Monday, January 31, 2011

The Rite Tops Box Office At A Slow Pace Season


          Last weekend, new films with demons and assassins enjoyed moderate debuts while Oscar contenders for Best Picture scored solid sales figures but the overall North American box office remained stuck in a funk. Another snowstorm affected theaters in the Northeast but a weekend with football made audiences more available.
         Opening at number one with a respectable but not stellar debut was the supernatural thriller The Rite starring Anthony Hopkins which scared up an estimated $15M which was enough to lead the weak frame. The Warner Bros. release about an American sent to the Vatican to study with a priest that specializes in exorcisms averaged a decent $5,027 from 2,985 locations. Reviews for the PG-13 pic were poor. Given the lack of scary movies since Halloween and the past success of exorcism-related films, a larger opening could have been expected. Last summer's no-star mockumentary The Last Exorcism debuted to $20.4M. The CinemaScore for Rite was a B and the film skewed older as 64% of the crowd was 25 and over.
         Dropping a notch to second place, but holding up very well in its sophomore frame, was the Natalie Portman-Ashton Kutcher comedy No Strings Attached with an estimated $13.7M. Declining by only 31%, the Paramount release raised its ten-day tally to a solid $39.7M and could see a final gross of $70-80M. Unlike many other recent star-driven comedies, Strings was not too expensive to produce thanks to a $25M budget and will turn into a nice moneymaker for its backers. A lack of football this weekend certainly helped the female-skewing pic broaden its audience to include more young men.
Two action films claimed third place with each reporting an estimated Friday-to-Sunday take of $11.5M. Sony's The Green Hornet fell only 35% and enjoyed a good hold pushing its 17-day total to $78.8M on its way to a little past the $100M mark.
          Jason Statham's latest action vehicle The Mechanic opened with an estimated $11.5M as well and reached the higher end of the range the actor has seen lately when anchoring a film. The R-rated remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film averaged a decent $4,255 from 2,703 theaters for CBS Films. It was the second widest debut ever for a Statham-anchored action film behind only the 3,303 playdates for Transporter 2. Mechanic's debut came as good news to the action star who has stumbled in recent years with Crank: High Voltage and The Bank Job which debuted with $7M and $5.9M, respectively, but bounced back last summer as one of the main ingredients in Sylvester Stallone's action hit The Expendables.
          To no surprise, Mechanic played best to the guys. The audience was 61% male and 64% over the age of 25. The CinemaScore was only a B- but the Friday-to-Saturday increase of 30% was more than twice the 14% of the frame's other new release The Rite. CBS Films paid only $5M for North American rights plus P&A.
         Final grosses to be released on Monday will determine the true third place film. Sony projected a 38% Saturday-to-Sunday decline for Hornet while Mechanic's Sunday was estimated to fall by only 31%. Most films in the top ten were projecting in the 35-40% range.
         Best Picture contender The King's Speech, which led all films with a dozen Academy Award nominations last week, saw its ticket sales surge thanks to the extra media attention and 877 additional screens. The Weinstein Co. release took in an estimated $11.1M, up a solid 41%, from 2,557 theaters after an expansion from 1,680 sites. Its average of $4,342 was only slightly down from last weekend's $4,676. The Colin Firth-Geoffrey Rush drama has banked a strong $72.2M and is now headed past the $100M mark. Fueling its Oscar momentum, Speech director Tom Hooper won the top prize on Saturday from the Directors Guild of America boosting his odds significantly for winning the comparable award at the Oscars. Until this weekend, The Social Network's David Fincher had been seen as the front-runner.
         Rival Best Picture foe True Grit enjoyed a bump at the box office too inching up 4% to an estimated $7.6M. But unlike Speech, Grit actually lost theaters. Paramount's hit Western now stands at $148.4M and is on course to reach more than $175M which is incredible for the genre and for the Coen brothers. The Dilemma suffered the worst decline in the top ten sliding 40% to an estimated $5.5M upping the cume to a lackluster $40.6M for Universal.
         Another pair of contenders for the top Oscar followed, each displaying potent legs. Fox Searchlight's Black Swan dropped 13% to an estimated $5.1M and was followed by Paramount's The Fighter which took in an estimated $4.1M for a scant 3% dip. Both films have been in wide release since December 17 and shed some screens this round. Totals stand at $90.7M and $78.4M, respectively. Still on the road to nine-digit territory, the leggy kidpic Yogi Bear rounded out the top ten with an estimated $3.2M, off 17%, for a $92.5M total.
         Fox Searchlight re-expanded its other Best Picture contender 127 Hours going from 69 to 916 locations and collected an estimated $2.1M this weekend bumping the cume to $13.4M.

