April 25, 2024
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Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
| Friday | Screens | % Chg | Cume | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Gross | Thtr | % Chgn | Cume |
| Venom | 33 | 4250 | NEW | 33 |
| A Star is Born | 15.7 | 3686 | NEW | 15.7 |
| Smallfoot | 3.5 | 4131 | -46% | 31.3 |
| Night School | 3.5 | 3019 | -63% | 37.9 |
| The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls | 1.8 | 3463 | -43% | 49.5 |
| A Simple Favor | 1 | 2408 | -50% | 46.6 |
| The Nun | 0.75 | 2264 | -52% | 111.5 |
| Hell Fest | 0.6 | 2297 | -70% | 7.4 |
| Crazy Rich Asians | 0.6 | 1466 | -51% | 167.6 |
| The Predator | 0.25 | 1643 | -77% | 49.3 |
| Also Debuting | ||||
| The Hate U Give | 0.17 | 36 | ||
| Shine | 85,600 | 609 | ||
| Exes Baggage | 75,900 | 62 | ||
| NOTA | 71,300 | 138 | ||
| 96 | 61,600 | 62 | ||
| Andhadhun | 55,000 | 54 | ||
| Afsar | 45,400 | 33 | ||
| Project Gutenberg | 36,000 | 17 | ||
| Love Yatri | 22,300 | 41 | ||
| Hello, Mrs. Money | 22,200 | 37 | ||
| Studio 54 | 5,300 | 1 | ||
| Loving Pablo | 4,200 | 15 |
| 3-Day Estimates | Weekend | % Chg | Cume |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Good Dead | 24.4 (11,230) | NEW | 24.4 |
| Dolphin Tale 2 | 16.6 (4,540) | NEW | 16.6 |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 7.9 (2,550) | -23% | 305.8 |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | 4.8 (1,630) | -26% | 181.1 |
| The Drop | 4.4 (5,480) | NEW | 4.4 |
| Let's Be Cops | 4.3 (1,570) | -22% | 73 |
| If I Stay | 4.0 (1,320) | -28% | 44.9 |
| The November Man | 2.8 (1,030) | -36% | 22.5 |
| The Giver | 2.5 (1,120) | -26% | 41.2 |
| The Hundred-Foot Journey | 2.5 (1,270) | -21% | 49.4 |
Review: Little Women (no spoilers) - The Hot Blog
Box Office First Look - The Hot Blog
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree - The Hot Blog
“The Artist” isn’t quite taking off like, say, “The King’s Speech” did last year, is it?
Guess a “silent movie” is even more of a marketing challenge than anyone (least of all Harvey Weinstein) might have thought.
Still, I’d be shocked (SHOCKED) if this doesn’t hit at least $50-million after every last award has been handed out.
Okay, so the supposed Oscar frontrunner is not even in the top ten, has been out for months and has barely made 20m (Compared to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is on less screens and has somehow made more money), and obviously isn’t working as well as the other Oscar pictures. I ask again, this is the best picture winner? Really?
This has nothing to do with the film. It has everything to do with the Academy anointing a movie that seemingly doesn’t work with most of the country. Why they seemingly do not get how their lack of populism (yeah Avatar should be thrown in there but again, they will ignore the obvious choice when they hate someone… the bastards) is going to bite them in the ass one day, continually VEXES ME!!!!!
ETA: MM, I would be shocked if it hit 50. 45 seems like tops for this film that’s just crapping out and it’s not like they can hold all of those screens til the awards are handed out. Hollywood is cranking out the new product and the people are flocking to it, over the Oscar films sans the Descendants, and that’s not good for The Artist.
King’s Speech was on 3x as many screens on “this” weekend last year.
Not saying it’s not an issue. But there must be a strategic reason for the looooong hold. And it probably is still fear of disinterest, potentially a momentum killer.
