08/12/10

Tops at the Box: Writer/director Adam McKay once again teams up successfully with Will Ferrell, this time for a buddy/cop/Stooges-type flick called The Other Guys, also starring Mark Wahlberg. Bringing in a solid $36 million over its first three days, the action-filled comedy took last weekend’s No. 1 spot, knocking Inception out after three weeks at the top. McKay, who scored hits working with Ferrell on Step Brothers, Talladega Nights and Anchorman (all of which I believe they wrote together), is getting some of his best reviews and box office results so far with The Other Guys. Looks, ya know, stupid, simple and funny. Our guess is that if you like the other McKay/Ferrell flicks, you’ll probably like this one. 

More From the Box: Inception took last weekend’s No. 2 spot, bringing in another $18.6 million in the US, upping its so-far US box total to $228 million (just under $500 million worldwide). Last weekend’s No. 3 moneymaker was Step Up 3D, no doubt another in an endless line of movies ScreenTime think look awful but will surely make someone some decent money. Director Phillip Noyce’s solid-looking femme fatale thriller, Salt (starring Angelina Jolie), took the No. 4 spot, banking another $11 million and upping its total to over $90 million. Rounding out the Top 5 last weekend was oddball comedy Dinner For Schmucks, which brought in $10.5 million in its second week.

Opening this Weekend: Three much anticipated films for three much different audiences come out this week, starting with the sure-to-be successful Eay, Pray, Love, starring Julia Roberts and a very solid supporting cast that includes Javier Bardem, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Viola Davis and Richard Jenkins. The success of the book the film is based on (not to mention the rare Roberts appearance and huge rush of promotion) promises that Eat will be the coming weekend’s top release. The long discussed action film, The Expendables, said to be one of the biggest all-out action productions ever, will also hit theaters everywhere. Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone and co-starring a number of action legends (Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, The Governator and more), The Expendables promises to be a cliché-filled flashback to the action films of the late 80s and early- to mid-90s. Should be entertaining. And last but not least we have every modern day geek’s dream flick, writer/director Edgar Wright’s screen adaptation of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kieran Culkin. We love Cera, respect Wright and read the books, so we’ll probably see it. Looks to have some overly cheesy production, but the reviews thus far are good. Look for this one to be a surprise box office hit and very big on DVD and Blu-ray.

Double Feature: This past weekend I sold off just enough of my stuff to pay for gas money to Indianapolis and tickets to see two movies playing at the Keystone Art Cinema theater on the north side of twon. Two movies that I’ve been long anticipating, starting with Debra Granik’s screen adaptation of Daniel Woodrell’s 2006 novel, “Winter’s Bone.” Wow! Great film. Young actress Jennifer Lawrence, in the lead role of Ree Dolly, gives one of the best female lead performances I’ve seen in a good while - maybe years. The film, which recently won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is a dark, haunting and powerful story about a young girl who endures a number of intense encounters while hunting for her missing father. I left the theater feeling like I’d just seen a new classic. And then, after catching my breath, I turned right around and bought a ticket for Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s Afghanistan war documentary, Restrepo. In the film, Junger and Hetherington, on assignment for 15 months for Vanity Fair, follow around a combat team through the Korangal Valley, said to be the “most dangerous place on earth.” We see an incredible amount of real life war action in the film, including bullets flying, bombs blowing and way-too-young soldiers about to pee their pants - authentic things we’ve never quite seen on movie screens before. I’m still digesting what I saw, but can absolutely say that Restrepo was a powerful film full of very real moments. You could even make the argument that, because of how unique and real it is, Restrepo is the best war film ever. ScreenTime hopes readers will go see these movies when they come to town - especially Winter’s Bone.

New to Home Video: New to shelves this last Tuesday, August 10: Date Night, Death at a Funeral, The Joneses, Letters to God, My Name is Khan, The Good Heart, season six of “Numb3rs” and a bunch of National Lampoon Blu-ray editions. Out on home video this coming Tuesday, August 17: Furry Vengeance, The Last Song, Spring Fever, Ca$h, the Criterion edition of Black Orpheus, a reissue of the great Francis Ford Coppola film, The Conversation, season four of “Dexter”, season one of “Cougar Town”, season four of ScreenTime favorite “Friday Night Lights”, season seven of “One Tree Hill”, season four of “Ugly Betty” and, as per the usual right now, a decent number of first-run Blu-ray editions.

Written by G. William Locke