"The Conjuring" Still Conjuring Big Box Office

New Line Cinema’s “The Conjuring” Scares up $200 Million and Counting at the Worldwide Box Office

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Line Cinema’s “The Conjuring” has surpassed the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office, and has earned more than $220 million to date. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President, International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

James Wan’s supernatural horror thriller enjoyed the largest opening weekend ever at the domestic box office for an original horror film, at $41.9 million, and garnered critical acclaim across the board. The domestic numbers currently stand at $131.9 million.

Internationally, “The Conjuring” has taken in nearly $90 million from 37 markets, buoyed by excellent debuts across a number of territories this weekend, including France, Italy and the Philippines, as well as Mexico and Belgium, where it enjoyed the biggest openings of all time for a horror film in those territories. The film has held strong in virtually all foreign markets, with Brazil yet to open.

In making the announcement, Fellman said, “The terrifying phenomenon experienced by this real family and translated so effectively to screen by James Wan has now become a phenomenon with audiences. We congratulate James and the cast and everyone involved in the film.”

“We’re thrilled with the incredibly strong numbers we’re seeing across the map, which is an outstanding feat for a film of this genre, especially one that is not a sequel or based on another property,” Kwan Vandenberg said. “Huge kudos to James Wan and his cast and crew for creating a fantastic film that has cast an electrifying spell in theaters around the globe.”

Based on the true life story, “The Conjuring” tells the tale of how world renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren were called upon to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most horrifying case of their lives.

From New Line Cinema comes a feature film drawn from the case files of married demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. “The Conjuring” stars Academy Award® nominee Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air,” TV’s “Bates Motel”) and Patrick Wilson (“Insidious”) as the Warrens, and Ron Livingston (“The Odd Life of Timothy Green”) and Lili Taylor (TV’s “Hemlock Grove”) as Roger and Carolyn Perron, residents of the house. Joey King, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Mackenzie Foy and newcomer Kyla Deaver play the Perrons’ five daughters, and Sterling Jerins is the Warrens’ little girl, Judy. Rounding out the cast are Marion Guyot, Steve Coulter, Shannon Kook, and John Brotherton.

James Wan (“Saw,” “Insidious”) directed the film from a screenplay by Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes (“The Reaping”). The film is produced by Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran and Rob Cowan, with Walter Hamada and Dave Neustadter serving as executive producers.

New Line Cinema presents a Safran Company / Evergreen Media Group Production of a James Wan Film, “The Conjuring.” The film is being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. This film has been rated R for sequences of disturbing violence and terror.

www.theconjuring-movie.com

Announcing Paramount Double Feature: Star Trek and World War Z

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND LEADING EXHIBITORS ANNOUNCE “STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS” AND “WORLD WAR Z” DOUBLE FEATURE

TWO SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES, ONE TICKET PRICE.  ONE WEEK ONLY.

Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., is giving moviegoers a chance to see two of its summer blockbuster films, “STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS” and “WORLD WAR Z,” with a special double feature at select AMC Theatres, Carmike Cinemas, Marcus Theatres, Regal Cinemas and other participating theaters nationwide in RealD 3D and 2D.

Beginning Friday, August 30th through Thursday September 5th, the double feature allows fans to relive the excitement of two of the summer’s biggest hit films for one ticket price.  Tickets are on sale now at www.UltimateDoubleFeature.com, fandango.com, movietickets.com and at participating theatre box offices.

“STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS,” directed by J.J. Abrams, follows the crew of The Enterprise as they are called back home to Earth in the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization.  In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.  As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.  The film earned more than $450 million worldwide upon its release in May.

“STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS” is written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and directed by J.J. Abrams.  Abrams is producing with Bryan Burk through Bad Robot Productions, along with Lindelof, Kurtzman and Orci.  Jeffrey Chernov and Skydance Productions’ David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake are the executive producers.

“WORLD WAR Z,” with more than $500 million at the worldwide box office to-date, is Brad Pitt’s highest grossing worldwide release.  The film revolves around an ex-United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.  Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale also star.

