Weekend Box Office (02/03/13): Warm Bodies tops while Bullet to the Head tanks.

Ah, Super Bowl weekend!  Warm Bodies (review) can go from a $9 million Saturday to a $2.9 million Sunday and it's okay!  According to the studio, it earned $8.1 million on Friday, $9 million on Saturday, yet is expected to make just $2.9 million today.  Yes, I know today is the Super Bowl, but I'm always shocked by these mega drops each and every year.  The film, which has an estimated $20 million debut, played 60% female (because girls like horror films too!) and 65% under 25, which means it is doing best outside of the stereotypical older male football fan who is already getting ready for the big game so it may end up with a slightly higher weekend total in the end.  It earned a B+ from Cinemascore, with an A- from those under 25 and an A from those under 18.  Regardless, this is a solid debut for a film that easily could have played to the geek crowd exclusively. This is the kind of film that could have easily opened with $8 million over the weekend, as opposed to $8 million on its first day.

Five Sylvester Stallone films better than Bullet to the Head...

Rather than obsess over how weak and amateurish Stallone's newest action film happens to be, I thought I'd take some time to pick out some better examples of Sly's surprisingly interesting filmography.  These five films aren't so much the best or even the most underrated, but merely five films that merit discussion and are worth digging into just a little bit more than usual.  Agree?  Disagree?  You probably do, because I could have easily done such a piece on ten Stallone films worth briefly dissecting, but I imagine I can only punish my readers for so long at one time.  You'll get your chance below, but for now enjoy these mini-essays of well, uh, let's just call them five Sylvester Stallone movies that are much better than Bullet to the Head.

Review: Bullet to the Head (2013) is awful, but amusingly so.

Bullet to the Head

2013
90 minutes
rated R

by Scott Mendelson

I cannot in good conscience recommend Walter Hill's Bullet to the Head (trailer).  It is an amateurish production that looks and feels like a direct-to-DVD film in all of the worst ways.  It is badly acted, terribly written, and lazily plotted.  It is easily one of the worst films Sylvester Stallone has ever made, and it's a huge step down after Rocky Balboa, Rambo, and the silly-but-large scale Expendables films.  Moreover, it lacks any of the subtext or resonance that has occasionally highlighted Stallone's best work and brightened some of his lesser films over the decades (essay HERE).  Yet it is also the kind of movie that can be a genuine good time in the right frame of mind and with the right audience.  If you have a friend or two who is in the right mood and you waltz into a cheap weekend matinee, you'll probably amuse yourself accordingly.  But for anyone actually expecting quality cinema or even something on par with a mid-range Jason Statham vehicle, just know that this makes The Mechanic look like Safe.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Last Stand) vs. Sylvester Stallone (Bullet To the Head): Whose new movie has the worse trailer?

Let's be honest.  Both of these films look pretty terrible.  Both feature over-the-hill action icons who can barely walk at a quick pace let alone engage in all-out fight scenes.  The films look just a big better than substandard direct-to-DVD action fare, and that's not even counting the *good* DTV stuff like Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Undisputed 3.   Both Stallone and Schwarzenegger seem to be acting as badly as possible.  Schwarzenegger is obviously out of practice, but Stallone has little excuse, having delivered perfectly fine turns in Rocky Balboa, Rambo, and The Expendables (I'm hopefully seeing The Expendables 2 tomorrow night).  So, The Last Stand (from Jee-woon Kim, helmer of I Saw the Devil) opens from Lionsgate on January 13th, 2013. Walter Hill's Bullet To the Head (following oodles of reshoots) debuts via Warner Bros. on February 1st, 2013.  They both look pretty terrible.  But as a longtime fan of Homicide: Life on the Street, Bullet To the Head gets bonus points for viciously murdering Jon Seda (who very nearly killed the show during season six) in the opening reel.  Which one looks less awful to you?  Are you surprised that 20th Century Fox didn't have a A Good Day To Die Hard trailer ready for this weekend?  Please share below...

Scott Mendelson