Black Sheep presents Summer Box Office Review

I've made little effort to hide my disdain for this summer's film offerings and after looking back at the box office business these films pulled in, it is pretty clear to me that you all were none too pleased as well.  This summer provided some bonafide hits but more often than not just produced mid-range success and disappointment.  2010 proved to be profitable for most (Sorry, Scott Pilgrim), pulling in a combined domestic haul of $4.35 billion, up 2.4% over last year.  Of course, you're all thinking about how much more expensive it is to see movies these days, especially the one's that pop out at you and you're right.  Ticket prices in North America increased on average 38 cents over 2009, a 5% increase.  These figures are what make the next one's more disturbing.  Theatre attendance is down for the third year in a row, dropping 2.6% this summer, down to 552 million tickets sold.  Sure, that is still an incredible amount of filmgoers but consider that 566 million tickets were sold in 2009 and 580 million the summer before that.  With most movies making their money back and then some once you take foreign grosses into consideration, I doubt Hollywood will heed these troubling forecasts.  Why push yourself to do better when what you're already doing puts the money in the bank?

This suit doesn't come cheap, y'know.

Paramount Pictures put the most money in the bank this summer, commanding 20% of the market share.  Walt Disney Pictures came in second place with a 16% share; and Sony finished in third with 15%.  Paramount's lead was established early when the first tent pole of the summer, IRON MAN 2 opened to $128 million, finishing with $312 million domestically and $621 million globally.  The domestic gross is a little shy of the first film's total but exceeds globally by about $35 million.  This is pretty solid follow-up business but considering the second cost about $60 million more to make, I'm sure expectations were higher.  Their second big hit needed the rest of the world to justify its existence.  SHREK FOREVER AFTER, the supposed last chapter in the series, finished the summer in second place globally but a disappointing sixth place domestically.  It's fate was sealed domestically when it opened to about $50 million less than the last installment.  Still, a $540m+ profit is a lot of green.

Don't look so surprised.

When TOY STORY 3 surpassed the billion dollar mark globally this past week, Disney became the only studio in history to command two billion dollar performances in the same year, along with the spring success of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.  TOY STORY 3 is the big winner across every board imaginable.  Not only did it become Pixar's biggest opener and total grosser, it is also the number one film both domestically and globally.  Perhaps even more importantly, it is the biggest animated film in history and was universally considered by critics to be the best film of the summer.  Bravo Woody & Buzz!   Meanwhile, if foreign markets didn't love action films so much, PRINCE OF PERSIA would have been a big embarrassment for Disney.  The Jake Gyllenhaal mess (I saw it; it is very messy - sorry, Jake.) only cracked $90 million domestically but finished with $330 million overall, which is good considering it reportedly cost $200 million to make.  The same can be said of THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, which made only $61 million domestically and cost $150 million to make.  Jerry Bruckheimer needs to thank someone out there for the extra $100 million that came from abroad.

Maybe you can afford clothes that fit now.

Sony surprised me with both the global and domestic success of THE KARATE KID.  Coming in seventh place on both fronts, the film only cost about $40 million to make and took in a profit of $278 million.  Sony also scored solid success with the Angelina Jolie spy thriller, SALT, and the Adam Sandler ensemble comedy, GROWN-UPS.  Neither necessarily blew up but both performed well enough to make the Top 10 domestically.

Well worth all that trouble.

Warner Brothers had a hard time this summer (see the biggest box office flop list below).  SEX AND THE CITY 2 seemed like it was going to perform on par with the first installment but ended up pulling in about $65 million less domestically.  It also made approximately $125 million less globally but still managed a profit of $190 million as a result of foreign markets.  Fortunately, Warner made up for that misstep with one of the most celebrated films of the summer, INCEPTION.  The Christopher Nolan smash finished third globally with a whopping $695 million and it's not even done yet.  Budgeted at $160 million, that is an impressive $535 million profit.  And given its reputation as the smartest film released this summer, people will likely remember it come awards season too so Warner Brothers will be dreaming of money for some time to come.

More vampire movies need scenes in flowery fields.

Only two other titles deserve significant mention before I wrap things up here.  The first was another big surprise for me.  I saw DESPICABLE ME.  I thought it was cute at best.  And yet somehow, Universal turned it into a $309 million global hit.  More impressively, it beat that big green ogre movie domestically.  And of course, how could I not mention all those crazy teenage vampires and werewolves?  THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE has yet to finish its run but has earned about $54 million less than the last outing did so it would appear interest may be waning.  I realize this is wishful thinking.  And as for the most profitable indie hit this summer, that honour goes to THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, which pulled in about $20 million domestically and cost about $4 million to make.  It was definitely one of the very few highlights of my summer at the movies.

It wouldn't be a summer box office review if there weren't a run down of the season's biggest flops.  In a summer overrun with disappointment, you really have to fall flat to be a bomb and these ones really hit the ground hard.  The biggest money losers domestically this summer were:

1. JONAH HEX

WARNER BROS.

ESTIMATED LOSS: $37 MILLION

2. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

UNIVERSAL

EST. LOSS: $25 MILLION

3. CHARLIE ST. CLOUD

UNIVERSAL

EST. LOSS: $13 MILLION

Thanks for joining me at this final look back at the summer that was 2010.  It will not be missed.  The regular box office report will return after TIFF.  To read any of the reviews for films in this article, just scroll over the title and click if it's a link.

SOURCES:

The Hollywood Reporter

Box Office Mojo

Bloomberg.com

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In Bruges (2008)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Colin Farrel, Clemence Poesy, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jordan Prentice

Assassins are usually known to be cold-hearted and emotionless beings.Two assasins, Ray (Farrel) and Ken (Gleeson) are in Bruges for an assignment. Ken is simply in love with the town with all its churches and history. Ray, on the other hand is grumpy and upset because Bruges is the last place on Earth that he would like to be in and enjoys beaches and woman more than ancient stone structures. The core reason why Ray is actually not in the right mood is because during his last assignment, he accidentally killed a young boy. The thought of the boy dying is haunting his mind and he cant get it out of his head. A shooting of a Dutch movie is taking place in Bruges and Ray gets friendly with Chloe (Poesy) a crew member on the sets and Jimmy (Prentice) a midget who is starring in the movie. The movie brings out the aspect that hit men are not cold assassins as most of us think them to be, but are in fact quite human as anyone else. The best part about the movie is that although it has a very simple plot and layout, multiple side stories help in keeping the interest alive. The primary reason why this movie should figure on your 'must-watch' is the dialogue. Crisp lines that one should pay extra attention to might just give you a thing or two to laugh at. A well thought and executed movie, worth multiple watches.

Thumbs up: Great lines, fine acting

Thumbs down: Slow start

Rating: 8.4/10

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We Are Family (2010)

Genre: Drama/Romance

Starring: Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Nominath Ginsberg, Aachal Munjal, Diya Sonecha

The Earths depleting environment is a cause of concern for a lot of us. Automobile companies are trying to make more efficient engines, people are trying to conserve energy and Karan Johar is trying to create more water. How? By trying to make you cry more of course. Maya (Kajol) and Aman (Rampal) are leading a happy life with their kids Aleya (Munjal) Ankush (Ginsberg) and Anjali (Sonecha). Maya and Aman are separate but the kids live with Maya. Yet they are extremely attached to their father and cant imagine a life without them. Shreya (Kapoor) is Aman's girlfriend whom he tries to introduce to the family. The kids hate her cause they think she is stealing their father from them and Maya hates her cause Shreya hates the kids for hating her. Relations start souring amongst all the hate and the once happy family is all set to become the most unhappy family. Boring, sad and depressing are words one can associate with this movie. Performances are sad and weak and a complete washout. Karan Johar has successfully managed to tarnish his reputation by making a movie that might have appealed to the family-centric audience 10 years back but looks heavily out of place in today's world. Yes, you might wet your eyes but not due to heart-rendering emotions but due to boredom which leads to excessive yawning. One more thing, why did he shoot the entire movie in USA when the location has got absolutely no relevance to the plot? A Bollywood remake of Step-Mom.

Thumbs up: Nothing

Thumbs down: Performances, plot, too much of melodrama

Rating: 4.3/10

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Black Sheep presents Fall Foliage 2010

As I sit at my desk right now, I fear that a large branch from the tree outside my bedroom will suddenly fly in through the window and strike me, unexpectedly from behind, likely killing me instantly.  I'm not that paranoid, really.  It is just that windy out there. To be honest, I feel bad for the tree.  Swaying back and forth like that does not look fun to me.  Either way, I had to break out my sweaters today.

While it may not be the best day for a picnic, it is a very good day to take a look at what this autumn has in store for filmgoers hungry for, well, really any morsel of substance they can get their eyes on after the disastrous summer season we were all just made to suffer through.  Given that I will be seeing a ton of fall titles at the Toronto International Film Festival next week, I will focus this Fall Foliage film preview on titles that will not be screening at TIFF.  Trust me, Black Sheep will be so drenched in TIFF before you know it, so we have to spread the love while we still can.  Please, go on and grab you sweater and let's take a walk through the changing leaves ...

