Amir here, with the long weekend’s box office report. It was Valentine’s so romantic flicks opened, one of which didn’t do too well financially. But enough about RoboCop! How about that About Last Night? It’s been a few weeks since the last time we were collectively surprised that a “black” film did well at the box office, so let’s go at it again: can you believe that a film with a non-white cast can sell tickets too? Unbelievable, no? It turns out Hollywood doesn’t need to cast white people in every role, not even in all romantic comedies. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the last rom-com to do this well, Think Like a Man, starred three of the actors in this quartet: Kevin Hart, Regina Hall and Michael Ealy.)
oh, wait. that's not right somehow
BOX OFFICE
THE LEGO MOVIE $63.5m (cum. $143.8m)
ABOUT LAST NIGHT $28.5 new
ROBOCOP $25.6m (cum. $30.3m) new
THE MONUMENTS MEN $18m (cum. $46.1m)
ENDLESS LOVE $15m new
RIDE ALONG $10m (cum. $117.4m)
WINTER’S TALE $8.1m new
FROZEN $8m (cum. $378.2m)
LONE SURVIVOR $4.7m (cum. $119m)
THAT AWKWARD MOMENT $3.8 (cum. $21.9m)
The other new release targeted to the lovey-dovey crowd was Endless Love – three 80s remakes in one weekend is a new low for the creatively constipated Hollywood – and according to Box Office Mojo, it nearly broke a record for the absurd title of “the most front-loaded release of all time”; 56% of the film’s gross was pocketed on Friday. The LEGO Movie held on to the throne, though, and after two weeks, is already a major contender for 2014's year-end top ten. I re-watched it and it was even funnier and smarter than I’d remembered -- we already have our first solid contender in the best animated film race. I also watched Blue Jasmine a second time and this one also improved significantly upon a revisit. Later tonight, I’ll be off to see Palestine’s Oscar nominee, Omar. (You can always follow everything I see here on this page.)
What did you watch this weekend?
Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 9:00AM 
