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Welcome to Marquee History, the weekly column that takes you back to a time when you - or your parents - were younger. Prepare to become nostalgic (and shocked) at how much time has passed when you recall what was new in theaters 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years ago.

This week's highlights are the 20th anniversary of Toy Story, plus the 10th anniversary of one of my favorite comedies, Just Friends.

Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...

10 years ago - November 25, 2005

Yours, Mine & Ours
Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo star in the large-family comedy remake of the 1968 film starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball. This project could be easily confused with Steve Martin’s comedy Cheaper By the Dozen (2003) which had a sequel release only a month after Yours, Mine & Ours. This was Danielle Panabaker’s first year of acting in films, starting with Sky High in the summer. None of the three Dozen/Ours movies did well among critics, but this one suffered the most. Yours, Mine & Ours opened at #3 behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (which pulled in more viewers than the next three films combined) and Walk the Line with $17.4 million ($24.3 million for the five-day Thanksgiving weekend). This was better than the $9 million for Cheaper By the Dozen 2 in December, but Yours, Mine & Ours stalled an only made $53 million compared to Cheaper 2’s $82 million gross.

Rent
Director Chris Columbus switched from the first two Harry Potter movies to this adaptation of the the 1996 Broadway rock musical about artists in the East Village dealing with relationships and HIV. Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin, and Wilson Jermaine Heredia reprise the roles they performed on Broadway, with Rosario Dawson brought in for the role of Mimi. Perhaps the decade between theatre and theater made the movie seem less relevant, as reviews weren’t as glowing as they had been for the Broadway production. The biggest winner here was probably Menzel, who had recently won a Tony for Wicked and would later appear in the TV series Glee and achieve a huge hit with Frozen. Rent opened at #5 behind Chicken Little with $10 million ($17.1 million) from 2,433 theaters. It eventually earned $29 million in the U.S.

Just Friends
I know Ryan Reynolds has been in bigger, more popular films, but Just Friends gets my vote for the best performance of his career. This home-for-Christmas comedy stars Reynolds as an L.A. hotshot who has seemingly put his small town and overweight past behind him until he reunites with his high school friend Jamie Palamino, played by Amy Smart. Anna Faris plays a hilariously egotistically oblivious pop singer, and Chris Klein plays a rival for Jamie’s affection. Critics and audiences made the terrible choice to dismiss this as just another comedy - go watch it if you haven’t seen it. Just Friends opened at #6 with $9.9 million ($13.2 million five-day) and went on to gross $32.5 million in the U.S.

In the Mix
Usher stars in this crime/rom-com as a DJ who falls for a mob boss’s daughter (Emmanuelle Chriqui). This was Usher’s second major role, after Light It Up. Interestingly he left soundtrack duties to other artists, including The Gordon Brothers, Chris Brown, and Robin Thicke. To date this is the last theatrical release directed by Ron Underwood (Tremors, City Slickers), who has moved over to television. Usher has completed filming the Roberto Duran biopic Hands of Stone, in which he portrays Sugar Ray Leonard. Reviews of In the Mix were weak, and it opened at #9 behind Derailed with $4.4 million ($6.1 million five-day) from 1,608 theaters, eventually grossing $10.2 million in the U.S.

The Ice Harvest
John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, and Oliver Platt star in this heist comedy about a getaway hampered by icy roads at Christmas. Harold Ramis directed the movie based on the novel by Scott Phillips. Cusack and Thornton had worked together in 1999’s Pushing Tin. Thornton had a pretty good dark comedy holiday hit with Bad Santa in 2003. His summer comedy Bad News Bears was a disappointment. Reviews for this movie were good, but it received a moderate release from Focus Features and didn’t stay long in theaters. It’s a fun little movie - check it out if you missed it at the time. The Ice Harvest opened at #10 with $3.7 million ($5.0 million five-day) and finished with $9.0 million.

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