film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
It takes an ugly romantic comedy to best an action cartoon: 1. The Ugly Truth: £1.98 million (NEW) 2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: £1.71 million (NEW) 3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: £1.35 million (4th week; drops 54%) 4. G-Force: £1.22 million (2nd week; drops 51%) 5. The Proposal: £.76 million (3rd … more…
Okay, I know they’re guinea pigs, but that doesn’t alliterate with the boy wizard: 1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: £2.9 million (3rd week; drops 44%) 2. G-Force: £2.5 million (NEW) 3. The Taking of Pelham 123: £1.8 million (NEW) 4. The Proposal: £1.5 million (2nd week; drops 54%) 5. Ice Age: Dawn of … more…
Ah god, we’ll never see the end of stupid rom-coms now: 1. The Proposal: $33.6 million (NEW) 2. The Hangover: $26.8 million (3rd week; drops 18%) 3. Up: $23.5 million (4th week; drops 24%) 4. Year One: $19.6 million (NEW) 5. The Taking of Pelham 123: $12 (2nd week; drops 49%) actual numbers, not estimates … more…
Oh, my head hurts: 1. The Hangover: $32.8 million (2nd week; drops 27%) 2. Up: $30.8 million (3rd week; drops 30%) 3. The Taking of Pelham 123: $23.4 (NEW) 4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: $9.6 million (4th week; drops 34%) 5. Land of the Lost: $9 million (2nd week; drops 52%) … more…
opening wide The Taking of Pelham 123: You know what would be a real disaster? The rush hour that follows this hijacking, what with the East Side subway lines shut down as a crime scene. Oy. Imagine That: This could have been an awesome satire. Imagine this: credit default swaps and interest-only mortgages are the … more…
We all know how it is. You’d like to get out to see a new movie this weekend, but you’ve been stuck on a hijacked subway train too many times to find any cinematic amusement in that scenario. But you can have something close to that blockbuster experience at home with the proper application of … more…
I’ve been waiting for a *Die Hard* movie to actually come close to approximating the spectacular cinematic experience that *Die Hard* was more than 20 years back, and this is the first movie to get real close to that.
Tony Scott’s updating of The Taking of Pelham 123 opens on Friday, and it turns out that it’s a remake that actually makes sense: Technology and practices — in the fields of filmmaking, subways, commmunication, and law enforcement — and culture have changed enough that this new film is different enough from the original to … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Oh, I know people are gonna be going, “See, mass transit is dangerous! It’s better to be in your car! I’m never ever riding the subway!” And I will laugh at those people. I rode the subway home after my screening of this flick last night, and … more…
Slow week this week. Hopefully that means I can get some catching up in on DVDs I must watch and review, reviews I need to write for films I’ve already seen, maybe a bit of sleep… If they were gonna remake a classic from the 1970s — and I’m not suggesting they should have — … more…
