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A couple of movies worth mentioning got limited openings this weekend, including Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding, which did reasonably well, bringing in $81k from two theatres for a $40k average. Critics aren't as hot on it as they were on his previous film, The Squid and the Whale, and it doesn't seem to be Jack Black's dramatic breakthrough. Still, look for an awards season push for stars Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, either of whom might land an acting nod.
And finally, sadly, Richard Kelly's Southland Tales debuted as poorly as I'd feared (which means we endured weeks of talking about The Game Plan for nothing), bringing in just $123k from 62 theatres for a $1.9k average and a $140k total since its Wednesday opening. I did see the film this weekend, and my reaction is decidedly mixed. If you recall from my review of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, I'm perfectly okay with sacrificing character development in favor of big ideas, and Tales certainly isn't short on big ideas, but for some reason it didn't really work for me here. But there are shots, scenes, and lines that shine with the brilliance Kelly is capable of (a musical sequence with Justin Timberlake is especially noteworthy, in a Big Lebowski sort of way, and Timberlake turns in an interesting, impressive performance). But too much of it is too weird for the sake of being weird, and I'm willing to forgive a lot in a film that finds work for people like Curtis Armstrong, Christopher Lambert, and Todd Berger. I'd be curious to see the director's cut (which played at Cannes to a lot of boos, and ran 19 minutes longer than this cut), especially if it restores some musical numbers. Fortunately, Kelly is already rolling on his next pic, a more commercially viable thriller called The Box that's based on a short story by Richard Matheson and stars Cameron Diaz. Fingers crossed that this will be a better display of Kelly's talents.
And that about wraps it up for this week. Check back next week to see how The Mist fares against a host of competing pics, including Hitman, Enchanted, This Christmas, and August Rush. Plus Todd Haynes trippy Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There gets a limited release.
See you then.