April 25, 2024
The Hot Blog
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Christian on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
YancySkancy on: Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Hcat on: Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: I Should Be Doing Box Office
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
So, Spring Breakers is the only movie in the Top 20 to have a Saturday drop (-14%), while everyone else enjoys double-digit gains.
Looks like this weekend’s weird re-release/release of “On the Road” barely registered.
IFC was probably just trying to better position it for an upcoming dvd release w/ (limited) market visibility.
Oh, that already came out?
And so the North Koreans are the baddies in another film? Well, we know how well that first attempt worked out.
IMO this On The Road release is a travesty. One of my favorite movies of the year and an adaptation of an iconic novel by a major director. Total shame.
This is the green ratings band for the trailer to Trance.
If there’s not a bear in this fucking movie I’m going to be pissed.
Holy fuck the number of debuting limited releases that did less than $1k per screen.
Honestly think STOKER could’ve caught on a little better…. It’s not dissimilar to BLACK SWAN which Searchlight egged along into a 100-mil hit; How it’s still at ONE MIL after a month is kind of bizarre.
Also, anyone else see UPSIDE DOWN? Holy shit, amazing visuals, worth seeing just for how it looks. Tonally a mess and whatnot, but like TRON-level innovative.
When did you see Upside Down? It’s not showing any theaters in the LA area.
It’s at the Arclight Hollywood. Started there last Friday, still there.
I saw Upside Down. Can you believe that movie only cost $50 million? BEAUTIFUL looking. Also: can you believe how fucking stupid it was? I don’t even mean this in a nitpicky way; I was ready to go with the fantasy-world rules and explanations (rather than a harder sci-fi approach). But it just makes so little sense, and — crucially — it keeps throwing out things that make LESS sense. The final exchange between Dunst and Sturgess was one of the most blatantly awful ways to tie up loose ends and finish a movie off that I can remember!
Disappointing, because it is a truly beautiful movie that I loved looking at.
Wasn’t a fan of the ending either, but went way way easier on it than you because Dunst and Sturgess were DELIGHTFUL and I love Timothy Spall…. But I see your point, as the movie has FLYING PINK PANCAKES, and….
Why was Sturgess’ aunt arrested in the beginning? It bothered me for almost the entire movie. Was that ever explained? He’s out macking on Dunst and comes home the house is ablaze and Aunt Becky or whatever is dragged off by the police… Why?
‘
Other than that and the fact I NEVER quite wrapped my head around the PHYSICS on a scene-to-scene basis, I still kinda loved it.
I loved Stoker, but i can see why it didn’t catch on. It requires patience and so slowly plays it’s hand that i could see word of mouth being generally ambivalent.
My only major issue was with some of the writing. The scenes with the bullies had some cringe inducing dialogue and characterizations.
Lex, I think because she was experimenting with the pink bees or whatever it was that allowed them to potentially float between worlds… and/or maybe because he was making contact with Dunst?… but yeah, it’s kind of confusing that they would drag her away (kill her maybe?) and burn down her house and then that would just be, what, a warning to her nephew? And then they hire him for this job when he’s older and the giant autocratic government system has NO IDEA that he’s the nephew of this woman they specifically oppressed and were trying to terrorize? And they just give him access to their tech or offices or whatever?
But yeah, its beauty made it go down easier than it would have otherwise. I just wish that it had made even a little bit of sense.
Correction: Spring Breakers dropped an estimated 24% on Saturday.
Fox Searchlight Pictures just dumped “Stoker” and had no passion nor effort nor patience for and with it.
Searchlight is coming off a string of pretty uninspired marketing efforts following a really strong run. They look to be pulling out more stops for “Trance” thank goodness.
Mia Wasikowska > Rosario Dawson.
I was surprised by some of the laughs I heard at the preview screening of “Stoker” I went to, but still, did anyone really think this thing could play to large audiences?
It seems like one of those too campy for older audiences, but too slow and austere for younger audiences. I don’t think the type of violence is the kind to appeal to the latter crowd either.
Either way, the script was atrociously bad. Not to mention the cliches and plot holes, but the dialogue was so clunky and unrealistic. Those bullies were straight out of 1978.
