Iron Man 3 Makes a Smashing Debut

Iron Man 3 smashed its way into theaters this weekend with a giant $175 million over its first three days. That marks the second highest debut in history after last year’s The Avengers. No doubt the good vibes from that film rubbed off on the third installment in the Iron Man franchise erasing the lackluster fan reaction to the second film. (Personally, I think Iron Man 3 was a huge improvement over the # 2. It was fun an entertaining if a bit overwrought and forced. I give it a “B” grade.) It should continue to do well over the next few weeks as the summer movie season kicks into high gear…. No other new films dared challenge Man, so the rest of the top ten were mostly holdovers trying to get some attention. One indie film, Mud the Southern drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, did expand to just over 500 theaters and was able to crack the top ten though…. Take a look at the full list below and head to Box Office Mojo for all the numbers.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Iron Man 3 BV $175,300,000 – 4,253 – $41,218 $175,300,000 $200 1
2 1 Pain and Gain Par. $7,600,000 -62.5% 3,287 +10 $2,312 $33,919,000 $26 2
3 3 42 WB $6,210,000 -41.7% 3,345 -60 $1,857 $78,336,000 $40 4
4 2 Oblivion Uni. $5,797,000 -67.4% 3,430 -362 $1,690 $75,969,000 $120 3
5 5 The Croods Fox $4,225,000 -37.2% 2,915 -368 $1,449 $168,743,000 $135 7
6 4 The Big Wedding LGF $3,875,000 -49.0% 2,633 – $1,472 $14,210,000 $35 2
7 11 Mud RAtt. $2,150,000 -3.0% 576 +213 $3,733 $5,158,000 – 2
8 13 Oz The Great and Powerful BV $1,822,000 +0.6% 1,160 -450 $1,571 $228,568,000 $215 9
9 7 Scary Movie 5 W/Dim. $1,435,000 -58.2% 1,857 -876 $773 $29,603,000 $20 4
10 9 The Place Beyond the Pines Focus $1,298,000 -52.4% 1,162 -422 $1,117 $18,678,000 $15 6

“The Avengers” Lords Over the MTV Movie Awards

Sunday night was all about some super heroes and a super silly lady as The Avengers took home 3 awards including Movie of the Year at the MTV Movie Awards while host Rebel Wilson won two statues. Wilson and her Pitch Perfect cohorts not only performed on the show but they won Musical Moment over Oscar winner Anne Hathaway and Wilson took home the Breakthrough Award. The other big winner of the night was Silver Linings Playbook which landed three awards including Actor and Actress for Bradley Cooper and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence… I have to say I was a bit dismayed that the brilliant films Les Miserables, Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Dark Knight Rises all went home empty-handed, but hey, I’ll admit I’m a bit older than the MTV voting demographic unfortunately, lol … For more on the show and the awards, head to the MTV site here and take a look at all the winners below.

2013 MTV MOVIE AWARD WINNERS:

Movie of the Year: The Avengers
Male Performance: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Female Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Breakthrough Performance: Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect
Best Scared as Shit Performance: Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
Best On Screen Duo: Mark Whalberg & Seth MacFarlane, Ted
Best Shirtless Performance: Taylor Lautner, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 2
Best Fight: The Avengers
Best Kiss: Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best WTF Moment: Django Unchained
Best Villain: Tom Hiddleston, The Avengers
Best Musical Moment: Pitch Perfect

My Take on the Best of the Movies in 2012 and my Top 30 Films!

2012 was a pretty good year for films. Despite a wonky start with dreadful fare like The Grey and what seemed like 400 Channing Tatum movies, we got a bunch of box office hits that were actually good movies too like The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. As the year wore on, we were also treated to the return of the great studio drama with Lincoln, Flight and Argo plus one tremendous and transcendent musical, the exquisite emotional and brilliant Les Miserables... Independent films also offered us some great cinema with the likes of the fantastic teen dramedy The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the inventive Beasts of the Southern Wild.... So, just what movies did I love the best? Well, after seeing over 100 plus movies this year, I’ve got my top 30 for you below. I’ve also listed my favorite performances and the five worst films I saw this year. Check it out below and then let me know your favorites in the comments section…. Then enjoy your holiday and get ready for one crazy unpredictable Oscar season.

