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Entries in The Lovers (4)

Saturday
Jul012017

C O N S I D E R - Favorites of 2017, 2nd Qtr

THE YEAR'S FIRST HALF IS OVER! But rather than wait for this "halfway mark" for year in review listicles we started at the end of the 1st quarter so you'll have to combine those lists (movies / actresses / actors) with the highlights from your host's April through June screenings for a complete "halfway mark" take. Got it? Unlike many critics orgs and the Oscars, The Film Experience believes that moviegoing is a 12 month long activity and each month can hold worthy efforts.  Here are 4 or 5 highlights of what we've seen the past three months per Oscar category in alpha order. How will they measure up to what's still to come?

Key movies I regret missing this quarter: Beatriz at Dinner, HeroGifted, Manifesto, and Their Finest

PICTURE and/or DIRECTOR and/or SCREENPLAY
(i couldn't decide which to cut so this first grouped selection is 6 wide)


BABY DRIVER (Edgar Wright)
THE BIG SICK (Michael Showalter)
THE LOVERS (Azazel Jacobs)
LOST CITY OF Z (James Gray)
THE WEDDING PLAN (Rama Burshtein)
WONDER WOMAN (Patty Jenkins)

Lots more after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Sunday
May142017

Mother's Day Weekend Box Office

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY y'all. Are you taking your mom to the movies? Does your mom even go to movies? (My mom does not unless I'm visiting her so it happens about once a year).

In its second week Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 dipped below 50% but that's par for the course for blockbusters which are super frontloaded now. It still handily took the weekend making more than the two new wide releases combined (Snatched and King Arthur). In limited release the top new films were Lowriders (starring Demian Bichir and Eva Longoria) with a good per screen average and the sniper drama The Wall which risked a nearly wide opening to uncertain results. We'll see how word of mouth goes. 

Weekend Box Office (Date)
W I D E  L I M I T E D
1. GUARDIANS VOL. 2 $63
(cum. $246.1) REVIEW
1. 🔺 LOWRIDERS $2.4 NEW
(295 screens)
2.🔺 SNATCHED $17.5 NEW
REVIEW
2. BAAHUBALI 2 $1.5 (374 screens)
(cum. $18.9)
3.🔺 KING ARTHUR $14.7 NEW
REVIEW
3. 🔺 THE WALL $891k NEW
(541 screens)
4. FATE OF FURIOUS $5.3
(cum. $215) FRANCHISE RANK
4. NORMAN $409k (153 screens)
(cum. $1.6)
5. BOSS BABY $4.6
(cum. $162.3) REVIEW
5. THEIR FINEST $290k
(258 screens | cum. $2.9)
6. BEAUTY & THE BEAST $3.8
(cum. $493.1) REVIEW | SCORE
6. SLEIGHT $285k (364 screens)
(cum. $3.6)
7. HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER 
$3.7 (cum. $26.1)
7. THE DINNER $245k (429 screens)
(cum. $1.1)
8. THE CIRCLE $1.7
(cum. $18.9) REVIEW
8. 🔺  A QUIET PASSION $199k
(116 screens | cum. $766k)
9. GIFTED $1.3
(cum. $21.4)
9. 🔺 THE LOVERS $140k (23 screens)
(cum. $229k) REVIEW
10. SMURFS: LOST VILLAGE $1.1
(cum. $42.1)
10. COLOSSAL $115k (160 screens)
(cum. $2.7) REVIEW 
11. GOING IN STYLE $1.0
(cum. $42.3)
11.🔺 PARIS CAN WAIT $101k NEW
(4 screens)
12. BORN IN CHINA $820k
(cum. $12.3)
12. 🔺 CHUCK $79k (39 screens)
(cum. $121k) REVIEW 
🔺 = new or added screens
numbers from box office mojo

 

The Lovers and Chuck, two Tribeca debuts which went immediately to theaters last weekend after the festival, charted after adding theaters this weekend. Check out the reviews in case you missed 'em linked in the chart above.

What did you see this weekend? 

Sunday
May072017

Arthouse Box Office... Go see "The Lovers"

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (reviewed) opened huge as expected, and is now #2 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of this highly specific metric: Most box office improvement over the opening of the first film. Number 1 in this regard is still Captain America Winter Soldier. With the mainstream box office being totally dominated by two franchises featuring action heroes of scant relation deploying the word "family" as frequently as rounds of ammo, let's turn our attention to the films in limited release. Richard Gere is the unexpected leader with not one but two films (The Dinner and Norman) in the top five.

Click to read more ...

Friday
May052017

Debra Winger in "The Lovers"

by Murtada

Allow me to tell you a story about Debra Winger and the ever lasting effect she had on a 9 year old boy. That is how old I was when I rented An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) from my local video store. I was so enthralled that I hid the tape - since I wasn’t allowed to watch R rated flicks - and watched again and again, refusing to return it as the late fees piled on. I didn’t even fully speak or understand English at the time, but I got everything that Winger was conveying. As an impressionable young gay you’d think I’d be more interested in Richard Gere. And sure I found him attractive, but it was Winger I identified with. Something about the mix of pride and anguish she had as Paula, the small town factory girl trying to break free to a better life, enchanted me and I became an eternal admirer.

Imagine my excitement then to see her in a film for the first time in years. Directed by Azazel Jacobs and co-starring Tracy Letts, The Lovers is about a long married couple who are both in serious affairs (with Aiden Gillen and Melora Walters). They find themselves inexplicably once again attracted to each other, re-igniting a passionate physical relationship that has serious ramifications for everyone in their lives. Winger has a prickly but earthy presence that makes one understand why these two guys are so into her. As someone who is involved in two affairs, she has to lie a lot and what a bad liar she is. She forgets the lie the second it leaves her mouth which means everyone knows she is a liar. Winger makes that running joke endearing and funny yet also spikes it with a devil may care shrug that fits the sharp woman she’s playing. It’s a joy of a performance.

Winger is well matched by Letts who amuses as a man who is exasperated by almost everyone in his life. His realization that the wife he doesn’t see anymore might be the one after all, is poignant and full of heart. The relationship and foibles are well realized and take us to surprising places, and the two leads are hard to resist even as their characters hurt themselves and others.

In recent interviews Winger mentioned that the reason for her intermittent work in the last two decades, is that she got interested in other stuff beyond film. She lately started watching more, especially on tv, and that's how she found Jacobs's previous film Terri (2011). She loved it and wrote him a letter saying "If you ever think of me for anything, I'd love to work with you because your touch was pretty sweet." And that is how they came to collaborate on The Lovers.

Debra, please watch more and definately write more letters to the directors you like. We’ve missed you.

The Lovers opened today in limited release in New York and LA.