Back Seat Producers

In my quest to find a fight film to unseat Raging Bull as the greatest movie of all time (everybody take a drink—podcast joke people, come on!) I stumbled upon the 36^th Chamber of Shaolin.

Originally titled “Master Killer” when it was released in the USA on VHS at some point after its Asian theatrical release in 1978, the film follows the story of San Te, a young student who is naïve about human nature and man’s domination of man; his insulated upbringing gives him no understanding as to why the Manchus wish to dominate the Han Chinese.

However, eventually he has no choice but to understand—his teacher is a revolutionary, and challenges them to understand what it means to be dominated and why one should fight to be free. Later, when San Te publicly remarks that Han Chinese rebel crucified in the town square was a hero, he—under the threat of being imprisoned himself, has to apologize to the Manchus for his transgression.

This event strikes him to his core, and he begins to ask questions. He involves himself in the revolution as an errand boy. During this short period, his teacher remarks that if only the Shaolin would teach kung fu to the people, they could fight the Manchus.

Soon, San Te’s teacher becomes the target of the Manchus—fellow students are killed, and even San Te’s own father becomes the victim of his associations with Han rebels.

On the run, San Te is determined to get to Shaolin temple to learn kung fu, and seek refuge from the Manchus hunting him.

What has been summarized thus far is roughly a half-hour of exposition mostly to serve the purpose of the rest of the film—to show the world of martial arts training, self-discipline, and self-discovery.

While the story is relatively straightforward and uncomplicated, it achieves a remarkable technical realism. This is thanks to Lau Kar Leung, the director more famous for Jackie Chan’s “Legend of Drunken Master,” who keeps his comic sensibilities to a minimum here to weave a no-nonsense tale for the very purpose of introducing people to authentic Hung Gar training, discipline, and values.

Fans of extremely realistic films will enjoy this picture—even in spite of its 70’s Hong Kong set-piece feel. The realistic aspects of the film have everything to do with the execution of martial arts and what training is involved. It is said that Lau Kar Leung wanted to make a film that actually showed martial arts training in its entirety–not the five minute sequences training occupied next to sequences of kung fu fantasy in films by earlier Hong Kong directors like Chang Cheh.

The film is uncompromising in achieving this vision, which may make non-martial arts enthusiasts yawn, but is deeply rewarding for viewers seeking films about martial arts, films about fighters in general, or even the psychology of fighting.

Fight films are few and far between. Good fight films are even fewer. “36^th Chamber of Shaolin” is in that small pantheon of fighter-flicks that deliver.

#1 Alice in Wonderland from Buena Vista debuts at #1 with an opening weekend gross of $116.1 million in 3728 theaters. Budget was $200 million.

#2 Brooklyn’s Finest from Overture debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $13.3 million in 1936 theaters. Budget was $17 million.

#3 Shutter Island from Paramount drops from #1 to #3 with a weekend gross of $13.2 million (-41.6%) in 3178 theaters (+175). Total gross to date is $95.7 million. Budget was $80 million.

#4 Cop Out from Warner Brothers drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $9.2 million (-49.0%) in 3150 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $32.5 million. Budget was $30 million.

#5 Avatar from Fox drops from #4 to #5 with a weekend gross of $8.1 million (-40.5%) in 2163 theaters (-293). Total gross to date is $720.6 million. Budget is unknown.

#6 The Crazies from Overture drops from #3 to #6 with a weekend gross of $7.0 million (-55.9%) in 2479 theaters (+3) . Total gross to date is $27.4 million. Budget was $20 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $5.1 million (-46.5%) in 2994 theaters (-308) . Total gross to date is $78.0 million. Budget was $95 million.

#8 Valentine’s Day drops from #6 to #8 with a weekend gross of $4.1 million (-54.2%) in 3040 theaters (-538). Total gross to date is $106.3 million. Budget was $52 million.

#9 Crazy Heart jumps from #10 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.3 million (+34.5%) in 1274 theaters (+126). Total gross to date is $29.5 million. Budget was $7 million.

#10 Dear John drops from #7 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.7 million (-42.1%) in 2496 theaters (-510). Total gross to date is $76.6 million. Budget was $25 million.

#11 The Tooth Fairy drops from #9 to #11 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (-50.8%) in 1734 theaters (-515). Total gross to date is $56.2 million. Budget was $48 million.

#12 The Wolfman drops from #8 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (-61.6%) in 1829 theaters (-1214). Total gross to date is $60.4 million. Budget was $150 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $185.8 million (+74.4%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Three different officers in Brooklyn’s 65th precinct are dealing with their own desperation. We’re first introduced to Sal Procida, a detective who’s desperation to provide a good life to his family has led to his own corruption, committing murder and willing to steal drug money from various busts. We meet Clarence Butler, known on the street as Tango. He’s a deep cover operative who’s infiltration of street gang life is permeating his own. He’s desperate to get his own life back even though it may come at the cost of the betrayal of a lifelong friend. And we meet Eddie Dugan, a beat cop who’s ready to retire after 22 years on the force. He’s disillusioned from his long experience on the force, with younger officers not giving him any respect and calling him a burnout. In his final days, he’s desperate for some form of respect and finding himself again.

