There's Nothing Wrong With Me: Duncan's Worst Films of 2011

Who wants to wallow in negativity at a time when there's so much to celebrate. I've been so busy with the bustle of catching up with the year's end that I haven't had the time or attention to comment on the films I've seen. If I had, it's only been on twitter, and if you're not following me there then you're sorely missing out. But the truth is that I didn't want to write a "Worst Films of 2011" list because that brings me back to the idea of this as a generally disappointing year, which it was for the greater part of the first nine months, for me anyway. I don't expect you to agree with any of the conclusions I've made in this list, and I don't want you to. You are free to hate me for my opinions, and I'll welcome it, but here what I have to say about the films before you do so.

Summer was a dour exercise I'd rather forget. It's worth mentioning that simple films like "Captain America", "Thor", and even "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" yielded more interest from me than the likes of "Super 8". The more appropriate name for this list would be "Most Disappointing of 2011", as much of what makes some of these films bad is the potential placed on them. Let me say that these are of the films I've seen. I didn't see everything, especially towards the end of the year, when I was especially busy catching up on what I did want to see. Sorry to "Horrible Bosses". You just missed the cut. So without further delay...

Box Office Update: Snuffed at the Source

Fun Fact: The 2011 box office is still failing miserably in comparison to both 2010 and 2009. I get the feeling that once we reach the summer movie season, things will pick up and we'll be on our way to a solid number to end the year on. This weekend does come as something of an upset, because there is a genuinely great film for audiences, but their attention seems to be averted by the typical drivel. Hop came on top, managing a gross that comes close to surpassing Rango. Kids flicks have had the greatest financial success thus far this year, and that trend is continuing here.

Source Code did lure in the majority of the adult audiences this weekend, but such a paltry number as $15 million has to disappoint in some way. Insidious came just behind it, revealing where the other adult crowds decided to go. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules fell to forth place with a massive 57% drop. Even more massive was Sucker Punch's descent of 68%, spelling quick and sudden death for Zack Snyder's only original effort. This weekend constituted a 33% drop from the same weekend last year, when Clash of the Titans opened to a large, but circumstantially disappointing, number.

1. Hop (First Weekend; $38.1 million)
2. Source Code (First Weekend; $15 million)
3. Insidious (First Weekend; $13.5 million)
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Second Weekend; $10.2 million)
5. Limitless (Third Weekend; $9.4 million)
6. The Lincoln Lawyer (Third Weekend; $7 million)
7. Sucker Punch (Second Weekend; $6.1 million)
8. Rango (Fifth Weekend; $4.5 million)
9. Paul (Third Weekend; $4.3 million)
10. Battle: Los Angeles (Fourth Weekend; $3.5 million)

Box Office Update: Felled by a Wimpy Punch

It's kind of hard to believe how pathetic the box office has been this year. There have been films that from afar seemed like definite irrational box office successes, such as Battle: Los Angeles and more recently Sucker Punch, and yet they have come in to less than spectacular numbers. It's kind of sad and depressing that a film made with all the things that guys love (girls, dragons, etc.) ended up drawing such a small opening. Zack Snyder's psychological action film Sucker Punch came in at #2 with a gross that doesn't even head past $20 million. Even more surprising than that low income is what it was surpassed by.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules performed exactly as expected to, drawing in enough excited children to surpass Snyder's under-performer. Kids being kids, you can expect them to return to the film across the following weeks. Talking of which, there were some pretty strong holdovers from last weekend, with Limitless and The Lincoln Lawyer both dropping less than 20%. Mars Needs Moms took the biggest dip of 59%, its target audience being snatched away by the top new release. Interesting enough, the top news of the weekend is probably Rango shooting past the $100 million mark, making it the first film of 2011 to do that. Adam Sandler's Just Go With It came just behind it, edging past the mark by a far more minuscule degree. Surprisingly, this weekend ended up being just 6.8% less than last year, when How to Train Your Dragon came in at the top spot. It did on the other hand come 22.9% lower than two years ago when Monsters vs. Aliens wowed audiences so.