Paramount Pictures and Skydance Production present, in association with Hemisphere Media Capital and GK Films, a Plan B Entertainment/2DUX2 Production “WORLD WAR Z,” directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Drew Goddard & Damon Lindelof, and screen story by Matthew Michael Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski.  Based on the novel by Max Brooks.  Produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Ian Bryce.

About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

Review: "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin" Shames Us for Forgetting

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 59 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2003)
Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS:  Nancy D. Kates and Bennett Singer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robert Shepard (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Rhonda Collins, Veronica Selver, and Gary Weimberg
MUSIC:  B. Quincy Griffin

DOCUMENTARY – History/LGBT/Civil Rights

I was recently searching Netflix, looking for a movie I could review in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (also known simply as the March on Washington).  I suddenly came across the name of a person involved in the American Civil Rights Movement of whom I had never heard.

That man is Bayard Rustin, and he turned out to be the perfect subject matter for this remembrance for several reasons.  One of them is that Rustin was the chief organizer (official title: Deputy Director) of the March on Washington (August 28, 1963), where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous and historic “I Have a Dream” speech.  The second reason is that there is an award-winning documentary about Bayard Rustin.

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin is a 2003 documentary film from the producing and directing team of Nancy D. Kates and Bennett Singer.  Brother Outsider was originally broadcast as an episode of the long-running PBS documentary series, “P.O.V.” – Season 15, Episode 9 (January 20, 2013).  The film was also shown at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, where it received a nomination for the festival’s “Grand Jury Prize Documentary” award.

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin presents a broad overview of Rustin’s life.  Rustin was an American leader and activist in several social movements, including civil rights, gay rights, non-violence, and pacifism.  Rustin was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1912, and Brother Outsider follows his life from there.  West Chester is where Rustin began his life as an activist, when as a youth he protested Jim Crow laws.

The film chronicles Rustin’s arrival to Harlem, and his subsequent involvement in communism and later in the anti-war movement.  The film also recounts Rustin’s run-ins with the law enforcement officials over his activities and also how he was monitored by the FBI.  The film discusses Rustin’s life as an openly gay man, which got him into trouble, both with police and with his colleagues and contemporaries.  Of course, the film’s centerpiece is Rustin’s long involvement with the Civil Rights Movement, so the film covers the March on Washington.  There is also an examination of Rustin’s relationship with Dr. King and with his mentor, A. Philip Randolph.

Rustin’s friends, family, companions, and figures from the Civil Rights Movement speak on camera about Rustin.  That includes Civil Rights figures such as Eleanor Holmes Norton, Andrew Young, and actress Liv Ullmann.  The film uses a lot of archival footage, which includes film and video of Dr. King, Malcolm X, Strom Thurmond, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Robert F. Kennedy, and President Lyndon Johnson, among many.  Brother Outsider also includes a sequence from the 2001 HBO movie, Boycott, starring Jeffrey Wright.

In a recent article for CNN.com, writer and CNN contributor LZ Granderson talks about Bayard Rustin’s marginalization in Civil Rights history, which Granderson attributes to homophobia among some African-Americans and in some segments of the black community.  Running through Brother Outsider is the question asking why Rustin remained in the background of the Civil Rights Movement, never really coming forward.  I don’t think the film ever directly answers that question.

Watching the film and understanding the pariah status that gay people had in the United States for the majority of Rustin’s life, one can understand that Granderson is likely right.  Rustin’s status or lack thereof in Civil Rights history has been affected by his being openly gay.  Rustin was both a “brother,” to many in the social movements in which he participated, but his sexual identity also made him an “outsider.”  For portraying this, Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin won the GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Documentary” in 2004.  Rustin’s place in history is being restored.  On August 8, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Bayard Rustin (who died in 1987) the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As a documentary about the Civil Rights Movement, Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin is essential, not only because it brings Rustin to light, but also because it is a good overview of the movements that preceded the Civil Rights Movement.  The film also draws attention to the figures that both influenced the movement before it began and also built the movement in its early days.  Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, as a documentary, is essential Civil Rights viewing.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2004 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Black Reel Television: Best Original Program” (Public Broadcasting Service-PBS)

