10/21/10
Tops at the Box: I've always considered myself to be a fan of the lowlife version of alternative pop culture. I like punk rock and used to skateboard; I've broken laws, read plenty of Bukowski, voted for the Green Party and passed out on a few sidewalks. Who hasn't? But one thing I don't understand is all these pseudo-punks in the Jackass films. They strut around like modern day cowboy/punk rock hybrids, portraying themselves as devil-may-care Johnny Rotten types, bashing each other up, bleeding all over, jamming things into their privates, eating the uneatable and nearly dying on a daily basis. Rubbish. I'm not buying. But hey, this is entertainment, so I can't complain too much now, can I? (But I can put these idiots and what they do into perspective.) All that said, the latest Jackass flick, Jackass 3D, kicked all kinds of box office booty this past weekend, taking the No. 1 spot with $50 million over its first three days - the biggest opening in a good long while. Do the punks at the ScreenTime office hate the Jackasses? Nah, not really. But we do find it funny that people go watch this sort of stuff on the big screen when they could be watching, say, The American at the dollar theater.
More From the Box: Ensemble action/comedy hybrid Red took the No. 2 spot last weekend, bringing in about $23 million in the U.S. over its first three days. Looks dumb to us, but the cast is solid and the reviews are almost all positive, so hey, maybe it's not so bad. Our biggest issue with the movie is its lazy title; one of our favorite movies of all-time, Krzysztof Kieslowski's 1994 masterpiece, also called Red, should forever hold ownership over the word. Last weekend's No. 3 film, David Fincher's The Social Network, brought in another $11 million, upping its three week total to $63 million in the U.S. Not bad, but probably not as good as the studios expected; look for this title to do very well on DVD and Blu-ray through the holiday season. Rounding out last weekend's Top 5 box office flicks were horse drama Secretariat and Katherine Heigl crapper Life As We Know It, bringing in about $9 million each. Also of note: It's Kind of a Funny Story, directed be one of our favorite young auteurs, Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson, Sugar), is doing fairly well for an indie release, already bringing in over $4 million over its first 10 days. Kind of hilarious that the movie isn't playing on any of the Fort Wayne area's 70+ screens.
Opening This Weekend: Two movies open wide this week, starting with the completely unnecessary Paranormal Activity 2, which we'll say no more about. Also out is Clint Eastwood's Hereafter, which isn't getting the huge praise most Eastwood-directed dramas get. Starring Matt Damon as a psychic and Bryce Dallas Howard as his love interest, we are getting The Happening vibes from the trailer. And while you might argue that that's a bad thing, us ScreenTimers are actually pretty excited to check this movie out. The visual style looks ace, as does the acting. Will the movie be as cheesy as critics are saying? Maybe, but we doubt it'll be any more cheesy than the average movie in theaters right now. Inhale, a very promising looking indie starring Diane Kruger, Sam Shepard, Rosanna Arquette and Dermot Mulroney begins to test this weekend, as do Kalamity, Rising Stars and The Taqwacores. We'll just warn you now: the movie industry is all but starving us movie-goers right now while building up to the November 19 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1.
ScreenRant: We at the ScreenTime office recently saw the pilot episodes for the two highest rated new television series of 2010, "Treme" and "Boardwalk Empire," both HBO programs. We also watched a number of other pilot episodes from 2010 shows, almost none of which we enjoyed. "Detroit 1-8-7," for example, was a show we were very excited about, having been told that it was a "Detroit version of 'The Wire.'" False. "Detroit 1-8-7," I can assure, is just another by-the-books modern cop drama. Total crap, and a waste of a good setting. "Boardwalk Empire," if you're not yet familiar, is a Martin Scorsese-produced, prohibition era high concept drama created by Terence Winter ("The Sopranos"). The cast, featuring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg and Michael K. Williams, is arguably the best TV has ever seen in a pilot. Thus far five episodes have aired and, from what we can tell, people are loving it. The pilot episode, which featured a record breaking $18 million budget, was directed by Scorsese. We'd give the pilot a solid B/B+; honestly, we were kind of let down. "Treme," a post-Hurricane Katrina set New Orleans ensemble drama created by David Simon ("The Wire"), on the other hand, is fan-freaking-tastic. The 80-minute pilot was so good that we watched the whole first season over a two day period, then started watching it again. To us, this is not just the best new show of the year, but the best new show in a very long time. Featuring some of the best writers and actors currently working (not to mention some of the best TV directors), the Altman-like ensemble style works very well, telling the unique story of New Orleans in an emotional, fun and very musical - and authentic - style. Needless to say, we're in love with David Simon's new masterpiece.
New to Home Video: In addition to the home release of the very, very awful Sex and the City 2 film, look for these titles on stands this coming Tuesday, October 26: The Girl Who Played with Fire; Who Is Harry Nilsson?; amazing indie drama Winter's Bone (one of ScreenTime's favorite films so far of 2010); Wild Grass; South of the Border; Blu-ray first runs of Back to the Future, Elf, the Alien anthology (awesome!), the Oliver Stone Collection, the Criterion Collection's edition of Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Maniac. As far as TV stuff goes, look for these titles: "The Complete Sex and the City;" season four of "The Venture Brothers;" "You Don't Know Jack;" "Road to Christmas;" season one of the UK's version of "Law & Order;" and season six of "CSI: NY."
Written by G. William Locke
