El Cantante Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Who doesn't love a period drama? Becoming Jane earned $10,100 per screen for Miramax, sailing into the top slot for the weekend among more limited engagements, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Cinematical's James Rocchi called it "a warm and charming romantic drama" and audiences were clearly drawn either by the stars -- Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy -- or, more likely, the idea of a Jane Austen movie that's actually about Jane Austen. The picture opened in 100 theaters and will "likely" be expanding to about 500 locations next weekend, according to Variety's story, in which they chatted briefly with Miramax president Daniel Battsek.

Proving itself remarkably critic-proof, El Cantante had a very healthy weekend. Fans of Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and salsa legend Héctor Lavoe drove the picture to #12 overall with a per-screen average of $6,003 at 542 locations for distributor Picturehouse. Variety says that it "performed especially well in New York and Florida." I'm not sure why they didn't just say: "Places with huge Puerto Rican communities." I think the success of the picture says something about the hunger people have to see movies that relate in some way to their lives and culture, even when the critics in general turn thumbs down. El Cantante managed only a miserable 23% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Our own Kim Voynar highlighted the good points but also drew attention to its shortcomings.

The Ten was the third new film in limited release. Playing at 25 locations, David Wain's anthology comedy made an estimated $4,700 per screen for ThinkFilm. James Rocchi said it's "a wacky, hit-and-miss, shotgun blast of a comedy that stands apart from the corporate commodity comedy's become in major-studio Hollywood." It's a great weekend when you can choose to see a period drama, a musical biopic or a blasphemous comedy.

Have you been reading Cinematical Indie lately? If not, here's what you've been missing ...

COLUMNS, REVIEWS, and INTERVIEWS

• James Rocchi interviews Mike Binder, writer/director of The Search for John Gissing about the long road to getting his film distributed, and why he finally took matters into his own hands.
• Killer Bs on DVDs: Matt Bradshaw reviews a pair of Euro horror flicks, Black Candles and Evil Eye.
• James Rocchi interviews David Wain and Ken Marino of Ten Commandments comedy The Ten.
• Cinematical Indie Chats it up with Billy the Kid director Jennifer Venditti.
• Cinematical Indie Seven: A John Sayles Primer.
• James Rocchi reviews The Ten.
• Jeffrey M. Anderson's 400 Screens, 400 Blows: The Day the Movies Died
• Cinematical Indie reviews JLo and Marc Anthony's biopic of salsa king Hector Lavoe, El Cantante.
• RvB's After Images: Skammen, aka Shame (1968)
• The Rocchi Review Podcast: James Rocchi chats up Heidi MacDonald of The Beat on all things comic.

... and more right after the jump ...

Let's start with the strongest point about El Cantante, the joint effort of real-life married couple Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to bring to life the story of salsa legend Héctor Lavoe: JLo turns in a decent performance as Lavoe's wife. There, I said it -- and I know without even looking at any other reviews that a lot of critics will either outright disagree or gloss over her contribution to the film, but this is the closest I've seen her come to fulfilling the promise she showed way back in Out of Sight in 1998, and it's nice to see her in good form. Unfortunately, El Cantante -- at least as the title implies -- is about Lavoe, not his wife, but the movie focuses at least as much on the wife of the King of Salsa as it does on the man after whom it's titled, and that's one of the film's weaknesses.

El Cantante takes the life of a fascinating and complex man and waters it down into a decidedly uninspiring and vanilla biopic that does nothing to push the boundaries of the genre or make us want to see further efforts to bring the tales of famous, troubled singers to life. Part of the problem is that, while Lavoe's story is historically significant to fans of salsa music, and he undoubtedly influenced the genre and contributed to it greatly, there's just not much in his personal life -- at least as it's presented in this film -- that's unique among famous musicians. Troubled relationships with family and friends, drama in his relationship with his wife, Puchi, the inevitable drug addiction (seriously, are there any famous musicians out there who haven't struggled with drug addiction?), and the inevitable trajectory of rise and fall of fame and fortune, just aren't that compelling in and of themselves anymore.

