The number one movie a year ago this week was Paramount's "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" which dropped a miniscule .5% and held on to the top spot for a second week with $29.4 million in ticket sales.
1) "Skyfall" - Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem et al create a Bond film for the ages. One that looks itself squarely in the mirror and sees the crow's feet yet still finds plenty to smile about. Skyfall [Blu-ray]
4) "Lincoln" - Hard for me to pick a movie that has "Important" stamped on it before anyone's even seen it but Spielberg's late career embrace and exploration of history hits what may be it's highpoint with this reverential but riveting film. Lincoln [Blu-ray]
5) "Zero Dark Thirty" - Absolutely no disrepect intented to anyone who had a hand in airing out bin-whats-his-name but I suspect that Kathryn Bigelow could make a gripping movie about taking out the trash. Never has the world of policy wonks and intelligence analysts seemed so damned sexy.
8) "Get the Gringo" - Mel Gibson rises from Hollywood purgatory to deliver the snazziest action/comedy in years. "But wait!" you say "How can it be a major motion picture if it went straight to VOD?" Answer: see the part about Mel rising out of purgatory. Get the Gringo [Blu-ray]
9) "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" - Peter Jackson returns to middle earth and, in spite of a few minor missteps, manages to pull a Rhosgobel rabbit out of his hat. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
10) "Prometheus" - It wouldn't have taken much to make this the movie of the year. But it's shortcomings were significant enough that it only gets the last rung on the ladder here. Hopefully Ridley and Co won't be deaf to the criticism and will iron out the wrinkles in the sequel. Prometheus (Blu-ray/ DVD + Digital Copy)
Sam Mendes and company hit all the right buttons with their peerless "Skyfall" and audiences around the globe have been demonstrating their approval of Bond 23 with their wallets since its release. Today the film crossed a major milestone when it became just the 14th film in history to register a cool billion dollars at the global box office. Congratulations all around and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Mr Mendes returns for 24.
The cast of "Skyfall" with director Sam Mendes (3rd from left). Photo: Getty images.
Warner Brothers has released the first six minutes of the upcoming Elijah Wood serial killer flick "Maniac" and it's safe to say that the title isn't misleading. Here's part of the studio's official blurb:
"A 21st century Jack the Ripper set in present-day LA,
MANIAC is a re-boot of the cult film considered by many to be the most
suspenseful slasher movie ever made - an intimate, visually daring,
psychologically complex and profoundly horrific trip into the downward
spiralling nightmare of a killer and his victims."
As of this writing the film still doesn't have a US theatrical release date, though it's set to bow overseas in the coming days and weeks.
If you've ever spent any time pondering the question why any movie should cost $200 million to make maybe spending a few minutes viewing this promotional video from Marvel will help answer that question for you. It focuses squarely on one of the most complex tracking shots you'll ever see as the camera follows various members of the team engaging the intergalactic enemy on the ground and in the air over the streets of Manhattan.
A taut, intelligent whodoneit "Jack Reacher" is the most fun I've had at a Tom Cruise movie in years. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie the film plays to Cruise's strengths (good guy with a sprinkling of anti-hero in his DNA who's on a mission) and in doing so prevents him from becoming the kind of distraction to the story he all-too-often is.
That story begins with a horrific crime wherein a sniper sets up in a parking garage and rains bloodshed down upon the populace of a midwestern city. Evidence quickly comes to light that implicates a former army sniper and Iraq veteran and when police raid his home they find enough additional evidence that links him to the crime to send him to the chair. As they try to get a confession out of him however he scribbles 3 words that have everyone involved scratching their heads: Get Jack Reacher.
Reacher, as it turns out, is also an Iraq veteran only he was a military policeman and the man accused of being the sniper was someone Reacher had tried desperately to send to the firing squad for killing 4 Iraqis in cold blood. At first he doesn't understand why the suspect would ask for him since he's clearly not an ally. In time it's discovered that he wanted Reacher involved because he knew Reacher would do the kind of thorough investigation that the case required.
