Friday, August 26, 2011

Box Office Forecaster - 08/26/11

For once I was glad to be off on my box office predictions last weekend. I had predicted “Spy Kids 4” triumphantly beating the competition last weekend with $25 million gross. I was off by over $10 million as it ended up grossing just under $12 million and finished in third place behind “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Help”.

“The Help” actually pulled the rare feat of opening in second place and finishing in first place the next weekend. As I mentioned last week I thought that since it didn’t open to huge numbers it would have legs and stick around during the dog days of summer.  Luckily for the film, it only dropped 23% from the previous weekend. That’s pretty good considering most big movies drop anywhere from 55%-60% in their second weekend out. Even the latest Harry Potter movies dropped over 60% in its second weekend.

I’ve noticed a disturbing/good trend with my “Avoid Like the Plague” pick. For the last two weeks the movie that I said to avoid has tanked and pulled in only $5 million. Last week’s casualty was the Anne Hathaway stinker “One Day”. Hopefully this streak continues until the new Twilight movie comes out later this year. Check out below for my picks for the top movies this weekend and who gets the Anti-Social Report kiss of death this week.

Weekend Prediction - $6.7m
Gross to Date - $14.9m (Week 2)

Weekend Prediction - $7m
Gross to Date – (Week 1)

Weekend Prediction - $8.4m
Gross to Date - $138.4m (Week 4)

Weekend Prediction - $10m
Gross to Date – (Week 1)

Weekend Prediction - $13m
Gross to Date – $79.6m (Week 3)


Avoid like the Plague
There really isn’t a huge stinker that comes out this week, there isn’t a Glee movie or anything with Anne Hathaway talking with a bad accent. I was torn and decided to go with the film that continues one of the most disturbing trends in the motion picture industry today. The trend; the PG-13 action movie. I think this trend started in 2007 when “Live Free or Die Hard” came out. I remember hearing about Die Hard 4 and was so pumped up to see it until I saw the PG-13 logo. I was immediately turned off as I knew this meant digital blood and no “yippe-kay-ay-aye mother fucker”. The sad part was that I was right and I can’t help but feel the same with this movie. I remember seeing this movie advertised on tv and thought how it looked like a gritty revenge tale. Plus Zoe Saldana is in it who in my opinion is the new Sam Jackson only because she stars in like 20 movies a year. But the movie looks ok; however, as a lover of violent rated R movies, I can’t help but wonder if this is going to disappoint.

Best Bet
Comedies have had a hard time at the box office this summer. Lately “The Change Up” and “30 Minutes or Less” haven’t fared as well. It might not help that they didn’t get great reviews so hopefully it bodes well for “Our Idiot Brother” that it’s been getting great reviews so far. I don’t think this movie will light the box office on fire but that’s ok, some of the best comedies (Office Space) take a while to find their audience. Paul Rudd is great in any comedy and this one has a promising trailer that shows some very funny scenes and highlights a great supporting cast which includes Elizabeth Banks, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Steve Coogan.

What are you seeing this weekend?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Obscure Residents of Springfield - Sanjay Nahasapeemapetilon


The Simpsons is my favorite show. I fully recognize that the show isn't quite what it used to be. That's ok with me because you can watch pretty much any episode and catch little things that you may have missed before. Part of this is due to the fact that there are so many great characters on the show. Of course you have your regulars like Homer, Bart, and Marge. But there's such a great list of other secondary characters like Mr. Burns, Moe, and Lenny & Carl. But every now and then you'll watch an episode and you'll be like "wow, I haven't seen Uter in like three years" or "they never show Wendell anymore". I'm a big fan of the rarely referenced characters. With that said, let's explore one of Springfield's more obscure residents.

Sanjay Nahasapeemapetilon
Who is he: Older brother of Kwik-E-Mart legend Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and presumably the Kwik-E-Mart’s only other employee.

Episodes: Similar to Brittany Brockman, Sanjay doesn’t have too many lines but has popped up in several episodes as mostly a background character. Some of his larger scenes include season 7’s “22 Short Films About Springfield” where he convinces Apu to close the store for a few minutes so he can attend a party. He also show’s up in season 4’s “Lisa the Beauty Queen” when his daughter Pahusacheta plays MacArthur Park in the Little Miss Springfield Beauty Pageant.

Interesting Facts:
- Has a son named Jamshed who’s left in charge of the Kwik-E-Mart armed only with a shotgun during season 4’s “Homer the Heretic”
- Was the assistant coach of Lisa’s hockey team in “Lisa on Ice”.

Previous Obscure Residents:

Friday, August 19, 2011

Box Office Forecaster - 08/19/11

Wow, I was off just a bit on “The Help” last weekend. I had predicted a $53 million opening and it ended up grossing about half of that with $26 million. That reminded me of my ill-fated “Cowboys & Aliens” opening weekend prediction of $73 million.
What can I say, I thought both movies were going to be huge. Although, I think that “The Help” will have better legs and should end up with a decent haul when all is said and done. Speaking of which, I think it’s safe to assume that “Cowboys & Aliens” is a bomb. After it’s first 20 days the movie has made just over $84 million so far. That’s not bad for the average movie but when you’re budget is $163 million that’s got to be a huge disappointment since most people were predicting it to be one of the top movies this summer.
This weekend see’s the release of four movies and you can tell that we’re getting near the end of summer as the releases are getting more questionable. The good news is we don’t have anymore 3D concert movies this week but we do have some 4D.
Without further ado, here’s your estimated top 5 movies this weekend.
Weekend Prediction - $15 million
Gross to Date – (Week 1)

Weekend Prediction - $15.3 million
Gross to Date - $114.9 Million (Week 3)

Weekend Prediction - $15.4 million
Gross to Date - $47.7 million (Week 2)

