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Box Office Battle Brews (Flack’s Report)

Posted on | March 14, 2012 | Add Comments

When 2011′s total box office total grosses were announced to be the lowest since 1995, high expectations were already being set for 2012.  I was personally surprised about 2011, considering that the last Harry Potter installment, not one but four super hero films, Transformers 3, and two Steven Spielberg films were all released.  But with Batman 3, a Spider-Man movie, the Avengers, and another Steven Spielberg movie all being released in 2012, excitement is starting to brew.

So far the box office is 24% higher at this than point last year.  But not quite as high as 2009 and 2010 at this point.  Coraline and Pink Panther 2 were released in early 2009 and Avatar was released in December 2009 and obviously carried over into early 2010.  This year 3 movies have already passed the 100 million dollar mark.  In order from least to greatest, they are:  the action movie, Safe House ($116 million), the romance, The Vow ($118 million), and the family film, The Lorax ($129 million).  Those movies also have the highest opening weekends, with $40 million, $41 million and $70 million.  Also twenty movies have passed the 30 million mark.  Still there have been a large number of commercial flops, such as, This Means War, The Woman in Black, The Grey, Red Tails, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and so far John Carter.

Now let’s take a look at what other March blockbusters are coming up.

21 jump street movie

March 16, 2012: The Big Opening: 21 Jump Street.  Why it will be big?  Starring comedian and Oscar nominee, Jonah Hill.  And with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 85%, it’s likely to become a semi-big commercial, crowd pleaser. Why it will not be big: It’s rated R, which means that younger audiences won’t go.  Also others might not be old enough to remember the TV show.  My box office predictions:  Opening Weekend: $35 million, Domestic Total: $155 million, and International Total: $255 million.  Other movies opening that week:  Seeking Justice staring Nicolas Cage, Jeff who Lives at Home staring Jason Segel, and the Spanish film Casa de mi Padre starring Will Ferrel.

The Hunger Games

March 23, 2012: The Big Opening: The Hunger Games. Why: This is the biggest non-summer, non-holiday movie of the year.  Comparisons to Twilight could give it a push…. or not.  The first Twilight opened to 69 million dollars in it’s opening weekend, but this is likely to do better.  It has a massive, massive, massive fan base and could get great reviews.  Why not: It’s possible because not everyone is familiar with it, it might not do well.  My box office predictions: Opening Weekend: $80 million, Domestic Total: $350 million, and International Total: $400 million. Other movies opening that week:  The Raid: The Redemption, and Brake.

Wrath of the Titans

March 30, 2012: The Big Openings:  Wrath of the Titans, and Mirror Mirror. Why? The first Titans movies was released to a $61 million weekend, suggesting this could very well possibly follow in its footsteps.  The first Titans movie was badly reviewed, and got a 28% splat on Rotten Tomatoes.  The 2 worst reviewed elements, however, are back: Sam Worthington and 3-D, but the first earned $300 million overseas, making this one a potential blockbuster. Also people now know that they didn’t like the first one so they might not return for a sequel.  Meanwhile Mirror Mirror is the more family-friendly of the two Snow White movies, opening in 2012.  It also stars Julia Roberts.  But it’s not a summer movie, an action movie, or a Kristen Stewart movie, or even a movie with Thor in it, which the other one is all of those. My box office predictions for Wrath of the Titans:  Opening Weekend: $40 million, Domestic Total: $200 million, International Total: $300 million.  My Mirror Mirror box office predictions: Opening Weekend: $25 million, Domestic Total: $115 million, International Total: $170 million.

Mirror Mirror

One last note, I wanted to point out is that all top 1o movies at the box office right now have a SPLAT on Rotten Tomatoes, which means they are badly reviewed.  However I expect that to change for new movies coming out, particularly the first two ones I was just talking about  Many people are saying that all this good box office will lead people into the Summer, however I hope that some of the Summer movies get good reviews.  In December, I’m expecting The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to be the big holiday movie and Lincoln (directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day Lewis) to be the big Oscar movie and a potential blockbuster. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will probably be first or second place along with The Dark Knight Rises for the whole, entire year. The Amazing Spider-Man, Skyfall, and The Avengers will round out the top 5 for the year (not in order).  More Summer movies preview for 2012 are coming soon.

The Hobbit

Category: 3-D, action, animation, awards, Bad movie, books to film, Box Office Predictions, comedy, drama, great movie, lists, musical, new releases, news, oscars, posts by flack, upcoming films
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The Lorax (Flack’s Review)

Posted on | March 11, 2012 | 1 Comment

The Lorax (Flack’s Review)
4 Stars

The Lorax is loosely based on the classic Dr. Seuss book by the same name. It is about a young boy named Ted who sets out on a journey to find a tree for Audrey (which is also the name of Dr. Seuss’s wife) who he is in love with. He meets the Oncler who tells him the story of the Lorax and helps on his adventure. Along with his grandmother, his mom, and others, he embarks on a quest to find a non-plastic tree in his all plastic world, guarded by evil businessmen. However, if he doesn’t believe in his mission a lot he just won’t make it, he will not!!!!!

