SEPTEMBER, 13


THE TEAM

Action Adventure
Cast: Ben Affleck, Kate Hudson, Ellen Page, Jay Baruchel, Dwayne Johnson, Leighton Meester, Ian Holm
Director and Producer: Michael Bay
Screenwriter: Joey Stark

Box Office: 160 mill.
Net Gains: 143

Stark’s Reaction:
Don’t be mistaken by the numbers made past week by ‘Metroid: Prime’. That is something absolutely extraordinary. Making 160 millions at box office still is an excellent turnout. I feel more than happy with this release.

OEDIPUS REX

Drama / Tragedy
Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Michelle Pfeiffer, Al Pacino, Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Angelica Huston, Ian Holm. Cameos by Mel Gibson, Robert De Niro.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: D.R.Cobb

Box Office: 72 mill.
Net Gains: 31 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Another excellent release. I know it is not as successful as other Scorsese’s movies. But, hey, we are talking about the adaptation of an ancient Greek tragedy. Making this box office with a movie like this is an awesome achievement.

SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN THE NIGHT

Drama / Musical
Cast: Perla Haney-Jardine, Thomas Dekker, Marisa Tomei, John C. Reilly, David Morse
Director: Sofia Coppola
Screenwriter: Josh Collins


Box Office: 68 mill.
Net Gains: 46 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
I know Josh Collins didn’t like my comment about this release when I said it would be hard to avoid net losses. Josh, that wasn’t an opinion about the quality of the film. It was just that you know how hard it is to sell a drama specially with a debutante leading the cast and no real top names in it. Anyway, the important thing is that great box office. And I want to publicly congratulate CMP’s production and marketing teams. After all these years, they have learnt how to make net gains with almost any genre. This week, we reach the 18th release of the Season and still none of them has flopped. Keep up the wonderful work, guys!


THE TEAM

‘’The Team’ is a kind of melting pot where so many different things are put together: sci-fi, adventure, cowboys, pirates, cyborgs, ancient Roman… The alternative world created by Michael Bay and Joey Stark has nothing to do with the sophistication of other alternative worlds seen on the big screen like the one in ‘Avatar’. Here, that world is only conceived to allow Bay to shoot a succession of action sequences with different kind of scenarios, backgrounds and characters. The result is a pretty inconsistent universe but an entertaining action flick as long as you are not too demanding in terms of logic, coherence or scientific rigor.’
-Vic Carter

‘Ben Affleck and Michael Bay meet for the first time in CMP after working together before in movies like ‘Armaggedon’ or ‘Pearl Harbor’. ‘The Team’ is closer to ‘Armaggedon’ – at least during its first third, with the introduction of the team members in a comedic way – and Affleck plays again a bit selfish heroic guy similar to his character in that movie. The whole cast of the film does what they are asked to do with no special effort. This is not a movie for acting shows. But I am sure that all the members of this team are extremely happy with the top salary they were probably paid to be in the film. CMP must also be happy with the box office it has made. Bay and Stark should also be happy with the final turnout of the movie. Audiences probably felt happy too enjoying the visual show. So, if everyone’s happy, why should I waste my time writing here how terribly bad this movie is?’
-Chris Burgess

‘At this point of his career, do not expect anything really revolutionary or even new from Michael Bay. We know what a Michael Bay film is. And ‘The Team’ is exactly that: a Michael Bay film. Luxurious production design, spectacular action, noisy soundtrack, a few doses of slow motion, heroic characters and not too consistent plots. A sophisticated wrapper that hides nothing particularly relevant. I still think that ‘Westworld’ – another movie about parallel reality but only in a theme park and not in a whole universe – is the best movie Bay has made for CMP. This one is only a correct formula movie well designed to make the juicy box office it has made.’
-Andrew Stampton

