Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #91

Picks:

Tony

  1. Madagascar 3
  2. That’s My Boy
  3. Rock of Ages
  4. Prometheus
  5. Snow White and the Huntsman

Jonathan

  1. Madagascar 3
  2. Rock of Ages
  3. Prometheus
  4. That’s My Boy
  5. Snow White and the Huntsman

Lena

  1. Madagascar 3
  2. That’s My Boy
  3. Prometheus
  4. Rock of Ages
  5. Snow White and the Huntsman

William

  1. Madagascar 3
  2. Prometheus
  3. Rock of Ages
  4. Snow White and the Huntsman
  5. That’s My Boy

There are no other movies in wide release this week.

Categories
Back Seat Box Office BSBO Results Shows

Back Seat Box Office #90 Results and Voice Mail

Thanks to Art and Tad for the voicemail.

Congrats to the following contributors for their 25s this week:

  • Andrew
  • Art
  • Tad
  • Tony
  • William
Categories
Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #50: Prometheus

In the seat:

  •  Scott
Recorded: 05/11/12
Categories
News

Weekend Box Office: June 8-10

#1 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted from Paramount took the #1 spot in its opening weekend with a gross of $60.3 million in 4,258 theaters.  Budget was $145 million.

#2 Prometheus from Sony opened at #2 with a weekend gross of $51.1 million in 3,396 theaters.  Budget is unknown.

#3 Snow White and the Huntsman from Universal fell from #1 to #2 with a gross of $23.1 (-59.0%) million in 3,777 theaters (+4) .  Total gross to date is $98.5 million.  Budget was $170 million.

#4 MIB 3 from Sony fell from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $13.9 million (-50.5%) in 3,792 theaters (-456).  Total gross to date is $135.9 million.  Budget was $225 million.

#5 Marvel’s The Avengers from Buena Vista fell from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $11.2 million (-45.1%) in 3,129 theaters (-541).  Total gross to date is $572.3 million. Budget was $220 million.

#6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel from Fox Searchlight held at #6 with a weekend gross of $3.3 million (-27.1%) in 1,298 theaters (+4). Total gross to date is $31 million. Budget is unknown.

#7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting from Lionsgate held at #7 with a weekend gross of $2.8 million (-36.8%) in 2,087 theaters (-820). Total gross to date is $35.8 million. Budget is unknown.

#8 Battleship from Universal fell from #4 to #8 with a weekend gross of $2.3 million (-55.3%) in 1,954 theaters (-1,190).  Total gross to date is $59.8 million.  Budget was $209 million.

#9 The Dictator from Paramount fell from #5 to #9 with a weekend gross of $2.2 million (-52.3%) in 1,651 theaters (-998).  Total gross to date is $55.3 million.  Budget was $65 million.

#10 Moonrise Kingdom from Focus Features rose from #13 to #10 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (+77.9%) in 96 theaters (+80). Total gross to date is $3.7 million. Budget is unknown.

#11 Dark Shadows from Warner Brothers fell from #8 to #11 with a weekend gross of $1.4 million (-61.9%) in 1,550 theaters (-1,452). Total gross to date is $73.8 million. Budget was $150 million.

#12 The Hunger Games from Lionsgate fell from #11 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.1 million (-31.6%) in 751 theaters (-348).  Total gross to date is $400.3 million.  Budget was $78 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $174.2 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Categories
Back Seat Producers Season 07 Shows

BSP Episode 231: Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire

Release date:  11/6/2009

Lionsgate

Directed by

  • Lee Daniels

Produced by

  • Lee Daniels
  • Gary Magness
  • Sarah Siegel-Magness
  • Oprah Winfrey
  • Tom Heller
  • Tyler Perry

Screenplay by

  • Geoffrey S. Fletcher

Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire

Cast

Gabourey Sidibe

  • Precious

Mo’Nique

  • Mary

Paula Patton

  • Ms. Rain

 

In honor of the passing of Ray Bradbury (and keeping with the Recently Dead Guy Podcast convention), our next movie review will be Fahrenheit 451.

Also, before the hosts dig into the movie, all of you lucky home-listeners get a nice little history less about the naming of movies and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).  There may or may not be a test at the end of the movie review.

 

Initial comments by the hosts:

Darrell thought it was a movie worth watching, but not worth watching twice.  Lena really liked it and was pleasantly surprised by how good Mo’Nique was, and she probably would watch it again, although there were definitely parts that were tough to get through.  Tony thought it was a great movie but it was hard to watch because of the subject matter.  The way this very tense and uncomfortable subject was written and portrayed was very visceral and real.  Darrell classified it as one emotional punch right after the other.