2004 Image Awards:  1 nomination: “Outstanding TV News, Talk or Information-Series or Special”

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

http://rustin.org/

For the time being, LZ Granderson’s CNN.com column, “The man black history erased,” can be read (as long as the article remains posted) here or http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/opinion/granderson-rustin-erased

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "King-Size Canary" is a Tex Avery Classic (Remembering Tex Avery)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 101 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

King-Size Canary (1947) – animation
Running time:  8 minutes
DIRECTOR:  Tex Avery
WRITER:  Heck Allen (story)
PRODUCER:  Fred Quimby
ANIMATORS:  Ray Abrams, Robert Bentley, and Walter Clinton
COMPOSER:  Scott Bradley

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY

The subject of this movie review is King-Size Canary, a 1947 animated cartoon short film directed by Tex Avery and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).  In 1994, animation historian Jerry Beck conducted a poll of animators, film historians, and directors, and King-Size Canary was the voted the 10th greatest cartoon of all time.  Pinto Colvig performed the voice of the “Cat” and Frank Graham the voice of the “Mouse,” but did not receive a screen credit.

King-Size Canary starts with a mangy cat on the verge of starvation.  The feline gives an itty-bitty, scrawny canary some “Jumbo-Gro” fertilizer, which in turns makes the canary grow to monstrously large yellow bird.  Thus, the cat has to engage the colossal canary in a pitched battle to see which will end up the other’s meal.  A vicious bulldog and a wily mouse also join in on a madcap comic adventure of gigantic proportions.

If there is a quintessential Tex Avery cartoon, King-Size Canary makes the short list.  In animated cartoon shorts, Fred “Tex” Avery is the most revered name next to Chuck Jones.  Everything that marked Avery’s cartoons, the quasi-normal realities, the series of sight gags – sometimes each more outlandish than the next, and the other improbably elements are all in ample supply in a cartoon that has less than eight minutes of narrative time.

Avery always wanted to make his cartoons wild and wooly, and he does here.  From a dog whose right eye becomes a searchlight to funny animal behemoths chasing each other across the country, King-Size Canary is a feast of gag comedy.  Much of that material would never make it into today’s cartoons, especially the gag in which the cat pours a bottle of sleeping pills down the dog’s mouth to knock him out.  This is a classic short and a superb example of cartoons for big kids, from a time when cartoon shorts were shown in theatres to entertain adults as much as children.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, May 12, 2006

Updated:  Monday, August 26, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Bay, Wahlberg in New Photo from Set of "Transformers 4"

Pictured left to right: Jack Reynor; Mark Wahlberg; 2nd Assistant B-Camera Casey “Walrus” Howard; 1st Assistant B-Camera John Kairis with back to camera; B-Camera Operator Lukasz Bielan; Director Michael Bay; and Director of Photography Amir Mokri.

Just Another Day On The Set Of Transformers 4

OFFICIAL SITE: WWW.TRANSFORMERSMOVIE.COM

https://www.facebook.com/transformersmovie
https://twitter.com/transformers

Review: Ben Affleck Miscast as a Superhero in "Daredevil"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Daredevil (2003)
Running time:  103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for action/violence and some sensuality
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Mark Steven Johnson
PRODUCERS:  Avi Arad, Gary Foster, and Arnon Milchan
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ericson Core
EDITORS:  Armen Minasian and Dennis Virkler
COMPOSER:  Graeme Revell

SUPERHERO/ACTION/CRIME

Starring:  Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano, Erick Avari, Scott Terra and David Keith

The subject of this movie review is Daredevil, a 2003 superhero film starring Ben Affleck in the title role.  The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character, Daredevil, created by Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett.

The movie’s plot also borrows heavily from elements Frank Miller introduced during his stint as writer-artist on Marvel Comics’ Daredevil comic book series and on several other Daredevil publications.  Stan Lee is one of this film’s executive producers.  Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland apparently contributed to the screenplay, but did not receive a screen credit.

Before I get into the heart of the review, I want to start off by saying that Daredevil really ain’t nothing special, and that makes this pretty run of the mill, except for the subject matter.  If you just have to see it (and I can only imagine that comic book fans feel this way as the character originates from a long running Marvel comic of the same title), see it in a movie theatre; otherwise, it may not be worth the time, money, and effort of going to the movies.

