October 21, 2002

Before you die, you see a $15 million opening…

Actually, considering that DreamWorks took The Ring out on under 2000 screens and that the film is pretty good, this could end up being a pretty good launch.  Or it could be the start of something small.  It is hard to surf the waves of this industry these days.  But the only film in the Top Ten that The Ring’s per-screen didn’t double was Brown Sugar and it missed doubling Brown Sugar’s per-screen by only $119.

Paramount’s Abandon didn’t find any answers.  It had a well-respected writer taking the helm for the first time, but critics ripped the film for writing and directing.  Katie Holmes draws a crowd… but a crowd that likes TV.  (They do want to wait… not for their lives to be over, but for video/DVD).

Screen Gems seems ready to change its name to Screen Dump with their second fabulously unsuccessful release.  Formula 51 managed a Top Twelve low $1561 per screen to gather a remarkably unremarkable $2.9 million… estimated.  It’ll probably get worse.   And the “you have to see it because it’s so bad” factor didn’t help Screen Gems’ Swept Away any.  The Madonna disaster dropped a chat-topping 71 percent – estimated – in its second weekend.  Yowza! 

Bad news for Universal… at the current rate of descent, there is a real chance that Red Dragon will not reach $100 million without extraordinary box office measures.

And Reese Witherspoon will be breaking out the bubbly on Tuesday night… she should have her first $100 million film under her belt by then.

INTO THE WOODS:  I watched Miller’s Crossing over the weekend.  On cable, the movie only shows up on FX, which is kind of a shame, since it should be seen more.  What a terrific movie!  I was anxious to see the film again after seeing Road to Perdition, since Perdition seemed to reflect my memories of Miller’s.  And indeed, they were clearly weaned off the same nipple. 

The Coen Brothers do so many things better than Sam Mendes.  And even more amazingly, you can see that they were just developing in this film.  The fluidity that they have developed in film after film isn’t always there.  But it is still pretty breathtaking.  Barry Sonnenfeld’s cinematography makes me wish that it were okay for a commercial director to take a busman’s holiday and to get behind the camera again.  Carter Burwell’s music is powerful and thoughtful.  And the performances are really outstanding… Jon Polito, J.E. Freeman, Mike Starr, Al Mancini and a spry, game John Turturro.  And that’s just the supporting cast.  Albert Finney looks so wiry and strong.  It may be the best role that Gabriel Byrne has ever had.  And a 30-year-old Marsha Gay Harden in her first real movie role… more about her in a minute. 

The one thing that Mendes has over The Coen Bros. is the Jude Law character.  He does what it seems impossible for the Coens to do with anyone with that kind of energy anymore… play him relatively straight.  Jude Law’s Harlen Maguire character would get laughs in any Coen film.  Of course, the Coens would never, based on their history, make a film as inherently humorless as Road To Perdition.  Not that that’s a bad thing.

THE BABES:  Seeing Marcia Gay Harden as a hard-hearted vamp in Miller’s Crossing made me think… what ever happened to those women in the movies?  It’s not that I don’t find the new generation of female actresses attractive and sexy.  But it is different.  Perhaps that was what was so compelling about Ellen Pompeo in Moonlight Mile.  I mean, she needs to eat something, but she has that thing going on behind her eyes.  It’s not just looks… her looks are imperfect… but that’s part of the charm.  Julia Stiles is beautiful and obviously smart.  Kirsten Dunst has a spark of undeniability.  Reese Witherspoon is, so far, the great comic actress of her generation… a real Lucille Ball level talent who will only match Ball with great choices in her career.

But where is that Kathleen Turner performance in Body Heat.  Where is Jessica Lange in The Postman Always Rings Twice and even Titus?  Who can keep up with the Pfeiffer of Scarface or the Susan Sarandon of Atlantic City or Bull Durham?

Even in their 20s, the actresses today are girls when you think back to the women who led the way in the past.  Linda Fiorentino seemed to have it.  Julianne Moore has taken it to the indie scene.  So has the still-on-the-cusp Christina Ricci.  Thora Birch might bring it. 

This really isn’t meant as an insult.  I find all three of Charlie’s Angels compelling, interesting and sexy as hell.  But none of them have that unshakeable grounding.  Liv Tyler might get it as she ages.  Claire Danes’ turn in Igby Goes Down augers serious femme fatale possibilities.  (And she just got another really interesting role in Shopgirl.  The story is here.

Catherine Zeta Jones showed promise, but she flies too high, brought down to real weight only by the real weight (pregnant) she carried in Traffic.  We keep waiting for Rachel Weisz, but those roles haven’t shown up.  Kate Beckinsale draws men by the droves, but perhaps that is because she is so light, a shell waiting to be crushed.  Helena Bonham Carter’s taste in men and roles has taken her “it” girl to “what” girl.  And Kate Winslet seems to have left the business. 

Streep in The Seduction of Joe Tynan and even in Kramer vs. Kramer… really sexy, really grown up. 

I think this is why Emily Watson and Samantha Morton are still so interesting and so ripe to be pushing into the commercial world.  Rachel Griffiths has given up trying and started her TV career, much as Christine Lahti had to do.   Uma Thurman has it… but she too chose marriage and family over work.  It’s probably no coincidence that Thandie Newton is happily married and mommy-ing. 

Sigh…

READER OF THE DAY:  I asked you to tell me about movies you saw this weekend and many of you did.  LOOKING FOR THE FAT MAN writes (without capitals):  “saw 'auto focus' last night and was bored to tears. where are these great reviews coming from? why did they make a movie about this poor guy? your review was pretty much spot-on. i only went because 'the ring' was sold out everywhere here in NYC, but i was expecting something much better. the production design was great, kinnear is solid, and we all know dafoe gives good creepy, but c'mon...i've also noticed that in this and in 'payback,' maria bello's skin looks like shit for such a hottie. she always looks all oily and like she has way too much make-up on, and it seems like she shold be stunningly beautiful...she was on ER.

anyway looking forward to 'the ring' despite middling reviews...i was one who really dug 'the mexican.' and hoping that 'the truth about charlie' is better than the buzz. thandie newton strikes me as someone who, much like naomi watts, could be a fucking movie star.

also loved 'punchdrunk love.' pta and cameron crowe are the 2 who just really really do it for me every time out right now.

last random thought...i need a james cameron movie badly, and i need a david o. russell movie badly. what hole have these guys crawled into?”

THE GRASSY ONE sent this in:  “So this weekend I caught Igby Goes Down and Moonlight Mile.  It is ironic that they both came to my town on the same weekend considering Slate's recent double review.  I have to say that I am amazed by David Edelstein's judgment of these two films.  Frankly I can't believe anybody bought into the bullshit that is Igby.  What a forced and pretensions piece of shit.  It seems that the quirky, Salingeresque picture of New York that came so effortlessly from Wes Anderson completely eludes Burr Steers.  Every character seemed fabricated and high concept but not in a good way.  I felt no connection to Igby or to the people that surround him.  On the other hand I don't think I have seen too many movies more "real" than Moonlight Mile. 

The "off" theat Edelstein refers to in the film to me seems just right.  The awkwardness of Joe's situation lends itself to the laughs that the film elicits and anyone who has ever lost someone knows that grieving is not 100% oppressive grief.  It is a film of perfect little moments that culminate in a courtroom scene that I found to be quite moving in its inability to explain and it's refusal to go for the easy tears.”

JW NOT MARRIOT writes:  “I will be the first to confess that I didn't get 8 women, and my thought leaving the theatre was "Thank God for the French, because at least US is not the weirdest culture on the planet."  I suspect that there were too many inside jokes and that the film should never have left French shores.  My take was that it was essentially a drag queen farce that, except for a few moments of fun, forgot the farce.  To view it any other way would to be offended by cardboard misogynist stereotyped  characters even if played by the many of the great French actresses.  So is there something really sophisticated going on by have Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant acting like drag queens????!!  I did like the songs though.”

E ME:  I’ll be writing on this later this week and I’d like some input… what is the role of age in the movies?  What is the role of art in real life?  And what is the role of the critic in a commercial cinema driven by marketing dollars and opening weekends?