Top 30 Movies of the Year:
1. Les Miserables
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. The Impossible
5. Any Day Now
6. Argo
7. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
8. Flight
9. Lincoln
10. Skyfall
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. The Intouchables
13. Hitchcock
14. Beasts of the Southern Wild
15. The Avengers
16. The Hobbit
17. Arbitrage
18. Pitch Perfect
19. Gayby
20. Hope Springs
21. The Amazing Spiderman
22. The Hunger Games
23. Smashed
24. End of Watch                                            
25. The Silver Linings Playbook
26. Django Unchained
27. The Bourne Legacy
28. Life of Pi
29. Quartet
30. The Sessions

Best Male Lead Performance: Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Runner up: Tie: Denzel Washington (Flight) & Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Female Lead Performance: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Runner up: Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Best Male Supporting Performance: Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables)
Runner Up: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Best Female Supporting Performance: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Runner Up: Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)

Best Debut Performance: Tom Holland (The Impossible)
Runner Up: Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)
3rd place: Quvanzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Best Ensemble: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best Comedy: Pitch Perfect
Runner Up: Gayby

Best Action Film: Skyfall
Runner Up: The Dark Knight Rises

Biggest Tearjerker: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Impossible

Best Foreign Film: The Intouchables
Runner Up: Rust & Bone

Best Comedic Performance: Rebel Wison (Pitch Perfect)         

Most Award-Worthy Performance No One is Talking About: Tommy Lee Jones (Hope Springs)
Runner Up: Alan Cumming (Any Day Now)

Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Runner Up: Vito

Movie that Got a Bad Rap but was Really Entertaining: Rock of Ages

Best Villain: Javier Bardem (Skyfall)

~And now for the bad news….

Worst Movies of the Year:
1. Killer Joe
2. The Grey
3. The Master
4. This is 40
5. John Carter

“The Possession” and “Lawless” Lead a Lazy Labor Day Weekend at the Movies

The new horror film The Possession opened above expectations taking in $21 million over the long Labor day weekend. It held off the surprisingly well reviewed drama Lawless starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and recent Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain which took in $13 million over four days and $15 million since opening last Wednesday. Those were fine openings but the box office as a whole was rather blah with no breakouts… The only real interesting news was The Avengers which was added some 1500 screens to nab an extra $2.4 million and a giant total of $620 million. The film is now the third highest grossing movie of all time worldwide not adjusting for inflation. For more on that film and all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the final top ten of summer below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N The Possession LGF $21,300,000 – 2,816 – $7,564 $21,300,000 $14 1
2 N Lawless Wein. $13,000,000 – 2,888 – $4,501 $15,100,000 – 1
3 1 The Expendables 2 LGF $11,200,000 -16.6% 3,334 -21 $3,359 $68,559,000 $100 3
4 2 The Bourne Legacy Uni. $9,377,000 +0.4% 3,131 -523 $2,995 $98,375,000 $125 4
5 3 ParaNorman Focus $8,853,000 +2.5% 3,085 -370 $2,870 $40,327,000 – 3
6 6 The Odd Life of Timothy Green BV $8,502,000 +19.4% 2,635 +37 $3,227 $38,830,000 – 3
7 5 The Dark Knight Rises WB $7,930,000 +9.8% 2,187 -419 $3,626 $433,246,000 $250 7
8 7 2016 Obama’s America RM $7,087,000 +8.9% 1,747 +656 $4,057 $20,185,000 – 8
9 4 The Campaign WB $7,020,000 -6.1% 2,941 -361 $2,387 $74,597,000 – 4
10 9 Hope Springs Sony $6,000,000 +4.8% 2,441 +39 $2,458 $53,357,000 – 4

“The Dark Knight” Steps on “Step Up” and “The Watch”

