Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

Netflix’s “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” was co-written by Will Ferrell and directed by David Dobkin and is based around the real-life international Eurovision Song Contest. The comedy follows Lars Erickssong (Ferrell), who, as a young boy, becomes obsessed with winning Eurovision. To achieve his goal Lars joins forces with childhood best friend, Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams), and together they before Fire Saga.

 Thanks to some luck, and perhaps a little help from the elves Sigrit believes in, Fire Saga gets to represent Iceland at Eurovision2020 in Edinburgh. At Eurovision, Lars and Sigrit meet other international acts, including Russian performer Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens) who quickly takes a liking to Sigrit. Meanwhile, Lars catches the eye of Greek contestant Mita Xenakis (Melissanthi Mahut).

Although it seems their dreams are about to come true, Lars and Sigrit will have to battle their feeling as well as Lars’ insecurity from his father Erick’s (Pierce Brosnan) criticisms. The pair stumble through their semi-finals performance, public votes help catapult Fire Saga into the finals where anything can happen.

For the most part, I enjoyed the Eurovision Song Contest. If you’ve ever watched Eurovision (especially in the last 10-15 years) then you know the contest was tailor-made for a Will Ferrell film. The crazy costumes, personalities and wide range of musical selections work will with Ferrel’s trademark brand of humor. Unfortunately, is you’ve never seen or heard of Eurovision, then this entire film will fall flat for you.

Still, it’s the music in “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” which is the film’s biggest asset. Even the opening song in which Lars is dressed like Thor is funny but still damn good. Later in the movie, Rachel McAdams sings a solo and its great. Okay, so Mcadams didn’t do her singing for the film, Swedish singer and Junior Eurovision Song Contest performer Molly Sandén did all of Sigrit’s singing. But that doesn’t take anything away from the quality of the original songs from Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson.

Another thing I liked about “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” was the music video-style performance featuring previous Eurovision singers and winners. It’s a great showcase for a bunch of talented singers most people in the States probably haven’t’ heard of. Hopefully, this performance will get new people into Eurovision which hopefully will return to normal next year.

 

As far as the cast goes, I thought Rachel McAdams and Will Ferrell had some nice chemistry. The two actors play well off each other, making for a solid comedic duo. But if I had to choose a favorite out of the two, it would be Rachel McAdams as Sigrit.  It was touching the way she cared for and often defended Lars from the constant taunts their neighbors give him. I also liked her devotion to the Icelandic elves, a running gag that had a surprisingly effective payoff.

Will Ferrell has some nice moments too, like when he finally spills his guts to his father and when he meets a group of American tourists. However, his obsession with winning Eurovision also leads to some of the movie’s worst moments. Some of Ferrell’s jokes on the subject don’t land as well as they should, and this leads to some awkward moments between characters.

One big complaint I have about “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” is the criminally short screentime for Pierce Brosnan as Lars’ father. Don’t get me wrong, I liked what little we saw of him, but with so little time spent on him, it was difficult to understand why he hated Lars’ dreams so much. I can’t help but feel that something was left of the cutting room floor because you don’t cast Pierce Brosnan only to barely feature him.

Ultimately, the Eurovision Song Contest is not a perfect film, but it is an enjoyable one. The music is shockingly good, the main characters are likable and funny. But perhaps best of all, the movie does not mock or belittle the Eurovision contest. If anything, the film pays respect to the contest. This is, after all, a very big deal over in Europe, and it deserves to be treated with respect. For that and the original music, I would say it’s worth checking out “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” on Netflix.

“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” grade: B-

TNU Box Office Update

For a second straight weekend, the latest Star Wars installment topped the box office with an estimated $153.5 million. That’s the largest second weekend of all-time.

Thanks to that, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has now grossed more than $544 million domestically and another $546 million internationally, totaling over $1 billion worldwide in just twelve days.

The latest Star Wars film is now the second highest grossing domestic release of 2015 with $544.5 million and the 15th highest grossing worldwide release of all-time. Episode VII is a blockbuster os epic proportions, and the only worried person in the world, is the man who owns the top two grossing films of all time…. James Cameron.

As for the Christmas weekend’s new wide releases, the big surprise was Paramount’s “Daddy’s Home.” Reuniting Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, the PG-13 rated comedy scored an estimated $38.8 million and a second place finish.

