‘Wreck-It Ralph’ scores first place at the box office!

Disney’s ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ opens at number one in the box office with $49.1 million dollars. The much anticipated cartoon film had no problem getting here, since it has received great reviews and its colorful story easily captivates kids and adults. The studio is gearing up for the upcoming holidays!

Denzel Washington’s ‘Flight’ opened at number two with $25 million dollars; he certainly attracts a crowd. Director Robert Zemeckis reminds the public that he still has it with this adult film that not only pleased many, but also has a lot of Oscar buzz around it.

‘Argo’ has been up and down the box office and once again it’s at number three with $10.2 million dollars.  This is another film that has gotten a lot of Oscar buzz and has achieved a grand total of $75.9 million dollars after being in theaters for four weeks.

The Top 10 in the Box Office are:

1. Wreck-It Ralph – $49.1 mil

2. Flight – $25 mil

3. Argo – $10.2 mil

4. The Man With the Iron Fists – $8.2 mil

5. Taken 2 – $6 mil

6. Cloud Atlas – $5.2 mil

7. Hotel Transylvania – $4.5 mil

8. Paranormal Activity 4 $4.3 mil

9. Here Comes the Boom – $3.6 mil

10. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D – $3.3 mil

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‘Argo’ finally makes it to #1

After being three weeks in the box office ‘Argo’ jumps to number one with $12.4 million dollars, earning a total of $60.8 million dollars. It had stayed steady at number two, until it finally made its way to the top. Perhaps current events with Iran, have spiked people’s interest along with perfect reviews.

The children’s movie ‘Hotel Transylvania’ also made its way slowly back to the top, getting back to number two with $9.5 million dollars. The film has moved up and down the box office, making $130.4 million dollars, becoming Sony Pictures Animation highest earning film.

‘Cloud Atlas’ premiered at number three with $9.4 million dollars, the three hour confusing film probably won’t make back its production costs. This novel adaptation starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry among others, had high hopes, but so far it’s a flop.

The Top 10 Movies in the Box Office are:

1. Argo – $12.4 mil

2. Hotel Transylvania – $9.5 mil

3. Cloud Atlas – $9.4 mil

4. Paranormal Activity 4- $8.7 mil

5. Taken 2 – $8 mil

6. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D – $8 mil

7. Here Comes the Boom – $5.5 mil

8. Sinister – $5.1 mil

9. Alex Cross – $5.1 mil

10. Fun Size – $4.1 mil

Chasing Mavericks (Movie Review)

‘Chasing Mavericks’ is packed with life lessons and inspirational quotes that are glued to this true life story making it a little too “fairy-tale” like and similar to most sport films. There are fantastic shots of the ocean on the surface as well as below and of these massive waves that are really astounding. The story isn’t bad the problem is that it has too many clichés attached to it that make it your typical PG drama film and don’t let it stand out from the rest. The film feels like a lazy project that decided to lay back and not fulfill its full potential.

 

This movie is based on the life of a man well known in the surfing world Jay Moriarty played by Jonny Weston, a guy that since he was a kid wanted to do nothing else but surf. With the help of surfing legend Frosty (Gerard Butler) he learns all the necessary things to be able to tackle and survive the world’s biggest waves off the coast of Santa Cruz known as Mavericks.

 

The film has a slow pace showing how Jay’s passion began as a child as a way of escaping a broken home, where he’s basically his own parent. Similarly surfing is also Frosty’s escape, although the film doesn’t go deep into it, as Jay is the focus. The first part is sweet and innocent showing how a child that didn’t let anything stop him grew up to be the same kind of man. It finds its ground once Jay reaches adolescence; the problem is that this is when most of the clichés begin. Such as his loneliness, bullying, puppy love, sappiness and some unnecessary drama.

 

There are a couple of scenes that were inserted to create drama that feels pushed and overreacted, in just the same way there are some dramatic scenes that exist to create sympathy for the characters and although there’s one in particular that gets to you some others are too sappy and kind of silly. I was annoyed at some of the cuts between scenes, as the screen changed suddenly from a dark frame into a really bright one which was an abrupt undesired changed.

 

The acting gives as much as the script asks it to; Butler’s character is too much like Yoda with all his life philosophies and teachings making the relationship between the two main characters unnatural and pushed. At some point in the film there are too many stories taking place making it feels unfulfilled, as we are not given insight into many of them and some are left with loose ends, while others transform magically without any explanation. Also, unfortunately for us girls there are almost no shirtless scenes.

