MCN Originals Archive for October, 2012
Wilmington on DVDs: That’s My Boy; Chernobyl Diaries
THAT’S MY BOY (One and a Half Stars) U.S.: Sean Anders, 2012 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) Say one thing for Adam Sandler: He isn’t afraid of looking like an idiot on screen. Or a boor. Or one horny dude. Or a comedian who doesn’t give aadamn what the some critics think of him. More…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs: Strangers on a Train, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
This classic portrayal of murder, guilt, transference and homoeroticism is one of Hitchcock‘s best: a superb film noir adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s classic literary thriller, with an amazing performance — blood-chilling, hilarious and strangely moving — by Walker as Bruno, that charmingly twisted rich boy who won’t take “no” for an answer.
Read the full article »Weekend Estimates
The second weekend of Taken 2 usurped new pictures in the marketplace with an estimated box office of $22.4 million. The most highly anticipated of five new national releases finished right behind. Argo, based on a declassified chapter of the Iran hostages incident, bowed to $19.3 million while spine-tingler Sinister opened with $18.4 million. Further down the chart, the Kevin James comedy Here Comes the Boom generated $12.1 million and quirky caper Seven Psychopaths grossed $4.2 million. And it was bad news for Ayn Rand (not even Paul Ryan went) as the reported second-of-three installments of Atlas Shrugged arrived with $1.7 million.
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Friday Estimates
Argo is well on its way to a solid $16m+ start, but the highly praised international thriller is what some will consider a disappointing #3, behind the new horror film Sinister, and the second weekend of Taken 2, off 62%, but still potent. Don’t expect the 3 titles to be in the same order by weekend’s end.
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: Seven Psychopaths
That’s sixteen characters (and one Shih Tzu) altogether, including the four psychopaths we already mentioned. You’ll just have to figure out who the other three psychos are yourself, or wait until McDonagh shows one of them in the movie, and flashes the title “Psychopath One” (or whatever) on screen. There are some surprises. But I’d go see a movie with any three of the seven actors playing actual psychopaths in this one, in a trice. Or a movie just with Chris Walken and any two others, even the dog.
Read the full article »20 Weeks To Oscar: 20 Weeks To Go
This seems like the beginning of the season. But in reality, we’re already pretty far down the road. By next week at this time, the only legitimately contending movies not widely seen by NY/LA media will be Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty, and Hitchcock. So there may be a performance or two that changes the acting categories. If you want a “The Year Of…” tag, here it is: This is the Year Of The Close Fight.
Read the full article » 9 Comments »The DVD Wrapup: Rock of Ages, Little Shop, Prometheus, Cat in Paris, People Like Us … More
As so often happens when Broadway goes Hollywood, the musical was edited to please studio executives who probably hadn’t attended a live musical since high school. Geffen told the director to expect heat on the apocalyptic ending, but let him shoot it anyway. To his credit, Oz doesn’t waste any time on the commentary track complaining about something that happened 25 years earlier. He agrees that the changes helped at the box office and is happy viewers finally will be able to see the original ending, which he still defends. Even the opinions of a test audience and studio suits couldn’t screw up this bullet-proof gem, however. Neither was “Little Shop” damaged by expanding its scale. The skid-row sets, which were built in several soundstages at Britain’s Pinewood Studios, look terrific and the production numbers take up as much space as they need. The songs remain wonderful, as well, even with the fresh level of gloss and polish applied to them.
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Wilmington on Movies: Frankenweenie
Two of the best things horror-comedy prodigy Tim Burton ever did were a couple of black and white cartoons he made for Disney back in the early ‘80s, when he was a lad in his 20s. One of them, Vincent (1982), was the tale in rhyme of a little boy who adored Vincent Price. Narrated in his inimitable evil-ish sneer by Mr. Price himself; it was a critical hit, and deserved to be. (I remember seeing it in a theater in the early ‘80s, with mingled bemusement and delight — and filing away Burton‘s name in my noggin.) The other gem, the black and white stop-motion featurette Frankenweenie, was a Frankenstein parody set in a black-and-white sit-commy stop-motion suburb, about a child named Victor Frankenstein who revives with electricity his dead pet dog.
Read the full article » 1 Comment »The Weekend Report
If it ain’t broke… don’t… Like its father, Taken 2 outpaced expectations with an estimated $50.2 million to lead weekend film sales. The session’s only other wide debut was the animated Frankenweenie that slotted fifth overall with a disappointing $11.7 million bow. Following last weekend’s limited opening, Pitch Perfect expanded nationality and tuned up good results of $14.7 million that ranked it third in the lineup.
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: The Master
I watched an hour of The Master, and decided that (along with IMAX), that was one of the main ways I wanted to look at movies from now on. The Master catches the ’50s as well as most of the great color movies of and about that decade—Vertigo, Some Came Running, Written on the Wind, A Star is Born, and of course, Rebel Without a Cause. It’s an expose’ of the Eisenhower era, but it’s also a 70mm poem to it.
Read the full article » 7 Comments »Friday Estimates
Last weekend, Hotel Transylvania took the record for a September opening. This weekend, we have Taken 2 threatening the record October opening of Paranormal Activity 3 ($52.6m). It may come up a little short, but it will almost certainly be the biggest sequel (as opposed to three-quel) opening in October ever.
Read the full article »Gurus o’ Gold: After Toronto (Part 2)
A look at the Lead & Supporting acting races.
Read the full article » 14 Comments »The DVD Wrapup: Dark Shadows, Cinderella, Iron Sky, Flying Swords … More
Everything about Tim Burton’s feature-length remake of the ancient TV soap opera, Dark Shadows, must have seemed perfect on paper, at least.
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs: Dark Shadows
DVD PICK OF THE WEEK: NEW DARK SHADOWS (Three Stars) U.S.: Tim Burton, 2012 The original TV “Dark Shadows” was a hell of a soap, a classic of ‘60s-’70s pop/trash culture. When you watch it today, you can almost hear a ghostly backdrop chorus of Nixon and McGovern speeches, Walter Cronkite reporting the Vietnam…
Read the full article »Gurus o’ Gold: After Toronto (Part 1)
This morning, a look at the new Best Picture chart, led by Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, and Les Miserables. and Longshot picks in the acting categories, led by Jack Black, Richard Gere, and Emmanuelle Riva.
Read the full article » 5 Comments »