This was well above any expectations and a nice improvement over the $35.5 million Ferrell and Wahlberg’s “The Other Guys” opened with back in 2010. But if I’m honest, I’d rather see a sequel to “The Other Guys”. But that’s just me.

In third place was “Joy,” the latest film from David O. Russell and his troupe of actors led by the ever so lovely Jennifer Lawrence, alongside Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. The film matched expectations with an estimated $17.5 million, but with mixed reviews it doesn’t seem like this will match the box office success of David O.Russell’s other recent films. But a few Oscar nods might help that.

Also finishing as expected, the Will Smith drama “Concussion” brought in $11 million for the weekend along with an “A” CinemaScore. Will Smith scored a Golden Globe nomination for his performance, but for this movie to make an impact at the box office, its gonna need Oscar nominations.

Proof this girl looks good in anything.

Trailer Park: Zoolander 2

I don’t know why my wifey doesn’t want to see this with me.

TNU Box Office Rewind: Star Sightings

Somewhere in a lavish Hollywood estate, movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg must be celebrating, and breathing a huge sigh of relief.

You can breathe now

DreamWorks Animation’s “Home” was a huge hit with family audiences this weekend, easily taking first place with a better than expected $54 million. This is a much-needed bit of good news for Dreamworks Animation and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

But don’t feel too bad for Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. Playing at 3,175 locations, “Get Hard” finished in second place, opening with a very respectable $34.6 million this weekend. That’s pretty good for an R rated comedy, and it ranks third all-time among live-action Will Ferrell movies, and ranks second among Kevin Hart’s recent slew of leading roles.

And it;s not like Kevin Hart wasn’t trying his darndest to get people into the theatre. This is Hart, at my local movie theatre on Saturday afternoon, where he bought tickets for at least 200 people:

This car is taller than me!

He posted the news on Twitter and then it was every man for himself. You should have seen it: It was like the running ob the bulls in Pamplona Spain.

Anyways. the movie’s audience was 54 percent male and 61 percent were 25 years of age or older. Word-of-mouth is mixed (“B” CinemaScore), and reviews are still terrible.

Your top five spring training results:

1. Home — $54 million

2. Get Hard — $34.6 million

3. Insurgent — $22.1 million

4. Cinderella — $17.5 million

5. It Follows — $4 million

TNU Box Office Preview: Will Ferrell runs amok

It’s gonna be a tight race for first place this weekend between DreamWorks Animation’s “Home” and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy “Get Hard.” This should be an epic battle like the Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior showdown at Wrestlemania VI twenty-five years ago.

Okay, maybe this weekend won’t be as epic, but it should still be fun to watch.

Playing at 3,175 locations, “Get Hard” stars two well liked, super successful comedy stars: Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. Lately the movie has been widely criticized for being racist / homophobic. This lends me to belive some people are expecting way too much from a Will Ferrell movie. This movie is not supposed to be the new Shakespeare.

Anyways, critics hate “Get Hard,” as of this morning, the film has 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But critics and haters be damned, “Get Hard” is gonna win the weekend with around $30 million.

Playing at 3,708 locations, “Home” is the 31st feature-length movie from DreamWorks Animation (31st, seriously?) and their sixth under their distribution deal with 20th Century Fox. Their first collaboration was “The Croods,” which was a major hit with over $587 million worldwide. Things looked bright for the studios, but since then, their record at the domestic box office has been “Meh” at best.

In 2013 “Turbo” flopped with $83 million, and “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” disappointed with $111.5 million. Although to be fair “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” is very underrated in my opinion. Then came “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and “Penguins of Madagascar,” neither of which flopped, but they weren’t exactly beloved either.

Fandango is reporting that the movie is out-selling “Rio 2” ($39.3 million) and “The Croods” ($43.6 million), which is a fairly good sign for the movie. But since its now a sequel or a spinoff, I think “Home” lands in second place with around $27 million.

Random Thoughts of the Day

Good gravy, I can’t even get sick without all hell breaks loose. I’m in bed sick with the Hong Kong flu for a few days, and in that short time, The New England Patriots are accused of using deflated balls; Marvel Comics is rebooting its entire universe; and then Will Ferrell Hits a poor cheerleader in the face with a basketball.

This is madness people!!

So how do I feel about all this stuff going on? Glad you asked…

*I don’t care if the Patriots used Nerf balls, the Colts still weren’t gonna win. My only question is, why is doesn’t the league provide all the game day footballs?

Have one set of footballs, and give each team 15 minutes before the game to break them in. The league can even have someone oversee the teams during this time.

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*As soon as I saw the Will Ferrell/ cheerleader bit, I knew he was filming something. But tis still amusing when the morning shows tease it like Will Ferrell got arrested after going off the deep end.

don’t get me wrong, I still expect Ferrell will go postal one day.

——————————————————————-

As for the Marvel Comics universe reboot? I think it’s a dumb idea.

Look no further than DC Comics’ New 52 relaunch. Sure, there’s been a few decent stories (mostly in the Batman books), but most of the line has been average at best. I think a lot of fans would prefer their old universes in both DC and Marvel.

TNU Box Office Rewind: A Christmas shocker

Ron Burgandy got the crap beat out of him a by a hobbit. How many people saw that coming?

In its second weekend in theaters, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” shocked the world, along with many box office watchers. The film added an estimated $31.4 million this weekend, a 57 percent drop from last weekend. Strangely enough, the 57% drop is identical to the first Hobbit’s drop at the same point. To date, Smaug has earned $127.5 million, domestically, and $276,300,000 overseas.

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” should have easily won the weekend, but something funny happened on the way the top. Playing at 3,507 locations, Anchorman 2 opened to $26.8 million this weekend. Believe it or not, that’s below the first Anchorman’s $28.4 million debut in 2004.  For the five-day frame, Anchorman 2 earned an estimated $40 million. which I find shockingly low.

I know its Christmas, but with the onslaught of advertising for Anchorman 2, I really thought the movie would earn at least $50 million. Or perhaps the heavy marketing campaign worked against the film?

According to Paramount, Anchorman’s opening was generally in line with their expectations, but I’m sure the studio is very disappointed with the film’s opening numbers.

In its fourth weekend, Disney Animation’s “Frozen” dipped 15 percent to $19.5 million. “Frozen” has now grossed $191.6 million, which puts it ahead of last year’s “Wreck-It Ralph” ($189.4 million). Chances are “Frozen” will be the first choice for family audiences over the holiday season, and it could pass $300 million by the end of its theatrical run.

After a week in limited release, David O. Russell’s star-studded “American Hustle” expanded to 2,507 locations and earned a solid $19.1 million. In comparison, Russell’s “The Fighter” took in $12.1 million when it expanded  in 2010, and “Silver Linings Playbook” earned $10,752,836 when it expanded in January 2013.  Both movies finished with over $100 million worldwide, and the same should happen with With “American Hustle.”

“Saving Mr. Banks” also expanded nationwide, but disappointed with $9.3 million from 2,110 locations. For Tom Hanks, that’s worse than “Charlie Wilson’s War” ($9.7 million), which opened on the same weekend in 2007. Not that it matters, but Charlie Wilson is one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies. You should check it out.

With an “A” CinemaScore and an audience of older women (57 percent female, 61 percent 35 years of age and up), “Saving Mr. Banks” could do better during the holiday week. But unless it wins a boat load of awards, I doubt it will get anywhere near $100 million.

 

In other news…

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” dropped to sixth place this weekend, earning $8,750,000. However, the sequel has now earned $371.8 million, which makes it the second highest grossing film of 2013 ahead of “Despicable Me 2” ($367.5 million). Worldwide, Catching Fire has brought in a whopping $765,304,000.

Meanwhile, the bomb of the week award goes to “Walking with Dinosaurs.” The CGI film opened to a horrible $7.3 million, good enough for eighth place. It seems unlikely this movie will make a profit, even around Christmas. I don’t know what the budget for “Walking with Dinosaurs” was, but I’m sure it wasn’t cheap.

Your top five movies this weekend:

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $31.5 million

2. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – $26.8 million

3. Frozen – $19.2 million

4. American Hustle – $19.1 million

5. Saving Mr. Banks – $9.3 million

 

Movie Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Possible spoilers ahead!!

Brace yourselves:

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”  is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. There, I’ve said it.

is one of the funniest films of the last decade, the sequel doesn’t come close to matching its humor, or charm. Say what you will about the first Anchorman’s weak plot, but at least it had one: Ron Burgundy’s war with feminism as he waits for the biggest story of his career, the birth of a panda.

