Thursday, January 29, 2009

Taken

By Matt Glasby

Retired action man Liam Neeson takes on the entire Parisian underground in search of his kidnapped daughter in this Luc Besson-penned fisticuff fest
In the gaudy gameshow whirl of Hollywood, name actors routinely win big, often ker-chinging the kind of cash that would make Richard Branson blush. While much has been made of this inequity, it's worth remembering that there's sound business acumen at work, even if the idea of making the Brads and the Toms richer than God while other people starve might be a wee bit galling.
There's no telling what sort of sum Liam Neeson commanded for Taken, although it's safe to assume it's a fair bit more than the average working Joe but he's worth every single penny. To all intents and purposes, Neeson is this movie; its brain, its pulse; its anima. Remove him from the equation and we're left with little more than a Van Damme vehicle, buffed up Jason Bourne-style for the new millennium. Wind him up and watch him go, however, and there's conviction and a core of steely sadness beneath all the noise and nonsense.

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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

‘Paul Blart’ Clamps Down ‘Rise of Lycans’

by Brandon Gray

Paul Blart: Mall Cop retained the top spot again over the weekend, edging out the debut of the latest Underworld movie with $21.6 million. The action comedy stood its ground with a better-than-average 32 percent drop, and its collections grew to a hefty $64.9 million in ten days. Overall business was just as bullish, strong by January standards for the third weekend in a row with an eleven percent increase over the same timeframe last year.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans devolved the vampires-versus-werewolves franchise, grossing $20.8 million on approximately 3,500 screens at 2,942 theaters. The previous movie, Underworld: Evolution, opened to $26.9 million three years ago, while the first Underworld scored $21.8 million, and both would rate even higher factoring ticket price inflation. According to distributor Sony Pictures, 59 percent of moviegoers were male and 55 percent were over 25 years old. By comparison, Underworld: Evolution was 55 percent male and 46 percent over 25 in its opening.
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‘Slumdog’ a Multi-Millionaire Among Soft Oscar Nominees

by Brandon Gray

This year's Best Picture nominees were the least-attended batch on record. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader collectively tallied just $186.7 million prior to being revealed as the nominees. The previous attendance low was 2005's crop, led by Brokeback Mountain and Crash, and 2008 marks the fifth year in a row without a true blockbuster in the mix, the last one being The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King from 2003.
Over the weekend, Slumdog Millionaire led the Best Picture nominees after more than doubling its theater count. The drama garnered $10.7 million at 1,411 locations, jumping 83 percent. It had been building momentum long before the Oscar nominations, and, with $56.1 million in the till, it's now playing for $100 million. On the strength of Slumdog, 2008's Best Picture nominees as a whole should ultimately avoid the box office infamy of 2005, though they'll still be on the low end.
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