Another note before getting into the review:  although he doesn’t get credit, renowned comic book writer/artist and cartoonist Frank Miller just might be the major contributor to this film.  Miller, wrote and drew, the comic book, Daredevil, for Marvel Comics from the late 1970’s to the early 80’s and again wrote the title in the late 80’s with sometime New Yorker cartoonist, David Mazzuchelli, as the comic’s illustrator.  Miller created the character Elektra Natchios (played in this film by Jennifer Garner of TV’s “Alias”), but he did not create all the characters used in this film.

However, the stylistic approach used for the characters comes almost exclusively from Frank’s work.  This movie wouldn’t exist without Frank’s legendary accomplishments; Frank’s Daredevil stories are available in book form as Daredevil Visionaries:  Frank Miller Vol.’s 1-3 and Daredevil: Born Again.  In fact, the 1989 film version of Batman owes very much to Frank’s work on the character in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which is always in print.  Miller is also a screenwriter, having penned Robocop 2 and Robocop 3, and his original script (presumably the for second Robocop) will be adapted into a comic book by Avatar Comics.  Now, to the review.

Attorney Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) was blinded as a child by a chemical that, though it robbed him of his sight, heightened his four remaining senses.  His hearing developed a kind of radar sense that allows him to “see” objects through the sound waves that bounce of those objects.  In the movie, we see the radar sense in operation as a rather cool looking visual effect.  After the accident that blinded him, young Murdock (Scott Terra) trains his body to be as superior as his heightened senses.  After criminals murder his father Jack (David Keith), young Matt grows up to be the costumed crime fighter, Daredevil, prowling the night in a tight, red leather uniform and pounding criminals into dust, literally.  Daredevil don’t play that; he’ll dispense justice to the extreme even if it means that a criminal might lose his life.

Matt meets Elektra, who is an ass kicking, martial arts hottie, and they have a brief romance, but when a crazed assassin named Bullseye (Colin Farrell) kills her father (Erick Avari, The Mummy), Elektra seeks revenge.  In her haste for revenge, she doesn’t realize how complicated matters are and that hanging over all their heads is master manipulator and super crime boss, Wilson Fisk - The Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan).

Daredevil is much darker than many super hero movies, almost as dark as Batman Returns, but the former does share the latter’s leather fetishistic theme.  There are lots of really good fight scenes mixing martial arts, boxing, and gymnastics.  Like Spider-Man, Daredevil uses quite a bit of CGI (computer generated imagery) to create human-like figures that can rapidly bounce off walls and scale ceilings while fighting.  In fact, in addition to the “bullet time” technique used so famously in The Matrix, CGI is the only other way live action film can mimic the impossible acrobatics of comic book fight scenes.  Daredevil’s fight scenes are exciting and even thrilling, but many times the CGI is so obviously fake, particularly in the jerky manner in which the CGI figures move.

The story has its moments.  Some of the romantic elements are genuinely sad and sentimental, and some of the drama is palatable.  However, like Spider-Man, the best stuff is during the fights are when Daredevil soars over the CGI New York skyline.

Director Mark Steven Johnson’s love for the material is evident.  He really tried to capture the feel of the comic book in his film.  However, some of the film is awkward, forced and clunky.  The movie drags, and sometimes it races headlong through the story without any substantial development.  There are too many characters, some who, if given more screen time, would have made a better movie.  Jon Favreau, as Matt’s law partner Foggy Nelson, is simply delightful, but Johnson uses him strictly for comic relief.  Farrell strains and overacts as Bullseye; by the time, Johnson reigns Farrell in enough to make Bullseye a good villain, the movie’s almost over.

Suffice to say, Daredevil is an average movie going experience, and might serve as a decent video rental.  It’s special only to comic book fans; most everyone else will find this to be just another movie, unless you’re into the strange and the unusual.  There is a really funk vibe going on with all those leather suits and the rest of the characters’ impressive wardrobe that’s worth experiencing on the big screen.

