I was right. Not too much to gloat about though because no one needs to be a psychic to know that “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” would be a huge box office hit. Transformers 2 might be on its second weekend but it managed to hold on to the number one spot at the North American box office. It was a close call between “Transformers” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” with figures pointing to a tie at first with both Paramount Pictures and Century Fox studios giving out estimates of $42.5 million as the movies’ earnings. After the final count though “Transformers” came out on top with $42.3 million and “Ice Age” $41.7 million, a mere $600K difference in revenues. Transformers so far has had a good run with total sales of $293.4 million just in North America and a total of $593.8 million worldwide sales. We can expect the movie to continue racking up ticket sales at a pretty good pace since it’s still just on its twelfth day. With the good turn out you can be sure cinemas worldwide will continue playing it for several weeks more.
Other movies that made it to the top of the weekend box office include:
#3 “Public Enemies” – Universal $25,271,675
#4 “The Proposal” – Disney $12,857,482
#5 “The Hangover” – Warner Bros.
#6 “Up” – Disney $6,521,389
#7 “My Sister’s Keeper” – Warner Bros. $5,788,327
#8 “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” – Sony $2,534,228
#9 “Year One” – Sony $2,323,843
#10 “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” – Fox $2,043,288
Night at The Museum Tops Terminator at Box Office
I was one of those that helped Night at the Museum 2 grab that number one spot at the box office this weekend but am really surprised that it managed to overshadow Terminator. Of course, I shouldn’t really be especially since I am one of those who plan to see Terminator this coming weekend instead having preferred to see the other movie. Just goes to show that people for the most part still do put their kids wishes ahead of their own. Besides how can a PG-13 movie win against a PG movie when your kids and nephews aren’t teenagers yet?
The bad news for Terminator though is that even without considering Night at the Museum’s performance it didn’t do that well in the box office, at least considering the amount of money poured into it. During the five days that it’s been running it has only earned a total of $67.2 million. It took $200 million to make the film. According to Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman they are not disappointed with the figures at all since they know that the sci-fi flick has a narrowly defined niche audience.
The weekend box office closed with “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” at No. 1 with $70 million, “Terminator Salvation” at No. 2 with $53.8 million, “Star Trek” slipping to No. 3 (not surprising since it’s already the movie’s 3rd weekend), and “Angels and Demons” at No. 4.
Watchmen Reviews Now Out
Watchmen is now officially a “must watch” movie of this year. Moviegoers apparently agree as the box office reflects. Watchmen debuted this weekend and automatically hit the No. 1 spot at the box office with $55.2 million. So far it has the biggest opening this year.
So box office has given its nod but what about the critics? Quite frankly I can’t give a review yet since I have yet to see the movie but believe I’m going to remedy that problem this week. So far here’s what other reviewers had to say.
Long story short, if you’re not a fan of the book and can tolerate unintentional camp, give it a try. It’s not terrible. If you are a fan, try not to get your hopes up too much; just enjoy it for what it is. Zachary Lee of StudentPrintz.com
The film had outsized ambition, an obvious passion for the source material and some truly great moments…but long chunks where it feels somewhat hollow. I found myself wondering how anyone who hadn’t read the book could hang in for the loooong haul of the movie. Geoff Boucher of LATimes
Snyder does an overall good job with this depressing world… A problem that Snyder does have, though, is in elongating scenes. The first half of the movie is plagued by an overabundance of dialogue. It may be necessary in order to set the stage for a complex plotline, but it seems like Snyder simply refused to cut certain parts; perhaps blinded by his devotion to the novel. Antonio Hernandez of the RoundupNews
Still a gorgeous film in most senses, ‘Watchmen’ is best praised for knowing how to express itself. If you don’t agree with the viewpoint one character espouses there’s an eloquence that makes you listen. More weaknesses could be dredged up, but the strength of purpose and fascination of the players in ‘Watchmen’ makes me forgetful of criticism. Rewriting things as stable as facts, it arrives at a rarely expressed vision. Star Community
There you go. Yet again reading other people’s reviews won’t tell you how you’ll really like it because it all depends on your preference…Faithful or not? The eternal question for films anything adapted from books and comic books. At least they all said that the movie was enjoyable and had good scenes now its up to you to see just how much enjoyable it is.
Hannah Monta Rocking the Box Office
Hannah Montana: The Movie has proven that Miley Cyrus is indeed the most popular teenage girl today as it landed the number one spot in the North American box-office last weekend with a total of $32,324,487 worth of tickets sold during the three day weekend.
Not surprisingly the movie was mobbed by young girls ranging from toddlers (2yrs old) to teenagers (17yrs old). I guess the fact that many fans had to be accompanied by their moms of course helped boost the ticket sales.
Disney is of course very please with the results and as Chuck Viane, Disney’s president of domestic theatrical distribution said, “Outside of Wow! what can you say?” They also expressed surprise at the movie’s success but considering the success of the previous Hannah Montana movie I can’t help but think that the surprise is a bit contrived.The movie is the first Hannah Montana non-concert movie. The last movie, “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour,” was opened just a mill shy of thisone last year and ended up with a total of $65 million in total. It is now hailed as the top grossing movie concert of all time. With this record we can be sure that this new movie will be doing equally well if not better.
As for the plot of the movie anyone who’s seen the tv show knows what to expect.
Gran Torino: More Than Dirty Harry
Who doesn’t love Clint Eastwood? Men admire his tough characters. Women gush over his manliness. It is always a win-win situation for this veteran of the movies. With his latest stint in the movies, any doubts as to his versatility and star power are certainly dispelled.
The advertising posters for the move Gran Torino portray the usual scowling face of Clint Eastwood, giving the impression that his Dirty Harry character would be coming alive on screen yet again. However, even Eastwood himself says that the movie is more than the bad boy dirty Harry image he became famous for.
Gran Torino is all about a recently widowed Korean War veteran named Walt Kowalski, whose greatest challenge at the moment is to sit back and watch his neighborhood evolve. The issue of race is at the center of this movie as much as the struggle of one person as he recalls his own dark deeds in the past.
And where did the title come from? Eastwood’s character, Kowalski, has this most prized possession of his sitting in his garage – a 1972 Gran Torino.
I have not seen the movie – but I will definitely see it as soon as I can – but judging from the trailer and what other people have been saying, Gran Torino is something worth watching. It is bold, it does not hold anything back. Just try listening for all the racial slurs that you can catch and you will know what I mean. Probably not for those with delicate sensibilities. But that’s Dirty Harry for you.