From “King Creole.”
The best of everything to the people of New Orleans, no matter which team wins.
Category: External Movies (Page 160 of 336)
Yes, so for those who read Friday’s post, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Carl DiOrio was wrong and Nikki Finke was more right than even she knew on her first, non-updated, version of her weekend box office post. The Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum, “Dear John,” seriously exceeded even the most optimistic expectations this Superbowl weekend and took down, at last, the seven-weekend long domestic box office “Avatar” juggernaut. The make-up of the audience that generated $32.4 million for Sony and Relativity Media according to Box Office Mojo was not surprising. As per Finke:
Females made up 84% of the opening weekend audience, while 64% of the moviegoers were under age 21.
Still, I should add that this was definitely a case of “Dear John” winning, not so much “Avatar” losing. James Cameron‘s science fiction spectacle from Fox is still holding remarkably well, dropping less than 25% this week and netting some $23.6 million. The distinctly shorter length of “Dear John” is another obvious advantage.
On the other hand, Pierre Morel’s all-out action picture, “From Paris with Love,” starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers is shorter still, but it’s possible this was just the wrong weekend to release that kind of a movie with male fans of balls-out action distracted by the year’s #1 sports event. The film came in a very poor third with only a bit over $8.12 million for Lionsgate. C’est la vie. And here’s one more plug for the Bullz-Eye feature on Parisian-based films of all genres, “We’ll Always Have Paris,” which I say completely without bias or pride of co-authorship.
In other news, “Crazy Heart,” the country music drama featuring a nearly certain Oscar-winning performance from Jeff Bridges, was not a tale of Americana-style heartbreak. It nailed a very respectable $3.65 million in 819 theaters, which got it into this week’s #8 position. The week’s biggest per-screen was for a movie that is technically a television miniseries. The “Red Riding” Trilogy, which originally aired on English television, nailed a per screen average of $15,500 thousand. Of course, that’s in exactly one theater. Still, not bad considering it’s actually three films.
As I settled in to watch “B-Girl,” a film described on the back of its DVD box as originating “from the dancers of ‘Fame,’ ‘How She Move,’ ‘Step Up,’ ‘Step Up 2,’ & ‘Step Up 3D,'” I was reminded of a nine-word phrase of total disclosure which Roger Ebert once used to open a review: “I am not the person to review this movie.” Granted, he was speaking of “Scooby Doo” at the time, but his lack of familiarity with the mythos of that famed mystery-solving mutt have nothing on my deficiency of dance-movie knowledge. Still, I grew up in the ’80s, when breakdancing was in its original heyday, so I figured, okay, the least I can do is give this movie a chance. Sadly, “B-Girl” can’t hold a candle to “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” (Really, though, how many films can?)
“B-Girl” offers an all-too-familiar underdog story: Angel (Jules Urich, “You Got Served,” “Step Up 2”) dances her ass off while cruising the streets of NYC, but when a tragedy occurs in Angel’s life and results in both a shoulder injury and a decision by her mother to move to the other side of the country, she realizes that her only solace in California will come from getting back into shape and onto the dance floor again. The film is an expanded version of a short film bearing the same title, which was released in 2004 and also starred Urich, but that was five years ago; even in a world where we’ve been accepting twentysomethings playing teenagers since the original “Beverly Hills 90210,” no one in their right mind is going to look at Urich and say, “Okay, I’ll buy that she’s young enough to still be under her mother’s thumb.” It must also be said that neither the dialogue nor the acting is all that. This, of course, only leaves the dancing as a reason to see “B-Girl.” Is it enough? Well, this is where I’m going to more or less fall back on the aforementioned Ebert-ism, but for what it’s worth, I was impressed. For you B-Girls and B-Boys amongst our readership, though, you’ll probably have to see it for yourself.
Yesterday I mentioned an upcoming new film version of “Damn Yankees!” with the part of demonic pro-temptress Lola currently left uncast. Just to show you how that role can be played, here’s a lengthy clip — my favorite scene from my dad’s favorite movie — that shows you just how great Gwen Verdon was in the role she created on Broadway. The first part shows you her touch with the dramatic scenes that underscores what a loss it was to the movies that she starred in only one film, and the second part shows you the dancing abilities for which she was legendary.
And here’s a peak into the collaboration between Verdon and her then husband, Bob Fosse and lifelong friend and work partner, Bob Fosse.
If this appeals to you, you might want to take a look at the Fossethon I organized at my own site a few years back.
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