national treasure book of secrets Tagged Articles at Cinematical
2008 Teen Choice Awards Nominees Announced
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Horror », Awards », New Releases », Fandom »
Apparently teens have short attention spans, evidenced by this year's nominees for the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, which were announced this morning. Looking at the first two movie categories, Best Action Adventure Movie and Best Actor: Action Adventure, all the contenders (including Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Forbidden Kingdom) are from either May or late April of this year. I guess this summer's other movies, like The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk and Hancock will just be ignored, since they're too late for this year and won't be remembered next year. Another related thing that was revealed: actresses were not too prominent in action movies of that same period, because the category for Best Actress: Action Adventure looks back a little farther to Abigail Breslin in Nim's Island, Rachel Bilson in Jumper and (whoah, December? that was so long ago) Diane Kruger in National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
Jeffrey M. Anderson's 400 Screens 400 Blows - Politics as Usual
Filed under: Politics », Columns », 400 Screens, 400 Blows »
Are films political? Do they fall into left-wing and right-wing camps? I would imagine that not all films have an agenda. Some films can be considered "great uniters," in that they bring together agreeing audiences from all over, films like the $200 million hits I Am Legend (264 screens) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (177 screens) or a critical favorite like There Will Be Blood (339 screens) that has pleased nearly everyone who has seen it. Of course, There Will Be Blood is about a snaky, sinister, blustery oil baron willing to sacrifice his family, country and humanity for the allure of black gold, which may or may not have a little something to do with current events. (Not to mention that director Paul Thomas Anderson dropped the word "Oil" from the title of the source novel and replaced it with the word "Blood.")
In recent years it has been determined that film critics are a liberal bunch, educated, well-read men and women of letters, who can see and comprehend the human condition in films from different cultures all over the world. Or, they're sometimes known as pompous, ponderous, pretentious, conceited, snooty know-it-alls, lacking in good old-fashioned horse sense. "Why can't you just enjoy the movie," is a question very often asked of critics. Rambo (201 screens) is a fascinating case. It's impressively violent, but very grim and not much fun. Rambo debuted and reigned during the Reagan era (Rambo: First Blood Part II grossed three times the amount of the new film, even with 1985 ticket prices). Bringing him back in a decidedly different political atmosphere didn't seem to work, though the film was screened for the press and earned a few good reviews. It's now starting a downslide, and it's still shy of breaking even on its $50 million budget.
Box Office: War, Love and Secrets
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Drama », Music & Musicals », Box Office », Box Office Predictions »
1. I Am Legend $76.5 million.
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks $45 million.
3. The Golden Compass $9 million.
4. Enchanted $6 million.
5. No Country for Old Men $3 million.
We've got a whopping five big releases this week, with three of them using colons in the titles. That must be a record right?
Charlie Wilson's WarWhat's It All About: Tom Hanks plays Charlie Wilson, a real life congressman who sought to aid Afghani rebels fighting off Soviet soldiers during the 1979 invasion.
Why It Might Do Well: As the TV spots are touting, this one has five Golden Globe nominations and some strong critical buzz working in its favor (83% Fresh over at Rottentomatoes.com). With bankable stars in front of the camera like Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Mike Nichols at the helm, what's not to like?
Why It Might Not Do Well: There's some serious competition out there this week from both newcomers and last week's two big releases. Also, a film dealing with politics may not be what people are looking for in a holiday movie.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $15 million
National Treasure: Book of SecretsWhat's It All About: Nicolas Cage returns as Ben Franklin Gates, the globe trotting artifact hunter who must now track down pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary to clear his family's name.
Why It Might Do Well: The first National Treasure movie opened to a respectable $35 million weekend in 2004 before going on to make $173 million domestic and $347 million worldwide, so I bet a lot of folks who liked the first will be back for more. This one opens in way more theaters than anything else coming out this week and I suspect this will be next week's number one movie.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It depends on how many people are willing to forget Ghost Rider.
Number of Theaters: 3,500
Prediction: $55 million
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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