All the news unfit to print for Sunday, November 16, 2008
FINDING 'SOLACE': JAMES BOND FILM SETS SETS BOX ON FIRE
Experts thought only $60 mil in North America, but "Quantum of Solace" ended weekend with estimated $70.4 million.. The new film also earned $56.1 million in 73 countries during the weekend. Having begun its international run two weeks ago, the foreign total now stands at $251.6 million..
All the news unfit to print for Sunday, November 2, 2008
FOURTH PLACE OPENING FOR KEVIN SMITH
Weekend box office: HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL back to number one.. SAW V number two on Halloween weekend .. THE CHANGELING finishes at third place..
Fourth place opening for ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO--did well among men young and old.. but not well enough to score larger opening..
All the news unfit to print for Friday, October 31, 2008
In case you're sick of the election
Tired of CNN MSNBC FOX NBC CBS ABC etc etc etc?
Go to a movie.. This weekend's box office:
OCTOBER 31
Title (Distributor) / Theater Count (Change) / Week #
NEW
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Weinstein Company) / 2,735
The Haunting of Molly Hartley (Freestyle Releasing) / 2,652
The Other End of the Line (MGM) / 91
Eden Lake (Third Rail Releasing) / 10
Splinter (2008) (Magnolia) / 4
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Oscilloscope Pictures) / 1
Showtimes & Tickets:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showtimes/
EXPANDING
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Buena Vista) / 3,626 (+3) / 2
Saw V (Lionsgate) / 3,084 (+24) / 2
Changeling (Universal) / 1,850 (+1835) / 2
NO CHANGE
Pride & Glory (Warner Bros. (New Line)) / 2,585 / 2
Deep Sea 3-D (IMAX) (Warner Bros.) / 10 / 140
Lola Montes (re-issue) (Rialto) / 1 / 4
DECLINING
Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Buena Vista) / 3,004 (-186) / 5
Religulous (Lionsgate) / 405 (-47) / 5
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D (Buena Vista) / 209 (-75) / 2
Mamma Mia! (Universal) / 177 (-3) / 16
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) / 149 (-17) / 16
"Police said the fight was not gang-related. Times Square regulars said there's often chaos on the streets on weekend nights.
"They take over the streets," said Greg Wolf of Manhattan. "Some have knives, some have pepper spray, some use their fists. They are real menacing.""
There was something about the original HALLOWEEN that still can scare the crap out of whatever newcomer watches the film for the first time.. perhaps the truly simple story that turns supernatural.. the night "he" came home to kill, someone we later find out in subsequent films his sister.
The SHAPE, as Michael Myers is referred to in the closing credits of Debra Hill and John Carpenter's classic film, was played by Nick Castle--and in later scenes by Tommy Lee Wallace. Castle's order from Carpenter was not to act, just walk. And not to talk, just walk. He did..
The script called for a blank faced mask.. but Hill and Carpenter originally almost used a clown mask to cover Castle's face for the Shape role. Luckily for history's sake, a William Shatner mask looked much more human--and with a little larger eye holes and white paint, it looked downright frightening. Think about that when you see a Priceline commercial. The role of The Shape in the film was new for its time. Think 1978, when no FRIDAY the 13th films ever came out, when no SAW films ever were dreamed of, when no Freddy Krueger character was yet created. Carpenter, though he maybe didn't intend it, created a frightening tale about small town America, which then spawned into an entire generation of often badly made popcorn horror flicks with steamy sex and goofy death scenes.
Jamie Lee Curtis was the proper fit for the role of Laurie Strode. Donald Pleasance created a magic character in Doctor Sam Loomis. Other characters in the film added to the noir of the movie.
The music of the film was memorable and is still used as a background to Halloween parties or haunted houses even today. Simple piano music, with a few added instruments. But for the most part, the entire film's music is piano. And the simple notes of the songs are genius..
And now, 30 years after the release of the cheaply made independent film that made millions, we're celebrating the anniversary of the film. One that lives on today--even when remakes turn brutal and offensive.
To show the enduring quality of the movie, you will no doubt hear the HALLOWEEN piano song at least one time this week...
The original trailer:
All the news unfit to print for Saturday, September 20, 2008
Box office this weekend
NEW
My Best Friend's Girl (Lionsgate) / 2,604
Lakeview Terrace (Sony / Screen Gems) / 2,464
Igor (MGM (Weinstein)) / 2,339
Ghost Town (Paramount (DreamWorks)) / 1,505
EXPANDING
The Women (2008) (Picturehouse) / 2,995 (+33) / 2
Burn After Reading (Focus Features) / 2,657 (+6) / 2
NO CHANGE
Righteous Kill (Overture Films) / 3,152 / 2
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (Lionsgate) / 2,070 / 2
DECLINING
The House Bunny (Sony / Columbia) / 2,675 (-88) / 5
Tropic Thunder (Paramount (DreamWorks)) / 2,333 (-594) / 6
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) / 1,905 (-286) / 10
The Dark Knight is still being shown in over 1,900 theaters, even with this week's decrease of 286 theaters.. It's in its tenth week, is is still getting money in the millions..
