Weekend Box Office: Fear the might of Affleck

Woohoo!!! Not only did The Town open well, it opened REALLY well. Clocking in way above estimates, the film looks to secure financing and demand for more Affleck-directed movies. Although I'd trade places with Affie most days, today is high on the list. Also killing it was Easy A, which clocked in at double the budget for the film. That's not a bad way to make an impression. Less dramatically awesome was The Devil, which suffered from no cast recognition and Shyamalan repulsion. It could have some legs though.

Okay, enough chitter chatter, let's get to recappin' haiku style:

1.) The Town - $24 million (Accuracy of prediction - 85%)

Now that's how it's done.
Keep racking up the dough, Ben!
I think you earned it.

2.) Easy A - $18 million (Accuracy of prediction - 89%)

I love Emma Stone.
I also loved this movie.
Highest recommend.

3.) Devil - $12 million (Accuracy of prediction - 100%)

I can't believe it.
The biggest twist for this one,
is the critic love.

4.) Resident Evil Afterlife - $10 million (Accuracy of prediction - 100%)

Bye bye zombie folk.
The next time I see you guys...
will be a sequel.

5.) Alpha and Omega - $9 million (Accuracy of prediction - 94%)

Poor CGI wolf!
You can't catch a break, can you?
Good thing I don't care.

Overall accuracy of prediction - 94%

Check out that total!
WOW! I am incredible!
I like this Monday.

Okay, that's it. Go forth and be merry. See you tomorrow!

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Movie Review: The Devil

Here's Justin's movie review for The Devil. Folks, I'm as shocked as you are.

Devil's Day Out
Death rides an elevator in Devil
Justin Senkbile


I'm claustrophobic in my day-to-day life, but at the movies, I'm a sucker for all things small and confined, from Ingmar Bergman's stark chamber dramas to George Romero's original Dawn of the Dead. Just put some people and some tension in a room and I'm there. With that said, director John Erick Dowdle's Devil still surprised me.

From the first shots (hugely disorienting, beautifully simple zooms into an upside-down Philadelphia skyline) to its final scenes, Devil manages to get nearly everything right. Most importantly, it embraces its simplicity when most other films would scramble to hide it.

The above mentioned skyline views eventually take us into a large office building, from which someone has just jumped to their death. According to the voice over, this suicide is setting in motion a bloody chain of events. As detective Bowden (Chris Messina) arrives on the scene to investigate, five strangers enter the building for appointments and end up in the same elevator, which soon stops working.

Inside, there's a security guard (Bokeem Woodbine), a salesman (Geoffrey Arend), an ex-Marine (Logan Marshall-Green), a high-strung older woman (Jenny O'Hara) and an apparently affluent young one (Bojana Novakovic). As their time in the elevator elapses, strange things begin to happen and, one by one, they inexplicably start becoming corpses.

The whole concept is basically that Satan has come to Philadelphia to mess with people for a day. If you have a problem with Devil, it'll probably be this premise, which I'll admit is a little silly. But the movie's creepiness comes not from the potential presence of the devil, but from the simple idea of people in a box going crazy. The “twist ending,” if you can call it that, is hinted at early and often, and you'll have a much better time if you ignore it altogether. Unfortunately, the devil ends up becoming Devil's only problem.

M. Night Shyamalan, the executive producer and man behind the original story, has his name all over this thing. And if that name is bringing good things to the screen and people in to see it (debatable these days, I know), then he certainly deserves some credit. The real praises, though, belong to Dowdle, whose impressive directorial instincts, along with the solid work of his relatively small cast (Messina in particular) make Devil a creepy and intense late-summer surprise.

Grade: B+

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Fearless, Flawless Box Office Predictions

Eat it up, Ben!

It's your world right now, you detachable-jawed, married-above-your-paygrade dude. I love you. I always have. Now the world gets to love you too because after Gone Baby Gone and now The Town, nobody can deny you got chops, boy. This weekend is going to be awesome for you, hopefully for me too, but mostly for you. Enjoy what should be the number one movie and your wife. ALWAYS enjoy your wife.

Here's how I see the box office, haiku style:

1.) The Town - $17 million

Ben Affleck kicks ass.
I have said that for years now.
Now everyone knows!!!

2.) Easy A - $14 million

Emma Stone kicks ass.
I have loved her since day one.
Now everyone does!!!

3.) Devil - $12 million

M Night kicks no ass.
I hate him quite a bit now.
Everyone agrees.

4.) Resident Evil Afterlife - $10 million

Some zombies bite ass.
I used to love them a lot.
Now they're just okay.

5.) Alpha and Omega - $8 million

This is about wolves.
Few people really love wolves.
Their T-shirts tell you.

That's it. No wildcard needed today, I'm that ballsy and confident. Have a great early fall weekend. Enjoy football, go Bears (ahem, please God, keep the momentum of barely winning going).

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