Box Office Results May 22-24: That Movie About Museum Attractions Coming to Life Again Leads Busy Weekend May 24, 2009

1. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (53.5 Mil) – So the number one movie this Memorial Day Weekend is Ben Stiller working at some museum and having crazy mishaps and adventures with attractions that come to life… again. Yeah it’s a crummy sequel but the kids like it… and when Fox senses a sequel opportunity, they grab it without even thinking.            

2. Terminator Salvation (43 Mil) – Plus the money made Thursday, TS made 56.4 Mil. Overall, this is kind of disappointing, considering the amount of hype surrounding this film. Critics haven’t enjoyed it too much either. I have yet to see it and I usually don’t refer to “professional reviews” when it comes to my own opinion but I’ve got a sinking feeling this is going to be one of the bigger disappointments of 2009.

3. Star Trek (21.9 Mil) – Damn. Star Trek is hanging in there and making money. Lots of money. Guess it pays to make a rewarding, smart yet faithful re-imagination of a franchise. Oh yeah and it’s living proof that Paramount knows how to market and care for their blockbusters (If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen those  Burger King Star Trek Cup Commercials…)                                                                                                                                                                                                            

4. Angels and Demons (21 Mil) – Making respectable business. Though it’s going to make considerably less than its predecessor, which is a serious bummer since this is a HUGE improvement over the mediocre Davinci Code. This is probably cause I haven’t read the book Angels and Demons so I have less bias on it but the pacing is better and the acting/dialog is less awkward. Not to mention, the ending rocks. It has one of the most BA deaths ever and a pretty good twist. I can’t say if it’s a faithful adaptation or not but I can say this: it’s pretty solid entertainment.                                                              

5. Dance Flick (11.1 Mil) – Not surprised. After America was infected with the Friedberg/Seltzer cinematic abortions, (Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie) saying we’re tired of “spoofs” is an understatement. That being said, this is the Waynes Brothers who made the two good Scary Movies. Also based on the trailers and TV spots, it looks funnier previous spoof disasters. But they’re still plenty of cliches (“fat dude joke”, “painfully obscure and irrelevant reference to Ray”) that make this not worth our 10 bucks… or the embarrassment of saying “I saw Dance Flick this weekend”. 

Trailer for Film of the Year Released May 12, 2009

Yeah. This might just be the greatest movie ever. I mean come on, it’s created by The Asylum who gave us cinematic masterpieces like:

and

If that’s not proof enough, click here, and prepare to be wowed.

Box Office May 8th-10th May 10, 2009

Star Trek (72.5 Mil.) Really glad this baby did well. It deserves the money. J.J. Abrams rebooted a cult franchise to make an already popular story and extend it to a wider audience. If you didn’t see it yet, see it now. I’m not a fan of the show and loved the hell out of it. It truly is a perfect summer movie: hilarious, action-packed and great pacing. Live long and prosper.

Xmen Origins: Wolverine (27 Mil.) The negative buzz is probably why this movie dropped as bad as it did. Nonetheless, it’s almost at 130 Mil. in it’s second weekend. Not bad.

Ghost of A Girlfriend’s Past  (10 Mil.)-  Mediocre rom-com is hanging in there. Guess people still want to see Matthew McConaughey after all…

Obsessed (6.6 Mil.) – Yup America is still OBSESSED! (Kind of) Not gonna lie, I’m really surprised this movie is making this much money. 56 Mil? Guess Beyonce’s charm put a ring on its success… or something.

17 Again  (4.4 Mil.) - Pretty boy, Effron is hanging in there. Looks like he can make a hit that doesn’t involve singing and/or dancing.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Next Day Air (4 Mil.) - Doesn’t seem like a strong opening… but look what it’s battling with: only in a little over 1000 screens, minimal marketing, mediocre reviews, lack of any real big name stars (most notable one is probably Turk from Scrubs) and it’s competing with one of the most anticipated films of the summer. 4 Mil. isn’t bad business for a movie like this (especially since the budget probably isn’t that high).         