SEPTEMBER

The beef walks alone.

Originally due last spring, Oliver Stone's WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS now opens on September 24.  It's been 23 years since Michael Douglas won an Oscar for playing the human incarnation of greed, Gordon Gekko, and now he's back, out of jail in 2001 when the film picks up.  It's the new kid in the big city that is carrying this show though.  Shia LaBeouf will try to break away from his younger skewed audience and show more adult patrons that he can play with the big guys too.  Taking down Gordon Gekko should definitely convert a few non-believers.

Franco can pull off any look.

Academy Award winning documentary filmmakers, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman, try their hand at narrative film for the first time with this biopic of famous poet, Allen Ginsberg.  James Franco continues to prove his versatility by portraying the eccentric poet during the time of his obscenity trial for writing the poem the film is named for, HOWL.  I would see Franco in just about anything (or just about nothing, for that matter) and it will be great to see how Epstein and Freidman deal with fiction knowing how fantastic they deal with the truth.

Naive Nev.  You'll see.

Alright, I've actually already seen Sundance sensation, CATFISH, so I'm not so much looking forward to seeing it as I am looking forward to you all being able to see it.  My review will come post-TIFF but I will say this for now, if you chat online or have a Facebook page or have ever felt feelings for someone you never met while calling them "cutie" in text messages on your iPhone, see this movie.  I'm not trying to scare you but it just puts a lot into perspective.  It's like watching PARANORMAL ACTIVITY almost, except this time I was actually scared.

OCTOBER

This dude has way more friends than you and me combined.

Speaking of Facebook, do you know how that whole thing started?  No?  Well, you can now, thanks to Academy Award nominated director, David Fincher (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, FIGHT CLUB) as he takes on the birth of the online phenomenon in THE SOCIAL NETWORK.  I don't know if it's that intensely emotional rendition of Radiohead's "Creep" in the trailers (the band is called Scala, in case you were wondering) but I can't get enough of it.  Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake star in what could be a surprise Oscar contender.  I'll post my review on my wall when it's ready.

C'mon! How does it get any better than this?

I was not a big fan of Robert Schwentke's last film, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.  Come to think of it, I didn't really get into his previous film, FLIGHTPLAN, either.  Well, here's hoping the third time for me will be a charm.  RED rounds up a bunch of retired CIA agents who moonlight with the occasional kill contract on the side to keep things lively.  I guess their retirement savings were lost in the market crash.  Regardless, I'm thinking the cast - Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman - will show the director how it's done.

I don't think she's allowed to smoke in there.

Noomi Rapace returns as the girl who continues to captivate American film going audiences and readers alike in the close to the Swedish trilogy, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST.  The films have not done nearly as well as the books but with everyone reading this last installment just this summer, interest could not be higher.  The aforementioned Fincher will be directing the American remakes but you do not want to miss the honesty and integrity of these gritty works first.  (Click for previous reviews of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE.)

NOVEMBER

Gentlemen, please. Contain yourselves.

When I saw THE HANGOVER, I thought it had only two things going for it really.  I loved seeing Vegas in the harsh light of day - even the city itself looked hung over.  I also found that director, Todd Philips, had a really strong sense of where he was going at all times.  Aside from that, I wasn't anywhere near as impressed as most of the rest of the world and breakout star, Zack Galifianakis, annoyed me more than anything else.  Still, the trailer for Philips' follow-up, DUE DATE, looks promising.  I may forgive him and Galifianakis at the same time if they pull it off.  Fortunately, Robert Downey Jr. is on hand to make sure they get it right.

Looks more comfortable than the back of that car in "Brokeback Mountain".

LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS looks like a passable romance that could potentially surprise you with depth when you're not looking.  The likable quality of the stars alone though should make it an easy breeze to get through.  Jake Gyllenhaal plays a Viagra salesman, pushing it when it first took off in the market.  The drug is no substitute for the love he finds in Anne Hathaway though.  I know it sounds somewhat cheesy but this is a romance after all.  With Edward Zwick at the helm though, the man behind DEFIANCE and BLOOD DIAMOND, I'm sure it's not all going to be that simple.

Beautiful blunder?

It has not been a very good year for Christina Aguilera.  Her album, "Bionic", bombed.  Her entire summer concert tour had to be scrapped.  And now, the advance buzz on her feature film debut, BURLESQUE, is that is could be a full-on disaster.  This could've been her year but you know they say bad things come in three's.  It could go either way at this point is what I've been reading but I would have a lot more confidence in the director, Steven Antin, if his biggest production credit before this wasn't executive producing the Pussycat Dolls reality competition show.  Good luck, Xtina.  It sounds like you're going to need it.

