In my head, Tom looking dramatically over his shoulder was supposed to come off kind of like Bigger Than Cheeses’s CSI: Miami comic. I know it’s not the same thing. I’m just telling you how it played out in my head.
Believe it or not, Box Office Mojo is reporting that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs actually TIED at the box office this weekend with a tally of $42.5 million each.
Granted, I haven’t been following box office reports for all that long, but I can’t think of another time where that has ever happened before. Next thing you know the two movies will start fighting over who had the idea to use a colon in their title rather than call their film “Transformers 2” or “Ice Age 3”.
There is one qualifier, of course. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs actually came out on Wednesday. So if you count the 5-day tally, the box office is in it’s favor – $67.5 million. But the story isn’t interesting if you include that. So everyone is choosing to focus on the 3-day weekend in stead. Ho hum.
Something I said I’d do but never really got around to last week was talk a little bit more about Public Enemies (which, incidentally, came in 3rd this weekend with $26 million).
I looked at my original synopsis – that the film was good but overlong, that Bale hardly leaves an impression and that he and Depp barely share screen time together – and thought “Was there more I wanted to add to this?” But I suppose I officially have to chime in on director Michael Mann’s decision to shoot the film with digital video.
For me, it’s an anachronism that distracts me somewhat. But more glaring was the poor quality of the video. I don’t have a problem with a period film using digital video. But in Public Enemies I thought things were blurry, pixelated and fundamentally inferior. For someone who can pick a shot as well as Mann can, I don’t understand why he’s resorting to such a crude method of capturing his film.
Probably the greater anachronism for me were Mann’s musical selections. Sometimes there would be sweeping orchestra work. Sometimes there would be radio hits from the late 20’s and early 30’s. But during the heists in particular, he would sometimes go with an electric guitar riff that left me asking myself “Were people playing electric guitars back then?” Maybe I’m ignorant, but it felt really out of place.
There were also some strange overlaps, historically speaking. Did John Dillinger really pull all of these heists with Alvin “Creepy” Karpis and Baby Face Nelson? It kind of felt like some kind of greatest hits tour, or something. I don’t know a lot about that era, but it seems to me these guys wouldn’t pal around with each other if they could help it.
I guess more than anything, it’s been interesting reading people’s reaction to the movie. Some people feels like it doesn’t connect and that Mann has lost his touch completely. Others consider Public Enemies to be some kind of art film.
Whatever it is, Mann has not made a conventional Hollywood caper flick. Maybe if this one had found it’s way into theaters later in the year instead of over the 4th of July weekend, it would have played differently. The grit and steel in Marion Cotillard’s performance would perhaps raise the specter of a Best Supporting Actress nomination if it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
It’s odd. For as wrapped up in the movie as I was, I didn’t really enjoy it and I’m not sure I could recommend it to others. It’s not a bad film, but it’s not blithely entertaining, either. I guess you could say I respect it, but even that feels like a left-handed compliment.
I’m sure we’ll be talking about Public Enemies and much, much more tonight on The Triple Feature podcast at 9PM CST. Be sure to listen to us live! Don’t forget to submit your questions to our Facebook group. Sign up as a member and we’ll send you a reminder of when the show is recording so you can join us during the show.
Thanks and have a great Monday!
This is a 5-alarm Aliens Vs. Predator kind of situation, man.
Whoever wins?...
...we lose!
The inaccuracies bothered me, not so much because they were inaccurate, but because it was a lot of wasted screen time that could have been spent actually developing some of the characters who were important. It’s always fun to see Baby Face Nelson, but he took time away from the people the story was supposedly about.
Zodiac is a really good example of a period film that’s shot on digital video, so it can be done. That film looks stunning.
One thing that got to me about Public Enemies was how the make-up department has not kept pace with camera and lighting (I also have mild complaints with the lighting and how jarring it was with the HD medium used in the film). There is a close-up on Depp’s hand… an extreme close-up… the make-up job done to cover up his tattoo was not up to the job… the tat managed to bleed through. That just seems very sloppy and rushed. Cinematographer Dante Spinotti should have caught it. In the very least… it was a insert close-up for goodness sake… use one of the grip’s hands or a stand-in’s hands for the shot.
About the music… at times it was like Elliot Goldenthal was riffing on Edelman/Jones from The Last of the Mochicans… I half expected to see Day-Lewis storm onto screen a few times… and Bill the Butcher woulda shown Bale the what for…
I’m not saying a period piece shot on digital video can’t be done. I’m just perplex why Mann applied as much pixelated grain and muddy contrast as he did.
To be honest I found public enemies to be boring beyond all belief.
I could see what they were trying to do with making us feel compassion with both charachters and side with both of them but it didn’t work. Depp’s portrayal of dillinger didn’t convince me as the “lovable rouge” type regardless of how much of the banks money he’d take and leave the normal every day working people alone.
Also some scenes were too drawn out. The ending scene in the cinema seemed to go on for too long and the romance scenes between Depp and Cotillard just seemed to last forever and do very little to enhance the charachters.
Sean, I have to agree with your assessment of Dillinger being portrayed as some kind of folk hero.
We’re meant to believe that the public loves him only because the movie says they do. We never see him do anything other than serve his own interests. There is no reason for the public to idolize him so, unless they were attracted to the candor in his jailhouse interview?
I saw Ice Age this weekend – cute film, lots and lots of 2-level jokes. Simon Pegg pulls off a new character with a lot of fun.
I read the book the movie is based on way back and from my memory of it and from John Dillinger;s wikipedia page, he and baby Face Nelson did indeed pull a heist together and share a hideout.
Honestly can’t stand the idea of seeing Ice Age 3. Transformers was okay, though I think the robo-testicles was a bit over the top. I honestly enjoyed The Proposal more than anything I’ve seen this month.
As for Ice Age 3 and Transformers:ROTF. I still have no seen ROTF however, it was never high on my list of things to go see.
I saw Ice Age 3 the day after it came out and it was fairly enjoyable. Definatly better than the second one. The only problem is it’s still not as good as the first one for one simple reason. The animals are to anthropomorphisized (sp?) In the first film they were animals. The humour came parcially from the fact that they were confused about the way humans acted. Albeit in the third one they scaled back a bit more (i.e. no talking about mine fields) but they still have enough pop culture references to just ruin it a bit.
There is no doubt however, that Simon Pegg steals the show as Buck, plays the psycosis well and has some fantastic lines (“I dunno. I Don’t speak wind.”)