MCN Weekend Archive for October, 2011

Wilmington on Movies: Puss in Boots

    Puss in Boots (Four Stars) U.S.: Chris Miller, 2011 This review is dedicated to my friend Pica. Another Shrek movie, or, more accurately, a series spin-off? Another super-spectacular feature cartoon? Another big studio lollapalooza, this time from DreamWorks? In 3D yet? Didn’t sound artistically promising, even when the receipts started pouring in. But…

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Weekend Estimates: October 30

Puss in Boots|33.2||33.2 Paranormal Activity 3|18.5|-65%|81.3 In Time|11.8||11.8 Footloose|5.3|-49%|38.4 The Rum Diary|5.1||5.1 Real Steel|4.7|-56%|73.9 The Three Musketeers|3.4|-61%|14.8 The Ides of March|2.7|-45%|33.5 Moneyball|2.3|-42%|67.3 Courageous|1.7|-30%|27.6

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The Weekend Report: October 30, 2011

The Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots was initially expected to open north of $40 million but expectations were pared back to $35 million to $40 million as opening day loomed. The audience skewed 59% female and 55% were 25 years old and up according to exit polls (family stats were unavailable). Once again 3D underperformed with those engagements accounting for roughly two-thirds of the compliment and 51% of the box office while Imax dates were 7% of the total.

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Wilmington on Movies: The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary (Three Stars) U.S.: Bruce Robinson, 2011   The movie The Rum Diary, which I liked, is based — loosely, but that’s all right — on the novel that Hunter S. Thompson wrote when he was 22, a young guy, before “Hell’s Angels,” before “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” before “The Great Shark…

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Friday Estimates: October 28, 2011

Puss In Boots delivers a decent off-season number for an animated film, winning the weekend, but not setting off fireworks. Modest launches for In Time and The Rum Diary. Paranormal Activity, taking an outsized hit vs last Friday’s numbers, is holding surprisingly well. And DW’s Real Steel takes a punch badly for the first time, probably at the hands of DWA’s Puss.

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Critics Roundup — October 27

Puss in Boots |||||Green In Time |||Green|| Like Crazy (limited) |Yellow||Green|Green|Yellow The Rum Diary |||Yellow||Green Anonymous (limited) |Yellow||||Red

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Box Office Hell — October 27

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Puss in Boots|42.1|44.6|44.0|42.0|42.0 Paranormal Activity 3|20.2|20.4|23.0|25.0|22.0 In Time|12.5|13.6|13.0|14.0|13.5 The Rum Diary|7.4|10.7|9.0|9.0|8.5 Real Steel|7.1|6.5|6.5|n/a|5.8 Footloose |7.1|6.3|6.5|6.5|6.0

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Wilmington on DVDs. Co-Picks of the Week: Classic. Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins

Two by Claude Chabrol: Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins France: Claude Chabrol, 1958/1959 (Criterion Collection) Le Beau Serge (France: Claude Chabrol, 1958) (Four Stars) With Gerard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michele Meritz, Philippe De Broca, Jacques Rivette. (In French, with English subtitles.) Les Cousins (France: Claude Chabrol, 1959) (Four Stars) With Gerard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michele…

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The DVD Wrapup:Captain America, Jurassic Park Trilogy, Aftershock, Father of Invention, Winnie the Pooh, Rare Exports, Shaolin …

Captain America: The First Avenger The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Volumes 3, 4 A couple of months ago, in reviewing the 1990 adaptation of “Captain America,” I wondered how the no-frills version would measure up to the monster-budget “The First Avenger,” which I had yet to see. Not surprisingly, the special effects in the 2011…

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Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: New. City of Life and Death

  City of Life and Death (Also Blu-ray) (Four Stars) China: Chuan Lu, 2009 (Kino International) I. The Rape of Nanking In December, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Nanking (now “Nanjing“), the erstwhile capital city of beleaguered China. Hell followed them. For the next few weeks, that army went on one of the worst massacres,…

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Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Blu-ray. Winnie the Pooh

“Winnie the Pooh” (Two disc Blu-ray/DVD; Also Three disc Blu-ray 3D/DVD/Digital) (Three and a Half Stars) U.S.: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall; 2011 (Walt Disney)   Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin… A. A. Milne   He was one of the boon…

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The Weekend Report, October 23, 2011

If there was ever a whiff of doubt about spooks or horror franchises, the bow of Paranormal Activity 3 exorcised skeptics with an estimated $53.5 million that dominated weekend ticket sales. The session also featured two other national newcomers. The umpteenth The Three Musketeers (in 3D!) got fenced into fourth spot with $8.7 million while Johnny English Reborn bowed to an Oh Oh $3.8 million. The latter two films have fared considerably better overseas where they’ve respectively grossed $55 million and $90 million.

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Friday Estimates, October 21, 2011

Paranormal Activity 3 has become a regular activity for October fright fans, not only sure to beat its own opening record as a franchise, but looking at taking the crown as best October opener ever from Paramount’s champ from just last year, Jackass 3D. The 3D Musketeers couldn’t get to 3K on opening day. And Johnny English wasn’t reborn for long before dying at the American box office.

