Box office roundup

[stray]

If someone can recommend anything released in the past 2 years, I'd be grateful.  I found absolutely nothing that interested me.

Hmm...Have you seen....

The Motorcycle Diaries

The Aviator

Shaun of the Dead

A History of Violence

March of the Penguins

Wallace and Gromit -- The Curse of the Were Rabbit (yes, I'm recommending Wallace and Gromit)

?

[Nebu]

There are a few there that I hadn't considered.  Thanks for taking the time to point those out.

[stray]

Your welcome and good luck 

[Furiously]

I'd add "The Upside of Anger" to the list.

[Rasix]

A Costner movie. Funny man.

[WindupAtheist]

I still think it would be cool if George Lucas grabbed (insert your pet director here, I'll say Luc Besson) and said "Here's a hundred million dollars worth of my action figure money.  I'm going to go busy myself with other things until around 2010 or so.  Have a Star Wars movie ready when I get back."   

[Velorath]

I still think it would be cool if George Lucas grabbed (insert your pet director here, I'll say Luc Besson) and said "Here's a hundred million dollars worth of my action figure money.  I'm going to go busy myself with other things until around 2010 or so.  Have a Star Wars movie ready when I get back."   

I could maybe understand it if there are some directors out there who just really want to make a Star Wars movie.  I don't want Luc Besson doing Star Wars just because Lucas dropped off a truckload of cash at his house though.

Edit:  So pretty much you'd be stuck with Kevin Smith.

[WindupAtheist]

See, I'd heard years ago that there was talk about Besson doing one of the prequels, but that he declined because he knew it would just be Lucas breathing down his neck for a couple of years and he wouldn't have any freedom.  /shrug

And while at the time I was like "Star Wars + Besson = ZOMG!" I can understand where he was coming from.  So I really wouldn't mind seeing what he would do if he knew he'd be free to do whatever he wanted.  He has the right sort of sensibility to do something that fits the setting yet goes it's own way.

I mean, it's not like I'm saying they should hand it to Tarantino or something. 

[Velorath]

To be perfectly honest I couldn't stand The Fifth Element.  I'd be happy if he never did another Sci-fi movie again.  I mean I really, really, hated that movie.

[WindupAtheist]

I did at the time, because I was apeshit for The Professional, and it had recently motivated me to go rent La Femme Nikita, and I wanted more stuff like that, and I wanted it NOW.  (Run-on sentence FTW.)  It's grown on me over the years though, even if the story was sketchy at best.  (The fuck was that ball thing?  They never defined it beyond "evil".)

[Ironwood]

Watched 'Man on Fire' the other day.

I liked it.

[Strazos]

Dunno what the problem is, but I haven't felt compelled to go see anything since....

Damn, I can't even remember the last movie I went to. I may have been 40 Year Old Virgin, but I'm not positive.

[HaemishM]

Ok...

I went to the video store last night after checking the theaters.  There is literally nothing worth watching.  I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse... but deciding that going for a run was a better option than going to or renting a movie just shocked me.

If someone can recommend anything released in the past 2 years, I'd be grateful.  I found absolutely nothing that interested me.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Mirror Mask (Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean CGI/live action movie - gorgeous to look at)
Septem8er Tapes
Good Night and Good Luck
40-Year Old Virgin
Lord of War
The Ice Harvest
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Those are just a few of the ones I've watched this year.

[Johny Cee]

Haemish:

I take it you've seen Mirrormask?  Mind posting some thoughts?

I'd like to know if it's worth it to go down and argue with the Blockbuster people to get my account activated or not.

[Furiously]

Haemish:

I take it you've seen Mirrormask?  Mind posting some thoughts?

I'd like to know if it's worth it to go down and argue with the Blockbuster people to get my account activated or not.

Did you like Labyrinth? It's pretty much that, only all CGI except for some of the actors and muppets and David Bowie and his leather pants.

[Sairon]

Some I've seen recently and liked, which aren't mentioned yet.

