There is a gigantic adult who calls himself The Rock. And how about those muscles? Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, is the movie star we never needed and never wanted, but here is he, somehow hanging around forever. Someday he’ll run for president, but for now he’s still trying to be an action star.
Johnson’s new film, Black Adam, took the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office, bringing in $67 million over its first three days of release. Add in foreign sales, and Black Adam has already brought in $140 million worldwide. Woof. I guess we aren’t getting rid of that eyebrow any time soon, are we?
Black Adam currently holds a Metacritic score of 41/100. Meanwhile, there’s an amazing indie film out called Aftersun that currently has a score of 96/100. Maybe go see that instead?
Also at the box
The George Clooney- and Julia Roberts-led rom-com Ticket to Paradise, written and directed by Ol Parker, took the No. 2 spot over its first weekend of release, selling $16.34 million in the U.S. Not bad. I love a good rom-com, and will almost certainly watch this one on some streaming service at some point. Add in foreign sales and Ticket has made $96 million. Whoa. Never underestimate good ol’ Hollywood star power, I guess.
Horror flick Smile took the No. 3 spot over its fourth weekend, selling another $8.3 million, upping its 24-day sales total to a solid $84 million in the U.S. Add up the foreign sales, and Smile has made $166 million worldwide. I guess it’s safe to assume that we’ll be seeing anywhere from three to 12 of these movies.
David Gordon Green’s Halloween Ends was fourth with just $8 million over its second weekend of sales. Ouch. Not great. So far, Ends has made $82 million worldwide in 10 days. Not the numbers the pundits expected, but I’m always happy when a DGG flick makes some bank.
Rounding out the top five is Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile with $4.2 million. Lyle has now sold $28 million in tickets in the U.S. Good job, kiddos. You did it.
New this week
Todd Field’s first feature film in a million years, Tár, opens this weekend. Rejoice, let Oscar Talk season begin.
I saw an advance screening and, whoa, it’s a whopper. One-of-a-kind, observant, angry, and thoughtful, this one is almost certainly going to be in the Oscar discussion, if mostly for Cate Blanchett’s lead performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Field also gets nominated for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture, or all three. I doubt this one will do much at the box office while The Rock is out there cookin’, but don’t be surprised if it goes down as one of the best films of 2022.
Generic horror film Prey for the Devil will also open everywhere. James Gray’s Armageddon Time, starring Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, and Jeremy Strong, will start to test in New York City and Los Angeles. Wow, this one looks good. Especially if, like me, you have a lot of love for New York City. This isn’t being billed as a Trump movie, but I know it’s about NYC and John Diehl plays Fred Trump and Jessica Chastain plays Maryanne Trump, sooo, who knows? Something tells me this one might be about how it all went wrong in America. Can’t wait.
ScreenRant
This past weekend I watched the original Point Break for maybe the 100th time and realized that it’s one of the most entertaining films I’ve ever seen. I started to realize as I clicked around on IMDb that, whoa, it might be possible that Keanu Reeves is one of my favorite actors. I mean, the guy has no range and at times is laughably bad, but if I were to rank my 10 favorite films featuring Keanu, it’d be maybe one of the more enjoyable Top 10 actor lists out there.
OK, you twisted my arm. Here it is, my Top 10 Favorite Keanu Reeves films:
10. Thumbsucker (director Mike Mills, 2005); Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Stephen Here, 1989); Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992)
9. John Wick (Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, 2014)
8. Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988)
7. A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006)
6. The Gift (Sam Raimi, 2000)
5. The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999)
4. River’s Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986)
3. Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994)
2. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)
1. Point Break (Katheryn Bigelow, 1991)
Not bad, Keanu. I think my biggest takeaway from studying Keanu’s IMDb page is that when he works with great directors who know how to use his limited range, great things happen.
Now maybe I should make a list of my Top 10 Bad Keanu Reeves Films. That would not be hard.
