TheHauntingOfMollyHartley Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Devastating, haunting, infuriating, and shamelessly manipulative: Kurt Kuenne's film about his murdered friend Andrew Bagby is all of those things and more. Erik Davis described it as "a film that will rock you to your core. You will cry. You will hurt -- and the flick will sit with you for days, weeks, months. But you will come away believing in people." After the film aired on MSNBC in December, we received dozens of comments, to which director Kuenne responded with appreciation. The DVD includes deleted scenes and additional footage as well as other extra features. Buy it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon. | Read Erik's review. | Watch trailer.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley
Mickey Liddell's would-be horror flick is not, in fact, haunting; most often it's simply a series of regurgitated SHOCK cuts accompanied by LOUD music cues. Eric D. Snider called it a "lame, tame psychological thriller ... I've read fortune cookies that were scarier, not to mention smarter and more interesting." Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon. | Read Eric's review.

Sex Drive
A teen comedy featuring a Mexican donut. "It's like The Sure Thing crossed with Road Trip" and five or six other movies, according to William Goss. "Is this the best modern teen comedies have to offer? A Mexican donut costume?" Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon. | Read William's review.

Also out: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.

After the jump: Indies on DVD and Collector's Corner. Plus: Is William Friedkin's rejiggered view of The French Connection on Blu-ray an artistic leap forward or a desecration of a classic?

There's a story making the rounds -- originating, as best I can tell, with this post over at Yahoo! Movies -- making the case that this past weekend's minor computer-animated effort Delgo is, to paraphrase, the biggest wide-release bomb of all time.

Is that right? As usual, it depends on how you look at it. If you limit your scope to films released in over 2000 theaters -- Delgo occupied 2,160 -- then the raw numbers back up this claim: Delgo's $237 weekend per-screen average and $511,920 gross easily top the chart of all-time worst openings in that category. On the other hand, just this September a quasi-documentary called Proud American opened on 750 screens and managed an even more impressive $128 per-screen average. And Delgo even has competition this December: just the week before, the Alan Rickman action comedy Nobel Son opened on 893 screens to a comparable $374 per-screen average.

Both Delgo and Nobel Son were distributed by Freestyle Releasing, an independent distributor-for-hire. Freestyle fared slightly better with The Haunting of Molly Hartley over Halloween and much better with this summer's limited-release Bottle Shock. The lesson here, I think, is that unless you've got something that's easy to market (e.g. the PG-13 horror of Molly Hartley) and the budget to market it, an independently-arranged wide (or semi-wide) release is a very dicey proposition. Trying to shove a low-profile animated family film into the marketplace during the holidays is even dicier.

Delgo may be the biggest wide-release flop of all time, but no one will remember its failure like they remember Cutthroat Island and Last Action Hero: not because Delgo was low-budget (it reportedly cost $40 million), but because it was, for all intents and purposes, set up to fail.

If you woke up this Saturday and looked at the box office returns from Friday, you probably noticed something strange. Saw V was cheerfully occupying the top spot despite having slid a whopping 78% from the previous Friday. Last weekend's winner, High School Musical 3, was sitting at number five with $1.7 million, a 90% drop. Ninety percent? What the hell is going on here?

Then you probably thought about it for a second and palm-smacked your forehead. Friday, of course, was October 31st, which meant that virtually all of HSM's target audience was out trick-or-treating. Some comparatively smaller percentage of Saw fans was out partying, or whatever it is the kids are doing these days. HSM recovered admirably, leapfrogging back into first, but Halloween still hurt: that 65% drop isn't great for a kidflick, though it's more in line with the pattern of eagerly awaited franchise sequels. We'll see what happens next week.

As for Saw V, it's currently running about $5 million behind its immediate predecessor, although the Halloween Friday took its toll here too -- it's probably fair to call them even at this point. Even if Saw V continues the franchise's declining trend, it's still a cash cow. My guess is we'll see a couple more theatrical sequels, and then infinite direct-to-DVD entries. Jigsaw will never die.

There were some newcomers. Zack and Miri Make a Porno's $10.7 million take was roughly in line with Kevin Smith's best showings; only 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back fared better, and barely at that. (It's probably worth noting that this is also by far the worst opening for a film starring Seth Rogen.) Changeling respectably, if unspectacularly, expanded to 1,850 screens, landing in fourth with $9.4 million. That would be more auspicious if the film were expected to be an awards player, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The Haunting of Molly Hartley, a horror offering for the tween set, actually managed an okay $6 million -- not bad when you don't even have a real distributor.

The full estimates after the jump.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley isn't bad as far as movie titles go, though it would be a lot better if the movie contained any actual haunting. The girl is plagued by voices that say "Molly!" and "I know what you are!," but is that really a "haunting"? It's more like The Annoying of Molly Hartley or The Messing Around with Molly Hartley's Mind.