Revolver - It tries a bit hard to be cool at times, but it's still a very intresting watch.
Syriana - Anti oil corporation movie with a very respectable line up of actors, I found it fairly enjoyable in the end even if I almost decided to stop half way through.
The Weather Man - Cage movie, I liked it.
Danny the Dog - I like Jet Li  :-D

[Megrim]

Ok...

I went to the video store last night after checking the theaters.  There is literally nothing worth watching.  I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse... but deciding that going for a run was a better option than going to or renting a movie just shocked me.

If someone can recommend anything released in the past 2 years, I'd be grateful.  I found absolutely nothing that interested me.

If your video store has it, i highly recommend the series "The Long Way Round" with Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman. It's a story about their trip across Europe and Asia on a pair of motorcycles, and makes for fantastic viewing.

[Ironwood]

It's the best thing Ewan has ever done.  And I don't mean that in a bad way at all.

:)

[Megrim]

I have to say that i was not particularly inclined towards his work up until that time, but having seen this series i was more than impressed.

[WindupAtheist]

How good was the CGI in Mirrormask?  I ask, because I distinctly remember the budget for that film being no more than 4 or 5 million.

[Viin]

Banlieue 13

[Samwise]

How good was the CGI in Mirrormask?  I ask, because I distinctly remember the budget for that film being no more than 4 or 5 million.

It was pretty, but not "realistic" by any stretch.  The world in Mirrormask was supposed to look like a drawing come to life, so they could get away with things looking "fake" and not have it break immersion.

[HaemishM]

How good was the CGI in Mirrormask?  I ask, because I distinctly remember the budget for that film being no more than 4 or 5 million.

Amazingly gorgeous. If you have ever looked at Dave McKean's collage-type photography/paintings (and if you've seen Sandman covers, you have), and if you liked them, it's exactly like that only with motion. It's a beautiful, beautiful movie.

The story is decent enough to watch. It won't edify you in some new way, but it's an enjoyably melancholy piece. If you hate Neil Gaiman's writing, you won't like it. If you like his writing, you'll probably like Mirror Mask.

[Yegolev]

I still think it would be cool if George Lucas grabbed (insert your pet director here, I'll say Luc Besson)

I'll say Mel Brooks.

Wait...

Last movie I watched was Kunoichi: The Lady Ninja and I highly recommend it to everyone.

[Johny Cee]

How good was the CGI in Mirrormask?  I ask, because I distinctly remember the budget for that film being no more than 4 or 5 million.

Amazingly gorgeous. If you have ever looked at Dave McKean's collage-type photography/paintings (and if you've seen Sandman covers, you have), and if you liked them, it's exactly like that only with motion. It's a beautiful, beautiful movie.

The story is decent enough to watch. It won't edify you in some new way, but it's an enjoyably melancholy piece. If you hate Neil Gaiman's writing, you won't like it. If you like his writing, you'll probably like Mirror Mask.

Thanks.  Will check it out sometime in the near future, then.  Gaiman = the man.

Is Revolver the new Guy Ritchie movie?

[WindupAtheist]

I'll say Mel Brooks.

You win the thread.  :-D

[Ironwood]

I still think it would be cool if George Lucas grabbed (insert your pet director here, I'll say Luc Besson)

I'll say Mel Brooks.

Wait...

Last movie I watched was Kunoichi: The Lady Ninja and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Did she totally flip out and kill people  ?

[Yegolev]

I still think it would be cool if George Lucas grabbed (insert your pet director here, I'll say Luc Besson)

I'll say Mel Brooks.

Wait...

Last movie I watched was Kunoichi: The Lady Ninja and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Did she totally flip out and kill people  ?

Yes.  With a nipple lightning attack.  That is probably only the second weirdest ninpo technique in the film.

[WindupAtheist]

Took my sweet time doing it this week, but here it is, hot off the presses of the other forum where I've been doing this since late last year.
________________________

Yeah, it's really late this week. Eat me, I didn't feel like doing it until now. Numbers from Mojo as usual.

------

#1 - Mission Impossible 3, Week 2
Weekend gross: $25m (-47.6%)
Screen count: 4059 (+5)
Total gross: $85.1m
Budget: $150m

It's not doing awful, but neither I nor a lot of other people can quite shake the feeling that this isn't doing as well as it should. Then again, it is the third in the series. I know everyone is waiting to bury Tom Cruise, but this could just be a case of routine sequel fatigue.

