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Box Office: A Date With Destiny?

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Apr 7th 2010 8:15PM
Filed under: Comedy, Box Office, Box Office Predictions, UK Box Office, Cinematical, UK Box Office
Clash of the Titans took top honors this past weekend, so that makes three of the top five movies that are in 3D. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too and the Miley Cyrus vehicle The Last Song both enjoyed strong opening numbers as well. Here's the top five.

1. Clash of the Titans: $61.2 million
2. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? $29.3 million
3. How to Train Your Dragon: $29 million
4. The Last Song: $16 million
5. Alice in Wonderland: $8.2 million

Just one new movie this week, but it looks like it's good for some laughs.

Date Night
What's It All About: In this action comedy a couple find themselves mistaken for a pair of thieves and their comfortable and somewhat stale lifestyle is suddenly thrown off kilter.
Why It Might Do Well: The film features Tina Fey and Steve Carell, who also star in two of NBC's top comedies. That, plus the trailer looks promising.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The title may have some movie-goers hankering for dried fruit, which most concession stands don't carry.
Number of Theaters: 3,300
Prediction: $34 million



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Right Now on TV Squad

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Apr 3rd 2010 3:03PM
Filed under: Cinematical
Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.
  • A couple of ABC comedies have gone out of their way to be topical lately, with The Middle incorporating the NCAA Final Four and Phil on Modern Family eagerly anticipating the release of the iPad.
  • Speaking of the iPad episode, Joel Keller has a different view which you can read here.
  • In light of his recent personal problems this doesn't seem like a huge surprise, but Charlie Sheen may be leaving Two-and-Half Men after the current season.
  • The Price is Right commemorated April Fool's Day with an appearance from host Drew Carey's nemesis Mimi from the old Drew Carey Show.
  • Cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 has released its seventeenth volume on DVD, consisting of four classic episodes. You can read the review here.
  • ...and finally, while it may sound like an April Fool's gag, but apparently four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore will be getting back to her roots by appearing this Monday on As the World Turns, the show for which she won a daytime Emmy back in 1988.

Box Office: Tyler Titan's Last Clash

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Mar 31st 2010 8:02PM
Filed under: Action, Drama, Box Office, Box Office Predictions, UK Box Office, Cinematical, UK Box Office
I'm thinking this 3D thing may be here to stay. This past weekend saw a new 3D flick push a slightly older one out of the top spot, and there's yet another being released this week. Last week's other new release, Hot Tub Time Machine, slid into third with a modest take. Here's the top five:

1. How to Train Your Dragon: $43.7 million
2. Alice in Wonderland: $17.7 million
3. Hot Tub Time Machine: $14 million
4. The Bounty Hunter: $12 million
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: $10.1 million

Here's our three new releases for the week:

Clash of the Titans
What's It All About: Epic fantasy set in ancient Greece with Perseus, descended from the gods but raised by humans, embarking upon a dangerous mission to prevent Hades from overthrowing Zeus.
Why It Might Do Well: People do love the 3D, the monsters look pretty cool and having Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes in the cast can't hurt.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Rottentomatoes.com gives this an 18% fresh rating. Ouch.
Number of Theaters: 3,600
Prediction: $68 million


The Last Song (Opening on Wednesday)
What's It All About: In this drama from the author of The Notebook, Miley Cyrus plays a teen who spends the summer getting reacquainted with her father in the wake of her parent's divorce.
Why It Might Do Well: Cyrus has a screen presence that may outlive her teeny-bopper image, and Greg Kinnear is a good choice for playing the Dad.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Many of the kids in Miley Cyrus's fan base may find that this departure from the norm isn't their cup of tea, and the phrase "from the author of The Notebook" should keep a lot of men out of the theater. .
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $14 million
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Right Now on TV Squad

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Mar 27th 2010 4:32PM
Filed under: Cinematical
Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.
  • Sarah Palin will be hosting Sarah Palin's Alaska, a travel show expounding the virtues of her home state for The Learning Channel.
  • Robert Culp, star of such series as I Spy (in which he co-starred with Bill Cosby) and The Greatest American Hero has passed away at the age of 79.
  • A San Diego judge has described Dr. Phil as a "charlatan" for his failure to properly help a pair of chronic shoplifters.
  • According to none other than Zach Braff himself, Scrubs will not be returning for another season.
  • Charlie Sheen's latest stay in rehab has taken a toll on his show Two and a Half Men which will now deliver 22 shows for the current season instead of the planned 24.
  • ...and finally, Sissy Spacek will be joining Skeet Ulrich in a pilot for a new CBS medical dram.
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Box Office: Got Time For Dragons on a Train?

