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Your Weekly Guide to New Movies for
December 15, 2006
By Edward Douglas -
Greetings and welcome back to the Weekend Warrior,
your weekly guide to the weekend's new movies. Tune in every Tuesday
for the latest look at the upcoming weekend, and then check back on
Friday for final projections based on actual theatre counts.
(If
you have anything to say about anything written in this column, feedback
and Email is always welcome,
and almost always responded to.)
THE WEEKEND PREDICTIONS: (final update 12.14.06)
THE CHOSEN ONE:
DREAMGIRLS (DreamWorks/Paramount)
Starring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Hudson, Keith Robinson, Bobby Slayton
Written and directed by Bill Condon (Kinsey, Of Gods and Monsters, writer of Chicago)
Genre: Musical, Drama
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "All you have to do is dream."
Plot Summary: The rise of a girl singing group called The Dreams (Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose) is documented in this rags to riches to lost dreams story loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. Effie White (Hudson) is the group's feisty lead singer until their manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) decides to replace her with the thin and pretty Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles), leading the two women on different career paths.
Of Note: Bill Condon, screenwriter of the blockbuster musical Chicago, writes and directs an adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls with an all-star African-American cast including Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles and newcomer Jennifer Hudson.
Comparisons: Chicago, Ray, Moulin Rouge, Beyond the Sea, Walk the Line
I'll keep this fairly brief, since I want to save the raves for this movie for my review, but really, I'm pretty shocked that this long-awaited musical directed by Bill Condon is as good as everyone expected. A lot of that comes from the amazing performance by first-time actress Jennifer Hudson as Effie White. The former "American Idol" star—I loved her version of John Lennon's "Imagine"—got her big break with this role, which won her a number of critics' awards this past weekend. Right now, she's thought to be the frontrunner in the supporting actress race at the Oscars next year. It's well-deserved because she really knocks one out of the park with her heartfelt performance of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going", pretty much stealing the movie from the film's better known singing actress, Beyoncé Knowles. When Hudson is off the screen, you may even find yourself counting the minutes until she returns. Jamie Foxx, who became a huge star after winning the Oscar for Ray two years ago, plays things a bit more low key as Effie's rotten manager and boyfriend who dumps her for Beyoncé's Deena Jones. Even Foxx gets overshadowed by the amazing return of Eddie Murphy, whose on-stage performances as the flamboyant James "Thunder" Early blow the very roof off the movie. Murphy's even more impressive in the last act when Early's career is on the downturn compared to Deena's success, and we get to see Murphy show his dramatic chops, maybe for the first time ever. (Expect him to get a supporting actor nomination.) Like Chicago and Moulin Rouge!, the movie is being given a short exclusive run in New York and L.A. to entice the Broadway and showbiz people, but look for it to create a lot of buzz going into the holidays when it opens wide and starts showing up in most of the major awards categories going into the New Year.
Why I Should See It: Could be one of the best translations of a musical from the stage to the big screen since Cabaret.
Why Not: Not enough Jennifer Hudson!!!
Projections: This is only opening in New York and L.A. this weekend for an exclusive run with ticket prices running at $25, but I'd expect a lot of sold out shows and a per-theatre average between $75 and 100 thousand. It will probably end up making between $70 and 80 million when all is said and done.
REVIEW
CHARLOTTE'S WEB (Paramount/Nickelodeon)
Starring Dakota Fanning and the voices of Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer, André Benjamin, Thomas Haden Church, Robert Redford, Reba McEntire, Kathy Bates
Directed by Gary Winick (Tadpole, 13 Going on 30); Written by Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich, In Her Shoes), Karey Kirkpatrick (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Over the Hedge)
Genre: Family, Drama, Comedy, Talking Animals, Animated
Rated G
Tagline: "Help is coming from above."
Plot Summary: A young girl named Fern (Dakota Fanning) saves a young pig from being killed. She names him Wilbur, but as the young pig makes new friends in his barn, the impending holiday "deadline" is coming up where he'll be made into Christmas supper. So he gets help from his new friend Charlotte the spider (voiced by Julia Roberts) to escape the axe.
Of Note: E.B. White's hugely successful children's book from 1952 comes to the big screen with an amazing voice cast, including Julia Roberts, Kathy Bates, Robert Redford and many more.
Pros: Considered the best-selling children's paperback of all time, E.B. White's Charlotte's Web is a bonafide classic, loved by generations of children who are now parents and even grandparents. It's been over thirty years since someone decided to make a movie about it, that being the hugely successful animated movie in 1973, released theatrically no less, which was very faithful to the book, and that cartoon helped to drive the love for the movie.
Dakota Fanning is a hot star with a good run of hit movies, but her last kids/family movie Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (replace the pig with a horse) was one of her least successful films. For whatever reason, she seems to be more popular when doing adult roles in movies like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Still, this is about the animals, and Dakota has an impressive voice cast including the one and only Julia Roberts voicing Charlotte the Spider, and Steve Buscemi replacing the late Paul Lynde as the voice of Templeton the Rat, who offers most of movie's action and comedy. Surprisingly, they even convinced Robert Redford to voice Ike the horse (because he starred in The Horse Whisperer, get it?), and the likes of Kathy Bates, Oprah, Reba McEntire, Cedric the Entertainer, John Cleese, Andre Benjamin (AKA Outkast's Andre 3000) and Thomas Haden Church to bring the animals to life. And let's not forget how much kids love talking animals!
The closest comparison for this movie is probably Stuart Little, also a live action-CG amalgam based on a beloved children's book, which opened on the same weekend in 1999, but only made $15 million, though by the time it left theatres, it had grossed over 9 times amount. The way things are now, movies tend to be more frontloaded to opening weekend, but the lack of other new movies for small children--Eragon and next week's Night at the Museum will be more for older kids and teens--should provide a long shelflife through the holidays even if Charlotte's Web isn't huge this weekend. The movie's rare G-rating is going to be very helpful at bringing in people who don't go to movies very often and for those looking for something a bit lighter. E.B. White's book is such a classic that this is just as likely to interest adults as it does kids, but one would probably expect older moviegoers and parents with few in the 18 to 30 range.
Running at only 90 minutes long, it'll be very easy for Charlotte's Web to get a lot of showings per day, regardless of how many screens it gets in each of its 3,000+ theatres. That's always helpful at getting more business per theatre, especially as the market gets more crowded in the next week or two.
Cons:
Even though millions, even billions, of people love the original book and the Charlotte's Web cartoon, there might not be as much interest among the younger kids, since it's really more of their parents' story. With that in mind, it'll be relying on nostalgic parents to take their kids, and let's face it, how many parents will want to sit through another talking animal movie after dregs like Garfield? And what if the reviews for this aren't very good? (Which could happen.)
Opening against Eragon and The Pursuit of Happyness, this is likely to lose a lot of the over-10 audience to the former and the older audiences to the latter, and releasing a movie, especially a family one, in the weeks before Christmas is rarely a good idea. Even the big buzz movies like last year's King Kong are often hurt by the fact that many people are out shopping or saving their money for holiday presents. The month of December has hurt a lot of openings especially as they get closer to Christmas, though a movie like this is almost guaranteed to have legs over the holidays as families go to see it between Christmas and New Year's Day. (Again, see Stuart Little below.)
On top of all that, the ads and trailer for the movie announced that the movie comes out "this Christmas", and the movie's first weekend might be a bit slow since last time I checked Christmas wasn't on December 15.
Comparisons:
Why I Should See It: It's a beloved children's classic with tons of adorable talking animals having all sorts of witty banter.
Why Not: Like the book, the movie has one of the most depressing third acts that might upset the small children expected to turn due to its G rating.
Projections: $22 to 24 million opening weekend; $130 million total.
ERAGON (20th Century
Fox)
Starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, Djimon Hounsou, Garrett Hedlund, Joss Stone, Rachel Weisz, John Malkovich
Directed by Stefen Fangmeier (directorial debut by the visual effects supervisor of Lemony Snicket's, Saving Private Ryan, Signs and many others) Written by Peter Buchman (Jurassic Park III, upcoming Guerilla, The Argentine for Steven Soderbergh), Lawrence Konner (Mighty Joe Young, Planet of the Apes, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Flicka)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Family
Rated PG
Tagline: "One boy, one dragon, a world of adventure…"
Plot Summary: A 15-year-old named Eragon (Edward Speleers) finds a baby dragon and a gem that puts him in line to become a Dragon Rider with the power to save or destroy an empire.
Of Note: Christopher Paolini's best selling young adult fantasy novel, the first part of his "Inheritance Trilogy," comes to the big screen, opening on the same weekend as one of the biggest fantasy trilogies, The Lord of the Rings.
Pros: Published in 2002, Eragon was the first part of a trilogy of novels written by Christopher Paolini, who was 15 at the time. His young age may have helped young people relate to the book's titular main character, who becomes a Dragon Rider at the age of 15. The book was very popular, making it to the New York Times Bestseller List, much like its follow-up "Eldest," so it didn't take long for Fox 2000 to greenlight a $125 million movie adaptation.
This movie is following the likes of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter movies into the world of big budget fantasy films, even being released on the same weekend as The Lord of the Rings movies in hopes of finding similar success. One has to assume that director Stefen Fangmeier (great dragon rider name!) got the gig due to his experience doing effects for another adaptation of a popular book, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Eragon, the book, has a pretty diehard fanbase, but so does the fantasy film genre, as seen by the Rings and Potter movies, as well as J.L. Tolkien's The Chronicles of Narnia, a film that did huge amounts of business before and after Christmas last year.
Eragon will mostly definitely be of most interest to teens, particularly girls, than the other two new movies, especially with dreamy newcomer Ed Speleers making his debut in the title role. It might have a bit of competition in that demographic from E.B. White's Charlotte Web, which might still hold a warm place in many girls' and women's hearts. Fortunately, the movie's promise of having some action will make this a more viable choice for the guys than what must be seen as a straight kids' movie.
20th Century Fox would love to have a hit the size of Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, which is why the poster looks like the latter and the trailer looks like the other movies.
Cons: The film stars unknown Ed Speleers and there aren't many name stars who'd be able to sell the movie like Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep did with Lemony Snicket. Then again, no one knew who Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint were before Harry Potter and the Sorcere's Stone, so Speleers could be a star in the making. Then again, the movie also doesn't have someone with the charisma to do the talk show circuit like Dakota Fanning or Will Smith can do for their movies.
The early trailer wasn't great, reminding too many people of hokey movies like Dungeons and Dragons or Dragonheart, so it's uncertain whether anyone besides fans of the book will try to see the movie. The audience for this movie might also be limited to the 10 to 16 range with very few parents and adults really knowing the books as well as the younger fans. Because of this and because dragons tend to be scary, except more parents to take their younger kids to Charlotte's Web.
Like Lemony Snicket's, a book being a popular bestseller doesn't always translate into a huge box office success. It made $30 million its opening weekend, nowhere near the success of any of the Harry Potter movies, and ended up with under $120 million, which wasn't enough to justify making movies based on the rest of the series.
In one week, Eragon has to contend with the release of Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum, which could grab some of the same teen and family audiences that might want to see this movie, and that's likely to cut into this movie's holiday business as well.
Comparisons:
Why I Should See It: Will Smith gives one of his best performances as an actor, only overshadowed slightly by his son Jaden Smith in his first acting role.
Why Not: Sure, it's a heartwarming story, but does anyone really care about the success of a guy they probably have never heard of?
Projections: $22 to 25 million opening weekend; $115 million total.
And now, it's time for a couple director-actor reunions opening in limited release this weekend…
BREAKING
AND ENTERING (The Weinstein Company)
Starring Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright-Penn, Ray Winstone, Martin Freeman, Vera Farmiga
Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The English Patient)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "Love is no ordinary crime."
Plot Summary: A landscape architect (Jude Law) is working on the renovation of the King's Cross section of London, but when a gang of young hoodlums repeatedly break into his office and robbing the place, he starts staking out his own offices. After following one of them home, he begins an affair with his single mother (Juliette Binoche), which doesn't help his already crumbling marriage to a gloomy Swedish wife (Robin Wright-Penn).
Of Note: Filmmaker Anthony Minghella reunites with Jude Law for the third time and Juliette Binoche for the second for a drama set in modern-day London.
Mini-Review: It's not very clear what Minghella and Law were trying to achieve with this dreary drama which seems to have difficulty sticking to a plot as it meanders from one idea to another, rarely staying on course even once it's able to find something worth watching. Essentially, it's little more than Jude Law playing the exact same character he has in every other movie from Alfie to The Holiday, doing so many questionable things that it's hard to be on his side. If that weren't bad enough, his talented female co-stars put on a bit of Bad Accent Theatre, Binoche and Farmiga pretending to be Russian and Penn pretending to be Swedish. Despite the bad accents, they all do what they can to make the most out of this disjointed story that leaves the viewer wondering what they did to deserve being dragged unwillingly into the private lives of these unbelievably uninteresting people for no particular reason except the whims of the filmmaker. If nothing else, the movie is proof that Jude Law needs to get a new agent, because I can't imagine anyone reading this script and saying, "This sounds like a movie that I absolutely need to make." Rating: 3.5/10
Pros: After being nominated for Oscars for The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley—he won one for directing the former—and exploring Civil War era America in Cold Mountain, British filmmaker Anthony Minghella returns to present day with a drama set firmly in modern-day London. Along for the ride is his long-time star Jude Law, who appeared in Minghella's last two films, receiving Oscar nominations for both of them. French actress Juliette Binoche received her one and only Oscar for her starring role in The English Patient ten years ago, so that's another noteworthy reunion. They're joined by Martin Freeman of "The Office" (UK Edition) as Law's business partner, Robin Wright Penn as his wife and Vera Farmiga as a Russian prostitute, continuing Minghella's impressive run of getting incredible casts to appear in his movies.
