Arnie and Sly are back, but nobody cares

Arnie, Sly, Statham, Gosling, and Marky Mark have all bombed at the box office in the past few weeks with few folks willing to fork out ten dollars to see them shoot people.  The reason is simple, and it's not all due to the fact that people are steering clear of action stars with guns in light of recent tragic events--it's that these movies all suck.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Last Stand has earned a 58% on the Rotten Tomato meter and has taken in a pitiful 11.7 million at the box office.  Despite receiving the best reviews of the five action movies discussed, audiences haven't run to the theaters to see the cheating Governator on the big screen--could it be a Kennedy conspiracy?  Maria Shriver needs to take advantage of this time because while her ex is rating low with the populace, she could do whatever she wanted career wise and have a following.  That is what happens when you father a child with an ugly nanny while married to a Kennedy, Arnie.

Sylvester Stallone's "Bullet to the Head" debuted this weekend with 47% on the Rotten Tomato meter and 4.5 million at the box office.  This isn't a surprise.  Outside him draining every penny from the "Rocky" and "Rambo" movies or as one of the"Expendables," the Oscar nominee (it's funny because it's true) has not been a box office draw in well over a decade.  Could it be the Sharon Stone curse?  The two stars showed their rock hard bodies in "The Specialist" and haven't had a hit since.

Jason Statham's "Parker" has 38% percent on the R.T. meter and 12 million after 2 weeks.  Statham has never really been a box office draw outside "The Transporter" movies, but his films have low budgets and he remains one of the only actors under 50 who can sell a tough-guy persona.  Still this is low even for him.  And obviously Jennifer Lopez fans are still mad at her for breaking up with Marc Anthony.  And then there is the Mel Gibson connection--the anti-Semetic wack job last played the character, Parker, in "Payback."

Mark Wahlberg's "Broken City" has 25% R.T. and 18.2 million at the box office.  The performance of this film is more of a mystery than any of the films discussed.  Marky Mark has been review proof for a few years now and last year's "Ted" was a box office smash.  Maybe audiences were worried that Russell Crowe was going to sing and steered clear.  Or that Mrs. Michael Douglas may try to move one of her Botoxed facial muscles.  Whatever the case, one bomb is not cause for alarm for Wahlberg to break out his Calvin Kleins, but nobody would complain if he did.

Finally, "Gangster Squad" has 33 percent and 43.1 million at the box office.  The combo of Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn in a gangster movie...sorry, I just fell asleep writing that sentence.  Gangster movies rarely do that well and while Gosling remains one of the most talented actors of his generation, his movies are rarely hits.  And nobody wants to see Spicoli with a gun.  Add to that the controversy of the movie theater shooting and you have a box office bomb in the making.  It's actually a surprise it's managed to do as well as it has, but it will have to wait for DVD sales to have snow ball's chance of making its budget back.

It seems audiences may be getting a little smarter in this tough economy.  Well reviewed movies like "Silver Linings Playbook," "Lincoln," "Argo," even "Warm Bodies" are hitting triples or homeruns at the box office.  The reason is they are good movies that boast strong word of mouth.  Since ticket prices are so high, who wants to waste $30 between tickets and the concession stand to go out to a movie unless it's worth it.  People are getting wise by not forking money over to these aging wiseguys.  We'll see if Bruce Willis sees a hit with his latest action film coming out this month, but chances are he will die hard at the box office along with the rest of his Planet Hollywood cohorts.