Impressive opening for The Grey, nice to see Carnahan get the win. However, I expect at least a 60% drop next weekend, which of course will be criminal, but not the least bit surprising…
In Jan 2012, four R-rated films have separately became No.1 box office winners for four weekends…. Will studios release more modestly-budgeted R-rated films in the future?
Oscar noms may not be able to help mixed-reviewed “Albert Nobbs” too much….
The reason that the box office is winning week over week right now is the sheer glut of movies being unleashed on the marketplace. 10 wide releases this month compared to 7 last January…and I think that is hurting the Oscar contenders. Advertising whiplash with 3 or 4 releases a week means fewer screens for awards films, and fewer potential ticket buyers.
Another problem with this is a lot of these January films won’t make a lot of money because of this. RED TAILS, JOYFUL NOISE, HAYWIRE, and MAN ON A LEDGE will probably end up in the red unless they do well overseas.
ONE FOR THE MONEY will probably just break even, while BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will probably discourage Disney from doing more re-releases after Nemo. UNDERWORLD 4 won’t make a lot of money because its budget is apparently twice as big as the last film, so it needed to outperform the second film by a considerable margin, not be neck and neck.
Yes, THE DEVIL INSIDE, CONTRABAND and THE GREY will end up being very profitable, but the glut is going to continue with a ridiculous 14 wide releases in February compared to 11 last year. This is the reason for the box office uptick plain and simple…more overall revenue, but canibalization that cuts into the bottom line of individual films.
i’m looking at per-screen, DP.
considering the fact that “The Artist” still isn’t playing on even a thousand screens (look how long it took for “The Descendants” to hit this weekend’s #!), you might have thought it would be doing slightly better on a p/s basis than, say, the second weekend of “Underworld 4” which is playing on 3,000+ screens.
just saying I figured the momentum would have kicked in by now, especially since it’s clearly the anointed one this awards season.
still, it should have no trouble climbing to at least $50-million domestic theatrical prior to a future dvd release.
it’ll just take a lot longer than expected.
the really odd thing is that audiences really love it:
convincing them to buy a ticket seems to be the problem.
JS: Why do you think the Academy (or any other award-giving group) should vote for what’s popular instead of what they consider the best? (The fact that I almost never agree with them is moot.) If they start making their decisions based on what’s best for the awards ceremony telecast, they’ll negate the entire ostensible purpose of the awards.
Of course, you can argue that the awards were originally created primarily to improve the public’s perception of the film industry, but how many of today’s voters are actually making their choices based on anything other than their opinion or their friendships? And if anyone knows the answer to that, how do you know it?
As far as I’m concerned 2012 already has its first truly great film:
THE GREY is f***ing incredible.
“the really odd thing is that audiences really love it:
convincing them to buy a ticket seems to be the problem.”
Exactly! It’s a true WOM picture, not unlike BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (though that wasn’t especially good), which took 10 weeks to get to $16 mill–in 2002 dollars–on its way to $250 mill. (Not that ARTIST will do that kinda dough, of course, but my point is it’s still ridiculously early to consign it to the B.O. boneyard.)
And I see Heigl ends up with around 11.5, good for third place behind BLACK LEATHER VAMPIRE 4, with a B- CinemaScore. No way it gets to 40 now.
CADAVRA POWER. BOW.
Ethan- Yes, January and February were incredibly top-heavy w/ product this year. Yet March looks relatively light in comparison.
Of course, April promises to be even more of a cluster-f**k than J. or F., so….the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Or something like that.
Speaking of March: can somebody explain why every competing studio is apparently afraid of “John Carter” and “21 Jump Street”? At present, both are slated to be the only wide releases of their respective opening weekends. I can maybe understand why “Hunger Games” has the w-end of March 23rd to itself, but “JC” and “21 JS”?? Really?!?
And is “Clash of the Titans 2” really less competition for “Mirror, Mirror” than “21” would have been? Sounds like similar demographics to me.