The Lorax is a surprisingly good family film with so-so songs, a great voice cast, and creative animation!!!!! Walking into the theatre I had pretty low expectations. Expecting to give it two stars, I was also wondering how the film would live up to the book. But in the end I was happily surprised. The movie is a musical. When comparing the songs to those of another recent family-friendly movie musical, The Muppets, the Lorax’s songs are just okay. “How Bad Can I Possibly Be” isn’t really that bad and “Let It Grow” is delightfully cheerful. But the show stopping opener has been done better and has been done before. None of them are as great as “Life’s A Happy Song” and the Oscar-winning “Man Or Muppet,” but they are okay.

Compared to the mega-popular blockbuster, Despicable Me (made by both the same studio and directed by the same directors) this is way better. Despite The Lorax‘s massive opening weekend at the box-office, I’m afraid that bathroom jokes and annoying minions will live on longer than the movie form of tree-choppers and furry orange animals. The Lorax does have some joyful jokes and great gags. My favorite? The part in which the Lorax robs the Oncler’s bed and all the tree animals start singing the Mission:Impossible theme song. I also loved the beautiful animation, even though at times it is a bit too candy colored. The 3-D is okay. It doesn’t even come close to Hugo, which I think is the best 3-D ever (I haven’t seen Avatar in the format of 3-D). But, hey it’s still always cool to see things go fly right up in to your face. After watching this I want to go back and rewatch Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who, from 2008.

My favorite scene is when the Lorax and the tree animals sing the Mission:Impossible theme song because it is hilarious and a neat and funny reference.

My favorite character is the Lorax because of Danny DeVito’s Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdinish voice acting.

The movie is rated PG by the MPAA for brief mild language. The movie is rated G by Flack because there is nothing that inappropriate about it and so that more younger kids could see it and because I think they would like it.

With a great voice cast including Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, and Ed Helms, as well as the fabulously funny Betty White and Danny DeVito plus a great moralistic message, this a great movie. It’s even better than Cars 2 (the worst Pixar movie ever). And beneath the movie’s so-so songs, candy colored animation and okay 3-D it is a terrific tribute to Dr. Seuss.

Category: 3-D, adventure, animation, books to film, comedy, great movie, musical, new releases, posts by flack, reviews

2012 Pre-Oscar Speech (Flack’s Speech)

Posted on | March 11, 2012 | Add Comments

The 2012 Oscars

NOTE: I read this at my pre-Oscar party and although it is pretty out of date by now, I thought you might enjoy reading it.

At one time the 2011 Oscar race was extremely exciting and incredibly close.  But once “The Artist” became popular it seemed as if nothing could stop it.  The film started out at Cannes and then got picked up by The Weinstein Co.  As of now with only one day till Hollywood’s biggest night it’s biggest competitor seems to be another movie about movies: “Hugo,” Martin Scorsese’s big-budget-based on a book, family friendly 3-D epic drama, which with 11 total nominations is the most nominated film of the year.

“The Descendants” and “The Help” are the other two most likely competitors.  Why?  Because “The Descendants” has been nominated for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Leading Actor.  “The Help,” meanwhile swept the SAGs and has a lot of overall acting sweep.

George Clooney (for The Descendants) will probably beat both Brad Pitt (for Moneyball) and Jean Dujardin (for The Artist).  Viola Davis (for The Help) will likely beat Meryl Streep (for The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (for My Week with Marilyn).  The Supporting Actor categories are way easier to predict.  Octavia Spencer (for The Help, once again) will definitely win Best Supporting Actress.  Meanwhile Christopher Plummer (for Beginners’  only nomination) will absolutely win Best Supporting Actor.

I think “The Artist” will beat “Midnight in Paris” for Best Original Screenplay and that “Hugo” will definitely beat “The Descendants” and “Moneyball” for Best Adapted Screenplay. Martin Scorsese (for “Hugo”) will definitely but still surprisingly beat Michael Hazanavicius (for “The Artist”).

Here are three fun facts about the three possible winners:

1. If “The Artist” wins Best Picture it will be the first silent film to win since “Wings” in 1927 at the first Oscars.

2. If Viola Davis wins Best Actress for “The Help,” she’ll be the first Rhode Islander to win an Oscar because she grew up in Central Falls.

3. If 82-year-old Christopher Plummer wins Best Supporting Actor for “Beginners” he’ll be the oldest actor to ever win an Oscar.  The second oldest would be 79-year-old Jessica Tandy for “Driving Miss Daisy”.

