MCN Originals Archive for September, 2013

The Weekend Report

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 supped on an estimated opening salvo of $34.4 million to easily take top spot with weekend moviegoers. Three other films debuted nationally and, like Meatballs, none had quite the spice that had been anticipated. Following last week’s teaser opening, Formula 1 racing saga Rush slotted third with $10.3 million while urban romantic comedy Baggage Claim grossed $9.4 million. The naughty but nice Don Jon trailed with $9 million.

Read the full article » 5 Comments »

Friday Estimates

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 opens about 12% better than the first of the fledgling series, but the key number for the film, with kids back to school, will be Saturday’s. Meanwhile, the two sex romp comedies—one from New Jersey and one traveling from Los Angeles— romanced the same estimated opening number… which suggests that Don Jon will likely do slightly better over the weekend run. But it also suggests that both films probably would have been better off not opening against one another, even if all answers to opening weekend are not black-and-white.

Read the full article »

The DVD Wrapup

The East, Gimme the Loot, Iron Man, Room 237, Augustine, Rosselli/Bergman, Fill the Void, In the House, Foyle’s War… and more.

Read the full article » 2 Comments »

Wilmington on DVD: Iron Man Three

In Iron Man Three—capstone of the trilogy of films in which Robert Downey, Jr. plays brainy CEO Tony Stark a.k.a. the robo-suited super-hero Iron ManDowney spends far more time out of his Iron Man suit than in it. But that’s okay.

Read the full article »

The Weekend Report

It was definitely a case of take all Prisoners as the gripping child abduction drama ascended to the top in its debut with an estimated $21.2 million. The weekend’s other incoming wide release saw dancing but no stars as Battle of the Year grossed $4.8 million to slot fifth overall. Exclusive newcomers also provided a couple of potent entries starting with the adult rom-com Enough Said that sparked $240,000 from four screens. Just a lap behind, Formula 1 nail-biter Rush revved up $198,000 from five tracks.

Read the full article »

Friday Estimates

Jackman & Gyllenhaal & WB classic thriller marketing lead to a solid opening for Prisoners. How big the movie ends up being will depend on how much audiences enjoy the creamy metaphoric filling once they’ve bitten in and word-of-mouth begins.

Read the full article »

The Torontonian Reviews GRAVITY

Gravity is really, really cool.

Read the full article » 1 Comment »

Pride’s Friday 5, 20 September 2013

Prisoners, After Tiller, Out 1: Noli me Tangere, Simon Killer and Gimme the Loot.

Read the full article »

Gurus o’ Gold Post-Venice/Telluride/Toronto

We tried something a little different this week. First, we picked our Top 8, without ranking them. Then, we picked out Next 7, also without ranking them. The idea was to create some degree of hierarchy without beating the rankings to death this early in the award season.

Read the full article » 10 Comments »

The Weekend Report

.

Read the full article »

The Torontonian Reviews UNDER THE SKIN

Glazer’s decision to light the film with heavy chiaroscuro makes getting lost in the ambiguity sexy and mysterious, and it’s rare that you see the fullness of a character’s face. There is almost always something obscuring the skin or hiding the face of both prey and predator, which makes the shadows and confusion a bewitching result.

Read the full article »

Wilmington on DVDs: World War Z; The Bling Ring

Pitt doesn’t usually take the Tom Cruise stud-hero route; he’s done a lot of interesting projects. And though he’s wearing a strange hairdo for this type of role, he makes for a likable hero, if not a plausibly written one.

Read the full article »

Friday Box Office Estimates

Insidious: Chapter 2 goes “boo!” with $20.1 million, while The Family serves up $5.3 million. And The Butler‘s only $3.9 million from serving up a cool $100 mil.

Read the full article » 1 Comment »

The Torontonian Reviews PRISONERS

An unspoiled viewing of the film is so completely engrossing that every little clue or tidbit rattles and teases us. But the best mystery films are often those that withstand repeated viewings, for we watch these movies again and again to revisit how expertly handled each revelation is and how the characters react to them. Prisoners is this kind of mystery movie.

Read the full article » 1 Comment »

The DVD Wrapup

War Witch, Star Trek, Friday 13th, Love Is All You Need, Strong Language, Ruby, American Hippie in Israel… and so much more.

Read the full article »

The Weekend Report

To no great surprise, the debut of Riddick shot to the top of the weekend charts with an estimated $18.6 million. It was the sole new national release in what is traditionally one of the lowest attended movie periods of the year. There was a tidal wave of exclusive openings but only doc portrait Salingerposted big numbers of $89,200 with a mere four carbons.

Read the full article »

Friday Box Office Estimates

Riddick‘s got kick; The Butler stands ready to serve; The Millers have no intention of leaving town.

Read the full article » 1 Comment »

Wilmington on Movies: The World’s End

I’ve let The World’s End go unremarked—so far—even though this cheerfully outrageous new comedy by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (all of Shaun of the Dead) is one of my favorite movies so far this year—and judging by the reviews, the favorite of lots of other critics (and audiences) too.

Read the full article » 1 Comment »

The Torontonian Reviews PARKLAND

Their stories would likely be far more interesting in a written format, like Vincent Bugliosi’s “Four Days in November,” the book from which the film is adapted.

Read the full article » 2 Comments »

Wilmington on DVDs: The Winged Serpent (Q), The Iceman, Now You See Me

A sleazy little semi-classic from the more daffily glorious times when horror movies had less gore, smaller budgets and more personality, The Winged Serpent (or Q, as it was called when I caught it in New York City on its first release) is a delightfully cheesy monster movie from Larry Cohen in his heyday.

Read the full article »

MCN Originals

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