Black Sheep interviews Javier Bardem

A Biutiful Man

An interview with Javier Bardem

I don’t often get to interview Academy Award winning actors. If this is going to become a more common occurrence though, I should probably learn to mind my place a bit better. For instance, when Javier Bardem sat with me at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival to discuss his heartbreaking role in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s BIUTIFUL, we began our conversation by discussing Iñárritu’s impressions of the actor that led to him writing this role with Bardem in mind. He described Bardem as tough on the outside but soft on the inside, to which Bardem replied, “Like a melon, like Melon Brando!” comparing himself of course to the great method actor, Marlon Brando, but crossbred with the popular fruit.

Who knew Bardem was so cheeky? So I made a note of his witty little quip in my journal and he shot me a look. “Are you going to write that?” he asked, as if surprised that I was there for any other reason other than to take note of his every word. This is when, without thinking at all, I replied, “Oh, but I am,” and shot him a knowing look right back. “Let me see that!” he said, as he went for my notepad. Who also knew that Bardem could be so playful? And here he was, playing with me.

I was actually quite happy to see that Bardem still had the ability to laugh after playing in BIUTIFUL. In it, he plays Uxbal, a father of two who is estranged from his unstable wife, is involved with a number of illegal activities that exploit those who are even less fortunate than he is and, for reasons unbeknownst to him, he has the ability to communicate with the recently departed, if their souls still linger in unrest. As if that wasn’t enough to balance, he also learns at the on-set of the film that he has prostate cancer and not very long to live. Iñárritu’s first turn as both a writer and director is a haunting, evocative experience that leaves an indelible mark on all who see it, but what kind of scars did it leave on those who were in it?

“For me it was very important to learn to detach myself from what I was doing. Otherwise, you get lost in your own thing,” Bardem confides about his process. Isn’t that what everyone wants to know? How do you do it? How do you get so lost in this character and yet still manage to find your way back afterward? “Getting lost doesn’t help creativity at all. It is not about feeling what you’re doing; it is about pretending like you’re feeling what you’re doing. Some days are harder than others, of course.”

Bardem is no stranger to difficult roles. He has been perfecting the art of playing complex characters ever since he first appeared on Hollywood’s radar with an Oscar-nominated lead turn in Julian Schnabel’s BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, the first acting nomination in Oscar history for a Spanish actor (Bardem is from the Canary Islands). He went on to win the Oscar for his unforgettable supporting turn in the Coen Brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (the first acting Oscar win for a Spanish actor). In fact, it wasn’t until playing in Woody Allen’s VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA that audiences actually got the chance to see Bardem loosen up a little. Incidentally, this is where he met his now wife and mother of his first child, and Academy Award winner herself, Penelope Cruz. The couple recently had their first child together, little Leo Encinas Cruz. A few days he was born, Bardem received his third Oscar nomination, as Best Actor for BIUTIFUL, a feat that many thought he would not be able to pull off.

Bardem is never to be underestimated though. The layers he brings to his performances are delicately nuanced and clearly leave lasting impressions. How does he find these convincing facets inside himself? “I think it’s on the page,” he explains. “When you do the wrong character, there is no way you can do it good. 50% of a good performance is the character that you are portraying. If he is well constructed, then you have 50% of a good performance already, just doing the lines. Then you have to add the other 50% on your own.”

Bardem is not only modest but apparently a realist as well, giving credit where credit is due. In this case, that would be for his director, Iñárritu. The two have been friends for almost ten years and have talked about working together all that time because they have a great respect for each other and each other’s work. (Iñárritu likens Bardem to a minotaur even!) “I am an admirer of his. You see all these amazing performances in his movies and you wonder what happens there,” Bardem proclaims. “With Alejandro, the material is so powerful that you really have to commit. It’s going to be a journey and you have to be aware of that.”

In recent years, Bardem seems to be allowing the journeys he takes to be a little less emotionally consuming, or at the very least he seems to be oscillating between more relaxed fare and films like BIUTIFUL. He appeared opposite Julia Roberts, a friend who helped campaign for his current Oscar nod, in Ryan Murphy’s summer hit, EAT PRAY LOVE, which he shot immediately after BIUTIFUL (“Take me to Bali!” he said when he put Uxbal to bed.) The contrast has allowed him to see the importance of incorporating both the light and the dark into his life. “As much as you have to bring some seriousness to a comedy set, you have to bring some laughter to a drama like BIUTIFUL. It is the balance that always makes things more enjoyable.”

