I think the New
York Times got it right when it said in its review of After Earth that not too long ago, Hollywood stars used to buy their
children expensive sports cars as gifts. Now they give them $130 million vanity projects to star in. And after seeing the film, I
wish Jaden had asked for a Porsche instead too.
And not only that, but it’s also a devious Scientology
indoctrination scheme as well. And I’m not the only one saying that. Even Marc Headley, who was, for 15 years, a
high ranking member of the cult…I mean
church . . . and who was written a book
exposing what goes on behind the scenes there, says that AE “contains
language, concepts and imagery plucked directly from the L. Ron Hubbard playbook.”
In other words, AE is basically Will Smith’s Battlefield
Earth. And I don’t want to bash Jaden
Smith who is just awful in the role, though it’s SO tempting too. He’s only
14, I’m sure he gets enough grief as is anyway.
And yes I can already hear what a bunch of you are going to
say-that we should support the film because we rarely get films about black
fathers and sons. And it’s sci-fi to boot. So that I say “so what.”
It still sucks. I would rather see a film about a gangster teaching his son about
the game, if it was a really well made film.
But the expectation was that AE would come in second this
weekend, after Fast and Furious 6. But
in a surprise it got clipped by Now You
See Me, which got just as bad reviews as AE did. Were audiences more in the
mood for a phony film about magicians pulling off large scale heists than Will and Jaden? Who knows? However the overseas numbers for AE
should make up somewhat for whatever shortcomings the film will make domestically.
However, the one genuine surprise this week is that a Bollywood film, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deew, actually cracked the top ten. It’s happened before and reminds us that there are whole other film industries (Bollywood, Latino films) that are attracting large audiences that we regularly overlook with our gaze on Hollywood films all the time.
1) Fast & Furious 6 Uni. $34,538,000 Total; $170,377,000
2) Now You See Me LG/S $28,050,000
3) After Earth Sony $27,000,000
4) Epic Fox $16,400,000 Total; $65,161,000
5) Star Trek Into Darkness Par. $16,400,000 Total: $181,156,000
6) The Hangover Part III WB $15,930,000 Total: $88,086,000
7) Iron Man 3 BV $8,006,000 Total; $384,751,000
8) The Great Gatsby WB $6,265,000 Total: $128,256,000
9) Yeh Jawaani Hai Deew Bollywood/Eros $1,300,000
1o) Mud RAtt $1.200,000 Total: $16.900,000