# Title Jan 28 - 30


Weeks
Cumulative Distributor










1 The Rite $ 15,005,000


1
$ 15,005,000 Warner Bros.
2 No Strings Attached 13,650,000


2
39,742,000 Paramount
3 The Green Hornet 11,500,000


3
78,800,000 Sony
3 The Mechanic 11,500,000


1
11,500,000 CBS Films
5 The King's Speech 11,102,000


10
72,217,000 Weinstein Co.
6 True Grit 7,600,000


6
148,388,000 Paramount
7 The Dilemma 5,476,000


3
40,634,000 Universal
8 Black Swan 5,100,000


9
90,704,000 Fox Searchlight
9 The Fighter 4,055,000


8
78,373,000 Paramount
10 Yogi Bear 3,165,000


7
92,507,000 Warner Bros.



















Sunday, January 30, 2011

Blu-ray 25th January Releases

Red (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

Summit Entertainment / 2010 / 111 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 25, 2011


Overall Grade 3.5 out of 5 Nicely done!



Genres: Action, comedy, thriller

Starring: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Karl Urban
Director: Robert Schwentke

Plot Synopsis: Frank (Willis) is a former black-ops CIA agent living a quiet life alone... until the day a hit squad shows up to kill him. With his identity compromised, Frank reassembles his old team Joe (Freeman), Marvin (Malkovich) and Victoria (Mirren) and sets out to prove that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Stand back and watch the bullets fly in this explosive action-comedy that critics call a rip-roaring good time.


Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy)

Lionsgate / 2010 / 90 Minutes / Unrated
Street Date: January 25, 2011



Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Sean Patrick Flannery, Cary Elwes
Director: Kevin Greutert

Plot Synopsis: Witness the last diabolical act of a legend as the final pieces of Jigsaw's puzzles are revealed! As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw's brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen. But Dagen hides his own dark secrets, ones that will unleash a wave of unrelenting terror and suffering in this heart-stopping finale to the most successful horror movie series of all time.

Disc Features:

• 3D Blu-ray version of the Feature Film
• 2D Blu-ray Version of the Feature Film
• Producers’ Audio Commentary
• Writers’ Audio Commentary
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Music Videos
• “52 Ways to Die” – Recounting the Traps from the Saw Films
• Theatrical Trailer
• Lionsgate Live™ – BD-Live menu system that lets you access exclusive content, special offers, ringtones, and more!

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest [Blu-ray]

Music Box / 2010 / 148 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: January 25, 2011





Genres: Crime, Thriller, Mystery

Starring:
Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist
Director: Daniel Alfredson

Plot Synopsis: Two journalists on the verge of exposing their story in the political magazine millennium about an extensive sex trafficking operation between eastern europe and sweden are brutally murdered. They key suspect is lisbeth salander the troubled wise beyond her years genius hacker.



Other releases/ Back catalog releases:







Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sex Sells As 'No Strings Attached' Debut At No.1

