monday movie report

Monday Movie Report: Here’s…. Hugh!

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Hugh Jackman (Australia, Wolverine) has been tapped to host the Academy Awards this year! It’s a big change from the comedians who have hosted in the past, but Jackman has experience as an emcee, hosting the Tonys for three (very popular) years.  Expect some singin’ and dancin’, but the opening monologue will likely be cut (don’t cry!). As a commenter on The Carpetbagger wrote:

All Hugh Jackman has to do—anywhere at all—is stand there and look delectable and smile (he has a brilliant smile). My God, what a gorgeous man. Double-dipped eye candy. Mmmmmmmm

My thoughts exactly.

In box office news, The Day the Earth Stood Still blew away the competition, bringing in $31 mil over the weekend. Runner-up Four Christmases came away with a third of that. ($13 mil). A familiar trio rounded out the top five: Bolt, Twilight, and Australia, with $8, $7.5, and $4 mil, respectively.

The weekend was down 50 percent from last year. The problem is that the newest releases just aren’t performing. Australia was a disappointment. Punisher 2 was barely a blip on the box office radar. Nothing Like the Holidays (which I couldn’t place at first, but is the cute-looking Debra Messing/John Leguiszamo xmas comedy) came in seventh in its opening weekend. The animated Delgo (heard of it?) made a small history this weekend, as the least-grossing film to ever open on over 2,000 screens. Congratulations?

That said, there are a lot of limited releases out now which might be making an appearance at that Jackman event in February. Milk, Frost/Nixon, Doubt, and Gran Torino are all performing well.

Speaking of Jackman, the Wolverine trailer just launched on MySpace. Take a peek:

Monday Movie Report: What Recession?

Monday, December 1st, 2008

November has been a long string of weekends finishing ahead of last year’s numbers.

In movies, that is.

The Thanksgiving long weekend was no exception, with audiences flocking to see a range of new releases, from the treacly (Four Christmases, $32 mil ) to the teen-y (Twilight, $27 mil) to the family-friendly (Bolt, $26 mil) to the action-packed (Quantum of Solace, $20 mil) to the Oscar-contending (Australia, $16 mil). A little something for everyone, so to speak.

The real news of the moment, though (as much as I would love to dwell on happy-go-lucky box offices numbers), is the impending actors’ strike.

Sharon Waxman broke the story this weekend about a meeting, “like a scene from one of the Godfather movies” of the biggest names in acting in the last thirty years – a meeting that happened (if it happened) before AFTRA cut its deal. Continuing to negotiate without AFTRA was at least a step toward a strike.

Meanwhile, 17 thousand people have signed a “No SAG Strike” online petition, including Bill Murray, Cybil Shepherd, Jessica Biel, and Jason Patric.

SAG leadership is expected to ask for strike authorization in the coming weeks, despite intense pressure from the economy (officially in recession) and industry insiders and dependents still smarting from last Christmas’ WGA strike.

Monday Movie Report: A ‘Quantum’ of Box Office Returns

Monday, November 17th, 2008

He came, he we saw, he conquered. James Bond took in $70 mil over the weekend, the biggest Bond opening ever in the franchise’s almost 50-year history. (The film has already taken in $322 mil worldwide.) He’s number 1!

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa passed the $100 million mark in its second weekend, adding another $36 mil to its cume.

For those who weren’t interested in Bond, R-rated comedy Role Models was the next best thing, pulling in another $12 mil in its second weekend.

High School Musical: 3 held on to the number four spot, and Changeling rounded out the top five in its fourth weekend in theaters. I haven’t seen either of them, don’t plan on seeing either of them, and am tired of both of them.

Interesting aside: Variety’s website is chock o’ block full of Oscar ads for… The Dark Knight! Wouldn’t *that* be awesome? TDK has already won one prestigious award: it’s the only movie I’ve seen not once, but twice at the theater.