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (First Weekend; $24.4 million)
2. Sucker Punch (First Weekend; $19 million)
3. Limitless (Second Weekend; $15.2 million)
4. The Lincoln Lawyer (Second Weekend; $11 million)
5. Rango (Fourth Weekend; $9,8 million)
6. Battle: Los Angeles (Third Weekend; $7.6 million)
7. Paul (Second Weekend; $7.5 million)
8. Red Riding Hood (Third Weekend; $4.3 million)
9. The Adjustment Bureau (Fourth Weekend; $4.2 million)
10. Mars Needs Moms (Third Weekend; $2.2 million)

Box Office Update: Limited Potential

I think we can now break down how 2011 at the box office is shaping up in comparison to past years. This weekend wasn't exactly a great weekend, but it could've been a lot worse. It did decline from where it was last weekend, but there wasn't really anything major in release to urge people to head out to the theater. Limitless ended up as the #1 film this weekend, but didn't manage to break the $20 million mark. The average income per theater was impressive, but it still lacked something crucial. Rango held onto second place, boosting the animated western to about $92 million. The film should break the $100 million mark next weekend, making it the first film to do so this year.

Battle: Los Angeles took a considerable dive of 59%, landing right behind Rango after opening in the top spot last weekend. The Lincoln Lawyer and Paul both managed decent numbers, but nothing at all spectacular given the hype surrounding them. Surprisingly enough, the wide release that held on most honorably was Mars Needs Moms. I guess 3D still has enough appeal to keep children in the theaters. Overall, this weekend was down 9.9% from last year when Alice in Wonderland held onto the top spot for the third week in a row, but up 7.1% from 2009 when Knowing opened at #1.

1. Limitless (First Weekend; $19 million)
2. Rango (Third Weekend; $15.3 million)
3. Battle: Los Angeles (Second Weekend; $14.6 million)
4. The Lincoln Lawyer (First Weekend; $13.4 million)
5. Paul (First Weekend; $13.2 million)
6. Red Riding Hood (Second Weekend; $7.3 million)
7. The Adjustment Bureau (Third Weekend; $5.9 million)
8. Mars Needs Moms (Second Weekend; $5.3 million)
9. Beastly (Third Weekend; $3.3 million)
10. Hall Pass (Fourth Weekend; $2.6 million)

Box Office Update: Calculated Retreat

This weekend wasn't really a victory, but certainly not a defeat. We're on a course towards revival at the box office, and it wasn't going to come right away. We're still going through the dullest of material to get to the real gold, if it even exists. I personally am pretty excited about the films coming out this Friday, which may not exactly be great, but are still probably good. As for this weekend, there was no bright side to be seen in terms of movies, and you could tell by the nonsensical defenses people gave for Battle: Los Angeles. I have no problem saying that I had a ridiculously fun time with the film, but it didn't really have anything to do with the film. The film was abysmal, but in a way that you could so enjoyably poke fun at.

So it comes as little surprise to me that a film I compare to the works of Michael Bay came on top of the weekend. It wasn't terribly high, and doesn't exceed what Rango turned in last week, but it was above the norm. It's just unusual that films aren't opening above $50 million so far this year. I would've pegged this weekend to do much better than it did, but it turns out the quality kind of mattered to audiences. Red Riding Hood came in third with an opening figure that doesn't even fill up a third of what any of the Twilight films have made opening weekend. Mars Needs Moms, a 3D animated kids flick, came in fifth with a truly sad figure below $10 million.

Rango fell to #2, and I suspect that the lack of 3D caused that dip to be a little lower. It held on more than you would've expected it to, but it was still a bit disappointing. The Adjustment Bureau fell 45.8% to fourth place, and I think audiences have gotten about as much mileage as they're going to get from it. The King's Speech spends what is likely to be its last weekend in the top ten, making it to nearly $130 million. In the limited circuit, Jane Eyre recieved $182,317 at four theaters, which makes for the highest per theater average of this weekend. I wish I was in a position to see it. This weekend was down only 13% from last year, when Alice in Wonderland held on to to #1 for its second weekend.

