ScreenCrave.com » milk

Ed Harris Replaces Liam Neeson in What’s Wrong With Virginia

Mali Elfman — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:48:58 +0000

Nothing is ever as simple as it should be. Due to Liam Neeson‘s recent lose of his wife, Ed Harris will be taking over his role in Dustin Lance Black’s upcoming film What’s Wrong With Virginia according to Collider. Although the reason behind Neeson having to step down from the role is horrible, if anyone could fill his shoes it’s Ed Harris. Both men are amazing actors who have been around for a long time, so aside from the sad news, I’m rather excited to see what Harris can do with the role.

Also joining the cast will be Emma Roberts and Amy Madigan. Jennifer Connelly has been signed on to the project since the beginning and sans anymore horrific accidents, it looks like we have ourselves one impressive cast.

Variety Synopsis: Harris plays the role of a sheriff whose state senate bid is jeopardized when his daughter begins to date the son of a psychologically disturbed woman (Connelly) with whom the sheriff has engaged in a two-decade affair.

Which is worse? Losing his bid for Senate or having his daughter possibly dating her brother? I’ll go with the latter. Leave it to Black, who recently received an Academy Award for his film Milk to conjure up another interesting script, which again deals with politics in an interesting, albeit very different way.

What do you think about Ed Harris taking over the role?

5 Films that Inspire Equal Rights in Honor on GLBT Month

Guest Writer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:30:36 +0000

With the release of Gus Van Sant‘s film Milk coinciding with the current issues of Prop 8, gay cinema was finally pushed into the forefront of everyones attention both on screen and off. Although this genre may be a touchy subject, more and more directors and actors are choosing to discuss the issues behind the repression of homosexuality both in politics and ones life.

The month of June is Gay & Lesbian Pride Month so in honor of that, we have put together a list of some of the most influential gay films which have helped inspire, educate, and encourage audiences to make a change and support equal rights.

Take a look after the jump…

5. Philadelphia (1993) – Philadelphia is a great gay/Aids movie starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Antonio Banderas. The film tells the story of Andrew Beckett (Hanks), a gay lawyer infected with AIDS who is fired from his law firm because his colleagues fear they might contract AIDs. This film is important because it was one of the first all-star casts, which could pull in big audiences, that tackled the issues of AIDs in the United States, and also introduced a more realistic picture of gays and lesbians. Although the film is about two gay lovers, the AIDs issue in the film was meant for everyone. The film exploited the discrimination that gays and AIDs patients still undergo in our democratic society and began the change towards AIDs no longer just being associated with the homosexual community.

Overall the film was very successful at the box office ($200 million worldwide) and in encouraging AIDS awareness and acceptance.

Check out the trailer below . . .

4. Bad Education (2004) – A stand-out film by Pedro Almodóvar, about two childhood friends who discovered love and cinema as young pupils. The film deals with sexual abuse, trans-sexuality and gender abuse, and it is known for it’s nearly all-male cast and considered one of Almodóvar’s more serious and poignant films. The film doesn’t let anyone off the hook especially the Catholic church. It brings awareness to the sexual abuse happening in churches everywhere; from the priest to the young boys that spend there days inside the church.

Overall it holds a powerful message that churches can be just as hypocritical as anyone. It’s better to be a good person than to say you’re a good person, and being gay has nothing to do with whether or not you’re “good.”

Bad Education received mixed reviews, but made over $40 million worldwide.

Check out the trailer below.

3. Fire (1996) – Get’s points for a unique perspective on the gay community. Fire is the first Indian film to explicitly show homosexual relations, and after its release many right-wing Hindu groups violently protested against homosexuality. In the film, two daughters-in-law who were forced to marry into the family in an arranged marriage become lovers. The women go through many hardships, but in the end prove that following ones heart is the only way to live no matter what the consequences. Although many critics loved the film calling it “explosive” and “pathbreaking,” many were outraged by the explicit lesbian relationship shown in the film.

There were many protest against the film, but gay activist Ashok Row Kavi criticized the protest as “gay bashing” and argued against lesbianism being against Indian tradition. Director of the film Deepa Mehta said in an interview about the film, “Fire is not a film about lesbians [but rather about] the choices we make in life.” Sounds like a good message for everyone.

