Welcome to the all-new Flashback! I figured (belatedly) kicking off the new year would be a good time to change the format up, hopefully in a way to make putting these together much faster and much less arduous on my part. I also wanted to find a way to break up the very long blocks of text I would also write. So, we'll see.
First, I figured you might like to know how I chose the movies I talk about. I actually have a formula! I'm slightly tweaking it going forward, so from here on, I will list a film if it meets at least one of the following criteria: Plays for at least one weekend in 1,000 theaters or more, earns at least $1,000,000 over the course of at least one three-day weekend, makes the box office top ten for at least one weekend, or gets at least one Oscar or Golden Globe nomination. I do recognize that this favors movies from more recent years over ones from the 80s/early 90s, and that some movies that ended up being very influential will still get left out. But I still think it's a good and fast way for me to determine which films need a write-up.
Now, let's talk how I'm going to list each movie. I've decided to divide every weekend into up to four fields. The first is #1 Movie, which will only be used if the top film of the weekend is a holdover title. I'll just list the film title and the weekend gross. The next category, the heart of the feature, will be New Wide Releases. Films will be listed here if they either open in the Top 10 or open on at least 1,000 screens. Here, I'll list the film's title, followed by a line listing (a) its weekend rank, (b) its weekend gross, (c) its final gross (d) its final rank for the year (e) its Rotten Tomato score, and (f) its Metacritic score. This will be followed by a brief write-up about the film. Next will be New Limited Releases, for new films that meet the criteria for being listed, but don't meet the criteria for new Wide Releases. Here, after the title, I'll drop the first two (rank and weekend gross), but will list the other four entries. Finally, Expanding will cover any title previously listed under New Limited Releases that hits the Top 10 or 1,000 screens for the first time in its run. Here, I'll list the rank and weekend gross only. I also reserve the right to make some brief commentary about the weekend in general, should I deem it warranted.
OK, without further ado, let's see the new formula in action. The first two weekends of the year are usually very quiet, with only expanding Oscar qualifiers and the typical dreck that gets dumped in early January. So here goes!
One Year Ago--January 4, 2019:
#1 Movie:
Aquaman--$31 million
New Wide Releases:
Escape Room--2/$18.2 million/$57 million/49/50%/48--For the last decade or so, only one new movie opens the Friday after New Year's, and its almost always a low budget horror (or horror-adjacent) film. It's also usually horrible. So, no one was expecting much from this film, especially since it was so obviously piggybacking onto the popular entertainment attractions that have popped up over the last few years. Therefore, it turned out to be surprise when the film, while no masterpiece, turned out to be watchable, and even fun. Six strangers, the most recognizable being Tyler Labine and Deborah Ann Wohl, are invited by a mysterious stranger to participate in a new Escape Room adventure, only to discover its more intense--and deadly--than the one at the strip mall.
Director: Adam Robitel
January 11, 2019:
New Wide Releases:
The Upside--1/$20.4 million/$108.3 million/27/41%/46--After premiering at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, this would-be Oscar bait movie got caught up in the Weinstein turmoil and ended up getting sold to mid-major STX, which slotted it for initial release in early January, instead of a limited December release. That was probably the right call, as critics slammed this American remake of the French smash Intouchables. Bryan Cranston played an extremely wealthy quadriplegic who spontaneously hires parolee Kevin Hart to be his nurse and caregiver, despite Hart's lack of experience and the fact he only came to the interview to show he was looking for work. Hart is flighty and irresponsible, while Cranston is perpetually angry about the accident that put him in the chair. Will they bring out the best (and sometimes worst) in each other? Do you even have to ask? Nicole Kidman plays the thankless role of Cranston's stern business manager, who slowly warms up to Hart. Even if critics were dismissive, January audiences ate it up and turned it into a surprise smash.
Director: Neil Burger
A Dog's Way Home--3/$11.3 million/$42 million/66/59%/50--Despite its title, premise, release date, and source material, this is not the sequel to previous January hit A Dog's Purpose (that film, A Dog's Journey, would arrive in May). Instead, it is based on another novel by author W. Bruce Cameron, this one about a young pit bull (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard) who, after being sent to a farm in New Mexico because Denver bans the breed, makes her way back to the home of her owner.
Director: Charles Martin Smith
Replicas--13/$2.4 million/$4.1 million/155/9%/19--Somehow not 2019's lowest-grossing film to play on in over 2,000 theaters (that would be December release Playmobil: The Movie), this long-shelved sci-fi thriller would probably have been better off heading straight to Netflix. Keanu Reeves, who would otherwise have a terrific 2019, played a scientist whose entire family is wiped out in a car accident. (Un)Luckily, he just happens to be a neuroscientist trying to resurrect dead people into new bodies, and he decides to bring back his family, with predictably horrific results.
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Expanding:
On the Basis of Sex--8/$6.1 million
If Beale Street Could Talk--12/$2.4 million
Five Years Ago--January 2, 2015:
#1 Movie:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies--$21.7 million
New Wide Releases:
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death--4/$15.2 million/$26.5 million/90/23%/42--It is not unusual for early-year horror movies to have solid casts. 2012's The Woman in Black starred Daniel Radcliffe and Janet McTeer. What is unusual is for one of these movies to get solid reviews. Black did, which helped propel it to being a moderate hit. Anytime a low-budget horror movie does well, there will be a sequel, hence this film. Kicking of 2015, Angel of Death conveniently takes place 30 years after the first film, meaning that instead of Radcliffe, the film stars the considerably lower profile Jeremy Irvine, Phoebe Fox, and Helen McCrory, as they play refugees from the London Blitz haunted by the titular ghost. This was truly a one-day wonder, as it opened on Friday only a few hundred thousand behind The Hobbit, only to sink through the rest of the weekend, and collapse entirely in subsequent weekends, as it earned well over half of its final gross during those first three days.
Director: Tom Harper
New Limited Releases:
A Most Violent Year--$5.8 million/143/89%/79--Slipping in just under the 2014 wire, as it opened on New Year's Eve, this 1981-set drama starred Oscar Isaac as the owner of a heating oil distributor who is beset by both a series of hijackings of his company's trucks and a persistent assistant district attorney (David Oyelowo) who is convinced Isaac is corrupt and won't give up until he proves it. Meanwhile, his loving wife (Jessica Chastain) is determined to do anything--anything--to keep her family safe and the business afloat. Albert Brooks co-starred as Isaac's attorney. Despite widespread critical acclaim and an Golden Globe nomination for Chastain, the drama was overlooked completely by the Oscars.
Director: J.C. Chandor
January 9, 2015:
New Wide Releases:
Taken 3--1/$39.2 million/$89.3 million/33/13%/26--Thanks in large part to Liam Neeson's "very particular set of skills" monologue, Taken became an unexpected smash when it belatedly opened in the US in early 2009, after having been released in the rest of the world the previous year. As improbable as that movie was, it looks like a cinema verite compared to the final entry in the series, which finds Neeson framed for his ex-wife's murder. Forest Whitaker accepted what was probably a very nice paycheck to play the LAPD detective who, in true Tommy Lee Jones as Sam Gerard mode, begins to suspect that the prime suspect might actually be innocent. Given the disappointing returns, this marked the end of this franchise, though Neeson continues to churn out similiar movies.
Director: Olivier Megaton
Expanding:
Selma--2/$11.3 million
Ten Years Ago--January 1, 2010:
#1 Movie:
Avatar--$68.5 million
New Limited Releases:
The White Ribbon--$2.2 million/176/86%/82--Director Michael Haneke, Germany's favorite purveyor of feel-bad cinema, provided this drama set in the days leading up to the beginning of World War I, about the mysterious and violent goings-on in a small German town. The film was the final release of 2009, opening on December 30, and was the only new film of any kind in release New Year's weekend. In addition to the critical acclaim, it also earned two Oscar nominations, for its black and white Cinematography and for Best Foreign Language Film
Director: Michael Haneke
January 8, 2010:
#1 Movie:
Avatar--$50.3 million
New Wide Releases:
Daybreakers--4/$15.5 million/$30.1 million/96/68%/57--What happens to the food supply of vampires when most of the people in the world are vampires? That's the question at the center of this surprisingly well-received sci-fi/horror hybrid. Ethan Hawke played a vampire scientist working on a substitute for human blood as supplies of the real thing are beginning to run low. Willem Dafoe played a human who might have the cure for vampirism, and Sam Neill played the head of the company Hawke worked for, who has no desire to give up his vampire status and will do anything to maintain his power. Despite the decent reviews, it had no legs, and ended up earning more than half its final gross its opening weekend.