That’s the premise to director Antoine Fuqua’s latest movie, Brooklyn’s Finest. Fuqua is best known for his previous movie of police corruption, Training Day, a terrific film that I think actually gets a little edged out by Brooklyn’s Finest.

Fuqua is real adept at weaving together these three stories. He gives you enough on each character and then knows when to move on to his next. You never really feel like he’s getting lost in these three stories. For the first part of the film, there’s a more leisured pace to seeing their stories unfold, but then at some key points of action, he’ll pick up the pace with quicker cuts to each of the three stories. The flow feels very nice.

It’s for a mature audience to be sure, and not just because of it’s dealings with sex and violence in the film. These characters are really well-drawn, and while their surface stories might give off singular motivations, there’s more to each of these men than just that and it’s there on the screen thanks to some really nice performances.

Ethan Hawke plays Sal, Don Cheadle plays Tango and Richard Gere plays Eddie and all three deliver some exceptional work here. I particularly found myself drawn to Gere and Eddie Dugan’s story the most. Gere’s performance really does feel lived-in and like that of a man who’s withdrawn himself because of things that he’s experienced over time. That doesn’t slight what either Hawke or Cheadle does here. I like how Hawke plays his corruption here which is apart from how it might be conventionally portrayed, he’s riddled with guilt over what he’s done and has an obvious hard time dealing with it. Cheadle’s a powder keg waiting to explode, especially when dealing with his superiors and when it does happen, it’s actually pretty harrowing in it’s own right.

There’s a lot of good support here as well. It’s very nice to see Wesley Snipes in something like this. Snipes plays Cas, Tango’s friend who’s been away to jail and is just now released and getting back into the life. though he doesn’t have as much time on the screen as the three leads, Snipes still does really well here and even with this part, it still feels multi-faceted. Will Patton and Ellen Barkin play Tango’s superiors. Patton is solid, this is the sort of character thing that we’re used to from him. Barkin is a big surprise though and it’s one of the more vicious performances that I’ve seen her do. I can’t tell you how long that it’s been that I’ve seen Lili Taylor in a movie, but it was certainly nice to see her here as Sal’s wife, and while it’s not a flashy performance you can see by her work who’s the rock in this relationship. Brían F. O’Byrne plays one of Sal’s team, who’s basically Sal’s clarity even though Sal doesn’t know it. Shannon Kane plays Chantal, a hooker that Eddie Dugan sees. Dugan thinks she could be one way of him finding something for himself in the world, and she’s certainly adept at giving him that further illusion.

Brooklyn’s Finest is really a terrific movie. The three stories are all handled very well, really making you involved with their characters and the way they come together in the end feels logical, though there is some coincidence to it, it still feels right. For me, this one is one of those that already I’ll have to look back on at the end of the year as one of the best films of 2010. Highly recommended.

#1 Shutter Island from Paramount holds at #1 with a weekend gross of $22.6 million (-44.8%) in 3003 theaters (+12). Total gross to date is $75.5 million. Budget was $80 million.

#2 Cop Out from Warner Brothers debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $18.2 million in 3150 theaters. Budget was $30 million.

#3 The Crazies from Overture debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $16.0 million in 2476 theaters. Budget was $20 million.

#4 Avatar from Fox drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $13.6 million (-15.9%) in 2456 theaters (-125). Total gross to date is $706.5 million. Budget is unknown.

#5 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Fox drops from #4 to #5 with a weekend gross of $9.5 million (-37.2%) in 3302 theaters (-94) . Total gross to date is $70.9 million. Budget was $95 million.

#6 Valentine’s Day from Warner Brothers drops from #2 to #6 with a weekend gross of $9.0 million (-45.6%) in 3578 theaters (-87). Total gross to date is $99.9 million. Budget was $52 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Dear John drops from #6 to #7 with a weekend gross of $4.8 million (-32.6%) in 3006 theaters (-56). Total gross to date is $72.4 million. Budget was $25 million.

#8 The Wolfman drops from #5 to #8 with a weekend gross of $4.2 million (-56.9%) in 3043 theaters (-180). Total gross to date is $57.3 million. Budget was $150 million.

#9 The Tooth Fairy drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.4 million (-21.3%) in 2249 theaters (-274). Total gross to date is $53.8 million. Budget was $48 million.

#10 Crazy Heart drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.4 million (-16.9%) in 1148 theaters (+59). Total gross to date is $25.0 million. Budget was $7 million.