Check out the trailer below.

2. Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Why? Because this film is iconic. Perhaps the issues of homosexuality aren’t in the forefront as they are with some of the other films on this list, but Ang Lee‘s film consists of some of the finest performances (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) and an extremely personal exploration of the pain behind hiding who one really is.

The thing about Brokeback Mountain is that although it isn’t outwardly about gay rights, it’s about the misery of having to live in secret and denying one’s true self. Instead of taking an activist perspective, it went through the struggles of real people and shows how lying to oneself doesn’t make things better, it destroys lives.

What could inspire more honest activism then a message like that?

Brokeback Mountain made over $170 million worldwide and seemed to be well received by audiences all over.

Check out the trailer below.

1. Milk (2008) – Milk is an award winning biopic film about the life of activist and politician Harvey Milk. Milk has received very high acclaim and redefined Queer Cinema. I had never seen a gay film like Milk; most gay films are about two or three characters, but Milk is about the suffrage of an entire people. Although the movement started in Castro it stretched far and wide, and now with the film, hopefully Harvey Milk’s message can stretch even further especially in a time when it’s needed most.

Sadly, we haven’t come that since the 60′s-70′s, in fact some people may even say we’ve taken some steps backwards. The disappointing thing about this film is that not many people went to see it. In fact, for the most part it was only pro-gay audiences who were already accepting that purchased tickets. Although Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black both won Academy Awards for the film it was probably the least well received, which shows that people aren’t ready for change.

That being said, this film was not made to persuade people, it was made to move them.

So what better time than now to let this great film motivate you. You can’t just sit and let things happen, get out there and make a difference like, Harvey did and like Black is currently doing with the couragecampaign and more!

Milk has made over $53 million so far, and I believe Milk to be a film that deserves a month like June to honor it because it’s currently out fighting to make a difference.

Check out the trailer below.

Which films do you think are the better ones in gay cinema?

This Week on DVD: Role Models, Milk, Primal Fear

Andrew Payne — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:00:13 +0000

Amazing week for DVDs. Check it out…

Role Models – Buy Now
Milk – Buy Now
Rachel Getting Married – Buy Now
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – Buy Now
Let the Right One In – Buy Now
Happy-Go-Lucky – Buy Now
Cadillac Records – Buy Now
Synecdoche, NY – Buy Now
Transporter 3 – Buy Now

Check out this weeks top picks, plus TV to DVD releases, special feature releases and this weeks horrible straight to DVD release below…

FEATURE FILM PICKS

Role Models

Starring: Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott

It’s very strange. In a comedy world that seems to be owned by Judd Apatow and his merry band of pranksters somehow they combine to make their funniest movie yet and nobody noticed.

Such was the fate of Role Models, which debuted in October of last year with a better story and more laughs than any movie yet made by anybody associated with Judd-the-Great. Reviews were good, box office was okay, but that was about it. Just as quickly as it brought audiences to uproarious laughter it was forgotten by just about everybody.

It could be that it suffered from “The Golden Age Simpsons Syndrome”. That is, a movie, or television show, is so funny that you quickly forgot you even saw it. The name originates from countless Monday cafeteria conversations when “The Simpsons” was at it peak, when people would gather round and say, “Did you see ‘The Simpsons’ last night?” “Yeah, it was great! What was it about again?”

Nobody remembers because they were laughing so hard. Because the lack of oxygen to their brain caused by the guffawing must have damaged memory cells. This condition occurs presently with “30 Rock” and some episodes of “How I Met Your Mother”. Apparently, it can also apply to Role Models because there’s no other logical reason why this isn’t a comedy classic.

So keep your memories intact and Buy The DVD!

Milk

Starring: Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin and Emile Hirsch

Oscar DVD season starts early this year as Milk hits shelves just a couple weeks after it won Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the ceremony.

Seems kind of strange though. Why didn’t the studio try to make some more money in theaters with this film? Slumdog was fourth at the box office this week, riding very high from the Oscar boost, and Milk was the second-most honored film at the Academy Awards, and it gets dumped on shelves the second week of March?

