Oct 12 2009 Weekend Box Office: 'Couples Retreat' Better Than Not Seeing Anything New, Apparently
Your weekend top five:
1. Couples Retreat - $35.3 million. Given no other new options, audiences did what they always do and paid their $10-12 for whatever abysmal thing they were given.
2. Zombieland - $15 million. More than laughter, I was glad this movie provided me the knowledge that a meek, pathetic, white 20-something could survive in a post-apocalyptic zombie world. Phew!
3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - $12 million, putting the film even further ahead of Meatballs, Meatballs II, and Meatballs III for the title of Highest Grossing Film with the Word 'Meatballs' in the Title.
4. Toy Story 1 & 2 - $7.7 million. I think I'll wait to see if it comes to theaters a third time before I'll see what this "Toy Story" is all about.
5. Paranormal Activity - $7 million. Pretty great considering it's only playing on 160 screens, cost next to nothing to make, and leaves all who see it permanently haunted by a Civil War-era specter.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Oct 5 2009 Weekend Box Office: Zombies Still Popular Subject Matter
Sorry, Drew Barrymore, no Whip It this week:
1. Zombieland - $25 million. Killing zombies will always be a big crowd pleaser. At least until the zombies populations take over; then we'll probably pander more to them with brain-centric plots.
2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - $16.7 million. As school cafeterias have proven time and time again, even a chance of meatballs is enough to pull in crowds. The chance of a flimsy Mexican pizza is pretty good, too.
3. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D - $12.5 million. Not too shabby, considering humankind had long ago experienced the Toy Stories.
4. The Invention of Lying - $7.4 million. Lying??? Was this about BUSH/OBAMA??? [Whichever you prefer is] NOT MY PRESIDENT! Political.
5. Surrogates - $7.3 million. Why see a movie about surrogates when you can stay in and explore the world of Azeroth on your noble mount?
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Oct 2 2009 NEW! RELEASES!
These movies come out in theaters this weekend. Will YOU see one of them?
The Invention of Lying
Director: Ricky Gervais, Matt Robinson
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Louis CK, Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, John Hodgman, Jason Bateman, Christopher Guest--all those laff-'em-up types
Good if you want to see: a humorous account of the first person to lie in a world devoid of untruth; The Office co-creator's big screen directing debut; ATHEIST PROPAGANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Zombieland
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Good if you want to see: a road buddy comedy mixed with zombie horror; Michael Cera's chief competition for Meek, Awkward Performance of the Decade; zombie killin'.
Whip It
Director: Drew Barrymore the Director
Starring: Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore the Actress
Good if you want to see: the girl from E.T.'s directorial debut; girls rollerskating and knocking each other down, with a plot; a less sensational Rollerball, with Juno instead of Chris Klein or James Caan.
Jul 28 2009 'Toy Story 1 & 2 (in 3D Now!)' Teaser
With Toy Story and Toy Story 2 returning to screens in Gimmick-Vision Disney Digital 3D for a limited, two week engagement, Pixar has released a brief trailer to remind you that, come October, you can finally see the beloved films as they were never meant to be seen: with depth! As you can see in the above still, it gets pretty weird when Buzz finally reveals his feelings for Woody and completely exposes his lower half:
Apr 1 2009 Toy Story 1 & 2 & (Trailer for) 3 Coming to Theaters in Three Dimensions
Fans of Pixar's Toy Story franchise and action along the Z-axis, everything will be coming together for you this fall. Disney has announced that, for a limited time beginning October 2nd, both Toy Story movies will be re-released as a newly-rendered 3-D double-feature. And if that's not enough, the films will be preceded by the first trailer for Toy Story 3. By my calculations, that's about 2.2 Toy Stories for the price of one! What a deal, people. Unless it ends up these jerks may you pay more since it's a double-feature, in which case I'll get back to you with some updated figures and we can decide from there if it's still a worth leaving the house for.
Toy Story 3D Double Feature on October 2nd! [Coming Soon]
Feb 4 2008 'WALL-E' Superbowl Spot by Pixar, the 'Toy Story' Guys
When Jurassic Park was coming out, I don't remember the trailers beginning with E.T. entering a movie theater, and, likewise, the commercials to Schindler's List didn't begin with Indiana Jones thoughtfully gazing into the distance as he recalled the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Besides not making any sense, it would have been completely unnecessary given the brand power inherent in the name Steven Spielberg. Similarly, I would have thought that after the huge success of Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles Cars, and Ratatouille, the Pixar name would be enough of an endorsement without whipping out Buzz Lightyear and Woody for the Superbowl WALL-E commercial. I guess it's sort of cute in a "Wink-wink! Remember Toy Story?! That was us!" sort of way.
Continue Reading " 'WALL-E' Superbowl Spot by Pixar, the 'Toy Story' Guys "
Jan 25 2008 'Toy Story' Entering the THIRD-DIMENSION
What's the most annoying things about movies of the past? If you said it's that they don't somehow continually update themselves to maintain relevancy, you're right. I mean, have you tried watching a black & white movie? Yikes, it's like I'm trapped in a newspaper! (Speaking of which--how about reading? Yuck!)
Thankfully, like that glorious colorization of Miracle on 34th Street, Pixar has decided to technologically update the Toy Story series, re-releasing the film in three-dimensions!
As part of an aggressive move by the studio to turn more of its toons into 3-D releases, company will convert "Toy Story" into the format and re-release the pic in theaters on Oct. 2, 2009. Its sequel will get the same makeover and bow Feb. 12, 2010.
Hopefully, when the time comes, Meet the Spartans can use a similar technology to update their pop culture references. I mean, I can't imagine a time when a Deal or No Deal reference won't be funny, but it might be improved if it's updated to Dollars 4 Dignity or whatever the big game show is at that point. And in 3-D.
'Toy Story' gets 3-D makeover [Variety]