Despite competition from the Olympics and moviegoers still trepidatious about heading to the theaters following the Aurora, CO tragedy, The Dark Knights Rises still took in a huge $62.8 million at the box office over the weekend for a big total of $287.8 million. The film is in third place in terms of movies getting to that bit a total so quickly following The Dark Knight and The Avengers. I expect Rises will rise to the $500 million range when all is said and done…. Opening in the wake of Batman was the latest dreadful comedy from Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill, The Watch, which tanked big time with only $13 million (on a nearly $70 million budget~ that’s baaaaaad!). Also getting squashed by the Caped Crusader was the fourth installment in the Step Up franchise, Step Up Revolution, which managed a disappointing $11.8 million. Luckily for that film, it didn’t cost much to produce and is a big-ticket outside the U.S., so it should end up profitable in the end… 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 1 The Dark Knight Rises WB $62,840,000 -60.9% 4,404 – $14,269 $287,851,000 $250 2
2 2 Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $13,300,000 -34.9% 3,869 -17 $3,438 $114,847,000 – 3
3 N The Watch Fox $13,000,000 – 3,168 – $4,104 $13,000,000 $68 1
4 N Step Up Revolution Sum. $11,800,000 – 2,567 – $4,597 $11,800,000 $33 1
5 4 Ted Uni. $7,353,000 -26.6% 3,129 -85 $2,350 $193,619,000 $50 5
6 3 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $6,800,000 -37.5% 3,160 -593 $2,152 $242,053,000 $230 4
7 5 Brave BV $4,237,000 -29.7% 2,551 -348 $1,661 $217,261,000 $185 6
8 6 Magic Mike WB $2,580,000 -39.9% 2,075 -531 $1,243 $107,587,000 $7 5
9 7 Savages (2012) Uni. $1,753,000 -48.4% 1,414 -922 $1,240 $43,899,000 $45 4
10 9 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $1,387,000 -24.3% 853 -42 $1,626 $38,396,000 $16 10

The Dark Knight Rises to the Top!

As expected the final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, rose to the top of the box office charts over the weekend. The film starring Oscar winners Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cottillard and Michael Caine, Oscar nominees Anne Hathaway and Gary Oldman, SAG Award nominee Tom Hardy and Golden Globe nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt set the record for the biggest 2D opening in history with a massive $160.8 million over its first three days. That also qualifies as the third biggest opening overall behind the 3D openers of The Avengers and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. The movie should hold up quite well in the weeks ahead as it has garnered great reviews (I give the fantastic film an “A” grade) and audiences who may have been nervous to see it after the tragic shootings in Colorado venture back to the theatre…. In The Dark Knight’s wake, the rest of the top ten took a hit with Spider-man and Savages both dropping over 60 %…. For more on all the box office numbers, the records broken by The Dark Knight Rises and more, 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 Dark Knight Rises WB $160,887,295 – 4,404 – $36,532 $160,887,295 – 1
2 1 Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $20,416,978 -56.2% 3,886 +5 $5,254 $88,840,284 – 2
3 2 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $10,887,111 -68.6% 3,753 -565 $2,901 $228,611,425 $230 3
4 3 Ted Uni. $10,011,610 -55.3% 3,214 -89 $3,115 $180,431,425 $50 4
5 4 Brave BV $6,024,987 -46.0% 2,899 -493 $2,078 $208,774,173 $185 5
6 6 Magic Mike WB $4,291,432 -52.4% 2,606 -484 $1,647 $101,966,459 $7 4
7 5 Savages (2012) Uni. $3,398,880 -63.8% 2,336 -299 $1,455 $40,055,075 $45 3
8 7 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection LGF $2,253,074 -59.7% 1,540 -464 $1,463 $60,289,622 $20 4
9 9 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $1,831,471 -50.6% 895 -29 $2,046 $36,087,959 $16 9
10 11 To Rome with Love SPC $1,420,891 -42.5% 552 -192 $2,574 $11,107,993 – 5

My Movie Grades for the first half of 2012!