It really shows the sad state of “prestige pictures” these days. A movie that gets nominated for boatloads of awards and takes home two of the seven major Oscars never even expands into a wide release. People in Topeka never get to see Milk on the big screen. Juneau, Alaska is still waiting to see the best film nominated for Best Picture this year. Theater owners in Laredo, Texas probably never even bothered to put up a poster. Why is this? Why don’t studios trust audiences enough to go see good films once in a while?

Well, at least now everybody can see if they buy the DVD.

TV ON DVD

“Cracker”: The Complete Series

You can be pretty certain that this classic British series will soon be remade, but this DVD Set is your chance to catch “Cracker” before it gets watered down.

Fans of “The Shield” will love its anti-hero main character. Fans of “Law & Order” will dig the “ripped from the headlines” approach the writers took to several episodes. Fans of great TV will simply enjoy a rattling good yard in which Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter movies) portrays a criminal psychologist encountering several types of psychotic criminals while wrestling with his own demons.

So take a step away from the standard US TV fare with this 3-disc DVD Set.

Also:

“The Starter Wife”: Complete Series – Buy Now
“South Park“: Season 12 – Buy Now
“Get Smart”: Season 2 – Buy Now
“The Best Years”: Season 1 – Buy Now
“Family Ties”: Season 5 – Buy Now

SPECIAL EDITION OF THE WEEK

Primal Fear: Hard Evidence Edition

Starring: Edward Norton, Richard Gere, Frances McDormand and Laura Linney

There are many reasons this film deserves a special edition. It’s the screen debut of one Edward Norton who notched a Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination for his efforts. It has an incredible cast from top-to-bottom, and is an excellent thriller to boot?

So what took so long? Why did fans have to suffer with a bare-bones edition for the last ten years?

It seems like it was worth the wait; however, as this DVD is loaded with features. These include a look at the casting of the then-unknown Edward Norton in the pivotal role. Another featurette documents the success rate of the insanity plea, and yet a third featurette is a retrospective of the film. Plus, there’s a director’s commentary and the trailer.

Still, what took so long?

Also:

Pinocchio: 70^th Anniversary Platinum Edition – Buy Now
Howard the Duck – Buy Now
Escape to Witch Mountain: Special Edition – Buy Now
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Special Edition – Buy Now
The Miracle Worker: 30^th Anniversary Edition – Buy Now

HORRIBLE STRAIGHT-TO-DVD RELEASE OF THE WEEK

The Casino Job

This movie’s plot is very simple: Strippers Rob a Casino.

Do we need any other reasons why this takes the HSTDROTW title? Didn’t think so. But, there’s also a wrinkle in the plan. One of the quartet of strippers may or may not betray the rest of her clothesless clan, and if you can’t trust a stripper, really who can you trust?

Buy the DVD.

Penn Wants You to Join the Courage Campaign

Krystal Clark — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:55:12 +0000

As we all know the U.S. government, specifically California has been under fire for their refusal to recognize gay, bi-sexual, and transgender marriages. Once Proposition 8 was passed in the state last November, several organizations immediately went to work to appeal the decision. Since then it’s been an uphill battle, but many celebrities and other’s of influence have tried to do what they can to help obtain equality for all effected. Last year’s biopic Milk, which earned Sean Penn his second Academy Award, mirrored similar struggles of today’s gay community more than 30 years after Harvey Milk’s unfortunate death.

The Courage Campiagn, an “online organizing network that empowers nearly 700,000 grassroots and netroots activists to push for progressive change” has been backed by the creators of Milk to help stop discrimination against the gay community. A recent letter was sent out on behalf of Sean Penn, Dustin Lance Black, Cleve Jones, Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks and Gus Van Sant in an attempt to gain supporters to take a stand against those who backed Prop 8.

Here is a snippet from the letter that details the current state of their fight for equality.

A few minutes ago, the California Supreme Court heard the final oral arguments in the case to overturn Proposition 8. Within 90 days, we will know whether the court will restore equal rights or uphold injustice. No matter what the state Supreme Court decides, the fight for equality will continue in California and across the country.

Harvey Milk understood the need to organize communities from the bottom-up, the need for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people to be out and proud as leaders in this movement, and the need for straight allies to join them in solidarity. That’s why we worked so hard to get the film “Milk” to movie screens across America. We wanted to show a new generation of Americans how Harvey organized to win landmark victories in the fight for equal rights.

If you would like to give your support and read the rest of the letter you can visit the official Courage Campaign website here.

