Black Sheep presents The Director Series

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

By now you’ve likely already seen it.  I’m sure you, like myself, rushed to catch Christopher Nolan’s much hyped summer thriller, INCEPTION when it was released.  And so by now I’m sure you’ve formed an opinion on the subject as it seems to be taking shape as rather polarized film.  Given that Nolan’s popularity only seems to be getting more and more impressive with each film he releases, I thought it best to take a look back at some of the work that has gotten him to this point.  Now, everyone already knows that Nolan is the man behind the successful revamp of the Batman franchise, BATMAN BEGINS, and that Nolan went on to make what some consider the greatest comic book movie ever made, THE DARK KNIGHT.  Considering the familiarity with these works, Black Sheep will be taking a look back at Nolan’s non-caped crusader films, beginning with the one that got everybody both talking and scratching their heads long before INCEPTION was even conceived.

MEMENTO 

(2000)

After his first feature, FOLLOWING, garnered some solid festival response, Nolan’s next script was optioned for production for an eventual platform release.  Based on the short story, “Memento Mori” by Nolan’s brother, Jonathan, a frequent collaborator, MEMENTO would debut to impressive critical praise and would go on to become a cult classic.  Guy Pearce stars as Leonard Shelby, a man obsessed with revenge – if only he could remember what for.  I’m exaggerating but essentially, Leonard is not able to form any new memories so he forgets what has happened shortly after it happens to him.  He has suffered from this rare affliction since he was struck from behind when he walked in on the rape and  murder of his wife.  Through the use of a strict system using Polaroids of people and crude tattoos of the facts, Leonard spends all his time tracking down the man that took his wife and life away.

“Just because there are things I don’t remember doesn’t mean my actions are meaningless.  
The world doesn’t just disappear when you close your eyes.”

There is nothing particularly new about memory loss stories or stories about widowers bent on revenge so how is it that MEMENTO is best known for its originality? The answer can be found in the screenplay and the editing, fittingly the two aspects of this film that were honoured with Academy Award nominations.  Nolan tells us the story backwards, more or less, that is.  When Leonard kills someone just after we’ve met him, we have no idea why or whether he was justified.  Scene by scene, the events that led Leonard to this moment are revealed to us but at no point does the viewer feel comfortable enough to trust anyone Leonard comes into contact with, from his fast-talking, weasel of a friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) to the gorgeous but damaged bartender who is helping him, Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss).  When your protagonist cannot remember anything, how can we trust anything he claims to know for a fact?  The approach results in Leonard trying to solve the mystery that is his own life while we are dragged down into the same madness that ensues from his attempts.

INSOMNIA 

(2002)

Naturally, Nolan had his pick of what his next project would be.  He decided to go the Hollywood route with the remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, INSOMNIA.  The cast was led by Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.  Albeit not officially credited – that honour belongs to Hilary Seitz – Nolan is said to have penned the final draft of this murder mystery.  Without the credit though, INSOMNIA remains the only film Nolan has been involved with where he does not have any writing credit.  The detachment does the director good as he takes what is essentially a very straightforward crime thriller and gives it class and savvy.  Pacino, a decorated police hero, has been summoned up to Alaska to consult on a case that has the local police baffled.  Pacino puts them all to shame when he gets there but it isn’t long before the round the clock sunshine starts to mess with his sleep and subsequently his head.

“A good cop can’t sleep because he’s missing a piece of the puzzle.

A bad cop can't sleep because his conscience won’t let him.”

It isn’t actually the light that is keeping Pacino up, even though it makes for a convenient excuse.  No, Pacino has a messy internal affairs investigation waiting for him at home and, unbeknownst to his fellow officers, he was involved in the shooting of another officer tied to the investigation.  Now, I happen to be someone who has on occasion battled with insomnia and I can say that Nolan gets the effect just right.  Pens tapping on a desk or fans rotating back and forth are ordinarily background noise but when you haven’t slept, they become isolated and exaggerated.  You become disconnected from what is happening all around you, missing moments and having visions.  Most importantly, when you haven’t slept, whatever it is that is keeping you awake has a tendency of creeping to the surface and driving you somewhat mad.  Unfortunately, this generally leads to more sleeplessness.  Albeit not as trippy as Nolan’s other works, INSOMNIA showed that Nolan could take somewhat generic material and make it compelling and memorable.

THE PRESTIGE 

(2006)

In 2006, Nolan was paired with two gentlemen that he would go on to work with regularly.  THE PRESTIGE, a period piece about two magician’s struggles to impress the masses while out doing each other, pits Hugh Jackman against Christian Bale and places Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson in between them.  I’m not sure if Nolan just didn’t get on with Jackman and Johansson (who oddly enough would go on to star in another movie involving what was supposed to be magic, Woody Allen’s SCOOP) but of course Bale would go on to be Batman with Caine as his Alfred.  It is another Nolan regular that would go on to earn his first of three cinematography Oscar nominations for THE PRESTIGE, Wally Pfister.  Pfister has lensed all of Nolan’s pictures (safe for FOLLOWING) and was also nominated for both of Nolan’s Batman features.  Something tells me we might be hearing his name tossed around again this year for INCEPTION too.

“Are you watching closely?”