The Jim Henson Company is making new. The Muppets took over the Today show on Thursday, which is about the cutest thing ever, AND the company has teamed up with Guillermo del Toro for a stop-motion Pinocchio. The flick probably won’t hit theaters for another three years or so, but this picture ought to pique your curiosity. (It’s never to early to start building buzz, right?)

Finally, to brighten your day, here are the Muppets:

Monday Movie Report: Post-Election Edition

Monday, November 10th, 2008

http://www.filmpeek.net/images/madagascar-21.jpg

Well, W. has come and gone, in more ways than one, and we’re in that sweet spot of post-election, pre-holiday movie fare, when the top five films look like the DVD collection of an 18-year-old girl: cartoons, musicals, comedies. We’re not hittin’ the hard stuff again ’til the eggnog is all gone.

Our number 1 this week is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, bringing home $64 million in warthog bacon, besting the year’s other big-name animated, Wall-E. (And, actually, I heard Mad 2 Africa was pretty good.)

Role Models apparently brought in the non-cartoon-or-musical crowd and their $19 million. (The surprising thing about it doing so well is that people were surprised it did so well, especially given the competition. There is a lesson to be learned here, children: timing is everything).

High School Musical: 3 (The one that Is actually a big-screen movie), merrily rode along to the tune of another $9 mil, bringing its three-week total to $76…. million… dollars. I beg the parents of America: do not let this movie pass $100 million. I swear to God I will cry, and you really don’t want to see that.

You apparently also don’t really want to see Changeling, which came out last week. The Eastwood-helmed drama (starring little-known actress Angelina Jolie), which you may have heard about despite the fact that MMR took last week off (for some pre-election drinking), trudged its way to number 4, with $7 million (two week total: $21 mil, or the approximate monthly household expenses for the Jolie-Pitt family). The film is, however, a runaway winner in the category for Hardest to Watch Movie Starring Angelina Jolie. Hell, Gia was uplifting compared to this.

And, finally, the movie which dared not speak its name, Zach and Miri Make a P*rno (that’s P-O-R-N-O) rounded out our top 5 in its second week! Congratulations, K. Smith! You are relevant again! I missed you so much! Now, put down that sandwich and enjoy life while you still have some in you.

In other news, this is the week that Bond (James… Bond) will grace us again with his masculine presence! Squeeeee! *sigh*. It’s too early to start holding your breath, but I’ll let you know when to start… maybe… now! (We’re so close!)

Chevy Chase, Burt Reynolds, and Michael Madsen walk onto a set together… no, this isn’t the start of a joke (at least, not until I’ve seen it), it’s the auspicious beginning for Not Another Not Another Movie. Of course, at various times, I’ve loved all those guys… except Reynolds, he always creeped me out, so maybe it won’t be that bad? A girl can hope, right?

It’s okay… I still have this (and, yes, I downloaded it to my iPod):

Monday Movie Report: Right Where They Want Us

Monday, October 27th, 2008
http://www.movieeye.com/celebrity_addresses/upl_images/scans/59106/Zac_Efron-r238139.jpg

You can't tell me that a musical, starring this guy, is aimed solely at children.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the top five movies of this weekend were, in order:

High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($42 million)

Saw 5 ($30.5 million)

Max Payne ($7.6 million)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($6.9 million, and AAAARRRGGGG!!!!)

and,

Pride and Glory ($6.3 million)

You got it: a silver screen blockbuster for preteens and gay men so Disney-fied that the major conflict revolves around whether or not to take early acceptance at Stanford; the umpteenth regurgitation of a slasher film; a live-action VIDEO GAME, fer chrissakes; an ohmygodican’tbelievepeoplearestillwatchingit live-action  chihuahua love story; and a star-studded blue-line drama that, frankly, got terrible reviews.

We deserve everything we’re getting in the financial crisis. As Rev. Wright would say, our chickens are coming home to roost.

Now that I have that out of my system, on to the newsy-news (close cousin to the dancy-dance! We’re inane! We love it! No, really. I love the dancy-dance. Shut up.):

(more…)