Jun 15 2009 'The Hangover', Like Actual Hangovers, Not Affected by John Travolta

For your copybooks, the weekend top five:

1. The Hangover - $33.4 million, another victory for insobriety repercussion comedy!

2. Up - $30.5 million. Thankfully, few tickets were sold to the elderly, saving the group from getting a false, fleeting sense of hope, whimsy, and adventure.

3. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - Only $25 million. I knew they shouldn't have included the poorly-received twist ending where you find out John Travolta is both the villain and the Denzel Washington.

4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $9.6 million. Now can we stop all this senseless warring over historical exhibit territory?

5. Land of the Lost - $9.2 million, damning Imagine That to 6th place and an afterlife with Meet Dave in an Eddie Murphy Bundle Pack.

Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]

Jun 8 2009 'Up' Maintains Dominance in Face of Drunks, Dinosaurs

The top movies in the United States last weekend were:

1. Up - $44.2 million, a startlingly large number considering that what appears to be the DVD is coming out soon enough.

2. The Hangover - $43.3 million. Sounds like this is one Hangover you can look forward to! (I'm trying to get quoted in the newspaper ads.) In the case of this Hangover, laughter is the best medicine!

3. Land of the Lost - $19.5 million. This does not bode well for Jack Black is H.R. Pufnstuf.

4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $14.7 million. Do the Tenement Museum next!

5. Star Trek - $8.4 million. I miss the days when this kind of success would warrant a Kirk & Friends Saturday morning cartoon spin-off.

Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]

UPDATE: It turns out The Hangover probably made more?

Jun 1 2009 'Up' Was Your Favorite Movie Last Weekend

The weekend box office report. Email me for the Excel version.

1. Up - $68.2 million, because Pixar could animate a cockfight and it would still open huge. Especially in Latin America.

2. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $25.5 million, bringing its total gross to over $100 million and popularizing use of the saying, "It was no night at the museum!", used to refer to nights that did not include exhibits spontaneously gaining consciousness.

3. Drag Me to Hell - Only $16.6 million. Where are all the teenagers taking dates to scary movies so that when the girl cowers in fear against the boy, he can give a sly grin and put his arm around her? Popular media led me to believe that happens constantly.

4. Terminator Salvation - $16.1 million--just enough to save humanity. We did it.

5. Star Trek - $12.8 million in gold-pressed latinum! Get it? Star Trek reference. The guy with the ears always talked about it.

Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]

May 26 2009 'Ben Stiller Battling Cameos in a New Venue' Beats 'Terminators'

Between barbecues and solemn remembrance on this four-day weekend, the following movies were most patronized:

1. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $70 million, showing a massive outpouring of support for this finale to the Indian in the Cupboard trilogy.

2. Terminator Salvation - $53.8 million. You'd think a powerful partnership with Pizza Hut would have been enough to push the film into first place. It worked so well for reading.

3. Star Trek - $29.4 million, bringing it well within reach of becoming the summer's first $200 million blockbuster. Unless, as I'm predicting, The Soloist really picks up this week.

4. Angels & Demons - $27.7 million, dropping from first to fourth. What a slap in the Hanks.

5. Dance Flick - $13.1 million. There was a time when a horrible, Wayans Brothers-written comedy could have a summer opening at #2. How times have changed since Little Man.

Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]

Feb 23 2009 A Few Seconds of a Bunch of Upcoming Movies

If you made it to the end of the Oscars--or more likely, if you dozed off and were awakened by the credit sequence's jamming guitar--the night's reward was a three-minute movie preview sequence. For some of the films (Public Enemies, Whatever Works), it was a first look at scenes from highly-anticipated projects. For others (Old Dogs!), it was the warning: oh god, Robin Williams and John Travolta made some kind of boot camp comedy, and it's called Old Dogs. Here it is:

Continue Reading " A Few Seconds of a Bunch of Upcoming Movies "

Feb 2 2009 'Night at the Museum 2' Poster is 'OK'

Or so the Lincoln Memorial tells me! It would be less obnoxious if they had Lincoln in a backwards cap, lowering his sunglasses as he jumped a skateboard over the cast. I mean, if we're going to have a statue of the Great Emancipator doing something stupid, then let's gets nuts with it.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Poster [IMPA]

Dec 19 2008 'Night at the Museum 2' Teaser Uses Museum Definition Loosely

Ben Stiller is back in a museum, and it's night, so I think you all know what that means! (Things coming to life!) And since it's the Smithsonian this time, that means even more notable statues and wax recreations of historical figures are making hilarious living cameos! And since the Lincoln Memorial is also apparently considered a museum, there's also Lincoln! Here's a teaser:

Continue Reading " 'Night at the Museum 2' Teaser Uses Museum Definition Loosely "