Yeah, The Grey was great and has a conversation starting ending. Unfortunately the conversation seems to be starting with morons who have to have everything spelled out for them saying that the ending sucked. That probably accounts for the B- Cinemascore rating.
As far as the awards are concerned, why don’t they stop calling them Oscars and start calling them Harveys. Weinstein must have blackmail material on half the AMPAS membership.
As an LA-based observation, it was sort of amusing that the would-be Oscar Bait that DIDN’T get nominated Tuesday morning was all yanked from major theaters Friday, as if the movies no longer had any value whatsoever. I’m thinking of specifically of “Carnage,” which has been moving around from art house to art house for like 6 weeks to NO avail– it’s suddenly down to 11am shows only at a couple Laemmle’s; and “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” which got this big hyped return engagement at major venues like Arclight LAST WEEK, and it’s already been dumped into the Chinette 6. It’s like they’re kids who misbehaved and got put in the dog house for FAILING AT THEIR ONE AND ONLY MISSION– to be nominated. Never mind that they might be good movies or someone might want to see them — you don’t get nominated, you’re WORTHLESS!
On a wholly unrelated note, is John Murphy’s main theme from SUNSHINE just public domain at this point??? It’s always effective, but it’s odd that now TWO ENTIRELY SEPARATE MOVIES have wholesale used it as a cornerstore of their soundtrack. (It was in Kick-Ass extensively and in a certain new wide release where it ABSOLUTELY RULES, but… is it just a temp track that every director falls in love with and leaves in?)
SHAME is at $3.3 million and is basically dead in the water after the Oscars weren’t size queens. Good thing they didn’t multi-platform the movie, would have hated to see smart art films make money.
the mouth-breather sitting behind me at The Grey couldn’t have been more pissed by the final moments…
There were a group of high school-ers towards the front of the theater who seemed to take issue with the ending as well…
The irritating thing is that it’s such a perfect and beautiful ending, and that people are so used to being spoon fed that this ending, which isn’t remotely esoteric or anti-climatic, is too much for them. Also, I don’t know who stayed after the credits, but there is a little thing afterwards that rules.
I saw The Grey at a packed house, and the impression I got was that most people really didn’t know what they were in for, much like the audience I saw Drive with. I heard people complain that it was boring and lots of people took multiple bathroom breaks. A few people spent half the movie on their phone. Almost everyone was out of their seat before the credits rolled. And my friend and I were the only people who stayed through the credits. Not a single other person did.
Wasn’t One For the Money projected to earn like half that its opening weekend? Is that Heigl or the popularity of the books/author?
Real-world update for all the mouth-breathing fanboys …
(1) Midwest chain Marcus Theatres is not playing “One for the Money” because there’s a Groupon tie-in.
(2) “Albert Nobbs” was dumped — New York suburbs opened it day-and-date with Manhattan.
(3) “Shame” is rated NC-17, thus its box office potential is crimped. No theaters in New Jersey are playing it.
(4) People who comment here still can’t turn off caps lock, spell out movie titles or cure their permanent hard-on.
In my Variety review, I suggested that Open Road get across in ads that audiences should stay until after the closing credits. How much do you want to bet that message appears in ads next weekend?
“Make Sure You Stay Until the Very End!”
Don, keep in mind that SHAME is the 3rd highest grossing NC17 film of the last 15 years, behind only Ang Lee’s follow up to BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and Almodovar’s BAD EDUCATION. Take into account that Michael Fassbender was basically unknown a year ago, the restrictions of NC17 advertising, and the fact that the director is an unknown because no one saw HUNGER, and I think $4 million is a very respectable total.
Any love for Red Tail’s strong hold? Will somebody other than Tyler Perry make some movies for a black audience? They do have money to spend?
