Blog Archives
Tainted Love for the DC Comics Trinity
Last February I talked about the trinity of DC Comics – Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman – and who their true loves should be. This year I’m going to take a different tact. I’ll be talking about those particularly twisted folks who think they should be their true loves. Yeah, baby, that’s right. I’ll be talking Super-Stalkers after the jump.
Saturday at the Movies: Glenn Walker on Django Unchained
We’ve already taken one look at Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained here at Biff Bam Pop!, a few weeks ago by Emily McGuiness, but the flick is still doing well in the theaters, it’s garnered a few Oscar nominations, and folks are still talking about it, so it’s still relevant – why not let that hack Glenn Walker review it? The dirty deed is after the jump.
Skyfall Tops In Its 5th Week – Biff Bam Pop’s Weekend Box Office Wrap-Up Report
It wasn’t a good weekend for Gerard Butler, as his new flick Playing for Keeps flopped, earning a paltry $6 million. The star of the weekend? James Bond and Skyfall, which – with its return of $11 million – puts it on par to eclipse The Amazing Spider-Man as Sony’s top grossing film in over 5 years.
In 2nd place, a surprise appearance from Rise of the Guardians, proving that parents and kids were indeed interested in this movie. Though it’s probably not going to earn its budget back, it surprised us by earning over $10.5 million over the weekend. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 held in there for another week for 3rd spot, earning $9.2 million. Steven Spielberg’s biopic Lincoln came in 4th earning $9.1 million, and Life of Pi rounded out the top 5 with a respectable $8.3 million.
So to recap, here were our predictions:
1) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 – $10.5 million
2) Skyfall – $10 million
3) Lincoln – $9 million
4) Life Of Pi – $7 million
5) Rise Of The Guardians – $6.5 million
And here’s how the weekend turned out:
1) Skyfall – $11 million
2) Rise Of The Guardians – $10.5 million
3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 – $9.2 million
4) Lincoln – $9.1 million
5) Life Of Pi – $8.3 million
Next weekend should be interesting with the release of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, as well as This is 40 and Zero Dark Thirty – which has already received some Oscar buzz. Be sure to check back on Friday for our predictions!
TIFF 2012: Jason Reitman, Bryan Cranston And Others Read American Beauty
Last night my Toronto International Film Festival experience kicked off with something a little out of the norm for me – attending an actual TIFF event. Though the fest is a huge happening in T.O., the last few years I’ve tended to shy away from it. Crowds and line-ups just aren’t my things anymore. However, it turns out I couldn’t ignore a few unique events – next week’s premiere of Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem, and the first ever Toronto showcase of director Jason Reitman’s live table reads of classic film scripts, which took place last night.
The cast of Jason Reitman’s American Beauty, live At Ryerson Theatre for TIFF 2012
The idea behind Reitman’s reads, which have been done in Los Angeles and New York, is simple – a group of actors gather for the first time to read through a script. Reitman handles scene changes and descriptions, the actors do the rest. In the case of the TIFF event from last night at Ryerson Theatre, Reitman chose a film that had debut at the film festival some thirteen years earlier – American Beauty.
Find out how the reading turned out after the jump.
The Bourne Legacy Rules – Biff Bam Pop’s Box Office Wrap-Up Report
Matt Damon may not be onboard, but audiences still responded in a huge way to the latest entry in the Bourne franchise. Meanwhile, two other new releases posted some excellent number. Here’s how the weekend went down.
As predicted, The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner, did great business, grossing $40 million for its opening weekend, beating back middling reviews and the absence of Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne. Not only does the film’s opening number signal the continuing health of the franchise, but it also cements Jeremy Renner as a leading actor that audiences will pay money to see. I wonder how this bodes for a Hawkeye film?
Find out how the rest of the weekend turned out after the jump:
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Saturday At The Movies – Total Recall 2012 vs Total Recall 1990
Dear movie studios,
I hate to say this because I like the guy, but if you’re looking to make a splash at the box office during the summer movie season, you must not put Colin Farrell in your tent pole release. No matter how great your film is, no, scratch that. No matter how good or even average your movie is, it will severely underperform if Colin Farrell is your leading man.
It’s a fact. Find out why after the jump.
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Tales From The Long Box – The Thing From Another World #1 (1991)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
Today’s special guest Tales From The Long Box columnist is JP Fallavollita.
The Thing From Another World #1
December 1991
Writer: Chuck Pfarrer
Illustrator: John Higgins
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
It’s summer in the early 1980’s and I’m standing alongside a couple of buddies in the sequestered “Horror Movies” room of our local Jumbo Video. For the last few weeks, we’d been renting the types of VHS films our parents would never rent for us. But this was summer holidays. And our parents were at work. And we were mobile on our banana-seat bicycles, with a penchant for trouble and an idle time thirst for some scary stuff.
The Secret is Out – Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live Rereleased on Blu-Ray
The concert film is a tricky proposition. Unless you know exactly what you’re doing – witness Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads film “Stop Making Sense” – you’re essentially watching a concert without the experience of being there, live. There’s got to be something very intentional about the experience to draw the viewer in. Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live, re-released on Blu-Ray today, is such an immersive experience. But in part it’s the concert’s lack of contrivance that makes the difference. Read more after the jump!
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