What did you see this past week?
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 10:35AM by Nathaniel R
Barbenheimer is still reigning in theaters and by quite a lot both movies still gathering impressive per screen averages in their fourth weeks and enviable global grosses too ($1.1 billion and $648 million respectively). The weekend's new wide releases, the dracula picture The Last Voyage of The Demeter and a sci-fi comedy Jules didn't make much of an initial impression with moviegoers. Meanwhile the bisexual drama Passages starring Ben Whishaw and Franz Rogowski (with a sex scene that will make you believe they were actually f***ing on set) expanded to 41 theaters.
| Weekend Box Office Aug 11-13 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended |
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| WIDE (Over 600 Screens) | LIMITED / PLATFORM |
 BARBIE |
 PASSAGES |
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1 ★ BARBIE $33.8 (cum. $526.4) 4,178 screens |
1 ★ THEATER CAMP (US, comedy) $274k (cum. $3.1) 410 screens |
|
2 ★ OPPENHEIMER $18.8 (cum. $264.2) 3761 screens |
2 🔺★ PASSAGES (France/Germany, drama) $85k (cum. $172k) 41 screens |
|
3 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MUTANT MAYHEM $15.2 (cum. $72.3) 3,950 screens
|
3 SHORTCOMINGS (US, comedy) $85k (cum. $559k) 210 screens |
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4 MEG 2: THE TRENCH $12.8 (cum. $54.2) 3,604 screens |
4 CATVIDEOFEST 2023 $79k (cum. $230k) 35 screens |
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5 🔺 THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER $6.5 *NEW* 2,715 screens |
5 ★ THE MIRACLE CLUB (Ireland/UK, drama) (Japan, anime) 48k (cum. $1.8) 61 screens |
|
6 HAUNTED MANSION $5.7 (cum. $53) 2,860 screens |
6 THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (Japan, anime) $39k (cum. $1.1) 26 screens |
|
7 TALK TO ME $5.1 (cum. $31.3) 2,379 screens |
7 🔺 DAY BY DAY (Sweden, dramedy) $31k *NEW* 7 screens |
 LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER |
 RANSOMED |
|
8 SOUND OF FREEDOM $4.8 (cum. $172.8) 2,803 screens |
8 GO WEST (US, comedy) $28k (cum. $309k) 38 screens |
|
9 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -DEAD RECKONING PART ONE $4.6 (cum. $159.4) 2,135 screens |
9 RANSOMED (South Korea, action drama) Oscar submission possibility $16K (cum. $97k) 9 screens |
|
10 INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY $92k (cum. $172.6) 790 screens |
10 DREAMIN' WILD (US, music drama) $15K (cum. $240k) 72 screens |
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11 JULES $839k *NEW* 780 screens |
11 APORIA (US, sci-fi) $14K *NEW* 18 screens |
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12 ELEMENTAL $745k (cum. $150.2) 690 screens |
12 WINTER KILLS (1979 / US rerelease) $11k *NEW* 1 screen |
|
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13 ★ CONTEMPT (1963 / France, rerelease) $9k (cum. $158k) 8 screens |
|
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14 KOKOMO CITY (US, doc) $9k (cum. $61k) 24 screens |
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only 12 movies in wide release |
15 AFIRE (German, dramedy) $9k (cum. $175k) 17 screens |
What did you see?
I caught The Last Voyage of the Demeter (both because I'm a easy target for vampire pictures and because I like to support David Dastmalchian in bigger and bigger roles!). I also finally made it to Theater Camp which was just hilarious though -- a must for theater nerds -- but if you've been putting it off, go. It's losing theaters rapidly now.
Next weekend.
In wide release we get another DC superhero picture The Blue Beetle as well as the talking dog comedy Strays (which looks surprisingly funny). Other new releases include the stripper-movie spoof Back on the Strip, the trans drama Mutt, the sci-fi indie Landscape with Invisible Hand, the comedy The Adults with Michael Cera and Sophia Lillis, and the French biopic Simone: Woman on the Century starring Elsa Zylberstein as the famous Holocaust survivor turned politician.
Reader Comments (10)
I watched horror and some 1990's dramas
Death and the Maiden thriller with a divisive but memorable performance by Sigourney Weaver
Premature Burial Ray Milland spooky 60's horror
Saturday Night Fever Travolta's star making role and 1st Oscar nom,he is much better than I remembered
The Doctor 1991 William Hurt drama,very good
Insidous The Red Door same old jump scares and the usual look of a horror film green with low lights
The Mist Stephen King creature feature,that ending still packs a punch
The Piano classic Oscar winner,still prefer Bassett in Best Actress that year
Piranha Joe Dante's 78 Jaws knock off
Jaws of Satan woeful killer snake flick from 1980
The Babysitter drama thriller with little drama and no thrills
Backdraft 1 and 2 I didn't know there'd been a sequel either,William Baldwin returns
Graveyard Shift Giant rodent movie,silly more than scary,good practical sfx
I saw PASSAGES and as I said elsewhere, no offense to Ryan Gosling and Robert Downey Jr. but Ben Whishaw's butt cheeks for Best Supporting Actor please!
Ended up seeing TALK TO ME as well (a shockingly low drop from last weekend relative to horror films) and really liked it as well! I'm not usually a horror guy.
Glad you liked THEATER CAMP. Really one of the, if not the, funniest movie of the year so far.
I'm REALLY happy that Barbie and Oppenheimer are doing so well, but this has been such a fallow period for new releases (especially given that I saw Passages - and loved it - at a film festival earlier this year). It seems I'm just waiting for Afire to come to town...
This weekend I watched Police Story and Police Story 3 for the first time. I thought they were both really good but especially enjoyed the dynamic between Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh in 3. I didn't realize these films had so much fun silly humor!
I watched ‘Getting Go’ which I enjoyed, and was a little heartbroken by.
‘These Old Broads’ was fun with Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor - with a yummy side of Nestor Carbonell.
Also finally watched ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ to complete best pic of last years Oscars.
Can't wait to see Passages!
I watched Red, White and Royal Blue on Amazon. I had read the book and didn't know they were making it into a movie.
Saturday, I finished the Small Axe anthology film series with Education while also doing a couple of re-watches in a B-movie starring Fred Williamson, Gary Busey, Peter Fonda, Robert Forster, Stella Stevens, Vanity, Sam J. Jones, and Henry Silva in South Beach and Sex & Lucia.
Finally saw more than ten movies last week, but the three movies I absolutely loved --
John Wick 4 - the crafts here are just off the chart phenomenal.
Pacification - thanks to The Film Experience for posting that best of the year so far awards post last week. I gave this one a go, and it was so good. Moody, deliberately paced, a gorgeous scene of tour boats riding large waves, and a character study of a complex politician who good, self-interested, charming, and a ballbuster all at once.
Shortcomings - Justin Min is so sexy. A movie about a dick that works because you can understand why someone would be both attracted and repelled by him. Great conversations throughout. What a breakout year for Sherry Cola.
Saw and loved Theater Camp! I chuckled all the way home from the cinema after getting surprisingly emotional at the incredibly sweet tone of the ending. Even my husband, who (unlike me) did not grow up as a theater kid with Fosse snaps as part of his vocabulary, can't stop raving and told me it will be one of those comedies he rewatches over and over.
I watched the film 'The Whale,' directed by Aronofsky. And over the past year, it's the only thing that has stuck in my mind. Brendan Fraser in this film is outstanding.
Will you be doing a tribute article on the great William Friedkin? A true genius. I just rewatched To Live and Die in L.A. A masterpiece.