Reacher's ally is the suspect's attorney Helen played by Rosamund Pike. While there's nothing wrong with her performance per se her character did seem to spend an inordinate amount of time with ample bosoms heaving generously astride their tectonic cleft for all to see. Not that I'm complaining, though it did get me to wondering exactly which midwestern city it is where the female attorneys dress thusly. Anyway, Helen's only thought in hooking up with Reacher is to gather enough evidence that her client was unhinged that she can keep him off death row. As Reacher digs deeper though it becomes apparent that there is more going on here than either initially suspected. A lot more.
Jack Reacher contains two of the years more intriguing supporting performances. One by Robert Duvall and the second by, of all people, the great Werner Herzog who plays the Eastern European head of a shadowy construction firm that has a history of getting what it wants. Duvall has lost none of his spunk and Herzog's Zec is every bit as unsettling and foreboding a character as you'd expect Herzog himself to be in real life.
While there are times when Cruise's dialogue sets the eyes to rolling (and to be sure the notion of him as a master of hand to hand kickassery is pretty funny too) for the most part the story unfolds in smart and unpredictable ways and holds your attention right up to the end, where I halfway expected Commissioner Gordon to pop up and say "He gave us a sign!"
While the similarities to "Taken" are pretty obvious Jack Reacher manages to stand on its own, mostly due to its middle American setting, it's occassional humor, and its post Iraq War topicality. If you're in the mood for a good, solid thriller/mystery/action flick Jack Reacher won't let you down.
Perhaps it's a good omen for the future, perhaps it's just a one off but 2012 has officially become the most lucrative year in the history of the domestic box office.
For the first time since 2009 gross receipts actually increased this year to $10.8 billion. That's up $600 million over last year (though the total number of admissions is still down from 2002's all time high).
With nothing like "The Avengers" or "The Dark Knight Rises" on the slate for 2013 it may be asking a lot to hope that next year will see a continuation of the upward trend but we'll keep our fingers crossed.
In the true spirit of Christmas we bring you this trailer for "Atrocious" director Fernando Barreda Luna's planned kill-em-all-and-let-god-sort-em-out feature "Kiss of Vengeance". What better way to celebrate the holiday than with some righteous wrath. Merry Christmas!
The number one movie a year ago this week was Paramount's "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" which took over the top spot in its third week of release with receipts of $29.5 million.
It was the best of times and - for the purposes of this list - it was the worst of times. That pretty much explains 2012 in movies. For every "Skyfall" there was a "Hunger Games", for every "Avengers" there was an "Iron Sky" to leave you muttering at the screen. The following is my personal list of the 5 worst films 2012 numbered 1-5 but in no actual order. I could easily fill out a worst 25 list but who wants to spend that much time recalling a bunch of cinematic duck farts? So 5 it is and here they are.
1) John Carter: Misguided adaptation of the year easily becomes one of the worst major motion pictures of the year.
2) Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance: What do you say about a movie that makes the original "Ghost Rider" seem like "Lawrence of Arabia"? Not much.
3) The Hunger Games: If there was a more completely worthless media darling of a movie this year I'm not aware of it. The Disney post-apocalypse meets "Saw". Somewhere Donald Sutherland is quietly kicking himself for stooping this low.
4) Men in Black III - The first real indication that Will Smith is officially 'waning'. The film's shameless profiteering was almost as shameless as...
5) The Expendables II - Dear Diary: Today was a typical day on the Expendables II set. First the guys talked about lifting weights for 30 minutes. Then they reported to the set. After lots of manly Hollywood-style horsing around the camera guy said the camera would start rolling and the guys were told to act like they were killing bad guys and stuff. There were real Hollywood lights and cables and stuff. It was manrific! Then we had lunch. Then Chuck Norris stopped by so we got him a gun and and he moved it back and forth for a few minutes. He had to leave to get back to the bingo tournament but he's so great. You could feel you were in the presence of a real icon and stuff. After Chuck left, Ahnuld took a break to bang the cleaning lady and Sly ran out to get some more HGH. He didn't get back until it was dark so we turned on the camera and shot some footage of things blowing up at night. Awe-man-some! Sly's pretty confident he'll be able to exhume John Wayne for #3!
