"Midway" tops the weekend while "Honey Boy" opens strong
Monday, November 11, 2019 at 6:48PM | Weekend Box Office [ESTIMATES] Nov 8th-10th 🔺 = New or Expanding / ★ = Recommended |
|
| W I D E |
PLATFORM / SPECIALTY TITLES |
 MIDWAY |
 HONEY BOY |
| 1 🔺 MIDWAY $17.5 *new* |
1 🔺 PARASITE $2.5 on 603 screens (cum. $11.2) PODCAST ★ |
| 2 🔺 DOCTOR SLEEP $14.1 *new* |
2 🔺 PAIN & GLORY $397K on 266 screens (cum. $2.6) REVIEW, PODCAST ★ |
| 3 🔺 PLAYING WITH FIRE $12.8 *new* |
3 🔺 HONEY BOY $288k on 4 screens *new* ★ |
| 4 🔺 LAST CHRISTMAS $11.6 *new* REVIEW |
4 HOUSEFULL 4 $124k on 85 screens (cum. $2) |
| 5 TERMINATOR DARK FATE $8.4 (cum. $85.2) PODCAST |
5 LINDA RONSTADT... $43k on 59 screens (cum. $4) REVIEW |
In a not quite as usual as you'd expect occurence all four new wide releases, were lined up 1-2-3-4 with no interruption from holdovers at the top of the box office. None of them really lit the box office on fire but Roland Emmerich's latest action epic did decent business up top. For platform titles, the big story was Honey Boy's surprisingly robust debut, earning $75k per theater despite being a very personal film and niche topic. A strong opening was by no means a sure thing so well done Shia Labeouf and Amazon!
Meanwhile Parasite continues to be all the rage (it's a rare foreign-language film that hits 8 figures in the US marketplace) while Pain & Glory is a steady performer. Jojo Rabbit expanded very well with a nearly $5,000 per screen average as it moved into just-barely wide release at 802 theaters with a $4 million or so weekend; all three of those titles are moving confidently into awards season. What did you see this weekend?
Reader Comments (20)
I saw "The Irishman" with a packed house (the demand for the film is obvious - stupid studios!). It's very moving, rueful and quite witty, with Pacino the MVP in a truly delicious turn. I think it's probably one of Scorsese's least visually accomplished works, but it mostly makes up for it through the strong performances and script, plus the unusually reserved, mournful mood that recalls "Silence" more than "Goodfellas."
Stayed in and enjoyed Leave No Trace (beautifully written and acted), Anthony Mann's Raw Deal (which I only realized partway through I had seen before) and Zhang Yimou's Shadow (so gorgeous, but what's with the distended ending?)
I saw "Pain and Glory" and was very moved by Antonio Banderas great performance. This is best Almodovar movie since "Talk To Her" (2002) A great film about the power of memory and the healing power of art specially cinema.
I was really looking forward to Berlin-winner "Synonyms" yesterday, but was left fairly disappointed. Maybe it was the annoying couple a few rows back that could NOT SHUT UP. Or maybe i was a little bored. Can't say I understand what the fuss was about. Well, except for the sensational male full frontal stuff of course. Bravo to that (and it was next level stuff), but the rest was pretty meh.
Loved JoJo Rabbit. See comments on earlier post.
Saw Parasite a second time! Absolutely amazing!
"Doctor Sleep" felt endless. So much exposition, without a clear narrative momentum while we watch the pieces slowly fall into place. And then it's more superhero movie than horror. Some individual elements are skillful, but it's an overall muddle.
Watched The Lighthouse. I can understand the argument for Dafoe going supporting but it's a weak one. The film is clearly more of a duet than Pattinson soloing while Dafoe pops up every now and then.
Re-watches of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Nanny McPhee Returns and a first timer in The World.
Couldn’t be bothered to drive for an hour to see anything good (no Pain and Glory yet) so caught up with some British TV drama. All decently entertaining in different ways: Dublin Murders, World on Fire, Criminal UK, The Accident, and His Dark Materials. And, as usual, the lead actresses are all very, very good. The Brit/Irish ladies are also killing it in three terrific comedies/dark comedies: Gameface, Motherland, and Back to Life.
Just saw Jojo Rabbit. Loved it! Great turns from Rockwell. Johansson, and McKenzie. And Davis was phenomenal in the lead.
I watched an advance screening of Céline Sciamma's Portrait de la jeune fille en feu and was quietly blown away by it. That story, the cinematography, the overall performances, the wise deployment of diegetic music -- Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a truly evocative creation: filmic, painterly, literary, thespic. Everything was calibrated so perfectly and I was there for (most of) it.