Just saw Shame..awesome movie. It is to me, obviously the best movie of the year. In ten years it will be the one cinephiles will be talking about most.
okay the ending after the credit roll of THE GREY has been brought up repeatedly so here it is ….
in the first act after Neeson shoots the wolf at the industrial site we cut to a close up of the wolf breathing his last dying breath …. the clip at the very end (of the credit roll) repeats this visual motif but it still leaves the ending as vague and arbitrary as the last scene of the movie ….even if Neeson killed the alpha wolf don’t you think the other wolves would soon close in?
How about MI3’s opening in China? It’s now on track to be Tom Cruise’s biggest worldwide hit of all-time, and should end up as the 7th biggest film of 2011. Who woulda thunk?
Also, PUSS IN BOOTS has hit $506 million, passing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, which cost a lot more to make. New franchise?
you all are super rich if your watching movies on the weekends paying full price .
i’ll probably see the grey and skip man on the ledge based on 1 bad review .
the theatre i was going to see the grey isn’t showing it .
its been taken up with other movies like iron lady / carnage – tintin and alvin chipmunks are still around .
so i will have to wait for the grey. unless Liam Neeson can send me some free tickets.
Berg:
*Spoilers for those of you who freak out about this stuff*
Others may disagree, but I didn’t see the post-credits ending as vague. I took it to mean that Neeson’s character went out like his father’s poem said to. He’s going to die, but at least he went out fighting, and took out the alpha wolf with him.
Yancy, it’s a night to celebrate the movies, and they only seem to want to celebrate one kind of movie. That’s perplexing to me and seeing that The Artist is not taking off what so ever, even if they are holding it back as David stated, that demonstrates in spades what is wrong with their thinking.
They do not have to turn themselves into the People’s Choice awards, but there is something strange in there being a front-runner that obviously is not taking off with the people. You know the people who are supposed to watch this ceremony.
Jojo, I think that’s what the ending is as well. (Of course if they announced a sequel to this, that would be a different story)
Liam Neeson, a boxoffice draw. Something I can’t fathom in 2004.
Exactly what movies are classified as “made for a black audience?”
Red Tails wasn’t made for a black audience, it was made for all audiences. It just happens to have a primarily black audience. Was Black Hawk Down made for white audiences with its cast? I thought we had gotten past this kind of thing.
So in two tweets Joe Carnahan credits the opening to Harry Knowles for championing the film and then tells Peta to “shut the fuck up”.
It amazes me that there are those out there who still think websites championing films can contribute to the box office. Liam Neeson, January, in a well reviewed thriller. Wasn’t around 20 million a mortal lock with or without any website support?
I wish more people would tell Peta to ‘shut the fuck up’.
Yeah but Ethan…SHAME could have made quadruple that EASILY by going to on-demand or following a similar track as MELANCHOLIA where it debuted at a high price on-deman, trickled into theaters then came back to on-demand.
Americans don’t want to sit around other people and see penises onscreen.
Lex: What’s the wide-release movie that uses the SUNSHINE cue?
Don, unless it’s Jason Segel’s.
The Artist is a true word-of-mouth movie. So many of my friends don’t want to go see it but after my pleading, they went and now they love it.
Don just ignoring the history of porn theatres in the US :D! Nevertheless WB, your friends seem to be in the minority because it’s the Oscar front-runner that has made less than EL&IC. That’s not a good thing.
Anyone know where the one theater for An Inconsistent Truth was? (I’d guess somewhere in the heartland)
And was Wicker Tree a passion project of the director’s? It seemed like an unnecessary sequel and didn’t seem to get a big push from marketing…
“Americans don’t want to sit around other people and see penises onscreen.”
Yeah ladies! You all just kept it in your panties and keep on settling for asscheek, okay?
first it was ‘people’ meaning ‘men’, now it’s amurikans
(every single straight movie-going american chick is thinking, ‘dear god please more penis…oh dear god let there be penis….please god, yes penis penis penis…)
Saw “Haywire” tonight. It was okay but didn’t rock my world. Enjoyed the heck out of seeing Fassy getting choked by Gina. I would probably see her in another movie-but with more ass kicking.
I thought it was interesting hearing reactions to the end of The Grey.
