Box Office: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Tops the Slowest Weekend of 2014

1. Guardians of the Galaxy- $10.1M/$294.5M
And you thought last week was terrible for new released? This week brings only one and it's a film nobody has ever heard about and apparently didn't show up for. That one will be seen much further down the list as this week sees the six-week-old Guardians of the Galaxy remaining on top with $10.1M. It's already the highest-grossing film of 2014 and  has spent five weeks at the top of the chart. Worldwide it sits with a mighty $586M.  Next week isn't exactly a powerhouse, either, with Dolphin Tale 2 and the Idris Elba thriller No Good Deed the only major new releases. One of those will probably knock Guardians of its perch, but would anybody be surprised if they couldn't?
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- $6.5M/$174.6M
3. If I Stay- $5.7M/$39.6M
4. Let's Be Cops- $5.4M/$66.5M
The sleeper hit of the summer, no doubt. 
5. The November Man- $4.2M/$17.8M
Pierce Brosnan's espionage thriller The November Man didn't really bounce back in week #2, slipping 57% and earning $4.2M. Not the best way to start a franchise.

6. As Above, So Below- $3.72M/$15.5M
7. When the Game Stands Tall- $3.7M/$23.4M
8. The Giver- $3.5M/$37.8M
9. The Hundred-Foot Journey- $3.2M/$45.6M
10. Lucy- $1.95M/$121.2M

So not all of the faith-based movies can be gems, right? The week's only new release is The Identical,  an atrocious piece of junk that speculates what would happen if Elvis Presley's stillborn twin brother had survived and couldn't live up to his potential. It's actually a pretty nifty concept but was cheaply-made and dumped unceremoniously into 1,956 theaters. Hardly a wide release but the $1.9M it earned shows audiences wouldn't have turned out if it were 3,000. 

Read More

Box Office: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Still #1, Now Top Movie of 2014

1. Guardians of the Galaxy- $16.3M/$274.6M
Not only is Guardians of the Galaxy #1 for the second week in a row after reclaiming the spot last week, it's now the top-grossing movie for all of 2014 at $274M. A couple of days ago it surpassed Marvel's other superhero flick, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, meaning the House of Ideas has the top two movies for the entire year. This is what we like to call "dominance".  Obviously it won't come near the $612M domestic haul of The Avengers, but there's every chance it will surpass the $300M+ of Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3. Guardians of the Galaxy has also been a hit internationally with an additional $273M.
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- $11.7M/$162.4M
3. If I Stay- $9.2M/$29.8M
The Chloe Moretz tear-jerker If I Stay held strong, only slipping 40% in week two. The YA drama only cost about $11M so it's performing well enough. 
4. As Above, So Below- $8.3M
Labor Day is notoriously awful for new releases, and obviously this one is no different. The first new flick of the week is the low budget horror, As Above So Below, a film that comes with few credentials other than the presence of Devil and Quarantine director John Erick Dowdle. Do those even count as credentials?
5. Let's Be Cops- $8.2M/$57.3M
6. The November Man- $7.6M/$9.3M
James Bond just got his ass royally kicked by the bumbling boys in blue of Let's Be Cops, and they've been at it for nearly a month. There was a lot of hope for Pierce Brosnan's The November Man, which he produced and has been developing for a decade, simply because people like him as a suave secret agent-type. Or maybe they only like it when he's Agent 007 because nobody showed up for The November Man, which actually opened on Wednesday and still managed to do worse than most of the week's holdovers. Kinda makes that decision to greenlight a sequel so early a little sketchy, right? The film has been racked by poor reviews (including my own) although audiences gave it a 'B+' Cinemascore for some reason.
7. When the Game Stands Tall- $5.6M/$16.3M
8. The Giver- $5.2M/$31.5M
9. The Hundred-Foot Journey- $4.6M/$39.3M
10. The Expendables 3- $3.5M/$33.1M
While its numbers here are pretty terrible, The Expendables 3 has earned $50M overseas. Is it enough for Sly to consider getting the band back together? Probably not.

Read More

Review: 'The November Man' Starring Pierce Brosnan and Olga Kurylenko

Looking like he's barely aged since his days as super spy James Bond, Pierce Brosnan seems like the more natural fit for a Taken-style thriller than Liam Neeson. But for the most part Brosnan has been relegated to romantic comedies, dramas, or fracturing ear drums in musicals like Mamma Mia. Fortunately for us, somebody finally decided to tap into all that charm and charisma Brosnan has left over. Unfortunately, all that good energy is wasted in The November Man, a derivative and frighteningly dull action flick being eyed as a potential franchise.

Based on the seventh book in Bill Granger's series, The November Manreteams Brosnan with his Dante's Peak director, Roger Donaldson. Full disclosure: Dante's Peak is a personal favorite and Donaldson has done other solid work in the past, such as The Bank Job, so expectations for me were higher than perhaps they should have been. Still, there's no excuse for how boring and incomprehensible so much of The November Man is, and perhaps it has to do with the overlong production that began after Brosnan had his final shaken martini in 2005.

Brosnan plays savvy CIA agent Peter Devereaux, who along with his protégée David Mason (Luke Bracey, dry as toast) botched a high-profile assignment years earlier. Devereaux decided to call it quits and retire peacefully to Lake Geneva, running a bistro and enjoying the quiet. It doesn't last, of course, and before long he's called into "one final mission" by his ex-handler (Bill Smitrovich) to protect a former flame. It, too, goes belly-up and soon Devereaux is the target of the CIA's new top killer, which turns out to be David.

