Quick Takes: "Ted", "Chronicle", "The Gold Rush", "Battleship Potemkin"

"Chronicle"

Directed by Josh Trank

Over the past few years, "found footage" has emerged most fully in the mainstream as a manipulative and tired tool for horror thrills, most effectively used in films like "Paranormal Activity", "Cloverfield", and most especially "The Blair Witch Project". This year in particular seemed to bleed them out of every orifice in the first three months, so much so that the "found footage superhero movie" just felt like another feature to throw in the pile. And so it stood for several months, and then when it was mentioned amongst the top 3 films of the year thus far according to Justin Jagoe and Alex Carlson of Film Misery... well, I didn't have an excuse to moan about how it wasn't worth my time anymore.

What surprised me wasn't merely the fact that it was good, but that it used both the found footage and superhero genres in peak form. From the first moment of the film, you see the role in which the camera plays in these characters' lives, and it's becomes not merely a gimmick. The "Chronicle" of the film's title doesn't merely allude to that single camera, but the abundance of material that's made so publicly available for people to see. In the film's third act the style goes rampantly, exhilaratingly all over the place, jumping from cameras of different quality and purpose, moving freely between them as a jarring document.

Box Office Update: "Vow" for "Safe" "Journey", Despite "Menace"

I didn't really hold strong hopes for this box office weekend, but it has fared about as well as the year for the whole part has so far. Last year was a long and drawn-out nightmare of a year in terms of the box office. There was simply nothing of real spectacle happening, so despite the mildly disappointing films the money's headed towards, it's still satisfying to see an invigoration towards the theatrical experience. I had worried that this weekend would pale in comparison to last year, when that Justin Bieber movie and "Just Go With It" ruled the box office. I guess I underestimated the Valentine's Day weekend draw of Channing Tatum, Denzel Washington, and... 3D, apparently.

"The Vow" clearly played to the right demographic this weekend, and as such reaped the majority of the weekend's winning. "Safe House" played more to the date-night-action-flick crowd, falling just a tad short of its competition. Both are likely to be frontloaded openings likely to fall immensely come next weekend. "Journey 2" and "Star Wars" managed to split the 3D winnings this weekend, so clearly the problem of not having enough 3D screens that we dealt with just two years ago isn't anything to worry about now. The weekend ended up a 31% increase upon last year, so this year is proving to be a pretty strong bounce-back from last year.

For Your Anticipation: Direct Influence

I'm not really sure how this ended up my most anticipated film of this week. Frankly, I'm still just interested in seeing what the buzz around "The Grey" is all about. This week is a kind of anomaly, as there's nothing particularly awful, but still nothing motivating. "Chronicle" is an example, as something that's intriguing at best, but still a tried and overused concept. I just don't find it so interesting anymore at this point.

Films to See in 2012: February

How did we get slammed with practically nothing for two months in a row? I mean, I'm sure that the media glut is going to be happy with the films coming out in February, and those of us who ask for something more will probably be busy indulging in the films heading for Oscar. Myself, I'm very easily bored and I kind of expected that the world would finally be able to keep me entertained. Not so. Second month in a row where I can't satisfy you with three films I'd suggest. First weekend, you get a movie about whales, as if we didn't have enough of those already. I was fine after "The Cove", which actually meant something. "Big Miracle" does not, beyond the inexplicable drive for audiences to see a movie about nature.

There's also the mockumentary superhero film, "Chronicle", which is just another mark crossed off on the we-haven't-done-a-found-footage-film-about-this list. Cap it off with "The Woman in Black", which is only mildly relevant as it's Daniel Radcliffe's first role outside "Harry Potter". Let's see how quickly he fades. Heading into the following week, we have the action-nothing "Safe House", the pointless romance "The Vow", 3D jizz-fest "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island", and the 3D re-release of "The Phantom Menace". Is anybody else already deeply pissed off that we're given a trilogy of some of the worst films ever made before we get to the original trilogy?