Paramount pulling for 'No Strings Attached'

By Sarah Sluis

Leading this weekend's releases is the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman romantic comedy No Strings Attached (3,012 theatres). Although there's a cute supporting flock (Mindy Kaling, Lake Bell, Greta Gerwig), the romance between Portman and Kutcher is "laugh deficient," and "we're really not sure we'd want to go home with this movie," critic Frank Lovece concludes. Still, there's some intrigue to seeing Portman, a recent Golden Globe winner, in her first true romantic comedy. As an added bonus, her character is no shrinking violet. Without any similar competition in the marketplace, the laugher should approach $20 million.

Director Peter Weir takes on a true story that was later revealed to be fake in The Way Back (650 theatres). The film chronicles the pre-WWII journey of seven prisoners who escape a Soviet gulag and trek to India, a British territory. Critic Rex Roberts lamented that the movie falls just short. "All the elements for an award-garnering motion picture seem in place�an accomplished cast and crew, majestic landscapes to serve as stage sets, and a celebrated director whose sensibility perfectly suits the material�all except one, but one that makes all the difference: dramatic tension." The talented actors (including Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan) and director partially save a movie that ends up being a "curious combination of the inspiring and the tedious."

The Company Men (106 theatres) is a recession-themed drama centered on downsizing among the privileged corporate set. Director John Wells has a strong television background, but "feature film technique seems to have baffled him," critic Daniel Eagan observes. While unemployed workers should be ripe for audience empathy, "the lead characters are so distinctly unlikeable and weak that the performers can't do much with their roles, no matter how carefully they act," Eagan concludes.

The Korean-language remake of the country's 1960s classic The Housemaid (2 theatres) debuts at IFC theatres. Critic Doris Toumarkine faulted the suspense tale because "it doesn't advance this sub-genre in any way or uncover anything more than familiar naughty behavior." That's true. However, I count myself as one of the audience members she suspected might "get a charge out of the relatively exotic modern Korean settings," which include depictions both of Korea's upper class and underclass.

On Monday, we'll see if audiences fell for No Strings Attached and if this debut film was able to beat the second weekend of comic book hit The Green Hornet.

Will Smith and daughter Willow may remake 'Annie'

By Sarah Sluis

Will Smith is creating a family empire. Last summer, the box-office dynamo shepherded his son Jaden through his first solo starring role, the hit remake of The Karate Kid. Smith had previously starred in The Pursuit of Happyness with Jaden as his son, and now it appears he wants to take a similar route with his daughter, Willow. The ten-year-old would star with her father in a remake of Annie. She would play the titular orphan, and it's presumed Smith will take on the Daddy Warbucks role. Jay-Z, who
famously remixed "Hard Knock Life" a decade ago, plans to collaborate on the music.

The fact that Jay-Z plans to work on the music hints that this could be a new kind of musical with rap and pop influences. The actors would be able to hold their own: Smith had several hits as a rapper, and his daughter Willow recently released an album featuring the rap/pop single "Whip My Hair." Annie is one of my favorite musicals, but I'm not a purist: I would welcome the opportunity to see the story re-framed not as a Depression-era tale but one reflecting the struggles of another impoverished environment, such as an urban ghetto. I'm sure that the orphanage could be reimagined, as could the mission of the hucksters who want to game the system and reclaim Annie as their own for personal reward. I'd actually prefer if they kept the historical distance, however, perhaps setting the movie during the nadir of urban decay in the '80s (making a rap-influenced score much more plausible).

Musicals have a hard time in the marketplace, but there are some successes that bode well for the reboot of this movie. One has been the resurgence of the musical on TV with the success of "Glee," which puts well-known songs into the hand of a high school chorus/glee club. Second has been the success of the Step Up series, which is not so much a backstage musical as a backstage dance-off, with digressive dance numbers that audiences accept and enjoy, to the point that the series has spawned two sequels with one more in the making.

Annie may not be an original idea, but a remake under the supervision of Will Smith and Jay-Z has the chance to turn the story into an emblem of another zeitgeist and infuse the songs with the sounds of a modern era and "Tomorrow."

Globes favor 'Social Network,' BAFTA likes 'King's Speech'

By Sarah Sluis

The Golden Globes have come and gone, and in their wake they've rewarded The Social Network with the highest honor, Best Motion Picture - Drama. But the race is far from over. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), whose ceremony is held closer to the Academy Awards, announced their nominations, and The King's Speech is the frontrunner with fourteen nominations.

So, as it stands, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association rewarded the Citizen Kane-inspired close-up of the American entrepreneurial spirit, and the BAFTAs are giving a pat on the back to their former king who cured his stutter. Will the Academy Awards be about the movie, or a statement about the kind of film that should win? If it's the latter, I think The Social Network has an excellent chance, given its all-American anti-hero and embrace of the Internet. Or the statement could be more traditional: The Academy is known for being a bit of an Anglophile, and British films win in significant numbers. There's also the fact that The King's Speech has the backing of The Weinstein Co., which has a history of successfully securing both Oscar nods and wins. With The King's Speech the frontrunner for BAFTA and The Social Network the winner of the Golden Globes, I think the Best Picture race has narrowed to those two (with The Fighter the underdog, just like Micky).

