Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week. December 2nd is a really odd release date in that only one movie is really coming out (there are some limited releases), and most theaters won’t even pick it up….so I hope you didn’t do what I did and saw everything over Thanksgiving.
The only movie of any note releasing this weekend is Natalie Portman’s biopic of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy: Jackie. Critically-acclaimed, and almost a lock for another Oscar nomination for Portman, the film stands at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. Aside from that, there are a few limited release films that I’m not even going to bother with, because most theaters are still perfectly happy with their solid line-up from Thanksgiving and the weeks preceding it.
Jackie (Natalie Portman, R, 1hr 35min)
HOW DID WE DO LAST WEEK?
KT picked Moana and Disney to regain the top spot at the box office, and though it didn’t open as well as some though, it still pulled in $56.1 million for the Friday – Sunday weekend (Moana opened on Wednesday). Staying strong was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which finished second with $45.1 million (Lifetime prediction record 34-5).
WHO WILL WIN THE WEEKEND?
With essentially the same film slate as last weekend, expect the same result: Disney will retain its death grip on the top spot and Moana will reign for another week. Next week, actual movies open again (or so I’m told).
Looks powerful.
Also, Arrival was unusually good. Moody in a beautiful kind of way, and a rare case of pure science fiction on film. Complex and intelligent, like a good novel. Plus I love sci-fi that comes from an anthropological perspective.
Everything surrounding the visitors felt convincingly alien, and utterly unique, which is amazing considering all the times this scenario has played itself out over the course of the history of film. Plus this was one of those rare films where I had no idea what was coming next, and the big twist caught me totally off guard. Yes it was slow, and a bit protracted in places, but now I can’t wait for Villenvue’s take on the Blade Runner universe, and I’ll definitely be checking out his other work.
Plus Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams were in the same movie together, and the universe did not implode. If that does not distill the film’s globalist message, I don’t know what does.
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The Arrival is probably Villeneueve’s weakest film and it’s still fantastic. He’s a talent that I think is going to explode.
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