Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)
Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (2025)
Showing posts with label big hit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label big hit. Show all posts

3/23/2025

In Old Chicago (1938) - King delivers splendid period drama

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A dashing poster with three very teeth-smiling painted stars up front for Henry King's In Old Chicago


From the loving, dynamic O'Leary family comes Chicago's new mayor around the year 1870, but his brother Dion comes on collision course with him concerning the future of the growing metropolis' wood-built slums...

 

In Old Chicago is written by Sonya Levien (Hit the Deck (1955)) and Lamar Trotti (Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)), adapting the 1936 story We the O'Learys by Niven Busch (Continent's Edge (1980)), and directed by Henry King (Who Pays? (1915)). It depicts the real-life 1871 Great Chicago Fire with a mostly fictional story of the O'Learys at its center.

A thoroughly splendid and spectacular piece of escapism with delightful performances from especially Tyrone Power (Witness for the Prosecution (1957)), but also from Alice Faye (State Fair (1962)) and Don Ameche (So Goes My Love (1946)) and from Alice Brady (Three Smart Girls (1936)) as Mrs. Molly O'Leary, the mother. A compelling story with good song and dance numbers at Dion's bar, good visual ideas and a brisk pace. The blazing inferno at the end is incredibly staged and accomplished. In Old Chicago is a tremendous picture.

 

Related post:

 

Henry King: The Bravados (1958) or, Complications of Revenge!



 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Estimated 1.8 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 4.91 mil. $ (estimated North American gross)

= Big hit (projected return of 4.38 times its cost)

[In Old Chicago premiered 6 January (New York) and runs 111 minutes (roadshow version)/96 minutes (theatrical version). Shooting took place from June - September 1937 in Arizona and California, including in Los Angeles. The film arrived as part of a wave of big budget films that ended with a spectacular disaster: San Francisco (1936, earthquake), The Good Earth (1937, locust plague), Made at Night (1937, shipwreck). It was among the most expensive films ever made at the time, and the climactic fire sequence cost reportedly 150k $ to stage, burning for 3 days on the Fox backlot. The total cost is rumored to have been "over 1 mil. $" with IMDb listing it as reportedly 1.8 mil. $. A 1.964 mil. $ North-American rental figure from Variety in 1990 points to a domestic gross around 4.9 mil. $. The film was also launched abroad prior to WWII, and a cautious foreign estimate of 3 mil. $ would give it a 7.9 mil. $ final gross, enough to make it a big hit even if the 1.8 mil. $ estimate holds up. It was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning 2: Best Supporting Actress (Brady) and Assistant Director (Robert D. Webb). It lost Best Score (Louis Silvers) to Charles Previn for One Hundred Men and a Girl, Picture to The Life of Emile Zola, Sound to The Hurricane and Writing - Original Story to William A. Wellman and Robert Carson for A Star Is Born. King returned with Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938). Power returned in Alexander's Ragtime Band; Faye in Sally, Irene and Mary (1938); and Ameche in Happy Landing (1938). In Old Chicago is fresh at 67 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of In Old Chicago?

3/18/2025

The Brutalist (2024) - Brady impresses with major immigrant love story

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A rich man looks at a coal-shoveling laborer on this evocative poster for Brady Corbet's The Brutalist
 

László Tóth, a great Hungarian-Jewish architect, arrives in America as a refugee following WWII, split up from his beloved wife Erzsébet, and he initially finds work at his cousin's furniture store.

 

The Brutalist is written by Mona Fastvold (Vox Lux (2018)) and co-writer/co-producer/director, great Arizonian filmmaker Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader (2015)). The title is ambiguous, referring to the architectural style practiced by the protagonist but may also refer to several of the lead characters.

Commanding remarkable length, (this epic runs past 200 minutes), Corbet and his team manage to keep the story moving and compelling throughout. Centrally stands the engaged performances of Adrien Brody (The French Dispatch (2021)) as the wrought László and Felicity Jones (On the Basis of Sex (2018)), who gives a beautiful performance as his devoted wife. The film is in large part a love story of the two of them, and this love is the majestic force that powers The Brutalist.