This is a sublime duet of a performance from Adèle Haenel (Héloïse) and Noémie Merlant (Marianne) with a strong support from Luana Bajrami (Sophie) -- it is like the fabled trio aria from Der Rosenkavalier. The characters pace the story like the subjects in an Enlightenment painting: poised, ethereal, with enough mystery to hint the emotional turmoils of ordinary lives. It is like being invited to a strange landscape peopled by women speaking in a secret language. Music was judiciously used especially in a brilliantly staged scene of nocturnal women joyfully ululating in a feast, and as a final coda where Vivaldi provided lyrical catharsis. That image of Haenel's Héloïse reminded me of the famous last scenes of truly magnificent characters and the actresses who portrayed them where faces showed what language cannot: Fernanda Montenegro's Dora's summation of her life in the bus while writing a letter to a beloved boy in Central do Brasil, Melora Walters' Claudia in Magnolia wordlessly and tearfully listening to a love declaration while Aimee Mann's "Save Me" is mirroring her own life; and yes Glenn Close's Marquise in Dangerous Liaisons wiping the veneer of nobility off her face while conveying a mix of grief, shame, and defeat. In the case of Héloïse, I offer tears of joy (although I was so moved I don't even know how to cry).
At times slow-moving, the film conveys a lot in meaningful glances and in strong undercurrents. I can see why this film may not appeal to another segment of the movie-going population but I think we might be discussing this film for years (and years) to come. Many of us will collectively 'turn back' for this cinematic gem.
I saw Parasite and Jojo Rabbit. I loved Parasite (is there any chance that it would get a nomination for production design?) and really want to see it again. I'm actually not sure how I feel about JoJo Rabbit-- feel like it has a rather tricky tone/balance that I'm not sure really worked for the entire film. Did really like Thomasin McKenzie and Scarlett Johansson, as well as the lead.
Pain and Glory is lingering with me days after seeing it. Loved it. P&G, Farewell and Parasite are my favourite films so far this year and all should be ensemble nominees.
I liked JoJo Rabbit. Didn't love it. Davis was superb. Thought ScarJo was wonderful. Also liked McKenzie and Rockwell though the gay subtext I wasn't a fan of.
Also watched Burning Cane on Netflix. A short and impressive film by such a young director.
I saw JoJo Rabbit, which I enjoyed so much more than I thought I would. The performances are all top notch, and really make the movie work. While I really enjoyed Rockwell and Waititi in supporting performances, Davis makes the movie work. So many kid-centric movies fail because the child actor is not good (see, e.g., Hugo). But Davis is really spectacular.
I also saw End of the Century. It's not for everyone - a non-linear think piece that doesn't wrap everything up neatly with a bow. I thought it was really lovely. Even if you don't love the storyline, the scenery is just gorgeous.
After seeing a slate of exciting films last week, I saw two relative clunkers this week:
Midnight Traveler - this is a well reviewed documentary about a family's saga of migrating from Afghanistan to Europe. Shot on cell phone, it's a miracle the film exists and does a good job of putting a human face on the migrant crisis, but it lacks narrative thrust and is ultimately a bit of a slog.
Terminator Dark Fate - I was hoping for fresh life into an old franchise, but I found this to be a bad film. Mackenzie Davis was pretty good, but other than that it was terrible dialogue, action that didn't make narrative sense, and characters for which I had no emotional attachment.
I saw Pain and Glory, and while it's certainly no failure, I was disappointed. It felt like Pedro Almodovar was directing while wearing a straitjacket, and the whole thing was way too muted. The only scenes that really grabbed me were his scene with his elderly mother before she dies, and the scene where he first discovers he's gay watching the workman bathing. I never thought I'd say this about an Aldomover movie, but I wish he'd just been a little LESS restrained.
Dr. Sleep married the novel and 1980 movie very well, and is a slow, increasinbly creepy burn. Jacob Tremblay's dying scream is one of the more unsettling scenes of the movie year.
JoJo Rabbit was laugh out loud funny and absurd, and terrific performances from Davis as the title and Waikiki as a bumbling dictator not at all like a current leader. not at all.
Pain and Glory is so good--my favorite film so far this year.
I rewatched The Godfather Part II for its anniversary showing on the big screen. Absolutely devastating and one of the great cinematic works of the previous century.
I saw Motherless Brooklyn, and loved it.
It’s such a pleasure to be immersed in a film where everyone involved in it is working at top form.
Production design, costumes, score, cinematography (by the consistently wonderful Dick Pope), all create a vivid sense of place and time. You’re reminded of how architecture and physical environment shape us.
Edward Norton is so good with actors. The ensemble creates complete and lived in characters with warmth, depth, and texture. And each have their own particular sense of goodness or rightness that they are holding to.
Edward Norton is smart, really smart, and thoughtful. But I don’t hold that against him. It’s one of the things I like about him.
When I see Edward Norton, and his intelligence, passion, commitment, sincere and deep feelings, I think I don’t get to see enough of this kind of thing, and I love it so.