1. Battle: Los Angeles (First Weekend; $36 million)
2. Rango (Second Weekend; $23.1 million)
3. Red Riding Hood (First Weekend; $14.1 million)
4. The Adjustment Bureau (Second Weekend; $11.5 million)
5. Mars Needs Moms (First Weekend; $6.8 million)
6. Hall Pass (Third Weekend; $5.1 million)
7. Beastly (Second Weekend; $5.1 million)
8. Just Go With It (Fifth Weekend; $4 million)
9. The King's Speech (Sixteenth Weekend; $3.6 million)
10. Gnomeo and Juliet (Fifth Weekend; $3.5 million)

"Good Luck Against the Aliens"

The Weekend Report: The Red Heat of Battle

If you're out eagerly looking for quality cinema entertainment, this weekend isn't for you. We're just not at that point yet where we can expect good films to come out, but I wouldn't say this is going to be a truly miserable weekend. The box office is in a position to thrive with plenty of opportunities to ensnare gullible moviegoers. I'm mostly talking about Battle: Los Angeles, which reads as a film that will eventually be shown constantly on FX. It has that same Michael Bay action sensibility, and Bay has been illogically huge in the box office in the past. I expect this film to do very well for itself.

Red Riding Hood, though it's received abysmal reviews, should also receive a certain following this weekend. It's obviously intended for the same fan base as Twilight, but I imagine that even they will come out of this film marginally disappointed. I don't suggest seeing it, but I'll end up seeing it sometime this weekend, so might as well suffer with me. The only thing I wouldn't suggest is seeing Mars Needs Moms, because that's a film that's looked unbearably stale from the beginning. It doesn't look entertaining in the slightest, and in fact looks like a difficult film to sit through. If you're looking for anything more than guilty entertainment, you'll be disappointed this weekend.

Film Review: Battle Los Angeles

Upon seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen two years back, I didn't have the same exact reaction that most people had for it. It was quite honestly one of the worst films of that year, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't enjoyable. I've found such gleeful pleasure out of some really terrible films, and this film continues along that same sort of line. If you go into Battle: Los Angeles with the idea that you're above both the film and the audience watching it, and you just let loose on what's so ridiculous about it, you'll enjoy yourself. You won't be enjoying it for any of the right reasons, but you'll get a lot more out of it than going into it with an entirely critical mind frame.

The plot of this film in a nutshell, aliens invade the planet and the military forces try to protect their city. In less of a nutshell, the dumbest clueless marines in Los Angeles go in to protect their city from "meteors", and there's no way that it could possibly be anything other than meteors, right? That's pretty much the mindset that these marines go into the field with, as if they don't know exactly what is going on. It brings me back to From Dusk Till Dawn, where George Clooney states pretty damn quickly that they're up against vampires. We don't have that in this film, so we get a lot of needlessly frantic scenes of soldiers shouting and panicking.

The premise of this feature is ludicrous, because a large team of soldiers goes into the war grounds to rescue a grand total of five civilians. That seems like a complete waste of man power. Whatever happened to sacrificing the few illegal immigrants that got left behind for the greater good. That's what I would do. That's what anyone would do. Getting back to the group of soldiers, there is just far too many of them. Going into this film, we had way too much exposition for each of these individual losers, and it exceeds the proper amount of characters you should have in a motion picture. Then when we're in enemy territory, we take on five more soldiers, including the laughably abominable Michelle Rodriguez.

For Your Anticipation: You Wanna Call Him Fido?

I certainly had some mild hopes for Battle: Los Angeles a few months ago after I saw the teaser trailer. It was just after Skyline managed to dissolve hopes of original science fiction territory to be tread. This actually seemed like it could be a gritty hard-core take on the invasion sub-genre, like The Hurt Locker meets... Skyline. Sorry if that comparison doesn't exactly inspire confidence, but this film will honestly never be as good as 2009's epic war saga. That being said, I don't believe it could possibly be as bad as the 2010 bad-things-happen-to-pretty-people science fiction film it demands comparison to.

Films To See In 2011: March

At the start of every month, I tell myself that it's going to be better than what we were saddled with last month. That hasn't really been working for me lately, seeing as the closest January brought us to real quality was No Strings Attached, and the top film out in February happens to come from Justin Bieber. That's meant to be a compliment, because unlike most people on the planet, I don't hate Justin Bieber. I have better things to do with my time than hate a 15 year old kid who never did anything wrong to me. Getting back on track, I genuinely believe this month will be a step in the right direction. There are some films that I'd have liked to put on this list, but just didn't make the cut. The Adjustment Bureau looks like it could be another great film for Matt Damon, Paul looks absolutely hilarious, and features like Sucker Punch and Battle: Los Angeles look like well produced action spectacles. I just found myself most anticipating of three somewhat unlikely films.