4 of 10
C

NOTES:
2004 Razzie Awards:  1 win: “Worst Actor” (Ben Affleck; also for Gigli-2003 and Paycheck-2003)

2010 Razzie Awards:  1 nomination: “Worst Actor of the Decade” (Ben Affleck; also for Gigli-2003, Jersey Girl-2004, Paycheck-2003, Pearl Harbor-2001, and Surviving Christmas-2004; Affleck nominated for 9 ‘achievements,” and “winner” of 2 Razzies)

Updated:  Friday, August 23, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Elektra," Well, It's Better Than "Catwoman"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Elektra (2005)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for action violence
DIRECTOR:  Rob Bowman
WRITERS:  Raven Metzner, Stu Zicherman, and Zak Penn; from a story by Zak Penn (based on movie characters created by Mark Steven Johnson and comic book characters created by Frank Miller)
PRODUCERS:  Avi Arad, Gary Foster, and Mark Steven Johnson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bill Roe
EDITOR:  Kevin Stitt
COMPOSER:  Christophe Beck

SUPERHERO/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring:  Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Terence Stamp, Natassia Malthe, Bob Sapp, and Colin Cunningham with Jason Isaacs

The subject of this movie review is Elektra, a 2005 superhero film starring Jennifer Garner in the title role.  The film is based on the Marvel Comics’ character, Elektra, created by Frank Miller.  Elektra is a spin-off of the 2003 superhero movie, Daredevil, and Stan Lee, co-creator of the Daredevil character, is an executive producer on this movie, as well.  The new movie focuses on Elektra as she tries to protect a single father and his young daughter after being hired to kill them.

After dying in the 2003 film Daredevil, Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner) is alive and kicking in her own comic book based film, Elektra.  Elektra ain’t by no means great, but it’s far better than the lumbering, big budget blunder that was Daredevil.  And while Elektra isn’t worth a trip to the theatre for most moviegoers other than comic book fans and admirers of Ms. Garner’s figure, it’s worth a view of DVD.

The sai (a martial arts weapon) enthusiast Elektra is now an assassin for hire, and The Hand, the order of dark ninjas who trained Elektra and revived her from death, have hired her to kill Mark Miller (Goran Visnjic) and his daughter Abby (Kirsten Prout).  Abby is the “current generation’s” treasure, a gifted martial artist who can change the balance between good and evil.  Elektra is drawn to Abby and refuses to killer her, choosing to protect her and her father from The Hand.  Elektra’s refusal of The Hand’s contract and her subsequent interference sets The Hand’s master assassin, Kirigi (Will Yun Lee), and his quartet of dark super ninja after the trio.  Elektra seeks help from her first teacher, the blind sensei Stick (Terence Stamp), in hopes that he will take Abby and Mark off her hands.  Stick, however, has other plans, and forces Elektra to defend the girl and discover her own better nature, including dealing with her mother’s death and Kirigi’s part in it.

Elektra is a mildly entertaining action, superhero fantasy film with some nice fight sequences.  But even those action scenes ultimately seem forced and overdone; maybe it’s because only the fight scenes can save what is otherwise an exceedingly dry faux drama.  The acting is poor.  Terence Stamp is woefully miscast as Stick, and Goran Visnjic barely seems alive as Mark Miller.  Kirsten Prout’s Abby only elicits sympathy when the script places her in extreme danger.

A star on the hit television series, “Alias,” Jennifer Garner’s film career is mostly miss, except for a nice turn in 13 Going on 30.  There are moments in this movie when she assumes a pose as Elektra and looks like a clumsy, wall-eyed poseur.  Ms. Garner even walks as if she just learned that she has a nice ass, but still hasn’t quite got the rhythm using it in a provocative walk down pat.

Still, this film has some nice moments, and the fight scenes (which feature lots of wire-fu) are pretty good for an American film production.  To bad one of the (over extended) fight scenes uses CGI bed sheets as an obstacle for the hero.  It makes you wonder what the filmmakers were thinking.  It’s the eye-rolling stuff like this that ultimately hamstrings Elektra.

5 of 10
C+

Updated:  Friday, August 23, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.