Full List of 2009 Oscar Winners

Mali Elfman — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:30:56 +0000

It’s been quite an award show. We twittered the Oscars live from inside the Kodak theater. We posted all the best moments on the red carpet and the big winners of the night. Just in case you were looking for a full list of all the nominees and all the winners, here it is!

*Winners are bolded*

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella – Frost / Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

DIRECTING
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Gus Van Sant – Milk
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost / Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
Wall-E

MUSIC (SCORE)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

MUSIC (SONG)
“Down to Earth” – Wall-E (Peter Gabriel)
“Jai Ho” – Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman)
“O Saya” – Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman & Maya Arulpragasam)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory – Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Auf der Streke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Der Bader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

FILM EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost / Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Iron Man
The Dark Knight

OSCARS: Best Picture!

JC — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:50:07 +0000

Surprise Surprise! Slumdog Millionaire SWEPT the Oscars with eight wins, including the highly anticipated award for Best Picture. With it’s outstanding ensemble cast, kick-ass soundtrack, and obviously genius direction by Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire just put India on the map!

It’s been an incredible year in story-telling. Every single Best Picture nominee (The Curious Case of Bemjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Frost/Nixon, and Milk) was endearing and had incredibly relevant themes – each bringing something completely fresh to the table. In fact, any of these five films seem worthy of the award in my book.

Bravo to another brilliant year in film. And let’s start counting down ’til next February!

OSCARS: Best Leading Actor/Actress

JC — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:25:40 +0000

This year’s categories for Best Actor and Actress are, without a doubt, comprised of Hollywood’s elite. Despite predictions, with such an outstanding group of artists – how do you decide who’s performance merits the award every actor dreams of?

Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Melissa Leo, and Angelina Jolie represent some of the most powerful women in the film industry. But with an incredibly successful year starring in both Revolutionary Road AND The Reader, from her bathroom mirror with a shampoo bottle in place of a golden statue, to the stage at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles…

The MUCH deserved Oscars goes to: Kate Winslet!

And of course, our fierce group of leading men – Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Frank Langella, Brad Pitt, and Richard Jenkins.

It’s hard to believe that the same man who played incredibly masculine, dramatic roles in films like Dead Man Walking, Mystic River, and 21 Grams could portray Harvey Milk with such honesty – with such commitment. Despite the all the media hype towards The Wrestler’s Mickey Rourke…

The Oscar goes to: Sean Penn!

Round Up: Depp in Rum Diary, Scream 4, Crazies Casting…

Mali Elfman — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:30:26 +0000

Is Hunter S. Thompson’s, The Rum Diary right for Johnny Depp? The details from the script include: “1960: Divorced alcoholic and struggling novelist Paul Kemp decides to kick around San Juan until his ship comes in… drinking gallons of rum and experimenting with LSD.” That sounds like something Depp would be great at! He’s developed a thing for rum hasn’t he? [FirstShowing]
Radha Mitchell joins Deadwood’s former sheriff Timothy Olyphant in George Romero’s 1973 horror remake of The Crazies. Good movie. Don’t fuck it up. [Empire]
Warner Bros. Entertainment is asking its departments to cut their budgets by at least 10 percent. Maybe the Watchmen stress is getting to them, maybe it’s the recession. Either way, cutbacks are here. [Variety]

Milk wins Best Picture and Sean Penn wins Best Actor in Vancouver Critics Awards. At least we know that the Canadians appreciate the film. [Variety]
It looks like Craven is not done with the Scream series yet. The writer of the first two Scream films, Kevin Williamson is coming back on to write another screenplay and Wes Craven might be coming back to direct, or at least be a part of the production in some way. Aren’t we done with that franchise? The story-lines really dropped off at the end. [FirstShowing]

Nominations for the Critics Choice Awards Lead by ‘Milk’ and ‘Button’

Mali Elfman — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:50:00 +0000

That’s right, Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button have tied for the most nominations with eight a piece. Both were of nominated for best actor, best acting ensemble, best writer, and of course best picture. Sadly, only one of those is available in theaters at present (Milk) the other one you’re going to have to wait until Christmas to watch.

Here are the nominees for the 14th annual Critics’ Choice Awards. Which ones do you want to win?