Weekend Prediction - $21 million
Gross to Date - (Week 1)

Weekend Prediction - $25 million
Gross to Date - (Week 1)

Avoid like the Plague
If it was a hit last weekend I was going to say the Glee 3D concert movie once again. But thankfully the general public avoided it anyhow ($5.9 million opening weekend). I was really debating about this weekend’s dud. I almost picked Spy Kids 4 but then I remembered that I normally like Robert Rodriguez movies and I’d like to see Joel McHale in more movies so I’m ok if it’s a hit even though this one looks just awful. I instead decided to go with “One Day” starring Anne Hathaway with a really bad English accent. I was going to post a link to the trailer but it’s pretty bad and I can’t bring myself to find the clip, watch it again, then post it. I feel for the neutered husbands and boyfriends who will be dragged to this pretentious drivel this weekend. Guys, if you’re looking for a way to get out of seeing it let your female partner know that it’s sitting at a brutal 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s right, only 2 out of 10 critics can recommend this movie.  
Best Bet
I’m going with “Fright Night” this week because it’s getting solid reviews (currently sitting at 69% on Rotten Tomatoes) and looks like a fun horror movie. It doesn’t look “Insidious” piss your pants scary but based on early reviews it’s supposed to be fun with some intense gore to satisfy the hardcore horror fans. The other upside to this movie is that unlike other horror movies who tend to have straight to DVD casts (see last weekend’s “Final Destination 5”) this has an all-star lineup with Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, and Christopher “McLovin” Mintz Plasse.  If you’re one of those people who can’t stay away from 3D you’ll be happy to know that the early word is that the 3D effects are terrific on this movie.
What are you seeing this weekend?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Sleaze File - Christine Sixteen

Welcome to the first entry into The Sleaze File. The Sleaze File looks at the sleaziest in movies, music, and TV. The first entry is brought to you by the King of Sleaze, Gene Simmons. Behold the sleaziness of KISS' Christine Sixteen!

I love having satellite radio in my car. I can't stand regular FM radio with their April Wine ticket giveaway's, bland commercials, and people calling in with their shitty traffic tips. Plus the music selection is pretty terrible, unless you count hearing "ET" by Katy Perry four times in an hour your idea of a good time.

One of the things that I love about satellite radio is getting to hear music that you don't get to hear very often. The other morning while driving to work I flipped it by the Boneyard which plays classic hard rock. I didn't recognize the song at first but I quickly recognized Gene Simmons on vocals. I do like KISS but for some reason had never heard this song before.

I quickly raised an eyebrow when I heard the chorus shout:
Christine sixteen, Christine sixteen

Excuse me?!? Then a very creepy Gene Simmons whispers:
I don't normally say things like this to girls your age, but when I say you
Coming out of the school that day, that day I knew, I knew, I've got to have
You, I've got to have you

Seriously!?! I knew 1977 was sleazy but this seemed really wrong for the coke fuelled late 70's. It actually turns out that some radio stations refused to play the song and those who did didn't play it until after 7pm. The song was released on the 1977 album "Love Gun" and ended up reaching number 25 on the Billboard Top100 in the US. Funny enough the highest it would reach on a chart was in Canada at number 22 ("O Canada...").

I just can't imagine one of today's biggest bands like the Foo Fighters releasing a song about wanting to tap someone who's in the eleventh grade.

It's kind of ironic that KISS was dumped from playing at a Michael Jackson tribute concert earlier today after it was revealed that Gene Simmons thought that Michael Jackson was a pedophile (didn't we all though..).

Now for your sleazy listening pleasure here is Christine Sixteen by KISS.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Box Office Forecaster - 08/12/11

After a two week vacation we're back with this weekend's box office predictions and what you should see and avoid this weekend.

Weekend Prediction - $12 million
Gross to Date - $75.9 million (Week 3)


Weekend Prediction - $18 million
Gross to Date - (Week 1)


Weekend Prediction - $31 million
Gross to Date - (Week 1)


Weekend Prediction - $34 million
Gross to Date - $54.8 million (Week 2)


Weekend Prediction - $53 million
Gross to Date - (Week 1)


Avoid like the Plague
I'll admit that I've only watched this show once and thought it was stupid. I don't even remember too many things about the actual episode except for one scene. There was two guys who looked like they were about to fight and instead of fighting they said "let's have a sing-off!" Now, I'm not one to say kids or really anyone should fight to solve their differences but it's safe to say that if someone says to you "let's have a sing off to solve our differences" then I think you have the right to kick that person's ass.

Anyway, yes the show is popular and has a great message but this thing reeks of a giant cash grab. Does this thing really have to be in 3D and I've never been a fan of the concert movie. The other thing that annoys me about this movie are the ads with that dastardly Sue Sylvester saying that you shouldn't go see this movie. First, you kids should listen to actress Jane Lynch since she's been in over 40 movies and knows what she's talking about. Second, you know there's a scene in the movie where the kids prove to Sue that they belong on the stage and can sing dammit.

Please for the love of god go see something else, anything. The last thing we need is this movie to be a hit and to have more Glee movies come out.

Best Bet
I was going to go with "The Help" but since every female in North America will be seeing it this weekend it doesn't need to be promoted anymore. I'm going to recommend last weekend's number one movie, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes".

I had a chance to see this movie earlier in the week and thought it was great. I'm not normally a fan of prequels but I felt that this one did a great job of setting up the events of the original 1968 version. If you're a fan of the Heston version you'll love all the nods to the original. Plus Andy Serkis really deserves a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award Nomination for his work as Caesar the chimp. The special effects look great and there's quite a few times where you have to remind yourself that the face and movements from the animals are actually being done by actors.

Let me know what you thought of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" below.