Oct 31: Silent Hill

"A woman goes in search for her daughter, within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill. Based on the video game."

Directed by: Christopher Gans, Rated: R, 125 minutes

Every Halloween I watch Silent Hill. It's turned into a little tradition for myself and have never really been able to pinpoint the exact moment I decided to keep it up. It's not even the scariest movie I've ever seen but it still fits the holiday and leaves me a little on edge. There's just something about Silent Hill that keeps me coming back for more and you can only imagine how sad I was when I heard such horrible things about its recent sequel. But I can say with confidence that Silent Hill is the greatest video game adaptation ever made.

It might help that this awful man had nothing to do with it. 

The film follows Rose (Radha Mitchell), a woman who loses her daughter and has plenty of signs leading her to a small town called Silent Hill. Rose travels to the abandoned town after many warnings that it holds plenty of dark secrets. Once she arrives, Rose discovers first-hand the warnings are true, and the town changes into hell on earth, with the walls peeling away and demon-like creatures spawn out of the darkness. As Rose uncovers more secrets she comes to find the town is cursed and that only way to escape is to "go deeper" and find a way to reverse the curse and save her daughter. Rose is joined by police officer, Cybil (Laurie Holden) and encounters plenty of townspeople that leave in constant fear.

Too bad my disgust for her in The Walking Dead ruins her quite a bit in anything else she's in. 

Silent Hill makes you hate tornado sirens. Whenever a siren goes off in the film, you know shit's going to happen and that terror is right around the corner. Each time the wall's begin to peel away, you get tense, again knowing that awful is coming. It's a film that continues to build suspense and only gets worse as it progresses. Not only does the siren provide tension, but the visuals that accompany each change are just as creepy. Seeing a desolate town dissolve into an even greater darkness, literally on the edge of hell, is just as creepy. Of course, you can't mention Silent Hill without mentioning Pyramid Head, the franchise's signature character. A brute of man stumbling through hell, carrying a massive ax and ripping the skin off of innocents is quite the visual of fear. He plays a minor, yet memorable part, and is more than okay sharing the creature-feature with a handful of other demons, zombie-nurses, and other undead nightmares.

He will f**k you the f**k up.

While Silent Hill has a handful of weak moments towards the end, it still is quite the ride. It's dark, it's creepy, and it leaves you paranoid. You'll hate sirens of any kind after watching the film and if you are a fan of the video games, you'll love the film. It provides plenty of scares and moments of "oh f**k that did not just happen!". It's well acted with a solid script (written by Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction) and has both visual and mental fears playing on on screen. Sure, it plays off of the cliche little kids are spooky aspect, but it still brings much more to the game than other generic horror films. I would highly recommend it and I look forward to continuing my Halloween tradition for years to come. Here's hoping the eventual third flick in the series will be a worthy follow-up to this mini-masterpiece.

The Good:

overall creep factor that lingers with you and the fact that it's a terrific adaptation of an already terrifying video game

The Bad:

some cliches that leave you a little frustrated, but nothing that ruins the film completely

The Ugly:

... tornado sirens

7.5/10

Discussion Question:

Besides Silent Hill (and Resident Evil) are there any other good video game adaptations?

Trailer:

The Most F**ked Up Movies You've Ever Seen Blogathon: The Wrap-Up

October has been the month of horror for many movie bloggers. We've reviewed the scary, the disturbing, the creepy, and of course, the f**ked up. Well, as many of you know all month long I have been hosting the Most F**ked Up Movies I've Ever Seen Blogathon. After a month of discussion and a ton of entries, below is the final compilation of everything and a teaser of what's to come for November. If you're looking for something to make you squirm and hate your life, I'm sure there's plenty below for you to add to your Netflix queue or buy in a dark alley in Chinatown. 

