At the Megaplex
This Means War – 1 1/2 Buckets
It’s never a good sign when, as one watches a movie, one imagines the studio pitch meeting in one’s head. This is the case with This Means War, which was undoubtedly conceived as a carefully-targeted corporate product rather… [Read more]
The Secret World of Arrietty – 2 1/2 Buckets
The Secret World of Arrietty is the latest Studio Ghibli animated film that Walt Disney has dubbed into English and brought to America. This one is different from the usual Ghibli import, however, in that it was not directed by… [Read more]
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – 3 Buckets
Attempting to further cash in on 2008’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, the monster hit that ushered in the resurgence of live-action 3-D, Warner Bros. has brought back Josh Hutcherson’s teen protagonist to star in another… [Read more]
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At the Art-House
The Flowers of War – 1 Bucket
After more than two decades of directing films that were mostly ignored by American audiences, the Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou struck box office gold with two martial arts-infused historical melodramas, 2002’s Hero and… [Read more]
W.E. – 2 Buckets
Given her status as the Queen of Pop, it makes sense that Madonna’s second feature film as a writer/director (following 2008’s barely distributed Filth and Wisdom) would explore the way that audiences project their own… [Read more]
Kill List – 1 Bucket
Because I saw the film at a private screening with under a dozen fellow journalists, I can’t attest to whether Kill List’s “WTF!?”-brand of narrative trickery plays better with a loud Midnight crowd. But I can say that, exhibition context… [Read more]
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Columns / Blogs
Box Office Predictions – Weekend of Feb 3
Most Americans associate this weekend with the Super Bowl, not the movie theater, but this has historically been a decent frame to release two types of films: teen horror (The Roommate, The Messengers, When a Stranger Calls) and women’s counterprogramming (Dear John, Because I Said So). CBS Films hopes they’ve combined both into one with The Woman in Black, a ghost story that happens to star a female favorite, Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe… [Read more]
Box Office Predictions – Weekend of Jan 27
It’s that time of the week again, and I have box office predictions at the ready for the three films opening in wide release today. This weekend brings Liam Neeson battling wolves, Katherine Heigl bounty hunting, and Sam Worthington threatening to jump off a ledge – yep, it’s still January, all right. Additionally, because the Oscar nominations were released on Tuesday, you can expect some healthy jumps from those films that made the cut. Without further ado… [Read more]
Box Office Predictions – Weekend of Jan 20
Hello, readers – it’s once again time to play the weekly box office predictions game. Apologies for my unannounced absence last Thursday – a run-in with what I can only presume to be some of the worst food-poisoning man has ever experienced left me bedridden for nearly five days. But I’m back, baby, and ready to haphazardly throw around numbers as usual… [Read more]
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