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Mar 24th 2010 8:15PM
Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy, Box Office, UK Box Office, Cinematical, UK Box Office
This was Alice's 3rd week at the box office and she still outdid all the new releases, giving Tim Burton's 3D fantasy $265.4 million to date. Here's the top five:

1. Alice in Wonderland: $34.2 million
2 . Diary of a Wimpy Kid: $22.1 million
3. The Bounty Hunter: $20.7 million
4. Repo Men: $6.1 million
5. Green Zone: $6.1 million

Two new releases this week. An action comedy for the family and an R-rated comedy.

Hot Tub Time Machine
What's It All About: After a hard night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, four friends find themselves waking up in 1986.
Why It Might Do Well: During one half-hour period on comedy central last night I saw at least five promo spots for this one, so they're definitely getting the word out. You've also got John Cusack in the lead and the trailer suggests this could be a fun flick. And while it's WAY too early to be definitive, with eight reviews counted rottentomatoes.com gives it a 100% Fresh rating.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Some people react badly to all that chlorine.
Number of Theaters: 2,750
Prediction: $24 million

How to Train Your Dragon
What's It All About: 3D animated family action comedy in which a young viking named Hiccup learns that dragons aren't the horrible creatures his people have always imagined them to be.
Why It Might Do Well: People seem to love the 3D, and this is from the studio that gave us Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. Also, like Hot Tub Time Machine, it gets a 100% Fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com, although only 13 reviews are in at the moment.
Why It Might Not Do Well: A dragon ate my schnauzer Gertrude and I'm not ready to forgive.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $52 million
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Right Now On TV Squad

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Mar 20th 2010 6:31PM
Filed under: Cinematical
Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.
  • Although there's been no official offer yet, Barry Manilow has expressed an interest in appearing on Glee and allowing the show to use his songs.
  • Star Trek nerd-dom has reached an all time high... or low depending on your perspective. A microscopic replica of the Enterprise D has been constructed at one-billionth (pinky on lower lip, Dr. Evil fans) scale.
  • Check out this video from ABC which covers the vile things Ben Linus has done on Lost all set to the song "Ben" which is Michael Jackson's ode to a rat.
  • While everyone seems to be wondering if Conan O'Brien will end up at Fox, two companies have approached the former Tonight Show host about doing a syndicated show.
  • Good news for Amy Poehler and her husband Will Arnett: their second child is on the way, but it looks like Poehler's character on Parks and Recreation will not be doing the same.
  • ...and speaking of babies, Wonder Years star (and recent Big Bang Theory guest star) Danica McKellar is expecting her first child.

Frankenstein is 100 Years Old! Watch His First Movie Now!

By Matt Bradshaw (Subscribe to Matt Bradshaw's posts), Posted Mar 18th 2010 5:02PM
Filed under: Classics, Cinematical
Yes, as of today Frankenstein has been a fixture in American cinema for 100 years. The first film version of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel first saw the light of a projector bulb on March 18, 1910. Predating the better known Boris Karloff version by 21 years, this film was directed by J. Searle Dawley and starred Augustus Phillips as Frankenstein (no first name) and Charles Ogle as the monster. It was produced by Edison Studios, although according to Wikipedia Thomas Edison had no direct involvement in the film. You can see this early example of horror cinema after the jump.

To commemorate the occasion Pierre Fournier is presenting a week of relevant posts on his Frankensteinia blog. For an in depth article on the Edison Frankenstein, check out Fournier's posting "The First Frankenstein of the Movies" which was his first post of the week. Read
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