Gabourey Sidibe, in her first major role, and Mo’Nique, who was known solely as a stand-up comedienne and from her roles in various comedies, both turned in fantastic performances as Precious and her mother, Mary.  Darrell was amazed at how raw and brutal Mo’Nique portrayed Mary.  All of the hosts liked Lenny Kravitz’s role as Nurse John and Mariah Carey’s role as Ms. Weiss.  They liked how both characters were humble and understated.

The language used in the movie was rough and raw, but completely necessary for both the area that the characters lived in and the time frame of the movie (1987).  Lena asked the hosts what they thought of Precious’ fantasy/dream sequences.  Darrell thought some of them were a little weird but understood what they were trying to accomplish.  The most telling one, they all agreed, was the fantasy where Precious was looking at herself in her bedroom mirror but the reflection that comes back to her is of a thin, white, rich girl.

The conversation turned to what Tony rightly called the elephant in the room… not just the fact that it was a “rapey” movie, but fact that Precious was repeatedly raped by her father (it was also mentioned that her grandfather raped her, as well) and impregnated twice by her father.  Mary (Mo’Nique) had a monologue at the end of the movie in which she explained what her life was and what she was upset about, which was mind-blowing, to say the very least.  That scene left the viewer running through every emotion during her 15-20 monologue, even to the point of almost feeling sorry for her, or possibly, having a little bit of empathy for her.  Even though Mary is seen as a purely evil character (and she pretty much is), you begin to see traces of humanity and pain.  The difference, though, is that Precious had no say in the unspeakable things that happened to her, but Mary did, and regardless of the fact that Mary was also damaged by it, she still could have stopped what happened to her daughter.

The way that Precious began her journey into self-discovery was handled very well, it was a slow progression and very real.  There was no light-bulb or Ah-ha moment, there were small steps taken over time as Precious began to realize that she was more than she had always been told she was.

Darrell wrapped up the review by stating that if you want to see a movie that’s raw, plays with your emotions, punches you in the face and then makes you feel good about it afterwards, this is the movie to see.

Trivial bits and pieces:

Precious was shot in five weeks.

During the scene in which Precious slaps a fellow student for calling her fat, Sidibe was instructed to slap the other actress as hard as she could, and the other actresses were not told about the slap beforehand, so their reactions were all unrehearsed and real.

The Awards for Precious (this is an abridged listing):

Mo’Nique

  • Academy Award
  • Critics Choice Award
  • Golden Globe Award
  • Independent Spirit Award
  • NAACP Image Award
  • Screen Actors Guild Award
  • Sundance Film Festival – Special Jury Prize

Gabourey Sidibe

  • Independent Spirit Award
  • NAACP Image Award
  • National Board of Review Award

Geoffrey Fletcher

  • Academy Award
  • Independent Spirit Award
  • NAACP Image Award

Lee Daniels

  • Independent Spirit Award
  • NAACP Image Award

Precious

  • American Film Institute Award (10 Best Movies of 2009)
  • Independent Spirit Award
  • NAACP Image Award

Your Producers for this episode were:

  • Tony
  • Darrell
  • Lena

This episode was recorded: 6/6/2012

Categories
Announcement

Theatrical Review: Prometheus

In the year 2089, Doctors Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway make a remarkable discovery; clues that the origin of mankind did not develop on Earth but from “engineers” from far off space. They interpret these clues to be an open invitation from the “engineers” for their “children” to contact them abroad. Dying industrialist Peter Weyland believes in this idea and has chosen to fund a deep space mission with Shaw and Holloway taking the lead, but all under the watchful eye of Meredith Vickers, a high-ranking official within the Weyland Corporation and David, a synthetic being who represents the pinnacle in the creation of Artificial Intelligence. What they are about to discover is something that they could never have prepared for.

That’s a nutshell premise for Prometheus, the latest movie from visionary director Ridley Scott. It is also very much a prequel/reboot to Fox’s Alien franchise, which just also happens to be the series where Ridley Scott made a name for himself. This marks Scott’s third foray into the world of science fiction with his first two being the aforementioned Alien and Blade Runner, both very much considered (and rightfully so) iconic science fiction films. It also marks Scott (and writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof) somewhat mixing ideas from both of these movies together to go for a bigger statement (or more readily, to ask bigger questions).

I am a huge fan of the Alien movies (I enjoy them all, though the first two are my absolute favorites) and so I was very much looking forward to seeing Ridley Scott come back to this and see what he’d do with it. Personally, I enjoyed Prometheus a great deal, though I can also see why some will not.