 

Undoubtedly the best moments in the film take place in the water, seeing these massive waves and humans that actually ride them is thrilling. Knowing what’s at risk thanks to all the research shown on screen makes it the more exciting. The film spits out plenty of life lessons and philosophies which most are easily forgotten, the only one that resonated with me is that we need to inspire ourselves to reach our goals even if it means pushing the limits, whilst being careful and conscientious.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (Movie Review)

It is so hard to find a good horror flick nowadays and unfortunately ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ doesn’t change the norm. There are so many things wrong with this movie that it’s easier to speak about the good it has, it certainly has cool looking monsters and some of the 3D effects pop out beautifully. There is nothing scary or startling about this film, it even gets boring; sure the storyline could be a little spooky but it in no way will traumatize you despite of some of its strange scenarios. The film is based on the videogame and that’s easily perceived, as many of the scenes are taken straight out of a videogame; my opinion is that they should just have left it as a videogame as it is only then that it’s actually entertaining.

 

This is a sequel to ‘Silent Hill’ from 2006; here Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens) and her father Harry (Sean Bean) are starting yet a new life in a new town. On her 18th birthday her nightmares come true when her father disappears and she discovers who she really is; with the help of Vincent (Kit Harington) she enters the world of Silent Hill, which she might not be able to escape.

 

The scenes in Silent Hill where there’s ash falling from the sky really pop out and create a beautiful peaceful, yet eerie effect, there’s also a scene with faceless nurses that plays out so artistically in a form of “death†dance, which I really enjoyed. Interestingly enough in our interview Adelaide confirmed that the women in this scene were in fact dancers and contortionists and it was hard to shoot since they couldn’t see much with the masks. The monsters are cool looking, from pyramid head to a lady that has swords as hands, seeing them battle each other is pretty cool and very videogame like. There’s also a scene of a lady that turns into a plastic mannequin, which it’s well executed.  

 

This movie is just like a videogame in every way, from the music to the lack of dialogue to some of the sequences. There’s not a lot of dialogue and the bits of it is just awkward and stiff. At no point do you feel scared or anxious for the main character, as she just seems to be going through the motions, when she’s in the creepy town of Silent Hill there’s nothing scary about it. There’s no sense of urgency as Heather passes through every obstacle so easily.The script itself gets extremely complicated, ridiculous and boring, I can see it working well in a videogame atmosphere but in the big screen it tries to be so over the top that it looses the bit of charm it has.

 

It pained me to see Carrie-Anne Moss be a part of this because here she just makes me laugh unintentionally by her ridiculous role. This film doesn’t produce any scary scenes at all; it should be ashamed to call itself a horror movie. The only thing that this movie incited me to do is to go play the videogame, as I can clearly see how all of these different scenarios and monsters would create an awesome game experience.

‘Paranormal Activity 4’ spooks at the box office

‘Paranormal Activity 4’ premiered at number one with $30.2 million dollars, which for a film that only cost $5 million dollars to create is a high profit. Despite of the figure it is the film in the whole franchise to earn the least, either way Paramount has announced we will have a ‘Paranormal Activity 5’ around this same time next year.

Ben Affleck’s ‘Argo’ held on tight to the second spot with $16.6 million dollars, certainly the buzz its earned has helped it remain here. The film is close to reaching its budget cost, so this sophomore project needs that extra international box office boost.

Surprisingly ‘Hotel Transylvania’ was bumped up one spot to number three earning $13.5 million dollars. Perhaps since we are approaching the end of the month, many decided to be a part of this Halloween party.

The Top 10 in the Box Office are:

1. Paranormal Activity 4 – $30.2 mil

2. Argo – $16.6 mil

3. Hotel Transylvania – $13.5 mil

4. Taken 2 – $13.4 mil

5. Alex Cross – $11.7 mil

6. Sinister – $9 mil

7. Here Comes the Boom – $8.5 mil

8. Pitch Perfect – $7 mil

9. Frankenweenie – $4.4 mil

10. Looper – $4.2 mil

NY Comic Con Coverage: ‘Beautiful Creatures’

The next movie by director Richard LaGravenese nominated for an Oscar for ‘The Fisher King’ and ‘P.S. I Love You’ is titled ‘Beautiful Creatures’ and will open in theaters February 13, 2013. This film is based on the book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl which is the first part of a series of books for young adults called ‘ Caster Chronicles’; The New York Times called one of the bestselling fantasy novels for young adults. This series of novels is made up of four books: Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption, this last one will be available to the public in a week. The movie, which is based on the book by the same title will be distributed by Warner Bros Pictures.  

