Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Glorious Box Office Basterds

There wasn't much question as to whether Quentin Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTERDS would debut atop the box office this weekend. It's stiffest competition going in was DISTRICT 9, leftover from last weekend. No, the question was how well it would do and it has done very well. With a well-deserved R-rating, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS nailed down a per screen average of nearly $12K for a grand total of over $37 million. This is Tarantino's highest opening weekend ever, easily besting the former record holder, KILL BILL VOLUME 2, with $25 million. Depending on how it performs in the weeks to come, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS could easily surpass PULP FICTION ($107.9 million) as Tarantino most success film of his career. It was definite redemption for the filmmaker, whose last film, the DEATHPROOF portion of the GRINDHOUSE double bill opened to a miserable $11.6 million. The second film in the GRINDHOUSE set was directed by Robert Rodriguez, whose SHORTS, posted disappointing results this week, landing in 6th place. I thought the kid friendly pic would do well with little competition in sight but it must be time for kids to think about going back to school instead of crazy wishing stones. The only other Top 10 debut went to the Alexis Bliedl vehicle, POST GRAD, which, coming in tenth place, barely passed the final exam. Female driven pics continue to hold well, from THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, THE UGLY TRUTH and JULIE & JULIA, all posting declines under 30%. The near 60% decline is probably a little disappointing to the DISTRICT 9 people considering the phenomenal word of mouth it has generated. It won't stop the two greenlit sequels though. Outside the Top 10, ADAM saw a 22% jump after adding 29 screens but the big success story belongs to Renee Zellwegger whose period comedy, MY ONE AND ONLY, opened to the best per screen average of any film this week, with a $15K average.


NEXT WEEK: Ang Lee gets the jump on everyone else, opening his lovefest, TAKING WOODSTOCK on two screens on Wednesday before bumping to over 1000 screens on Friday. Outside of that I hope you like horror because your only new options are Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN 2 (3000 screens) and THE FINAL DESTINATION (3000 screens), the supposed last in the series and the first in 3D.

Source: BOX OFFICE MOJO

ADAM

Written and directed by Max Mayer
Starring Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Callagher, Frankie Faisan and Amy Iving


Harlan: Liars are all you’re going to come across in this world. A man’s gotta learn the difference between plain liars and liars worth loving.

When you first hear it, it sounds like a joke. How can anyone possibly have something called “ass burger” syndrome? Then you will be politely corrected as it is actually called “Asperger syndrome” and it has absolutely nothing to do with anyone’s buttocks. Its unfortunate name aside, the syndrome itself stems from the autism spectrum but those who live with AS do not suffer the same cognitive development limitations as those with autism. AS is also at the center of a new quirky romance called ADAM, in which the lead character for which the movie is named after has AS. This is where the trouble starts. As AS is not commonly known, ADAM must spend some time explaining itself. Furthermore, as AS is not commonly known, the filmmakers could take certain liberties if they felt like it to manipulate the audience into feeling sorry for Adam in hopes no one educated would notice. Thanks to writer/director, Max Mayer, though, ADAM rises above all of this to simply become a tender and touching love story that will leave your head in the stars.


When we meet Adam, (Hugh Dancy), he has just lost his father, whom he lived with. People with AS don’t deal with change very well. They like knowing what is waiting for them, whether that means the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday or whether that means having a father in your life to make your difficult social interactions manageable. For Adam, there are two particularly frightening changes in his life outside of the loss of his father. The first is that he must find a new job or leave the New York apartment he has known for years, as he cannot afford the mortgage without his father. The second is Beth (Rose Byrne), the pretty new girl who just moved into his building and who clearly thinks Adam is cute. Beth mistakes Adam’s difficulties as every day shyness and a courtship ensues. This begs the question, when is the right time to tell the girl you like that you’re not just awkward and that there’s a very good reason why you never look her in the eye?


