02/18/10

Tops at the Box: A sweet lil’ rom-com called Valentine’s Day opened at No. 1 on Valentine’s Day weekend. You darned precious Americans. The $52 million film brought in $52 million its first weekend. The studio heads at Warner Bros. rejoice; the big guys love it when a plan comes together. Sign up as many big stars as possible, not with the promise of big star money, but with the promise of a sure-fire hit (an easy way to beef up thee ‘ol IMDB rap sheet, ya know). Then buy lots and lots of ads (including some serious Super Bowl time) and watch the pretty couples fall in line on date night. Big money. Hollywood. Art as business. Ugh. The low-brow cycle continues.  

More From the Box: The first Percy Jackson & the Olympians film and The Wolfman took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots with $31 million and $30.5 million, respectively. Two months ago both films looked very promising on paper; now, after seeing trailers and reviews, both films look like yet more stink from the studio’s dumping season. Avatar and Dear John took the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. Blah. The only film that stands out from last weekend’s depressing box office is $7 million film Crazy Heart, which took the No. 9 spot with another $4 million, upping its so-far total to just under $17 million. Hurray for the studio-level indie hit! (Saw it. Aside from Jeff Bridges performance, the film is middle-of-the-road and full of clichés.)

New This Week: Finally, 2010’s first wholly worthwhile theater release (for cinephiles, anyhow): Martin Scorcese’s very promising Shutter Island, based on Dennis Lehane’s 2003 novel of the same name. Sure, there are other movies out this week (nothing remotely major), but we’re not going to even talk about those. They look like garbage. Island, however, is certainly worth seeing. Not only does it feature an endlessly talented cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley, Max von Sydow, Elias Koteas, etc.) and great source material, but, stylistically, it looks like a new chapter in Scorcese’s epic career. And the cinematography? How about the legendary Robert Richardson! We’d list some of the classic films shot by Richardson’s eye, but that’d take an entire column. I could go on and on about all that Shutter Island as going for it, but you’d be better off checking out the trailer online. Or, better yet, hitting the theater. Look for ScreenTime’s reaction in next week’s column.

The Buzz: Director John Sayles (Eight Men Out, Matewan) is working on a fictional war film, titled Baryo, that stars Chris Cooper. Auteur Wes Anderson has named his adaptation of French film My Best Friend, calling it The Rosenthaler Suite. Rumors everywhere. Supposedly George Clooney will be cast as the lead, with Meryl Streep and Adrien Brody supporting. Hmm. There are also rumors that Anderson might be writing the adaptation for friend Roman Coppola, who co-wrote Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. Hmm. Hmm. In more concrete news, though auteur Terrence Malick’s long-in-the-works The Tree of Life, starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, still lacks a release date, Malick has announced two more projects; a feature length documentary and, better yet, another scripted film. The scripted film, penned by Malick and thus far untitled, is set to star Javier Bardem, Christian Bale, Rachael McAdams and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko. Malick, for our money, is one of the most consistent (if underproductive) American directors of all-time.

New to DVD: Lots of fun new releases hitting the shelves this coming Tuesday, February 23. Season one of low culture classic “Jersey Shore,” The Informant!, Everybody’s Fine, The September Issue, The Box, Motherhood, Cirque Du Freak and Sorority Row will all see release, as will Criterion’s issue of 1937 classic Make Way for Tomorrow, directed by Leo McCarey. One of the most tear-jearking endings of all time.

Archival Pick of the Week: I’ve been working my way through HBO’s “The Wire.” Finally. Friends have been telling me for years that “The Wire” is not just the best show of the naughts, but “the best show ever.” Funny talk. Thus far I’m through three of the five seasons - and loving it. Would I call it the best show ever? Nah. Can’t go that far (yet). Thus far, I wouldn’t even call it HBO’s best show of the naughts. Big fan of “The Sopranos”; even bigger fan of “Six Feet Under.” But, still, I’d highly recommend “The Wire” if you’ve not yet seen it. It’s a slightly difficult to get into, but very much worth your extra effort.

Written by G. William Locke