Haha, I can't remember the last time I actually properly posted this on a Monday. I bet next week i'll push this to Thursday! Soon the prediction+review will be on the same day!
1) Bolt. Prediction = $29.7 million. Result = $26.2 million.
2) Twilight. Prediction = $71.3 million. Result = $69.6 million.
I am a genius. This is definietly has got to be one of the most (if not THE most) accurate prediction I have ever done. Who knew I could pull such numbers out of my ass.
Bolt did very well. It ain't no Madagascar, but it doesn't really have any head-lining voice actors to pay big bucks for. Can't wait for the inevitable sequel.
Twilight did rediculoussssssssssssss. To put things into perspective, the movie cost $37 million to make. What's funny is that for a long time it was questionable whether any sequels were going to be made. I'm really looking forward to seeing how well this does on subsequent weekends. It has a strong formula to be a long-lasting hit on the box office chart (unattainable love ala Titanic), so it'll be interested to see how time treats it. Anyone else find it ironic that the box office take was 69? (Since 69 is something the main characters ain't gonna be doing)
I caught Synecdoche, New York over the weekend. Absolutely INCREDIBLE film, if it doesn't get an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, that'll be the upset of the year. This script... is... insane. This movie is literally like a dream, no seriously. You know how in a great dream there's a strong storyline and really emotional moments, but there's little glimpses of really random-ass things that don't make sense when you wake up, but in your dream-state it totally makes sense. Well that's this movie. There's a shitload of random ass things that really ultimately have no relevance on the surface, but are beautiful subjective matters of inspiration deep down inside. Due to the deep philosophical nature of this movie, I do NOT recommend it for the vast majority of audiences. If your'e dumb, you won't enjoy it. If you're the kind of person to ask ANY question during a movie, you will not enjoy this movie at all. I can easily imagine certain people asking questions every minute about every random thing that happens. I hate those people. So actually, I would recommend that those people go watch this. Hopefully it'll teach them to stfu during a movie. The only sad thing about this movie is what an utter bomb it was :-(. Cost $20 million to make, made $1.6 million :-( :-(. If there really is a black Jesus (Barack?) he'll dedicate more money to letting Charlie Kaufman direct more films.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Movie prediction!
1) Bolt. Prediction = $29.7 million.
2) Twilight. Prediction = $71.3 million.
What's interesting this weekend is that both movies are crossing over a bit into the same target audience. Females + people who can read. By all normal rules any audience crossover is a lose-lose situation, but lucky for these flicks, this is an audience market with money t-o b-u-r-n.
Bolt will do gangbusters.
1) It's Disney
2) Stars Miley Cyrus.
Any of those on their own is enough to be a hit. Combined, it could very well form a black hole... on our wallets! haha
Twilight will do gangbusters.
1) It's based off a book that girls love
2) It has sappy romance (inherently different reason from #1)
This was the winning formula for Titanic (which was based off the bestselling book: The Ship of Ice). Twilight could very well be a contender to knock off Titanic from it's box office throne. Countless repeat viewings from the female market are a given. If the Twilight marketing team can milk it, we'll be seeing this film in the top 10 box office lists for months to come (until the inevitable sequel of course).
In other movie news, I saw an incredibly moving film last night entitled Amal. Upon initial viewing, it was an extremely good film, very solid in all aspects of it's being. But after the screening there was a Q&A with the director and that's when the film started to take on a life of it's own. The director is an incredibly fascinating, sensibly nerdy (as opposed to the fat overweight nerdy-archetype), and is a beautiful storyteller in his adventures of making his FIRST!!!!! film!!!!! As he stripped away to the underlying words of the story that he wanted to tell, the movie become a whole different being, something that can be interpreted uniquely from a wide-variety of viewpoints depending on one's background. Definietly a director I will be keeping an eye on though his last name is unfortunately identical to another famous brown director.
What's moreso interesting is the sudden rise of brown-movies by Western companies. Perhaps a sign of a future mainstream trend?
2) Twilight. Prediction = $71.3 million.
What's interesting this weekend is that both movies are crossing over a bit into the same target audience. Females + people who can read. By all normal rules any audience crossover is a lose-lose situation, but lucky for these flicks, this is an audience market with money t-o b-u-r-n.
Bolt will do gangbusters.
1) It's Disney
2) Stars Miley Cyrus.
Any of those on their own is enough to be a hit. Combined, it could very well form a black hole... on our wallets! haha
Twilight will do gangbusters.
1) It's based off a book that girls love
2) It has sappy romance (inherently different reason from #1)
This was the winning formula for Titanic (which was based off the bestselling book: The Ship of Ice). Twilight could very well be a contender to knock off Titanic from it's box office throne. Countless repeat viewings from the female market are a given. If the Twilight marketing team can milk it, we'll be seeing this film in the top 10 box office lists for months to come (until the inevitable sequel of course).
In other movie news, I saw an incredibly moving film last night entitled Amal. Upon initial viewing, it was an extremely good film, very solid in all aspects of it's being. But after the screening there was a Q&A with the director and that's when the film started to take on a life of it's own. The director is an incredibly fascinating, sensibly nerdy (as opposed to the fat overweight nerdy-archetype), and is a beautiful storyteller in his adventures of making his FIRST!!!!! film!!!!! As he stripped away to the underlying words of the story that he wanted to tell, the movie become a whole different being, something that can be interpreted uniquely from a wide-variety of viewpoints depending on one's background. Definietly a director I will be keeping an eye on though his last name is unfortunately identical to another famous brown director.
What's moreso interesting is the sudden rise of brown-movies by Western companies. Perhaps a sign of a future mainstream trend?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Movie review + Reel Asian Nov.16
BARACK'S LIES - SIZED SPOILER WARNING!
Gah, my internet connection last night was all messed up. Turns out a simple reboot fixed everything. Perhaps I should reboot my computer more frequently than once a month :S
1) Quantum of Solace. Prediction = $62.8 million. Result = $67.5 million.
KA-CHING!! Finally a prediction where i'm not off by $50 million. Looks like it'll do fairly well, ensuring more Daniel Craig Bond's in the future. However there is a part of me hoping that this crash and burned. Word on the street is that Paul Haggis hurried to finish the script before the Writer's Strike began. Further word on the street is that the writing is extremely clunky and unnecessarily complicated. Having a film like this turn into a huge hit only needlessly encourages Hollywood to put profit before quality :-(
The 12th Annual Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend, and oh-my-god did it redeem itself. Hot volunteers (guys/girls/ladyboys alike) and great movies made it all end on a happy high note. Coming into this the festival was 0-2 for feature length films, but now it ends with a score of 3-2. And having seen 3 great films back-to-back only makes it better (thus a final tally of 10-2) (like every Leaf's game!) (where they lose duh).
