Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin

1/19/2023

House at the End of the Street (2012) or, The Dull House

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A scarcely dressed co-star Jennifer Lawrence looks caught in a dire situation on this poster for Mark Tonderai's House at the End of the Street

A single mother and her teenage daughter moves into a house. But in the neighboring house, in which a sweet college boy now lives alone, the boy's brain-damaged sister killed their parents. - Or did she?

House at the End of the Street is written by David Loucka (The Dream Team (1989)), with Jonathan Mostow (Breakdown (1997)) contributing story elements, and directed by Mark Tonderai (Hush (2008)).

Elisabeth Shue (Heart and Souls (1993)) seems despondent, and Jennifer Lawrence (Joy (2015)) as the (as usual) very mature high school protagonist actually gives an honest performance, which nevertheless can't salvage the film. In fact perhaps a really bad performance from her might have made it a bit of fun at least. Max Thieriot (My Soul to Take (2010)) is sweet to look at but fatally unbelievable as the standard issue psychopath villain, - whom Lawrence falls in love with.

House at the End of the Street is an awful mess of teen-drama romance and delayed, hopeless horror. Whether it makes any sense is hard to determine, because it is so lethally dull.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 44.2 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.42 times its cost)

[House at the End of the Street was released 21 September (North America, UK and Ireland) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place from August - September 2010 in Ontario. The release was reportedly delayed to cash in on Lawrence's growing fame, - a strategy that paid off: The film opened #2, behind End of Watch, to a 12.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 31.6 mil. $ (71.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.8 mil. $ (8.6 %) and Germany with 1.4 mil. $ (3.2 %). Tonderai returned with 18 TV credits prior to his theatrical return with Spell (2020). Lawrence returned in The Devil You Know (2013); Thieriot in Dark Horse (2012, TV movie), Texas Rising (2015, miniseries) and theatrically in Point Break (2015). House at the End of the Street is rotten at 12 % with a 3.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of House at the End of the Street?

1/16/2023

The Holiday (2006) - Obvious ploys and overlength weigh down Meyers' Christmas escapade

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Four beloved stars look lovingly at one another on this simple poster for Nancy Meyers' The Holiday

Two women, one in England, the other in Los Angeles, both could use some distance to their lives for a while, and so they decide online to swap homes during Christmas for a couple of weeks.

The Holiday is written and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998)).

It often feels as if it must be the most ridiculous film ever, and at its thickest it even made me nauseous. Luckily it does grow more appetizing after a while.

Kate Winslet (Enigma (2001)), - who on the surface incites regret in a part that seems a good deal under her abilities, - and Cameron Diaz (The Invisible Circus (2001)), - who one must also pity some in a role that's so formulaic, 'it' arrives with a sleep mask, tripping around on high heels, and literally runs through the snowy landscape of Great Britain two weeks later, (so we really get her development it seems ...), - both of them play women with self-confidence problems, who also both refuse to stop yapping. Scene after scene is far longer than necessary, so that The Holiday almost feels like two romcoms slapped together to make one giant romcom whopper.

This is likely Meyers' most negligible film, which utilizes ploys and ideas that have worked before but which seems gimmicky here, but it is redeemed to some degree by its stars: Diaz and Jude Law (The Nest (2020)) are saucy and good-looking together; Jack Black (The D Train (2015)) is good and luckily even gets a chance to sing a bit; and Eli Wallach (The Pirate (1978, TV movie)) is charming and splendid as a retired screenwriter.

Related posts:

Nancy Meyers: It's Complicated (2009) - Meyers' delightful romcom star vehicle

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Meyers, Jack & Diane are a killer combo

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 85 mil. $

Box office: 205.8 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.42 times its cost)

[The Holiday premiered 29 November (New York) and runs 136 minutes. Meyers reportedly wrote the screenplay with the four stars in mind for the parts. Shooting took place from January - June 2006 in England, including in London, and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Apocalypto and holdover hit Happy Feet, to a 12.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 63.2 mil. $ (30.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 23.9 mil. $ (11.6 %) and Germany with 16.1 mil. $ (7.8 %). The-numbers.com estimate that the film additionally made in excess of 82.8 mil. $ on DVD sales in North America alone. Meyers returned with It's Complicated (2009). Winslet returned with a voice performance in Le Renard et l'Enfant (2007) and physically in The Reader (2008); Diaz with voice performances in Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek the Halls (2007, TV short) and physically in What Happens in Vegas (2008); Law in My Blueberry Nights (2007); and Black in The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show (2007, TV-series), Exposure (2007, TV-series) and theatrically in Margot at the Wedding (2007). The Holiday is rotten at 51 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Holiday?