Not to fall back on an old argument of mine, but if STOKER was the identical movie but with Korean actors, every film geek would be declaring it Chan-wook Park’s highest masterpiece.
even with Korean actors, i would have been unintentionally laughing at the high school bullies. That one blonde kid had the worst lines in a movie this year.
Lex wrote “Mia Wasikowska > Rosario Dawson.”
NO!
Cue Travolta: “Oh muh gahd, that Stoker is cute”
Wasikowska in STOKER is pretty close to the ultimate woman: Pale, fragile, demure, long limbs, curious about things, nervous about her sexuality, always shows her feet, kind of infantilized, often filmed in a BIG CHAIR. CUTE!
i don’t give two farts in the wind about box office but that number for ‘identity thief’ seems high
(and the number for ‘die hard 8’ seems abysmal, I haven’t seen it yet but I’d think it doesn’t bode well for a ‘die hard 9’ — that kind of bums me out for some retarded reason, i guess i’m not ready to let John McClane go and keep secretly hoping mctiernan will come back and kick some action ass – or is he still in prison? bloody hell – and I think Rickman and Irons have officially aged out of making that Hans & simon Grueber prequel I’ve been waiting for forever…depressing all around)
All due respect because NOMADS ROLLERBALL POWER and all, but McTiernan ain’t coming back. Ever. Gen X geeks gotta give up this ridiculous pipe dream. It’s like expecting Landis or Dante or Carpenter to roll back into Hollywood and command some super-A-list mega-movie that changes the calendar back to 1988. It’s kinda like a guy in 1987 still wondering why John Sturges doesn’t come back and show us all how it’s done. I don’t know what it is with “movie people” that they stay forever stuck in their heyday wondering when those guys are gonna come back…. It’d be the movie equivalent of a “MUSIC FAN” in 2013 still waiting for a new FOREIGNER or DEF LEPPARD album to bring it all back home.
I know also it’s just an anonymous probably bullshit comment, but like over a decade ago some guy on AICN claimed he worked for McTiernan and the guy was a bitter grump who never saw new movies, was totally out of the loop, had no passion for movies at all anymore… Multiply that times a prison sentence and I don’t know if we can expect some post-GLADIATOR Ridley-style renaissance.
I was wondering the other day if McTiernan became poison because of the whole Pellicano thing or if wasn’t already seguing out of the biz anyway.
I haven’t seen all of his films but Predator-Die Hard-Hunt for Red October is as impressive a run in directoral history.
oh i know, mcT is fucked and won’t be back but I’m stubborn (predator-DH-Red October is one of the – if not THE – top back-to-back-to-back action movie runs in film history, a trilogy of excellence, and for that feat mctiernan will be legend for all time – just my opinion of course)
Does Red October count as “action”? I would have thought thriller would be more appropriate. There’s one gunfight and a sub “battle” (with, what 2 torpedos?) at the end, but apart from that it’s people arguing with each other in confined spaces.
“Vertigo”/”North by Northwest”/”Psycho”
“Funny Games”/”The White Ribbon”/ “Amour”
“Predator-Die Hard-Hunt for Red October is as impressive a run in directoral history.”
“400 Blows”/”Shoot the Piano Player”/”Jules and Jim”
“Contempt”/”Band of Outsiders”/”Une Femme Marrie”
“Yojimbo”/”Sanjuro”/”High and Low”
“Sugarland Express”/”Jaws”/”Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
“The Godfather”/”The Conversation”/”The Godfather Part II”
“The Parallax View”/”All the President’s Men”/”Comes a Horseman”
“Reservoir Dogs”/”Pulp Fiction”/”Jackie Brown”
“Le Plaisir”/”The Earrings of Madame de”/”Lola Montes”
Foamster: yeah, ‘Red October’ isn’t exactly a hard-out action extravaganza, thriller/drama too, but it actually has quite a bit, a lot more more than you mention; there are several tactical sub battles/chases/crashes (staged action, even if models/miniatures – it has to look convincing and it does, and before the CG revolution proper), Ryan being choppered and dropped onto the Red October disastrously, etc, and even the more subtle movement of the players on the subs, impeccably staged to maintain interest, but certainly not comparable to the tactical brilliance of the staged action in ‘Die hard’, for example.
