changeling Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Choke
Even with the cult-led power of Fight Club, it took a long time for another Chuck Palahniuk adaptation to make it to the big screen. Finally, we were served Clark Gregg's Choke, a film that certainly relished its source material, but didn't inspire the rabid love of its predecessor. Still, it's a fun look into the life of a sex addict who fake-chokes in restaurants for money. Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Erik's Review

Body of Lies
Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe get to face off in this political thriller filled with CIA intrigue and infiltration. Leo's the out-in-the-field op uncovering word of a new terrorist leader, while Crowe guides via satellite -- but is that guidance helping or hurting the situation? Rent it on DVD or Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read James' Review

Changeling
True stories made for successful cinema in this Clint Eastwood-helmed film about a woman (Angelina Jolie) in 1920s LA who's trying to find her abducted son. She gets a son, alright, but it's not her own, which triggers her own search for the ugly truth. As Kim Voynar said, Jolie "excels in a powerful performance." Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Kim's Review

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Simon Pegg has made an amazing comedic name for himself over the last handful of years, fighting zombies and enforcing the law in a small and crazy town. But in comedies not created and whipped up by Pegg himself, they fall flat. Even if he is alienating the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Danny Huston, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson, and Megan Fox ... we say Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeff's Review

Also out: Midnight Meat Train, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Flash of Genius, Quarantine, Alien Raiders, Feast 3: The Happy Finish, Moving Midway, Screamers: The Hunting, Still Waiting

As the season marches on, 'for your consideration' ads litter the trades and various awards analysis websites. However, there aren't nearly enough campaigns for the year's worst performances.

You have your obnoxious kids (Jaden Smith in The Day The Earth Stood Still, Logan Lerman in Meet Bill). You have your touched individuals who straddle the line between functional and, ahem, 'full retard' (Sophie Okonedo in The Secret Life of Bees, Omar Benson Miller in Miracle at St. Anna, David Morse in Hounddog). You've got your guys that give 'insane' a bad name (Jason Butler Harner in Changeling, Donny Osmond in College Road Trip), and you've got your girls that give English a bad name (Ahney Her in Gran Torino, Natalya Rudakova in Transporter 3).

Oh, and then there's just about the entire cast of The Happening. (If I had to pick just one person, though, I'd go with the gardener who babbles on about hot dogs. The man's priceless.)

So, unless we're about to let Witless Protection sweep the Razzies, what were some of your least favorite performances of the year?

There's an interesting discussion currently making its way around the internets after About.com's Jurgen Fauth listed his choices for the most disappointing films of 2008 -- a list which boasts fan favorites like The Dark Knight, WALL-E and Slumdog Millionaire. Obviously Jurgen is one to go against the grain -- and more power to him -- but we're certainly allowed to disagree with statements like (when speaking of WALL-E): " ... for my money, the much maligned Star Wars: The Clone Wars offered much more exciting entertainment and a fresher visual style." George Lucas sends his love.

Karina over at Spout then picked up the torch and shoveled out some of the films she was most disappointed by in 2008, including Religulous, Che and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (this one in particular caused the gal a few hate mail waves). As far as the films on my list, top (or bottom) honors would have to go to Choke, which was a great book that landed in the wrong hands. Part of me already expected to be disappointed by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so we half-count that, and, like both Jurgen and Karina, felt Oliver Stone could've done much better with W. I'll round out my list with Clint Eastwood's Changeling -- a film I thought tried to be too much at once -- and then ask you for your most disappointing films of 2008. So ... sound off below.

When filling out the box office chart that's below the fold, I accidentally mistyped Madagascar as Badagascar. I didn't mean it. Of this decade's slew of random non-Pixar talking-animal cartoons, Madagascar and Happy Feet are far and away the best, so I'm glad that the former, at least, is now a bona fide franchise. (There were rumors of a second Happy Feet, but that project seems to have stalled.) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa opened to a huge $63.5 million this weekend, a $16 million improvement on its 2005 predecessor. Animated films' staying power is unpredictable (though generally stronger than average), but $175 million seems assured and $250 million is not out of the question.

