Larry Ratliff

'Potter' drives long, hot summer B.O.

 
In the movie industry, bonafied blockbusters are called tentpoles.

When tentpoles hit and sustain, they turn into cinematic money machines.

Summer 2011, up 5 percent from last year according to a post on the Hollywood Reporter website, packed movie houses with a trio of billion dollar tentpoles:  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and "Pirates of the Caribbean:  On Stranger Tides."

If you're concerned about the bottom line profit status of Hollywood's movie studios, you need to know that domestic  box office (meaning U.S.) was, according to the Hollywood Reporter tally, "in a tailspin" until the summer flicks arrived.

The summer season, which runs through Labor Day Weekend, is turning all the dour forecasts around.

"'We're on track to score the biggest summer of all time, and I think domestic revenue will reach $4.4 billion by the end of Labor Day,' says Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman. "Good movies rise to the occasion,'" the Hollywood Reporter article states.

Good for them, I suppose, if box-office revenue and not necessarily movie quality is what cranks your projector, so to speak.

Today, however, there's good news on the revenue front for a quality film not aimed at teen movie-goers or the Friday night mainstream popcorn-muncher crowd.

"The Help," seemingly unfazed by the general box-office slowdown due to uninvited arrival of blustery Hurricane Irene, topped weekend charts for a second stanza, grossing $20 million.

Just as I hoped it would, "The Help" (click here for my review) continues to clean up.

And that's a good thing.

(Daniel Radcliffe image from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2" courtesy:  Warner Bros.)

Yes, Virginia, there is a God

How do I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God exists?

Hollywood Walk of Fame officials have just announced that there are no plans to include "reality show" "stars" among 2,400 or so movie stars and other entertainment stand-outs with brass and terrazzo stars along Hollywood Blvd. and Vine St.

Sorry, Snooki (as I stifle a guffaw).  Too bad Kate Gosselin, Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman, "real housewives," survivors, bachelors and bachelorettes.

I hate to sound like the Hollywood Walk of Fame Nazi.  But no stars for you.  And after all that work you put in to get famous.  You must have spent, I dunno, minutes preparing for your "craft."

Excuse me for a quick aside:  "Hallalujah!"

"'Someone asked if we give reality show characters stars? 'Hell to the No!' was posted on the Walk of Fame Facebook page on Wednesday,'" according to an item posted on the Hollywood Reporter website.

"Adds Ana Martinez, vice president for media relations and producer for the Hollywood Walk of Fame: 'It's just not on the radar for us right now,'" the article adds.

Sorry folks, but over-the-hill politicians and athletes and the semi-famous by birth or association (a daughter of a former vice presidential candidate, for instance) are not stars.  They are the publicity ravenous who simply must be in some spotlight, any spotlight no matter how belittling to them and -- to a certain extent -- those who choose to watch.

Take it from someone who has spent three decades interviewing real stars; classy vets like the late Jack Lemmon, talented "it" people who have the background and acting chops to stick around (Drew Barrymore, Dakota Fanning to name just a couple) and hungry, gifted newcomers like Emma Stone and Jeremy Renner, The Situation disgracing the Argentine Tango is not star material.

It's television, or at least what passes for TV today.

(Snooki photo courtesy:  graphicshunt.com.)    

Second shift of 'The Help' cleans up

Change may begin with a whisper as the catchphrase for "The Help" points out.

Staying power, at least in terms of success in the movie business, is what it's all about, however.

Speaking of staying power, "The Help" outdistanced new entries "Fright Night" and Robert Rodriguez's kiddie sequel "Spy Kids:  All the Time in the World in 4D" and held back the apes ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes") to climb to the No. 1 box office spot over the weekend.

According to a post on the Hollywood Reporter website, "The Help" has tallied $71.3 million in box office receipts in the first 10 days of its release.

That includes $20.5 million over the weekend, which was its second.

More importantly, perhaps, revenue for the inspirational drama-with-comedy about the plight of black maids in 1960s Deep South U.S.A. dropped only 22 percent in the second weekend of release.

"'Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' from 20th Century Fox, also remained a worthy contender in its third weekend, falling only 41 percent to an estimated $16.3 million for a domestic cume of $133.8 million and coming in No. 2.

