Weekend Box Office (09-30-12): Hotel Transylvania scores record September debut while Looper opens strong and Pitch Perfect explodes in semi-limited debut.

As always, for historical trivia and additional context on the week's new release, John Gosling spells it out HERE.

While the whole 'measure the cumulative weekend box office' trend is usually stupid if not dangerous, I must admit that this is indeed an 'everybody wins' weekend.  Sony had the top two films, with one setting a record and the other merely opening in line with realistic expectations.  Hotel Transylvania scored a whopping $43 million this weekend, which at the very least crushes the previous September record, the $36 million debut of Sweet Home Alabama back in 2002.  The Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, those snazzy Star Wars: The Clone Wars shorts)-helmed pic had a rather large 3,8x weekend multiplier, going from an $11 million Friday to a $19 million Saturday.  In other words, it performed how a non-frontloaded non-sequel animated film is supposed to perform.  Among animated films that aren't sequels/spin-offs and weren't release by either Dreamworks or Disney/Pixar, this opening actually ranks rather high.  If you count the two Dr. Seuess adaptations (The Lorax with $70 million and Horton Hears a Who with $45 million), Hotel Transylvania is the fifth-biggest non-sequel/spin-off animated opening not released by the two animation titans.  If you only count wholly original properties, then it trails only Despicable Me ($56 million) and the first Ice Age ($46 million) and comes in just ahead of Warner Bros' Happy Feet ($41 million). 

Marc Webb will helm Spectacular Spider-Man after all! Thoughts and speculation on his somewhat surprising return.

It's a telling sign of behind-the-scenes tumult when it's actually surprising to hear that the director of a franchise-kick off is indeed returning to helm the sequel.  But after a summer filled with innuendo and rumors, followed by a final product that was clearly cut to ribbons at the last minute, and I am not a little surprised to see Marc Webb signing up for another go at Spider-Man 2.0.  But The Hollywood Reporter uh, reports that Webb will indeed helm The Spectacular Spider-Man, set for release on May 4th, 2014.  Andrew Garfield is back too, which is obviously less of a surprise, but at this point Emma Stone is still negotiating.  Expect Stone to get a massive raise, perhaps higher than Garfield, as her massive charisma and general attractiveness caused audiences and critics worldwide to convince themselves that the paper-thin romantic subplot was some kind of classic genre romance.  Webb is angling for a raise above the $1 million he got last time.  Purely speculating, but I imagine Sony offered him enough money to stick around under what will likely be rigorous studio control so they could save face for at least one more installment.  Losing the director after two installments is par for the course (Batman Forever, Iron Man 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, X-Men: The Last Stand, Shrek the Third, Chronicle of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, etc.) but losing the director after one film generally causes raised eyebrows.  In this case it would be an admission of error.

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 15: The Living Daylights

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the fifteenth entry, with a full review of  Timothy Dalton's criminally underrated debut, and my introduction to the James Bond series, The Living Daylights. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

The Living Daylights

1987

Director: John Glen

Starring: Timothy Dalton, John Rhys Davies, Maryam d’Abo, Joe Don Baker

Rated PG

Something we’re making for the Americans.  It’s called a ‘Ghetto Blaster’!

                        ~Q

STATS

Kills: 3 + unknown amount in a bridge explosion

Bond Girls:  Kara Milovy

Car:  Aston Martin V8 Vantage (Series 2)

Locales:  Czechoslovakia, Austria, Vienna, Tangier, Afghanistan

Odd Villain Trait:  We get the Red Grant archetype in Necros, but this guy wears headphones which he strangles people

Song:  “The Living Daylights” performed by A-ha (Yes, they did have another song)

Other Notable Song: “If There Was A Man” performed by Chrissie Hyde (of The Pretenders)

James Bond reloads and fires on all cylinders for the debut of Timothy Dalton as 007 in The Living Daylights (TLD).  John Glen gets a chance to introduce a new 007 to the film going audience and does it with much success.  TLD finally is able to bring back and emulate the sense of mystery, adventure and espionage found in From Russia With Love that the franchise had tried and failed many times.  Soveit General Georgi Koskov fakes his defection and recapture to the British Government.  Koskov has in reality, teamed with arms dealer Brad Whitaker.  Koskov is also purchasing opium from Afghanistan renegades and hoping to profit and make money back to purchase arms as well.  Bond is led onto the case by the would-be assassin of Koskov, Kara Milovy, a successful cello player.

John Gosling previews the weekend's new films (09-28-12)

Looper is a new science-fiction feature from Brick director, Rian Johnson and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. Levitt plays Joseph Simmons, a 'looper' who works for the mob. A very well paid assassin, it's his job to kill people sent back from the future, where time travel has been perfected, but outlawed. 'Loopers' only operate on one rule - never let your target escape. Major problems arise when Simmons comes face to face with his next hit and discovers it is a future version of himself (Played by Willis). In the confusion, the older version escapes, leaving a young Simmons in a race against time to put things right before the mob step in - all the while knowing that if he succeeds, he will become his own murderer.  Johnson began developing Looper once production on his previous film, The Brothers Bloom was completed in 2008, with a view to start work some time in 2009. While things didn't come together as quickly as anticipated, by May 2010 he had script and had cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role, the two having previously worked together on 2005's Brick. Willis would join the picture later that same month, with Blunt added to the cast in October. Shooting on the $60M Looper got underway in January 2011 (after a short delay while Levitt worked on Premium Rush) taking in Louisiana and Shanghai among its locations.

Who should die in the Dora The Explorer movie? We need *your help* to decide who should be killed off!

