Box office estimates for September 27 - 29; Cloudy eats competition

Sony's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and its $35 million debut beat the original's $30.3 million. It won't be significantly more successful than the first in America, but should do much better overseas. (See Despicable Me 2, which beat DM's American total by $110 million and its overseas total by over $200 million.) Sony should be glad that it won't disappoint like Smurfs 2. Prisoners beat the expanding Rush. The weekend's two new romantic comedies placed fourth and fifth. Baggage Claim and Don Jon only made $9.2 million and $8.8 million, but those grosses are already ahead of their low budgets. Metallica Through the Never's $1.7 million is much lower than other concert film debuts, but it stars a much less mainstream artist and will expand to more theaters next weekend. See how other movies performed here.

Weekend box office estimates for September 27 - 29, 2013:
(title; weekend gross; total gross; weekend #)

1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; $35.0 million; opening weekend

2. Prisoners; $11.27 million; $38.95 million total; 2nd weekend

3. Rush (2013); $10.3 million; $10.57 million total; 2nd weekend

4. Baggage Claim; $9.3 million; opening weekend

5. Don Jon;  $9.0 million; opening weekend

6. Insidious: Chapter 2; $6.75 million; $69.54 million total; 3rd weekend

7. The Family (2013); $3.67 million; $31.7 million total; 3rd weekend

8. Instructions Not Included; $3.38 million; $38.57 million; 5th weekend 

9. We're the Millers; $2.87 million; $142.42 million; 8th weekend

10. Lee Daniels' The Butler; $2.42 million; $110.28 million; 7th weekend

What to Watch This Weekend: September 27, 2013

In Theaters: Don Jon

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s writing and directorial debut is a confident, smart, and, most importantly, genuine romantic comedy. The content will probably be too explicit for many viewers, but those that stick around will find that between the cringes and laughs, there is a touching story. It was also one of David's top 5 movies of this year!

In Theaters: Rush

Rush is a surprisingly good sports drama that follows two Formula 1 racers as they dominate their sport despite their utterly different styles of living and driving. The central rivalry brings uncommon amounts of fun and action to the biography genre while still making time for drama.

In Theaters: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

CWACOM 2 is imaginative, has a clever premise, and is a fun movie for both viewers who were hungry for a CWACOM sequel and those who are having the sequel as their first taste of this franchise.  

On DVD: Kings of Summer

Another one of David's favorite movies of the year, this genuinely great indie coming of age movie was my surprise hit of the summer. This summer had multiple indie coming of age movies come out, but Kings of Summer was my favorite.

Streaming (Netflix): Side Effects

What initially seems like a drama exploring the side effects of antidepressants becomes a complicated psychological thriller. Toward the end, the plot twists start seeming a bit silly but, overall, it's a suspenseful and surprising movie with another great performance by Dragon Tattoo actress Rooney Mara. 

Streaming (Netflix): Upside Down

This movie has an imaginative premise and some great performances, but it was hampered by some cheesy dialog and plot twists. Still, it is an interesting movie with some beautiful visuals and you should definitely check it out on Netflix!

What to Watch: David's top 5 movies so far

Now that summer is over, we thought that it would be fun to pick out our five favorite movies of 2013 so far. These are purely subjective and likely to change once the Fall and Oscar-hopeful movies come out, but here are the films that we think everyone should see! The criteria is that we have to have seen them in a screening this year, thus Starbuck being on my list despite it being a 2012 Canadian film.

David:

Short Term 12 – It’s rare to see a movie and not want to change a single thing about it, but Short Term 12 has it all: great acting, a heart-wrenching and heart-warming story, and some truly interesting characters brought to life by amazing writing. It’s a movie that everyone should see.

Kings of Summer – A genuinely great indie coming of age movie. This summer had multiple indie coming of age movies come out, but Kings of Summer was my favorite. If you have to choose one, then this is the movie to see, but honestly check them all out.

Don Jon – Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s writing and directorial debut is a confident, smart, and, most importantly, genuine romantic comedy. It’s a guy’s romantic comedy that both mocks traditional romantic comedies while managing to follow the formula closely. The content will probably be too explicit for many viewers, but those that stick around will find that between the cringes and laughs, there is a touching story.

