MW on Movies: The Green Hornet, The Dilemma, Another Year, The Illusionist, and Mon Oncle

The Green Hornet (Two Stars) U. S.: Michel Gondry, 2011 The Green Hornet is a comedy-action extravaganza done in a deliberate pop art/ironic style by director Michel Gondry — a pseudo-Marvel super-movie about a super-hero who’s also a rich little schmuck. It’s also about the schmuck’s super-talented Asian sidekick, their sexy Girl Friday, who has…

Box Office Hell: January 12

Our pundits expect The Green Hornet to come out buzzing to easily lead the box office pack on the long weekend. Newcomer The Dilemma looks to easily take the place position, while the awards contenders battle it out for their own box office bragging rights.

MW on Movies: Army of Shadows, The Social Network, Hotel Terminus … and more

It doesn’t get your motor racing in the usual way. Army of Shadows transpires in a gray world, bleak, chilling, full of the shadows of the title, where night is often falling, or has already fallen. And it’s done in a manner that suggests men (and a woman) who know they will die, who are dead already, but still stubbornly refuse to submit.

The DVD Wrap: The Social Network, Army of Shadows, Dances with Wolves, Raging Bull … and more

The Social Network: Blu-ray Depending upon whom one asks, Facebook is 1) 500 million friends and friends of friends who pretend to care desperately about their friends’ pets and bowel movements (or is that Twitter?), 2) a convenient way for parents to spy on their kids while they’re away at college, or 3) a massive…

2010 Boxoffice Results

Top Domestic Grossers – 2010 Title Distributor Gross Avatar * Fox 476,899,300 Toy Story 3 BV 415,071,937 Alice in Wonderland BV 334,191,110 Iron Man 2 Par 312,445,596 Twilight: Eclipse Summit 300,551,386 Inception WB 292,558,188 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 WB 280,230,127 Despicable Me Uni 251,083,040 Shrek Forever After Par 238,667,087 How to…

The Weekend Report: January 9, 2011

Times were darn good for a man who eats grits as the season’s surprise hit True Grit edged out Little Fockers for the top slot in weekend movie sales. The films had respective three-day box office of $14.8 million and $13.7 million.

With final numbers for 2010 finally tallied, results (see chart) were marginally better than initial projections. The year finished at $10.63 billion and a slim 0.4% decline from 2009.

Weekend Estimates – January 9

True Grit|14.8|-39%|110.2 Little Fockers|13.7|-47%|123.9 Season of the Witch|10.4||10.4 TRON: Legacy|10.1|-46%|148.2 Black Swan|8.2|-8%|61.3 Country Strong |7.3||7.5 The Fighter|6.9|-31%|57.8 Yogi Bear|6.6|-47%|75.4 The King’s Speech|6.6|-16%|33.0 Tangled|5.1|-48%|175.8

Friday Estimates: January 8

True Grit leads the awards contenders as we head into the weekend. Black Swan performs a grand jete with a 24% increase for Friday’s numbers, with The Fighter neck-and-neck, while The King’s Speech pulls in the highest per-screen boasting rights. Meanwhile, kiddie flicks falter.

Critics Roundup: January 6

Country Strong|||||Yellow Season of the Witch |||||Yellow True Grit |Green|Green|Green|Green|Green Black Swan|Green|Green|Green|Green|Green The Fighter|Green|Green||Green|Green 127 Hours |Green|Green|Green|Green| The Social Network|Yellow|Green|Green|Yellow|Green

MW on Movies: Season of the Witch and Country Strong

How are we supposed to handle the idea that Cardinal D’Ambroise, faced with a decision that he thinks might actually end the Black Plague, recruits as the witch’s main guards to her trial, two deserters who don’t believe in witches? And then backs them up with a swindler, a wispy priest and an altar boy who wants to be a knight?

Box Office Hell: January 6

True Grit and Little Fockers appear perched to duke it out for the top slot this weekend, while our pundits disagree somewhat on the power of Nic Cage to turn Season of the Witch into box office gold. Meanwhile, good-hearted Country Strong looks to squeak through the weekend with fair-to-middling numbers.

MW on DVDs: Howl, Doctor Zhivago, Gone with the Wind, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, The Quintessential Guy Maddin

The movie is about art and society, but also about how the American justice system is supposed to work — how it’s meant to protect the rights of all, and to balance opposing claims: in this case, the rights of the public not to be disturbed, against the rights of a great poet to disturb them. One leaves Howl inspired by both the spectacle of the trial of the poet and the uncommon poetry of the trial.

The DVD Wrap: Machete, Dinner for Schmucks, Easy A, Howl … and more

Machete In this insanely hyperactive action flick, Robert Rodriguez delivers on the promise made in the faux “Mexsploitation” trailer that accompanied Grindhouse. It would be folly to attempt any synopsis of Machete, except to recall that Danny Trejo’s character is a former Mexican federal agent, seeking to exact revenge on the American druglord (Steven Seagal)…

Weekend Box Office Report –January 2

Adult/awards fare, which includes The Fighter, Black Swan and The King’s Speech — all likely Oscar contenders — held their own with the holiday frivolity. That still leaves seven slots for films as diverse as Toy Story 3 and Blue Valentine in year that most film reviewers have characterized as overall sub-par.

Weekend Estimates — January 2

The awards contenders battle it out for box office over an odd New Years’ weekend, as the Coen Brothers knock it out of the box office park with a stellar take for their Western True Grit, while The Fighter and The King’s Speech remain solid and Black Swan takes a surprising dip. Meanwhile, Gulliver’s Travels bombs as spectacularly as anticipated.

Friday Estimates — January 1

As we wind down the new year, TRON: Legacy, Yogi Bear and Narnia benefit from a bit of a “last weekend of the winter break” bump. Gulliver’s Travels, though, fails to impress kids and parents and does not perform spectacularly. Meanwhile, True Grit leads a strong showing by the arthouse set.