Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #154

Congrats to Jeff and Tad (Welcome back!) for their high scores of 16!

Thanks to Tad and Nick for their voice mails.

Picks:

Jeff

  1. One Direction: This is Us
  2. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
  3. We’re The Millers
  4. The World’s End
  5. Planes

Lena

  1. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
  2. We’re The Millers
  3. The Getaway
  4. The World’s End
  5. One Direction: This is Us

Art

  1. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
  2. One Direction: This is Us
  3. We’re The Millers
  4. The Getaway
  5. The World’s End

Back Seat Art House picks:

  • Jeff – Instructions not Included
  • Lena – Afternoon Delight
  • Art – Empire State
Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Aug 23-Aug 25

#1 Lee Daniels’ The Butler from Weinstein Company held at #1 with a gross of $16.5 million (-33%) in 3,110 theaters (+177).  Total gross to date is $51.8 million.  Budget was $30 million.

#2 We’re The Millers from Warner Bros. held at #2 with a gross of $13 million (-27.4%) in 3,445 theaters (+120).  Total gross to date is $91.3 million.  Budget was $37 million.

#3 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones from Sony/ScreenGems opened at #3 with a gross of $9.3 million in 3,118 theaters.  Total gross to date is $14.1 million.  Budget was $60 million.

#4 The World’s End from Focus Features opened at #4 with a gross of $8.8 million in 1,551 theaters.  Budget was $20 million.

#5 Planes from Buena Vista fell from #4 to #5 with a gross of $8.6 million (-36%) in 3,378 theaters (-338).  Total gross to date is $59.6 million.  Budget was $50 million.

#6 You’re Next from Lionsgate opened at #6 with a gross of $7 million in 2,437 theaters.  Budget was unknown.

#7 Elysium from TriStar fell from #3 to #7 with a gross of $6.9 million (-49.4%) in 2,913 theaters (-371).  Total gross to date is $68.9 million.  Budget was $115 million.

#8 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters from 20th Century Fox fell from #6 to #8 with a gross of $5.3 million (-39.7%) in 2,730 theaters (-350).  Total gross to date is $48.4 million.  Budget was $90 million.

#9 Kick-Ass 2 from Universal fell from #5 to #9 with a gross of $4.4 million (-67.2%) in 2,945 theaters (+5).  Total gross to date is $22.5 million.  Budget was $28 million.

#10 Blue Jasmine from 20th Century Fox rose from #14 to #10 with a gross of $4 million (+73.4%) in 1,283 theaters (+1,054).  Total gross to date is $14.5 million.  Budget was unknown.

#11 2 Guns from Universal fell from #8 to #11 with a gross of $3.4 million (-42.1%) in 1,841 theaters (-630).  Total gross to date is $65.4 million.  Budget was $61 million.

#12 Jobs from Open Road Films fell from #7 to #12 with a gross of $2.9 million (-57.3%) in 2,381 theaters.  Total gross to date is $12 million.  Budget was $12 million.

 

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $90 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

 

Categories
Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #98: The Bechdel Test

In the seat:

  • Scott

Recorded: 26/08/13

Categories
Back Seat Producers Season 08 Shows

BSP Episode 284: God Bless America

Release date – 6/22/1988

Buena Vista Pictures

 

Written and directed by

  • Bobcat Goldthwait

Produced by

  • Jeff Culotta

 

Cast

  • Joel Murray – Frank Murdoch
  • Tara Lynn Barr – Roxanne “Roxy” Harmon

 

  • Tales of sausages and Gencon.
  • Fantasy Football.
  • Comparing finger tingles.
  • Little Miss Entrepreneur.
  • More Gencon.
  • Sausagefest!
  • Thank you, Canadians.
  • Hated it. Loved it.
  • Natural Born Killers-light.
  • Mental high five!
  • This movie is a Revenge Fantasy.
  • Sausage is the Avenging Spirit.
  • George Carlin.
  • Was he a hypocrite?
  • “Why do I have these headaches?”  “How should I f***ing know?”
  • Reminded of Red State… but better than Red State.
  • Memories of Shakes the Clown.
  • Time to pull it out!