Role Models' $19 million opening is less ginormous, but no less notable. For an R-rated comedy with no real stars and no franchise behind it, that's a major coup. I suspect word-of-mouth will help the film in the weeks to come.

Soul Men, on the other hand, failed to capitalize on the cache of Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac. Black audiences would have turned out in droves for the feel-good comedy. Lionsgate would have gone to town with it.

With last weekend's box office hit on account of Halloween falling on Friday, this weekend's drop figures -- save Saw V's -- looked pretty good across the board. Most notably, people seem to be responding well to Clint Eastwood's Changeling, which held on to fourth place without much of a screen count jump.

The full estimates after the jump.

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.

1. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom (Logo)
2. Synecdoche, New York (Sony Pictures Classics)
3. Let the Right One In (Magnolia)

How on earth did an unheralded, under-the-radar movie from an untested distribution outfit manage to nearly out-earn a much-advertised period flick starring one of the biggest tabloid stars in the world, directed by one of the most respected? Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, based on the Logo TV series, opened at theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington DC over the weekend and grossed $32,200 per screen, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. That puts it just behind Clint Eastwood's Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie. The romantic comedy follows four men and their partners as they travel to Martha's Vineyard and deal with relationship travails. The first release by Logo's film distribution unit, indieWIRE says that Noah's Arc "is already 2008's highest grossing narrative gay film overall."

If a romantic comedy starring gay African Americans sounds like an unlikely box office winner, what about a movie with a nearly unpronounceable title featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman as an aging theater director? Not exactly sexy, I suppose, but Synecdoche, New York nonetheless grossed $19,222 per screen at nine theaters in New York and Los Angeles. I don't think anyone expects this to be a huge box office smash, yet that's a good, strong start for Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, one of the more intriguing films to be released this fall season.

The top two films at the box office this weekend couldn't be more different -- which might help explain why both had such strong starts. The third film in the Disney Channel's wholesome, wildly popular High School Musical franchise, and the first to hit theaters, had a $42 million debut, and will go on to be at least as wildly profitable as its predecessors. $30.5 million for Saw V is basically in line with its three immediate predecessors, all of which had first weekends between $31 and $33 million. The films' final grosses have been steadily declining since the second film, however, with the most recent entry dropping like a rock and managing only $63 million total. We'll see if that trend continues. I'd say, though, that this debut guarantees a sixth Saw for next Halloween. As Eric wrote yesterday, it is now the most lucrative horror franchise in film history.

The only other new wide release this weekend was Pride & Glory, which New Line more or less dumped. It did a predictably weak $6.3 million, good enough for fifth place.

Oliver Stone's W. took a big hit, as the people who needed to see it apparently saw it last weekend. It dropped nearly 50%, with a $25-28 million finish looking likely. Max Payne held up even worse after last week's strong debut. Meanwhile, two films from the early fall doldrums continue to emerge as success stories: Eagle Eye and Beverly Hills Chihuahua are both still hanging around, and both looking to reach $100 million before all is said and done.

In 20th place, Clint Eastwood's Changeling made a strong limited bow: half a million on fifteen screens, for $33,000 per screen. It goes wide next week. A bit further down, the annual rerelease of Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D couldn't do much business, ending up with $372,000 on almost 300 screens.

The full estimates after the jump.

(Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" begins its platform release this weekend, so we're offering a reprint of our Cannes review from last May.)

By Kim Voynar

Clint Eastwood's Changeling (which may or may not be now known as The Exchange), is a riveting drama about a missing boy and the undying constancy of a mother's love. Angelina Jolie excels in a powerful performance as Christine Collins, whose nine-year-old son, Walter, disappeared in 1928. Five months later, police returned to her a boy they said was Walter; Christine alleged that the boy was not her son.

At the time, the Los Angeles police department was under considerable pressure due to the efforts of a Presbyterian minister, Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), to expose corruption within the police force. Captain Jones (Jeffrey Donovan), who heads up the investigation, doesn't particularly care whether the boy is or isn't Walter Collins; he has a publicity campaign to manage that's all about making himself look good, so he tries to convince Christine to accept the found boy as her son. When she fights back by going to the press, Jones has her committed to the psycho ward.

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