Carpet-Bagging: Animated Feature Submissions to 18

The Oscars continue their slow gallop to relevance within conversation, though we're still widely confused about what could and will happen in the races this year. But at least we can start making finite guesses about one particular race, that being the Best Animated Feature category. The list of submitted titles has been announced, and the two pics whose mere presence is worth talking about are "The Adventures of Tintin" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked". Having not seen anything from the latter, and still assuming they're doing what they've always done, I'm kind of surprised, but I won't get too much into it. No way in hell it makes the shortlist. And I'm also curious about "The Smurfs", but that's under the same area as "Alvin".

"Tintin", on the other hand, almost has a guaranteed spot in the nominations. There's been a great deal of positive word after the film's UK opening this past weekend. I'd consider it amongst the frontrunners of this year, as there's even severe doubt that "Cars 2" will even be nominated. If I were to lay my guesses on the nominations here, assuming there's five, I'd say the other four slots would be filled by "Chico and Rita", "A Cat in Paris", "Kung Fu Panda 2", and "Rango" tied for the lead. But that's just a far off guess. Happy to hear any other theories. Comment away!

"The Adventures of Tintin"

"Alois Nebel"
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Cars 2"
"A Cat in Paris"

Box Office Update: "Help"! Somebody! Anybody!

Does the enduring box office success of "The Help" have anything to do with how good a film it is? Maybe a little, but it's more to do with the fact that we have nothing better to do. I dismissed the lion's share of releases this weekend, and as it turns out I wasn't the only one. The only slightly positive film this weekend, "The Debt", ended up the strongest release, despite the tepid response on its Wednesday release. "Apollo 18" and "Shark Night 3D" fell just slightly behind, splitting the horror crowd down the middle. It was a very uneven weekend.

As far as long term box office goes, I'd actually say that August has been something of a success. Three films of this month have earned more than $100 million thus far. "The Smurfs" is somewhat arguable, as it premiered at the tail end of July, but it still managed $130 million throughout the month, despite terrible reviews. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" could've been much worse than it was, so the general optimism from it has pushed it to $160 million. And "The Help" is still on the rise, currently with $118 million and climbing. This weekend was about 8% higher than last year, when "The American" arrived to undeserved critical bashing, just barely outrunning "Machete".

1. "The Help" (Fourth Weekend; $14.2 million)

2. "The Debt" (First Weekend; $9.7 million)

3. "Apollo 18" (First Weekend; $8.7 million)

4. "Shark Night 3D" (First Weekend; $8.6 million)

5. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (Fifth Weekend; $7.8 million)

6. "Columbiana" (Second Weekend; $7.4 million)

7. "Our Idiot Brother" (Second Weekend; $5.2 million)

8. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (Second Weekend; $4.9 million)

9. "Spy Kids 4" (Third Weekend; $4.6 million)

10. "The Smurfs" (Sixth Weekend; $4 million)

Box Office Update: "Help" Takes it by Storm

I suppose the box office could've tanked a lot more than it did, given the much buzzed about hurricane making its way across the east coast. I have to say that I'm personally underwhelmed by Irene, but it'll do to keep things interesting till we get some quality films our way. For now "The Help" continues to clean up the box office field, just coming shy of $100 million. I admit to completely forgetting of its staying power until it cropped up again this morning. I was focused on the new, which isn't all that interesting.

It shouldn't be surprising that "Columbiana" dominated amongst the new releases, given its action film orientation. I'd be tempted myself if I didn't know that they probably won't be repeating "never forget where you came from" to ridiculous extent as in the trailer. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" was close behind, which is interesting as there isn't really a demographic for it. I guess that's why it didn't break $10 million. "Our Idiot Brother" was the lowest of the new releases, which is no surprise given it's indie reputation. Doesn't play as broadly as comedies like "Horrible Bosses". Also to no surprise, this weekend performed more than 20% down from last year. Same can be expected from next weekend.

1. "The Help" (Third Weekend; $14.3 million)
2. "Columbiana" (First Weekend; $10.3 million)
3. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (First Weekend; $8.7 million)
4. "Rise of the Apes" (Fourth Weekend; $8.7 million)
5. "Our Idiot Brother" (First Weekend; $6.6 million)
6. "Spy Kids 4" (Second Weekend; $5.7 million)
7. "The Smurfs" (Fifth Weekend; $4.8 million)
8. "Conan" (Second Weekend; $3.1 million)
9. "Fright Night" (Second Weekend; $3 million)
10. "Crazy, Stupid, Love." (Fifth Weekend; $2.9 million)

Box Office Update: "Help", I Need Somebody!

If I had some sort of foresight on the box office of this weekend, I'd have taken the time out of my weekend to see "Fright Night". It is unfair that that should hit below $10 million. That being said, I still won't see it, if only because I'd rather see something great instead of something merely adequate. Hell, I'm even shelling out some pity for "One Day", which maybe received too much of a critical bashing. I think people were pissed it wasn't the second coming of "An Education", and they immediately wrote it off. I certainly did, without seeing it. I doubt I'd like it too well, but I'm not a huge fan of romances.

