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Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

This Means War (DVD)

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Note: Some of this review was previously published in connection with the cinema release

I know the exact moment when I gave up on the idea that This Means War was going to be a good movie. Fairly early on Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) is shopping with her friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler), a character who only exists to give Lauren an excuse to say exactly what she’s thinking at any point in time.

However it wasn’t the lazy exposition (something the film loves to engage in) that made me realise that behind the fireworks there wasn’t much going on in This Means War, it was because the scene was set up so that the two women were doing their entire supermarket shop based on what was on the end of the aisles. They picked out detergent, looked at special offers and neither of them seemed to need anything that wasn’t right there in front of them. [Read more…]

21 Jump Street Tops The US Box Office

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Thanks to great reviews and strong word of mouth (as well as a lack of other major new openers), 21 Jump Street got off to a great start at the US box office with $35 million, which is one of the biggest openings ever for an R-rated comedy and Jonah Hill’s career best start.

If Disney had been hoping that John Carter would have long legs at the box office after a weak start, they’re going to be disappointed. The movie dropped 55% in its second outing to $15 million. The House Of Mouse is now going to have to cross its fingers that the international box office can make up for its weak US showing.

The only other new entry in the top 10 was Will Ferrell’s Spanish-language outing, Casa De Mi Padre. It opened on 382 screens, but only managed a relatively soft per-screen average, making $2.2 million. That would suggest it won’t see much of an expansion over the coming weeks.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of March 16th-18th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 21 Jump Street $35.0 $25.0
2 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax $22.8 $158.4
3 John Carter $13.5 $53.1
4 Project X $4.0 $48.1
5 A Thousand Words $3.7 $12.1
6 Act Of Valor $3.6 $62.3
7 Safe House $2.8 $120.2
8 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $2.4 $95.0
9 Casa De Mi Padre $2.2 $2.2
10 This Means War $2.1 $50.5
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Lorax Beats John Carter At US Box Office

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With Disney having spent an estimated $250 million making John Carter, there’s been a lot of eyes on just how much it would make in its opening weekend. There’s no doubt there’ll be some disappointment today at Disney that it didn’t top the US box office in its first three days, which is partly down to a soft opening and partly due to The Lorax continuing to overperform.

The Dr. Seuss movie bagged to top spot for a second weekend with $39 million, with John Carter coming second with $30 million. Although Carter could have been worse, it’s still pretty soft for such a big movie, and while it’s a little bit than Prince Of Persia, it’s worse than most other major attempts at blockbuster filmmaker. However the real question is how it did elsewhere in the world, as Disney opened the film in pretty much every major territory on the same day, with an estimate that it did a decent $101 million worldwide. However even that’s not amazing, so the film still has a long way to go in order to break even.

The other new entries were the horror thriller Silent House at number four with $7 million and the Eddie Murphy movie A Thousand Word, which took a weak $6.3 million for sixth spot on the chart. It’s yet another weak opening for Murphy, whose abilitiy to open a movie has pretty much disappeared in recent years.

Take a look below for the top 10 at the US box office for the weekend of March 9th-11th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax $39.1 $121.9
2 John Carter $30.6 $30.6
3 Project X $11.5 $40.1
4 Silent House $7.0 $7.0
5 Act Of Valor $7.0 $56.1
6 A Thousand Words $6.3 $6.3
7 Safe House $5.0 $115.8
8 The Vow $4.0 $117.6
9 This Means War $3.7 $46.8
10 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $3.6 $90.7
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The Lorax Break Box Office Records

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Universal will be celebrating today after The Lorax didn’t just beat expectations, it absolute annihilated them. Most had thought it was looking at a opening around the $30 million mark, but it ended up with a fantastic $70 million, which is one of the best starts ever for an animated movie. It’s also amongst the best March openings and the top first three days for a film based on a book by Dr. Seuss.

Project X didn’t do too badly either. With no big stars and a ‘found footage’ feel, many were uncertain whether the film would find an audience as there aren’t many films to directly compare it to, but it made a more than respectable $20 million.

They were the only two new entries, although The Artist did get a bit of a post-Oscars bump, re-entering that box office top 10. Overall it was the best weekend of the year so far, which will have Hollywood being cautiously optimistic after a rocky few months.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of March 2nd-4th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax $70.7 $70.7
2 Project X $20.7 $20.7
3 Act Of Valor $13.7 $45.2
4 Safe House $7.2 $108.2
5 Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds $7.0 $25.7
6 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $6.9 $85.6
7 The Vow $6.1 $111.7
8 This Means War $5.6 $41.4
9 Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance $4.7 $44.8
10 The Artist $3.9 $37.0
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This Means War (Cinema)

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I know the exact moment when I gave up on the idea that This Means War was going to be a good movie. Fairly early on Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) is shopping with her friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler), a character who only exists to give Lauren an excuse to say exactly what she’s thinking at any point in time.

However it wasn’t the lazy exposition (something the film loves to engage in) that made me realise that behind the fireworks there wasn’t much going on in This Means War, it was because the scene was set up so that the two women were doing their entire supermarket shop based on what was on the end of the aisles. They picked out detergent, looked at special offers and neither of them seemed to need anything that wasn’t right there in front of them. [Read more…]

Win A This Means War Goodie Bag – T-shirt, notebook & phone protector

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This Means War hits cinemas this Friday, March 2nd, and to celebrate, 20th Century Fox has sent us a goodie bags containing great movie merchandise from the movie, and we’re giving it away to you guys.

