Box Office Predictions 8/31/07 - 9/3/07

David Gorgos: The most underwhelming 3-day weekend of the film calendar is upon us, when cinephiles eschew the aisles for the barbecues and the dregs of the Hollywood vaults tend to be unleashed. How unusual, then, to have a high-profile sequel by an acclaimed director hitting theaters.

If you thought Christmas was coming earlier each year, you ain't heard nothin' yet: Halloween is ready to carve up some business. While horror in general has had a rough year, one factor should buck this trend: auteur Rob Zombie has attracted a loyal following. With the Saw franchise locking up the holiday itself, the distributors decided to get two months' jump, striking just as college students are heading back to class. I'll look for numbers around $7000 per screen for the 4-day weekend (all numbers reflect the long holiday).

Meanwhile, silly comedies that don't star Ben Stiller or Will Ferrell tend to open limply. However, a strong marketing campaign and the hilarious presence of Christopher Walken may help Balls of Fury to a decent opening.

Buzz is nonexistent, however, for the thriller Death Sentence, which looks like a typical late-summer dump. In holdover news, expect drops of anywhere from 5 to 25%, as films tend to benefit slightly from the extra day (but not to the extent they do over Memorial Day weekend).

Our Predictions

Film	Gorgos
Halloween	$24.3 million
Balls of Fury	$15.8 million
Superbad	$14.4 million
The Bourne Ultimatum	$10.6 million
Rush Hour 3	$9.4 million
Mr. Bean's Holiday	$9.1 million
War	$7.5 million
The Nanny Diaries	$6.1 million
Death Sentence	$5.8 million
The Simpsons Movie	$3.6 million

Theater counts obtained at www.boxofficemojo.com

Content © TLA Entertainment Group

Halloween picture © MGM/Dimension

Inland Empire Special Features

This review covers only the extra content on the 2-DVD set.

(2007, 211 minutes of extras) As any David Lynch fan would agree, quality bonus features in regards to his DVD releases have been few and far between. Tight lipped about his projects, Lynch isn’t the most candid subject when it comes to insight into the genesis of his films. However, with the DVD release of Inland Empire, Lynch himself is in the driver's seat, and the two-disc set comes loaded with goodies.

The most intriguing for fans of the Inland Empire feature would be the 75 minutes of bonus footage not included in the theatrical release. While these extra scenes reveal no new insight into the complexity of Inland Empire as a story, they do provide more instances of damaged interpersonal relationships which are the heart and soul of this (and really any) Lynch film. Be sure to catch the scene between the character known as The Phantom and a young prostitute for possibly the creepiest, most predatory scene yet in the Lynch filmography.

Also included are just over seven minutes of photo stills backed by a beautifully ominous white noise-cum-industrial-terror soundtrack. Most of these are screen captures from the film itself, however, there are some nice behind the scenes shots as well.

Beautifully, Lynch walks the viewer through a cooking lesson in the fine art of preparing quinoa. How this relates to Inland Empire in any way is beyond me. However, this peek into Lynch’s home and his retelling a story of traveling from Greece through Yugoslavia in the late summer of 1965 should be on any Lynch fanatic’s must see list.

In Ballerina, what seems to be an experiment using the new digital format medium, Lynch features a single dancer in a red dress dancing to the now very familiar Inland Empire score while fading in and out of smoke. While not completely satisfying as an extra, it does provide some time for me to stop and wonder when Absurda might release Industrial Symphony, No. 1 on DVD.

Stories, similar to an inclusion on the Eraserhead set, provides Lynch an opportunity to tell several stories about the creative process while opening up about his opinions on many of Hollywood’s inner-workings. Definitely some great stuff included here. Make sure you check out Lynch’s rant on the technological advances in films being streamed via the Internet and over hand-held devices. Classic.

