Scott Mendelson's Blog
Open Salon's resident movie nerd and box office geek.
Scott Mendelson
- Location
- Woodland Hills, California, United States
- Birthday
- April 02
- Bio
- A ten-year Salon reader, Mendelson also has a film and politics blog/column at Mendelon's Memos: located at: http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/.
He is also a free lance voice over artist and occasionally contributes film reviews for www.ValleySceneMagazine.com.
MY RECENT POSTS
- Why the Twilight Saga
mattered...
November 14, 2012 11:07AM - Box Office review (11/11/12):
Skyfall sets 007 record.
November 12, 2012 09:59AM - Open Salon review: Skyfall
(2012)
November 05, 2012 09:04AM - Open Salon review: Seven
Psychopaths (2012)
October 09, 2012 02:39PM - Audiences liked our original
films? Let's make sequels!
September 12, 2012 11:33AM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “Beside the point. One
can enjoy Beasts of the
Southern Wild
(which will
likely e…”
July 17, 2012 01:02PM - “For what it's worth,
Pan's Labyrinth didn't cross
my mind
once while watching
the…”
June 23, 2012 10:05AM - “10 - "the departed" -
saw it, liked it, put it on my
2006
best-of
list.…”
May 07, 2012 05:47PM - “Hate to tell you this,
but I saw The King's Speech
four
months ago, back when
it…”
March 14, 2011 10:34AM - “There is a single press
screening for The Rite
tomorrow
night, but other
responsi…”
January 24, 2011 02:42PM
Scott Mendelson's Links
AUGUST 2, 2010 6:12PM
RIP: Tom Mankiewicz (1942-2010) Want to read a 27-year old Batman screenplay from the man who helped save Superman: The Movie?
The great Tom Mankiewicz has died
at the age of 68. He is not a household name to the geek community,
but he should be. Aside from writing three James Bond pictures
(Diamonds Are Forever,
Live and Let Die, and
The Man With the Golden
Gun), he is the/…
AUGUST 1, 2010 4:45PM
Inception three-peats as Dinner For Schmucks opens well, but Cats and Dogs 2 tanks. Weekend box office (08/01/10).
Inception was
number one for the third straight weekend, as it fended off three
challengers and neared the $200 million mark. Dropping just 35%,
the Chris Nolan thriller grossed another $27.5 million for a new
total of $193 million. It will likely cross the $200 million mark
on Tuesday,/…
JULY 30, 2010 6:02PM
2010 is the worst year for movies ever, just like every year before it.
Yes, yes, 2010 is
the worst year for movies EVER, screams Joe Queenan of
The Wall Street Journal.
There have been
plenty of years where I felt 'this is the worst year/summer
ever', especially as, yes, I've gotten older. Part of it is
nostalgia, as I remember the years past/…
JULY 30, 2010 12:35PM
Does Hollywood really think that the world is going to end in 2012?
A friend and I
were discussing the glut of major releases over the next two years,
and he mentioned something
a little disconcerting. There are almost no releases yet slated for
2013. In 2011 we have (among others) The Green Hornet, Thor, Captain America, Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars… Read full post »
JULY 30, 2010 12:23AM
Learning the wrong lesson: Columbia hires Len Wiseman to remake Total Recall.
Avatar made
nearly $3 billion worldwide because it was a good movie, something
that tapped into a worldwide cultural zeitgeist, engaged in true
non-denominational spirituality, created a compelling romantic
spectacle, and delivered incredible action sequences in
breathtaking 3-D, right? No, a/…
JULY 28, 2010 11:35AM
Yogi Bear gets a poster.
This actually screened this week somewhere in LA (don't
remember the location), but since my daughter is not between the
ages of four and ten, attending wasn't really an option. Not that
this one is high on my interest list anyway. I've said this for
years, but I still/…
JULY 26, 2010 8:23PM
Four new Green Lantern character posters spell out not-so secret message.
Click
on either of those two to enlarge them. I'd be lying if I told you
that I was excited for this film on any level other than my fandom
for director Martin Campbell, but this is an absolutely key project
if Warner Bros. wants to truly expand the DC/…
JULY 26, 2010 12:40PM
Michelle Rodriguez says NO to the 'token female role'.
Interviewed by
Drew Morton at The Playlist over the weekend while promoting
Battle: Los Angeles at
Comic Con, Michelle Rodriguez was asked how she felt regarding her
being typecast as the 'tough chick'."Oh
baby, I was typecast the minute I did a film called, Girlfight years ago. That
has/… Read full post »
JULY 25, 2010 8:28PM
A sign that Salt was butchered in post production? Andre Braugher is fifth-billed in nearly wordless cameo in a pointless role.
Andre Braugher is doing okay these days. He may not be a
multi-millionaire, but he's been working quite steadily since his
star-making role in Homicide:
Life on the Street ended in May of 1999. He's been a lead in
a handful of TV series (Gideon's
Crossing, Hack,
Thief, Men… Read full post »
JULY 25, 2010 7:10PM
In the 'who the hell thought this was a good idea?' department: the Salt soundtrack.
Salt is pretty
much what it is advertised as, a mid-to-late 90s throwback, a
star-driven action thriller that uses its alleged real-world
narratives (including an accidentally topical plot involving
Russian spies) to obfuscate its patented absurdity. The picture
shines in its first half, but/…
JULY 25, 2010 12:38PM
Inception holds strong, Salt opens well, Kids are All Right excels in wider release. Weekend box office (07/25/10).
