‘300: Rise of an Empire’ dominates weekend BO

300: Rise of an Empire debuted to strong numbers this weekend, even if it failed to match the boffo opening of 300. The sequel raked in $45.05 million from 3,470 locations (compared with the first film’s $70.9 million gross) and can largely thank 3D ticket sales for its high returns: 3D screenings accounted for 63 percent of earnings. Thirty-eight percent of the audience for Rise of an Empire was made up of women, an uptick from 300, which drew a crowd that was only 29 percent female. Viewers of both sexes awarded the movie a “B” CinemaScore grade, which isn’t great, and may portend a significant drop in sales over the coming weeks. However, it’s likely the film will continue to perform well abroad. Rise of an Empire may have fallen short of 300 here in the United States, but it out-performed its predecessor overseas. From 58 markets, Empire reaped $87.8 million. Russia led the international crowd with $9.2 million.

The weekend’s other wide release, Mr. Peabody & Sherman performed to 20^th Century Fox’s expectations, though it was still a disappointment for DreamWorks. The update on the classic cartoon grossed $32.5 million. That figure is an improvement over previous DreamWorks films Rise of the Guardians and Turbo, but it failed to match the highs of The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon, which both debuted to over $40 million. Those who did purchase tickets to the film, however, seemed to like what they saw: Audiences gave the movie an “A” CinemaScore rating. That’s a good sign so far as positive word-of-mouth goes, and could help propel the film to an eventual cume of $100 million.

The weekend’s third-place slot went to Non-Stop, which added another $15.4 million to a total that now stands at $52.1 million. The Lego Movie clocked in next with its $11 million gross, a downturn of 47 percent. That drop in sales is the hit movie’s steepest yet, and is probably thanks to competition from Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Lego’s total is currently $225 million.

In fifth place, Son of God earned $10 million, off 61 percent from last weekend. So far, the re-appropriation of The History channel’s “The Bible” mini-series has earned $41.5 million.

Finally, the weekend’s most exciting box-office news comes in the form of The Grand Budapest Hotel. This latest outing for Wes Anderson broke the record previously set by Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master for highest-grossing limited live action debut ever (maybe it’s something in the directors’ shared name?). The Grand Budapest Hotel earned $800,000 in total, which works out to a per-screen average of a little more than $200,000 (the movie opened in four theatres, two in LA and two in New York, this weekend). Budapest will expand to 1,000+ locations over the coming five weeks.

 

Hidden gems populate Gotham Independent Film Award nominations

Oscar nominations won't be announced until January 5th. The Gotham Independent Film Award nominations, which come far before the Oscars, Globes, or the multitude of critic association awards, stand apart not only on the calendar, but in content. If you look at IndieWire's current list of potential Oscar nominees, for example, there's almost no crossover with the Gotham Awards. In the list of nominations below, I provide links to Film Journal reviews, and give a few recommendations of my own.

Best Feature
Bernie: This arthouse feature has earned $9 million to date, with steady returns week after week. It's also nominated for "Best Ensemble Performance," with the unlikely trio of  Jack Black, Shirley
MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey sharing the screen.
The Loneliest Planet: This one hasn't released yet, but it's about an engaged couple (one half of which is the handsome Gael Garcia Bernal) who go on a hike, and bad things happen. If the Gotham people like it, it must be good.
The Master: This is the only one of Gotham's nominations that's also polling high in the Oscar race. Though our critic Chris Barsanti felt it lacked some of director Paul Thomas Anderson's "characteristically thunderous panache," this Scientology-esque biopic is high-profile enough everyone should see it in order to weigh in.
Middle of Nowhere: The story of a woman "who cares for her imprisoned husband while struggling to keep her true self afloat," as described by critic Tomris Laffly, "reinstates one’s at times
diminishing faith in independent film," refusing to give out "louder
statements about social injustice" but instead letting the audience draw its own conclusions. Participant Media helped finance, and they only back "socially conscious" films.
Moonrise Kingdom: One of director Wes Anderson's most successful films in recent years, the charming story of young love is a natural fit for the director's reflexive, nostalgic style. Some think this one can slide into the Oscar race, with at least some chance of picking up nominations. Another nominee for "Best Ensemble Performance," this movie will likely do even better in critics' awards and the Spirit Awards.

