Box Office Hell — March 15

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com 21 Jump Street|29.6|29.4|28.0|34.0|31.0 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax |23.6|24.1|23.0|27.0|25.5 John Carter|17.5|15.4|15.0|15.0|16.0 Project X|6.0|5.8|n/a|5.8|6.0 Act of Valor |3.7|4.2|n/a|3.9|4.0

Critics Roundup – March 15

21 Jump Street |Yellow|||| Casa de mi Padre (limited) ||||| Gerhard Richter Painting (NY) |||Green|Green| Jeff, Who Lives at Home (limited) |Green|||Green| The Kid with a Bike (limited) |Green||Green|Green| Natural Selection (limited) ||||Yellow| Delicacy (limited) |||Yellow|| Reuniting the Rubens (NY) |Red||||

Wilmington on DVDs: The Moment of Truth

By the end of the film, after Rosi and the audience have followed a young bullfighter, Miguel or “Miguelin,” from provincial poverty all the way to fame in Barcelona and Madrid, to the brink of massacre, and to the moment of truth, of oblivion, that every matador, every bull, every screaming member of the crowd, must feel or face in their own ways — at the end of all that, in the presence of our God and a church, we sense that we‘ve seen not just seen an exotic entertainment, but that we’ve had a life experience. It’s a terrifying film, and a wondrous one, and, as you watch it, it drains your heart and guts, as it stares fiercely into the sun, like Kurosawa.

The DVD Wrapup: Descendants, Marilyn, Young Adult, Bellissima, More

“Bellissima” features a tour de force performance by Anna Magnani as a fame-obsessed stage mother, whose only moderately talented daughter becomes a pawn in a game designed to impress studio executives looking for the next big child star. Magnani’s Maddalena Ciccone is so self-centered and determined to win the contest that she fails to notice how much pain she’s causing little Maria and her husband, Spartaco, whose dreams of building a house for them diminishes with every dollar Maddalena spends on photographs, costumes and bribes.

Wilmington on DVDs: My Week with Marilyn, Happy Feet Two, The Three Musketeers, The Geisha Boy

Then there’s Michelle Williams as Marilyn herself. I said above that nobody could catch Marilyn’s magic. No one can. But Michelle Williams comes close. She does a wonderful job, manages to get some of her body and a bit of her soul. And some of her blonde haired beauty, the kind gentlemen prefer. (Gentlemen, hah!)

Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Blu-ray. The Adventures of Tintin

All three of them (four, counting the dauntless Snowy), are constantly hurled into perilous exploits involving galleons aflame, crashing airplanes, scorching desert sand dunes filled with camels, sheiks and villainy, plus one of the most spectacular one-take car and motorcycle chases ever (a dam bursts just as the chase gets underway), and a climactic industrial crane battle (done, like the other action scenes, in what look like super-crane shots).

Wilmington on DVDs. Co-Picks of the Week: New. The Descendants, Melancholia

This is a perfect Clooney role and movie, just as The Hustler or Hud or The Verdict were perfect for Paul Newman, The Sting or The Way We Were or the Sundance Kid were perfect for Robert Redford. Everything that makes Clooney attractive on screen — likeability, smarts, vulnerability, earnestness in the face of chaos, that wry sense of being at the center of things but not letting it carry him away, and the ability to kid himself — is present in the character he‘s playing here.

Wilmington on Movies: Silent House

It’s a contemporary variation on the “Old Dark House” lady-in-distress thriller, based on the Uruguayan suspense film La Casa Muda and it stars the very pretty and convincing Elizabeth Olsen as Sarah, a sensitive and troubled young lady whose somewhat obnoxious father John and somewhat enigmatic Uncle Peter have joined her at the family’s summer home, to clean it up and prepare it for sale.

The Weekend Report: March 11, 2012

Like a hideous car accident all eyes were on John Carter. Or, at the very least there was the prospect of the anticipated catastrophe that a calculated franchise title would come crashing down to earth (or Mars).

The film proved to be somewhat of a split decision. Its opening estimated gross of $30.1 million ranked it second to Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’s second weekend of $39 million. So, while the hero of the pulps and pecs was not a flame out neither did he flex the sort of commercial heft that would anticipate sequels.

