Blog Archives

the uk has bad taste in movies, but …

Posted on by
Reply

It was just two weeks ago when Mamma Mia became the highest grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom.  Almost immediately after, Americans made fun of the Brits because they often turn up their noses at us.

Now, we Americans have more material against England, in terms of taste in movies. Jim Carrey’s Yes Man topped the box office in the UK.  It was followed by, in order, Bedtime Stories, Australia, Madagascar 2 and Twilight.

If you look at all five films, you’ll notice that all of them are pretty bad.  Some Americans like each, but they don’t have the high quality Marley &… Crap.  I guess the USA vs. UK taste in movies argument is shot because of the juggernaut that is Owen Wilson’s Marley & Me.

At least America has better food than the UK – even if we stole most of our food from other countries.

aniston & pitt reunite – kind of

Posted on by
Reply

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, as I’m sure you know, were split up by Angelina Jolie.  The media thinks.

I don’t think we know the particulars of the Aniston-Pitt relationship before they were divorced and Pitt left for Jolie, but for the sake of this story, let’s just say that they were split up by Jolie.

With that established, Aniston and Pitt were reunited on Christmas this year via the box office, when both of their films broke the record for top-Christmas day release.  Aniston’s Marley and Me mad $14.8 million Thursday, and was closely followed by Pitt’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which raked in $11.8 million.

According to Variety, both films exceeded their opening day expectations by 40-50%.

Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories also pulled in an impressive $10.5 million, which was followed by $8.5 million for Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie.

The other big release on Christmas day was Scarlett Johhanson and Samuel L. Jackson’s The Spirit – which dramatically underperformed by only making $4 million.

Recession?  The movie market doesn’t reflect a recession.

movies to see on dec. 25

Posted on by
Reply

As I’ve written in this space previously, I’m very excited for this season’s films to come out.  The big day is tomorrow, and that means I’ve been devouring pretty much every review out there.

Kate Winslet is in two very strong films, both of which she is expected to pick up an Oscar nomination for.  Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in a very unique film.  And we also have Leo DiCaprio and Winslet reuniting in a film directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty), who is Winslet’s husband.

Here are the films you should be aware of, and for reviews of each you can either head over to Rolling Stone to read Peter Travers or visit RogerEbert.com.  Those are the two best critics, in my opinion.  But I’ll provide different reviews of each movie listed in the hyperlinked text.

Here are the films that you will hear a lot more about in the coming days and weeks…

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Pitt ages backwards, and Blanchette ages forward. The beginning and end of the film should be especially interesting, given the age differential.  Roger Ebert only gave this two-and-a-half stars, though.

- Valkryie – This has got pretty good reviews.  I hope it does well because I’m one of the few that still thinks Tom Cruise is a pretty good actor.  He seems willing to take risks too, which I like.

- Revolutionary Road - Features DiCaprio and Winslet as an unhappy married couple in the 1950s.

- The Reader - Features Winslet as a German woman during the Holocaust.  She has an affair with a 15-year-old boy.  This film is supposed to be great.

- Bedtime Stories - Adam Sandler stars in this Disney film.

- The Wrestler - Quietly could be the best film this year. 

- Gran Torino – Clint Eastwood reportedly says his good-bye to acting in this role, which could win him an Academy Award.

- Marley and Me – Conan O’Brien said that this film almost made him cry, which is good enough for me.

- The Spirit - I’ve been seeing the trailers for a solid two months now, and I have no idea what this is about.  That’s not a good thing, according to Mr. Roger Ebert.

Enjoy the holidays and the snow they’ve brought, everyone.  And if you tire of being with family, come back and check out some of our archives.