So far, 2012 has not been the best year for movies. Much like the first half of 2011, there has been a whole lot of crap forced on moviegoers, and it seems the movie going public is responding according as box office grosses are way down this year. In fact this summer has seen a host of big movies bomb with only one massive success in The Avengers. Granted, that movie is simply fantastic and exactly what a fun entertaining summer film should be… With all that said, let’s take a look at the grades I’ve given to the movies I’ve seen so far. My list is below. Atop it alongside The Avengers are three wonderful independent films, the hilarious and inspiring The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the hysterical and moving French film The Intouchables and the fascinating and bold Beasts of the Southern Wild. More on the latter film after my list… Take a look and let me know what you’re thoughts on the films of 2012 are so far…

My 2012 Movie Grades (ranked by grade and in order of my faves):

Beasts of the Southern Wild: A
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: A
The Intouchables: A
The Avengers: A
The Hunger Games: A-

Rock of Ages: B+
People Like Us: B
Safe House: B
Dark Shadows: B
Men in Black 3: B-
The Vow: B-
Friends with Kids: C+
This Means War: C
W.E.: C
21 Jump Street: C-
The Five Year Engagement: C-
John Carter: D

Film Festival Movies~

Gayby: A
The Skinny: B

Getting back to the independent films I loved so much earlier this year, all of them could factor into the year-end Awards races. Hotel is a surefire Golden Globe contender and The Intouchables should do well there and likely at the Oscars. Of the three however, Beasts of the Southern Wild, may have the best Oscar odds. It’s a critic’s darling and it’s one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen. The picture follows a young six-year-old girl who must search for her mother after her father becomes ill on their isolated bayou island home. Beasts incorporates Spanish realism, big concepts and questions about the human spirit and what home and family mean alongside the story of a young girl forced to grow up and face the elements. Newcomer Quevenzhane Wallis is astounding as the girl, Hushpuppy, and her father is played by another novice, Dwight Henry in an equally wonderful debut. I highly recommend it. The movie which gets a limited release this weekend will expand over the summer. For more on the film which was a smash at Sundance and Cannes, head here and check out the trailer below…
Also watch for Beasts to contend in the following categories come Awards season~
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Dwight Henry)
Best Actress (Quevenzhane Wallis)
Best Screenplay
Best Score
Best Cinematography
Best Sound
Best Editing

Beasts of the Southern Wild trailer

It’s Bombs Away at the Box Office Again

Just when you thought the summer box office was turning itself around, Hollywood drops two more stink bombs on audiences as Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy both tanked in their opening weekends. You can add those bombs to this seasons list of underachievers like Dark Shadows and The Dictator and disasters like Battleship and The Chernobyl Diaries. In fact, only The Avengers and Madagascar 3 (which won the weekend again with a strong $35 million for $120 million after only 2 weeks) can be considered big summer successes. Prometheus and Snow White which both opened well don’t look like they will gross more than their production costs and MIB3 will be saved with international grosses. So, it’s been pretty bad news all around… Heading back to this week’s releases Adam Sandler has his worst opener in ages with the dreadful That’s My Boy which took in a paltry $13 million while the delightfully fun and incredibly entertaining if rather slight rock musical Rock of Ages nabbed an underwhelming $15 million. I’m sad for Rock as I truly enjoyed the film with fantastic performances from Tom Cruise and Catherine Zeta Jones and gave it an overall “B+” grade. Maybe I’m just partial to that amazing 80′s music. We’ll see if it can hold up in the weeks ahead as musicals sometimes have good legs, but this auspicious start is not a good one…. For more on all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo 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 1 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $35,500,000 -41.1% 4,263 +5 $8,327 $120,451,000 $145 2
2 2 Prometheus Fox $20,200,000 -60.4% 3,442 +46 $5,869 $88,858,000 – 2
3 N Rock of Ages WB (NL) $15,060,000 – 3,470 – $4,340 $15,060,000 $75 1
4 3 Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $13,805,000 -40.1% 3,701 -76 $3,730 $122,602,000 $170 3
5 N That’s My Boy Sony $13,000,000 – 3,030 – $4,290 $13,000,000 $70 1
6 4 MIB 3 Sony $10,000,000 -28.0% 3,135 -657 $3,190 $152,679,000 $225 4
7 5 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $8,848,000 -21.3% 2,582 -547 $3,427 $586,737,000 $220 7
8 6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $2,200,000 -32.7% 1,184 -114 $1,858 $35,133,000 – 7
9 10 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $2,181,000 +39.8% 178 +82 $12,253 $6,779,000 – 4
10 7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $1,330,000 -52.3% 1,216 -871 $1,094 $38,766,000 – 5

