Two Box Office Lists, One "A Separation" Inspired
Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 3:36PM It was a big weekend for spoofing familiar concepts with 21 Jump Street filling movie houses and the only other top ten newbie Casa De Mi Padre, doing a parodic riff on Mexican movies starring Will Ferrell and everyone's favorite Mexican tag team: Gael García Bernal & Diego Luna. Would love to hear from anyone who saw the latter in the comments since this one slipped me by and GGB is an old favorite. (My review of 21 Jump Street will be up tomorrow evening.)
TOP TEN (Estimates)
01 21 JUMP STREET $35 new in wide release
02 THE LORAX $22.8 (cum. $158.4)
03 JOHN CARTER $13.5 (cum. $53.1) [Review and Taylor Kitsch Beefcake]
04 PROJECT X $4 (cum. $48.1)
05 A THOUSAND WORDS $3.7 (cum. $12.1)
06 ACT OF VALOR $3.6 (cum. $62.3)
07 SAFE HOUSE $2.8 (cum. $120.2)
08 JOURNEY 2 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND $2.4 (cum. $95)
09 CASA DE MI PADRE $2.2 new in limited release
10 THIS MEANS WAR $2.1 (cum. $50.5)
Another Milestone for A Separation
Asgar Farhadi's Oscar winner A Separation (our favorite of 2011) continues its incredible theatrical run passing the 5 million mark. Five million for an Iranian family drama at the US box office? Unheard of. Every once in a blue moon the nation's box office gives us good news for quality cinema. While we're here why not a look back at the biggest foreign hits from the past year?
TOP TWENTY SUBTITLED HITS RELEASED IN THE US IN 2011
Disclaimer: I didn't count The Artist. Though it's foreign, it's silent so we're excluding it but you'll understand that if we did it'd be number one with an incredible $42 million. Don't believe those naysayers that call it a box office disappointment. Black and white + no stars + silent + foreign = $42 million is big big numbers.
Kristin Scott Thomas continues to be a draw ... at least when subtitled.
The ones that got a lot of people talking...
01 SARAH'S KEY [France] $7.6
02 A SEPARATION [Iran] $5.6 and still playing
The Oscar winner this year which we like writing about.
03 BIUTIFUL [Mexico] $5.1 Technically a 2010 picture since it had a one week qualifying run before being pulled until the nominations were announced. But we'll count it for comparison's sake.
04 OF GODS AND MEN [France] $3.9 It was held back to 2011 to capitalize on a presumed Oscar, but the nomination didn't even come. Did very well for itself in 2011 anyway which is not the usual case for that sort of "wait for the Oscar" trick.
other successes
05 DON 2 [India] $3.6
06 THE SKIN I LIVE IN [Spain] $3.1
"Success" being relative. This didn't do Pedro Almodóvar's usual numbers though I'm unsure as to why.
07 ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA [India] $3.1
08 PINA [Germany] $3.0 and still playing The Oscar nominated dance documentary... in 3D.
09 RA ONE [India] $2.5
10 INCENDIES [Canada] $2.0 Another Oscar nominee from last year
POTICHE was such fun. Arthouse audiences (mostly) agreed.
minor hits... but still hits
11 BODYGUARD [India] $1.8
12 POTICHE [France] $1.6
13 DELHI BELLY [India] $1.5
14 THE DOUBLE HOUR [Italy] $1.5
15 SAVING PRIVATE PEREZ [Mexico] $1.4
16 CERTIFIED COPY [France| Italy | Belgium ] $1.3
17 NO ERES TU, SO YO [Mexico] $1.3
18 DESI BOYZ [India] $1.0
19 IN A BETTER WORLD [Denmark] $1.0 The Foreign Film Oscar winner last year
20 READY [India] $.9
ol' faithfuls French cinema and Bollywood continue to have the most reliable ticket buyers in the US arthouses. Bollywood movies don't need any press attention at all to find audiences. Even if you follow the movies religiously chances are you haven't heard of their annual hits if you're not out there looking for them. France is a different story in that way, getting and needing the media push.