Like I said, I’m a huge fan of the series and remember big articles on the first movie in magazines like Starlog and Fantastic Films from back in the day. I purchased all of the stuff that I could that came out on the movie after it’s released and one of the books that I enjoyed the most was The Book of Alien which showcased the impressive artwork of Chris Foss, Moebius, Ron Cobb and H. R. Giger for their designs created for the film. Now my memory certainly might be fuzzy on some of this, but I seem to recall from those old articles one huge area of fascination for Scott being the “Space Jockey” seen in the first film and that’s obviously gestated into one of the big ideas shown in Prometheus. In addition to that, there are design aspects around the structures discovered on this planet (designated LV-223- no this is not the same world seen in Alien and Aliens) and the original Xenomorph that have found their way back into this series, which I thought was quite cool to see.

Visually, Prometheus is absolutely astounding and I’d expect no less from Ridley Scott. The shooting style, the visual effects and the framing of shots is all on point. I chose to see this in 3D and I’m glad I did. Scott shot and/or planned for this for 3D and it really works especially with a key scene where the android David is looking into a dream of Elizabeth Shaw’s. I think this scene in particular would stand out as it is, but Scott’s new visual punch to it makes it even more memorable. Mark Strietenfeld’s score mixes both a sense of wonder along with a sense of dread and horror and in one key scene even uses Jerry Goldmsith’s music from the original Alien.

Where this will really make it or break it for most is in it’s actual story and it’s performances and so far a lot of what I’ve been seeing out there has been on the negative side, and again, I can understand that. I think there’s quite a bit open to interpretation here, moreso than most films, though I do wish one or two little things might’ve been explained. For instance, there’s quite a bit of behavior that’s being seen as stupid on the part of most of the characters, which basically could’ve had an explanation by the android David after the crew chooses to take off their helmets within the first structure that they enter. Once David tells everyone that their air is breathable within the structure it was to me fairly logical that they’d go ahead and take off their helmets considering they were told this by the pinnacle of Artificial Intelligence. But there’s more to David than being the “android” of this film, and so an explanation by him later that he withheld certain things about the effects of the atmosphere on the humans could’ve gone a long way (especially so with two characters who are lost in the structure who end up doing some pretty crazy things once they encounter a lifeform within).

Noomi Rapace (from the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and more recently the second Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film) leads this cast as Elizabeth Shaw and is certainly the most developed out of most of the cast. She does a good job here though it is slow-going at the start. It picks up considerably for this character after she’s performed a bit of gut wrenching self-surgery. What’s shown of her dream to David near the start is a different sort of purity of discovery that’s foreign to the android and her later resourcefulness (with the same surgery scene) could be seen as further attraction and use for him. Rapace is backed up by Logan Marshall-Green as Holloway, Charlize Theron as Meredtih Vickers, and Idris Elba as Janek, the captain of the ship, Prometheus. These characters are the stand-outs of what is a pretty one-dimensional crew at best (though again, I have my own interpretation of that). They work for me, but I can see why they might be seen as laughable or ridiculous by others.

There are two points in the casting that I do want to address, one in a negative light and the other in the positive, let’s get the negative out of the way first. Guy Pearce is cast as Peter Weyland but you’ll be hard-pressed to recognize him under the very obvious old-age make-up that he’s under. Now even with that drawback, Pearce is just “OK” here where this character could’ve been much more memorable had it been cast differently. Personally, I would’ve cast either Ian Holm or Lance Henrikson in the part. Now obviously, they both have connections to the Alien series with Holm having played the android Ash in the first film and Henrikson having played the android Bishop in Aliens as well as having parts in Alien 3 and Aliens Vs. Predators (playing a Weyland no less). Holm really would’ve been my main choice- he’s of the right age so additional make-up wouldn’t have looked too obvious and it would’ve been a very darn good bit of fan service as well. As it is, Pearce as I said is just “OK,” bordering on being inappropriate thanks to the make-up.

My positive point though is Michael Fasbender being cast as David. Now if you’ve read any of my previous reviews, then you already know that I think Fassbender is one of the best actors out there today. I’ll stand with that and I certainly think this performance adds to his already impressive resume. As I said above, David is described as being the absolute peak in Artificial Intelligence and I tend to think that he’s playing that part to the hilt, so much so that he’s on the verge (if not already taking the step) to going beyond what he was originally built for. Much like the humans here are taking their steps to understand their origins, so to is David. As part of my own interpretation of the character, I’m figuring that Weyland let David choose the crew of this expedition beyond Shaw and Holloway, and David thus chose people who he could use in an experimental way. The entire opening introduction of this character pretty much paves the way for him especially with a telling moment in which David is watching the movie Lawrence of Arabia. This is strong and complex work from Fassbender and he certainly deserves to be recognized for it. As far as I’m concerned, MIchael Fassbender is the real lead in this film.