         Hollywood's current princess Natalie Portman reigned supreme over the North American box office as her new comedy No Strings Attached debuted at number one giving the Black Swan actress two films in the top ten a week after her big Golden Globe win. With no other films opening in wide release, most holdovers fared well with awards contenders enjoying the best legs thanks to strong word-of-mouth and buzz. But overall, the marketplace remained in poor shape falling below last year's levels for the eleventh consecutive weekend.
          Audiences came out in healthy numbers for the sex comedy No Strings Attached spending $19.7M on its opening weekend, according to final studio figures, with a $6,512 average from 3,018 theaters. The R-rated film starring Portman and Ashton Kutcher about a couple that tries to have a sex-only relationship played heavily to young adult women. The debut was slightly better than the openings for R-rated non-summer comedies like I Love You, Man ($17.8M) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall ($17.7M) and nearly matched the $20.2M bow of Kutcher's PG-13 summer comedy What Happens in Vegas co-starring Cameron Diaz. That film went on to reach $80.3M. Portman has only opened one other film at number one while in the lead role - V For Vendetta which bowed to $25.6M in March 2006.
          According to studio research, women made up a whopping 70% of the audience while 60% were over 25. Critics gave mixed reviews and audiences felt the same as Strings scored a not-so-impressive B CinemaScore grade. Starpower and a lack of exciting films aimed at young women right now helped the top spot performance. Produced for just $25M, the Paramount release may come close to tripling that amount in its final domestic tally. Female-skewing comedies are often programmed into January as an alternative option for older teen girls and young women during a time when the football playoffs are taking lots of men out of the picture. Sunday's games are expected to have a big impact on the multiplexes, especially in the Northeast and Midwest where the four Super Bowl-hopeful teams are from.
          Last week's top film The Green Hornet fell to second and experienced a decent hold for the superhero genre falling 47% to $17.7M. Sony has collected $63M in ten days for its Seth Rogen action comedy and may find its way to just over the $100M mark domestically. Overseas, the 3D pic grossed an estimated $18.7M thanks to some new countries opening upping the international take to $37.4M and the global gross to $100.4M.
          Universal suffered a larger-than-hoped-for drop for its Vince Vaughn-Kevin James buddy comedy The Dilemma which fell 49% to $9.1M for a ten-day total of $32.7M. Upon opening last weekend to a soft $17.8M, the studio was comparing the Ron Howard-directed film to adult comedies like Something's Gotta Give and As Good As It Gets which had sophomore declines of 29% and 3% respectively. Budgeted at $70M, The Dilemma may end its run with $55-60M.
          Awards contenders all hoping for Best Picture nominations on Tuesday from the Academy followed with each showing sturdy legs. The King's Speech, which surprised the industry Saturday by upsetting The Social Network for the prestigious PGA prize, grossed $7.9M. With a slender 15% decline and another frame in the number four slot, the Colin Firth-Geoffrey Rush period drama pushed its cume up to $57.3M and might be able to jump the $100M mark if it can land the wide range of Oscar nods it's expected to get.
The Weinstein Co. reported an aggressive estimate projecting a slim 20% Saturday-to-Sunday drop which ended up being 54%. The royal drama is following a strategy similar to Million Dollar Baby by waiting until later in the race to expand nationally and become a bigger part of the Oscar conversation thus making it a fresher film to vote for over an overexposed front-runner. The King's Speech wants to do to The Social Network what the Clint Eastwood pic did to The Aviator six years ago.
          Western powerhouse True Grit placed fifth with $7.3M, off only 33%, upping Paramount's take to $138M. Natalie Portman popped up again with her second film in the top ten with the red hot Black SwanThe Fighter, which won both supporting acting Golden Globes last weekend, dipped a mere 18% to $4.2M and has punched up a solid $72.7M. which took in $5.9M in its eighth round. Off just 30%, the Fox Searchlight film has banked $83.3M thus far. Paramount's brother tale
          The King's Speech and Black Swan are both on course to join True Grit in the $100M+ club and Fighter could break in too proving that quality adult dramas can sell tons of tickets, especially during awards season. The quartet of acclaimed films has already grossed a combined $354M and will probably reach $475M or more. The combined production costs for the four hits is under $100M. Best Picture nominations will open the doors to more moviegoers curious to see the year's best films so expect these titles to stick around for a while. And with very few exciting new releases scheduled between now and Oscar night, there is plenty of mileage left.
          Christmas leftovers rounded out the top ten. Universal's comedy Little Fockers fell 40% to $4.3M raising the cume to $141.1M. Despite today's higher ticket prices, the third pic in the series will end as the lowest-grossing installment finishing below the $166.2M of 2000's Meet the Parents and well below the $279.2M of 2004's Meet the Fockers.

# Title Jan 21 - 23


Weeks
Cumulative Distributor










1 No Strings Attached $ 19,652,921


1
$ 19,652,921 Paramount
2 The Green Hornet 17,677,565


2
63,018,808 Sony
3 The Dilemma 9,108,890


2
32,746,225 Universal
4 The King's Speech 7,854,910


9
57,313,881 Weinstein Co.
5 True Grit 7,330,092


5
137,963,519 Paramount
6 Black Swan 5,869,744


8
83,250,375 Fox Searchlight
7 Little Fockers 4,320,090


5
141,111,705 Universal
8 The Fighter 4,164,504


7
72,680,740 Paramount
9 Yogi Bear 3,819,395


6
88,649,598 Warner Bros.
10 TRON: Legacy 3,647,121


6
163,206,611 Buena Vista










11 Tangled 3,081,926


9
186,356,425 Buena Vista
12 Season of the Witch 2,297,299


3
22,189,330 Relativity
13 Country Strong 2,082,688


5
16,845,052 Sony
14 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage... 1,353,936