Finally, here’s the order of my least favorite to most favorite of the Best Picture nominees. (By the way the only one I haven’t seen is “The Descendants.”)

8. Midnight in Paris

7.  The Artist

6. The Tree of Live

5. Moneyball

4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

3. Hugo

2. The Help

1. War Horse

Here’s the order of what I think will win, from most likely to win to least likely to win.

9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

8. The Tree of Life

7. War Horse

6. Moneyball

5. Midnight in Paris

4. The Descendants

3. The Help

2. Hugo

1. The Artist

And now we must wait till Hollywood’s biggest night.  When Billy Crystal makes jokes and Martin Scorsese wins Best Director against Michael Hazanavicius, and The Artist beats Hugo for the big prize Best Picture.

Category: oscars, posts by flack

84th Annual Academy Awards 2012 Predictions Part 3

Posted on | February 23, 2012 | 2 Comments


Flick and Flack talk about their 2012 Oscar Predictions in Part 3 of a 3 part video series. In this video, Flick and Flack discuss the Best Picture category and give their predictions for this year’s Academy Awards.

Part 3 (28 minutes, 1 second)

Flack’s rankings of the Best Picture nominees from least likely to win to most likely to win.
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
8. The Tree of Life
7. War Horse
6. Moneyball
5. Midnight in Paris
4. The Descendants
3. The Help
2. Hugo
1. The Artist

Flack’s rankings of the Best Picture nominees from least favorite to most favorite of the ones I’ve seen.
8. Midnight in Paris
7. The Artist
6. The Tree of Life
5. Moneyball
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
3. Hugo
2. The Help
1. War Horse

Flick’s rankings of the Best Picture nominees from least likely to win to most likely to win.
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
8. The Tree of Life
7. War Horse
6. Moneyball
5. Midnight in Paris
4. The Help
3. The Descendants
2. Hugo
1. The Artist

Flick’s rankings of the Best Picture nominees from least favorite to most favorite of the ones I’ve seen.
8. Moneyball
7. The Artist
6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
5. Midnight in Paris
4. The Help
3. The Tree of Life
2. War Horse
1. Hugo

Category: 3-D, action, adventure, awards, books to film, comedy, drama, oscars, posts by flack, posts by flick, videos

84th Annual Academy Awards 2012 Predictions Part 2

Posted on | February 23, 2012 | 1 Comment

Flick and Flack talk about their 2012 Oscar Predictions in Part 2 of a 3 part video series. In this video, Flick and Flack discuss the acting, directing and screenplay categories and give their predictions in all of those categories for this year’s Academy Awards.

Part 2 (37 minutes, 56 seconds)

Category: 3-D, actors, adventure, awards, books to film, comedy, directors, drama, oscars, posts by flack, posts by flick, videos

84th Annual Academy Awards 2012 Predictions: Part 1

Posted on | February 23, 2012 | Add Comments

Flick and Flack talk about their 2012 Oscar Predictions in Part 1 of a 3 part video series. In this video, Flick and Flack discuss the technical, short and foreign film categories and give their predictions in all of those categories for this year’s Academy Awards.

Part 1 (25 minutes, 5 seconds)

Category: awards, oscars, posts by flack, posts by flick, soundtracks, videos

2012 Providence Children’s Film Festival: I Believe I Can Fly

Posted on | February 23, 2012 | 2 Comments


Flack interviews Chris about I Believe I Can Fly.


Flick interviews Grace about I Believe I Can Fly.


Flick talks about I Believe I Can Fly.

Category: adventure, film festivals, PCFF, posts by flack, posts by flick, videos

2012 Providence Children’s Film Festival: Me and My Umbrella

Posted on | February 23, 2012 | Add Comments


Flick interviews Josh about Me and My Umbrella on Day 3 of 2012 PCFF.


Flack interviews Flick about Me and My Umbrella on Day 3 of 2012 PCFF.


Flack interviews Chris about Me and My Umbrella on Day 3 of 2012 PCFF.

Category: adventure, PCFF, posts by flack, posts by flick, videos

2012 Providence Children’s Film Festival: Jumping Boy

Posted on | February 23, 2012 | Add Comments


Flick interviews Josh about Jumping Boy on Day 4 of the 2012 PCFF.

Category: drama, PCFF, posts by flack, posts by flick, videos

The Big Interview #6: Dave Dvorchak

Posted on | February 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

Flick and Flack interview Dave Dvorchak about old movies, projectors, finding 16mm films for the Providence Community Libraries and working with the PCFF.

This interview was done after the PCL show at the 2012 PCFF.

Category: film festivals, interview, PCFF, posts by flack, posts by flick, The Big Interview
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