“Gravity” has owned the top box office spot since October 4, but the outer space adventure is about to start its re-entry back to earth. This development however, has nothing to do with Ridley Scott’s star-studded drama “The Counselor.” Believe it or not, Gravity’s reign at the top of the charts will come to an end at the hands of… “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.”
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” is Paramount’s $15 million Jackass-spinoff, which starring Johnny Knoxville, but surprisingly not the rest of the Jackass gang. Like them or not, the Jackass film franchise has thrived in theatres. In 2002 “Jackass: The Movie”Four years later “Jackass Number Two” brought in $84,618,532 worldwide. And in 2010 “Jackass 3-D” had a massive $50.4 million debut on its way to a $117.2 million total. Bad Grandpa won’t do that kind of business this weekend, but it may walk away with around 30 million, more than enough to win the last weekend of the month.
Meanwhile, playing at 3,336 locations, “The Counselor” offers tons of star power and that’s about it. The crime thriller stars Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Brad Pitt. An impressive line-up to say the least, but that doesn’t always guarantee excellent box office results. Fassbender, Bardem and Cruz are big names, but none of them have proven they can carry a movie on their own. As for Cameron Diaz, her lack of success in dramas speaks for itself. On the bright side, Brad Pitt is coming off the success of “World War Z,” which quickly erased memories of “Killing Them Softly.”
Another problem for “The Counselor” and director Ridley Scott, is the poor marketing the film has received. None of the trailers or television ads tell audiences much about the movie’s plot. I doubt many people know “The Counselor” revolves around a drug deal gone wrong, something you’d never guess from watching some the movie’s trailers. “The Counselor”was written by No Country for Old Men’s Cormac McCarthy, which may help a bit, but as of Thursday afternoon the movie had a weak 36 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In the end, this movie is likely looking at a fourth place, $14 million debut. Well behind “Gravity” and “Captain Phillips.”
Remember a couple of years ago when “Black Swan” hit theatres and was quickly hailed as one of the year’s best films, but all you kept hearing about was the love scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis? Well, it’s happening all over again.
French drama “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” which won the Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, opens at four locations this weekend. Although people probably know it best as the movie with the extended lesbian love scene. The scene controversy became even more “newsworthy” when the actresses told an interviewer how demanding and insensitive director Abdellatif Kechiche had been while filming the scene. But if the sex scene is all people remember about this movie, that’s too bad. From what I’m hearing this movie is brilliant, and could be an Oscar contender.
The film stars Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux as Emma. In the movie, Adele’s life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself. “Blue Is the Warmest Color” is over three-hour-long, and is based on a 2010 graphic novel.
The scene in question has already earned the film an NC-17 rating, but I don’t believe one or two scenes should make or break a movie. You should see “Blue Is the Warmest Color” and decide for yourself.
The Nerds Uncanny 