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Weekend Box Office for July 24 – 26

#1 G-Force from Disney debuts at #1 this weekend bringing in $32.1 million in 3697 theaters. Budget for G-Force is unknown.

#2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from Warner Bros. drops to #2 this weekend bringing in $30 million in 4325 theaters. Budget for Half-Blood Prince was $250 million.

#3 The Ugly Truth from Sony debuts at #3 this weekend earning $27 million in 2882 theaters. Budget for Truth was $38 million.

#4 The Orphan from Warner Bros. debuts at #4 this weekend earning $12.7 million in 2750 theaters. Budget for Orphan is unknown.

#5 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs from Fox. drops to #5 this weekend earning $8 million in 3300 theaters. Budget for Ice Age was $90 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

#6 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Weekend Gross: $8,000,000 down 41% / Theaters: 3237 down 620 / Gross $379,090,000 / Budget: $250 million

#7 The Hangover Weekend Gross: $6,465,000 down 20% / Theaters: 2285, down 382 / Gross $222,442,000 / Budget: $35 million

#8 The Proposal Weekend Gross: $6,423,000 down 22% / Theaters: 2779, down 264 / Gross $140,086,000 / Budget: $40 million

#9 Public Enemies Weekend Gross: $4,170,000 down 46% / Theaters: 2291 down 827 / Gross $88,096,000 / Budget: $100 million

#10 Bruno Weekend Gross: $2,719,000 down 67% / Theaters: 1895, down 864 / Gross $56,516,000 / Budget: unknown

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:

Box Office Mojo

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Weekend Box Office for July 10 – 12

#1 Bruno from Universal debuts at #1 this weekend bringing in $30.4 million in 2756 theaters. Budget for Bruno is unknown.

#2 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs from Fox drops to #2 this weekend bringing in $28.5 million in 4102 theaters. Budget for Ice Age was $90 million.

#3 Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen from Paramount/Dreamworks drops to the #3 spot this weekend earning $24.2 million in 4293 theaters. Budget for Revenge of the Fallen was $200 million.

#4 Public Enemies from Universal drops one this weekend bringing in $14.1 million in 3336 theaters. Budget for Enemies was $100 million.

#5 The Proposal from Buena Vista. drops again this weekend earning $10.5 million in 3158 theaters. Budget for The Proposal was $40 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

#6 The Hangover Weekend Gross: $9,930,000 down 11% / Theaters: 3002, down 68 / Gross $222,442,000 / Budget: $35 million

#7 I Love You Beth Cooper Weekend Gross: $5,000,000 / Theaters: 1858 / Gross $5,000,000 / Budget: $18 million

#8 Up Weekend Gross: $4,656,000 down 28% / Theaters: 2201, down 455 / Gross $273,775,000 / Budget: $175 million

#9 My Sister’s Keeper Weekend Gross: $4,180,000 down 27% / Theaters: 2,444 / Gross $35,801,000 / Budget: $30 million

#10 The Taking of Pelham 123 Weekend Gross: $1,600,000 down 36% / Theaters: 1116, down 792 / Gross $61,494,000 / Budget: $100 million

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:

Box Office Mojo

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Text Reviews Theatrical Review

Theatrical Review: Brüno

As we start, we find that young Brüno is a flamboyantly gay 19 and the top of the fashionista world in his native Austria- he’s the tops one moment and the next his world has come tumbling down. Now at his lowest, Brüno, decides to come to America with his sole goal: to become a big, famous star…

So’s the basic premise to Brüno the newest movie from star Sacha Baron Cohen, following up his fantastic success with his last move Borat with another in the same vein- partially scripted with some manufactured events and some totally real but combining to give you a comedic experience really unlike anything else out there right now. The temptation is there to say “if you liked Borat, you’ll probably like Brüno just as much,” but if our audience was any indication, that may not be true… oh for me, I laughed harder than I have at any other movie I’ve seen this year and at the same time I was just as appalled at some of the things that I saw on screen (in particular, two scenes, one involving former Presidential candidate Ron Paul and another with various “stage parents” that was really horrifying). Borat did a lot of shocking things, but with Brüno, Cohen and director Larry Charles push the envelope even further, if you can imagine that.

Now, obviously, this plays a lot with it’s character being gay and pushing that in some situations, and there’s where my one criticism lies- it’s mostly doing that with the expense of mid and southern USA in mind, definitely adding to a stereotype of those regions perceived perceptions of homosexuals. And while that perception may be true to an extent, I’d figure that given the extreme situations here that Brüno’s creating, even the most “enlightened” heterosexual, East or West Coaster might react in the same ways- it’s just more of a guaranteed laugh going the way that they’re going.

But still, I was mightily entertained, and much like with Borat I’m at the end of this just wondering how the hell they did everything that goes on here (which is something that I certainly cannot say with most of today’s conventionally scripted comedies) and just what steps are taken for Cohen’s safety in these situations. After seeing Borat, I thought that Cohen was one of the bravest performers out there, and Brüno just reinforces that.

There’s also the possibility that a little of this can go a long way (especially with some reviews that I’ve read), but I think this is paced just right and at a lean 88 minute running time, certainly packs a lot in.

But still… this may not be for everybody. Brüno goes for quite a bit of shock and for quite a bit of discomfort, even more than Borat, and understandably, that just may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I’m not exactly the biggest fan of a lot of contemporary comedies, a lot of people have told me to see The Hangover for instance, and from what I’ve seen of the trailer, I think I’ve already seen the movie (it may very well be good, I’m really just not interested in seeing it and they haven’t sold me on it being a “must view” experience with their trailer- and I can say the same thing for Judd Apatow movies, Jack Black, Will Ferrell and so on)- but with Sacha Baron Cohen’s work, I can’t say that, his work is fearless, and there’s always something there that’s just unlike anything else out there. I laughed, I cringed, and I certainly had a good time talking about this afterwards and that’s enough for me to give this one big recommendation…

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Clooney and Smokehouse Going to Sony

Entertainment Weekly reports that George Clooney will be packing up Smokehouse, his production company, and moving from its current Warner Bros. home over to the Sony lot.

Sony is currently negotiating a two-year deal with Clooney and his production partner Grant Heslov. Clooney has spent the last eight years at Warner Bros. producing the films Michael Clayton and Good Night and Good Luck among others. His previous production company, Section Eight which he ran in conjunction with director Steven Soderbergh, was also housed on the Burbank lot.

Smokehouse’s most recent property The Informant, starring Matt Damon and directed by Soderbergh is scheduled for a fall release Warner Bros. Next year Overture Films will debut the Clooney’s Men Who Stare at Goats from director Heslov and pairing Clooney with the talented Ewan McGregor.

Source:
Entertainment Weekly

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News

Weekend Box Office for July 3 – 5

#1 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs from Fox debuts at #1 this weekend bringing in $42.5 million in 4099 theaters. Budget for Ice Age was $90 million.

#1 Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen from Paramount/Dreamworks ties for the #1 spot this weekend earning $42.5 million in 4234 theaters. Budget for Revenge of the Fallen was $200 million.

#3 Public Enemies from Universal debuts at #3 this weekend bringing in $26.1 million in 3334 theaters. Budget for Enemies was $100 million.

#4 The Proposal from Buena Vista. drops again this weekend earning $12.7 million in 3099 theaters. Budget for The Proposal was $40 million.

#5 The Hangover from Warner Bros. drops to #5 this weekend earning $10.4 million in 3070 theaters bringing total earnings to $204.1 million. Budget for The Hangover was $35 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

#6 Up Weekend Gross: $6,579,000 down 49% / Theaters: 2656, down 831 / Gross $264,873,000 / Budget: $175 million

#7 My Sister’s Keeper Weekend Gross: $5,255,000 down 57% / Theaters: 2606 / Gross $25,964,000 / Budget: $30 million

#8 The Taking of Pelham 123 Weekend Gross: $2,500,000 down 54% / Theaters: 1908, down 1087 / Gross $58,471,000 / Budget: $100 million

#9 Year One Weekend Gross: $2,100,000 down 61% / Theaters: 2240, down 784 / Gross $38,088,000 / Budget: $60 million

#10 Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian Weekend Gross: $2,100,000 down 42% / Theaters: 1419, down 831 / Gross $167,763,000 / Budget: $150 million

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:

Box Office Mojo

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Text Reviews Theatrical Review

Theatrical Review: Public Enemies

1933, four years into The Great Depression and the time of bank robbers like Alvin Karpus, Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger- and also the time when FBI head J. Edgar Hoover charges agent Melvin Purvis with the task to bring John Dillinger to justice…

… and there you have the premise to Public Enemies detailing the cat-and-mouse pursuit of John Dillinger and the newest movie from director Michael Mann. I have to say, when I first saw the trailers to this, I was real excited for the film with visions of Mann’s crime epics like Heat and the TV series Crime Story in my head, though the reality after seeing Public Enemies is more along the lines of Mann’s tepid re-make of his own Miami Vice into a film…

Sorry to say that, but this was disappointing to say the least and and way too padded out, so much so that it’s more sleep-inducing than exciting, though to be fair, there’s a few good set pieces along the way. But good set pieces just do not make a good overall movie, and what this lacks is character (which Heat had in droves) and a fun/excitement factor that would just keep you glued to the screen. I was left at the end wishing this had been more Brian DePalma’s The Untouchables more than anything else.

In Heat, there’s a lot there that basically illustrates why our protagonists are the way they are and while this didn’t have to go to the same depths that Heat does, what’s here leaves you with protagonists that are very one and two dimensional. Dillinger is given the greater emphasis and a lot of that is basically pointing you to a direction of “Well, he wasn’t really that bad a guy” at the end. Now that would be fine I think if the same consideration had been given to the other side- the law- especially because there is an equal amount of time given to both, but here Purvis and his crew are given very little other than just the acts of finding Dillinger (though some members of Purvis’ squad are shown in a blood-thirsty capacity, that’s be fine if there was more to it, but here it’s more to enforce sympathy with John Dillinger more than anything else).

I can’t fault the actors with this, Johnny Depp is Dillinger and Christian Bale is Purvis and both do decent jobs with the material that’s given. The standout to me was actually Billy Cruddup in some brief scenes playing J. Edgar Hoover. The least here is Marion Cotillard who really just didn’t leave anything lasting for me in the end.

The fault here is clearly Mann’s who wants to underplay this so much that it loses any sort of sense of fun or excitement that this should have about it. On top of that, at least to me, there’s a lot of times where it’s hard to figure out just where you’re at in the film- location-wise anyway and how all of it coordinates together. I’ve read online of a lot of technical inaccuracies to what really happened and honestly, that doesn’t really matter a lot to me in the end for something like this, as long as what you have in the end turns out to be fairly exciting.

Public Enemies doesn’t do that though, and instead, there were more times where I had to fight off sleep more than anything else. Reviews are all over the map on this, so some out there may very well like this and think it’s the greatest thing to ever hit, but for myself… I think I’ll sit back tonight and pop in DePalma’s The Untouchables again…