As was announced last month, Paramount will be stocking up its post-Dreamworks animation slate with a number of Nickelodeon properties, among them being the long-awaited first feature film for Dora the Explorer.  It figures that we'd finally get a big-screen Dora adventure just as my daughter is about to outgrow said franchise, but them's the breaks.  Anyway, Dora the Explorer is still among the more entertaining shows aimed at the preschool set and few can deny that it revolutionized the kids-show format with its interactive 'let's go on an adventure' template.  And now, about twelve years after its premiere, we're finally getting a movie.  So the question immediately becomes: who's gonna die?  It's a movie and said big-screen adventure has to do something to matter in the broad continuity, otherwise it just becomes a 4-5 part episode projected in DLP 3D.  And we all know that the easiest way to achieve narrative 'relevance' in a longstanding property is to kill off a major character.  So, as we await the big-screen spectacular that is Dora the Explorer 3D, let us discuss just which longstanding character is the most likely to perish at either the second act climax or the very finale of the picture.

Review: Looper (2012) is thoughtful and intelligent sci-fi.

Looper

2012
119 minutes
rated R

by Scott Mendelson

Rian Johnson's Looper is less an out-and-out original work as a hodgepodge made up from bits and pieces from other iconic science fiction stories stirred into a relatively tasty stew.  It has an admirable courage, both in content and structure.  It is unafraid to go to some very dark places and it establishes a perfectly clever initial premise but uses it merely as a springboard for a whole different kind of tale.  Its first half is relentlessly entertaining, clever, and unpredictable.  But once Johnson settles into his story of choice, the film becomes somewhat of a waiting game while we merely attempt to guess if Johnson has any more tricks up his sleeve and what they might be if he does.  But make no mistake, Looper is a strongly conceived and character-driven character drama wrapped up in a science-fiction thriller.  It is well-acted and expertly constructed, and I appreciated its eventual intentions.

Strictly for kids: In defense of the idea behind The Oogieloves.

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure is officially past tense.  After one of the worst wide-release theatrical performances in modern history, the picture is gone from every one of its 2,100 screens with just $1 million to its name.  Its fate is now that of "ironic" screenings in college dorm rooms and the phrase "pulling an Oogielove" entering our pop culture vernacular.  I have not seen the picture and can't say if I ever will.  But I cannot and will not mock the film because it represents something that has pretty much disappeared from multiplexes over the last ten years.  Scott Stabile wrote a passionate defense of the movie he wrote last week, which you can read here.  I don't agree with every word, but he's tapped into what The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure tried to be, something that I'd argue is indeed worthwhile: the truly 'for kids' movie.  It wasn't trying to appeal to all audiences, it wasn't trying to secretly be hip enough for grown-ups or 'cool' enough for older kids.  It was merely a movie for young kids, perhaps painfully so.  There is something to be said for a film that was arguably trying to be a kid's first movie.

Weekend Box Office (09-23-12): Four new releases cannibalize each other as The Master whiffs in wide release and Importance of Being A Wallflower explodes.

As always, for background and historical context for all the weekend's new movies, check out John Gosling's obscenely detailed weekend preview HERE.

It wasn't so much a 'something for everyone' weekend as it was 'multiple things for the same general audience' as four wide releases aimed at thrill-hungry moviegoers and/or adults debuted on the same day, creating a clear case of mutually assured destruction.  The top three movies are basically tied, but as always rank is irrelevant next to the actual hard numbers (why rank doesn't matter).  For the moment, the top debut of the weekend may be End of Watch, a 'found footage'-style LA cop drama, parlayed strong reviews into a solid $13 million opening, which is the second-biggest debut for Open Roads outside of The Grey ($20 million) back in January.  The $7 million film (purchased for $2 million) had a marketing and distribution cost of around $20 million, so even a $40 million final total will get this film in the black before home video.  It also proves that Jake Gyllenhaal  is a decent mid-range opener.  He's useful when the film you're selling doesn't cost $200 million ala Prince of Persia.  End of Watch is yet another installment in writer David Ayers's 'two volatile men in a car' sub-genre, which includes the likes of The Fast and the Furious, Training Day and Harsh Times (an underrated Christian Bale vehicle which he also directed).  He wrote but did not direct the the LA Riots-set cop melodrama Dark Blue while directing but not writing the frankly mediocre Keanu Reeves cop melodrama Street Kings.  Among films he directed, End of Watch should easily top the $26 million gross of Street Kings while it will be fifth (out of seven) if it can merely surpass the $9 million gross of Kurt Russell's Dark Blue. Fourth place is the $76 million-grossing Training Day, which is too far a bridge to cross at this point.

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 14: A View To A Kill

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the fourteenth entry, with a full review of  my wife's favorite 007 picture, A View To A Kill (no, that's sadly not a joke). I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

A View To A Kill

1985

Directed by: John Glen

Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee

Rated PG

“What a view…”

“…to a kill!”

                        ~May Day, with Max Zorn finishing the sentence

STATS

Kills: 7

Girls:  Stacey Sutton, May Day, Pola Ivanova, woman in glacier sub

Car:  1984 Chevrolet Corvette

Locales:  Siberia, France (Paris & Chantilly), San Francisco

Odd Villain Trait:  May Day is a brute…woman

Song:  “A View to A Kill” performed by Duran Duran

A View To A Kill is the concluding chapter in the twelve- year era of Roger Moore as James Bond 007 and a Mendelson family classic.  Also bowing out in this adventure is Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, ending a 23 year/14 film run in the role.  The film proves to be a step up from Octopussy, but doesn’t quite bring about a completely satisfying result.  The film does deserve some credit for really wanting to go all in and find some originality, but can’t quite execute to bring the potential to fruition.

