comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

I suppose this is a good as time as any to convey how much I truly enjoy the "Russian blood penis movie". One of the best films of the year. I expect to start seeing critics groups Best Actor awards going to Mortensen.

comment #2

vansmith says ...

'half inch deep americans' love it! serious subject matter films are better viewed at home with like minded people anyway.

comment #3

George Prager says ...

Hollywood Elsewhere, September 2008:

Forget the talk about Ow, My Balls! The Movie and Big Stan being in a neck-and-neck competition this weekend -- the Dane Cook torure flick will be the absolute, far-and-away champ with a $20 million-plus weekend haul. Balls did about $9 million yesterday and is being projected to earn $23,444,000 at $8200 a print while the second-place Stan is looking at a projected $13,2000,000 and $5000 a print...

comment #4

Pelham123 says ...

Is "Across the Universe" creeping up as a sleeper hit? $7800 per screen? It looks daffy enough to at least be worth a look on the big screen (though, it also looks like one of those movies you KNOW about a minute in will be either agony or ecstasy to sit through). Still, I wonder if it is genuinely connecting with an audience that's never seen the likes of this before.

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

Well done, Prager. Variety headline to follow: AUDIENCE FOR BALLS DEEP

comment #6

BNick says ...

Damn, figured Jesse James would have a higher per screen average considering it's only playing at 2 theaters in NYC.

And it seems like more of a first-weekender must-see than Into the Wild. Oh well. The 2 hour 40 minute running time probably didn't help.

comment #7

BNick says ...

But again, Jeff, this isn't "American audiences". This is a tiny portion of well-to-do filmgoers on the coasts who didn't sell out every show this weekend.

The red staters didn't get a chance to see this flick this weekend. Not that I think it'll do better there, but still. You can't pin a $151,000 weekend on 15 screens on some sort of nationwide rejection of sophisticated filmmaking.

comment #8

EDouglas says ...

Jeffrey, no offense meant but please fire whoever is doing that math and/or giving you those weekend estimates because they obviously know NOTHING about how movies do more business on the weekends in September compared to Friday. The estimates you're coming up with based solely on Friday estimates are ridiculous and mostly very low.

comment #9

Rich S. says ...

I just got out of Eastern Promises. Wow. Tight, lean and sharp as a razor. Mortensen is terrific, but Mueller-Stahl is indelible. I'm hoping that with The Departed winning the prize last year that the violence won't keep this movie from getting the recognition that History of Violence deserved.

comment #10

christian says ...

i think the nsa should tab abybody who went to see GOOD LUCK CHUCK as potential enemies of humanity. i mean, kee-rist...

comment #11

TKC says ...

I'm curious: Does the fact that one of the NY theaters where "The Assassination of Jesse James..." is playing is the Angelika impact things at all? Those aren't large theaters, which means that, combined with a 160-minute running time, there may be a pretty low ceiling on its per-screen average.

comment #12

Sweetbubba says ...

I'm so proud of Americans for confirming that they view anti-American, anti-military propaganda distasteful. It's about time Haggis had his nose slapped. Maybe he'll revert back to producing insipid schmaltz instead of his more recent trend of idiotic lefty-hate porn.

comment #13

BNick says ...

TKC, I was about to post exactly the same thought. Into the Wild is playing at the Sunshine, which typically has much larger theaters than the Angelika.

Also, Jeff got his numbers wrong....Jesse James took in $8,800 per screen yesterday alone, so the weekend average will be closer to $30,000 if it makes $151,000 on 5 screens. Certainly nothing to sneeze at.

comment #14

Ian Sinclair says ...

Add me to the chorus of raves for EASTERN PROMISES which is everything that JESSE JAMES is not: well-edited and acted and firmly directed - lean, mean and terrific. Mortensen for Best Actor!

comment #15

christian says ...

"I'm so proud of Americans for confirming that they view anti-American, anti-military propaganda distasteful."

i'm sure that was the exact thought of the people who didn't see it this weekend. like me.

comment #16

Larry says ...

"Paul Haggis's In The Valley of Elah...finished. American "empties" have blown off one of the strongest and most stirring films of the year. They need to be disciplined. They need to be taken out behind the outhouse and given the belt."

Oh you great unwashed, how dare you not kiss the hem of Hollywood millionaires for teaching you, who understand it not, the true meaning of Iraq? Throw gold at your betters as they walk by, fools, or face the wrath of Wells.

comment #17

Sweetbubba says ...

>i'm sure that was the exact thought of the people who didn't see it this weekend. like me.

Oh, so you're more of a Rush Hour 3-guy, I guess.

comment #18

swordandpen says ...

Still have no interest in seeing Elah, although I want to see Jesse James and Into the Wild. Does that make me one of those "lifestyle addicts"? Hardly. Sometimes, the subject matter interests you or it doesn't. Perhaps, movies like Elah seem important now, but will feel dated in the near future.

I feel, a movie such as Eastern Promises, which I saw last week, has something more insightful to say about the world than a movie like Elah, whose message I get loud and clear from the trailer and story description. I go to the movies for the unexpected, not to have my beliefs reaffirmed.

Now I'll step out of the way to let some of the real empties take their usual "Hollywood is anti-American & anti-military" pot shots so they can reveal their own ideological insecurities.

comment #19

christian says ...

"Oh, so you're more of a Rush Hour 3-guy, I guess"

that already opened. and was far more anti-american by the nature of its staggering cost and colossal mediocrity.

comment #20

thatmovieguy says ...