However, the most valuable of the extras would have to be the Lynch 2 micro-documentary that provides a true behind the scenes look at the production of Inland Empire. As opposed to a prepared and thoroughly edited BTS, this documentary shows a cross section of the director at work and reveals the depth at which Lynch is willing to go for his art. From his true hands on production nature, to his frustration in trying to do it all Lynch is by all definitions a renaissance man capable of speaking in many mediums to present the vision he has as an artist.

As a whole, the Inland Empire two-disc set is a real treasure for fans. While a complicated and challenging film, the set is worth every penny and should be added to your collection.

– Brian Sokel

© TLA Entertainment Group

Bean cooks while Dawn gets massacred

To nobody's surprise, Superbad repeated at #1 with a typical Judd Apatow dip of 45%. But even with typically mild mid-August numbers, a few surprises lurked. Mr. Bean's Holiday opened just a bit below the first Bean entry, doubling my prediction. Meanwhile, Resurrecting the Champ opened at about half of my pessimistic guess (good thing I didn't read all the positive reviews first, which would have pushed my numbers even higher). And September Dawn managed to turn off both the Mormons and the fundamentalists, raking in about $700 per screen... that's about 6 die-hards per showing. Well, at least I was right about The Nanny Diaries and War which, like Mr. Bean's Holiday, opened to mild but probably profitable numbers.

Actual Grosses for the Weekend of August 17 thru August 19:

Rank	Film	Total
1	Superbad	$18.0 million
2	The Bourne Ultimatum	$12.5 million
3	Rush Hour 3	$11.7 million
4	Mr. Bean's Holiday	$9.9 million
5	War	$9.8 million
6	The Nanny Diaries	$7.5 million
7	The Simpsons Movie	$4.3 million
8	Hairspray	$3.3 million
9	Resurrecting the Champ	$1.7 million
10	September Dawn	$0.6 million

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Mr. Bean's Holiday picture © Universal

Box office figures © Box Office Mojo

The Hi-Def Format War

The terrific online critic James Berardinelli has written my favorite piece so far on the HD-DVD / Blu-Ray format war. It is concise and compelling.

It also got me thinking on a deeper level of conspiracy theory: Is Microsoft intentionally sabotaging the hi-def DVD format to position hi-definition downloads as the industry standard?

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Box Office Predictions 8/24/07 - 8/26/07

David Gorgos: Why people used to settle for action heroes like Steven Seagal is beyond me. Under Siege 2 is awesome, but man, how much better it would be with Jason fucking Statham. He carried last year's terrific action-comedy Crank, and nothing against Jet Li, but I expect War to garner similar box office numbers... maybe a bit lower, because this film just doesn't look quite as good.

Critcs nationwide are wondering why the directors of American Splendor would follow up with the innocuous The Nanny Diaries. Me too. Expect mild results. Wildly popular in England, Mr. Bean just never caught on in the states. Now aimed at a younger audience, Mr. Bean's Holiday (which looks like a dumbed-down Tati film) may play to nearly empty theaters. Though not as empty as those showing Resurrecting the Champ, a low-key drama with almost no buzz whatsoever.

The wildcard this week is September Dawn, an anti-Mormon flick aimed at the Christian market. Being liberal and athiest, I never see any of the marketing for these films, but somehow they always get the faithful to turn out. I'll guess that they get about $4100 per screen for this one, and then brace for something unexpected.

The most notable holdover is the returning champ Superbad, which with good word-of-mouth should have a mild drop of just over 40% and hold onto the #1 spot easily.

Our Predictions

Film	Gorgos
Superbad	$19.2 million
The Bourne Ultimatum	$10.7 million
Rush Hour 3	$10.2 million
War	$9.4 million
The Nanny Diaries	$7.0 million
Mr. Bean's Holiday	$4.7 million
The Simpsons Movie	$3.8 million
September Dawn	$3.4 million
Hairspray	$3.0 million
Resurrecting the Champ	$2.9 million

Theater counts obtained at www.boxofficemojo.com

Content © TLA Entertainment Group

War picture © Lions Gate

Taxi Driver

(1976, 113 min) In 1974, New York City was in financial dire straits and on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. As a result of low city funding, the NYC sanitation department went on strike during the summer of 1975. The hot city streets were filled with stinking garbage, setting the perfect stage for Taxi Driver – widely considered one of the best films of the decade.