Sure, the first movie also has moments of surrealism like the flute scene and the rival news gang fight. Silly stuff perhaps, but it all worked well. I guess if it worked once, why not try it again?

In “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” all the best bits from the first flick get reheated and served up. Once again, Ron has troubles with a lady at work, this time played by Meagan Good. There’s another flute solo, but this one takes place during a figure-skating scene which must have been left over from “Blades of Glory.”

And that famous gang fight? This time they tried to make it more epic,  but it isn’t funny, despite cameos by Sacha Baron Cohen, Kanye West, Will Smith, Marion Cottilard, Jim Carrey, John C. Reilly, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Harrison Ford.

Oh, I almost forgot. The fight also includes a Minotaur , a cameo by Kirsten Dunst, and Harrison Ford turns into a werewolf or something.

The movie is loaded with every late seventies/ early eighties song you can think of. Almost every scene starts with a classic hit, of which you only hear about 5 seconds of. Reportedly, the budget on Anchorman 2 was $50 million, and I think most of it went into acquiring music rights.

Let’s see, what else?  Ah yes, Champ Kind serves fried bats at his fried chicken place, there’s a bizarre romance between Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell, Ron raises a shark, and did I mention he  goes blind at one point?

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is an unholy mess from which these character will never recover. I think the filmmakers threw every joke they could think of at a wall, and waited to see what stuck.  In a year filled with sequels, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was the most disappointing of all.

 “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”  final score: 3

TNU Box Office Preview: Scotchy, scotch, scotch

Move over you silly little hobbits, the Channel 4 news team is taking over! After nearly a decade, Ron Burgundy and crew return this weekend in “Anchorman: The Legend Continues.” Thanks to long, and I mean long,  marketing campaign and a rabid fanbase, Anchorman 2 should easily open in first place.

Today we think of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” as a comedy classic, But when the movie opened In July 2004, it peaked at number two, earning $28.4 million. Anchorman ended its domestic run with $85.3 million. The comedy was a modest hit at best. The real success came through strong word-of-mouth, and excellent DVD sales. It wasn’t long before the Legend of Ron Burgandy grew to what it is today.

Paramount’s marketing machine has been working overtime to make sure everyone knows this flick is hitting theatres.The marketing avalanche kicked off in 2012 when Will Ferrell appeared as Ron Burgandy on Conan O’Brien’s talk show. In the last few weeks, Ron Burgundy has popped up everywhere. He co-anchored a North Dakota newscast, he’s sold Dodge Durangos, and even made a stop at Emerson College in Boston.

Anchorman 2 opened at 3,450 locations on Wednesday. Last time I checked, the film had already grossed over $8 million. As of Tuesday, Paramount was expecting $40 to $45 million for its five-day start. However, I think the final number will be more like $53 million.

“American Hustle” expands to around 2,500 locations after opening at six locations last weekend. Sony’s marketing has focused on the talent involved: Every trailer and TV spot points out that the movie comes from the director of Oscar winners “The Fighter” and “Silver Linings Playbook.” The ads also make it clear this movie is loaded with an A-list cast featuring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence.

From what I’ve seen, critics love this movie, as of this morning “American Hustle” sits at 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Not bad, not bad at all. I suspect more good reviews are headed its way after this weekend.

The movie has already racked up seven Golden Globe nominations, and with the heart of award season nearly upon us, expect Hustle to have long legs in theatres. Look for “American Hustle” to open around $20 million.

Meanwhile, Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks” is expanding to around 2,200 theaters this weekend, “Saving Mr. Banks” tells the story of how Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) convinced P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to allow Walt Disney Pictures to adapt her book Mary Poppins. With a likable cast, and the director of “The Blind Side,” I expect Mr. Banks will do solid business during the holiday season. For its first weekend in wide release, I think  “Saving Mr. Banks” earns around $15 million.

The only other new movie this weekend is “Walking with Dinosaurs.” Opening in about 3,200 locations, the family film follows a group of CGI dinosaurs on a journey. Where to I have no clue because all the marketing focuses on the comedy aspects. Aiming all the marketing towards a younger audience, may not have been the smartest move by the studio.

Fox has already tried switching gears in the advertising, telling audiences “Experience the adventure that seeks to give kids what Avatar offered to adults.” A little too late if you ask me. Even with 3D showings, “Walking with Dinosaurs” will have a hard time getting past $10 million.