#11 The Blind Side jumps from #13 to #11 with a weekend gross of $1.2 million (-14.7%) in 945 theaters (-115). Total gross to date is $248.7 million. Budget was $29 million.

#12 The Book of Eli drops from #11 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.1 million (-41.1%) in 975 theaters (-480). Total gross to date is $92.5 million. Budget was $80 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $106.5 million (-12.7%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, strange things are happening. Citizens of the town are turning emotionally strange and violent. The town’s sheriff, David Dutton, and his wife, Dr. Judy Dutton, are doing their best to look into the mystery. Sheriff Dutton starts to make headway with the discovery of a downed plane in a nearby creek. He believes that it’s something there that’s infesting the town’s water supply and soon he finds out he’s right. Almost as soon as he makes the connection, the entire area is put into containment by the military, and then hijinks ensue.

That’s the premise to The Crazies, a re-make of an early 70s film from director George Romero. This new version is helmed by director Breck Eisner, and while it’s well-made, there’s still something that’s a little lacking for me. I’ve never seen the original film, so I can’t really draw any comparisons to that. I see that a lot of people are calling it a “zombie” movie, but it’s not technically. It’s an infestation/virus film, though I doubt that will make much of a difference to the naysayers of horror movies out there.

There’s solid tension here right from the start. It does a nice job at showing this more through the eyes of an everyman and the chaos that would result from that. Where it falters are in areas after the military moves in and a lack of consistency as to just what their presence is. One moment, they’re all over the place and the next they’re mysteriously gone, which seems more for the convenience of moving our main characters forward in the story more than anything really logical. Now I don’t necessarily need there to be a strict adherence to logic throughout a movie like this, and if it’s made with enough of a brisk pace, then normally I wouldn’t even bring it up. Here, though, there are moments when things relax enough that I did question that.

For the most part though, it’s pretty well made. No problem with any of the performances though. Timothy Olyphant plays Sheriff Dutton and Radha Mitchell plays his wife Judy and they’re both rock-solid, as is the work of the supporting cast.

There’s nothing really offensive here though, just a few moments where that paced is relaxed enough to question a few things and some added “hero” moments at the end of the film which are more padding than anything else. Not a bad little diversion, and if you like these sort of films (and I do), then you might have a good time with it. I don’t think this is one though that you have to run right out to see in a theatre and it actually might play better later on for home viewing.

#1 Shutter Island from Paramount debuts at #1 with an opening weekend gross of $41.0 million in 2991 theaters. Budget was $80 million.

#2 Valentine’s Day from Warner Brothers drops from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $16.6 million (-70.4%) in 3665 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $86.9 million. Budget was $52 million.

#3 Avatar from Fox jumps from #4 to #3 with a weekend gross of $16.2 million (-31.2%) in 2581 theaters (-104). Total gross to date is $687.9 million. Budget is unknown.

#4 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Fox drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $15.2 million (-51.2%) in 3396 theaters (+40) . Total gross to date is $58.7 million. Budget was $95 million.

#5 The Wolfman from Universal drops from #2 to #5 with a weekend gross of $9.8 million (-68.6%) in 3223 theaters (+1). Total gross to date is $50.3 million. Budget was $150 million.

#6 Dear John from Screen Gems drops from #5 to #6 with a weekend gross of $7.1 million (-55.6%) in 3062 theaters (+87). Total gross to date is $65.8 million. Budget was $25 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 The Tooth Fairy drops from #6 to #7 with a weekend gross of $4.3 million (-28.1%) in 2523 theaters (-225). Total gross to date is $49.7 million. Budget was $48 million.

#8 Crazy Heart jumps from #9 to #8 with a weekend gross of $2.9 million (-30.5%) in 1089 theaters (+84). Total gross to date is $21.5 million. Budget was $7 million.

#9 From Paris with Love drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $2.6 million (-51.6%) in 2311 theaters (-411). Total gross to date is $21.3 million. Budget was $52 million.

#10 Edge of Darkness drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.2 million (-53.7%) in 2118 theaters (-497). Total gross to date is $40.3 million. Budget was $80 million.

#11 The Book of Eli holds at #11 with a weekend gross of $1.8 million (-48.0%) in 1455 theaters (-370). Total gross to date is $90.7 million. Budget was $80 million.

#12 When in Rome drops from #10 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.7 million (-52.8%) in 1627 theaters (-498). Total gross to date is $29.3 million. Budget is unknown.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $122.0 million (-35.4%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

It’s shortly after World War II, and United States Federal Marshal, Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his new partner Chuck find themselves traveling to an island in the Boston Bay called Shutter Island that’s the home to a mental institution that houses the most extreme cases. One of the considered more dangerous patients has escaped their care, and now these two U.S. Marshals have been sent in to investigate, only there way more to Shutter Island than they realize.

Yeah, that description of the initial premise of Shutter Island is really cryptic. I don’t like to spoil movies at all, and hopefully here I still won’t though I’m afraid this review isn’t going to be favorable to Martin Scorsese’s newest movie. But still I don’t want to spoil it, for those that want to see it for themselves.