The film stars Tom Hardy & Chris Pine as two of the world’s top secret agents, who are best friends and never let anything come between them – until they inadvertently fall for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). Soon it’s all-out war, as the two spies battle each other with high-tech surveillance, advanced tactics, and an arsenal capable of bringing down a small country.

Our goodie bags contain a This Means War t-shirt, a rather natty notebook and a phone screen protector (to ensure it doesn’t get scratched when you’re using all your CIA spying skills to snare the woman or man you love). If you’d like to try and win our This Means War Goodie bag, answer the question below and fill in your details, then press submit! The competition closes on March 11th, so get answering and good luck!

HOW TO ENTER: Fill in the entry form below and click send. All fields need to be completed correctly for an entry to be valid. This includes your address, which will only be used if you win a prize. None of your details will be passed to any third party and will only be used for this competition (if you opt to receive a daily e-mail from Big Gay Picture Show, we will use your e-mail address to set that up, but you will be able to unsubscribe at any time), Multiple entries from the same ip address/computer risk being disqualified if we believe they break our rules on multiple/automated entries – we reserve the right to block ip addresses we believe may be engaged in trying to break the rules. This competition closes at 11.59pm on March 11th, 2012. Competition open to UK residents aged 18 or over. (For general competition terms and conditions, privacy policy and site T&Cs, CLICK HERE)

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Act Of Valor Tops The US Box Office

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It’s a bit of a seesaw at the US box office at the moment. Some weekends all the big releases massively underperform, while other weeks new movies make loads more than anyone expected. Both were true this week, as while the Top 12 film made 20% than they did on the comparative weekend last year, there were a couple of huge flops.

The chart was topped by an overperforming Act of Valor, which was sold on the fact it starred real Navy SEALS and while the reviews were pretty bad, it’s believed some clever marketing pulled in guys looking for a bit of patriotic action.

In second place was Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, which took $16 million. It’s the second worst opening ever for Perry, however the film leaned more dramatic than his usual comedy, and was less female skewing than normal, which may account for its lower box office. As Perry’s film cost little to make, it’s still a major win for him.

The other new entries bombed badly though. Despite the presence of Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston and producer Judd Apatow, Wanderlust could only manage eight place on the chart wtih $6.6 million. It’s a major failure for all of them, with many blaming Universal’s failure to market the movie properly.

Doing even worse was the Amanda Seyfried thriller Gone, which took just $5 million for ninth place on the chart. Marketing – or the almost total lack thereof – is also being blamed for this one, with some wondering if the distributor knew they had a dud, but were contracted to open nationwide rather than going straight-to-DVD and so pushed it out with absolutely no fanfare.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of February 24th-26th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Act Of Valor $24.7 $24.7
2 Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds $16.0 $16.0
3 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $13.4 $76.7
4 Safe House $11.4 $98.1
5 The Vow $10.0 $103.0
6 Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance $8.8 $37.8
7 This Means War $8.5 $33.5
8 Wanderlust $6.6 $6.6
9 Gone $5.0 $5.0
10 The Secret World Of Arrietty $4.5 $14.6
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Safe House Tops President’s Day Weekend Box Office

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Despite being a four day weekend in the US, it wasn’t a good time for new releases, although last week’s overperformers continued to impress. The top two movies swapped place compared to last weekend, with Safe House pipping The Vow to the post over the Presidents Day weekend.

The Ryan Reynolds & Denzel Washington movie took another $28.4 million from Friday to Sunday to top the chart, just outperforming The Vow, which grossed $26.6 million. The top new entry was Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, which only reached fourth spot on the chart with $25.7 million. It’s less than half what the first Ghost Rider movie made on its first weekend and is likely the result of some truly abysmal reviews.

This Means War also battled bad press and ended up in fifth spot with $20.4 million. It’s definitely a disappointing start for a movie with three hot young actors and a huge marketing push, but fairly well in line with the likes of other action/rom-coms like The Tourist, Knight & Day and Killers.

The final new entry in the top 10 was The Secret World Of Arrietty, the Studio Ghibli movie released in the UK last year simply as Arrietty. Despite not being the studio’s most acclaimed title, it more than doubles the best previous opening for a Ghibli movie, suggesting the studio is finally finding traction in the US, as it’s already done elsewhere in the world.

Take a look below for the top 10 for Presidents Day weekend, February 17th-20th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Safe House $28.4 $82.6
2 The Vow $26.6 $88.5
3 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $26.4 $59.5
4 Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance $25.7 $25.7
5 This Means War $20.4 $22.0
6 Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D $10.1 $36.0
7 Chronicle $9.2 $52.6
8 The Secret World Of Arrietty $8.1 $8.1
9 The Woman In Black $7.9 $46.5
10 The Grey $3.7 $48.6
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This Means War Nine-Minute Preview

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Studios know that at the moment it’s an uphill struggle to sell movies that aren’t a sequel or based on a known property. As a result Fox is really pushing This Means War, with things like Valentine’s Sneak Peaks and now a nine-minute preview popping up online, so you can get a really good feel for the movie, which stars Tom Hardy, Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon. Here’s the synopsis: ‘The world’s deadliest CIA operatives are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman. Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever – each other.’ It hits cinemas March 2nd, when we’ll find out if audiences respond to Fox’s efforts to get people excited about the film.

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