1/14/2023

Hang 'Em High (1968) - Post and Eastwood cook spaghetti in the West

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Sex, suspense and macho violence is promised on this colorful poster for Ted Post's Hang 'Em High

Retired lawman Jed Cooper is accused of stealing cattle and is nearly hung dead in a retaliatory lynching. But when his actual past job is known, he is hired for a high wage to forward justice in the Oklahoma Territory of 1889.

Hang 'Em High is written by Leonard Freeman (Gold of the Seven Saints (1961)) and Mel Goldberg (The F.B.I. (1968, TV-series)) and directed by Ted Post (The Peacemaker (1956)).

The (Italian) spaghetti western style is cranked up beyond the tolerable in this wholly American film, an unreal and unexciting first venture for star Clint Eastwood (Sudden Impact (1983)) and Irving Leonard's Malpaso Productions company. Eastwood is not utilized satisfactorily in Post's sub-standard direction. The supporting cast look good on paper, but none of them really distinguish themselves in Hang 'Em High.

The film is also a colorful and large production, a bit overlong, - with a horribly melodramatic, overwrought score (by Dominic Frontiere (Massacre Harbor (1968))). The bottom-line: Hang 'Em High is an overrated near botch-up.

Ted Post: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - More than decent follow-up to the SF milestone

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.6 mil. $

Box office: 10.8 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.75 times its cost)

[Hang 'Em High was released 12 April (Italy) and runs 114 minutes. Eastwood was advised by his agent at the William Morris Agency to follow up his stardom from the Dollars trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars (1964); For a Few Dollars More (1965); and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)) with a co-starring role in J. Lee Thompson's Mackenna's Gold (1969), but Eastwood refused and instead formed his own production company. Eastwood was paid 400k $ and 25 % of the net earnings of the film, which should have raked him in an (at the time) incredible 2.1 mil. $ salary, if 25 % of the North-American earnings alone, or 3.1 mil. $ if for the entire world gross. Shooting took place from June - August 1967 in Arizona, New Mexico and California. The film opened strongly, reportedly besting United Artists' Bond films in opening numbers and making back its costs in just two weeks. It grossed 6.8 mil. $ (63 % of the total gross) in North America. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Post returned with Peyton Place (1964-69), Bracken's World (1969, TV-series) and theatrically with Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). Eastwood returned in Coogan's Bluff (1968). Hang 'Em High is fresh at 92 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hang 'Em High?

1/13/2023

High Tension/Haute Tension/Switchblade Romance (2003) - Aja arrives with suspenseful gore horror

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A young woman sits in a shadowy, creepy space without much clothes on holding a nasty pair of shears on this grimy poster for Alexandre Aja's High Tension

A young lesbian couple venture out into the countryside to visit the one woman's parents for the first time. But a killer in a boiler suit ruins the visit...

High Tension is written by Grégory Levasseur (Mirrors (2008)) and co-writer/director Alexandre Aja (Furia (1999)). 'High tension' is a literal translation of the film's original French title.

It feels like a young filmmaker's first film, (it is Aja's second), and he asserts himself here as a visually talented horror connoisseur. The actors are game, and the film is highly suspenseful in several of its nightmarish scenes, (the title isn't false advertisement in this case.) The highly unpleasant style thank goodness doesn't reach the heights of Aja's fellow Frenchman Pascal Laugier's Martyrs (2008), which just makes High Tension a more tolerable watch.

The climax has a twist that has some audiences outright reject the film, but I didn't take affront with its nonsense dimension. Rather I relish the visual surplus energy and declaration of love for especially The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) that is clearly visible in High Tension.

