The Week That Was and the Week That Will Be - 7/9

There were two big deaths in the world of acting last week. First, Andy Griffith passed away at the age of 86 on Tuesday and then yesterday Ernest Borgnine died at age 95. I wasn't nearly as into The Andy Griffith Show as many of my friends were but I definitely recognize the value of that program and the contribution it made to the industry, not to mention the extreme entertainment value supplied by Matlock, and of course Griffith was the backbone for both of those programs. Borgnine, meanwhile, won an Oscar for his role in Marty and contributed a number of outstanding performances to numerous films over the last 50 years, including The Dirty Dozen and The Wild Bunch. Both men will be sorely missed. Rest in peace.

After a healthy amount of speculation as to who would take the part, Jena Malone has been cast in Catching Fire, the sequel to this year's smash hit The Hunger Games, in the role of Johanna Mason. That's a meaty, important part and I think Malone should excel in it.

Channing Tatum has confirmed that there will be a sequel to 21 Jump Street. I can't believe how good that film was nor the fact that I'm actually looking forward to a sequel. I would have lost money on that at the beginning of the year.

In The Hobbit news of the week, Peter Jackson posted a new video on the film's Facebook page on the final day of principal photography and a new poster was released for Comic Con. I'll probably start a daily countdown in the next week or so. Because I am a nerd.

And in The Dark Knight Rises news, Cinema Blend has an an in-depth, behind the scenes interview with Christopher Nolan. Can't wait for this film, either.

Matt at Cinema Slants gives us a 2012 Midyear Report and looks ahead at what to expect in the back half. Check it out.

I don't plan to see Savages anytime soon so if you're looking for a review, check out the one Terrence posted over at The Focused Filmographer.

And Ruth at FlixChatter gives us her monthly column, Five for the Fifth. Awesome questions this time around.

Weekend Box Office Results

Always a huge movie weekend, this year’s Independence Day haul is made more impressive to me given the relative lack of options available to viewers. The Amazing Spider-Man was the only new movie that opened in time for Fourth of July celebrations and last week’s offerings, Ted and Magic Mike, aren’t exactly the sort of films that bring families together on a holiday. Obviously that didn’t stop anyone, however, as Spider-Man pulled in an impressive sum of money (the fact that $140 million seems only okay proves how outstanding this year has been at the box office) while both Ted and Brave held onto a solid percentage of viewers. I gave my money to both Spider-Man, which I liked but didn’t love, and Moonrise Kingdom, which was everything that I could have possibly hoped for. Well done, Mr. Anderson.

The debut of Savages was met with decent reception from audiences but not so much from critics, many of whom panned it as a complete misfire. Someday Oliver Stone will make another great movie. But I guess that day is not today. And finally, The Avengers dropped out of the top ten grossers for the first time in over two months, completing one of the most staggering box office runs in history. Just in time to make way for The Dark Knight Rises to start its own staggering box office run.

1. The Amazing Spider-Man - $140M

2. Ted - $32.59M ($120.24M)

3. Brave - $20.16M ($174.41M)

4. Savages - $16.16M

5. Magic Mike - $15.61M ($72.79M)

6. Tyler Perry’s Worst Movie Ever until the Next One - $10.2M ($45.84M)

7. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted - $7.7M ($196.02M)

8. Katy Perry: Part of Me - $7.15M

9. Moonrise Kingdom - $4.64M ($26.89M)

10. To Rome with Love - $3.5M ($5.62M)

New to DVD

What I’ll Probably End Up Renting at Some Point

Margaret – Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo

Being Flynn – Robert De Niro, Paul Dano, Julianne Moore

To say that the opinions on Margaret, about a girl (Paquin) who witnesses a bus hitting a pedestrian, were mixed would be the understatement of the year. Some critics held this film up as the unquestionable best film of the year while others deemed it an utter disaster. The gulf between those opinions leaves me interested enough to find out on my own. Being Flynn is a different animal altogether in that most of the reviews were negative and yet I can’t keep myself from watching Robert De Niro movies. I should avoid them entirely as they just make me sad, seeing how far the man has fallen, but I keep hoping I’ll catch glimpse of his brilliance again. *sigh*

Also New

American Reunion – Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott

Flowers of War – Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Xinyi Zhang

Warehouse 13: Season 3 – Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek

The Glades: Season 2 – Matt Passmore, Kiele Sanchez

New to Blu Pick of the Week or Whenever I Feel Like It

Frequency (2000) – Jim Caviezel, Dennis Quaid

Okay, truth be told, it’s been years since I’ve seen Frequency so it may, in fact, be the worst movie ever that does not star John Travolta or Megan Fox. But my memories of it are good and I always thought the concept, a father and son separated by 30 years use short wave radios to stop a crime, was really cool. Check it out if you’ve never seen it before and don’t hold it against me if it doesn’t hold up a decade after my last viewing.

Also New to Blu

Chariots of Fire (1981) – Ben Cross, Ian Charleson

Outland (1981) – Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen

Blade II (2002) – Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman

Brainstorm (1983) – Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood

Senna (2010) – Ayrton Senna

Spawn (1997) – Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen

The Astronaut’s Wife (1999) – Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron

Coming to a Theater Near You

I shot 2-for-3 last week, pegging The Amazing Spider-Man (73% actual versus my 78% prediction) and Savages (53% actual versus 57%) pretty closely and missing wildly on Katy Perry: Part of Me (75% actual versus 50%). Who knew every critic loves Katy Perry?

For my money, this week represents the worst of the summer. With Spider-Man dominating the holiday box office and The Dark Knight Rises set to crush the competition beginning next week, most of the studios were (rightly) afraid of putting much of anything on the schedule this time around so we’ve only got one mainstream film headed our way.

Ice Age: Continental Drift – Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary

After the breakup of Pangaea, Manny (Romano), Diego (Leary), and Sid (Leguizamo) use a roving iceberg to navigate through troubled waters and return to their respective families. I must be honest, dear reader(s): I hate the Ice Age movies. This is probably my least favorite animated film series of the last decade or so and I’ve never grasped the appeal. I didn’t see the third movie but there’s nothing about the first two that impressed me in the slightest. But then again, they’ve made, like, $3 billion worldwide between them so I guess they’re not really hurting without my viewership. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: Rotten, 55%

Also New: A young man becomes wrapped up in the world of the drug trade in Easy Money, a 2010 film that launched the career of Joel Kinnaman who’ll star in the Robocop remake…Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver investigate the paranormal in Red Lights…and The Imposter, a documentary about a Frenchman who convinced a Texan family that he is their long lost son.