Les Miserables
Movie Review: Les Misérables
The new film Les Misérables should not be confused with either the novel by Victor Hugo or the Tom Hooper filmed version of the Broadway musical take on the story from 2012. While the themes of Hugo’s novel are buried deep in the heart of this new assault on the story of unease between the classes, it is a work totally of itself and signals the arrival of a remarkable filmmaker. The film follows S...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Warm Bodies Is the Hottest Property at the Box Office
Box office totals continue to recede through the cold months of 2013, with very few new names to cheer things up. Of the two new releases to make any waves, only one was able to claim a top three victory: Warm Bodies, the $30 million budgeted horror-comedy-romance of a zombie whose love for a human slowly brings him back to life, made a strong first weekend showing with an estimated $19.5 million ...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Hansel and Gretel Lead A Weak Box Office
Receipts were down this week as a whole, as a handful of new films hit the box office that did little to inject life into it. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters led the way with a fairly weak estimate of $19 million, though the $50 million film had a big enough opening overseas to ensure it made back on its investment. It was the only new film to break the top three, which belonged to box office w...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Ghost Over Guns and Mama is the Big Winner
With Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first starring role on the big screen since his political career ended (not including his ensemble role in The Expendables 2) and a noir thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, the top draw was…a PG-13 rated ghost story? Yes, with a cast and crew whose biggest name is Gullermo del Toro as an executive producer, Mama led the box office, with an estimated $28....[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Zero Dark Thirty Knocks Out Django Unchained
While returns for the year are down from the end of 2012 and the new year’s debuts have failed to impress thus far, Django Unchained nevertheless failed to stay on top against one critically acclaimed film and two…well, not-so-acclaimed ones. Zero Dark Thirty, entering its fourth week of release with an expansion of nearly 3,000 new theaters, drew in the most crowds with an estimated $24 million. ...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Violence Brings in the New Year as Texas Chainsaw and Django Unchained Lead
Be it chopping off limbs or…threatening to chop off certain limbs, there is no shortage of moviegoers starting 2013 by seeing plenty of blood and gore, whether it was that this week’s big winner (but critical loser) Texas Chainsaw 3D with an estimated $23 million or critical winner Django Unchained with an estimated $20.1 million. Django Unchained is still not director Quentin Tarantino’s most suc...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Django May Get Bloody Revenge, But He Can’t Conquer Middle Earth
As 2012 draws to a close and a new year of movies dawns ahead, we still have one more weekend worth of movies to talk about, and with business up from last week, the old year is going out on a high note. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey did not lose much steam from last weekend to this one, earning an estimated $32.9 million. It had strong competition from newcomer Django Unchained, Quentin Taran...[Read More]
Movie Review: Les Misérables
Since its debut in 1980, Les Misérables, the musical based on the 1862 French novel of the same title by Victor Hugo, has become a true phenomenon of the stage. And like many fans of Les Mis, as it’s colloquially known, I wondered if the long-rumored movie adaptation would ever emerge from the depths of development hell. In March 2011, it was announced that Tom Hooper, director of Red Dust (...[Read More]
Detroit Film Critics Society Announces the Best of 2012 Winners
The Detroit Film Critics Society (of which CinemaNerdz Editor in Chief Mike Tyrkus is a member) is pleased to announce the Best of 2012 winners in ten categories. The society was founded in spring 2007 and consists of a group of seventeen film critics who write or broadcast in the Detroit area as well as other major cities within a 150-mile radius of the city including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Kal...[Read More]
Detroit Film Critics Society Announces Its 2012 Nominations
The Detroit Film Critics Society (of which CinemaNerdz Editor in Chief Mike Tyrkus is a member) is pleased to announce the Best of 2012 nominees in ten categories. The society was founded in spring 2007 and consists of a group of seventeen film critics who write or broadcast in the Detroit area as well as other major cities within a 150-mile radius of the city including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Ka...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Les Miserables Lets Us Hear the People Sing
With so many people going to the movies during the summer, it’s a great time for the studios to start putting out trailers for their big fall and winter films, in order to start building awareness. Such is the case with the subject of this week’s Trailer Trashin’ column, the first teaser for the long-awaited movie adaptation of the award-winning musical Les Misérables. Premise: F...[Read More]