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July, 2006 Archives | Homepage
Miami Vice Speeds to the Top of the Box Office 
Miami Vice topped
the box office this past weekend, making $25,195,000 towards its production cost of $135,000,000. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest came in second, with a mind-boggling U.S. gross to date of $358,372,000.
Fox's John Tucker Must Die came in third with $14,075,000, despite scathing reviews. The Ant Bully was a big disappointment for Warner Bros, making only $8,145,000. Perhaps parents weren't keen on taking children to a film in which the ants are the heroes and the exterminator is the villain, given how much most homeowners despise fire ants. Scoop, the new Scarlett Johansson/Hugh Jackman murder mystery directed by Woody Allen, opened in limited release; the film took in a very nice $5,581 per theater, with a gross of $3,003,000. Woody Allen clearly has found a new muse in Scarlett. We loved the slyly subversive Match Point and are looking forward to catching Scoop. Posted on July 31, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati  The Discovery Channel will be running its annual Shark Week feature starting tonight -- Sun, July 30, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. To celebrate the 19th year of Shark Week, Discovery has modified its Communications Headquarters.
You're gonna need a bigger...camera. Discovery Communications Headquarters has been overtaken by a Great White so big that, if it were real, it would weigh in at a whopping 84,000 pounds. Shark Week (to air July 30 - August 4) is celebrating its 19th year and is the longest running series on cable.Now that's how you promote Shark Week! The Book of Joe blogs that the 50 foot shark was created in California before being trucked to Discovery's headquarters in DC. TV Squad has more details about Shark Week's programming. You can also view a video preview from Discovery. Posted on July 30, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Miami Vice Beats Pirates. John Tucker Not Dead Yet.  Miami Vice toppled the Pirates 2 blockbuster according to Friday night box office estimates. John Tucker Must Die had a strong showing and almost beat out Pirates for the second slot. Here are the Friday estimates according to Box Office Mojo.
An impressive debut for John Tucker Must Die. The film managed to nearly best Pirates of the Caribbean with over 1,000 less theatres. That heavily promoted MySpace URL and funny trailer must have helped the film. Pirates of the Caribbean has already made over $340 million making it the top grossing U.S. film this year by over $100 million. However, Pirates 2 still has way to go to catch the top worldwide grossing film this year, The Da Vinci Code, which has made over $740 million worldwide. In other box office news, The Devil Wears Prada is still bringing movie goers to the theatres -- it recently passed the $100 million mark. Posted on July 29, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati  Colin Farrell appeared on The View this morning to promote his new film, Miami Vice. Most male actors are really scared of going on The View: You've got to face a grilling by everyone from Barbara Walters (who held her own in an intervew with Fidel Castro, as you recall) and Joy Behar -- who loves to crack jokes at the actors' expense. But Colin had a dream time on The View.
He was funny. He was scruffily handsome. He only said "foooking" a few times (which was bleeped). He was self-deprecating, alluding to the "10 people or so who saw Alexander" then pretending to whip himself on the back with a cilice, like the albino killer in The Da Vinci Code. He kissed each host. He whispered with Monique. But most importantly, after a discusson of his salsa dance scene in the movie, he then danced a cha-cha/salsa hybrid with Barbara Walters, joking that trying to get an Irishman to do a passionate Latin dance was nearly an impossibliity because in Irish dancing only the legs move. Barbara was putty in his hands. She called him "such a good sport." "So talented." "So fun." She told her (all female) audience that although Miami Vice has lots of action and guns in it, it also has some lovely romance and dancing in it. Which is true. Miami Vice: it's a chick flick. Who knew? Posted on July 28, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Bryan Singer Talks Superman Returns Sequel 
We loved Superman Returns and are going to be really, really grumpy if there isn't a sequel. Director Bryan Singer addressed the issue at Comic-Con.
