Sunday, December 13, 2015

Hijacking Hollywood

The final installment of The Hunger Games closes at #1, but it limped over the finish line, frankly.  Still, better than the last Harry Potter did, right?  Okay, so The Hunger Games might not go five weeks at #1.  Few films do.  This year, for example, The Martian spent the first 2 weeks at #1, then dropped to #2, then stayed at #1 for two more weeks.  Jurassic World spent 4 weeks at #1.  Furious 7 also did 4 weeks consecutively.  I'm reminded of last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, but it was #1 the first week, then 2 weeks at #2, then 3 weeks at #1.  Of course, it raked in money like nobody's business.
Anyway, the only debut this week is Ron Howard's latest.  He's found his latest leading man in Chris Hemsworth.  That used to be the job of Russell Crowe and Michael Keaton.  But unlike Rush (2013), which sank like a stone, In the Land of the Blind stays afloat at #2... I mean, In the Name of the King... sorry, it's called In the Heart of the SeaAnyway, the point being is that I also saw, scattered higgledy-piggledy all over the web, a thing that said "Ron Howard's 23 films, ranked in order."  Now, when you're ranking 23 of anything, it can be a formidable task, let alone the psychological implications of it.  But I think when it comes to the films of Ron Howard, it's best to have three categories: the good ones like A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man and Apollo 13; the bad ones like Gung Ho, Grand Theft Auto, Far and Away, EdTV, The Dilemma, Angels & Demons, How the Grinch Stole Christmas... and then the vast, obscure middle, where films like Kingpin, A Bug's Life and David Fincher's 1997 film The Game go... holy Carp!  They're all a few years apart!  Anyway, I'll be very surprised if In the Heart of the Sea sweeps the Techie Awards like the 2nd or 3rd installment of Pirates of the Caribbean did.

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