Wilmington on Movies: The Help

  “The Help” (Three Stars) U.S.: Tate Taylor, 2011 Like smooth Kentucky Bourbon or hot cornbread and jambalaya, or like Ray Charles’ great bluesy versions of “Georgia on my Mind” and “America the Beautiful,” The Help is old-fashioned, flavorsome stuff — old-fashioned in many good ways, and a few not-so-good ones. Set in Jackson, Mississippi…

Weekend Estimates, August 14, 2011

Rise of the Planet of the Apes|27.1 (7,350)|-51%|104.5 The Help|25.2 (9,950)|NEW|35.1 Final Destination 5|18.1 (5,750)|NEW|18.1 The Smurfs|13.4 (3,920)|-35%|101.5 30 Minutes or Less|13.1 (4,550)|NEW|13.1 Cowboys & Aliens|7.6 (2,290)|-52%|81.4 Captain America: The First Avenger|7.1 (2,500)|-46%|156.8 Harry Potter & the Deadly Hallows, Part 2|6.9 (2,870)|-44%|357 Crazy, Stupid, Love|6.9 (2,620)|-43%|55.4 The Change-Up|6.2 (2,120)|-54%|25.7

The Weekend Report, August 14, 2011

The chimps beat off the competition as the second weekend of Rise of the Planet of the Apes earned bragging rights with an estimated $27.1 million to rank at the top of the ticket buying list. It was close but no cigar for the debut of the 60s-set race comedy-drama The Help that bowed to $25.2 million.

Three additional films made national debuts during the frame. Final Destination 5 ranked third with $18.1 million while the irreverent 30 Minutes or Less slotted fifth with $13.1 million. And it wasn’t a gleeful moment as Glee: The 3D Concert Movie suffered stage fright with $5.8 million.

Friday Estimates, August 13, 2011

The Apes stay on top, as The Help come in second. But with $400k splitting them, that could change before the weekend ends. In third, the 5th Final Destination. And 30 Minutes does less.

Critics Roundup — August 12

The Help |Green|Green|||Green 30 Minutes or Less |Yellow|Yellow|||Yellow Final Destination 5 |||||Yellow Senna |Green|Green|Green|| Littlerock |||Green|| Rapt |Yellow|||| Sholem Aleicham |Green||||

Box Office Hell — August 12

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Rise of the Planet of the Apes|27.7|32.8|25.0|27.0|26.0 Final Destination 5|24.8|21.4|22.0|23.0|20.0 30 Minutes or Less |18.6|16.5|15.0|16.0|17.0 The Help|14.8|18.9|17.0|20.0|18.0 The Smurfs |12.0|13.4|13.5|13.0|13.0 Glee Live 3D |12.0|10.9|8.3|9.0|8.0

Wilmington on Movies: Final Destination 5

(Two Stars) U.S.: Steven Quale, 2011 In Final Destination 5, as in the other Final Destinations, blood is the money shot, the actors, or at least their characters, are expendable , and a guy named Bludworth, or his boss Destiny, is breaking up that old gang of mine (again).   For only the price of a…

Wilmington on DVDs. The Rest. Paul, Mars Needs Moms, Despair

Paul (Two and a Half Stars) U. S.: Greg Mottola, 2011  (Universal) Suppose you were to rethink E. T. as a combination 70s road movie and Three Days of the Condor-style paranoid anti-C.I.A. thriller, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, of Shaun of the Dead as a couple of RV-riding, geek-slacker Brits named Graeme Willy…

Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Classics. Leaving Las Vegas, And Now Miguel

    “Leaving Las Vegas” (Three and a Half Stars) U. S.: Mike Figgis, 1995 (MGM/20th Century Fox) “Try to think that love’s not around. Still, it’s uncomfortably near…” Frank Sinatra, in “Angel Eyes” Nicolas Cage’s Oscar-winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas as an alcoholic Hollywood agent named Ben Sanderson — who loses his last…

DVD Geek: Hobo With a Shotgun

Of the two possibilities open to the filmmakers who chose to call their movie, Hobo with a Shotgun, the first was to make a realistic revenge thriller of some sort, like the dozens of others that carry the same basic premise, which would be that a villain in a position of power underestimates the resolve of the seemingly insignificant hero. The second possibility, however, is the one the filmmakers actually went with…

Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: New. Your Highness; Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

  “Your Highness” (Two and a Half Stars) U.S.: David Gordon Green, 2011 (Universal) What price silliness? What price prurience? What price sheer knuckleheaded balderdash? Whatever the price, Your Highness – a sword and sorcery movie which sometimes seems geared as lowbrow comedy for frat boy idiots — pays it. This movie was so badly reviewed one…