When I first saw THE PRESTIGE, I enjoyed the tricks and twists but watching it again now, it seems an awful lot more like illusion instead of true magic.  As Caine explains early on in the film, there are three parts to every magic trick.  First, set up the trick; build the intrigue.  The next bit is called “The Turn”, in which case you pretty much turn your back to the audience and make something ordinary look extraordinary.  None of this matters without what the third part – The Prestige.  If you make something disappear, it only matters if you bring it back.  Nolan seems to be trying the entire way through to fit the film into these three sections but by the time his personal prestige is revealed, the steps he’s taken to get there have rendered it somewhat unimpressive.  It might have something to do with the completely unnecessary love triangle between Jackman, Johansson and Bale.  Then again, it might just be that Nolan isn’t as good a magician as he thought he was.

If you’ve read my review for INCEPTION, then you know I had mixed feelings about it.  Great or not though, there is no denying that Nolan is now a name and he has entered the ranks of contemporary auteur directors.  You don’t get on that list for being known though.  You get there for having a voice.  It may not have its full range yet but his voice is definitely distinct.

BLACK SHEEP @ The Box Office: HARRY POTTER Works his Magic!

This time last year, THE DARK KNIGHT shattered the notion of what it meant to open a movie with a three-day haul of $158.4 million. I can still remember how very ticked off I was that I had to settle for MAMMA MIA! on opening night because all THE DARK KNIGHT IMAX screenings were sold out. No one expected HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to come anywhere near that but Mr. Potter and friends still managed to get a trick or two in anyway.


It certainly seemed like this sixth Harry Potter installment had the potential to reach new heights when it debuted to $22.2 million in advance midnight screenings the day before its release. This gross easily surpassed THE DARK KNIGHT’s $18.5 million record midnight haul from last year. The next day, it came very close to beating the record for best Wednesday opening that was set just a few weeks back when TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN opened to $62 million. Ultimately, opening to the third largest theatre count in history helped HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE take in a weekend haul of $79.5 million for a five-day total of just under $160 million. It is the largest Harry Potter opening to date and fitting, if you, like I, thought it was the best Harry Potter film to date as well.


The news was not so good for BRUNO this weekend. The film fell off a drastic 73% in its second weekend, ensuring that it will come nowhere near the success of star, Sasha Baron Cohen’s last hit, BORAT. I speculated last week that BRUNO didn’t do as well because of its gay content and as I’ve done no research on the subject, I have no basis for this. The film is certainly not being as praised by critics or fans this time out but most people I know who’ve seen it, still thought it was funny. And so I am still left wondering whether the world just didn’t want to watch such a flamboyantly gay character for that long. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.


And, while THE HURT LOCKER (pictured further up because I don't want to see any more BRUNO pics) continued to outdraw the majority of the Top 10 in terms of per screen averages, with $8K at 94 screens, a 19% increase over last week, the big art house success story of the week belonged to lovers. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, a big favorite at this year’s Sundance film festival, opened in 12th place with a per screen average that easily exceeded every title in the Top 10, $31K on just 27 screens. The film expands next Friday and the Black Sheep review is coming this week.

NEXT WEEK: You know its going to be a great weekend when the good money is on the movie with the talking hamsters. Disney’s G-FORCE opens on 3200 screens. Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler battle it out for all the sexes in THE UGLY TRUTH (2700 screens). And yet another movie about a demonic child, THE ORPHAN, opens on 2600 screens. In this one though, we’ll never believe what made the little girl do it. That's what the trailer says anyway.

Source: BOX OFFICE MOJO

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Transformers More Than Bleeds Us Dry

Earlier this week, Michael Bay was quoted in the press as saying he was disappointed with Paramount and Dreamworks’ promotion of his highly anticipate sequel, TRANFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. He felt that there wasn’t enough of it; that his film was being treated as some plain old sequel and not the event film he believed it to be. After pulling in over $200 million in just five days, subsequently tying THE DARK KNIGHT for fastest film to reach $200 million and far surpassing SPIDER-MAN 2 ($152 million) as the highest five day-opening in history, it would seem to me that any more money spent on promotion would have been completely unnecessary.


TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN opened on Wednesday to the tune of $60 million, more than double what the TRANSFORMERS did in its opening day in 2007. This would have included over $16 million in midnight screenings the night before, second only to THE DARK KNIGHT. And with it’s near $30 million Thursday take, the film had already banked approximately $90 million before the weekend even began. As the first installment was a general crowd pleaser, it was expected that a lot of more casual filmgoers would have waited to catch the film on the weekend but the fanatics came out in droves during the week to ensure this mammoth success. Whereas critics were pretty much unanimous about not enjoying either film, fans were passionate about the last. This is not the case this time out. Fans of the first are split on the new one so a steeper than expected decline may follow next week. Still, the film captured one of the best global debuts of all time with a combined total of $387 million.


The week’s other major release did little to capitalize on counterprogramming. MY SISTER’S KEEPER, the movie that makes me teary during the trailers starring Cameron Diaz, opened in fifth place to a total of $12 million and an average of under $5K. Less than stellar reviews will likely urge many interested parties to wait for the rental. Meanwhile, a decidedly more upbeat romantic comedy, AWAY WE GO, has finally squeaked its way into the Top 10 this week. After adding over 360 screens, the Sam Mendes directed indie saw its earnings increase by over 93% over last week with an average of over $3K in its fourth week in theatres. Distributer, Focus Features, has been smart about its expansion technique and AWAY WE GO is now sitting comfortably as this summer’s light indie must see.


