Catching Fire #1, Frozen #2

Frozen would have the new record for the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, except that Hunger Games: Catching Fire beat it.  They were a 1-2 punch, and nothing else in the marketplace could find oxygen.  The other new releases were relatively ignored and should disappear quickly.

The only new wide release next week is Out of the Furnace, where Batman and Haymitch face off.

From BoxOfficeMojo.com

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Movie Review

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Lenny Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields and Amanda Plummer.
Directed by Francis Lawrence.

★★★½

I liked the first movie. I read the books, felt the first book was the strongest, and the movie was a pretty faithful adaptation. I had reservations about how the rest of the franchise would go, but I was impressed at how they were able to improve not only on the second book but on the first movie.  Yes, it is one of those rare sequels where it's better than the first one.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is living in District 12, almost a year since the Games. She's having nightmares and other symptoms of PSTD, but before the next Hunger Games begin, she and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are supposed to do a victory lap through the districts before meeting back at the Capital.

Pres. Snow (Donald Sutherland) isn't happy with their being two winners from the last Hunger Games, and he doesn't like the symbol of hope that Katniss is becoming. He and new gamesmaster Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman) devise a way to crush her. They change the rules of the Hunger Games and make the next one an All-Star edition, where 24 previous winners will be forced to fight.

I was grateful to see the shaky-cam style of Gary Ross gone. Director Francis Lawrence knows how to direct spectacle. The story also benefits from having adults in the Games. No chance for a scared kid to get offed here; these are all experienced winners.  Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer are among the contestants, and they do great.

The movie's success still hinges on its leading lady, and Jennifer Lawrence once again shows she's going to rule Hollywood for the next decade.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sets November box-office record

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has the new record for highest box-office opening in November. It out-opened the original by $9 million, and the original went on to gross $400 million domestic and $691 million worldwide.  It looks to go about even on the domestic front but they're expected more success overseas this time around.

Delivery Man was the alternative title, and it just showed Vince's days of carrying a picture are behind him.  Dallas Buyers' Club, hailed as containing the best performance of Matthew McConaughey's career, did okay in expansion, but it could use the Golden Globe nominations being announced right about now, as could 12 Years a Slave.

From BoxOfficeMojo.com:

Random Movie Stuff - 7/12/12

- John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) have written a sequel to the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, this time focussed on grown-up Rusty Griswold and the misadventures he has vacationing with his family.  (I'm assuming Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo will show up at some point as Grandpa and Grandma Griswold).  Ed Helms is in talks to play Rusty.

- Channing Tatum will play daredevilling pioneer Evel Knievel in a biopic.


- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay will be split into two films.  Part I will open in November 2014 and Part II in November 2015.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 2013, and in case you missed it, Philip Seymour Hoffman has signed on to play new gamesmaster Plutarch Heavensbee.


- Deadfall will now open December 7.  It stars Eric Bana (Funny People) and Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens) as two siblings on the run from a botched casino heist. They're trying to make it to the Canadian border during a whiteout blizzard.  Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Kate Mara (American Horror Story), Treat Williams, Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson co-star.

- Jim Piddock (The Man, Tooth Fairy) has been hired to write the screenplay for the big-screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.  If he takes the Exit to Eden approach, he's going to get crucified.

- More cast members have signed on for Olympus Has Fallen, starring Aaron Eckhart as the US president when the White House is overtaken by terrorists.  Gerard Butler, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell had previously been announced, but now Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Ashley Judd and Robert Forster have been added.

- And here's the trailer for Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great & Powerful.  It looks as visually interesting as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, but it didn't do anything to ease my main fear: James Franco doesn't seem like the right choice to play the Wizard.

Hunger Games #1 for 4th week

1. The Hunger Games - $21.5 million ($337.07) - 4 wks (LG) -35.1%
. . . 3916 screens / $5490 per screen
2. The Three Stooges - $17.1 - 1 wk (Fox)
. . . 3477 / $4918
3. The Cabin in the Woods - $14.85 - 1 wk (LG)
. . . 2811 / $5283
4. Titanic 3D - $11.63 ($44.42) - 2 wks (Par) -32.7%
. . . 2697 / $4310
5. American Reunion - $10.7 ($39.9) - 2 wks (U) -50.3%
. . . 3203 / $3341
6. Mirror Mirror - $7 ($49.47) - 3 wks (Rel) -36.9%
. . . 3206 / $2183
7. Wrath of the Titans - $6.91 ($71.25) - 3 wks (WB) -53.1%
. . . 3102 / $2226
8. 21 Jump Street - $6.8 ($120.57) - 5 wks (Sony) -32%
. . . 2735 / $2486
9. Lockout - $6.25 - 1 wk (FD)
. . . 2308 / $2708
10. The Lorax - $3.02 ($204.48) - 7 wks (U) -40%
. . . 2112 / $1430

With more titles in the market, the wealth is getting spread a little more, but that didn't stop The Hunger Games from staying #1 for a fourth straight week. It's also passed $500 million worldwide.  The Three Stooges did about as well as one could expect since the original stars (Jim Carrey, Sean Penn, Benecio Del Toro) dropped out. The long-delayed Cabin in the Woods didn't take advantage of having Thor's Chris Hemsworth in its cast.

Opening next week are the bland-looking romance The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron and Atlas Shrugged's Taylor Schilling, and Think Like A Man, the ensemble comedy with Michael Ealy, Kevin Hart, Jerry Ferrera, Regina Hall, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if Hunger Games managed to stay #1 for a fifth week. DisneyNature's latest title, Chimpanzee, also opens this Friday.

Random Movie Stuff - 4/10/12

- Gary Ross will not be back to direct the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. The "tight production schedule" was touted as the reason.

- Colin Farrell will reunite with his Hart's War co-star Terrence Howard in Dead Man Down. Farrell will play right-hand man to Howard's crime boss, who gets seduced and blackmailed by a crime victim (Noomi Rapace), and then things spin out of control.

- Steve Carell is looking into starring in Alexander & the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, though not as Alexander.

- And in TV news, Fox has officially renewed Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope for next season.

The Hunger Games - Movie Review

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, Alexander Ludwig, Amandla Stenberg, Willow Shields and Paula Malcomson. Directed by Gary Ross.

★★★½

I went to see this with my wife. I'd read the books; she hadn't. The movie provided equal enjoyment.

Based on Suzanne Collins's best-selling dystopian YA novel, this movie takes us to a distant future where the rich and powerful live in a central Capital City in the country of Panem, while the 99% toil in districts under extreme poverty and working conditions. We learn that 74 years ago there was an uprising, and the might of the Capital slammed back hard. From that point on, each of the twelve districts, once a year, must send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12-18 to compete in a fight-to-the-death reality show called The Hunger Games. 24 go in, and 1 comes out, and that winner is able to bring extra food and rewards back to their district for the year. It's a way to keep those peasants under control.

In many ways, the movie hinges on the central performance of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the resourceful girl from District 12 who volunteers to "play" in the Games after her younger sister is drafted. She's in almost every scene, and she's great. She had a similar role in Winter's Bone that garnered her an Oscar nomination.

The movie does keep its PG-13 by not being gratuitous with the violence, but it doesn't skimp on it either. Blood splatters and kids get killed, all for the entertainment of the colorful Capital dwellers, following the natural digression of reality TV.

Fans of the book can rest assured it's about as faithful to it as any adaption can be (no Avox though), and for those who haven't read it, you won't be lost.

Movie Trailers - 11/19/11

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson in THE HUNGER GAMES
- I've read the book and it looks like a faithful adaptation.

Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson and Michael Caine in JOURNEY 2 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

- This semi-sequel to Journey of the Center of the Earth swaps out Brendan Fraser for The Rock, and it looks like a similar CG 3-D visual dessert buffet.


Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and Nathan Lane in MIRROR MIRROR

- While Snow White and the Huntsman is going for a more serious Lord of the Rings type feel, this is going the comedic route more in the vein of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland or even the live-action 101 Dalmatians. 


...and the Pixar gang returns with BRAVE

- Reminded me a lot of How to Train Your Dragon, but it's nice that Pixar's finally made a movie with a female protagonist.