At Comic-Con 2006 on Friday, during a Superman panel hosted by Warner Bros. studios, Superman Returns director, Bryan Singer, revealed that he anticipates being involved in the next Superman film.The bottom line is that a sequel depends on the box office take. To date, the film has made $290,245,955 worldwide so far. It cost $260 million to make. Add in DVD sales and we say, 2009 Superman Sequel, Full Steam Ahead! Posted on July 26, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati It looks like Fletch is going to live again on the silver screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence is writing and directing a prequel to the '80s franchise "Fletch," and if he has his way, Zach Braff will star in the title role.Fletch was certainly funny. But are we ever going to see anything but remakes of old films and prequels/sequels to old films? Why not greenlight something new and original? Zach Braff's film career couldn't be any hotter unless he was actually on fire, though. Posted on July 25, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Lady in the Water Sinks At Box Office  M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water didn't fare well at the box office in its opening weekend. It took in only $18,210,000. The film cost $55 million to make, and certainly the studio was expecting a much bigger return. One problem is that the movie is being marketed as a horror film, and it's not. It's a fairy tale that M. Night made up as a bedtime story for his children. Although it has some scary elements, it's certainly no horror film.
Pirates of the Caribbean ruled at the box office again, bringing its total take to date up to $321,733,000. In second place was Sony's animated Monster House, which took in a respectable $23,000,000. You, Me and Dupree showed some staying power, coming in at fourth, putting its total box office take at $45,318,000. It cost $54 million to make, and after DVD sales it will definitely be profitable. Two films that did not fare well on opening weekend were Clerks II ($9,625,000) and My Super Ex-Girlfriend ($8,700,000). Some buzz about My Super Ex-Girlfriend indicates that women do like the two stars of the film but they really dislike the premise of the film: that Uma Thurman's character is basically crazy. A script retooling would have helped here: making the screenplay more of a madcap comedy, perhaps Uma's character finds her fiance in a horribly compromising position (through no fault of his own) so that she has a good reason to get revenge. Hilarious misunderstandings ensue and there's a happy ending as Luke's character is exonerated. But in the current script, she's just overly needy and obnoxious. In fact a lot of women feel the movie is quite misogynistic. Which is a shame, because this film could have been very funny, indeed. Posted on July 24, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Daniel Craig Already Signed For Second Bond Film 
USA Today reports that actor Daniel Craig has already been asked back to reprise his role as James Bond in another film, although the current film hasn't even hit theaters yet.
The producers behind Casino Royale, this fall's return to action for agent 007, said Thursday that new star Daniel Craig will reprise the role in a second Bond flick due out May 2, 2008.Shouldn't they at least wait to see how Casino Royale does at the box office? And what the fans think? Posted on July 22, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati ABC just announced that there will be no Lost until 2007. Apparently, ABC exec listened to fans who hate the current schedule of showing 6 episodes in the Fall, then going on hiatus, then picking up again in the Spring. Most fans wanted a straight, uninterrupted stretch for the season. Inquiring critics wanted to know why ABC decided to bring Lost back in the fall for six weeks (starting Oct. 4) and then erase it from the winter schedule, rather than air reruns (like chewing gum--you're still hungry but it provides a quick fix), and then dump the new 2007 installments right into American Idols' lap.Hmmm....we like having uninterruped Lost episodes. On the other hand, this means that we have to wait until 2007 to find out what happens next. Posted on July 20, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Joel Siegal vs. Kevin Smith: The Unhinging  Richard Johnson of Page Six
reports on the feud between Post film critic Joel Siegel and Kevin Smith, director of Clerks and Clerks 2.
Siegel hated Clerks II so much that he walked out of the screening, declaring the film to be "smut." But that wasn't all -- he yelled "Time to Go!" and tried to get the other critics to leave the screening, as well. Smith was not amused. "Time to go!" roared Siegel to his fellow critics. "First movie I've walked out of in 30 [bleeping] years!" His tirade came 40 minutes into the long-awaited Weinstein Company sequel to Smith's 1994 cult classic about two foul-mouthed Long Island convenience store clerks who razz customers and goof off.Yikes. What was Siegel thinking? I mean if the whole donkey thing was so offensive to him, the polite thing to do would have been to quietly start sending furious text messages to PETA. Yelling in the middle of a film is likely to induce another patron to start text messaging Homeland Security about the unhinged nut job who's trying to incite a riot during the film screening of Clerks II. Posted on July 19, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Jennifer Aniston Opens the Door to a Friends Reunion  Jennifer Aniston has now said that she's willing to do a Friends reunion show, and that she'd like to do a Thanksgiving special to see what the characters from the hit TV show are doing now.
