MCN Originals Archive for January, 2012

Sundance Preview: Premieres

I know, I know, another bride-themed movie. I hear you. But because Kirsten Dunst is in this, I have hope that Bachelorette will skew more toward Bridesmaids than Bride Wars. Fingers crossed.

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Gurus o’ Gold: Post-Globes/Pre-Oscar Nominations

It’s all over but the nominations announcement. And then we start again.

A lot has changed in the last few months. But the battles at the tops of the charts will look pretty familiar. Perhaps the biggest change in this week’s charts – all 8 of the “top” categories – is Scorsese, who was not named by a single Guru in their Top 6 a couple of months ago and is now… well, you’ll see.

The Gurus also offer an opinion about who might have benefited from their Golden Globes appearance.

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Film 2011: “Imagination Gangsters”

MOST MOVIE YEARS HAVE A GLEAMING EXCEPTION to list-making, a lucid, transparent exemplar of work that rises just out of reach year-end litanies. Last year, that film was Disorder; this year, what could it be but Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz’s The Interrupters? In the lengthy, unfinished edit presented at Sundance in January, its wallop…

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Sundance Preview: World Documentary Competition

Moved into boxing training centers, these boys and girls undergo a rigorous regimen that grooms them to be China’s next Olympic heroes but also prepares them for life outside the ring. As these young boxers develop, the allure of turning professional for personal gain and glory competes with the main philosophy behind their training—to represent their country. Interconnected with their story is that of their charismatic coach, Qi Moxiang, who—now in his late thirties and determined to win back lost honor—trains for a significant fight.

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Sundance Preview: World Dramatic Competition

With the World competitions, I often don’t know a lot about the directors, so I have to pretty much go by what looks interesting from the catalog descriptions. It can be a bit of a crapshoot, since those descriptions tend to make every film at the fest sound like the Next Big Thing, but hey,…

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MOVIE LIFE IN THE POST-THEATRICAL AGE? AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR/WRITER/ACTOR EDWARD BURNS

The Gronvall Files There’s a lot about Edward Burns that’s just so likeable—he’s sharp, talented, and industrious, but also easygoing, and a generous ensemble player. Since breaking out with his acclaimed 1995 writing/directing/acting debut, the low-budget indie The Brothers McMullen (shot over weekends so as not to interfere with his then day job as an…

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Wilmington on Movies: Joyful Noise

        JOYFUL NOISE (Two Stars) U.S.: Todd Graff, 2012  Joyful Noise — in which squabbling small town Southern gospel divas Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton take their small town Georgia church choir to the improbable finals of the National Joyful Noise Competition in Los Angeles — is really two movies: one good, one bad.  …

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The Weekend Report: January 15, 2012

The slam-bang Contraband proved to be sturdier than the expected $16 million to $20 million tracking pundits predicted. According to exit polls the audience was pretty much evenly split between the sexes with about half the viewers aged 30 years old and younger. It emerged as the unexpected date night movie of the holiday period.

Also out-pacing estimates was Beauty and the Beast that was dominated by families with 60% of buyers. Couples comprised 28% of the crowd with 53% aged 25% years and younger overall. The studio was also tracking the percentage of the audience seeing the venerable animation film for the very first time but hadn’t finished collating that data at press time.

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Wilmington on Movies and DVDs: Beauty and the Beast. Movie: Truesdale/Wise. DVD: Cocteau/Clement.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 3D (Four Stars) U.S.: Gary Truesdale, Kirk Wise, 1991-2012 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (La Belle et la Bete) (Blu-ray) (Four Stars) France: Jean Cocteau/Rene Clement, 1946 (Criterion Collection) The new 3D version of the Disney Studio’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast — which is called by some the best animated feature of…

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Sundance Preview: US Documentary Competition

Also, a lawsuit’s been filed against the Sundance Institute for screening this film, to which the Institute basically said, “Screw you, rich people!” Which makes it automatically the most “must see” doc at a fest since Errol Morris’ Tabloid — which got WAY more interesting when Joyce McKinney started crashing fest screenings with her clone dog. If there’s a cloned pet somewhere in this story, it will be practically perfect.

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Friday Estimates: January 13, 2012

Three newcomers on top of the chart this weekend… kind of. Contraband, a remake, is on top. The 3D re-release of Beauty & The Beast is #2. And Joyful Noise, which brings back Dolly Parton’s breasts and what’s left of her old face, is #3. The Devil Inside drops almost as hard as Paramount hitting its knees in thanks for last Friday’s number.

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Sundance Preview: US Dramatic Competition

Back in 2008, Zeitlin made a critically lauded short film, Glory at Sea, which played at SXSW. A couple hours before his film was set to screen, Zeitlin was critically injured in a car wreck, shattering his hip and breaking his pelvis. Less than a year later, Zeitlin’s script for Beasts of the Southern Wild was accepted by the Sundance Institute, where it went through the Screenwriters Lab, the Director’s Lab, the Producer’s Lab, AND won the NHK Filmmaker Award.

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Wilmington on Movies: The Iron Lady

      THE IRON LADY (Three Stars) U.K.-U.S.; Phyllida Lloyd, 2010 Love her or hate her — and there were plenty of strong feelings on both sides of the fence —Margaret Thatcher remains one of the most fascinating and influential Western world leaders of the 20th century, richly deserving of the classy dramatization she gets…

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DP/30 Special: Super 8 in Concert, composer Michael Giacchino

Last weekend, there was a live concert on the rood of the offices of Bad Robot, JJ Abrams’ company. It was a celebration of the work of Michael Giacchino, particularly on Super 8, but on other Bad Robots films and shows as well. (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Star Trek, Lost). He explains… and the orchestra performs in this very special episode of DP/30.

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Wilmington on DVDs. The Rest: Killer Elite, What’s Your Number?, Jane Eyre, The Adjustment Bureau

  Killer Elite (Two Stars) U.S.: Gary McKendry, 2011 (Universal) There are lots of reasons to get irritated with Killer Elite — a big-bucks, big-star, mucho-macho, heavy-duty actioner that throws up several hours of murkily photographed violence, preachy dialogue and byzantine plot twists, while wasting three good actors — Jason Statham, Clive Owen and, sadly…

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The DVD Wrapup: 1911, Higher Ground, There Be Dragons, Man From London, Night and Day, An Idiot Abroad, Australia After Dark …

1911: Collector’s Edition: Revolution: Blu-ray This epic historical drama about the creation of the first Chinese republic marks Jackie Chan’s 100th film. Given the length and breadth of the nation’s history, it’s possible that no other actor in the world has represented so many different periods and worn the costumes associated with as many rulers….

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Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: New. Moneyball

     Moneyball (Also Two Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (Four Stars) U. S.: Bennett Miller, 2011 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)  It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you read the spreadsheet.     For many Americans, baseball is a great American game, and a great American sports myth as well — and it’s also, at…

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Gurus o’ Gold: Welcome To 2012

The Gurus are back for 2012… and in this special edition, the latest Best Picture chart (the Gurus welcome some more women into the Top Ten)… and a guess at the DGA nominations that are coming tomorrow morning. Better late foresight than hindsight!

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Wilmington on Movies: The Devil Inside

      The Devil Inside (One Star) U.S.: William Brent Bell, 2012 Just how bad can a movie be that grosses 34 million dollars on its first weekend? Pretty damned bad, as you’ll find out quickly if you dip into The Devil Inside — the latest entry in the found-footage horror or mocko-shockumetary sweepstakes that began…

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The Weekend Report: January 8, 2011

No one anticipated the wrath of The Devil Inside with pundits putting its prospects at between $16 million and $20 million. Following a year when pictures targeted at young males failed to get close to that bullseye, the chiller hit dead center with an audience that was 54% men and 59% aged 25 years old and younger.

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MCN Originals

Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
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