Now, Scorsese is certainly one of my favorite directors working today, and certainly considered one of the greatest overall working in films, but even the greatest have their failures, and unfortunately, Shutter Island doesn’t really hold up as well as most of Scorsese’s past movies.

The movie certainly looks great, and featuring some pretty exquisite production design by Dante Ferretti, certainly a veteran of making movies look terrific and authentic. That’s readily on display.

And there’s no faulting the terrific cast that’s been put together for this movie. This is Leonardo DiCaprio’s fourth outing with Martin Scorsese, and it’s easy to see why these two have developed a very good working relationship with each other- Scorsese’s movies always have much more going on beneath their surface and DiCaprio has certainly shown that he’s an actor who’s capable of showing much more than surface detail in his performances. DiCaprio is the star here, but he’s backed up with an A-list of talent, including Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams and Emily Mortimer. This also features Patricia Clarkson, Ted Levine, Elias Koteas and Jackie Earle Haley in some smaller but key roles into putting together what’s really going on here. And everyone here is good, no doubt about that, I expect they’re delivering exactly what Scorsese wants.

The fault here is in the script and in the very languid pace of the movie. Now I know this an adaptation of a novel (I’ve never read it), and as a novel, it’s unfolding probably works, but as it plays out here, and further because of the movie’s slow pace, it’s pretty easy to see what’s coming and that includes the “secret” of Shutter Island, and as such, it’s revelations don’t have too much impact, or at least they didn’t for me. Now this is being sold as a bit of suspense and a bit of horror, and certainly the trappings are there, but Scorsese has never really been known for fully delving into those realms and his movies more play out as some intense character studies, and that’s certainly the case with Shutter Island. And as a character study, this one is pretty loaded with detail, but because of being able to see where the “twist” was to this in the film’s first half, it’s left with no impact whatsoever.

Your own mileage may vary of course, and as far as I know, this might improve much more for me on a second viewing, but while I found this really well made from a production standpoint, and really well-performed it didn’t quite come together for me in such a way by it’s end where I really cared one way or the other, even though I still admire the detail that went into it.

#1 Valentine’s Day from Warner Brothers debuts at #1 with an opening weekend gross of $56.2 million in 3665 theaters. Budget was $52 million.

#2 The Wolfman from Universal debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $31.4 million in 3222 theaters. Budget was $150 million.

#3 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Fox debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $31.2 million in 3356 theaters. Budget was $95 million.

#4 Avatar from Fox drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $23.6 million (+3.3%) in 2685 theaters (-315). Total gross to date is $661.2 million. Budget is unknown.

#5 Dear John from Screen Gems drops from #1 to #5 with a weekend gross of $16.0 million (-47.3%) in 2975 theaters (+6). Total gross to date is $53.9 million. Budget was $25 million.

#6 The Tooth Fairy from Fox drops from #5 to #6 with a weekend gross of $6.0 million (-8.7%) in 2748 theaters (-470). Total gross to date is $41.9 million. Budget was $48 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 From Paris with Love drops from #3 to #7 with a weekend gross of $5.4 million (-32.6%) in 2722 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $16.6 million. Budget was $52 million.

#8 Edge of Darkness drops from #4 to #8 with a weekend gross of $4.8 million (-29.4%) in 2615 theaters (-451). Total gross to date is $36.3 million. Budget was $80 million.

#9 Crazy Heart drops from #8 to #9 with a weekend gross of $4.2 million (+19.6%) in 1005 theaters (+186). Total gross to date is $16.7 million. Budget was $7 million.

#10 When in Rome drops from #6 to #10 with a weekend gross of $3.6 million (-33.6%) in 2125 theaters (-331). Total gross to date is $26.2 million. Budget is unknown.

#11 The Book of Eli drops from #7 to #11 with a weekend gross of $3.6 million (-23.0%) in 1825 theaters (-995). Total gross to date is $87.5 million. Budget was $80 million.

#12 The Blind Side drops from #11 to #12 with a weekend gross of $2.2 million (-9.6%) in 1175 theaters (-565). Total gross to date is $244.7 million. Budget was $29 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $188.8 million (+89.7%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Actor Lawrence Talbot is summoned to his family home after the grisly death of his brother. And though Talbot is reluctant to return, he finds he must come to face his estranged father, John and search for the answer to his brother’s death, even though he is troubled by his own traumatic past. The answer does await Talbot, as does his terrifying family legacy.

That’s a real nutshell premise to The Wolfman starring Benecio Del Toro and directed by Joe Johnston. I mean with a title like The Wolfman there really isn’t any doubt as to what Talbot will become, is there? No, there isn’t, but the ride along the way is pretty fun to take.

