Box Office: Faster and Furiouser

The Fast & Furious franchise turned the box office into a regular demolition derby destroying its competition with over 60% of the top ten dollars. It seems absurd to make the comparison but maybe it's a Bondian franchise, the kind that only grows with time? Tokyo Drift, the only entry without Paul Walker or Vin Diesel in the driver's seat was its only underperformer. Okay so maybe the Bond comparison is a bad one since that series has easily survived cast changes. (Not that Fast Five didn't benefit from the addition of The Rock.

For Fast & Furious: Sixth Gear I think they should race famous vintage movie cars: The Batmobile, Thelma & Louise's Thunderbird convertiable, Bonnie & Clyde's Death Car.  And while we're on the Ian Fleming franchise subject, maybe throw in a musical dream segment starring Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; lead feet with twinkle toes!

The Box Office (Actuals)

01 FAST FIVE new $86.1
02 RIO $14.7 (cumulative $104)
03 MADEA'S BIG HAPPY FAMILY $9.8 (cumulative $40.8)
04 WATER FOR ELEPHANTS $9.3 (cumulative $32.4)
05 PROM new $4.7
06 HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL new $4.1
07 SOUL SURFER $3.3 (cumulative $33.8)
08 INSIDIOUS $2.6 (cumulative $48.3)
09 HOP $2.6 (cumulative $105.4)
10 SOURCE CODE $2.5 (cumulative $48.8)

Points of Interest:

Brandon Routh is "Dylan Dog"

• HOP proves that when you're holiday-themed, it's really wise to open well before the holiday. (I've never understood this with horror movies that choose to open on Halloween weekend.) Hop did huge box office right up until Easter. Afterwards? A huge 80% drop in attendance despite only losing 10% of its screens. Kill the wabbit kill the wabbit ♪ ♫
• Dylan Dog: Dead of Night opened wide but still coudn't crack the top ten. Ouch.
• Best Per Screen Average: Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams. In 3-D!
• Not every toon opens huge (Hoodwinked!) though it seems the norm (Rio, Rango, etc...)

What did you see this weekend? How many of the Fast & Furious films have you seen?

Sal Mineo and Gay Hollywood

My friend Matthew, who wrote the book Boy Culture (which his blog is named after), recently interviewed the late Sal Mineo's boyfriend Courtney Burr, who is an acting teacher, in connection with a newish book on one of the most important Young Hollywood stars of the 1950s and 60s. The book in question was written by Michael Gregg Michaud. Burr had previously declined requests to help with other Mineo related books because he felt they were just after the sensationalistic aspects of the actor's legend (his sex life or his murder in the 70s -- famously none of the legendary trio from Rebel Without a Cause lived long enough to die of natural causes).

It's a lengthy interview for those of you who are interested in Sal Mineo or the difficulties for "exotic" actors or queer actors in showbiz history. The bit where Burr talks about Sal's career choices and if a comeback would have been in the cards if he hadn't been killed was interesting.

He was a wonderful director, but I think if he’d gotten the roles he wanted, like in The Godfather, which Al Pacino, a young, unknown, up-and-coming actor—it was certainly a role he could’ve played, and he said, "I’m ideal for that!" Midnight Cowboy...he was devasted—they wouldn't even see him. There were other roles he could’ve done and instead they started casting him as drug dealers…that Pancho Villa thing...I don’t mean that against Pancho Villa, but it just was not a great look for him.

He goes on to talk about those all-star epics of the time that faltering stars would appear in for the exposure and money not thinking about how it would damage their career. He likens it to has beens doing Dancing With the Stars today. Heh.

Sometimes Burr is quite honest and revealing. For instance he has a lot of interesting things to say about how Sal viewed himself (he preferred "artist" to "actor" because he also directed and drew and sang) and whether or not he would have come out in the modern era of stardom. He also claims that Sal Mineo's relationship with his Exodus co-star Jill Hayworth was an actually close friendship and sexual relationship though it's sometimes been described elsewhere as one of those infamous Old Hollywood publicity-created "relationships".

Other times the interviewee is frustratingly opaque with his stories. There's a confusing bit about Natalie Wood that makes her sound a bit homophobic though her friendships with gay men, famous and otherwise, are well known and documented. 

Farley Granger, Jane Powell, and Roddy McDowell. Old Hollywood pool party?

Though Burr didn't like the sensationalistic tone of most Sal Mineo books, he's okay with serving it up himself: Roddy McDowall in particular gets verbal smackdowns for being an evil "suburban" closet queen. Roddy is no longer around to defend himself of course but one this is factually certain from the stories: these two men CLEARLY did not get along.