Star Trek Made A Respectable Friday Opening. May 10, 2009

24 Mil. in a day? Not bad. Hopefully, the positive buzz on this movie will spread and more people will see it. Heck this movie deserves to be a success it rocks.

Most Anticipated Films of the Summer May 6, 2009

With Wolverine premiering last friday, it’s safe to say that the summer season for movies has officially begun. And with everybody gathering their certain picks for what they can’t wait to see (Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2, Harry Potter etc.), I’ve made my own compilation.

NOTE: I currently finished a 50 page script for one of my classes so I’m sick to death of typing. Therefore, I’ll only explain each choice in pseudo-mathematical form. Why? Cause I’m too lazy to right full sentences now.

 

So without further ado.

5.

J.J. Abrams + Simon Pegg + Complete Reboot of a franchise + rumor of Cloverfield 2 trailer 

 

4.  

Pixar + Not Cars + Gorgeous Animation + This talking dog…

 

3. Bruno

Sasha Baron Cohen + homosexual character from Ali G + mainstream America + controversy

 

2.

Judd Apatow + More Dramatic Storyline + Seth Rogan

 

1. District 9

Viral Marketing + Peter Jackson + Documentary Style + Aliens + Social Commentary

 

New G.I. Joe Trailer Gave Me A Nerdgasm… May 4, 2009

A collapsing Eiffel Tower, people diving headfirst into trains, people jumping around and backflipping dodging rockets blowing everything up… NINJAS!!!! After seeing a glimpse way back during the Superbowl… I was impressed. Seeing the full length trailer last night on Adult Swim… I had a nerdgasm and ultimately, all the second thoughts on whether this would actually be good have disappeared for now. This might just be my action-packed guilty pleasure of 09. Directed by Stephen Sommers, who did The Mummy, my personal favorite guilty pleasure, this movie’s coming out in early August and has strong potential of being a successful end of the summer movie. Guys will love it for all of the action and girls will love it cause of the lead star, played by dream boy Channing Tatum. And with a supporting cast of Dennis Quade as Hawk, Marlon Wayans as Ripchord and Lost‘s Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, this might just be one the summer’s biggest successes. Check out the trailer… be prepared to clean yourself up afterwards…

   

Oh yeah and if there’s a Porkchop Sandwiches, Body Massage, or a Give em the Stick reference… I will love Stephen Sommers forever.

New Ugly Truth Trailer Released… still looks horrible May 4, 2009

Trailer for the pseudo-raunchy rom com. Basically this film looks like a shuttle for Katherine Heigl to respond against the horrible sexism in Knocked Up (I Was Playing Such A Bitch). And how does she battle gender discrimination in Hollywood movies. By starring alongside Gerald Butler, as a stereotypical womanizer who helps Heigl’s her love life by telling her what men REALLY want from relationships. In all honesty, this movie could have some serious potential if it doesn’t completely rely on the urban myth that men only care about sex and seduction. I guess Heigl only cares about sexism when it’s against women. ANYWAY… here’s the trailer.

 

PS- The use of an overplayed Flo Rida song truly is the icing on the cake.

Wolverine Review OR How I Learned To Stop Bitching and Love A Blockbuster May 4, 2009

 

2008 was one hell of a year for superhero movies, thanks to a moderately successful adaptation of a little known comic series. You might of heard of it, it was called The Dark Knight. After Nolan’s masterpiece, it’s obvious that the bar has been set for how a serious, powerful superhero/comic book adaptation is done. But let’s face it, even with the impact of Dark Knight not all of these movies are going to be top notch. In fact, many will cross into the base of mediocrity. I did not expect perfection out of Xmen Origins: Wolverine. If anything I was just praying for A. An improvement over the last film and B. A fun, popcorn blockbuster film to get me amped for the summer movie season. Ultimately, that’s exactly what I got, even with all its flaws (and believe me there are a lot). 

