09/10/09

Box Office Breakdown: Lots of so-so movies are making lots of so-so money right now. The great late-summer lag. This past weekend saw The Final Destination taking the top spot in its second weekend with $12.4 million. One of 2009’s worst reviewed films so far, All About Steve, took second place in its opening weekend, bringing in $11.2 million., while Inglourious Basterds held steady at No. 3 with just under $11 million over the weekend, upping it’s domestic total to $91 million after only three weeks. Coming in forth was Gamer, a big budget Hollywood flick that brought in only $9 million its first week. ScreenTime predicts that Gamer’s opening weekend draw will pay for approximately 30 percent of the advertising budget Lionsgate put behind the film. Feels good when the bad movies get the big funding and still get the bad movie treatment from both critics and fans.

New This Week: While there aren’t too many films opening this week to cheer about, there will be plenty beginning next week and running through the awards season. This week will see the Tim Burton produced animated sci-fi flick 9 hit screens on Wednesday, September 9. Reviews so far are promising. Friday’s first key opening is the surely awful thriller Sorority Row, a horror/thriller flick about some sorority girls who find themselves in a plot not unlike that of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Skip. Next up is Tyler Perry’s new film, I Can Do Bad All By Myself. Tyler Perry, I just don’t get your appeal. Whiteout, staring Kate Beckinsale (who proved herself a promising talent in 2007’s Snow Angels), is probably a mostly predictable crime thriller. While these sorts of films (most of which used to star Ashley Judd or that girl who looks like Ashley Judd) never make for great cinema, they do usually deliver some decent entertainment value. As far as this week’s limited releases go, we have Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, which stars Michael Douglas (and looks to be about as original in plot as it is in title); a hip “green” documentary called No Impact Man; and, finally, the second feature from director David Boyle (no relation), White on Rice. Boyle’s comedy, which has thus far received glowing reviews, follows a 40-year-old slacker who is kinda/sorta trying to get his life together while sharing a bunk bed with his nephew and falling in love with his once-removed niece.

The Buzz: Everyone is suddenly talking about Avatar, director James Cameron’s first proper feature film since 1997’s Titanic. This loud chatter is happening for six reasons: 1) Titanic is the highest grossing film of all-time, duh; 2) Cameron don’t make no junk; 3) very little is being said about the plot, save for the whole aliens vs. humans in the future thing; 4) Avatar was filmed using 3D Virtual Cameras, a still-new, and thus mysterious, technology; 5) Cameron began this project in 1994 and is calling the film his “life’s work”; and 6) the film’s $237 million budget is the fourth highest ever. Said to be Cameron’s stab at the all-out, anything goes, everything-at-once, bigger-than-life sci-fi epic, Avatar will swing for the fences on December 18. In the meantime, be prepared to have this film shoved down your throat everywhere you look. ScreenTime predicts that many reviewers will find themselves referencing a little dud called Waterworld come late November.

New to DVD: New on shelves this week is, first and foremost, season five of The Office. Five discs. Ten hours. Essential viewing. If you’re able to find more time for your screen, Crank 2: High Voltage, season one of The Fringe, season one of Parks and Recreation, season one of Important Things with Demetri Martin, Valentino: The Last Emperor, a bunch of kids movies and countless first-run Blu-ray discs are also new to shelves. Also, the studs over at Criterion have added three new titles to their catalog: Alexander Korda’s 1941 classic, That Hamilton Woman, starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier; David Mamet’s 1991 crime thriller, Homicide, starring William H. Macy and Joe Mantegna; and, finally, Masaki Kobayashi’s all-time classic trilogy, The Human Condition. ScreenTime has never viewed Kobayashi’s trilogy - comprised of 1959’s No Greater Love, 1959’s Road to Eternity and 1961’s A Soldier’s Prayer - but has been told by at least three trusted cinephile friends that it’s one of the Top 10 film projects of all-time. Better than Lord of the Snores and Star Bores, even.

Archival Pick: I Shot Andy Warhol. Director Mary Harron’s (American Psycho) criminally underrated feature debut is as gritty, truly artistic and essential as any of the debut films of Harron’s contemporaries. Ever hear about the SCUM Manifesto or its author, Valerie Solanas? If not, go jump on the Internet right now and read up. Or, maybe even better yet, go rent/buy/borrow this film. Starring Lily Taylor in the role of a lifetime, I Shot is the kind of film that is powerful enough to motivate, enlighten and change anyone who views it. Easily one of ScreenTime’s favorite flicks from the 90s. That, and it has one of the best soundtracks ever put to plastic.

NetFlix “Watch Instant” Pick: Director Neil LaBute’s (The Shape of Things) In the Company of Men. ScreenTime recommends this flick for four maybe-very-obvious reasons: 1) it introduced the world to the brilliant machismo of Aaron Eckhart; 2) watch it with a friend and you will absolutely have a heated discussion afterwards (even if you completely agree with each other); 3) it’s brutal, unique and, hey, darn funny; and 4) it was filmed in Fort Wayne, Indiana.