Box Office: Jon Hamm Swings & Misses (And, No, We're Not Talking About That Threesome On "Mad Men")
Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 11:48PM Amir is on holiday so I've reclaimed my number-sharing duty for tonight. It wasn't a fair fight but Godzilla squashed Jon Hamm (in his first big screen leading man gig) at the box office. Godzilla had the second biggest opening of the year.
01 GODZILLA $93.2 *new* Review
02 NEIGHBORS $25.9 (cum. $91.5) Review
03 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 $16.8 (cum. $172.1)
04 MILLION DOLLAR ARM $10.5 *new*
05 THE OTHER WOMAN $6.3 (cum. 71.6)
In other box office news: Belle (reviewed) which is now in its third weekend added over 100 screens and is nearing a 2 million dollar gross... not bad at all considering its low profile; Noah finally crawled past the $100 million mark as it heads out of theaters; Captain America: The Winter Soldier will topple The Lego Movie to become the year's top domestic grosser sometime next weekend; and the week's best per screen average outside of radioactive monsters was for Marion Cotillard as The Immigrant which is sadly only on 3 screens.
What did you see this weekend?
I only caught Godzilla in theaters and opted for my Jon Hamm fix via Mad Men (another fine episode that made me so angry they're splitting the season in half but more on that in the next episode of Mad Men at the Movies).
I also tried out Penny Dreadful's first two episodes and I am... intrigued but unconvinced. It's handsome enough to look at and some of the peripheral players are super vivid and amusing, particularly Billie Piper as a consumptive prostitute and Simon Russell Beale as an Egyptologist who is like what would happen if you made Harold Zidler gayer, fussier and yet more over the top. Among the three headliners which include Josh Hartnett (nice to see him again actually) and Timothy Dalton, Eva Green is the clear standout. She understands stylization and is so autoerotic and self-sufficient a performer in every way that she doesn't even need her co-stars or surroundings to be any good - I think largely of how completely brilliant she was in the otherwise lacking Dark Shadows - and she gets the big title centerpiece of the second episode, a seance, all to herself. But I'm still not sure about the show. Individual scenes range from meh to marvelous (the best being an unexpectedly tender frankenstein creation sequence) but it feels like it's trying way too hard for self-mythology even though its borrowed most of its mythology and we can obviously meet it halfway. I got a Carnivale vibe (and I don't mean that as a compliment). I'll give it one or two more episode before I make the DVR or skip call.
Reader Comments (18)
Godzilla - 5/10
The Double - 9/10
Is it just me, or has the sentence "Eva Green is the clear standout" become strikingly common in the last 2-3 years? And in all sorts of projects too. She has a small role in something at Cannes as well, and I've seen at least one best-in-show rave for her there too. I've been a fan of hers ever since The Dreamers, so I'm excited.
Inequality for All. Everyone should see it. I was middle class once. It was nice.
I'm close to addicted to Penny Dreadful from these first two episodes, mostly due to Eva Green and Harry Treadaway..
Nat: Misses? I wouldn't say it's the massive success we'd expect, but, due to it's $25 million budget, I also wouldn't say it's a "miss." Let's call this "Swing and...ball one."
balls, two?
I turned out for Jon Hamm and enjoyed Million Dollar Arm. It was a bit clichéd but sweet. I also suspect it will do just fine, box office-wise.
I saw The Immigrant and Jeune et Jolie.
The Immigrant bordered on melodrama at times, but always nicely retreated back from that line. Cotillard in the church was a highlight for me, and it might be my favorite Renner performance.
Jeune et Jolie was a lot of fun, surprisingly. I loved the characters that it painted and the way they all interacted.
I saw Barton Fink for the first time and was enthralled, amused, bored, and mystified throughout, but ultimately loved it and want to watch it again. I know there's so much going on below the surface that I was only starting to scratch at. Plus, the actors (Judy Davis doing Cate Blanchett before Cate Blanchett was doing Cate Blanchett; John Turturro and Michael Lerner absolutely killing it), the production design (those dripping walls! that hotel room chair!), the score...so much to take in.
Plus I'm always intrigued when unconventional-looking men like Turturro lead a movie. I mean, I wonder if any Hollywood agent begged him to somehow get his off-center fixed? (I don't know even know if that's possible, but still.)
@DJDeeJay
Blanchett refers to Davis as her role model.
Love Eva Green in everything I've seen her in so I hope Penny Dreadful does well for her. In theaters this weekend I saw Godzilla, Locke and Blue Ruin and I really liked all three. I would have never discovered Blue Ruin if you all hadn't mentioned it on your podcast, so thank you! Also caught up with the DVDs for Short Term 12 (which I thought was one of the best movies of 2013) and the Fifth Estate (which I thought was one of the worst - at least of the movies that I saw).
@3rtful - never knew that! I've hardly seen any Davis performances or followed her career but I've always heard good things about her, much of it from this very blog, so I'd like to see more, especially Husbands and Wives.
I finally saw Sharknado! I have such a weak spot for B movies on SyFy. It was everything I wanted and more! It was a double feature with Transmorphers, a film that seems to be an unholy mess of a mashup of Bladerunner/The Matrix/Demolition Man/Escape from LA/Terminator. The plot made no sense and the acting was worse than the poorly-rendered CGI. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.
What? I'm allowed to have occasional lapses in good taste.
Started out the weekend with Godzilla, which was a big disappointment.
After that, I happily turned my weekend over to the Fassbinder retro at Lincoln Center. I've only seen a few of his films, so this is a huge treat, and I plan to see as many titles as possible through the end of the month. This weekend I saw The American Soldier, Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?, and The Merchant of Four Seasons. They were all outstanding, but Herr R. was my favorite of the three.
Roark -- ugh. i totally meant to do the Fassbinder this weekend. ah well. i'll get to a few of them. i will
I'm hooked on "Penny Dreadful" - and that twist last night was truly shocking.
Jaragon - me no like that twist. i liked that chemistry so much and now proteus go byebye
The Americans - finished up Season 1. Keri Russell is bad-ass (does she ever age?) and Margo Martindale is once again awesome in a supporting role.
Also--Fierce Green Fire. Bit lackluster for an important topic doc and celebrity/activist narration didn't add anything. Looking forward to Fed Up though.
Hate that I don't have cable some times; want to see Penny Dreadful!