Alexandre Aja: Piranha 3D (2010) - Aja's gory sexploitation remake is a hoot

Mirrors (2008) or, The Haunted Department Store

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) or, My Big Fat Mutant Cannibal Family Trip

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2.5 mil. $

Box office: 6.2 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.48 times its cost)

[High Tension was released 18 June (France) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place in Bucharest, Romania. Lions Gate cut 2 minutes from the film to secure an R rating for their wide release in North America, which they spent 14 mil. $ rolling out (English dub, prints and advertising): The film opened #10 to an 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in 1,323 theaters, its peak, grossing 3.6 mil. $ (58.1 % of the total gross. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 874k $ (14.1 %) and France with 700k $ (11.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 4 marks under this one. Aja returned with The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Cécile de France (Loup! (2002, short)) returned in Petits Mythes Urbains (2003, TV-series) and theatrically in Around the World in 80 Days (2004); Maïwenn (Télé Gaucho (2012)) in I'm an Actrice (2004, short) and theatrically in Le Genre Humain: 1ère Partie: Les Parisiens (2004). High Tension is rotten at 40 % with a 5.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of High Tension?

1/12/2023

Highlander (1986) - A campy and entertaining minor 1980s highlight

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Vivid colors and fantastic elements attract on this poster for Russell Mulcahy's Highlander

Immortal Scotsman MacLeod - the Highlander - has fought adversaries and refused himself love for centuries, but now he is tempted and hunted anew, in New York, by a vile Russian!

Highlander is written by Gregory Widen (Backdraft (1991)), Peter Bellwood (St. Helens (1981)) and Larry Ferguson (The Hunt for Red October (1990)) and directed by Russell Mulcahy (Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979)).

Christopher Lambert (Subway (1985)) and Clancy Brown (The Dukes of Hazzard (1983, TV-series)) act out their ancient characters with a strange, masculine, - primitive, - stamp, a bit as if the performance was one for small children, which is a part of the film's incredibly corny, silly magic. Showy music video inspired photography, - including some shots that seem ahead of their time, - can't disguise that this is a cheap The Terminator (1984) inspired movie, which never reaches the heights of James Cameron's sci-fi action classic. Among the reasons for this is that the robot here is instead a long-haired Scotsman. Sean Connery (Playing by Heart (1998)) livens up matters in a part as a mentor, which is made funnier due to his performance.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 19 mil. $

Box office: 12.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.67 times its cost)

[Highlander premiered in January (Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, France) and runs 111 minutes. Connery was paid 1 mil. $ for his performance, which was shot in a week. Shooting took place from April - August 1985 in England, including in London, Scotland and in New York. The film opened #7 to a 2.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, where it grossed 5.9 mil. $ (45.7 % of the total gross). Despite its huge flop status, the film gained cult status and has so far let to a franchise with 4 sequels, an animated series and an animated film. The first sequel with returning stars Lambert and Connery and director Mulcahy is Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), which was Mulcahy's return, (he directed 16 music videos between the two films.) A remake starring Henry Cavill is presently in the works. Lambert first returned in Queen: Princes of the Universe (1986, music video) and theatrically in The Sicilian (1987). Highlander is fresh at 71 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Highlander?

1/06/2023

The Hunter (2011) - Man wants to kill Tasmania's last tiger

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Lush mountain scenery and a family situation lurks on this star-centered poster for Daniel Nettheim's The Hunter

A professional huntsman arrives to a remote part of Tasmania, where it is his mission to shoot and bring home with him a tiger that was thought to be extinct. But in the process he falls for a woman in the area, - and for the tiger.

The Hunter is written by Alice Addison (The Silence (2006, TV movie)), with Wain Fimeri (Pozieres (2000, TV movie)) and co-writer/director Daniel Nettheim (Angst (2000)) making contributions. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1999 novel by Julia Leigh (Disquiet (2008)).

