It’s all about the “Silver Lining” at the Independent Spirit Awards

While some might argue that it’s not really an independent film (with that $21 million budget), Silver Linings Playbook still wowed the Independent Spirit Award voters taking home 4 awards today including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Actress (Jennifer Lawrence who has been having one heck of a year). It beat out a true indie, the fascinating and inventive Beasts of the Southern Wild which had to settle for a Cinematography award. Another true indie, The Sessions took home two awards for Best Actor (John Hawkes, who sooo should’ve got an Oscar nom) and Supporting Actress for Helen Hunt. Winning Supporting Actor was Matthew McConaughey for Magic Mike…. My favorite award of the day went to the brilliant Perks of Being A Wallflower for Best First Feature… For more on all the awards and the Indpendent Spirit organization, head here. Then check out all the winners below… And it’s only 1 day to Oscar Sunday!

2013 Independent Spirit Award Winners:

Best Feature: “Silver Linings Playbook”
Best Director: David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Best Screenplay: David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Best First Feature: “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Best First Screenplay: Derek Connolly, “Safety Not Guaranteed”
John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000): “Middle of Nowhere”
Best Female Lead: Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Best Male Lead: John Hawkes, “The Sessions”
Best Supporting Female: Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
Best Supporting Male: Matthew McConaughey, “Magic Mike”
Best Cinematography: Ben Richardson, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Best Documentary: “The Invisible War”
Best International Film: “Amour,” Michael Haneke
Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast):
“Starlet”
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

Piaget Producers Award: “Stones in the Sun,” Mynette Louie
Someone to Watch Award: “Gimme the Loot,” Adam Leon
Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award: “The Waiting Room,” Peter Nicks
Jameson Find Your Audience Award: “Breakfast With Curtis,” Laura Colella

“Ice Age” Keeps Sequels atop the Box Office

With an opening of $46 million, Ice Age: Continental Drift, did pretty well for a fourth film in the franchise. However, the new animated comedy came up a little short of this summer’s other family films Brave and Madagascar 3. Nonetheless, the latest sequel to top the box office this summer should end up a profitable venture especially with big grosses overseas. It also will present a nice counter-programming choice to next weekend’s expected behemoth, The Dark Knight Rises…. Ice was the only new film hitting the top ten this weekend as the holdovers continued to do well with decent drops for Spiderman, Ted, Brave and even Magic Mike. For more on all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $46,000,000 – 3,881 – $11,853 $46,000,000 – 1
2 1 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $35,000,000 -43.6% 4,318 – $8,106 $200,900,000 $230 2
3 2 Ted Uni. $22,147,000 -31.2% 3,303 +47 $6,705 $158,993,000 $50 3
4 3 Brave BV $10,695,000 -45.5% 3,392 -499 $3,153 $195,596,000 $185 4
5 5 Magic Mike WB $9,030,000 -42.3% 3,090 -30 $2,922 $91,850,000 $7 3
6 4 Savages (2012) Uni. $8,735,000 -45.5% 2,635 +7 $3,315 $31,466,000 $45 2
7 6 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection LGF $5,600,000 -45.0% 2,004 -157 $2,794 $55,628,000 $20 3
8 8 Katy Perry: Part of Me Par. $3,735,000 -47.7% 2,732 +2 $1,367 $18,588,000 $12 2
9 9 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $3,662,000 -19.0% 924 +40 $3,963 $32,427,000 $16 8
10 7 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $3,500,000 -53.5% 2,285 -576 $1,532 $203,732,000 $145 6

“Spiderman” is Pretty Great but not totally “Amazing” at the Box Office

While it missed the lofty box office heights of its predecessors, the latest comic book reboot, The Amazing Spiderman, still did pretty darn good at the box office in its opening weekend. Spiderman took in $65 million over the weekend and a total of $140 million since opening on Tuesday for the 4th of July holiday. That’s good for a rebirth of the saga, along the lines of the grosses for Batman Begins and X-Men First Class, as Box Office Mojo notes. However, it was below the last trilogy’s opening numbers. The new film stars Golden Globe nominees Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone along with Oscar winner Sally Field, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Martin Sheen and Emmy nominee Denis Leary in some fantastic performances in a very solid film. I gave Spiderman an A- grade and I think it could hold up very well in the weeks ahead…. As for the other new films, Oliver Stone’s Savages took in a lackluster $16 million (continuing Taylor Kitsch‘s 2012 losing streak) while Katy Perry‘s concert film Katy Perry: Part of Me was a disappointment with only $7 million and $10 million total since Thursday. Also tumbling this week was Magic Mike which took an expected giant drop of 60%. However, that film is already massively profitable… For more on all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $65,000,000 – 4,318 – $15,053 $140,000,000 $230 1
2 1 Ted Uni. $32,593,000 -40.1% 3,256 +17 $10,010 $120,240,000 $50 2
3 3 Brave BV $20,162,000 -40.9% 3,891 -273 $5,182 $174,519,000 $185 3
4 N Savages (2012) Uni. $16,162,000 – 2,628 – $6,150 $16,162,000 $45 1
5 2 Magic Mike WB $15,610,000 -60.1% 3,120 +190 $5,003 $72,797,000 $7 2
6 4 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection LGF $10,200,000 -59.8% 2,161 – $4,720 $45,846,000 $20 2
7 5 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $7,700,000 -35.0% 2,861 -854 $2,691 $196,020,000 $145 5
8 N Katy Perry: Part of Me Par. $7,150,000 – 2,730 – $2,619 $10,250,000 $12 1
9 7 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $4,642,000 -5.8% 884 +30 $5,251 $26,893,000 $16 7
10 17 To Rome with Love SPC $3,502,000 +405.9% 806 +777 $4,345 $5,621,000 – 3

