As expected, Disney/Pixar’s “Brave” was a far-and-away #1 at the Friday box office, beating its nearest competitor, fellow opener “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” by double-digits. With a $24.5m Friday in the books, the Scotland-set animated flick should post a weekend figure in line with Pixar’s best non-sequel openings ($71m seems reasonable). Meanwhile, last week’s releases […]
Friday Box Office: “Brave” slays all competition Read More »
Three bits of interesting fall TV casting surfaced today, which should earn the established shows a few viewers who don’t normally watch… Jennifer Hudston will get a multi-episode arc on NBC’s musical “Smash,” which stars Katherine McPhee as a young woman working hard to make it on Broadway. Hudson will play a Tony-winner “who reached [her] Broadway dream but
Casting bits: Jennifer Hudson, Marilyn Manson, and Patrick Wilson join fall TV shows Read More »
Few Hollywood filmmakers have proven themselves to be as tone-deaf as Adam Shankman has during his recent foray into musicals. That Shankman has failed so miserably in the genre is surprising, given his background as a choreographer. But few films–let alone upbeat musicals– are as joyless and utterly lacking an understanding of cinematic kinetics as
Review: “Rock of Ages” Read More »
Welcome back to Box Office Beat, the column in which I hopelessly predict the weekend box office tallies. After the two complete and utter failures of last weekend (Tom Cruise’s “Rock of Ages” and Adam Sandler’s “That’s My Boy”), there is no place for this weekend’s releases to go but up. It helps that one
Box Office Beat: Weekend of June 22 Read More »
For the first time since 1995, moviegoers are being treated to both a Batman and a Judge Dredd film in the same year. Up now is a trailer for “Dredd,” which is not a sequel to the widely-panned Sylvester Stallone film, but a reboot. This one stars Karl Urban as the eponymous Judge Dredd, a
New trailer: “Dredd” Read More »
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg’s first collaboration, the R-rated “That’s My Boy,” didn’t work out so well (read James’ review here), but knowing that film would tank at the box office probably wouldn’t have changed Sony’s decision to green-light the pair’s subsequent foray into family-friendly animation. In “Hotel Transylvania,” Sandler voices none other than Count
New trailer: “Hotel Transylvania” Read More »
Pierre Morel’s “Taken” was the movie that launched the Liam Neeson Renaissance, which elevated Neeson from “admired character actor”-status to “action star”-status. It grossed a whopping $226 million worldwide, and this was made all the more impressive by the fact that 64 percent of the total came from the United States — highly unusual for
New international trailer: “Taken 2” Read More »
Few trends have damaged the quality of modern filmmaking more than the growing importance of opening weekend box office numbers. For a movie to be considered a hit, it must perform well on Day One; the industry no longer supports 10-week engagements that allow quality films to grow based on audience word-of-mouth. As a result,
Review: “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding” Read More »
Andrew Sarris, one of the defining voices in modern film criticism, died today from an infection developed after a fall. He was 83. Sarris rose to prominence in what many refer to as the golden age of film criticism, the 1960s, when the studio system was in decline and the era of the international auteur
Film critic Andrew Sarris dies at 83 Read More »
In their third adaptation of a historically-set novel, director Joe Wright and actress Keira Knightley are tackling Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina.” Given that the duo’s prior collaborations (“Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement”) are the best things they’ve ever done in their respective careers, it’s hard not to watch this trailer with giddy optimism. “Anna Karenina,”
New trailer: “Anna Karenina” Read More »