An extended look at Les Miserables. It still looks wonderful.

This four minute featurette goes into detail about the gimmick of allowing actors to sing live on set as they are filmed.  As if I wasn't anymore excited by the project on principle, this sounds like a wonderful experiment that seems to be working very well.  And the discussion about Hathaway's performance of "I Dreamed A Dream" (around 3:20) is one of those wonderful moments where you realize that the filmmakers indeed made the right artistic choice for exactly the reason you hoped (in this case, doing the song less as a triumphant ode to resiliency and more as a rock-bottom admission of defeat). I know the disappointments of Phantom of the Opera and The Producers have quieted Oscar talk for this one, but this still feels like the one to beat.  It's a fantastic and wrenching drama filled with obscenely good songs performed by some of the best musical actors in the film industry.  In the words of William Hurt in A History Of Violence, "How do you fuck *this* up?".  Anyway, I'm not thrilled about Universal moving the film to December 25th, mostly because I want to see it sooner and there are already a bazillion releases during the last two weeks of the year as it is.  Let's hope one or two of them take refuge in the now nearly vacant December 14th slot (yes, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be huge, but there is room for viable counter programming). Les Miserables opens on December 25th.  If it's as good as I want it to be, this may be the first film in 4.5 years that I end up seeing twice in a theater.  At the very least, I will certainly be buying the soundtrack.

Scott Mendelson    

Blu Ray Review: The Dark Knight Returns Part I (2012) delivers a solid, engaging adaptation of its iconic source material.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns part I

2012
76 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

I don't know if an animated adaptation of Frank Miller's groundbreaking satire was entirely necessary.  There is little ground in this 1986 graphic novel that hasn't been covered in other mediums or other comic book stories in some form or another, be it The Dark Knight Rises or the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Legends of the Dark Knight".  At heart, this project seems predicated merely on the idea of 'well, we might as well adapt it because we've adapted Batman: Year One.  But this new film, which covers the first two chapters of the four part story, is a genuine improvement over the prior Frank Miller adaptation.  It is less beholden to the source material and willing to make small changes for the sake of the film as a stand-alone entertainment.  The script is 90% faithful to the original, and the changes have an unusual effect of making the story feel less like an Elseworld (which it of course was) and more like a somewhat plausible 'What If?' final Batman story.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey gets a gorgeous trailer.

Well this just looks like staring at an oil painting for two-and-a-half hours.  I won't pretend that this is even trying to approach the emotional highs of the prior Lord of the Rings trilogy, nor should anyone seemingly expect the scale of the earlier film series, which of course came *after* the original Hobbit book.  I read The Hobbit back in middle school and wasn't overly crazy about it, to the point where I never got around to reading the Lord of the Rings series.  But let's forget for a moment that I'm not that jazzed for a Hobbit movie and have at-best a grudging interest in seeing it.  Putting that aside, this thing looks unquestionably gorgeous.  For all the ink silt about the allegedly un-film-like nature of the 48fps cinematography, the images we see here are completely beautiful.  I can only hope that the film, even when shown in 48 fps 3D, looks this good, this unquestionably cinematic.  Now that Les Miserables has scooted to December 25th, Peter Jackson has December 14th all to himself.  Do I think this is going to have the emotional impact or sheer awe-inspiring grandeur of Fellowship of the Ring?  Nope, but it's high time I stopped being a grumpy-pants about it and welcome what looks to be an absolutely lovely return to Middle Earth.

Scott Mendelson
    

John Gosling previews the week's new releases (09-21-12)

The House at the End of the Street is the new film from director Mark Tonderai, who made his debut with the 2009 thriller, Hush. The idea for the film actually originated from a short story written by Jonathan Mostow (director of Terminator: Rise of the Machines), which was then expanded for the screen by David Loucka. It sees recently divorced mother Sarah and her teenage daughter, Elissa, move into a new place, unaware that the house next door was witness to a double murder in which a young girl killed her parents while they slept. After the crime was committed, the girl vanished, leaving her brother, Ryan, as the only survivor. Elissa and Ryan (who still resides in the neighboring house) form a relationship but it soon becomes apparent that the evil that was present in the house at the end of the street may still be there. Elisabeth Shue takes on the maternal role of Sarah, with Jennifer Lawrence as Elissa. 

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part BONUS: Never Say Never Again.

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the thirteenth entry, with a full review of that unofficial Bond adventure, Never Say Never Again.   I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

Longitude 78 West:  The Chronicles of Never Say Never Again
1983
130 minutes
rated PG

Never Say Never Again is a non canon James Bond film.  Hollywood usually has two very similar films released in a year, whether they be similar premises (Dante’s Peak and Volcano in 1997) or the exact same subject matter (Capote and Infamous in 2006).  But having an additional film apart from a series while said series is going on?  And in the same year?  Featuring the same lead from earlier in the series?  How did this happen?  We never had two Kirks in different movies.  Never two different Freddy movies.  But, two James Bonds did happen.

Why I almost cancelled my Indiana Jones blu-ray order...

As with most of the geeks here and elsewhere, Amazon will be dropping off my pre-ordered set of the Indiana Jones series on Blu Ray this afternoon.  I ordered it a few months ago, despite misgivings about it.  Misgivings, you say?  Well, here's the rub: My wife and I just watched all four films just last year.  So, and I hinted at this in last week's essay about multiple theatrical viewings, the life of an adult (job, family, etc.) leaves little time for watching movies, even favorite movies, multiple times.  My wife and I just watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  What is the likelihood we are going to watch them again anytime in the next few years?  I almost didn't buy the Jaws blu ray for just this reason, as my wife isn't a Jaws fanatic and I can't imagine showing the film to my kids anytime terribly soon (my wife being my wife, she actually prefers Jaws 3 and Jaws the Revenge).  But in the end I eventually spent the $20 on Jaws and the $65 on the Indiana Jones set because I figured my wife would enjoy watch the copious new extras on the sets.  Well, I was half-right.

