020

Here is a collection of digital movie deals to help keep you entertained while you quarantine.  There are some great choices here.  For the kids, we have the Despicable Me / Minions bundle to keep them laughing in between home schooling.  For those that need something to pick them up, we have A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and The Green Book.  And for those that want some historical drama we have American Gangster and Darkest Hour.  And for those who want a sci-fi thriller, Underwater is a tense one!  The movies listed as Movies Anywhere will port to your linked iTunes, Amazon, Microsoft, Google Play, and VUDU accounts.

Movies Anywhere Movies

• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (4K) - $8.99 [vudu.com]
• American Gangster (4K) - $7.99 [vudu.com]
• Darkest Hour (4K) - $7.99 [vudu.com]
• Despicable Me 1/2/3 and Minions (4K) - $14.99 [fandangonow.com]
• Despicable Me 1/2/3 and Minions (4K) - $17.99 [vudu.com]
• The Green Book (4K) - $7.99 [vudu.com]
• Underwater (4K) - $9.99 [apple.com]
• Underwater (4K) - $9.99 [vudu.com]

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Weekend box office for July 3 - 5; Despicable Me 2 strands Lone Ranger

Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2 lead the box office this weekend. It's $82.5 million take just barely beat Monsters University's $82.4 million and was a significant increase over the first installment's $56 million opening, and it managed to get that much business despite opening on Wednesday. Its total gross already exceeds $142 million. Monsters came in a respectable fourth with $19.5 million. If DM2 continues to perform well, it could be the year's biggest animated film.  Lone Ranger could only muster $29.4 million during the weekend and a $48.9 million total. However, its audience numbers throughout the weekend remained fairly high which could indicate a decent performance through July, though it will definitely disappoint Disney executives.

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain filled its limited number of theaters, grossing $17 million at less than 900 theaters, and The Way, Way Back really packed its 19 screens. The Heat could become one of the summer's most successful non-sequels, especially if Pacific Rim is not well received. Its relatively light drop and a lack of direct competition for the next few weeks will likely make it one of Bullock's and McCarthy's highest-grossing films. World War Z is quickly closing in on current highest-grosser Mr & Mrs. Smith's final $186 million tally. See data about other films here and read more analysis here.

Box office estimates for July 5 - 7, 2013:

1) Despicable Me 2; $82,518,000; $142,076,000 total; opening weekend

2) The Lone Ranger; $29,432,000; $48,936,000 total; opening weekend

3) The Heat; $25,000,000; $86,398,000 total; 2nd weekend

4) Monsters University; $19,590,000; $216,127,000 total; 3rd weekend

5) World War Z; $18,200,000; $158,758,000 total; 3rd weekend

6) White House Down; $13,500,000; $50,478,000 total; 2nd weekend

7) Man of Steel; $11,415,000; $271,206,000 total; 4th weekend

8) Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain; $10,100,000; $17,460,000 total; opening weekend

9) This is the End; $5,800,000; $85,554,000 total; 4th weekend

10) Now You See Me; $2,770,000; $110,415,000 total; 6th weekend

What to Watch This Weekend: July 5, 2013

I hope everyone has recovered from their July 4th festivities! There are some good movies out and available for streaming! Here's our recommendations for this weekend.

In Theaters: Despicable Me 2

THE MINIONS ARE BACK! And already setting records for opening weekends. Get to the theaters and see the enjoyable sequel to the charming 2010 animated movie. It's an enjoyable sequel with more of everything you loved about the first movie! David recommended that you see it, so get going!

On DVD: Venus and Serena

Do you love sports movies? How about 30 for 30? If either of those appeal to you, or you just want to take a close look at two of America's premier athletes who happen to be sisters and Wimbledon champs, then check out this film. I absolutely loved it when it was in theaters, so now you can enjoy it from the comfort of your home!