As expected, The Simpsons Movie ruled the box office with a yellow-tinted iron fist, taking in more than the rest of the top five combined, outdoing second place film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry by $55 million and exceeding my personal prediction by almost $7 million. I hadn't expected any of the other new movies to break the top five, but No Reservations pulled in a modestly surprising $11.7 million to grab the number five spot. Here's the final tally:

1. The Simpsons Movie: $71,850,000
2. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry: $19,063,000
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: $17,065,000
4. Hairspray: $15,550,000
5. No Reservations: $11,755,000

This week's new movies involve a flying dog, talking dolls, a klutzy stunt man, a salsa king and Matt Damon. Here's what we've got:

The Bourne Ultimatum
What's It All About: Matt Damon returns in his third outing as rogue agent and amnesiac Jason Bourne, trying to learn his true identity once and for all.
Why It Might Do Well: The first two films in the franchise pulled in $27 million and $52 million respectively on their opening weekends, and since the Bourne Ultimatum is the obvious big gun this week, I suspect the trend will continue.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Could Jason Bourne's luck have finally run out? No, I didn't think so either.
Number of Theaters: 3,500
Prediction: $65 million.

Bratz
What's It All About: In this live action film based on a line of fashion dolls, four girls enter high school and discover the meaning of peer pressure and loyalty.
Why It Might Do Well: Teenage girls looking for more of what Mean Girls had to offer may like this one.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Target demo seems awfully small.
Number of Theaters: 1,700
Prediction: $5.5 million

El Cantante
What's It All About: Biopic of Hector Lavoe, the salsa king. Not a snack food magnate, but a singer of salsa music. Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez star.
Why It Might Do Well: Based as it is on true events, El Cantante offers a genuine alternative to what's out there.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The relatively small release combined with the 18% rating over at rottentomatoes.com suggests that this one will not be raking it in.
Number of Theaters: 600
Prediction: $3 million

Hot Rod
What's It All About: Comedy about a motorcycle stunt man wannabe played by Andy Samberg who plans to jump fifteen buses to raise money for an operation that will save the life of his abusive stepfather.
Why It Might Do Well: The adorable Isla Fisher (the crazy one from Wedding Crashers) for one thing, plus there are some genuine laughs in the trailer for those into broad physical comedy.
Why It Might Not Do Well: I believe there was a motorcycle stunt in The Simpsons Movie, so that quota may be filled for this year.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $11 million

Underdog
What's It All About: In this reinvention of the classic cartoon, a dog receives super powers and the ability to talk in a lab accident.
Why It Might Do Well: Jason Lee is the voice of Underdog and a funny guy. Nostalgia appeal will also work in the film's favor.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The aforementioned nostalgia may be tempered by the fact that this new version is pretty far removed from the cartoon's original concept.
Number of Theaters: 2,800
Prediction: $16 million

This week I'm piercing the veil of time by reading tea leaves, or at least that was the original plan. I tossed back several bottles of Snapple before I realized that kind of tea doesn't have leaves, so I just asked my cousin Frank how he thought this weekend's box office might go:
1. The Bourne Ultimatum
2. The Simpsons Movie
3. Underdog
4. Hot Rod
5. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Last Week's Prediction Rankings
1. Matt: 13
1. Evan: 13
1. Marc: 13
1. Gian1414: 13
1. Opp-Neg: 13
1. Anna07: 13
2. Bubba8193: 12
3. Jason: 10
4. Ness265: 9
4. ElBoracho: 9
4. Ray: 9
4. Josh: 9
4. JimRM: 9
4. Chris: 9
4. Mario: 9
5. Dustin: 7
5. Rufus: 7
5. Curt: 7
5. Lostpicks: 7
6. Gordy: 6

We had a pretty decent response to last week's box office prediction contest, but I'm hoping for more this time around. Come on, you know you want to. No prizes, of course, but I think that would sully the whole experience, don't you? Don't forget to post your prediction for the top five films in the comments section below. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.

In just a few days, on July 24, the New York International Latino Film Festival will kick off in, obviously, Gotham. The fest has now released its film list, and I wish I could say that it is an amalgam of highly-reviewed fare that is worth giving up spending your summery, July days in the great outdoors. Unfortunately, none of the films listed on indieWIRE seem to be highly-regarded, by either reviewers or IMDb fans. Now, this could mean nothing for the enjoyment of some regular moviegoers, but I don't think we're talking about a "Wild Hogs" sort of scenario.

