A Perspective On Hollywood Hype

Take note, Lloyd has put on his press hat for this post!

It is no secret that the latest James Cameron movie Avatar is making tons and tons of money. It's recently been named the highest-grossing film worldwide of all time and the second highest-grossing film in U.S. box office history. It comes in behind another Cameron hit, Titanic.

But, if you judge the success of a film by the number of tickets sold domestically, the sci-flick doesn't even crack the top 25! As a matter of fact, when looking at tickets sold, Avatar ranks below John Travolta's Grease.

The bottom line is this, more money does not mean more moviegoers.

To get a true read on the popularity of a movie, it's best to look at how many people actually saw the movie, rather than how much money a movie brought in. When looking at ticket sales for movies, we discover a very different story.

#1 movie of all time was released 75 years ago!

Avatar is #26 on this list.

The Book of Eli

Rated R for some brutal violence and language.
Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

In the not-too-distant future, some 30 years after the final war, a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once the United States of America. Empty cities, broken highways, seared earth all around him are the marks of catastrophic destruction. There's no civilization and there's no law. The roads belong to gangs that would murder a man for his shoes, an ounce of water, or for nothing at all.

But, they're no match for a traveler named Eli.

Eli, played by Denzel Washington, seeks only peace. But, if challenged, he will cut his attackers down before they realize their fatal mistake. It's not his life he guards so fiercely, but his hope for the future. It's a hope he's carried and protected for 30 years and he's determined to realize it. Driven by this commitment and guided by his belief in something greater than himself, Eli does what he must, in order to survive...and continue.

He's a warrior...not by choice...but by necessity.

Record Setting Holiday Weekend!

Avatar Tops Record-Setting Weekend!

The final weekend of the 2009 Box Office season has come and gone in a big way! Not only was it Christmas weekend, but the weekend also brought a huge Christmas present for Hollywood movie makers in the form of a record-setting weekend at the box office. The weekend total of approximately $278 million smashes the old mark of roughly $253 million set in July of 2008. That weekend The Dark Knight premiered.

Avatar is the box office champ again this weekend. With an estimated $75 million over the weekend, its domestic gross to date is boosted to $212 million. Moviegoers also enjoyed the reinvention of an old detective named Sherlock Holmes as the latest Robert Downey Jr. flick pulled in an estimated $65.4 million which put it in second place. Also, in the area of the record books, Sherlock Holmes set a new record for a Christmas debut by netting $24.9 million on Friday alone.

Coming in third place at the Christmas weekend box office, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel raked in $50.2 million over the weekend. Since opening on Wednesday the singing chipmunk trio pulled in a total of $77.1 million.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

PG for mild rude humor.
Running Time: 1 hour 28 minutes

David Seville and his chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, are back!

No one screams "Alvin!" better than Dave and in this Squeakquel, he once again has plenty to scream about. This time around Dave ends up in the hospital in a full body cast. Of course he's there thanks to the antics of Alvin. While Dave recuperates, Alvin, Simon and Theodore find themselves in school. It seems Dave wants them to live a normal chipmunk-kid life. That means an introduction to high school life. Aside from the usual high school bumps "different" kids find along the way, everything seems to be going okay. Sure, they really don't want to go to school, but soon they start fitting in. At least Alvin really starts to fit in.

Then, just when everything seems to be going perfectly,
the Chipettes show up on the scene!

Sherlock Holmes

PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material
Running Time: 2 hours 14 minutes

It's the return of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous investigator, Sherlock Holmes! In this adaptation of Lionel Wigram's comic book series, writer/director Guy Ritchie casts Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock and Jude Law as his sidekick Dr. Watson. This time around we not only see the super-sleuth detective solve a crime, but we also see his fighting skills come to life too.

After a string of brutal, ritualistic murders, Holmes and Watson arrive on the scene just in time to save the latest victim and uncover the killer - the unrepentant Lord Blackwood. As he approaches his scheduled hanging, Blackwood, who has terrorized inmates and jailers alike with his seeming connection to dark and powerful forces, warns Holmes that death has no power over him and, in fact, his execution plays right into Blackwood's plans.

How will Sherlock Holmes bring down his new nemesis?

