Blu-Review: BROKEN EMBRACES

Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar


If you’ve fallen before, it is easy to fall again and again for Pedro Almodovar. His works are always sumptuous and sincerely passionate, with strong female characters braving through emotional turmoil. His latest, BROKEN BEMBRACES, is certainly no different in terms of tone but Almodovar becomes his own worst enemy as he dives head first into a complicated plot that he barely manages to get out of.


Almodovar muse, Penelope Cruz, is a the top of her game, which is only more impressive when you consider that her character is essentially comprised of three different women. She is an actress playing a part in a movie but she also pretends when she comes home and plays the part of a doting wife to a controlling man she doesn’t love. The only time she can be herself is when she is in the arms of the director who is shooting the movie she is in. There is more than enough to work with there but Almodovar shoots in another ex-lover as well as troubled offspring and we haven’t even started talking about the movie within the movie within the movie. Almodovar is pushing himself visually but in order to get through to the other side of his own plot, he has to force some lengthy sequences that slow the film down significantly.


I was actually quite taken with BROKEN EMBRACES when I first saw it but I lost some interest the second time around and the BD extras, including a new short film from the director, did little to get that interest back. This is definitely not the film you want to use to introduce Almodovar to your friends. The traditional Almodovar tone is still intact and fans will forgive but unfortunately they may also forget.

FILM AND EXTRAS:

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Merry Christmas, Hollywood.

Well, I'm full. I had plenty to eat over the last few days and food exhaustion may be the reason for my late report but I wasn't the only one who ingested a lot this weekend. Moviergoers ate up almost everything Hollywood was serving at the box office for the year's last full frame. Christmas Day has been a launching pad for a variety of fare over the years but this year it fell on a Friday and got a very big present - the biggest Christmas Day opening in history.


SHERLOCK HOLMES may have missed out on the weekend crown - an achievement claimed by AVATAR in its second weekend - but, with $24.8 million on Christmas Day alone, it easily surpassed former champ, MEET THE FOCKERS ($19.5 million), to become the best Christmas Day opening of all time. AVATAR also passed MEET THE FOCKERS, with $23.6 million, which is not bad at all for a film in its second week. SHERLOCK HOLMES ultimately brought in $65.4 million all weekend for a stellar wide per screen average of $18K. I can think of one person who just had the best Christmas of their lives - once-promising director, Guy Ritchie now has his first actual hit. And come to think of it, once washed up actor, Robert Downey Jr., now has two bonafide franchises on his hands. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, indeed.


James Cameron's AVATAR finished the weekend with $75 million, off only 2.6% from last week. It has already pulled in over $600 million internationally and it's success has naturally sprung talk of a sequel. I implore you, Mr. Cameron, leave this film alone. Take your wonderful technology and incredible imagination and create another great new thing. The point of AVATAR was to create something no one had ever seen and a sequel would inherently defeat that purpose. I'm asking nicely.


Speaking of sequels, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKEQUEL (sp?), opened in third place after dethroning AVATAR on it's early Wednesday release. When the first film came out, I was floored that anyone wanted to see it but then it was huge. It brought in $44 million opening weekend, a couple of weeks before Christmas, and went on to make $212 million in North America. So this time, I was ready for it. The question wasn't whether it would do well; it was whether it would do better than the first. And I'm sad to say it did. On Wednesday, it brought in $18 million and it would finish its five day run with $77 million, $28 million more than the first made in five-days. Good job, people. I applaud you.


Opening in fourth place, the Nancy Meyers comedy, IT'S COMPLICATED. Comparatively, the opening is modest, pulling in a near $8K average on almost 2900 screens. It is still a strong opening for an R-rated adult comedy and Meyer's second largest December opening, after the Mel Gibson hit, WHAT WOMEN WANT. Not to sound too sexist but I'm thinking that Meryl Streep's biggest fans, people like my mom, were probably busy with holiday stuff this weekend so movies might not have been their priority. Good word of mouth should carry this one well into the new year.


That said, I actually did go to a movie with my mom this Christmas. My holiday movie this year was Rob Marshall's NINE. It was my second viewing and my mom's first (she loved it!). I was disappointed on first viewing and wanted to like it more. I did definitely enjoy it more on second viewing but people were less than enthused about making it their holiday movie. Yes, NINE increased its gross over 2000% this week but it could barely muster a $4K per screen average on 1400 screens. A film with this pedigree and this kind of push should have been much bigger. Oscar chances for the incredible cast and film were on the rise in the last week but the lack of audience support has definitely set them back.


Outside of that, most films in the Top 10 saw slight declines this week - except oddly enough for Disney's A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which plummeted by 60%. I guess the movies are a place to escape Christmas, not celebrate it further. THE BLIND SIDE and INVICTUS saw modest increases well into their runs, proving inspiration goes well with turkey and stuffing. And Oscar hopeful, fan favorite and critic's choice, UP IN THE AIR, expanded to over 1800 screens and saw a healthy 266% increase for a slot in the Top 5.


