Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Sep 14-Sep 16

#1 Resident Evil: Retribution from Sony/Columbia opened at #1 with a gross of $21.1 million in 3,012 theaters.  Budget was $65 million.

#2 Finding Nemo (3D) from Buena Vista opened at #2 with a gross of $16.7 million in 2,904 theaters.  Budget was unknown.

#3 The Possession from Lionsgate fell from #1 to #3 with a gross of $5.8 million (-38.1%) in 2,860 theaters (+26).  Total gross to date is $41.1 million.  Budget was $14 million.

#4 Lawless from Weinstein Company fell from #2 to #4 with a gross of $4.3 million (-27.6%) in 3,063 theaters (-75).  Total gross to date is $30.2 million.  Budget was unknown.

#5 The Expendables 2 from Lionsgate fell from #3 to #5 with a gross of $3.1 million (-36.5%) in 2,896 theaters (-364).  Total gross to date is $80.4 million.  Budget was $100 million.

#6 ParaNorman from Focus Features fell from #5 to #6 with a gross of $3.09 million (-26.3%) in 2,326 theaters (-530).  Total gross to date is $49.4 million.  Budget was unknown.

#7 The Words from CBS Films fell from #4 to #7 with a gross of $2.86 million (-39.8%) in 2,801 theaters.  Total gross to date is $9.1 million.  Budget was $6 million.

#8 The Bourne Legacy from Universal fell from #6 to #8 with a gross of $2.85 million (-28.1%) in 2,170 theaters (-596).  Total gross to date is $107.8 million.  Budget was $125 million.

#9 The Odd Life of Timothy Green from Sony fell from #7 to #9 with a gross of $2.6 million (-28.8%) in 2,415 theaters (-302).  Total gross to date is $46.4 million.  Budget was unknown.

#10 The Campaign from Warner Bros. fell from #8 to #10 with a gross of $2.4 million (-28.4%) in 2,002 theaters (-540).  Total gross to date is $82.9 million.  Budget was unknown.

#11 The Dark Knight Rises from Warner Bros. fell from #10 to #11 with a gross of $2.2 million (-32.2%) in 1,581 theaters (-406).  Total gross to date is $441.1 million.  Budget was $250 million.

#12 Arbitrage from Roadside Attractions opened at #12 with a gross of $2 million in 197 theaters.  Budget was unknown.

 

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $69 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

 

Categories
Back Seat Producers Season 07 Shows

BSP Episode 241: True Romance

Release date:  9/10/1993

Warner Bros.

Directed by

  • Tony Scott

Produced by

  • Gary Barber
  • Samuel Hadida
  • James G. Robinson

Written by

  • Quentin Tarantino
  • Roger Avary (uncredited)

Cast

Clarence Worley

  • Christian Slater

Alabama Whitman

  • Patricia Arquette

 

The hosts review:

David enjoyed the movie and, because some of the scenes were so long and drawn out and Taratino-esque, he started to read the trivia and realizes that it was, in fact, written by Tarantino.  Tony added that it wasn’t completely like Tarantino because some of the dialogue wasn’t as clever and snappy throughout.  He does, though, keep to his love of monologues.  Tony felt that the Elvis parts could have been cut out and it wouldn’t have taken anything away from the movie, and David agreed that it didn’t seem to make much sense.  David originally thought the movie was going to be dreadful, judging solely by Christian Slater’s beginning monologue, but once Patricia Arquette showed up, it was a great improvement.

They break now to talk about the long list of actors/characters.  David thought that Slater improved greatly after the first monologue, although he’s not a big fan of Slater’s Jack Nicholson tones.  Both hosts really liked the scene where Slater confronts Gary Oldman.  The Dennis Hopper/Christopher Walken scene was fantastic, but what a letdown when neither of them were in the movie again!  The one that was surprising, as Tony thought his scene would be a “one & done” was Brad Pitt.

Both Tony and David thought Arquette was fantastic, and they were pleasantly surprised by her performance.  They liked her playfulness and they thought she and Slater had good chemistry.  They both also really appreciated her fight scene with Gandolfini.  It was a very atypical fight scene and it worked really well.  Lena (from the chat room) said that she loved Gandolfini’s expression when he first punched Arquette; it was a mix of evil and joy.  Even the way that Arquette’s prostitute falls in love with and marries Slater’s character meshed and seemed realistic… as much as it could be.

Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot, Saul Rubinek… all really good performances.  They also talk about how they both feel that Brad Pitt is underrated as an actor.

Touching on the Recently Dead Guy Podcast theme, Tony said he could easily see why True Romance was one of Tony Scott’s most critically acclaimed films.  The hosts then go into a list of Scott’s films.

They returned to the cast again to talk about Oldman’s pimp character and Samuel L. Jackson’s dietary preferences.

Wrapping up, the hosts agreed that there were a few scenes that could have been cut a little shorter.  They liked that it was a very unpredictable movie where the slate is effectively wiped clean by the film’s end.  If you’re into Tarantino, you’ll like this film.  David brings up the alternately ending in which Clarence dies at the end and Alabama goes on a crime spree with Mr. White from Reservoir Dogs.

 

Trivial bits ‘n pieces (many of which the hosts brought up during the recording):

The screenplay of True Romance was originally part of a very long screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary.  The other half of it was used for the film Natural Born Killers.  In both films Tom Sizemore plays a cop.

The structure of the script was different in Tarantino’s original script. The first two parts of the movie were told in trademark Tarantino nonlinear fashion. Director Tony Scott hired Avery to change the script to linear structure for filming.

According to Dennis Hopper, the only words that were improvised in the scene with Christopher Walken were “eggplant” and “cantaloupe”.

Following the “eggplant scene”, Hopper was concerned about being “shot” by Walken with the prop gun so close against his head for fear of being burned by the barrel. Director Scott assured him the gun was 100% safe, and even tested it by having the prop man fire it against his (Scott’s) own forehead. But upon firing the prop gun the barrel extended about a third of an inch and Scott ended up on the floor with blood pouring from the wound.

The work “f*#k” and its derivatives are said 225 times.

Tony Scott gave Patricia Arquette the Cadillac featured heavily in the film as a gift after filming wrapped.

In the diner scene, when Clarence asks Alabama what her turn-offs are, she replies “Persians” in the finished film. Being turned off by her character appearing racist in that scene, Arquette name-dropped a different ethnicity for each take that was shot. She said she wanted to be equally offensive to all people.

 

Your Producers for this episode were:

  • Tony
  • David

This episode was recorded: 9/12/2012

Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #104

Picks:

Tony, William

  1. Finding Nemo (3D)
  2. Resident Evil: Retribution
  3. The Possession
  4. Lawless
  5. The Expendables 2

Mrs. Beast, Lena

  1. Resident Evil: Retribution
  2. Finding Nemo (3D)
  3. The Possession
  4. Lawless
  5. The Expendables 2

Scott, Jeff

  1. Finding Nemo (3D)
  2. Resident Evil: Retribution
  3. Lawless
  4. The Possession
  5. The Expendables 2

There are no other films in wide release this weekend.

As an added bonus, here’s a brilliant mash-up of Taken and Finding Nemo.  After all, what can’t Liam Neeson do?

 

http://sausagefeststl.com/

There’s less than one month to Sausagefest 3!  Donate and get cool stuff!  (Note: not all pictures represent things that you will “get”… just sayin’)

 

 

 

Categories
Back Seat Box Office BSBO Results Shows

Back Seat Box Office #103 Results and Voice Mail

Thanks to Tad for the voicemail!

Congrats to BD and Andrew for their high scores of 24!

Categories
Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #62: Fight Club – Members Only

Not making this up:

  •  Scott
Recorded: 09/10/12
Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Sep 7-Sep 9

#1 The Possession from Lionsgate held at #1 with a gross of $9.3 million (-47.5%) in 2,834 theaters (+18).  Total gross to date is $33.2 million.  Budget was $14 million.

#2 Lawless from Weinstein Company held at #2 with a gross of $6 million (-39.9%) in 3,138 theaters (+250).  Total gross to date is $23.5 million.  Budget was unknown.

#3 The Expendables 2 from Lionsgate held at #3 with a gross of $5 million (-45.2%) in 3,260 theaters (-74).  Total gross to date is $75.6 million.  Budget was $100 million.