1) First up at centre ice is Santa Mesa. I think it's a Philipino film. It's that sort of culture where they're sorta brown, maybe a tiny bit Asian, live in slums, sorta like Malaysia. Somewhere in that region, the language doesn't sound funny to the ears. The film has an extremely strong start, very reminiscent of Crash (the Paul Haggis version) (no Cronenberg-style Crash here unfortunately) which sucks you in immediately. Too bad that grip turns into a flimsy effeminate limp wrist of a homosexual male near the first quarter. The lead adult male character has either crappy acting skills, or is dealing with a crappy script, or a combination of both. Either way my high hopes from the start crashed and burned like the Twin Towers (too soon?) and I slowly leaned further down into my seat, preparing myself with a nap-friendly position. The film plods on until the last third where it picks up momentum again and doesn't let go. The final scenes makes the middle dreck more than worthwhile to withstand. Brilliant social commentary on clashing cultures, the essence of family, and the foundations of love itself.
2) Next up at bat was Tiger Spirit. A fantastic documentary not only for it's subject matter, but the personal journey the director herself goes on. She originally sets out on a journey to find whether tigers are extinct in Korea. In doing so, the more she learns about tigers the more allusions she finds to Korean culture (Tiger Balm anyone?). Her quest for tigers becomes a beautiful quest for the Korean spirit which leads to the perfect subject matter of the North and South Koreas. As Allah would have it, destiny struck down from the heavens and she becomes unswirled into peace talks and family reunification meetings between the two countries. An amazing emotional adventure for anyone who was raised on sniffing Tiger Balm and staring at the funny packaging.
3) The last act of the night was the closing gala itself, and a perfect summary for the festival: Adrift In Tokyo. A very hot theme lately in independent films has been a simplification on the traditional Hero's Quest storyline into a 'Quest of Self-Discovery'. This has been handled by white people in the form of Real Time (one of the best trailers this year / heard it's also one of the worst movies). Their yellow counterparts now play their hand with Adrift In Tokyo. While I haven't seen the trailer for this, i'm guessing that this turns Real Time into chop suey (get it? chop suey is asian, haha). Very simple concept but brilliant execution. Great relaxed bantering dialogue between the two leads on their journey as they encounter fascinating characters that not only show internal character development, but also PUSH THE STORY ALONG (a rarity for side-quests in a RPG). Intensely rediculously hilarious moments and a very beautiful ending, this film speaks to the journey we as adults have all embarked on (when we found hair in weird places).
My time at the Reel Asian Film Fest was alot like a journey through Tokyo. It started off very bumpy, not being able to see a movie that I was looking forward to (Monday). It then became moderately enjoyable, having seen a shitty film but equalized it with seeing the best shorts lineup of my entire life. But then it became worserest than before with me not seeing the OTHER film that I was looking forward to (West 32nd).
Wait, now that I think about it, I didn't see ANY of the films that I really wanted to see. I can't believe I just got screwed over again. And while i'm in my captivity of negativity (name that TV show!) the way they gave out prizes was also a total sham. As it's the Year of the Rat, they had a little rat teddy bear that they'd throw out into the crowd. Whoever caught it won a prize! Problems:
1) Rat was always thrown out by absolutely gorgeous Reel Asian reps (nice mix of guys, girls, and ladyboys) (wait, this is actually a benefit)
2) I will counteract #1 by saying that the Rat only reached halfway into the crowd at Innis, and maybe a few meters out from the stage at the Bloor (not to mention the 2nd level seating of course).
3) Vast majority of the prizes were for chicks/ladyboys, consisting primarily of Chanel products.
A conventional prize system of 'ticket number 444 wins!' would've been much more sensible. To give it some charm, a Rat teddy bear would've been good too. People often thought they'd be able to keep the teddy bear and were a bit disappointed that they couldn't. (and to think of the # of people who touched it...)
More complaining: the showtimes listed did NOT mean the time at which the actual presentation (preamble + prizes + speeches + screening) would begin. The time was actually when people would be let into the theatre. E.g. if a showtime was scheduled for a 5 PM start, that'd mean either the VIP or normal people line would be let into the theatre at that time. For the Closing Gala, the showtime was 8:30, the peons (normal people) weren't let in until a bit past that. Very annoying since I thought it'd be fun to line up with the improverished folk (and I got there 30 minutes beforehand). Hope that they better organize the festival in general for next year.
Speaking of next year, this now makes me think of one more thing. Next year is going to be their 13th Festival. Will they actually mention that? Will it be good or will it suddenly be a disaster? How many people died at their fourth festival? What do other Asian festivals do in terms of numbering?
... and I think that's why this year's festival was alot like a drift through Tokyo. It's a turmoil of emotions, but because you're a foreigner you end up with alot of questions.
And much like a drift through Tokyo, you gotta give big-ups to the people who sent you there (assuming it was a trip on good terms). Show some love for VKPR for hooking me up with a press pass, and Reel Asian for letting me leave litter after all the screenings. While waiting in line I would always be reading something, usually the Toronto Star. So I'd bring it into the theatre with me as well to read while I waited for everything to begin. Once the film started, I'd put the newspaper under my seat WITH THE INTENTION of putting it into the garbage afterwards (for the record). I usually forgot lol. And when I went back into the theatre for the screening directly after, there'd be no newspaper under the seat (usually had the same seat). So thanks Reel Asian for letting my forgetfulness litter while attending your screening.
The biggest joke of all is possibly that I got a press pass to begin with. Willing to bet $50 right now that VKPR takes me off their mailing list (make that double or nothing that I get banned from Reel Asian). All proceeds will go towards a fund to get myself on the donor list for the Canadian Film Centre (and gorge myself at their annual barbeque in front of a disgusted Norman Jewison and a drunk Sidney Poiter).
Gah, my internet connection last night was all messed up. Turns out a simple reboot fixed everything. Perhaps I should reboot my computer more frequently than once a month :S
1) Quantum of Solace. Prediction = $62.8 million. Result = $67.5 million.
KA-CHING!! Finally a prediction where i'm not off by $50 million. Looks like it'll do fairly well, ensuring more Daniel Craig Bond's in the future. However there is a part of me hoping that this crash and burned. Word on the street is that Paul Haggis hurried to finish the script before the Writer's Strike began. Further word on the street is that the writing is extremely clunky and unnecessarily complicated. Having a film like this turn into a huge hit only needlessly encourages Hollywood to put profit before quality :-(
The 12th Annual Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend, and oh-my-god did it redeem itself. Hot volunteers (guys/girls/ladyboys alike) and great movies made it all end on a happy high note. Coming into this the festival was 0-2 for feature length films, but now it ends with a score of 3-2. And having seen 3 great films back-to-back only makes it better (thus a final tally of 10-2) (like every Leaf's game!) (where they lose duh).