Director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader’s gritty study of a lonely urban isolation – for those few who may not have seen it – introduced us to Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), one of the most recognized antiheroes in cinema history. A well-meaning yet dangerously unstable and easily influenced war veteran, Travis is alternately drawn to and disgusted by the porn theaters, hookers, pimps and drug addicts that frequented 42nd Street and Times Square during the overnight hours. Though originally optimistic about living a life of normalcy and becoming “a person like other people,” Travis’s intimate view of the city’s crime and corruption and icy rejection from Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), his object of amorous infatuation, make him increasingly violent, leading him to believe that he is predetermined to become “God’s Lonely Man.”

Scorsese employs seductive cinematography by Michael Chapman and a jarring and emotionally resonant score by master-composer Bernard Herrmann (who suffered a heart attack and died mere hours after finishing his recording) to showcase Travis’s transformation from relatively mild-mannered cabbie to destruction-bent urban survivalist. De Niro too, in one of his most captivating performances, transforms himself both mentally and physically as Travis begins purchasing guns and training in an effort to assassinate a well-respected politician and save Iris (Jodie Foster), a charismatic 12-year-old prostitute, from a life amidst the “scum.” Heavily layered and deeply affective, Taxi Driver gave eager audiences a glimpse into the deteriorating minds of the John Hinckley Jrs and Charles Whitmans of the world, culminating in an abrasive and unforgettable sequence of bloody redemption.

This brand new 2-disc edition is jam-packed with never-before-seen special features. Included are the original screenplay with interactive scene-display options, multiple photo galleries, "The Making of Taxi Driver," along with six separate featurettes, two highly informative audio commentaries by Paul Schrader and film studies Professor Robert Kolker as well as interviews with Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, producer Michael Phillips, Oliver Stone, Roger Corman, and even a few real-life NYC cab drivers who speak about the dangers that their profession presented during the ‘70s. Just as relevant today as it was upon its original release, Taxi Driver belongs, without doubt, in every serious DVD collector’s library. If you have seen it before, see it again. If you have never seen it, what are you waiting for? Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you!

– Robert O'Neill

© TLA Entertainment Group

Superbad's supergross; Invasion not successful

Opening even stronger than expected, with a bigger gross than either The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up, Superbad hit the $33 million mark with no stars and a hard R rating. Unbelievable. While my estimate was close, I have the unfortunate distinction of finishing in the derby just behind some smartass who calls himself "McLovin". This is due to the exceptionally poor performances by the other two openers.

The Invasion only scored about $2100 per screen, a number I thought impossible for a Nicole Kidman movie. The Last Legion, meanwhile, played to even emptier theaters than Daddy Day Camp. These turkeys are really burning my toast.

Among holdovers, Rush Hour 3 had a predictably large drop, while The Simpsons Movie finally settled down with a more normal 40% dip.

Actual Grosses for the Weekend of August 17 thru August 19:

Rank	Film	Total
1	Superbad	$33.1 million
2	Rush Hour 3	$21.4 million
3	The Bourne Ultimatum	$19.9 million
4	The Simpsons Movie	$6.8 million
5	The Invasion	$6.0 million
6	Stardust	$5.7 million
7	Hairspray	$4.5 million
8	Underdog	$3.8 million
9	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	$3.7 million
10	The Last Legion	$2.7 million

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Superbad picture © Sony

Box office figures © Box Office Mojo

Aqua Teen Movie: Special Features

(2-disc set) Since I was silly enough to pay to see this movie twice in theaters, it makes sense that I would impulsively buy the DVD and check it out. Surprisingly, this is a somewhat reverent package – no cruel jokes on the viewer, no throwaways, no easter eggs. But Hunger Force fans should be in hog heaven.