This supernatural love story takes place in Gatilin South Carolina, where we meet the love struck couple: Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) a young man who wants to escape his small town, and Lena (Alice Englert) a mysterious girl. They unite to uncover dark secrets about their families, their history and their town.

The main actors from the movie are: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons winner of an Academy Award, Viola Davis Oscar nominee, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, Emma Thompson Oscar winner and Zoey Deutch.

Alden Ehrenreich, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, Zoey Deutch and director Richard LaGravenese were in New York Comic Con this past weekend to promote their movie. The novel’s writers were there as well to express their enthusiasm on seeing their work on the big screen. A teaser was shown where you could see this mix of magic, drama and special effects. The cast commented on the movie and their experience being a part of it.

They all agreed that the director didn’t try to capture how each teenager is around the world, because that would be impossible, which allowed him to treat them like real characters without trying to make them be teenagers that already exist. They clarified that the film doesn’t only take place in the present, there are flashbacks to show that the characters have existed for centuries, therefore the Romeo and Juliet love story shows that they’ve been around. To this the director stated that for him certain characters never go out of style, such as characters that are intelligent, witty and charismatic because they last for centuries and this is how he created this characters, this way they are not only of this culture but part of all of them. Most of all they suggested for the public to remember this is a human story, it’s not a supernatural story like people assume it will be, it feels very real.

Each actor told a short story as to how they prepared for their roles:

Alden Ehrenreich who studied in Argentina for a year and plays the “Romeo” of this story, Ethan, said: to prepare for this I only had to think of our location, and I would ask myself who my character was, to understand the context of his family and understand their interactions. I would try to understand how they felt about one another. What I liked is that I didn’t have to think about it much; I just had to use my instincts. I had a dialect coach, which helped me a lot.

Zoey Deutch who speaks a little Spanish and will play the character of Emily Asher, talking about her role said: what helped me a lot was being able to change my appearance and hair color, things that made me feel different. This character is so wide and that helped me understand her. For example, I’m Jewish and she’s Christian so I went to different churches and watched many videos and tried to have the accent, I wanted it to be different, a southern manipulating accent; because usually southern accents are so nice and fun to listen to and I wanted to change it.

Thomas Mann who will play Link gave a very sincere answer: I prepared for my character remembering that I couldn’t just use a southern accent, but I had to feel like they do to understand where they came from, their customs, habits and that environment they were brought up in. In the movie they don’t try to use popculture like Twitter or Facebook, so it feels timeless. I learned some southern sayings and they let me re-write some of my lines so I could use them.

Lastly, Emmy Rossum who will be the provocative Ridley Duchanness said: My character is always showing off and looiking for attention and she has some moments were you can see her vulnerability. I had to think how does she walk, strut, the tone of voice she uses when she’s trying to manipulate someone, that honey, southern sugary voice; I wanted to see how far I could go with it and sometimes Richard would say “Ok, that’s enough”. It was an exercise to be over the top, self-centered and to use my sexuality. I had a lot of fun and my expectation is that this movie is going to be great.

In the meantime we can enjoy the trailer, which shows us more about this love story surrounded by mystery and supernatural powers.    

‘Taken 2’ #1 for second week

‘Taken 2’ is number one for the second weekend in a row with $22.5 million dollars, definitely inciting the studio for a third installment. Liam Neeson is pure gold and without a doubt recruited many followers not only for himself but for the franchise with ‘Taken’.

Ben Affleck’s political thriller ‘Argo’ premiered at number two with $20.1 million dollars. This movie has earned plenty of great reviews because of its perfect execution, regardless its R rating limits it but then again it’s mainly aimed at adults and Affleck showed his great directing skills once more.

One of the best scary films of this month if not this year ‘Sinister’ took the third spot with $18.2 million dollars. The movie did very well when it premiered Friday, as it was the leader of the box office, but quickly began falling from the top.

The Top 10 Movies in the Box Office are:

1.Taken 2 – $22.5 mil

2. Argo – $20.1 mil

3. Sinister – $18.2 mil

4. Hotel Transylvania – $17.3

5. Here Comes the Boom – $12 mi

6. Pitch Perfect – $9.3 mil

7. Frankenweenie – $7 mil

8. Looper – $6.3 mil

9. Seven Psychopaths – $4.3 mil

10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – $2.2 mil