1) First up at centre ice is Santa Mesa. I think it's a Philipino film. It's that sort of culture where they're sorta brown, maybe a tiny bit Asian, live in slums, sorta like Malaysia. Somewhere in that region, the language doesn't sound funny to the ears. The film has an extremely strong start, very reminiscent of Crash (the Paul Haggis version) (no Cronenberg-style Crash here unfortunately) which sucks you in immediately. Too bad that grip turns into a flimsy effeminate limp wrist of a homosexual male near the first quarter. The lead adult male character has either crappy acting skills, or is dealing with a crappy script, or a combination of both. Either way my high hopes from the start crashed and burned like the Twin Towers (too soon?) and I slowly leaned further down into my seat, preparing myself with a nap-friendly position. The film plods on until the last third where it picks up momentum again and doesn't let go. The final scenes makes the middle dreck more than worthwhile to withstand. Brilliant social commentary on clashing cultures, the essence of family, and the foundations of love itself.
2) Next up at bat was Tiger Spirit. A fantastic documentary not only for it's subject matter, but the personal journey the director herself goes on. She originally sets out on a journey to find whether tigers are extinct in Korea. In doing so, the more she learns about tigers the more allusions she finds to Korean culture (Tiger Balm anyone?). Her quest for tigers becomes a beautiful quest for the Korean spirit which leads to the perfect subject matter of the North and South Koreas. As Allah would have it, destiny struck down from the heavens and she becomes unswirled into peace talks and family reunification meetings between the two countries. An amazing emotional adventure for anyone who was raised on sniffing Tiger Balm and staring at the funny packaging.
3) The last act of the night was the closing gala itself, and a perfect summary for the festival: Adrift In Tokyo. A very hot theme lately in independent films has been a simplification on the traditional Hero's Quest storyline into a 'Quest of Self-Discovery'. This has been handled by white people in the form of Real Time (one of the best trailers this year / heard it's also one of the worst movies). Their yellow counterparts now play their hand with Adrift In Tokyo. While I haven't seen the trailer for this, i'm guessing that this turns Real Time into chop suey (get it? chop suey is asian, haha). Very simple concept but brilliant execution. Great relaxed bantering dialogue between the two leads on their journey as they encounter fascinating characters that not only show internal character development, but also PUSH THE STORY ALONG (a rarity for side-quests in a RPG). Intensely rediculously hilarious moments and a very beautiful ending, this film speaks to the journey we as adults have all embarked on (when we found hair in weird places).
My time at the Reel Asian Film Fest was alot like a journey through Tokyo. It started off very bumpy, not being able to see a movie that I was looking forward to (Monday). It then became moderately enjoyable, having seen a shitty film but equalized it with seeing the best shorts lineup of my entire life. But then it became worserest than before with me not seeing the OTHER film that I was looking forward to (West 32nd).
Wait, now that I think about it, I didn't see ANY of the films that I really wanted to see. I can't believe I just got screwed over again. And while i'm in my captivity of negativity (name that TV show!) the way they gave out prizes was also a total sham. As it's the Year of the Rat, they had a little rat teddy bear that they'd throw out into the crowd. Whoever caught it won a prize! Problems:
1) Rat was always thrown out by absolutely gorgeous Reel Asian reps (nice mix of guys, girls, and ladyboys) (wait, this is actually a benefit)
2) I will counteract #1 by saying that the Rat only reached halfway into the crowd at Innis, and maybe a few meters out from the stage at the Bloor (not to mention the 2nd level seating of course).
3) Vast majority of the prizes were for chicks/ladyboys, consisting primarily of Chanel products.
A conventional prize system of 'ticket number 444 wins!' would've been much more sensible. To give it some charm, a Rat teddy bear would've been good too. People often thought they'd be able to keep the teddy bear and were a bit disappointed that they couldn't. (and to think of the # of people who touched it...)
More complaining: the showtimes listed did NOT mean the time at which the actual presentation (preamble + prizes + speeches + screening) would begin. The time was actually when people would be let into the theatre. E.g. if a showtime was scheduled for a 5 PM start, that'd mean either the VIP or normal people line would be let into the theatre at that time. For the Closing Gala, the showtime was 8:30, the peons (normal people) weren't let in until a bit past that. Very annoying since I thought it'd be fun to line up with the improverished folk (and I got there 30 minutes beforehand). Hope that they better organize the festival in general for next year.
Speaking of next year, this now makes me think of one more thing. Next year is going to be their 13th Festival. Will they actually mention that? Will it be good or will it suddenly be a disaster? How many people died at their fourth festival? What do other Asian festivals do in terms of numbering?
... and I think that's why this year's festival was alot like a drift through Tokyo. It's a turmoil of emotions, but because you're a foreigner you end up with alot of questions.
And much like a drift through Tokyo, you gotta give big-ups to the people who sent you there (assuming it was a trip on good terms). Show some love for VKPR for hooking me up with a press pass, and Reel Asian for letting me leave litter after all the screenings. While waiting in line I would always be reading something, usually the Toronto Star. So I'd bring it into the theatre with me as well to read while I waited for everything to begin. Once the film started, I'd put the newspaper under my seat WITH THE INTENTION of putting it into the garbage afterwards (for the record). I usually forgot lol. And when I went back into the theatre for the screening directly after, there'd be no newspaper under the seat (usually had the same seat). So thanks Reel Asian for letting my forgetfulness litter while attending your screening.
The biggest joke of all is possibly that I got a press pass to begin with. Willing to bet $50 right now that VKPR takes me off their mailing list (make that double or nothing that I get banned from Reel Asian). All proceeds will go towards a fund to get myself on the donor list for the Canadian Film Centre (and gorge myself at their annual barbeque in front of a disgusted Norman Jewison and a drunk Sidney Poiter).
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Reel Asian Nov.15
My love affair with the Reel Asian Film Festival is starting to become an interesting one, one perhaps of the love/hate sort.
I went yesterday (Saturday) to catch the screening of Flower In The Pocket. As I went to pickup my Media Ticket, I discovered that apparently I can also pickup passes for other screenings on the same day at the *same time* (kudos to Reel Asian for that nice touch). So I asked to get a pass for West 32nd, staring Kumar of Harold and Kumar fame. 'Lo and behold that the guy just in front of me had taken the last ticket. And I had spent 10 minutes outside watching a video (more on that later). GRRRRR!
So I went into the screening of Flower already in a depressed state of mind. Too bad the movie did nothing to improve it, except maybe give me some valuable time to catch up on sleep. The posted description on the movie invokes imaginary, fictitious thoughts of an extremely quirky family comedy. The speaking preamble beforehand also invoked such wondrous dreams. Oh my god I haven't been so disappointed in a long time. This is like a movie with a script by a 5 year old. While that may sound charming on paper, it isn't so charming on screen. This movie is chock full of really lame jokes. The audience was going ballistic with laughter while my face frowned, turning to grimace, turning into thoughts of walking out the door (would be the first time in my life). Utterly horrible movie, perhaps due to my advanced maturity I simply didn't 'get' the jokes (quite likely the case as there were alot of dumb Barack Hussein Obama fans in the audience). I started to fall asleep around the half-way point. I woke up a few times, caught the last scene, and didn't feel like I missed a thing.
