1. Bee Movie(3,928 Theaters, Rated PG): Where’d this movie come from? You’d think they’d try to advertise it more. Like a co-opt TV ad with the HP people, a promotion with McDonalds or a series of bizarre cut aways during NBC’s Monday night line up.
Yes, this film has been promoted for quite some time, all the way back to late last year. And the amount of theaters it is opening in means that Dreamworks is hoping it pays off.
My “love anything they do” quotient is way lower for Dreamworks than it is for Pixar. Not that I didn’t like any of their movies, I loved Over the Hedge, but just that I don’t have the trust that they can make the best of any concept. And the concept for this movie seems kinda eh to me.
It is the story of a bee who doesn’t want to make honey all the time and decides to explore the outside world. HE meets a human woman and develops a friendship and discovers humans sell honey. Hilarity ensues.
It seem almost like they thought up the snappy title first and came up with the movie afterwards. Not saying they did, just saying it sounds that way.
And, as a special bonus, the one with Jerry Seinfeld in a bee suit…
2. American Gangster (3,054 Theaters, Rated R): Speaking of promotion, did anyone see that Dateline NBC special they did last week? The one where Matt Lauer interviewed Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe? Did you see that and wonder how they got that kind of access?
Well, simply put, NBC is part of Universal. Universal is the studio that puts out American Gangster. That’s how.
So the parent company used a “news” program on its TV network to promote its upcoming theatrical release. Think of that the next time there’s a hard-hitting expose on Dateline.
But besides that fact, I would watch Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe read from the Osh Kosh, Wisconsin phone book. I consider them to be two of the best actors of this generation. That alone should be enough to sell this movie.
By the way, as a little hint, if you go to see this movie, stay past the end credits. There is an extra scene there. You were warned.
3. Martian Child (2,020 Theaters, Rated PG): I was at a movie tonight and before the movies they had a slideshow. One of the slides was a trivia question about this movie. At the bottom of said slide, it said that the relase date was supposed to be June, 2007. It might somedays feel like June, but it actually is quite a bit later.
Delaying a movie from June to November usually means one of two things. Either they noticed while making it that it was Oscar worthy and decided to release it closer to year end or it was bad an they were trying to fix it with reshoots. Rumor has it with this movie it was the latter.
I don’t believe that John Cusack CAN make a bad movie. Sure, he’s be in not-so-great movies, but he is usually great in what ever role he plays.
The movie also co-stars his sister Joan, which would make it the tenth time (according to IMDB) that they worked together.
Now the predictions. This is what I had for last week:
- Saw IV
- 30 Days of Night
- Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married
- The Game Plan
- Dan in Real Life
And this is how it turned out:
- Saw IV
- Dan in Real Life
- 30 Days of Night
- The Game Plan
- Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married
2 for 5 for a total after 12 weeks of 30 for 60 or an even 50%. This week I predict:
- Bee Movie
- American Gangster
- Saw IV
- Dan in Real Life
- 30 Days of Night