At any rate, this lame, tame psychological thriller stars Haley Bennett as Molly, who has just moved with her father (Jake Weber) to a new house and new school after an unsettling incident in which Molly's mother tried to kill her. (Oops!) Mom (Marin Hinkle) is now in the loony bin, which at least reduces the awkwardness around the house, but Molly fears she might be starting to suffer from the same craziness that made her mother go all stabby. She's been having hallucinations both visual and auditory (or "aditory," according to the book she reads; nice work, props department!), and that's cause for concern.

Molly's new school is a fancy prep academy for rich kids, notably Joseph Young (Chace Crawford), who is dreamy and friendly, and Alexis (Shanna Collins), who is friendly and poor. She's there on scholarship and is a pariah for being un-rich, and also for being a devout Christian. (Like most movie Christians, Alexis is portrayed as being humorless, strident, and irrational.) Molly is also befriended by Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward), the Bad Girl who wears fishnet stockings and smokes cigarettes in the bathroom. Joseph's ex-girlfriend, Suzie (AnnaLynne McCord), is the requisite blond Mean Girl. If it weren't for time constraints, I'm sure we'd have been introduced to the Nerd, the Jock, and the Drama Queen, too. You get the idea.

It's Halloween weekend, and while you can certainly take in a new spooky flick (The Haunting of Molly Hartley) or two (Saw V), it seems the weekend's biggest film is a comedy. Kevin Smith's hilariously raunchy Zack and Miri Make a Porno finally arrives on the big screen today, for those who'd rather spend this ghoulish holiday laughing at two fools from Pittsburgh who desperately try to create a DIY porno for money to pay the bills. I've seen the film and if you dig a lot of potty mouth in your comedy, then you won't walk away disappointed.

You're on your own for the other two, though word is RockNRolla is very similar to Guy Ritchie's other Brit gangster flicks, only the faces in the cast have changed. Look for several badass characters with and without accents all vying for some sort of whatever that's worth a lot of money. I'm sure it's entertaining, if you don't mind Ritchie's repetitiveness. I know nothing of The Haunting of Molly Hartley, except that practically no one has seen it (typical for a Hollywood horror film). That said, it probably brings the creep factor and if you're itching for some spoonfuls of spooky on Halloween, this might be the way to go.

Of course, if you live in and around New York City, I will instead urge you to go see my favorite documentary of the year (which goes into limited release today), Dear Zachary, which is currently sporting a whopping 100% at Rotten Tomatoes. Yay!

So, what will you be watching?



Note: We've left off the Changeling, "all of the above" or "none of the above" options, so feel free to write those in the comments if that's your choice.

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the online game that goes out of its way not to be a role model for your kids. Last week we asked you to look into the magic mirror and give us your best haunted, angsty Catholic school girl for a photo from the new flick The Haunting of Molly Hartley. And while I appreciate the dude who gave a shout out to yours truly in his caption, as well as the person who shared that hilariously random South Park reference (you know who you are), it was the following three captions that somehow scraped their way to the top.

1. "Okay, now to just carve the "B" ..." -- Paul K.

2. "Okay, Dank bathroom: Check. Hint of blood: Check. Schoolgirl outfit: Check. Now, if I can just look depressed enough, maybe Linkin Park will appear and start playing." -- Mark H.

3. "Just keep it together Haley and repeat after me: Alyson Hannigan is knocked up. This. Is. Your. Chance." -- Christie H.
.

See full image and all captions

This week we're shifting away from creepy girls who stare at themselves in the mirror and moving toward creepy guys who stare at kids while they draw. That's because we're celebrating the upcoming comedy Role Models (in theaters November 7), starring Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd as a couple of screw-ups who get arrested and subsequently sentenced to 150 hours with a mentorship program. Hilarity ensues. The three folks behind our favorite captions will each snag one Role Models hat, one Role Models t-shirt and one Role Models poster. Go for it ...



Read the official rules for this contest

The sequels were king this past weekend with High School Musical 3 and Saw V pulling in large groups from wildly different demographics (or at least one hopes so). Last week's other new release Pride and Glory came in with a less than stellar fifth place. Here's the top five:

1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year: $42 million
2. Saw V: $30 million
3. Max Payne: $7.6 million
4. Beverly Hills Chihuahua: $6.8 million
5. Pride & Glory: $6.2 million

We've got two new releases this week hoping to pull in both laughs and shrieks. We've also got a couple expanding into wider release.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley
What's It All About: After surviving a murder attempt committed by her psychotic mother, Molly Hartley tries for a new lease on life at a new private school, but she learns that something truly evil is in store for her on her 18th birthday.
Why It Might Do Well: Hellooo! Halloween?
Why It Might Not Do Well: Star power is limited to veterans of teen fair like 90210 and Gossip Girl which doesn't give the film broad appeal.
Number of Theaters: 2,250
Prediction: $12 million

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
What's It All About: Kevin Smith wrote and directed this comedy about two down on their luck platonic friends (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who decide the answer to their money problems is to make a porn film together.
Why It Might Do Well: Smith is the guy behind the Clerks movies, Chasing Amy and Dogma, and Rogen has Knocked Up, Superbad and The 40 Year Old Virgin on his resume.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The last time Smith did a film without Jay and Silent Bob we got Jersey Girl.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $22 million