So far Reel Asian is unfortunately 0-2 for the features. I'm a tiny bit disappointed that I didn't get to see West 32nd, since I was looking forward to it for WEEKS. But then again i'm happy that it DID sell out, so then Reel Asian makes alot of cash. But then again i'm a little disappointed that the organizers didn't plan for a sell out and move it into a bigger venue (e.g. Bloor or Isabel Bader). And it would've been convienent for us esteemed members of the press if they had some way of letting us know beforehand whether we'd be getting a ticket or not. If I was travelling from Mars to see West 32nd (which I would do! I swear!), I'd be a little pissed to not get in, and perhaps go on a destructive rampage (heard Hitler wasn't let into Schindler's List) (too soon?). I'm quite sure that having seen West 32nd would've given Reel Asian a score of 1-2.
What's more interesting is that i've found the shorts program to be immensely more enjoyable than the features, where at all the other millions of festivals that i've been too, it's ALWAYS the other way around: horrible shorts, fantastic features. What a quirkly little festival!
I went yesterday (Saturday) to catch the screening of Flower In The Pocket. As I went to pickup my Media Ticket, I discovered that apparently I can also pickup passes for other screenings on the same day at the *same time* (kudos to Reel Asian for that nice touch). So I asked to get a pass for West 32nd, staring Kumar of Harold and Kumar fame. 'Lo and behold that the guy just in front of me had taken the last ticket. And I had spent 10 minutes outside watching a video (more on that later). GRRRRR!
So I went into the screening of Flower already in a depressed state of mind. Too bad the movie did nothing to improve it, except maybe give me some valuable time to catch up on sleep. The posted description on the movie invokes imaginary, fictitious thoughts of an extremely quirky family comedy. The speaking preamble beforehand also invoked such wondrous dreams. Oh my god I haven't been so disappointed in a long time. This is like a movie with a script by a 5 year old. While that may sound charming on paper, it isn't so charming on screen. This movie is chock full of really lame jokes. The audience was going ballistic with laughter while my face frowned, turning to grimace, turning into thoughts of walking out the door (would be the first time in my life). Utterly horrible movie, perhaps due to my advanced maturity I simply didn't 'get' the jokes (quite likely the case as there were alot of dumb Barack Hussein Obama fans in the audience). I started to fall asleep around the half-way point. I woke up a few times, caught the last scene, and didn't feel like I missed a thing.
So far Reel Asian is unfortunately 0-2 for the features. I'm a tiny bit disappointed that I didn't get to see West 32nd, since I was looking forward to it for WEEKS. But then again i'm happy that it DID sell out, so then Reel Asian makes alot of cash. But then again i'm a little disappointed that the organizers didn't plan for a sell out and move it into a bigger venue (e.g. Bloor or Isabel Bader). And it would've been convienent for us esteemed members of the press if they had some way of letting us know beforehand whether we'd be getting a ticket or not. If I was travelling from Mars to see West 32nd (which I would do! I swear!), I'd be a little pissed to not get in, and perhaps go on a destructive rampage (heard Hitler wasn't let into Schindler's List) (too soon?). I'm quite sure that having seen West 32nd would've given Reel Asian a score of 1-2.
What's more interesting is that i've found the shorts program to be immensely more enjoyable than the features, where at all the other millions of festivals that i've been too, it's ALWAYS the other way around: horrible shorts, fantastic features. What a quirkly little festival!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Reel Asian Nov.14
So with a salty bitter taste in my mouth, I found myself with time to kill. What did I do? What any sensible Torontonian would do! Check out the new AGO! But the line up was way too long, and I was impatient (youthful energy ftw!), so I decided to begrudgingly check out the Reel Asian Film Fest instead :-(.
Turn that frown upside-down.
)-:
No the other way.
:-)
Yeah. Because what a difference a few days made. On Tuesday it was utter chaos, people running everywhere, nobody knew anything outside of the specific single task that they were given, reminded me of New York on 9/11 (too soon?). Like Pocahontas once sang, it was a Whole New World on Friday.
I walked into the theatre lobby. I was extremely caught off guard by how clean and organized it was. There was a dedicated lineup (guessing for rush tickets or normal ticket holders). There was a row of very nicely organized tables with smily and pretty Reel Asian volunteers behind it. I asked an Asian volunteer (as in their ethnicity) where the Media Sign-In table was, and once again I was bet with a blank stare. My heart sank. The lo and behold, this CAUCASIAN volunteer overheard my question and give me clear and succinct directions. Leave it to the white people to do an Asian's job :S.
The Media Sign-In was a bit of an interesting thing. I've never done it before, so I was just like:
Me: "Uhhhhhh, yo"
Cute Volunteer (CV): "Hello, can I help you?"
Me: "Ummm..... I'm looking to get a press ticket. I'm guessing my name is on that sheet in front of you"
CV: Oh ok, can I have your company name?
Me: Company name? Ummmm...... i'm an independent writer (hahahahahahahhahha)
CV: Oh, well we still need your company name.
Me: I don't have a company.
CV: Oh, hmmm....
Me: Hmmmm....
CV: (Blank stare)
Me: Maybe look up my last name, Pitt.
CV: Hmm..... (looks at sheet), there's no Pitt on my list.
Me: What about my first name, Brad?
CV: Ah, Mr. Brad Pitt! Here you are. (hands me ticket)
Me: Thanks!
Note to self for next year: make up a company name. Maybe something from my favorite TV show, and something that represents where I come from. Toronto Star? Yeah that sounds good.
So last night I checked out two 'screenings'.
1) Wonderful Town
This was an interesting movie. The first half is absolutely magnificent. It takes place in that country where that big tsunami hit a few years ago (Hawaii?). The setting is a little town near the shoreline, the time is just a bit before the tsunami hits. So as the movie progresses, you're filled with this overwhelming dread because YOU know what's coming, but the characters are absolutely oblivious, and you heart aches for them to save themselves. There are two main characters, a guy and a girl. They start to fall in love, but the movie displays their courtship at an agonizingly slow pace. In other movies this would be annoying, but the slow pace works magnificiently in conjunction with the knowledge that the tsunami will hit, making their love something incomplete, ala Romeo & Juliet.
At about the halfway point something happens. The guy and a different random character (who pretty much randomly shows up), start talking. They're talking about the girl, and then Mr. Random says something like "The Tsunami Ruined Everything".