Weekend Box Office (09/16/12) Paul Anderson dominates the box office on all fronts as Resident Evil 5 tops and The Master crushes in record limited debut.

It was a very good weekend to be a director named Paul Anderson.  Both W.S. and Thomas had a movie out this weekend and both did pretty well, one somewhat under-performing while the other arguably over-performing.  The top film of the weekend was Sony's Resident Evil:Retribution, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, which earned a frankly disappointing $21 million.  The series, based on a horror video game franchise, has been one of the more consistent genre franchises over the last decade (essay). The first film opened in March 2002 to $17 million, and it eventually grossed $40 million domestic and $102 million worldwide on a $33 million budget. Resident Evil: Apocalypse set the release template two years later, opening in early September 2004 to $23 million and grossing $51 million domestic and $129 million worldwide on a $45 million budget. Resident Evil: Extinction pulled the same trick in 2007, opening to $23 million and grossing $50 million domestic and $147 million worldwide on a $45 million budget. Two years ago, the $60 million-costing Resident Evil: Afterlife, which came with the added gimmick of being shot in 3D film, opened with $26 million.  So this opening has to be a let-down, well below the series average even with 3D-upcharges factored in (the film played 48% 3D, 34% 2D, 14% IMAX, and 4% PLF).  Adjusted for inflation, the first two sequel openings would be about $28 million apiece, with the original opening to just-under $25 million. 

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 13: Octopussy.

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the thirteenth entry, with a full review of  Octopussy. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

Octopussy

1983

Director:  John Glen

Starring:  Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jordan, Desmond Llewelyn, Kristina Wayborn

Rated PG

You must be joking! 007 on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him till dawn!

                        ~Q

STATS

Kills: 10 + unknown amount in a hangar explosion

Bond Girls:  Octopussy, Magda

Car:  Bond steals an Alfa Romeo GTV6

Locales:  India, West Germany

Odd Villain Trait: Gobinda, a big strong muscle man who wears a turban

Song:  “All Time High” performed by Rita Coolidge

Octopussy marks a complete step in the opposite direction of its predecessor.  Gone is the gritty reality and in comes the goofball.  On paper, Octopussy could have been a notable achievement in the series.  In execution, Octopussy is an effort fueling the Roger Moore era as a laughing stock or embarrassment in the series.  Soviet General Orlov, exhiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan and jewel smuggler Octopussy are running a series of Faberge Egg purchases and swapping them with fakes.  Somehow this winds up in Orlov and Khan plotting to set off a nuclear warhead at a US Air Base in West Germany during a circus, making it look like the US did it themselves.  James Bond is on the job, per usual, filling in for 009 who is killed after recovering one of the fake eggs from the circus.

Review: The Master (2012) is an intimate, if aloof, American epic told on a sprawling 70mm canvas.

The Master

2012
137 minutes
rated R

by Scott Mendelson

Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master is such an aggressively ambiguous picture that it is almost a risk to attempt to assign explicit meaning to it.  It is a sprawling and majestic character study, visually dynamic (see it in 70mm if at all possible) and superbly acted throughout.  But it is arguably more of a technical exercise than an emotional journey, as the film keeps us at somewhat of a distance even as the characters occasionally pour their hearts out onscreen.  But as for the film's deeper meaning, I imagine each and every single viewer will have differing opinions on that, and yes I admit my thoughts on the film may in fact be less worthwhile by virtue of only taking in a single theatrical viewing.  But as Roger Ebert occasionally said, it's not 'what it's about' but 'how it's about it'.  Whatever it is The Master is about, and I do have my theories, it tells its story in a rather splendid fashion.

Why did no studio move their upcoming action films to September 7th after The Gangster Squad split?

Yes yes, last weekend's box office was the worst since after the 9/11 attacks.  Normally cumulative weekend box office doesn't mean a damn thing, but this weekend deserves study as a prime example of missed opportunities.  The actual reasons for this are interesting for two reasons.  A) Just like 9/11, the six degrees-of-separation reason is once again rooted in an act of mass violence.  Had the Aurora shootings not occurred on July 20th or had Warner Bros. shown a token amount of backbone, The Gangster Squad would have been the big opener of the weekend and surely would have delivered a better debut than The Words, which turned out to be the sole truly wide release.  Moreover, the weekend shows us how much we've become accustomed to weekly blockbuster opening weekends each and every frame.  But the real question of last weekend is why didn't any studio bother to move a token major action release onto the September 7th slot.  Yes, I know Lionsgate randomly dumped The Cold Light of Day onto 1,500 screens with next-to-no advertising, but considering the coming storm of major genre fare over just the next three weeks, you have to wonder why a studio, any studio, didn't think to jump into the near-vacant slot and avoid the coming storm.

Shouldn't once be enough? Are movies like (allegedly) The Master that *require* multiple viewings playing fair?

