Pojo’s Patri Pris: 10/17/08

With the sting from last weekend’s suspicious Chihuahua’s win behind us, we are fastly approaching the first big weekend of Fall.  Tomorrow brings about the release of five new films, some of which, in context alone, could be  considered Oscar material.  However, the fact that they’re hitting theaters a few weeks too soon is a good sign that they’re mediocre at best.

First up is the much anticipated W..  Oliver Stone returns to fact-based film making (see Nixon, JFK, World Trade Center) and aims to take on the Head of the State.  The film stars Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, Goonies) as our president, George W. Bush, and appears to be a brutal look on how he came to be the worst president in our country’s nation.  However, early reports are in and the film seems to take the easy-way-out when it comes to several high profile situations.  Out of the five releases, I’d like to think this one is going to take home the most bank this weekend, however, I’m just not sold.  I have to really wonder who actually this movie is targeted towards.  I think people may hate Bush enough to just not care to see a two hour film about him.  Call me crazy.  As a Stone fan, I hope it does well, however, I’m just not sure there is much of an audience for it. 

Next up is Sex Drive, my pick for this week’s #1 flick.  I might be a bit biased, as I think it looks hilarious and am dying to see it.  The film stars Josh Zuckerman (Feast) as a kid who takes a road trip to have sex with his attractive internet friend.  Of course, hilarity ensues.  The film has an offbeat cast, who look to provide a very entertaining time, including James Marsden (X-Men) as the psychotic older brother.  The film is the first major release from Sean Anders, who wrote and directed here, and he seems to have a pretty solid sense of comedy, from what little I’ve seen of the trailers.  I expect Sex Drive to do well, much like last year’s Superbad, however, the timing of the release frightens me a bit.  It’s well after the typical August dump of comedies, and it’s not yet the holiday season, so this mid-October release screams mediocre comedy. 

The Secret Lives of Bees is a film, by the trailer alone, that I predicted to pick up an Oscar nom. or two.  However, with some of the reviews coming in, that prediction might be a bad one.  The film stars Dakota Fanning in her first major role since 2006’s Charlotte’s Web, as Lily Owens, a white girl who finds comfort in the secluded home of three African American sisters.  The film is set in South Carolina, 1964, and aims to take on all kinds of tough subjects.  Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo also star.  The film is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, who’s previous directing credits include Love and Basketball, and Stitches.  Bythewood also wrote the screenplay, which is based off of Sue Monk Kidd’s novel of the same name.  I think the film will find marginal success at the box office, but I doubt it will find a large audience in theaters.  I predict a large DVD success for it though..

Robert DeNiro’s latest, What Just Happened, will be seeing a smaller release this week.  The film is the story of a Hollywood producer struggling to get a film released.  The film reteams DeNiro with director Barry Levinson, and the two last created the political comedy/satire Wag the Dog.  Levinson has been a bit of hit-and-miss lately, with 2006’s Man of the Year falling short of the success of previous Levinson-created comedy.  Writing credit goes to Art Linson, who also wrote the book which the script is based on.  Oddly enough, Linson’s last writing credit is from 1978’s American Hot Wax.  He served as director of The Wild Life and Where the Buffalo Roam, both from the 80s.  I’m confident that What Just Happened will find great success with older movie goers, but it’s box office tally will most likely be small in comparison. 

I left Max Payne for last, for many reasons.  Max Payne is based on one of my favorite video game(s) of all time.  I spent many hours playing both the original and it’s successor, equally loving them both.  However, from what I can tell of the trailers, only the simplest plot points remain.  The story is of a cop who comes home to find his wife and child murdered.  Payne becomes obsessed with tracking down the killers, even if it means he gets set up along the way.  What was great about the games, is their style was that of a film noir.  In fact, this is my biggest problem with the film’s release.   To make a movie, about a game, which took inspiration and style from movies, just seems so ludicrous.  Added to that fact, that the noir vibe is gone and replaced with a Constantine-vibe, just weirds me out even more.  I imagine, if the film had found a release date closer to Christmas, that it would fare much better in theaters.  However, dumping this weekend, the film’s success will be impossible to guage.  It will either be #1, or #3.  There may be a following of video game nerds that are just dying to see it, but I seriously doubt it.  Mark Wahlberg stars as Payne, which is an inspired choice, and seems to be phoning it in again, as he’s done in the last several roles he’s taken on.

 

Pojo’s Weekend Predictions:

1)      Sex Drive

2)      W.

3)      Max Payne

4)      Quarantine

5)      Chihuahua

6)      Secret Life of Bees

7)      Body of Lies

8)      Eagle Eye

9)      Nick and Norah

10)   What Just Happened

 

EDIT:  I just received the list of theater counts for the weekend and it appears my predictions will be quite off, as Secret Lives of Bees is only dropping in 1,300 theaters and What Just Happend is very limited in 36.  I'll be surprised if Bees cracks top seven and I'll be blown away if What Just Happend cracks top 15.  Max Payne, on the other hand, is hitting over 3,000 theaters.  Interesting....

Pojo's Parti Pris: 10/10/08

Tomorrow sees the release of four major films, all of which, oddly enough, cover a wide range of categories.

First up is the new Bill Murray/Tim Robbins picture ‘City of Ember’. Despite the two large, adult celebrity names attached to the project, it is aimed at the kids and floats a nice PG rating. The film is only the second for director Gil Kenan, whose other work includes the animated Monster House. Quite a transition. Be on the lookout for Martain Landau (from many, many other films) as well as Mackenzie Crook (BBC’s The Office), though it might be a bit hard for the kiddies to recognize them. The film also stars that Atonement girl, Saoirse Ronan. The premise seems interesting, yet the trailer lacked inspiration. The script is based on a book of the same name by Jeanne Duprau and the script was written by Caroline Thompson, who, oddly enough, has spent a good deal of her life writing for Tim Burton on scripts like Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Edward Scissorhands. While this isn’t her first scripting work not to be directed by his talents, this is the first in over ten years. Also of note, Playtone (Tom Hank’s production company) appears thanks to Tom Hank’s producing credit.

Next in line is The Express, Disney’s fasttracked sequel to The Rookie; just kidding. The Express is the true story of professional football player Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman. That may have been a spoiler. Gary Fleder stands behind the camera, a man most known for his work in television, including episodes of October Road and Blind Justice. Oddly enough, he also directed tonight’s premiere of Life on Mars. Coincidence? The script, based off Robert Gallagher’s book, was written by Charles Leavitt, who’s been the talent behind Blood Diamond, K-PAX, and The Mighty. Be warned. Rob Brown stars as Mr. Davis, with Dennis Quaid appearing as a football coach, rather than a retiring pro quarterback (see Any Given Sunday), or a too-old-to-throw-pitcher (see The Rookie). Charles S. Dutton also has an appearance, though I doubt it will be as a janitor who inspires a young boy to not quite Notre Dame. The movie looks about as ‘feel-good’ as you can get with a sports movie and I’m sure it will have moderate success this weekend. The comparison to other successful sports films like The Rookie and Remember the Titans is an interesting one though, and seeing as how those were lesser known stories, I predict The Express to have a worse showing.

If neither of those impresses you, there’s always the political thriller, Body of Lies, starring that guy from Titanic and that guy from Gladiator (Leo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe). It’s directed by Ridley Scott and if it’s anything like Scott’s American Gangster last year, it will be a whopping success. If it’s anything like the three other films Scott directed before that (A Good Year, All the Invisible Children, and Kingdom of Heaven), you’ll be asleep before the credits roll. My money’s on sleeping. The film was scripted by William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven) and based off the book by David Ignatius, who happens to be a columnist for the Washington Post. I’ve been wrong before, but based off the trailers, it appears to be perfect for anyone suffering from insomnia.

Lastly we have Quarantine, the little indie horror flick looking to capitalize off the latest horror/realism success of Cloverfield. Quarantine is the first major release for director John Erick Dowdle, and was written by him and his brother Drew. The film is about a group of people quarantined inside an old building after discovering that something evil lurks inside. Jennifer Carpenter (Deb from the television show Dexter), Jay Hernandez (Hostel I and II, Hang Time), and Johnathon Schaech all star. Interestingly, all three actors have covered a wide range of horror with Carpenter starring in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Hernandez in Grindhouse and Hostel(s), and Schaech in so many third-rate horror sequels I lost count. Either it’s a weird coincidence, or a certain casting director knew what he/she was looking for. It’s always a good sign for a horror film scheduled to release weeks BEFORE Halloween. It’s a safe bet that it sucks, but an even safer bet that the American audience will pay millions of dollars to see it.

I’d expect Quarantine to be the only film of the four capable of dethrone-ing that stupid little Chihuahua. If Quarantine fails, we will certainly be looking at a dog in the top spot again. That is, at least, until Saw 5 drops in two weeks.