This balance has Bardem attached to a number of upcoming projects, as varied as a new Terrence Malick film and a potential villain role in the next James Bond movie. Either way, Bardem will bring his almost signature brand of intensity to any project he takes on, just as long as he doesn’t have to die this time. “My mother doesn’t like that very much. She always asks, ‘Are you dying in this one?’”

Even if he does, BIUTIFUL teaches us that death is not an ending. It is just the beginning of a long, hard road ahead. I'm not sure if that is meant to be uplifting but if anyone can find the hope in that, it will be Bardem.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Yes, Sandra Bullock! We Will Marry You.

Albeit a premise that has been done many times before and despite a recently uneven track record for star, Sandra Bullock, North America has proclaimed a resounding, “Yes!” for THE PROPOSAL, as the comedy conquered all at the box office this weekend. I guess everybody loves a June wedding!


THE PROPOSAL had its rehearsal dinner last weekend, where a sneak preview allowed audiences to see the bride before the wedding. While that would ordinarily be considered bad luck, it was the complete opposite here. Like most marriages these days though, it will be the weeks to come that will show whether this marriage will make it to the golden years or end up in divorce.


The week’s other big release generated about as much interest as a high school history lesson. YEAR ONE starring Jack Black and Michael Cera as some of the first people to ever grace this good earth, pulled in a modest average of just under $7K per screen. I would call that historic and I’m fairly certain, it will soon be forgotten.


Meanwhile, the rest of the Top 10 continued to separate the men from the boys as THE HANGOVER, UP!, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 and STAR TREK all posted declines of 30% or lower. UP! is now in the perfect position to not only become this summer’s biggest hit (so far) but it will also most likely finish its run as the second most successful animated film of all time, behind another Pixar classic, FINDING NEMO.


Below the Top 10, summertime independent, AWAY WE GO continued its successful expansion, with a potential Top 10 appearance likely in the next couple of weeks. FOOD INC and MOON held up solidly, if not spectacularly, in their second weeks. It was Woody Allen though that made the big splash this weekend. After the summer success of his last film, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Allen returns this summer with his first New York City based film in years, WHATEVER WORKS, starring Larry David. WHATEVER WORKS, which will be reviewed by Black Sheep this week, opened on just nine screens (vs. almost 700 screens for VCB) but pulled in an average of over $31K on those screens for a total of $281K. The film expands next week and will try to match VCB’s $23 million domestic tally, the most for an Allen film is years.

NEXT WEEK: TRANSFORMERS 2 is expected to be the biggest thing this summer and it hits this Wednesday on more than 4000 screens. And you know you’re in trouble when the trailer almost makes you cry; Cameron Diaz returns to screens in MY SISTER’S KEEPER (2600 screens).

Source: Box Office Mojo

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!

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: Death Pulls Out of the Race

Ordinarily, a week with four major wide releases is unheard of. I suppose though when all four of those releases are not expected to do great business, there’s no harm in dumping them all at once. DEATH RACE, the one where Joan Allen slums it in a Jason Statham testosterone fest for a fat pay cheque, was expected to pull out in front but it was ultimately shut out by last week’s leftovers and a cute little Playboy bunny. Can you say emasculating?

The Ben Stiller comedy, TROPIC THUNDER stayed strong in first place. Out of the gate on Friday, the film was trailing the Anna Faris vehicle and unexpected box office draw, THE HOUSE BUNNY but a the boys came out in droves on Saturday, allowing for TROPIC THUNDER to pull out ahead. Still, THE HOUSE BUNNY take was better than expected, scoring the highest average of any film in release, and should move the very funny Faris up a few notches in the Hollywood standings. DEATH RACE trailed in third, earning a pretty mediocre $12 million. That’s double what his sleeper hit, THE BANK JOB, did last spring but people actually liked that one so I would expect this third place finish will be forgotten as soon as it steps off the podium next week.


This week’s other two wide releases barely registered. The Fred Durst directed, THE LONGSHOTS, in which Ice Cube coaches a little girl football team (can’t you hear the roar from the crowd?), barely broke the Top 10. At least he didn’t miss the Top 10 altogether, which for a major release, might as well mean you never had a release date. The Rainn Wilson vehicle, THE ROCKER, opened on Wednesday to get a head start and still came in last. The film’s average came in under a grand and it’s total of $2.75 million was only good enough for a 12th place finish. I’m pretty sure by Olympic standards, that means neither film even managed to qualify.

