Box Office: Antonio Ascends Again

Puss in Boots is officially a big deal. The seductive cat dropped only 3% in his second weekend which is as miraculous as having nine lives, since 40% drops are far more common. That indicates amazing word of mouth (though Shrek-like totals might be hard to come by since it grossed do much less than those films on opening weekend). Even if Shrek totals are out of reach the orange tabby has successfully managed a spin-off franchise and could be heading for an Oscar nomination.

Antonio Banderas and Friends

Box Office (U.S.) Top Ten -Estimates
01 PUSS IN BOOTS  $33 (cum. $75.5)
02 TOWER HEIST new $25.1
03 A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS new $13.1 
04 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 $8.5  (cum. $95.3)
05 IN TIME $7.4  (cum. $24.2)
06 FOOTLOOSE $4.5  (cum. $44.8)
07 REAL STEEL $3.4  (cum. $78.8)
08 THE RUM DIARY $3 (cum. $10.4)
09 IDES OF MARCH [capsule] $2 (cum. $36.8)
10 MONEYBALL [review] $1.9 (cum $70.3)

Talking Points
• In limited release, according to IndieWire, Like Crazy is tracking slightly ahead of Martha Marcy May Marlene at a similar juncture in its limited release but both films have essentially made good on their Sundance promise with solid starts in movie theaters. Martha, which just crossed the million mark, gets a major expansion next weekend, opening in 45 additional markets. "Do not miss it," commandeth Nathaniel!

• The Skin I Live In also just crossed the magic million mark making this a very good weekend for Puss himself Antonio Banderas, whether in Boots with sword or in lab coat with scalpels. Banderas has always had a way with sharp instruments (See also: Zorro).

WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?

NYFF: "The Skin I Live In" It's Alive!

Michael C. (Serious Film) here with one of my most anticipated titles of 2011.

Dr. Banderas and his monster?

Dammit, Pedro. I just can't stay mad at you.

Even as he never reaches the emotional impact you expect from an Almodóvar production - as is the case with The Skin I Live In - his filmmaking is so alive in every moment one can't help forgiving him his flaws. Is this a top tier work from the man who made All About My Mother? No. Was I still glued to the screen in every moment as I am with few films? Hell, yes.

To call The Skin I Live In "Almodovar does Frankenstein" is both an accurate description and wildly reductive. Accurate in that, yes, Antonio Banderes plays a mad surgeon with a creation of his own held captive in his mansion. It is reductive because Pedro is not about to be satisfied simply delivering his take on lightning bolts and things jumping at you out of the darkness. The horror in Skin is of a far more unsettling variety involving attacks not just on one's safety but on one's sanity. It touches on Almodovar's familiar themes of sexuality, identity, and stopping everything dead so we can watch a beautiful woman sing a beautiful song.

more sans spoilers after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Julianne is Dope. Also: Links

The Far From Heaven team cleaning up at the Indie Spirits in 2003IndieWire so it looks like it's really happening *sniffle* Julianne Moore is moving to television. After that Sarah Palin telefilm turn she's doing a pilot for an HBO series called Dope.

But it's not all bad news: Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon are involved so it's essentially the great Far From Heaven team. Cross your fingers that it's worthy of their collective gifts! It'll have to be really really special to be that. 

The series would be set in the 1950s and is based on this novel. Publishers Weekly describes Moore's character like so.

Josephine "Joe" Flannigan, is a former heroin addict and hooker who has recast herself as a petty thief and con. Working her home turf, New York City's Hell's Kitchen, she is taken up by a mysterious well-to-do couple to find their addict daughter, expelled from Barnard and lost to the streets. 

So there's room for great acting. We shall see.

The Linkies
The Wrap Patti Smith is working on a biopic of sorts -- it's based on her memoirs of her early years with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the late 60s/early 70s -- with screenwriter John Logan. Who on earth could play Patti Smith? She's kinda strange looking and Hollywood only hires beauties. Here's what they looked like when the movie would take place.

ArtsBeat David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method will get a gala screening at the NYFF.
Latina Antonio Banderas on his long artistic separation from Pedro Almodóvar 'tween Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and The Skin I Live In (coming soon... and also getting a gala NYFF screening).

And speaking of Almodóvar, how amazing is this Rossy de Palma wall art by Adrian Valencia? I went to his site via a series of Lady Gaga drawings that are just stellar. 

© Adrian Valencia, 2011

 The Funnies
Ultra Culture "Cowboys and Aliens Fact Sheet"
My New Plaid Pants Quote of the Day from Jean Claude Van Damme [nsfw] 
The Hairpin an amusing review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes with drawings 
I09 "ten vestigial traits you didn't know you had". Robert Gonzalez, who wrote this, is funny. 
Bachmanneyezed a new tumblr  

Yes, No, Maybe So: Haywire

Jose here with a new edition of Yes, No, Maybe So. Just a few days ago we brought you the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's Contagion and now here's the trailer for Haywire, a movie he will release a mere four months later. Apparently the whole retirement thing just helped to crank the creative juices inside him...

YES. Once again, that cast!

How did he handle two casts with these people? Can you imagine working with Fassy, Ewan, Gwynnie, Kate, Marion and Channing in the same year? Maybe they are the ones who are more like "can you imagine working with Soderbergh?".

Keep on reading for more awesome Soderbergh-ness...

Click to read more ...

Antonio Banderas, Ham. Ryan Gosling, Driven.

Gee, do you think Antonio Banderas is glad to be back in an Pedro Almodóvar picture or what? Here he is posing for photographs at Cannes with his The Skin I Live In co-star Elena Anaya (Talk to Her) and Pedro himself (cutest director/muse picture of 2011?). Photos via Zimbio via Getty Europe.

In other Cannes news, Off LVT that is, though we haven't yet seen premiere photos, Ryan Gosling's vehicle Drive, has been seen by critics. Which prompted this hilarious tweet from In Contention's Guy Lodge.

Ryan Gosling in DRIVE

DRIVE (A-) I won't lie to you: I pretty much want to have sex with this movie. Hot, clipped, nasty, beautiful. Best thing in competition.

I told him if he'd only film that, he'd take fanfic to a whole new level.

In just a few more days we'll know who takes Best Actor, Best Actress and the Palme D'Or. Any bets?