OEDIPUS REX

‘Thank God it was Martin Scorsese who directed this movie. And not only because he is without doubt the best moviemaker who has ever worked for CMP (just look at his CMP’s filmography and you’ll see the undisputable truth of this sentence). Also because he is intelligent enough to have avoided all the temptations he could have gone through when making this film. I mean, he has not made any concession to attract a wider audience. Oedipus does not look as a teen rock star or a ‘Twilight’ character. His look has not been modified to make him look more appealing to young moviegoers with such things as the embarrassing blonde hair Colin Farrel showed in ‘Alexander’. There are not unnecessary steamy sex sequences. The soundtrack does not include any rock or pop song (no, there’s not such things as a love ballad titled something like ‘Take My Eyes Away’). ‘Oedipus Rex’ is the adaptation of a classic Greek tragedy and that’s what it is. A movie for adult audiences. A movie for elite audiences. And a good one. That may keep away the film from being a blockbuster. But that’s not what Scorsese and Cobb were looking for. They have made a quality film to taste sip by sip. Take it or leave it.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘Hollywood stars do not have too many opportunities to play on screen characters like the ones in this movie. There you have Garrett Hedlund. Right after making a very mainstream superhero movie like ‘Green Arrow: Year One’, I am sure he has felt so proud having the chance to be in a movie like this. He may be a bit green yet to face such a challenge but at least his work in the film is a honest and decent effort although he does not reach the acting excellence of his cast mates. Michelle Pfeiffer adds another quality work to her CMP’s career. She does not work often for the Studio but she proves again she is a top class actress no matter if she is working in a musical comedy (‘Only In America’), playing a teacher seducing the young Emile Hirsh (‘The Impossible Dream’) or being a Greek queen married to her own son. I bet we will see her around at the next Golden Moon Awards. And, of course, stars like Pacino, De Niro or Gibson shine with their own light reciting their dialogues with absolute mastery.’
-Anne Roman

‘D.R. Cobb is quickly becoming an experienced screenwriter in CMP. In only two Seasons, he has already developed quite a few movies. And the best thing that can be said about him is that he is such a versatile author. He has written horror movies, superheroes films, comedies and even this Sophocles’ adaptation. Of course, when a writer tries so many different things, sometimes it’s a hit, sometimes it’s a miss. But it’s always worthy. It is always better a versatile writer making good and bad works than an author stuck in only one genre. Cobb keeps surprising audiences with each new story he writes, jumping from one genre to another, daring to face all kind of creative challenges and that deserves a praise even when things go wrong. That’s not the case of ‘Oedipus Rex’. Cobb has written a loyal adaptation of the original play. Sophocles’ tragedy is not only a classic but also an entertaining story that mixes drama, romance and even suspense. And all that is in Cobb’s screenplay too. An excellent writing work for an excellent movie’.
-Roy Winslow

SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN THE NIGHT

‘Josh Collins shows us in this movie that being a young singing star is something very different from ‘Hannah Montana’. This quality film shows the dark side of what happens when stardome comes at an early age. We have here some of the usual issues Collins likes to look at in many of his stories: family conflicts, child abuse… The talent of Collins allows him to face again these issues from a different perspective and make again an interesting reflection about growing up and surviving to dysfunctional families (with the added value of usually writing original stories and not just adapting previous existing ones). There’s a bit of ‘Little Miss Dollface’, ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’, ‘Velcro’ and other Collins’ stories in this one. But, at the same time, we have here a different and again interesting approach to those essential issues in the life of any human being when growing up in a hostile environment. No, real life is not what we can see in silly tv shows like ‘Hannah Montana’. Real life is what we see in this movie.’
-Amy Ratched

‘Perla Haney-Jardine is probably an unknown for most moviegoers. But no doubt this movie is a wonderful cover letter to meet her. Perla displays in this film an extraordinary acting talent. She can act and sing. She can show a wide range of emotions from being highly dramatic to looking simply charming to make us smile or cry. She shows in this film how much she has grown up as an actress since her minor roles in ‘Kill Bill Vol. 2’ or ‘Spiderman 3’. And she makes me expect a lot from her in the future. Also, Marisa Tomei shines again in a CMP’s movie. Marisa is one of my favorite actresses and she proves once more how she always takes the best of supporting roles same way she has done before in other CMP’s films like ‘Ugly’ or past Season’s ‘A View From The Bridge’.’
-Tim Reeve

‘Sofia Coppola directed past Season the interesting drama ‘Woman’. And there are more links between that movie and this one that what may be seen at first sight. Both films are an in-depth approach to the feminine universe. Although one of them focuses on a mature woman and the other one on a girl, both tell us about women growing up through an intimate trip from being a victim of their own circumstances to taking control of their own destiny. Coppola manages so well dealing with feminine feelings and exploring the difficulties of fighting for your own self-esteem when you are surrounded by people that want to rule your life or that simply do not really love you or even reject you. I know this is not a story oriented to wide audiences. But it is an interesting story for those trying to learn a very simple but essential lesson in life: be only what you want to be and not what others want you to be.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan