Cars 3 Races into Theaters with a Buffalo Connection

A big congratulations to Cars 3 Director Brian Fee on his directing debut.

Brian isn’t from Buffalo but his lovely wife Elizabeth Hodan Fee is originally from Kenmore (disclosure: Liz happens to be my ‘cousin’). They reside in California but often return to WNY when Brian isn’t creating smash hits for Pixar and Walt Disney.

The movie has been getting rave reviews since the premiere this past weekend:

Variety:

Cars 3 feels like it has been conceived and directed, with scrupulous love and affection (and a bit of baseline corporate calculation), “for the fans.” It’s the first “Cars” film that Lasseter has handed off to one of his trainee/protégés  — Brian Fee, who has never directed a feature before. Fee honed his chops as a storyboard artist, working on “Ratatouille” and the two previous “Cars” films, and what he’s come up with is an exceedingly sweet and polished fable that unfolds with a kid-friendly, by-the-book emotional directness. The CGI animation has a detailed lush clarity highly reminiscent of “Ratatouille,” and the picture moves at such an amiable pace that even the drawling, dawdling pick-up-truck doofus Tow Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) doesn’t slow it down.

Inside the Magic:

Cars 3” doesn’t just split the difference between the two previous entries in the series. It commits to change at top speed and throws “Cars” into full reverse, rocketing back past the lukewarm rustic roots of the first movie and arriving at something resembling a genuine, mature-minded drama with enough humor and adventure mixed in to ensure that both adults and children will find something to enjoy.
Laughing Place:
Don’t let the lingering stink of Cars 2 stop you from experiencing this latest outing. In fact, you can forget it even exists as there is no carryover from that film into this one, not even a passing reference. If you’re a fan of the original Cars film, you’re going to love Cars 3. It’s a refreshing and delightful surprise that proves that Pixar still has what it takes to be a leader in animated films.

It opens in theaters here in Buffalo on June 16th.  Be sure to check it out!

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Melania humiliated as UK premiere of her movie gets single-digit ticket sales



Melania Trump's eponymous documentary flopped in its London debut.

UK cinema chain Vue's will premier "Melania" at 3:10 p.m. at its flagship Islington theater in London, but so far only one person has bought a ticket and just two tickets have sold for a 6 p.m. showing – undercutting President Donald Trump's hype claims, reported LBC.

"MELANIA, the Movie, is a MUST WATCH," Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social. "Get your tickets today — Selling out, FAST!"

In truth, according to Vue chief executive Tim Richards, UK ticket sales are "soft," and the film – for which Amazon MGM Studios paid a reported $40 million – is projected to make just $5 million during its opening weekend, and trade publication Boxoffice Pro projects less than half that haul.

"I’d be amazed if box office gets reported on this title," one industry insider told The Mirror, adding that the film’s distributors might be paying a fee to cinemas to screen the movie, an established practice known as “four-walling.”

Documentary filmmaker Stefano Da Frè, who was not involved in the film, told CNN that "data-driven" Amazon would not have invested that much expecting to lose money.

“With all their tools, all their AI, Amazon Web Services — they didn’t just come up with that number randomly,” Da Frè said. “They believe, through their metrics, that it’s worth that amount.”

A studio spokesperson backed that assertion and disputed that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had sunk that much money on a "vanity project" for the president's wife.

“We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it," the Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson said.

"Melania" will open in 1,400 theaters Friday in the U.S. and in more than 27 other countries, and Amazon spent a reported $35 million on marketing the documentary, and social media posts have suggested that many theaters will be empty as the film rolls.

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