Woody Allen’s beautiful VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA couldn’t hold on to its spot in the Top 10 but it did hold on to 80% of its audience. Coming in at number 11, the film earned an average of $4,339, higher than most in the Top 10, for a total of $3 million. The film is well on track to be Allen’s biggest hit since MATCH POINT and could even surpass that if its expansion goes well. Also below the Top 10 – and also starring Penelope Cruz for that matter – the dry satire, ELEGY (also starring Ben Kingsley), added 86 screens to its theatre count and shot up over 800%. It’s per screen average ($5,466) is second only to THE HOUSE BUNNY and it performed better than the expensive Focus Features Sundance acquisition, HAMLET 2. The Steve Coogan laugher opened softly on 103 screens before its wider release next week but only pulled in half the house, with an average $4,223. It’s going to need some major word of mouth in order to fill the seats next weekend.


Speaking of NEXT WEEK: More August dumping … Vin Diesel must save the world in BABYLON A.D. A bunch of unknowns go to COLLEGE. Don Cheadle jumps on the terrorist bandwagon in TRAITOR. And the guys who brought you EPIC MOVIE and MEET THE SPARTANS (and who apparently never do anything other than make spoof films) are back with DISASTER MOVIE, where everything just watched this summer gets spit on. When is someone going to spit on them, man?

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Starring Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson and Penelope Cruz


Marie Elena: Only unfulfilled love can be romantic.

What could be more romantic than a summer vacationing is Barcelona? You’re surrounded by art, history and breathtaking scenery. You meet people you’ve probably never met before and will most likely never see again. You can immerse yourself in an entirely different culture, learning something new about life and yourself with every passing day. Or, you can leave your every woe from your difficult life behind you and let it all fall away into the ocean. In Woody Allen’s latest, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Vicky and Cristina (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) do just that. Vicky is going to learn while Cristina follows in hope of escape and before the summer is out both will learn that that which is inherently romantic is also inescapably complicated.


Vicky and Cristina are the kinds of friends that would likely not become friends if they met at this present moment but are good friends regardless because of a long and cherished history. Vicky is practical to a fault. Everything she does has purpose and function, including her fiancé, Doug (Chris Messina, who played the same “I am everything that is wrong with America today” character at the end of “Six Feet Under”). Cristina cannot stomach settling into herself, as she can’t stand that self, so she recklessly pursues paths of abandon in hopes of finding solace. They are opposite in everything they do, right down to their hair colors, but they find one common interest while abroad, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a painter with a dramatic reputation. Juan Antonio is a player but he isn’t playing. He’s unassumingly smooth and sexy in shirts and pants that are dressed down by playful sneakers. He is a passionate man and his provocative proposal to have both ladies join him for a weekend of food, music and lovemaking brings out the American prude in both Vicky and Cristina.


Still, the vacation does everybody good, including Allen himself. Stepping out of New York and into London for his (brief) return to form, MATCH POINT, rejuvenated a vision that was once great but had recently become monotonously unwieldy. Going to the Barcelona country sides for his 40th feature has a similar effect, in that his vision is refreshingly alive. Still, it is different than the London Allen of late. In Barcelona, it feels as if Allen were on his own vacation. This is Woody in sandals, a loose fitting tee and khakis. Sure, he’s still neurotically smothered in sun block but his grip on the film is relaxed, more organic. In fact, the film’s underlying criticism of American materialism and structure suggest that Allen is happy to be away for a while. Besides, if he weren’t overseas, he might not have had the chance to work with Penelope Cruz. Cruz plays Marie Elena, Juan Antonio’s ex-wife who tried to kill him before ultimately leaving him. Her insanity and is eluded to so often before she actually graces the screen that by the time she does, one shakes with anticipation for her arrival. Cruz’s presence is overwhelming, a tumultuous force that commands attention and can either destroy or nurture from one moment to the next. She elevates the overall quality of the film to exciting heights and it was already pretty great before she got there.