An unusual story and a strong cast, which keeps us guessing, speaks in favor of The Hunter. Frances O'Connor (Best Man Down (2012)) has that special sympathetic quality and is good here, and Finn Woodlock (Neighbours (2013, TV-series)) as her son also brings sensitivity to the part. The Tasmanian nature and animals are also fascinating. These qualities keep The Hunter afloat and exciting for the most part.

But (understandably) we never really care for Willem Dafoe's (The Florida Project (2017)) title character due to his mission and engagement with a mysterious, evil company. He walks around and kills animals throughout the film SPOILER and ends up shooting the beautiful tiger, only to cremate it. An incredibly unsympathetic behavior, - and it changes little that he becomes a stepfather for the boy. SPOILER Throughout The Hunter Dafoe's character stands as a swaying leaf between the environmentalists and 'tree-huggers' of the story, - and I didn't buy the proposed change in him in the film's ending, which I really hated.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown, projected 4 mil. $

Box office: 1.6 mil. $

= Uncertain, but likely a mega-flop (projected return of 0.4 times its cost)

[The Hunter premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place around October 2010 in Australia. The film opened #68 to a 19k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #57 and in 17 theaters (different weeks), grossing 176k $ (11 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its biggest were Australia with 947k $ (59.2 %) and the UK with 367k $ (22.9 %). If made on a low 4 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a mega-flop. Nettheim returned with 22 TV credits but has not returned to theaters since. Dafoe returned with a voice performance in Gauguin: Maker of Myth (2011, video), and theatrically in John Carter (2012). The Hunter is fresh at 72 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hunter?

1/02/2023

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - Jackson returns with overrated, artificial-looking turkey

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A hobbit atop a giant mountain of gold and an even bigger dragon's eye behind that hobbit make up this poster for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The traveling group of Bilbo the Hobbit, Gandalf the Grey and a bunch of dwarfs continue their adventure and reach the dragon Smaug in its desolate mountain.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is written by co-writer/co-producer Fran Walsh (King Kong (2005)), Philippa Boyens (The Lovely Bones (2009)), Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak (2015)) and co-writer/co-producer/director, New Zealander master filmmaker Peter Jackson (Bad Taste (1987)). It is the 2nd film in his Hobbit trilogy, adapting The Hobbit (1937) by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)).

There are no fun scenes in the follow-up to Jackson's so-so The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). It is a long CG fantasy bereft of charm and credibility: Seeing the ugly dwarfs survive anything and everything and defeat even the strongest orc time and again is neither fun nor thrilling.

The film also has quite a few digressions, and because it is the middle part of one story, which had been torn into atoms, the story's general direction is often consequently blurred to me.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ends in a long scene at Smaug's (the talking dragon's) place. - Fascinating? No, not really. And the animation in the film is so bizarre that the beautiful locations used do no longer seem like real places. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a horrid film.

The Lovely Bones (2009) - Despite qualities, Jackson's metaphysical crime drama is a wasteful jumble
The Frighteners (1996) - FX-driven ghost comedy madness
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Braindead/Dead Alive (1992) - Jackson's best film ever is a gore classic!
Bad Taste (1987) or, Peter Jackson's Hungry Aliens in New Zealand

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 191 - 250 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 959 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.34 times its cost)

[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug premiered 2 December (Los Angeles) and runs 161 minutes. Shooting took place from March 2011 - July 2012 in the UK and in New Zealand, including in Wellington, with reshoots in May 2013. The film opened #1 to a 73.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends at #1 and then one more in the top 5 (#3), grossing 258.3 mil. $ (26.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 88 mil. $ (9.2 %) and China with 74.7 mil. $ (7.8 %). It was the 4th highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Sound Mixing to Gravity, Sound Editing also to Gravity, and Visual Effects to Gravity as well. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs and a Grammy, among other honors. It sold home video copies for more than 107 mil. $ additionally in North American alone. Jackson returned with the last in the Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), also the next appearance for star Martin Freeman (Fargo (2014-15)). Ian McKellen (The Dresser (2015, TV movie)) returned first in Miss in Her Teens (2014). The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is certified fresh at 74 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

