
Winchester movie review: she hosts dead people
The story of a fascinating woman retold in the most reductive, least resonant way possible, while actually sidelining her. Even cast as a simple haunted-house tale, it’s not even a little bit scary.
film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997
The story of a fascinating woman retold in the most reductive, least resonant way possible, while actually sidelining her. Even cast as a simple haunted-house tale, it’s not even a little bit scary.
Oh yeah, I’m late with this. I carefully gather them all year long and then I never get around to posting them. So here they are at long last. And for 2011, I’m just gonna post ’em as they come in. So there.
…over which the “worst performing” movies merely didn’t drop at all: 1. Avatar: £5.5 million 2. Sherlock Holmes: £2 million (4th week; drops 0%) 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: £1.4 million (4th week; up 26%) 4. It’s Complicated: £1.3 million (2nd week; up 18%) 5. Up in the Air: £1.3 million (NEW) (actual … more…
…for biggest movie ever: 1. Avatar: $54.4 million 2. The Book of Eli: $38.4 million (NEW) 3. The Lovely Bones: $19.9 million (NEW in wide release) 4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: $15.3 million (3rd week; drops 8%) 5. The Spy Next Door: $12.9 million (NEW) actual numbers, not estimates, for the 4-day weekend … more…
Sherlock Holmes holds strong, too: 1. Avatar: £4.8 million (4th week; drops 20%) 2. Sherlock Holmes: £2 million (3rd week; drops 41%) 3. Daybreakers: £1.3 million (NEW) 4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: £1.2 million (3rd week; drops 50%) 5. It’s Complicated: £1.1 million (NEW) (actual numbers, not estimates) New releases couldn’t touch the … more…
Jakesully is wise in the ways of box office: 1. Avatar: $50.3 million (4th week; drops 27%) 2. Sherlock Holmes: $16.585 million (3rd week; drops 55%) 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: $16.566 million (2nd week; drops 28%) 4. Daybreakers: $15.1 million (NEW) 5. It’s Complicated: $11 million (3rd week; drops 42%) actual numbers, … more…
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, except you’re way too scared to actually ask out the girl you like. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, “Hey, did you see Youth … more…
It’s the perfect, ultimate, brilliant extrapolation of the vampire conceit: What happens once almost everyone’s a vampire, unturned humans are nearly extinct, and the tastiest, most satisfying blood — the human kind — is running out?
As of this writing, 11 movies will open wide in North America in the month of January. Which means that even if you’re an active moviegoer and see a movie each week, you’ve still gotta pick and choose (and it’s even worse if you’re in a city on the arthouse circuit, but let’s not make … more…
UPDATE: Looks like Daybreakers will screen after all. I’ll see it tonight. Pity me. It’s January, and I have to go to the movies. The Spy Next Door (opens in the U.S. and Canada on January 15; no U.K. release date has been announced yet) is from director Brian Levant, who is to cinema what … more…