While the $26K per screen average of TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN is certainly impressive for such a wide release, it is not the highest per screen average this weekend. That would belong to Kathryn Bigelow’s highly regarded THE HURT LOCKER. This may be one of the first Iraq war films to register with filmgoers, as is evident with its $36K per screen average coming from just 4 sites in all of North America. In other limited release news, the Stephen Frears directed CHERI, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, opened to a solid but not spectacular total gross of $400K on just 76 screens. And finally, Woody Allen's WHATEVER WORKS maintained a healthy $11K per screen average as it expanded to 35 screens, suggesting the reaction to the film is a good one.

NEXT WEEK: TRANSFORMERS will face serious competition next weekend, making its expected tumble all the more inevitable. Families will be packing the seats for ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (4000 screens) and will have the added bonus of higher ticket prices for the 3D screenings. And Michael Mann’s much anticipated Jon Dillinger biopic, PUBLIC ENEMIES, starring Johnny Depp, rolls out onto 3200 screens. Be sure to catch the Black Sheep review for PUBLIC ENEMIES coming mid week.

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Mall Cop vs. The Oscars

Alright, yes, PAUL BLART: MALL COP held on to the number one spot this weekend with a very narrow decline. And yes, UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS opened in second place with respectable numbers considering Kate Beckinsale did not return for this third outing. None of this matters though because this past Thursday, the 81st Annual Academy Award nominations were announced and it’s time to check in on the top nominee to see how they fared now that the highest honours have been bestowed upon them.


Two out of the five nominees for Best Picture find themselves in the Top 10. Re-entering in ninth place this weekend is the nominee leader with a whopping 13 nods, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. The film has been playing in wide release now for six weeks but still managed an 8% increase. With a total of $111 million, it is by far the most successful of the five nominees. It may have come in second place in the overall tally but SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the top box office performer this weekend amongst the nominees. The film entered its first wide release frame this weekend and moved up five spots to reach the number five position, a new high in its lengthy 11 week run. The film has nabbed up over $55 million already and judging from the reception and accolades that keep lining up for it, the Danny Boyle success is almost certainly destined to top $100 million.


SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was not the only Oscar hopeful that planned its wide release expansion for this weekend to coincide with expected nominations. Best Picture nominee, FROST/NIXON added a hefty 946 screens to see its take increase over 350% from last weekend. While it may sound impressive, its average was under $3K, which is nothing compared to the averages it was pulling down in limited release. THE WRESTLER only managed to earn two Oscar nods (Springsteen was robbed!) but that didn’t stop it from increasing over 115% after adding 422 screens this last week. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD came up short at the Oscars, earning only three nominations but it had already planned to add 887 screens so what can you do. The film saw its returns increase by 195% and just missed the Top 10 so hopefully that will make up for the Academy not giving the love to Winslet’s disheartening performance. Lastly, THE DARK KNIGHT reentered IMAX theatres this weekend in hopes of capitalizing on its nominations and crossing the $1 billion mark internationally. Sadly, it missed the nominations in all the major categories, save for Heath Ledger’s supporting turn, and Warner Bros. has not released its projected earnings so I can’t even tell you if it lost out there too.


The remaining two nominees for Best Picture did nothing this weekend to take advantage of their recognition. Still, both MILK and THE READER saw their earnings increase by 10% each. MILK is essentially finishing its run while THE READER will expand next weekend.

NEXT WEEK: There will be no box office report as Black Sheep will be on a beach somewhere.

BOX OFFICE 2008

I'm not sure if you noticed but 2008 came to a close a few days ago. This means the box office is officially closed and we can tally up what were the biggest hits of the year. Overall, the 2008 North American box office pulled in a staggering $9.6 billion dollars, moving 1.4 billion tickets. Believe it or not, this is actually down from 2007. It is only down by 0.4% mind you. Apparently, no matter what the economic climate, we've always got money for the movies.


Let's see ... what was the biggest box office story of the year? Geez, that's a hard one. Alright, I'll knock it off. The biggest box office story of the year was easily the success of Eddie Murphy's MEET DAVE. OK, now I will seriously knock it off. So, again, the biggest box office story of 2008 was easily the colossal success of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT. For the first time since its release, a film came within reach of sinking TITANIC to become the number one box office hit of all time. This did not come to pass but I'm sure no one really cares. THE DARK KNIGHT, be it because of the Heath Ledger fascination factor or just because it was so darn great, crossed over every single demographic it could to score the biggest opening weekend in history. I knew it was going to be big; I couldn't even get tickets for opening night. However, I didn't think it was going to be that big. You could feel it though. There was a very strong sense of urgency to see this film and it carried over for weeks. THE DARK KNIGHT also played well on IMAX theatres as well as internationally, where it almost topped $1 billion. It is sure to do so in a couple of weeks though when it is rereleased in theatres to push its Oscar chances. The best thing about THE DARK KNIGHT is that it brought people together. It isn't often that a film connects with so many people so congratulations to the whole cast and crew for all their success.


