Box Office
Box Office Guru Wrapup: 2012 Destroys the Competition (84 comments)
This weekend Audiences were warned - by Mayans and film critics alike - but moviegoers around the world still flooded the multiplexes to see Roland Emmerich's latest disaster epic 2012 which generated an explosive global debut. Last weekend's top film A Christmas Carol held up well in its second weekend taking the runner-up spot while the awards hopeful Precious expanded moderately but raced all the way up to number four despite playing in fewer than 200 theaters. Overall ticket sales were slightly behind last year's levels, but well ahead of 2007. Blasting past expectations, Sony scored its best opening of 2009 with 2012 which grossed an estimated $65M this weekend from North America alone.
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks (34 comments)
This weekend Moviegoers powered Jim Carrey's holiday kidpic A Christmas Carol to a number one opening but some fans remained stingy preventing the Disney 3D toon from meeting industry expectations. On the complete other side of the movie spectrum, the inner city drama Precious debuted to spectacular results enjoying one of the most impressive limited release debuts ever. Three other new wide releases were sprinkled across the top ten with mixed results as the overall marketplace fell behind year-ago levels. The 3D yuletide pic A Christmas Carol bowed on top this weekend grossing an estimated $31M from 3,683 locations and performed better than previous motion capture pics from director Robert Zemeckis, but worse than most animated films that kick off the holiday movie season in early November.
Box Office Guru Wrapup: This Is It Tops Box Office Worldwide (55 comments)
Four months after his death, Michael Jackson was the king of the box office as his concert documentary This Is It thrilled fans opening at number one. But with no other new films opening in wide release, and with Halloween dampening ticket sales on Saturday, the Top 20 slumped to its lowest point of 2009 with just $83M. Sony scored its seventh top spot debut of the year with This Is It, a look at preparations the music superstar was making for his sold-out London concerts, which grossed an estimated $21.3M over the weekend and $32.5M over five days since its Wednesday launch. Worldwide, the Kenny Ortega-directed pic grossed an estimated $101M with 68% of the total coming from overseas markets where Jackson's popularity has remained stronger over the years despite his many legal troubles. Domestically, This Is It averaged a solid $6,119 from 3,481 theaters over the Friday-to-Sunday span. The studio has reported that the Jackson pic has broken the all-time record for top-grossing concert film worldwide beating the $71.3M of last year's Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus 3D concert flick. But that's not much of an achievement since very few concert films get wide releases in the first place and even fewer are given massive global launches like This Is It which unspooled on over 15,000 screens worldwide simultaneously. Montana bowed in North America on a Friday in just 683 3D locations (albeit with higher $15 tickets) and grossed $31.1M for a scorching $45,561 average on its way to a $65.3M domestic final representing a whopping 92% of its final global take. Its international release was much more limited.
RT on DVD
RT on DVD: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ( comment)
This week, the little movie that could: celebrated arthouse auteur Michael Bay overcomes funding difficulties and triumphs over the studio system with his moving, personal vision in 'Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen'. Plus, Harrison Ford gets back to playing old grouches in earnest political dramas, Jennifer Aniston gets stalked (go figure) and Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo play brothers of the non-'Bloom' variety.
Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes (61 comments)
This week at the movies, we've got hot teen vampires (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson); a football family (The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron); and some interplanetary mishaps (Planet 51, with voice work by Dwayne Johnson and Jessica Biel). What do the critics have to say? So far, it looks like the latest installment of the Twilight Saga is failing to resonate with the critics, but that didn't stop the first movie from doing gangbusters at the box office, pleasing all of the book's fans in the process. Sandra Bullock hasn't had much luck this year on the Tomatometer, and that doesn't look to change. And lastly, Planet 51 seems as though it doesn't carry much narrative weight behind those flashy visuals. Read the full article for all the details.
Critics Consensus: 2012 Isn't Quite Earth-Shaking (44 comments)
This week at the movies, we've got a global catastrophe (2012, starring John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor) and some rock 'n' roll rebellion (Pirate Radio, starring Philip S. Hoffman and Bill Nighy). What do the critics have to say? Nobody goes to a Roland Emmerich picture expecting art or realism; they go for sheer spectacle. On that level, critics say, 2012 largely delivers. However, they also note that if you enjoy character development, witty dialogue, remotely plausible science, and brevity, you're out of luck. It's an understatement to say that the mid-to-late-1960s was a revolutionary period for British rock music, and Pirate Radio is a fond, celebratory comedy about those heady times. Critics say it may not rock quite hard enough, but it's got enough infectious good humor -- and hummable tunes -- to drown out objections.
Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints (43 comments)
This week at the movies, we've got some modern-day Dickens (Disney's A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman); a button-pushing thriller (The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden); vanishing Alaskans (The Fourth Kind, starring Milla Jovovich and Elias Koteas); and some psychic soldiers (The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney and Jeff Bridges). What do the critics have to say? Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is one of literature's most haunting morality tales - and one of the most adapted. Critics are largely split on two key aspects of Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture version starring Jim Carrey: whether it honors the, ahem, spirit of Dickens' classic, and whether the motion-capture technology is aesthetically appealing.
Total Recall
Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers (50 comments)
A big part of the cinema's appeal is its ability to take us places we've never been -- but to really work, that escapism has to be grounded to universal themes, and like the Good Book says, the greatest of these is love. As any Twilight fan could tell you, nothing ratchets up the drama like star-crossed love, and to celebrate the imminent release of the franchise's second installment, New Moon, we've put together a list of some of Hollywood's most noteworthy -- and most persistent -- couples. We couldn't cover them all, of course, but if you've ever shed tears for the injustice of an onscreen love unfairly denied, you're sure to swoon over this week's Total Recall!
Total Recall: John Cusack's Best Movies (98 comments)
For much of the 1980s, John Cusack was one of Hollywood's most dependable go-to guys for affable leads in teen romantic comedies -- typecasting that led to some great films (Better Off Dead, Say Anything...) as well as some rather forgettable efforts (Hot Pursuit, One Crazy Summer). But beneath that guy-next-door exterior lurked the heart of a thespian, and over the last 20 years, Cusack has assembled one of the more eclectic filmographies in the biz, starring in action flicks (Con Air), quirky dramas (Being John Malkovich), and even dabbling in horror (1408). With his starring turn in Roland Emmerich's latest big-budget disaster epic, 2012, arriving in theaters this weekend, could there be a better time to give Mr. Cusack's collected works the Total Recall treatment?
Total Recall: George Clooney's Best Movies (94 comments)
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. We hear it all the time, but George Clooney is living proof that perseverance pays off: Despite the inauspicious beginnings of a career that threatened to pigeonhole him as a Ted McGinley-style supporting player on fading sitcoms, he's risen to the ranks of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, and has appeared in some of the last decade's most critically and commercially successful films. This fall, Clooney surfaces in three major releases: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, opening this weekend. If that kind of star power doesn't deserve the Total Recall treatment, what does?
Weekly Ketchup
Weekly Ketchup: Rachel McAdams Reads for Spider-Man 4 (75 comments)
This week's Ketchup includes new movies for the directors of Moon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, as well as casting news for Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx and two of the stars of The Hangover. FRESH DEVELOPMENTS #1 WILL THE BLACK CAT JINX PETER PARKER IN SPIDER-MAN 4? The comic book site Mania.com is reporting that director Sam Raimi is currently casting for Spider-Man 4, and this early information gives us new insight into a possible new character.
Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear (34 comments)
This Week's Ketchup includes news about movies based upon Micronauts, Arabian Nights and The Berenstain Bears, as well as casting news for Sir Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Owen Wilson; and a new movie for the director of Slumdog Millionaire. FRESH DEVELOPMENTS #1 J.J. ABRAMS WANTS TO PLAY WITH YOUR OLD MICRONAUTS TOYS Hot off the success of his reimagining of Star Trek, J.J. Abrams is in negotiations to produce a movie based upon the popular 1970s-1980s Japanese toy franchise Micronauts, which was also a long-running Marvel Comics series. Micronauts was a series of interchangeable science fiction heroes, robots and vehicles (sort of imagine a cross between action figures and LEGO) that collectively told the story of alien warriors in the grip of an intergalactic war. The best part was that they have crashed on the strange world of Earth where they find themselves just the size of little toys. Among the most popular Micronauts figures were Biotron, Microtron, Acroyear and Baron Karza.
Weekly Ketchup: A Paranormal Sequel, Hopkins Joins Thor (35 comments)
This week's Ketchup includes news of sequels for Paranormal Activity, Mad Max, and Men in Black franchises, as well as casting news for Sir Anthony Hopkins, Matt Damon, Keira Knightley, Tom Cruise, and Adam Sandler.
What the Hell Happened To...
What The Hell Happened To ... Cuba Gooding Jr.? (86 comments)
This week, Rotten Tomatoes turns its gaze upon the once promising, now perplexing career of a certain boat-tripping, dog-sledding Oscar winner in hopes of pinpointing just where things went wrong. So what the hell happened to Cuba Gooding Jr.?
What The Hell Happened To Shannon Elizabeth? (101 comments)
In our second installment of What The Hell Happened To... we again turn to the Tomatometer to chart the rise and fall of a once-promising Hollywood talent. [To read our inaugural assessment of Wesley Snipes, click here.] What will the Tomatometer tell us, and is there any remedy for Shannon Elizabeth?
What The Hell Happened To Wesley Snipes? (103 comments)
In the first part of a new Rotten Tomatoes feature, we examine the career ups and downs of our favorite fallen celebrities -- as charted by the Tomatometer, of course, and with only the best of intentions in mind.
Five Favorite Films
Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog (47 comments)
During his remarkable 40-year career, Werner Herzog has made some of world cinema's boldest films -- including Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Stroszek, Fitzcaraldo, and a remake of Nosferatu. In recent years, he's approached mainstream success in the United States, with the eccentric documentary Grizzly Man and the Vietnam war film Rescue Dawn, which starred Christian Bale. His latest, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, features Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes in the tale of a cop who tries to solve a brutal murder and keep his grip on reality while battling drug addiction, gambling debts, and familial woes. Read the full article to get the whole story.
Five Favorite Films with Roland Emmerich (79 comments)
We're fairly certain Roland Emmerich's movies hold the record for combined body count. Such a feat is a result of career built around movies like Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow, bombastic, crowd-pleasing disaster movies that frequently leave the planet in runs. His latest effort is 2012, opening this Friday and starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as survivors in a world tearing apart at the seams and submerged in water. Rotten Tomatoes spoke to Emmerich to get his Five Favorite Films, and on the following page you can read our interview, where he discusses the upcoming 2012 television show, his thoughts on Avatar, and creating popcorn movies on a global scale.
Five Favourite Films with 24's Carlos Bernard (33 comments)
24 star Carlos Bernard is one of the show's few fixtures. With all the double-crossings, cliff-hangers and back-stabbings, it's a wonder anyone has survived from the first season, but his character Tony Almeida was an integral part of the season just aired, the seventh in the show's run. All indications suggest that he'll be back in a big way for Day 8, set to kick off in January. The actor came to London this week to promote the DVD release of the show's seventh season - available on Blu-ray for the first time, and RT sat down with him to guage his five favourite films, talk about the show and do our best to learn all we could about Day 8. We failed spectacularly on the latter point, for he choose instead to invent an plot too implausible even by 24 standards, but read on for the rest...
IGN RSS Feeds