It was another 'everybody wins!'
weekend at the box office, as holdovers held well and openers
opened to reasonable expectation-levels.
Inception was again number one, with $43.5 million in
its second weekend. That's a borderline-shocking drop of just 30%,
which is almost unheard of i… Read full post »
JULY 25, 2010 11:49AM
Avengers... assemble! Why Mark Ruffalo is a great choice (for any role at all).
I assume anyone reading this will be enough of a nerd to
know all or most of the people in that photo, so I'm not going to
list them. Well, it looks like Ed Norton is out and Mark Ruffalo is
in. Now that it's official, I will simply/…
JULY 24, 2010 12:30PM
Inception holds off strong-smelling Salt in Friday box office (07/24/10).
Inception was number one at the Friday box
office yesterday, pulling in $13.2 million on its second Friday.
That's a moderate drop of 39% from last Friday's $21.6 million
opening day. The film has capitalized on strong word of mouth and
the mydrid multiple interpretations that merited repeated/…
JULY 22, 2010 5:48PM
Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
The Sorcerer's
Apprentice2010
110 minutes
rated PG
by Scott Mendelson
For what it's worth; The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a lot closer to Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl than The Haunted Mansion. Like the two above examples, the film takes a small portion of Disney culture and ma/…
JULY 20, 2010 1:15PM
Review: Inception (2010)
Inception2010
148 minutes
rated PG-13
by Scott Mendelson
I have never understood the idea that Chris Nolan is a cold man who makes cold films. While he is a brilliant craftsman and a technical genius, his films have always had a vibrant heartbeat at the center. Whether it's amnesiac Leonard stru/…
Editor’s Pick
JULY 18, 2010 1:06PM
Inception grosses $60 million opening weekend, while Sorcerer's Apprentice really shouldn't have opened on Wednesday. Weekend box office (07/18/10).
Playing like an old-fashioned general-audiences
blockbuster, Chris Nolan's
Inception opened at
the higher end of expectations with $60.4 million over the weekend.
That's a 2.79x weekend multiplier, which means that front-loading
was moderate but not severe (the film actually rose a token amou/…
JULY 17, 2010 10:57AM
Inception opens with $21 million, Sorcerer's Apprentice grosses $5 million. Friday box office for 07/16/10.
Right in line with the highest expectations, Chris
Nolan's Inception pulled
in $21.6 million on its first full day, including $3 million in
midnight sneaks. Depending on whether it plays like a
general-audiences hit or a frontloaded genre picture, it could do
anywhere from $55 million to $65/…
JULY 15, 2010 7:45PM
Green Lantern images leak from Entertainment Weekly.
Tomorrow's
Entertainment Weekly is
all about next week's Comic-Con, so the lead-off article concerns
Martin Campbell's Green
Lantern film. As such, we've got the first real photos of
the film and its cast. As for the cover image, I can't really
understand what some geeks are complaining abou/…
JULY 11, 2010 5:46PM
Despicable Me, Predators, Kids Are All Right open well as holdovers thrive. Weekend box office (07/11/10).
It was an 'everybody wins!'
weekend at the box office, as the openers all performed at or
above expectations and the holdovers didn't quite crash as badly as
expected. First off, Universal scored its first probable domestic
blockbuster since The Bourne
Ultimatum three years ago, and its first/…
JULY 10, 2010 8:34PM
So what was the point of that again? Marvel to not hire Edward Nortion as Bruce Banner in Joss Whedon's The Avengers.
Two summers ago, Marvel rebooted a franchise that
grossed $245 million on a $130 million budget (funded by
Universal). Said reboot, intended to be a more audience-pleasing
(ie -
dumbed down) variation on a the Incredible Hulk, ended up
grossing just $263 million worldwide on a $160 million bu/…
JULY 10, 2010 2:18AM
"Mr. Feeny, did we die?"
"To me
it seemed like that finale could have been the finale to any TV
show ever. The final season of Friends could have been had an
alternate reality in which they didn't know each other and then
when they touch hands they remember… Read full post »
JULY 10, 2010 2:03AM
Mano-A-Mano? Why the Predators are complete morons.
I don't hunt. I've never hunted with any weapon of any
kind. Hell, I've never even fired a real gun before. But, to those
who have hunted, I pose this question. Say you're out in the woods,
hunting a larger animal (a bear, a deer, etc)./…
JULY 9, 2010 1:03PM
Avatar, set for IMAX/3D re-release on August 27th, nets James Cameron $350 million. As the first theatrical run ends, why he deserves it.
I've been meaning to run the numbers, and today is as
good a day as any. First of all, news broke over the last two days
that A) Avatar would be
returning to IMAX and 3D theaters in an eight-minute-longer special
edition on August 27th and B) the film's success/…
JULY 9, 2010 12:38PM
Not Necessarily the News: Chris Nolan is not directing a James Bond film.
The internet is all aflutter today with various posts
asking whether or not Chris Nolan will direct a James Bond film in
the near-future. No. Heck, considering MGM's current financial
woes, it may be a long time before we see anyone direct a new James
Bond picture. All/…
JULY 9, 2010 12:08PM
He is not your parent, your role model, or economic savior: It is not LeBron James's responsibility to save Cleveland, Ohio from economic collapse.
It is said that you should never make important
decisions while you're upset, and it certainly holds that you
shouldn't write rambling diatribes intended for a national audience
well, ever, but certainly not when you're upset. But Cleveland
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert did just that and/… 
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