PICTURE
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“Wall-E”
“The Wrestler”

ACTOR
Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

ACTRESS
Kate Beckinsale, “Nothing But the Truth”
Cate Blanchett, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey, Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
James Franco, “Milk”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Vera Farmiga, “Nothing But the Truth”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

ACTING ENSEMBLE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Doubt”
“Milk”
“Rachel Getting Married”

DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”

WRITER (ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”

ANIMATED FEATURE
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”
“Wall-E”
“Waltz With Bashir”

YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (UNDER 21)
Dakota Fanning, “The Secret Life of Bees”
David Kross, “The Reader”
Dev Petal, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Brandon Walters, “Australia”

ACTION MOVIE
“The Dark Knight”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Quantum of Solace”
“Wanted”

COMEDY
“Burn After Reading”
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”
“Role Models”
“Tropic Thunder”
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
“John Adams”
“Recount”
“Coco Chanel”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“A Christmas Tale”
“Gomorrah”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Let the Right One In”
“Mongol”
“Waltz With Bashir”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“I.O.U.S.A.”
“Man on Wire”
“Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired”
“Standard Operating Procedure”
“Young at Heart”

SONG
“Another Way to Die,” Jack White and Alicia Keys/Jack White, “Quantum of Solace”
“Down to Earth,” Peter Gabriel/Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, “Wall-E”
“I Thought I Lost You,” Miley Cyrus and John Travolta/Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele, “Bolt”
“Jaiho,” Sukhwinder Singh/A.R. Rahman and Gulzar, “Slumdog Millionaire”
“The Wrestler,” Bruce Springsteen/Bruce Springsteen, “The Wrestler”

COMPOSER
Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Clint Eastwood, “Changeling”
Danny Elfman, “Milk”
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, “The Dark Knight”
A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”

BOX OFFICE NUMBERS: Four Christmases Beats Down Twilight

Mali Elfman — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:26:58 +0000

Wow. Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, totally kicked some vampire ass over Thanksgiving. The numbers are basically everything you would expect at the top. I was happy to see that Milk, with one of the smallest releases of all time (only in 36 theaters) managed to make it onto the top ten, averaging over four times per theater what Four Christmases was able to do. Hopefully that will help it get a wider release in weeks to come. And if I would have turned it up to 11, Slumdog Millionaire came was just outside the countdown this week, showing that it will hopefully manage to work it’s way in. Here are this weeks numbers…

Four Christmases (New) | Weekend Gross $46,710,000 | Average Per Theater $14,112 | Total Gross $46,710,000 | Production Cost $80 Million | Week 1
Twilight | Weekend Gross $39,522,380 | Average Per Theater $11,539 | Total Gross $119,688,000 | Production Cost $37 Million | Week 2
Bolt | Weekend Gross $36,008,682 | Average Per Theater $9,855 | Total Gross $66,862,000 | Week 2
Quantum of Solace | Weekend Gross $28,125,399 | Average Per Theater $8,034 | Total Gross $142,056,000 | Production Cost $200 Million | Week 3
Australia (New) | Weekend Gross $20,000,000 | Average Per Theater $7,570 | Total Gross $20,000,000 | Production Cost $130 Million | Week 1
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa | Weekend Gross $19,599,584 | Average Per Theater $5,284 | Total Gross $159,511,000 | Production Cost $150 Million | Week 4
Transporter 3 (New) | Weekend Gross $18,500,000 | Average Per Theater $7,045 | Total Gross $18,500,000 | Week 1
Role Models | Weekend Gross $7,808,660 | Average Per Theater $3,557 | Total Gross $57,896,000 | Production Cost $28 Million | Week 4
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas | Weekend Gross $2,189,745 | Average Per Theater $3,762 | Total Gross $5,160,000 | Week 4
Milk (New) | Weekend Gross $1,866,000 | Average Per Theater $51,833 | Total Gross $1,866,000 | Week 1

BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS: Will Christmas Dominate Thanksgiving?

Krystal Clark — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:30:45 +0000

If you’re one of the many people stuck at work, waiting for 5 o’clock to roll around, this articles for you! It’s a short work week and a long holiday weekend, so whats a film lover to do? Well, studios are hoping you will invest some time and money into your local movie theater. Opening this week is Four Christmases, Transporter 3, Milk (limited), and Baz’s Luhrmann’s sweeping epic Australia. Projections are already being made as to who will take the box office crown from last weeks champ, Twilight.

