WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Gone to the Dogs

I can still remember what it was like when I first saw the trailer for BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA. Essentially, my eyes were widened in disbelief and my mouth had dropped all the way to my knees. I thought for a second that perhaps I had inadvertently taken acid. There had to be a reasonable explanation for the countless tiny dogs bobbing their heads and singing in unison atop some Mayan temple. No matter though; surely no one would actually see this mess. Once again, North American audiences have proven me wrong.


Disney’s BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA opened to $29 million, laps ahead of the rest. Audiences were clearly starved for supposed family fun, having been disappointed with recent examples like IGOR and FLY ME TO THE MOON. To be fair, it isn’t just dogs in purses singing; these dogs rediscover their Mexican roots. These dogs are not just for show; they’ve got bite and they’ve bitten deep into your pockets. What a treat!


This weekend was ridiculously overcrowded. Hollywood put out seven wide titles and somehow thought that they would each find their own audiences. After all is said and done, only three managed to make a connection. The second would be NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST. The Michael Cera/Kat Dennings modern day romance averaged a solid $5K and should play its run out reasonably with inevitably sound word of mouth. The third would be the latest film from Larry Charles (BORAT), RELIGULOUS, featuring Bill Maher as he gallivants across the planet in search of truth in the world’s religions. Maher’s loyal followers rung up the film’s tally to a strong $7K per screen average. These are solid numbers but nothing to start your own religion with.


Word of mouth was also responsible for many holdovers retaining strong grasps on their audiences. Three titles (EAGLE EYE, BURN AFTER READING and FIREPROOF) all dropped off by less than 40% while the biggest decline wasn’t even that bad (NIGHTS IN RODANTHE with 45%). Then there’s that whole 3300% increase for APPALOOSA, Ed Harris’s latest directorial effort (having seen it yesterday, I will place the emphasis on “effort”). After two successful weeks in limited release, the supposedly modern western expanded modestly for a fifth place finish. The more modest expansion for THE DUCHESS is seeing more promising results. The film added another 72 screens and saw its tally rise another 60%. The film is slated to go nationwide on October 10.


As for the rest of the debuts, they will be listed in no particular order of embarrassment. First up, AN AMERICAN CAROL. This spoof, which apparently makes statements about the downside of free speech, played on three times as many screens as RELIGULOUS and mustered three times as less cash. Critical hopefuls, FLASH OF GENIUS and BLINDNESS debuted outside the Top 10 despite their strong studio pushes. And HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE proved perhaps once and for all that American audiences do not love Simon Pegg, as the movie couldn’t even manage over a grand per screen.


The weeks littlest winner is certainly RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. Jonathan Demme’s masterpiece debuted this week to nine screens before it goes wide on October 17 and pulled in the highest per screen of any film in release. The $33K per screen is nearly four times as much as this week’s ultimate champ, BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA. Look for the sequel soon enough … BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA GETTING MARRIED … or maybe RACHEL GETS A CHIHUAHUA.

Next Week: Another four releases go wide, the widest of which is Ridley Scott’s latest Russell Crowe vehicle, BODY OF LIES, also starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Dennis Quaid gives lessons in football and racism with THE EXPRESS. CITY OF EMBER aims to rob the dogs of some of their family gold. And QUARANTINE will try to trap horror fans into theatres before everyone inevitably gets “sawed” into pieces.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! BLACK SHEEP IS 3! (part three)

Black Sheep, it's your birthday! Happy Birthday, Lisa ... I mean, Black Sheep! Loyal readers, it is week three in the Black Sheep Reviews Birthday Giveaway ... First off, congratulations are due for last week's winners.

Charles Marcil knew that Joan Crawford played the Eva Mendes role in the 1939 original version of THE WOMEN.

Dinah Zeldin knew that LE BANQUET director, Sebastien Rose directed LA VIE AVEC MON PERE and COMMENT MA MERE ACCOUCHA DE MOI DURANT SA MENOPAUSE prior to LE BANQUET.

And there was some debate over just how much time Al Pacino and Robert De Niro spent on screen in Michael Mann's HEAT, but Matthew Belanger narrowed it down to under 10 minutes in the 3-hour epic. Technically, the one scene they actually share (discounting the one where they chase each other specifically at the end) is just over three minutes. Matthew is off to see RIGHTEOUS KILL.

This week, we are giving away passes to two more great films. One is generally considered to be one of this director's finest and the other is considered to be this director's misstep. I consider them both to be pretty darn good. As usual, the pass is for two people and is good any time as long as it is used in Quebec.

VICKI CRISTINA BARCELONA
This is Woody Allen's third time working with Scarlett Johannson. The other two instances, MATCH POINT and SCOOP have both been reviewed by Black Sheep already. To win the double pass to Woody' latest success, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, tell me what grades I gave the other two Johannson collaborations.

BLINDNESS
Fernando Meirelles' latest film, BLINDNESS, explores how horrific humanity can get when it doesn't have to look in the eyes of another person. Name the author of the highly praised novel which the film is based on.

As always, send your responses to joseph@blacksheepreviews.com
This week's winners will be contacted today and passes will be mailed to them before the end of the week.
The contest is open all week and winners will be announced next Wednesday when two more passes will be up for grabs.
Thanks for playing and have a great week!