Around them hovers Guy Pearce (Back from the Outback (2021)), mercurial, handsome and conflicted as the wealthy Van Buren, who becomes László's patron. There are rich supporting parts that are filled out by esteemed performances from Isaach de Bankolé (S.W.A.T. (2019, TV-series)) and Joe Alwyn (Boy Erased (2018)). The film's vivid experience of an immigrant in America is heightened by inspired work from the production design, locations and costumes to Lol Crawley's (Dau (2019)) fabulous VistaVision 70mm photography and Daniel Blumberg's (The World to Come (2020)) bold and strong score.

SPOILER László's troubles come to a head, when Van Buren rapes him, somewhat out of the blue, during their trip to Italy for marble. The event provides food for thought as to Van Buren's motivation for the entire enterprise, (the construction of a lavish community center on top of a hill), but the rape itself is relayed in just one shot that seems to last all of thirty seconds or so. It is somehow too short, - and seems unrealistic in its brevity. The film wraps up with a speech given about Tóth's body of work at a career retrospective exhibition decades later in Venice, and though I suppose the intent is for us to leave on a positive note, something along the lines of 'love overcomes', the speech's 'it is not the journey but the destination' feels a bit misplaced in the context of the very old and tired-looking László who is there in a wheelchair to be celebrated. These are minor asides to a noteworthy and highly accomplished film, which feels like a biopic but is actually entirely (inspired, of course, by life) fiction.


Related posts:

 

Brady Corbet: Saint Laurent (2014) - Bonello's overly self-confident biopic (actor) 

While We're Young (2014) - Baumbach offers another observant, clever downer (actor)

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) - Durkin's chilling psychological thriller debut (actor)

Funny Games (2007) - Haneke recreates his strong critique of movie violence consumption for the American audience (co-star)

 




 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.5 mil. $

Box office: 47.3 mil. $ and running

= Big hit (has so far returned 4.97 times its cost)

[The Brutalist premiered 1 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 215 minutes. Filming began in 2020, where the ending in Venice was shot. The rest of the filming, delayed due to the China Virus pandemic, Ukraine War, pregnancies, deaths and other issues, took place from March - May 2023 in Hungary, including in Budapest. The film opened #12 to a 266k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,612 theaters. The film has one announced market left to release in: Lithuania on April 4. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 3; for Best Actor (Brody), Cinematography and Score. It lost Best Picture to Anora, Supporting Actor (Pearce) to Kieran Culkin for A Certain Pain, Supporting Actress (Jones) to Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, Director to Sean Baker for Anora, Original Screenplay also to Baker for Anora, Editing to Anora and Production Design to Wicked. It also won 4/9 BAFTA awards, 3/7 Golden Globes, was nominated for an Independent Spirit award and won an AFI award, among many other honors. Corbet has not announced his next project yet. Brody returns in Emperor (2026); Jones in Train Dreams (2025); and Pearce in Killing Faith (2025) and The Woman in Cabin 10 (2015). The Brutalist is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of The Brutalist?

2/15/2025

In This Our Life (1942) or, Sisterhood Be Damned!

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Serene and lovely, a classical poster for John Huston and Raoul Walsh's In This Our Life

With outspoken and devil-may-care attitude Virginian Stanley ruins her sister's coming marriage by eloping with her man to be. But that life doesn't last.


In This Our Life is written by Howard Koch (The 13th Letter (1951)), adapting the same-titled 1941 novel by Ellen Glasgow (Virginia (1913)), and directed by Missourian master filmmaker John Huston (The Maltese Falcon (1941)), whose 2nd film it was, with uncredited co-direction from great New-Yorker filmmaker Raoul Walsh (The Regeneration (1915)).

A gloriously directed melodrama with pristine images (remastered to crisp perfection, cinematography by Ernest Haller (The 3rd Voice (1960))), and Bette Davis (All About Eve (1950)) in a performance of unbridled recklessness, which still today stands as utterly relevant as a portrayal of that type of person who only take themselves into consideration and always disregard those who might get in their way.

Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind (1939)) is fine as the 'good sister', and so are the male actors, and the film is also esteemed by a race angle to its story, since Stanley is also willing to destroy her black help's life in order to be free.