"'The Help' and 'Rise of the Apes' left the weekend’s four new films struggling," the Hollywood Reporter article stated.

Click here to read my review of "The Help" and here for my review of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."

("The Help" poster courtesy:  Walt Disney/Dreamworks)

'Austin Powers' may return, baby

It's time to rejoice, "Austin Powers" fans.  It looks like Mike Myers, the creative imp behind the James Bond-spoof series, has expressed interest in a third sequel.

Oh behave, it's far from a done deal yet, according to Terri Schwartz's report on the MTV website.

"Apparently all that's happened is that Myers has expressed interest in a proposal for the movie that New Line presented six months ago, and it's not a full-blown deal. The project had seemingly fallen by the wayside after Myers' 2008 flick 'The Love Guru' tanked at the box office, and he disappeared from Hollywood (barring a brief appearance in 'Inglourious Basterds').

"But New Line sought to revitalize the project recently and sent out a new offer about six months ago. Deadline is reporting that Myers' representatives have finally responded that Myers is interested," the MTV article sez.

(Mike Myers photo from "Austin Powers in Goldmember" courtesy:  New Line Cinema.) 

Will 'The Help' help or hinder?

 

Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) overhears a conversation that includes Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone, center background) in "The Help."   (Courtesy:  Walt Disney/DreamWorks)

Here's hoping "The Help" will, if you'll excuse the pun, clean up at the box office beginning today.

I saw a screening of the emotion-rattling drama Monday night, and I still can't get the movie based on Kathryn Stockett's No. 1 New York Times best seller from 2009 out of my mind.

For those unfamiliar with the novel or the movie, Emma Stone ("Crazy, Stupid, Love"), Academy Award nominee Viola Davis ("Doubt"), Allison Janney (the mom in "Juno"), Octavia Spencer ("Dinner for Schmucks") and Bryce Dallas Howard ("Hereafter") head a strong ensemble cast.

Set in Jackson, Miss. in the early to mid-1960s, "The Help" takes a frank, heartbreaking and often humerous look at racial tension in the Deep South in general and the strained relationship between black maids and their anglo employers.

Lisa Respers France dives into an interesting question herself in a story posted on the CNN Web Site.  Beginning with a headline that reads "Is 'The Help' heroic or stereotyping?" France compares black actresses portraying maids in Hollywood's Golden Year of 1939 to Davis, Spencer and others who take on difficult roles in "The Help."

"When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People complained about Hattie McDaniel's portrayal of slave housekeeper Mammy in the 1939 blockbuster film 'Gone with The Wind,' the actress is reported to have responded, 'I'd rather get paid $700 a week for playing a maid than $7 for being one.'

"As the film 'The Help' opens nationwide today, it faces the same challenges and criticisms of the best-selling novel of the same name," the CNN.com article states.

Click here to read the entire article.

After you do that, I suggest you make a beeline for your local movie house and line up for "The Help," one of the finest films of the year so far.

No 'Glee' for Lynch in concert flick

 

This may shock some "Glee" geeks.

Outstanding tongue-in-cheek funny lady Jane Lynch, who portrays sassy antagonist Sue Sylvester on the Fox chorus line series "Glee," has, according to a report on the Hollywood Reporter Web site, has been axed from the spin-off "Glee the 3D Concert Movie."

"Series co-creator Ryan Murphy told reporters at a news conference for the movie over the weekend that Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester on Fox's hit musical show, won't be in the movie despite being filmed during the tour and appearing in the trailer," the article sez.

The movie, offered in 3-D (needs special glasses) and the traditional 2-D (no special glasses required), opens Friday sans Ms. Lynch. 

Murphy apparently also told the press conference attendies that Lynch will appear in another version on DVD.

"Jane will be on that. We'll do it that way," the article states.

In true Sue Sylvester and Hollywood hype tradition, Sylvester is urging everyone to boycott the movie.

Yeah, right.  See below.  

    

("Glee the 3D Concert Movie" photo courtesy:  20th Century Fox.) 

Winning? What's wrong with this picture?

OK, the floor is open for debate.

What's wrong or right about this picture of Ashton Kutcher in Charlie Sheen's old perch between Angus T. Jones, left, and Jon Cryer in the familiar "Two and a Half Men" pose?