Director Series: FERNANDO MEIRELLES

Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles has been sharpening his skills for quite some time now, literally. His 2003 international debut, CIDADE DE DEUS (CITY OF GOD) opens with quiet titles against a black backdrop and is suddenly interrupted by quick, bright inserts of a blade being sharpened. In the context of the film, the knife is to be used by a bunch of street punks to kill a chicken. As far as we’re concerned though, that knife is being sharpened to rip us apart because that is exactly what happens when you watch Meirelles work his magic on screen. The chicken, seemingly aware of her fate, escapes to see another day but escape is not so easy for those of us at home. Once Meirelles has you, there is no escape.


CITY OF GOD made people around the world stand up and take notice of this 53-year-old director. It was a stylistic revelation, both gritty and smooth. The blaring sunshine glistening against the soft Brazilian skin tones and bare sandy beaches is mesmerizing while watching street kids make all the wrong choices as though they had no others to make is nauseatingly disturbing. His ability to create a space that was both exquisite and exhilarating while still sparse and hollowing earned him international acclaim but it was his seamless blending of story and reality that earned him an unexpected but well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Director (and a Mouton d'Or in the same category). The story itself exposes the slum known as the City of God and the difficult struggle against a destiny of drugs and crime for every child that comes from there. Kids acting like gangsters is hard enough to deal with but even harder when some are not even acting. Meirelles cast actual street kids in some of the roles and found a way to use the experiences they survived to infuse performances from inexperienced players. The result is so real at times that you forget you’re watching a narrative film.


CITY OF GOD earned a total of four Academy Award nominations and once that had happened, Meirelles could choose any project he wanted. He chose the John Le Carre adaptation, THE CONSTANT GARDENER. Going from the slums of Brazil to A.I.D.S.-stricken villages in Africa seemed risky but promising. It was not so much Meirelles’ opportunity to solidify his position as a potential master director but rather a necessity that everyone wanted to see successfully met. Within moments, any doubt that he would be able to meet the challenge is washed away. THE CONSTANT GARDENER confirmed Meirelles’ uncanny ability to tell a story in a harsh environment while making it seem as though the action itself was unraveling amidst that environment, even with the inclusion of Hollywood actors like Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz (who went on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress). It is also a brave account of government involvement in drug testing on what they consider to be the disposable population of Africa. As bleak as it sounds though, Meirelles weaves multiple levels of love and humanity into this complicated conspiracy thriller and gives value to lives that have been devalued and ignored for far too long.


His third project, BLINDNESS, seems like a natural enough progression. It is yet another critique on how horribly human beings can disregard the value of another person. The major difference is that Meirelles leaves his signature ability to recreate reality to tell a story that is entirely unreal. Based on Jose Saramago’s Portuguese novel, BLINDNESS imagines what the world would be like if humanity suddenly lost the ability to see. It is unexplained, incurable and downright unnerving. It is also unfortunately lacking compared to his previous efforts. Obvious plot holes lead to gaping questions that never go answered and for the first time, it feels as though Meirelles is making concessions instead of making a masterpiece. BLINDNESS stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Gael Garcia Bernal and follows them as they are all quarantined and cut off from the rest of the world. What happens in the quarantine is ugly and dirty and sadly not so far fetched. The style is still tops and the performances are unfaltering but it’s the loose ends that become BLINDNESS’s ultimate undoing. What is going on outside of the quarantine? Has blindness only affected this particular American city or is this a world wide epidemic? Why is it that if Moore’s character is unaffected that scientists are not studying her? While BLINDNESS is still well worth seeing, its lack of cohesive emotional impact makes you wish Meirelles had stayed with what he knows, how to be real and harsh while still staying true to hope. Instead, he turns a blind eye to what he knows isn’t working and we see right through it.


Despite a minor slip, there is no denying Meirelles’s calculated talent, unique vision and passion for humanity. Given his proximity to genius, if I were that chicken, I would have let him cut me up. No doubt I would have ended up as something infinitely more meaningful and served amidst chaos with the intent of bringing balance and peace to the table.

Black Sheep Previews: BLINDNESS

In 2002, Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles burst on to the world cinema scene with his international sensation CITY OF GOD. His direction and approach were hailed as brave and striking. The film garnered four unexpected Oscar nominations, including one for the director himself.

In 2005, he returned with his first English language film, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, based on the John le Carre novel. Ralph Fiennes starred as a widower determind to get to the bottom of his wife's murder, no matter how deeply he became involved in the bowels of corporate secrecy. Another four Oscar nominations followed, including a win for supporting actress, Rachel Weisz.

Now that another three years has passed, Meireilles hopes for a third success with his most ambitious project to date, BLINDNESS. The film opened this year's Cannes film festival and is finally making its way into North American theatres this September. The radiant Julianne Moore plays the wife of a doctor who is mysteriously unaffected by a plague of white blindness that has spread across the globe and crippled humanity. From the looks of the trailer, Meirelles has created a frightened and panicked tone that echoes throughout every element of the film, from the performances to the washed out visual aesthetic. The cast is rounded out by Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal and Sandra Oh and the screenplay was written by Tony Award winner, Don McKellar (THE RED VIOLIN), adapted from Nobel prize winner, Jose Saramago's contemporary classic. With all this talent behind the project, BLINDNESS is almost certain to bring Meirelles another handful of Oscar nominations to add to his collection. At the risk of sounding incredibly lame, I would say that BLINDNESS definitely looks worth seeing.

Click on the title anywhere in this article for more on BLINDNESS.

Also, be sure to check back tomorrow for part one of Black Sheep's official fall film preview.