Commentary Track

by RISHI AGRAWAL

So, I don’t think I watched a single movie in October. But that doesn’t stop me from forming opinions on lots of major films through a cursory glance of film trailers and vague word-of-mouth reviews. In any case, here we go.

October 2-4: 1. Zombieland* ($24.7 million). 2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($15.8 million). 3. Toy Story / Toy Story 2 (3D)* ($12.5 million).
October 9-11: 1. Couples Retreat* ($34.3 million). 2. Zombieland ($14.8 million). 3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($11.5 million).
October 16-18: 1. Where the Wild Things Are* ($32.7 million). 2. Law Abiding Citizen* ($21.0 million). 3. Paranormal Activity ($19.6 million).
October 23-25: 1. Paranormal Activity ($21.1 million). 2. Saw VI* ($14.1 million). 3. Where the Wild Things Are ($14.0 million).
October 30-November 1: 1. Michael Jackson’s This Is It* ($23.2 million). 2. Paranormal Activity ($16.4 million). 3. Law Abiding Citizen ($7.4 million).

Asterisks indicate the opening weekends.

Three biggest failures for the month (films that opened on 1,000 or more screens that had the lowest per-screen averages in their opening weekends). Third biggest failure for September: Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut about roller derby. Second biggest failure: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, a very strange looking horror-comedy. Biggest failure: Astro Boy, an animated film based on a comic book.

While no one film can claim dominance in October, I would say that the biggest surprise has to be Paranormal Activity. Starting off on just a few screens, Paranormal Activity achieves the rare feat of becoming the #1 film after its opening weekend.  This is really a film that wasn’t on anyone’s radar, but strong word of mouth really made it for this film. October, as expected, was the month of the horror movie, including Couples Retreat, which is an entirely new kind of horror.

Now, let’s look at the ten highest grossing films that opened in September.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($119.4 million)
Paranormal Activity ($87.8 million)
Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself ($51.7 million)
Surrogates ($38.0 million)
All About Steve ($33.5 million)
The Informant! ($32.8 million)
9 ($31.4 million)
Love Happens ($23.0 million)
Fame ($22.3 million)
Gamer ($20.5 million)

Again, the big surprise is Paranormal Activity, which opened in limited release in September. This is a film that truly came out of nowhere.

Participants in the game included myself, Helen, Jason and Miriam. Jason and I picked Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Helen and I picked Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself. Of course, no one picked Paranormal Activity.

Scores: Rishi (33 points), Jason (30 points), Helen (25 points), James (16 points) and Miriam (6 points).

So, it’s time to pick films for November. Here are the 10 most likely candidates.

November 6: A Christmas Carol; Men Who Stare at Goats
November 13: 2012
November 20: The Twilight Saga: New Moon; Planet 51; The Blind Side
November 25: Old Dogs; The Road; The Fantastic Mr. Fox; Ninja Assassin

My predictions: The Twilight Saga: New Moon; 2012; A Christmas Carol