The second and third place films finished very tightly with less than $1 million difference between them. IRON MAN ultimately won out over INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL though. Well, at least domestically. Internationally, INDIANA JONES was the second biggest hit of the year, while IRON MAN finished fifth. These two films are funny to compare as they are both huge money makers but one could describe their domestic takes as both a huge success and a disappointment. IRON MAN opened to nearly $100 million to kick off the summer season. No one expected this one. I also don't think anyone expected to enjoy it as much as they probably did. Meanwhile, INDIANA JONES opened slightly higher but I think the industry was expecting bigger things. I certainly don't think they thought the bat would best them; that's for sure.


Not surprisingly, the Top 10 contains no less than four animated features. While, MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA is still tracking, I doubt it will move much higher on the chart and surpass the two biggest kid flicks. When WALL-E opened, it too surpassed expectations. The response was extremely positive as well so prognosticators expected WALL-E to go on to become one of Pixar's biggest triumphs. The public did not follow up though and WALL-E merely went on to just pass last year's RATATOUILLE. And while WALL-E is the animated king domestically, KUNG FU PANDA whooped WALL-E's metal butt internationally, earning over $120 million more to become the third biggest international hit of the year. This may just be because KUNG FU PANDA came first and got the jump on WALL-E. Personally, I did my part as I saw WALL-E in the theatre three times. Yup, I'm that geeky.


Hollywood learned a valuable lesson this year, the value of the female dollar. For so many years, it was assumed that the box office was primarily male driven but three films in particular this year made it very clear that women should never be ignored. The most successful female driven pic was TWILIGHT but that also has a huge book following so it may not be fair to discount that. The other two films have huge built-in followings as well but SEX AND THE CITY and MAMMA MIA! made people take notice. SEX AND THE CITY opened to just under $60 million and went on to pull in $152 million, just missing the Top 10. MAMMA MIA! (which opened opposite THE DARK KNIGHT) pulled in half of the SEX AND THE CITY gals in its opening weekend but showed some very strong legs throughout the summer. Both films are also huge international hits. In fact, MAMMA MIA! did in the UK what THE DARK KNIGHT was not able to do domestically; it surpassed TITANIC as the biggest box office in UK history. I would never have expected that ... ever. Now, all they have to do is start making these female skewed pics better as I didn't care for any of these movies. And yes, I know I'm not a girl.


Speaking of movies I didn't like all that much, two other Top 10 hits need singling out as they were also both huge hits internationally as well. HANCOCK is the fourth biggest international hit of the year, proving that Will Smith is still one of the biggest stars on the planet. He followed that one up with his weakest performer in years, mind you, SEVEN POUNDS. James Bond also returned this year with QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The sequel to CASINO ROYALE just squeaked past its predecessor domestically but still has a ways to go to beat CASINO ROYALE's $594 million international total.


In total, 24 films passed the century mark to gross over $100 million. That total will likely go up to 26 if MARLEY & ME and YES MAN stay on track. And while I hate to end on a negative note, I can't get away with not pointing out what seem to me like the three biggest box office disappointments of 2008. I believe you may know them better as flops. When you take international gross into account though, none of them seem that bad. I mean I wouldn't want to lose that kind of money but I just pay to see movies, not to make them. The first high profile flop of 2008 was the Wachowski's SPEED RACER. Audiences scoffed at this colorful explosion and this lead to an $18 million opening weekend. Given the reported $120 million price tag, the future looked grim. SPEED RACER crossed the finish line with $93 million internationally, losing just under $30 million. I never understood why rival studios decided to open THE LOVE GURU and GET SMART on the same weekend. The Steve Carrell pic easily killed Mike Myers' disaster. THE LOVE GURU opened to a mere $13 million and finished its international run at $40 million. That's $22 million less that what it reportedly cost to make. And finally, I mentioned it first so I guess it is fitting to wrap things up with it. MEET DAVE, a movie about I believe Eddie Murphy's multiple personality disorder, I can't be sure, opened to a horrific $5 million. Luckily for Murphy, his international fans were more forgiving and the film ended up pulling in $50 million total, only $10 million less than its budget.

So that is it for 2008, folks. My prediction for biggest film of 2009 ... BRIDE WARS. That's right. You read that right.

Alright, I'm kidding ... again.

Black Sheep's Top 10 of 2008

I will always remember 2008 as the year I stopped sleeping. Oddly enough, from day one, I developed some very erratic but very effective insomnia. I am still dealing with it to this day but I can feel it falling away with every passing night. Many people offered advice – warm milk, booze before bed, meditation. My favorite trick though was to lie still and think back on the day that had just ended. I would lie there and stare up at the ceiling and recall all the blessings, no matter how small, that I had been fortunate enough to encounter throughout my day. And so, as 2008 enters its final hours, I would like to lie back on my pillow and remember 10 of the best film experiences I had this last year. When I’m done, I will say goodnight.

In alphabetical order, here is Black Sheep’s Top 10 of 2008 …

THE DARK KNIGHT

If you’re going to be big, you have to think big from the start. Director Christopher Nolan did just that with his second Batman picture. It is grand to behold and exhilarating to experience. Aside from laying claim to Heath Ledger’s unforgettable last performance, THE DARK KNIGHT can also assert itself as the most accomplished superhero movie of all time.