7
100,620,366 Fox
15 The Way Back 1,208,196


1
1,208,196 Newmarket
16 Gulliver's Travels 1,159,012


5
40,021,613 Fox
17 Harry Potter/Deathly Hallows Part 1 898,271


10
291,340,768 Warner Bros.
18 The Tourist 881,114


7
65,894,031 Sony
19 Blue Valentine 877,815


4
4,460,022 Weinstein Co.
20 The Company Men 647,797


1
690,934 Weinstein Co.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Blu-ray 18th January Releases

Takers [Blu-ray]

Sony / 2010 / 107 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 18, 2011 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genres: Action, thriller, bank heist

Starring: Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen

Director: John Lussenhop

Plot Synopsis:
Slick, stylish, and flush with studliness, Takers follows a cadre of thieves as they plot a tricky new heist. The movie has two strengths: it deftly juggles three intertwining plot lines (the mechanics of the heist itself; the maneuvering of the police hunting the thieves; and the scheming of a former member of the gang who feels betrayed) and it walks a fine line between just enough realism to make us care about the thieves (the performances are effectively understated) and just enough absurdity to make everything entertaining (each of the guys has his own fancy car!). It doesn't hurt that the man flesh is all ridiculously handsome (Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Chris Brown, Jan Hernandez, Hayden Christensen, even old-school hunk Matt Dillon) and smashingly tailored in swank suits. And there are a handful of high-energy sequences--including a chase that features zippy parkour climbing stunts through moving traffic--that give the story clichés a nice jolt of pep. All in all, Takers probably won't stick in your memory very long, but it's good fun while it lasts.

Disc Features:

PS3 Wallpaper Theme
BD Exclusive: movieIQ and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie
Filmmaker and Cast Commentary
Executing the Heist: The Making of Takers
Take Action
“Yeah Ya Know (Takers)” By T.I. - Promotional Music Video

 

Stone [Blu-ray]

Starz/Anchor Bay / 2010 / 105 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: January 18, 2011






Genres: Thriller

Starring:
Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy
Director: John Curran

Plot Synopsis:
Academy Award® winner Robert De Niro and Oscar® nominee Edward Norton deliver powerful performances as a seasoned corrections official and a scheming inmate whose lives become dangerously intertwined in this “gritty and engrossing thriller” (Steve O’Brien, WCBS-FM). Jack Mabry (De Niro), a parole officer days away from retirement, is asked to review the case of Gerald “Stone” Creeson (Norton), in prison for arson. Now eligible for early release, Stone needs to convince Jack he has reformed, but his attempts to influence the older man’s decision with his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) have profound and unexpected effects on them both. This tale of passion, betrayal and corruption skillfully weaves together the parallel journeys of two men grappling with dark impulses, as the line between lawman and lawbreaker becomes precariously thin.


Buried (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Lionsgate / 2010 / 98 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: January 18, 2011







Genres: Thriller

Starring:
Ryan Reynolds
Director: Rodrigo Cortés

Plot Synopsis:
Paul Conroy is not ready to die. But when he wakes up six feet underground with no idea of who put him there or why, life for the truck driver and family man instantly becomes a hellish struggle for survival. Buried with only a cell phone and a lighter, his contact with the outside world and ability to piece together clues that could help him discover his location are maddeningly limited. Poor reception, a rapidly draining battery, and a dwindling oxygen supply become his worst enemies in a tightly confined race against time; fighting panic, despair and delirium, Paul has only ninety minutes to be rescued before his worst nightmare comes true.

 
Justified: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]

Sony / 2010 / 572 Minutes / Unrated
Street Date: January 18, 2011

Overall Grade 4 out of 5 Highly recommended



Genres: Action, drama, TV series

Starring: Timothy Olyphant

Plot Synopsis: Timothy Olyphant (Damages and Deadwood) stars as a modern-day Western hero based on the character created from legendary crime novelist Elmore Leonard from his short story, “Fire in the Hole.” Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens (Olyphant) is exiled to his hometown of Harlan County, Kentucky after the shooting of a Miami drug cartel hit man raises debate over his renegade style of law enforcement. Unfortunately it isn’t long before the people he left behind begin to surface in the most unexpected ways. Raylan’s new job pursuing prison escapees, fugitive con men, and a corrupt local sheriff has never been more intense. Find out what makes Raylan’s Wild West, gun-slinging actions Justified in this thrilling first season.