Having had to miss the press screenings that I was invited to for family and work-related reasons, I will likely be checking out Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master at tonight's 7:15pm Landmark show (I already bought a ticket to the sold-out show, but it depends on when my wife gets home from work tonight and what the traffic's like).  Truth be told, I probably would have waited until next weekend when the film went wide if not for A) I want to see this thing in 70mm and B) there are approximately 700 new films opening next weekend.  As I've said before, when one plays in the critical circles, you can feel like the last person on Earth to see a movie merely by waiting until opening night.  I may or may not offer a review of the picture this weekend, depending on my schedule and whether or not I have anything new to offer to the critical conversation.  More importantly, I can only hope that I get enough out of the film from only seeing it once.  Much of the punditry I've read over the last month has stated that the film can't be fully appreciated in a single viewing.  The question I'm asking this morning is whether that is a fair standard for a film to be held to?  Point being, even in an era when it's easier than ever to rewatch movies, be it in theaters or home-video formats, what responsibility should a filmmaker have to make sure his or her film can be appreciated and digested on a single viewing?  And perhaps more importantly, should "Oh you need to see it twice!" be a fair defense if a film doesn't quite work the first time around?

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln gets a very typical biopic trailer.

Other than the lack of a second act montage detailing Abraham Lincoln's struggles with drugs and/or alcohol, this looks like a pretty conventional biopic.  But of course, A) it's a very conventional biopic trailer and B) War Horse turned out to be a far darker and somber film than it's somewhat upbeat marketing campaign suggested.  Still, and I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong, I can't imagine what new commentary or insights an Abraham Lincoln biopic has to offer at this point in time, especially one seemingly crafted so as to not offend those who understandably revere the man.  At the very least, I can only presume that Lincoln will be a splendid acting treat, with major turns by Daniel Day Lewis and about a bazillion others (check out 1:43, for a look at Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant next to someone who looks *a lot* like Seth Meyers).  The film may turn out to be a haloagraphy, and perhaps there is no fault in that.  But come what may, this one will be worth seeing purely for the performances on display, as well as the sheer fact that Steven Spielberg is still determined to matter this much 41 years after Duel.  I underestimated War Horse.  I can only hope I'm underestimating Lincoln.  Anyway, this one drops November 9th in limited release before expanding on November 16th.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson    

Review: Side By Side (2012) is a smart film vs. digital debate, a wonderful magical history tour of film's future's past.

Side By Side

2012
99 minutes
Not Rated

by Scott Mendelson

There is something both fascinating and depressing about seeing a film-related documentary specifically dealing with events that I vividly remember.  Obviously as I get older this phenomena will become more and more common, but it's a relatively new experience for me.  Films like Waking Sleeping Beauty and now Side By Side evoke a complicated nostalgia in this particular critic.  This new film, directed by Christopher Kenneally and produced by Keanu Reeves (who conducts the onscreen interviews), examines the current cinematic debate between the advancement in digital video and the fight to keep old school film alive in the current marketplace.  But while there are plenty of potent arguments for both options, and the film never really takes a side per-se, it operates less as a feature-length debate and more as a 90-minute history of the rather swift (around ten years as it relates to this feature) advancements in digital film making.  And watching the picture was a revelation, both because it's so damn good and because I remember pretty much every single moment referred to as if it were yesterday.

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 12: For Your Eyes Only

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a few months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the twelfth entry, with a full review of the 'back to basics' spy thriller, For Your Eyes Only. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

For Your Eyes Only

1981

Director:  John Glen

Starring: Roger Moore, Julian Glover, Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol, Cassandra Harris

Rated PG

Think twice 007, it’s a long way down.

            ~looks like him, talks like him, dresses like him, but isn’t credited as Blofeld

STATS

Kills: 14

Girls:  Melina Havelock, Countess Lisl von Schlaf, Bibi Dahl

Car:  the Lotus from SPY returns, is blown up and replaced with 1981 Lotus Espirit Turbo

Locales: Greece, Italy

Odd Villain Trait:  Erich Kriegler – another rendition of big strong blonde brute

Song:  “For Your Eyes Only” performed by Sheena Easton

Moonraker was a massive success for the 007 franchise.  It was the highest grossing film of the series (w/o adjusting for inflation) making over $200 million worldwide, locking down the series for some more longevity.  Moonraker was a huge film and took Bond to some extraordinary limits (outer limits, if you may).  For Your Eyes Only grounds Bond back in reality and attempts to take it back to the feel of some of the older entries.

John Gosling previews the week's new movies (09/14/12)

After the poor showing last weekend, studios are hoping for better results with this week's releases, which include the fifth Resident Evil movie, a 3D re-release of Finding Nemo and the limited roll out of The Master. 

The Resident Evil series (Biohazard in Japan) kicked off in 1996 when Capcom unleashed their survival horror epic onto an unsuspecting gaming public, to great success. Since then the franchise has gone from strength to strength, with various sequels and spin-offs across a multitude of formats, along with novelizations, comic books, action figures and much more. The games alone have sold in excess of 50 million copies, with a sixth one in the original series due at the end of the month. A move into film seemed inevitable and by 1999, Sony and Capcom announced horror supremo George A. Romero had signed on  to script and direct Resident Evil - something that came about when he directed a commercial for the Playstation release of Resident Evil 2. However, dissatisfied with what Romero turned in (despite it following the plot of the first game quite closely), Capcom fired him from the project and looked to move in a different direction. In 2000 they hired Paul W.S Anderson, a British director who had seen success with his Mortal Kombat adaptation in 1995. 

Learning the wrong lesson: Audiences liked our original films? Let's make sequels to every single one of them!