Streaming (Netflix): Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn's dialog-limited, 80s-style, award-winning movie is available for streaming. Drive is a beautiful film starring Ryan Gosling as a mysterious stuntman and mechanic who falls for the wrong girl (Carey Mulligan). Drive is a pure 80s-noir film with a synth score and neon credits. 

Streaming (HBO Go): Pitch Perfect

Do you like a capella and Anna Kendrick? Or do you just like charming movies with lots of song and dance? If so, you'll want to check out Pitch Perfect. It's a surprisingly fun movie that features a lot of great singing and remixes without any instruments. 

Box Office: Despicable Me 2 set for a big five-day debut, while Lone Ranger stumbles

Despicable Me 2 is cleaning up at the holiday box office, opening on Wednesday with a $34 million gross and expected to gross at least $140 million by Monday. It's the third-highest opening day for an animated film following Toy Story 3 and Shrek the Third, though the others did not benefit from releasing one day before a holiday. The Lone Ranger, on the other hand, only managed to take in about $9.7 million and will likely end the weekend with less than $50 million, a disappointing start for a blockbuster with a budget of at least $215 million. The first Pirates film opened on a Wednesday in mid-July, made $73 million during its first five days, and ultimately reached $305 million by attracting relatively large audiences through September. The mixed reception of TLR may give it less staying power. With a limited release, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain opened with $4.8 million in less than a quarter of the theaters given to the blockbusters, and may finish the weekend around $18 million. See more detailed analysis of this and past Independence Day box offices here.

Review: Despicable Me 2

Release Date:  July 3, 2013

Running Time: 98 minutes
Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Ken Jeong

Who to see it with: Anyone who love the minions (so anyone)!

David:

The minions are back! Despicable Me 2 brings all your favorites from the first movie--Gru, the kids, and the minions--back for another adventure! Starting with the animation, Despicable Me 2 is just beautiful. There are some amazing fabric textures, beautiful hair and fur, and just all around gorgeous animation. The Despicable Me movies have a great style: sort of an exaggerated, bright look and feel which is continued in the sequel and looks wonderful. The animation particularly shines  in some of the "special effects," especially a couple of impressive explosions. The voice acting is very good. Steve Carell is great as Gru; recognizable but not distracting. Kristen Wiig is enjoyable as Gru's sidekick. As always, the minions are the best. There are plenty of fun "minion moments" (for lack of a better word) that provide great laughs. Minions' voice acting is simply wonderful and the made up language that they use is amusing. At times, you think you can understand what they say. There are also plenty of recognizable minion-made song and pop culture references / parodies that provide plenty of laughs and smiles.

The story of Despicable Me 2 is clever and feels like a natural continuation of the first one. Similar to the original, it is a decidedly over the top adventure that features plenty of time for all your favorite characters. It also has its fair share of laughs and several genuinely heartfelt moments. If you liked the first movie, heck if you just like the minions (and who doesn't), then you're going to love this movie. Despicable Me 2 does something that is very difficult for animation sequels; it continues the story of the original while adding some new characters and story lines but keeping everything you loved about the first. 

See it.

PS - There are a series of stingers right after the credits start. Make sure to watch them!

3D Note - The 3D is enjoyable and there are several "3D moments," effects specifically (and cheesily) made to take advantage of the third dimension. Not necessary but they are fun to see.

Lee:

DM2 is a somewhat funny and, at times, surprisingly touching movie. The human characters are likable and well-acted. There's a romance subplot that's believably developed and provides fun takes on certain romantic comedy cliches.  The story sometimes toys with the former supervillain concept, but never seems very clever or interesting. It takes a backseat to the characters, which may not be so effective when lots of time is spent with pop culture-referencing minions. They're cute and occasionally funny, but the random references are only good for a quick laugh and won't offer much on repeat viewings. I prefer when the film focuses on the innately funny aspects of their strange behavior. Despicable Me 2 is fun and families will enjoy it, but it could have better utilized the unique aspects of its central character and setting.

Rent it.

PS - I haven't seen the original movie, but had little trouble getting to know the characters and their personalities.