WTF
Soo....... this movie takes place AFTER the tsunami? Well that ruins everything. I just watched this slow burning love story develop, and now I realize how fucking boring it was. So the movie more or less falls apart in the second half. Bunch of random boring events happen, characters are all of a sudden doing weird things, and then the movie ends. Watch the first half and then leave, you'll be much happier. The first half plays like an Asian Once.
2) The second thing that I saw was a lineup of shorts entitled 'Disquieting: Late Night Shorts' (note the last word in the title).
In all the hundreds of festivals that i've been too (alright, just around 5), this was by far the best short lineup i've ever seen. Every single short should be on your shortlist of shorts to watch (har har). Keep an eye out for it in other festivals, try to catch it at the NFB, download illegally through BitTorrent, or hit up P-Mall and maybe you'll see it there. These are all incredible shorts that I would watch again in a heart beat. Two especially stood out:
a) God Only Knows. It's a Mexican (or some Asian version of Mexicans) drama about a mother who gives up her child for adoption so that he gets a better life. The amount of emotion that's packed into this 17 minute short is far more than 20 repeat viewings of Titanic and Lion King combined. During the latter half, the audience was absolutely silent, you could hear a pin drop. Even after the credits started to roll, everybody was still mesmerized. Absolutely amazing short.
b) Huge kudos also go to the last short, Summer Afternoon. It's 16 minutes, and contains around 5-10 cuts. So there's a ton of beautiful long takes that foreign Cinematographers can only dream of pulling off. Great story, great acting, great script, everything about this was great great great, insane cinematography was just the buttercream icing on the vanilla cupcake.
Turn that frown upside-down.
)-:
No the other way.
:-)
Yeah. Because what a difference a few days made. On Tuesday it was utter chaos, people running everywhere, nobody knew anything outside of the specific single task that they were given, reminded me of New York on 9/11 (too soon?). Like Pocahontas once sang, it was a Whole New World on Friday.
I walked into the theatre lobby. I was extremely caught off guard by how clean and organized it was. There was a dedicated lineup (guessing for rush tickets or normal ticket holders). There was a row of very nicely organized tables with smily and pretty Reel Asian volunteers behind it. I asked an Asian volunteer (as in their ethnicity) where the Media Sign-In table was, and once again I was bet with a blank stare. My heart sank. The lo and behold, this CAUCASIAN volunteer overheard my question and give me clear and succinct directions. Leave it to the white people to do an Asian's job :S.
The Media Sign-In was a bit of an interesting thing. I've never done it before, so I was just like:
Me: "Uhhhhhh, yo"
Cute Volunteer (CV): "Hello, can I help you?"
Me: "Ummm..... I'm looking to get a press ticket. I'm guessing my name is on that sheet in front of you"
CV: Oh ok, can I have your company name?
Me: Company name? Ummmm...... i'm an independent writer (hahahahahahahhahha)
CV: Oh, well we still need your company name.
Me: I don't have a company.
CV: Oh, hmmm....
Me: Hmmmm....
CV: (Blank stare)
Me: Maybe look up my last name, Pitt.
CV: Hmm..... (looks at sheet), there's no Pitt on my list.
Me: What about my first name, Brad?
CV: Ah, Mr. Brad Pitt! Here you are. (hands me ticket)
Me: Thanks!
Note to self for next year: make up a company name. Maybe something from my favorite TV show, and something that represents where I come from. Toronto Star? Yeah that sounds good.
So last night I checked out two 'screenings'.
1) Wonderful Town
This was an interesting movie. The first half is absolutely magnificent. It takes place in that country where that big tsunami hit a few years ago (Hawaii?). The setting is a little town near the shoreline, the time is just a bit before the tsunami hits. So as the movie progresses, you're filled with this overwhelming dread because YOU know what's coming, but the characters are absolutely oblivious, and you heart aches for them to save themselves. There are two main characters, a guy and a girl. They start to fall in love, but the movie displays their courtship at an agonizingly slow pace. In other movies this would be annoying, but the slow pace works magnificiently in conjunction with the knowledge that the tsunami will hit, making their love something incomplete, ala Romeo & Juliet.
At about the halfway point something happens. The guy and a different random character (who pretty much randomly shows up), start talking. They're talking about the girl, and then Mr. Random says something like "The Tsunami Ruined Everything".
WTF
Soo....... this movie takes place AFTER the tsunami? Well that ruins everything. I just watched this slow burning love story develop, and now I realize how fucking boring it was. So the movie more or less falls apart in the second half. Bunch of random boring events happen, characters are all of a sudden doing weird things, and then the movie ends. Watch the first half and then leave, you'll be much happier. The first half plays like an Asian Once.
2) The second thing that I saw was a lineup of shorts entitled 'Disquieting: Late Night Shorts' (note the last word in the title).
In all the hundreds of festivals that i've been too (alright, just around 5), this was by far the best short lineup i've ever seen. Every single short should be on your shortlist of shorts to watch (har har). Keep an eye out for it in other festivals, try to catch it at the NFB, download illegally through BitTorrent, or hit up P-Mall and maybe you'll see it there. These are all incredible shorts that I would watch again in a heart beat. Two especially stood out:
a) God Only Knows. It's a Mexican (or some Asian version of Mexicans) drama about a mother who gives up her child for adoption so that he gets a better life. The amount of emotion that's packed into this 17 minute short is far more than 20 repeat viewings of Titanic and Lion King combined. During the latter half, the audience was absolutely silent, you could hear a pin drop. Even after the credits started to roll, everybody was still mesmerized. Absolutely amazing short.
b) Huge kudos also go to the last short, Summer Afternoon. It's 16 minutes, and contains around 5-10 cuts. So there's a ton of beautiful long takes that foreign Cinematographers can only dream of pulling off. Great story, great acting, great script, everything about this was great great great, insane cinematography was just the buttercream icing on the vanilla cupcake.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Movie prediction + BITCHFEST
1) Quantum of Solace. Prediction = $62.8 million.
Very simple weekend which seems very out of place. Should be more than easy for James Bond to rape the box office. Reviews don't looking too good for this one. I didn't find Casino Royale to be all *THAT* great, but the trailers for this one looks absolutely beautiful. :S
In other news: Slumdog Millionaire is getting a limited release this weekend. I caught this movie earlier in the week and it is fucking awesome. Winner of the Cadillac Audience Award at the TIFF 2008, and deserves every bit of it. Great storyline, solid acting, fantastic script, everything about this movie is exactly bang-on. It's being advertised as a love story but that feels a bit out of place. Not because it's NOT a love story, it is. It has an extremely strong love story component to it, but all the other components are also extremely strong as well. And it may scare away some people from watching a potential chick flick. Do NOT leave once the credits start or you will regret it.
So.... let the bitchfest begin.
When people ask what my ethnicity is, I often say i'm African-Canadian. Besides the fact that it's as valid as Barack Hussein Obama, I never truely had a legitimate reason to hide from my Japanese ethnicity (besides WW2) until this week.
Earlier this week I went to go watch a screening of Tuesday by Sabu, as part of the Reel Asian Film Festival. Lemme give you a few reasons why must be an awesome movie.
1-999)
Fucking crazzzzAY still from the movie. Guy with gas mask surrounded by albino asians? And it's NOT a horror movie? Sign me the fuucccck up!
Note that I used the words 'must be an awesome movie', not the words "I saw the movie...". Because if I used the latter that would be a lie. I did NOT see the movie. Why? Because the Reel Asian Film Festival is run by........ take a guess? Asians!
If you look at the film industry as a whole, you'll see that it's a fairly white-dominated business. Asians in particular are for the most part entirely absent from large swathes of various departments. Some may say it's institutional racism. I used to somewhat agree to that theory. But now I know it's because Asians are the worst organizers in the world. With all their intellectual ability, not a single evolutionary period was dedicated to their organizational skills and this showed on Tuesday during my visit to the Reel Asian Film Festival.
The screening was at 6:30 PM. I was told to acquire my press ticket by no later than 6:15 PM. I arrived at the theatre at 6 PM. It was absolute mayhem.
- There was a guy standing outside the theatre handing out brochures. I asked him where the media sign-in table was. He had no idea. He simply told me to look around inside.
- I went inside, saw a few white plastic tables with moderately pretty asian girls behind it. They were busy explaining some overly complicated ticket policy (literally took them ~5 minutes to explain it). I asked one girl who wasn't doing anything where the media sign-in table was. I was met with the worst look ever... a blank stare. I asked if she had someone higher up she could ask. I was met again.... with a blank stare. My search continued.
- I walked around the lobby area, found a Media Services table. There were people hanging out around it. A few white people and a mixed guy. I asked the mixed guy. He said he didn't work for the festival. I asked the white people, they said they didn't work for the festival (what a shame). At this time a not-so-pretty asian girl ran to the table. I asked her if this was where I could sign-in for my Press ticket. Again I got a blank stare.
- Meanwhile admist all this, it was absolute chaos in the lobby. In a medium-sized space there were at least 50 people. There were multiple lineups and people standing around in random locations. There was a rush line but different Reel Asian staff had different opinions on where it was. There was one hot asian chick telling people to stand at a certain spot, and then there was one particularly ugly Asian woman with a loud shrilly voice who was yelling at her that that wasn't the right spot. A co-ordinator came around and said it was the right spot.
- I followed the co-ordinator for a while, but he was yelling information/directions non-stop. I left the theatre around 6:10 PM. On my way out I walked by a few asian people setting up a banner for the Film Festival.
Stunningly horrible organization and crowd management. Left an extremely bitter taste in my mouth and now leaves me cautious towards bothering to try to attend any additional screenings. Buyer beware.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Movie review!
'AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO VOTE BASED ON SKIN-COLOR' SIZED SPOILER WARNING!!!
P.S. Political recap pushed to next week. No free time this week. Any free time dedicated to Reel Asian Film Festival (more on that later). Any further free time dedicated to reviewing what happens at Reel Asian Film Festival (more on that later). Any further free time dedicated to playing Warcraft (black hole for free time).
1) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Prediction = $35.8 million. Result = $63.1 million.
2) Role Models. Prediction = $21.2 million. Result = $19.2 million.
3) Soul Men. Prediction = $9.1 million. Result = $5.4 million.
Madagascar utterly raped the box office this weekend. The ability of CG flicks to do such damage endlessly fascinate me.
Was pretty close on Role Models (as opposed to Madagascar). Checked this out over the weekend, incredibly excellent film. Great comedy on the surface, but also has a heart of gold. Incredibly polished script. A few steps below Juno, but considering how excellent Juno was, that's a high compliment. I'm sure there's a few Oscar-dreamers out there that'll think this is a near Oscar-calibre script. Incredible amount of character development, great situational gags that push the story forward, and a brilliantly subtle amount of social commentary. Every geek/nerd/loser (note how the latter gets it's own catagory) worldwide should watch this movie. There's one very beautiful scene that all of the above listed social rejects can relate to. If it brought a tough Leo like me to tears, it'll bring a loser like you to Niagara Falls (because everybody loves Marineland!).
Soul Men flopped huge. It's beyond me why they didn't milk Bernie Mac's death ala Heath Ledger. Oh right, becuase they probably have MORALS! Or maybe because the movie sucked. I don't know, i'm avoiding it like the plague (or like sleeping pills!).
Saw Zack and Miri Make A Porno last week. Incredibly excellent film. Really fantastic romance comedy with great social commentary on pornographic and media culture. I was really caught off guard by how beautiful this film is (both figuratively and emotionally... and sexually emotionally). Seth Rogen is really good in this flick, mainly though because I think i've warmed up to his peculiar style of acting. But the real deal goes to Elizabeth Banks who is INCREDIBLE!!! This is an insane year for her. She has fantastic emotional moments showing humanity admist the pornographic madness. What's hilarious is that any close-up of her is shot in this overwhelmingly glamous style of cinematography, think Marilyn Monroe. She's shown her solid comedy abilties, shown some solid dramatic support abilities (W.), extremely looking forward to her taking on some heavy dramatic lead roles. The only shitty thing about this movie is the post-credit scene. This is by far the WORST post-credit scene i've ever scene (get it? haha). Not funny at all, horribly made (and it's even purposely horrible made, which makes it all the more horrible), just lame lame lame. Leave the theatre right after the credits start and you'll have a much better taste in your mouth (hopefully not salty).
So starting today (or sometime earlier) is this year's Reel Asian Film Festival. Dedicated solely (i think) to Asian Cinema (wouldn't make sense to cater to other cultures given the name), this is one of the great local festivals outside of the insanity of TIFF. The beauty of living in a huge city like Toronto is the development of niche cultures that can be self sustained. In film, there's alot of really brilliant festivals (Women's Film Festival for girls, Inside Out for gays, Planet In Focus for commies), so Reel Asian is here to appeal to the gigantic asian-population in Toronto (legitimate or otherwise). It's a well known fact that Asians make the best movies (e.g. porn), so the Reel Asian Festival is a great period to experience the best independent non-pornographic cinema that Asian people worldwide (mostly from Asia) have to offer.
This year I plan to check out two flicks (though I have free access to many more thanks to my PRESS PASS!! BRAP BRAP!):
1) Monday. A guy talkinga bout this film joked: "The film is called Monday and it's screening on Tuesday". I laughed really hard, most people didn't :S. Conceptually this sounds like an awesome film: guy wakes up, has no idea how he got to wehre he is, huge memory lapse, think like an Asian-Memento (minus the kung fu scenes). Great concept eh? Know what's even ebtter? The director's name: "Sabu". Yeah, he goes by a NICKNAME!!!! How awesome is that? All the world's best director's have nicknames: Spike 'Panther' Lee, Clint 'KKK' Eastwood, George 'Honky-Tonk' Lucas, etc...
