'White House Down' and 'The Heat' fire up the box office

The summer box office is in full swing, and this weekend two more strong offerings add to the season's offerings. Although The Heat is the most likely pick for female audiences who see Melissa McCarthy's casting as an extension of Bridesmaids, White House Down has the benefit of Channing Tatum in the leading role. The star appears to do particularly well in red states, and deserves credit for the $100+ million performances of Magic Mike, The Vow, 21 Jump Street and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, where they specifically rewrote part of the sequel to include more of Tatum. Both features earn my "popcorn movie" stamp of approval, although critics have been more discerning, giving White House Down just a 49% positive rating and The Heat a 64% positive rating.

One way to tell a movie is a "silly but satisfying adventure," as encapsulated by FJI's Daniel Eagan? During the climactic moment, you burst out laughing at the ridiculousness, but that doesn't dampen your enjoyment. Jamie Foxx plays a President in peril, and Tatum the hero there to save both the leader and his daughter in White House Down (3,222 theatres). Independence Day director Roland Emmerich includes a good amount of explosions, but there's also a lot of Die Hard-style comedy that keeps the movie in popcorn territory. The action feature may open second to The Heat, but both should clear the $30 million mark. Although a similar movie, Olympus Has Fallen, opened in March, it's unlikely that White House Down's box office will be impacted.

Sandra Bullock is an uptight, socially awkward FBI agent who lightens up when she encounters a rough-and-tumble Boston cop (McCarthy) in The Heat (3,181 theatres). Bridesmaids' Paul Feig directs the buddy -op comedy, which begs the question--has there ever been a female buddy-cop comedy before? Our critic Marsha McCreadie couldn't come up with any examples, noting instead the amateur detective buddy comedy Outrageous Fortune from 1987. There is the 1988 release Feds, which paired together two women in FBI training school, but that's the exception that proves that females in this genre are a a rarity. McCreadie goes on to praise Bullock and McCarthy's excellent timing, and its message about female friendship.

Specialty audiences can check Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's latest, I'm So Excited. The  "lively but somewhat rote camp cabaret comedy," according to FJI's Chris Barsanti, centers on flight attendants and passengers coping with a plane's imminent emergency landing. It's a bit of a mashup between Airplane! and Almodóvar's sensibility. Barsanti encapsulates the movie's feel as a "fashion-magazine potboiler, gossipy and brash, whose attention
keeps wandering south of the waistline." Fun and different, it's a nice summery pick for indie-seekers who want to lighten the mood.

On Monday, we'll see if audiences choose Tatum in White House Down or the funny duo of Bullock and McCarthy in The Heat.

See what 'Great Gatsby' looked like before the visual effects

Everyone knows that movies like Man of Steel or White House Down are filled with special effects. As convincing as they are, people understand they didn't blow up the Capitol building or demolish skyscrapers. I'm most entranced by the special effects in movies that don't look like they have any at all. In The Great Gatsby, I was sure that they filmed in a real mansion, and that they at least closed down some streets and made them look like they were from the 1920s. Turns out I should have known better. The visual effects supervisor behind The Great Gatsby released a four-minute demo reel (set to some Lana Del Ray music) showing just how much of the movie was smoke and mirrors. Green and blue screens abound in the reel, which also brings to mind an effects reel for HBO's Prohibition-set "Boardwalk Empire" that was floating around the Internet a while ago.

One thing I'm curious about is where they're getting the images that they fill in with the green and blue screen. I'm guessing there is compositing involved, where a mansion is combined with other background elements--they don't show the creation process for these images. It seems like using foreground foliage and a green screen in the background is a common trick to maintain the illusion of depth. And unlike the early use of rear projection, there's no line around the actor's face or body that gives away the background. For a director like Baz Luhrmann, who likes to cram as much visual pleasure into his shots as he can, effects are likely a way to achieve this kind of opulence on (something) of a budget. On the other hand, I think the ease with which people can fill a frame contributed to Luhrmann making Gatsby look a little too jam-packed with imagery, at least in my opinion. Take a peek at the visual effects reel and see what you think.

The Great Gatsby VFX from Chris Godfrey on Vimeo.

Indiewire polls critics on the best 50 films so far this year

2013 is almost halfway over, though it's doubtful that half of the year's best films so far have released--they'll be coming along in the last three months of 2013. Still, in the name of a check-in, Indiewire polled movie critics about their favorite movies so far this year. The list allows some lesser-known films to shine--but it also lets some more questionable fare rise to the top. I've seen half of the films in the top ten, and a smattering from the rest of the pack. My top ten, however would be much different than IndieWire's aggregate.