Reviews:
Benend's Basment's Review of Martyrs
Robert of The Sketchy Details Reviews Inside
Dave of KLF-Film Reviews The Sinful Dwarf
Amy of YAM Magazine Reviews Sex Zen 3D
Julyssa of YAM Magazine Reviews Catepillar
What Happened to Hollywood? Talks about Cannibal Holocaust
Gore Girl Reviews Hard Gore
Camiele of YAM Magazine Reviews Ichi the Killer
Camiele also reviews Se7en

Articles:
Benend's Basement's "Five Most Disturbing Films of my Childhood"
Dusty On Movies Breaks Down a Bunch of Films
The Vern's Videovangaurd's Top 4 Scariest Movies of All Time
Elwood from The Depths of DVD Hell's Article: "Honey, Let's Screw Up the Kids"
Karl at Xs Mark the Spot Discusses Deviant Cinema
Andrew of Two Tickets For... Breaks Down the Six Most Messed Up Movies He's Ever Seen
On Page and Screen has a Family Edition of Most F**ked Up Movies They've Ever Seen

And be sure to check out my own very list of the Six Most F**ked Up Movies I've Ever Seen. 

Thanks to everyone that participated as well as to those wanting to, be couldn't find the courage to write about the horror. November is a new month, which means a new blogathon, and while I don't want to give anything away, quite yet, it has to do with a particular fan of boxed chocolate, table tennis, and shellfish. 

The Six Most F**ked Up Movies I've Ever Seen

You can call me the ultimate procrastinator when it takes me until the absolute last day to write a post for my own blogathon. As you have may have noticed, I have been hosting the Most F**ked Up Movies You've Ever Seen Blogathon throughout all of October and have gotten plenty of entries. From foreign flicks to rather unusual releases, you guys have given me plenty of movies to either avoid or track down and feed my morbid curiosity. Either way, it's about time I write my own list of what I consider to be the most f**ked up movies I have ever seen. And to keep it flush with the rest of the site, we can call this the most unusual Pick Six the site has ever seen.

Directed by: Nicolas Roeg, Rated: PG, 91 minutes

Now, as part of the blogathon, I asked that if any of you had seen something that haunted your childhood or was absolutely far too disturbing to watch as a kid, to include it on your list. The Witches is that film for me. Seeing this disturbing adaptation of a Rohld Dahl book left me with nightmares. Angelica Huston stars as a witch that hosts a witch conference at a hotel resort. Together, the mega-coven plan to rid the world of children by poisoning their candy. If that's not creepy enough, the majority of the witches (that I have now come to learn) are planned by transvestites and men in drag, only adding to the creep factor. Of my entire childhood, The Witches stands out as the most f**ked up movie (Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland comes a close second).

Directed by: Lars von Trier, Rated: NR, 108 minutes

I can only assume that Lars von Trier would make the list on many people's list as the man tends to push (and rape) every boundary you can think of. With Antichrist Lars von Trier not only makes you incredibly uncomfortable but makes you fear for your private parts. The film features a handful of scenes of genital mutilation that are not only graphic but far too disgusting for anyone to witness. Von Trier utilizes actual porn stars for graphic sex, luring you in with the sexy only to ruin any positive thoughts you had for making whoopie. Antichrist stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple that flee to a cabin in the woods to get away from their city lives after their child falls out a window and dies. It's a movie so depressing, so f**ked up, and shows two people inflicting the most physical and emotional pain on each than you could ever imagine. 

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky, Rated: R, 102 minutes

Don't get me wrong, Requiem for a Dream is a beautiful film. But Aronofsky paints a morbid portrait of drug addiction that leaves you promising yourself you'll never touch heroine as long as you live. It's a film that never holds back and completely dives into the deep end of the worst case scenarios in relation to drugs and sees four individuals spiral completely out of control. Set to an amazing soundtrack by Clint Mansell and the visceral visuals of Aronofsky, Requiem for a Dream lures you in with a glossy cover only to have to peeled away to reveal a layer of horror you never want to experience. To this day, I can't look at needles because of this film and hate getting my flu shot.