------

#2 - Poseidon, Week 1
Weekend gross: $22.1m
Screen count: 3555
Budget: $160m

Stand back and take a good look, this is the kind of shit I wait for. Poseidon isn't "underperforming" or "scraping by" or waiting to be "salvaged by DVD sales" or any of that shit. It's a goddamned certified FLOP of epic proportions. Foreign grosses only added a couple million to that total, meaning that someone over at Warner Brothers is responsible for flushing nine fucking figures worth of money directly down the toilet. Holy shit.

EDIT:  Brandon Gray had this to say over at Mojo: "Warner Bros.' $160 million remake of the 1972 blockbuster, The Poseidon Adventure, sold nearly as many tickets out of the gate as Volcano and Speed 2: Cruise Control among recent mega-budget, disaster-oriented pictures."

I can spew venom for a thousand years and never come up with a putdown as good as this mildly-worded little sentence.

------

#3 - RV, Week 3
Weekend gross: $9.9m (-9.6%)
Screen count: 3536 (+115)
Total gross: $43.2m
Budget: $50m

Why does this keep making money?! Look at that, a dropoff of less than ten percent! If it can keep showing legs like this, it'll end up at least modestly successful. How is this possible? It looks like such shit in the ads. Has anyone seen this? Were the ads just poorly chosen? Is it, in actuality, really funny? I need to know.

------

#4 - Just My Luck, Week 1
Weekend gross: $5.6m
Screen count: 2541
Budget: $45m (estimate from IMDB)

Bombs away. Did this fail because Lindsay Lohan is a skanky whore who has alienated the public, or because Lindsay Lohan is just a talentless slut whom anyone with a brain should have known wasn't going to adequately open a forty-five million dollar picture?

------

#5 - An American Haunting, Week 2
Weekend gross: $3.5m (-38.4%)
Screen count: 1703 (+2Cool
Total gross: $10.8m
Budget: $14m

I'm glad this movie came along. It proved that the people who go to see all these cheap-shit horror flicks that have come out lately aren't going to see EVERYTHING that gets shoveled out there. Again, Donald Sutherland was in this? The hell? Is he broke?

------

Okay, from now on I'll be going back to the old one-liner format for the bottom half of the top five. At least during weeks where there's nothing interesting going on down there. I mean, I can't imagine trying to think of something to say about Akeelah and the Bee or Ice Age yet again.

Rank - Title - weekend/gross/budget - (cheap shot remark)

#6 - United 93 - 3.5/25/15 - (Muthafuckin' snakes! I mean terrorists!)
#7 - Stick It - 3/22/? - (Too easy.)
#8 - Ice Age - 3/187/80 - (That snake joke two places up was pretty cheap.)
#9 - Akeelah and the Bee - 2.4/14/? - (You know you don't give a fuck.)
#10 - Hoot - 2.2/6/15 - (The corpse-fucking scene scared me. Wait, wrong flick...)

[Sairon]

Is Revolver the new Guy Ritchie movie?

It's his latest http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365686/.

[HaemishM]

#1 - Mission Impossible 3, Week 2
Weekend gross: $25m (-47.6%)
Screen count: 4059 (+5)
Total gross: $85.1m
Budget: $150m

It's not doing awful, but neither I nor a lot of other people can quite shake the feeling that this isn't doing as well as it should. Then again, it is the third in the series. I know everyone is waiting to bury Tom Cruise, but this could just be a case of routine sequel fatigue.

No, really. It is. Granted, $25m is not too bad, but a 47% drop in one week? That's death. That means word of mouth ain't glowing, and if it drops that much again next week, you're looking at it limping to about $110 million gross in about 5 weeks of screen time. AWFUL. DVD might get it to break even, but it will be terrible. And I want to see this movie, but the numbers look real bad.

