Weekend Preview: Zombies vs. Old Guys

The first weekend of February gets the ball rolling by pitting an up-and-coming zombie (Nicholas Hoult in Warm Bodies) against a few older more experienced actors: Sylvester Stallone in Bullet to the Head and crime buddies Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin in Stand Up Guys.

Since you can read my thoughts about Warm Bodies and Stand Up Guys here: February Preview, I'll try to not repeat myself too much. Very quickly: zombies learn to love, a group of con men team up again for one last job, and Stallone just tries to stay relevant.

As for the box office, Hoult should have no trouble shambling his way into first place. Guys is only getting a limited release from Lionsgate and therefore is likely to not do much better business than Walken's previous film (Seven Psychopaths), and Bullet will probably fare no better than The Last Stand, i.e. the Governator's failed attempt to restart his blockbuster star status. As for the recent holdovers, the Witch Hunters seem to be getting war weary, Jessica Chastain's box office luck has to run out eventually, and the rest of the well performing pack (Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, Les Miserables Lincoln, and The Hobbit) should continue their slow yet steady declines.

So what did you think of my first foray into this new series of posts? Leave a comment to let me know if I should make any changes. Am I totally crazy for predicting that Bullet will be a flop? Share your thoughts in the comments for a chance at a lively debate!

Tune in next week to see Identity Thief and Side Effects go head to head!

February 2013 Preview!

Here is a quick look at the films I plan to see in February:

Warm Bodies (2/1/13)
After watching the first trailer I went out and bought Isaac Marion's book on which the film is based. I really enjoyed the book and I'm sure I will enjoy the movie too. I love Marion's take on the zombie mythos (i.e. the existence of degrees of "zombie-ness", the retention of some humanity, and the ability to become fully human again once infected.) My only fear is that the film might over-romanticize (a la the-vampire-series-that-must-not-be-named) what has historically been the personification of the most abject aspect of life: the fact that our bodies are already slowly dying and falling apart.

Stand Up Guys (2/1/13)
Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin in a buddy crime action comedy. If you don't care for zombies and are lucky enough to live near a theater showing this (since it isn't getting a wide release yet), then this is the obvious choice for you to see this weekend.

Identity Thief (2/8/13)
He's a dinosaur, that Jason Bateman. But he still makes me laugh, and not just when he's being a member of the Bluth family. Add in some raunchy Melissa McCarthy (aka my favorite part of Bridesmaids that I actually liked) and I would call that comedic gold.

Side Effects (2/8/13)
I don't like Channing Tatum. But I do like Rooney Mara, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Add in the chameleon Steven Soderbergh and a plot about prescription drugs, betrayal, and a possibly illicit affair, and you get one intriguing film. Hopefully also a few Magic Mike-esque glimpses of Rooney.

Beautiful Creatures (2/13/13)
To be honest, I'm including this one because I know that the Misses will be dragging me along to it. It does look like it will be a well made and enjoyable film, if that particular branch of the fantasy genre is your cup of tea. For my money, I would prefer a cup of Earl Grey, hot.

Did I leave off the film you're the most excited about? Leave a comment and let me know! It takes two seconds and would be greatly appreciated! :)

Star Wars Episode VII

So J.J. Abrams is officially directing Star Wars Episode VII!!!!!!!!!!!!!

J.J.
+
Star Wars
=
brb becoming dead from the feels. Can it be 2015 yet? Please?????

Can you tell I'm excited? (it should be pretty obvious...)

If the Star Trek reboot has proven anything, it should be quite obvious that J.J. knows how to take a revered franchise and re-invigorate it and make it more accessible to a new generation of potential fans.

Episode VII should arrive in theaters in May of 2015, a full ten years after the the end of the disappointing prequel trilogy, and almost thirty years after the release of the original.

Whether you love J.J. or think he's overrated, you have to admit that he will give us an Episode VII worthy of following the original trilogy.

Disagree with me? Well then shut up you ignoramus Jar Jar loving nerf herder. :) Leave a well-informed reason why and I'll try to restrain myself from reaching through the internet and strangling you.

Box Office Review: December 2012

During the month of December, the domestic box office as a whole made a decent $934 million, which was just enough to help 2012 claim the title for highest grossing year of all time. Compared to past Decembers, 2012 ranks fourth all time. It's way behind December 2009's record gross of $1.066 billion, but it's nicely ahead of both 2010 ($882 million), and 2011 ($877 million).