Cons: This is a bad movie choice for Jude Law, because once again, he's sleeping around, kind of like art imitating life, and it's not going to do much to save his tarnished image after cheating on his wife with Sienna Miller and then cheating on her with the maid (or is it the other way around?) Yeah, Jude Law just can't keep it in his pants, and it's not helping him when he's appearing in three or four movies during the fall season and none of them are doing very well. (His other two movies this fall All the King's Men and The Holiday both bombed.) This is Binoche's second major American dud after last year's Bee Season, which doesn't bode well for her continued career in the States.
Comparisons: Alfie, Closer, Bee Season, Unfaithful,
Why I Should See It: Minghella has assembled another impressive cast for his first modern-day drama.
Why Not: Why on earth is Jude Law doing a movie like this except because of his long-standing relationship with Minghella? Minghella made his career, so he may as well help kill it.
Breaking and Entering is getting an L.A. only one-week Oscar run, but I wouldn't count on it being in consideration for much of anything. MGM has been distributing most of the Weinstein movies, but they balked at this one. Gee, I wonder why.
THE
GOOD GERMAN (Warner Bros.)
Starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Leland Orser, Beau Bridges, Tony Curran
Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Solaris, Out of Sight); Written by Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show, Donnie Brasco, The Sum of All Fears)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "If war is hell then what comes after?"
Plot Summary: U.S. war correspondent Jake Geismer (George Clooney) has been sent to Berlin to cover the Potsdam Peace Conference to decide what to do about Germany post WW2, but instead, he reconnects with an old lover (Cate Blanchett), who is caught up in a murder-mystery involving her missing scientist husband.
Of Note: Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney reunite for their fifth movie together, trying their hand at a '40s war-time thriller based on Joseph Kanon's novel, using the cinematic techniques and visual/musical styles of the era.
REVIEW
Pros: Whatever you want to say about Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, they know how to make movies, something proven with their surprisingly diverse back catalogue of films. The Good German allows them to flex their creative muscles with a movie that looks and feels as if it were made in the '40s, and as an actor Clooney fits right into that mold of old time screen actor. If that weren't enough, they've also brought on one of the hottest current actresses, Cate Blanchett, whose portrayal of Kate Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator won her an Oscar. Here, she does a mean Marlene Dietrich impersonation to play a sexy German vamp caught up in the post-war paranoia and conspiracies. Blanchett has been getting raves for Alejandro Iñarritu's Babel, and she has an even more impressive performance in Notes on a Scandal, which opens in a few weeks. Many oddsmakers think that one of these movies will get her back into the Oscar running in February. The movie also features Tobey "Spider-Man" Maguire in his second historical piece after 2003's Seabiscuit.
Cons: Movies made in black and white tend to be jarring, and using a lot of the same tricks and techniques, both visually and musically, as old movies of the '40s will certainly limit the film's audience to older movie buffs and diehard Soderbergh/Clooney fans.
Comparisons: Casablanca, The Third Man, Good Night, and Good Luck, Schindler's List, The Man Who Wasn't There
Why I Should See It: It's an interesting period in history that's not too well known and an impressive film technically.
Why Not: Yeah, you know what? If I want to watch old movies, I'll just turn on AMC, okay?
Opens in New York, L.A. and Toronto on Friday then expands on Dec. 22 and Jan. 19, 2007.
And another war movie…
HOME
OF THE BRAVE (MGM)
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Brian Presley, Christina Ricci, Chad Michael Murray
Directed by Irwin Winkler (De-Lovely, Life as a House, At First Sight, The Net); Written by Mark Friedman (debut)
Genre: War, Drama
Rated R
Tagline: "Coming home is the real battle."
Plot Summary: After being stationed in Iraq, four National Guard soldiers (Jackson, Biel, Presley, 50 Cent) try to adjust to life back home in Spokane, Washington.
Of Note: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, and "50 Cent" star in this drama about soldiers returning from the Iraq War, really the first drama to take a look at the effects of the current war on those who enlist.
Mini-Review: With so many great documentaries about soldiers and the effects of war coming out in the last year, this surprisingly mundane drama drops the ball on delivering its anti-war message, partially due to the underdeveloped writing skills of the film's screenwriter, but mainly due to the lack of acting inexperience of two of its four stars. The story itself just isn't very good, losing a lot of credibility when the characters just happen to run into each other repeatedly with a casual "hey, weren't you in Iraq with me?" Otherwise, the entire film is dull and corny with 50 Cent being the weakest link, having even less acting chops when not doing his own life story. While not nearly as bad, Brian Presley seems like another pretty boy with more looks than talent, who doesn't do much for his character either. Both Biel and Jackson have their moments as a single mom who returns home without a hand and as a medic who couldn't save as many lives as he hoped to. Biel comes across very well, showing that she has a future as a serious dramatic actress, but Jackson eventually slips into a bit of drunken silliness that takes away from the seriousness of his situation. There are plenty of good intentions with making these soldiers' stories known to mainstream audiences, but the movie is so dull and tedious that it just comes off as another ill-conceived war drama that doesn't do justice to the men and women serving in Iraq. Rating: 5/10
Pros: This year has seen a slew of anti-war movies, three years into the current war in Iraq, but almost all of the previous movies have been documentaries. Home on the Brave takes a similar look at soldiers returning home as The War Tapes or The Ground Truth, but in a fictionalized form. That's not to say that it's a completely dull talking heads movie, but it's not really a war movie either, since all of the action happens at the beginning, then nothing afterwards. There's definitely an interest in the Iraq War right now and our soldiers fighting there, and Irwin Winkler has a decent cast for this one including the most prolific actor in Hollywood, Samuel L. Jackson, though this is not his most exciting role. (Think back to his role in Basic and this is basically the same.) It also stars Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in his second movie role after last year's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and Jessica Biel in her second military role after last year's Stealth. Winkler is better known as a producer of the Rocky films (including next week's Rocky Balboa), as well as Raging Bull, but he's also directed a number of films, none of which really made big waves.
Cons: This is written by first-time screenwriter Mark Friedman and it has a number of inexperienced actors in key roles, both which are very obvious from seeing the movie. There are similarities between this and another recent MGM film, Harsh Times, starring Christian Bale, also about a soldier back from the war and how he cracks up. That movie bombed, and it's unlikely this one will do that much better.
Comparisons: Harsh Times, Jarhead, Three Kings, Basic, The Ground Truth, The War Tapes, Coming Home, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Why I Should See It: This drama is an interesting look at Iraq War veterans and the effect the war had on them.
Why Not: It's pretty obvious that this is a first-time screenwriter and "50 Cent" still can't act.
It opens in New York and L.A. for a one-week Oscar consideration run and then opens wide in '07.
OTHER LIMITED RELEASES:
BROOKLYN RULES (Hannover House) - Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Scott Caan star in Terrence "The Sopranos" Winter's crime drama about three boys who grow up on the streets of Brooklyn in '85 and what happens when one becomes involved with the Mafia.