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Wilmington on Movies: The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers (Two Stars) U.S.: Paul W. S. Anderson, 2011 Tous pour un, un pour tous. Alexandre Dumas pere “The Three Musketeers” — Alexandre Dumas’ quintessential swashbuckling adventure tale of three crack swordsmen and lusty comrades (Athos, Porthos and Aramis) and the hothead/country bumpkin (D’Artganan) whom they befriend and help turn into a world-class,…

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Critics Roundup — October 20

The Three Musketeers |||||Red Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey |||Yellow|Green| Johnny English |Yellow|||| Martha Marcy May Marlene |||Green|Green| The Catechism Cataclysm (NY, LA Nov 4)||||Yellow| Le Havre (LA) |Green||Green||Green Paul Goodman Changed My Life (NY) |||Green|| Margin Call |Green||Green|| Norman (limited)|||Green|| Oranges and Sunshine (NY, LA) |||Yellow|| The Swell Season (NY Oct 21) |||Green|Green|

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Box Office Hell — October 20

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Paranormal Activity 3|41.4|n/a|36.0|41.0|42.0 The Three Musketeers|13.7|n/a|13.0|13.0|10.0 Real Steel|9.8|n/a|10.5|10.5|10.8 Footloose |9.5|n/a|8.0|8.0|8.7 The Ides of March|4.6|n/a|6.0|n/a|5.0 The Thing|3.5|n/a|3.5|n/a|6.7 Johnny English Reborn|4.0|n/a|3.5|6.0|7.0

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Wilmington on DVDs, The Rest: Bad Teacher; Page One: Inside the New York Times

Bad Teacher (One and a Half Stars) U.S.: Jake Kasdan, 2011 (Columbia) Seen any good movies lately? Good movies? Not really. But I saw a bad movie last Wednesday. I mean, a really bad movie. This movie was  sooooo bad…. How bad was it?… So bad that they put “bad” in the actual title! Like they were…

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The DVD Wrapup: Pirates of Caribbean, Willy Wonka’s 40th, Robotech, Bad Teacher, Captains, Harakiri, Salo, Names of Love, Baaria, Shock Doctrine, Leningrad Cowboys, A Better Life …

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: Blu-ray Call me old-fashioned, I was far more turned on by the swashbuckling action in the first half hour of “POC4,” than the entire search for the Fountain of Youth that followed it. Outside King George’s courtroom, a crowd of blood-thirsty Brits is salivating in anticipation of Captain…

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Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: New. The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life (Also Three Disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Combo) (Four Stars) U.S.: Terrence Malick, 2011 (20th Century Fox) I. The Tree In The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick, an artist/perfectionist who never rushes a movie, dares the cinematic heavens again and, as far as I’m concerned, he wins the bet. The movie, still best American film…

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DVD Geek: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Kramer’s film, which is full of delays and anxiety gags, can seem tiresome to those who are not enthusiastically embracing the free-for-all humor, but it is a veritable encyclopedia of comedy in the early Sixties, seeming to feature every major comedian except Lenny Bruce. It is the mix of the cast that gives the film a historical resonance and creates the foundation for its comical anarchy.

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MCN Weekend

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Ophelia, Ambition, Werewolf in Girls' Dorm, Byleth, Humble Pie, Good Omens, Yellowstone …More

rohit aggarwal on: The DVD Wrapup: Ophelia, Ambition, Werewolf in Girls' Dorm, Byleth, Humble Pie, Good Omens, Yellowstone …More

https://bestwatches.club/ on: The DVD Wrapup: Diamonds of the Night, School of Life, Red Room, Witch/Hagazussa, Tito & the Birds, Keoma, Andre’s Gospel, Noir

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Sleep With Anger, Ralph Wrecks Internet, Liz & Blue Bird, Hannah Grace, Unseen, Jupiter's Moon, Legally Blonde, Willard, Bang … More

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Bumblebee, Ginsburg, Buster, Silent Voice, Nazi Junkies, Prisoner, Golden Vampires, Highway Rat, Terra Formars, No Alternative … More

GDA on: The DVD Wrapup: Bumblebee, Ginsburg, Buster, Silent Voice, Nazi Junkies, Prisoner, Golden Vampires, Highway Rat, Terra Formars, No Alternative … More

Larry K on: The DVD Wrapup: Sleep With Anger, Ralph Wrecks Internet, Liz & Blue Bird, Hannah Grace, Unseen, Jupiter's Moon, Legally Blonde, Willard, Bang … More

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Shoplifters, Front Runner, Nobody’s Fool, Peppermint Soda, Haunted Hospital, Valentine, Possum, Mermaid, Guilty, Antonio Lopez, 4 Weddings … More

gwehan on: The DVD Wrapup: Shoplifters, Front Runner, Nobody’s Fool, Peppermint Soda, Haunted Hospital, Valentine, Possum, Mermaid, Guilty, Antonio Lopez, 4 Weddings … More

Gary J Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Peppermint, Wild Boys, Un Traductor, Await Instructions, Lizzie, Coby, Afghan Love Story, Elizabeth Harvest, Brutal, Holiday Horror, Sound & Fury … More

Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon