ALLIGATORS IN A HELICOPTER

a pro script reader ponders movies, reading, writing and the occasional personal flashback

Monday, July 23, 2007

Belated Weekend Boxoffice #41

I usually put up the weekend boxoffice posts before the weekend, just to try to predict how much movies will make, but this week I was distracted by my dying DVD player and a lack of enthusiasm over what was opening.

Ultimately, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry wound up making almost $35 million over the weekend, while Hairspray made a rather solid $27.8 million. Given the reviews that the films got (Hairspray is currently at a robust 94% on Rotten Tomatoes; Chuck and Larry is at 14%) expect Hairspray to pull an upset, and ultimately wind up making much more money in its theatrical run than the fake-gay firefighters do.

Which has to make John Waters smile.

Otherwise, Harry Potter dropped off 58% from last weekend, though don't feel too sorry for it, because it has made $208 million in less than two weeks.

Transformers brought in another $20 million, and it's at $262 million; it has a solid shot at being the top-grossing film of the summer.

Knocked Up is cruising along well, and has made $142 million so far. Evan Almighty has only made $93 million -- which isn't bad, until you remember that it cost $175 million, about $145 million more than Knocked Up did.

See, you don't need stars, you just need to be funny.

I didn't make it to the theaters this weekend, though I did make it out to the Dodgers game against the Mets (as a Mets fan) on Saturday. Of course, it was the only game the Mets lost out of the four (my karma is bad), while we wound up in seats in the blazing sunlight. Put it this way -- it was the first time in my life I ever sat somewhere where if a ball hit me on the head, it would have been a homerun.

The seat was right next to the bullpen, so I did get to see a bored Derek Lowe looking around for groupies. The groupies were apparently elsewhere, where it was shadier.

It was one of those days where, even though I put on sunscreen, you can now see every single spot that I missed.

The last movie I saw in theaters was Sicko, which I neglected to post about, but which I liked a lot. Whether you like Michael Moore or not, the film does a very good job making the point that the fundamental flaw with our health care system is that the insurance companies benefit from you not actually getting treatment.

My wife now wants to move to France. I think I've talked her out of it though.

6 Comments:

At 1:18 PM, Blogger Scribe LA said...

France, huh? I would try to talk you wonderful people out of it, but now that I think about it, maybe you'd let me visit... soo... when are you guys moving?:)
Scribe

 
At 5:05 PM, Blogger E.C. Henry said...

I wasn't to thrilled about the new movies coming out this week either. Will see "Hairspray" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" when they come out on DVD.

DID see an an advanced showing of "No Reservations" with Aarron Eckhart and Katherine Zeta Jones though. It was very good, but it's the acting that carries a stand pat, predictable plot.

Before going to watch "No Reservations" you might want to watch a couple episodes of the old TV series "Batman." Joker/Katherine Zeta Jones, see any simularites? Try the lips. They look the same to me. But in Katherine's defence, the Joker never sported a set of curves that came anythying close to hers.

(Micheal Douglas, you're one lucky guy)

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

 
At 5:14 PM, Blogger MaryAn Batchellor said...

Chuck and Larry pulling ahead of Harry so soon was a surprise for me. Of course, what do I know? I'm rushing out to see John Travolta play Edna Turnblad.

 
At 7:21 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Hairspray is a must, but No Reservations stinks like moldy whitefish.

Sorry, but without the acting, NR would have a hard time reserving itself on my one-star Netflix list.

 
At 1:01 PM, Blogger annabel said...

My daughter and I saw Hairspray over the weekend. We enjoyed it.

 
At 9:50 PM, Blogger Stella Louise said...

RE: Sicko--after seeing it I tried to convince my boss to move the company to Canada. His response: "You saw Sicko, huh?"

He's not budging though. Just as well--it's too cold up there!

 

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