Avatar

PG-13 for intense battle sequences.
Running Time: 2 Hours 40 minutes

Avatar boasts as a live action film with a new generation of special effects taking the moviegoer into a world where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads an epic battle to save a civilization.

The story's hero is Jake Sully, a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. Bitter and disillusioned, he's still a warrior at heart. All Jake ever wanted was something worth fighting for. He suddenly finds himself in the place he least expected - a distant world. He's been recruited to join an expedition to the moon Pandora, which corporate interests are strip-mining for a mineral worth $20 billion per kilogram on Earth.

But, once in his Avatar, Jake has a change of heart.

Invictus

PG-13 for brief strong language.
Running Time: 2 hours 12 minutes

Invictus tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

Based on the John Carlin book entitled The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed The World, Invictus is directed by Clint Eastwood.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

PG-13 for some violence and action.
Running Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

In the second installment of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, the romance between mortal and vampire takes off to a new level as Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of. But, as she finds herself searching for Edward, she also finds herself in more trouble than ever before.

In New Moon Bella is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love Edward Cullen. But, her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with Jacob Black. Suddenly Bella finds herself drawn into the world of werewolves. She quickly discovers werewolves are the ancestral enemies of the vampires and now she finds her loyalties tested.

Whom will she choose?

Planet 51

PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor.
Running Time: 1 hour 31 minutes

American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker, lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. But, to his surprise, he finds the planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world reminiscent of a cheerfully innocent 1950's America. Adding to the twist of events, the only thing these little green men fear is that their world will be overrun by alien invaders...like Chuck!

With the help of his robot companion Rover and his new friend Lem, Chuck must navigate his way through the dazzling, but bewildering, landscape of Planet 51 in order to escape becoming a permanent part of the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum.

The Blind Side

PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.
Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes

A poor under-educated 344 pound African-American teenager in Memphis, whose father was murdered and whose mother was a crack addict, is shuffled through the public school system, despite his low grade point average and absenteeism. After seeing him walking along the side of the road on a cold and damp night, Leigh Anne Touhy is stirred with compassion to take him into their home.

In football, as in life, the value we place on people changes with the rules of the games they play.

2012

PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language.
Running Time: 2 hours 38 minutes

Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists and governments. 2012 is a movie which revolves around a family who goes on vacation in December 2012. Why is this significant? It coincides with the close of the Mayan calendar.

Just what will happen on December 21, 2012...

A Christmas Carol - 2009

PG for scary sequences and images.
Running Time: 1 hour 36 minutes

Disney's A Christmas Carol, a multi-sensory thrill ride re-envisioned by Academy Award winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, goes after the fantasy essence of the classic Charles Dickens tale. Not only is this an animated version of the long favorite flick, but it's also filmed in 3D motion picture technology.

Of course the film centers around the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Jim Carrey, who barks commands at his faithful clerk played by Gary Oldman. Colin Firth plays Scrooge's cheery nephew who has much hope for his miserable Uncle Ebenezer. When ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come take Scrooge on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he opens his heart to undo years of ill will before it's too late.

Christmas Arrives Early

Finally, after a number of weeks where it seemed all Hollywood had to offer were B level movies, we have a weekend where there's something new to see on the big screen. It's been a long haul since the so-called summer blockbuster flicks hit the big screen. Since then box office dollar numbers are down, and people have been searching for something worth seeing.

With that in mind, there are four, yes count them, FOUR new movies hitting the big screen in wide release this weekend. One other movie worth mentioning opens in limited release. This of course also begs the question...

What will happen with Michael Jackson's This is It?

I have a feeling it will quickly fall down the top ten list. For more information on the Jackson movie see two of my previous posts...

• Movie Review: Michael Jackson's This Is It
• Jackson To Get More Screen Time

One of the big movies opening this weekend unwraps Christmas early! It's Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol.

Closing Out The 2009 Movie Year!

I love it when Lloyd puts on his Press Hat! It means he's been in news gathering mode for movies.

It's been a rather dismal time at the movies during the past few weeks as Hollywood has been dumping a number of sub-par flicks onto the market. But, with Thanksgiving on the horizon get ready for a string of what movie makers hope will be blockbuster hits!

Some of the more notable flicks coming soon...

• A Christmas Carol
• Men Who Stare At Goats
• 2012
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon
• Old Dogs
• Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel
• Sherlock Holmes