And Expanding into Wider Release:
Changeling
What's It All About: Clint Eastwood directs and Angelina Jolie stars in this story based on true events. Jolie plays a mother in 1928 Los Angeles who confronts corrupt police after her son is kidnapped and another child is returned in his place.
Why It Might Do Well: High powered people on both sides of the camera and a plot that will tug at the heart strings. Also, when it went into limited release last week it had the highest per screen average of the week.
Why It Might Not Do Well: 52% at Rottentomatoes.com is nothing to brag about.
Number of Theaters: 1,800
Prediction: $9 million

RockNRolla
What's It All About: Guy Ritchie directs this comedy/crime drama about a London real estate scam and the various felons mixed up in it.
Why It Might Do Well: The trailer pleases and 60% at Rottentomatoes.com is within the Fresh range.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Still a pretty small release.
Number of Theaters: 800
Prediction: $6 million

As a Kevin Smith fan I was hoping Zack and Miri would get a number one release, but I think High School Musical 3 has got the legs to hold the top spot for another week. Also, this being Halloween weekend, we can probably expect the horror flicks to have an edge. Here's my prediction.

1. High School Musical 3
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
3. Saw V
4. The Haunting of Molly Hartley
5. Changeling

For the first time in awhile we've got not one but TWO perfect scores, so congrats to Pat Campbell and cough. This week was a bit easier to call so overall the scores were higher. Here's the rundown:
1. Pat Campbell: 16
1. cough: 16
2. NP: 13
2. dtzamaras: 13
2. lostinafog: 13
2. Ray: 13
2. VP: 13
2. Gregory Rubinstein: 13
3. Matt: 12
3. hitesh choudhary: 12
3. AJ Wiley: 12
4. Bradford Oman: 11
4. Alex Farquharson: 11
4. Herff: 11
4. Harless?: 11
4. I Eat Robots: 11
5. Vera: 9
5. Tristan: 9
6. Chris: 6
6. DarkAgair: 6
7. jeff romagnuolo: 4

Post your predictions for the top five movies in the comments section below before 5:00PM Eastern Time on Friday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game some people claim rises from the dead, but then heads back down because it's way too lazy to haunt people. Last week, we asked you to spit out some captions for a photo of that hotsy-totsy sheba Angelina Jolie from her new moving picture, Changeling. What a gal! Once we navigated our way through a maze of adoption jokes, we came across these three winners. Congrats to you!

1. "I'm sorry, when you said 'Say hello to my little friend,' I thought we were talking about something else entirely." Matt H.

2. "Hmm, I don't know. Do yo have anything in an albino?" -- Stephen M.

3. "Beverly is shocked when Alan unveils his conjoined twin, Bradford." -- Dan L.

See full image and all captions



This week, we're entering a creepy stare-off contest ... against ourselves! Oh, and we're also celebrating the new freaky flick The Haunting of Molly Hartley (in theaters on October 31). [In Mark Wahlberg's voice] What's up Molly? I don't want to haunt you, I just wanna talk to you, okay? Say hi to your mother for me. Moving on from my lame jokes, we've got some cool stuff for the winners of this caption contest. First off, one grand prize winner will take away one $250 iTunes gift card, and two runners up will each receive one 1 GB iPod shuffle. Now that's what my little sister (not named Molly) would call, "Wicked dope, yo!" Sound off below ...




Read the official rules for this contest

Every generation needs its own (emotionally) tortured teen horror movies. I had Brian DePalma's Carrie; will The Haunting of Molly Hartley be the torchbearer for the current generation? Err, hard to say, judging by the trailer MTV has unveiled. Molly Hartley has the religious nutjob mother, the cute caring boy (Chace Crawford), and a blond nemesis for our bruised brunette heroine (Haley Bennett), but we'll have to wait until October 31 to see if debuting director Mickey Liddell can deliver genuine thrills and chills. It doesn't bode well that the trailer fairly screams PG-13.

At least Molly Hartley will be shown in theaters. Despite Scott Weinberg's well-reasoned and thoroughly researched note to Lionsgate, it looks like Gregg Bishop's great Dance of the Dead will still be heading straight to DVD on October 20. While you rail at the heavens and place your pre-orders, take a moment and check out the age-restricted trailer that IGN has posted. Consider the trailer a true tease, in that it gives you just a hint at how funny, gory, and clever Dance of the Dead is in its feature-length glory.

Scott has also raved about the Spanish horror flick [REC], which has been remade into Quarantine, due out on October 10. William Goss echoed Scott's praise for the original, while slamming the remake's trailer. Well, [REC] directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza told Fangoria that they aren't too happy their film wasn't even given a chance in American theaters. Plaza said: "I would prefer them to release our movie as an art-house film in the U.S., and not to make a fool of themselves by copying it." Love that brutal European honesty!

Which film are you most excited about?