Disc Features:

Season Two: A Look Ahead
Commentary on Fire in the Hole with Executive Producer Graham Yost, Actor Nick Searcy, Gregg Sutter and Director Michael Dinner
Commentary on Blowback with Executive Producer Graham Yost and Writer Ben Cavell
Commentary on Hatless with Actors Tim Olyphant, Natalie Zea and Writer Dave Andron
What Would Elmore Do?
The Story of Justified
Justified: Meet the Characters
Commentary on Bulletville with Executive Producer Graham Yost and Writer/Producer Fred Golan
Shooting for Kentucky
The Marshals
"Long Hard Times to Come" Music Video

Other releases/ Back catalog releases:







Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Green Hornet Strikes With 40Million Opening Week

          Last weekend, audiences looking for super hero fun powered The Green Hornet to number one over the four-day Martin Luther King holiday frame but the overall marketplace remained sluggish with ticket sales dropping by double digits when compared to each of the last three years. The comedy The Dilemma anchored by a different dynamic duo - Vince Vaughn and Kevin James - debuted in second place with not-so-impressive numbers. Awards contenders rounded out the top five with each posting solid results.
          Driving into the number one spot with $40M over the Friday-to-Monday holiday weekend, according to final studio figures, was The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen as the crime-fighting anti-hero with a supercharged sense of humor. The 3D action flick opened very wide in 3,584 theaters and averaged a commendable $11,164 per site over four days with 3D surcharges helping along the way. The PG-13 pic delivered the second best MLK debut ever trailing the $46.1M four-day tally of Cloverfield from 2008 and edged out the studio's own Paul Blart: Mall Cop which bowed to $39.2M two years ago.
          Hornet successfully connected with its target audience of young men. According to studio research, 61% of the crowd was male. Appeal was broad across different age groups with 50% being under 25. Reviews were mixed and the CinemaScore grades were a good B+ overall and an encouraging A- for under 25 patrons.
         Hornet's opening was still below the numbers posted by other expensive super hero films released in the early part of the year. 2007's Ghost Rider bowed to $52M over four days while 2003's Daredevil debuted to $45M across four days as well. Both were February titles launched over Presidents Day weekend and had lower ticket prices and no 3D surcharges. However, they also came from the pages of Marvel comic books and had larger built-in audiences. Studios often use the first quarter of the year to launch super hero films that are not strong enough to compete with the big boys of summer.
          A whopping 69% of the weekend gross came from 3D screens which were offered in 2,704 playdates including 174 IMAX 3D sites. Outside of TRON: Legacy, there have been no major action movies for teens and young adults to be excited about over the past month so Hornet took advantage of an audience that was underserved. Super hero films usually burn out fast at the box office so Sony is trying to take in as much cash as it can upfront for the pricey movie which carries a production cost of at least $100M. With French director Michel Gondry at the helm and Asian star Jay Chou in the sidekick role, Hornet hopes to earn significant amounts around the world where action movies sell very well.
          Vince Vaughn and Kevin James saw a mediocre start to their new comedy The Dilemma which debuted in second with a four-day take of $20.5M from 2,940 theaters for a moderate $6,980 average. The PG-13 film about a man who learns of his best friend's wife's infidelity also starred Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Channing Tatum, and Queen Latifah and was directed by Ron Howard who has been away from the comedy genre for over a decade. Over the Friday-to-Sunday period, Universal's gross was $17.8M. The debut was well below the opening weekend figures of Vaughn's recent efforts like Four Christmases ($31.1M), Couples Retreat ($34.3M), and The Break-Up ($39.2M). It also did not come close to the $32.5M four-day gross of 2004's Along Came Polly starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston which was another relationship comedy launching over MLK weekend.
         Budgeted at a hefty $70M with big paychecks for all the actors, Dilemma played as expected to an adult crowd that skewed more towards women. Studio research showed that 60% of the audience was female and 58% was 30 and older. Reviews were bad and moviegoers felt mostly the same way as the CinemaScore grade was a disappointing B. Trailers and TV spots were unfunny leading many fans of the stars to skip this one. Vaughn has been able to sell tickets despite being slammed by critics before, but the magic didn't work this time. Plus an abundance of critically-acclaimed awards contenders playing to adults provided plenty of stronger alternatives.
          The hit Western True Grit dropped from the top spot but still held up well slipping to $13.1M over four days boosting the total to $128.3M. Paramount's acclaimed drama has now entered the Top 20 list of 2010's highest-grossing releases and should have much more to collect in the weeks ahead.
          Colin Firth's The King's Speech finally expanded into wide national play with its expansion this weekend from 700 to 1,543 locations which resulted in $11.3M over the extended Friday-to-Monday span. Ranking fourth for the frame, the Weinstein Co. release averaged a solid $7,305 in its eighth frame and has banked $46.8M to date. The distributor patiently waited out the holidays and chose Golden Globes weekend to expand fully in hopes of capitalizing on awards buzz. Plus it will be a newer film in many markets when Oscar nominations are announced next week. Another expanding awards contender followed as Black Swan grossed $10.2M over four days with its $8.3M three-day score inching ahead of its Friday-to-Sunday gross from last weekend. Fox Searchlight widened the ballet thriller from 1,584 to 2,328 sites and has taken in an impressive $75M so far.
          Universal's comedy threequel Little Fockers took in $8.5M in its fourth round for a $135.6M cume. Holding up well over the school holiday was Yogi Bear which grabbed $7.4M raising the sum for Warner Bros. to $84.2M. The kidpic has now grossed over five times its opening weekend take and may finish just below the $100M mark.The sci-fi reboot TRON: Legacy followed with $7.3M boosting the tally to $158.5M.
          Dropping slightly was the acclaimed boxing drama The Fighter with $6.4M giving Paramount $67M thus far. Disney's Tangled charmed up $5.6M and has taken in $182.7M to date. Nicolas Cage's latest action offering Season of the Witch tumbled in its second weekend grossing $5.4M for a 11-day tally of just $18.9M. Luckily for Relativity, the production cost was just $40M. A final domestic gross of about $25M seems likely.
 

