MACHETE HACKS ITS WAY TO NO. 1 IN DVD SALES

Two weeks after receiving word that the state of Texas would not pay $1.75 million in tax rebates for shooting Machete in the state, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez got word Wednesday that the movie sold more copies on DVD than any other film last week. Although actual sales figures are never announced by Nielsen VideoScan First […]

TEXAS OFFICIALS DENY TAX INCENTIVES FOR MACHETE

In a decision that could damage its relationship with the state’s most prolific filmmaker, the Texas Film Commission has rejected Robert Rodriguez’s application for tax incentives for Machete, citing state code barring incentives for films that display “inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.” The letter did not mention […]

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE RESIDES AT NO. 1

Aided by 3D surcharges and the fact that it was the only film opening in wide release this weekend, Resident Evil: Afterlife opened at No. 1 at the box office with $27.7 million, according to studio estimates. The film surpassed analysts’ expectations and eclipsed the $23.1 million hauled in by the third installment of the […]

LABOR DAY BOX OFFICE HIGHER THAN USUAL

Final box-office figures for the four-day Labor Day holiday released on Tuesday indicated that the studios’ original estimates were right on target. The results were the fourth-highest for the holiday. Focus Features’s The American, starring George Clooney, ended up on top with $16,662,333, well ahead of forecasts. Its gross, including Wednesday and Thursday receipts, came […]

AUDIENCES GIVE THE AMERICAN A ONE-FINGER SALUTE

Suggesting that word-of-mouth may be highly overrated when it comes to predicting a movie’s success, the George Clooney movie The American performed well above expectations over the four-day Labor Day weekend despite polls indicating that audiences loathed it. The film ranked No. 1 at the box office (after opening on Wednesday), earning an estimated $16.4 […]

THE AMERICAN CLAIMS VICTORY ON LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Although Fox’s Machete took an early lead at the box office on Friday, Focus Features’s The American cut it down on Saturday and Sunday to wind up as the weekend winner, according to studio estimates. The results for The American were nothing to hoist a flag over, however. The film earned just about $12.3 million […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: MACHETE

Robert Rodriguez’s Machete is the kind of horror romp that critics like to call a gorefest. All of the Mexican characters in it, led by Danny Trejo in the title role, are inflated stereotypes of Mexican bad men; all of the Americans in it, save for one or two, are stupid and greedy. The film […]