The fest is opening with Marco Kreuzpaintner's Trade. Cinematical has been covering the film since 2005, when it was called Welcome to America, and Milla Jovovich was co-starring along with Kevin Kline. Since then, Leeloo left the project, and we got posters and a plot. While the film's scenario sounds a bit unbelievable, it looked to be a potentially-decent treatment of the sex trade. However, if Variety's Berlin review is to be believed, it's unfortunately not worth the effort. Even Kline, who I consider to be one of those men who can make the most of anything, was said to have had "possible the most stark miscasting of his career." Ouch!

That being said, I'd probably rather see that than what was selected to wrap the festival -- the Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony-starring El Cantante. I will fully admit that I just don't like those two, so putting them as starring vehicles in a film just makes matters all the worse. Fortunately, my predilection to run in the opposite direction when I see them won't keep me from a moving cinematic experience, again, at least if Variety's TIFF review is to be believed. Right at the top, the review describes the movie as "a virtual template for every imaginable cliche of the musical biopic." (Our Kim Voynar will be reviewing it on August 3, when the film opens, so stay tuned for her spin on the music biopic.) But these are reviewers, and many a film foible can be forgiven in the regular movie-going public. Or, at least, by fans of Anthony and Lopez -- which is probably why it's a headlining film. That being said, it's still great to see an increasing selection of Latino cinema, and hopefully next year will have a fest full of raves.

If there is such a thing as a "Hollywood martyr" then Marilyn Monroe is probably the patron saint. She was the ultimate in cautionary tales about the destructive side of fame, but it doesn't always have to end so tragically. Ben Affleck's engagement to Jennifer Lopez and the gossip whirlwind that was "Bennifer" was an example of what happens when the gossip machine looks for fresh meat, and the results weren't pretty -- although, they might have been asking for it after that video. Now, that was brutal.

Affleck has begun to pull himself from the wreckage and is building credibility as an actor again for his work in Hollywoodland and Smokin' Aces. He'll also be making his directing debut with Gone, Baby, Gone. Affleck is steering clear of the high profile celebrity life and seems happier because of it. A profile from The New York Times Syndicate has Affleck musing on his brush with A-list fame: "Nothing is inside doing those things. It doesn't matter. I had to learn that by having my family that's what really matters. I'm lucky I was able to see the hollowness of fame, but I got pretty dinged up over the years." It looks like Affleck might have learned his lesson about keeping his private life out of his professional life, but Lopez certainly hasn't; since she stars opposite husband Marc Anthony in the upcoming biopic of singer Hector Lavoe (El Cantante) -- some people never learn.

Calling it the "most sought-after film of the Toronto International Film Festival," the Hollywood Reporter tells us Picturehouse has snatched up all North American rights to El Cantante (aka that JLo-Marc Anthony flick). Completing the deal at 5:30am this morning (which means everyone was either drunk or just woke up way too early) and paying just under $6 million, Picturehouse beat out a slew of other distributors including Miramax, Focus Features and The Weinstein Co.

Pic, which stars the real-life husband and wife duo (who also play husband and wife in the film), tells the true story of Hector Lovoe, a man who began the salsa movement back in 1975 and subsequently brought the sexy dance to the United States. Currently, Picturehouse plans to release the film next summer on roughly 500-700 screens, before going wide with it. Word on the street says Lopez is outstanding in the pic and may even deserve an Oscar or a Golden Globe for her performance. I'm not sure I would go that far, but it does up my interest in the film.

So far, the titles that have been announced as appearing at the Toronto International Film Festival have been primarily independent, often foreign films. And while their presence at the Festival is incredibly exciting to film nerds like yours truly, it's hard to deny that anticipation for any festival ratchets up a notch when the high-profile premieres are revealed. For TIFF, some of those titles were announced yesterday.

The most widely anticipated debut is undoubtedly that of Darren Aronofsky's loooooong-await The Fountain, which is now set to have its North American premiere in Toronto. In addition, Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration (in which he finally turns his skewering on Hollywood itself), Tony Goldwyn's remake The Last Kiss (yawn), the tantalizing Stranger Than Fiction, which stars Will Ferrell as a man who suddenly finds his life narrated by Emma Thompson, and El Cantante, the JLo-Marc Anthony movie, will all have their world premieres at the Fest.

And yes, TIFF still runs from September 7 until the 16th.