THE DUCHESS

Saul Dibb’s little seen film may have been dismissed as just another period piece where a woman is sold off by her family for financial gain and stature but I assure you there is so much more to see here. The Duchess of Devonshire endured many a hardship behind her castle walls and Dibb, along with the lovely Keira Knightly, strip the period drama of its binding costume to show the naked person barely breathing underneath.

ENTRE LES MURS (THE CLASS)

Director, Laurent Cantet, along with screenwriter and star, Francois Bégaudeau, invite us to take our seats in this year’s winner of the Palmes d’Or at Cannes. Shot like a documentary, THE CLASS is an important lesson about the state of today’s classroom. Sure, we all know the situation isn’t great but Bégaudeau wants us to feel the reality of what it means to have a seat at the back of the class. Pay attention because the test will follow immediately after.

MAN ON WIRE

In 1974, Philippe Petit crossed New York’s twin towers across a tight rope eight times. Documentary filmmaker, James Marsh, was not there to capture it. And so a new style of documentary is born where all the players from back in the day are on board to tell their stories while actors reenact the events of 34 years ago. Pieced together as though it were a narrative piece, the story itself is a caper that will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat as though it were one of the towers.

MILK

This is Gus Van Sant’s masterpiece. It is a soft and tender piece about bravery and strength, that had me enraged one moment, laughing the next and crying practically throughout. Harvey Milk fought for the simple human rights of gay men and women in California as the first openly gay man to be elected to public office and he was killed for this. Telling his story today is heartbreaking as gay men and women are still fighting for these same rights some 30 years later.

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

When I first saw this movie, I left the theatre and felt entirely disoriented. Rachel had just gotten married and I felt as though I were a guest at this event. The weekend was tumultuous but gorgeous and filled with deep love and all the hardship that comes with this kind of intimacy. The entire cast is so genuine that you feel as though they have known each other for as long as they would have had they been real. This is a true testament to Jenny Lumet’s subtle screenplay and Jonathan Demme’s beautifully spontaneous direction.

THE READER

Stephen Daldry is a very sumptuous filmmaker. He tells his stories with conviction and without apology for their nature. THE READER is a complicated, multi-layered work that may have missed its mark in someone else’s hand. Daldry forces us to face this tale of passion, betrayal and healing and asks us to go through our own personal interaction with these emotions. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes are there to hold our hands along the way.

THE VISITOR

Simple, understated and effective are just a few words that can be thrown at Thomas McCarthy’s second film and Richard Jenkins’ breakout performance. This unique story about a widower who walks around his own life as though it weren’t his own unspools in such an unexpected fashion that one feels like visiting again and again.

WALL•E

It only takes about four minutes to fall completely in love with WALL•E. No matter how many times I’ve seen this film (and I assure you, I’ve seen it a few times already), I am always in awe of what Pixar was able to accomplish. Not only did they manage to put out an eco-friendly film that criticizes humanity’s disposable habits and our growing reliance on conglomerate control but they also crafted one of the most endearing love stories in recent history. To create a genuine love between genderless, animated robots is what places Pixar out of this world compared with all their imitators.

THE WRESTLER

Darren Aronofsky should feel very good about this one. THE WRESTLER is not just his best film but it is also the best American film of the year. Like P.T. Anderson did last year with THERE WILL BE BLOOD, Aronofsky has reinvented himself as an American storyteller who understands its people and their convictions. It is a dirty, gritty experience that mirrors the hardships of so many and it never stops fighting.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to get all the details on Black Sheep's Best of 2008 contest. Happy New Year!

THE DARK KNIGHT vs TITANIC

Tell me, what are you up to this weekend? Between you and me, I don't see a lot coming out worth spending your money on. I suppose you could watch Samuel L. Jackson terrorize Patrick Wilson in LAKEVIEW TERRACE. Or you could check out Dane Cook steal Kate Hudson from Jason Biggs in MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL. C'mon though. Neither one of these movies, which are the best Hollywood has to offer this weekend, actually seems "must see", so why not put your money towards a good cause instead of a two hour waste of your time? How about you go see THE DARK KNIGHT again? It doesn't matter if you've already seen it twice already, this is important. THE DARK KNIGHT is currently running about $82 million below the grand total earned by current all-time box office champ, TITANIC. Sure that's a very large number but this is the only time in recent history that a film has come anywhere close to toppling that record and TITANIC needs to go down.


Now, let me ask you a question. Have you seen TITANIC recently? Time has not been kind. This is a film, that when released, struck such a chord with viewers that it shattered all notions of what a successful film could be. It was released just before Christmas, opened at number one with $28 million and stayed on top for a whopping 15 weeks. In the current box office climate, this would be impossible to accomplish. This is the era of the opening weekend. People need to see movies as early as possible so that they can chime in with their opinions before the following weekend when everyone starts talking about the next big thing. THE DARK KNIGHT opened with $158 million. For those of you who don't do math, that's $130 million more than TITANIC. You would think that would be plenty to overtake the king of the world but TITANIC was taking in more week on week by week four.