What worked:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Part one of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy easily scored the highest domestic gross of the month with $228 million. That is a respectable number by itself, but in day-to-day comparison it trails The Return of the King by $54 million and The Two Towers by $25 million. This proves that goodwill from The Lord of the Rings wasn't quite strong enough to overcome the 48fps and one-book-three-movies issues. But as I've said before, that's not going to be enough to stop the company of Thorin Oakenshield from reaching $1 billion worldwide.

Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino's follow up to 2009's Inglourious Basterds is supposedly darker, bloodier, and funnier than its predecessor, but it is definitely grossing more. Django has grossed $68 million in seven days, which is $15 million more than Basterds had at the same point. Django should easily pass $120 million to become Tarantino's highest grossing film, with a final gross between $150 and $175 million.

Les Miserables
Here's another directorial follow-up to a recent and very well liked film (not to mention Oscar winner) that is aiming to outgross its predecessor (and win more Oscars as well). Tom Hooper's The King's Speech earned $138 million back in 2010 and won the Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay. There's not much point in comparing the two films' day-to-day grosses since they were given different release patterns, but it did take Speech about two months to reach Les Mis's six-day gross of $66 million. I definitely think Les Mis should reach Speech's final gross and become the fourth highest grossing musical of all time (behind Grease, Chicago, and Momma Mia!), though if the Academy voters are kind it may gross even higher.

Holdovers
November holdovers Lincoln, Skyfall, Rise of the Guardians, Life of Pi, and Breaking Dawn, Part Two all grossed over $40 million during December. This is quite an accomplishment considering the overbooked nature of the holiday box office due to the plethora of new releases between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Limited Releases
In only five theaters, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty has grossed $1.368 million in twelve days. That isn't the most impressive limited start of the year, but it should, along with the upcoming Oscar Nominations announcement, generate enough buzz to take first place for the weekend of its nationwide expansion. The Impossible also did some good business ahead of its nationwide expansion by making $529,000 through eleven days in only sixteen theaters. Its expansion won't be as impressive as Thirty's, but it should still fare well in the lean month of January.

What didn't work:

While everybody was out seeing the films mentioned above, almost nobody took the time to see the rest of December's new releases. Jack Reacher ($44 million), This is 40 ($36 million), Parental Guidance ($34 million), The Guilt Trip ($21 million), Monsters, Inc. 3D ($18 million), and Playing for Keeps ($12 million) were all lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Were they overlooked unfairly or did they deserve to be cast to the wayside? I don't know. I didn't see them.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Directed by Peter Jackson.

Like most fans of Tolkien's legendarium, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of The Hobbit ever since Peter Jackson finished his Lord of the Rings trilogy.



And so I bought my ticket for the midnight release in IMAX 3D the minute they went on sale. My choice to not see it in 48fps was based on the fact that my favorite IMAX theater wasn't showing it in that format. (And though I have seen it a couple more times in the theater, I still haven't seen it in the higher frame rate, so unfortunately I can't discuss that with you all yet.)

So the misses and I arrived at the theater almost three hours early, yet were still 99th in line. We collected our set of five beautiful posters and settled in for a long, exciting wait. The biggest disappointment of the night came for us before the movie began, when we found out that we were at a theater that wasn't showing the Star Trek Into Darkness preview. We got to see the new trailer, but we had been expecting the preview. So thank you, Paramount, for not releasing the list of theaters where the preview would be playing in time for those attending midnight releases to get tickets to showings at those theaters.

Anyway....

I absolutely loved the movie. I can definitely concede the main criticisms of the film (other than the 48fps business), because the film was very long, occasionally slow, and two prefaces may be a little much. However, the acting was phenomenal. The cinematography was amazing. And those mountains take the breath away from the word breathtaking. I would gladly watch a three hour movie made up of solely helicopter shots of New Zealand's landscapes. I would also gladly watch a three hour movie of just the Riddles in the Dark scene. Martin Freeman's Bilbo (which is, dare I say it, even better than Ian Holm's) and Andy Serkis' Gollum are both perfect and a delight to watch interact.

So... Was it perfect? No. Does Jackson have his work cut out for him attendance retention-wise for The Desolation of Smaug? Yes. Will I be in line four hours early for the midnight release on December 13? YES.

Agree? Disagree? Think I'm a load of bunk? Want to prove that someone actually read this? Leave a comment below! :D

4.99 out of 5 Stars
Viewed 12:01 AM December 14, 2012 at Cinemark 17 and IMAX in Dallas, TX.