Nov 24 2008 Vampire Teen Romance is Really Popular
Why your local theater felt like a Forever 21 this weekend:
1. Twilight - $70.6 million. This is why I'm really glad we didn't pass that proposal that would let 13-year-old girls vote.
2. Quantum of Solace - $27.4 million. Now we've seen how Bond competes against vampires at the box office, but what about if he actually fought vampires? I still think he'd do OK.
3. Bolt - $27 million. I always said people would pay to hear John Travolta's voice in any form, but it turns out I may have been wrong. I might have to reconsider my personalized John Travolta voicemail business plan.
4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $16 million. Spoiler alert: Madagascar escapes 2 Africa.
5. Role Models - $7.2 million. I'm too transfixed by this vampire's icy stare to come up with anything about Role Models.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Nov 17 2008 Bond is a Popular, Money-Making Franchise
1. Quantum of Solace - $70.4 million--the best opening ever for a Bond movie or any other film with the words "quantum" and "solace" in the title.
2. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $36.1 million. Every1 luvs escaping to theaters 2 C talking animals!
3. Role Models - $11.7 million, and it's all going to Big Brothers/Big Sisters! (No it isn't.)
4. High School Musical 3: Senior Year - $5.9 million. Who says people won't pay to see teenagers sing and dance in a Disney production, week after week? I think I said that, but I was dead wrong.
5. Changeling - $4.2 million, bringing the Clint Eastwood-directed film to just over $27 million in four weeks. I'm so confident it could have made a lot more under my title, Anglina Jolie and the Baby Switcheroo.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Nov 10 2008 'Madagascar 2' Moves the Weekend Box Office!
And the weekend box office results were...
1. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $63.5 million. Once again, I've underestimated the public's desire to move it (move it).
2. Role Models - $19.3 million. Stifler may not have the same box office pull he did in 2000, but he still does OK if you give him a Rudd for support.
3. High School Musical 3 - $9.3 million. This ordering just goes to show that as much as people love singing, dancing adolescents, they will always more love singing, dancing computer-generated animals.
4. Changeling - $7.3 million, most of that money coming from tickets Brad Pitt bought to support his wife. THEY ARE THAT IN LOVE.
5. Zack and Miri Make a Porno - $6.5 million, bringing its domestic total up to nearly $21 million. Is that enough to warrant an actual porn spoof film? I want to see how that would work.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Oct 21 2008 'Madagascar 2' Thoroughly Enjoys 'Moving It'
I have sat through several sense-numbing Madagascar 2 trailers and sifted through several more of its gaudy posters, and pretty much every one of them feature the song "I Like to Move It" in one way or another. None of that in any way prepared me for this: a music video of Will.i.am's Madagascar 2-specific cover of "I Like to Move It"? This is too much. This is where I say, OK, you win. I'll say I like to move it too. Just stop.
But before I concede, just tell me, why, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, do you have this Moby Dick-level obsession with the "I Like to Move It" song? Why has Will.i.am decided to take a break from ill-conceived political anthems to cover the "I Like to Move It" song? And, most importantly, why does every depiction of a CGI animal have to be so inappropriately sexualized? Normally it's only mildly offensive, since the creatures appear anatomically genderless as they gyrate, but man, these chimps have PENISES. Just what is going on here?
Start your day with some retching:
Continue Reading " 'Madagascar 2' Thoroughly Enjoys 'Moving It' "
Aug 14 2008 'Madgascar', 'Kung Fu Panda' Will Keep Happening
Dreamworks has announced they have plans for at least one more Madagascar and probably another Kung Fu Panda, because that would be easier than inventing more animals-with-celebrity-voices as characters:
DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg expects at least one additional "Madagascar" sequel, the executive said Wednesday during a preview of the upcoming "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa."The animation studio also has begun talks aimed at creating a sequel to its summer hit "Kung Fu Panda."
Calling ["Escape 2 Africa"] the "second chapter in one story," Katzenberg said, "there is at least one more chapter. We ultimately want to see the characters make it back to New York."
I think what he means is, "We still have the rights to Reel 2 Real's I Like to Move It, and we're confident having some African animals sing along with it will continue to sell for reasons even we aren't entirely sure of," but nice try.
Aug 5 2008 New 'Madagascar 2' Poster Somehow Forgets to Mention 'I Like to Move It'
Here's the new poster to promote paying more to see Madagascar 2: Esc2pe 2 2fric2 2 on a larger-than-usual screen. Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? That Madagascar 2's laughs are already so huge that blowing them up on an IMAX screen might make people lose their G.D. minds to absolute delight, creating a visible weather pattern composed of pure laughter? Yes, there's a pretty good chance that's happening, but we have to try it.
The Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa IMAX One-Sheet [Coming Soon]
Jul 31 2008 New 'Madagascar 2' Trailer Still Likes to 'Move It' Despite How Obnoxious Moving It Is
All the "I Like to Move It" singing and dancing that made the first trailer unbearable but now twice as enraging! The secret? Topical airport security jokes.
(Thanks Kyle and Chris.)
Jun 9 2008 'Madagascar 2' Trailer Wisely Focuses on Single Memorable Element of Original
It's official: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is basing its entire ad campaign (and its title?) on the Reel 2 Real hit single "I Like to Move It." First came the lyrics-brandishing poster; now there's a trailer that's at least half dancing to the 14-year-old house track, the animals strangely sexualized as they shake their butts towards the camera wearing nothing but self-satisfied grins. It's disturbing at several levels, and it makes me hate them for liking to move it. In fact, they're going to regret telling me how much they like to move it, because right now, having just endured a full minute of them fulfilling their desire to move it, my mind is fixated on a single goal: whatever it takes, stop them from moving it.
I think I'm going to start a new trailer rating system based on how many times I need to pause the video, hold my head in my hands and sigh to make it through. This one gets a 3. (Thanks to Kyle for the tip.)
Continue Reading " 'Madagascar 2' Trailer Wisely Focuses on Single Memorable Element of Original "
Jun 4 2008 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' Poster Celebrates Reel 2 Real
Hmm. I wonder if there's a chance the characters will reprise their performance of "I Like to Move It." Because that was really charming and not at all annoying, and I'd like to see it again and again.
'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' Poster Premiere [Cinematical]