After years of troubled relationships both on and off screen, Allen is still going back for more despite it all. Having been around a few blocks though has given the man a fair amount of insight. He may not know what makes the perfect recipe but he’s still in the kitchen cooking because he knows that when you do get all the ingredients just right, you’re in for one hell of a good meal. He throws all of his characters into the fire knowing full well they will all get burned but that they will also all be better people for it. For all its complications, love or sex or however you choose to define your interaction with another human being (or with two or three for that matter) will ultimately transform you. The same can be said for VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, a flame well worth getting close to.

Director Series: WOODY ALLEN

HANNAH ANNIE MANHATTAN
(in celebration of Vicky Cristina Barcelona)


VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA marks Woody Allen’s 40th feature film. In honour of the little man with the enormous influence, Black Sheep Reviews presents its first ever director series. Allen has always strived to produce one film per year and while working all the time might alleviate some of his neuroses with mortality, it doesn’t always make for great cinema. Still, there is no denying Allen’s unique cinematic voice and his place amongst the greatest directors of all time.

His recent offerings have been spotty at best, with exceptions like his aforementioned latest as well as the modern masterwork, MATCH POINT, standing out as reminders of his genius. And so Black Sheep Reviews looks back for a moment at three of his most distinguished offerings, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986), ANNIE HALL (1977) and MANHATTAN (1979), while still looking forward to what Allen has planned for the future.


As a writer, Allen gets to take all of the thoughts in his head and throw them up on the screen for the world to over analyze. In HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, he gives us a handful of characters and lets us into their heads instead. The simple argument there would be how all of Allen’s characters are essentially extensions of his own psyche but this particular film is so feminine that it transcends his trademark intellectual masturbation. Hannah (Mia Farrow) has it all, or so it would seem from an observer’s point of view. She left a successful acting career on the stage to have children and raise her family. Her sisters on the other hand (Dianne Wiest and Barbra Hershey) can’t seem to get it in line and rely heavily on her stability. Only, while she picks up their messes, she keeps her own inside and everyone assumes that she’s just fine. Even Allen makes the same mistake, as he doesn’t give her as much screen time as the others, presuming they need the attention more. Just because you can take care of yourself though doesn’t mean you don’t have fears. Luckily, anything can be rationalized away in our own heads.


From the internal to the explicitly external nine years prior, Allen gave the world his masterpiece, ANNIE HALL. For me, there is no other picture that has better captured the dynamics of a difficult relationship than the story of Alvy Singer (Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). At this stage in his career, he felt that he wanted to take steps toward more deeper, personal films. The fourth wall is constantly being broken, split screens allow characters to comment on each others’ dialogue without having to be there, and Allen even elevated his cinematic approach with long, continuous shots with characters coming in and out of the frame. Allen chooses to reveal the details –good, bad or transplendent – of the central relationship entirely out of sequence. This way, we get to see all the parts as one, allowing for a more profound understanding of how these two individuals came together and what eventually drove them apart. Allen has never been more celebrated than with this film and never has he deserved it more. His decisions are brave and his honesty is refreshing and revealing. ANNIE HALL is timeless.


Two years after winning the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for ANNIE HALL, Allen gave us MANHATTAN. It is no secret that Allen is a devout New Yorker and he opens this film as though it were a cinematic love letter to his hometown. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is the soundtrack to the opening sequence, which, in charcoal tinged black and white, frames countless New York spots, both known to tourists and known to locals only. The whole while, Allen’s character, Isaac Davis, narrates in voice over about how he and the city are intrinsically linked in order to establish the first chapter and tone of his book. What follows is the fodder of that book – an exploration of the ethical decline of perhaps humanity, but more specifically, New Yorkers. It is Davis’s belief, and one that he is not immune to, that Manhattanites create dramatic scenarios in their lives in order to avoid feeling anything genuine with themselves or another person – that Manhattan itself offers so much distraction that one isn’t capable of returning one’s focus back to what is right in front of them. This is, after all, where one can find all the answers if one can stop long enough to look.


Woody Allen likes to make his quips about the banalities of television or the superiority of New York over Los Angeles or the ridiculous nature of awards. He comes across as neurotic, overly cerebral and pessimistic but when you really spend some time with him, or at least the versions of him he gives us in his films, you realize that this isn’t entirely true. He is in fact overly neurotic and only slightly cerebral. Kidding, it’s just a little a joke for one of my favorite jokers. In all seriousness though, to call him a pessimist is prematurely dismissive. After all, would a pessimist keep trying as hard as Allen does to understand?

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