Three years ago ELAH would have been a brave movie. Nowadays, it's just stating the obvious (or rather, what's obvious to about 80 percent of the public). Everyone I know is absolutely sick of all things Iraq-related: Nobody likes it, everyone wants it to be over and yet it seems as loud as everyone shouts our government pays no attention and keeps pouring money and human lives into the abyss. Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends: It's Vietnam, Part II, directed by chickenhawks who "had other priorities" when the original was in production, but who are perfectly happy to oversee the sequel, so long as they can cash in on all those Haliburton connections and the possible future revenue from the oil fields. It seems tough to imagine hundreds of thousands of moviegoers lining up to see a well-acted but overly obvious and unconvincing movie that basically says America has lost its moral compass and its sense of direction. Gee, Paul, really? You Canadians are so damn insightful about how stupid and thuggish we Americans can be. If I want to hear more bad news, I don't have to pay $10 and go to the cineplex to get an earful of it -- there's plenty of it available for free in each news broadcast.

comment #21

Craig Kennedy says ...

I'm seeing Elah tonight and the way Jeff swoons over it, I'm half expecting it to tickle my balls while it blows me.

Did you ever consider Jeff, that your attitude about it strikes fear into the large numbers of people who are already ambivalent about Haggis? You have to like it, or else?

You're practically begging people to come out hating it.

comment #22

Larry says ...

thatmovieguy has a point. People now believe, or are at least very aware, of the vicious stupid lies he repeats, and don't need to see a film that verifies them.

comment #23

Chris Willman says ...

I know "reviews don't matter," but the very thorough and detailed pan of "Jesse James" in the New York Times by A.O. Scott would have to have some effect on a movie that is opening on just a few screen and dependent, pretty much, on the type of moviegoer that gets the Times.

comment #24

Chicago48 says ...

I'm wondering why the "good" movies, with name stars are doing so poorly. Is Hollywood relegated to writing for the under 19 crowd? And will we adults who like adult movies be left in the dust?

I think there just aren't enough theatres out there. They've been tearing down movie houses and building multiplexes that don't have enough room for all the movies being released.

Which gets back to my strong feelings that Hollywood has to allow other modes of distribution to happen: pay per view, online movies, DVDs, whatever it takes to get the product to the adults.

I want to see so many movies: Elah, Eastern Promises, The Kingdom, but I don't have the time (yes my time is short!) to spend 2 hours one day, 2 hours another day, 2 hours.....get my drift.
Not to mention the money.

I am so grateful for Movielink. At least I don't have to leave my house, I can watch it on computer and -- EMPHASIZE -- minize the screen and work on a document at the same time.

I have caught up with so many movies with Movielink, and now AOL movies. I know -- watching a movie online via computer is not the same as being in the movie house and I agree, but when you're trying to catchup and there is so much product out there, you have to see it when you can.

Most of the good movies will bite the dust before folk like me can get around to them. There used to be "second" run houses in Chicago, those houses are gone. There was the 3 Penny and the Village. So the movie had one last chance at the 2nd run -- WHAT HAPPENED?

So exasperated! Sigh!

comment #25

Chicago48 says ...

did anyone know that Michael Douglas has a movie out and it's getting good reviews? But it seems to be a small movie. I was shocked that it was so small and the advertisement in our newspaper was so small.

Our greatest actors and stars are relegated to 1/8 advertisement space in the Movie Section.

comment #26

Ogami Itto says ...

"did anyone know that Michael Douglas has a movie out and it's getting good reviews? But it seems to be a small movie. I was shocked that it was so small and the advertisement in our newspaper was so small."

The only reason I knew about the movie ("King of California") was because I visited Roger Ebert's website Friday. I haven't seen any commercials on t.v. for it.

comment #27

le corbeau says ...

Chicago48, there's a very nicely run second-run multiplex in Buffalo Grove. No, I don't know where the hell that is either, but at non-rush hour it's twenty minutes if I follow my car's GPS, so that's not bad. I pop up there for things I never got around to seeing every few months. There's also the Logan, which has porn theater ambience, but I'll put up with that if I have to. Of course, your basic point-- that property taxes and DVDs are killing off the second run houses-- is basically true.

comment #28

christian says ...

"At least I don't have to leave my house, I can watch it on computer and -- EMPHASIZE -- minize the screen and work on a document at the same time."

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

your answer is in your own statement...

comment #29

Chicago48 says ...

Thank you Christian for that sarcastic reply and reminding me, that I like so many Americans are tied to our work. To take time off to just 'escape' in the movies is too much work, too much time. I would love to spend a whole day -- a Saturday -- and Movie hop. See maybe 3-4 movies in one day like the critics, but I don't have that luxury. Instead, in order to "catchup" to movies, I have to do DVD or movies online. That's the whole point of my rant -- Hollywood should consider distributing first runs on other media about the same time it releases it in movie houses.
Take The Brave One -- that movie won't last another 4 weeks...it doesn't have legs...and it will be out on DVD by December, I'm sure.

Why not release it to pay per view right after that 4 week run -- and -- DVD -- and online movies? That way the studio and the public gets to see it just about the time of its first run.

If we're talking about saving movies, making it available for all to see 'anytime', then LA has to rethink how it redistributes movies-- or invest in more movie houses that are in the neighborhood....ah yes, I forgot those movie houses that were torn down in Chicago -- they were neighborhood houses that we could walk or transit to easily. One day someone will figure it out and they will make immense amounts of profit on the investment.

comment #30

christian says ...

i was being a smartass, and i work enough that i certainly can't see everything, but strangely i find myself frequenting the new beverly or egyptian more than first-runs. which i wait for dvd usually.

i think the alamo drafthouse in texas has the exact right idea.