 

Related posts:

John Huston: Chinatown (1974) - Roman Polanski's masterpiece (actor)
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape! (actor)
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (co-director)

The African Queen (1951) - Classic romance bravura de Huston/Bogart/Hepburn 

Top 10: Best heist movies 
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) - The twentyfour carat noir caper thriller
Top 10: The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

High Sierra (1941) - Bogart steals the silver screen (writer)

Raoul Walsh: Top 10: Best heist movies 

High Sierra (1941) - Bogart steals the silver screen




 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 713k $

Box office: 2.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.78 times its cost)

[In This Our Life premiered 7 May (New York) and runs 97 minutes. Warner Bros. paid 40k $ for the film rights to Glasgow's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, and Koch toned down the risqué topical material (incest and racism) to suit the censorship. Shooting took place from October - December 1941 in California. Davis fought costume, hair, make-up and other involved departments during production and disliked the script, later declaring herself "disgusted" by the outcome, which she deemed  "phony film". De Havilland reportedly carried on an affair with Huston during shooting. It is the 3rd of 6 that the female co-stars appeared in together. America's entrance in WWII, due to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7 1941, pulled Huston away from filming at the behest of the US Department of War, and Walsh was put in charge of direction at the late stage, seemingly finishing the film for his 20 years younger colleague. The Office of Censorship 'disapproved' the film for foreign distribution due to its truthful depiction of racial discrimination (the black character's legal testimony is deemed ineffectual simply due to his race), but the film was somehow released abroad nevertheless: It grossed 1.6 mil. $ (59.3 % of the total gross) in North America. It won 3 National Board of Review awards. Huston returned with Winning Your Wings (1942, short) and theatrically with Across the Pacific (1942); Walsh with Desperate Journey (1942). Davis returned in Now, Voyager (1942); and De Havilland in Thank You Lucky Stars (1943). 5.4k+ IMDb users have given In This Our Life a 7.3/10 average rating.]


What do you think of In This Our Life?

12/29/2024

In Which We Serve (1942) - Coward and Lean's marvelous Royal Navy war picture

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A beautifully crafted poster for Noël Coward and David Lean's In Which We Serve

We follow the crew of the destroyer Torrin, which fights the Germans in 1941 as part of WWII but unfortunately suffers shipwreck. This calamity takes place in the film's beginning. After this flashbacks illuminate the captain and navy-men, their families and the time leading up to the battle. 

 

In Which We Serve is written, produced, co-directed and co-composed by debuting great English filmmaker Noël Coward (Brief Encounter (1945, writer)), who also stars in it as the captain. He co-directed it with debuting English master filmmaker David Lean (Great Expectations (1946)). The film was made with the full support of the Ministry of Information as a propaganda effort in support of the ongoing British involvement in the war.

Technically astute, In Which We Serve is a fast-paced and handsomely photographed (by Ronald Neame (The Secret Four (1939))) war drama with striking incorporation of real war images as well as of real sailors as extras. Coward acts with impressive dignity and calm, and John Mills (Deadly Advice (1994)) is also eminent. A young Richard Attenborough (Hamlet (1996)) does fine as a panic-stricken sailor. None of the other men seem to have any faults at all, which may be the only flaw to this great picture.

 

Related posts:

 

Noël Coward: The Italian Job (1969) - Braindead boilerplate heist action-comedy regurgitated by swinging London (co-star) 

David Lean: Top 10: Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - One of the greats 

Great Expectations (1946) - Lean's first Dickens adaptation is pure cinema magic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 240k £, approximately 967k $

Box office: In excess of 3.2 mil. $

= Big hit (projected return of 3.61 times its cost)

[In Which We Serve was released 17 September (UK) and runs 115 minutes. Shooting took place from February - June 1942 in England. Different sources dupe the film the year's most popular at the UK box office, or the second most popular. It reportedly grossed 300k £ in the Commonwealth, approximately 1.212 mil. $, and 2 mil. $ in rentals in North America, where it was also a big hit. With a cautious projected final gross of 3.5 mil. $, the film would rank as a big hit. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Picture, lost to Casablanca, and Original Screenplay, lost to Norman Krasna for Princess O'Rourke. Coward won an honorary Oscar for the film, which also won 4 National Board of Review awards. Coward did not direct a feature again but instead racked in credits as a producer, composer, writer and actor. Lean returned with This Happy Breed (1944). As an actor Coward returned with uncredited voice performances in Blithe Spirit (1945) and Brief Encounter (1945) and finally with a physical performance in The Astonished Heart (1950). In Which We Serve is fresh at 90 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In Which We Serve? 

11/16/2024

I Am Sam (2001) - Penn and Fanning elevate flawed disability drama

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Two major stars sit across from each other against a backdrop of familial affection on this poster for Jessie Nelson's I Am Sam

Sam is a father and intellectually disabled, and therefore the authorities want to remove his daughter from his care. But isn't his big, pumping love for her the most important thing for the girl's well-being?

 

I Am Sam is written by Kristine Johnson (Imaginary Crimes (1994)) and co-writer/co-producer/director Jessie Nelson (Corrina, Corrina (1994)).

Sean Penn's (The Gunman (2005)) heartwarming performance as Sam makes this otherwise wobbly drama worthwhile, and he is supported by Dakota Fanning (Hounddog (2007)), who is impossibly sweet as his daughter Lucy, as well as from Dianne Wiest (The Humbling (2014)) as the good lady across the street, as well as two supporting actors actually living with intellectual disability. 

The direction is regrettably heavy-handed: Telling looks, which the characters should have bared for a split second during a scene are instead held through entire scenes, so that the film seems condescending in its essentially taking us for saps. Almost all the scenes in I Am Sam are chasing the wildly emotional with an at times annoyingly handheld camera. The dichotomy of the court case climax and the film's message over-all are mostly of the overly simplified Hollywood kind, here specifically the Beatles inspired wisdom of 'love solves everything'. Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath (2000)) plays an overstrung career woman, failing in making the character seem real. 

 


 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 22 mil. $

Box office: 97.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.44 times its cost)

[I Am Sam premiered 3 December (Beverly Hills) and runs 132 minutes. Penn was paid 5 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from March - May 2001 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #47 to a 41k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 1,450 theaters (different weekends), grossing 40.3 mil. $ (41.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 25.7 mil. $ (26.3 %) and South Korea with 9.8 mil. $ (10 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar, for Best Actor (Penn), lost to Denzel Washington in Training Day. It was also nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Nelson returned with Love the Coopers (2015). Penn returned in It's All About Love (2003); Pfeiffer in White Oleander (2002). I Am Sam is rotten at 35 % with a 4.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of I Am Sam?

11/12/2024

Inside Job (2010, documentary) - Ferguson presents the 2008 financial crisis in five acts in stellar documentary

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A grotesque mountain of cash with a suit-wearing man atop, fingers crossed eerily on his back, surrounded by praise, makes up this poster for Charles Ferguson's Inside Job

In five chapters, the film explores and explains the systemic flaws and corruption that led to the 2008 financial crisis in the US, and also how the catastrophic ailments were subsequently (mis)treated.

 

Inside Job is written by co-writer/co-editor Chad Beck (Time to Choose (2015)), co-writer/co-editor Adam Bolt (Human Nature (2019)) and Californian master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight (2007, documentary)), whose second feature it is.

It is the silver-lined film on the financial crisis to watch, in which Ferguson and Co. coolly and educationally lays bare what happened in the years prior to the debacle, what its results were, and why the guilty parties still roam free. Inside Job holds a strict focus on the main perpetrators and achieves an impressive amount of statements, some of which makes the rotten villains stand out with clarity in their varied sinful natures.

Inside Job is a role-model documentary, rage-inducing and simply a must watch.


Watch a trailer for the film here


Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 7.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.9 times its cost)

[Inside Job premiered 2 February (Belgium) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place in Iceland, France, England, China, Singapore, Florida, New York and Washington DC. The film opened #50 to a 39k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 250 theaters, grossing 4.3 mil. $ (55.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 862k $ (11.1 %) and France with 669k $ (8.6 %). The film won the Best Documentary Oscar and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Ferguson returned with Time to Choose (2015, documentary). Inside Job is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of Inside Job?

9/29/2024

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - Lucas, Spielberg and Ford go grave-digging

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Beloved characters, some new ones and a wealth of exciting situations and elements are teased on this classical poster for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
 

Archeological doctor Jones is in trouble with the vexatious Russians in the 1950s, when he gets a whiff of an ancient crystal skull in South America, SPOILER which turns out to stem from an alien. 


