The world is not a fair place. It aches me to break this news, but there is no balance and no fate. Good things happen to bad people. Curmudgeons continue to make movies. I have to write curmudgeon as our language policy won’t allow me to really say what I mean.
But I’m talking about David O’ Russell – and if you know that name, you have probably already guessed the word I had in mind.
O’ Russell has made a number of significant movies, most of them lately. His first big score was Three Kings, on the set of which George Clooney got physical with him for his treatment of the crew. There are videos of O’ Russell throwing fits on the set of I Heart Huckabees that make Christian Bale sound like True Detective‘s Rustin Chohle. This trend of creative abuse still follows him – even the leaked Sony emails detailed how he was demanding and abusive during the filming of American Hustle.
The man is a maniac, but as long as he can turn out the hits, he’s still got a job. Three of those now star Jennifer Lawrence, the latest being Joy.
Anyway, my point is that karma is about as real as fairies. You can get away with a lot, providing you keep turning a profit.
Not that O’ Russell is unique. Rumour has it James Cameron is no picnic either. But he doesn’t have a dog in this week’s fight. O’ Russell does and Joy debuts in a rather disappointing 8th.
But Cameron is still worth name-dropping: his one-two dominance of the all-time biggest movies has been usurped by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Locally The Skywalker Show has also remained cemented at the top spot.
- 01. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Incl 3D, Imax & 4DX)
- 02. THE GOOD DINOSAUR
- 03. ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP
- 04. POINT BREAK (Incl 3D)
- 05. SECRET IN THEIR EYES
- 06. ‘n PAW PAW VIR MY DARLING
- 07. SPECTRE (Incl Imax)
- 08. JOY
- 09. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA (Incl 3D)
- 10. SISTERS
Joy is joined by two other debuts, Secret in their Eyes (a star-studded murder thriller) and ‘n Paw Paw vir My Darling (the year’s first local release: an Afrikaans comedy that tries to stand apart from the slew of romcoms dominating that scene).
Kicked out of the top ten as if O’Russell was wielding the foot himself are Concussion, The Last Witch Hunter and Little Prince.
I’ll tell you this: if J.J.Abrams ever wanted to murder someone, this would be a great time. Thanks to Star Wars‘ stellar performance he can get away with anything. Even locally it has already amassed a staggering R44 million in just three weeks.
Last Updated: January 13, 2016