Directed by: John McNaughton, Rated: NR, 83 minutes

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is just that. It's a look inside the life of a man so twisted and disturbed he does not deserve to walk on this earth. There's very little to actual enjoy about the film, as its a series of events that are hard to watch and have only negative emotions associated with them. It's simple an unflinching look at a man driven to kill and can only be admired for going somewhere you can only assume real serial killers have tread. If Dexter can make "light" of a homicidal maniac, Henry does the complete opposite. You hate the man and want to see him die, but he simply keeps chugging along taking victim after victim. The film also gave us Michael Rooker, and to this day, I can never look at the man without hating him just a little bit.

Directed by: Takashi Miike, Rated: NR, 115 minutes

Asian cinema is a force to be reckoned with. With a large focus on revenge, you can only imagine the lengths the characters in these films go to hand out the dish best served cold. Thus, it was incredibly hard to decide on one particular film from the Eastern Continent. With Audition, we're not exactly given a revenge story, but you the torture that plays out on screen needs to be justified with something to make you feel a little better about what you see. Audition is an incredibly slow-burning flick that escalates at a snails pace. It's a film that needs patience and only rewards you for said patience with a sequence so disturbing and so unnerving you can't look away (as hard as you try). What Psycho did for showers and Jaws did for the ocean, Audition does for pretty Asian girls. Yeah, it's that f**ked up.

Directed by: Pascal Laugier, Rated: R, 99 minutes

Whenever the topic of most f**ked up movies ever comes up, you have to mention Martyrs. This French flick holds absolutely nothing back and plucks at your nerves like a violin, making you cringe at every moment. The quickest way to explain the plot behind the film is that there's a religious cult that tries to get people as close to an excruciating death as possible, in hopes they see God. What plays out is like nothing you could imagine and the pain that's inflicted on the two leads girls is a thing of nightmares. This is a movie my girlfriend got incredibly pissed off at me for watching after she left feeling nauseated after the first five minutes. Simply put, Martyrs makes you less of a nicer person and after watching the film, you carry an extra weight of something awful with you for a very, very long time.

A Disturbance in the Force

Well.

By now the word has gotten pretty effectively distributed, so I can't really call this a news article. Maybe it's an editorial, or a diary entry, or just a monologue uttered on the windy plains of the cyber-frontier. I dunno. What I do know is that when I heard that Disney had bought Lucasfilm, I was pretty excited, but I know not everyone shares my enthusiasm. It seems like just yesterday Disney bought Marvel (something I never saw coming, not in a million years) and just before that, Pixar. Both times Disney bought another company, people were blown away. This most recent one has a lot of people utterly baffled – and one of my favorite comments I’ve yet read was “I sense a great disturbance in the force. Though for good or bad...I am not sure.”

Just so. Looking objectively at this, I’d say it’s 50/50.

The Pixar buyout resulted in a lot of Pixar’s keenest minds being integrated into Disney itself and subsequent Pixar films therefore falling short. I doubt it’s a coincidence that the Disney theme parks have seen a jump in quality over the past few years (they were always great, but they seem even better now) with John Lasseter as the Head Imagineer, but Pixar’s last couple of films have been...well, not up to par. This, regardless of the improvements I’ve seen around Main Street USA, makes me resentful.

Why...

Next came Marvel, and what a knockout that was. I remember seeing a newspaper with a Mickey Mouse in a Spider-Man suit, and listening to all the folks at work moan about how Marvel was going to be driven into the ground. I thought the prospect was exciting, but I too wondered how two ideologies, so markedly different, would mesh. With the recent release of The Avengers, I think we can rest assured that Disney’s backing of Marvel might be the best thing since sliced bread – so long as they continue to let Marvel do their own thing and fork over the funds to do so.

So, we’re at one positive change and one negative change. What’s it going to be with Lucasfilm? We already know that a new Star Wars is coming out (for those who haven’t heard, yes, Star Wars Episode 7 is coming in 2015 and bringing back the original heroes – Luke, Leia and Han Solo - with it.) and that George Lucas will be a “creative consultant," whatever that means.

