OCTOBER, 4


TARZAN

Action Adventure / Drama
Cast: Taylor Kitsh, Gemma Arterton, Kyle Chandler, Tim Roth, Ryan Kwanten, Jessica Pare
Director: Joe Wright
Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb


Box Office: 98 mill.
Net Gains: 82 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
It is always disappointing when a top budget production does not reach the 100 millions at box office. But this one has stayed only 2 millions away from it. Excellent numbers. After all, it was hard to expect that audiences would get crazy with Tarzan after all these years.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Comedy / Sci-Fi
Cast: Zach Braff, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Will Ferrell, Dwayne Johnson, J.K. Simmons. Voices by Michael Clarke Duncan, Hugh Laurie
Director: Richard Linklater
Screenwriter: Ben Tyler

Box Office: 61 mill.
Net Gains: 24 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
We are back to difficulties with the comedy genre. Same way it happened a couple of weeks ago with ‘Skin Tight’, numbers have stayed below expectations… and also below the quality of the film, in my own personal opinion.

AT CROSS PURPOSES

Action / Film Noir
Cast: Tom Hardy, Josh Hartnett, Diego Luna, Sarah Shahi, Rory Culkin, Saoirse Ronan, Elijah Wood, Shea Whigham. Voice of Jim Dale.
Director: John Hillcoat
Screenwriter: Lawrence Abernathy

Box Office: 70 mill.
Net Gains: 47 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
More or less, these are the numbers I expected for this movie. This kind of movies never become big blockbusters but still are worthy enough to produce. By the way, this is the first week of the Season when none of the three releases has reached the 100 millions. Not bad, considering this already is the 9th week of the Season.


TARZAN

‘You may think I’m kidding, but my favorite Tarzan movie is the animated feature produced by Disney back in 1999. It had it all: it was funny, entertaining, moving… I even became a big fan of the tv series based on the movie. This Cobb’s approach to the character has taken quite a few things from that movie (the initial segment with Tarzan’s parents is almost a copycat of the same segment in that movie). In fact, Cobb and Wright’s film looks like a sum of many previous films: Disney’s Tarzan, ‘Tarzan’s New York Adventure’ (1942) and more than any other 1984’s ‘Greystoke’. And that means two things. The good thing is that we have here a loyal recreation of Edgar Rice Burrough’s character that directly connects with the spirit of the book and the character introducing it to the new generations of moviegoers. The bad thing is that there’s nothing really new in the movie and, besides the contemporary scenario, watching this ‘Tarzan’ is only a déjà vu of things seen many times before in all those previous movies.’
-Roy Winslow

‘Cobb has made arguable casting choices for this movie. I am not completely sure Taylor Kitsch was the best option possible to play a modern Tarzan. Taylor is a bit too handsome, too sexy, to make a believable ape man. But maybe it is my fault. I grew up watching on tv reruns of the old Johnny Weissmuller’s films and I just can’t think of anybody else but Johnny playing Tarzan. Gemma Arterton makes a correct Jane. Only, she looks a bit too much like the young Andie McDowell of ‘Greystoke’. But it may be again a personal problem here. I remember myself as a kid, absolutely falling in love with the sweet, charming and sexy Maureen O’Sullivan. Since then, any other actress playing Jane looks to me as an impostor.’
-Tim Reeve

‘Tarzan’s adventures keep working after all these years. The character provokes a peculiar fascination that Wright has recovered again in this entertaining movie. Of course, I prefer Tarzan when he is in the jungle, interacting with the apes and fighting crocodiles. As soon as he arrives to New York, the interest of the story decreases. Luckily, Cobb and Wright have not fallen into the temptation of making easy jokes ala ‘Cocodrile Dundee’ but still it is not too interesting watching good old Tarzan mixed in a financial battle ala ‘Wall Street’. Anyway, Cobb and Wright have made a honest effort to update the character and the result is a correct but not as innovative movie as it could have been.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

