With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this weekend saw the release of numerous major films, as well as Oscar contenders--at least from 1990 onward.
One Year Ago--November 15, 2019:
New Wide Releases:
Ford v Ferrari--1/$31.5 million/$117.6 million/22/92%/81--For dads and grandpas who had already seen Midway's areal battles, or who were more interested in seeing fast cars go "Vroom", there was this drama, based on the true story, about how legendary automotive designer Carroll Shelley (Matt Damon) teamed with temperamental race car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to design a racecar for Ford, which had a reputation for making boring, plodding cars. They proceeded to design one that could compete and win at the famed 24 hour Le Mans race in 1966, beating the titular Ferrari cars who had typically dominated the event. Josh Lucas played the duo's top nemesis at Ford, and Tracy Letts played Henry Ford II. Caitriona Balfe, as Bale's wife, was the only actress on the film to get more than a handful of lines. The film proved to be a critical and commercial hit, earning four Oscar nominations, including Picture and Sound Mixing, and wining for Editing and Sound Editing. In addition it would be the year's highest grossing film from 20th Century Fox, though it just barely beat out the grosses for Dumbo and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the year's two lowest grossing feature films from new parent studio Disney.
Director: James Mangold
Charlie's Angels--3/$8.4 million/$17.8 million/103/52%/52--Nineteen years after Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz successfully revived the franchise, this came along to bury it for good--or at least for a couple of decades. Engineer Naomi Scott discovers that boss Nat Faxon is plotting to steal a dangerous prototype she developed, and gets help from the Angels, who in this version are Kristen Stewart and Ella Balinska. Elizabeth Banks, who also wrote and directed, played their assistant, with Djimon Hounsou and Patrick Stewart as other agency employees. Amid mixed reviews, moviegoers all but completely ignored this.
Director: Elizabeth Banks.
The Good Liar--7/$5.6 million/$17.2 million/106/63%/55--Director Bill Condon reunited with Ian McKellen for the fourth time (after Gods & Monsters, Mr. Holmes, and Beauty and the Beast) for this twisty thriller about an aging conman (McKellen) whose latest target is a wealthy widow (Helen Mirren, who had somehow never made a film with McKellen before). Of course, in films like these, nothing is as it seems. Russell Tovey played Mirren's suspicious grandson, and Jim Carter McKellen's partner in crime. With this cast and director, it was thought early on that this might be a possible year-end awards player, but instead, it would be another twisty thriller, opening two weeks later, that would become of the season's biggest critical and commercials hits, while this one was largely ignored.
Director: Bill Condon
New Limited Releases:
I Lost My Body--NA/NA/96%/81--Netflix's second animated import to get a theatrical release in two weeks is this French made film about an orphaned immigrant (voiced by Dev Patel in the American dub) who falls for a young woman (Alia Shawkat) while delivering pizza to her, and gets a job with her uncle (George Wendt) in order to be closer to her. Like the previous week's Klaus, this would be an Oscar nominee for Animated Feature.
Director: Jeremy Clapin
The Report--NA/NA/82%/66--In 2009, a Senate staffer (Adam Driver) is charged with investigating the use of torture by the CIA in the years after the 9/11 attacks with the implicit approval of the Bush administration, even though the CIA was aware that torture didn't work and the people undergoing "enhanced interrogation" were usually fairly low-level. Once the 6,300 page report is finished, Driver and his team run into resistance, not only from the CIA, but from the Obama administration as well. Annette Bening played California senator Dianne Feinstein, Jon Hamm played the White House Chief of Staff, Tim Blake Nelson played a whistleblower, Maura Tierney and Michael C. Hall played CIA employees, Corey Stoll a lawyer, and Matthew Rhys a reporter. Despite the strong cast, Amazon barely gave this a theatrical release before releasing it on their streaming service.
Director: Scott Z. Burns
Five Years Ago--November 13, 2015:
#1 Movie:
Spectre--$33.7 million
New Wide Releases:
Love the Coopers--3/$8.3 million/$26.3 million/92/18%/31--Yet another "dysfunctional-but-loving family gather for Christmas" comedy, this one had a surprisingly good cast, including Diane Keaton (who already starred in the similar The Family Stone a decade earlier) and John Goodman as the parents, who are secretly divorcing, Ed Helms and Olivia Wilde as their kids, Alan Arkin as Keaton's father, Maria Tomei as her sister, June Squibb as an aunt, Anthony Mackie as a cop, Amanda Seyfried as Arkin's much younger friend, Timothee Chalamet as Helms's son, and the voice of Steve Martin as the narrator, the family dog. Despite the packed cast, critics found it all too familiar, and it ran out of steam well before Christmas.
Director: Jessie Nelson
The 33--5/$5.8 million/$12.2 million/123/48%/55--Relatively recent events that got major news coverage rarely translates into successful feature films. This drama, which recounted the 2010 Chilean mining disaster, in which 33 copper and gold miners found themselves trapped deep underground when the entrance to the mine collapsed, was no exception. As crews from the surface frantically tried to figure out how to rescue the men, the miners themselves had to deal with hunger and fear, as well as rising tensions. Antonio Banderas played one of the trapped miners, Juliette Binoche as a family member, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Philips, and Gabriel Byrne as rescue workers, and Bob Gunton as the president of Chile. The story had received extensive press coverage five years earlier, which probably explains while audiences were fine with skipping the movie version.
Director: Patricia Riggen
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo--8/$2.4 million/$4.4 million/152/45%/NA--A modern Bollywood version of the classic, much-adapted adventure novel The Prisoner of Zenda (likely most familiar to American audiences as the uncredited inspiration for the 1993 White House romcom Dave), starred Salman Khan, in his fourth collaboration with director Sooraj R. Barjatya, in a duel role as a crown prince targeted for assassin and a lookalike actor hired to impersonate him while the prince is in a coma. The prince's arranged fiancée (Sonam Kapoor), unaware of the switch, finds herself falling for the new version of him. Despite mixed reviews, this ended up being one of the most successful Bollywood films of 2015.
Director: Sooraj R. Barjatya
My All-American--11/$1.4 million/$2.3 million/180/31%/34--Angelo Pizzo, the writer of Rudy, a film based on a true story about an undersized kid who walked onto one of the top college football teams in the nation and made a lasting impact, made his directorial debut in this film based on a true story about an undersized kid who walked onto one of the top college football teams in the nation and made a lasting impact. The kid is Freddie Steinmark (Finn Wittrock) who makes the University of Texas's team in the 60s under coach Darrell Royal (Aaron Eckhart). Sarah Bolger played his longtime girlfriend, Robin Tunny his mother, and newcomer Juston Street played his own father, teammate James Street.
Director: Angelo Pizzo
Ten Years Ago--November 12, 2010:
#1 Movie:
Megamind--$29.1 million
New Wide Releases:
Unstoppable--2/$22.7 million/$81.6 million/41/87%/69--Director Tony Scott's final film, and his fifth time working with Denzel Washington, was this very well received thriller about two railroad employees, a veteran engineer (Washington) and a rookie conductor (Chris Pine), who attempt to chase down a runaway train with several cars full of toxic chemicals before it derails in a populated area. Rosario Dawson played another railroad employee, a yardmaster, Ethan Suplee and T.J. Miller as other employees, and Kevin Dunn as a railroad vice president. Despite strong reviews, the film mildly underperformed. It would receive an Oscar nomination for Sound Editing.
Director: Tony Scott
Skyline--4/$11.7 million/$21.4 million/112/16%/26--This low-budget sci-fi thriller starred Eric Balfour and Scottie Thompson as a couple who find themselves trying to survive when aliens begin attacking L.A., hypnotizing people with a blue light before abducting them. Donald Faison played Balfour's friend. This was less interesting for its storyline than its similarly with another, much more expensive, sci-fi alien invasion film, Battle: Los Angeles, which would open the following March. The similarities were so notable that Battle's distributor, Sony, filed a lawsuit against the production company and the directors of Skyline, which was settled out of court. The film would be followed by two straight-to-video sequels.
Director: The Brothers Strause (Colin and Greg)
Morning Glory--4/$9.2 million/$31 million/94/55%/57--A young producer (Rachel McAdams) finds herself in the big leagues when she accepts the job as the head of the lowest-rated network morning show, which is on the verge of cancellation. Desperate to improve ratings, she brings in a very reluctant legendary journalist (Harrison Ford) to co-host, though he despises covering anything but hard news. Diane Keaton played the show's other anchor, Jeff Goldblum played McAdams's boss, Patrick Wilson another network producer who McAdams finds herself falling for, and Ty Burrell as the show's lecherous, quickly fired original anchor. Despite the good cast, mixed reviews led to a disappointing gross.
Director: Roger Michell
Fifteen Years Ago--November 18, 2005:
New Wide Releases:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--1/$102.7 million/$290 million/3/88%/81--The fourth installment in the beloved blockbuster series, the first to get a PG-13, sees the now-14-year-old Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) unexpectedly entered into the legendary Triwizard Tournament, a grueling competition that would pit him against two wizards from other schools and one from Hogwarts (Robert Pattinson, in only his second movie). Aside from the series regulars (Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as Hermione and Ron, Tom Felton as Draco, and among the adults, Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, Robbie Coltraine as Hagrid, Maggie Smith as McGonagall, Alan Rickman as Snape, Jason Issacs as Lucius Malfoy, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, and Timothy Spall as Pettigrew), this installment introduced Miranda Richardson as tabloid reporter Rita Skeeter, Brenden Gleeson as bad-tempered new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Mad-Eye Moody, David Tennent as Voldermort loyalist Barty Crouch, Jr., and Ralph Finnes as You-Know-Who. This installment continued the terrific reviews that the previous installment, 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, earned, and would receive an Oscar nomination for Art Direction. This would be the only installment directed by Mike Newell.
Director: Mike Newell
Walk the Line--2/$22.4 million/$119.5 million/16/82%/72--A year after Ray came another critically acclaimed biopic about the troubled but ultimately triumphant life of a legendary musician. Joaquan Phoenix played Johnny Cash, whose hit records hid the turmoil of his life, which included a divorce from his first wife (Ginnifer Goodwin), a drug addiction, and a long courtship, with numerous rejections, from his second wife, June (Reese Witherspoon). Robert Patrick played Cash's unsupportive father, musician Shooter Jennings played his own father, Waylon Jennings, and 15-year-old Lucas Till played Cash's ill-fated older brother. This would outgross Ray by nearly $45 million. It would receive five Oscar nominations, including Actor for Phoenix, Editing, Costumes, and Sound Mixing, and would win Best Actress for Witherspoon.
Director: James Mangold
New Limited Releases:
Breakfast on Pluto--$0.8 million/225/57%/59--Cillian Murphy completed a busy 2005 with the starring role in this dramedy, playing an Irish trans woman who escapes her small hometown to go to London to seek out her birth mother, who abandoned her upon birth. Liam Neeson played the priest who is her birth father, Stephen Rea, making his ninth film with director Neil Jordan, played a magician who Murphy briefly worked for, Brenden Gleeson, in his second friend of the weekend, played an actor that befriended Murphy, fellow Harry Potter alum Ian Hart played a cop, Dominic Cooper played a clubgoer, and Ruth Negga played Murphy's longtime friend. Mixed reviews kept this one from breaking out.
Director: Neil Jordan
Twenty Years Ago--November 17, 2000:
New Wide Releases:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas--1/$55.1 million/$260 million/1/49%/46--Jim Carrey bookended the aughts by playing the two most iconic Christmas villains, starring as Scrooge in the motion capture adaption of A Christmas Carol in 2009 after, nine years earlier, starring as Dr. Seuss's most famous character (give or take The Cat in the Hat) in Ron Howard's live action version of The Grinch. As the original book was only 64 pages long (and only averaged about 21 words per page), and even the 1966 25-minute adaption for TV needed several montages and multiple verses of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" to meet that brief running time, this adaption put in lots of back story explaining exactly why the Grinch hated Christmas. Howard was able to attract a strong cast, including Christine Baranski, Jeffrey Tambour, and Molly Shannon as various Whos. Anthony Hopkins narrated, and 19-year-old Bryce Dallas Howard got her first credited role as a Who. Despite the mixed-to-negative reviews (which liked Carrey, the costumes, sets, and makeup, and hated pretty much everything else), this became a huge hit, ending up as 2000's highest-grossing film. The film earned three Oscar nominations, for the aforementioned Costumes and Art Direction, and winning for the Makeup, which convincingly turned Carrey into the green-furred Grinch. In subsequent years, there would be a Broadway musical adaption, a full-length animated version, and a live-action TV adaption of the musical.
Director: Ron Howard.
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie--2/$22.7 million/$76.5 million/30/76%/62--Two years after The Rugrats Movie, the feature film adaption of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series about a group of babies, shocked Hollywood by outgrossing the heavily hyped Will Smith thriller Enemy of the State on their mutual opening weekend, the sequel was able to hold its own against the higher profile Grinch. As the title says, the babies (and parents) head to France after main baby Tommy's father gets summoned to fix a malfunctioning amusement park attraction, where baby Chucky's single father is romanced by the head of the park (Susan Sarandon), who needs a family to prove that she loves children (unusual for someone who runs an amusement park, she secretly hates kids). Critics were surprisingly kind to the film, which also featured guest voice work from John Lithgow, Mako, Tim Curry, and Debbie Reynolds, and it did decent business, enough for a third film in 2003.
Director: Stig Bergqvist and Paul Demeyer
The 6th Day--4/$13 million/$34.6 million/76/40%/49--Arnold Schwarzenegger had a Thanksgiving flop for the second year in a row with this action flick, in which he played a helicopter pilot who discovers that he'd been cloned when he arrives home and discovers he's already there. As human cloning is strictly illegal, he has to dodge the henchman of the billionaire (Tony Goldwin) who wants him dead. Terry Crews and Michael Rooker played two of those henchmen, Michael Rappaport played Schwarzenegger's friend, and Robert Duvall played a cloning scientist. Despite the PG-13 rating, family audiences chose to go see The Grinch instead, as this greatly underperformed.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Bounce--5/$11.4 million/$36.8 million/68/52%/52--In this romantic melodrama, Ben Affleck gives up his plane ticket to family man Tony Goldwin (doing double duty this weekend), only to become wracked with guilt after the plane crashes and Goldwin doesn't survive. Eventually, he meets Goldwin's widow (Gwyneth Paltrow) and begins a relationship with her, but can't bring himself to admit his role in her husband's death. Natasha Henstridge played a fellow passenger Affleck hooked up with, Jennifer Grey an airline employee, and Johnny Galecki Affleck's assistant. Most of the interest in this movie came from the tabloids wondering if Affleck and Paltrow were dating or had been dating.
Director: Don Roos
New Limited Releases:
One Day in September--$0.2 million/292/97%/82--That day was September 5, 1972, the day that a botched rescue attempt of the Israeli Olympic hostages in Munich resulted in all 11 athletes and coaches dying. This documentary, narrated by Michael Douglas, examines the events surrounding the hostage crisis, from the lax security to the poor planning and coordination of the West German government. Despite some controversary, the film would win the Oscar for Documentary Feature.
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Twenty-Five Years Ago--November17, 1995:
New Wide Releases:
GoldenEye--1/$26.2 million/$106.4 million/6/79%/65--After a six and a half year wait--the longest gap between entries since the series began in 1962--James Bond finally returned, in the form of Pierce Bronsan, assuming the role nearly a decade after being initially offered it. His first outing--and the first Bond film since the end of the Cold War--had 007 discovering that a long-thought-dead agent (Sean Bean) had control of a Soviet-era satellite and was planning to use it for nefarious ends. Famke Janssen played Bean's evil associate, with the very Bond name of Xenia Onatopp, Alan Cumming played a programmer working for Bean, Joe Don Baker played a CIA agent, Robbie Coltraine played a Russian mobster, Minnie Driver had a cameo as a lounge singer, and Judi Dench also made her series debut as M, a role she would continue to play even after the Bronsan era gave way to the Craig era. The film was a big hit, becoming the highest-grossing Bond movie (not adjusted for inflation) up to that time, more than doubling the gross of the last entry, 1989's License to Kill. Director Martin Campbell would return to the series 11 years later to kick off the Craig years with Casino Royale.
Director: Martin Campbell
The American President--3/$10 million/$60.1 million/29/91%/67--That would be Michael Douglas, as a progressive President who, other than being widowed, was essentially an idealized version of then-real life President Bill Clinton. Douglas is running for re-election, which makes it an inopportune time for him to fall for environmental lobbyist Annette Bening. Director Rob Reiner assembled a strong cast for this Aaron Sorkin-written romcom, including David Paymer, Samantha Mathis, Anna Deavere Smith, and Michael J. Fox as aides to the president, John Mahoney as Bening's boss, Richard Dreyfuss as a Republican Kansas senator named Bob preparing to run against Douglas (any resemblance to Clinton's real life 1996 Republican opponent, Kansas senator Bob Dole, was, I'm sure, just a coincidence), Sorkin regular Joshua Malina as Bening's co-worker, and and fellow future West Wing cast member Martin Sheen as the White House Chief of Staff (Sheen, of course, would get a big promotion in the White House hierarchy when that show premiered). Director Rob Reiner recovered nicely from his disastrous comedy North the previous summer, but the general consensus is that this was his last good movie. It would get an Oscar nomination for its Comedy Score.
Director: Rob Reiner
It Takes Two--4/$5.6 million/$19.5 million/83/8%/45--By the age of 9, identical twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen had managed to ride the popularity of their shared role on the recently-concluded sitcom Full House to a thriving career as stars of various made-for-TV movies and straight-to-video projects. Their first attempt at big screen stardom, this loose remake of The Parent Trap, did not go so well, though. They play girls, apparently not related in this version, who meet at summer camp, and decide to switch lives, the better for one of them to stop the wedding between wealthy Steve Guttenberg, who is one of their father (in his third movie that fall) and child-hating gold digger Jane Sibbett. Meanwhile, they are also working to get Guttenberg to fall for the other's social worker (and potential adoptive mom) Kristie Alley. A much more successful, official remake of The Parent Trap would arrive in 1999, and the Olsens wouldn't get another shot at feature film stardom until 2004's New York Minute, which managed to do even worse.
Director: Andy Tennant
New Limited Releases:
The Crossing Guard--$0.9 million/203/75%/46--Not even Jack Nicholson could get holiday audiences to see this Sean Penn-directed dour drama, about a grieving father (Nicholson) who plans to kill the newly released drunk driver (David Morse) who killed his daughter, something that the guilt-wracked Morse would be perfectly OK with. Nicholson's ex-girlfriend Anjelica Huston played his ex-wife, Robin Wright, who Penn would marry the next year, played a woman who Morse was interested in, and Piper Laure played Morse's mother. Nicholson and Penn would reunite as actor and director in the somewhat similar 2001 drama The Pledge.
Director: Sean Penn
Thirty Years Ago--November 16, 1990:
New Wide Releases:
Home Alone--1/$17.1 million/$285.8 million/1/65%/63--When execs scheduled this to be the sacrificial lamb against Rocky V, they probably were thinking the best case scenario for the John Hughes-written and produced family comedy, the second film directed The Goonies screenwriter Chris Columbus, would be a final gross around the $53.5 million that surprise summer hit Problem Child had made. Then, it proceeded to knock out Rocky and take the top spot for the weekend, and then not relinquish #1 until February. By the time its overall run came to an end nearly a year later, it had become the third-highest grossing film of all time and 10-year-old star Macaulay Culkin was arguably the biggest kid star since Shirley Temple. Kids flocked to see Culkin, after being accidently left behind by his harried parents (Catherine O'Hara and John Heard) and the rest of his gigantic family has to fend off a couple of dim bulb burglars (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci, who between this and Goodfellas, had quite the fall of 1990) who take most of the film to figure out what the title was. When they do finally break in, the movie becomes a live-action Coyote/Road Runner film as the two have to endure the house of horrors proto-Jigsaw Culkin had set up (and it was that extended slapstick sequence that was largely responsible for the film's popularity). Culkin's little brother Kieran played his cousin, Hope Davis made her film debut as a ticket agent, and John Candy reunited with his SCTV co-star O'Hara as a musician who offers her a ride (even though he and Culkin had co-starred in Hughes's Uncle Buck the year before, they had no scenes together in this one). The film would be nominated for two Oscars, both personally for John Williams, for the Score and Song "Somewhere in My Memory". Most of the cast would reunite two years later for a New York-set remake sequel, before the franchise name was applied to a series of films with somewhat similar plots but completely different casts.
Director: Chris Columbus
Rocky V--2/$14.1 million/$41 million/32/31%/55--The Ivan Drago of the pre-Thanksgiving weekend of 1990, the first Rocky movie in five years has Rocky (Sylverster Stallone) discovering he's broke thanks to an embezzling accountant, and also has brain damage. Becoming a trainer, he mentors a promising newcomer (Tommy Davidson) who ultimately betrays him. Returning from previous installments were Talia Shire as Rocky's wife, Adrian, Burt Young as her brother and Rocky's old friend, Burguss Meredith, who appeared in flashbacks as Rocky's old trainer, and Stallone's real-life son Sage, who played his son. After Stallone had directed the previous three installments, this marked the return of director John G. Avildsen to the franchise for the first time since the first film. Given that Rambo III had flopped two years earlier, Stallone wisely retired both of his iconic characters for a decade and a half, though he would return to Rocky in 2006 (and Rambo in 2008).
Director: John G. Avildsen
The Rescuers Down Under--4/$3.5 million/$27.9 million/42/70%/70--The Disney Renaissance had kicked off the previous year with The Little Mermaid, but it wouldn't fully flower until the next year with Beauty and the Beast. In between was the studio's first animated sequel (and the fall's second major movie with "Down Under" in its title), a follow-up to the studio's 1977 hit The Rescuers. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor reprise their roles as the heroic mice rescuers of the title, who set off to Australia to save a young boy from the clutches of an evil poacher (voiced by George C. Scott). John Candy did double duty in family films this weekend by voicing the albatross that brings the mice to the Outback. Opening directly against Home Alone clearly didn't help its prospects, but even if that movie hadn't sucked up the family audience, it would be unlikely that this would have been a hit. Other than Fantasia 2000, it wouldn't be until 2018 and Ralph Breaks the Internet that Walt Disney Feature Animation would make another sequel (though their low-budget division spent much of the 90s and aughts churning out follow-ups, most of which were sent straight to video).
Director: Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel
New Limited Releases:
Cyrano de Bergerac--$5.8 million/117/100%/79--40 years after Jose Ferrer won an Oscar for playing the titular swordsman/poet/candidate for rhinoplasty, Gerard Depardieu put his spin on this lavish, French-language adaption of the classic Edmond Rostand play. Cyrano, who is extremely self-conscious about his huge nose, agrees to help attractive-but-dumb Vincent Perez woo Anne Brochet, even though he is in love with her himself. The film was a huge hit in France and did strong business in the US, being the second-highest grossing foreign film of the year in North America, trailing only Cinema Paradiso. It would be nominated for five Oscars, including Actor for Depardieu, Foreign Film, Art Direction, and Makeup, and won for Costumes.
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Thirty-Five Years Ago--November 15, 1985:
New Wide Releases:
Once Bitten--1/$4 million/$10 million/84/18%/64--8 years before Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Jim Carrey had his first stab at movie stardom with this poorly received horror comedy, in which he played a virginal high schooler who becomes the target of a 400-year-old vampire (Lauren Hutton) who needs virgin blood in order to stay young. Hijinks ensure. Cleavon Little played Hutton's henchman, and Megan Mullally turned up in a small part. The film won a slow weekend, but would be quickly swamped once holiday films began rolling out. Over the next few years, Carrey would pop up in supporting roles in various movies before landing "the white guy" role on In Living Color, and then Ace Ventura.
Director: Howard Storm
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer--7/$1.9 million/$4.9 million/117/0%/NA--The mid 1980s were truly the golden age of animated feature films based on animated TV shows based on toys. In a year that had already seen the likes of The Care Bears Movie and He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, here came another 80 minute commercial parents got to pay to sit through. The rather complicated plot has Rainbow, who apparently is the bringer of spring, battling the personification of Winter and an evil space princess for control of a planet-sized diamond. Luckily, parents who gave in to The Care Bears Movie (which managed to be the highest grossing new animated film of the year), decided to put their foot down this time.
Director: Bernard Deyries and Kimio Yabuki
Forty Years Ago--November 14, 1980:
New Limited Releases:
The Exterminator--NA/NA/38%/NA--You liked Death Wish? Here's Death Wish on steroids, as Vietnam vet Robert Ginty gets revenge on the gang that paralyzed his best friend by brutally murdering them, along with a mob boss, a corrupt politician, and the like. Meanwhile, he's being tracked down by a cop (Christopher George) and, for some reason, the CIA. Samantha Eggar played a doctor. Critics hated this, of course, but it did well enough that a sequel came out in 1984.
Director: James Glickenhaus
Fantasia--NA/NA/95%/96--After its successful 1969 re-release, Disney kept its 1940 classic in fairly regular rotation for the next sixteen years. This would be the first of three visits of the film to multiplexes during the 80s, though the only one during the decade that would use the original soundtrack (the studio substituted newly recorded music in 1982).
Director: None credited (James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Jr., Norman Ferguson, David Hand, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen)
The Idolmaker--$2.6 million/98/89%/NA--The feature directorial debut of Taylor Hackford, this drama starred Ray Sharkey as a musician's manager in the 1950s who knows exactly what audiences want, and is willing to do anything in order for his clients to achieve fame and success, no matter how big a trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. Peter Gallagher, as a teenager who comes to regret coming into Sharkey's orbit, made his film debut. Also showing up in an early role was Joe Pantoliano as Sharkey's friend and Olympia Dukakis as Sharkey's mother. While the film itself was only a marginal box office performer, Sharkey got across-the-board raves, but unfortunately a nasty drug habit, which would eventually lead to his early death, prevented him from taking advantage.
Director: Taylor Hackford
The Private Eyes--NA/NA/NA/NA--Longtime comedy vets Tim Conway and Don Knotts teamed up several times during the course of the 70s for agreeably silly, family friendly goofy comedies, first for Disney, and then for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. This 1920s-set effort has them playing American detectives in England investigating the murders of a pair of aristocrats. Bernard Fox and Grace Zabriskie play two of the staff at the late aristocrats' big, mysterious house. While not a critical favorite, it performed well at the box office. Despite the film's success, this would be the final major teaming of Knotts and Conway, as the two would spend most of the rest of their careers working on TV or in supporting roles in movies.
Director: Lang Elliott
Expanding:
Gloria
No comments:
Post a Comment