There you have it - a handful of pictures Black Sheep Reviews will be covering in the months to come.  We will take one last look back at the summer of 2010 with the Summer Box Office Report in the next couple of days and then it's TIFF, TIFF, TIFF.  Don't miss it and thanks for reading.

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THE AMERICAN

Written by Rowan Joffe

Directed by Anton Corbijn

Starring George Clooney, Thekla Reuten and and Violante Placido

Father Benedetto: You are American. You think you can escape history. You live for the present.

Ordinarily, when Americans travel abroad, they are expected to be boorish, loud and down right disruptive. In Anton Corbijn’s second feature, THE AMERICAN, it is practically the polar opposite. George Clooney plays Jack (or Edward depending on who he is talking to), an assassin on what he hopes to be his last assignment, hidden away in a tiny Italian village, where he expects no one will ever find him. Unlike his American friends, Jack keeps to himself as much as possible and tries to make as little noise as he can but, just like his American friends, he does not leave without disrupting everything.

THE AMERICAN is a very quiet film. Corbijn shows immense growth from his first feature, CONTROL, a black and white ode to Ian Curtis, the tragic lead singer of Joy Division. As promising a start as that was, Corbijn seems to have found a pace and tone that he is not only comfortable with but that he finishes by owning as a distinct style by the close of the film. He manages to maintain a subtly captivating sense of suspense and intrigue despite the fact that very little is actually happening on screen. Jack spends most of his time assembling a weapon for a kill and fighting his desire for a local prostitute (Violante Placido). Still, the real threat that comes with the territory of wanting to end your career as an assassin is forever looming over everything.

Clooney is THE AMERICAN. In fact, he is the only American actor in this whole picture, which only further serves to separate him from his surroundings. Clooney stands out because he chooses to embrace his position as an aging actor, one who is faced with wanting more from life than he has come to know and expect. Jack is no different. He is torn between his American drive to be the best and his human need to retire his crown in the name of deeper ideals. When it comes to depth, America is not always on its strongest legs but fortunately for this American, he’s got some very solid direction from a talented Dutch filmmaker to back him up.

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Little Man (2006)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Starring: Marlon Wayans, Tracy Morgan, Shawn Wayans, Kerry Washington, John Witherspoon

An African-American midget, Calvin (Marlon Wayans) and his partner Percy (Morgan) rob an expensive diamond from a jewelry store. While being pursued by the police, he slips the diamond in a lady's purse and runs away. The lady, Vanessa (Washington) and her fiancee Darryl (Shawn Wayans)are oblivious to the huge priceless diamond they are carrying. In order to get back their diamond, Calvin becomes a baby and is left on Vanessa and Darryl's doorstep. Darryl wants to start a family soon but Vanessa is more concerned about her career.With young baby Calvin in the house, Darryl's wish comes almost true but Calvin plans to bail out of the house the moment he has the diamond in his hand. The movie has a lot of lame humour the movie is horribly slow. The special effects used to make Marlon Wayans look like a baby is a bad job and his stupid and overdone performances are of no help either. Probably if some jokes were more on the lines of Home Alone the movie might have been a better watch, but it sadly isn't. There are some slightly funny parts but that's about it. Avoid at all cost.

Thumbs up: Zip-zero

Thumbs down: Bad humour, hopeless acting

Rating: 4.9/10

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Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Genre: Biography/Drama/Crime/History/War

Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Desmond Dube

The 1994 genocide of Rwanda rocked the world where close to 1 million people were brutally killed and murdered. The people of Rwanda and divided in two tribes, Hutu and Tutsi. Rebel breaks out in the African country after the murder of the Rwandan President. Hutu soldiers scamper across the streets hunting down and killing Tutsi civilians. Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) is the manager of the super-luxurious hotel, des Milles Collines. He bribes influential people by serving them good alcohol in hopes to get associated with influential people who could be of use to him during difficult times. Paul is Hutu whereas his wife Tatiana (Okonedo) is Tutsi. He manages to placate the soldiers that come on his doorstep by bribing them and gets his family and neighbours to the hotel. He struggles to take in as many refugees as he can, to ensure their security, to keep the hotel running equivalent to its standards, to look after the safety of his family and be the strength of each and every person who has come to him for help. The movie can be said to be the African Schindler's List and has more or less a similar plot. Don Cheadle has put on a fine piece of acting which makes the movie a classy watch. Brilliant depiction of the genocide which brings out the misery in which so many people are living and how unconcerned the west is to peoples misery. Deserves a five-star applause.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances

Thumbs down: Could have had better plot execution

Rating: 8.2/10

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