ADAM does explain here and there what is going on and why but it is mostly done visually through the endearing Hugh Dancy. Dancy carries weighted tension in his posture and beams with exuberance when he is talking about space, his favorite subject. Not unlike any human being who has difficulty getting close to another, Adam struggles with intimacy and letting go of the habits he has grown accustomed to in his solitary life. Dancy plays Adam like a prisoner set free for the very first time. His longing to be an equal part of life and this relationship – one that I must point out is delicately balanced with Beth and never seen from her perspective as one based on pity for Adam or Beth’s own loneliness and insecurity – is evident on his face and his frustration that he cannot just make it happen smoothly is heartbreaking. Dancy’s performance is humble and selfless as his aggravation is always clearly out of a desire to make Beth happier rather than himself.


Predominantly, AS makes it nearly impossible to assess what the people standing right in front of them are thinking. Forget sarcasm; that sense of humour goes right over their heads (just as that sentence would). They experience what is referred to as mind blindness, which is to say that they presume you are thinking the same thing they are. Is it me or haven’t you found yourself in the same place dozens of times over while trying to figure your dates out? ADAM exudes compassion but never begs for that compassion to be given to this man just because he has AS. Rather the compassion it inspires is for all who pursue love despite its many obstacles by reminding us that it might not be any easier, but it might be more genuine if we all just said what we were really thinking.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Yo Joe!

I don’t think anyone can say they didn’t see this coming. G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA has debuted atop the North American box office chart, just as everyone presumed it would. When it comes to an obvious blockbuster like this one, the real question is not whether it will come out on top but really more so by how much. With a $56 million start, Hasbro and Paramount can rest peacefully knowing they’ve launched another successful franchise. And knowing is half the battle …


G.I. JOE solidified its success on Friday when it debuted to a single day gross of over $22 million, the fifth highest of any film this summer. This amount was also almost more than last week’s box office champ, FUNNY PEOPLE, brought in all weekend. This weekend, the firs official Judd Apatow disappointment stumbles more than 65% for a fifth place finish. So with this weekend looking much brighter than last, there was even room for audiences starved for movies to spread the money around. This week’s second debut gives Meryl Streep her third $20+ million summer opening in the last four years. JULIE & JULIA, which co-stars Amy Adams, brought in just over $20 million for a second place opening. While this is a solid start, it is about $7 million lower than Streep’s other summer hits, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and MAMMA MIA!


The week’s only other wide release, the Steve Zahn thriller, THE PERFECT GETAWAY, wasn’t the perfect anything for viewers this weekend. It opened in seventh place and, despite mostly positive reviews, will likely disappear very soon, with very little mystery left to be solved. The Top 10 did see one other debut; in its fourth week, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER expands to over 800 screens and finally earns enough to be seen amongst the elite. The expansion may have eroded its average to about $4.5K per screen but this is still the third largest in the Top 10. Elsewhere in the art-house world, the Charlene Yi/Michael Cera mockumentary, PAPER HEARTS, debuted to an average of $5.4K on 38 screens. It seems to me it should have been higher but there hasn’t been very much publicity for this quirky little film (Black Sheep review coming this week). Two other Black Sheep favorites continued their limited runs with limited success. THE COVE, a must see documentary, added 52 screens and saw its gross balloon by 174% by its average dropped from $17K to under $3K. Don’t miss the Black Sheep interview THE COVE director, Louie Psihoyos. Faring better was the Asperger’s Syndrome romantic comedy, ADAM. It added 16 new screens and maintained an average of $5.2K per screen. This touching film gets the Black Sheep treatment very soon.


NEXT WEEK: It’s a biggie, folks! PAPER HEARTS will commence its expansion next week, hoping to spread the love across the nation. A couple of lower brow comedies hit with modest runs, POOL BOYS starring Matthew Lillard on 400 screens and the Jeremy Piven vehicle, THE GOODS: LIVE HARD, SELL HARD hits 1500 screens. The latest from Hayao Miyazaki, PONYO, enlists huge names in hopes of crossing over on 800 screens. I’m not sure what kind of hard times Lisa Kudrow and David Bowi have fallen on but they are both in the Vanessa Hudgens teen rock comedy, BANDSLAM (2000 screens). Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams travel through time with love in THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE (2700 screens). And finally, one of my favorite movies of the year, DISTRICT 9 unleashes all its alien gooey goodness on 2900 screens. See it!

Source: Box Office Mojo