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is written by David Koepp (Inferno (2016)), with George Lucas (Radioland Murders (1994)) and Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2 (2001)) contributing story elements, and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Firelight (1964)), whose 25th feature it is. It is the 4th film in the Indiana Jones franchise (1981-).

As a boyhood fan of the Indiana Jones movies, I so wanted to see one last great Indiana Jones film that the production of the 4th film made me genuinely excited. And so it was with great sorrow that I had to face the fact that my dream would not come to fruition. Crystal Skull should have never been made. Despite inordinate testaments to the opposite (promotional interviews stressing the live stunt work and old-time honoring crafts involved in the production), the adventure here obviously now mostly takes place in front of green screens with more or less fantastical animations later conjured up as backgrounds. The feelings of wonder and awe at the physical sets, props, special effects and stunts of the original three films here vanish along with any sense of cinema magic.

With what remains, it is hard not to think that Harrison Ford (Firewall (2006)) has aged too much, although he tries tenaciously to appear sprightly, along with his recommissioned love bird Karen Allen (Bad Hurt (2015)), - and that Shia LaBeouf (Bobby (2006)), despite sometimes looking quite cute with his 1950s duck rump hairdo, doesn't really liven up his big adventure scenes. Cate Blanchett (Borderlands (2024)) embellishes her Ukrainian, power-mad Communist villain. But however way you turn things, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have remained an idea game between old friends, or a script in a dusty drawer somewhere.

 

Related posts:

Indiana Jones franchise: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - The ultimate thrill ride for a child (and many adults too!) 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure
Steven Spielberg: The Fabelmans (2022) or, My Wonderful Upbringing

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Post (2017) - Spielberg returns to mastery with a thrilling salute to the virtues of real, critical, brave journalism
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

Lincoln (2012) - Spielberg's inspiring presidential portrait stands tall 
War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama  

The Adventures of Tintin/The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) - Affinities for Tintin, earlier Spielberg and film will decide your experience of this 3D mo-cap adventure
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Munich (2005) - Spielberg wrings a brilliant spy thriller from fraught real-life massacre and its aftermath

Top 10: Best HBO titles 

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer) 

Top 10: Best future-set movies 
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves! 

Hook (1991) - Arr, Spielbergian folly 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - The nostalgic last of the 'original' Indy movies 
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire

The Goonies (1985) - Sweet child performances drive Donner's beloved, uneven adventure (story)  

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - The ultimate thrill ride for a child (and many adults too!)
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology

Top 10: Best family movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure 
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock  

Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare

 


 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 185 mil. $

Box office: 786.6 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.25 times its cost)

[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 122 minutes. Lucas' ideas and wishes for a 4th film were brushed off by Spielberg and Ford for many years, allegedly until Spielberg's children demanded another Indy movie, when development began more seriously. Shooting took place from June - October 2007 in New Mexico, California, including in Los Angeles, Connecticut, Hawaii, Brazil and Argentina. The film was shrouded in heavily guarded secrecy, and a 37 year-old who was found to be in possession of stolen photos and budget papers from the production was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months prison time for the offense. Paramount reportedly spent 150 mil. $ promoting the film. Ford, Spielberg and Lucas forewent salaries in favor of a profit participation payment, reportedly beginning their payment once the film crossed 400 mil. $. - Ford eventually had made 65 mil. $ from the film. It opened #1 to a 100.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5), grossing 317.1 mil. $ (40.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 53 mil. $ (6.7 %) and the UK with 50.7 mil. $ (6.4 %). It was the year's 2nd highest-grossing over-all, behind The Dark Knight, and the 3rd highest-grossing in North America, behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man. The film was nominated for a BAFTA and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film made in excess of 117.2 mil. $ on its home video releases in North America. LaBeouf stopped defending the film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and was criticized publicly by Ford for it. He later said he regretted this, but probably only made things worse when he elaborated about Spielberg; "He told me there's a time to be a human being and have an opinion, and there's a time to sell cars. It brought me freedom, but it also killed my spirits because this was a dude I looked up to like a sensei." Ford returned as Jones in James Mangold's massive flop Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Spielberg returned with A Timeless Call (2008, short) and theatrically with The Adventures of Tintin (2011). Ford first returned in Crossing Over (2009). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is certified fresh at 77 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (5-25)

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (5-25)
Kleber Mendonca Filho's The Secret Agent (2025)