Sunday, November 26, 2006

Thanksgiving Weekend Box Office Statistics

These are the top ten movies over the Friday-Sunday stretch of Thanksgiving weekend (and thanks to Box Office Prophets for the results).

1. Happy Feet $37.9

2. Casino Royale $31.0 (read my Casino Royale movie review)

3. Deja Vu $20.8 (read my Deja Vu movie review)

4. Deck the Halls $12.0

5. Borat $10.4 (read my Borat movie review)

6. The Santa Clause 3 $10.0

7. Stranger Than Fiction $6.0 (read my Stranger than Fiction movie review)

8. Flushed Away $5.8

9. Bobby $4.9

10. The Fountain $3.7 (read my Fountain movie review)

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Casino Royale Movie Review

Casino Royale is one of the most captivating Bond films, but is it one of the best? The very fact that this "re-imagining" is so completely different from any other Bond film makes it hard to compare it to any others in the franchise, but one thing is for certain: Casino Royale is a very good movie, but that doesn't mean you're going to like it. Read the rest of this movie review.

Stranger than Fiction Movie Review

Stranger than Fiction is Will Ferrell's latest attempt to move beyond mundane comedy where he shouts otherwise ordinary statements to make audiences laugh to a realm where comedy is a bit more sophisticated. The result is a well-acted, well-done picture that just never completely delivers the laughs. Read the rest of this movie review.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

The Da Vinci Code 2 Announced

It's actually a prequel, but is essentially The Da Vinci Code 2 - Dan Brown's Angels & Demons is being turned into a movie.

While I liked The Da Vinci Code the book more than Angels & Demons the book just a little bit, I think Angels & Demons is going to make for a much better movie (of course, Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code sort of sucked... okay, it did suck) because, after all, it's about some dudes trying to blow up The Vatican.

TomKat: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes get married

Wow. One of the best looking and yet grossest couples in history got married today in Rome. Good for them. Hopefully their kids will figure out that Scientology is for the looney bin and nothing more.

Despite all the crazy antics in the last year regarding Tom Cruise's fall from grace, I have to say I like the guy. Sure, he has some issues, but he's a good actor who people give a bad rap due to his success over the years as more of a pretty boy. He seems to get better with age, and Mission: Impossible 3 was the best of the three movies, and certainly one of the best action movies I've seen in years.

However, I was watching ET last night... what a stupid, stupid, stupid and pathetic show. Their episode was devoted to TomKat, and it essentially involved them following the couple around in their footsteps to figure out what kind of dinner they had the previous night, where they sat, who paid for it, etc. Who the hell cares? How is this of any value to anyone?

That being said, I can't completely blame them. There are a lot of people who actually like hearing about that stuff, even though it has no real effect on their lives whatsoever (and actually probably makes them dumber in the process). What a sad, sad world...

Friday Box Office Analysis for November 18, 2006

Here are box office stats from Box Office Prophets based on Friday numbers only, which marked the return of the James Bond franchise with a new and noticeably blond Daniel Craig in the lead. It'll be a close battle between Bond and Happy Feet, the new animated comedy that is also receiving rave reviews and stars the likes of Robin Williams.

Anyway, here's the breakdown (in millions $):

1 Happy Feet 43.5

2 Casino Royale 41.4

3 Borat 15.3

4 The Santa Clause 3 7.6

5 Stranger than Fiction 7.2

6 Flushed Away 5.9

7 Babel 2.8

8 The Departed 2.5

9 Saw III 2.4

10 Let's Go to Prison 1.9

Launch of my blog

Well, everyone who has been waiting for it can now let out a collective sigh of relief - Erik Samdahl, yes THE Erik Samdahl, has started a blog.

Why, do you ask? Why would THE Erik waste his time with such a thing as an online journal? Is it to share his wise opinions of the world? Is it to criticize the government for their poor handling of foreign affairs, the war on terror, the economy, gay rights, abortion and education? To talk about how even they have been so-so this year, I still hold out hope that the Seahawks will make it to the Superbowl? That the Mariners will be good once again? That I will go to at least one winning Sonics game before they make it to Oklahoma?

No... the simple reason is this: blogging helps search engine optimization of my movie review website, Movie-Source.com, and it needs the help. Yes, there are no noble efforts intended here - it is simply online marketing.

Of course, I may rant and rave just a little bit in the process...