REMINISCING IN TEMPO (Gary Keys Films) Gary Keys' documentary about the birthday parties thrown by Ruth Ellington for her brother, the jazz great Duke Ellington, even after his death. Includes rare performance footage and interviews with bandmates and music critics. Opens Friday at New York's Quad Cinemas, as does…
THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS (Strand Releasing) Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me) reunites with actress Sarah Polley for this romantic drama about a hearing-impaired woman who goes on vacation to Northern Ireland and ends up tending to a flash fire burn victim (none other than Tim Robbins) on an oilrig. After opening in New York on Friday, it'll opening in L.A. on December 22.
Next week, it's officially Christmas weekend and moviegoers will have a choice between Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum, Sylvester Stallone's return as Rocky Balboa, the Matthews McConaughey and Fox football drama We Are Marshall and Matt Damon telling the history of the CIA in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd.
Copyright 2006 Edward Douglas
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THE WEEKEND PREDICTIONS: (final update 12.14.06)
|
TW |
LW |
Title |
Weekend (in millions) |
Change |
# Of Theaters |
Average |
Week |
|
1 |
New |
$27.2 |
N/A |
3,020 |
$9.007 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
New |
$24.5 |
N/A |
2,852 |
$8,590 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
New |
$23.7 |
N/A |
3,566 |
$6,646 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
1 |
Apocalypto |
$9.0 |
-40% |
2,465 |
$3,651 |
2 |
|
5 |
3 |
The Holiday |
$7.9 |
-39% |
2,614 |
$3,022 |
2 |
|
6 |
2 |
Happy Feet |
$7.3 |
-43% |
3,335 |
$2,189 |
5 |
|
7 |
5 |
Blood Diamond |
$5.1 |
-41% |
1,910 |
$2,670 |
2 |
|
8 |
4 |
Casino Royale |
$5.0 |
-45% |
2,437 |
$2,052 |
5 |
|
9 |
8 |
The Nativity Story |
$3.5 |
-39% |
2,574 |
$1,360 |
3 |
|
10 |
7 |
Unaccompanied Minors |
$3.2 |
-44% |
2,775 |
$1,153 |
2 |
|
Est. Weekend Total |
Est. Avg. Drop-Off |
Est. Average PTA |
After two dud weekends in a row, the box office is likely to get a
much-needed injection thanks to two high-profile movies based on best-selling
children's books, Christopher Paolini's Eragon, a fairly recent
fantasy novel for teens, and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, a
classic work of fiction and a bestselling children's books for five
decades that's beloved among a number of generations.
The former has the advantage since it will entice modern audiences with its
promise of lots of dragon-riding action and special effects, while the latter
will probably be the first choice for families with small children. Being
released so close to Christmas, it's doubtful that either will do huge numbers
this weekend, though one can expect that Charlotte's Web will have
a longer shelf-life in theatres as families go to see it over the holidays.
And then there's the new movie from Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness,
his first movie since 2005's Hitch, in which he portrays the real-life
Christopher Gardner, a down-and-out salesman who followed his dream to become
a stockbroker. It's opening in at least 500 fewer theatres than the other
movies and it's a subtler drama than Smith's fans are used to, but he does
have the fans, and his star power will help the movie make a mark against
the two movies geared primarily towards younger audiences. Expect older moviegoers,
women and Smith's African-American fans to be out in force for this one,
even if it might lose some of the latter audience in New York and L.A. to
the exclusive debut of the musical Dreamgirls (update: the latter
is already selling out many shows in its exclusive run!)
UPDATE: Things certainly have been
shaken up a bit since Tuesday because Pursuit is getting
more theatres than originally estimated, Eragon is
getting quite a bit less.Could be a squeaker between the two, though Charlotte's
Web can't really be counted out just yet either.
Also, look for a sneak preview of Warner
Bros.' football drama We Are Marshall in over
1,000 theatres on Saturday before it opens on December 22.
Last year, just a weekend after a huge opening by Disney's The Chronicles
of Narnia, Peter Jackson's long-awaited remake of King Kong opened
at #1 with $50 million after making $16 million on Weds. and
Thurs. It was pretty disappointing compared to the last two Lord
of the Rings movies, but it did take the top spot as Narnia dropped
51% in its second weekend. Also, 20th Century Fox
opened the holiday romantic comedy The Family Stone,
starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton and scrumptious "it girl" Rachel
McAdams; it made $12.5 million, about $5,000 per theatre. Also,
Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain entered the Top 10 with $2.5
million in just 69 theatres. The Top 10 wound up with just under
$120 million,
which is slightly more than how things should do this weekend
barring a breakout.
THE CHOSEN ONE:
DREAMGIRLS (DreamWorks/Paramount)Starring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Hudson, Keith Robinson, Bobby Slayton
Written and directed by Bill Condon (Kinsey, Of Gods and Monsters, writer of Chicago)
Genre: Musical, Drama
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "All you have to do is dream."
Plot Summary: The rise of a girl singing group called The Dreams (Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose) is documented in this rags to riches to lost dreams story loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. Effie White (Hudson) is the group's feisty lead singer until their manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) decides to replace her with the thin and pretty Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles), leading the two women on different career paths.
Of Note: Bill Condon, screenwriter of the blockbuster musical Chicago, writes and directs an adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls with an all-star African-American cast including Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles and newcomer Jennifer Hudson.
Comparisons: Chicago, Ray, Moulin Rouge, Beyond the Sea, Walk the Line
I'll keep this fairly brief, since I want to save the raves for this movie for my review, but really, I'm pretty shocked that this long-awaited musical directed by Bill Condon is as good as everyone expected. A lot of that comes from the amazing performance by first-time actress Jennifer Hudson as Effie White. The former "American Idol" star—I loved her version of John Lennon's "Imagine"—got her big break with this role, which won her a number of critics' awards this past weekend. Right now, she's thought to be the frontrunner in the supporting actress race at the Oscars next year. It's well-deserved because she really knocks one out of the park with her heartfelt performance of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going", pretty much stealing the movie from the film's better known singing actress, Beyoncé Knowles. When Hudson is off the screen, you may even find yourself counting the minutes until she returns. Jamie Foxx, who became a huge star after winning the Oscar for Ray two years ago, plays things a bit more low key as Effie's rotten manager and boyfriend who dumps her for Beyoncé's Deena Jones. Even Foxx gets overshadowed by the amazing return of Eddie Murphy, whose on-stage performances as the flamboyant James "Thunder" Early blow the very roof off the movie. Murphy's even more impressive in the last act when Early's career is on the downturn compared to Deena's success, and we get to see Murphy show his dramatic chops, maybe for the first time ever. (Expect him to get a supporting actor nomination.) Like Chicago and Moulin Rouge!, the movie is being given a short exclusive run in New York and L.A. to entice the Broadway and showbiz people, but look for it to create a lot of buzz going into the holidays when it opens wide and starts showing up in most of the major awards categories going into the New Year.