Personally, I’m excited. I was skeptical when I first heard that they were revamping the Star Tours ride in Disney Hollywood Studios (I’m a traditionalist, what can I say) but when I went on it last fall, it was like the entire Star Wars universe had been reinvented before my very eyes. For those who haven’t ridden the new ride in Orlando, you really should. It’s fantastic. I remember being on that ride and wishing that someday we’d see a new Star Wars movie with a...ahem...fresher director at the helm. With this merger, we might get just that.

Disney and Star Wars have been very tight for a long while, and while the bond wasn't quite as close with Indiana Jones, it was still definitely there. The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular has been running in Disney World since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Same jokes, same stunts (though for some reason it closed in the middle for a while there. Never did figure why.) and same jam packed crowd every time. With this purchase, we might see a new Indiana Jones movie, too. Hopefully, the next one...well, let’s just hope the next one doesn't nuke the fridge.

What’s most encouraging in the end, I think, is that it seems like we are in an era of cinematic revitalization. What I mean is that we've seen a lot of re-envisionments lately, with Christopher Nolan re-inventing Batman and his nemesis, The Joker. We watched as Martin Campbell picked up James Bond, dusted him off, and turned him back into the gritty, murderous womanizing bastard that Ian Fleming intended for him to be.

Hell yeah.

Maybe Disney buying Lucasfilm was exactly what two great franchises (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) needed. Maybe instead of being a catastrophe, we could see these wonderful worlds re-envisioned, redesigned, reinvented to inspire us and entertain us and amaze us once again. That’s what we stand to gain, anyway. What with Hurricane Sandy and the election and the war...well, I like to think positive once in a while. Regardless, either way, it’s done.

Star Wars Episode 7 is on the way, by God.

May the force be with us.

Check out the Yahoo! article here.

Check out the Walt Disney Company statement here.

Oct 30: A Perfect Getaway

"Two pairs of lovers on a Hawaiian vacation discover that psychopaths are stalking and murdering tourists on the islands."

Directed by: David Twohy, Rated: R, 98 minutes

A Perfect Getaway is a severely underrated thriller. It's a perfect example of how far a great cast and great directing can take a decent script and that the most throw-away ideas can still be suspenseful and entertaining. It's also worth mentioning that even when a movie is sub-par, setting it in a tropical location at least makes the film look nice, and A Perfect Getaway really focuses on the natural elements and actually makes the scenery a part of the story, as opposed to just its backdrop. However, the movie still does suffer at the hands of predictability and the few twists can be seen coming from miles away.

And for the ladies, there's plenty of pre-Thor-but-still-muscular-Thor... if that's what you're into

Newlyweds Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Mila Jovovich) are madly in love. For their honeymoon, they head to Hawaii, hoping to take in the romantic sceneary and get away from their rather boring lives. Far from adventurous, Cliff proves to be the "nerd in the wild" and tries his hardest to keep up with his wife. Then the two run into Nick (Timothy Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez), two outdoor daredevils that would put Bear Grylls to shame. Also, enter Kale (Chris Hemsworth) and Cleo (Marley Shelton), two free-loving hippies that meet up with the group in the middle of the jungle. It's a rather unusual happenstance that these three different groups run into each other out in the middle of nowhere and it only makes matters worse that a duo of psychopaths are said to be island hopping themselves, murdering people left and right. The main conflict of the story is each couple questioning the other, wondering who is good and who is bad and if any or all of them are in danger.

As they all stare in the right corner, we're left wondering who/what/where is the killer!