The biggest thing that I like about The Wolfman is that it doesn’t try to make the werewolf genre as “precious” as what the vampire genre does these days (though I do give films like Twilight and others like it their props at least in the fact that their fan base is so willing to come in and embrace it, unlike other genre films which more often than not get savagely attacked their fans even before their release- anyway that’s the way I see it, but I digress…) and instead, it really embraces the whole Universal Horror Film aspect. That’s a real breath of fresh air, and when the film is as artfully made as what Joe Johnston has done here, it’s even better.

While I don’t think this has the impact of more contemporary set pieces as An American Werewolf in London or The Howling (this is a period piece), it still has good moments and good set pieces, and to Johnston’s credit, he moves it all along at a pretty brisk pace.

The visual effects are pretty nice, especially the transformation scenes, which are, at least to me more handled as live in camera and sweetened with some CGI more than anything else. And while the transformation is good here, it lacks some of the impact that you’ve seen in the above-mentioned films, that’s not a knock at the movie by any means, it’s just more a commentary on how far things have come and how so many fantastic scenes are now much more commonplace.

Another thing that I really liked was retaining the name of Lawrence Talbot for our main character. Larry Talbot was the name of the character played by Lon Chaney Jr. all those years ago, and I had no idea that they were going to use the same name here. the thing that really struck me odd though is that, upon hearing this, I started to see some resemblance between both Benecio Del Toro and Lon Chaney Jr., not just physically but also in their cadence. Del Toro’s solid here, though his Talbot is really underplayed, but considering his childhood emotional trauma, that can certainly help explain some of that. He really seems to eat it up, so to speak, when he’s playing the Wolfman though, and for that, I do appreciate it.

He’s backed up with Anthony Hopkins playing his father, Emily Blunt playing his childhood friend and Hugo Weaving as a Scotland Yard inspector who’s come to investigate the savage murders. Now I didn’t know much about this movie in advance, but I did know that Hopkins was playing Del Toro’s father, and sort’ve rolled my eyes at that from the start, considering Hopkins is definitely British and Del Toro is definitely Latin in origin, and figuring this was just going to be some sort’ve cocked-up explanation just to get someone of Hopkins’ caliber in the film. But their relation is actually handled quite credibly in some flashback scenes, and so that became a moot point. Hopkins is solid, as is Blunt, nothing to complain about and nothing that really stands out. To me though, Weaving is solid gold and of all the characters actually seems to have the most fire and passion about him.

In the end, I found The Wolfman to be solidly entertaining and a nice throwback to the heyday of Universal horror films. It doesn’t carry the same impact as some more contemporary set pieces, but it’s still nicely crafted and delivers a nice diversion.

#1 Dear John from Screen Gems debuts at #1 with an opening weekend gross of $30.4 million in 2969 theaters. Budget was $25 million.

#2 Avatar from Fox drops from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $22.8 million (-26.9%) in 3000 theaters (-74). Total gross to date is $629.3 million. Budget is unknown.

#3 From Paris with Love from Lionsgate debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $8.1 million in 2722 theaters. Budget was $52 million.

#4 Edge of Darkness from Warner Brothers drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $6.8 million (-60.2%) in 3066 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $28.9 million. Budget was $80 million.

#5 The Tooth Fairy from Fox drops from #4 to #5 with a weekend gross of $6.6 million (-33.7%) in 3218 theaters (-127). Total gross to date is $34.4 million. Budget was $48 million.

#6 When in Rome from Buena Vista drops from #3 to #6 with a weekend gross of $5.5 million (-55.1%) in 2456 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $20.9 million. Budget is unknown.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 The Book of Eli drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $4.7 million (-47.0%) in 2820 theaters (-255). Total gross to date is $82.0 million. Budget was $80 million.

#8 Crazy Heart jumps from #14 to #8 with a weekend gross of $3.5 million (+54.5%) in 819 theaters (+580). Total gross to date is $11.1 million. Budget was $7 million.

#9 Legion (2010) drops from #6 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.4 million (-51.9%) in 2339 theaters (-137). Total gross to date is $34.7 million. Budget was $26 million.

#10 Sherlock Holmes drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.5 million (-43.9%) in 1805 theaters (-445). Total gross to date is $201.4 million. Budget was $90 million.

#11 The Blind Side holds at #11 with a weekend gross of $2.5 million (-17.1%) in 1740 theaters (-11). Total gross to date is $241.5 million. Budget was $29 million.