Reel Asian has another film from this director, The Blessing Bell. Amazing concept again. Basically the main character is walking from left to right for one half of the film. Then he turns aroudn and WALKS BACK!!! Screw the storyline, I just wanna see this happen!!! Too bad they're showing this during the day though, so I won't be able to check it out :-(
2) West 32nd. This is probably the film i'm most hyped up about. Just another drama flick but has one key thing that makes me want to see it: JOHN CHOOOOOOOOOOOO! (his last name is 'Cho', added extra o's for dramatic effect). I read the description, but my mind is too busy focused on the fact that John Cho is in this. Who's John Cho? He's Kumar from the 'Harold & Kumar' trilogy (urban legend: the 3rd was so shitty it got destroyed). The problem with Asians in Western cinema is that so much of Western acting is based on wrinkles. More wrinkles = better acting (look at history of Oscar acting awards, all wrinkly people, Helen Mirren anybody?). Asians have zero wrinkles, almost android-ish in that sense (which may explain our stunning intellect). I LOVEEEEEE John Cho because somehow, someway, he still exudes oodles of emotions through his smooth skin. And plus he's probably the only Asian actor who will be huge in non-martial arts Western flicks (STARR TREKKK!!) (note the 3 k's).
3) Hopefully I'll be able to catch alot more. But this was already a crazy busy week/weekend before this appeared on my hitlist :S, so we'll see how it goes.
P.S. Political recap pushed to next week. No free time this week. Any free time dedicated to Reel Asian Film Festival (more on that later). Any further free time dedicated to reviewing what happens at Reel Asian Film Festival (more on that later). Any further free time dedicated to playing Warcraft (black hole for free time).
1) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Prediction = $35.8 million. Result = $63.1 million.
2) Role Models. Prediction = $21.2 million. Result = $19.2 million.
3) Soul Men. Prediction = $9.1 million. Result = $5.4 million.
Madagascar utterly raped the box office this weekend. The ability of CG flicks to do such damage endlessly fascinate me.
Was pretty close on Role Models (as opposed to Madagascar). Checked this out over the weekend, incredibly excellent film. Great comedy on the surface, but also has a heart of gold. Incredibly polished script. A few steps below Juno, but considering how excellent Juno was, that's a high compliment. I'm sure there's a few Oscar-dreamers out there that'll think this is a near Oscar-calibre script. Incredible amount of character development, great situational gags that push the story forward, and a brilliantly subtle amount of social commentary. Every geek/nerd/loser (note how the latter gets it's own catagory) worldwide should watch this movie. There's one very beautiful scene that all of the above listed social rejects can relate to. If it brought a tough Leo like me to tears, it'll bring a loser like you to Niagara Falls (because everybody loves Marineland!).
Soul Men flopped huge. It's beyond me why they didn't milk Bernie Mac's death ala Heath Ledger. Oh right, becuase they probably have MORALS! Or maybe because the movie sucked. I don't know, i'm avoiding it like the plague (or like sleeping pills!).
Saw Zack and Miri Make A Porno last week. Incredibly excellent film. Really fantastic romance comedy with great social commentary on pornographic and media culture. I was really caught off guard by how beautiful this film is (both figuratively and emotionally... and sexually emotionally). Seth Rogen is really good in this flick, mainly though because I think i've warmed up to his peculiar style of acting. But the real deal goes to Elizabeth Banks who is INCREDIBLE!!! This is an insane year for her. She has fantastic emotional moments showing humanity admist the pornographic madness. What's hilarious is that any close-up of her is shot in this overwhelmingly glamous style of cinematography, think Marilyn Monroe. She's shown her solid comedy abilties, shown some solid dramatic support abilities (W.), extremely looking forward to her taking on some heavy dramatic lead roles. The only shitty thing about this movie is the post-credit scene. This is by far the WORST post-credit scene i've ever scene (get it? haha). Not funny at all, horribly made (and it's even purposely horrible made, which makes it all the more horrible), just lame lame lame. Leave the theatre right after the credits start and you'll have a much better taste in your mouth (hopefully not salty).
So starting today (or sometime earlier) is this year's Reel Asian Film Festival. Dedicated solely (i think) to Asian Cinema (wouldn't make sense to cater to other cultures given the name), this is one of the great local festivals outside of the insanity of TIFF. The beauty of living in a huge city like Toronto is the development of niche cultures that can be self sustained. In film, there's alot of really brilliant festivals (Women's Film Festival for girls, Inside Out for gays, Planet In Focus for commies), so Reel Asian is here to appeal to the gigantic asian-population in Toronto (legitimate or otherwise). It's a well known fact that Asians make the best movies (e.g. porn), so the Reel Asian Festival is a great period to experience the best independent non-pornographic cinema that Asian people worldwide (mostly from Asia) have to offer.
This year I plan to check out two flicks (though I have free access to many more thanks to my PRESS PASS!! BRAP BRAP!):
1) Monday. A guy talkinga bout this film joked: "The film is called Monday and it's screening on Tuesday". I laughed really hard, most people didn't :S. Conceptually this sounds like an awesome film: guy wakes up, has no idea how he got to wehre he is, huge memory lapse, think like an Asian-Memento (minus the kung fu scenes). Great concept eh? Know what's even ebtter? The director's name: "Sabu". Yeah, he goes by a NICKNAME!!!! How awesome is that? All the world's best director's have nicknames: Spike 'Panther' Lee, Clint 'KKK' Eastwood, George 'Honky-Tonk' Lucas, etc...
Reel Asian has another film from this director, The Blessing Bell. Amazing concept again. Basically the main character is walking from left to right for one half of the film. Then he turns aroudn and WALKS BACK!!! Screw the storyline, I just wanna see this happen!!! Too bad they're showing this during the day though, so I won't be able to check it out :-(
2) West 32nd. This is probably the film i'm most hyped up about. Just another drama flick but has one key thing that makes me want to see it: JOHN CHOOOOOOOOOOOO! (his last name is 'Cho', added extra o's for dramatic effect). I read the description, but my mind is too busy focused on the fact that John Cho is in this. Who's John Cho? He's Kumar from the 'Harold & Kumar' trilogy (urban legend: the 3rd was so shitty it got destroyed). The problem with Asians in Western cinema is that so much of Western acting is based on wrinkles. More wrinkles = better acting (look at history of Oscar acting awards, all wrinkly people, Helen Mirren anybody?). Asians have zero wrinkles, almost android-ish in that sense (which may explain our stunning intellect). I LOVEEEEEE John Cho because somehow, someway, he still exudes oodles of emotions through his smooth skin. And plus he's probably the only Asian actor who will be huge in non-martial arts Western flicks (STARR TREKKK!!) (note the 3 k's).
