15 posts tagged “film”

Kong made an estimated $50.1 million its opening weekend, which when combined with its take on Wednesday and Thursday, gives it about $66 million so far. Is it a bomb? Well, it is still to soon to call. As I mentioned earlier, Titanic made only $28.6 million its opening weekend. The screen count was much lower though, with Titanic opening on 2674 screens versus Kong's 3568. That's a per screen average of about $10,700 versus $14,000. At this point, Kong had a much better opening weekend then Titanic. Eat that nay-sayers.

My intuition has been telling me that King Kong is going to be a big bomb. Of course, expectations are so high that it might become a bomb even it it makes $200 million dollars. However, last night's opening seemed pretty poor at just $9.7 million. The Drudge Report is pointing out that this is less then the opening night of the first Pokemon movie. While I'd like to take as a sign the movie is going to bomb, I cannot do so in good conscious. Most people forget that Titanic, the most successful movie of all time despite my hatred of and predictions of doom for it, only made $28.6 million dollars its opening weekend. That's only the 171st biggest of all time. The key to Titanic's success was that its business just never dropped off. In fact, its second weekend box office grew by 28% over its opening weekend. Thats an extremely rare event for any movie. Seven weeks out, it was still making $25 million for the weekend. The secret? Titanic was 3 and half hours long, which most other movies can be played twice as often. More showings means more money, so don't count King Kong out yet. We'll have to wait until its second weekend to see what is in store.

My kind of Hollywood's Best List.

So far, I'm not impressed with the Oscars.

After seeing "Finding Neverland," I propose the following:

Resolved: Josie and The Pussycats is the greatest movie of all time.

Can I get a second? Or at least a third?

So, I caved and went and saw a film nominated for best picture with my dad. I have to say that Finding Neverland was amazing.

The Oscars are this weekend. I'll probably blog about them a little later, but I wanted to share a tidbit about this year's ceremony. This year will be the first since the 1988 Oscar's (in March of 1989) that I haven't seen any of the films nominated for Best Picture. In fact, before 1988 I only remember seeing two best picture nominees —- E.T. (1982) and the Last Emperor (1987) —- in their original theatrical release (the rerelease of Star Wars doesn't count). I want to see all of the nominees, except maybe The Aviator, but just haven't had the time or ability to see them. I could go see Sideways tomorrow, but I think I will stay home. Not knowing anything about football helped me win the office football pool, so maybe I'll do well at predicting Sunday's winners.

In a sidenote, I found the this burn of Mel Gibson in the BBC's coverage of betting on the Best Actor category very amusing:

Meanwhile Mel Gibson's Braveheart has come top of a list of the most undeserving films to win a best picture Oscar, compiled by film critics for magazine Empire.

Most undeserving best picture winner of all time? Have they not seen The Greatest Show on Earth? (Well, I guess they have since it came in third behind A Beautiful Mind).

Currently playing in iTunes: Feel by Robbie Williams

My wife thinks that the new trailer for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy makes the movie look awesome. I sadly agree with August, who thinks that trailer makes the movie look horrible. He says it's time for the fans to panic.

"It does not matter if the war is not real, for when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous … A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. The war is waged by the ruling group against its subjects, and its object is not victory, but to keep the very structure of society in tact." - George Orwell, from his book 1984

Last night, I watched Michael Moore's controversial film Fahenheit 9/11. Besides being the first time I've actually seen the theater at the Old Capital Mall in Iowa City busy, it was the first time in a long while that I actually cried at a movie. More on that in a minute after I mention the most important thing about the movie. No matter what many in the media tell you, the movie isn't really about George Bush. He is just the central character in complex story about the system that he and those in his administration corrupted. Moore concludes the film with the quote above from George Orwell to draw our attention to his almost Marxist critique of the increasing classism in America. That is the true message of the film: We make a solemn pact with the men and women who put on the uniform of this nation, men and women who are disproportionally poor and minorities, that we will not send them in to harms way unless it is absolutely necessary.

Why did I cry during Fahenheit 9/11? Because Moore makes it so obvious that we have violated that solemn pact. They put their lives on the line because they believe in the system but the system has abandoned them. The film awakened the sense of outrage and of despair that I have always felt about the way we treat the misfortunate in this country. The films shows how little Bush cares for the little guy. It does it by telling stories, that while hand picked for their effect, that are completely true and mostly ignored by the US media.

I'm not going to talk about the specifics of the film because I think you should see it like I did, unprepared for the sheer emotion of much of the footage. Don't dismiss it because of your opinions of Michael Moore or George W. This movie really does go transcend both of them. Whether you view it as propaganda (which it is, but so is Spiderman 2) or documentary on the corruption of the American ideal (which it is too), it is a remarkable film that shouldn't be missed by anyone.

The headline in the "liberal" New York Times says it all: Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush.

The story alleges the reason Disney executives are blocking their subsidiary, Miramax, from distributing the film because"

Disney came under heavy criticism from conservatives last May after the disclosure that Miramax had agreed to finance the film when Icon Productions, Mel Gibson's company, backed out.

Mr. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, said Michael D. Eisner, Disney's chief executive, asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.

"Michael Eisner asked me not to sell this movie to Harvey Weinstein; that doesn't mean I listened to him," Mr. Emanuel said. "He definitely indicated there were tax incentives he was getting for the Disney corporation and that's why he didn't want me to sell it to Miramax. He didn't want a Disney company involved."

So, Disney won't release a movie because they are scared of political retribution by the Bush administration vis-a-vis the President's brother. While at first you might just think that this is another case of censorship in America as a result of Sept. 11, what I think is more revealing is that Disney is scared of retribution. Michael Moore's book, Stupid White Men, was initially censored because the publisher didn't feel it was appropriate to attack the President after Sept 11. They feared a PUBLIC backlash. Disney fears a POLITICAL backlash. This is the kind of censorship that destroyed the independent media in Russia. The simple fact that Disney felt retaliation was possible says more about the state of American democracy than I think many might realize.