In general, the Indiewire-selected critics are daring, opting for polarizing or mixed-review films. The exception is the number-one pick, Before Midnight, which boasts both a strong box-office and critical response that back up it overwhelming lead, with a score of 458 to second-place Upstream Color's 330. I couldn't get through the screener of Upstream Color, so I'm not among the film's supporters. Like the third-place pick, Spring Breakers, both films had very polarized reactions. The glacial pace of Leviathan, the number-seven pick, made me a bit lukewarm on the documentary. I don't think I've ever seen so many critics walk out on a screening, so its high placement surprises me. Further down in the top ten, The Place Beyond the Pines and Side Effects were both films I can get behind. Pines was ambitious but flawed, while Side Effects was the kind of tight genre thriller that should win over the Takens of the world.

Within the top ten, my two favorites are Frances Ha (#4) and Mud (#6), which both delivered beyond my expectations. But my other favorites of the year barely make rank. The Act of Killing (#35) still hasn't had its theatrical release, which means the jaw-dropping documentary may not have been seen by many critics yet. But The Bling Ring (#44) and Twenty Feet from Stardom (#45) also deserve higher placement, as does The East (#50).

Indiewire Top Ten:
1. Before Midnight
2. Upstream Color
3. Spring Breakers
4. Frances Ha
5. Stories We Tell
6. Mud
7. Leviathan
8. The Place Beyond the Pines
9. Side Effects
10. Like Someone In Love

'Monsters University' and 'World War Z' both score with audiences

One prediction held true this weekend. The total box office did top $200 million, but the distribution among the top three films was markedly different than many predictions. The troubled production World War Z was given a cautious weekend estimate of $40 million. Instead, the Brad Pitt-led zombie epic earned $66 million, the second-highest second-place opening ever. After shelving plans for a trilogy when the production ran into trouble, Paramount has already announced that it is working on the next chapter in the zombie epidemic story.

In first place, Monsters University continued Pixar's number-one opening record, debuting to $82 million. Audiences gave it an "A" rating, and it will likely play much stronger than last month's animated Epic. However, the silly sequel drew fewer non-family audiences than other Pixar movies: a little over a quarter of the audience didn't come as a family, compared to around a third for Brave. The movie will face tough competition in less than two weeks from Despicable Me 2, which has promised a larger dose of its adorable minions to viewers.

Man of Steel was crushed by the two new releases, particularly World War Z, which likely poached away some of its audience. The Superman relaunch dived 65% to $41 million. Still, that's not horrible for a movie that opened comfortably over $100 million, and holds the number-one spot (over WWZ) overseas.

In its second-week expansion, The Bling Ring narrowly missed placing in the top ten, cashing in with $2 million and an eleventh-place finish. Its $3,000 per-screen average was a grand off the average of fellow A24 release Spring Breakers, indicating that the movie will likely end up under that movie's $15 million cumulative to date, or that it's still in the process of building momentum. Much Ado About Nothing averaged $3,700 per screen for a total of $762,000. Its first major expansion, from 23 to 206 theatres, paid off, and the movie is outpacing other indies like The East, which earned half as much, $348,000, while playing in the same number of theatres.

This Friday will bring in two solid new releases. The action-packed White House Down will see the Presidential residence under siege, and Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock will star in the buddy-cop comedy The Heat.

'Monsters University' could outscare 'World War Z'

In a weekend filled with strong films, where the total box office should exceed $200 million, at least one may end up being squeezed out. Many in the industry expect that film to be World War Z (3,607 theatres), an expensive tentpole that may have a hard time opening above $50 million. Originally aiming for a Christmas release, Paramount scrapped the third act and did extensive reshoots to salvage the Brad Pitt-led zombie feature. Our critic Chris Barsanti found the finished product to contain traces of these problems, calling the globe-spanning movie "ambitious but confused." I found the tale of a zombie epidemic to be overhauled to my satisfaction--extremely frightening but also the kind of movie that favors more strategic zombie-killing over video game-style wholesale slaughtering. Early word-of-mouth among viewers and critics (68% of Rotten Tomatoes critics dubbed WWZ "fresh"), along with strong overseas returns, should help World War Z have stamina long after opening weekend. This weekend it will have to swim against the current, going against the second weekend of Man of Steel, which could top $50 million.

The kids who originally saw Monsters Inc. twelve years ago are all grown up, and some of them may even be in college. So it makes some sense that the prequel to the movie, Monsters University (4,004 theatres), takes place in the halls of higher education. While Pixar movies often do well with all-ages audiences, including young adults, FJI critic Daniel Eagan predicts that "customers who
remember the studio's earlier efforts may be less impressed by a
movie so calculated and predictable." Signs of Pixar's top-dog rank are there, from a "consistently pleasant" feel to great animation, but the plot "plays out like a standard college
comedy, a cleaned-up Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell vehicle." Those looking for another Up or Wall-E may want to skip this one, but it should still open north of $70 million.

