How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
April 5, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
Little Fockers
I don’t know that there was ever a moment when the idea of a third Meet the Parents movie filled me with anything near the anticipation that must have been there to drive whatever the number of Greg Focker fanboys it takes to do Little Fockers $45 million worth of business in five days. That, truly, is a great deal of money earned for a “comedy” that looked about as entertaining as watching Dick Cheney eat a tuna fish sandwich in a big chair.
What I can’t wrap my head around sometimes is how much thought (or, I guess, the opposite of that) moviegoers put into what they want to see. When the trailer failed to make you laugh and when you actually sighed (sighed!) at Ben Stiller shoving a needle into Robert De Niro’s erect penis, why did you still neglect what could have been quality family time over the winter holidays in favor of seeing yet another Hollywood sequel that never should have happened?
Granted, my excitement for Scream 4 increases by the day, but my reasons for forking over 10 bucks to see what might be a bad movie - and I’m at peace with that! - are totally opposite those that helped drive the $100 million budgeted Little Fockers to profit in 12 days. Basically, I discovered a theater about a mile to my north that totally looks like it’s straight out of 1992. I want to see Scream 4 to re-remember what it would have been like to see a Scream movie in theaters as a ‘90s teen. Why? Well, I love nostalgia, and will sometimes do things that are, among other minds, totally insane in order to attain it.
Little Fockers, as well, scored a 4% with top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. And that, my friends, doesn’t exactly scream winner to me.
Disc includes: N/A
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of Dawn Treader
Now in its third incarnation, The Chronicles of Narnia film series is looking more and more like a bastardization of C.S. Lewis’ literary masterwork. And it has nothing to do with quality. Perhaps the films are good; I haven’t gotten around to seeing them. I speak more to the fact that each new release makes significantly less money than the flick that preceded it. So much so that the latest movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, made but a third as much (domestically) as the first movie. A third! What other film franchise can get away with this and still get the go ahead for a fourth feature? No, seriously, as of last week or so, Fox wants to make The Magician’s Nephew next.
What I’m getting at here is that the two other movie franchises worth raising here - Harry Potter and Twilight - either make more money with each release (Twilight) or, domestically, do at minimum $250 million worth of business (Harry Potter). Harry’s international totals are even more impressive: four out of seven movies have eclipsed $900 million.
Is it fair to compare Chronicles of Narnia to, say, Harry Potter? I want to say yes and here’s why: That first Narnia movie? Totally a big deal. It was in the air and you felt it. Even SNL was indirectly parodying it with its “Lazy Sunday” music video. But neither Prince Caspian nor Voyage of the Dawn Treader have generated even half the buzz of Narnia’s premiere tale. If anything, anticipation decreases with each new movie, and I don’t want to hear that it’s solely because the seventh and final Narnia book was published over half a century ago. Disney failed at marketing the franchise, and so did Fox - how very Monday Morning Quarterback of me. Fox, which took over the franchise from the Mouse House, will successfully complete the film industry’s version of a major party foul (drinking the Beer Pong ball water?) if it doesn’t get its act together.
Were C.S. Lewis still alive, how difficult a position would that be to be the suit in charge of informing the author that only a handful of his seven books would be adapted to the screen?
Disc includes: N/A
Friday Night Lights: The Fifth Season
Until I get around to seeing Friday Night Lights, NBC’s small screen version of the film and book that preceded it will, I think, continue to revolve around the top of my must-see list. I mean I’ve been talking about this for years. I know it goes as far back as least two years ago when Battlestar Galactica was finishing up its four-year run. I remember wondering: Should I start watching BSG right now because everyone and their 35-year-old nerdy uncle is talking about it, or do I finally start digesting Friday Night Lights because it was, at the time, only 50 episodes deep?
Each new FNL season brings with it near universal acclaim, and the show’s small, but mighty fan culture seems to think it one of television’s best dramas. (Now, it’s in a sort of limbo as the final season finished up in February on DirecTV. But NBC, its original broadcaster, will begin “encore” plays of season five next Friday). Of course, many people, including many contributors to this site, will probably bypass NBC altogether by purchasing the DVD today.
For whatever reason I lack the encouragement, I’ll say, to run off and finally see this show. I challenge somebody, anybody, to get me doing just that.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, photo gallery, The Lights Go Out featurette, audio commentaries
Tron: Legacy
Weeks before Tron: Legacy’s release, the franchise’s rebirth reminded me in some ways to the buzz behind Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Both it and Legacy rebooted their respective franchises after a long absence - 28 in Tron’s case; 12 for Terminator - both maintained continuity by keeping Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jeff Bridges in the fold and the “idea” of a sequel for either franchise seemed to be received warmly. Strangely, both movies earned $44 million over their opening weekends.
Though receiving mixed reviews from critics, Tron: Legacy seemed to make up for what it missed in writing with its soundtrack by the electronic Frenchmen behind Daft Punk. Its visuals were also, apparently, nothing short of eye candy.
Disc includes: First Look at Tron: Uprising featurette, Visualizing Tron featurette, Installing the Cast featurette
April 5, 2011
Blu-ray
...And Justice For All
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Alien 2 on Earth
Aloha, Scooby-Doo!
Arthur / Arthur 2: On the Rocks
Babe
Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker
Benny & Joon
Billy Joel: Live at Shea Stadium
Casino Jack
The Cove
De-Lovely
Fiddler On The Roof
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 4
I Love You, Phillip Morris
Jawbreaker
Kung Fu Panda
Lars and the Real Girl
Little Fockers
Much Ado About Nothing
Mystic Pizza
National Geographic: Big Cats Collection
The People Vs. Larry Flynt
Peter Pan
The Rules Of Attraction
Scooby-Doo And The Cyber Chase
Still Waiting...
Taxi Driver
Tom & Jerry: The Fast & The Furry
Tron
Tron: Legacy
Tron: Legacy / Tron
WWE: DX - One Last Stand
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of Dawn Treader
DVD
Alien 2 on Earth
Casino Jack
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of Dawn Treader (2-Disc Edition)
The Cove
De-Lovely
Friday Night Lights: The Fifth Season
House of Payne: Volume 7
I Love You, Phillip Morris
Life Unexpected: Complete First and Second Seasons
Little Fockers
Sarah Palin's Alaska
The Straight Man (10th Anniversary Edition)
Tron (Special Edition)
Tron: Legacy
Tron: Legacy / Tron (DVD + 3D)
XX Where The Heart Should Be