The Descendants
Weekend Box-Office: A Weekend for Lovers as The Vow Makes a Strong Debut
It was a strong weekend at the pre-Valentine’s Day box office, well up from last week, with four new films not only topping the first-place finisher from last week, but nearly blowing it out of the water. The big winner, the romantic drama The Vow, made an estimated $41.7 million, almost twice as much as Chronicle, which made $22 million last week (and landed in fifth this week with an estimated $...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Chronicle Tops Out Against Post-Potter Radcliffe
Found footage films have grown in popularity lately, though after The Devil Inside, the genre seemed to be on a downhill slump. But Chronicle seems ready to breathe some fresh life into the genre, making an estimated $22 million at the box office and claiming first place this week. Even the higher price tag compared to the likes of Paranormal Activity and Apollo 18 wasn’t an issue, the $12 million...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: The Grey Leads the Pack
He may not be punching out as many wolves as the trailers (and a recent action film reputation) might suggest, but that hasn’t stopped audiences and critics from praising Liam Neeson and The Grey, which made an estimated $20 million in its opening at the box office and is one of the few January releases both critics and audiences seem to agree on. Perhaps it wasn’t as good an opening as Underworld...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Continues the Impossible
With two holiday weekends in a row, it’s been a good time at the theaters…maybe not as much as the studios would like, but the green has still been good to the big hits of the season. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol continues to earn top marks, with an estimated $38.3 million for the top spot once again, and in three weeks has nearly earned back its $145 million budget in domestic revenue alo...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Sneaks Its Way to the Top
This Christmas weekend almost had an unhappy ending, but an extra fourth day spelled good news for this year compared to last; an estimated $184.7 million was made this weekend, almost $70 million of it from this Monday alone (as compared to 2010, which made $20 million more in the three day weekend than this year did). Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows fell to second with an estimated $31.8 mill...[Read More]
Detroit Film Critics Society Announces the Best of 2011 Nominations
The Detroit Film Critics Society is pleased to announce the Best of 2011 nominees in ten categories. The society was founded in spring 2007 and consists of a group of twenty-two 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, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Flint, Michigan. Each critic submitted t...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: New Year’s Eve Winner of the Non-Winning Weekend
Small numbers last week, smaller ones this week…that doesn’t bode well for the two new films debuting on this week’s Top 10, which finally managed to dethrone The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 from the top spot. New Year’s Eve opened to an estimated $13.7 million, while the Jonah Hill comedy The Sitter opened to an estimated $10 million. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 slid to third place with an e...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: On A Slow Weekend, Breaking Dawn Still Drawing Crowds
The numbers might be miniscule this week, but with no new releases to speak of (barring the NC-17 rated Shame, which didn’t make the Top 10), the top contenders remained about the same. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 remained the top draw for the third week in a row, though it dropped considerably from its $60+ million earnings last week, picking up only an estimated $16.9 million. It h...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Breaking Dawn Thankful for Audiences This Thanksgiving
Last year at this time, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 led the box office pack. This year, another Part 1 does the same…The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 held the top spot for a second week in a row with an estimated $62.3 million. While the film hasn’t wowed critics, with $221 million in domestic gross (over twice its production costs) it is unlikely Summit Entertainment is ...[Read More]
Movie Review: The Descendants
You need to know this from the start – there are no negatives when it comes to The Descendants. The movie is a nearly perfect package. Yes, this is George Clooney’s greatest role (more on that later), but the other key pieces – supporting actors, writing, directing, cinematography, and music – all fit together like a customized glove to make writer/director Alexander Payne’s drama/comedy about a w...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Breaking Dawn Leaves Competition Drained
Is it surprising to anyone anymore that a Twilight film debuts in the #1 spot? Well, it’s happened once again, as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 not only took the top spot, it savaged the competition, making an estimated $139.5 million, which was almost as much as the gross of the entire Top 10 last week. Happy Feet Two also debuted, but the animated 3D film fell to a very distant (but ...[Read More]