Friday, January 14, 2011

Blu-ray 11th January Releases

The Social Network (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Sony / 2010 / 121 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 11, 2011

Overall Grade 4.5 out of 5 Must own





Genres: Drama, biography

 
Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
Director: David Fincher

Plot Synopsis:
They all laughed at college nerd Mark Zuckerberg, whose idea for a social-networking site made him a billionaire. And they all laughed at the idea of a Facebook movie--except writer Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher, merely two of the more extravagantly talented filmmakers around. Sorkin and Fincher's breathless picture, The Social Network, is a fast and witty creation myth about how Facebook grew from Zuckerberg's insecure geek-at-Harvard days into a phenomenon with 500 million users. Sorkin frames the movie around two lawsuits aimed at the lofty but brilliant Zuckerberg (deftly played by Adventureland's Jesse Eisenberg): a claim that he stole the idea from Ivy League classmates, and a suit by his original, now slighted, business partner (Andrew Garfield). The movie follows a familiar rise-and-fall pattern, with temptation in the form of a sunny California Beelzebub (an expert Justin Timberlake as former Napster founder Sean Parker) and an increasingly tangled legal mess. Emphasizing the legal morass gives Sorkin and Fincher a chance to explore how unsocial this social-networking business can be, although the irony seems a little facile. More damagingly, the film steers away from the prickly figure of Zuckerberg in the latter stages--and yet Zuckerberg presents the most intriguing personality in the movie, even if the movie takes pains to make us understand his shortcomings. Fincher's command of pacing and his eye for the clean spaces of Aughts-era America are bracing, and he can't resist the technical trickery involved in turning actor Armie Hammer into privileged Harvard twins (Hammer is letter-perfect). Even with its flaws, The Social Network is a galloping piece of entertainment, a smart ride with smart people… who sometimes do dumb things.

