Movies

Three Movies mark a slow start to Fall

The fall movie season got off to a typically slow start. Labor Day weekends are never legendary for business, so it was anyone’s guess which movie would make the top spot. It turned out to be The American, a dramatic thriller starring George Clooney that made $16.1 million in five days. Aside from the “Oceans” series, Clooney is not actually a box office bonanza. His films are typically artsy or left of mainstream and his stardom stems from work on the television show E.R., a stint playing Batman, and his good looks.

Machete, a little advertised film from Robert Rodriguez managed to overcome Takers for the number two spot. The Mexsploitation film was a spinoff of a fake trailer from Grindhouse which made $11.5 million its opening weekend in 2007. Machete made $11.4 million despite strong reviews and a 73% on RottenTomatoes.com.

Ziyi Zhang to play live-action Mulan

Actress Ziyi Zhang is set to portray the legendary Mulan in an upcoming Jan de Bont film. While many tend to think of the animated Disney classic of the same name upon hearing the word “Mulan,” the story of the heroine actually originated from a poem written in the 700s, according to Empire Online.

James Cameron to film Amazon documentary

James Cameron will make a documentary about the Amazon’s indigenous people, particularly those that are against the construction of a dam because they think it will flood the tribal lands. The famous director will travel to Brazil later this year to make this film. According to ComingSoon.net, Cameron has been to the Amazon twice and has already filmed a short piece on this subject. 

Like Machete? Try El Mariachi

Writer/director Robert Rodriguez has made more successful action pictures [than Machete] over the past 20 years, not the least of which are Desperado and Planet Terror (however, Machete is a vast improvement over Spy Kids.) Today though we shall focus on his first feature, 1992’s El Mariachi.

El Mariachi is a prime example of a mistaken identity film. The eponymous character is just a poor guitar player looking to make a living in a rural Mexican town. Unbeknownst to him, another man, Azul, has recently escaped from prison and is looking to kill his former friend, Moco. Unfortunately for El Mariachi, Azul wears similar clothes and has a guitar case too, but his is full of weapons. A series of chance encounters results in El Mariachi and the object of his affection getting into confused trouble with Moco’s henchmen, eventually ending up in an exciting finale . It becomes clear to him quickly that he’ll have to do something other than play music if he hopes to get out of this mess.

Olivia Thirlby to help “Judge Dredd”

Olivia Thirlby is set to star in Pete Travis’ Judge Dredd, an adaptation of the comic with the same name. According to The Wrap, the young actress will portray Dredd’s telepathic sidekick Cassandra Anderson. Since her most famous role as the best friend of the titular character in Juno, Thirlby has appeared in independent films such as The Wackness and had a guest stint on the Emmy Award-winning HBO comedy Bored to Death.

Machete Review

Machete (Trejo) gives Jason Voorhees a run for his title with all the glorious knife-wielding and bloodletting. Machete keeps his blade sharp enough and his muscles strong enough to slash through a slew of bodies with the same ease and comfort of putting on deodorant. None of the action is played down. Every household item becomes a weapon, as do body parts. It’s the type of film where villains carry flamethrowers rather than matches.

Box Office Wizard (9.3.10)

This proposition is simple, amigo. Either you play Box Office Wizard, our weekly box office prediction game, or I cut your arm off, diagonally, with a rusty machete. I say keep your arm, because all you’re required to do is predict which five movies will place in the top five of this weekend’s U.S. domestic box office chart. I will make my own predictions here and explain them to you each week to give you some sort of reference point. It’s then your job to enter a comment with your top five.