 

Sausagefest 4 is almost here!  Time to dig in to your pockets and donate and save breasts.  Once again, we’re raising money for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  Check out our website for perk levels and information about how to donate:

Sausagefeststl.com

 

Your Producers for this episode were:

  • Tony
  • Darrell
  • David

This episode was recorded:  8/21/13

Categories
Announcement

Theatrical Review: You’re Next

Paul and Aubrey Davison are getting ready to celebrate the wedding anniversary and have retreated to their secluded country house. Their three sons and one daughter are also on the way there with their significant others. First to arrive is their son Crispian with his girlfriend Erin, and almost right on cue as the parents believe that someone else is in the house. After the house has been given the “all clear,” the rest of the family arrives little knowing the night of terror that awaits them from out in the woods.

That’s a loose version of the premise to You’re Next, from director Adam Wingard who’s part of a new breed of horror filmmakers that includes from the cast of You’re Next, Joe Swanberg and Ti West. Both West and Wingard have been part of the film The A, B, C’s of Death (which I still have yet to see, but will soon) and all three were part of the found footage horror anthology, V/H/S which I enjoyed a great deal. Like horror directors Rob Zombie and James Wan (who earlier this year gave us The Lords of Salem and The Conjuring respectively), these guys ear their influences on their sleeves and it’s certainly evident in You’re Next which is a nice little throwback to 80s horror and revenge films, but still feels fresh and fun (fun if you’re horror movie fan that is).

You’re Next brought to mind for me 80s slasher movies along with a little touch of Italian Giallo movies and with it’s heroine, Erin (played by Step Up 3D’s Sharni Vinson) it brought to mind for me movies like the exceptional 80s horror film, The Stepfather and the Linda Blair revenge movie, Savage Streets. This starts with a bit of a slow build, letting us get to know the Davison family and their guests a little bit before all hell breaks loose as they’re attacked from forces outside the house. Once that happens, it’s a real roller-coaster ride right up to the film’s bloody climax.

Wingard has a real nice eye for setting up his scenes and his animal mask-wearing antagonists are a nice little visual in and of themselves. Some of Wingard’s compositions bring to mind Kubrick’s work on The Shining which is also very much an influence on the whole movie. It’s all pretty nicely punctuated with a terrific score from Mads Heltberg, Jasper Justice Lee and Kyle McKinnon, that fluctuates between some violent stings to 80s type of electronic music (used particularly well during the back end of the movie).

As the terror escalates, the situations and murders get far more over-the-top and almost to the point of parody, but they felt right to me anyway. There are certainly explanations abound for why this is happening to the Davisons and why Erin is as resourceful as she is, and again, some of this will seem pretty outlandish, but it all does make sense in the end, in particular Erin’s backstory.

I really enjoyed Sharni Vinson in Step Up 3D and this is about as broad a departure from that part as it gets, but Vinson is certainly up to the task and certainly excels as the empowered heroine of the film. The rest of the cast is certainly serviceable to what’s being done here with the one standout being Joe Swanberg, the smart-ass Davison sibling who just doesn’t know when to die. I also thought it was very cool to see iconic horror actress Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond) here as Aubrey the matriarch of the Davison family.

I had a pretty darn good time with You’re Next. It’s not quite in the same league as The Conjuring (which for me anyway is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year so far), but it’s still a good time at the theatre and an even better one if you’re a fan of 70s and 80s horror movies. Some of this will certainly seem pretty outlandish at times, but in the end, it does come together and makes for a nice little horror ride.

Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #153

Congrats to Cougron & BD for their high scores of 19!

Thanks to ScubaDave for his voice mail.

Picks:

Art

  1. You’re Next
  2. The World’s End
  3. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
  4. The Mortal Instruments
  5. We’re The Millers

Lena

  1. You’re Next
  2. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
  3. W’re The Millers
  4. The World’s End
  5. The Mortal Instruments

Back Seat Art House picks:

  • Art & Lena – Drinking Buddies

Okay folks… we’re six weeks away from the best weekend ever! Sausagefest!  The Back Seat Producers will be having fun AND saving boobs!.  A few donations have come in so far and, as always, we’re hoping to top last year’s donation to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Click here for more information, to check out some new perk levels and to donate!

Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Aug 16-Aug 18

#1 Lee Daniels’ The Butler from Weinstein Company opened at #1 with a gross of $24.6 million in 2,933 theaters.  Budget was $30 million.

#2 We’re The Millers from Warner Bros. held at #2 with a gross of $18 million (-32.0%) in 3,325 theaters (+65).  Total gross to date is $69.7 million.  Budget was $37 million.

#3 Elysium from TriStar fell from #1 to #3 with a gross of $13.7 million (-54.1%) in 3,284 theaters.  Total gross to date is $56 million.  Budget was $115 million.

#4 Planes from Buena Vista fell from #3 to #4 with a gross of $13.4 million (-39.8%) in 3,716 theaters (+14).  Total gross to date is $45.3 million.  Budget was $50 million.

#5 Kick-Ass 2 from Universal opened at #5 with a gross of $13.3 million in 2,940 theaters.  Budget was $28 million.

#6 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters from 20th Century Fox fell from #4 to #6 with a gross of $8.8 million (-39.2%) in 3,080 theaters (+49).  Total gross to date is $39.3 million.  Budget was $90 million.

#7 Jobs from Open Road Films opened at #7 with a gross of $6.7 million in 2,381 theaters.  Budget was $12 million.

#8 2 Guns from Universal fell from #5 to #8 with a gross of $5.8 million (-48.4%) in 2,471 theaters (-557).  Total gross to date is $59.5 million.  Budget was $61 million.

#9 The Smurfs 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #6 to #9 with a gross of $4.8 million (-48.9%) in 2,349 theaters (-1,518).  Total gross to date is $57.1 million.  Budget was $105 million.

#10 The Wolverine from 20th Century Fox fell from #7 to #10 with a gross of $4.5 million (-43.7%) in 2,058 theaters (-809).  Total gross to date is $120.6 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#11 Despicable Me 2 from Universal fell from #9 to #11 with a gross of $3.9 million (-33.9%) in 1,818 theaters (-577).  Total gross to date is $346.1 million.  Budget was $76 million.

#12 The Conjuring from Warner Bros. fell from #8 to #12 with a gross of $3.88 million (-41.4%) in 2,001 theaters (-649).  Total gross to date is $127.8 million.  Budget was $20 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $121.4 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

 

Categories
Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #97: Despicable Me 2

In the seat:

  • Scott

recorded: 08/18/13

Categories
Back Seat Producers Season 08 Shows

BSP Episode 283: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Release date – 6/22/1988

Buena Vista Pictures

 

Directed by

  • Robert Zemekis

Produced by

  • Frank Marshall
  • Robert Watts

Screenplay by

  • Jeffrey Price
  • Peter S. Seaman

Based on Who Censored Roger Rabbit?  by Gary K. Wolf

 

Cast

  • Bob Hoskins – Eddie Valiant
  • Charles Fleischer – (Voice) Roger Rabbit
  • Christopher Lloyd – Judge Doom
  • Kathleen Turner (Voice) Jessica Rabbit

 

  • Picking people up at the airport.  Yeah.
  • Video game talk.
  • Spoiler! Judge Doom framed Roger Rabbit!
  • Still a fun movie.
  • Cool World – the poor man’s Jessica Rabbit.
  • She’s just drawn that way… as her shape changed throughout the movie!
  • For its time, the animation’s pretty fair.
  • Sequel? Really??
  • Toon Town was always funny.
  • 25 years later, you pick up the adult themes.
  • More Naked & Afraid.
  • Don’t go skinny dipping in Sweden.
  • Christopher Lloyd is always awesome.

 

Trivial Bits:

Although the film’s title is a question, it is not in the movie title because that is considered bad luck in the film industry.

 

Your Producers for this episode were:

  • Tony
  • David
  • Stingray!

This episode was recorded:  8/13/13

Categories
Announcement

Theatrical Review: Kick-Ass 2

Since the events of the first Kick-Ass movie, Kick-Ass himself, Dave Lizewski has laid low and tried to resume a normal life. The same can also be said of Mindy Macready, also known as Hit-Girl. Mindy has sworn to her guardian, Detective Marcus Williams, that she’d lie low and try to be a normal kid. But in the wake of their first adventure, Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl have inspired more normal citizens to don costumes and fight crime in their own way and now both Dave and Mindy are feeling the need to get back into their former lives. In the background, Chris D’Amico, formerly known as the Red Mist, now seeks revenge against Kick-Ass for killing his father and begins to build a plot that will affect Dave and everyone he knows.

That’s the premise to Kick-Ass 2 the sequel the original Kick-Ass movie from director Matthew Vaughan based around the comics created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. I’ve not read the sequel comic series, so I can’t necessarily say exactly how faithful this is, but if this movie is any indication, well it’s making me want to order the collection for the sequel sooner than later. Matthew Vaughan is only connected here as the producer of the film and now it’s in the more than capable hands of writer/director Jeff Wadlow, who for my money anyway, has made a sequel that’s superior to the original film. Wow- Kick-Ass 2 was just a lot of fun!

Kick-Ass 2 is certainly just as profane and violent as the original film, but it also feels to me like there’s quite a bit more heart here and genuine emotion in all of it’s main characters, Dave, Mindy and even Chris D’Amico and that’s what makes it rise just a little bit more for me. It absolutely looks fantastic and big kudos go Wadlow’s way for keeping the same comic book aesthetic that Matthew Vaughan had in the first film. One of my favorite points in the movie involves Kick-Ass joining up with a team of crime-fighters organized by the hero known as Colonel Stars and Stripes. For me, this scene brought to mind the movie Mystery Men with it’s misfit heroes and tremendous heart and while I was already enjoying this up to that point, that just sort of notched things up a little further.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all return from the original film as Dave, Mindy and Chris respectively. In the first film, Moretz literally stole the show and she does a terrific job here as well, but it’s a little more tempered than it was the first time. Taylor-Johnson is certainly very likable and still rock-solid in his part and even taking it further to really build himself up physically for this. The real surprise here for me in the main cast though is Christopher Mintz-Plasse. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with him in the first movie, but here he’s ratcheted things up considerably and has made for a villain that you can totally get, even if it’s in the broadest of ways. Where he really excels is in a scene where he has to go to jail to talk with a former associate of his father’s. This scene leaves an indelible mark on Chris D’Amico and Mintz-Plasse just thoroughly convinces you of that.

There’s lots of good support here as well, both Clark Duke and Augustus Prew return as Dave’s friends Marty and Todd and they’re certainly fun to watch. Donald Faison and Lindy Booth are two of Dave’s associates in Justice Forever, Dr. Gravity and Night Bitch and both really add to the fun. John Leguizamo plays Javier who sort of acts as Alfred to Chris D’Amico’s twisted Bruce Wayne and again, he’s fun to watch and really adds more to Chris D’Amico’s character. But the real stand-out for me in the support area is Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes. Yeah, Carrey’s certainly been on the record as denouncing the movie for it’s extreme violence, and yet it all sorta goes away when you see him on-screen here. He absolutely looks like he’s having a ball with the part and as a character certainly does much to further inspire Dave Lizewski.

What can I say? I had an incredibly good time with Kick-Ass 2, going so far to say that I enjoyed it even more than the original (and I had a good time with that as well). It’s a terrific looking film that just rejoices in keeping the same aesthetic that you see in John Romita Jr.’s art from the comics and yet for all of it’s violence and profanity, there’s genuine heart and emotion here as well making you care for the characters even more. One little word of note, stay through the end credits as there is a final scene that basically says things aren’t as final as they seem. If you enjoyed the first film, you’ll have a ball with Kick-Ass 2. Highly, highly recommended.