2012 has been a banner year for, among other things, somewhat original, non-franchised *movies* often targeted at adults.  As I've written before (essay) the stories worth writing after summer 2012 weren't so much about the would-be tent-poles that flopped but the non-tentpoles that were pretty big hits over the first three quarters of the year.  Safe House, The Vow, Magic Mike, Ted, Think Like A Man, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and The Moonrise Kingdom all proved to be superb investments, with Magic Mike becoming probably the most profitable movie of the year (it cost $7 million and grossed $154 million and counting worldwide).  So the obvious lesson should be that there is indeed a worthwhile audience for original films that aren't intended to be the first in an epic fantasy trilogy.  The obvious lesson should be that audiences *do* crave some original material mixed in with their superhero spectaculars.  But instead of studios seeing the writing on the wall and taking the money that they might have spent on the next Battleship and investing it instead in a handful of smaller, non-property affiliated star vehicles somewhat aimed at adults, they have decided is that what audiences now want is sequels to pretty much every single film listed above.  Moviegoers said "Yes!" to originality, so Hollywood now chooses to respond with "Okay, sequels it is!".

Guest Review: Brandon Peters reviews V/H/S (2012)

Regular 007 retrospective author Brandon Peters slipped me a review of the new horror anthology feature V/H/S.  I've seen the film as well, and I pretty much agree with what Mr. Peters has to say, so I'm sharing his review.

V/H/S

2012

Directed by: David Bruckner, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Ti West, Adam Wingard, Radio Silence

116 minutes

Rated R

A found footage movie from guys who don’t like found footage movies.  That was the selling point of recent festival darling V/H/S.  Six up and coming horror directors come together for a horror anthology told in the found footage aesthetic.  While the film does provide creativity, genuine scares and disturbances, it proves overly long and a bit monotonous.

Stage Review: Batman Live (2012) feels half-measured and unsure of its intentions, cries out for musical numbers.

Batman Live is constantly unsure of what it wants to be, which renders the entertaining and ambitious production somewhat underwhelming in nearly every area.  It is not quite a stage play based on the Batman mythos, although it contains dramatic moments and a token amount of 'acting'.  It isn't quite a stunt show or action spectacular, as the stunts are few and the fight choreography is merely competent.  With its plot centering around Dick Grayson's tragic transformation into Robin: The Boy Wonder, it sometimes feels like the show wants to be Batman: The Circus, but even there it is felled by half-hearted acrobatics and a lack of high-flying adventure.  And it certainly does not want to be a musical, even as you spend much of the show expecting the characters to break out into song during any number of moments.  We constantly get the set-up for a bit of song and dance, and narrative certainly can handle a bit of emotionally-charged musical theater in that Andrew Lloyd Webber vein, but the songs never come.  The show feels like the end-results of someone merely saying "Let's do a stage show for kids involving Batman!" and neglecting to figure out what kind of show they wanted to do.  It offers a token amount of everything (except songs, natch) without excelling in any particular area.

Weekend Box Office (09-09-12): The Words is top opener in painfully weak weekend.

Maybe The Gangster Squad should have stayed put after all.  Its cowardly desertion of this weekend following the Aurora shootings  (it originally climaxed with a movie theater shootings) left September 4th without a major opener and none of the big action releases over the next month (Looper, End of Watch, Dredd, etc.) stepped up to the plate, leaving a vacuum.  As a result, this was the lowest-grossing weekend in several years (which just proves - it's the movies, stupid!).  The top opener of the weak was The Words, a CBS Films drama starring Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, and Olivia Wilde.  All solid names but none save for Cooper qualifying as box office (Saldana sells in action, but not quiet drama).  The badly reviewed literary plagiarism vehicle both seems like the kind of character-driven drama we claim to want more of as well as the kind of thing (especially due to the reviews) that will play just fine on DVD in three months.  So its $5 million opening weekend is unfortunate, if not a surprise.  The film cost just $6 million and was an acquisition, so CBS's financial damages are limited to marketing and distribution.

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn II gets a final trailer.

Updated with the full trailer...
Summit/Lionsgate know they don't have to hard sell, although it's a little sad watching them try to sell their series finale (featuring a couple dozen vampires and a few wolves fighting in the snow) as  anything as epic as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II.  The only real box office questions are whether the real life gossip fodder surrounding Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will have an effect and/or whether the film will get any kind of hard 'series finale bump'.  I'm guessing no to both questions.  I'm guessing an opening weekend a little higher than New Moon's $142 million, if only for inflation, and then a swift theatrical play that gets the film just past Eclipse's $300 million domestic total.  Anyway, this one is two months away.  As always we'll see.  I've made it this far with this critically complicated but worthwhile little franchise.  I'll be there for the end.

Scott Mendelson

Celebrating Batman: The Animated Series 20 years later: The reason Batman: TAS still stands apart...

This week is the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series. In its weird way, the show actually had three 'premieres'. The first episode, "The Cat and the Claw part I", debuted on Saturday morning, September 5th, as a quasi-sneak preview of sorts. The next day saw the official premiere, in primetime no less (Sunday night at 7pm) where Fox debuted the official pilot episode, "On Leather Wings". Then came the first official weekday episode, Monday afternoon at 4:30pm, which was no less than "Heart of Ice", which to this day stands as not only one of the best episodes of the series run, but a shining testament to all that Batman: The Animated Series did right both in terms of the Batman mythos and the entire medium of childrens' action shows. This is one of an ongoing series of essays detailing the long-term legacy of the Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's groundbreaking animated saga. Today, for the final essay of this series, I will examine the one defining feature that makes it stand out above all those that came before or since.  

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 11: Moonraker

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a few months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the eleventh entry, with a full review of one of the most underrated films in the franchise, Moonraker. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

Moonraker

1979

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel

Rated PG

Well, here’s to us.

            ~ Jaws ?!?!?!

Kills:  16 + 1 Boa Constrictor

Girls:  Holly Goodhead (take a drink every time they say her name before you even are introduced to the character), Corrine Dufour, Manuela

Cars:  Inflatable Gondola

Locales:  California, Venice, Rio de Janeiro, OUTER FRICKIN’ SPACE

Odd Villain Trait:  Jaws (see Who Loved Me, Spy), Chang is…Asian?

Song:  “Moonraker” performed by Shirley Bassey

Since Star Wars did “ok” at the box office, we’re now on to the much maligned Moonraker.  There was a sci-fi surge in the late 70s and of course the 007 franchise jumped on it.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but for some reason this film still gets flack for going this route.  The 70s Bond had already visited the kung fu and blaxploitation genres.  I remind you the series began as wanting to be Hitchcock infused films.  So I ask, why not try science fiction?  The 007 series certainly features outlandish gadgets and villain bases so it seems even more sci fi fitting than blaxploitation and kung fu.  Whether it works or not is beside the point of discussion, Moonraker should not be discounted for the fact that it and other major studios decided to venture into sci fi.  Did we discredit Sony’s Spider-Man coming in the wake of Fox’s X-Men?

Celebrating Batman: The Animated Series 20 years later: The best episodes in Batman: TAS's 109 episode run.

This week will be the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series. In its weird way, the show actually had three 'premieres'. The first episode, "The Cat and the Claw part I", debuted on Saturday morning, September 5th, as a quasi-sneak preview of sorts. The next day saw the official premiere, in primetime no less (Sunday night at 7pm) where Fox debuted the official pilot episode, "On Leather Wings". Then came the first official weekday episode, Monday afternoon at 4:30pm, which was no less than "Heart of Ice", which to this day stands as not only one of the best episodes of the series run, but a shining testament to all that Batman: The Animated Series did right both in terms of the Batman mythos and the entire medium of childrens' action shows. This is one of an ongoing series of essays detailing the long-term legacy of the Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's groundbreaking animated saga. Today we discuss my all-time favorite episodes.  In short, here are ten of the (subjectively) best episodes in alphabetical order with my all-time favorite at the end.  Do enjoy... 

John Gosling previews the week's new releases (09-07-12).

A relatively quiet weekend with just two major releases, only one of which is out to a substantial number of screens.The Words was written and directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal and follows a young author (Rory) desperately trying to come up with a story. When his latest effort is rejected he happens across an old manuscript in a house in which he is staying with his partner. Finding himself blown away by how good the story is, he sets to work re-typing it, with a view to passing it off as his own. Thanks to 'his' new book, Rory finds himself the sensation of the publishing world and reaps all the rewards that come with it. But when a man connected with the original manuscript comes into his life, the author soon discovers the high price he will have to pay for stealing another's story. The Words marks the directorial debut of Klugman and Sternthal, who received advice on the script from the Sundance Writer's Lab. With funding in place they set to work on casting, with Bradley Cooper taking the lead role of Rory, Zoe Saldana as his wife Dora and Jeremy Irons as the stranger with the potential to expose Rory's deceit. Other members of the cast included J.K Simmons, Dennis Quaid and Oliva Wilde, the last two acting as a framing device for the picture - Wilde interviewing Quaid's character who has himself written a book relating to the events that unfold as the main body of the film. 

Celebrating Batman: The Animated Series 20 years later: As a parent, my least-favorite episodes became more valuable..

This week will be the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series. In its weird way, the show actually had three 'premieres'. The first episode, "The Cat and the Claw part I", debuted on Saturday morning, September 5th, as a quasi-sneak preview of sorts. The next day saw the official premiere, in primetime no less (Sunday night at 7pm) where Fox debuted the official pilot episode, "On Leather Wings". Then came the first official weekday episode, Monday afternoon at 4:30pm, which was no less than "Heart of Ice", which to this day stands as not only one of the best episodes of the series run, but a shining testament to all that Batman: The Animated Series did right both in terms of the Batman mythos and the entire medium of childrens' action shows. This will be the third in a series of essays detailing the long-term legacy of the Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's groundbreaking animated saga. Today we discuss the show as something I can share with my children, specifically my five-year old daughter.  I actually waited quite awhile to show her this series, purely because I wanted to absolutely make sure she was old enough to actually enjoy it.  The irony is that some of the very things and very episodes I didn't like when I was twelve years old are the things I now appreciate as a father.

Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 10: The Spy Who Loved Me.

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a few months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the tenth entry, with a full review of one of the very best films in the franchise, The Spy Who Loved Me. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should, as I can only hope for robust discussions in the comments section. Without further ado...

The Spy Who Loved Me

1977

Director:  Lewis Gilbert

Starring:  Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Richard Kiel, Curt Jurgens, Desmond Llewelyn

Rated:  PG

All those feathers and he still can’t fly.

                        ~James Bond

STATS

Kills: 18 + unconfirmed amount in the control room bombing

Girls:  Anya Amasova, “Log Cabin Girl”, random “Arab Beauty”

Car:  Lotus Esprit

Locales:  Egypt, Sardinia

Odd Villain Trait:  Jaws is a giant with a set of metal teeth

Song:  “Nobody Does It Better” performed by Carly Simon

The Spy Who Loved Me delivers one of, if not the, ultimate James Bond films.  Plot driven with big scale action scenes, memorable villains, a fantastic song, cool gadgets, stunts, a highly complimentary score, Bond heroics and a beautiful female who can go toe-to-toe with 007 all come gelling together in this fun and exciting 70s spy thriller.  While the previous three entries were rather tame and almost like elongated television episodes in spectacle, The Spy Who Loved Me isn’t afraid to be ambitious and completely go for it.  The production team really doesn’t hold back on what is one of the highest points in the 007 series.

Why they hate us: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters gets a lousy trailer that feels no better than a SyFy Channel premiere.

