Box Office Bloodbath: The Help Cleans Up.

This weekend was a bloodbath for new releases, and not because Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night's Jerry the vampire were spilling so much of it. Both of them bombed. Though I enjoyed Fright Night, can we at least hope that the combined failure here makes Hollywood question the need to remake every 80s hit? Maybe not. With The Smurfs chuggling along nicely despite virtually no one enjoying it, we'll still get name brand regurgitation until all of them start bombing. 

Box Office U.S. Top Ten (estimates)

01 THE HELP [review] $20 (cum $71.3)
02 RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES [articles] $16.1 (cumulative $133.5) 
03 SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD $11.6 
04 CONAN THE BARBARIAN $10 
05 THE SMURFS $7.8 (cum $117.5)
06 FRIGHT NIGHT [review] $7.7 
07 FINAL DESTINATION 5 $7.7 (cum $32.3)
08 30 MINUTES OR LESS $6.3 (cum $25.8)
09 ONE DAY $5.0 
10 CRAZY STUPID LOVE [articles] $4.7 (cum $64.2)

Three Talking Points:
Emma Stone hits are bookending the top ten this week, her star shines ever brighter.

In fact, though one can hardly name Emma the reason for its success, The Help barely dropped at all, doing a rare climb to the number one spot after its debut week (a rarity). In other words, it's shaping up to be a long legged big hit. And people are still definitely talking about it, even if it's mostly to call each other names (such as: this article which has upset some people.) 

The biggest news though occured outside the top ten as Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris crossed the $50 million mark this week. To celebrate, Sony Pictures Classics announced that the comeback hit will be going wide AGAIN (even more of a rarity) next weekend.

Shall we celebrate?

If so, how?

If you haven't yet seen it, here's your last (theatrical) chance essentially. Movies don't generally lose hundreds of theaters and then return to them but the film has had such great legs that SPC is obviously bullish about its Oscar chances at this point. If you don't adjust for inflation this is Woody's biggest US hit ever and if you don't adjust for inflation it will soon be his second biggest hit ever worldwide where it has grossed $84 million; any second now it will pass Match Point though surpassing Vicky Cristina Barcelona's nearly $100 million take might still be a considerable challenge.

What did you see this weekend? Are you also bullish on Midnight's Oscar chances at this point?

Why, O Why, Don't I Love "Paris"?

Hallo folks! Ester here. You might remember me from such previous forays into Film Experience as my "Reader Spotlight" and my Two Stars, One Slot tribute piece, "Waif vs. Waif: Mia Wasikowska vs. Saoirse Ronan." Today I come to you with a feminist chip on my shoulder and a spark of rage in my eye, and my target is Woody Allen -- specifically his tepid time-travel fantasy, Midnight in Paris.

It's not surprising that Hollywood, the quintessential vehicle of nostalgia, is obsessed with landmarks. Jack Nicholson has only to get up in the morning and put his shoes on the right feet four shooting days out of five to get nominated for an Oscar, because Hollywood is just so gosh darn grateful an old-school movie star like him is still gracing films with his presence. Similarly, Woody Allen has only to make a movie that is not truly godawful terrible to make every film critic in the US sigh happily about how the maestro has done it again. 

Even then, by the way, he still makes several insufferable stabs at cinema for every Vicky Cristina Barcelona (or Scoop, which I actually kind of enjoyed).  

I understand the impulse to make ourselves hoarse praising the man. After all, we're talking about Woody Allen, auteur extraordinaire, Oscar-winner, redefiner of comedy, granddaddy to a thousand less-talented copy-cat narcissists. He's so prolific he probably doesn't even remember making one of my favorites of his films, the wistful and imaginative Purple Rose of Cairo. (Such small, delightful movies are often called "gems," which confuses me as gems come in all sizes; in fact, a woman I know recently received one that may weigh more than she does. But that's neither here nor there.)

Friends, a mediocrity is a mediocrity, whether it comes from Shakespeare or Dan Brown. Why do we insist on grading Woody Allen on a curve?

Click to read more ...

Box Office and Oscar: Bespectacled Wizards Break Bank

Harry Potter and Woody Allen, those short bespectacled movie magicians who both apparate into movie theaters constantly, each broke box office records this weekend, bookending the top ten chart. 

What kind of curriculum would Professor Woody Dumbledallen bring to Hogwarts?

The eighth and final film in the Potterverse sent walking papers to Batman (who had previously held the all time best first weekend record with The Dark Knight) and it even staged a bank robbery as its opening setpiece! Meanwhile, Woody Allen broke his own records. If you don't adjust for inflation, Midnight in Paris just became his highest grossing film in US dollars toppling the exquisite Hannah and Her Sisters which Nick and I were just chatting about. (Midnight in Paris is still trailing Match Point by a little and Vicky Cristina Barcelona by more than that in terms of global box office.)

01 HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO [review] new $169.1
(here's a fun article on the top ten US openings)
02 TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON $21.3 (cum. $302.8)
03 HORRIBLE BOSSES $17.7 (cum $60.1)
04 ZOOKEEPER $12.3 (cum $42.3)
05 CARS 2  $8.4 (cum. $165.3)
06 WINNIE THE POOH new $7.8
07 BAD TEACHER $5.1 (cum. $88.4)
08 LARRY CROWNE  $2.6 (cum. $31.7)
09 SUPER 8 $1.9 [thoughts] (cum. $122.2)
10 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS $1.8 [group thoughts] (cum. $41.7)

Apocalypse Now: Zookeeper fell only 38% in its second weekend indicating that it pleased its TGIF loving audience last weekend. Make of that what you will.

