Box Office Report: The Pre-"Avengers" Slump

This weekend was wise to stock up on as many releases as possible for the weekend before "The Avengers" inevitably shatters records domestically as it has been in foreign markets. Anything that would have gone up against it would be overlooked, and everybody seems to be saving their breath for next weekend. That left audiences split rather decisively, so it's a rather encouraging note that this weekend did as well as it did. While it may be a far cry from last year, when "Fast Five" smashed April records for the box office, it's much better than the frame from two years ago, which was normal goings given the season.

"Think Like a Man" continued its short-lived supremacy at the top, taking a nearly 50% fall like pretty much every other film this weekend, except "The Hunger Games". That filmed continued its climb to $400 million, and is likely to get there just under the wire. As for the new releases, "The Pirates!" was the surprise winner, though how much of a surprise is that really? It's a kids flick, and they're the crowd most prone to flock irrationally to theaters. "The Five-Year Engagement" was the only other film to nearly match it, and that one got its benefits from the rom-com crowd, which is the second reliable faction in this weekend.

Box Office Report: April gets "Lucky"

WAVERING QUETION: Why aren't people in love happy?

Can somebody do me a kindness and explain to me how this weekend turned out to be so ridiculously successful at the box office? I did not believe for a second that films with as little buzz and interest as "Think Like a Man" and "The Lucky One" would end up with the colossal debuts they did, especially after more obvious smashes like "American Reunion", "Wrath of the Titans", and "Titanic 3D" seemed to wash up to some degree. Don't get me wrong, since they're still earning quite the honest intake, with "Reunion" having been made on a small profit, "Titans" pulling in a profit overseas, and "Titanic" having already tripled its budget some time ago.

Needless to say it was a weekend for underdogs, with Tim Story's black (as in the colour) comedy "Think Like a Man" becoming the surprise hit of the weekend. My guess is it found a niche in the Tyler Perry crowd of viewers, and ran with it quite well. And who could possibly be surprised that a bunch of girls flocked to theaters to check out Zac Efron in yet another Nicolas Sparks adaptation. At this point, what tween actor hasn't had the Nicolas Sparks treatment? I think we're waiting on Taylor Swift to grab one up, and I admit that if she did that, I might actually see it. Why? Because I'm an idiot who loves Taylor Swift, so back off keep reading.

Quick Takes: "Cabin in the Woods", "Girls", "A Prophet"

"The Cabin in the Woods"

Directed by Drew Goddard

My thoughts on the much hyped "Cabin in the Woods" are difficult to state, not because I'm afraid of giving away spoilers. It's because the subject of spoilers has been so completely marring any reviews. If we're not even allowed to talk about the basic plot of the film, what's the point? A bunch of old corporate geezers send a bunch of high school teens into a death trap to pretty much reenact your typical horror films. If that's the master spoiler, what the hell am I spoiling? That's in the very first 15 minutes of the film. I wish I'd even known that before heading in to the film. It's nice to have some inclination of plot.

But how's the film? Not quite worthy of all the hype that everyone seems to allot it. Is it quite clever in its more humorous statements. Yes, and it gives the films a spontaneity that all the serious talk of spoilers attempts to deprive the film of. This isn't a masterful film, or something worth protecting. The surprises aren't based on plot, but on visual zing. Richard Jenkins' and Bradley Whitford's regular exchanges throughout the film give the horror backdrop such a lively nature to it. And when the third act festival of carnage begins, boy oh boy is it ridiculous fun. A few days ago, after I first saw the film, I had a less than soulful tune to things, and gave the film a C+ via twitter. Now? I think it's a keen and fun play on the genre, and deserves not to be raised to a standard it couldn't possibly live up to.