Wilmington on Movies: John Carter

John Carter, the new live action Disney epic — based on the popular early 20th century pulp series of science fiction novels (“A Princess of Mars,“ etc.) by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs — reportedly cost all of that and more, and it still looks like as if it’s missing something. But maybe it’s missing something money can’t buy.

Friday Estimates: March 10, 2012

It’s a decent opening for John Carter, but Disney needed more than decent for this one. Silent House’s open isn’t very exciting… but should be profitable for this very inexpensive pick-up from Sundance 2011. And the long waiting to be dumped Eddie Murphy bomb, A Thousand Words, fulfills its destiny.

Box Office Hell: March 8

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax |40.5|41.8|45.0|42.0|44.0 John Carter|29.2|34.9|27.0|26.0|25.0 Project X|9.4|9.4|9.0|10.0|11.3 Silent House|8.6|10.6|10.0|9.0|11.0 Act of Valor |7.5|7.5 |n/a|7.5|7.3

Critics Roundup – March 8

John Carter |Yellow||Yellow|Green|Green Silent House ||||Yellow|Yellow Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (limited) |||||Green Friends with Kids (limited) |Yellow||Green|Green| Footnote (NY, LA) |Green|||Green| The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (limited) |||Green|Green| Sound of Noise (limited) ||||Green| Attenberg (NY) |||Green|Green|

Review: John Carter

And then we have what’s perhaps the most interesting element of the story (or it is to me at least): the role of the Therns, messengers from “the Goddess” whose role seems to be to stir up trouble, violence, death and destruction while they whisper words of influence and sit back and watch the mayhem, apparently to alleviate the boredom of immortality (kind of like Q on ST:TNG, only without Q’s snarky sense of humor). If one of the evil Therns had revealed himself at the end to be John Carter’s long-lost father, it would have been practically perfect pulp.

Wilmington on DVDs. Anatomy of a Murder, To Catch a Thief

Why has it lasted? Improved with age? Actually, surprisingly, when the shock elements of the movie began to seem tamer, its excellence as a realistic film drama became far more apparent.

The DVD Wrapup: Footloose, 54, Vanya on 42nd Street… More

What’s missing from the Blu-ray edition of “54” is the 45 minutes of deleted material, compiled by Christopher and shown at New York’s Outfest in 2008. It expands on the promiscuity and cocaine-fueled depravity that made Studio 54 the attraction it was, while amplifying on Phillippe’s bisexuality, which was only alluded to in finished product.

Wilmington on DVDs. Jack and Jill, Footloose, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Among Jill’s more unfortunate traits: a habit of leaping into Jack’s bed and spooning (She calls it part of “twin time“), starting arguments at dinnertime, saying everything in a loud, squeaky Bronx screech of a voice, diarrheic reactions to chimichangas and a tendency to leave huge dark sweat stains on her bed sheets.

Wilmington on Movies: Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie

… a hellhole inhabited by more idiots and a wolf or two, including the uncredited John C. Reilly as the affably deranged halfwit Taquito, the uncredited Will Ferrell as the stomach-churning con guy Damien Weebs, the uncredited Zach Galifianakis as the rustic simpleton Jim Joe Kelly (at least I think he was a rustic simpleton), Jeff Goldblum as “Chef” Goldblum …

The Weekend Report: March 4, 2012

Clearly no one saw The Lorax coming with so much force though pundits predicted a sizeable opening pegged between $45 million and $50 million. It was the highest opening for an original animated picture ever and ranked third best all-time March opener. But just 52% of ticket buyers opted for 3D engagements suggesting that audiences still have a recession attitude toward stereoscopic films.

Not surprisingly the audience was 68% families though its gross clearly indicated considerable business beyond matinees. There was also a 60% tilt toward female viewers.

Project X also hit a bull’s eye with its targeted young male crowd. Its exit demos identified a 58% swing toward the boys and 67% of viewers aged 25 years and younger. Generally positive reviews helped the picture exceed high end projections of $18 million.

Wilmington on Movies: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

It isn’t as if this show were a bomb. It’s made by intelligent guys.

They know how to shoot. They think Seuss is a toot, They love trees and they love cracking wise.

Cinco Paul, and Ken Daurio, and Chris Renau-rio, the gang from Despicable Me

Well, maybe their flick is too big and too cheery-o: a Slightly Disposable Spree.