Directors: The Spierig Brothers (Michael & Peter)
Leap Year--6/$9.2 million/$25.9 million/102/23%/33--Opening, for some reason, two years before (or two years after) an actual leap year, this Ireland-set romantic comedy was a misstep in the otherwise sterling career of Amy Adams, who had already gotten two Oscar nominations by that point (and would receive her third roughly a year after this film came out). Adams plays a woman who plans to propose to her boyfriend (Adam Scott) on Leap Day in Ireland, because of an old tradition that men can't reject proposals on that day. Naturally, things don't go smoothly, especially after she is forced to spend considerable time with Irish innkeeper Matthew Goode. Guess who she ends up with? John Lithgow played Adams father.
Director: Anand Tucker
Youth in Revolt--9/$6.9 million/$15.3 million/124/66%/63--Despite good reviews and a solid cast, audiences ignored this comedy about a shy teenager (Michael Cera) who falls head over heels for a girl he meets on vacation and will do anything, including committing any number of crimes, in order to be with her. Jean Smart and Steve Buscemi played his divorced parents, Zach Galifianakis and Ray Liotta played his mother's boyfriends, and Fred Willard played a neighbor.
Director: Miguel Artera
Fifteen Years Ago--January 7, 2005:
#1 Movie:
Meet the Fockers--$28.5 million
New Wide Releases:
White Noise--2/$24.1 million/$56.4 million/46/7%/30--If you've ever wondered why the year tends to kick off with a low-budget horror flick, here's one of the reasons why. Michael Keaton played a grieving widower who becomes convinced his wife is trying to communicate with him via electromagnetic static. The movie faded quickly after opening, but Hollywood decided that was a forgivable sin given the huge opening for a lightly-promoted movie starring an actor who hadn't headlined a hit film in over a decade.
Director: Geoffrey Sax
January 14, 2005:
New Wide Releases:
Coach Carter--1/$24.2 million/$67.3 million/36/64%/57--Samuel L. Jackson starred as the titular coach, who returns to coach basketball his alma mater in the suburbs of San Francisco and is determined to make his team winners both on and off the court. The fact that its based on a true story, plus Jackson's committed performance, probably helped critics forgive the film's various cliches. Channing Tatum made his film debut playing a member of the team, and Octavia Spencer played a player's mother.
Director: Thomas Carter (no relation)
Racing Stipes--4/$13.9 million/$49.8 million/58/35%/43--Given that we were less than ten years removed from the time a family film about a talking pig who wants to be a sheepdog was nominated for Best Picture, I understand the logic in greenlighting a family film about a talking zebra that wants to be a racehorse. And while Racing Stripes is a long way from Babe, it's also a lot better than it has any right to be. Said zebra (who, like in most talking animal movies, can only talk to other animals, and not to humans) is voiced by Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz, but he's one of the lesser names in a voice cast that ropes in everyone from Dustin Hoffman to Whoopi Goldberg to Fred Dalton Thompson to David Spade to Snoop Dogg, with Mandy Moore voicing the horse the zebra falls for. Young Hayden Panettiere played the lead human role.
Director: Frederik Du Chau
Elektra--5/$12.9 million/$24.4 million/103/11%/34--If you've ever wondered why the MCU made 20 male-drive movies before finally allowing a woman to be the lead in one, you can probably blame both 2004's Catwoman and this one, a sequel/spinoff of Daredevil. Jennifer Garner starred as the title character, an assassin who has to protect a teenage girl and her father from a band of evil ninjas. That about says it all.
Director: Rob Bowman
Expanding:
In Good Company--3/$14.3 million
House of Flying Daggers--16/$1.7 million
Twenty Years Ago--January 7, 2000:
#1 Movie:
Stuart Little--$11.2 million
Expanding:
Magnolia--7/$5.7 million
Snow Falling on Cedars--10/$3.9 million
January 14, 2000:
New Wide Releases:
Next Friday--1/$14.5 million/$57.3 million/45/22%/41--1995's Friday was a moderate hit in the spring of 1995, but really took off on home video, becoming a beloved cult hit. Its continued cultural relevancy was enough to convince New Line to produce a belated sequel (that, ironically, opened on a Wednesday), even without original co-star Chris Tucker. Ice Cube did return, getting shipped off to live with his uncle and cousin (Mike Epps) in an upper-class suburb, where they promptly run afoul of the drug dealers living next door. While the film was much less well received by critics than the first one, it more than doubled the gross.
Director: Steve Carr
Supernova--8/$5.8 million/$14.2 million/119/10%/19--Despite the involvement of two top-notch directors, this sci-fi thriller turned out very silly indeed. A search-and-rescue team in deep space finds themselves in deep trouble when their ship gets damaged, and worse, a psycho is brought on board. Given that the film attracted such talent as Angela Bassett, James Spader, and Robert Forster, either the original script, or (more likely) the paychecks must have been terrific.
Director: Thomas Lee (actually Walter Hill, Jack Sholder, and Francis Ford Coppola)
New Limited Releases:
My Dog Skip--$34.1 million/74/73%/61--This old-fashioned boy-and-his-dog family dramedy, set during World War II, starred Frankie Muniz, who also was starring in the brand-new sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which had premiered five days earlier (and which started production well after this film wrapped). Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane played Muniz's parents, and Luke Wilson played the young man next door, who comes back from the front disillusioned and a drunk. Warner Bros held its wide release until March, which proved to be a wise idea as by then, Malcolm was one of the hottest shows on TV.
Director: Jay Russell
Expanding:
The Hurricane--3/$9 million
Girl, Interrupted--4/$8.1 million
Twenty-Five Years Ago--January 6, 1995:
#1 Movie:
Dumb and Dumber--$9.2 million
New Wide Releases:
Houseguest--3/$5.8 million/$26.3 million/65/14%/NA--The first of two starring vehicles for stand-up comedian Sinbad, and the only starring vehicle for SNL vet Phil Hartman was this silly comedy in which Sinbad, on the run from mobsters, poses as Hartman's childhood friend, whom he hasn't seen in decades. Of course, Hartman is a workaholic with a dysfunctional family. If you've seen Mrs. Doubtfire, you can probably guess the rest of the film. It's not really a good sign that more people remember Sinbad's non-existent starring vehicle than the two movies he actually starred in.
Director: Randall Miller
January 13, 1995:
#1 Movie/Expanding:
Legends of the Fall--$14 million
New Wide Releases:
Higher Learning--2/$13.3 million/$38.3 million/44/45%/54--A somewhat overwrought melodrama hitting a number of hot-button issues that colleges were dealing with in the mid-90s, Higher Learning starred Omar Epps, Kristy Swanson, and Michael Rappaport as incoming freshmen who find their very different paths end up intertwined. Lawrence Fishburne played a professor, and Ice Cube, Jennifer Connely, Tyra Banks, and Regina King play other students. Even with the mediocre reviews, its still surprising that this didn't get a December qualifying run for Oscar eligibility, though it probably wouldn't have been nominated for any.
Director: John Singleton
Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight--3/$10 million/$21.1 million/79/38%/48--The popular HBO horror-comedy anthology series was still in production (and indeed, aired a new episode just two days before this opened), but the producers were eager to see if fans would turn out to see it on the big screen. The story concerns a group holed up in a boarding house, including Jada Pinkett, CCH Pounder, and Thomas Haden Church, trying to stave off a demon army determined to get their hands on an artifact that could give them control of the universe. The film did well enough for another feature film a year and a half later, which no one saw.
Director: Ernest Dickerson
Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog--10/$4.2 million/$11.6 million/109/57%/NA--An old-fashioned boy-and-his-dog-lost-in-the-wilderness movie. Jesse Bradford played the boy, who, after a boating accident leaves him stranded in the wilds of northern British Columbia, has to try to find civilization with his beloved lab as his companion. Bruce Davidson and Mimi Rogers played his parents.
Expanding:
Nobody's Fool--5/$7.1 million
Thirty Years Ago--January 5, 1990:
#1 Movie/Expanding:
Born on the Fourth of July--$11 million
January 12, 1990:
#1 Movie:
Born on the Fourth of July--$8 million
New Wide Releases:
Internal Affairs--4/$5 million/$27.7 million/43/88%/63--Most people point to Pretty Woman as Richard Gere's comeback film, but it had a healthy assist from this cop thriller that came out two months before. Gere played a highly acclaimed LAPD cop who internal affairs officer Andy Garcia is convinced is secretly corrupt. Garcia is right, of course, and a cat-and-mouse game develops between the two men, with potentially deadly results. For an early January film, this both got terrific reviews and excellent box office.
Director: Mike Figgis
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III--14/$2.7 million/$5.8 million/119/19%/30--On the other hand, here is exactly the type of movie early January is for. After a tussle with the MPAA over the level of violence in the film, the film was edited down to secure an R-rating, as Leatherface and his family chase down the usual group of hapless travelers who have no desire to accept the family's dinner invitation. This isn't the comedic one with Dennis Hopper, nor the one with Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey, but it does have a young Viggo Mortensen in a supporting role.
Director: Jeff Burr
New Limited Releases:
Ski Patrol--$8.5 million/104/NA/NA--Not to be confused with the R-rated sex comedy Ski School, which came out a year later, Ski Patrol was a PG-rated Police Academy rip-off about the honorable-but-hapless members of a resort's ski patrol who must save it from a nefarious developer. This one attracted a not-awful cast, including Ray Waltson and Martin Mull as the bad guy. It also featured early appearances by George Lopez and Paul Feig.
Director: Richard Correll
Downtown--$2.4 million/146/NA/NA--Yet another long-forgotten January film with a better cast than it deserves, this action cop comedy starred Anthony Edwards as a suburban cop who, as punishment, gets promoted to the worst prescient in the city, where Forest Whitaker is is new partner. Hijinks ensure.
Director: Richard Benjamin
Expanding:
Glory--10/$3 million
Thirty-Five Years Ago--January 4, 1985:
#1 Movie:
Beverly Hills Cop--$11.5 million
January 11, 1985:
#1 Movie:
Beverly Hills Cop--$9.6 million
New Wide Releases:
Avenging Angel--$1.8 million/10/$5.6 million/112/33%/NA--1984's Angel, about a high school student who is secretly a hooker who is being stalked by a serial killer, was probably one of the sleazier movies of the year, but still became a modest hit. Hence the quickie sequel, which takes place several years later. Now, former prostitute Molly (Betsy Russell, taking over for Donna Wilkes) is doing well in college, but has to go back on the street when her cop friend is murdered. Former Oscar nominee Susan Tyrrell and well-known stander and walker Rory Calhoun return from the first film, joined, it what has to be pretty close to his career low, Ossie Davis.
Director: Robert Vincent O'Neill
New Limited Releases:
Tuff Turf--$9.4 million/89/17%/37--The first leading film role for young James Spader, he played a teenager newly transferred to a tough high school in LA where he pretty much immediately runs afoul of a local gang leader, and has to learn to stand up for himself. Robert Downey, Jr., in his first of several teamings with Spader, played his friend. Both actors would go on to do much better work elsewhere.
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Expanding:
The River--2/$3 million
Forty Years Ago--January 4/January 11, 1980--Unfortunately, there are no reliable week-by-week box office numbers for 1980 publicly available, but thanks to Google's Newspaper Archives, I can check to see what new films were arriving in major markets (or at least the major markets that Google has newspapers from back then). It appears that no new films opened the first two weeks of the year, as the newspaper ads were dominated by 1979 holdovers like Kramer vs. Kramer, The Jerk, The Black Hole, 1941, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It seems that the 1980 movie year kicked off on January 18, with the first new films, so we'll be looking at those next week.
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