Not to mention Tim Curry NOT chewing on the scenery. That has to be some kind of cinematic feat.
“Kindergarten Cop”/”Dave”/”Junior”
“Total Recall”/”Basic Instinct”/”Showgirls”
We could go all day with our favorites…
Fist Full of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More / The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly / Once Upon A Time In The West
There’s 4 in a row…
I don’t think Fellini had a dud feature from his co-directorial debut with VARIETY LIGHTS in 1950 through 8 1/2 in 1963.
Woody Allen.
Hawks, Ford, Hitchcock, Wilder, Cukor, et al had unbelievable runs that ran far longer than three. To take one example, Ford had seven classics in a row in the space of two years: STAGECOACH, YOUNG MR. LINCOLN, DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, THE GRAPES OF WRATH (BD Oscar), THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, TOBACCO ROAD, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (BP and BD Oscars).
Coppola: The Godfather / The Conversation / The Godfather Part II / Apocalypse Now
Most impressive current runs…
Audiard: Sur mes levres/The Beat That My Heart Skipped/Un Prophet/Rust and Bone
Carax: Pola X/Mauvais Sang/Tokyo!/Holy Motors
Reitman: Thank You For Smoking/Juno/Up In The Air/Young Adult
Payne: Election/About Schmidt/Sideways/The Descendents
Glad someone else enjoys the young Reitman, lets add the Coens, whose current streak is
No Country, Burn After Reading (if you don’t think it belongs watch it again until it does), Serious Man, and True Grit.
Many would include PT Anderson, but my personal distaste for Sandler gets the better of me.
“Sunshine” would be a deal-breaker for Boyle for most. For me it’s the overrated treacle “Millions.”
On the other hand, I actually think Aronofsky is having a run for the ages (Pi/Requiem/Fountain/Wrestler/Black Swan), but so many people can’t abide The Fountain…
Ishiro Honda.
Just as a reminder, the conversation started with back-to-back movies that weren’t just good, but that practically defined a genre and/or period – hence McT and late 80’s action.
The same could be said for Hitchcock (Thriller), Ford (Western), and Leone (Spaghetti Western). Not so much for Allen (who I personally find much more hit and miss), Aranofsky and Coens, although you can’t deny their skill in general.
Really? I think I started it and I was simply responding to this bit of insanity, which does not mention anything about defining a genre or period:
“I haven’t seen all of his films but Predator-Die Hard-Hunt for Red October is as impressive a run in directoral history.”
I wasn’t necessarily limiting it to a single genre but that they were really, really remarkable films made by a director back to back to back. Spike Lee, Woody Allen, Peter Weir, Takeshi Kitano, Robert Wise, Robert Redford, Danny Boyle, and I haven’t seen Sugarland Express to say for certain but even Spielberg don’t have as measurable three pictures that they just killed, all in a row.
I would add Billy Wilder for Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. Too bad Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd weren’t closer together cuz those were moon shots as well. Fred Zinnemann I think missed it. Stanley Kramer…eh, maybe?? I wasn’t that enamored w/all of Kubrick’s work but I wouldn’t argue against him pulling it off twice, first with The Killing – Paths of Glory – Spartacus. John Frankenheimer for Birdman/Alcatraz – Manchurian Candidate – Seven Days in May. For Sidney Lumet I know Network and Dog Day Afternoon were monsters, would Murder on the Orient Express start him off?? Yeah, now that I think of it, I’d say so. I wouldn’t put John Huston on the list, though he easily has six that would definitely qualify him.
The genre “restriction” came from Leah’s follow up:
“predator-DH-Red October is one of the – if not THE – top back-to-back-to-back action movie runs in film history, a trilogy of excellence, and for that feat mctiernan will be legend for all time”
As a number of people have given examples, directors who have had 3 in a row tend to be not that uncommon (and for Spielberg I’d say Raiders/ET/Temple of Doom would qualify). Being a legend for all time and defining a genre/period? Much fewer and farther between.
I Still say Aronofksy is the king of your babbling. Pretend “Fountain”doesn’t exist if you’re so dumb…..
yeah thanks foamy, i was talking specifically about the action genre brilliance 3peat, not just directors/films in general, there’s a shitload of those really
for some reason people don’t like to mention cameron around here, so i’ll remedy that by adding terminator/aliens/the abyss/T2 to the back-to-back-to-back-to-back 4peat action legend status.
What about Coppola (“The Godfather,” “The Conversation,” “The Godfather, Part II” AND “Apocalypse Now”)? That’s a 4-peat for the ages.
Or Bogdanovich (“TLPS,” “What’s Up, Doc?” and “Paper Moon”)?
Barry Levinson was on a roll once upon a time w/ “Tin Men,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Rainman” and (a movie that I love) “Avalon.”
Hal Ashby? “Harold and Maude,” “The Last Detail,” “Shampoo.”
What about Woody Allen? He didn’t make a bad movie from 1969 through 1980,his mid-80s run of “Broadway Danny Rose,” “The Purple Rose of Cairo” and “Hannah and Her Sisters” (with “Zelig” and “Radio Days” on either side of that run!) is pretty epic, and he had another great run in the 90s.
Seems like everyone agrees on Coppola, movieman — that’s the third mention of that feat in this thread.
Smith, Interiors and Stardust Memories are among the last half-dozen Woody movies I haven’t seen, so I can’t comment on them personally, but I don’t know that many people would include them when saying Woody didn’t make a bad movie in that period — or at least, few people would include them in a hot streak (I hope to agree with you when I throw in those Amazon-firesale DVDs I just got, though).
Agree with you about his 90s run, though, which has become weirdly underrated. I’d put Husbands and Wives/Manhattan Murder Mystery/Bullets Over Broadway/Mighty Aphrodite/Everyone Says I Love You/Deconstructing Harry against any other half-dozen he made in a row.
But on the other hand, even I wouldn’t call all of those movies masterworks — just really solid movies I like a lot.
This is kind of a weird one, and I talk about it all the time, but seriously: ROB REINER. He was on the streak of a lifetime in the eighties. This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally.
The Sure Thing is admittedly minor, but it was the best use of Cusack up to that point and arguably paved the way for his more iconic movies. And the amount of influence and goodwill generated by those other four is astonishing. The defining mockumentary (and rock movie), a great coming-of-age dramedy, one of the best light fantasies ever made, and an unbelievably influential romcom. It’s all very mainstream, but most mainstream comedy directors don’t touch more than one movie that great (if that), let alone that many in a single decade.
And Misery and A Few Good Men are also pretty solid if you want to extend into his break from comedy. I’d say North breaks it hard in ’94, but The American President fits much closer with his pre-North movies than the post-North epic bust that followed.
In fact, if we want to get mean, we could ask about epic fallow periods, and Reiner would be right on the top of that list, too. Since ’96 he’s been on a seven-movie walk of shame.
Jesse – yeah, I hesitated before including Interiors and Stardust Memories, just because I know there’s no consensus around them as great, or even particularly good, movies. Still, I’m a big fan of both (especially Stardust), so I hope you like them!
Agreed on his 90s run – weirdly underrated overall, but most of the movies are “merely” very good or near great category rather than masterpieces.
Chris- I probably should have checked the earlier threads.
I apparently entered the conversation at the midway point, lol.
Not to belabor…but the first Coppola mention didn’t include Apocalypse Now, which is INSANE. So that’s why I did mine…
I still find is amazing that Apocalypse got several poor notices when it was originally released…
And yet it did, Et. Yet it did.
I still remember seeing “Apocalypse” twice during its opening week/end (it premiered on a Wednesday) at NYC’s Ziegield in August ’79.
And returning on a weekly basis throughout its run.
Last semester I showed the original theatrical cut to my students, and was stunned that it not only held up astonishingly well–but that the “flaws” (a wobbly third act, Brando and Hopper) were nothing of the sort. The damn thing is well-nigh perfect; or as perfect as the first two “Godfather”s in the Coppola canon. I was also delighted to see how much pure action there was in the film (something I’d managed to forget, and something my male students ate up like it was a 21st century Hasbro-spawned CGI fantasia).
Like I said way up there, Woody Allen. Nobody living in America has equaled his run.