#12 Up in the Air holds at #12 with a weekend gross of $2.2 million (-18.5%) in 1547 theaters (+117). Total gross to date is $76.6 million. Budget was $25 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $99.5 million (-9.3%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Well, February looks like it’s seeing the resurgence of the buddy action movie with both the releases From Paris With Love and Cop Out. When I saw the trailer for From Paris With Love I just thought that it looked like it could be a fun little diversion, but nothing real special (I wish I could say the same thing about Cop Out, in which every time I see the trailer for that, I cringe just a little more and feel just a little bad that Kevin Smith is making an “Ow! My Balls!” type of comedy by choice- it may be a good movie, but based on it’s trailer, the only way you could get me in the theatre to see it is to tie me to the chair with my eyes pried open like McDowell in Clockwork, but I digress…). In fact, the weather had the potential to be really bad here in St. Louis this weekend, and it looked like there was a chance that it was going to interfere with seeing From Paris With Love and I was pretty much prepared to write it off if that was the case…

Fortunately, the weather turned out to be not bad at all and I did get to see From Paris With Love and man, I’m glad I did.

From Paris With Love is the latest movie from producer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel who last year gave us Taken (which I haven’t seen yet, though that will change later tonight) and it’s one very entertaining ride.

James Reece is an American in Paris working as the assistant to the United States’ ambassador in France. He performs all of the mundane tasks for the ambassador and makes sure he’s ready to carry out his duties for the day. But Reece is much more, he’s also a lower level espionage operative who performs preparatory tasks for other operatives and he does them really well. He has ambitions to move up in that aspect of his job. He’s also a young man in love and has just become engaged to his girlfriend in Paris, and as he’s ready to celebrate with her, he gets a call that’s going to give him his opportunity to move up, by assisting one of the best operatives the U.S. has in one unorthodox agent named Charlie Wax…

That’s all I’m going to say about the story here, and while there’s nothing really new that’s done here, what is done is done really well and it’s pretty obvious (or at least it was to me) that all concerned were having a hell of a time making this movie. The action is top notch, the character’s are engaging, and while there are aspects to the story a that are a little over-the-top, it’s not in a way that I didn’t want to go on the ride with the film. One of the things that helps with that is the movie’s brisk pace, which certainly puts our heroes in some rough situations that makes them bond pretty quickly and certainly made me watching this give a damn about them.

the other thing that helps is the fact that you have two actors as capable as John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in the lead roles and their chemistry is really nice. Rhys-Meyers plays James Reece, and he’s pretty stoic in the part, but also pretty engaging. He’s our doorway into this story, and he does a nice job with it. John Travolta… well, I have to say, when I first saw the trailer for this, I did a double take when I realized this was John Travolta as he certainly looks quite a bit different than he has in most of his movies, with his clean-shaven head, and by the trailer, you get the feeling that his Charlie Wax is going to be a wild character, and one that could’ve worked negatively for me. The thing is, when we’re introduced to Wax, he does seem like he’s going to be an unlikeable guy, but by about a half hour in, I was fully taken with him and it’s real evident in Travolta’s performance. You can sort’ve tell when an actor is really having a good time with a part and it’s all over Travolta’s performance here, whether it’s in his line delivery or his genuine joy in the action scenes, it’s there and it’s infectious.

It really is a fun ride, far more entertaining than I thought it was going to be and by it’s end, I was ready to see Wax and Reece together again in another adventure and thinking back to other buddy action movies that I’ve seen, I hadn’t really felt like that since being introduced to Riggs and Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon. and that’s a pretty high compliment to pay to From Paris With Love. This one really took me by surprise and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now I can’t wait to see Taken later tonight…

Special thanks to Stingray and The Great Mr. Chibi for writing this episode’s show notes on short notice.

Hosts:

Tony
Darrell
Chris
Tee

Drink Check: Nothing! Was there an intervention? We hope not.