Why I Should See It: Could be one of the best translations of a musical from the stage to the big screen since Cabaret.
Why Not: Not enough Jennifer Hudson!!!
Projections: This is only opening in New York and L.A. this weekend for an exclusive run with ticket prices running at $25, but I'd expect a lot of sold out shows and a per-theatre average between $75 and 100 thousand. It will probably end up making between $70 and 80 million when all is said and done.
REVIEW
CHARLOTTE'S WEB (Paramount/Nickelodeon)Starring Dakota Fanning and the voices of Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer, André Benjamin, Thomas Haden Church, Robert Redford, Reba McEntire, Kathy Bates
Directed by Gary Winick (Tadpole, 13 Going on 30); Written by Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich, In Her Shoes), Karey Kirkpatrick (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Over the Hedge)
Genre: Family, Drama, Comedy, Talking Animals, Animated
Rated G
Tagline: "Help is coming from above."
Plot Summary: A young girl named Fern (Dakota Fanning) saves a young pig from being killed. She names him Wilbur, but as the young pig makes new friends in his barn, the impending holiday "deadline" is coming up where he'll be made into Christmas supper. So he gets help from his new friend Charlotte the spider (voiced by Julia Roberts) to escape the axe.
Of Note: E.B. White's hugely successful children's book from 1952 comes to the big screen with an amazing voice cast, including Julia Roberts, Kathy Bates, Robert Redford and many more.
Pros: Considered the best-selling children's paperback of all time, E.B. White's Charlotte's Web is a bonafide classic, loved by generations of children who are now parents and even grandparents. It's been over thirty years since someone decided to make a movie about it, that being the hugely successful animated movie in 1973, released theatrically no less, which was very faithful to the book, and that cartoon helped to drive the love for the movie.
Dakota Fanning is a hot star with a good run of hit movies, but her last kids/family movie Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (replace the pig with a horse) was one of her least successful films. For whatever reason, she seems to be more popular when doing adult roles in movies like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Still, this is about the animals, and Dakota has an impressive voice cast including the one and only Julia Roberts voicing Charlotte the Spider, and Steve Buscemi replacing the late Paul Lynde as the voice of Templeton the Rat, who offers most of movie's action and comedy. Surprisingly, they even convinced Robert Redford to voice Ike the horse (because he starred in The Horse Whisperer, get it?), and the likes of Kathy Bates, Oprah, Reba McEntire, Cedric the Entertainer, John Cleese, Andre Benjamin (AKA Outkast's Andre 3000) and Thomas Haden Church to bring the animals to life. And let's not forget how much kids love talking animals!
The closest comparison for this movie is probably Stuart Little, also a live action-CG amalgam based on a beloved children's book, which opened on the same weekend in 1999, but only made $15 million, though by the time it left theatres, it had grossed over 9 times amount. The way things are now, movies tend to be more frontloaded to opening weekend, but the lack of other new movies for small children--Eragon and next week's Night at the Museum will be more for older kids and teens--should provide a long shelflife through the holidays even if Charlotte's Web isn't huge this weekend. The movie's rare G-rating is going to be very helpful at bringing in people who don't go to movies very often and for those looking for something a bit lighter. E.B. White's book is such a classic that this is just as likely to interest adults as it does kids, but one would probably expect older moviegoers and parents with few in the 18 to 30 range.
Running at only 90 minutes long, it'll be very easy for Charlotte's Web to get a lot of showings per day, regardless of how many screens it gets in each of its 3,000+ theatres. That's always helpful at getting more business per theatre, especially as the market gets more crowded in the next week or two.
Cons:
Even though millions, even billions, of people love the original book and the Charlotte's Web cartoon, there might not be as much interest among the younger kids, since it's really more of their parents' story. With that in mind, it'll be relying on nostalgic parents to take their kids, and let's face it, how many parents will want to sit through another talking animal movie after dregs like Garfield? And what if the reviews for this aren't very good? (Which could happen.)
Opening against Eragon and The Pursuit of Happyness, this is likely to lose a lot of the over-10 audience to the former and the older audiences to the latter, and releasing a movie, especially a family one, in the weeks before Christmas is rarely a good idea. Even the big buzz movies like last year's King Kong are often hurt by the fact that many people are out shopping or saving their money for holiday presents. The month of December has hurt a lot of openings especially as they get closer to Christmas, though a movie like this is almost guaranteed to have legs over the holidays as families go to see it between Christmas and New Year's Day. (Again, see Stuart Little below.)
On top of all that, the ads and trailer for the movie announced that the movie comes out "this Christmas", and the movie's first weekend might be a bit slow since last time I checked Christmas wasn't on December 15.
Comparisons:
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Previous Box Office (in millions) |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story |
10/21/05 |
2,007 |
$9.18 |
$4,573 |
$32.70 |
|
|
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat |
11/21/03 |
3,464 |
$38.33 |
$11,065 |
$100.45 |
|
|
Babe: Pig in the City |
11/25/98 |
2,384 |
$6.27 |
$2,630 |
$18.32 |
|
|
Babe |
8/4/95 |
1,591 |
$8.74 |
$5,493 |
$63.66 |
|
|
Stuart Little 2 |
7/19/02 |
3,255 |
$15.12 |
$4,644 |
$64.15 |
|
|
Stuart Little |
12/17/99 |
2,878 |
$15.02 |
$5,219 |
$140.02 |
|
|
102 Dalmatians |
11/22/00 |
2,704 |
$19.89 |
$7,355 |
$66.90 |
|
|
101 Dalmatians |
11/29/96 |
2,794 |
$33.50 |
$11,990 |
$136.19 |
|
|
Cats and Dogs |
7/6/01 |
3,040 |
$14.05 |
$21.71 |
$7,140 |
$93.38 |
|
Garfield |
6/11/04 |
3,094 |
$21.73 |
$7,023 |
$75.18 |
Why I Should See It: It's a beloved children's classic with tons of adorable talking animals having all sorts of witty banter.
Why Not: Like the book, the movie has one of the most depressing third acts that might upset the small children expected to turn due to its G rating.
Projections: $22 to 24 million opening weekend; $130 million total.
ERAGON (20th Century
Fox)Starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, Djimon Hounsou, Garrett Hedlund, Joss Stone, Rachel Weisz, John Malkovich
Directed by Stefen Fangmeier (directorial debut by the visual effects supervisor of Lemony Snicket's, Saving Private Ryan, Signs and many others) Written by Peter Buchman (Jurassic Park III, upcoming Guerilla, The Argentine for Steven Soderbergh), Lawrence Konner (Mighty Joe Young, Planet of the Apes, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Flicka)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Family
Rated PG
Tagline: "One boy, one dragon, a world of adventure…"
Plot Summary: A 15-year-old named Eragon (Edward Speleers) finds a baby dragon and a gem that puts him in line to become a Dragon Rider with the power to save or destroy an empire.