After a strong debut weekend, The Bling Ring will expand in to 650 theatres. A24, the distributor behind another bad-teen film, Spring Breakers, is deploying a similar expansion strategy: follow a strong opening weekend with an aggressive expansion. Bling Ring will follow in Spring Breakers' footsteps, but shave 350 theatres off its second-week expansion total to compensate for its lower opening weekend.  The two movies pair an auteur director (Harmony Korine, Sofia Coppola) with a subject filled with mass appeal--teens gone wild. In this case, the teens robbed the houses of celebrities in order to don their clothes, a true-life story that Coppola uses to offer slivers of commentary on youth culture and wealth.

On Monday, we'll see if World War Z was able to gain on Monsters University's perceived lead going into the weekend, and if Bling Ring will be able to replicate the second-week success of Spring Breakers.

Does the 'Fifty Shades' director choice hint at its leading man?

Yesterday, fans of E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Gray rejoiced at one crew announcement, while still holding out for news about who will play the leading man and lady in the erotic romance. Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed the 2009 film Nowhere Boy about the young John Lennon, will direct. She's

married to Aaron Taylor-Johnson (they met when she directed him in Nowhere Boy). Aaron is no stranger to playing a romantic lead--he was Vronsky in Anna Karenina last year and shows off his six-pack abs in the upcoming Kick-Ass 2. There is a chance that Aaron could be believable as Christian Grey, who seduces recent college graduate Anastasia Steele. In the book, Grey is described as a wealthy, successful industrialist, which most people would see as someone in his thirties or forties, but he's actually much younger: THR puts his age at 27, which is confirmed by the fan Wiki for the book. Fifty Shades was originally Twilight fan fiction, which means that Grey was an unaging vampire who was young, but had hundreds of years to build up a fortune. But in the Seattle-set romance, maybe Grey is just the latest young tech millionaire. The young industrialist would go even younger if he were played by Aaron, who is just 23. But maybe the question is beside the point. At least historically, it hasn't been great for many couples to film intimate scenes together: Kate Winslet split from director Sam Mendes not long after the emotionally raw Revolutionary Road, and Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise divorced not long after they wrapped Eyes Wide Shut together. That being said, the Taylor-Johnson relationship itself is a bit unusual: Sam is in her forties, and met Aaron when he was just 18. They married last year and have two children together. Sam is a former video artist whose projects include Crying Men, a series of photographs of celebrities in tears.

The Focus features production may not have cast its stars yet, but it's being shepherded by producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti, who shared an Oscar nomination for The Social Network. De Luca has also received an Oscar nomination for Moneyball. Kelly Marcel, whose picture about the clash between Walt Disney and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, Saving Mr. Banks, comes out this December, is still a bit of an unknown in terms of her screenwriting style. Still, the producing and directing team, as well as the writer, all suggest that Fifty Shades of Grey has pulled the right ingredients together--now it's just a matter of cooking it to perfection.

BAM reveals Steinberg Screen in their 'state-of-the-art ruin' Harvey Theater

In its 109-year history, the BAM Harvey Theater in Brooklyn (originally the Majestic) has cycled between being a venue for live performances and a movie palace. Over two decades after it was restored as a showcase for live productions, BAM recently added a retractable 35-foot by 19-foot movie screen, which will allow the venue to show both movies and live performances. The renovation also included the addition of Dolby Digital 7.1 sound, as well as special acoustic panels that make the space more acoustically versatile. Before modifying the acoustics, the theatre was very reverberant, which is  great for hearing live voices but horrible for movie sound. Tonight, the theatre will break in its new screen with the opening night selection of BAMcinemafest, the Sundance-approved western Ain't Them Bodies Saints.

Just as stunning as the large, seamless Steinberg Screen is the theatre itself, especially for those who have grown up seeing movies in modern multiplexes. The 1904 vaudeville theatre, which fell on hard times in the 1960s and was closed for two decades, was stumbled upon in its decrepit state by BAM staff in the 1980s. They were enchanted by the rundown space, and a restoration completed in 1987 preserved the sense of the theatre as a grand ruin. Corinthian columns in the lobby are half-chipped away, bricks are uneven, and paint has a hundred-year patina. In her opening remarks for a preview event on Monday, BAM president Karen Brooks Hopkins said the staff refers to the Harvey as a "state-of-the art ruin," an apt description that encapsulates its combination of modern amenities and romantic dilapidated look. With 745 seats, it hearkens back to the great movie palaces and will have enough seating for BAM's larger events. The theatre is just a few blocks away from the BAM Rose Cinemas, where the theatre held all of its movie screenings before the renovation of the BAM Harvey.

Any new theatre with boast-worthy screen and sound has certain films on their must list, and the Steinberg Screen will show them in the "Big Screen Epics" series from July 3-23, which will include runs of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and The Godfather I & II. Besides these special series, the Harvey Theater will also book theatrical runs of indies like Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, which play there starting July 26. New York City is known for its plentiful arthouse movie theatres, but the Harvey Theater's Steinberg Screen is truly a one-of-a-kind New York City moviegoing experience, one that will surely be showing up on the "best theatres" lists in months to come.