One of the reasons why the Bond movies are so successful is that, despite being about the murky world of British espionage, the stories are pretty straight-forward. Bad guy has an evil plan, Bond shows up, sleeps with some hot women, and saves the day. The worst spy stories are needlessly convoluted, almost as a means of capturing the shaky allegiances of those who deal in lies. The November Man is just such a case, and soon Devereaux is neck deep in a plot involving an evil Russian presidential candidate, some dirty dealings in Chechnya, a social worker (Quantum of Solace's Olga Kurylenko) with a mysterious past...and a neighbor's nosy cat. Yeah, you read that last part right. None of this stuff is very interesting, in fact it's a total snooze every time some character starts droning on about past indiscretions, and it happens far too often. It's a total drag that Donaldson's workman-like direction can't fully compensate for no matter how many chases he throws at it. What does work, and is sadly given short shrift, is the father/son dynamic playing out between Devereaux and David with the youngster divided on whether to kill or help his mentor. Devereaux's still got the goods and has a few tricks to confound his young padewan, and he's not against putting innocents in harm's way to make a point. His moral ambiguity, played remarkably well by Brosnan, could have been the centerpiece for the thrilling introduction to a captivating new hero. There's always a chance they'll get it right in the future. A sequel to The November Man is already in the works, and while that may be premature considering how bad this first effort is, it affords Brosnan another chance to kick some ass and look like a million bucks while doing it.

 Rating: 2 out of 5

Read More

'The November Man' Advance Screening

Once Pierce Brosnan was Bond...James Bond, now he's back and better than ever as The November Man! Brosnan stars in the action flick as an ex-CIA agent who comes out of retirement for a deeply personal mission, only to be hunted down by his highly trained friend and protege. The film co-stars Olga Kurylenko (another veteran of the James Bond movies) and Luke Bracey with direction by Roger Donaldson. We're happy to offer our readers the chance to see The November Man early by attending a free advance screening.

The screening takes place on Tuesday, August 26th at 7:00pm at AMC Georgetown. If you're interested in attending, simply head to the Relativity website here and download one Admit-Two pass. These are first come first served, and having passes does not guarantee entry into the theater. We also ask that you spread the word about Punch Drunk Critics by "Liking" us on Facebook and sharing the site with your friends.

The November Man opens August 27th.

SCREENING

Tuesday, August 26

7:00 pm

AMC Georgetown 

3111 K St NW, Washington, DC 20007

Read More

Pierce Brosnan Returning for Sequel to 'The November Man'

It's become standard practice for studios to plot a franchise's course well in advance, but that usually only applies to major tentpoles and potential blockbusters. So it's a sign of Relativity's confidence in the Pierce Brosnan thriller that they're already gearing up for a sequel to the hitman thriller The November Man a full week before the film hits theaters.

Pierce Brosnan is returning as Peter Devereaux, the ex-CIA agent at the heart of author Bill Granger's The November Man series, of which the current film is based on the seventh book, There Are No Spies. What's not clear is who else is being asked back or which of Granger's novels will be adapted next. Roger Donaldson directed The November Man with Luke Bracey as Devereau's protege who is hired to take down his former mentor. It's been a long time since Brosnan was James Bond and he's long overdue for another franchise to call his own, plus The November Man actually looks good. Hopefully the box office is strong enough to warrant doing more of them.

The November Man hits theaters August 27th, with pre-production on the sequel underway now. 

Read More

Pierce Brosnan stars in new trailer for 'The November Man'

You know, if Liam Neeson can continue being an action star into senior citizenhood, why not Pierce Brosnan? The man is 61 years old, but he can still run, jump, fire guns, and chase after young women half his age with the best of them. To white men! And now you can see him do all those things in this new trailer for the spy thriller The November Man.

Starring Brosnan, the film is an adaptation of the novel There Are No Spies by Bill Granger; Brosnan will play an ex-CIA operative who has to face off against one of his mentees to protect a woman. The mentee is played by Luke Bracey, who was in Monte Carlo with Selena Gomez (ahahahha) and will also star in the future Point Break remake (also, ahahahhaa). I guess they'll beat each other up and then blow things up, which you know, I'm not averse to watching Pierce Brosnan do.

The November Man comes out on August 27, 2014. Watch Pierce Brosnan do stuff senior citizens probably shouldn't do in the trailer below.

Read More

Pierce Brosnan is Back in Spy Mode for 'The November Man'

Although Pierce Brosnan spent four movies as super spy James Bond, let's not forget he's played suave and cool in Remington Steele (awesome!) and The Thomas Crown Affair, so he knows his espionage better than most. And while it has been a few years since he got down with the whole secret agent thing, The November Man has given Brosnan a chance to show he's still got what it takes.

Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job) directs the film with Olga Kurylenko co-starring in what looks like a straight-forward story of a legendary ex-CIA agent (Brosnan) nicknamed "The November Man" drawn out of retirement for one last mission protecting a key witness. That task puts him in the crosshairs of his former protege (Luke Bracey) at the agency, meaning there are few he can truly trust.

The November Man opens August 27th.

Read More