Box Office: Expect Gone Girl To Stick Around
Sunday, October 5, 2014 at 1:48PM Hey all, Nathaniel back at my own home blog. Sorry for my radio silence the past couple of days but on rare occasions the words just don't come. What did you see this weekend? Here's what the masses turned out for.
Gone Girl's strong opening weekend -- a best for David Fincher -- suggests that it's going to stick around for awhile given how many conversations it starts (and editorials it will continue to inspire). That must be what that blurb whore meant when he said "date movie of the decade"... that you'd want to talk about it after seeing it giving you conversation fodder at dinner. At least I hope that's what he meant because the story is so cynical about relationships and would probably be a horrible thing to see with someone you barely knew and didn't know if you could trust and didn't know how to read their reactions to entertainment yet (people want different things from it, after all).
TOP TEN WIDE (800 THEATERS PLUS)
01 GONE GIRL $38 NEW Review
02 ANNABELLE $37.2 NEW
03 THE EQUALIZER $19 (cum. $64.5) Why Denzel?
04 THE BOXTROLLS $12.4 (cum. $32.5) The Most Exciting Animation Studio
05 THE MAZE RUNNER $12 (cum. $73.9) Review
06 LEFT BEHIND $6.8 NEW
07 THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU $4 (cum. $29)
08 DOLPHIN TALE 2 $3.5 (cum. $.1)
09 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY $3 (cum. $323.3) Review & Ten Best Trees
10 NO GOOD DEED $2.5 (cum. $50.1)
Hrithik Roshan gets wet for action flick BANG BANGTOP TEN LIMITED (EXCLUDING WIDE RELEASES LOSING THEATERS)
01 BANG BANG $1.2 NEW
02 THE GOOD LIE $.9 NEW
03 THE SKELETON TWINS $.7 (cum. $3.5)
04 MY OLD LADY $.4 (cum. $2.2)
05 BREAKUP BUDDIES $.2 NEW
06 HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS $.2 (cum. $.5)
07 LOVE IS STRANGE $.1 (cum. $2) Review
08 THE TRIP TO ITALY $.1 (cum. $2.6) Review
09 PRIDE $.09 (cum. $.2) Review
10 JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE $.09 (cum. $.2)
The latest Bollywood action flick starring Hrithik Roshan, he of the very huge muscles and stunning eyes opened big. I don't see Bollywood movies unless there's a dance sequence so someone let me know if Hrithik shows his moves again in this one.
I can watch his dancing in Dhoom again forever...
The other newbie The Good Lie was just behind. I keep hearing that the advertising is not very accurate. Maggie Smith fans have come out for My Old Lady despite a total lack of publicity but weirdly it isn't doing nearly as well as Quartet did and that was a really bad movie. And now two great gay films: Love is Strange didn't take off like I'd hoped but a $2 million theatrical gross for an indie without bankable stars these days isn't exactly bad news either. Meanwhile Pride, my fav cause of the moment, is only in three cities but will add more next Friday. As I've said before I think this would be a massive arthouse hit if this were still the 1990s when people went to charming limited release movies rather than waiting for them to go to Netflix.
Emmy Threats to the standard lineup don't you think? Jeffrey Tambor for Best Actor in a comedy and Viola Davis for Best Actress in a drama
In TV's version of box office, the ratings, Viola's How To Get Away With Murder is the best ranked new network show of the fall -- thus far, at least, since it's premature to say such things given that premieres are still happening. If you haven't yet checked out my liveblog of the first two episodes why not do it. I'm probably spendingnew week bingeing on Amazon's Transparent. Watched the first three episodes last night and wow it's good with fantastic performances, intriguing and tangled character-based plots, and a firm sense of taking it all very seriously while also being able to laugh at itself. Amazon had been waiting for a series to capture accolades / attention in a way that would put them on the map as a content creator and this could well be it. I haven't heard anything about whether any of their recent pilots (we reviewed Hand of God) will be making it to series.
What did you see this weekend?
Reader Comments (40)
What did you see this weekend?
Melancholia, discussed elsewhere. ;-)
Thinking about going to see Gone Girl later.
Viola Davis may be nominated, but to win she'll have to do more. People who are nominated in the first season usually submit the pilot, but her pilot doesn't give her all that much to do to compete with Claire Danes and Julianna Margulies, her immediate threats. Julianna is already 2 for 2 in brilliant episodes.
Jeffrey Tambor will walk away with the best actor in a comedy category and that's such a good feeling, because that is a category in dire need of a massive restoration. When a performance like Jim Parsons' wins 4 Emmys (and it could've been 5, they've given one to Jon Cryer in the meantime when he didn't deserve one), something is definitely wrong.
I saw Gone Girl- loved the first 2/3, really disappointed by the last 1/3.