There is already talk of a DARK KNIGHT rerelease in IMAX theatres this January in order to generate buzz for potential Oscar nominations which could generate some decent business, maybe another $10 or $15 million. Should it earn those nominations and even go on to win a few actual awards, it could tack on another $20 million or so. That will not be enough. Batman needs your help! The campaign is officially on to sink the TITANIC and all you need to do to help is get out there and drop ten bucks to see a movie you know is going to rock.

It all comes down to this. What would you rather see as the all-time box office champ? A dated film with a story that is at times so cheesy it could be a bad movie of the week or a masterful revelation that has redefined the comic book genre? Give THE DARK KNIGHT the last laugh it most definitely deserves.

Sources:
Box-Office Mojo (for a complete box-office comparison)

IGN (for the originating campaign and plea)

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: A Laboriously Long Weekend

What a wimpy way for such a powerhouse summer to end. Hollywood unleashed four wide releases and not a single one of them managed to connect with audiences. The most successful of the bunch is the Vin Diesel starring futuristic action flick, BABYLON A.D. but that only managed a second place finish, allowing Ben Stiller’s TROPIC THUNDER to top the charts for three consecutive weeks. How are we supposed to go back to school feeling so uninspired?

TROPIC THUNDER added over 120 screens this week to it’s already 3000+ count and saw its returns slack off only 29%. The film is essentially one week away from making good on its reported $90 million budget and that’s only from domestic returns. Its $11.5 million take was plenty to keep BABYLON A.D. from debuting on top. The latter finished in first on Friday but the narrow gap was not enough to hold on to the ultimate title come weekend’s end. BABYLON A.D. managed a fairly miniscule average and will come nowhere near recouping its $70 million budget. Producers, now would be a good time to sign Vin Diesel up for your next pic. I hear he comes at a crazy discounted rate.


The week’s other debuts were all fairly forgettable. The Don Cheadle Bourne-style thriller, TRAITOR, was the only one of the bunch to muster a respectable per screen average. Having opened on Wednesday ate into its weekend returns somewhat so it might have managed a potential fourth place finish but still, no better than that. DISASTER MOVIE lived up to its title, opening in seventh place. Perhaps the adolescent audiences that usually flock to these farces might finally have had enough. Let’s hope, shall we? And speaking of adolescents, did they all leave the country for the weekend? The teen raunch comedy, COLLEGE, didn’t come anywhere close to making the grade, opening in a pathetic 15th place.

Given the lack of performance of Hollywood’s newest offerings, I think it appropriate to celebrate longevity instead. In its seventh week of release, MAMMA MIA! actually saw its tally increase over last week, even after dropping over 350 screens. Woody Allen’s 40th feature, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA inched back into the Top 10 after narrowly missing out last week, coasting on a loss of less than 1%, scoring the highest per screen average in the Top 10. Below the Top 10, WALL-E added 370 screens late in the game and saw a 15% increase, for a grand total of $217 million. And of course, how can I address longevity without mentioning THE DARK KNIGHT? The film fell off a scant 17%, inched back up to third place and officially crossed the $500 million mark.


The art house offerings were pretty quiet this week, no doubt waiting to platform a number of awards contenders in the fall. ELEGY and TELL NO ONE continued to post impressive gains with slight expansions. HAMLET 2 however, failed to connect. Sure it increased over 280% this week after adding 1,494 screens but its per screen was barely over a grand. They should never have made a sequel.

NEXT WEEK: It should be another uneventful weekend. Hollywood only has one major release to unleash, the Nicolas Cage action flick, BANGKOK DANGEROUS. This should pretty much leave plenty of space for everyone to catch their summer favorites one last time.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Dark Knight Undone by a Tropical Storm

It had to happen eventually. There was only so long it could sit there so comfortably, balking at all who attempted to take it down. First came STEP BROTHERS but they had to settle for the bottom bunk. Then came THE MUMMY 3 but it had to settle an economy-size tomb. Then it seemed certain that PINEAPPLE EXPRESS would smoke him out but they had to settle for the leftover roach. This week though, THE DARK KNIGHT could only do so much to weather the storm as Ben Stiller’s TROPIC THUNDER seized the top box office spot after THE DARK KNIGHT’s phenomenal four-week stay.


TROPIC THUNDER opened on Wednesday to somewhat promising results and went on to capture the weekend frame with a five-day total of just over $37 million. This is a few less than last week’s PINEAPPLE EXPRESS but as most critics, excluding this one, prefer TROPIC THUNDER over PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, it should suffer less of a decline than the Judd Apatow-produced stoner flick did in its second week. I guess it isn’t always that easy to get the stoners out of the house.

THE DARK KNIGHT does still get some bragging rights this week as it schooled not one but two Star Wars pics. First of all, the new animated STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS had to settle for third place behind the bat. The mediocre opening could signal the decline of the series’ popularity but with plans to re-release all of the original films yet again in 3D, George Lucas shows no signs of letting go. More importantly though, at $471 million total gross, THE DARK KNIGHT has surpassed the original STAR WARS ($460 million) as the second highest grossing film in North American history. It has a ways to go to beat TITANIC’s $600 million but if we all go see THE DARK KNIGHT like five more times each, I’m sure we can do it! C’mon people!