0:00:00 Intro-D’AWW-ction
0:00:45 Support Tee and Sonic Boom @ TheBoomEffect.org
0:03:14 Welcome to the IMDT
0:03:33 Font of useless knowledge? Or font of AWESOME!
0:04:50 The Worst Taglines for Movies Ever Made. My personal vote: “Laugh. Cry. Share the pants.”
0:05:10 Chuck Norris - Silent Rage
0:07:00 A Beginners Manual for The Backseat Producers. Don’t listen too closely– it doesn’t matter once Tee gets going.
0:08:13 Teaser for the Tee Morris Unified Theory of Avatar, District 9, and The Hangover. I wish I’d been let on the show–I have my own theory uniting Megan Fox and Keira Knightly… it has been researched thoroughly. Every night.
0:09:00 High Level Thoughts: Darrell, Tony, and Chris moderately like it; Tee hates it with the power of a burning sun.
0:09:56 Addendum to the drinking game - One Drink whenever Tee mentions being in New Zealand.
0:10:45 Tee - “It is pretty. Very, very pretty.”
0:12:30 Chris - “In the hands of a better writer, and a director less focused on visuals…”
0:13:15 Darrell - “It’s fun to watch.”
0:14:00 Tony - “Jazz Singer, Wizard of Oz, and Star Wars.”
0:14:08 Tee chokes.
0:15:00 3D has arrived.
0:15:15 Our boys debate the numbers–isn’t News from the Back Seat supposed to cover this?
0:17:30 The IMAX InExperience
0:18:25 The Theater Experience - Good luck recreating that at home.
0:20:40 Tee busts out a parable.
0:21:20 The Tee Critique - “It Lacks Heart.”
0:22:07 Tony vociferously defends Titanic.
0:22:58 “That is so un-Cameron.”
0:23:40 “That’s an insult to cookie cutters.”
0:24:20 The Dreamer’s Thread by Starla Huchton!
0:25:10 Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell
0:25:45 Mini-spoiler warning.
0:26:15 “I would say it’s plagiarism!” There’s a difference between homage and derivative.
0:27:00 Podcast RAGE!
0:27:25 Whedon and Cameron–Dollhouse and Avatar
0:28:20 Tee is still holding back. Chris is scared.
0:28:55 Darrell tries to interject.
0:29:40 Chris almost gets killed via Skype.
0:29:45 Star Wars RAGE!
0:30:30 Looking forward to Glee and SG:U coming back.
0:30:45 Glee is brilliant. The commercials didn’t do it justice.
0:31:30 Glee and the Art of Mashups–Weren’t we talking about a movie? Abba Tart or something like that?
0:32:35 We’re bringing it back to Avatar? The hell you say!
0:33:30 Oh look, Tony’s disagreeing. Take a drink everybody!
0:34:00 This is a SciFi movie for people who don’t like SciFi movies–wasn’t that Star Trek?
0:35:40 Star Wars achetypes: Virginal Princess, Young Hero, Rogue, Villain, Mentor, Abbott & Costello
0:35:55 I wonder if the Virginal Princess’s Walking Carpet matches the drapes…
0:37:15 Can the man on the street name a third Cameron film?
0:38:30 Tee - Terminator was better than expected. Aliens was better than expected.
0:39:45 Agreed: Alien solved the problem of the haunted house.
0:40:55 Do you think Tee didn’t care for the characters in Avatar?
0:41:15 Nobody loves General Badass. Even though he doesn’t need air to kill you.
0:41:45 Tony liked the Corporate Douchebag.
0:42:45 Cameron dropped Michael Bean to avoid ripping off Aliens too much. Too little too late?
0:42:10 Speaking of Aliens, why didn’t the military just nuke the site from orbit? Its the only way they could have been sure!
0:44:00 Tony skips around Tee’s point.
0:44:40 The Russian film is The Battleship Potemkin. Check out the Odessa Stair scene–it’s film history!
0:45:30 “It was so stupid on so many levels….”
0:46:05 There was so much in the script that would have made this film better, but was cut in the interest of…. We’re not sure, actually.
0:46:50 Exciting Behind-The-Scenes Information!
0:48:00 This isn’t a white guilt movie, but a corporate greed movie.
0:48:45 District 9 enters the fray!
0:49:00 Tee - District 9 is the better version of Avatar.
0:51:00 Less money makes for better movies? Wait for the TMUTAD9TH.
0:52:20 Tee wants more District 9.
0:52:50 Tony votes for Up for Best Picture.
0:53:30 Tony tries to dive into uncharted waters. Chris pulls us back from the edge.
0:54:20 Cameron’s got a standard baddie.
0:55:10 Another Tee Morris drinking game addendum: One drink–”Kingdom of the Crystal Suck”
0:56:00 Avatar didn’t give Tee any fun moments.
0:57:40 It’s decided that Tee isn’t the market for this movie.
0:57:50 Here comes the TMUTAD9TH!
0:58:00 Actually, I guess we’re just gonna wank about The Hangover for a bit.
0:59:00 IT’S HERE! The TMUTAD9TH!
0:59:30 Holy crap! Avatar cost a lot of money.
0:59:45 Holy crap! Avatar made a lot of money.
1:00:15 Analysts are surprised. Again. Who are these people, and why do we listen to them?
1:00:45 District 9 didn’t cost much, but made a lot. Percentage-wise, anyway.
1:01:25 The Hangover followed the D9 theory of money-making.
1:02:00 It seemed like The Hangover was in theaters FOREVER!
1:03:00 Tee wants to see Hollywood focus on story and character, and less on over-the-top production costs. The other hosts politely withhold hysterical laughter.
1:04:45 Tee’s skipping Cloverfield because he’s worried about The Avatar Effect.
1:05:45 Tee was pleasantly surprised with The Gamer.
1:07:00 Looking forward to the Tee Morris Rant™ if Avatar gets Best Picture.
1:07:30 LENS FLARE!!!
1:09:00 This show-note writer isn’t shovelling out the money.
1:10:00 Good on Cameron for bringing back the Theatrical Event.
1:11:25 The District 9 short film.
1:12:00 The Hangover beat Star Trek last year by $20,000,000.
1:13:00 Didn’t get to the Deep Geeking, Tony? Really?
1:13:30 Darrell closes the night by inciting the wrath of Tee.

