Monthly Archives: June 2008
Victories Galore: Box Office and the Culmination of a First Draft
My psychic waves were in tune with this weekend’s box office returns, as I nailed the top three and in the right order. This week’s Top 10:
- Kung Fu Panda ($60 million)
- You Don’t Mess With the Zohan ($40 million)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($22.8 million)
- Sex and the City ($21.3 million)
- The Strangers ($9.3 million)
- Iron Man (7.5 million)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (5.5 million)
- What Happens in Vegas (3.4 million)
- Baby Mama (780,000)
- Made Of Honor (775,000)
I did happen to catch Kung Fu Panda and found it humorous, sweet, and not nearly as annoying as I thought it would be. It gets a solid three stars from me. The rundown on what else I watched this week:
- The Birds (3 stars)
- The Savages (3 stars)
- For Your Consideration (3 stars)
Kind of a slow movie week for me, but I’ve spent more time reading instead. I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s now on my list of favorite books, and I am very excited about the adaptation coming out next year.
I’m planning on starting some pre-writing for my 2008 National Novel Writing Month effort, so I’ve dived into Neil Gaiman’s Stardust
Box Office Predictions: 6 June 2008
Trying my hand again this week, and it doesn’t look easy. We’ve got Kung Fu Panda and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan opening in wide release this week. I’m banking that Kung Fu Panda will take No. 1 followed by You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, but what about No. 3?
I think any of last week’s Top 5 could plausibly take the No. 3 spot, with the exception of The Strangers, though it did surprise me by taking No. 3 last week. I think I’ve proven that I have a soft spot for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, but I think Iron Man and Indy 4 have a better shot at taking the third spot. I’m guessing the majority of moviegoers interested in seeing Sex & the City saw it last weekend based on the drop in numbers from Friday to Saturday. I’ve got no long-winded analysis today, so I’ll just bite the bullet and choose one.
- Kung Fu Panda
- You Don’t Mess with the Zohan
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
And here’s hoping that Iron Man and Prince Caspian can round out the Top 5.
Reading, Raining & Writing
I’ve been vastly unproductive this week, but it’s not all my fault. Our monthly write-in was rudely interrupted by a wall cloud that decided to form in uncomfortably close proximity to a couple of our houses. In all honesty, I’d been procrastinating for the first hour of the write-in, but I swear I was about two minutes from tapping out my first word when some benevolent patrons informed us of the imminent doom promised by the weather. As I was walking out the door of the coffee shop, the sirens started blaring. Consequently, I drove 60 miles an hour home on mostly 35 mph streets to ensure that my two long-haired chihuahuas were taking appropriate precautions. I spent most of the remainder of the evening huddled in a closet in the basement with my two puppies and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Luckily, I was in good company. As, as you might assume from me writing this post, we were not swept off to Oz.
Meteorologists have been forecasting the end of the world for tonight, which led to me skipping a birthday party to hunker down. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it’s been rather calm so far, though the radar suggests that could change soon enough. The upside is that I have managed to get a bit of writing done. Nothing extensive at only four pages, but I did break into Act Three. I’d like to finish the first draft by the end of the weekend; I don’t know if that’s entirely plausible, but I hope to make a valiant effort in that direction.
The wind’s picking up a bit, so I’m going to wrap up. I’m hoping to have some more focused posts soon, so stay tuned!
Box Office Predictions: FAILURE
Obviously, I still have a bit to learn about what guarantees box office success. I was 0 for 3 in my picks. To recap:
- Prince Caspian
- Sex & the City
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Now, if I wanted to put a good, ol’ PR spin on it, I could point out that I picked two out of the three movies correctly. But when I look at the picture as a whole, it looks pretty dismal. The real numbers:
- Sex and the City ($55.7 million)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($46 million)
- The Strangers ($20.7 million)
Rounding out the top 5 were Iron Man with $14 million and my beloved Prince Caspian with $13 million. I will point out that that sales for Sex & the City fell nearly 67 percent from Friday to Saturday, so it doesn’t look like this one will have staying power. I will also point out that my fellow Saturday morning moviegoers and I did our part for Prince Caspian, comfortably filling the theatre for an 11:40 a.m. showing.
While I’m on the subject of movies, here’s a rundown of what I’ve watched lately and how they fared (out of 5 stars):
- Prince Caspian (three times now): upgraded to 4 stars
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (twice): 3 stars
- Almost Famous: 4 stars
- Michael Clayton: 3 ½ stars
- The Nines: 3 stars
On tap for this week: The Savages, Into the Wild and probably Sex & the City because I promised by sister I’d go with her.
Also a quick reading update: I’ve took a slight detour from Jitterbug Perfume