Best Documentary
I've seen a number of docs this year, but none of these are among them. Here's a roundup of these films, and hopes that they'll be in a theatre near you or on Netflix soon.
Detropia: "A tone poem soaked in the
blues," as described by Barsanti, about Detroit's continuing decline from its manufacturing glory days, is a haunting look at what forty plus years of recession
looks like.
How to Survive a Plague: A victorious look over how AIDS has gone from a death sentence to a treatable disease.
Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present:  A countdown to the performance artist's solo show at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Room 237: Reviewed here as part of a NYFF recap, Room 237 interviews "a handful of die-hard [Stanley] Kubrick fans and scholars
who make largely preposterous, hilarious and only sometimes sober
arguments for symbols that permeate his work." Anyone who's speculated about the blood coming out of the elevator doors might find this movie a worthy follow-up to Kubrick's masterpiece.
The Waiting Room: A fly-on-the-wall look at an ER waiting room.

Among the other nominations, there are two for Beasts of the Southern Wild, "Breakthrough Director" for Benh Zeitlin and "Breakthrough Actor" for Quvenzhané Wallis. I recommend it as one of this summer's best and most successful indies. The "This American Life" crowd may take a shine to Sleepwalk with Me. Star/writer/director Mike Birbiglia was nominated for his performance in the "Breakthrough Actor" category. Everyone I know who has seen it found it sweet and recommended it to others. Awards frontrunner The Silver Linings Playbook grabbed one nomination for "Best Ensemble Performance," which is probably only a small precursor of what's to come. The Gotham Independent Film Awards are on November 26th, right in the midst of the awards releases onslaught.

'End of Watch' grabs first in close weekend

After a close race, End of Watch grabbed the first place spot with $13.2 million. Positive word-of-mouth fueled the cop drama, giving it an extra edge over its competitors. Hispanic audiences, who made up 32% of attendees, may have been drawn in part by co-star Michael Peña,
as well as the setting in Los Angeles, which has a large Hispanic community. Audiences also gave the movie an "A-" rating in CinemaScore exit polls, another reason for newbie distributor Open Road Films to celebrate.

In second place, The House at the End of the Street earned $12.2 million. Audiences gave the horror movie, which stars Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence, a "B" rating.

Trouble with the Curve was right behind in third with $12.1 million. The South and Midwest regions posted the highest returns for the Clint Eastwood-led picture, which is about
old-fashioned, non-Moneyball baseball scouting. Trouble's demographic should give the drama long playability, with plenty of people turning out in coming weeks as word spreads.

Earning half as much as the other three wide releases, Dredd 3D faltered with $6.3 million. The rub is that even a re-release, Finding Nemo 3D, did better, easily accruing a return of $9.4 million.

The Master made a bet by expanding from four to 788 locations in its second weekend. The bet didn't exactly pay off. Although the drama earned $5 million in seventh place, only 36% of locations earned more than $5,000, a sign
that a smaller release might have yielded higher per-screen averages. That being said, digital distribution is a lot cheaper than film prints, so perhaps that affected distribution plans.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower had an extremely strong opening of $244,000 on four screens, a per-screen average of $61,000. With a debut like that, there's no way this offbeat teen comedy will fade into the background.

This Friday, the well-received sci-fi picture Looper (read FJI's profile of the director here) leads the pack. Halloween starts early with the animated feature Hotel Transylvania, parents fight for better teaching in Won't Back Down, and college a capella gets its due in Pitch Perfect.

Toronto wrap: The rest of the best

It was, in all, an exciting TIFF 2012. As always the near-300 features plus documentaries and press events made it impossible for any single journalist to deliver a definitive evaluation; in effect, every critic attends his/her own TIFF. Congrats to the organizers for keeping all the moving parts of this sprawling sprocket opera in play. One caveat: that overloaded first weekend of buzzy films skedded at the same hour makes the critics gaga; why not spread the must-sees into the week? And this year, especially if you were attending public screenings, the venues seemed especially far-flung, requiring either the stamina of an Iron Man or deep pockets for outrageous cab fares.

 

At edition 2012 the drumbeat surrounding “The Master” all but drowned out the competition. Still, I discovered two superb, if relatively un-buzzed dramas. Also featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, “A Late Quartet” is a first feature from American-Israeli Yaron Zilberman that explores the upheaval in a world-class string quartet when one of its members falls victim to a degenerative
disease. Though the screenplay initially feels over-determined, the story-power is cumulative in this moving, immersive work about the passion to carry forward a musical heritage. It's rare to see a film about the dedication of artists explored with such insight. And after his lunatic turn in “Seven Psychopaths” by Martin McDonagh, it was fun to see Christopher Walken morphed into a cellist and the moral keystone of the quartet. Mark Ivanovir shines as a high-strung (sorry) first violinist in love with Hoffman's musician daughter (Imogene Poots) -- which undercuts the quartet's survival -- and the cast has been expertly coached in how to make like they're making music.

 

“At Any Price,” toplined by Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron, marks a striking departure for Rahmin Bahrani (“Man Push Cart”). The filmmaker sets his riveting drama of a father and son in the Iowa agri world, where in the interest of profits farmers do un-kosher things to the genetically engineered seeds that are probably already poisoning us all. Quaid is heartbreaking as an earnest seed salesman pushed to dubious choices by the need to expand his business in order to survive; while Efron – credible and charismatic in his new indie roles – unleashes a brooding intensity as
Quaid's hothead son. With its shocking ending – all the more disturbing for being muted -- “Price” belongs to a category of films that uses drama to reference issues in the larger culture.

 

Another film infused with matters of conscience and politics is “The Company You Keep” directed by and starring Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, and Shia LaBeouf. (And what's with this guy's name? For the record, the correct French spelling is boeuf, and the noun is masculine.) It's worth noting that both “Price” and “Company” are distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, also presenting “No,” a politically-themed film about the Pinochet era; and “The Gatekeepers,” the Israeli docu that unlocks the inner workings of the Shin Bet. I never cease to admire how the guys at SPC adroitly combine the entertainment imperative with films that extend their reach beyond navel-gazing or Kate Middleton going topless on the beach (not that that isn't a prime piece of gossip).

 

In “Company” Redford plays a small town lawyer whose life is up-ended when a long-ago member of the Weather Underground who has lived incognito (Susan Sarandon) is arrested and charged with murder during a long-ago anti-war protest in the 60's. To clear his own name, Redford must hunt down a radical friend from the past (Julie Christie, lookin' good) to confirm publicly that he himself was not involved in the shooting of a guard. The median age of these actors is roughly seventy and it's initially shocking to see how time has worked its dirty tricks on Redford (why do the female actors fare better)? But eclipsing such concerns is Redford's seasoned rendering of a man of conscience who has moved on in his life, while refusing to renounce his anti-war sentiments of the past.

 

Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the quietly lacerating “What Maisie Knew” credibly transplants the novel by Henry James to modern-day New York. It's the story of a six-year-old girl (a remarkable Onata Aprile) whip-sawed between two supremely unfit parents (Julianne Moore
and Steve Coogan) as they play musical chairs with new mates. After Coogan weds the babysittter, Moore marries on the quick an amiable bartender (Alexander Skarsgard) to give the impression of stability and ensure custody. But when it comes to school pick-ups and overnights, the child is shockingly shuttled about in a way that will make any parent cringe. Through it all, Maisie, preternaturally wise, keeps an even keel and gravitates toward what love she finds.

 

Set in 18^th century Denmark, “A Royal Affair” by Nikolaj Arcel recreates the real-life story of a German doctor (Mads Mikkelsen) who cuts a swathe through the Danish court when he becomes the caretaker of mad King Christian (a brilliant Mikel Boe Folsgaard), lover to the queen (Alicia Vikander), and de facto head of state intent on implementing the ideas of the Enlightenment. The film combines epic sweep, history, and fascinating court intrigue – and the revelation of Folsgaard, a rising star to watch.

 

And now for my list of Best, Worst, and Most Notable from TIFF 2012.

 

Best headline of the fest: from critic Alonso Duralde, “'The Master' … Is Just Running on Cruise Control.”

 

Most reprehensible comment of the fest: Nick Cassavetes on Incest: “Who Gives a Damn? Love Who You Want”

 

Most memorable sight on King Street: pregnant woman in a tight sheath looking like a python that had swallowed a warthog

 

Worst moment of the fest: Saturday A.M., a hike from my hotel in torrential downpour, and the six flight escalator at the Scotia Bank theater is broken

 

Most pissed-off moment: getting shut out of Harmony Korine's “Spring Breakers” and told we should have lined up an hour and l/2 before

 

Most outrageous moment: dude loudly talking on his cell during a press and industry screening

 

Oscar-bait turns: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master,” Dennis Quaid in “At Any Price” – though I'd vote for Danish Mikkel Boe Folsgaard in “A Royal Affair.”

 

Most delicious, against-type turn: Nicole Kidman, hilarious as a 70's trash queen in “The Paperboy”

 

Hottest actors: the trifecta of Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Mads Mikkelsen

 

Swankiest parties that were deprived of my presence because I wasn't invited: anything at Soho House

 

Priciest cab fare: rush-hour ride to the Hazelton Hotel in Yorkville -- and thank you, kind cabbie, for putting me on to trolleys!

 

Worst tech glitches: the roaming on my Android that didn't work – thanks for the memories, Verizon! The laptop that froze mid-post

 

Biggest regret: all the doggone films I didn't get to see 

'Resident Evil: Retribution' and 'Finding Nemo 3D' should boost theatre traffic

After a dismal weekend, the box office is ready for a rebound with wide releases Resident Evil: Retribution and Finding Nemo 3D hitting screens.

Finding Nemo 3D (2,904 theatres) has a lot in its favor. The original was the most attended Pixar movie ever, and it's considered a modern animated classic. However, the animated feature released just nine years ago. Many families likely already own a DVD copy, making it difficult for
parents to justify the price of tickets, popcorn, and soda to see a movie all over again. The Lion King 3D did exceptionally well last September, opening to $30.2 million, but that film originally released in 1994, not 2003. Those two decades make a big difference. The 3D re-release should end up somewhere between The Lion King 3D and February's Beauty and the Beast 3D, which opened to $17.8 million.

The fifth installment in the sci-fi action franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution (3,012 theatres)
should easily top $20 million. The last installment in the franchise
was a global hit, largely because it released in 3D,
which has had more
success abroad than at home.

Targeting heartland audiences, Last Ounce of Courage (1,407 theatres) mixes patriotism and Christianity in a dose designed for social conservatives. I can't quite figure out what the plot is about, but from the trailer there appears to be something about a small-town man who tries to un-separate church and state and bring God back into his town? It also includes some great shots of a dude with a giant American flag on the back of his motorcycle, but that's about as high-budget as this movie gets. Rocky Mountain Pictures, the distributor, has skillfully released such pictures in years past, so a $1-2 million weekend wouldn't be unusual.

Leading the specialty releases is director Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (5 theatres). FJI critic Chris Barsanti praises Anderson's "psychologically astute scripting" and "ability to coax nakedly revelatory performances from actors." Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who ends up a
sidekick of an L. Ron Hubbard-like character, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. At film festivals, this highly anticipated movie left some people feeling like it didn't quite live up to the hype, but Barsanti is not among them, though he notes the movie "lacks some of the director’s characteristically thunderous panache."

Also in the mix is Liberal Arts (4 theatres) a romance between a 30-something man (writer/director/producer Josh Radnor) and a student (Elizabeth Olsen) he meets while back on campus for an event. Critic Shirley Sealy enjoyed the "wonderful and gently entertaining" movie, whose theme, "acting like a grown-up," she really got behind.

Finally, the "juicy, smart, engrossing financial thriller" Arbitrage (197 theatres), starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, will release in theatres and on cable VOD. With the economy still big in the news, this hedge fund-centered movie will be more than topical.

On Monday, we'll see if Resident Evil and Nemo revived the box office, if Last Ounce of Courage was embraced by the Heartland, and if The Master has the record-level per-screen average many are predicting.

Today in highly anticipated films: Venice Film Festival and 'Cloud Atlas'

Today brought news of the lineup for the Venice Film Festival, and the five-minute trailer for Cloud Atlas. The best films in the Venice Film Festival probably won't arrive in U.S. theatres until next year, but Cloud Atlas is coming soon--October 28th in fact. That's on the early side for any Oscar-aspiring films, but the extremely ambitious trailer has excited many commenters.