#2 - Poseidon, Week 1
Weekend gross: $22.1m
Screen count: 3555
Budget: $160m

Stand back and take a good look, this is the kind of shit I wait for. Poseidon isn't "underperforming" or "scraping by" or waiting to be "salvaged by DVD sales" or any of that shit. It's a goddamned certified FLOP of epic proportions. Foreign grosses only added a couple million to that total, meaning that someone over at Warner Brothers is responsible for flushing nine fucking figures worth of money directly down the toilet. Holy shit.

Yeah, holy shit that's bad. Lots of screens, but not a lot of people seeing it. And compared to the budget, that's like box-office crotchrot. Another movie I want to see, but another movie I'm not at all suprised by the numbers.

#3 - RV, Week 3
Weekend gross: $9.9m (-9.6%)
Screen count: 3536 (+115)
Total gross: $43.2m
Budget: $50m

Why does this keep making money?! Look at that, a dropoff of less than ten percent! If it can keep showing legs like this, it'll end up at least modestly successful. How is this possible? It looks like such shit in the ads. Has anyone seen this? Were the ads just poorly chosen? Is it, in actuality, really funny? I need to know.

I can't imagine how it has even made that much. It looks like total shit. Either it's family-friendly and socceer moms are recommending it, or it just hits that "this shouldn't be funny, but people like it" note perfectly. I expected it to be the end of Williams' career, yet it seems almost like a resurgence. HOW?

#5 - An American Haunting, Week 2
Weekend gross: $3.5m (-38.4%)
Screen count: 1703 (+2Cool
Total gross: $10.8m
Budget: $14m

I'm glad this movie came along. It proved that the people who go to see all these cheap-shit horror flicks that have come out lately aren't going to see EVERYTHING that gets shoveled out there. Again, Donald Sutherland was in this? The hell? Is he broke?

Based on that budget, if he was broke when he took the role, he's still broke and getting broker.

[Yegolev]

#3 - RV, Week 3
Weekend gross: $9.9m (-9.6%)
Screen count: 3536 (+115)
Total gross: $43.2m
Budget: $50m

Why does this keep making money?! Look at that, a dropoff of less than ten percent! If it can keep showing legs like this, it'll end up at least modestly successful. How is this possible? It looks like such shit in the ads. Has anyone seen this? Were the ads just poorly chosen? Is it, in actuality, really funny? I need to know.

With the alternatives at the theater, it's either watch this or go sit at a bar for the evening.

#4 - Just My Luck, Week 1
Weekend gross: $5.6m
Screen count: 2541
Budget: $45m (estimate from IMDB)

Bombs away. Did this fail because Lindsay Lohan is a skanky whore who has alienated the public, or because Lindsay Lohan is just a talentless slut whom anyone with a brain should have known wasn't going to adequately open a forty-five million dollar picture?

My guess is that it's because she lost her boobs.  Doesn't bode well for DVD sales either, when you eliminate the creepy older guy demographic.

In other news, I watched Kung Fu Hustle last weekend.  Totally awesome.  I'm serious this time, not like with that Kunoichi movie.  Now the wife is a Stephen Chow fan.

[shiznitz]

I don't think Lohan's boobs

Actually, forget it. Just forget it.

[Rasix]

#1 - Mission Impossible 3, Week 2
Weekend gross: $25m (-47.6%)
Screen count: 4059 (+5)
Total gross: $85.1m
Budget: $150m

It's not doing awful, but neither I nor a lot of other people can quite shake the feeling that this isn't doing as well as it should. Then again, it is the third in the series. I know everyone is waiting to bury Tom Cruise, but this could just be a case of routine sequel fatigue.

No, really. It is. Granted, $25m is not too bad, but a 47% drop in one week? That's death. That means word of mouth ain't glowing, and if it drops that much again next week, you're looking at it limping to about $110 million gross in about 5 weeks of screen time. AWFUL. DVD might get it to break even, but it will be terrible. And I want to see this movie, but the numbers look real bad.

I thought a 47% drop from opening week is pretty standard for just about anything.  Anyhow, apparently this had a word wide release where according to some numbers I've heard it's already made $225mil+.

It's a good movie. I would recommend seeing it.

[MrHat]

Ending felt like they were going to bust out into song like in 40yroldvirgin.