Can anyone suggest a reason why CBS and the production company have decided to re-tool and move forward with a show that, although a cash cow, was broke beyond Humpty Dumpty repair when Sheen moved to Mars mentally and abandoned all hope of salvaging his financial connection to "the good life," i.e. drugs and women?

Please sing to the tune of the "Two and a Half Men" theme song:

"Money ... money ... money ... money ... mon-eeeeeeeeeeeeee."

Take it from me, this creative shipwreck is doomed to failure on the artistic level.

No one could right the Titanic once it went belly up, and no one will ever recreate the magic-in-a-bottle of Sheen as the heavy drinking womanizer who reluctantly allows his nebbish brother Alan (Cryer) and nephew Jake (Jones) to share his Malibu beach house.

Kutcher, a decent actor, will give it the good go.  According to a report by the Hollywood Reporter, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler had high praise for Kutcher (and took a slight verbal snipe at Sheen) Wednesday as she faced reporters at the fall TV network dog and pony show in L.A.

"'We have an extraordinary actor in Ashton Kutcher. You have someone who is committed to doing their job and is incredibly professional,' she said, adding that Kutcher is 'an extraordinarily talented, funny and gifted actor,'" sez the posted Hollywood Reporter article.

Tassler forgot to mention one thing.  Kutcher is not Charlie Sheen, and you can read into that what you will.

I have met and interviewed Sheen on more than one occasion.  I always walked away thinking something like, "This guy's crazy as a loon."

And that was before his cars began suspiciously falling off cliffs into deep Cali canyons.  That was before Sheen took a hike as TV's highest paid sitcom guy and showed up in Tinsel Town waving a machete and gathering a posse of "goddesses" to keep around the house.

Charlie is Charlie is Charlie.

He was also extremely funny as the anchor of the sitcom CBS is trying to rebuild.

Once Sheen exits the "Two and a Half Men" grand scheme for good, however, as he likely will when the new season debuts Sept. 19 with a two-parter that's rumored to be about Charlie's funeral, the only people who stand to "win" are the advertisers, CBS and the production company.

Bottom line men, you see, could care less about artistic integrity, on-screen chemistry or a sitcom story that makes sense.

They're keen on something else.  Hit it boys ...

"Money ... money ... money ... money ... mon-eeeeeeeeeeeeee."

("Two and a Half Men" photo courtesy:  CBS)

DVD emporiums pitch a 'Perfect Game'

 

Angel (Jake T. Austin), left, and Enrique (Jansen Panettiere) have the summer of their lives in "The Perfect Game."   (Courtesy:  Lionsgate)

So, what's your favorite baseball movie?

"The Natural" of 1984 is a good choice.  Or "The Pride of the Yankees" (1942), or "The Rookie" (2002) or maybe "Field of Dreams" (1989).

Good choices all.  'Scuse me if I toss in a wild card.  A late replacement, if you will.

If you have a child in Little League, or if you played Little League, or if you just like to attend Little League games, or you just like baseball movies or you just enjoy well done movies in general, it's time to run, not walk to your local DVD source to rent "The Perfect Game."

Clifton Collins Jr. ("Star Trek" remake), Cheech Marin ("Machete"), Louis Gossett Jr. ("Momentum") and perhaps San Antonio's Bruce McGill ("Fair Game," "W.") are the names you're likely to recognize.  This cast, however, is largely made up of young actors portraying the dirt poor Monterrey, Mexico Little League team destined for glory north of the U.S. border in 1957.

Based on a true story, "The Perfect Game" towers over films like "The Sandlot" in my humble opinion because the events are real.  Also, director William Dear ("Angels in the Outfield") doesn't resort to cheap tricks (unnatural foul language) in the name of entertainment value.

From this aisle seat, "The Perfect Game" is a must-see for baseball fans and lovers of exciting, heartfelt movies alike.

In fact, I'll race you to the video store.  I plan to get a copy today so my wife Suellen can see why I love this based-on-truth saga so much.

Actually, "The Perfect Game" isn't the only good choice hitting DVD shelves today.

"Soul Surfer," also based on a true story, washes over the heart with high emotion.

"Soul Surfer" chronicles the saga of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton. 

Hamilton is portrayed in the film by AnnaSophia Robb ("Race to Witch Mountain").