A handful of other films opened this week to varying results. The Keifer Sutherland scarefest, MIRRORS, opened in fourth with a barely frightening $11 million. Another 3D-pusing propaganda pic, the animated FLY ME TO THE MOON, opened below the Top 10 with a measly $2 million. Still, it only opened of 452 screens, which is abnormally low for a family film but I doubt this space bug movie will take off in the weeks to come. Apparently, the face of Jesus appearing on the side of stucco wall was of little interest to anyone as HENRY POOLE IS HERE opened dismally with a per screen average of $1500 on 527 screens. Perhaps the most disappointing reception was for Woody Allen’s latest, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. Well, it did well, especially for an Allen movie. Opening larger than usual on 692 screens, the film cracked the Top 10 but I expected the buzz to generate a higher per screen average $5300. Word of mouth is all it has now and with mouths as beautiful as Penelope Cruz’s and Scarlet Johansson’s, the future could still be bright.

NEXT WEEK: The summer is winding down and the pickings are getting pretty slim. The widest release next week is the Wednesday bow of THE ROCKER, followed by THE HOUSE BUNNY and DEATH RACE. And if convict drag racing, over-aged rock stars or ditzy blondes don’t do it for you, well there’s always the Ice Cube family film, THE LONGSHOTS. Long shot, indeed.

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Pineapples and Pants

I thought for sure this would be the week. It was pretty amazing last weekend when a franchise as big as THE MUMMY 3 couldn’t beat it but you’ve got to fall sometime. With two brand new, anticipated films debuting in wide release, I figured THE DARK KNIGHT was a goner but I was mistaken. Despite grossing ahead of the bat on Friday, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS was unable to keep its hold throughout the weekend, allowing THE DARK KNIGHT to pull in another $26 million and remain the king of the box office for a fourth weekend in a row.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS debuted Wednesday to the biggest August Wednesday opening of all time. This might sound impressive but really, we’re talking about $12 million here. THE DARK KNIGHT made $18 million in its first Wednesday, five days after its initial release. Still, it isn’t fair to compare any film to THE DARK KNIGHT. In total, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS has earned just over $40 million in five days. Compared to past Apatow productions, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS has earned more in five days than all but SUPERBAD, including the $200+ million grossing KNOCKED UP and this year’s FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. This proves it; audiences love schleppy guys who sit around talking smack. When will the Apatow tide turn?


This week’s other major release is the sequel, THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2. Now I am not a teenage girl so this movie has zero appeal for me but though the girls didn’t come out in HANNAH MONTANA numbers, the film still built on its predecessor. The film is tracking about $4 million ahead of the last film’s 5-day take and will likely top out at about $50 million if all holds well. Given the first film’s modest take and the equally modest take of the sequel, I’m still not sure why these pants are seeing more of the world than I am.

There are two films outside the Top 10 that pulled in higher averages than any film in the Top 10. The first is the Ben Kingsley/Penelope Cruz spring/fall romance, ELEGY Debuting on six screens, the film pulled in a per screen average of $17K. The second is the Patti Smith documentary, DREAM OF LIFE. The film is playing on just one little screen and pulled in over $8K on average. I guess Patti would appreciate the smaller platform. Also making an impression on people’s taste buds is the winemaking ensemble piece, BOTTLE SHOCK. Bowing on 48 screens and featuring a cast as diverse as Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, the film pulled in over $6K per screen and will be expanding its tasting next week.


Meanwhile, on the expansion front, a couple of promising possibilities seem to be stalling. While both BRIDESHEAD REVISITED and AMERICAN TEEN saw their grosses blow up over 200% last week, this week, they each saw declines as they continued to expand. Then there’s MAN ON WIRE. This documentary about tightrope walker, Philippe Petit, is treading very slowly across its own wire, expanding by 55 screens this week and subsequently posting an increase of over 450%. Distributor Magnolia best not get too aggressive; it’s a long way to fall.

NEXT WEEK: TROPIC THUNDER, the APOCALYPSE NOW style, comedic spoof starring and directed by Ben Stiller looks like it will finally take down the bat as it opens early on Wednesday. Keifer Sutherland is back in theatres in the horror, MIRRORS. George Lucas continues to squeeze every last drop of Star Wars gold with the animated CLONE WARS. More importantly though, Woody Allen is back with VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. Let’s see if great buzz and a much talked about kiss between Penelope Cruz and Scarlet Johansson can help it beat the big guys despite opening on a fraction of the screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo

BLACK SHEEP'S WEEKLY NEWS WRANGLE

THE DARK KNIGHT TRIPS OVER A PINEAPPLE AND A PAIR OF PANTS
Opening early to avoid having to compete with the China Olympics, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS was smoking right out of the (hot) box. Earning the superfluous title of best August Wednesday opening of all time, the new stoner action comedy from the house of Apatow pulled in $12.1 million. THE DARK KNIGHT was forced not only down t second place but all the way down to third for the first time in its entire record breaking run. Yes, opening in second place on Wednesday is THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 with $5.7 million, just ahead of Batman's $5.1 million. It remains to be seen what the weekend will hold but it looks like the stoners might be able to do what the Mummy could not.
Source: Box Office Mojo