The World’s End – The third movie in the Cornetto trilogy, The World's End is a really good movie. It has a story that is funny but also deals with darker, more complex themes than the previous Cornetto movies, great acting, funny writing, and some excellent cinematography. Plus, it has plenty to enjoy for both fans of previous Simon Pegg / Nick Frost efforts and those who are new to the movies.

Starbuck – They’re remaking this movie as The Delivery Man starring Vince Vaughn but there is no reason to wait. The original Canadian (French-language) version is perfect as is. Great writing, very funny acting, and an interesting story make this one of my favorites of the year.

Honorable Mentions:

The Way, Way Back – Another great indie coming of age movie. I loved this one but I liked Kings of Summer slightly more.

Fast 6 – If you like Fast and Furious movies, then you can’t get much better than this movie. It has everything you’d want in a Fast and Furious sequel.

Review: Don Jon

Release date: September 27, 2013
Running time: 90 minutes
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza
Who to see it with: A fan of the Jersey Shore

David: 

Don Jon is Joseph Grodon-Levitt's writing and directorial debut, and what a great debut it is. Don Jon tells the story of Jon (JGL), a man with a few things in his life he loves, such as his body, his pad, his car, his boys, etc. All this changes when he meets Barbara (Johansson) and he starts to reevaluate his priorities. If it sounds like a typical romantic dramady, it's because it is. Don Jon cleverly makes fun of Hollywood movie relationships while also following the framework closely. It's a delicate line that the movie follows excellently, with some adaptations for more modern issues and less committed relationships. There are clever little touches throughout the movie that help remind you of the subject matter it's mocking, such as a romance movie-style (or Disney-style) musical cue when Jon first sees Barbara.

The main draw of this movie is Gordon-Levitt's great performance. Although initially, he appears to be playing just a Jersey Shore clone, his portrayal is far more complex than that. He plays a man who has everything in his life in order--great body, spotless apartment, good friends--but doesn't really know what is important. Jon is so put together, yet doesn't understand much about his emotions and motivations. The rest of the cast is also spectacular. Johansson is sexy and very Jersey as Barbara, though some of her twist lines seem out of place or out of context. Moore is amazing as always and Danza is a nice surprise as Jon's father. 

This movie is JGL's writing debut, and I was pleasantly surprised that the writing is sharp and funny. The conversations and jokes are especially enjoyable in the family situations and in the church scenes. Also, JGL shows his writing chops by writing both hilarious moments with the guys along with more introspective, touching moments as Jon's character progresses throughout the film. Don Jon is an over-the-top relationship movie that both taunts typical, manufactured Hollywood romances while managing to provide it's own surprisingly deep relationship advice. If Dr. Pepper was marketing it, it would be the guy's romantic comedy. It's an excellent debut and hopefully the first of many films from Gordon-Levitt.

See it.

Lee:

It definitely is the guy's romantic comedy. Viewers may be surprised by the frequent pornography clips and masturbation discussions. They were apparently too much for one couple that left our screening after ten minutes. If you're willing to accept these glimpses into the dirtier side of Jon's life that is often kept behind closed doors, you'll be rewarded with a smart romantic comedy that both mocks and embraces the genre. Expected events happen, but in ways that don't feel artificial. Like David said, there's a time when Barbara's lines seem to come out of nowhere but, this being a guy's romantic comedy, it could reflect the ways in which actual significant others suddenly reveal their unexpected, unflattering aspects. If the movie were told from Barbara's perspective, there's a turning point with Jon that would seem just as sudden to someone with her mindset. Some may be put off by the in-your-face sexuality of the first act, but even they will be pleasantly surprised by the time Don Jon reaches its climax.

See it.

Trailer: Don Jon

The trailer for Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, Don Jon, has dropped. The movie is about a New Jersey guy who has only a few things in life he cares about, until he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson). As they get closer, she discovers something about him that makes him reevaluate his priorities. This movie definitely oozes jersey shore, from Gordon-Levitt's first concern being his body to the thick New Jersey accents that the stars utilize. It looks funny and since it stars Gordon-Levitt and Johansson, you're probably going to watch it no matter what I say. Don Jon hits the gym, tan, and laundry on October 18, 2013.