The DVD Wrapup: Mars Needs Moms, The Final Destination 3D, The Clinic, Super, Jumping the Broom, Battle of Algiers …

Mars Needs Moms: Blu-ray Judging simply from the negative press generated after the release of “Mars Needs Moms,” you’d have thought Disney was attempting to sell out-of-date produce to needy children, instead of a very decent family picture. The fact it underperformed so badly at the box office prompted more than one pundit to predict…

The Weekend Report

You can’t keep a good chimp down (or orangutan) and the re-booted Rise of the Planet of the Apes swung a wide arc with an estimated $54.2 million bow that handily set it atop weekend movie going. The frame’s other wide debut, the comic The Change-Up, chuckled into fourth slot with $13.5 million.

Wilmington on Movies: The Change-Up

      “The Change-Up” (Two Stars) U.S.: David Dobkin, 2011 The Change-Up, a big star body-swap comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, is a movie that begins with baby poop jokes and climaxes with its two “heroes” urinating together in a public fountain, before an audience. And you can almost hear the moviemakers yelling…

Wilmington on Movies: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes very much — even though it’s obviously better directed (and acted) than it is written. The best of Rise is so damned wonderful, and the worst of it so damned silly, that it’s sometimes hard to believe, as you watch it, that you’re in the same movie you were in ten minutes or so ago.

Still, the very best scenes — usually ones involving Caesar the lead ape (as acted by Andy Serkis), with his piercing dark eyes and sometimes poignant, sometimes chilling quietude, a leader of the revolt that we know will eventually take over the planet — are among the best scenes in any blockbuster this summer, or for several summers.

Friday Estimates, August 6, 2011

Rise of the Planet of the Apes|19.5|3648|NEW|19.5 The Smurfs|5.9|3395|-55%|61.1 Cowboys & Aliens|4.7|3754|-64%|56.3 The Change-Up|4.7|2913|NEW|4.7 Captain America; The First Avenger|3.7|3620|-52%|133.9 Crazy, Stupid Love|3.7|3020|-44%|33.8 Harry Potter & the Deadly Hollows, Part 2|3.4|3175|-49%|334 Friends with Benefits|1.4|2398|-55%|45.3 Horrible Bosses|1.3|2025|-40%|101.9 Transformers: Dark of the Moon|0.85|1854|-53%|342 Also Debuting|||| The Whistleblower|15,600|7|| Gun Hill Road|14,400|3|| Bellflower|9,300|2|| Magic Trip|4,600|4|| The Mysteries of Lisbon|3,000|2|| The…

Wilmington on Movies: Bellflower

“Bellflower” (Two and a Half Stars) U.S.: Evan Glodell, 2011 Bellflower — a Sundance sensation reportedly shot for only $17,000 by first time writer-director-costar-co-editor Evan Glodell — introduces us to a couple of dudes, Woodrow from Wisconsin (first-timer Glodell) and Aiden from the neighborhood (first-timer Tyler Dawson) who live north of L. A. and are obsessed…

Box Office Hell — August 5

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Rise of the Planet of the Apes|47.8|n/a|41.0|42.0|39.0 The Smurfs |21.7|n/a|20.0|23.0|20.5 The Change-Up |18.2|n/a|18.0|16.0|19.0 Cowboys and Aliens|17.5|n/a|16.0|15.0|15.0 Captain America: The First Avenger|12.7|n/a|13.0|13.0|13.0

Critics Roundup — August 5

Rise of the Planet of the Apes |Green|Green|Green|| The Change-Up |Yellow|Green||| The Whistleblower (limited) ||Green||Green| Gun Hill Road (NY, LA) ||||Green| Magic Trip (limited) ||Green||Yellow| Bellflower (NY, LA) ||||| Mysteries of Lisbon (NY) |Green|||| The Perfect Age of Rock ‘N’ Roll (limited) |Red|||| Cold Fish |Yellow||||

Wilmington on DVDs. The Rest. The Perfect Game, The Goods, Coming to America/Trading Places, The Dirty Harry Collection

  “The Perfect Game” (Three Stars) U.S.; William Dear, 2010 (Image)         I admit it. I’m a sucker for inspirational sports movies. And this account of the historic 1957 Little League champions from Monterey, Mexico — a warm-hearted picture directed by William Dear (Harry and the Hendersons), written by the book’s author W. William Winokur,…