The Help
Detroit Film Critics Society Announces the Best of 2011 Winners
The Detroit Film Critics Society is pleased to announce the Best of 2011 winners and nominees in ten categories. The society was founded in spring 2007 and consists of a group of twenty-two film critics (our very own Mike Tyrkus is a proud member of the society) 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 ...[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: The Lion King 3D Has No Successors!
Even with four new films this weekend, apparently there’s no Disney like old Disney…The Lion King 3D stayed in the top spot, earning an estimated $22.1 million. The 17-year-old film did have some stiff competition, however, in the Aaron Sorkin-written Moneyball, which edged into second place with an estimated $20.6 million, and the kid-friendly Dolphin Tale, which picked up an estimated $20.2 mill...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: The Lion King 3D Reigns at the Box Office
Four films debuted in the Top 10 this week…but leave it to a 17-year-old animated film to claim the crown. The Lion King 3D took the top spot with an estimated $29.3 million. Whether it was the gimmicky 3D or just the film’s reputation, it easily bested everything else for the weekend, including last week’s top movie, Contagion. The Steven Soderbergh thriller weathered well enough, only dropping t...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Contagion Stops The Help Cold
The Help finally appears to have met its match; the new Steven Soderbergh thriller Contagion lived up to its name and managed to outdo all comers this weekend, picking up an estimated $23.1 million, while The Help made a little over a third of that, an estimated $8.7 million. Nothing to feel bad about, though…in five weeks The Help has cleaned up at the box office with a $137 million gross (and li...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: The Help Shows No Sign of Slowing Down
The Help continues to hold the top slot for the third week in a row, adding an estimated $19 million to its running total of $123 million over the Labor Day weekend. It also makes waves in that, despite being at the box office for four weeks, it actually jumped in revenue from the previous week (even if one doesn’t count the holiday). The competition wasn’t even close: all three major newcomers ha...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: The Help Takes on All Comers – Stays On Top!
Despite the release of three new films, the competition paled in comparison to The Help, which entered a second week in the #1 slot…and for its third week made an estimated $14.3 million, with nearly $100 million in domestic profits. It was a fine showing compared to the ill-reviewed newcomers Colombiana, starring Zoe Saldana as an assassin seeking revenge on the criminals who murdered her parent...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: The Help is on the Way!
It was a switcharoo at the box office this weekend: The Help took the top spot from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, with neither film suffering too handily much in estimated box office take. The Help received an estimated $20.5 million, while Apes made approximately $16.3 million. Both films are well on their way to being hits; Apes has already hit the $100 million mark, though Help isn’t very far...[Read More]
Weekend Box-Office: Apes Still in Charge
Truly, the planet is going to the apes…Rise of the Planet of the Apes held the top spot for the second week in a row, earning an estimated $27.5 million in weekend take. In only two weeks, the critically-acclaimed film has already broken the $100 million barrier in domestic gross, and even the typical drop in revenue from week to week was noticeably small, with a less than 50% loss. 2nd and 3rd pl...[Read More]
Movie Review: The Help
I, as did many women in this country, read the book The Help, so the movie was on warning in my head to deliver the goods and stay true to Kathryn Stockett’s novel, or else. It did. And one of the reasons it succeeded is the fact that Stockett’s childhood friend (since the age of five) Tate Taylor serves as both writer and director of the new film adaptation. Taylor (a mostly unknown actor who had...[Read More]