#4 The Words from CBS Films opened at #4 with a gross of $4.8 million in 2,801 theaters.  Budget was $6 million.

#5 ParaNorman from Focus Features held at #5 with a gross of $4.2 million (-36.2%) in 2,56 theaters (-229).  Total gross to date is $45.5 million.  Budget was unknown.

#6 The Bourne Legacy from Universal fell from #4 to #6 with a gross of $4 million (-45.1%) in 2,766 theaters (-365).  Total gross to date is $103.6 million.  Budget was $125 million.

#7 The Odd Life of Timothy Green from Sony fell from #6 to #7 with a gross of $3.7 million (-41.8%) in 2,717 theaters (+82).  Total gross to date is $43 million.  Budget was unknown.

#8 The Campaign from Warner Bros. held at #8 with a gross of $3.4 million (-40.9%) in 2,542 theaters (-399).  Total gross to date is $79.3 million.  Budget was unknown.

#9 2016 Obama’s America from Rocky Mountain Pictures held at#9 with a gross of $3.3 million (-41%) in 2,017 theaters (+270).  Total gross to date is $26.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#10 The Dark Knight Rises from Warner Bros. fell from #7 to #10 with a gross of $3.2 million (-47.4%) in 1,987 theaters (-200).  Total gross to date is $437.8 million.  Budget was $250 million.

#11 Hope Springs from Sony fell from #10 to #11 with a gross of $2.8 million (-40.4%) in 2,437 theaters (-4).  Total gross to date is $57.5 million.  Budget was unknown.

#12 Premium Rush from Sony fell from #11 to #12 with a gross of $2.3 million (-41.8%) in 2,182 theaters (-73).   Total gross to date is $16.7 million.  Budget was $35 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $51.9 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Categories
Back Seat Producers Season 07 Shows

BSP Episode 240: The Bad News Bears

Release date:  4/7/1976

Paramount Pictures

Directed by

  • Michael Ritchie

Produced by

  • Stanley R. Jaffee

Written by

  • Bill Lancaster

Cast

Coach Buttermaker

  • Walter Matthau

Amanda Whurlitzer

  • Tatum O’Neal

Roy Turner

  • Vic Morrow

Jackie Earl Haley

  • Kelly Leak

Chris Barnes

  • Tanner Boyle

The hosts review:

First and foremost, welcome back to our long, lost host… David!

David liked it, but not for the obvious reasons.  He thought the racist epithets were weird and shocking, although it was more common for the mid-70s to hear that particular kind of language.  Lena brought up that there wasn’t any real cussing in the movie, as it was rated PG.  David was also surprised by the surprise “child abuse” when one of the coaches slaps a ballplayer in the face.  Tony brought up that the movie gets into the little social issues that surrounds kids sports that are still around and probably worse today.

Lena found some parts of the movie to still be funny, even after almost 40 years.  She also found it neat to remember what things were like from her childhood years.  Tony and Lena agreed that Tatum O’Neal was a fashion plate, and then it was briefly discussed the other actresses that were initially slated to play the role of Amanda.

Darrell found it interesting that, with all the racial slurs being tossed around in the movie, there was very little backlash at having a girl on the baseball team.

Tony mentioned that there was an alternate ending to the movie in which Kelly is safe at home and the Bears win, but test audiences liked the more realistic ending.

Lena learns what a “boilermaker” is… please hold your laughter until the end of the review, thank you.

We briefly break into a side conversation of how Vic Morrow died while filming Twilight Zone: The Movie.

Tony liked how the movie exposed what happens with kids and sports.  Lena’s favorite scene was when Kelly (Haley), a skinny fourteen year-old, was hitting on the adult woman in Amanda’s ballet class.  Tony also found that the way the parents were portrayed in the movie is pretty much still the way a lot of the parents are today.

The review breaks off into a discussion of which of the child stars did anything else after Bad News Bears.  Erin Blunt, who played Ahmad Abdul Rahim, also played one of Lonnie’s kids in our previous movie, Car Wash (full circle, baby!)