“Madagascar 3″ and “Prometheus” make a Big Box Office Duo

The summer movie season got another nice boost this weekend as two new films opened big giving the business hope after a dreadful May (despite the massive success of The Avengers). Opening in first was the animated three-quel Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted which found an undeserved family audience to the tune of $60 million and lots more to come. Right behind it with $51 million was the sci-fi thriller Prometheus from Ridley Scott and stars Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Charlize Theron. Prometheus gives Theron two films in the top three as her Snow White and the Huntsman fell to third with an expected 59% for $23 million and $98 million total…. For more on all 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 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $60,316,738 – 4,258 – $14,166 $60,316,738 $145 1
2 N Prometheus Fox $51,050,101 – 3,396 – $15,032 $51,050,101 – 1
3 1 Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $23,058,790 -59.0% 3,777 +4 $6,105 $98,537,475 $170 2
4 2 MIB 3 Sony $13,895,720 -50.5% 3,792 -456 $3,664 $135,901,094 $225 3
5 3 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $11,249,738 -45.1% 3,129 -541 $3,595 $572,300,463 $220 6
6 6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $3,267,156 -27.1% 1,298 +4 $2,517 $31,040,735 – 6
7 7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $2,788,226 -36.8% 2,087 -820 $1,336 $35,823,598 – 4
8 4 Battleship Uni. $2,276,410 -55.3% 1,954 -1,190 $1,165 $59,820,215 $209 4
9 5 The Dictator Par. $2,242,563 -52.3% 1,651 -998 $1,358 $55,281,103 $65 4
10 13 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $1,559,670 +77.9% 96 +80 $16,247 $3,731,001 – 3

Snow White and the Huntsman breaks the Box Office Curse… Sort of…

The 2012 summer box office has been pretty dismal so far. While The Avengers is a unequivocated smash and now the 3rd highest grossing film of all time (passing The Dark Knight), the rest of May’s releases all bombed (Battleship, The Dictator, The Chernobyl Diaries) or underperformed (Men in Black 3, Dark Shadows). So, studio heads can breathe a tiny sigh of relief that Universal’s new film Snow White and the Huntsman performed ahead of projections for a good $56 million opening. The question is can the film hold on and make some money back as it will face off against Prometheus and Madagascar 3 next week. The expensive (over $170 million budget) tentpole suffered mixed audience reaction and tepid critical response, so it will be an uphill climb. That said, it was a nice start…. As for the holdovers, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel continues to hang on the best only dropping 27% and now the indie has totaled a nice $25 million and $106 million worldwide. For more on all 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 Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $56,255,000 – 3,773 – $14,910 $56,255,000 $170 1
2 1 MIB 3 Sony $29,300,000 -46.3% 4,248 – $6,897 $112,300,000 $225 2
3 2 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $20,273,000 -44.7% 3,670 -248 $5,524 $552,737,000 $220 5
4 3 Battleship Uni. $4,810,000 -56.5% 3,144 -558 $1,530 $55,123,000 $209 3
5 4 The Dictator Par. $4,725,000 -49.1% 2,649 -365 $1,784 $50,835,000 $65 3
6 8 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $4,600,000 -27.9% 1,294 +61 $3,555 $25,497,000 – 5
7 7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $4,430,000 -37.9% 2,907 -114 $1,524 $30,723,000 – 3
8 6 Dark Shadows WB $3,860,000 -48.6% 3,002 -402 $1,286 $70,834,000 $150 4
9 5 Chernobyl Diaries WB $3,045,000 -61.7% 2,433 – $1,252 $14,416,000 – 2
10 N For Greater Glory ArcEnt $1,800,000 – 757 – $2,378 $1,800,000 – 1