Box Office Takes The Call

To no one's surprise Oz the Great and Powerful held on to its number #1 spot and also became 2013's biggest hit (thus far). But who could have forseen that the combined draw of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey wouldn't work out so well for Burt Wonderstone. And WTF with The Call's second place showing! Halle Berry hasn't opened a movie that strong since... (gulp) Catwoman nearly a full decade ago.

my phone call to Halle

What prompted people to see it? Seriously?

Box Office WIDE
01 OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL $42 (cum. $145)
02 THE CALL  *new* $17.1 
03 THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE  *new* $10.3
04 JACK THE GIANT SLAYER  $6.2 (cum. $53.9)
05 IDENTITY THIEF $4.5  (cum. $123.7)

Box Office PLATFORM
01 SPRING BREAKERS *new* $.2 
02 STOKER  $.2 (cum. $.6) 
03 THE GATEKEEPERS  $.2 (cum. $1.3)
04 NO  $.1 (cum. $.7)
05 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL *new* $.05 

What did you see this St. Paddy's Weekend?

A "Yes, No, Maybe So" Quadruple Feature!

Hollywood is insisting that we move on to the current calendar year (What is this thing called "2012"?) before we're wrapped with the 2011 Oscar Contenders. Boo! Don't they know we prefer things all regimented like? So we've fallen behind. We've no choice but to abbreviate our Yes, No, Maybe So feature to get caught back up. So let's talk about four new trailers that have...

What's that?!? They're not new anymore? Stop rushing me.

None of the movies have opened yet so they're fair game. Care for a nerve-wracking conversation with Sigourney Weaver? Some senior mugging with Diane & Kevin? Think Jeremy Renner can fill Matt Damon's big shoes?

"Help. I'm lost in the thick woods of movie trailers."

Which of these movies are you eager to see, which will you avoid, and which of these first tastes leave you undecided? Four new(ish) trailers after the jump. Discuss! You've been too quiet and are freaking me out.

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Charlie Kaufman Catch Up

JA from MNPP here, with a look at the latest Charlie Kaufman news. If you’re like me – and generally that’s something I encourage, since I just really think my opinions are top drawer – then you think that Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche New York was one of the finest films of the last decade. Endlessly rewarding and deeply moving... I’ve seen it five or six times at this point and it’s like looking through a prism, new colors and shapes forming in front of me with every new glance. So I’m primed to follow news of what he’ll be handling next. We first heard about Frank or Francis back in March but details were few and far between.

Now, notsomuch. You can read all about it over here but the general idea is this is a musical (of sorts) about a war (of sorts) between a director and a blogger that aims to eviscerate every aspect of Hollywood (of sorts). Nothing is that simple where Charlie’s words are concerned, but that condenses it into a sentence, I guess. Steve Carell is set to play the director, and Jack Black is set to play the blogger (of course he is since all bloggers look like Jack Black). Kevin Kline will be playing two roles a la Nicholas Cage in Adaptation. Speaking of Cage he’s also in this movie, playing “The Emcee,” which, name-alon,e immediately brings to mind Joel Grey’s role in Cabaret, right? And if this thing's as musical as they say it is, that can't be an associative mistake.

The first thing that strikes me here is how man-centric the cast is. Synecdoche was so heavily populated with fantastic actresses – Catherine Keener and Michelle Williams and Samantha Morton (dear god, she’s so good in it) and Hope Davis and Jennifer Jason Leigh and Emily Watson and Dianne Weist all bouncing off of Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the middle. CK’s always given women such plum goods to play with – Meryl in Adaptation! Diaz in Being John Malkovich! – that I find myself longing to hear some lady names soon. But I’m certainly ready for whatever Kaufman sends my way. And on top of this he’s also written Spike Jonze’s next movie, too! Oh, yes.

Yes, No, Maybe So: "Crazy Stupid Love"

The tradition here at The Film Experience is to break down new movie trailers under Yes, No and Maybe So reactions. It's a way to measure expectations rather than allow good (or bad) marketing to totally control us. But watching the trailer for the new comedy Crazy Stupid Love defeated my critical sensibilities entirely. It left me giddy and "Can I see this today. Please!???"

This single image best sums it up.

It's more for the two thumbs up than for the Tomei, though our thumbs are always up for Marisa, too. But this is one of those rare trailers wherein every new star that appears just ups the pleasure ante.

I guess we should play the game anyway. For consistency's sake.

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