 

 BSP Special Episode 09: Tee vs. Avatar: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (387)

Lazy show notes so we can get this late episode posted.

Hopefully someone on wave.google.com will help me by working up some show notes for this episode (hint, hint)

 

 BSP Episode 125: A Clockwork Orange: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (306)

#1 Avatar from Fox holds at #1 with a weekend gross of $31.2 million (-10.5%) in 3074 theaters (-67). Total gross to date is $595.7 million. Budget is unknown.

#2 Edge of Darkness from Warner Brothers debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $17.2 million in 3066 theaters. Budget was $80 million.

#3 When in Rome from Buena Vista debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $12.3 million in 2456 theaters. Budget is unknown.

#4 The Tooth Fairy from Fox holds at #4 with a weekend gross of $9.9 million (-28.6%) in 3345 theaters (+1). Total gross to date is $26.1 million. Budget was $48 million.

#5 The Book of Eli from Warner Brothers drops from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $8.9 million (-43.4%) in 3075 theaters (-36). Total gross to date is $74.5 million. Budget was $80 million.

#6 Legion (2010) from Screen Gems drops from #2 to #6 with a weekend gross of $7.1 million (-59.0%) in 2476 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $29.0 million. Budget was $26 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 The Lovely Bones drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $4.7 million (-43.8%) in 2638 theaters (+67). Total gross to date is $38.0 million. Budget was $65 million.

#8 Sherlock Holmes drops from #6 to #8 with a weekend gross of $4.5 million (-31.9%) in 2250 theaters (-420). Total gross to date is $197.6 million. Budget was $90 million.

#9 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.9 million (-37.6%) in 2526 theaters (-447). Total gross to date is $209.2 million. Budget was $75 million.

#10 It’s Complicated drops from #9 to #10 with a weekend gross of $3.8 million (-34.5%) in 2096 theaters (-205). Total gross to date is $104.1 million. Budget was $85 million.

#11 The Blind Side holds at #11 with a weekend gross of $3.0 million (-27.5%) in 1751 theaters (-181). Total gross to date is $237.9 million. Budget was $29 million.

#12 Up in the Air holds at #12 with a weekend gross of $2.8 million (-28.2%) in 1430 theaters (-277). Total gross to date is $73.2 million. Budget was $25 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $109.7 million (-14.3%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Tom Craven is a Boston police detective. His daughter, Emma, has returned home to take a little break from her job, seemingly. As Tom and Emma start to reconnect at their home, Emma begins to cough up blood. Tom is ready to rush her to the hospital and as they walk out the front door, a mysterious gunman yells the name “Craven!” and fires at them, killing Emma almost immediately. Boston PD is right on this and they believe it to be someone who has a grudge against Tom Craven, but Tom has his own thoughts on the matter and starts his own investigation leading to a secret life he didn’t know his daughter had and her job, with it’s own equally huge ramifications.

Edge of Darkness is the newest film from veteran director Martin Campbell and star Mel Gibson and it’s of special note for Gibson because it’s his first lead-starring role in eight years. It’s also a pretty darn good little movie.

Previously, Edge of Darkness was a television mini-series (that Campbell also directed), which unfortunately, I haven’t seen so I can’t compare it to that. What’s here though is pretty tight, though Campbell is willing to relax his pace and let it unfold fairly naturally. It’s a pretty dialogue heavy piece, but it also features it’s fair share of action and when that action is used, it’s pretty effective, in particular with a scene where Craven meets with a friend of his daughter’s out on a country road.

It’s a pretty familiar idea for a movie, there’s really nothing here that you haven’t seen before, but that can be said for the vast majority of movies that come out now. That’s fine, I know that it’s a rare thing to find something that’s totally original out there, and it really doesn’t matter to me as well as the parts are all put together in an interesting and compelling way, and I think Edge of Darkness does that.

I’ve been a big fan of Gibson’s ever since The Road Warrior (I didn’t see Mad Max until later), and for me, he doesn’t disappoint. He manages to play a man with nothing to lose quite well, but all along there’s still a mind at work in the part. I hope its not another eight years before we see him again on screen. He’s got some impressive support here, with Ray Winstone playing a government “fixer” named Jedburgh, who even though finds himself at some odds with Craven, also has empathy for what he’s doing. Danny Huston is one of the better actors who excels at playing villains these days and he does just as well as the head of Northmoor, the company for which Emma Craven works for. Bojana Novakovic plays Emma Craven and though she’s here real briefly, she and Gibson do a solid job in establishing a father-daughter relationship.

Edge of Darkness doesn’t really do anything new, but it doesn’t do anything wrong either and presents a relaxed paced thriller and a welcome return to the big-screen for lead actor Mel Gibson, who shows that he’s still as engaging a leading man as he’s ever been, though a few years older. It’s certainly worth seeing, if not in a theatre then at least eventually in it’s home video release.