New on DVD this week is the latest morality/crime thriller from Woody Allen Cassandra's Dream (2008) starring Colin Farrell, Ewan MacGregor and Tom Wilkinson. The Weinstein's played a release shell game with the theatrical release, finally dumping it in January's no-man land. The outcome was predictable: It became one of Woody's biggest flops only outperforming September (1987). Pity that, given that Woody had his biggest hit since the '80s with Match Point. Scoop seemed to benefit from that momentum.
One wonders how the Weinstein's will treat the far buzzier Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)... which is currently due in August. Is there any momentum left from that Match Point resurgence?If you don't adjust for inflation, Woody's top 5 looks like this
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, Orion) $40
- Manhattan (1979, MGM) $39.9
- Annie Hall (1977, UA) $38.2
- Match Point (2005, Dreamworks) $23.1
- Love and Death (1975, UA) $20.1
Older Films: There's a Dario Argento Box Set for the devotees or the curious. You also have a new opportunity to see Cheng Pei-Pei (pictured right), who you'll remember as the old and evil Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, back when she was a deadly young thing in the influential wuxia landmark Come Drink With Me (1966)Also just out: The Air I Breathe, a four part ensemble story with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon and more; Cleaner with Samuel Jackson as an ex-cop who cleans crime scenes; Darfur Now which is that documentary starring Don Cheadle we've heard so much about; Rambo for the fourth time; FlashPoint an action flick starring Donnie Yen; Grace is Gone, John Cusack's strangely dumped-at-the-last-second Oscar bid as a widower who lost his wife in Iraq; and the Paul Schrader flick The Walker in which Woody Harrelson plays a gay escort of society women in DC.
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3 comments:
Grace is Gone (which I watched yesterday) is further proof that many distributer's just don't understand how the calendar works.
They probably figured that the best thing the film had going for it was Cusack's potentially award-winning performance.
But they should have known that such a small unassuming film would be completely gobbled up by the big contenders.
Grace is Gone really need an early year, post-Oscar release (ala The Visitor) where critics could have thrown out the phrase "year's first Best Actor contender" before Day-Lewis and Clooney came along.
Sure it still wouldn't have won anything, but at least people would have noticed it.
Does that make Manhattan Woody's most seen film (adjusting for inflation)? Seems to. How grand. I had no idea it was one of his biggest hits commercially... just a hair under his best box office take ever. Not that it's even all that much. But still.
Ewan looks so naughty in that picture.
doesn't he? I was going to type that I didn't know who i wanted to be in the pic. Ewan being touched by Colin or Colin touching Ewan but definitely the latter. ha ha.
yeah, i didn't know that MANHATTAN was the biggest either. I assumed it was ANNIE HALL. But both were substantial hits.
i wish i had the inflation-adjusted top ten.
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