A Perfect Getaway is a little tricky to explain without giving much away or at least hinting at the end result. I can't say that the plot is much more involved than the above paragraph but that matters little when you have such a great cast having fun with it all. Each couple feels like a genuinely reel couple you may know in real life or would run into on a vacation and the chemistry between the cast is just as real. It's surprising that such a scrawny, nerdy looking guy like Zahn could be believable as the counterpart to the gorgeous Jovovich, but it really works. Of course, Timothy Olyphant steals every single scene he is in commands the screen with his ridiculously charismatic presence. He has several scenes where it's just him telling a story (that may or may not be the truth) and these monologues prove to be one of the more memorable parts of the film. A Perfect Getaway is a another perfect example of that man's talent and is proof that he deserves to be one of the top leading men in Hollywood. 

Put The Phant in everything!

Along with the acting, director Twohy manages to capture the beauty and the danger of the tropic and the color he pulls out of the locations give A Perfect Getaway a heightened sense of energy. Even if you can predict the twist early on, the entire product is beautiful to look at and really lets you focus on the scenery. As most movies of this kind are more of a reason to get beautiful people to beautiful places to have fun on "vacation" and just filming the flick to make some money, A Perfect Getaway at least tries to be something more, and for that I highly recommend it. It's worth watching for the acting alone and it's great to see so many underrated and underused actors come together for a good looking flick.

The Good:

a great cast that saves the film from decency 

The Bad:

a very, very predictable story that you see coming well beforehand

The Ugly:

realizing that Olyphant and Zahn may never be the household names they deserve to be

7.1/10

Discussion Question:

What actor do you feel deserves more attention than he/she is receiving?

Trailer:

DVD Court: Oct. 30

This week, we put a handful of films on trial. As The Jury, we recommend what should happen to a particular DVD released today. Voting Burn It, Skip It, Rent It, or Buy It, we come together to deliver a verdict and hope to help you decide what to watch or avoid. We've also now added our Court of Appeals, where we allow a mention of another particular release that we find worth "saving" (aka buying). We also still have two spots open. To apply, email me here presenting your case. 

The Jury:
Nick of The Cinematic Katzenjammer
Ries of The Cinematic Katzenjammer
Joe of Two Dude Review
Vern of The Vern's Videovangaurd
Andrew and Sarah of Two Tickets For...
Dave of Dave Examines Movies
Andy of Andy Watches Movies
Sati of Cinematic Corner
Daniel of Daniel's Film Reviews
Mavi of FilmScope

The Campaign

"Ricky Bobby vs. The Dude Between Two Ferns"

Directed by: Jay Roach, Rated: R, 110 minutes

Nick: Skip It
Ries: Rent It
Joe: Rent It
Vern: Rent It
Andrew and Sarah: Rent It 
Dave: Rent It
Andy: Rent It
Sati: Skip It
Daniel: Rent It 
Mavi: Burn It

Verdict: Rent It

Safety Not Guaranteed

"Craigslist time-traveling"

Directed by: Colin Trevorrow, Rated: R, 86 minutes

Nick: Buy It
Ries: Rent It
Joe: Rent It
Vern: Burn It
Andrew and Sarah: Rent It 
Dave: Buy It
Andy: Rent It
Sati: Rent It
Daniel: Rent It
Mavi: Rent It

Verdict: Rent It

Ruby Sparks

"A bookworm's biggest fantasy"

Directed by: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, Rated: R, 104 minutes

Nick: Buy It
Ries: Buy It
Joe: Rent It
Vern: Buy It
Andrew and Sarah: Rent It
Dave: Buy It
Andy: Buy It
Sati: Rent It
Daniel: Rent It
Mavi: Rent It

Verdict: Hung Jury 

Overruled Buy It

The Court of Appeals

Rosemary's Baby (Criterion Blu-ray)

The Client (Blu-ray)

New to Redbox:

Magic Mike

Take this Waltz

Red Lights

Safety Not Guaranteed

Sound of My Voice

Oct 29: Rock of Ages

"A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, while pursuing their Hollywood dreams."