The majority of the theater started laughing and/or moaning at the end. I can’t remember the last time i saw a movie where the audience broke out into spontaneous jeers because of an ending.
Haven’t seen The Grey yet, but this is now the second movie this month, the first being The Devil Inside, that audiences are reacting negatively to the ending. But unlike TDI, Grey is getting a few good critical nods. Will bad WOM cause Grey to drop like a rock next week? TDI’s best hold in it’s four weeks of release was 66.8%. Is that some sort of record?
The Devil Inside is going to make far less than 2x its opening. Pretty amazing, but also fairly heartening for anyone who gives a shit about good filmmaking.
The Devil Inside is good filmmaking? Really? Hh.
saw Big Miracle this weekend, really thought it was solid …. the biggest surprise which I didn’t realize until the end credits was Rob Riggle and James LeGros playing a pair in Minnesota dudes with accents right of Fargo
JS Partisan,
Try reading that post again.
Sorry cosmo, apparently I read into it what I wanted to, but now I have to disagree. It’s disheartening because in a few weeks, it’s made more than the Artist, and it cost all of 5 bucks to make. There’s no way that these sorts of films are going away for at least the next year, because the cost to profit analysis is too damn substantial to ignore. It’s going to make 60 million on a small budget and limited advertising.
This is a win win for execs and it doing that well, is bad news until the next found footage film fails. Hopefully the one after Chronicle because Chronicle at least looks promising.
am i the only one who hated haywire ? why isn’t DP yelling at Steven Soderbergh for making a crappy tv movie .
Does it matter that The Devil Inside has dropped quickly and ferociously (which everyone expected)? It opened to $33.7 million and has made $52.7 million on a production budget of $1 million. The damage has been done.
If The Grey has a severe drop this weekend, I don’t think the ending will be to blame. Most of the audience I saw it with seemed to have tuned out long before the ending.
If “The Help” pulls some kind of crazy miracle at the Oscars (the SAG wins certainly improve it’s underdog/outsider chance at an upset), would it be the first time since “Driving Miss Daisy” that a film won Best Picture without its director being nominated?
Ironic considering the thematic similarities between the two movies, although I think “DMD” is clearly the stronger (leaner, more tightly focused, etc.) work.
The Devil Inside is handy because, like Insidious, maybe it will encourage more movies to be made on lower budgets. The fact that a simple comedy or drama costs 80 million now is insane.
THE GRAY kicked serious ass. Would have made my 2011 top ten easy. Fantastic movie. HAYWIRE was lots of fun too. Nice little doubleheader yesterday.
Would The Gray be suitable to take a date?
Am I the regular here who didn’t despise The Devil Inside? I wonder how many folks hate on the ending because… well, how can I put this without springing a spoiler? Because the movie didn’t make it entirely clear at first that it was indeed a “found footage” movie, with all that such a designation implies?
I didn’t hate “Devil Inside,” Joe.
While hardly a fan of the whole “found footage” genre, I did find “DI” more tolerable than, say, the first “PA” which I loathed and actually put on my 2009 10-worst list.
What I find amusing is that most people seem to genuinely hate these films–the only time I hear audiences boo at the movies these days is at the end of a “DI,” “Last Exorcism” or “PA 2” and/or “3.”
Which brings up the question: why do they run out like Pavlov’s dog to see a “DI,” et al opening weekend every damn time?
I didn’t much care for The Devil Inside. I prefer all the PA movies and The Last Exorcism. DI isn’t remotely scary, and that bothered me far more than the ending or the advertising.
“If “The Help” pulls some kind of crazy miracle at the Oscars (the SAG wins certainly improve it’s underdog/outsider chance at an upset), would it be the first time since “Driving Miss Daisy” that a film won Best Picture without its director being nominated?”
Yes, but with an asterisk. With nine BP nominees, it was much more likely that this could happen. The question we can never answer is: had there been only five BP nominees, would THE HELP still have been one of them? (I’m thinking yes, but that’s just me.)
Actually, I’ve been intrigued by some of the better “found footage” movies (like Blair Witch Project and, to a much lesser degree, the Paranormal Activity films and, yes, Devil Inside) primarily from the standpoint of narrative construction. To me, the challenge always is: OK, how do you plausibly depict everything you need to show the audience (who’s filming and/or recording? why are they filming and/or recording? why don’t they run like hell after the first sign of trouble?) and then — again, plausibly — how do you end the story in such away that the people doing the recording are dead, but the footage remains available to be found? I know this will sound blasphemous, but I can’t help thinking that Alfred Hitchcock — who took an almost masochistic joy in putting restrictions on himself in Lifeboat, Rope, Rear Window, etc. — would have LOVED making a “found footage” movie.
Most of the found footage movies require suspension of belief. You just have to accept that there will be at least a few times when any sane person would have tossed the camera and bailed. But seeing how each one handles it is interesting. Atrocious is a good one that is now streaming on Netflix.
So, anyone as amused by the tantrums being thrown over the ending to The Gray? The AICN thread about it is pretty funny. Like the idea that a trailer might present a story different from the final film has never happened before. Ive yet to see it myself, but if anything, the kvetching has increased my interest.
By the by, the trailer for Silent House is fantastic.
That is how you cut a trailer.
TripleOption — went to see the Grey with my wife, who is a movie buff, but was somewhat on the fence with this one based on the trailers. I assured her it would be worth her time. She thought it was great and moving but overly depressing and filled with no hope. Which are all correct statements. I guess it’s a good flick to take a date too if the date in question is open minded and interested in watching something thought provoking and filled to the brim with machismo and testosterone.
I took my wife to the grey.
At the end of the movie she declared “what the hell was the point of that?”
The more we talked about the movie the more frustrated she became. Like a lot of others she balked at the ending.
Don’t know if id call an ideal date movie.
I know it’s silly to play the “if there had been five like there used to be” game, but it’s hard not to, and my guess that this year, the five Best Picture nominees would’ve been:
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
… with Malick being the wild-card fifth director nudging out one of the BP nominees from that category. Woody/Midnight in Paris could’ve done that, too, but I assume the Academy old-timers vastly prefer Midnight in Paris (which is, to be fair, a fine movie).
Actionman- I loved the “no hope” bleakness of “The Grey”‘s ending, but I guess that’s just the existentialist in me, lol.
And yes, Anghus. The “Silent House” trailer is indeed terrific.
Could this be another “Insidious”? Or is it capable of doing even better?
THE GREY SPOILERS
I actually didn’t find the ending bleak at all. I would describe it as stark and grim, but I think there’s something life affirming about the way he faces death head on and without fear. I was moved and found it uplifting, actually.
END SPOILERS
Even if it’s not one’s cup of tea (I’m on the record as flat-out LOVING IT), THE GREY has been the impetus for most film-centric conversation and debate that I’ve seen in a while, which is always a good thing.
Yes, the SILENT HOUSE trailer has me very excited. I’m glad, as a horror fan, to have a new genre outing to be excited about, because this year appears to be pretty light on new theatrical releases on that front.(I was also a fan of the directors’ previous film, OPEN WATER.)
I agree with Jkill after reading about that ending. I understand people being frustrated at it’s use in the trailers, but that’s a very nice “THIS IS HOW YOU GO OUT” ending.
Silent House does look promising. I’d also recommend The Innkeepers to genre fans. It’s a pretty good if not exactly groundbreaking ghost story. VOD now and NY/LA theaters on Friday.
The Grey’s ending is great.
SPOILERS
I was hoping they wouldn’t actually show that final battle.
MORE GREY SPOILERS:
Actually, I think Neeson’s character shreds the wolf’s ass, and then wipes out the rest of the pack. Dude is Darkman, remember?
But seriously: Was I the only one just a tad uncomfortable during the scenes in which Neeson appears suicidally depressed about losing his wife? Especially when he’s flashbacking to her while trudging through snow? I mean no disrespect nor snark here: I found myself feeling really sorry for the guy, and wondering what went on his head during the days when he filmed those scenes.
END SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Definitely Joe. And didn’t Carnahan have Neeson write a letter to Natasha Richardson that they then used in the movie?
‘the silent house’ is “filmed entirely in one continuous shot”? i’ll go see it for that alone. maybe they can dvd box set it with ‘russian ark’
“…Especially when he’s flashbacking to her while trudging through snow? I mean no disrespect nor snark here: I found myself feeling really sorry for the guy, and wondering what went on his head during the days when he filmed those scenes.”
“Definitely Joe. And didn’t Carnahan have Neeson write a letter to Natasha Richardson that they then used in the movie?”
oh that kinda creeps me out. maybe it was cathartic for liam
“Definitely Joe. And didn’t Carnahan have Neeson write a letter to Natasha Richardson that they then used in the movie?”
Had never heard that — but that’s even creepier. Sheesh. Reminds me of the time I interviewed Pierce Brosnan when he took over the James Bond role in GoldenEye not so long after his wife died — and he made a point of reminding me, without directly referencing his own loss, “This is a man who’s a widower.”
On a (somewhat) related note to several of the above postings:
I know that making a movie on location can be hell, but shouldn’t the cast/crew of “The Grey” have received some kind of bonus for what must have been an unimaginably grueling shoot?
While I see your point, JKill, for me the ending was more existentialist/zen than life affirming. After all, Neeson’s character ****SPOILER ALERT**** is, in a very literal sense, embracing death. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I feel that way every time I get behind the wheel of a car.
What would have really sucked–and completely destroyed the integrity of the movie–is if a rescue team had arrived via helicopter in the closing moments and whisked Liam away to the Four Seasons.
I wonder how many people tried convincing Carnahan to do just that.
Movieman: Speaking of the cold:
http://www.movingpictureblog.com/2012/01/chillin-with-dallas-roberts.html
Hope everyone got hazard pay for their “Grey” services.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Here’s a little bit about that Joe, if you’re interested: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2012/01/director-joe-carnahan-on-the-grey-casting-liam-neeson-over-bradley-cooper-and-starting-twitter-feuds.html
I had never heard that anecdote Joe, but it just reaffirms my believe that Goldeneye is among the very best 007 films (it’s actually my personal favorite) partially because it views its violence and random carnage with a tinge of sadness and regret. I love that the Bond girl (Izabella Scorupco) is genuinely repulsed by the bloodshed she finds herself swimming in, and that she openly calls ‘bullshit’ on the whole “It would be cool to be 007!” meme. I love that Sean Bean semi-tragic villain implicitly calls back to the various failures in 007’s career (the death of his wife, the murder of Leiter’s wife just one movie prior, etc) Even the Eric Serra score is somewhat depressing and the unofficial love theme (http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000000WAK/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_006?ie=UTF8&track=006&disc=001) gets me every time. The Bourne series gets plenty of credit for demystifying the big-budget espionage genre, but I’d argue Goldeneye (and DePalma’s Mission: Impossible) did it first and better.
Scott: Funny you mention the Bourne series. As I wrote in my review of The Bourne Ultimatum: For me, the most powerful image in the entire trilogy is in a scene that appears early in The Bourne Supremacy (and is reprised, briefly, in Ultimatum), as Jason Bourne sees the woman he loves literally floating out of sight, becoming a mere memory even as he helplessly watches. (It’s an image I suspect Jean Cocteau would have been proud to include in his Orpheus.) These days, it’s not uncommon for an action movie to post a three-digit body count, and make a joke about it. But this scene in Supremacy puts the sting back into death, and none-too-gently reminds us that such carnage is something we blithely take for granted, and usually accept unthinkingly, in films of this sort.