Bringing new meaning to the term “Hulk smash!”, The Avengers was once again able to surpass expectations at the box office, not only posting the highest weekend gross of all-time, but doing so with a berth of over $30 million from the former-record holder (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two). The movie held up […]
Weekend Box Office: The Avengers smashes record, tops $200M Read More »
More and more these days, major movie stars are compelled to appear in low-budget independent projects because they want to flex their acting muscles — something that higher paying Hollywood productions often don’t allow them to do. As a viewer, I await these occasions because they show you what an actor is really capable of,
Review: “Meeting Evil” Read More »
As everyone expected, yesterday was an Avengers blowout at the box office. But what few predicted (I didn’t) was that the Marvel Comics adaptation could achieve the biggest opening weekend of all-time. That’s almost certainly going to happen now. With a Friday gross of $80.5 million and a likely first weekend of $180 million–over $10 million
Friday Box Office: The Avengers on pace to break all-time opening weekend record Read More »
“The Avengers” should please just about everyone looking to see a group of Marvel characters battling it out with aliens and each other. As for everyone else, it should at least amuse them, too. And it’s the film’s accessibility that becomes a hindrance, as pleasing just about everyone inevitably means thrilling no one. The characters
Review: “The Avengers” Read More »
Sacha Baron Cohen’s in-character publicity tirades are always good for a laugh, and this clip–a mock interview with Larry King–is no exception. If only King were senile enough to be fooled into thinking General Aladeen of Wadiya were real, allowing Cohen to pull a “Borat”-style candid camera gag.
Larry King interviews Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Dictator” Read More »
Countless film bloggers post their lists of best films of the year “so far” at the end of June, because it’s “halftime.” While the occasion may be convenient, it’s also arbitrary — the year being halfway over coincides with nothing relevant to the film industry. Thus, I’ve decided to buck the trend and do three
Pre-Summer Top 5: The best films of the year so far Read More »
There is a potentially huge movie called The Watch releasing this summer that has been floating under the radar. Why? Because the studio, 20th Century Fox, was reticent to promote it under its previous title, Neighborhood Watch, with the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case still making headlines. Well, now the movie has its new title and a redband trailer,
Redband Trailer – The Watch Read More »
Adam Yauch, better known as Beastie Boys rapper MCA, has passed away at 47. That Yauch had recently been fighting cancer was well known. In 2009, he went public with this battle, against a cancerous parotid gland. In addition to making musical hits for decades with the Beastie Boys, Yauch created the film distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories
Adam Yauch, Beastie Boys rapper and Oscilloscope Laboratories co-founder, dead at 47 Read More »
Hello and welcome back to my weekly Box Office Beat column. After a rough weekend of prognosticating last go-around–all four new films underperformed my expectations, one of them (The Five-Year Engagement) by a wide margin–it’s good that my job is easier this weekend. There is only one opener, Marvel’s The Avengers, and the question is
Box Office Beat: Weekend of May 4 Read More »
The official trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man has arrived. The film is directed by (500) Days of Summer helmer Mark Webb, and stars Andrew Garfield as the titular wall crawler. It co-stars Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Dennis Leary, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field. The film marks a reboot for the Marvel franchise, the last incarnation
The Amazing Spider-Man trailer hits the web Read More »