The determined teen doesn't let a little thing like losing an arm deter her from chasing her dream of shooting the curl on Hawaii's biggest waves. 

Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt are very good as the girl's parents.  And country singer Carrie Underwood has some rich moments as the wounded teen's emotional mentor.

Looking for something for young kids?  Just keep sliding down the New Releases shelf until you get to "Rio."

Animated, colorful and full of life, "Rio" pulls out all the fun stops. 

It spins a yarn about an unlikely match between a pampered blue Macaw that can't fly and his dangerous liaison with the only surviving female of his breed.

Anne Hathaway ("Love and Other Drugs") and Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network") provide the lead voices.

Listen closely, though, and you might just recognize the vocal stylings of comedians George Lopez and Jamie Foxx, as well as will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

("Soul Surfer" poster courtesy:  Sony/"Rio" poster courtesy:  20th Century Fox)

Little blue group, 'Aliens' in B.O. draw

 

"The Smurfs" have something B.O.-related to smile about today.   (Courtesy:  Sony)

Holy Smurf!  The little blue guys tied the cowboys and little green men at the box office over the weekend.

I'm sure that says something about pre-opening hype, 3-D flicks, the audacity of co-mingling close encounters with high-tech space aliens and gunslingers of the Old West, the national debt ceiling and my personal addiction to anything frozen resembling ice cream, but let's leave it at this:

Good for the little blue guys.

An article posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site is calling the tie between Sony's kiddie pic "The Smurfs" and Universal's "Cowboys & Aliens" "one of the biggest box office upsets in recent memory."

Each vastly different movie claimed an estimated $36.2 million over the weekend.  One will no doubt emerge as the winner when Hollywood bean counters get out their magnifying glasses later today.

The "Smurfs," those animated blue dudes from 80s TV cartoons, can celebrate no matter what, however.

"Heading into the weekend, 'Cowboys' held a wide lead over the competition in tracking, with Universal predicting a debut close to $45 million. The disappointing launch means the film—directed by Jon Favreau and costing $163 million to produce after rebates—will need especially strong legs," the Hollywood Reporter article sez.

"The Smurfs," which cost a reported $110 million, turned out to be an overachiever, outgrossing its estimates by just north of $10 million.

"'Cowboys,' starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, played older, likely explaining why the film underperformed," adds the Hollywood Reporter article.

"Of those turning out for Cowboys, 75 percent were over the age of 25—and 39 percent over the age of 50," adds the report.

(Daniel Craig photo from "Cowboys vs. Aliens" courtesy:  Universal Pictures.)

A new star is 'Bourne'

 

Matt Damon drawing down on trouble in "The Bourne Ultimatum" in 2007.   (Courtesy:  Universal Pictures)

Sometimes, the movie franchises move on, even when the movie star the series is built around bails.

Such is the case, apparently, with the "Bourne" adventure-spy franchise.

After globe-trotting to discover his identity ("The Bourne Identity," 2002), displaying some supremacy ("The Bourne Supremacy", 2004) and making good on an ultimatum ("The Bourne Ultimatum," 2007), Matt Damon has moved on to the "Hereafter" and other cinematic projects not "Bourne" related.

An article on the Hollywood Reporter Web site is reporting, however, that the franchise machine will move forward with Jeremy Renner ("The Town," "The Hurt Locker").

Renner will take on the role of a new operative in the upcoming "The Bourne Legacy."

Never fear, though, "Bourne" fans.  Joan Allen, who's probably the nicest female movie star I've ever had the pleasure of interviewing, will continue as CIA agent Pam Landy.

Also, according to the Hollywood Reporter item, Albert Finney, Dr. Albert Hirsch, in "Bourne Ultimatum," will be back for another go as well.

Perhaps just as semi-shocking as the franchise continuing without Damon is the fact that Paul Greengrass, who directed the last two installments, will not be calling the shots on the third sequel.

That task will befall Tony Gilroy, a writer on the first three "Bourne" actioners.  Gilroy will wear two hats in the "Bourne Legacy" as both writer and director.

Renner, a superb actor who might even have a little more pure acting talent that Damon, will be fine.

"Bourne" sans the contibution of Greengrass in the director's chair, however, might just be another matter.

(Jeremy Renner picture from "The Town" courtesy:  Warner Bros.)