The big addition is the deleted 80-minute movie, presumably tossed when it tested badly. None of the animation is finished (no moving mouths, for example), but it does give you some idea of what went wrong. While the basic plot is similar to the finished film, there is entirely too much of it. Everything is linear, and everything is explained. As a result, this cut is missing all the throwaway jokes that make the show (and the finished movie) so special.

Interestingly, fans have probably already seen much of this deleted footage, which was later finished and edited into a TV episode. That episode is included here, along with other deleted and extended scenes which are somewhat amusing but were rightfully tossed. Pacing is essential to comedy, and these would slow things down just enough that audiences would start to think about how ridiculous the plot is.

Speaking of ridiculous, check out the group assembled for the audio commentary: rocker Patti Smith, who has nothing to do with the film; The Onion editor Todd Hanson; comedian Fred Armisen; and Master Shake himself Dana Snyder, who pretty much always sounds like Master Shake. Smith dominates the conversation, throwing pop references and criticism left and right. It's fun but not nearly as informative as "The Thing We Shot Wednesday Night," an exhaustive behind-the-scenes documentary which goes into the script reading, the sound effects, and the animation, which I was surprised to learn is actually all hand-drawn before it goes into the computer.

An excellent photo gallery not only explores this animation process, but also includes most of the excellent CD soundtrack. Fans of the music will delight at the videos and making-ofs included, from Nashville Pussy to Mastodon to the lobby singers. It's a great set, even if it doesn't answer the question, "Where's Frylock?" Carey Means appears nowhere on the soundtrack and only makes a brief appearance in a voiceover segment, and his absence is the only fault of this excellent set.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Cincinnati Kid

Our poker series continues in anticipation of the televised WSOP main event. Did you know they don't even have 5-card stud at the World Series?

(1965, 103 min) If Steve McQueen is the ultimate man's man, and Edward G. Robinson is the ultimate man's villain, and Ann-Margret is the ultimate man's woman, and poker is the ultimate man's man's game, well, it's easy to understand why The Cincinnati Kid is so freakin' awesome. Hell, they even play 5-card stud at the climax. No one has the balls to play that game anymore. One can only wonder how much testosterone this film would have contained had Sam Peckinpah not been fired and replaced by Norman Jewison.

There are twin stories of machismo at the core of this story: A poker rivalry between "the kid" (McQueen) and "the man" (Robinson), with the implication that whoever is tougher at the poker table will win the money. There is also a soap opera, with Melba (Ann-Margret) likely shacking up with whoever wins the kitty.

There are also plenty of diverting subplots along the way, notably the kid's apprenticeship under Shooter (Karl Malden)... who also happens to be Melba's husband. There's plenty of backroom cardsharpery, and an enjoyably tense atmosphere leading to a fairly unpredictable ending. Poker fans will be howling in disbelief at the final hand, which is played just horribly by at least one of the parties, but in this movie, poker is a metaphor for life and not a game of math. And that's just the way it should be, dammit.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Aces

Ed note: The World Series of Poker final table coverage begins this week on ESPN. Yeah, we know who won, but we're still excited about watching all the action. For the next week we'll revisit our reviews of poker in cinema. Or in this case, direct-to-video crap.

(2006, 89 min) A horrible quickie aimed at cashing in on the poker craze, taking all the worst elements of Rounders to create an interminable 90 minutes of pokerbabble. Three young women, fresh out of college, come up with a poker cheating scheme that's about 40 years old and would never work. It does work for a while, but when they're caught, two of the girls are held hostage by a crazy Johnny Chan lookalike, and the poker neophyte must prove her worth (without cheating) to set everything right. WhatEVER!

These actresses make Pia Zadora look Oscar-worthy, and it doesn't help that they're alternately spouting the most basic cliches and the most banal (and cryptic) poker idioms. One of them even has to go over the rules of Texas Hold 'em for the audience — can you imagine Field of Dreams beginning with an overview of the rules of baseball? By the way, don't be fooled by the "unrated" tag on the cover; the production was too cheap to go to the MPAA for a rating, and the one brief topless scene (strip poker, natch) is incredibly tame.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group