‘No doubt, Ben Tyler is a writer with a rich and almost infinite imagination. For the good and for the bad. I wrote some weeks ago a most destructive review of ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’. That movie was an uncontrolled exercise of creativity. And same can be said about ‘Stairway To Heaven’. But in the opposite sense. ‘Stairway To Heaven’ is the most brilliant exercise of uncontrolled imagination I’ve seen in a long time. Again, Tyler has left his imagination run free without limits and this time the result is the most original, crazy, creative and funny comedy that has hit the screens in ages. Tyler has not been content with making a simple parody of the sci-fi genre. Taking the clichés of the genre and specific references to some of its most iconic films, he has built up a comedic master piece full of creative findings and hilarious moments. As much as ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ was a bad trip, ‘Stairway To Heaven’ is a wonderful one nobody should miss.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘Together with ‘Cousins’ and ‘Skin Tight’, ‘Stairway To Heaven’ completes the wonderful trio of comedies released by CMP this Season. And again the cast is an essential part of the success. Zach Braff leads once more the cast of another one of the best comedies ever produced by CMP. Anne Hathaway shows again her efficiency as a comedy actress. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines at his maximum splendor with his unforgettable creation of that humanoid built for pleasure. The starring trio is just perfect. But that should not make us forget the priceless acting work of Will Ferrell as the leader of those hilarious communist zombies. And also that new icon of the sci-fi genre, that shark man that shines as a kind of new Chewbacca. What a wonderful gallery of deliciously absurd characters…’
-Anne Roman

‘Outrageously funny. I must say I do not usually laugh at movie theatres. I mean, even if I’m watching an extremely funny comedy, I use to smile but not to laugh. But not this time. ‘Stairway To Heaven’ made me burst out laughing several times. It has this wonderful surreal sense of humor. It is stupid with intelligence. It is intelligent being so stupid. And it works in a magnificent way. Ben Tyler and Richard Linklater have created another icon of comedy 12 Seasons after ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’. This is a movie you should watch more than once to fully get all of its jokes. Sadly, many moviegoers have not been interested in watching it just once. It is a shame that audiences are not supporting lately great CMP’s comedies like this one. But I am sure that time will make justice and ‘Stairway To Heaven’ will become the cult movie it deserves to be.’
-Vic Carter

AT CROSS PURPOSES

‘Dark and intense. Watching ‘At Cross Purposes’ is like taking a cup of the strongest coffee. It’s tough, it’s bitter, but for some unexplainable reason, you enjoy it. As it usually happens with the best film noirs, you don’t fully understand why the characters behave the way they do, you have the feeling you are missing some information, you don’t even sympathize with any of the characters, you wish them best and worst at the same time, but you feel seduced by them. John Hillcoat has created that disturbing atmosphere this kind of stories demand, both unpleasant and appealing. And Lawrence Abernathy’s screenplay works even with some inconsistencies as one of those intriguing stories that keep you trapped knowing that something either good or bad may happen at the next minute. As I said, it is like taking a cup of the strongest coffee. You don’t know if it will make your stomach feel good or bad but you know you want to take it anyway.’
-Chris Burgess

‘Lawrence Abernathy has chosen a group of young talents to play the tough guys of this movie. Maybe, a bit too young for their characters. But they have survived to the challenge at a correct level. Tom Hardy always works as a tough guy. Not very different from his work in CMP’s ‘Grand Theft Auto’, he shows again his limited acting skills and the risk he has of becoming too stereotyped but at least he is very much believable in his character. Diego Luna makes also a believable tough guy, close too to his previous work in CMP, ‘Savage Streets’. On the other side, Josh Hartnett never gets to look as tough as he pretends in some of his works. But the best of the function is by far Saoirse Ronan, finally taking the step to more challenging characters and leaving behind the cute young stars squad.’
-Amy Ratched

‘Besides their differences, ‘At Cross Purposes’ has made me remember Richard Franzwa’s debut as movie director, ‘A Murder Of Crows’. Both are stories about tough outlaws and both share a dark and violent atmosphere. Both have made similar box office’s numbers, good enough but far from being considered blockbusters. And that’s a shame. Not everything in life can be superheroes and flashy sci-fi movies. I have the feeling that the new generations of moviegoers have not learnt to appreciate this kind of stories where not everything is obvious, where characters’ personalities are not black or white but grey and where a story can end with loose ends without being disappointing. Just like ‘A Murder Of Crows’, ‘At Cross Purposes’ may not be a perfect movie. But it is a honest production that deserves recognition as an attempt to make something different than just following the blockbusters’ formulas.’
-Andrew Stampton