By Sarah Sluis
It's been three whole weekends since PG-rated comedy Hotel for Dogs released, and two since the much-maligned PG fantasy Inkheart, so the field is ripe for the two PG-rated pictures releasing this weekend, The Pink Panther 2 (3,243 screens) and Coraline (2,298 screens, half 3D). Debuting the
week before President's Day weekend, when many schoolchildren have the day or the week off (mid-winter break!), these films are banking on strong openings that will generate strong word-of-mouth through the holiday weekend.
Coraline has that difficult problem of being an animated film whose appeal extends beyond--while not entirely including--the "animated" demographic. Sensitive kids will have a hard time with this film, not only because it's suspenseful, but because its world is truly creepy. Henry Selick creates a world, according to our Executive Editor Kevin Lally, that's "anything but standard kids' fare: It's dark, creepy, surreal and
idiosyncratic. But then again, so was Lewis Carroll's Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland." I also had a chance to see the film, which should really be watched in 3D, and had the sense that those button eyes would have given me nightmares as a wee'un. Only half of the theatres will screen in 3D, which, incidentally, can be linked back to the recession. While exhibitors and distributors had rather lengthy negotiations working out who should pay for the conversion to digital projectors, agreements are now in place--but there's no money being lent due to the collapse of the credit markets. With nearly a dozen 3D movies releasing this year, the next up on the list, Monsters vs. Aliens, is especially nervous about lining up adequate 3D venues.
Based on an advice book penned by writers on the television show "Sex and the City," He's Just Not That Into You (3,175 screens) is a fluffy romance about doormats, sexpots, commitment-phobes, etc.,
that's just in time for Valentine's Day, though I suspect many of those attending will be singles "celebrating" by wallowing about being unlucky in love, just like main character Ginnifer Goodwin. While embellished with cutesy flourishes, the film just isn't that funny, and has a squirmy, condescending feel to it carried over from the book. With about the same satiety as one of those boxes of Sweetheart hearts (kindly provided at the screening I attended), you pretty much get what you expect, and a little less.
Superhero movie Push (2,313 screens) also releases this week, and suffers from the worst of errors, according to our Ethan Alter: "a great premise...marred by disastrous execution." Unlike the well thought-out universes it borrows from, like X-Men and The Matrix, the movie has holes you can poke your head through, not the kind you can ignore for the sake of fun.
The Weinstein Company is quietly releasing bomb Fanboys on 44 screens, and it will probably turn up on DVD shortly after. The film has been delayed for over two years, and follows boys on a roadtrip to see The Phantom Menace for the first time. With the fairly "basic Star Wars references that actually condescend to geeks under the guise of celebrating their peculiar culture," Ethan Alter predicted the movie won't even have cult status among those who should love it best.