Of Note: Christopher Paolini's best selling young adult fantasy novel, the first part of his "Inheritance Trilogy," comes to the big screen, opening on the same weekend as one of the biggest fantasy trilogies, The Lord of the Rings.
Pros: Published in 2002, Eragon was the first part of a trilogy of novels written by Christopher Paolini, who was 15 at the time. His young age may have helped young people relate to the book's titular main character, who becomes a Dragon Rider at the age of 15. The book was very popular, making it to the New York Times Bestseller List, much like its follow-up "Eldest," so it didn't take long for Fox 2000 to greenlight a $125 million movie adaptation.
This movie is following the likes of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter movies into the world of big budget fantasy films, even being released on the same weekend as The Lord of the Rings movies in hopes of finding similar success. One has to assume that director Stefen Fangmeier (great dragon rider name!) got the gig due to his experience doing effects for another adaptation of a popular book, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Eragon, the book, has a pretty diehard fanbase, but so does the fantasy film genre, as seen by the Rings and Potter movies, as well as J.L. Tolkien's The Chronicles of Narnia, a film that did huge amounts of business before and after Christmas last year.
Eragon will mostly definitely be of most interest to teens, particularly girls, than the other two new movies, especially with dreamy newcomer Ed Speleers making his debut in the title role. It might have a bit of competition in that demographic from E.B. White's Charlotte Web, which might still hold a warm place in many girls' and women's hearts. Fortunately, the movie's promise of having some action will make this a more viable choice for the guys than what must be seen as a straight kids' movie.
20th Century Fox would love to have a hit the size of Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, which is why the poster looks like the latter and the trailer looks like the other movies.
Cons: The film stars unknown Ed Speleers and there aren't many name stars who'd be able to sell the movie like Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep did with Lemony Snicket. Then again, no one knew who Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint were before Harry Potter and the Sorcere's Stone, so Speleers could be a star in the making. Then again, the movie also doesn't have someone with the charisma to do the talk show circuit like Dakota Fanning or Will Smith can do for their movies.
The early trailer wasn't great, reminding too many people of hokey movies like Dungeons and Dragons or Dragonheart, so it's uncertain whether anyone besides fans of the book will try to see the movie. The audience for this movie might also be limited to the 10 to 16 range with very few parents and adults really knowing the books as well as the younger fans. Because of this and because dragons tend to be scary, except more parents to take their younger kids to Charlotte's Web.
Like Lemony Snicket's, a book being a popular bestseller doesn't always translate into a huge box office success. It made $30 million its opening weekend, nowhere near the success of any of the Harry Potter movies, and ended up with under $120 million, which wasn't enough to justify making movies based on the rest of the series.
In one week, Eragon has to contend with the release of Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum, which could grab some of the same teen and family audiences that might want to see this movie, and that's likely to cut into this movie's holiday business as well.
Comparisons:
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Previous Box Office (in millions) |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe |
12/9/05 |
3,616 |
$65.56 |
$18,130 |
$291.17 |
|
|
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events |
12/17/04 |
3,620 |
$30.06 |
$8,304 |
$118.01 |
|
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings |
12/21/01 |
3,359 |
$27.91 |
$47.21 |
$14,055 |
$313.39 |
|
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |
11/16/01 |
3,672 |
$90.29 |
$24,590 |
$317.57 |
|
|
Reign of Fire |
7/12/02 |
2,629 |
$15.63 |
$5,946 |
$43.06 |
|
|
Dragonheart |
5/31/96 |
2,130 |
$15.03 |
$7,056 |
$51.36 |
|
|
Dungeons and Dragons |
12/8/00 |
2,078 |
$7.24 |
$3,484 |
$15.19 |
Why I Should See It: High flyin' dragon action!!!
Why Not: The movie looks great, but boy, the dialogue from the earlier trailer
was so corny that it's a bit worrisome.
Projections: $24 to 27 million opening; $100 million total.
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (Sony)
Starring Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith
Directed by Gabriele Muccino (The Last Kiss, the Italian one; Remember
Me, My Love, But Forever in my Mind); Written by Steve Conrad (The
Weather Man)
Genre: Drama
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "Inspired by a true story." (Boy, that's an original one.)
Plot Summary: Based on the true story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a
struggling salesman in San Francisco, who decides to follow his dream of becoming
a stock broker, taking an unpaid internship at Dean Witter, while having to live
on the streets with his young son (Jaden Smith).
Of Note: Will Smith returns to drama in a big way for this inspirational
true story of Christopher Gardner, a self-made millionaire who spent some time
living on the streets with his young son in the '80s.
Mini-Review: Just in time for the holidays, here's an uplifting
inspirational story that's sure to affect anyone who's ever been at their wit's
end about how to make ends meet. Chris Gardner's story follows the moving and
emotional journey of a man who wouldn't give up despite hitting rock bottom.
Despite the serious subject
matter, the movie isn't nearly as much of a downer as one might
expect, because Smith provides that same trademark charm and personality that
has made him such a beloved star. He also gets to show a wider range of emotions
than we've seen from him in some time, which is fine and good, except that
his 7-year-old son Jaden steals almost every scene they're in together right
from
under him
due to his carefree, youthful delivery. (The younger Smith is almost guaranteed
stardom on the level of Dakota Fanning if he continues to find roles.) As enjoyable
as the film is, there are a few times when it gets a bit too sweet and sentimental,
making for an erratic experience, but Smith and director Gabriele Muccino do
a good job
holding it together with a tightly-paced story. Muccino should also be commended
for the film's distinct look and feel, like a movie of the era, with a great
soundtrack of vintage soul tunes combined with a tasteful score by Andrea
Guerra. Heartwarming at times, heartbreaking
at others, you could do far worse this season than this touching tale. Rating: 8.5/10
Pros: Will Smith has made a name for himself as one of the biggest
action and comedy stars in the world, having starred in mega-blockbusters
like Men in Black, Independence Day, I, Robot and
last year's Hitch. Now, he's back in "serious actor" mode, taking
on a dramatic real-life story of a man who lost it all but
followed his dream to success with his young son along for the ride.
For
Smith, it's a chance to stretch a bit as an actor, as well as a chance
for him to work with his 7-year-old son Jaden, appearing in his first
movie
role. The last time Smith took on a dramatic role was for
Michael Mann's biopic Ali, which got Smith an Oscar nomination,
but since then he's shown that he can even open non-action
movies big, such as last
year's romantic comedy Hitch, one of the biggest movies
of early '05. This is Smith's first movie in over 18 months
and there
must be
a lot of anticipation by his fans for a new movie. He has
a bit of added help at bringing in women thanks to a supporting
part
by Thandie
Newton
as his wife; Newton first found success in the "Oprah movie" Beloved.
The movie has been getting tons of early Oscar buzz for Smith,
who some consider to be one of the frontrunners, something
that will surely help drive up interest
among older moviegoers. There's also a lot of relevance between
Christopher Gardner's story from the early '80s with what
many Katrina survivors
had to endure, though at least there are a few uplifting
moments in this to make
up for the tragic way the bottom fell out of Gardner's life.
