Weekend Boxoffice Chart

[Evil Avatar]

Three new films, including the CGI animated Little Red Riding Hood adventure, Hoodwinked, took the top three spots on the Weekend Boxoffice chart for the weekend of January 13th to January 16th.


Hoodwinked $16.6/$16.6
Glory Road $16.4/$16.4
Last Holiday $15.7/$15.7
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe $12.2/$263.4
Hostel $11.6/$36.8
Fun With Dick and Jane $10.3/$94.2
King Kong $9.2/$204.6
Tristan & Isolde $7.8/$7.8
Brokeback Mountain $7.0/$32.0
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 $6.7/$74.6
Munich $6.1/$34.0
Memoirs of a Geisha $5.4/$47.6

[OSX]

Slow week. Looking forward to Transamerica this week, but just nothing out to warrent stepping foot in a theater last weekend. Shame.

[EternalGamer]

So does this mean Brokeback Mountain finally got a wide release because it still isn't playing locally. Not that that suprises me much. I have pretty much had to drive all the way to New Orleans almost everytime I wanted to see a new film in the last year (and now thanks to Katrina even that isn't an option).

Dan

[Kelegacy]

I need to go see Munich. Also looking forward to Capote (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379725/). It's Oscar season...do you smell it?

I am a huge Seymour Hoffman fan. He's a great underrated actor. Also, I think this is the first time Harper Lee is being portrayed on the big screen. Did you know she was a grade school classmate with Truman Capote and helped him research In Cold Blood? I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time ever right now, and liking it.

[thecrazyd]

Glory Road just sounds dirty to me.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I also want to see Capote and Transamerica. Brokeback Mountain was pretty good - I'm hoping that it continues to stay on the charts, and hopefully it goes up as it enters more theatres.

[MFAC]

Any word on if The New World is going to be any good?

[Kelegacy]

Any word on if The New World is going to be any good?
No, it's not.

[DeadPixel]

Went to Cheaper by the Dozen 2 for the 3rd time this weekend. Crossing fingers they'll make another one for my 2 hour nap away from the kids.

[OSX]

I need to go see Munich. Also looking forward to Capote (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379725/). It's Oscar season...do you smell it?

I am a huge Seymour Hoffman fan. He's a great underrated actor. Also, I think this is the first time Harper Lee is being portrayed on the big screen. Did you know she was a grade school classmate with Truman Capote and helped him research In Cold Blood? I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time ever right now, and liking it.

Capote was awesome my friend. If Hoffman dosent get the Oscar this time I will lose all faith in the Academy. He got shut out for Magnolia and Almost Famous but this time he will not be ignored. In Cold Blood is actually the basis for the movie's entire plot, so if you liked it, you'll be in for a treat as the movie is basically the story of how he wrote it. Harper Lee is portrayed wonderfully, and it is even the probable speculation of most scholars that he probably "helped" on large sections of the novel. Not taking anything away from Lee of course. Its required High School reading for a reason.

And I dont care about the ribbing I get from most of my friends. Brokeback Mountain was amazing.

[Kelegacy]

Capote was awesome my friend. If Hoffman dosent get the Oscar this time I will lose all faith in the Academy. He got shut out for Magnolia and Almost Famous but this time he will not be ignored. In Cold Blood is actually the basis for the movie's entire plot, so if you liked it, you'll be in for a treat as the movie is basically the story of how he wrote it. Harper Lee is portrayed wonderfully, and it is even the probable speculation of most scholars that he probably "helped" on large sections of the novel. Not taking anything away from Lee of course. Its required High School reading for a reason.

And I dont care about the ribbing I get from most of my friends. Brokeback Mountain was amazing.
Thanks, sounds like a great recommendation. I don't see it playing around me yet, which is obvious because it's a good movie. Drivel rules the day.

How have you seen it? Was it already out and I just missed it? Shi-at.

[EternalGamer]

I did research on the rumor of Capote's involvement in To Kill A Mockingbird for a prof last semester. Actually it turns out that there is only one source for the rumor that Capote ghost wrote sections of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that is George Plimpton's autobiography in which Pearl Kazin Bell is quoted as saying she was "always certain" that Capote wrote it. However in the same paragraph she backsteps quite a bit and by the end she ends up saying that he "probably" had "some influence" in it's writing. No one else in Plimpton's book thinks this to be the case, nor could I ever find any evidence to back up Kazin's claim that Capote himself said he ghost wrote it. Another reasons you shouldn't trust everything you read on Wikipedia. :)

Dan

[OSX]

Well, I live in a little Canadian city called Calgary. Its art scene is small, but burgeoning, and on 8th Avenue (the Entertainment District) there are two indie theaters directly across the street from each other. To give you an idea of what they are about, when I saw Brokeback Mountain, The Globe Theater on the south side of the street was playing Brokeback and Capote on its two screens, and north side Uptown was playing Goodbye and Goodnight (also awesome) Pride and Prejudice, Capote (one night only, last weekend) and had a private debut screening for a Calgary independent project. Makes for easy access to the movies not deemed "good" by the masses who warranted Underworld: Evolution being made.

I did research on the rumor of Capote's involvement in To Kill A Mockingbird for a prof last semester. Actually it turns out that there is only one source for the rumor that Capote ghost wrote sections of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that is George Plimpton's autobiography in which Pearl Kazin Bell is quoted as saying she was "always certain" that Capote wrote it. However in the same paragraph she backsteps quite a bit and by the end she ends up saying that he "probably" had "some influence" in it's writing. No one else in Plimpton's book thinks this to be the case, nor could I ever find any evidence to back up Kazin's claim that Capote himself said he ghost wrote it. Another reasons you shouldn't trust everything you read on Wikipedia. :)

Dan

Alas, you've caught me. But, as I'm sure you've read Breakfast At Tiffany's, some of the stylings sound somewhat the same in parts, making that brief blurb on Wikipedia quite easy to swallow for me. But it makes sense he had some influence, if not as directly as I had implied. Oh well.

[Malovech]

Well, I live in a little Canadian city called Calgary. Its art scene is small, but burgeoning, and on 8th Avenue (the Entertainment District) there are two indie theaters directly across the street from each other. To give you an idea of what they are about, when I saw Brokeback Mountain, The Globe Theater on the south side of the street was playing Brokeback and Capote on its two screens, and north side Uptown was playing Goodbye and Goodnight (also awesome) Pride and Prejudice, Capote (one night only, last weekend) and had a private debut screening for a Calgary independent project. Makes for easy access to the movies not deemed "good" by the masses who warranted Underworld: Evolution being made.


Makes you want to move to Toronto doesn't it cowpoke?

[OSX]

Not really. I suppose I could live there and still get my $400 prosperity check, but who has the time? ;)

[vivafletcher]

Nice to see that King Kong is close to making its money back in domestic b.o. Not that it would ever lose money considering worldwide gross and DVD, but I think it deserved better receipts than it's gotten so far.

When I go to the theater, I tend to like big budget blockbuster movies more than "artistic" films, and I still liked Capote a lot. Good film-making is good film-making. Period.

Oh, and no matter what you hear during award season, I thought "A History of Violence" was garbage. I've seen more suspenseful moments in Meredith Baxter-Birney vehicles on "Lifetime" and better plot twists by playing games of "Clue".

[bobbler]

Did anyone see Hoodwinked? That looked cute; I wanted to see it but didn't get a chance.

[fitbabits]

I need to go see Munich.
And see it you should. The wife and I went last weekend and it's a pretty thrilling ride. I'm still trying to make up for taking her to see The 40 Year-Old Virgin. :o

[Kelegacy]

Did anyone see Hoodwinked? That looked cute; I wanted to see it but didn't get a chance.
Go hang out in the Animal Crossing threads if you want cute, Sally.

[Mozain]

Not really. I suppose I could live there and still get my $400 prosperity check, but who has the time? ;)

Oh hehe yes!.... Fellow Calgarian here, can't wait for that aswell ^_^.

[EternalGamer]

And see it you should. The wife and I went last weekend and it's a pretty thrilling ride. I'm still trying to make up for taking her to see The 40 Year-Old Virgin. :o

Yeah... 40 Year Old Virgin.. ouch. I felt like I was unknowingly duped into watching one of those MTV movies. The jokes were incredibly forced, obnoxious, and loud and it had no respect for any of its characters, especially the main one, who became incredibly naive or stupid or socially inept but only when a particular gag required him to be so. What perplexed me the most, though was how this incredibly low brow sex comedy suddenly felt it appropriate to reinforce the "no sex outside of marriage" rule at the end for no apparent reason at all. Oh and that Hair spoof at the end was so out of place and mishandled that it made my skin crawl.

Someone else mentioned History of Violence, and I'd like to throw a postive word in for it. I thought did a fantastic job of exploring the very concept of violence and how it runs in circles, and proliferates both outward and inward, both in personal relationships and in impersonal ones. The theme is dealt with in dozens of fascinating yet subtle ways exploring its emotional, sexual and physical attributes. It doubles back on itself frequently with new insights and I thought it was fascinating how Cronenberg used the evolving theme from scene to scene as a way of transition. An example of this transitioning is going from the psychological "monster" in the opening scene to the child's nightmare about monsters or the kid's experience with the "violence" of domination in sports to the next scene of sports themed sex play between the husband and wife. Not the best film I've seen this year, but certainly an interesting one that is worth exploring more than once. I look forward to revisiting it on DVD.

Dan

[OSX]

I would also like to stick my neck out for Viggo. Cronenberg had alot to prove after such films as....*shudder*...Crash (the bad one). But I watched it. And I loved it. It basically had stock scenes, but all those scenes were the best scenes ever put to film. Best fight scene. Best death. Best father/son conflict scene. Best sex scene. Best everything. Was an awesome piece of work. And right at the end, I said to myself, wow, it would be really nice if it ended right now...and then it did. I floated out of the theater.

[KarmaGhost]

Am I the only one that thinks Hookwinked looks like a terrible, low budget film? I understand that not every CGI film can look like a Pixar or Dreamworks production, but with writing such as "You again? What do I have to do? Get a restraining order?" featured in the trailer... I mean, is that the best you can do?

Now, before people start jumping down my throat, telling me that it's just a kid's movie, let me say that the success of movies such as The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story have been due to the amazing story telling and visuals, as well as the smart humor that might go over kids' heads, but keep their parental chauffeurs interested and entertained.

[EternalGamer]

I had forgotten about the ending and your right. Without getting into specific spoilers, it had the perfect balance of a conclusion with a fascinating tension still residing. It's nice when a film is insync with the direction you feel it should go like that. It doesn't happen very often. I remember the last time that happened to me was when I saw "The Pledge." About half way through I thought, "this film would be a lot more interesting if they made "x" the focus, and that's exactly what ended up happening.

I'm not a big Crash fan either, actually I'm not much of a fan of Cronenberg overall. The History of Violence was far better than any of his previous films I have seen. However, I kinda dug eXistenz and the lengths it was willing to go in to push the epistemological crises and the way it played with its audience. I thought it did a much better job exploring the subject matter than "The Matrix" did, but as a result it was also a lot more "messy" and less stylistic.

Dan

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Thanks, sounds like a great recommendation. I don't see it playing around me yet, which is obvious because it's a good movie. Drivel rules the day.

How have you seen it? Was it already out and I just missed it? Shi-at.

As far as I know the movie was out already. Then again movie releases have been odd the last couple of months. Transamerica supposedly came out, but then it has popped back up on the release list a few times. Brokeback sort of did the same thing. I think what's happening is the Oscar/awards dance - movies are getting released here and there to qualify them for the awards shows that take place in Jan/Feb. It's confusing to say the least.


The Crash that you guys are talking about isn't the one that came out this past year right? That was an amazing film. One of the year's best that I fear will be overlooked because it didn't come out in November/December.

[mister_slim]

Now, before people start jumping down my throat, telling me that it's just a kid's movie, let me say that the success of movies such as The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story have been due to the amazing story telling and visuals, as well as the smart humor that might go over kids' heads, but keep their parental chauffeurs interested and entertained.
Pixar amazes me with the craftsmanship they demonstrate in every element of their movies. It's obvious that every word and every bit of animation is carefully thought out (which really points out that certain console manufacturers make ludicrous claims about the power of their system). Anyway, it's almost like Pixar is the Apple of animation or something.

[EternalGamer]

No we are referrring to Cronenberg's Crash (1996). A film about people who have a sexual fetish that involves car wrecks.

This year's Crash, was, I agree, one of the year's best films. It was written by Paul Haggis, who also wrote the adaptation of last years Million Dollar Baby. Out of the films I have seen thus far, it's a toss up between Crash and Syriana as to which would get my vote for best film.

Dan

[Mason]

Went to Cheaper by the Dozen 2 for the 3rd time this weekend. Crossing fingers they'll make another one for my 2 hour nap away from the kids.
What do they call your level of hell again?

[phantomhitman]

anyone seen fun with dick and jane? I do not want an in depth view of how morals or ethics come in to play or about the talent of Jim Carey of lately. Just a honest opinion of it, is it a fun movie to see?

[vivafletcher]

I'm surprised that some folks like "Violence" so much but to each their own, I guess. I thought the plot was too predictable but the characters too unpredictable at times. I suppose some could see that as being "complex" but really they seemed poorly developed. It felt like a lackluster sequel to a really great (but nonexistent) movie-- and I found myself wanting to see that movie instead.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Pixar amazes me with the craftsmanship they demonstrate in every element of their movies. It's obvious that every word and every bit of animation is carefully thought out (which really points out that certain console manufacturers make ludicrous claims about the power of their system). Anyway, it's almost like Pixar is the Apple of animation or something.


Well both companies are sort of run by Steve Jobs.

[DoubleUranium]

I did research on the rumor of Capote's involvement in To Kill A Mockingbird for a prof last semester. Actually it turns out that there is only one source for the rumor that Capote ghost wrote sections of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that is George Plimpton's autobiography in which Pearl Kazin Bell is quoted as saying she was "always certain" that Capote wrote it. However in the same paragraph she backsteps quite a bit and by the end she ends up saying that he "probably" had "some influence" in it's writing. No one else in Plimpton's book thinks this to be the case, nor could I ever find any evidence to back up Kazin's claim that Capote himself said he ghost wrote it. Another reasons you shouldn't trust everything you read on Wikipedia. :)

Dan

If you did research on this contribute it to Wikipedia!

[agentgray]

And I dont care about the ribbing I get from most of my friends. Brokeback Mountain was amazing.
Sir, your double entendre is amazing!

:D

[Ultima Thulian]

Wow. Uwe Boll's "BloodRayne" didn't crack the top ten? I'm shocked. I mean it has great acting and a dircector not destined to burn in the seventh circle of hell, why didn't the movie sell?

[mister_slim]

Wow. Uwe Boll's "BloodRayne" didn't crack the top ten? I'm shocked. I mean it has great acting and a dircector not destined to burn in the seventh circle of hell, why didn't the movie sell?
More importantly, why didn't Boll just make it a porno?

I'd watch that.

[Kelegacy]

More importantly, why didn't Boll just make it a porno?

I'd watch that.
That's because you're a twisted pervert, slim.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

That's because you're a twisted pervert, slim.


Mr. Kettle I presume!

[mister_slim]

That's because you're a twisted pervert, slim.
So twisted I have to screw my pants on in the morning?

[Ultima Thulian]

I dunno, slim has a point. Seeing Michael Madsen in the buff would've made things...uh...interesting.