Jennifer Aniston says she would like to reprise her role as Rachel Green in a reunion show of TV’s most famous group of Friends. "The only thing I can think of doing is maybe for fun doing a Thanksgiving episode," Aniston said in a TV interview that was set to air Monday on Channel Four. "Our Thanksgiving episodes were really fun."Hear that, NBC? You've got Jennifer ready to come back -- it's time to ink those contracts ASAP. Posted on July 18, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Pirates of the Caribbean Stays Tops at the Box Office Pirates of the Caribbean topped the box office for the second weekend in a row, pulling in $62,186,000, which makes the film's gross so far a whopping $258,205,000. It had a whopping budget of $255 million, which it has already surpassed. In second place was a virtual tie for Little Man with $21,700,000 and the Owen Wilson comedy, You, Me and Dupree, with $21,338,000. In third place is Superman Returns with $11,620,000. Showing excellent staying power is The Devil Wears Prada with $10,450,000. The film, which cost only $35 million to make, has already grossed $83,554,000. Posted on July 17, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati The Return of Sci Fi Fridays 
Finally! Tonight we finally get to see the season premieres of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis on the Sci Fi Channel. So, essentially, 2/3 of Sci Fi Fridays is back. The other crucial third show, Battlestar Galactica, doesn't return with its season premiere until Fall, 2006. Tonight's SG-1 episode is called "Flesh and Blood" and the synopsis says: "Following their defeat by the Ori motherships, the SG-1 team struggles to reunite in the face of this seemingly unbeatable foe." Ah yes, the horrifying Ori. We just love to hate them. The episode airs on Sci-Fi at 9pm Eastern/8pm Central.
On Stargate Atlantis the season opener is called "No Man's Land." The synopsis reads: "With information stolen from the Atlantis database, two Wraith hive ships travel toward Earth to launch an attack." Yikes! The Wraith are just ghastly....if only there were some way to get the Wraith to attack the Ori..... Stargate Atlantis airs tonight on Sci-Fi at 10 pm Eastern/9pm Central. Posted on July 14, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Snakes on a Plane in a Month  In just a little over a month Snakes on a Plane (SoaP) will finally debut in theatres. The film opens on August 18th. The blogosphere has been buzzing about the movie for several months now. AskMen.com has a good overview of the story behind Snakes on a Plane in case you seriously haven't heard of it before. The film's star Samuel Jackson insisted New Line Cinema keep the film's title.
Most films start production with a working title that is eventually changed after the marketing department spends millions of dollars and countless hours conceiving and testing new, usually lamer names. Such was the case with SoaP (as it is known in cheesy Net-shorthand): Snakes on a Plane was originally just one of the temporary titles, and the studio decided to change it to the presumably more marketable Pacific Air Flight 121 after Samuel L. Jackson signed on.The article also explains how a mock trailer created by a fan was responsible for some of the dialogue added to the film. It will be interesting to see how a movie performs after so much Internet publicity. It is probably the first movie to become a cult classic before being released. Defamer and I Watch Stuff have found a poster from the French version of the movie, Des Serpents Dans L'Avion. More information about Snakes on a Plane can be found on the official website, IMDB.com, Wikipedia and the Snakes on a Blog site. Posted on July 12, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati A Slow Week In Television It's a sad day for television executives. Last week was the least watched week of television in recorded history for the four big broadcast networks. TV viewers must have taken to the beach: It was the least-watched week in recorded history for the four biggest broadcast networks. CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox averaged 20.8 million viewers during the average prime-time minute last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. That sunk below the previous record, set during the last week of July in 2005. It wasn't entirely unexpected. By tradition, the week that includes Independence Day has the fewest viewers of the year, or close to it, because rerun season is in full swing and the public is consumed with outdoor activities.We liked Psych and we're glad it did well. But how many people will tune in for week 2? That's a very important ratings number. Posted on July 11, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Pirates of the Caribbean Breaks Box Office Records 
Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest blew away all previous box office records, raking in an amazing $132 million during its opening weekend, which makes it the biggest opening in film history.
"The first movie was such a beloved title," said Chuck Viane, Buena Vista's president of distribution. "Jack Sparrow became a household name, and you had this pent-up demand to see the sequel. [Dead Man's Chest] was like the old days where going to the movies was a fun event."Johnny Depp has said in interviews that he's willing to do a fourth movie in the series, so the studio had better nail down his, Orlando Bloom's and Keira Knightley's contracts now, if you ask us. Posted on July 10, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati USA Network's Psych Looks Promising  Tonight is the premiere of USA Network's promising new series, Psych, which is coupled with the premiere of the new season of Monk.
Psych has a clever premise: Shawn Spencer is super-observant (James Roday) and notices things other people don't, which makes him seem psychic. An exuberant personality, Shawn pretends to be psychic to make a living helping solve crimes. Shawn's abilities are due to his demanding father (Corbin Bernsen) who trained him in the art of observation -- much like a spy. His friend and partner (Dulé Hill) goes along with the gig, but it makes him nervous. It's a very silly show, but it's perfect for summer. It airs tonight on USA Network at 10pm Eastern, just after the Monk premiere which airs at 9pm Eastern. Posted on July 7, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Emmys Snub Lost The Emmy nominations are out and we are not amused. Lost is nowhere to be found for Outstanding Drama Series. The nominees are: Outstanding Reality Show (Competition) The Amazing Race American Idol Dancing with the Stars Project Runway Survivor Outstanding Reality Show Antiques Roadshow The Dog Whisperer Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List Penn & Teller: Bullshit Outstanding Drama Series Grey's Anatomy House The Sopranos 24 The West Wing Outstanding Comedy Series Arrested Development Curb Your Enthusiasm The Office Scrubs Two and a Half Men Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Candice Bergen, Boston Legal Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy Blythe Danner, Huff Jean Smart, 24 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm Alfre Woodard, Desperate Housewives Jaime Pressley, My Name is Earl Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds Megan Mullally, Will & Grace Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama William Shatner, Boston Legal Oliver Platt, Huff Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos Gregory Itzin, 24 Alan Alda, The West Wing Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Will Arnett, Arrested Development Jeremy Piven, Entourage Bryan Cranston, Malcolm in the Middle Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men Sean Hayes, Will & Grace Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer Geena Davis, Commander In Chief Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU Frances Conroy, Six Feet Under Allison Janney, The West Wing Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle Julia-Louis Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine Stockard Channing, Out of Practice Debra Messing, Will & Grace Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU Denis Leary, Rescue Me Peter Krause, Six Feet Under Kiefer Sutherland, 24 Martin Sheen, The West Wing Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm Kevin James, The King of Queens Tony Shalhoub, Monk Steve Carell, The Office Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. The weird new voting rules mean that several cancelled shows are up for an Emmy. Posted on July 6, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Superman Returns Tops the Box Office Superman Returns soared to the top of the box office this past weekend, making $52,481,000. That brings the total gross to date to $84,538,000, which is a very nice return, although the film didn't open as big as Spiderman 2. In second place for the weekend was The Devil Wears Prada -- which we absolutely loved -- with $27,325,000. Adam Sandler's Click came in third, with a total box office to date of $78,518,000, which is an excellent return for a comedy. Superman Returns faces some stiff competition when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens nationwide on Friday, July 7th. Posted on July 5, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Roger Ebert Undergoes Emergency Surgery Film critic Roger Ebert is listed as being in serious condition after undergoing emergency surgery for complications of a prior surgery. Ebert underwent surgery for cancer of the salivary gland, but later a blood vessel near the surgery site burst which required surgical intervention. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper -- co-host of the "Ebert and Roeper" movie review show -- told the paper that Ebert's vital signs appeared to be good after the hours-long operation. Ebert's family told WLS-TV, one of his employers, that they expected him to make a full recovery.Get well soon, Roger! Posted on July 3, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati |
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