Directed by: Adam Shankman, Rated: PG-13, 123 minutes

Had Rock of Ages simply been a continued succession of covers of awesome 80s rock songs with absolutely no story to tie everything together, it would have been great. Instead, in between each rock anthem we must suffer through awful acting and even worse dialogue that's riddled with every damn cliche in the book. However, Tom Cruise delivers an incredible performance and makes the majority of the film something worth watching, even if everything else is disgustingly bad. I seriously considered turning the movie off but after Tom Cruise's introduction and performances, I had to see this thing through. 

Thank you, Xenu. 

Rock of Ages starts off with the doe-eyed innocent Sherrie (the terrible Julianne Hough) arriving in L.A to start her own music career. Immediately after getting off the bus she gets a job at the very popular rock-bar, The Bourbon Room, owned by Dennis (Alec Baldwin) and Lonny (Russell Brand). Of course, being young and "beautiful" attracts the attention of all sorts of men, and another aspiring musician, Drew (Diego Boneta) falls in love with her. After just a few moments on screen, the two are madly in love with each other and will do whatever it takes to see the other one succeed. Then comes Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise), performing one last time with his band, Arsenal, at The Bourbon Room. Through a series of misleading situations, Drew believes that Sherrie slept with the rock legend and the two part ways. This and that happens, the two meet here and there, and a bunch of songs are sung along the way. Of course, it all builds up to the inevitable coming together of everyone (poorly) singing "Don't Stop Believing".

Don't f**k with Journey. 

Rock of Ages is a movie set in the 80s that's in serious need of cocaine. It's complete absent of the sleaze and smut that surrounded the 80s rock scene and glosses over everything for the PG-13 rating. It also has a severe lack of rock and roll cameos (where's Jon Bon Jovi!?). The love story at the core of the film is completely lacking of any emotion or depth and manages to give a certain vampire movie a run for its money for "worst love story ever". Julianne Hough is best known for her... part? in Dancing with the Stars and being Ryan Seacrest's girlfriend and her acting ability is non-existent. Even with casting a dancer you'd think the filmmakers would use that to her advantage, but Hough dances in about one scene and that involves her swinging around a stripper pole. Diego Bonata, the male lead, has less charm than Zac Efron and is far from leading man material. Each scene that focuses on either of these two falls very flat and you grow incredibly impatient, hoping to see another moment of Tom Cruise. 

Keep pitching Proactive, Hough. That's as far as you'll go. 

Rock of Ages has a terrific soundtrack that features songs from Bon Jovi, Journey, Poison, Foreigner, and more. Many of the covers are genuinely fun, but seeing them being act out on screen feels a little out of place for the most part. Hough and Bonata lack any real charisma or singing voices to bring the songs home. Cruise, however, is wonderfully surprising and completely captures the essence of an 80s rock god. Doubting his singing abilities would be anywhere near good enough to carry the film and sing these ballads can immediate fly out the window and once you see him on stage screaming, you have to admire the man. As I have stated before, I don't care for the man in his personal and private life, but on screen he continues to remind me how badass he is. Rock of Ages is no exception and without his presence, the film would suffer even more. 

Paul Giamatti pops up here and there as well and absolutely nails it as the sleazy music agent/producer. 

Rock of Ages is a decent movie but never manages to find its focus. You can clearly tell the film is based off of a Broadway musical as the movie jumps from set piece to set piece, with a very weak story tying it all together. You'd think that on a cinematic level, each musical sequence would be greater and grander, but it lacks the punch and oomph that, I would assume brings greater energy on stage. Tom Cruise is incredible as Stacee Jaxx but his scenes are indeed far and few between and had the focus been on the aging rock legend instead of the two loveless love birds, Rock of Ages could have easily been something great. Instead, the film flaps its musical wings to no avail, and leaves you with an usual desire to play Rockband or Guitar Hero. 