Best Director:

The BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Directors Guild of America matched four out of five nominees for Best Director: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), David Fincher (The Social Network) and Christopher Nolan (Inception). Of these four, only Fincher has been previously nominated in the directing category (Benjamin Button). With The Social Network playing so strongly in the awards season, I wouldn't be surprised if Fincher grabs the Best Director prize. Also, his 2007 film Zodiac, which was snubbed entirely during awards season, now turns up on a lot of retrospective "top ten of the decade" lists, and Academy Awards are often given based on the body of work. Aronofsky and Nolan, who have both directed fine films, could also win using this logic, but their lack of nominations makes me think the Academy wouldn't mind having them wait a bit longer. As a counterpoint to that argument, Tom Hooper is a relatively fresh face on the directing scene, whose main credentials are the stunning HBO miniseries "John Adams" and the Brit-focused movie The Damned United (he's also a prolific director on British television). The DGA (Directors Guild of America) will announce their pick for Best Director on Jan. 29, and after that this category will be a near-lock, given the DGA award's correlation with the Oscar for Best Director.

The Academy Awards countdown: 39 days.

Audiences swarm for 'The Green Hornet'

By Sarah Sluis

Whoever at Sony decided to push The Green Hornet to a January release is getting a nice pat on the back right now. The post-holiday release opened better than Little Fockers and not far under action fare like Tron: Legacy. Though the movie won't have the high weekday earnings of the December releases, the four-day weekend gave it a chance to rack up $40 million in four days ($33.7 million came from the three-day weekend).

The marriage/adultery-themed romantic comedy The Dilemma finished in second place, laughing up $20.5 million over the four-day period. Star Vince Vaughn's previous film, Couples Retreat, earned twice as much its opening weekend, making this debut a disappointing one.

The King's Speech and Black Swan both added around 750 theatres, giving each film a boost even without the holiday factored in. Right now, The King's Speech is the up-and-comer, with its three-day gross up 43% and a per-screen average of $7,200. Black Swan, which has been out a week longer than The King's Speech, has reached its near-saturation point (2,300 theatres to King's Speech's 1,500). The ballet thriller brought in $10.3 million to the historical film's $11.1 million. In terms of cumulative gross, however, Black Swan is the winner, with a total of $75 million to date vs. The King's Speech's $48 million. Elsewhere in the top ten, The Fighter dropped theatres, falling 27% over the three-day period. The biographical film still earned another $5 million, and its decision to go big early has allowed it to accumulate $65 million in six weeks.

With the school holiday, family films dropped minimally. Yogi Bear earned $7.4 million over the four-day period and Tangled scooped up another $5.4 million, making this Disney princess tale one of the most lucrative in recent history.

This Friday, the romance-sex comedy No Strings Attached will lead the pack, with more targeted releases for The Way Back and recession drama The Company Men.

'The Green Hornet' and 'The Dilemma' shake up the box office

By Sarah Sluis

It's been three weeks since the Christmas weekend crush of wide releases, and audiences will finally have a chance to sample something new.

The Green Hornet (3,584 theatres) was originally going to release during the holiday season, but it now will have a wide-open chance at bringing in audiences, especially school-age ones, during the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. The comic-book adaptation was helmed by Michael Gondry, known for more arty, visually playful fare like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Even with a bigger budget to work with, "Gondry keeps the movie grounded in a convincing, if ever-so-slightly skewed, reality by prizing practical effects and props over CGI and actual locations over studio soundstages," critic Ethan Alter praises. Seth Rogen, true to his comedic background, plays a "clumsy" un-hero, and the movie is "at its best when it just lets this dynamic duo [Rogen and co-star Jay Chou] blunder through their new vocation, bickering, screwing up and catching bad guys almost by accident."

Vince Vaughn plays a guy who finds out his best friend's wife (Winona Ryder) is cheating on him in The Dilemma (2,941 theatres). Critic Doris Toumarkine enjoyed director Ron Howard's "zippy journey into late yuppiedom" and the comedy's "often smart and downright funny take on issues that aging moviegoers might find familiar."

On the specialty front, many of the award-bait films are expanding in advance of the Golden Globes presentation this Sunday. Blue Valentine will move into 230 theatres. Rabbit Hole, which has been drawing raves for Nicole Kidman's performance, will increase its run to 100 theatres. The King's Speech, which has been in the top ten with under 1,000 theatres, will finally go over that mark, spreading into 1,543 theatres. Finally, Black Swan will spread its wings into 2,328 theatres, 800 more theatres than its current run.

On Tuesday, I'll tabulate the results of the long weekend, which should be especially favorable to The Green Hornet because of its young-skewing subject matter.