There are also stories about working with Janet Gaynor and Rock Hudson in the interview so if you're interested in Old Hollywood, check it out.

Superboyfriend

may flowers bloom daily at noon

Kal-El is not just Superman, he's  Superboyfriend.  All Lois Lane needs to mention is "woman's touch" and "dinner" and he's not just ordering out, he's flying to far off continents to fetch her munchies and exotic florals to improve the mood.

After dinner, a little suggestive banter...

"I thought we might, uh..." [cork popping]

He's also got Super Bedroom Eyes (x-ray vision, don'cha know).

Lois is a goner.

voila...
Super Dessert!

Superman II is so 1980. Could you imagine a superhero plot now in which a superhero must renounce all his powers to have sex? Although, come to think of it, the most promiscuous heroes -- billionaire playboys Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne -- don't actually have super powers so maybe this plotline is telling.

April Showers Bring May Flowers. (Plus: More Film Bitch Nominees)

As illustrated by that pocketful of sunshine, Emma Stone.

April Showers: American History X (1998), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), A Walk on the Moon (1999), South Pacific (1958), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), The Long Good Friday (1980), Groundhog Day (1993), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), The Hurt Locker (2009), I Robot (2004), Single White Female (1992), The Fifth Element (1997) and Shutter Island (2010).

May Flowers: Weekdays at noon. Any suggestions?

oh, okay, okay. I know we can't end without actually watching Emma doing "Pocketful of Sunshine" again. If the entirety of Easy A had been as great as this post-credits opening scene, the movie would have been an A+

P.S. This one-minute delight is nominated in the 2010 FiLM BiTCH Awards for Best Musical Number from a Non-Musical Film. Here's that last page of honorees in progress. Almost finished. Sorry for that weirdly protracted hiatus.

Take Three: Brooke Smith

Craig here (from Dark Eye Socket) with Take Three. Today: Brooke Smith

Take One: Series 7: The Contenders (2001)
Smith's performance as Dawn “Bloody mama” Lagarto in Daniel Minahan’s Series 7: The Contenders is a goldmine of maternal aggression. Dawn is a risk-taking, self-serving, take-no-prisoners single pregnant woman with a gun and a hit list of new Contenders to wipe out. It's as far from life-affirming as it gets making Dawn the kind of caustically fantastic role that most A-list actresses would give their right arm... to steer clear of. Thank the gods of indie cinema that they gave us Brooke Smith, then. We first see her enter a convenience store to shoot an old guy in the back. “You got any bean dip?” she asks the cashier. The humour is black and she dishes it dry. In one of the film’s sickest/funniest TV-montage parodies we see Dawn slit someone’s throat in a lift, kick a guy downstairs, drown someone else in a toilet and strangle a woman in a car à la Halloween’s Michael Myers, all whilst with a bun in the oven. This is not a rom-com.

Smith exudes confidence as an actress and is completely believable even within the outre satiric prophecies of Series 7. I’d like to see her trade fiery, meaty dialogue with some of today’s cinematic greats; this may not have happened yet because she may somewhat show them up. With its sly undercurrent of political commentary, Series 7 (and, to a lesser extent, its closest imitator, 2005’s Live!) is the kind of film that prods the dark funny bone of anyone who finds the ongoing fad for “reality” TV (now more hatefully extreme then ever) dispiriting and ripe for incisive satire. Ten years on the film retains its grim, acidic bite. In my view, Smith’s performance is one of 2001's very best. Shame Oscar wouldn’t go near it with a barge pole.

Take Two: Melinda and Melinda (2005)
In Woody Allen’s double-plotted Melinda and Melinda Smith gives a supporting turn as friend and confidant of both lead Radha Mitchell’s Melinda and Chloë Sevigny’s Laurel. (She was at it again earlier this year in Fair Game, where she had one group dinner scene and a brief chat with Naomi Watts and was still the best thing about it.) Smith played pregnant Cassie, the only female role (barring bit parts) without her own (sub)plotline. This is a shame as there are mild hints (thanks to Smith) that Cassie has a sly, playful side that would’ve dazzled in a fun, stand-alone narrative strand. Sevigny and Mitchell, both ordinarily very good actresses, give strained, overdramatic performances. That left Smith to bring the goods.

More on Melinda² and, you guessed it, "The Girl in the Pit" after the jump.

Click to read more ...