Weekend Box Office Preview: Dec. 4 and Dec. 11
December 4
For those looking for some gritty action, Armored is for you. A group of armored truck guards plan a heist to steal $42 million, but their plan quickly goes awry. The movie promises lots of car chases and gun fights, but not much else (not even any female characters). Probably a good bet for teen guys looking for something other than Twilight.
Everybody’s Fine features Robert DeNiro as a widower trying to reconnect with his adult children. Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell also star in this dramedy, a remake of an Italian film. It doesn’t have much teen appeal, but it’s the only other PG-13 film opening this weekend.
It was only a matter of time before someone spoofed vampire movies. Transylmania (Rated R), technically the third Dorm Daze movie, follows a group of college kids who study abroad at Razvan University in Transylvania. The curriculum includes crucifix-wielding and sexy vampires lurk at every corner. It looks like a typical spoof movie, full of wacky adventures, gross-out humor, and sex comedy, but it could provide a welcome respite for Twilight-haters.
December 11
The Princess and the Frog marks Disney’s return to its signature 2-D animation style, its first since 2004′s lackluster Home on the Range. It’s Disney’s first ever African-American lead character and also the first “princess” movie since Mulan in 1998. Loosely based on E.D. Baker’s novel The Frog Princess and the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale “The Frog Prince,” The Princess and the Frog tells the story of Prince Naveen, who was turned into a frog by a voodoo magician, and the girl he mistakes for a princess, Tiana, as they journey through the Louisiana bayou and the New Orleans French Quarter. Like the classic Disney animated features, this also features Broadway-style songs and humorous sidekicks, a fun-loving alligator and a love-sick firefly. It’s refreshing to see Disney return to its roots and this will appeal to a new generation of kids as well as those nostalgic for the Disney movies of their youth. It’s already opened in a few theaters and early reviews are positive.
Invictus, which is based on the true events surrounding Nelson Mandela and the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, also opens this weekend. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon star as Mandela and the South African team captain, respectively, and Clint Eastwood directs, so this movie has a fantastic pedigree and is likely headed for an Oscar nomination.While a movie based on historical events may not appeal to a lot of teens, it’s centered around a compelling sports story and can provide insight into the issues of apartheid and racial injustice.
Best bets: The Princess and the Frog or Invictus
Coming up: Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker-fronted Did You Hear About the Morgans?, James Cameron’s epic Avatar, star-studded musical Nine, It’s Complicated, starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones (whew!)
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