Continue reading to find out who might end up on top.

According to /Film, the Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon comedy Four Christmases looks as if it will take the biggest piece of the (pumpkin) pie this weekend. Typically, Christmas films fare well during the Thanksgiving holiday, and experts don’t expect this year to be any different.

The truth is that there is always room for a Christmas comedy at Thanksgiving. The high water mark was 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which opened with $55M on its way to $260M domestic, but there is a proven track record for Christmas-themed films opening for Thanksgiving or the few weeks before.

Tracking for Four Christmases really surged over the weekend, and I’m told that the Monday numbers point to a possible weekend win. I am penciling in a potential $38.5M for this Seth Gordon-directed comedy.

As for last week’s reigning champ Twilight, predictions see the film slipping to the number 2 spot, with its viewership dropping considerably from last week.

After $69.6M in its opening weekend, Twilight could be down 72% to $18.9M for the upcoming Friday-Saturday-Sunday traditional frame. Still, I anticipate a respectable $30.7M for the 5-day, which would push the vampire love saga’s domestic gross to $110M by Monday morning.

Now, this is just one perspective on this weekends box office battle. There is still a strong consensus amongst fans that Twilight will hold on to its top spot. According to ComingSoon.net, the numbers will fall in favor of the vampires.

Twilight (Summit) – $44.7 / 31.7 million -55%
Four Christmases (New Line/WB) – $32.8 / 23.3 million N/A
Bolt (Disney) – $32.0 / 23.4 million N/A -11%
Quantum of Solace (Sony) – $23.8 / 16.8 million -37%
Australia (20th Century Fox) – $22.3 / 15.4 million N/A
Transporter 3 (Lionsgate) – $18.5 / 11.5 million N/A
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DreamWorks) – $17.3 / 12.5 million -21%
Role Models (Universal) – $8.4 / 5.9 million -16%
Changeling (Universal) – $2.6 / 1.8 million -34%
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Miramax) – $2.1 /1.5 million -10%

So many choices, but who will dominate?! I personally want to see Australia, because I love Hugh Jackman and I think he’s more than just a pretty face (People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2008). Yet, Four Christmases does seem like a happier, and more enjoyable way to spend my weekend dollars. Out of the four new releases who will be your box office pick?

Weekend Movie Releases: Australia, Milk, Four Christmases

Mali Elfman — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:25:35 +0000

I know you’re all going to see Transporter 3, but please, at least think about the option of seeing a quality film? Milk or Australia are both great picks for this weekend. They’re funny, interesting, and overall great pieces of work. Or if you have to, see Four Christmases, which is it just has a bunch of great faces showing up and not doing what you know they can do. It won’t be as good as you’re hoping it might be. You have two great films, give them a shot! Transporter 3 will be on DVD before you know it!

This week’s movie releases:

Australia | ScreenCrave Review | Reviews | Hugh Jackman Interview | Showtimes and Tickets
Milk | ScreenCrave Review | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
Four Christmases | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
Transporter 3 | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets

Trailers below:

Australia Trailer:

Milk Trailer:

Four Christmases Trailer:

Transporter 3 Trailer:

ScreenCrave.com » milk

Ed Harris Replaces Liam Neeson in What’s Wrong With Virginia

Related Posts

5 Films that Inspire Equal Rights in Honor on GLBT Month

Related Posts

This Week on DVD: Role Models, Milk, Primal Fear

Related Posts

Penn Wants You to Join the Courage Campaign

Related Posts

Full List of 2009 Oscar Winners

Related Posts

OSCARS: Best Picture!

Related Posts

OSCARS: Best Leading Actor/Actress

Related Posts

Round Up: Depp in Rum Diary, Scream 4, Crazies Casting…

Related Posts

Nominations for the Critics Choice Awards Lead by ‘Milk’ and ‘Button’

Related Posts

BOX OFFICE NUMBERS: Four Christmases Beats Down Twilight

Related Posts

BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS: Will Christmas Dominate Thanksgiving?

Related Posts

Weekend Movie Releases: Australia, Milk, Four Christmases

Related Posts