ANG LEE GRABS THE BOYS AND GOES BACK TO WOODSTOCK
Teaming with producer James Schamus for the 12th time, director Ang Lee is adapting original Woodstock organizer, Eliot Tiber's memoir, "Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, Concert, and a Life" from a screenplay written by Schamus. The Focus feature is set to start filming later this month after a postponement to make way for an impending actors' strike. Though this still could happen, the threat has decreased and seeing as how the cast is ready, it's best not to waste any time. The cast in question is includes Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton, Liev Schreiber and from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", Demetri Martin as Tiber himself.
Source: JoBlo

STREEP GETS SAPPY
After two proven summer blockbusters - 2006's THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and this year's MAMMA MIA! - leading lady, Meryl Streep is in serious negotiations to star in Nancy Meyers' next feature. The project is yet untitled but essentially Streep would be at the center of a romantic triangle with two other men. This would mark Streep's first romantic comedy since, geez, does DEATH BECOMES HER count? It seems like Streep is tired of serious and I'd say she deserves the break.
Source: Variety

QUENTIN TARANTINO THIS ...
Brad Pitt has officially signed on to Quentin Tarantino's remake, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS. The World War II epic drama is a drastic departure for the director on some levels but not on others, given the original film's B-Movie roots. This would be Pitt's first time working with the contemporary genius and Quentin secured his partcipation just shortly after Pitt welcomed his new twins into the world. Also in negotiations to join Pitt on the project are Nastassja Kinski and Simon Pegg. Fellow director, Eli Roth has already commited to acting in the project. Tarantino intends to shoot this October and have the project ready for next years's Cannes film festival.
Source: Variety

QUENTIN TARANTINO THAT
While the last Tarantino story is actually based on fact, there are also plenty of Tarantino rumours circulating. Apparently, the B-movie obsessed director intends to remake another film when he's finished with BASTARDS. He hopes to put his own personal spin on Russ Meyers' FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! Now, whether he wants it to be any good or not is a whole other issue. The bigger rumour here is that Tarantino is seriously consdiring Britney Spears for the role of Varla, a killer lesbian, stripper. I guess the B-movie tone would be perfect for Spears' particular acting talents. We shall see if this actually happens.
Source: Telegraph

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Fraser's Fanaticism

Who cares about opening at the top of the box office when you can have two titles in the Top 5? Right? How cool is that? Ok, fine. I’m sure THE DARK KNIGHT folks are tickled purple that they narrowly held off the competition to secure a rare three consecutive weekends at the top of the heap. But, I’ll tell you who doesn’t care … Brandon Fraser, that’s who. This guy puts out one mind numbing, crowd-pleasing hit after another and consistently delivers the cash. And now, with the number two debut of THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR and the slight 29% drop for JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D, Fraser finds himself headlining two big hits at the same time.

Meanwhile, THE DARK KNIGHT camp continues to command the attention of every man, woman and child on the planet (not surprisingly, the Batman sequel is doing boffo business overseas as well). It drops off a very respectful 42% in its third week and is will close in on $400 million before Monday is up.


THE MUMMY (above) people should be happy they managed as well as they did. This may not be the kind of movie that people read reviews for but this is by far one of the worst reviewed films of the year. It’s supposed to be worst than THE LOVE GURU people! (I cannot back this up as I have carefully avoided both titles.) The $42 million take is a far cry from the $65+ million take of the last mummy movie from seven years ago. In fact, this debut marks the worst for the series, which falls perfectly in line with the critical consensus.

The only other debut the Top 10 saw this weekend is barely worth mentioning. Opening in sixth place and soon to be forgotten in the Kevin Costner starring, SWING VOTE. There, that’s about as much attention as it deserves.

Moving on, the Top 10 saw very strong holds for a number of its titles. This might mean that summer is slowing down and some might be finally catching up with the titles they missed or perhaps just that these films are that good. Who knows? Still, the numbers don’t lie and five titles in this week’s Top 10 saw drops below 40%. The aforementioned JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, WALL-E and MAMMA MIA! saw drops even lower, under 30%. Meanwhile, THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE must have found its few scant believers last weekend as the film, which only made $10 million last weekend, fell off over 65% this weekend. Maybe Mulder & Scully could investigate the unsolved case of why no one cared about their movie. They aren't doing anything else anyway.


Below the Top 10, the art house scene is finally alive and well after being overshadowed by the summer blockbusters. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (above) continues its successful, aggressive expansion. Adding over 150 screens pushed its business nearly 250% and it might even find itself sitting comfortably in the Top 10 next weekend when it adds another chunk of screens across the country. If you thought an increase of 250% was impressive, how about 280%. This is a feat boasted by Sundance favorite, AMERICAN TEEN. The documentary about today’s teens added 34 screens and will continue to roll out in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, the highest per screen average of any film playing belongs to TRANSSIBERIAN, a Brad Anderson thriller starring Woody Harrelson. In its third week, the film pulled in an average of $15K per screen on just two screens.

NEXT WEEK: Opening early on Wednesday, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS looks to hit the young, both the stoned and the sober but they best be quick because the “highly anticipated” THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 is opening two short days later. All the girls from the original have returned but unfortunately, the jeans have been worn out.