Oscar Buzz: I realize that a good cross section of TFE readers are Potterheads -- that's a given when something is that popular -- so I mean this with all due respect but I personally suspect that the Oscar hype is fan-fever rather than prophetic buzz. The conversation, such as it is, suggests that AMPAS will want to reward the entire series with a Best Picture nod for #8. As ever with punditry, I could be horribly wrong, but it seems to me that sentiment, which everyone is correct to assume is a hugely powerful campaign tool, won't necessarily play in to this degree. Sequels, as a general rule, don't get nominated unless their ancestors were also nominated. 

Here is the Oscar record for Harry Potter.

Sorcerors Stone: 3 nominations, 0 wins (art direction, score, costumes) 
Chamber of Secrets: nothing.
Prisoner of Azkaban: 2 nominations, 0 wins (score, visual effects)
Goblet of Fire: 1 nomination, 0 wins (art direction)
Order of the Phoenix: nothing.
Half-Blood Prince: 1 nomination, 0 wins (cinematography)
Deathly Hallows Part One: 2 nominations, 0 wins (art direction, visual effects)

That equates to roughly 1.2 nominations a picture with no statues and these are the kind of nominations that are generally given to ubiquitous blockbusters that are considered solid entertainments (scattered techs) but aren't truly beloved or considered Serious Art by the voters. Potter has never been nominated in any big ticket category... not even in screenplay where blockbuster adaptations of best-sellers can sometimes find footing. Potter's Oscar history thus far should given everyone who cares reason to hope that they'll want to reward the series with a goodbye statue for art direction (and even the haters wouldn't have much to complain about there given Stuart Craig's huge series-long achievements) but otherwise no branch within AMPAS has taken a consistent shine. On the other hand, last year after an already exhaustive seven films had passed it was still getting some attention so who knows...

If sentiment does move Academy voters, I suspect it will only move the film onto more ballots than usual but not necessarily in those crucial #1 "i can't live without this" positions. My take: if there's a Best Picture nominee already in theaters at this writing, it's either Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life (ONLY if its hardcore devotees stay faithful but that all depends on whether another Film as Art / Auteurist favorite arrives before December 31st) or Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (which has two enviable campaign angles to work with: "comeback" and "nostalgia") and the list ends there.

What did you see this weekend? Or did you stay in and weep over the Friday Night Lights finale?

What do you make of the Oscar buzz for Midnight and/or Deathly Hallows? The real thing or just impatience to get the golden party started?

200 Days Until Oscar Nominations. Let's Predict!

200 Days? How about that...it's practically tomorrow.  Kidding! All of the following predictions are thus 100% accurate since every contending film is currently in release and consensus has long since been reached. Kidding²!

Big (speculative) gains for Bridesmaids and Midnight In Paris as they continue to do fantastic leggy box office, The Artist (since it hasn't lost even 1〫of its Cannes heat), and minor gains for films which have recently won distribution like W.E., Albert Nobbs and A Dangerous Method.

Prediction Page Revisions in Progress.
Completed: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Screenplay. 

And yes I am feeling really good about that Bridesmaids prediction. Why not, right? Big comedy hits have been nominated before and what a fun way to honor Kristen Wiig who no one expects to show up in Best Actress, you know? Unless of course you're talking Golden Globe Actress in which case, bitch better be there!

Fool For Link

Vogue Vibes on the duel era fashions of Midnight in Paris
Acidemic free ranging piece on the images and scoring of The Tree of Life
Nick's Flick Picks, never one to shy away from a massive project, has decided to recreate Cannes 1986 (25th anniversary) and write all about it. First...
Nick's Flick Picks Robert Altman's Fool For Love. Nick thinks Kim Basinger is sensational in it (so do I).
Guardian on the ever thorny topic of how to "date" a motion picture, production date, release date, initial screening?
Basket of Kisses Mad Men's Aaron Staton (we love him) is the lead in the new video game L.A. Noire
Movie|Line loves Ari Graynor -- they're always trying to claim actresses we also champion damn them -- so must share this clip from the upcoming comedy Lucky.

Stale Popcorn with another halfway mark listicle: the good, the bad and the ugly of 2011
Pajiba advice for screenwriters willing to sell their souls from those who've made billions at the box office with almost no discernible talent whatsoever.
Awards Daily Oscar's blind David Cronenberg spot. Recently I've been thinking that I wanted to do a whole comprehensive review of one director's every film. Maybe it should be him? Although maybe he's made to many. Never mind.

the divas
The Advocate Lady Gaga profile on her connection to the gays and those comparisons to legendary performers like Barbra Streisand, Debbie Harry and Madonna.
Boy Culture EEK. Proof that Madonna is finally back in the recording studio. As of yesterday.
The Broadway Blog honors Marin Mazzie, about to take on the iconic Mrs White role in the revival of Carrie the Musical (yes that musical based on the 1976 pig-blooded classic)

sorry. back to the movies...
ion cinema has a bunch of halfway point top ten lists. Can't get enough of this topic, can you? Or am I just speaking for myself?
PopMatters 10 insane lessons that Transformers Dark of the Moon is trying to teach us
Old Hollywood omg, yesterday was the 90th anniversary of the "Overlook Hotel Ball" (immortalized in The Shining) We MUST remember this in ten years time for the centennial.

Would you like The Film Experience to be around in 2021? LOL, I know I know. We're getting ahead of ourselves. But if you'd like TFE to be around in 2012, please consider subscribing from the sidebar link
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