This week brings some great Criterion titles, a solid David Cronenberg film, and some of the worst films from the end of the 2011–both Oscar nominated flicks and kiddie movies. Hey, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was nominated for Best Picture, so it can’t be all that bad, can it? (Answer: Yes it can). Check out the highlights of this week’s releases….
Ooh, scary. This is the first full weekend of the New Year, and like all new years, that means that the studios would rather you see their big pictures that just came out (or are expanding) than see much new. That’s because January is still considered a weak season. Yeah, you get your Taken‘s and such, but none of these pictures are thought to be blockbusters. Enter The Devil Inside.
It’s New Year’s Eve on Saturday, which means 2012 starts Sunday and we’ll be getting a non-stop stream of Mayan apocalypse jokes about everything. For the cinemas there are two movies opening: Pariah (12/28) on four screens and The Iron Lady (12/30) on another four screens. These are qualifying runs, and it’s likely that Meryl Streep will get a nomination for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher. Shame about the movie, though. Let’s talk numbers, shall we?
Though the holiday season tends to bring out some blockbusters, Christmas itself is a terrible day for movies. And this year, with Christmas Eve on a Saturday and Christmas on a Sunday, we’re not going to see strong weekend numbers from anyone. Something that’s going to repeat next weekend with New Year’s. Then again, it’s been a weak year, and last weekend proved it. This weekend we get The Adventures of Tintin, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in it’s non-Imax run, We Bought a Zoo, The Darkest Hour and War Horse going wide. Busy busy.
Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise battled it out at the box office this weekend. Unfortunately for Cruise, it was the Warner Bros. sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows that scored the win. Fortunately for Cruise, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol only opened in IMAX, which means it’s off to a pretty good start. This coming week the action sequel will get a wider release. However, this time around it was RDJ’s second go-around as the witty and charming detective that brought in just over $40 million. The third Chipmunks movie Chipwrecked pulled ahead of Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and landed at No. 2 with $23.5 million. Mission Impossible, debuted at No. 3, with just $13 million. Last week’s winner New Year’s Eve and, The Sitter rounded out the top five.
Check out the numbers…
The holiday season is on us, and – though often there’s hit films over the last two months of the year – it seems this year the last couple films of 2011 are crammed in like a poorly packed suitcase. Last week was softer than soft, but this week brings Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Alvin and the Chimpmunks: Chipwrecked and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. If you’re a theater owner, it’s time to stock up on your colons.
It’s another solid week on DVD as two bona fide blockbusters hit shelves with holiday releases Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel coming out on DVD. Plus, the last at of the non-Avatar Best Picture nominees comes to your home theater as well. Even in a week where isn’t much TV on DVD this one is hard to beat.
Check it all out below…