I also saw The Liberator, Venezuela's Oscar submission. This was my introduction to Edgar Ramirez and shooey! That guy can carry a film. The film is not concerned one iota with nuance, but I enjoyed it as a historical epic. It featured good-to-great acting, amazing sets and costumes, and some of my favorite shots of the year. I will not be surprised one bit if it makes it into the Foreign Language committee's top six, thereby earning a spot onto the FL long-list.
Saw Gone Girl - which didn't disappoint this fan of the book. Loved Pike and Coon, and oddly thought Affleck was great too.
Tonight we're going to catch up on the first two episodes of How to Get Away with Murder. Excited for Viola in ANY medium.
@Jay:, Margulies, Danes, Caplan, Moss, Russell, Maslany—and Eva Green (if she's not in Movie/Miniseries)—fierce competition.
Paul Outlaw:
Those should be the six. But I have a feeling Maslany will never get a nod from them and Lizzy Caplan was a once-in-a-blue-moon nomination (I hope not). Russell is from FX which for the Emmys equals ewww unless you're Louie, have a character nobody can shut up about (Justified) or have Glenn Close on a show (Damages).
So immediate threats: Margulies and Danes. And Kerry Washington.
And this years adds Ruth Wilson (The Affair) and Felicity Huffman (American Crime) to the candidates.
Nathaniel, I'd love to hear your complete thoughts on Gone Girl (both your appraisal of the film and its Oscar chances) since you mentioned you liked it more than Jason did.
I am 2 episodes in with Transparent and already love it. That series is so smartly done and so assured of itself already it's scary. Tambor is probably a good bet for awards attention since he's so well-respected among tv folk. I'm hoping Gaby Hoffman can draw some notices as well for her finely judged work (easily my favorite of her recent prolific resurgence).
Just FYI, it is official that Hand of God and Red Oaks (Steven Soderbergh project) have been given full season orders from Amazon. Whit Stillman's The Cosmopolitans has apparently had additional scripts ordered, whatever that means.
I did four movies in one day on Friday:
Gone Girl - amazing. I loved it, maybe even better than the book. Casting was inspired, Affleck and Pike were incredible. I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and go see it again.
Dracula Untold - Not even bad enough to be hilarious (see: Pompeii).
A Walk Among the Tombstones - has Dan Stevens in it, so I hated every scene he was in. Just looking at him makes me angry. Okay otherwise. Men shooting men and punching men isn't really my thing. I automatically hate movies where there are literally no female characters.
Life After Beth - hilarious, way better than I expected (because I don't get Aubrey Plaza's shtick). Love Dane Dehaan so much.
I saw Gone Girl and Annabelle.
I usually end up spoiling movies for myself before seeing them, but I really wish I had went into Gone Girl cold. Even though I hadn't read the book, I knew enough about it to know what would happen. I still enjoyed the hell out of it, especially once Pike's character came into focus and she got more to do. I think Affleck deserves more praise than he's getting as well and the supporting female cast is top notch. From Coon to Dickens to Pile and Ward, I just loved seeing them all make the most of what they got.
Annabelle was shit and I'm glad the ticket was free. Alfre Woodard deserves better.
Unfortunately, my plans for Gone Girl fell through, so I rewatched The Social Network instead. Still one of my favorites of the decade so far. I also caught up on Ida, which I enjoyed, especially for its beautiful cinematography.
If ...Murder doesn't improve and Viola wins an Emmy next year, I'm going to be irritated. People should win awards for high-quality series/films. Then again, I know my favorites, Moss and Russell, have no chance anyway (and with the way her career is going, I kind of think Moss will be an Oscar nominee inside of 5 years anyway).
Jay, Chilkis won the emmy got The Shield too. The American suffer because very few people seem to watch it - which sucks, because it's one of the three best dramas on television.
Which sucks, because there are worthier performances.
Anna, I've gotta ask, do you hate 12 Angry Men?
We're loving Madam Secretary. Tia Leoni is knocking this one out of the park (IMHO).
Arkaan - Forgot about The Shield. And you're right about The Americans which is a fantastic but underseen show.
John K - And yes Téa Leoni will be another strong contender. Best Actress in a Drama nominees should occupy that category and best actor in a comedy too. An abundance of riches!
" Anabelle" wanted to be "Rosemary's Baby" but was more like another Chucky sequel.
Always happy to see a true adult movie make it to #1...
Gone Girl, girl
I saw Love Is Strange this week, which I quite liked, even if some things about it seemed a little tidy.
But more importantly, we painted our living room red recently, and tonight, because of what I learned in your HMWYBS, we'll be watching Cries and Whispers in it, because that seems like the right way to celebrate the paint job.
