Carl Roberts 
The Oscar Nominations have sprinkled their magic over the chart this week as Once Upon A Time In Hollywood shoots into second – but there’s no stopping Hustlers which claims the top spot
Come on in, home viewer, make yourself at home and welcome to this week’s official top ten charts of what you, the buying public have been taking home in your droves. This is the second chart of the new year and as such, we can now expect some of our favourites that have been hanging around the charts for ages to finally depart. This week we say goodbye to ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘, ‘Aladdin‘ and ‘Toy Story 4‘ as they leave us, giving us three new entries and yet another brand new number one title. So please, grab yourself a tea or coffee, snatch the biscuits away from the kids and the dog, sit yourself down comfortably on the sofa and hit the play button as we take a look at what’s hot and what’s not.
Swinging and (pole) dancing its way into the chart and storming to the top position based on downloads alone comes the Jennifer Lopez fact-based comedy/drama ‘Hustlers‘. Supporting Lopez in the film are Cardi B, Lili Reinhart, Constance Wu, Lizzo and Kiki Palmer which tells the story of a group of former strip club employees who decide to work and band together in a brazen attempt to fleece the Wall Street clients they used to have. The film was a box office success and received generally good reviews. It came as a shock to find out Lopez wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award this week for the best-supporting actress as she was expected to be one of the first names on the nominations list due to this being her best performance in years.
Last weeks number four is this weeks number two as Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood‘ rises two places. We can’t feel too sorry for the film, a former number one however as it was rightfully nominated for a bunch of Oscars earlier this week. It probably won’t win most of them to be honest, due to other films being complete powerhouses against it but I can see Brad Pitt finally getting a deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Tarantino himself picking up the best original screenplay award.
‘Angel Has Fallen‘ has, indeed, fallen as it drops a place to land in the third position this week. The Gerard Butler actioner has made itself a decent profit at the box office and continues its success on both disc and digital download. Sky are doing the trilogy of films for download under their ‘Buy And Keep’ banner and as a whole, the film is doing great numbers.
Last weeks number one drops three places as the air is let out of Pennywise The Clowns balloons as ‘IT: Chapter Two‘ floats down the chart to this weeks number four. The sequel to 2017s great horror film is, to be honest, not in the same class as the original film and was critically a letdown for many viewers, myself included. The film is still a cut above the majority of horror films that hit disc and download during the course of the year but it could have and should have been that much more.
Rocketing into the chart in the fifth position, we find Brad Pitt and his enjoyable ‘Ad Astra‘. The film is a really good and enjoyable space drama and features a wonderful turn from legendary Tommy Lee Jones as Pitt’s characters long lost and presumed dead father. Sadly though, the film didn’t seem to find a market at the box office, a fact that the film doesn’t deserve. However, it should hopefully find a new lease of life on the home entertainment market and Brad Pitt is always watchable.
Entering the chart in the sixth position, we find our final new entry into the chart in the form of ‘Rise Of The Footsoldier 4: Marbella‘. Ok, let’s get this out of the way. The original ‘Rise Of The Footsoldier‘, even though it certainly wasn’t a classic, was still an enjoyable film depicting the life of infamous Essex nightclub bouncer and hardman, Carlton Leach. Ever since then, the films have really been about the lives of the ‘Essex Boys’, a group of men found shot to death in a country lane in Essex back in the 1990s and what probably led to their gruesome demise. The original film featured this event but since then, the films have had no relation to Carlton Leach’s story and are using the name of the original to continue to sell tickets and discs. Leach himself has distanced himself from the films, saying they are no longer anything to do with him or his story and are complete fiction. Nevertheless, the films continue to sell well and you can almost certainly expect a fifth film to arise somewhere in the next two or three years.
Dropping two places to the seventh position, we find ‘The Lion King‘ holding onto a top ten chart position by the skin of its claws. The live-action remake has made its money, to be honest, and sold extremely well upon its release onto all formats before Christmas.
Its brakes are failing badly and it certainly won’t pass its M.O.T as ‘Hobbs And Shaw‘ slips another place to park itself in the eighth place this week.
Dropping three places to end the week down in ninth position, we find the Sir Elton John biopic ‘Rocketman‘. Although the film hasn’t done as well as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘, it most certainly has been a success. Awards have been given to the film’s star, Taron Egerton and to the legendary musician himself for their work on the film. Which makes it all the more shocking to discover Egerton was totally overlooked by the Academy for what really should have been a shoo-in nomination for Best Actor. Sir Elton HAS been nominated for Best Original Song but Egerton has been snubbed, incorrectly in my opinion.
His webs have completely lost all their stickiness and he will probably be washed out of the chart next week as rounding out the top ten, in the tenth position, we find ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home‘ just about clinging on to claim a chart position.
This week saw the disc release of ‘IT: Chapter Two‘ and ‘Rambo: Last Blood‘ and as such, we can expect to see them high in the charts next week.
Coming to digital download from Monday 20th January, the film adaptation of ‘The Goldfinch‘ makes its bow. Starring Ansel Elgort and Nicole Kidman, the film was expected to be a stunning literary adaptation and one that the Academy Awards couldn’t ignore. It came as a huge shock when the film was given terrible reviews and was a box office failure. Proving that critics don’t know everything, the film was on quite a few peoples top ten lists of best films of the year.
What will top the chart next week? Will ‘Hustlers’ cling onto the pole position in the chart? Will ‘IT: Chapter Two‘ manage to scare itself back up the chart to reign supreme again? Will Rambo blast his way into the top spot? Will ‘Ad Astra‘ fire its rockets and fly up to the summit? Or will ‘The Goldfinch‘ flap its wings as it soars to the top of the tree? Check back here next week to find out.
Until then, whatever you decide, whatever you buy, happy viewing!
The Future of the Force. The future of pop culture writing.
Carl Roberts is a Senior Staff Writer and Books and Literature Correspondent for Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter @CarlRoberts2 where he uses the force frequently!
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Editor’s Note: All videos and information have been supplied by Find Any Film and used under authorisation.
Anyone wishing to buy any of the titles featured in the chart can do so via FindAnyFilm.com
Future of the Force News Editor,Liverpool F.C fan,Halloween Movie Fan, Friday The 13th movies fan, Star Wars Fan, Star Trek Fan.
