Monday Morning Mixer: A Three Horse Race

Posted Monday, September 24, 2012 at 4:55 PM Central

by John Couture

Please excuse the tardiness of the MMM, but it's been a long Monday already, but I'm here to hopefully make your afternoon a bit more pleasant. Or at least give you something to read while you try and keep those eyelids open.

This weekend saw some of Hollywood get all gussied up, but the Oscars or Golden Globes wasn't responsible for all the glam. It wasn't even one of those quasi-awards shows like the MTV Movie Awards or Kids Choice Awards, which we all know is simply just an excuse for C-list celebs to make an appearance and mention their latest project for the tens of hundreds of people watching.

No, this was the big Daddy of the TV awards season, the Emmys. At least I think it was the Emmys, although I'm not too sure what that means. A quick search on Google informs that it was the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.

I think there's also a Daytime Emmy Awards which caters to the stay-at-home mom (and dad) set, which I'm pretty sure is aired exclusively on SoapNet. While I love TV, I have to honestly admit that I've never watched a single Emmys show and much like their film counterparts, I think the big shows are watered-down by their lesser competitors.

So, that's a long-winded way of saying that if you were wondering what your favorite celebs were doing last night, they were most likely hobnobbing with the TV elite.

Box Office 411

Do you know the old adage about the race between the tortoise and the hare? Of course you do, we all get it drilled into our heads from a young age. The quick and cocky hare gets out to a big lead in the race, but ultimately loses the race to the slower, more methodical tortoise.

The absurdity of the race itself aside, the adage hits home with those who plod along towards a goal, showing that winning a race involves more than just brute speed. Now, imagine the same race between three tortoises and you get an idea of what this weekend's box office looked like.

In one of the closest box office battles in recent memory, three new movies "duked" it out for the top spot with each earning about $13 million. To put it into perspective for you, that $13 million (for the entire weekend) is the same amount that The Avengers made in its first three hours earlier this Summer.

House at the End of the Street, End of Watch and Trouble with the Curve reach almost three completely different audiences, so it's a bit fascinating that they all came out in about the same level of support. We have mentioned before that September has long been known as the dead zone between the Summer blockbusters and the Awards season, but I think this weekend exemplifies that notion.

One thing of note though is that while House at the End of the Street and End of Watch are genre flicks that performed at about their expectations, Trouble with the Curve was a showcase drama for Clint Eastwood that was expected to put numbers similar to Moneyball's $20 million last September.

You have to wonder if, perhaps, some of this letdown on Trouble with the Curve is due to Eastwood odd performance at this month's Republican National Convention in which he talked to an empty chair. Given that he plays a baseball scout who is losing his edge (and faculties) in Trouble with the Curve, I have a hard time believing that someone at Sony at least didn't offer the suggestion of spinning that appearance as an elaborate marketing ploy for the film.

Actually, that would have probably helped both the film and the Republicans.

Clueless Vampires

If I told you that the woman behind Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Clueless was re-teaming up with Alicia Silverstone for a new witty comedy, I bet you'd be pretty excited. Of course, after you see the trailer below, I think you'll be far from happy.

It seems that Amy Heckerling might be losing her touch if this trailer is any indication. What plays as something resembling Romy And Michele's High School Reunion crossed with Once Bitten actually comes off as being farcical to the point where you wonder if the film is a straight comedy or a spoof of the influx of vampire culture films.

Whatever the case Vamps hits theaters on November 2 and then goes straight to DVD and Blu-ray two weeks later on November 13. I guess that pretty much sums up their expectations for this title.

Well, on that note, I'm going to finish this abbreviated MMM before it becomes a TMM. We'll be back next week with a regular helping of MMM. Until then, mix well.