Hrithik Roshan & Shah Rukh Khan are superstars of Bollywood. So is the male physique.
And also: What is it with Bollywood and über muscley male superstars? Bollywood men are way more objectified than their Hollywood counterparts.
Jeon Do Yeon, our favorite Korean actressjust outside the list Japan's ultra violent epic 13 Assassins got some attention and press but didn't quite cross the million mark.
sad observation Though South Korea is where it's at right now for regional cinema heat (as opposed to heat tied to specific filmmakers) the country's cinema has yet to catch on with arthouse moviegoers here in the States. Despite huge acclaim Mother, Thirst and Poetry, three of the most interesting films of the past few years, didn't totally catch on. None of them crossed the magic million dollar mark and only one of them passed ½ a million. The Housemaid and Secret Sunshine were also not true breakthroughs despite the exciting lead actressing of Jeon Do-Yeon.
Answer me these questions three
- Which of the top 20 foreign hits did you see?
- What did you see this weekend?
- Any theories as to why The Skin I Live In wasn't up to Pedro's usual numbers or why Bollywood worships male flesh?
Linkbender
Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 11:39AM Stale Popcorn awww. our friend Glenn held a Titanic Oscar.
Guardian fun old interview with Helena Bonham Carter from her first film The Lady Jane (1986)
The Mary Sue new Dr. Horrible Sing-Along films this summer? Maybe.
Prometheus the full second trailer. Not doing a "yes no maybe so" because we already covered this one.
Tom Shone is not looking forward to Prometheus and here's why.
ioncinema Laurence Anyways trailer (in French) and posters. I love Xavier Dolan so I'm excited for this on principle if not quite in actuality.
Telegraph Tim Robey on George Clooney's arrest.
Movie|Line takes a different approach with the 9 most handsomely stoic photos of Clooney from the Sudan event.
In Contention Christopher Plummer in Barrymore... his stage triumph is going big screen this fall.
Antagony & Ecstacy is doing a 1930s week with fine pieces on Leo McCarey (Make Way For Tomorrow) and early horror (Island of Lost Souls) with more to come.
Deadline Scorsese & DiCaprio committed to making The Wolf of Wall Street.
Immersed in Movies has a strange bit about Krypton mythology in the upcoming Superman movie Man of Steel... but since it's about costume design we're intrigued.
My New Plaid Pants (NSFW) has been having a ton of fun wrapping up 2011 cinema with the Golden Trouser awards including "ten great gratuities of 2011 cinema" ... Michael Fassbender keeps popping up and also wins Best Actor.
Hollywood Prospectus surveys the week in celebrity gossip. Minimal commentary pointing to the ridiculous.
The Broadway Blog interviews ubiquitous out actor Denis O'Hare of stage, film and television and grills him cheekily at the end about all the hot men he works with. Who is crush worthy?
Crush-worthy….hmmmmm. I’d have to go with Jamie Bell. Mysterious."
Good choice, O'Hare.
Finally...
Check out this Snow White and the Hunstmen featurette on Costume Design. We're campaigning for 2012 Oscars so soon?
Will the queen's costume's alone win Collen Atwood her 10th nomination -- even before those dual armies?
All in all she's quite the haute couture sort of queen but with an aged rotting edge to her."
We like the sound of those... especially with diva Charlize Theron inside of them.
Complete the Sentence...
Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 4:08PM The last movie I saw was ___________________ and when _______________ I thought to myself " _____________________".
p.s. more film bitch awards soon, new series debuts or returns and such are also on the way in the next week or two. sorry for delays...
complete the sentence Happy St. Patrick's Day! Kiss An Irish Film Star
Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 1:00AM 
Watch a Greer Garson movie today in honor of the Irish! Love her.
Or if you don't have one of her Oscar-roles handy, Kiss an Irish Movie Star. There are many too choose from though the Irish men far outnumber the women when it comes to Hollywood success. Pick a pair of lips to smooch or try to guess who they are before you commit to a makeout session.
UPDATE: The answers are after the jump now that you've collectively solved the puzzle.
Congrats to The Film Junkie who guessed the two hardest ones.
Greer Garson, Holidays