On to the real winner of the weekend, "The Help" came out on top, having only dipped % from last weekend. I guess I was right to assume that people would flock to it. It's an extremely likable film. I could see it going on to surpass "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" at this point. The science fiction reboot isn't declining massively, but at a steady pace of which you could expect. It certainly has more staying power than some other notable blockbusters. As for the other new releases I don't really care about, obviously they were the bigger successes. "Spy Kids 4" proved most successful, a horrific crime against nature in my opinion, with "Conan" just behind it.

Of course, what could you have expected with August beginning to draw to a close. There's always been that expectation of something lesser as the most successful part of the year closes out. Next week's slate does have its work cut out for it, as there was a slight resurgence at the end of last summer with "Takers" and "The Last Exorcism". I suppose that "Columbiana", "Our Idiot Brother", and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" are somewhat up to the task. They're covering the market pretty well.

1. "The Help" (Second Weekend; $20.5 million)

2. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (Third Weekend; $16.3 million)

3. "Spy Kids 4" (First Weekend; $12 million)

4. "Conan" (First Weekend; $10 million)

5. "The Smurfs" (Fourth Weekend; $8 million)

6. "Fright Night" (First Weekend; $7.9 million)

7. "Final Destination 5" (Second Weekend; $7.7 million)

8. "30 Minutes or Less" (Second Weekend; $6.3 million)

9. "One Day" (First Weekend; $5.1 million)

10. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (Fourth Weekend; $4.9 million)

Box Office Update: "Help" Wins Under "Rise"

If things seem somewhat tried and redundant in the coming weeks, it's frankly because there's absolutely nothing new to say. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" looks to be the last major blockbuster of the summer, still holding the top slot for the second consecutive weekend. That wouldn't be such a major accomplishment if things had unfolded as predicted, but "The Help" was a surprisingly strong debut. Much as I hoped, audiences have been reacting to the drama positively in all corners. It certainly shows up the other debuts this weekend.

"Final Destination 5" couldn't scrape $20 million, so things may be coming to a halt for the horror franchise. "The Smurfs" continues to reap more cash than it deserves, now climbing past $100 million. "30 Minutes or Less" proved to be mostly a failure, due likely to negative reviews and some controversy over real life events. "Glee" didn't even scratch the top ten, falling at number 11 with under $6 million. Things are still generally more positive than the end of last summer, but that could change somewhat quickly.

1. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (Second Weekend; $27.5 million)

2. "The Help" (First Weekend; $25.5 million)

3. "Final Destination 5" (First Weekend; $18.4 million)

4. "The Smurfs" (Third Weekend; $13.5 million)

5. "30 Minutes or Less" (First Weekend; $13 million)

6. "Cowboys and Aliens" (Third Weekend; $7.6 million)

7. "Captain America" (Fourth Weekend; $7.1 million)

8. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (Third Weekend; $6.9 million)

9. "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" (Fifth Weekend; $6.8 million)

10. "The Change Up" (Second Weekend; $6.2 million)

Box Office Update: Substantial "Rise" as summer falls

I know it's strange, but I miss this site being, or at least feeling, important. Across the past few weeks I've fallen into a bit of a slump, and I am dearly sorry for that. I'm not in a very endearing or motivating environment, so that makes me feel quite often like I'd rather do nothing. So for the next few weeks leading up to September you're going to be seeing a major resurgence in activity on the site. I'm going to try to talk about something every day, even if there's nothing to talk about in the news. I'm going to get back to my roots of indulging in more trivial news for the sake of anger and enjoyable reading.

So now on to the box office, which was surging this weekend. I'll be getting to my thoughts on Rise of the Planet of the Apes soon enough, and though I'm not quite ecstatic about it, it is better than the film that debuted in this frame last year, The Other Guys. I was surprised by how well the film played with audiences, and should continue to play in the coming weeks of the summer. With little competition in its way, it could have stood out as a sleeper hit if the opening wasn't so great. It still could stick out in that way, but that's for next weekend to tell.

The rest of the box office was successful, but disappointing due to the films they belonged to. The Smurfs rose to $76 million, beating out Cowboys and Aliens after an indecisive finish last weekend. The latter film rests a gulf of $10 million behind, and that gap will only increase in the coming weeks. The Change-Up happily disappointed, with one of the lowest opening for a comedy this summer. Ryan Reynolds has not had a good summer, nor has he deserved one. Captain America still lags slightly behind Thor, but is generally positive at the present time.

Box Office Update: "Cowboys" Gets "Smurf"ed

I'm sorry Damon Lindelof, but you really shouldn't have brought it up in the first place. While some will gripe that both films opened about equally, Cowboys and Aliens had more potential and expectation going into this weekend, so the adequate opening weekend gross just doesn't match up. The Smurfs, on the other hand, played higher than it was expected or deserved to, so it's kind of the champion of this weekend, regardless of what Monday's numbers say. In other news, completely unrelated to the colossal debuts this weekend, Captain America dove 61% from last weekend, showing that it doesn't have quite the same staying power as Thor did in May.

