Screenhead

The top ten movies at the box office looks real interesting, something for everyone to see, with Couples Retreat relaxing at the top and Zombieland wacking in second place.  I am happy to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs holding on at third and it hit the 100 million mark, too!

Results:

1. Couples Retreat
$45,390,345 –$45,390,345

2. Zombieland
$20,222,297 — $53,023,378

3. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
$15,932,818 — $100,183,774

4. Paranormal Activity
$12,340,852 — $13,554,093

5. Toy Story / Toy Story 2
$10,535,750 — $25,538,098

6. Surrogates
$5,952,868 –$34,410,335

7. The Invention Of Lying
$4,633,161 — $13,589,766

8. Whip It
$3,887,359 — 9,853,417

9. Capitalism: A Love Story
$3,771,732 — $10,166,923

10. Fame
$3,406,197 — $20,891,959

(Source)

Couples Retreat loves the box office with Zombieland in second and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballsin third. What is the true phenomenon is Paranormal Activity placed fifth with a limited release of 159 theaters. That’s unbelievable and that’s why, like Steve Anderson posted, the movie is going national release.

Results:

1. Couples Retreat
$35,300,000

2. Zombieland
$15,000,000

3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
$12,000,000

4. Toy Story / Toy Story 2 in 3D
$7,700,000

5. Paranormal Activity
$7,100,000

6. Surrogates
$4,100,000

7. The Invention of Lying
$3,400,000

8. Whip It
$2,800,000

9. Capitalism: A Love Story
$2,700,000

10. Fame
$2,600,000

(Source)

Couples Retreat came out ahead of the other movies. Paranormal Activity came in fourth as a limited release. It’s obvious the movie is a sleeper hit and we’ll be seeing more of these movies about “things that go bump in the dark” with funny looking eyes and bodies.

Results:

1. Couples Retreat
$ 12.3

2. Zombieland
$ 4.8

3. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
$ 3.1

4. Paranormal Activity
$ 2.5

5. Toy Story/Toy Story 2
$ 2.0

(Source)

Folks, I’ll be honest with you–I know, aren’t I usually?–but I’ll tell you right off the bad that Couples Retreat is not the kind of movie I usually go to the theater for.

Frankly, a movie like this, you don’t HAVE to.  There are no big special effects, no huge crashes of audio, nothing that would necessitate a screen measured in feet and a speaker count that requires you to take off your shoes to match the count. But the really interesting part about Couples Retreat is that you’ll WANT to.

Somewhere out there, there are four groups of friends, and their marriages frankly have seen better days.  One of them, a hard-charging type-A couple that is almost incapable of carrying on a conversation without Powerpoint, is actually inches from divorce.  And to that end, they’re seeking therapy at an island resort called Eden.  But Eden doesn’t come cheap, and as such, the type-A excelsior couple wants to enlist its circle of friends to go on a package deal, which is significantly cheaper.  Lured by promises of sun and frolic, the other couples retreat, and discover a whole lot about themselves, their partners, and their lives.

There are several moments in this movie that can really only be described as awkward.  Faizon Love naked, for example.  A day at the spa.  A really uncomfortable yoga sequence.  Some moments in here break open the awkward scale and segue into creepy.

But there are also a lot of good laughs to be had here, and some poignant bits that’ll actually make you think.  Couples out there…how much of your life is “his” and “hers” and how much of it is “ours”?  It’s a question to ask, for anyone who’s ever been or ever thought about being in a relationship.  You would not think of me, a man who can pummel virtually any horror movie trivia into the very ground, as a person to enjoy a romantic comedy, but Couples Retreat qualified.  It was funny, it made me think a bit, it gave me Vince Vaughn as a dad, there’s plenty of great points here.

Of course, I also got to watch a four year old thoroughly use a display toilet in a home improvement store.  Twice.   And that’s something you never want to see.

The Screenhead Ten Scale is prepared to sift through a bit of dross for some comedy silver, and understands that getting laughs is downright important.  Despite the awkwardness, it hands over a seven out of ten for being a thoroughly satisfactory comedy with its share of rough spots.

Couples Retreat seems funny but not belly laughing funny,  more like painful laughing funny with a little silly. Vince Vaughn seems good while he exchanges jokes with Jon Favreau.  The girls, Kristen Bell and Tasha Smith, seem to be holding their own with the yoga instructor, lucky girls.

The Playlist reports that Oscar winning composer A.R. Rahman of Slumdog Millionaire is set to score Couples Retreat, Peter Billingsley comedy starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love.

First Showing confirmed the report with Universal.  I am intrigued to see what Rahman will bring to the American comedy as a whole new creative inspiration to scoring films.  Take a listen to “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire and you’ll see what I mean.

Couples Retreat, a Jon Favreau-scripted and Peter Billingsley-directed comedy just cast the lead women for the film.  Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman are set to play wives: Bell is Jason Bateman’s wife; Davis plays Favreau’s wife and Akerman is Vince Vaughn’s wife.

It appears Faizon Love is still looking for a wife.

The story revolves around four couples who go to a tropical island resort, with one couple working on their marriage and the others sucked into the resort’s couple’s therapy – no win situation with psych mumbo-jumbo hoaxer and snake oil.

The movie will shoot in Bora Bora and Los Angeles.

Couples Retreat is set with cast deals finalizing, as I write this post, which goes into production in October.

Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman and Faizon Love are set to star in the comedy.

The story takes the paths of four couples who travel to a tropical island resort . One of the couples arrive at the resort to solve their marriage problems while the other three are ready to frolic on the island; but find out couples therapy is not optional — typical psych mumbo jumbo.

Apparently the idea for the story came from Vaughn and Favreau scripted the movie.