Can 'Thor' outrace 'Fast Five'?

By Sarah Sluis

Last week's record-breaking Fast Five debut jump-started the summer box-office season. Many are betting that the success of the Diesel-driven sequel brought hibernating moviegoers back, readying them to return for more fun summer films. If so, Thor (3,955 theatres) could easily attain the $50-60 million that industry experts predict for the comic-book adaptation. With over 70% of the screens showing the film in 3D, and over 200 IMAX locations, Thor will be able to take advantage of more box-office premiums than Fast Five. Thor's getting fairly positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned the endorsement of Frank Lovece, who dubbed it a "comic-book romance for grown-ups." Non-comic book lovers will enjoy the funny scenes of Thor, exiled to New Mexico, experiencing loss of power for the first time. It's a welcome relief after an opening with one of those tired video game-style slaughters, in which 100 against one simply provides 99 more opportunities to kick-punch/knife/flail someone to death.

If the preview screening I attended is any indication, Something Borrowed (2,904 theatres) will be filled with receptive female audiences. I think it's one of the best "traditional" romantic comedies out in a long time. I had almost forgotten how nice it is to leave the theatre filled with giddy warm fuzzies. Critics slammed the film with just a 12% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I suspect that these critics must not have a receptor for giddy warm fuzzies. David Noh begrudgingly noted the film is "a bit more than passable," and singled out Kate Hudson's "amusing portrait of an egomaniacal frenemy." However, the TV commercials I saw for the film were just plain terrible, so I wouldn't be surprised if the romantic comedy doesn't break $10 million.

The other romantic comedy on the plate this week is Jumping the Broom (2,035 theatres), which centers on the wedding of a wealthy bride and a working-class groom. Their families, predictably, do not get along. The "talented, really gorgeous cast goes a long way toward making it a highly watchable, pretty damned good time," according to Noh. Like Something Borrowed, this coupling-centered comedy should land somewhere over or under the $10 million mark.

In "a role that seems to summon his private demons," according to critic Rex Roberts, Mel Gibson talks through a toy puppet in The Beaver (22 theatres). Gibson's "earnest" performance, along with "Jodie Foster's able direction," make for a "genuine original" film. Grindhouse tribute Hobo with a Shotgun (2 theatres) offers a "pitch-perfect recreation of the brutal, low-budget crime films of the '70s," according to critic Maitland McDonagh. The link between diet and chronic disease is explored in Forks over Knives (6 theatres), which I found "scattered" but thought-provoking and good for after-movie discussions.

On Monday, we'll see if Thor struck down Fast Five, and which romantic comedy beckoned more audiences.

'Ted' follows 'Beaver,' giving Hollywood a second stuffed animal movie

By Sarah Sluis

It's not unusual in Hollywood to see two films with similar ideas release within a year of each other. Scripts are passed around. People make pitches to multiple studios. Before you know it, someone who passed on a script sees it go into development�and worries they made the wrong decision. Quick! Let's make a movie about volcanoes (Dante's Peak/Volcano), animated insects (A Bug's Life/Antz), asteroids hitting the Earth (Armageddon/Deep Impact), or sea creatures (Shark Tale/Finding Nemo). And those are just the most egregious examples. Little bits of plot or characters or situations often appear in waves. It's one thing to riff on a successful part of a movie, but it's another thing to see studios developing a similar project concurrently. It feels a little bit like encroaching on someone else's intellectual property.

On Monday, it was announced that Universal is acquiring a hard-R comedy by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane called Ted, about a man and his teddy bear. This project sounds remarkably similar to a movie that just wrapped called The Beaver, which is about a man (Mel Gibson) who walks around with a beaver puppet on his hand that he treats like a living creature. The movie was at the top of the Black List of unproduced screenplays in 2008 (meaning everyone in Hollywood read it and liked it), and some time after pulled together its starry cast (Jodie Foster is directing and co-starring)

Some important differences: Ted will be a mixture of live action and CG, with MacFarlane voicing Ted. This means the audience will hear the voice of the stuffed animal, making it more real. As far as I know, the beaver in the other movie doesn't talk. Even if Ted the teddy bear is a delusion or an imaginary voice, the audience will have access to it and it will create a much different feel. A hard-R comedy is also quite different from a quieter black comedy with some drama in it, which is my impression of The Beaver.

Still, two movies about adults with stuffed animal companions? It's the kind of story idea that's so weird it takes a while to warm up to, but once you do, you kind of like it....and you're not the only one. While I hope it ends here, I will be on the lookout for the third stuffed animal-related project.