Prometheus isn’t as visceral an experience as the first two Alien movies and it won’t answer all of the questions that it sets up (and yes, I very much think it’s intentional that this isn’t the same planet that’s seen in the first two movies). I’ve read a few interviews with Damon Lindelof on this, and he’s basically said that the original film Alien would come after a third Prometheus film which makes sense here, though it may not be what an audience will want. When Alien first came out in 1979, it wasn’t with the intention of creating a franchise which is so much par for the course for most movies like this now. Because of that, Prometheus is very much open-ended and literally the start of something new which could or could not lead into the Alien movies as we know them. Because of that, I could certainly understand why some who see this might be underwhelmed or downright angry after they see it. If a second and third film do get made, then I’d expect that Prometheus will have greater resonance down the road, I just hope they get made and preferably with Scott, Lindelof, Spaihts and Fassbender all still connected to the series. Even with my own complaints, I had a ball with Prometheus and can’t wait to see it again (which I plan to do next weekend).

Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #90

Picks:

Tony, William

  1. Madagascar 3
  2. Prometheus
  3. Snow White and the Huntsman
  4. MIB 3
  5. The Avengers

Jonathan, Lena, Father Beast

  1. Prometheus
  2. Madagascar 3
  3. Snow White and the Hustsman
  4. MIB 3
  5. The Avengers

Mrs. Beast

  1. Prometheus
  2. Snow White and the Huntsman
  3. MIB 3
  4. The Avengers
  5. Madagascar 3

There are no other movies in wide release this week.

Categories
Back Seat Box Office BSBO Results Shows

Back Seat Box Office #89 Results and Voice Mail

Thanks to Tim, Art and Tad for the voice mail this week.  Lets keep up the voice mail, boys and girls!

Congrats to the slew of 25s.  Welcome to Summer!

  • Andrew
  • Art
  • Cougron
  • Jeff
  • Menolly
  • Mrs. Beast
  • Uriah
Categories
News

Weekend Box Office: June 1-3

#1 Snow White and the Huntsman from Universal took the #1 spot in its opening weekend with a gross of $56.2 million in 3,773 theaters.  Budget was $170 million.

2 MIB 3 from Sony fell from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $28.1 million (-48.6%) in 4,248 theaters.  Total gross to date is $111.1 million.  Budget was $225 million.

#3 Marvel’s The Avengers from Buena Vista drops from #2 to #3 with a weekend gross of $20.5 million (-44.2%) in 3,670 theaters (-248).  Total gross to date is $553 million. Budget was $220 million.

#4 Battleship from Universal drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $5.1 million (-53.9%) in 3,144 theaters (-558).  Total gross to date is $55.4 million.  Budget was $209 million.

#5 The Dictator from Paramount drops from #4 to #5 with a weekend gross of $4.7 million (-49.3%) in 2,649 theaters (-365).  Total gross to date is $50.8 million.  Budget was $65 million.

#6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel from Fox Searchlight jumps from #8 to #6 with a weekend gross of $4.5 million (-29.8%) in 1,294 theaters (+61). Total gross to date is $25.4 million. Budget is unknown.

#7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting from Lionsgate holds at #7 with a weekend gross of $4.4 million (-38.1%) in 2,907 theaters (-114). Total gross to date is $30.7 million. Budget is unknown.

#8 Dark Shadows from Warner Brothers drops from #6 to #8 with a weekend gross of $3.7 million (-50.7%) in 3,002 theaters (-402). Total gross to date is $70.7 million. Budget was $150 million.

#9 Chernobyl Diaries from Warner Brothers drops from #5 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.1 million (-60.7%) in 2,433 theaters.  Total gross to date is $14.5 million. Budget is unknown.

#10 For Greater Glory from Arc Entertainment debuts at #10 with a weekend gross of $1.9 million in 757 theaters.  Budget is unknown.

#11 The Hunger Games from Lionsgate drops from #9 to #11 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (-32.2%) in 1,099 theaters (-322).  Total gross to date is $398.3 million.  Budget was $78 million.

#12 Bernie from Millennium Entertainment holds at #12 with a weekend gross of $897 thousand (+5.4%) in 302 theaters (+108). Budget is unknown.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $134.6 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Categories
Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #49: The Future of Marvel Movies

In the seat:

  • Scott
Recorded: 05/06/12