Deathly Hallows: Part 2 continues to do really well despite the expected massive drop in its second weekend. Sadly, you can tell my disposition about the film from how I only refer to it as Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and not Harry Potter. Crazy, Stupid, Love is faring as you'd expect a standard rom-com to nowadays. The superior Friends with Benefits dipped precisely 50%, and should hopefully hold up better than the former. So expect the box office to hit a massive slump after this weekend, much like it did last year.

1. The Smurfs (First Weekend; $36.2 million)

2. Cowboys and Aliens (First Weekend; $36.2 million)

3. Captain America: The First Avenger (Second Weekend; $24.9 million)

4. Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Third Weekend; $21.9 million)

5. Crazy, Stupid, Love (First Weekend; $19.3 million)

6. Friends with Benefits (Second Weekend; $9.3 million)

7. Horrible Bosses (Fourth Weekend; $7.1 million)

8. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Fifth Weekend; $6 million)

9. Zookeeper (Fourth Weekend; $4.2 million)

10. Cars 2 (Sixth Weekend; $2.3 million)

The Weekend Report: Craziness and Insanity

I've got one foot out the door on my way to my legitimate job, as in the one that pays for me to see films every week, so I'm going to have to make this short. I'm not so sure about the box office prospects for Cowboys and Aliens, because I imagine many have the same trepidation about it that I have. I'm not going to see it in theaters, but I oddly hope it does well. God forbid the western genre die from another blockbuster hit. I can see Crazy, Stupid, Love doing really well this weekend, and it could give Ryan Gosling the heat he needs to escalate his career in the coming weeks with Drive and The Ides of March. I don't want anyone to see The Smurfs, because that's just child cruelty. Who would do that?

Dread Locks: July 2011

It's usually at this point that I get a substantial amount of dread for just how many horrible films are on their way in the coming month. I had a tough time narrowing it down to three films for July, because there are many that are likely to disappoint, and others that truly have no hope for the slightest quality. I ended up settling upon the current three based on just how juvenile they are, and therefore how much mass appeal they're likely to have. Monte Carlo barely missed the cut, but don't take that as anything close to a recommendation.

First up is Larry Crowne, which is sadly enough Tom Hanks' directorial debut, placing him amongst the ranks of Ron Howard. I know there's only a few ways you can go with this sort of material, but Hanks could have picked something more ambitious than a dumb comedy like this. I'm sick of people defending it, because there isn't a single bad joke that you've heard better somewhere else. I won't even talk about the good jokes, because there aren't really any. Then, a week later, there's Zookeeper, which I have a high level of disdain for. It exceeds being simply disappointing, and is genuinely painful just to sit through a piece of marketing for it. Talking animals have never looked more self-indulgently stupid.

Finally, capping off the month of July is The Smurfs, which I kind of wish I wasn't even slightly interested in seeing. It has Neil Patrick Harris from How I Met Your Mother and Jayma Mays from Glee, so you automatically get the idea of a purely comedic venture. Don't look for any heart, because you won't really find it. The sort of thing that Disney did with Underdog and its ilk is exactly what is happening to The Smurfs. If the writers have no real ideas, they send their characters to New York, because what's not funny about that? Any of these three films seems potentially harmful to my sanity, so vote in the sidebar for which one I should see next month. There's no clear frontrunner yet, so it's really anyone's game.

Digital 3D in Summer 2011

I feel like the film industry has learned some valuable lessons in terms of using Digital 3D in film. I am, personally, an affable fan of the technique just so long as it is done correctly. It's like really good chocolate, but you can still overdo it. This Summer has found a certain measure of moderation, with X-Men: First Class, Super 8, and Cowboys & Aliens all opting out of Digital 3D. I think it's a worthy rule that if your film isn't just standard popcorn fare that you shouldn't go for 3D. In the meantime, there are some films that you could easily see in 2D without complaint. I'll try to give you a decent idea of which films would be worth the extra three bucks.

May

Thor - Post-conversion, but deals with epic celestial realms. Probably still majestic and preferable in 2D.

Priest - Not in 3D. Not in 2D. Not on DVD. NOT EVER!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Promising visuals from Rob Marshall in service of a less than spectacular screenplay. If you see it at all, go for 3D.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Heartfelt animation from Dreamworks, so definitely worth 3D.

June

Green Lantern - It's practically an animated film, and the superhero was made for 3D. Should attract the same fans as Avatar, so you'll see it in 3D either way.

Cars 2 - If it's not in the sky, it's not worth your time. If you see Pixar's latest, see it in 2D.

July

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Sparks, explosions, clanging metal, and more explosions. Shut your brain off and see it in frantic 3D glory!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - I'm completing the journey in 2D. You should too.

Captain America: The First Avenger - Seems to evoke the film I would have died to see in 3D, Star Trek, so go for the glasses.

The Smurfs - Seriously? Don't even bother.