Disc Features:

Audio Commentary with David Fincher
Audio Commentary with Writer Aaron Sorkin & The Cast
How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Facebook?: feature length documentary
Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter and Ren Klyce on Post
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and David Fincher on the Score
In the Hall of the Mountain King: Reznor's First Draft
Swarmatron
Jeff Cronenweth and David Fincher on the Visuals
Ruby Skye VIP Room: Multi-Angle Scene Breakdown

 

Piranha [Blu-ray 3D]

Sony / 2010 / 89 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: January 11, 2011 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genres: Action, thriller, suspense

Starring:
Elisabeth Shue and Jerry O'Connell
Director: Alejandre Aja

Plot Synopsis:
Debating the merits of Piranha 3D, director Alexandre (Mirrors) Aja's testosterone-driven valentine to Joe Dante's 1978 original and the excesses of '80s genre films in general, is a fool's errand; it is, after all, a movie about prehistoric fish preying on hormonal partygoers in various states of undress--and in 3D, mind you--so any review must answer the question--does it deliver what its key audience (young men, ages 14 to 24) require? On that front, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Special effects creators Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger present a veritable buffet of gruesome ways for the thinly drawn characters to die, from a piranha burrowing through a swimmer's head to the horrible encounter between a boat propeller and a longhaired victim. The sheer amount of nudity on display rivals a week's worth of Cinemax late-night screenings, rendered all the more excessive in 3D; as for the gimmick itself, it lends some unsettling depth to the underwater attacks. In short, if one attends Piranha 3D for grindhouse-style yucks, it's bound to be a rollicking good time. All others may find its relentless, Red Bull drive wearying; the whole affair is clearly meant to be a goof, just as Dante's original (produced by Roger Corman and penned by John Sayles) was, but where Dante's target was monster movie camp of the '50s and '60s (as well as Jaws), Aja and writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg take aim at either cynical zeitgeist elements like the Girls Gone Wild series (with Jerry O'Connell striking the right tone as its craven creator) or hapless partygoers, which leaves an unpleasant aftertaste of misanthropy. Where the film does succeed is in its supporting cast, which strikes the same winking tone as Dante's version; Richard Dreyfuss and Christopher Lloyd poke fun at their Jaws and Back to the Future roles, while Adam Scott, comic Paul Scheer, and Eli Roth give appropriately broad turns. Elizabeth Shue, of all people, is the sheriff hero and acquits herself well to the absurd story line, as do Steven R. McQueen (yes, Steve's grandson) and Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr as the film's Young Lovers. Again, taking issue with Piranha 3D is like finding fault with a cheeseburger for being greasy, but for those expecting a full-course meal, the fish get all the big bites here.

 

Alpha & Omega

Lionsgate / 2010 / 88 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: January 11, 2011








Genres: Animation, family

Starring:
Hayden Panettiere and Justin Long
Director: Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck

Plot Synopsis: 
Love is blind to the rules of tradition, opposites attract, and both clichés apply quite nicely to the wolves in Alpha and Omega. In the wolf world, the pack values the omega wolves' skill of defusing tense situations with humor just as much as they value the keen leadership skills of the alpha wolves, but tradition dictates that alpha wolves don't mate with omega wolves. So, when the all-business alpha wolf Kate (Hayden Panettiere) and the fun-seeking omega wolf Humphrey (Justin Long) find themselves attracted to one another, the pair resign themselves to a life apart, and Kate agrees to a match with alpha male Garth (Chris Carmack) from a rival pack in order to peacefully merge the two packs into one. But when Humphrey and Kate are tranquilized in their home in Jasper National Forest, Canada, and relocated to Sawtooth Forest far away in Idaho, the two discover that not only can opposites work very well together, but that neither of them can continue to ignore their attraction for the other. The question is, will working together, combined with a little help from a golf-playing goose and his duck caddy, be enough to get the pair all the way back to Jasper National Park before the rival wolf packs tear one another apart at the next full moon? And what will become of their relationship if they do return in time? This animated 3-D film is amusing and entertaining, if not particularly outstanding. A lot of the humor is pretty corny and the plot has been done many times before (think Open Season 2), but the characters are likable, the action is pretty good, and who can resist chuckling at images like a retired, golf-playing French-Canadian goose or the distractive powers of a good cupcake?

Disc Features:

Blu-ray Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD of the film + Digital Copy®

Disc 1 - Blu-ray feature film + bonus features
• Log Sliding interactive game
• “Wolves in the Wild” featurette
• “The Alpha of Animation” featurette
• “Voicing the Wolves” featurette
• From Alpha to Omega” featurette
• Personality test: Are You and Alpha or an Omega?
• Animal Fun Facts Trivia Challenge
• Deleted Scene

Disc 2 - DVD of feature film


Other releases/ Back catalog releases:

Dances with Wolves (20th Anniversary Extended Cut) [Blu-ray]


Once Upon a Time in America [Blu-ray]


Rob Roy [Blu-ray]


Raging Bull (Two-Disc 30th Anniversary Blu-ray/DVD Combo)