So let’s cut to the chase and go into what exactly is wrong with this movie. For starters, with the exception of the title character and Sabertooth, the characters’ development is very weak through the second half of the film. In the beginning, all of the Team X members, which includes Wraith, The Blob, Agent Zero, Bolt and of course Deadpool, showcase great but short chemistry within the team. Ryan Reynolds portrays the wise-cracking of Wade Wilson/Deadpool fabulously and the portrayal of the other Team X, while brief, are still fairly impressive. 

Then the second half of the film comes along and things get weak… really weak. Although it was sweet to finally see Gambit in a movie and he did have a fair amount of screen time. His presence wasn’t exactly necessary. Gambit could’ve been replaced by any other Xmen and frankly, it ultimately wouldn’t be the same. This being said, it is still awesome to see Gambit in action, this isn’t the problem. Cyclops is the real issue,  since he frankly, has almost no purpose within the movie. His presence makes you wonder  if the filmmakers only crammed him in to make an action figure sale or some other marketing tool. Emma Frost is another victim of this movies flaw. But the real tragedy is how the film treats the transformation from Wade Wilson to Deadpool. Without spoiling the film’s ending, let’s just say, they mess up the character big time. For me, this is a huge disappointment since Deadpool is not only one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe but also the main reason why I saw Wolverine in the first place. The other main problem with the end is the film’s “twist”, if you would even call it one. When the said twist was revealed, I just thought, “I wasn’t supposed to know that?” This also leads into one of the other film’s main flaw, the scattered plot holes throughout. Awkward dialog, continuity errors and overall lack of story logic hurt the movie’s potential.

However, even with all the negative aspects, I couldn’t hate the movie. Believe me, I tried. But it was just too damn enjoyable. I laughed, I was intrigued throughout and overall, I had fun. The action sequences were great and the fifteen to twenty minutes showcasing Team X were awesome.  Is this as good as the first two Xmen movies? Hell no. It’s not even in the same ballpark. Though it may not be the tragic failure you’d expect from Fox (a majority of the films released by them in the past year have been flops: X-Files, Dragonball, Meet Dave etc) it still missed the potential of being a truly rewarding origins story. That being said, it’s a small improvement over The Last Stand and frankly, an enjoyable introduction to this season of summer blockbusters.

Box Office! May 1 – 3 May 3, 2009

1. Xmen Origins: Wolverine – 87Mil. Yup. Big numbers. The summer movie season has officially begun. Sure it began with fake looking Wolvie Claws and a mess of a Baraka look alike that was supposed to be Deadpool but hey… Happy Summer everybody!!!

2. Ghost of Girfriend’s Past – 15Mil. What’s more irritating than a Christmas Carol remake, Matthew McConaughey and a generic romantic comedy preaching endlessly about how men don’t know how to treat women right (BAWWWWWW)? Simple, all three of these things in one movie!

3. Obsessed – 12Mil. America is OBSESSED with this movie! (Screen Gems better not steal that.)

4. 17 Again – 6Mil. America wants to see 17 Again, AGAIN!  (And still not funny the second time around)

5. Monsters vs. Aliens – 5Mil. I would be happy with the crazy amount of success this movie is having (182 Mil. so far) but after what Dreamworks did to Shrek (we’re getting two more sequels and a Puss In Boots spinoff) and what it’s about to do with Kung Fu Panda  (PANDAemonium is scheduled to be released in 2011) I can’t help but dread all the sequels MVA will have…

Oh and sorry environmentally preachy Aliens… Battle for Terra scraped in 12th place with only 1Mil. Proving that just cause Wall-e can make a lot of money and have a message, doesn’t mean that you’ll do the same thing. They’re Pixar and you’re just an independent company with no marketing. Oh yeah and it wouldn’t hurt to have a plot that would actually make sense to a 7 year old, since that’s the audience you’re trying to sell this to…

 Source: www.boxofficemojo.com