3) Hopefully I'll be able to catch alot more. But this was already a crazy busy week/weekend before this appeared on my hitlist :S, so we'll see how it goes.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Movie prediction!
So the stupidity of people worldwide was shown earlier in the week. Though it was fully expected, I still find myself quite frustrated and angry and emotional (against Barack) over the whole thing. Hopefully I can do a final election recap/prediction duo sometime next week.
1) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Prediction = $35.8 million.
2) Role Models. Prediction = $21.2 million.
3) Soul Men. Prediction = $9.1 million.
There's some really great buzz surrounding Madagascar 2. Unlike many animated films, and sequels for that matter, it's actually supposed to be quite fun and be better than the original. Now that leaves me in a tough position of wanting to see this without having seen the former. Allah damn.
Role Models also has great buzz for being a typical manchild comedy on the surface, but to have a heart of delicious Lindt chocolate underneath it all. Any movie with black people in it (REAL black people) is a plus in my books.
Well maybe there's an exception: Soul Men. Just like The Dark Knight, this stars a now-dead actor. Unlike The Dark Knight, there ain't no 3 AM screening, wassup wit dat? Possible proof that white folk only liked Barack because he's got some true blood in him? Haven't heard anything about this flick, which is usually bad sign. It might have a decent weekend, but look for it to crash hard (NOT Cronenberg-style Crash) in subsequent weeks.
1) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Prediction = $35.8 million.
2) Role Models. Prediction = $21.2 million.
3) Soul Men. Prediction = $9.1 million.
There's some really great buzz surrounding Madagascar 2. Unlike many animated films, and sequels for that matter, it's actually supposed to be quite fun and be better than the original. Now that leaves me in a tough position of wanting to see this without having seen the former. Allah damn.
Role Models also has great buzz for being a typical manchild comedy on the surface, but to have a heart of delicious Lindt chocolate underneath it all. Any movie with black people in it (REAL black people) is a plus in my books.
Well maybe there's an exception: Soul Men. Just like The Dark Knight, this stars a now-dead actor. Unlike The Dark Knight, there ain't no 3 AM screening, wassup wit dat? Possible proof that white folk only liked Barack because he's got some true blood in him? Haven't heard anything about this flick, which is usually bad sign. It might have a decent weekend, but look for it to crash hard (NOT Cronenberg-style Crash) in subsequent weeks.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Movie results!
1) The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Prediction = $17.3 million. Result = $6.0 million.
2) Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Prediction = $26.8 million. Result = $10.7 million.
Pretty lacklustre weekend. New rules to follow:
1) Having Halloween on a weekend does NOT guarantee a horror movie will do well
2) Having a raunchy title does NOT guarantee high box office receipts.
#1 spot this weekend went surprisingly (or un-surprisingly?) to High School Musical 3, with a $15.0 million intake. Much like a kid's attention span, this has dropped off huge leaving it highly unlikely to beat The Dark Knight in revenue. Darn.
In more upbeat news, I saw Made In Jamaica over the weekend, and I gotta say, it was the second best time I've had in a theatre this year (first going to Wanted). Using the patent-pending popcorn meter, I finished a large bag about 1/2 way through the movie. To put things into perspective, I ate about 1/3 of a bag by the time Dark Knight finished. And Made In Jamaica is nowhere near as long. That being said, Made In Jamaica may not appeal to you. Possibly a key reason for it's appeal to me is my endless listening to Flow 93.5 since it's founding days. A key part of it's musical platform was to showcase the sounds and artists from Jamaica, many of whom are featured in this movie. So for me, it was an interesting introspective into the music and philosophies of the artists that I grew up listening to. But all is not well with this film. There's a clear lack of any specific message that it's trying to convey, it sort of plays like a series of short films by the same director. While that sounds like a pretty harsh demerit point, hearing the words of wisdom from these amazing musical artists certainly makes up for it.
2) Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Prediction = $26.8 million. Result = $10.7 million.
Pretty lacklustre weekend. New rules to follow:
1) Having Halloween on a weekend does NOT guarantee a horror movie will do well
2) Having a raunchy title does NOT guarantee high box office receipts.
#1 spot this weekend went surprisingly (or un-surprisingly?) to High School Musical 3, with a $15.0 million intake. Much like a kid's attention span, this has dropped off huge leaving it highly unlikely to beat The Dark Knight in revenue. Darn.
In more upbeat news, I saw Made In Jamaica over the weekend, and I gotta say, it was the second best time I've had in a theatre this year (first going to Wanted). Using the patent-pending popcorn meter, I finished a large bag about 1/2 way through the movie. To put things into perspective, I ate about 1/3 of a bag by the time Dark Knight finished. And Made In Jamaica is nowhere near as long. That being said, Made In Jamaica may not appeal to you. Possibly a key reason for it's appeal to me is my endless listening to Flow 93.5 since it's founding days. A key part of it's musical platform was to showcase the sounds and artists from Jamaica, many of whom are featured in this movie. So for me, it was an interesting introspective into the music and philosophies of the artists that I grew up listening to. But all is not well with this film. There's a clear lack of any specific message that it's trying to convey, it sort of plays like a series of short films by the same director. While that sounds like a pretty harsh demerit point, hearing the words of wisdom from these amazing musical artists certainly makes up for it.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Movie prediction!
Lame ass weekend this weekend folks.
1) The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Prediction = $17.3 million.
2) Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Prediction = $26.8 million.
No matter what Molly Hartley makes over the weekend, odds are it'll be recouping it's budget lol. Saw 5 will probably still make more than this piece of dreck.
I hope to god that Zack and Miri flops big. I'm talking like it makes 15 bucks over the weekend kind of flop. Kevin Smith needs to take a break big time. He's one of a growing list of has beens that need to pull a JCVD. This movie has all the makings of a flop. Great actors thrown into a knowingly god awful film, bad script, bad everything really. The only thing going for it is that it has the magic word in it's title: "Porno". If it does poorly, accurate reflection of Kevin Smith's abilities. If it does well, look for many more raunchy titled movies to come in the future. It didn't work for Sex Drive (unfortunately)...
1) The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Prediction = $17.3 million.
2) Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Prediction = $26.8 million.
No matter what Molly Hartley makes over the weekend, odds are it'll be recouping it's budget lol. Saw 5 will probably still make more than this piece of dreck.
I hope to god that Zack and Miri flops big. I'm talking like it makes 15 bucks over the weekend kind of flop. Kevin Smith needs to take a break big time. He's one of a growing list of has beens that need to pull a JCVD. This movie has all the makings of a flop. Great actors thrown into a knowingly god awful film, bad script, bad everything really. The only thing going for it is that it has the magic word in it's title: "Porno". If it does poorly, accurate reflection of Kevin Smith's abilities. If it does well, look for many more raunchy titled movies to come in the future. It didn't work for Sex Drive (unfortunately)...
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