Trivial bits ‘n pieces: 

Tanner uses the word “crud” or “cruddy” 11 times in the movie (Tony brought this up early in the review)

Throughout the film, Buttermaker constantly drinks beer, yet is rarely seen drinking the same brand. He is seen at various times in the film drinking Budweiser, Miller High Life, Schlitz “Kingers”, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and original Coors.  On several occasions, he is shown drinking Budweiser.

Bill Lancaster’s screenplay was based on his experiences with his father, Burt Lancaster. Buttermaker was based on Burt, who was known for his grumpiness and the character of Amanda was based on himself.

Saturday Night Live did a parody of the film with Matthau as the guest host (12/2/1978) called “The Bad News Bees” with John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and the rest of the cast in their recurring “bee” costumes.  The coach gives his team of bees some advice on life after one of them is caught masturbating, which was referred to as “buzzing-off”.

Your Producers for this episode were:

  • Tony
  • Darrell
  • Lena
  • David

This episode was recorded: 8/29/2012

Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #103

Picks:

Tony, Scott, William

  1. The Possession
  2. The Words
  3. Lawless
  4. The Expendables 2
  5. The Bourne Legacy

Lena

  1. The Possession
  2. Lawless
  3. The Words
  4. The Expendables 2
  5. The Bourne Legacy

Also being released this weekend; The Cold Light of Day

Scott (BSBO, Back Seat Quickies and the soon-to-be Back Seat Book Club) is raising money for his local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital by participating in a 24-hour video game marathon.  Read more about his mission and how you can help here: http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=8287

Go Scott!!

Don’t forget to donate to Sausagefest, too!  This is the third year that Sausagefest is raising money for breast cancer research.  Read more about our cause here: http://sausagefeststl.com/

Donate… save breasts… get nifty stuff from us!

Categories
Back Seat Box Office BSBO Results Shows

Back Seat Box Office #102 Results and Voice Mail

Thanks to Tad for the voicemail!

Congrats to Tony, Uriah and Lena for their 25s!

 

Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Aug 31-Sep 2

#1 The Possession from Lionsgate opened at #1 with a gross of $17.7 million in 2,816 theaters.  Budget was $14 million.

#2 Lawless from Weinstein Company opened at #2 with a gross of $10 million in 2,888 theaters.  Total gross to date is $12.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#3 The Expendables 2 from Lionsgate fell from #1 to #3 with a gross of $9 million (-32.7%) in 3,334 theaters (-21).  Total gross to date is $66.4 million.  Budget was $100 million.

#4 The Bourne Legacy from Universal fell from #2 to #4 with a gross of $7.2 million (-22.5%) in 3,131 theaters (-523).  Total gross to date is $96.2 million.  Budget was $125 million.

#5 ParaNorman from Focus Features fell from #3 to #5 with a gross of $6.6 million (-23.9%) in 3,085 theaters (-370).  Total gross to date is $38.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#6 The Odd Life of Timothy Green from Sony held at #6 with a gross of $6.3 million (-11.9%) in 2,635 theaters (+37).  Total gross to date is $36.2 million.  Budget was unknown.

#7 The Dark Knight Rises from Warner Bros. fell from #5 to #7 with a gross of $6.1 million (-15.3%) in 2,187 theaters (-419).  Total gross to date is $431.4 million.  Budget was $250 million.

#8 The Campaign from Warner Bros. fell from #4 to #8 with a gross of $5.7 million (-23.6%) in 2,941 theaters (-361).  Total gross to date is $73.3 million.  Budget was unknown.

#9 2016 Obama’s America from Rocky Mountain Pictures fell from #7 to#9 with a gross of $5.6 million (-13.8%) in 1,747 theaters (+656).  Total gross to date is $18.7 million.  Budget was unknown.

#10 Hope Springs from Sony fell from #9 to #10 with a gross of $4.7 million (-18%) in 2,441 theaters (+39).  Total gross to date is $52.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#11 Premium Rush from Sony fell from #8 to #11 with a gross of $4 million (-34.1%) in 2,255 theaters.   Total gross to date is $12.3 million.  Budget was $35 million.

#12 Hit and Run from Open Road Films fell from #10 to #12 with a gross of $2.6 million (-42.9%) in 2,870 theaters.  Total gross to date is $10.1 million.  Budget was $2 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $85.5 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo