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The Grey Review

January 28, 2012 by · Comments Off on The Grey Review 

The Grey Review, The Grey, starring Liam Neeson and from director Joe Carnahan, rips through pretense and cliche to deliver a straight-up wolf-biting existential Alaskan thriller. Ottway (Neeson) is a wolf-killer for an Alaskan oilrig stranded in the tundra after his plane crashes, leaving him the unofficial leader of a motley crew of roughed-up survivors. It takes only a few hours until the group realizes they are in the territorial radius of a tenacious wolf pack, and wolves don’t like company.

What seems on paper like could be a ridiculous story is unexpectedly grounded and raw, due to well-rounded characters with spot-on performances by Frank Grillo and Dermot Muroney, coupled by the technical sensibilities of Carnahan. The grainy, 16mm film style and subjective soundscape legitimatize the characters’ struggle in a way only cinema can, ultimately elevating their tale to a philosophical level.

The Grey fools one into thinking it is trite, but quite the opposite. It quickly delves into the existential – in this way, quite similar to John Boorman’s Deliverance. Man, beast, nature, masculinity, and modern capitalism are all ripe in the tension of The Grey, in the subtext of the most-freaking-amazing stare-down between a pack of humans and the glowing eyes of a pack of wolves, in the most viscerally effecting plane crash I have ever seen on film, and in the final gut-wrenching stand-off between human and wolf that kept me totally on edge.

The Grey exists somewhere in this psychological ether, but at heart, it is still a great adventure thriller. Audience members may be put-off by its philosophical meanderings, but it will still pack enough suspense and punch to keep you engaged.

Underworld Awakening

January 22, 2012 by · Comments Off on Underworld Awakening 

Underworld Awakening, 2012 continued its box office winning streak this weekend, as Kate Beckinsale replaced herself at the top of the chart.

Her new movie, Underworld Awakening, a 3D fourth installment of the popular vampires vs. werewolves franchise, debuted in first place with $25.4 million, good for a $8,252 per theater average. Awakening improved upon the opening weekend of its predecessor, 2009?s Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which started with $20.8 million (and did not feature Beckinsale), but fell short of 2006?s Underworld: Evolution, which kicked off its run with $26.9 million. Sony/Screen Gems paid $70 million to make the 3D action film, but if past Underworld performances are any indication, Awakening, which earned an “A-” CinemaScore grade, will have trouble recouping its costs.

The first Underworld earned 2.5 times its opening weekend (that’s known as a mulitplier of 2.5) and finished with $51.8 million. The second notched a 2.4 multiplier and earned $62.3 million. The third only managed a 2.3 multiplier, a sure sign of sequel fatigue and frontloadedness, and grossed $45.8 million. With Kate Beckinsale back in the picture, Awakening may find a larger total than Lycans, but with a very young audience (only 7 percent were 50 or older), it should continue the frontloaded trend and finish with about $56 million.

In second place, George Lucas’ passion-project Red Tails, a $58 million film starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. that chronicles WWII’s African-American Tuskegee airmen, took off with $19.1 million in its first three days. The strong debut came out of 2,512 theaters, which gave Red Tails a hefty $7,604 per theater average, the second-best in the Top 20. A few weeks ago, these high-flying numbers seemed unlikely. But in the week leading up to release, the film gained momentum.

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