How to Spend $20
By David Mumpower
December 15, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
A much better than expected remake of the 1985 “classic,” Fright Night is an odd celebration of star power. Colin Farrell relishes the opportunity to portray his purest villain since Daredevil (don’t even think about mentioning In Bruges to me as an example of villainy). His glee throughout the proceedings infuses Fright Night with the perfect note of B-movie majesty.
Better yet, no-longer-The Doctor David Tennant makes an appearance roughly halfway through the proceedings as a Criss Angel-esque fraud who flees of the face of the true supernatural. Tennant’s character’s interactions with his enemy with benefits magician’s assistant are justification enough to watch the movie.
If you are one of those sad people who only loves sparkly vampires, A) Aim higher and B) Farrell and Tennant are better looking dudes than you ordinarily watch in those unnamed cinematic atrocities. If you are otherwise on the fence about whether you can get past the silly here, I would point out that Fright Night is 75% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes and even more impressively 88% fresh among top critics. Fright Night was a huge box office disappointment that deserved a much better fate. In most weeks, this would be choice as selection of the week.
For Doctor Zaius, Doctor Zaius: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
If you are anything like me, you now have a Simpsons earworm. Anyway, The Help won the public relations battle at the end of summer, but the movie released the week before won the box office war. Handily. As I referenced last week, The Help earned roughly $200 million worldwide, the overwhelming majority of it from North America. It’s just not a story that translates globally. Talking, belligerent apes on the other hand… Rise of the Planet of the Apes has earned $480 million overall, $176.7 million of that domestic.
The key is that unlike Tim Burton’s disastrous Planet of the Apes, the James Franco update is quite good. Currently 83% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes (80% fresh with top critics), Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a bad-ass action flick the likes of which we rarely see these days. It also features that delicious slice of believability, causing the viewer to worry that maybe just maybe evolution could come back to bite us all in the less hairy butt.
Pick of the week:
For People Who Don’t Need a Laugh: Kung Fu Panda 2
I realize the above sounds indicative of someone who dislikes Kung Fu Panda 2. This is not the case at all. By the time this column is published, I will probably already own the 3D version of the Blu-Ray. I absolutely adore Kung Fu Panda 2, a timeless masterpiece of storytelling that has more heart than anything I’ve seen in 2011. It’s just not very funny. If you watch this film with the expectation of Jack Black making lots of quips about what a fat panda he is, you will be sorely disappointed. DreamWorks Animation got all of those out of the way with the original.
The sequel is a much more mature tale of weapons of mass destruction, oddly enough. The original title was Kaboom of Doom, designating the most destructive cannon in the land. A merchant of death disowned by his people returns from his disgrace to enslave those responsible for his banishing. There is nothing funny about the way this (literally) preening peacock crushes the opposition. The mature themes of death and responsibility permeate throughout the proceedings. Po the hero returns from the original but Po the plucky comic relief is largely absent. The subject matter is serious; as such, DreamWorks Animation does not lessen its impact by stooping to the lowest common denominator.
To the contrary, Po levels up as a paragon of virtue for his people and is rewarded in the end in a profound way that sets up a touching sequel, assuming that Kung Fu Panda 3 is greenlighted. Given its domestic box office of $165 million, that’s not a certainty. Still, the global take of $650+ million more than justifies a sequel, as does the impeccable quality of Kung Fu Panda 2. This is the second straight year where I feel the best DreamWorks Animation title is better than the one from Pixar. I strongly recommend Kung Fu Panda 2 with the caveat that you accept in advance that it is a fairly mature drama, not a comedy. I am not ruling out playing it for your small children, though. The peacock’s animation delivers breathtaking exhibition of colors.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (PG-13)
Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG)
Fright Night (R)
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (PG-13)
Circumstance (R)
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College students buy a "ghost" in an online auction. (Masiela Lusha, Dean Cain, Stephen Colletti)
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