All the news unfit to print for Saturday, July 19, 2008
THE GREATEST MOVIE VILLAIN OF ALL TIME
I'll have some more thoughts later on about this movie, Heath Ledger.. the good, the bad .. and ugly. I'll also have some thoughts on lamenting the death of Heath Ledger, who in this film proved himself as an actor, and led the Joker down a road to becoming the single greatest villain in any movie of all time..
All the news unfit to print for Saturday, July 12, 2008
AP reviews DARK KNIGHT
Reviews continue to come in for the most anticipated movie of the summer, if not the year, the DARK KNIGHT.
The movie continues to be heralded as unbelievable from more than a few sources, most recently being reviewed by the AP--which on the wires will now be read around the world.
"It's difficult to separate the movie from its mystique.
Even under ordinary circumstances, "The Dark Knight" would have been one of the most hotly awaited movies of the summer blockbuster season. The loss of Heath Ledger to an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January has amplified the buzz around the film — and his crazed performance as the Joker — to extraordinary levels.
Nothing could possibly satisfy that kind of expectation. "The Dark Knight" comes pretty close."
The AP goes on:
"Christopher Nolan's film is indeed an epic that will leave you staggering from the theater, stunned by its scope and complexity. It's also, thankfully, a vast improvement over his self-serious origin story, 2005's "Batman Begins."
Many people have spoken about Heath Ledger's performance.. Possible Oscar performance. The AP reviews,
"Nolan was wise enough, however, to give Ledger plenty of room to shine — albeit in the actor's indelibly perverse, twisted way. There's nothing cartoony about his Joker. Ledger wrested the role from previous performers Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson and reinvented it completely.
Yes, he's funny, wringing laughs from both clever one-liners and maniacally grand schemes. He can be playful, finding unexpected avenues into the character: "You complete me," he purrs to Batman, mockingly borrowing Tom Cruise's classic line from "Jerry Maguire" and dashing all possibilities for the Caped One's imminent retirement.
But because there's no logic behind his mayhem, he's also truly terrifying. The terror he inflicts on Gotham is meticulously planned (the opening bank heist, shot with IMAX cameras, is a marvel of timing) and yet his sole inspiration is to create chaos, then watch the city squirm and burn
The AP ends their review with three stars for DARK KNIGHT, out of four..
All the news unfit to print for Thursday, June 26, 2008
Box office this weekend
New films: Wall-E (Buena Vista) / 3,992
Wanted (Universal) / 3,175
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (Yash Raj) / 69
Finding Amanda (Magnolia) / 14
Gunnin' for That #1 Spot (Oscilloscope) / 14
Trumbo (Samuel Goldwyn) / 3
The Last Mistress (IFC) / 2
Expanding: Get Smart (Warner Bros.)
Declining: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) / 2,556 (-615) / 6
The Happening (Fox) / 2,483 (-503) / 3
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Sony / Columbia) / 2,147 (-1131) / 4
schmuck -shmuhk- a noun Slang. an obnoxious or contemptible person.
Origin:
1890-95; Yiddish shmok (vulgar) lit., penis of uncert. orig.
MUCKRAKER: A muckraker seeks to expose corruption of businesses or government to the public
Origin:
Theodore Roosevelt used the term muckrake in a 1906 speech in which he agreed with the
accusations of muckrakers, but questioned their methods
Schmuckraker: A website dedicated to expanding knowledge of readers by muckraking and
focusing on schmucks of society Origin: 1998 school newspaper
in Northeastern Pennsylvania
Like always, a bout $30 mil opener for the latest film in the torture porn franchise. There are still audiences that go see these movies every year..
Box office numbers coming out, reports that HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL dominated the weekend with a little over $44 million... about $14 mil behind was SAW V, which had its highest night of the weekend on Friday. Date night. That's right, guys, take your special someone to see an hour and a half of people being tortured in unspeakable ways! Then get breakfast at Perkins! Served all night..
And in other news, W fell dramatically this week (which I think most people expected) ..
Just for fun, a few SAW V reviews..
There was something about the original HALLOWEEN that still can scare the crap out of whatever newcomer watches the film for the first time.. perhaps the truly simple story that turns supernatural.. the night "he" came home to kill, someone we later find out in subsequent films his sister.
The SHAPE, as Michael Myers is referred to in the closing credits of Debra Hill and John Carpenter's classic film, was played by Nick Castle--and in later scenes by Tommy Lee Wallace. Castle's order from Carpenter was not to act, just walk. And not to talk, just walk. He did..
The script called for a blank faced mask.. 
THE GREATEST MOVIE VILLAIN OF ALL TIME