Outside the Top 10, Heath Ledger's last screen performance, one that was not completed and was filled in by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, was attended by Terry Gilliam fans everywhere, pulling in an average of $32K on 4 screens. Personally, I'm avoiding the film. I realized that I would rather leave my last memory of Ledger as THE DARK KNIGHT. There was plenty of holiday cheer actually for platform expansions. Jean-Marc Vallee's THE YOUNG VICTORIA added 143 screens for a 277% increase; Pedro Almodovar's BROKEN EMBRACES added 41 screens and improved over 75%; Tom Ford's A SINGLE MAN added 37 screens and improved over 120%; and CRAZY HEART, starring Oscar hopeful, Jeff Bridges, tacked on 8 screens and saw an 88% increase.


NEXT WEEK: Nothing; I got nothing. That's because there is nothing coming out next week. Hollywood is done with 2009. The only release is a limited one on Wednesday - Austrian director, Michael Haneke's critical darling, THE WHITE RIBBON, bows in New York and L.A. in order to qualify for the Oscars. The box office report will not appear next weekend, in this form that is. I will be looking back at 2009 as a whole and breaking it down into winners and losers. Good times.

Source: BOX OFFICE MOJO

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Avatar Goes Far!

There are two major points to discuss this week when it comes to the box office. The first is that giant blue movie, AVATAR. Studios avoided pitting anything against the anticipated juggernaut, except for a feeble and unsuccessful attempt on Sony's part to counterprogram with DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? (The answer to that question, by the way, is no, no one has apparently heard of them.) AVATAR may not have done the business they were expecting but it was still certainly an event. I caught the film on Saturday morning and as the theatre had not opened yet, there were lines of people around the block waiting to get in. The IMAX screenings were sold out for the day but yet the people were still pouring in to the lobby in hopes of a miracle. Fox insists that AVATAR would have grossed even more if it weren't for the snow storms in the North East of the country and they are probably right. Despite the excuses though, AVATAR still made over $70 million, an average of over $21K per theatre, and with the holidays and inevitably good word of mouth to follow, it will certainly go on to justify its own hype.


The other story at the box office this week is the influence of the Golden Globes, if there is any such thing. AVATAR itself scored a Best Picture nod but I doubt that had any influence on anyone's decision to see it. Fellow Best Picture nominee, UP IN THE AIR continued its successful expansion, going from 72 to 175 screens and seeing its gross increase by nearly 30%. The film goes wide on Wednesday, hitting 1800 screens, and looks poised to be a holiday favorite. Another Best Picture nominee, Rob Marshall's star-studded musical, NINE, platformed on 4 screens this week before going wide next Friday. The result was an impressive $62K per screen average. Reviews are mixed though so it should be interesting to see if audiences find it amidst the busy frame. Tom Ford's A SINGLE MAN, nominated for Best Actor (Colin Firth) and Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore), dropped off by 36% this week but still managed a healthy $15K average before its wide expansion next week. Troubling figures came in for Peter Jackson's THE LOVELY BONES. The film has not been seeing much awards love and dropped off over 60% in its second frame. It too goes wider next weekend. Two other actor nominees, Emily Blunt in THE YOUNG VICTORIA and Jeff Bridges in CRAZY HEART made their debuts. Bridges fared better with an average of $21K on four screens and Blunt pulled in a decent $7.4K on 20 screens. And finally, PRECIOUS expanded past its 664 screen count where it had stalled a couple weeks back to hit over 1000 screens. The Best Picture nominee still dropped off 12% though, signaling that its once bright hopes for Oscar gold are dwindling.


NEXT WEEK: It's Christmas! This means big titles and small chipmunks apparently. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKUEL opens on over 3700 screens on Wednesday, hoping to duplicate the success of the original. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin hit 2800 screens with their Golden Globe nominated comedy, IT'S COMPLICATED. And Guy Ritchie's remake of SHERLOCK HOLMES, starring Robert Downey Jr, will hit more than 3600 screens. There will be plenty of presents under Hollywood's tree this year.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Best of Black Sheep: BROKEN EMBRACES

Pedro Almodovar is arguably the most celebrated Spanish film director of all time and it is easy to see why with his latest, BROKEN EMBRACES. It opens on actors being prepared for a shoot while a camera frames them and watches them candidly before cutting directly to an extreme close up of an actual eye. The act of watching and the subsequent act of being watched will go on to shape the entire film and under Almodovar’s delicate and respectful eye, the shape it creates proves that his vision is only getting better with age.


While Almodovar may be directing the picture, it is Harry Caine (Lluis Homar) who is the director on screen. Only this director has lost his sight in an accident and now only writes, as if that is some lesser function. He plays narrator to the film we are watching and, like the man who invented him on page, he is one heck of a storyteller. BROKEN EMBRACES is a twisted thriller that ties a torrid love affair, a tormenting husband and a tortured son together and places it all behind the scenes of a film set. To further blur the lines between art and reality, Almodovar casts longtime muse, Penelope Cruz, as Caine’s source of inspiration. Like the man who propelled her into the international spotlight, Cruz is only getting better and more beautiful with time.


With BROKEN EMBRACES, Almodovar has created a richly layered work that requires a steady hand to be done right and, while his command is controlled and impressive, he comes off as playful and cool. Heightened by first time collaborator, Rodrigo Pietro’s deliberate and stunning cinematography, Almodovar has made another contemporary classic that will certainly earn him many more accolades and admirers by honouring his roots and the fans that have gotten him this far to begin with.

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