Beasts of No Nation features another ho-hum, lights-the-screen-up-every-time-he’s-on-it performance from Idris Elba. If he isn’t the next Bond, I’m going to riot. Photos courtesy Bleeker Street.
It’s Halloween weekend. There’s nothing new releasing, as studios are afraid of competition during their highest-leverage time slots — and no, Bradley Cooper and Sandra Bullock Oscarbating don’t count. With no reason to go to a theater, you sit at home with your bag of candy and… what’s this? A Netflix original movie?
Maybe they could have cut their teeth with something a little less grim. Like, a documentary on how to make your own coffin lining, for instance.
Beasts of No Nation follows Agu (Abraham Attah), a 10-year old living in an unnamed West African country mired in a brutal, three-way civil war. Agu lives in a safe zone at the start of the film, but the army soon rolls through. His mother is shipped further behind the lines, but his father and brother are killed and he only survives by escaping into the wilderness. There, he is found by a Native Defense Force battalion that uses child soldiers. The battalion commandant (Idris Elba) singles Agu out as a potential leader and takes him under his wing, walking him through the horrors of war.
The Martian won the weekend again as all three new releases laid eggs. The weekend’s total, $70.1 million, is the year’s lowest, though this is predictable for a Halloween weekend- Box Office Mojo
Bradley Cooper and Sandra Bullock vehicles Burnt and Our Brand is Crisis finished at no. 5 with $5 million and no. 8 with $3.4 million, respectively. For Cooper, this is the second major failure of the year after May’s Aloha. For Bullock, this represents the worst wide release opening of her career- Deadline
Worse, both films were passion projects for the stars. Cooper was involved in editing and pushing for the film’s release, and Bullock loved the script so much that she pushed for producer George Clooney to make the lead character female so she could play it and waived her fee. These kinds of projects may be limited to direct-to-VOD releases in the future- Variety
Four new wide releases bombed this weekend, putting The Martian back on top for the third time in four weeks. Two of them, Rock the Kasbah and Jem and the Holograms, rank among the worst opening weekends of all time- Box Office Mojo
Presumed no. 1 was The Last Witch Hunter, which tumbled all the way to no. 4 after the week-old Goosebumps and Bridge of Spies. This disappointment could further hamper the career of star Vin Diesel- The Wrap
The next new release, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, fell all the way to no. 7 after an experimental release strategy caused most theaters to boycott it. It only released in 1,656 theaters- Variety
Maureen O’Hara, one of the last living Golden Age actors, died in her sleep this morning in her home in Boise, Idaho. She was 95.
O’Hara was known for her red hair and for playing characters that were just as fiery. Highlights of her 56-film resume include her most enduring film, Miracle on 34th Street, and her biggest critical success, The Quiet Man. Though she was never nominated for any competitive award, O’Hara was presented with an honorary Oscar late last year and has been honored since 2004 by the Irish-American community.
She is survived by her daughter and grandchild.
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