Well this looks amusingly terrible.  This is frankly why so many people claim that movies stink nowadays.  It's the kind of 'take an old tale and turn it into an action picture' shtick that was tired the minute Van Helsing debut nearly nine summers ago.  Starring a flavor of the month actor (Jeremy Renner) and a random 'she's a movie star because we tell you she is' would-be starlet (Gemma Arterton), this can't even muster a decent trailer.  It looks dull, it looks cheap, and it looks like the kind of thing that would perhaps justify itself as a guilty pleasure as a Saturday night SyFy movie.  But this would-be franchise-starter is the kind of film that would-be audiences and critics are talking about when they decry the death of Hollywood.  Just as obnoxious, the film pertains to be about a brother-and-sister witch killers yet establishes what appears to be a stock 'rescue the damsel in distress' third act which sidelines Arterton for large chunks of the picture (notice how little she appears in the last third of the trailer).  I'm happy to see Famke Janssen in a high-profile project, but she seems to be the only source of entertainment, even with a somewhat surprising R-rating.  Although I will gladly eat crow if the film finds some way to incorporate IKEA into the narrative, perhaps making Mr. Ikea the would-be Q who builds all of their snap-together weapons ("There's an extra screw that doesn't go anywhere!  We're doomed sister!").  Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters debuts on January 11th. 2013.  As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson   

Celebrating the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series 20 years later: The unsung heroes of Batman:TAS.

This week will be the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series. In its weird way, the show actually had three 'premieres'. The first episode, "The Cat and the Claw part I", debuted on Saturday morning, September 5th, as a quasi-sneak preview of sorts. The next day saw the official premiere, in primetime no less (Sunday night at 7pm) where Fox debuted the official pilot episode, "On Leather Wings". Then came the first official weekday episode, Monday afternoon at 4:30pm, which was no less than "Heart of Ice", which to this day stands as not only one of the best episodes of the series run, but a shining testament to all that Batman: The Animated Series did right both in terms of the Batman mythos and the entire medium of childrens' action shows. This will be the second in what I hope are a handful of essays detailing the long-term legacy of the Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's groundbreaking animated saga. Today we discuss the people involved in the show whose names have been somewhat forgotten in the annals of Bat-history.  In short, the show is more than just the brainchild of Bruce Time and Paul Dini alongside the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill.  Without lessening their accomplishments, let's take a moment to remember the others who made it the modern day treasure that it is.

Celebrating the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series 20 years later: Why Batman:TAS is still the best.

This week will be the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series.  In its weird way, the show actually had three 'premieres'.  The first episode, "The Cat and the Claw part I", debuted on Saturday morning, September 5th, as a quasi-sneak preview of sorts.  The next day saw the official premiere, in primetime no less (Sunday night at 7pm) where Fox debuted the official pilot episode, "On Leather Wings".  Then came the first official weekday episode, Monday afternoon at 4:30pm, which was no less than "Heart of Ice", which to this day stands as not only one of the best episodes of the series run, but a shining testament to all that Batman: The Animated Series did right both in terms of the Batman mythos and the entire medium of childrens' action shows.  This will be the first in what I hope are a handful of essays detailing the long-term legacy of the Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski's groundbreaking animated saga. Today as we celebrate the first unofficial premiere, let me make this official pronouncement.  Batman: The Animated Series is the best interpretation of the Dark Knight Detective in any medium, ever. Yes, you read that right. Brilliantly written, flawlessly acted, gorgeously rendered and superbly crafted, Batman: The Animated Series is the best piece of long-form art concerning the character of Batman ever concocted.

No girls allowed? On the value of *not* arbitrarily inserting token love interests into male-centric genre films.

Let us for a moment highlight two of the many would-be Oscar bait pictures rolling out in the next couple months. Ben Affleck's Argo, which opens today, has instantly shot up to the upper-levels of many filmgoers' 'must see' list for the Fall.  Also pretty high on the list for film buffs is Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly.  Aside from the strong reviews that both films have already racked up prior to even being screened for most critics (ah, the festival circuit!), the one thing that sticks out about both films is the near absence of females in major roles.  The trailer for Killing Them Softly was notable for its complete absence of females.  Argo has few women in its trailer and seemingly only has female characters where they would make sense, be they among the Americans caught in Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis or people in the government who just happen to be female (the most notable seems to be Adrienne Barbeau).  Point being, having now seen both films, both are very very good and neither of these films felt the need to shoe-horn in female characters in otherwise all-male stories, and both films are better for it.  

Weekend Box Office: The Possession tops strong, Lawless opens so-so and Oogieloves bomb epically.

So it looks like Lionsgate's attempt to mimic the marketing campaign of their 2009 chiller The Haunting In Connecticut worked like a charm.  That (rather terrific, natch) horror drama used a single horrifying image (weird liquid supernatural gunk flying out of a child's mouth) to help snag a mighty $23 million debut in Spring 2009.  Back then, it was Lionsgate's second-biggest debut not involving a Saw sequel or a Tyler Perry film.  Today it still stands in fifth place on that scale, and The Possession just proves lightning can strike twice.  The poster focused on basically the same image and basically had the same opening weekend, grossing an estimated $17.7 million over Fri-Sun and $21 million over the four-day Labor Day holiday.  That's the second-biggest Labor Day haul on record, behind the $30 million gross of Rob Zombie's Halloween in 2007, ahead of The Transporter 2's $20 million gross in 2005 and ahead of Jeepers Creepers 2 ($18 million) in 2003 .  In terms of non-sequels/remakes, it's by far the biggest such debut, besting The American ($16 million), Jeepers Creepers ($15 million), and the obscenely underrated Balls of Fury ($14 million).