#3."Beastly"
Directed by Daniel Barnz

A surprise, I am sure this is going to come as, but I can't remember a point in which I didn't think this was going to be a good film. I know that it has a supporting cast that includes Mary-Kate Olsen and Vanessa Hudgens, of all people, but I remember when Hudgens was set to appear in Bandslam a few years back. Nobody thought that would turn out well, and it turned out great. Beastly truly looks like a sweet and somewhat enjoyable twist on the tale of Beauty and the Beast. This could be the true breakout role for Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four), or else just another film worth seeing for Neil Patrick Harris.

#2."Jane Eyre"

Directed by Cary Fukunaga

I wasn't exactly sold on this one so instantly, but before the trailer came out, I had a hard time seeing the down side. It's a pretty well-known story, though I haven't ever found the time to read it, and the film features two of my favorite up-and-coming actors of this era. If you're familiar with this sight, you'll know how much I've appreciated Mia Wasikowska's work over the few months, and Michael Fassbender immediately struck me when he appeared in Inglourious Basterds nearly two years ago. I knew that this guy was going places. The first trailer was a bit mysterious for my tastes, and I had no idea what to make of this film. However, given the tone and writing of the footage I've seen, I think Jane Eyre could be the rare old-British drama that actually works. I'm certainly hoping for that outcome.

#1."Win Win"
Directed by Thomas McCarthy

Inevitably the film that I am 100% assured of is from Thomas McCarthy, who is fashioning a resume that paints him to be the Christopher Nolan of indie dramedies. By that, I mean that his track record thus far is impeccable, which I can't say is too stupefying since this is only his third film. Still, the man has done some great work in the recent past, and he's also partially responsible for the screenplay for Up. My anticipation for this film is do only partly to the director's craft, because it also features a clean shaven (kinda) Paul Giamatti in the lead role. The plot of a failing lawyer and family man moonlighting as a high-school wrestling coach who takes in a talented teenager doesn't strike as classic off the bat, but it's off-kilter enough to be more than just nothing. This could be McCarthy's best yet, and Giamatti could be looking at his second Academy-Award nomination. Maybe my hopes are a bit too high, but I really want Win Win to be a major win.

Theatrical Trailer: Battle: Los Angeles

A good few months ago, two teaser trailers for Battle: Los Angeles debuted, and they garnered a more than mixed reaction. One was wonderfully crafted, while the other felt like everything I fear the film will end up being. After this final theatrical trailer, I'm putting those fears aside and putting my faith in this project. It's not like Skyline, which never looked like it'd be a genuinely good film, but looked enjoyable. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and I can buy into the plot and characters well enough so far. Granted we've not really seen too much character work, but all I've seen has been really war-like, and it's all gritty and strange. I'm definitely in the theaters to see this one, given reviews don't totally bash it.

Dual Teaser Trailers: Battle: Los Angeles

Earlier today, we got a phenomenal teaser trailer for the alien invasion flick Battle: Los Angeles, and I was absolutely abuzz. I realize at this point that the film is probably going to complete crap. There is little denying it, as it's a close replica of Skyline, only with a slightly different approach. What freed my mind was that second teaser trailer was released simultaneously, though it was radically different in approach. It brought through what will likely be the actual tone of the film when it is released. It's a bit sad for me, because the first trailer almost fooled me into believing it to be a fusion of Avatar and The Hurt Locker. That would've been fantastic, because it would've been the best of both worlds. While the illusion is broken, I still absolutely adore the original trailer. For a moment, I was inspired, before being brought back down to earth. I have both trailers embedded for you, so that you may have a similar experience. Comment below on what you thought.

Original (Good) Trailer:

Second (Poorly Realized) Trailer:

Comic Con 2010: Day 2 Panels!

Sorry if today isn't as eventful as yesterday. Nobody can expect any other major studio to pull what Disney pulled yesterday with their TRON Legacy panel. Today's panels were pretty standard, and we haven't really gotten anything special out of it. My source for Comic Con panel details yesterday, Kris Tapley from In Contention, hasn't done many posts today, but I thank him for the detailed look into the panels he saw yesterday. If you want to follow his twitter feed, you'll get a few more by the minute bits from Comic Con as they happen.

For the dish on today's panels, we turn to ComingSoon.net, who have given detailed descriptions of the goings on at Comic Con today. Today's panels included the Guillermo Del Toro produced Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, James Gunn's Super, Skyline, Green Hornet, The Other Guys, and Battle: Los Angeles. So check out the link provided above to find out more about the anticipated films.