First up, the Venice Film Festival. There are three films in particular that I'll be closely watching for critical response. Perhaps the most anticipated selection of the bunch still hasn't been confirmed or announced. Still, most people expect that Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, a profile of a fictional enigmatic leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) some have compared to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, will also be in competition.

Beyond, that I'm curious how an adaptation of the compelling, scathing book The Reluctant Fundamentalist will play. I remember the book reading more like a speech, with little narrative, so I think the adaptation will have to take a number of liberties. Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) directed, and the cast includes Kate Hudson in one of her first non-rom-com roles in some time. I bet critics will be wary of her performance, since Hudson has become synonymous with terrible rom-coms.

Director Terrence Malick's To The Wonder will be another top pick. Plus, it comes just two years after his previous film--a record. Like The Tree of Life, the movie also has spiritual themes. The story centers on a couple's unraveling after they return from their pilgrimage to a holy site in Italy. Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem star.

Finally, Cloud Atlas will beat the rush of high-caliber films with an October, not Thanksgiving or Christmas, release. The very fact that the trailer needed to last five minutes to even put together a semblance of the story means something. If you can't explain a movie in a thirty-second TV spot these days, it's tough to get a project greenlit. Perhaps the pull of the directors, Matrix creators Lana and Andy Wachowski and Run Lola Run's Tom Tykwer, gave Warner Bros. faith in the project. The sweeping sci-fi-spiritual-drama is an adaptation of an extremely ambitious book that weaves together six stories set in different times: think 18th Century schooners and futuristic dystopias, all in one film.

The casting of Tom Hanks, who gives the voiceover in the trailer, feels familiar and safe, and helps ground the out-there work. After all, Hanks is the one who told his life story on a bus stop bench in Forrest Gump, so it makes sense that he can tell stories about his multiple, reincarnated lives across time.

At first, the images don't even look like a typical Wachowski film, until pretty impressive sci-fi sets start overtaking the schooners. The fact that all these images and stories live together in one place has turned off some commenters, but more are intrigued. Plus, there's a two-hour, 44-minute running time to help sort everything out. Releasing in just three months, Cloud Atlas will be one of the first end-of-the-year films vying for an epic, must-see status.

Anderson signs up Hoffman to play 'The Master'

By Sarah Sluis

That other young Anderson director, Paul Thomas Anderson, has revealed details about his next project, as well as his star: Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Hoffman will play The Master (which may end up being the title of the film), a charismatic person who starts a spiritual organization that quickly gathers followers and turns into a religion itself. It's told through a relationship between the Master and his mentor, Freddie, who is increasingly skeptical of the whole project.

While so far it's being billed as entirely fictional, and explicitly stated as not inspired by Scientology or Mormonism, the Vulture Blog noted that the drama is set in 1952, the same year Scientology was founded. That makes the statement "the scrutiny isn't specifically directed toward faith-based movements like Scientology or Mormonism" sound like a preemptive defense against Scientology and its practitioners, many of whom are prominent in the Hollywood community. Case in point? When "South Park" broadcast its famous "Trapped in the Closet" episode parodying Scientology, a Scientologist cast member quit the show. A rebroadcast was canceled, leading to media reports that Tom Cruise, another Scientologist, had allegedly threatened to back out of his publicity obligations for Mission Impossible 3 (both were owned by parent company Viacom) if his demand was not met. He later denied the claims. And that was a television show. If Anderson's work draws the ire of Scientologists, it might have a rough time getting made in Hollywood. However, if the project is distancing itself from Scientology, it would seem wise for the religion to follow suit, rather than open itself up to any religious criticism in the script.

Potential Scientology controversy aside, the pairing of Hoffman and Anderson is the best thing this project has going for it. Hoffman has appeared in virtually all of Anderson's movies, though not in a leading role. He's also an old hand at religious leader parts, playing a priest in Doubt and a reverend in Cold Mountain. Besides ensemble-piece Magnolia, Anderson has a record of giving meaty, stand-out roles to his leading men (Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love, Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights). Hoffman's an unforgettable actor (and I once spied him at an ATM in the West Village on my way to work!) and this is just the kind of role that could add another Oscar to his bookshelf.