There's no denying that Will Smith has a huge African-American
fanbase that will pick this movie over the other two, much like
they did with
2004's Ray,
which opened in just over 2,000 theatres and still made $20 million.
The following year, Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman,
a comedy of sorts about a similarly down-and-out woman, opened
with $22 million in
even fewer theatres. Pursuit is opening in 2,500 theaters,
about 1,000 fewer than Hitch, but that lower theatre count
will just mean more business in those theatres. Smith crossed over
to non-African-American
actors
a long time ago, and this inspirational story could certainly strike
a chord with churchgoers and those looking for a positive spiritual
journey like
Gardner's.
Gardner wrote a bestselling book about his experiences, which will
probably be another reason for people to see the movie beyond the
appeal of Smith,
and both Gardner and Smith have been regulars on women's shows
like "Oprah" to
promote the book and movie.
Even though this is a drama, there are plenty of fun moments, particularly
involving Smith and his adorable kid, and for the fans who have
followed Smith since "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," there's even
a Rubik's Cube scene!
Cons:
There's a reason why Smith is a big box office star, and that's
because he appears in movies like Hitch and Independence Day,
entertaining high concept films that allow him to do his usual
wisecracking schtick
that his fans love. The Pursuit of Happyness isn't that.
It's a serious, emotional journey, and though there's a positive
inspirational
message in
Chris Gardner's story, it might seem like a bit of a downer for
Smith's normal fans. Jim Carrey has done a number of dramas but
the last two
times he went
that route over Christmas (Man on the Moon, The Majestic)
they made less in total than some of his movies make opening weekend.
Director Gabriele Muccino is an unknown commodity having done most
of his films in Italy starring Italian actors. This is a big movie
for him,
since
he's working with one of America's #1 superstars and Smith has
shown a lot of confidence in him to bring the emotion necessary
for the movie
to work.
Do people really want to see a movie about the drama involved with
a homeless man trying to make it and get his life back on track?
To some
people, the
story might hit way too close to home, and if it doesn't, they
might not be as interested to see how one man got out from being
in the dumps.
Either
way, it's a strange thing to want to see over the Christmas holidays.
Comparisons:
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Previous Box Office (in millions) |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
Hitch |
2/11/05 |
3,575 |
$43.14 |
$12,068 |
$177.58 |
|
|
Ali |
12/28/01 |
2,446 |
$20.03 |
$14.71 |
$6,014 |
$58.18 |
|
Ray |
10/29/04 |
2,006 |
$20.04 |
$9,990 |
$75.24 |
|
|
Diary of a Mad Black Woman |
2/25/05 |
1,483 |
$21.91 |
$14,771 |
$50.38 |
|
|
The Terminal |
6/18/04 |
2,811 |
$19.05 |
$6,778 |
$77.03 |
|
|
The Majestic |
12/21/01 |
2,361 |
$4.90 |
$2,077 |
$27.80 |
|
|
Man on the Moon |
12/24/99 |
2,079 |
$4.76 |
$7.52 |
$3,617 |
$34.58 |
|
The Weather Man |
10/28/05 |
1,510 |
$4.25 |
$2,814 |
$12.47 |
|
|
Falling Down |
2/26/93 |
1,220 |
$8.72 |
$7,148 |
$40.90 |
Why I Should See It: Will Smith gives one of his best performances as an actor, only overshadowed slightly by his son Jaden Smith in his first acting role.
Why Not: Sure, it's a heartwarming story, but does anyone really care about the success of a guy they probably have never heard of?
Projections: $22 to 25 million opening weekend; $115 million total.
And now, it's time for a couple director-actor reunions opening in limited release this weekend…
BREAKING
AND ENTERING (The Weinstein Company)Starring Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright-Penn, Ray Winstone, Martin Freeman, Vera Farmiga
Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The English Patient)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "Love is no ordinary crime."
Plot Summary: A landscape architect (Jude Law) is working on the renovation of the King's Cross section of London, but when a gang of young hoodlums repeatedly break into his office and robbing the place, he starts staking out his own offices. After following one of them home, he begins an affair with his single mother (Juliette Binoche), which doesn't help his already crumbling marriage to a gloomy Swedish wife (Robin Wright-Penn).
Of Note: Filmmaker Anthony Minghella reunites with Jude Law for the third time and Juliette Binoche for the second for a drama set in modern-day London.
Mini-Review: It's not very clear what Minghella and Law were trying to achieve with this dreary drama which seems to have difficulty sticking to a plot as it meanders from one idea to another, rarely staying on course even once it's able to find something worth watching. Essentially, it's little more than Jude Law playing the exact same character he has in every other movie from Alfie to The Holiday, doing so many questionable things that it's hard to be on his side. If that weren't bad enough, his talented female co-stars put on a bit of Bad Accent Theatre, Binoche and Farmiga pretending to be Russian and Penn pretending to be Swedish. Despite the bad accents, they all do what they can to make the most out of this disjointed story that leaves the viewer wondering what they did to deserve being dragged unwillingly into the private lives of these unbelievably uninteresting people for no particular reason except the whims of the filmmaker. If nothing else, the movie is proof that Jude Law needs to get a new agent, because I can't imagine anyone reading this script and saying, "This sounds like a movie that I absolutely need to make." Rating: 3.5/10
Pros: After being nominated for Oscars for The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley—he won one for directing the former—and exploring Civil War era America in Cold Mountain, British filmmaker Anthony Minghella returns to present day with a drama set firmly in modern-day London. Along for the ride is his long-time star Jude Law, who appeared in Minghella's last two films, receiving Oscar nominations for both of them. French actress Juliette Binoche received her one and only Oscar for her starring role in The English Patient ten years ago, so that's another noteworthy reunion. They're joined by Martin Freeman of "The Office" (UK Edition) as Law's business partner, Robin Wright Penn as his wife and Vera Farmiga as a Russian prostitute, continuing Minghella's impressive run of getting incredible casts to appear in his movies.
Cons: This is a bad movie choice for Jude Law, because once again, he's sleeping around, kind of like art imitating life, and it's not going to do much to save his tarnished image after cheating on his wife with Sienna Miller and then cheating on her with the maid (or is it the other way around?) Yeah, Jude Law just can't keep it in his pants, and it's not helping him when he's appearing in three or four movies during the fall season and none of them are doing very well. (His other two movies this fall All the King's Men and The Holiday both bombed.) This is Binoche's second major American dud after last year's Bee Season, which doesn't bode well for her continued career in the States.
Comparisons: Alfie, Closer, Bee Season, Unfaithful,
Why I Should See It: Minghella has assembled another impressive cast for his first modern-day drama.
Why Not: Why on earth is Jude Law doing a movie like this except because of his long-standing relationship with Minghella? Minghella made his career, so he may as well help kill it.
Breaking and Entering is getting an L.A. only one-week Oscar run, but I wouldn't count on it being in consideration for much of anything. MGM has been distributing most of the Weinstein movies, but they balked at this one. Gee, I wonder why.
THE
GOOD GERMAN (Warner Bros.)Starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Leland Orser, Beau Bridges, Tony Curran
Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Solaris, Out of Sight); Written by Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show, Donnie Brasco, The Sum of All Fears)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "If war is hell then what comes after?"
Plot Summary: U.S. war correspondent Jake Geismer (George Clooney) has been sent to Berlin to cover the Potsdam Peace Conference to decide what to do about Germany post WW2, but instead, he reconnects with an old lover (Cate Blanchett), who is caught up in a murder-mystery involving her missing scientist husband.
Of Note: Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney reunite for their fifth movie together, trying their hand at a '40s war-time thriller based on Joseph Kanon's novel, using the cinematic techniques and visual/musical styles of the era.
REVIEW
Pros: Whatever you want to say about Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, they know how to make movies, something proven with their surprisingly diverse back catalogue of films. The Good German allows them to flex their creative muscles with a movie that looks and feels as if it were made in the '40s, and as an actor Clooney fits right into that mold of old time screen actor. If that weren't enough, they've also brought on one of the hottest current actresses, Cate Blanchett, whose portrayal of Kate Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator won her an Oscar. Here, she does a mean Marlene Dietrich impersonation to play a sexy German vamp caught up in the post-war paranoia and conspiracies. Blanchett has been getting raves for Alejandro Iñarritu's Babel, and she has an even more impressive performance in Notes on a Scandal, which opens in a few weeks. Many oddsmakers think that one of these movies will get her back into the Oscar running in February. The movie also features Tobey "Spider-Man" Maguire in his second historical piece after 2003's Seabiscuit.
Cons: Movies made in black and white tend to be jarring, and using a lot of the same tricks and techniques, both visually and musically, as old movies of the '40s will certainly limit the film's audience to older movie buffs and diehard Soderbergh/Clooney fans.
Comparisons: Casablanca, The Third Man, Good Night, and Good Luck, Schindler's List, The Man Who Wasn't There
Why I Should See It: It's an interesting period in history that's not too well known and an impressive film technically.
Why Not: Yeah, you know what? If I want to watch old movies, I'll just turn on AMC, okay?
Opens in New York, L.A. and Toronto on Friday then expands on Dec. 22 and Jan. 19, 2007.
And another war movie…
HOME
OF THE BRAVE (MGM)Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Brian Presley, Christina Ricci, Chad Michael Murray
Directed by Irwin Winkler (De-Lovely, Life as a House, At First Sight, The Net); Written by Mark Friedman (debut)
Genre: War, Drama
Rated R
Tagline: "Coming home is the real battle."
Plot Summary: After being stationed in Iraq, four National Guard soldiers (Jackson, Biel, Presley, 50 Cent) try to adjust to life back home in Spokane, Washington.
Of Note: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, and "50 Cent" star in this drama about soldiers returning from the Iraq War, really the first drama to take a look at the effects of the current war on those who enlist.
Mini-Review: With so many great documentaries about soldiers and the effects of war coming out in the last year, this surprisingly mundane drama drops the ball on delivering its anti-war message, partially due to the underdeveloped writing skills of the film's screenwriter, but mainly due to the lack of acting inexperience of two of its four stars. The story itself just isn't very good, losing a lot of credibility when the characters just happen to run into each other repeatedly with a casual "hey, weren't you in Iraq with me?" Otherwise, the entire film is dull and corny with 50 Cent being the weakest link, having even less acting chops when not doing his own life story. While not nearly as bad, Brian Presley seems like another pretty boy with more looks than talent, who doesn't do much for his character either. Both Biel and Jackson have their moments as a single mom who returns home without a hand and as a medic who couldn't save as many lives as he hoped to. Biel comes across very well, showing that she has a future as a serious dramatic actress, but Jackson eventually slips into a bit of drunken silliness that takes away from the seriousness of his situation. There are plenty of good intentions with making these soldiers' stories known to mainstream audiences, but the movie is so dull and tedious that it just comes off as another ill-conceived war drama that doesn't do justice to the men and women serving in Iraq. Rating: 5/10
Pros: This year has seen a slew of anti-war movies, three years into the current war in Iraq, but almost all of the previous movies have been documentaries. Home on the Brave takes a similar look at soldiers returning home as The War Tapes or The Ground Truth, but in a fictionalized form. That's not to say that it's a completely dull talking heads movie, but it's not really a war movie either, since all of the action happens at the beginning, then nothing afterwards. There's definitely an interest in the Iraq War right now and our soldiers fighting there, and Irwin Winkler has a decent cast for this one including the most prolific actor in Hollywood, Samuel L. Jackson, though this is not his most exciting role. (Think back to his role in Basic and this is basically the same.) It also stars Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in his second movie role after last year's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and Jessica Biel in her second military role after last year's Stealth. Winkler is better known as a producer of the Rocky films (including next week's Rocky Balboa), as well as Raging Bull, but he's also directed a number of films, none of which really made big waves.
Cons: This is written by first-time screenwriter Mark Friedman and it has a number of inexperienced actors in key roles, both which are very obvious from seeing the movie. There are similarities between this and another recent MGM film, Harsh Times, starring Christian Bale, also about a soldier back from the war and how he cracks up. That movie bombed, and it's unlikely this one will do that much better.
Comparisons: Harsh Times, Jarhead, Three Kings, Basic, The Ground Truth, The War Tapes, Coming Home, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Why I Should See It: This drama is an interesting look at Iraq War veterans and the effect the war had on them.
Why Not: It's pretty obvious that this is a first-time screenwriter and "50 Cent" still can't act.
It opens in New York and L.A. for a one-week Oscar consideration run and then opens wide in '07.
OTHER LIMITED RELEASES:
BROOKLYN RULES (Hannover House) - Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Scott Caan star in Terrence "The Sopranos" Winter's crime drama about three boys who grow up on the streets of Brooklyn in '85 and what happens when one becomes involved with the Mafia.
REMINISCING IN TEMPO (Gary Keys Films) Gary Keys' documentary about the birthday parties thrown by Ruth Ellington for her brother, the jazz great Duke Ellington, even after his death. Includes rare performance footage and interviews with bandmates and music critics. Opens Friday at New York's Quad Cinemas, as does…
THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS (Strand Releasing) Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me) reunites with actress Sarah Polley for this romantic drama about a hearing-impaired woman who goes on vacation to Northern Ireland and ends up tending to a flash fire burn victim (none other than Tim Robbins) on an oilrig. After opening in New York on Friday, it'll opening in L.A. on December 22.
Next week, it's officially Christmas weekend and moviegoers will have a choice between Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum, Sylvester Stallone's return as Rocky Balboa, the Matthews McConaughey and Fox football drama We Are Marshall and Matt Damon telling the history of the CIA in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd.
Copyright 2006 Edward Douglas
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