Tag: Sam Richardson

Oscar Predictions: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

The coming-of-age fantasy Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken joins a crowded animated marketplace when it debuts this weekend. The DreamWorks project may come in behind holdovers Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Pixar’s Elemental on the charts. Awards prospects for Kirk DeMicco’s latest directorial effort may also find it playing catch up with those titles.

Reviews for Kraken are at 78% on Rotten Tomatoes though the positive notices aren’t exactly gushing. DeMicco has been in the Animated Feature mix before with 2013’s The Croods. His follow-up, 2021’s Vivo, had a better RT score than Ruby and failed to make that year’s quintet in the competition.

We know Spidey will be a force to reckon with for the 96th Academy Awards. It’s easily the frontrunner and that may not change. Elemental is likely to grab a spot. We are awaiting potential heavy hitters like July’s How Do You Live? from Hayao Miyazaki and Disney’s Wish this fall.

If those pics and others don’t pan out, perhaps Kraken could nab the fifth slot. I wouldn’t bet on it. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Box Office Prediction

Blogger’s Update (06/29): I have revised my prediction from $10.8 million down to $7.8 million

DreamWorks is banking on young girls and their parents depositing their money and time into Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken when it debuts June 30th. The animated coming-of-age fantasy is directed by Kirk DeMicco, who helmed blockbuster The Croods for the studio a decade ago. Lana Condor voices the high school sophomore title character. Other performers mic’d up include Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Sam Richardson, Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Liza Koshy, and Jane Fonda.

The studio just had a sizable hit with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish over the holidays and they have future entries in the Trolls and Kung Fu Panda series on deck. Kraken has the disadvantage of not being based on known IP and following Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Pixar’s Elemental.

There doesn’t seem to be much chatter for this one. If Elemental couldn’t hit $30 million out of the gate, I question whether Gillman can reach half of that number. I’ll project that it falls short for an underwhelming premiere.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken opening weekend prediction: $7.8 million

For my Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny prediction, click here:

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Box Office Prediction

Office Christmas Party Movie Review

A good portion of the populace can probably relate to that work holiday gathering we’d rather forget. Maybe one or several drinks too many. Perhaps a comment to a coworker that doesn’t seem wise later in the light of day. There’s a lot of funny directions you can go with the concept of Office Christmas Party, but the film mostly misuses them as it hurls in too many directions. The end result is one we’ll forget quickly after we’ve experienced it.

Director Will Speck and Josh Gordon give us their third major feature. It’s not as good as their first (Blades of Glory) nor as bad as their last (The Switch). The latter featured Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston and so does this. Bateman is chief tech officer of Chicago corporation Zenotech, a family business run by Aniston. She’s the unfriendly task master and bottom line efficiency expert that her employees are afraid of. Her brother (T.J. Miller) is the free spirit who runs the day-to-day operations. He’s not great at his job, but his minions adore him.

Tough financial times cause the possibility of the Windy City branch closing. Bateman and Miller decide to throw an all-out Yuletide bash in a last-ditch attempt to woo a big money client (Courtney B. Vance, last seen gloriously chewing scenery as Johnnie Cochran in “The People Vs. O.J. Simpson”). Here, instead of memorably defending America’s most notorious running back, he gets sprayed in the face with a snow machine filled with cocaine.

There’s plenty of R rated comedy as the employees let loose and there’s a lot of them and their subplots to keep up with. We have the single mom (Vanessa Bayer) looking for companionship (it’s one of the more humorous ones). There’s Bateman’s assistant (Olivia Munn) and their romantic tension (it’s one of the more boring ones). And supremely talented comedic actors like Kate McKinnon (who has her moments) and Rob Corddry are in the mix as well. Jillian Bell, who made a hilarious villain in 22 Jump Street, plays a drug dealer here and her inclusion is mostly wasted. The main plot involves the love/hate relationship between siblings Miller and Aniston and it doesn’t provide much (other than a chance to see the former “Friends” star berate a little girl in an airport).

With this cast, there are bound to be some decently humorous bits here and there, but Office Christmas Party might have been more successful with a little more focus among the ribaldry.

** (out of four)