Two Box Office Lists, One "A Separation" Inspired

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?
  

Burning Questions: What's Controversial About "A Separation"?

Michael C. checking in with some of the aftermath of Oscar 2012. According to a report on Huffington Post, despite having previously trumpeted A Separation's Oscar win as a national triumph Iranian authorities have canceled an event to be hosted by leading Iranian film groups in honor of Asghar Farhadi's contribution to the country's cinema. Apparently, conservative hardliners and clerics, who had been celebrating Iran's first Oscar win, in particular its victory over the Israeli nominee, were displeased after being belatedly clued into the film’s content.  

So why the about-face at this late date? What subversive material somehow slipped the attention of the authorities only now to come to light? What is so controversial about A Separation?

Honestly, I was surprised Iran submitted A Separation for the Oscar at all. The image of modern day Iran in Farhadi’s film wasn’t as devastating as say, the corruption and violence ravaged country portrayed in Mexico’s submission, Miss Bala, but it is still a far cry from the picture one imagines controlling government officials would be eager to present to the world. [more after the jump]

Click to read more ...

Distant Relatives: The Bicycle Thief and Wendy and Lucy

Robert here w/ Distant Relatives, exploring the connections between one classic and one contemporary film. This week the first in a three part series on how one classic film can have many children.

After a year that celebrated films about redemption and sentimentality, it's difficult to look at movies about poverty and struggle and not feel like a downer. But there's a reason why a film like The Bicycle Thief, or its neo-realist brethren is considered among the best of all time. Similarly, there's a reason why enough young filmmakers today are inspired to take on that same topic of hardship to make up a small movement that's frequently labeled "neo-neo-realism" (if you're into things being labeled), including Wendy and Lucy. And it has nothing to do with presenting a vision of a world devoid of hope or happiness.
 
The old joke phrase, "I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist" doesn't apply here. The purpose of these films isn't to convince you that the world is impossibly sad. So instead, replace the word "realist" in that phrase with "humanist" and consider that the success of these films is based on the fact that their creators truly care for their subjects. How many Hollywood blockbusters that present use with canned happy endings, have no real interest in the actual humanity of their characters?
 
The Bicycle Thief and Wendy and Lucy present humanist portraits of two troubled souls on a quest to improve their lives and keep their families together. It makes no difference that in one case "family" is traditionally defined and in another it's a girl and her dog. Companionship is companionship as is unconditional love. And in both cases, this singular quest gets sidetracked with familial consequences.

The plot of The Bicycle Thief is well known for both its simplicity and effectiveness. Impoverished Antonio, having just secured a new job that requires a bicycle, has his bicycle stolen out from under him. He wanders through the streets of his village accompanied by his young son, hopelessly attempting to catch the thief and retrieve his bike. Of course, additional things happen, but this is all the viewer needs to know. We may not have all felt this level of desperate, but we can all understand desperation. Similarly Wendy and Lucy can be summarized to easily evoke emotions. A poor young woman, Wendy and her constant companion, her dog Lucy, are on their way to a better life in Alaska. When Wendy is detained by the police, Lucy disappears and she'll spend the rest of the film trying to find her.
 
The humanism in these films lies in the fact that we care for these characters vicariously through the eyes of their directors, and in doing so understand that there are those who similarly care for and empathize with us in our moments of need. We root for both of these characters even as their missions seem to be leading them toward the same inescapable conclusion.
 
It's a conclusion as inescapable as their poverty, and it's that understanding that further connects the two films. Why is it so difficult to ascend financially in the world? Because even a small disaster can derail a life. A stolen bicycle, a broken car, a lost dog, can bring an immediate end to a hopeful journey. For the wealthy, minor nuisances are just that - minor, forgettable, easily overcome.

 
In addition to their own diminishing success in life, Antonio and Wendy have to contend with the fraying bonds of their family, another theme familiar to us all. There is a moment where you realize that your relationship to someone close has been eternally altered and can never go back, and both of these films present these tragic moments as yet another consequence of their noble but unachievable goals.
 
The Bicycle Thief and Wendy and Lucy succeed by compelling us so easily to root for Antonio and Wendy. We feel their frustrations and successes so completely. To do so both directors utilize a style of simplicity and obtrusiveness. Obviously this is where the "realism" part of their respective movements comes from. But it's unfair to dismiss the obvious, since it contributes so much to these films' brilliance. By intimately placing us next to the action in the role of the all-seeing camera, these films make us a part of the story and give us no choice but to be surrounded by their reality, feeling all of its humanity, and depositing us on the opposite side of tragedy, and in doing so making us feel perhaps the slightest glimmer of hope once again.

Tues Top Ten Pt 1: Takeaways from the 84th Oscars

We love to do top tens on Tuesdays and more of them will be coming your way soon. Today's top ten is not strictly ascending, some of these moments I loved and some I decidedly did not but they're ten things that I'm thinking about today and that I imagine will always come up when I think of the 84th Oscars.

TOP TEN TAKEAWAYS
Things to remember, for better and for worse, from the 84th Oscars

10 Direction is Everything With Dance
When I first heard they were doing a Cirque Du Soleil number at the Oscars, I groaned. Not that I don't enjoy the odd acrobatic but why at the Oscars? If you want it to be a variety show, stop being so inexcusably high and mighty about the Original Song category (that music branch and those rules. sigh) and start nominating 5 songs each year like in every other category. There are several songs this year that might have made for great ceremony moments. But when it began with that graceful, hypnotic liftoff via North by Northwest, my spirit lifted off with the twinned Cary Grants And then crashed back down to earth when I realized that the guy in the control booth had ADD and felt it necessary to show me closeups during big elaborately choreographed acrobats, which made for entirely confusing moments. Sometimes you couldn't even tell what film clips they were dancing to.

There's a certain cross-section of film critics that have been so cynical and mean spirited about our Best Picture, The Artist, that you'd think it was directed by Ed Wood, Alan Smithee or Michael Bay. They've been so weirdly hyperbolic about their hatred that it's been hard to actually hear an argument within the bile. But the Cirque Du Soleil number only served to illustrate how wise Michel Hazanavicius was with the physicality of The Artist, especially in its last glorious continuous take moments where you could see (wait for it) ENTIRE BODIES DANCING. This is quite possibly the simplest visual performance concept of all, that to understand / absorb / fully enjoy a dance, you have to see the body. It's such a simple concept that 96% of the (modern) time, directors screw it up. Well done Hazanavicius. Should the Oscars choose to ever have musical numbers again, please hire a control booth with less panicy "ohmygodthey'llgetbored" insecurities. It's hardly ever boring to watch great dancing / acrobatics / performances. It's only boring when you can't see them and are forced again and again to look at one particular detail at the expense of the whole.

09 David Fincher's Oscar Stride
With Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall's semi-surprise win in film editing for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I predicted it as the "spoiler" should there be one and now of course I wish I'd just gone for it fully) they achieved an Oscar miracle: it's the first back-to-back editing Oscar since 1935/1936 when Ralph Dawson took home prizes for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Anthony Adverse. Baxter and Wall won last year for The Social Network and though they really are superb editors, what this most definitely illustrates (along with the great guild showing for Dragon Tattoo) is that David Fincher has really hit his stride with the Academy. It took them a long time to get there but now that they're there expect every one of his films to win nominations in some category or another. It was hard not to view the clip selection for Rooney Mara as the Academy own cheeky response to Fincher's preemptory quipping about his movie's AMPAS fate.

There's too much anal rape in this movie to get nominated."

08 Leggy Angelina
Angelina has always felt a bit like a cartoon version of a movie star, so overripe, so perfectly visual. The best part is that she knows it. Her strut to standing hip swung leg out pose was so deliciously diva that it must be celebrated (and mocked by the next Oscar winner) immediately thereafter.

07 Movie Stars Talking About Movies Is Love.
King Kong Morgan Freeman talking King Kong. Brad's amusing description of The Gargantuans. Adam Sandler talking James Bond and Sean Connery's chest hair and saying "can i please do that?" (um which part?) And most of all Gabby Sidibe marveling over "My Left Foot" (who knew?) we love this sort of thing.

"Nader & Simin" watching Farhadi accept the Oscar

06 Art is Global. Art is Political. Art is Good For the World.
Asghar Farhadi and cast were present and Iran won its first Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Farhadi got political in his speech and we're glad he did. Though some of the sentiment was lost in his English, we appreciate any reminder that respectful discourse and rich cultural exchange is possible and admirable, especially in the face of so much lowest common denominator politics. So many politicians these days play on people's worst instincts toward hostility and resentment for all, never thinking through the effects of war mongering rhetoric.

But back to the movies. We hope that A Separation marks a turning point and the category that used to give us the Bergmans and the Fellinis of the world will return to its roots and start giving statues to the masterpieces again. What a great start.

FIVE MORE TO GO - from Jessica to Emma Stone.
But what's your take on these five topics?

The Foreign Language Sweet Spot

Robert here, making no claims to predicting this year's Foreign Language Film category, or making any judgments based on quality. In the life of the mid-west movie lover, we're still waiting for all of these films to show up in our area. But I wanted to make on observation on what is supposed to be one of the more solidly predictable categories this year.

Einstein supposedly said "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." So you say you find yourself pretty certain that A Separation has its Oscar locked up based on critical praise and a slew of other awards this season. Tell that logic to The White Ribbon, Waltz With Bashir, Pan's Labyrinth, Paradise Now and Amelie; all foreign language front-runners that had it all come Oscar night, except an Oscar. Whether A Separation meets this same fate is not for me to say.

But consider not what the critics think, nor that Nathaniel is hardly the sole voice to name it the best... in any language. Don't even consider the huge stack of awards its won this season. Instead wonder if it hits the foreign language "sweet spot" that seems to have developed in the past few years. We all know that in the Foreign Language category, voters must watch every entry. This may work against popular films like Amelie and Pan's Labyrinth that are whimsical or fantastical, making them look too slight to voters in the shadow of lesser known but more complex, socially conscious fare. But not too complex, please. The Academy is still The Academy and films with the structural or moral ambiguity of Paradise Now, The White Ribbon and Waltz With Bashir are less commonly embraced than movies with clear messages.

A few frontrunners in the past decade have managed to go the distance, and good as some of them have been, they've all met the requirements of the sweet spot: serious but not ambiguous, complex but not too challenging. Come Sunday we'll know into which crowd A Separation falls. Until then, if I were a betting man, I could think of a dozen other categories I'd rather push my chips into.