Kimputer's Weblog

Another quiet movie weekend, covered by some lesser known movies (again?). First up is The Rundown (opens here 22 Jan), starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Probably visited by those curious to find out if he learned some acting skills yet. A surprising $18.5 million for this surprisingly well received movie. Second is Diane Lane’s headlining Under the Tuscan Sun, where probably mostly the ladies brought in a $9.4 million (opens here, I dunreally care). Last week’s number one, Underworld, had some 57% less blood to suck and ended up third with some $9.4 million.
At nr. 7 is Danny Devito’s helmed dark comedy Duplex starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, somehow didn’t attract people and thus really bombed with justw $4.6 million (opens here, feb/mar).

Underworld, a Kate Beckinsale starring vampire-werewolf movie, drew the blood of other contestants, and ended up nr. 1 with $22 million (opens here 15 Jan). Second place was for MTV musical styled The Fighting Temptations (opens here, uhm, don’t care) with $13.2 million. 3rd place was for Haley Joel Osments return to the silver screen, co-starring Michael Cain and Robert Duvall in Secondhand Lions with $12.9 million (opens here 13 Nov). Once Upon a Time in Mexico takes another $11.5 million in its second week. Last, a not so scary horror flick starring a not so scary house, Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone, is Cold Creek Manor with a not so scary $8.3 million.

While the first few minutes feels contrived, and therefor a bit grim, and you start turfing the good and the bad jokes, it later comes together like the first Pie movie did. Nothing really new, story or joke wise, but it still entertaining.7+.

Rodriguez’ Desperado follow up, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (opens here 25 Dec), headed for the nr. 1 spot with guns blazing, taking in $24 million. Second was a Nicolas Cage starrer, Matchstick Man, good for $13.3 million. Mostly unknown horror flick starring absolutely nobody notable, is Cabin Fever (opens here, I don’t care), with still a high $8.5 million.

A team-up movie headed by Sean Connery can be promising, not ? Well, these days, you never know. The story is too simple, and can be guessed by a five-year old. The characters are scraped together and there’s nothing holding them together. They’re not that special, and they are as hollow as they can come. The correct title would have been The League of Very Ordinary and Cliche Gentlemen, because there’s nothing interesting to tell. Furthermore, the movies is just a bunch of fast edited scenes with special effects added that are too obvious special effects. I won’t start with the matter of unbelievability of various aspects of the movie, as they’re too baffling to be discussed.6-.

A very very quiet week at the box office as the stupidly named low budget laffer Dicky Roberts: Former Child Star (opens here 29 Jan) opened with a meagre $7 million. 2nd place was last weeks winner Jeepers Creepers 2 with a well deserved 66% drop to $6.7 million. Third was Pirates, still sailing well with $5.5 million, and beating The Matrix Reloaded (totalling $280 million) for 2nd place this year with $282 million.
Opening on nr. 6, is Heath Ledger starring in a horror flick called The Order (opens here 23 Oct), bringing in only $4.3 million. This proves looks will get you anywhere, but not for long. Time to start auditioning a lot dude !

A very adequate movie suiting almost everybody’s taste. It had nice action, a tiny bit of a story, a bit humor, and the pace keeps the whole movie running. As usual, Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg team up nicely (The Yards) and the rest of the cast are okay too. Norton does the creepy bad guy stuff very well.7½.

Scary stuff goin’ on, coz Jeepers Creepers 2 opened with an amazing $18.5 million (opens here …uhmm… I don’t care), after the abomination that was Jeepers Creepers. Must be the Labor Day craze goin’ on. Second was the family laugher Freaky Friday with $11.7 million. Third was S.W.A.T. with $10.5 million. Fourth, was Pirates in its 8th week run ! With another $10.2 million, Bruckheimer’d better build another big sailing ship to carry his current total of a whopping $274 million golden dollars.

With a strong cast, you don’t necessarily get a strong movie. While it starts out as a small mystery, it soon grows in to a story with more twists and turns than an average rollercoaster. In the end, it kinda blows out of hand, and it leaves your head buzzing with a story too elaborate to be believable (and that’s an understatement).6½.

A quiet week at the box office, yet blood kept flowing as Freddy and Jason slashed their way in to keep the nr. 1 spot with $13.5 million. Also still kicking in doors is S.W.A.T. at nr. 2 with $10.8 million. Freaky Friday and Open Range have to share the third spot with $9.4 million. The fifth place is for this weeks opener The Medallion (opens here 23 Oct), a Jackie Chan starrer that suffered some pretty bad reviews. A measly $8.2 million is a clear indication the standard Jackie Chan formula movie needs some tweaking.

A name like Michael Caine should be able to carry a movie. Well, he does. In spite of this somewhat mellow novel adaptation, and a trailer that showed all the action there was, it was still acceptable as a movie. Clearly broken apart in pieces with a different focus and feeling, it does feel a bit disjointed, not helping to pull you emotionally into this movie. The get-to-know-the-characters part, the subdued love story, the action sequences, the thriller twist, all feel like seperate parts, and there’s no effort made to mix it, or deepen it.6½.

Another sequel heads for the top spot, as Freddy battles Jason in back-up generatored movie theatres (opens here 2nd Oct). Taking in $36.4 million is quite a surprise, as horror flicks, especially part 3 or higher, are already considered B-movies. Dropping half its previous public is S.W.A.T on number 2, taking in $18.6 million in its second week. Seemingly low profile western, Open Range, starring/directed by Kevin Costner still manages to earn $14.1 million, finishing the top 3 (opens here unknown).

Long title, long movie. And it’s not all that bad, thinking this genre never really attracted me (or anyone else, for that matter, as the pirate movies of the last decade have sunken faster than ghost ships disappear). In the capable hands of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has a golden touch, and under direction of George Verbinski (slow actioner The Mexican, and the scary The Ring), all is well. Tiny but tricky story, sails along with enough knots on the meter to make you dizzy. The love story however, was shoved under the carpet a bit. Atmosphere was flawlessly created with amazing sets and old fashioned explosive action scenes. Acting is particularly good with Johnny Depp taking the spotlight as a whacky pirate.7½.

Samuel L. Jackson starrer S.W.A.T. stormed in at nr. 1 with a favorable 37 million (opens here 4th Dec). Second opener was Disney’s Freak Friday (opens here 2nd Oct), a remake which originally starred a young Jodi Foster. This time Jamie Lee Curtis, as a mom in 1this mom-daughter reversal movie, hauls in some 22.3 million. Dropping an expected 55% is American Wedding with 15.1 million on the third spot. The pie must be getting dry. More ships are really needed to carry the extra 13.1 million for the Pirates, still number 4 in it’s 5th week. Seabiscuit show more strength than Lara Croft at number 5 with 11.9 million. And nowhere to be seen is last week opener Gigli starring real life couple Ben Affleck and Big Ass Lopez (that rhymez). This movie is this year’s biggest flop.

The cradle is empty. Trust me on that one. Everything coming from Jan de Bont since 1996 has essentially been, nicely put, crap. One of course does not dare to be so harsh, but three strikes, and yerrrr out (this one with The Haunting, and Speed 2). Lara Croft still is the same one dimensional character, and the old and new characters surrounding her are half dimensional at best. Having a huge budget, somehow that must have disappeared somewhere else than the movie. There are second rank background replacements, running at a different framerate, besides the already choppy integration with the foreground. There are also the closed set action scenes that are too obviously set in a … well, closed set. And blue screen sequences have never been easier to spot. An uninteresting story with and some chases to yawn at, leaves you two hours shorter a life. A third part, with an even longer title, would be a mistake better buried deeper than the Cradle of Life itself.5+.