Dirty Teddy Bears and Strippers Rule the Box Office

Hollywood can finally breathe a little sight of relief as the summer box office got a much-needed jolt from some dirty strippers, a naughty teddy bear and a grumpy granny this weekend. Way over performing and landing a big $54 million opening was Universal’s raunchy Mark Wahlberg/Teddy bear comedy Ted. The movie held off the hottest cast  ever seen in film from a top spot debut as Magic Mike opened to a strong $39 million. That’s already a big profit for the $7 million picture starring It boy Channing Tatum and his hottie friends Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer, Adam Rodriguez and a delightfully devilish Matthew McConaughy. We’ll see how the latter film holds up in the weeks ahead as it was a very front-loaded box office weekend. (I, for one, was rather disappointed by the film which was like 4 different movies in one that never gelled. Mike wasn’t really funny or all that sexy and the dramatic indie feel to the second half of the movie didn’t work at all. Grade: C+) … But curiosity could keep it going strong thru the 5th of July holiday… Also opening well was Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection which took in his usual $26 million and Brave weathered the newcomers well with another $34 million… The big loser this weekend was the new Chris Pine/Elizabeth Banks dramedy  People Like Us (which I gave a “B” grade to) which tanked with only $4.3 million… For more on these numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Ted Uni. $54,100,000 – 3,239 – $16,703 $54,100,000 $50 1
2 N Magic Mike WB $39,155,000 – 2,930 – $13,363 $39,155,000 $7 1
3 1 Brave BV $34,011,000 -48.7% 4,164 – $8,168 $131,685,000 $185 2
4 N Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection LGF $26,350,000 – 2,161 – $12,193 $26,350,000 $20 1
5 2 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $11,815,000 -40.1% 3,715 -205 $3,180 $180,012,000 $145 4
6 3 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Fox $6,000,000 -63.2% 3,109 +1 $1,930 $29,034,000 $69 2
7 4 Prometheus Fox $4,925,000 -50.3% 1,951 -911 $2,524 $118,262,000 $130 4
8 11 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $4,873,000 +43.6% 854 +459 $5,706 $18,406,000 $16 6
9 5 Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $4,405,000 -45.5% 2,337 -582 $1,885 $145,591,000 $170 5
10 N People Like Us BV $4,306,000 – 2,055 – $2,095 $4,306,000 $16 1

“Magic Mike”~ Is this the Best Trailer Ever?

On June 29, the gays and the girls are going to be really happy… You see that is the day that the new stripper comedy Magic Mike hits theaters starring some of the hottest actors around including Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello and Matthew McConaughey. I already posted a trailer and a blog about this ridiculously fun and hot film, and now a new an improved trailer has hit the web. This clip is perhaps the best teaser in film history. Check it out below and watch for Magic Mike to dance into theaters at the end of the month.

Magic Mike NSFW trailer

First Look~ The Hottest Cast Ever in “Magic Mike”

I’m not sure what movie is the most anticipated film of the summer. Conventional wisdom would say it’s The Dark Knight Rises… However, if you ask any woman, or for that matter any man in West Hollywood, the answer is probably Magic Mike. The later stars perhaps the hottest cast of men ever assemble for a film including Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughy, Adam Rodriguez, and Joe Manganiello. The film, directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), tells the tale of an up and coming male stripper (Pettyfer) who is taken in under the tutelage of the show’s star (Tatum) at a club run by McConaughy’s veteran stripper character. The movie is actually based on Tatum’s real life as he was an exotic dancer before he became a big Hollywood star, and judging from the first trailer, it looks pretty good… One small complaint: um, we need more stripping please. lol
Anywho, check out the first clip and let me know your thoughts. Then head to the theaters to see Magic Mike when it opens June 29th.

Magic Mike trailer