8 Best Things About "Steve Jobs" (First Impressions)

True confession: When I read Jason's breathless rave for Steve Jobs from my sick bed last week I was like "calm down, man,  it can't be that good" Cut to one week later me sitting in the theater, as the end credits rolled: "I gotta read that rave again and nod my head vigorously this time!" While I suspect I don't love it quite as much as Jason, it is inarguably one of 2015's must-see picture and we shan't be annoyed at all when it racks up Oscar nominations in January.

The film goes wide on Friday and trust that you'll want to be there. Here are my 8 favorite things about it at first glance... 

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"Pan" Sinks. "Steve Jobs" Sizzles.

It's your weekend box office report. Both The Martian and The Intern experienced small drops from their previous weekends, reminding everyone that Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, who co-starred in Interstellar just last year, have always been fairly bankable. Their takes also indicate good word of mouth and leggy runs ahead in future weeks. The news was not good for Hugh Jackman and Pan however, perhaps reminding us that not every movie star can remain bankable when they're buried in silly makeup and made to look unlike themselves - not everyone can be Johnny Depp who people (for whatever reason) like to see buried in cartoonish makeup. Curiously Johnny Depp also once made a bad Peter Pan picture but that's another story...

BOX OFFICE WIDE
800+ screens (Oct 9th-11th)
01 The Martian $37 (cum. $108.7) Podcast, Matt's foot-in-mouth tour
02 Hotel Transylvania 2 $20.3 (cum. $116.8) Tim on the director Genny Tartakovsky
03 Pan $15.5 NEW Peter Pan Movies
04 The Intern $8.6 (cum. $49.5) Review
05 Sicario $7.3 (cum. $26.7) Podcast, Emily Blunt
06 Maze Runner: Scorch Trials $5.2 (cum. $70.6)
07 The Walk $3.6 (cum. $6.3) Review
08 Black Mass $3.1 (cum. $57.5)
09 Everest $3 (cum. $38.2)
10 The Visit $2.4 (cum. $61)

Jason reminds us, with sound reasoning, not to cry for Garrett Hedlund despite another massive flop (Pan) on his hands.

BOX OFFICE LIMITED (excluding prev. wide)
(Oct 9th-11th)
01 Ladrones (375 screens) $1.3 NEW 
02 He Named Me Malala (689 screens) $.6 (cum. $.7) 
03 99 Homes (689 screens) $.6 (cum. $.8)  The return of Andrew Garfield  Review
04 Steve Jobs (4 screens) $.5 NEW Review
05 Goodbye Mr Loser (51 screens) $.3 NEW  
06 Grandma (205 screens) $.2 (cum. $6.2)  Poster Blurb, Lily Tomlin's Filmography, Review 
07 Goodnight Mommy (86 screens) $.1 (cum. $.6)  Interview, Oscar Submission
08 Freeheld (51 screens) $.1 (cum. $.1)
09 Learning to Drive (71 screens) $.06 (cum. $3.2)
10 Labyrinth of Lies (16 screens) $.05 (cum. $.09) Interview, Review, Beauty Break

Meanwhile in select cities, business was solid for the heavily promoted human rights documentary He Named Me Malala and crazy robust for the Oscar Best Picture hopeful Steve Jobs which racked up some of the highest per screen averages ever in extremely limited release. The Michael Fassbender led drama goes wide next week.

Sadly, there continued to be a lack of interest in Julianne Moore & Ellen Page's lesbian drama Freeheld. It's grossed a tiny $140,00ish to date, despite four very well liked actors (Michael Shannon & Steve Carell are in the supporting roles). In truth the buzz hasn't been good on it (apart from a few vocal supporters) but still... I feel the guilt about not having seen it yet. In my defense, I have been totally sick as previously documented, so what little leave the house energy I've had has gone to the NYFF.   

What did you see this weekend? Was it money well spent? 

NYFF: Sing the Electric "Steve Jobs"

Reporting from the ongoing New York Film Festival here is Jason on Oscar hopeful "Steve Jobs".

It should surprise no one that a movie directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin is all about rhythm. The rhythm is established at the start (and Steve Jobs runs zero to sixty so you'd best get a grip quick) and pulses outwards like the blink of a cursor, or a techno beat. You could probably set your watch to it... if you were a maniacal math genius who could work out the exact algorithm they're working off of. 

The new film is structured around three events in Jobs professional life: his first presentation of his Macintosh computer in 1984; the "perfect black cube" of the NeXT machine in 1988 after he was fired from Apple; and his triumphant return to the company a decade later with the crayola-tinted iMac every girl in my college dorm owned. Within each chapter, there are a series of sonnets of sorts, devoted to the folks in his life - his daughter, his work-wife, his boss, so on. The pieces shift once the rhythm is established, but structurally speaking the film is rigorous, in a (and I do not use these words lightly) soul-pleasing kind of way. Once you find your way in to Steve Jobs, there's this satisfaction in expectations, and the massaging thereof. [More...]

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Beauty vs Beast: Marriage Among the Ruins

Jason here, taking a little break between New York Film Festival screenings to give you this week's edition of "Beauty vs Beast" -- this past weekend Danny Boyle's film Steve Jobs screened at NYFF to sold-out crowds and from what I gathered very good notices (stay tuned for TFE's take soon; I took that picture to the left myself at the press conference), and I heard that on Saturday night Danny Boyle led the crowd in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" to birthday girl, beloved actress, Oscar winner, and icon Kate Winslet.

Kate turns 40 today! We have been worshipping Kate ever since she helped bash in her girlfriend's mother's head with a brick in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, and we've never wavered... well okay we had no idea what anybody was thinking with Labor Day either, but other than that, not ever. Here on her 40th birthday let's give love to one of her best recent performances, one that just happened to coincide with a reunion with the Bogie to her Bacall, Leonardo DiCaprio, who was doing very fine work right across from her.

PREVIOUSLY Last week in anticipation of Ridley Scott's The Martian's looming box office boom we faced off our favorite pair of Red Planet invaders -- well it was Tim Burton's little green men that zapped their way into our hearts, to the tune of nearly 80% of your vote. Sorry Tripods, better luck next invasion. Said Denny:

"ACKACKACKACKLOLOLOLOL The martians from Mars Attacks win for their Frankenstein-ian experiments ALONE. "

Triple (Poster) Threat

Manuel here with posters for three upcoming films we’ve been surprisingly quiet about here at TFE even though I know we're excited about (some of) them.

First up, Pan. I am vaguely curious about this Hugh Jackman/Joe Wright film but is it just me or has the marketing team been not really been doing their job on this film? It’s like that Rooney Mara Telluride Tribute was for naught! I mean, sure it was mostly for Carol, but you’d think they’d want to capitalize on her buzz!

Next, The Intern. Is this the film that will win Hathaway’s fans back (most of us never left!) or will it just fuel the fire? On a side-note, did you all read this fantastic interview with Nancy Meyers for New York Magazine? It’s worth a read in its entirety but my favorite line, obviously, was:

“Women can direct dinosaurs. Believe me.”

I am now imagining a Jurassic Park film directed by Nancy Meyers (imagine that raptor scene in a Meyers kitchen!) and boy would that be more enjoyable than the Trevorrow flick I finally caught up with this weekend.

And last but certainly not least, we have this bizarre poster for Steve Jobs (I do so love its main one), We at TFE will be catching this one soon at NYFF and will have plenty to say then, I’m sure. But for now, I’m going to obsess over Kate’s glasses and icy stare.

Which of these films are you most excited about?