2008 Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations (Film)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Picturehouse, FOCUS, Fox Searchlight, Miramax, Lionsgate, Picturehouse, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, Foreign Language, Independent, Music, Musicals, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Awards, Lists

Thanks to an interim waiver granted by the WGA, the 14th Annual SAG Awards telecast will air as scheduled on Sunday, January 27.  Since plans for the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards are still up in the air, this could be TNT’s most viewed awards show in quite some time.

This year’s film nominees are:

OUTSTANDING LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE

• George Clooney, Michael Clayton
• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Ryan Gosling, Lars And The Real Girl
• Emile Hirsch, Into The Wild
• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

OUTSTANDING LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie, Away From Her
• Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Ellen Page, Juno

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Box Office Breakdown:  Almighty Only Does Alrighty

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Political, Religious, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Question: When is being the #1 movie just not enough? (Hint:  You have three chances to answer this question correctly).

Answer(s):

1. When the critics don’t really have anything good to say about you
2. When you made less than 1/2 of what your predecessor did on opening weekend
3. When it cost over $175 million just to create you

Apparently having God on your side doesn’t guarantee you heavenly box office numbers.  Evan Almighty, the follow-up to 2003’s Bruce Almighty, failed to bring in a large congregation this past weekend.  Although it did better than the rest of the flock, it’s $32 million take paled in comparison to Bruce’s $68 million opening.  And then there’s that glaring $175 million bill…

Of course, we shouldn’t feel so badly about Steve Carell’s career.  I have a feeling that God is providing for him in other ways.

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Box Office Breakdown:  Lucky Number 13

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Independant Films, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Having exhausted all their sequel choices, theater patrons quickly moved on to the latest offering:  Ocean’s Thirteen.  Despite general indifference for the series’ second movie, Steven Soderbergh and friends faced down the unlucky number and rolled the dice again.  Their gamble paid off well this weekend when they took down Captain Jack Sparrow and his mates

Of course, viewers who crave the comfort of familiarity can still manage to have discerning taste.  Eli Roth’s Hostel: Part II only rounded enough voyeurs to rank a mediocre 6th place.  Here’s to hoping that the era of grisly horror movies is once again over…

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Ocean Causing Box Office Tidal Wave

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Warner Bros, Sequels, Box Office, New Releases

With star power like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Al Pacino, there was no way Ocean’s Thirteen wasn’t going to be a hit. The stars began filming in July 2006, in the cities of Las Vegas and Los Angeles, beginning a tidal wave that’s flooding the box office right now.

The star-studded cast is filled with names that include blonde sexpot Ellen Barkin, funnyman Bernie Mac, and Ocean’s alum Andy Garcia. The summer blockbuster is a second-time sequel, much likes its box office counterpart Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.  The Disney flick was supposed to be the biggest of the summer, featuring not just Johnny Depp but more CGI than you can shake a stick at. But the very bankable power of a Clooney/Pitt/Damon combo just can’t be denied, and now it’s Ocean’s Thirteen that’s shaping up to be the summer’s biggest hit. The flick is, at least, this weekend’s biggest hit.

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Read More | Yahoo! News

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Box Office Breakdown:  Knocked Up Delivers A Winner

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Lionsgate, Picturehouse, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Viewers in dire need of some raunch helped make Knocked Up a strong 2nd this weekend.

Katherine Heigl’s stomach bumped past several family-friendly sequels of late and brought a fresh dose of adults-only fun into the box office.  Although it didn’t surpass the strong swashbucklers in Pirates, Knocked has already grossed enough money to cover its entire production budget.  Something few other movies on this list could probably say.  With strong word of mouth, director Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin) may soon be adding another summer sleeper to his bedpost.

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Box Office Breakdown:  Sparrow vs. Spidey

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Yo, ho…whoa.

As predicted, Captain Jack Sparrow’s resurrection raked in serious booty helping the Pirates franchise score another box office record.  The Memorial Day Weekend crown was snatched away from last year’s holder, X-Men: The Last Stand.

But one thing POTC: At World’s End did not do was take back the title for any three-day weekend.  It’s $139.8 million dollar domestic take fell a bit short from the $151 million raised by Peter Parker et al.

Other notables this week?  The impressive showing by Waitress.  The small movie, starring Keri Russell, has been receiving great reviews and viewers must be taking notice.  Ranking 5th in a busy holiday weekend is definitely something to be proud of.  And what about those Wild Hogs?  After exiting the Top Ten weeks ago, it made one final surge.  Apparently motorcycles, leather and holiday weekends go hand-in-hand.

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Is Pirates Worth the Hype?

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Disney, Action, Adventure, Sequels, Box Office, New Releases, Theatrical Reviews

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean was a surprise success – able to delight both children and adults, the flick pulled in big star power and even bigger box office numbers. That’s quite an achievement for a movie that was, essentially, based upon a theme park ride. The slick production, clever acting, high-priced sets, and interesting costumes all make the third installment to this multi-million-dollar franchise look wonderful. But…is it actually worth the time and money that moviegoers will have to invest?

At nearly three hours long, At World’s End feels less like the Pirates attraction and more like the never-ending It’s a Small World tunnel. Children will love the silly gags, amazing effects, high-action drama, and the sword fighting. But, it holds almost none of the appeal of the first film and does little to fix the damage wrought by the second (Dead Man’s Chest, which was one action sequence after another, coupled with a quickly-confusing script and a few plot twists that made audiences scratch their heads and go “am I in the right theater?”).

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Read More | TV Guide

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