After six weeks of mostly lousy movies, President's Day weekend often marks the time when Hollywood peeks out and starts releasing decent films again. Of course, it is still mid-February, so in most cases, there's a limit to how good these films actually are.
One Year Ago--February 14, 2020:
New Wide Releases:
Sonic the Hedgehog--1/$58 million/$149 million/2/63%/47--An adaption of the long-running video game/comic book/cartoon franchise, this starred the voice of Ben Schwartz as Sonic, a furry blue alien with super-speed who finds himself stranded on Earth, and, after accidently blowing the power of the entire Pacific Northwest, finds himself on the run from evil government scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), reluctantly accompanied by local sheriff James Marsden. Tika Sumpter played Marsden's wife, Adam Pally a local cop, and Neil McDonough a soldier. The original trailer caused an uproar with a rather horrifying look for Sonic; the studio ended up pushing the movie back from its November 2019 release date to replace that Sonic was a much cuter and cuddlier one. This film became the highest-grossing video game movie ever, and served as both Carrey's first $100 million grosser since A Christmas Carol (and first live-action $100 million grosser since Fun With Dick and Jane), and the last film to hit $100 million before the pandemic--which makes it, as of this writing, the last $100 million grossing movie. Critics were surprisingly kind to it, and a sequel is due out next year.
Director: Jeff Fowler
Fantasy Island--3/$12.3 million/$27.3 million/12/7%/22--A more horror-tinged reboot of the cheesy 70s TV show, this featured a bunch of twenty-somethings arriving on the titular island, each to live out their biggest fantasy (all of which fit nicely into the film's PG-13 rating). Of course, the motto of the film is "Be careful what you wish for". Michael Pena played Mr. Rourke, the clad-in-white proprietor of the island, with the guests played by Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Jimmy O. Yang, and Ryan Hansen, with Portia Doubleday, Michael Rooker, and Mike Vogel as others on the island. Critics hated it, and after an OK opening weekend, it quickly fell off, becoming the fifth mediocre-grossing horror title of the year.
Director: Jeff Wadlow
The Photograph--4/$12.2 million/$20.6 million/18/74%/62--This romantic drama, starring Issa Rae as the daughter of a famous photographer, and LaKeith Stanfield as a journalist doing a story on her mother, had a decent opening over Valentine's weekend, but, surprisingly, fell off quicker than Fantasy Island did, despite solid reviews. Supporting roles were played by Chelsea Peretti, Lil Rel Howley, Teyonah Parris, Rob Morgan, and Courtney B. Vance.
Director: Stella Meghie
Downhill--10/$4.6 million/$8.3 million/35/38%/49--This remake of the Swedish film Force Majeure starred Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a seemingly happy couple whose marriage splinters when he abandons her and their kids when it appears that an avalanche is about to hit their resort. Zach Woods and Miranda Otto had supporting roles as friends. Critics compared it unfavorably to the original, and despite the two big names involved, audiences ignored it. This was Will Ferrell's lowest-grossing star vehicle since Casa de Mi Padre, which was restricted to art houses, and his lowest wide-release film of any type since Dick.
Director: Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
New Limited Releases:
Corpus Christi--$0.1 million/173/98%/77--This Polish drama concerned a recently-released 20-something convict (Bartosz Bielenia) who, denied the chance to go to seminary to become a priest because of his criminal record, poses as one anyway, taking over the parish of a small town that is still reeling from a recent tragedy. The pandemic prevented it from rolling out in too many theaters, but despite its Oscar nomination for Foreign Language Film, it didn't attract much business when it was in theaters.
Director: Jan Komasa
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon--NA/NA/96%/79--This well-received follow-up to the original Shaun the Sheep Movie (itself a follow-up to a British TV series that was a spin-off of Wallace & Gromit) has Shaun befriending a friendly alien who is stranded on Earth. Aardmann, which had seen nearly every one of its theatrical releases have a lower gross than the last one since Chicken Run, decided to bypass a wide theatrical release in the US for Netflix, though it played elsewhere in the world. Like its predecessor, this would earn an Animated Feature Oscar nomination.
Director: Will Becher and Richard Phelan
Five Years Ago--February 12, 2016:
New Wide Releases:
Deadpool--1/$132.4 million/$363.1 million/6/85%/65--7 years after playing a bastardized version of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds got to make a faithful adaption of the Marvel character and his comic books, a spin-off of the long-running X-Men series. Reynolds is suffering from cancer, and agrees to undergo experimentation that eventually awakens mutant genes that cures his illness and any other ailments (up to and including lost limbs), but disfigures him. Taking the role of a masked mercenary, he tracks down the group responsible, including Ed Skrein and Gina Carano. Morena Baccarin played his girlfriend, T.J. Miller played his best friend, Karan Soni played a cabdriver Reynolds befriends, Brianna Hildebrand played an X-Men-in-training, and Leslie Uggams played Reynolds's blind landlady. Although this was certainly not the first R-rated comic book movie, it is the first connected with a blockbuster franchise that had previously been all PG-13. Its success paved the way for Logan and Joker. A sequel would follow in 2018.
Director: Tim Miller
How to Be Single--3/$19.8 million/$46.8 million/71/47%/51--This Valentine's Day ensemble romcom starred Dakota Johnson, in her first major leading role since Fifty Shades of Grey, as a newcomer to New York who ends up in the midst of a very active dating scene among her friends, relatives and co-workers. Leslie Mann played her older sister, Rebel Wilson played her new friend, Alison Brie played another friend, and the various men they go through include Damon Wayans, Jr., Anders Holm, Nicholas Braun, Jake Lacy, Jason Mantzoukas, and Colin Jost. Reviews were mixed, and the audience largely dried up after the holiday weekend.
Director: Christian Ditter
Zoolander 2--4/$13.8 million/$28.9 million/91/22%/34--The first of a number of over-a-decade-later sequels that came out in 2016, almost all of which flopped, this poorly received follow-up to the 2001 fashion spoof had Ben Stiller's Derek Zoolander coming out of retirement to stop a conspiracy involving models and his own son (Cyrus Arnold). Stiller, who also directed, got most of the first movie's cast back, including Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, and Billy Zane, with Penelope Cruz, Kristin Wiig, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Sting joining the cast. There were also many, many, many cameos. It was all for naught, as reviews were awful, and audiences decided that Zoolander should have stayed in 2001.
Director: Ben Stiller
New Limited Releases:
A War--$0.1 million/374/90%/81--This Danish drama starred Pilou Asbaek as a solider in Afghanistan who is put on trial after an air strike he called in results in 11 civilian deaths. He finds himself torn between the people he killed and the lives of the men he saved and his duty to his family. Despite being an Oscar nominee for Foreign Language Film, the movie did only marginal business in the US.
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Ten Years Ago--February 18, 2011:
New Wide Releases:
Unknown--1/$21.9 million/$63.7 million/55/55%/56--Assuming you don't count ensemble piece The A-Team, this is Liam Neeson's first Old Man of Action movie after Taken two years earlier would change the trajectory of his career. Neeson played a professor in Berlin for a conference who wakes up after a four-day coma from a traffic accident to discover his wife (January Jones) is seemingly married to another man with his name (Aiden Quinn) and that his attempts to verify his identify come to naught. When an attempt is made on his life, he realizes that there is some sort of conspiracy surrounding him. Diane Kruger played the taxi driver responsible for his crash who agrees to help him, Frank Langella and Sebastian Koch play professors, and Bruno Ganz played a private detective. Reviews were mixed, with most negative reviews (and a few positive ones) complaining that the plot was utterly preposterous, but the film proved to be a moderate box office success.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
I Am Number Four--2/$19.5 million/$55.1 million/61/33%/36--Young British actor Alex Pettyfer made the first of three attempts in 2011 to become a movie star with this sci-fi thriller, based on a YA novel, about an alien teenager (Pettyfer) hiding out on Earth with a guardian (Timothy Olyphant). Of course the evil aliens who want all of his kind dead find him, but not before he falls for a local girl (Dianna Agron). This was hoped to start a franchise, but after this fell flat both critically and commercially, the film's sequel hook remained unfulfilled, at least cinematically.
Director: D.J. Caruso
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son--5/$16.3 million/$37.9 million/79/5%/22--Martin Lawrence, the only returning cast member from any of the previous entries in the series, was persuaded to put the fat suit and dress on again, this time to go undercover in a girls school to find a MacGuffin that an evil gang wants. His stepson (Brandon T. Jackson), who witnessed a murder committed by a gang, has to also go undercover in drag as a student. Hijinks ensure. Proving that audiences had long moved on from the franchise, this ended up with easily the lowest gross in the series. Lawrence wouldn't appear in another theatrical film until The Beach Bum in 2019.
Director: John Whitesell
Fifteen Years Ago--February 17, 2006:
New Wide Releases:
Eight Below--1/$20.2 million/$81.7 million/27/72%/64--This Disney drama, a surprise critical and commercial hit, starred Paul Walker as an Antarctic guide who is forced to leave his sled team behind during an emergency evacuation. When poor weather prevents an immediate return, the eight dogs are forced to survive on their own until Walker can make it back to the base. The film, which co-starred Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs, and August Schellenberg, is a remake of a Japanese movie, which in turn was inspired by a real incident. The real-life story, and the Japanese version, didn't quite have as happy an ending as this one did.
Director: Frank Marshall
Date Movie--2/$19.1 million/$48.6 million/65/7%/11--The directorial debuts of notoriously awful spoof movie makers Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedburg (who, for whatever reason, wasn't credited), this one, as the title implies, makes fun of romcoms, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Meet the Parents, Hitch, The Wedding Planner, and other films, including Mr. & Mrs. Smith, King Kong, and Napoleon Dynamite, as well as the TV series The Bachelor (complete with appearance from host Chris Harrison). Alyson Hannigan and Adam Campbell played the central couple, and Eddie Griffin, Tony Cox, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Judah Friedlander, Carman Electra, Scott Speedman, and Lil Jon popped up in cameos and supporting roles. As audiences were not aware of just how awful these spoofs were yet, it did decent business (even if it, for some reason, opened right after Valentine's Day).
Director: Aaron Seltzer (Jason Friedburg was an uncredited co-director)
Freedomland--7/$5.8 million/$12.5 million/146/23%/43--When the sister (Julianne Moore) of a police officer (Ron Eldard) claims to have been carjacked, with her young son still in the car, the residents of a nearby housing project comes under heavy suspicion, but the lead detective (Samuel L. Jackson) suspects that there may be more to Moore's story than she is telling. Edie Falco played a missing children's advocate, William Forsythe played a cop, Anthony Mackie and LaTanya Richardson played residents of the project, and Phillip Bosco played a priest. Clearly intended to be a year-end awards player, this got dumped into February, where it garnered poor reviews and poor box office.
Director: Joe Roth
New Limited Releases:
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days--$0.7 million/253/87%/76--Scholl (Julia Jentsch), a 21-year-old member of an anti-Nazi resistance movement, is caught, along with her brother (Fabian Hinrichs), distributing material at a Munich university. Even with her life on the line, she refuses to rat out the other members of the movement, even in the face of intense questioning from Gestapo investigator Alexander Held and judge Andre Hennicke. This got excellent reviews and earned an Oscar nomination for Foreign Language film, but the German drama failed to gain any traction box office-wise in North America.
Director: Marc Rothemund
Twenty Years Ago--February 16, 2001:
#1 Movie:
Hannibal--$29.7 million
New Wide Releases:
Down to Earth--2/$17.3 million/$64.2 million/37/20%/32--The first of two remakes that weekend, this comedy, a redo of 1978's Heaven Can Wait (itself a redo of 1941's Here Comes Mr. Jordan) starred Chris Rock, in his first lead role since 1993's CB4, playing a struggling comedian who is killed in a bike accident. Informed by a pair of angels (Chazz Palminteri and Eugene Levy) that he was taken too soon, he soon finds himself in the body of a recently murdered white millionaire (Brian Rhodes), having to try to avoid the subsequent murder attempts of the millionaire's wife (Jennifer Cooledge) while falling for an activist protesting the millionaire (Regina King). Frankie Faison, Mark Addy, Wanda Sykes, Greg Germann, and John Cho (who, along with Levy and Cooledge, had co-starred in the director Weitz Brothers' previous film American Pie) played supporting roles. Rock's popularity helped make this a mild hit, though reviews were pretty awful.
Director: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Recess: School's Out--3/$10.1 million/$36.7 million/67/60%/43--A feature-length version of the popular Saturday morning cartoon, this has a gang of students (Andy Lawrence, Rickey D'Shon Collins, Ashley Johnson, Jason Davis, Courtland Mead, Pamela Segall Adlon) discover a nefarious plot by a former Secretary of Education (James Woods) to destroy summer vacation forever. In addition to the other TV show regulars (including Dabney Coleman), Disney money attracted a solid voice cast, including Melissa Joan Hart, Peter MacNicol, Clancy Brown, Andrea Martin, Dan Castellaneta, Ron Glass, and R. Lee Ermey. In terms of animated films based on kids cartoons (a genre that had a number of entries around the turn of the century, thanks to the success of The Rugrats Movie), it did pretty decently.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Sweet November--4/$9.7 million/$25.3 million/90/15%/27--The weekend's second remake (of a film from 1968) was this romantic drama in which workaholic Keanu Reeves meets kooky Charlize Theron, and embarks on a month-long fling, as Reeves finds himself falling head over heels for her, but she may be carrying a secret. Jason Issacs played Theron's best friend, and Lauran Graham, Greg Germann (also in Down to Earth), and Frank Langella had supporting roles. Critics were bored, and audiences proved less than enthusiastic about seeing the reuniting of The Devil's Advocate co-stars.
Director: Pat O'Connor
Twenty-Five Years Ago--February 16, 1996:
#1 Movie:
Broken Arrow--$11.7 million
New Wide Releases:
Happy Gilmore--2/$8.5 million/$38.8 million/37/62%/31--The success a year earlier of Billy Madison proved not to be a fluke, as Adam Sandler's second major vehicle nicely improved on that film's grosses. He played Happy, a former hockey player who discovers that his slap shot translates to the links, as he becomes a pro golfer, where his antics quickly has him running afoul of champ Christopher McDonald. Julie Bowen made her film debut playing a PR flack who becomes Sandler's love interest, Carl Weathers played Sandler's golf coach, Joe Flaherty played a heckler, Richard Kiel played Sandler's former boss, Kevin Nealon as another golfer, with cameos from director Dennis Dugan (directing Sandler for the first of 8 times) real-life golfer Lee Trevino, sports announcer Verne Lundquist, The Price is Wrong, Bitch Right host Bob Barker, and Ben Stiller, who appeared uncredited as a sadistic nursing home employee. Critics mostly disliked it at the time, though its reputation has grown over the years.
Director: Dennis Dugan
Muppet Treasure Island--3/$7.9 million/$34.3 million/44/70%/64--The fifth Muppet feature film, was, like the last one, 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol, a literary adaption, in this case Robert Lewis Stevenson's classic tale of pirates. 15-year-old Kevin Bishop made his film debut as Jim Hawkins, possessor of a treasure map given to him by Billy Connolly before his death. On board a ship, he runs afoul of crewmate and secret pirate Long John Silver (Tim Curry) who also wants the map. Among the Muppets, Kermit (Steve Whitmire) played the ship's captain, Fozzie (Frank Oz) the voyage's financier, Gonzo (Dave Goelz) and Rizzo (Whitmire) Bishop's friends, and Miss Piggy (Oz) as the leader of a tribe on Treasure Island (and Kermit's ex-girlfriend). Reviews were decent, and this improved on the grosses of Muppet Christmas Carol. However, with the next movie, Muppets From Space in 1999, the franchise returned to the 70s/80s formula of wacky, contemporary adventures.
Director: Brian Henson (David Lane was an uncredited co-director)
City Hall--4/$7 million/$20.3 million/82/56%/NA--When a cop and a mobster die in a shootout that also kills an innocent kid, the fallout threatens to consume the administration of New York mayor Al Pacino, as well as his idealistic deputy John Cusack. Bridget Fonda played a lawyer, Danny Aiello another politician, Martin Landau a judge, Richard Schiff a probation officer, David Paymer as a berucrat, and Anthony Franciosa as a mobster, with cameos from then U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings and former New York mayor Ed Koch. Another film that felt like it was made for year-end awards, this ended up getting mixed reviews and little business.
Director: Harold Becker
Mr. Wrong--6/$5.1 million/$12.8 million/111/7%/NA--Ellen DeGeneres, who was still a sitcom star and still closeted at the time, starred in her one and only starring vehicle, playing a woman who realizes her boyfriend (Bill Pullman) is not just not right for her, but is a dangerous psychopath. Unfortunately, no one believes her. Yes, it's supposed to be a comedy, though critics would disagree. Joan Cusack played Pullman's obsessed ex-girlfriend, Dean Stockwell played a private investigator, Joan Plowright played Pullman's mother, Hope Davis played DeGeneres's sister, and Robert Goulet DeGeneres's boss. This one died a quick death, and, other than Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, DeGeneres went back to TV and supporting roles in movies.
Director: Nick Castle
Thirty Years Ago--February 15, 1991:
New Wide Releases:
The Silence of the Lambs--1/$13.8 million*/$130.7 million/4/96%/85--On paper, this looked like it had a good chance to be a critical and commercial miss: it was a dark, horror-tinged thriller being released on Valentine's Day, its director was primarily known for quirky comedies, the most previous adaption of the author's work, Manhunter, which featured some of the same characters, had bombed, the male lead had been bouncing around between movies and TV for over a quarter of a century without making much of an impact, and the lead actress, while an Oscar winner, hadn't had a hit other than her winning film since her child star days. Oh, and the releasing studio, Orion, was on the verge of bankruptcy. But somehow, the elements came together to produce one of the biggest critical and commercial hits of the year. Anthony Hopkins, as sophisticated cannibal Hannibal Lector, finally not only had a signature role, but vaulted into superstardom. So did Jodie Foster, as naïve but resourceful FBI trainee Clarice Starling who gets involved in the search for a serial killer (Ted Levine) who mutiliates his victims' bodies. Scott Glenn played Foster's superior officer, Anthony Heald played the head of the institution housing Hopkins, Frankie Faison (who, along with Dan Butler, was one of two Manhunter actors to appear in this, albeit in different roles) played a friendly orderly, Kasi Lemmons played Foster's friend, and there were cameos from Roger Corman, Charles Napier, and George Romero. Even though it opened in February, it was remembered a year later with seven Oscar nominations, including Sound and Editing, and became the first film since It Happened One Night to sweep Picture, Actor (Hopkins), Actress (Foster), Director (Jonathan Demme) and (Adapted) Screenplay. A sequel, Hannibal, with Hopkins and Julianne Moore replacing Foster (who declined to reprise her role) opened almost exactly ten years later, and that was followed by two prequels.
Director: Jonathan Demme
King Ralph--3/$8.3 million*/$34 million/40/27%/NA--After the entire British royal family is wiped out in a freak accident, it is discovered that the next in the line of succession is, improbably, a boisterous American lounge singer (John Goodman, in his first lead movie role). His reign gets off to a rough start, not least of which he pretty much immediately falls for an exotic dancer (Camille Coduri). Peter O'Toole played Goodman's top royal advisor, John Hurt played a hostile member of the House of Lords, Richard Griffiths played another advisor, Joely Richardson played a Finnish princess, and John Glover played her father, the King of Finland. Critichs scoffed, but the film was a minor hit.
Director: David S. Ward
Nothing But Trouble--8/$4 million*/$8.5 million/105/13%/13--Rarely has a title proved so prophetic. Chevy Chase and Demi Moore play New Yorkers who take a wrong turn on their way to Atlantic City in this black comedy-horror, and ultimately end up stuck in the deteriorating courthouse run by an ancient judge (Dan Aykroyd, also making his directorial debut and finale, under about a mile of makeup) who has a grudge against "bankers", which he considered Chase and Moore to be, and who has a unique way to punish them. John Candy had a duel role as the town's police chief and his twin sister, and Tupac Shakur made his film debut as his hip hop group Digital Underground had a cameo. Critics were utterly disgusted, and despite the strong cast, audiences avoided it. Moore's career recovered nicely, but Aykroyd and Chase's never really did.
Director: Dan Aykroyd
Thirty-Five Years Ago--February 14, 1986:
#1 Movie
Down and Out in Beverly Hills--$7 million*
New Wide Releases:
The Delta Force--3/$6 million*/$17.8 million/50/17%/37--Most of Chuck Norris's Cannon vehicles were essentially one-man shows. For this one, however, producer/director Menahem Golan hired a number of well-known older character actors, mostly to play the passengers on a flight from Cairo to New York that gets hijacked by evil terrorists. It's up to the titular Force, led by Norris and Lee Marvin (in his final film) to rescue the hostages, who are played by the likes of Martin Balsam, Shelly Winters, Joey Bishop, Lainie Kazan, Susan Strasberg, and George Kennedy. Robert Forster played the head of the terrorists, Robert Vaughn an American general, Bo Svenson the plane's pilot, Hanna Schygulla as a heroic flight attendant, Kim Delaney as a nun, and Kevin Dillon, Mykelti Williamson, and Liam Neeson in early, uncredited roles as members of the commando team. The four Oscar winners in the cast is almost certainly a record for a Cannon film, but they didn't help the reviews or box office much, as it would earn almost as much as the previous fall's Invasion U.S.A. Still, Norris would return for a sequel in 1990.
Director: Menahem Golan
Wildcats--4/$5.5 million*/$26.3 million/37/22%/41--In the second high school football movie of early 1986, Goldie Hawn played a football-obsessed high school track coach who finally gets the opportunity to coach on the gridiron--in the roughest, toughest inner city high school around. Of course, the members of the team reject her at first. Of course, she eventually wins them over. Of course, it turns into a high school football remake of director Michael Ritchie's own The Bad News Bears. Swoosie Kurtz played Hawn's sister, James Keach her ex-husband, Jan Hooks, his new wife, Bruce McGill a rival coach, Nipsey Russell the principal of Hawn's new school, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson (in both of their film debuts) as members of the team, Mykelti Williamson, having a busy week, as a budding criminal Hawn blackmails into playing, M. Emmet Walsh as an attorney, Gloria Stuart as a teacher, and LL Cool J also making his film debut as himself. Hawn's popularity would make it the most popular of the three football comedies out that spring.
Director: Michael Ritchie
Quicksilver--7/$3.2 million*/$7.6 million/85/13%/43--Kevin Bacon's first attempt to show that the success of Footloose two years earlier wasn't a fluke didn't go so well. He played a stock trader who, after a big loss, chucks it to become a bicycle messenger. Jami Gertz played his love interest, and Paul Rodriguez, Louie Anderson, and Laurence Fishburne played his fellow messengers. Not even Bacon looks back on this one with fondness.
Director: Tom Donnelly
Forty Years Ago--February 13, 1981:
New Wide Releases:
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen--NA/NA/33%/NA--Seven months after The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, in which a white British actor (Peter Sellers) played an Asian stereotype that really should have stayed in the past, we have this movie, in which a white British actor (Peter Ustinov) played an Asian stereotype that really should have stayed in the past. At least this time he was the good guy. The first theatrical Charlie Chan movie since 1949, the now retired detective is called out of retirement to solve a series of murders, seemingly connected with the titular Dragon Queen (Angie Dickinson), an old enemy of Ustinov. Assisting him is his (white) grandson (Richard Hatch), and Hatch's fiancée (Michelle Pfeiffer, in another early role). Brian Keith played the police chief, Lee Grant played Hatch's maternal grandmother, who doesn't much care for Ustinov, and Roddy McDowell played her butler. Despite the good cast, this got mostly bad reviews, and quickly disappeared. Ustinov had much more luck playing another stereotypical detective, Herclue Poirot, in a series of films through the 1980s.
Director: Clive Donner
The Devil and Max Devlin--$16 million/45/18%/NA--Only Disney's third PG-rated movie, this comedy starred Elliot Gould (who had starred for the company in the flop The Last Flight of Noah's Ark the previous year) as a skeezy slumlord who, after getting hit by a bus, is told by a demon (Bill Cosby, in the role he was born to play) that he can return to life if he collects three pure souls for Satan, specifically a singer's (Julie Budd), a motorbike racer's (David Knell) and a young kid's (Adam Rich), the latter of which Gould works on while romancing his mother (Susan Anspach). Critics cared for it about as much as they cared for most live-action Disney movies, but the star power made it a minor hit. This would be Cosby's last theatrical film until the notorious Leonard Part 6 in 1987.
Director: Steven Hilliard Stern
My Bloody Valentine--$5.7 million/77/58%/46--Another of the holiday-inspired slashers that proliferated in the wake of Halloween, this Canadian production centered around a series of gruesome murders on the holiday, occurring 20 years after a deranged miner who had been trapped after an explosion killed those responsible. This ran into trouble with the MPAA over the gore content, and nine minutes were eventually removed to secure an R rating (three of those minutes were eventually restored for the Blu-ray release). Even though the film fell far short of what Friday the 13th had made the year before, it became a cult hit, lending its name to the British alt-rock band. A remake would be released in 2009.
Director: George Mihalka
Tess--$20.1 million/33 (for 1980)/81%/82--Roman Polanski's first film after fleeing the United States was this adaption of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, starring Nastassja Kinski as the titular Tess, a teenage girl from a poor family in rural England in the 19th century who is ultimately abused by two men, rich Leigh Lawson and pastor's son Peter Firth. The film (which opened in New York and Los Angeles in late 1980 for Oscar consideration) became a surprise hit, probably due to its six Oscar nominations, including Picture, Director for Polanski, and Score. It would win three, for Art Direction, Cinematography, and Costumes.
Director: Roman Polanski
New Limited Releases:
Breaker Morant--NA/NA/100%/72--This Australian drama recounted one of the first trials for war crimes in history, in which three Australian solders (Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, and Lewis Fitz-Gerald) working for the British in South Africa are put on trial for murdering a German missionary and several Boers, for which they are guilty, but are also being used as scapegoats by the British command. Jack Thompson played their attorney. This was very well received in Australia, and was a critical success in the US, earning an Adapted Screenplay nomination at the Oscars.
Director: Bruce Beresford
The Dogs of War--$5.5 million/79/68%/56--A mercenary (Christopher Walken) is hired by a businessman (Hugh Millais) to overthrow an African dictator (Ilario Bisi-Pedro) and install a much more malleable replacement (George Harris) who has already promised to turn over valuable mining rights to Millais. JoBeth Williams played Walken's estranged wife, Williams's future Big Chill co-star Tom Berenger played Walken's top lieutenant, Paul Freeman and a young Ed O'Neill played other members of Walken's team, Winston Ntshona played a doctor Walken befriended, and Jim Broadbent and Victoria Tennent popped up in bit parts. The film received decent reviews, but didn't make much of a box office impact.
Director: John Irvin
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