"La La Land" Lifts Off in Opening Weekend
Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 7:58PM What did you see this weekend? I've had the neverending winter cold so I've been totally out of it. Hope you've been enjoying more films than I! This weekend contained a spectacular debut for La La Land which grossed nearly a million in only five theaters. To put it in context that's about twice what Moonlight and Cafe Society were able to accomplish in their similar sized opening weekends which were considered quite strong at the time. It's about four-to-six times what other art house darlings of the year (like The Lobster, Jackie, Love & Friendship, A Bigger Splash) were able to manage in similar sized openings. Most of those films proved to have a ceiling around $9-12 million at the US box office but La La Land seems sure to cross over to mainstream success.
Also worth noting: A great weekend for the musical form in general since Moana stayed up top.
TOP TWENTY
01 Moana $18.8 (cum. $145) Review
02 Office Christmas Party $17.5 NEW
03 Fantastic Beasts $10.7 (cum. $199.3)
04 Arrival $5.6 (cum. $81.4) Review and Podcast
05 Doctor Strange $4.6 (cum. $222.3) Review
06 Allied $4 (cum. $35.6) Review
07 Nocturnal Animals $3.1 (cum. $6.2) Review and Podcast
08 Manchester by the Sea $3.1 (cum. $8.3) Review, Second Take
09 Trolls $3.1 (cum. $145.4) NEW
10 Hacksaw Ridge $2.3 (cum. $60.8) Review & Podcast
11 Miss Sloane $1.9 (cum. $2) Review
12 Almost Christmas $1.4 (cum. $40.2)
13 Bad Santa 2 $1.2 (cum. $16.8)
14 Incarnate $1 (cum. $4.2)
15 La La Land $855K NEW Reviewish & How Rare Is It?
16 Loving $623K (cum. $6.5) Review and Podcast
17 Edge of Seventeen $620K (cum. $13.8) Review
18 Moonlight $589K (cum. $10.8) Review and Podcast
19 Jackie $495K (cum. $869K) Review
20 The Accountant $460K (cum. $85)
Reader Comments (26)
Saw ALMOST CHRISTMAS in theaters last night which was full of heart and a hilariously powerhouse performance by Mo'Nique. She had the best lines in the film and delivered them with unstoppable sass.
Also watched EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! which was fun as well.
Mondays tend to be my movie nights. Seeing Nocturnal Animals and Fantastic Beasts tomorrow. Been catching up on Eye in the Sky and The Neon Demon, both of which were okay. Eye in the Sky was well written and acted, but it did not draw me in. The Neon Demon was artistically adventurous, but drowned in the insipid banter between long periods of staring. Elle Fanning and Abbey Lee were very good, and Christina Hendricks had a fun cameo. Looking forward to La La Land, Jackie, and Rogue One opening in Seattle. I think Elle may be opening here as well.
I have more to watch tonight, but I finally watched Audrie & Daisy. All I'm going to say is that this is a wonderful year for documentary features and that category is going to be stacked at the Oscars.
I saw La La Land, which I really liked a lot but did not leave me swooning. It never soared, merely hovered above ground a few times. The songs are too simplistic and minor key. It's well-made and thoroughly entertaining, but I wish it tried to challenge itself a little more. It's fine and I probably expected too much, but I think it had an opportunity to be great but settled for well-done.
it's still a full month before La La Land opens in Europe... so I think I'll lose my mind before that! CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!
I'm working on 2016 catch-up.
HELL OR HIGH WATER - Didn't grab me, and I'm not quite sure what the acclaim is for. Pine seems too movie-star pretty for his role, Foster too camp, and Bridges is fine but plays to type. The film's interest in rural poverty was overplayed as well - every one-scene character finds some way to clumsily shoehorn a mention of economic hardship, long after the theme/setting has been established.
OTHER PEOPLE - an real gem, and I think the "cancer dramedy" label has some people overlooking how specific the film's voice and observations are. (The comic timing in the bad online date scene..!) Loved it.
THE MEDDLER - a superior entry in the recent cycle of showcase roles for older actresses, and I'd personally rank this above DORIS and I'LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS. Lovely.
ZOOTOPIA - sharp and surprisingly dark. Impressive.
Watched three films directed by women on Sunday - Chevalier, Queen of Katwe and Always Shine. All of them excellent.
MISS SLOANE's performance is such a bummer because it's so entertaining and everyone is going to love it in a year's time when it hits Netflix. Jessica Chastain eviscerating rooms of men with only her words is such glorious emotional pornography.
I also caught MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (liked, but not over the moon) and NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - which you have been far too kind to, Nathaniel ;)
Loving. A great film with two great lead performances (which surprised me as I'm always left feeling underwhelmed by Joel Edgerton).
I saw Trolls. It was goofy and silly, but the final song is infectious and deserves awards consideration. To me, the negative comparisons to Pharell's Happy are unwarranted. Yes, they feed from the same thematic sources, but not to the point of feeling reductive.
Manchester by the Sea, which feels every bit its two-hour-and-seventeen-minute running time and then some -- a good hour of which is variations of the same three arguments between the two main characters on loop as if they're that interesting or insightful. As soon as the flashbacks began, I instantly knew that Some Traumatic Event changed Casey Affleck's character for the worse, and we'd be hammered over the head with the ramifications for the duration, which wouldn't have been so bad had there been an emotional payoff. Every time a breakthrough seemed imminent the film would pull back and move on to another round of The Emotionally Stunted and the Bickering, which made me wish I were the one who'd succumbed to heart failure instead of Kyle Chandler's character. Each year or two critics peddle a movie like this about some stoic, grief-stricken [white] man for whom Some Traumatic Event is supposed to be enough for us to care about him as the best of the year, and each time I refuse to buy.
Side note: One thing that reeeaaally vexed me about the movie was the handling of Lee's part in Some Traumatic Event. The social climate of the country being what it is nowadays, I imagined how differently things would have played out had he been a black man from, for instance, my hometown of Baltimore who's night of [SPOILER ALERT] boozing, smoking, and snorting led, albeit indirectly, to such a tragedy. In a place where everyone doesn't know everyone else and the people who investigate crimes don't look like the residents of the city, I can't see "it wasn't your fault and nothing criminal took place" being a satisfactory response to the completely avoidable deaths of three little children [END SPOILER].
I saw Fantastic Beasts for the fourth time and Moana - very sweet and beautiful animation, but I was expecting to be blown away... Doesn't come close to Zootopia for me.
La La Land comes out in a month here and I can't wait to see it again.
Saw LA LA LAND and *loved* it. I was so worried it was being overhyped. So I'm so damn relieved. So colorful, so joyful. AND THAT ENDING. Shan't say more.
I saw La La Land on Friday and, 48 hours later, I'm still not over it. It was everything I wanted and then some. It contains not just one, but THREE of my favorite scenes of the year, and two of my favorite performances (although I personally would not shower either with awards). I can't say enough good things about it, so I'll just say it owned my soul in approximately two minutes, and that when it was done I wanted to immediately buy a ticket to the next open screening and watch it again right then and there.
I've also been listening to the soundtrack and score on repeat and the love just keeps growing.
@ Dan
I think Gosling deserves an award or two for that performance. (Or for both performances this year.)
Paul - much as I love BOTH performances he gave this year, and I am sure I will be kicking and screaming about how undervalued this particular performance has been by the time all the nomination lists are announced, I can't give him the win in the year of Colin Farrell in The Lobster (at the very least). But he is legitimately amazing in La La Land, and hilariously funny in The Nice Guys.
Nocturnal Animals. Disturbing but vivid and memorable. All of the cast is excellent. Jake Gylenhaal has reached some kind of breakthrough. Michael Shannon, excellent. The take on the rich and the art world was spot on. Amy Adams, movie star.
Just saw Jackie. So unsettling and bold. Why isn't it showing up on more award lists?
I saw:
Nocturnal Animals: Really enjoyed it, but am not sure if it was great or garbage. Kinda swings between the two extremes.
Manchester by the Sea: Terrible soundtrack, distracting editing and a good 20 minutes too long, but man, was this well written and well acted. Really good sense of place too. And yes, I sobbed buckets. So, not sure why it's one of the main front runners this year, but I am very glad I saw it.
American Honey: Ugh. Ugh. I think I should get a gold sticker for sticking through all 2 hrs and 45 minutes of this. After a while, I could have walked out, but it became a pride/stubbornness thing.
Oh, and then on Saturday night, I watched Meet Me in St. Louis and the Judy Garland Christmas Special. Interesting double feature. Kinda sad together.
I saw "Loving".
Ruth Negga is an actress with such internal grace, hitting each moment right on, moment after moment.
I've really liked Joel Edgerton for a while now, appreciating his sharply etched, distinctive grown-up character portrayals.
I admired his steadfastness in "Loving" in resisting being ingratiating, giving us an easy path to the character. It's a kind of wake up smack, this good person is NOT LIKE YOU. For me, that leads to a little self examination that wouldn't have happened with a more easily accessible character. So thanks, Joel.
I am really sad for Jessica Chastain and Miss Sloane :( I've read a lot of articles today about it bombing. What's worse is that it's not scheduled for release in Australia until March. I wonder if it will even get a cinema release in Australia now? I really wanted this film to do well. What a bummer.
I saw Hell or High Water over the weekend. I want the actress who played the waitress at the T-Bone diner to win all of the awards. She was my fav part of that film, aside from Nick Cave's score.
They should've released MISS SLOANE is, like, April when the Oscar films have faded away.
I saw Loving - really enjoyed it. I was expecting it to feel padded and dragged out based on comments here and elsewhere, and while I had a few moments of those, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. (Almost?) ever scene had a reason to be there.
Negga was just so lovely and Edgerton was, as well. Both of them did so much with so little dialogue - they both had so much just simmering under the surface. I don't know if either will be able to make their way into a nomination but I wouldn't be mad if they did. Lesser actors would have either pushed so much harder with this material or not been able to fill the minimalism with so much moment by moment. When Edgerton says "tell them I love my wife" and his voice just baaaaaaarely cracks on the last word - heartbreaking.
I saw La La Land. That ending, OMG. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but the last act of the movie is a gem, I am shocked Emma Stone is not this year's Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, winning everything everywhere. She somehow rises above very well made cinema and owns every frame she is in.This is the girl from Easy A and Superbad! Gosling is great too, but Emma Stone!
PGA Championship
i just loved your post. keep publishihng it