MCN Originals Archive for December, 2015
The DVD Wrapup: Ant-Man, Minions, Blind, Girl King, Speedy, Lucky and more
Is anyone surprised to learn that Universal’s family-oriented Minions sailed right past the movies from which it was spawned, Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, on its way to an astonishing $1.157-billion worldwide box-office haul? I was.
Read the full article »11 Weeks To Oscar: Control Freak’s Lament
Candidates for awards are both artists and salesmen. The media covering the season is both a source of perspective and a source of myopia. The studios chasing awards are driven by both ego-driven vanity and earnest pride in the work to which they are parent.
Read the full article » 4 Comments »Gurus o’ Gold: It’s Getting Hot In Here
The Gurus go Top 6, Picture, Director, and all four Acting categories (voted pre-SAG noms). For the first time this season, there is a lot of movement on the charts.
Read the full article » 13 Comments »The Weekend Report
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 sealed the hat trick atop weekend movie going with an estimated $18.5 million. Christmas-themed horror Krampus slotted second with a better than anticipated $16 million debut. The first December weekend is traditionally one of the slowest of the calendar and 2015 was no exception with most films dropping by half. Still, early estimates could well make it the best-grossing in history for this particular three-day.
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Friday Estimates
Krampus rustles pre-holiday takings of $6 million; Mockingjay 3.2 and Creed follow, with $5.6 million and $4.5 million, respectively. Spike Lee’s musical sex farce about murder in Chicago and Chi-raq preaches to 305 choirs for $430,000.
Read the full article »The Gronvall Report: Kent Jones Talks HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT
A fascinating chronicle of the 1962 interview sessions between Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut (which were greatly facilitated by translator Helen G. Scott), Jones’ film not only revisits the resulting seminal book, Truffaut’s “Hitchcock;” it also reexamines the men’s careers, and their relationship with each other. More than a tale of mutual admiration between two world-class directors, it’s a cerebral yet playful mash note to the movies (not just theirs), and given added heft by rarely seen archival footage, as well as by the amicable on-camera participation of contemporary filmmakers Wes Anderson, Olivier Assayas, Peter Bogdanovich, Arnaud Desplechin, David Fincher, Kiyoshi Kurasawa, Richard Linklater, Paul Schrader, and Martin Scorsese.
Read the full article » 1 Comment »The DVD Wrapup: Momentum, Amorous, Secrets of War, Grace of Monaco, The Wall, The Square, Hunting Ground, MST3K and more
Last week, the dull thud of one of the worst box-office duds of all times reverberated from the U.K. to trade and gossip sites across the U.S. Momentum, a crime thriller that cost an estimated $20 million to make, returned a whopping $69 to its investors from its opening week’s run in 10 theaters. How is that even possible? Is Momentum really as bad as all that? Yes.
Read the full article »Gurus o’ Gold: Critics Week
This week, The Gurus take their guesses at 6 of the winners and runners-up for the critics awards from NY Film Critics Circle and LA Film Critics Association, as well as offering their weekend Best Picture chart.
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