The Good:

Tom Cruise rocking it like it's 1984

The Bad:

a script that allows no moments of depth and is packed with terrible dialogue

The Ugly:

Hough and Boneta sogging down the film with their lacks of charisma, chemistry, or star power

5.6/10

Discussion Question:

What does it take to successfully adapt a stage musical to the screen? Is it more about the glam and glitter or is it more about the set pieces and staging?

Trailer:

Box Office Recap: October 26

Argo was finally able to ascend to the top of the weekend box office after its third weekend of release. The film has become a bonafide hit, and should continue to do well in the upcoming weeks solidifying itself as an Oscar front-runner. As for the four films that were released this weekend, none performed well.

The film with the most potential, and the one ending up being the biggest disappointment was Cloud Atlas. The epic science fiction film from the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer, and based on the novel from David Mitchell, cost a reported $100 million to make. Earning a Cinemascore of C+ means that word of mouth on the film isn't going to be all that great, making this look more like it’s going to be a box office bomb. It also provides further evidence that Tom Hanks’ name no longer carries enough weight to carry a film, with Cloud Atlas being his third disappointing film in a row. A drop of %50+ next weekend would be devastating.

Silent Hill: Revelation was the 2nd disappointment of the weekend, although with a budget of $20 million it has a better chance of recovering the cost to make the film. The film earned a C Cinemascore, likely meaning that we've seen the end of series and deservedly so. A ‘franchise’ that has a successful first film only to wait 6 years to release the 2nd, doesn't deserve to become a Halloween franchise the likes of Saw and Paranormal Activity.

The Nickelodeon produced Fun Size received a decent enough B Cinemascore, but seemed to suffer from better Halloween family film options available. Fun Size did earn a B Cinemascore, but with Halloween this week and Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph coming out next weekend, there’s little chance this brings it much more at the box office.

The fourth and final new release and the film which earned the high Cinemascore for the weekend with a B+ was Chasing Mavericks. The inspirational film finished outside the top 10 for the weekend and has very little chance of earning back its $20 million budget. I’m sure the studio is hoping the film has a good life once it’s released on video, as most inspiring films tend to do.

Here’s the entire Top 10 for the weekend:

RANK	TITLE	WEEKEND TOTAL	JOE'S PREDICTION	DOMESTIC TOTAL	WORLDWIDE TOTAL
1	Argo	$12,355,000 (Estimated) -24,9%	$12,700,000	$60,780,000 (Estimated)	$67,480,000 (Estimated)
2	Hotel Transylvania	$9,500,000 (Estimated) -26.9%	$9,400,000	$130,434,000 (Estimated)	$221,734,000 (Estimated)
3	Cloud Atlas	$9,400,000 (Estimated)	$17,000,000	$9,400,000 (Estimated)	$9,400,000 (Estimated)
4	Paranormal Activity 4	$8,675,000 (Estimated) -70.1%	$11,000,000	$42,632,000 (Estimated)	$90,932,000 (Estimated)
5	Taken 2	$8,000,000 (Estimated) -39,7%	$7,300,000	$117,389,000 (Estimated)	$315,289,000 (Estimated)
6	Silent Hill: Revelation	$8,000,000 (Estimated)	$11,000,000	$8,000,000 (Estimated)	$8,000,000 (Estimated)
7	Here Comes the Boom	$5,500,000 (Estimated) -34.6%	$5,500,000	$30,610,000 (Estimated)	$30,610,000 (Estimated)
8	Sinister	$5,070,000 (Estimated) -42.5%	$5,500,000	$39,515,000 (Estimated)	$39,515,000 (Estimated)
9	Alex Cross	$5,050,000 (Estimated) -55.7%	$5,100,000	$19,369,000 (Estimated)	$19,369,000 (Estimated)
10	Fun Size	$4,060,000 (Estimated)	$11,000,000	$4,060,000 (Estimated)	$4,060,000 (Estimated)
ADDITIONAL NEW RELEASES
	Chasing Mavericks	$2,200,000 (Estimated)	$4,000,000	$2,200,000 (Estimated)	$2,200,000 (Estimated)