Which trailer makes you cringe more: 'Happythankyoumoreplease' or 'A Little Bit of Heaven'?

By Sarah Sluis

Everyone knows the romantic comedy genre is in an exceptionally bleak state. The few survivors have resorted to extreme measures, such as reducing each couple's character arc to ten minutes or so, then adding more couples until the movie gets to the feature-length mark (He's Just Not That Into You, Valentine's Day, 2011's New Year's Eve). Two more of these toxic assets have just released trailers, Happythankyoumoreplease and A Little Bit of Heaven. Happythankyoumoreplease is directed by TV star Josh Radnor, A Little Bit of Heaven the Kate Hudson vehicle (but with a serious twist!). Let's go over the damage:

Happythankyoumoreplease:

Strikes:
-Malin Akerman as a grumpy person with cancer who doesn't know how to be grateful, but eventually learns to say "thank you" and find love. Ploy to insert "serious subject matter" that just feels uncomfortable.
-A young black boy befriends a would-be writer from suburbia. Ploy to insert "class consciousness."
-Writer/actor/director Josh Radnor also plays a writer, makes jokes about Woody Allen, complains about happy childhood that deprived him of "subject matter." I'm embarrassed for him.
-The delivery of these lines: Girl: "You're a mess. I'm a mess too." Boy: "So let's clean each other up."

Why it might still be worth seeing:
-It's set in the Lower East Side. Why, I live in the Lower East Side and I want to know if they shot at my local deli (this may only apply to New Yorkers).
-Three interlocking stories, meaning each character has a 66% less chance of rising above my annoying quota
-The performances of Zoe Kazan and Kate Mara, both of whom reduce the cringe level of their lines in the trailer.

A Little Bit of Heaven

Strikes:
-I try to avoid romance movies with terminal illness looming on the horizon, and in this story Kate Hudson has cancer, and then falls in love with her doctor. Just say no to Love Story /A Walk to Remember plotlines.
-Yet another Kate Hudson romantic comedy.
-Hudson and Whoopi Goldberg having a talk in "heaven," as evidenced by the A+ set design involving white clothing, a background cloud painting, and a little bit of wind machine. I hope this is some kind of elaborate joke not explained in the trailer.

Why it Might Still Be Worth Seeing:
-For camp purposes? To see what kind of mess Kathy Bates, Goldberg, Hudson, and Gael Garcia Bernal got themselves into?

Verdict: Happythankyoumoreplease could possibly be better than its trailer, especially since random YouTube clips actually do the movie more justice. But A Little Bit of Heaven? This one is going straight to international audiences (though not DVD), so I don't think it will be worth anyone's time.

IMAX rounds out its 2011 release slate

By Sarah Sluis

In 2010, nine of the top ten grossing films included a release in the IMAX format. The exception? The animated film Despicable Me, which was squeezed out of IMAX's slate by releasing just three weeks after Toy Story 3. For that reason, it's worth looking at what movies are releasing in IMAX this year. They reflect not only which films studios are hyping, but which tentpoles they think will actually deliver.

Today, Paramount announced that four of the studio's films will release in the big-screen format: Super 8, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Both Super 8 and Tintin have the involvement of Steven Spielberg, making them gimmes, but seeing the relaunch of Mission: Impossible here is more of a surprise. Though Tom Cruise will be in the movie, the main leading man will be someone younger, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker). As for the third installment of Transformers--I can only hope it makes in the low hundreds of millions.

Other IMAX titles that could hit it big:

Sanctum: This James Cameron-produced underground cave film has some confused about the concept, but it will be more like The Descent and not like his documentary Aliens of the Deep. Caves are creepy, but whether or not the concept is pulled off depends on how involved Cameron was in the process.

I Am Number Four: I've already seen ads for this one, which focus on a teen with superpowers who must escape those who want him dead. I haven't seen a good young hero for awhile, so I think the kids will go for this one. Newcomer Alex Pettyfer could be the next Robert Pattinson if he plays his cards right.

Real Steel: A father and son construct robots for fighting matches in a futuristic world. Family dynamics + fight scenes? This one looks like a real winner among male audiences.

Mars Needs Moms: In this cute concept, a boy must rescue his mom, who has been kidnapped by mom-needing Martians. Releasing March 11th, this movie will be in the spring spot that How to Train Your Dragon took last year, grabbing spring breakers and hopefully going for a slow burn at the box office.

Sequels comprise the remainder of IMAX offerings, including Fast Five, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Cars 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, and Happy Feet 2. Of all these sequels, the final Harry Potter will definitely show up in the top ten and the animated sequels to Cars and Happy Feet will also be strong box-office contenders. The third Pirates of the Caribbean was the first one to gross less than its predecessor, indicating the franchise is waning, but it's been four years since we've seen Jack Sparrow so perhaps audiences will be eager to see him once again.

Some movies are missing (won't the latest Twilight open in IMAX, like Eclipse did?), but this list of films probably holds at least three-quarters of this year's top ten.