Mike in Canada - you have no idea how pleased that makes me :)
" I don't see Bollywood movies unless there's a dance sequence so someone let me know if Hrithik shows his moves again in this one." Nathaniel, "Bang Bang!" definitely doesn't disappoint in this regard, because the first song/dance number is a knockout! Hrithik knocks it out of the park. But...maybe I'm just easily persuaded since this was my first "Bollywood movie in a theatre" experience. It was a lot of fun, which seems to be the point of 'Bollywood movies". Wish my theater got these more often. I think there were a total of 4 songs in the film (the first had the BEST dancing of all of them). It was a lot of fun. WHOOOO would have thought that "Knight and Day" would inspire something, let alone something fun??!!
Bia - right? It's increasingly rare but satisfying.
I'm *so* far behind on TV. I would love to dig in to Transparent, but it's going to have to wait for... well, a while.
This weekend I saw:
--A Short Film About Killing, bleak to a fault and really just unenjoyable on nearly every level, which as far as I can tell was rather the point of the whole thing
--Mr. Turner, probably my favorite Mike Leigh film since Topsy Turvy, a great portrait of a selfish, brilliant man and the two very different women who loved him (among other things)
--Inherent Vice, which I found nearly intolerable, and definitely incoherent, after the first forty five minutes. The raves for this mess are truly confounding, but I wish I saw the same movie they did.
--National Gallery, another typically insightful, rigorous, fascinating institutional portrait from Frederic Wiseman - though this one, unlike his last several (including the 4 hr At Berkely) tested my patience a few times.
As an aside, Cuba submitted Behavior for the Foreign Language Oscar. Rejoice!
Good Wife is 3 for 3. If Viola had this level of writing to work with, televisions would melt from the radiance across the world. But she doesn't......and no matter how good you are, you can only work with what you are given and Viola isn't given much.
But hopefully, it will convince someone out there is suitland that she can carry a film and give her a nice juicy one.
I saw Gone Girl with three female friends and the whole after-movie talk was about Ben Affleck's penis. I realize they definitely don't see the movies I see, but it's quite shocking to realize that male nudity in Hollywood movies is that rare!
Arkaan - I walked right into that one, didn't I? ;) I was being overdramatic, there are a lot of men-only movies I like, but (like 12 Angry Men) they've got to have the goods to back it up!
I saw "Pride" and loved it. It has been a long time since I've seen such a great feel-good film. I can't recommend it enough.
Gone Girl, which I found pretty entertaining, although long, and sometimes surprisingly slow.
Spoiler-ish chatter:
When I read the book, it made me think of Fatal Attraction (Michael Douglas, Glenn Close) with its attention to commercial appeal, and Agatha (Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave) for its initial plot idea, which gave the story some buoyancy and zip. In the real life case, the woman's puzzle making brilliance made her rich and beloved, and her second happier marriage lasted decades.
When I saw the movie, as soon as Amy dyes her hair, I thought she looked just like TV's Emily Thorne in one of her disguises (and Nick looked like Daniel!). And now I'm supposed to be tut-tutting about a woman's revenge-y schemes? It deflated the fun of the femme fatale a bit.
Suzanne - "People should win awards for high-quality series/films." Absolutely not. Actors have no control over the quality of their projects, only their contributions to them. If an actor gives a great performance in a so-so film or TV, they should not be punished because of the overall lack of quality.
3 episodes into "Transparent" and I love it. I know Tambor FEELS like the lead but he really doesn't have any more screen time than anyone else. I wonder if, in this crazy, Fred Armisen-is-a-Supporting-Actor Emmy era, they'll submit him for Supporting?
How did you react when you saw The Master?
3rtful - i like The Master a lot.
Chiming in to share some essential Hrithik. Beware--it will make you a believer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz7YK7tx-D8
Adrian - that was glorious. He's a hunky movie star AND he can dance that well? I can't imagine a similar American male movie star being able to or expected to do that (besides maybe Channing Tatum?). Thanks for sharing.
ADRIAN - that's still my favorite dance number of his! I was SO pissed that the American version of Kites has like 15 seconds of dancing when he was playing a dance instructor for chrissakes
DJDEEDAY - re: Hrithik. they shoulda totally cast him in Magic Mike XXL. someone needs to challenge Chan.
Nat - Yes! That would be fantastic! Maybe with a Zac Efron cameo (not normally my cup of tea but at least he can move).
I'll pass on Zac Efron. I want a meal. Not a snack.
Henry: One of my favorite putdowns, lol.
Jay: "Jeffrey Tambor will walk away with the best actor in a comedy category..." I would be very pleased at this point if that were to happen, but Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul is waiting in the wings. I really want that show to be good (and successful).
This is the showstopper from Bang Bang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uls9v1nnss
Janelia -- okay i have to see this in theaters now
You're gonna want to skip to 1:50 for the beefcake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHPaDY735GU