12/29/2022

2022 in films - according to Film Excess

The Top 6 of the Year

1. Top Gun: Maverick - Joseph Kosinski + Best Action-Drama of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 8.75 times the cost + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Best On-Screen Couple of the Year: Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: +425.48 mil. $ range

2. Holy Spider - Ali Abbasi + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best Political Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Best Serial Killer Movie of the Year + Best Societal Critique of the Year + Best Thriller of the Year + Best True-Crime of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year

3. Avatar: The Way of Water - James Cameron + Best 3D Movie of the Year + Best Action-Adventure of the Year + Best Science Fiction of the Year

4. Elvis - Baz Luhrmann + Best Biopic of the Year + Breakthrough of the Year: Austin Butler + Best Music Movie of the Year

5. Bamse - Henrik Ruben Genz + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Period Movie of the Year

6. Speak No Evil - Christian Tafdrup + Best Horror of the Year

The Bottom of the Year

1. Le Temps des Secrets - Christophe Barratier + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 8.3 mil. $ + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.31 times the cost

[7 titles in total]

Notes:

2022 was an abysmal year on several fronts: The China Virus pandemic finally came to an end, only to be taken over by a worse crisis (especially for Europe), as evil dictator Putin's Russia invaded neighboring country Ukraine, with millions of refugees, thousands of deaths, destruction on a massive scale, an inflation and energy crisis and world instability as a direct consequence. Cinemas have felt the downturn in economic tides harshly, although the hardest blow may be the one continually suffered due to the uptick in streaming and social media absorption, all taking away from shared social experiences in theaters. Many cinematic and exciting releases are shoveled off to streamers with cinemas hungering for prestige products week after week, month after month, with a theatrical plate in 2022 that looked decidedly less interesting than in each year in several decades leading up to it.

All this means less trips to the cinemas, and Film Excess only reflects that in only having 7 reviewed theatrical titles ready for the first annual list of the year here. - A number that will hopefully be considerably higher in 2023, preferably nearer to the average 20-30 titles theatrically experiences new titles reviewed in most years.

In spite of the small number, the Top 10 is topped with 2 masterpieces: Joseph Kosinski's genre-dream, a full throttle entertainment bonanza and a career milestone for Tom Cruise and Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick is the year's best; Ali Abbasi's grueling, angry and important spotlight on Iran's patriarchal Islamist evils Holy Spider takes silver; with James Cameron's sensational return to his Pandora universe with Avatar: The Way of Water grabs bronze. The list goes on with Baz Luhrmann's best picture to date, the opulent music biopic Elvis; Henrik Ruben Genz's funny and stirring music biopic Bamse; and finally Christian Tafdrup's pitch-black horror satire Speak No Evil.

The Bottom list of the year only packs one title, Christophe Barratier's glossy, so-so Le Temps des Secrets, a film destined to leave the list in future editions of the lists, as it really isn't too shabby after all.

The year's many problems are also reflected in a wealth of flops, as much fewer than usual of the year's films reached success theatrically. This will be reflected also on future editions of the lists, as more films are reviewed.

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Le Temps des Secrets - 8.3 mil. $ range

2. Speak No Evil - 2.52 mil. $ range

3. Holy Spider - 1.95 mil. $ range

4. Bamse - 1.83 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 14.6 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Top Gun: Maverick - 425.48 mil. $ range

2. Elvis - 29.4 mil. $ range

3. Avatar: The Way of Water - 7.08 mil. $ range (and counting)

= Combined profits: 461.96 mil. $ range

2022 titles currently on the watch-list:

Dark Glasses, X, When You Finish Saving the World, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, The Batman, De Forbandede År 2, The Northman, Close, Triangle of Sadness, One Fine Morning, Crimes of the Future, Will-o'-the-Wisp, Jurassic World: Dominion, The Whale, Peter von Kant, Funny Pages, Pearl, Fire of Love, I Love My Dad, The Banshees of Inisherin, Emily the Criminal, Barbarian, The Fabelmans, Moonage Daydream, Freedom on Fire: Ukrain'es Fight for Freedom, Armageddon Time, Tár, Beautiful Beings, Retrograde, Terrifier 2, Blonde, Bones and All, Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Previous annual lists: