Movie Blog

I was far away from home and from my computer this week. On the one hand that was fine, but on the other hand I couldn’t publish HOT DOZEN for this weekend. So, I would like to correct my inexcusable omission and present you hot dozen for July, 28-30

1. Miami Vice
Distribution: Universal Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $25,723,815
Gross To Date: $25,723,815
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release: 1
Number of Theaters: 3,021

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Distribution: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $20,606,578

Gross To Date: $358,485,761
Last Week’s Rank: 1
Weeks In Release: 4
Number of Theaters: 3,834

3. John Tucker Must Die
Distribution: 20th Century Fox Distribution

Weekend Gross: $14,276,534

Gross To Date: $14,276,534
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release: 1
Number of Theaters: 2,560

4. Monster House
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross: $11,663,308

Gross To Date: $44,035,290
Last Week’s Rank: 2
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 3,553

5. The Ant Bully
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $8,432,465

Gross To Date: $8,432,465
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release: 1
Number of Theaters: 3,050

6. Lady in the Water
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $7,144,275

Gross To Date: $32,203,657
Last Week’s Rank: 3
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 3,235

7. You, Me and Dupree
Distribution: Universal Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $7,106,280

Gross To Date: $59,119,020
Last Week’s Rank: 4
Weeks In Release: 3
Number of Theaters: 2,820

8. Little Man
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross: $5,124,245

Gross To Date: $50,187,262
Last Week’s Rank: 5
Weeks In Release: 3
Number of Theaters: 2,175

9. The Devil Wears Prada
Distribution: 20th Century Fox

Weekend Gross: $4,673,346

Gross To Date: $106,561,887
Last Week’s Rank: 9
Weeks In Release: 5
Number of Theaters: 1,778

10. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Distribution: 20th Century Fox Distribution

Weekend Gross: $4,096,933

Gross To Date: $16,751,286
Last Week’s Rank: 7
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 2,702

11. Clerks II
Distribution: MGM Distribution Company, The Weinstein Company

Weekend Gross: $4,008,335

Gross To Date: $18,536,759
Last Week’s Rank: 6
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 2,150

12. Superman Returns
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $3,788,228

Gross To Date: $185,794,683
Last Week’s Rank: 8
Weeks In Release: 5
Number of Theaters: 2005

<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

(On reactions to his directorial debut) “You know what was traumatizing, what was very, very strange in terms of this film I directed a few years back called The Brave. Well, I guess I wouldn’t say traumatizing, but I would say weird: at the premiere of the film the reception of it was beyond any expectation that I had. I had no idea I’d be looking at Bertolucci or Antonioni sitting there watching my film. And then to receive the applause that my film got, it was so incredible. And then the next day the majority of the American press, just turn it into this horrible thing. Once again, everybody is entitled to their opinion, man. Maybe it’s a bad film? Maybe it’s a good film? To me it’s just a film. It’s something I needed to make.”

“I started out as a guitarist in the early Eighties. I hooked up with a guy who idolized James Dean and he gave me a copy of the Dean biography, ‘The Mutant King’, which I thought was really interesting. While reading the book, I watched Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and I thought, ‘Wow, this guy really has something’, and I was hooked. I wasn’t really into acting at the time - but James Dean was the catalyst.”

“I don’t have a mental picture of the houses we lived in because there were so many.”

(on Gene Wilder’s comment on the remake of Willy Wonka) “Hearing about that was disappointing, but I can understand where he’s coming from, I guess. The one thing I didn’t understand was that apparently he was quoted as saying ‘Well, they just did this for money.’ Well, hey, man, where have you been? When didn’t they ever do anything for money? Nobody’s ever made a film in the history of cinema where they weren’t expecting some return on their dough.”

On his daughter, Lily-Rose: “I see this amazing, beautiful, pure angel-thing wake up in the morning, and nothing can touch that. She is the only reason to wake up in the morning, the only reason to take a breath. Everything else is checkers.”

“He can ask me everything. If he wants me to have sex with an aardvark in one of his next movies, then I will do that.” - on director Tim Burton.

Marlon Brando is maybe the greatest actor of the last two centuries. But his mind is much more important than the acting thing. The way that he looks at things, doesn’t judge things, the way that he assesses things. He’s as important as, uh… who’s important today? Jesus, not many people… Stephen Hawking!

There’s nothing - you know - nothing else like music. Nothing that touches us on that, uh, that deep level. Music can open up so many emotions that we didn’t know we had. It’s the magical thing about musicals, you know, on the stage or on film or whatever. Love songs. They work so well because music touches us, emotionally, where words alone can’t.

“As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too.”

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

“The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants.”

“I was ecstatic when they re-named ‘French Fries’ as ‘Freedom Fries.’ Grown men and women in positions of power in the U.S. government showing themselves as idiots.”

“America is dumb. It’s like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive. My daughter is four, my boy is one. I’d like them to see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out.”

“All the little films I’ve done that were perceived by Hollywood as these obscure, weird things, I always thought could appeal to a larger audience. I mean, box office is such a mystery to me that I can’t… you know… I have enough -trouble doing my own gig. ”

(When asked why he hides his box office good looks behind strange wigs, fake teeth, and girly squeals) “I think it’s an actor’s responsibility to change every time. Not only for himself and the people he’s working with, but for the audience. If you just go out and deliver the same dish every time…it’s meatloaf again…you’d get bored. I’d get bored.”

We had been shooting Charlie for about a month, and I was beginning to get nervous because there weren’t any phone calls. I called my agent and asked, Has no one called from the studio to complain or say, ‘Hey, what’s he doing?’ or ‘Hey, he’s freaking us out?’ And when she said no, I thought, ‘Christ, I’m not doing enough! Something’s wrong!’ Then some of the studio brass came over to the set, and they were sitting in my trailer and I was all decked out as Wonka with the little bangs. And I just had to know. So I said, ‘Okay, who was the first one, when you started seeing the dailies, that got a little worried?’ And there was this beautiful 30-second silence. And (Warner Bros. president) Alan Horn finally said, ‘Yeah, that was me.’ I felt better instantly.

On his character in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003): “Captain Jack Sparrow is like a cross between Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew.”

“I can remember when I finished ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ looking in the mirror as the girl was doing my make-up for the last time and thinking — it was like the 90th or 89th day of shooting — and I remember looking and going, ‘Wow, this is it. I’m saying goodbye to this guy, I’m saying goodbye to Edward Scissorhands.’ You know, it was kind of sad. But in fact, I think they’re all still somehow in there.”

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

“With any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be, otherwise it’s just not acting. It’s lying.”

“The only gossip I’m interested in is things from the Weekly World News - ‘Woman’s bra bursts, 11 injured.’ That kind of thing.”

“I’m an old-fashioned guy… I want to be an old man with a beer belly sitting on a porch, looking at a lake or something.”

(On being an uncle) My sister Christi had a baby when I was 17, and I had just heard about crib death. The horrible thing was that it wasn’t understood. For some unknown reason the baby would stop breathing. So I would sneak into where the baby was sleeping and put my hand in her crib, hold her little finger, and I’d sleep on the floor like that. It was stupid, I’m sure. But I thought the warmth of my hand might help, that maybe if she felt my pulse it would remind her to breathe.

When asked by James Lipton on “Inside The Actor’s Studio” (1987) what attracts him to funny hats: “I don’t know, maybe I just read too much Dr. Seuss as a kid.”

After being asked if he is a romantic: “Am I a romantic? I’ve seen ‘Wuthering Heights’ ten times. I’m a romantic.”

“Taken in context, what I was saying was that, compared to Europe, America is a very young country and we are still growing as a nation. It is a shame that the metaphor I used was taken so radically out of context and slung about irresponsibly by the news media. There was no anti-American sentiment. In fact, it was just the opposite. I am an American. I love my country and have great hopes for it. It is for this reason that I speak candidly and sometimes critically about it. I have benefited greatly from the freedom that exists in my country and for this I am eternally grateful.”

“France and the whole of Europe have a great culture and an amazing history. Most important thing though is that people there know how to live! In America they’ve forgotten all about it. I’m afraid that the American culture is a disaster.”

Talking on the Sleepy Hollow (1999) set about what it was like being dragged behind a carriage in the woods: “I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt. I was just afraid that the horses may relieve themselves on the journey.”

“The character I’ve played, that I’ve responded to, there has been a lost-soul quality to them.”

“Sure, I find it touching, honestly, but awards are not as important to me as when I meet a 10-year-old kid who says, ‘I love Captain Jack Sparrow’ … That’s real magic for me.”

“The term ’serious actor’ is kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it? (Like) ‘Republican party’ (or) ‘airplane food.’”

“On a film you start to get closer and closer with the people you’re working with, and it becomes like this circus act or this travelling family.”

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

So, this I’m glad to present you the new not dozen for the previous weekend, July 21-23.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Distribution: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $62,345,264
Gross To Date: $258,364,766
Last Week’s Rank: 1
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 4,133

2. Monster House
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross: $22,217,226

Gross To Date: $22,217,226
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release: 1
Number of Theaters: 3,553

3. Lady in the Water
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $18,044,396

Gross To Date: $18,044,396
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release:    1
Number of Theaters: 3,235

4. You, Me and Dupree
Distribution: Universal Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross:    $12,767,590

Gross To Date: $45,299,080
Last Week’s Rank: 3
Weeks In Release:     2
Number of Theaters: 3,137

5. Little Man
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross:    $11,025,108

Gross To Date: $40,636,230
Last Week’s Rank: 2
Weeks In Release:     2
Number of Theaters: 2,537

6. Clerks II
Distribution: MGM Distribution Company, The Weinstein Company

Weekend Gross: $10,061,132

Gross To Date: $10,061,132
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release:     1
Number of Theaters: 2,150

7. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Distribution: 20th Century Fox Distribution

Weekend Gross:    $8,603,460

Gross To Date: $8,603,460
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release:     1
Number of Theaters: 2,702
Theatre Avg: $3,184

8. Superman Returns
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $7,375,213

Gross To Date: $178,342,711
Last Week’s Rank: 4
Weeks In Release: 4
Number of Theaters: 2,826

9. The Devil Wears Prada
Distribution: 20th Century Fox

Weekend Gross: $7,361,991

Gross To Date: $97,508,460
Last Week’s Rank: 5
Weeks In Release:     4
Number of Theaters: 2,248
Theatre Avg: $3,274

10. Cars
Distribution: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Buena Vista International

Weekend Gross: $4,947,198

Gross To Date: $229,485,636
Last Week’s Rank: 6
Weeks In Release:     7
Number of Theaters: 2,410

11. Click
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing International, Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross: $4,035,847

Gross To Date: $128,224,427
Last Week’s Rank: 7
Weeks In Release:     5
Number of Theaters: 2312

12. An Inconvenient Truth
Distribution: Paramount Vantage, United

Weekend Gross: $1,000,372

Gross To Date: $18,790,273
Last Week’s Rank: 12
Weeks In Release:     9
Number of Theaters: 440

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

If you want to know something really interesting and true about Jonny Depp, you shouldn’t read different variants of his biography or look for rumors in newspapers, you should to take a closer look at his personal quotes. They will show him as an ordinary person like you and I. I hope that his statements will help you to understand him better…

“Anything I’ve done up till 27 May, 1999 was kind of an illusion, existing without living. My daughter, the birth of my daughter, gave me life.”
“If you turn on the television and see the horrors that are happening to people in the world right now, I think there’s no better time to strive to have some kind of hope through imagination. I think it’s a time to close your eyes and try to make a change, or at least hope to make a change, or we’re going to explode.”

“I suppose nowadays it’s all a question of surgery, isn’t it? Of course the notion is beautiful, the idea of staying a boy and a child forever, and I think you can. I have known plenty of people who, in their later years, had the energy of children and the kind of curiosity and fascination with things like little children. I think we can keep that, and I think it’s important to keep that part of staying young. But I also think it’s great fun growing old.”

“On the money he makes: “You use your money to buy privacy because during most of your life you aren’t allowed to be normal.”

“I don’t pretend to be captain weird. I just do what I do.”
“I’m shy, paranoid, whatever word you want to use. I hate fame. I’ve done everything I can to avoid it.”

“When kids hit 1 year old, it’s like hanging out with a miniature drunk. You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit.”

“This is a rumor-filled society and if people want to sit around and talk about whom I’ve dated, then I’d say they have a lot of spare time and should consider other topics… or masturbation.”

“One of the most incredible moments I’ve ever had was sitting in Vincent (Price)’s trailer… I was showing him this first-edition book I have of the complete works of Poe, with really amazing illustrations. Vincent was going nuts over the drawings, and he started talking about “The Tomb of Ligeia”. Then he closed the book and began to recite it to me in this beautiful voice, filling the room with huge sounds. Such passion! I looked in the book later, and it was verbatim. Word perfect. It was a great moment. I’ll never forget that.”

http://us.imdb.com

<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

So, this weekend begins only tomorrow , that is why I would like to present you hot dozen for July, 14-16

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Distribution: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $62,345,264

Gross To Date: $258,364,766
Last Week’s Rank: 1
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 4,133

2. Little Man
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross: $21,613,176

Gross To Date: $21,613,176
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release: 1
Number of Theaters: 2,533

3. You, Me and Dupree
Distribution: Universal Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $21,525,560

Gross To Date: $21,525,560
Last Week’s Rank: New
Weeks In Release: 1
Number of Theaters: 3,131

4. Superman Returns
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $12,288,317

Gross To Date: $164,316,103
Last Week’s Rank: 2
Weeks In Release: 3
Number of Theaters: 3,765

5. The Devil Wears Prada
Distribution: 20th Century Fox

Weekend Gross: $10,386,386

Gross To Date: $83,490,860
Last Week’s Rank: 3
Weeks In Release: 3
Number of Theaters: 2,810

6. Cars
Distribution: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Buena Vista International

Weekend Gross: $7,840,985

Gross To Date: $220,001,446
Last Week’s Rank: 5
Weeks In Release: 6
Number of Theaters: 3,003

7. Click
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing International, Sony Pictures Releasing

Weekend Gross: $7,261,361

Gross To Date: $119,963,211
Last Week’s Rank: 4
Weeks In Release: 4
Number of Theaters: 3,296
Theatre Avg: $2,203

8. The Lake House
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Weekend Gross: $1,665,485

Gross To Date: $48,996,220
Last Week’s Rank: 7
Weeks In Release: 5
Number of Theaters: 1,710

9. Nacho Libre
Distribution: Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures

Weekend Gross: $1,615,331

Gross To Date: $77,233,137
Last Week’s Rank: 6
Weeks In Release: 5
Number of Theaters: 1,501

10. A Scanner Darkly
Distribution: Warner Independent Pictures

Weekend Gross: $1,266,427

Gross To Date: $1,868,905
Last Week’s Rank: 19
Weeks In Release: 2
Number of Theaters: 216

11. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Distribution: Universal Pictures Distribution, United International Pictures

Weekend Gross: $1,168,360

Gross To Date: $59,855,120
Last Week’s Rank: 8
Weeks In Release: 5
Number of Theaters: 1140

12. An Inconvenient Truth
Distribution: Paramount Vantage, United International Pictures

Weekend Gross: $1,165,480

Gross To Date: $17,033,435
Last Week’s Rank: 12
Weeks In Release: 8
Number of Theaters: 570
<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

I’m glad to introduce you the new category “hot dozen”!!!
You will have the opportunity to see the best films of the weekend!

We all like different competitions, in sport and in live, because they can help us to pick out the best. The same in film industry! The main criterion in this top list will be gross box-office returns and I will present all the information in the following way:

The Name of the Film
Distribution:

(picture) – for the best 6 films only
Weekend Gross: …  (the money that film collected last weekend)

Gross To Date: … (all the money that film collected)
Last Week’s Rank: …
Weeks In Release: …
Number of Theaters: …

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

Today I’d like to speak about another side of celebrities’ life – about fans. Some people states, quite rightly, that fans make the stars, but others suggest that fans are a great problem for famous people. First of all it is necessary to define a word «fan». So, English dictionary defines it as “devotee of a pop star or athlete”.  So, it is a synonym of the word «an admirer». Thus, fans are sparks which light a new star on the sky of glory. A star cannot exist without his or her admirers, he or she gives them his or her talent, and only admirers can appreciate their stars. However it is possible, that some fervent fans are only problems for stars.

Also we know that when famous people such as actors, singers, comedians and rock stars give their opinions, many people listen. For example many famous people take part in the advertisement. But should we listen to their opinion? Really, we can often see well-known people on of TV’s screens in the advertisement, and they offer to buy these or those goods. Advertisers expect that the reputation of a star will help to bring the product to the public’s attention. But it does not mean, that stars offer only qualitative goods, which deserve our attention. In fact in this case, stars first of all are actors, and they only do their work.

In conclusion I’d like to add that some people often are not interested in the popularity, they simply aspire to achievement of their goals, and it can lead them to glory and popularity. It occurs because ambitious people put before themselves serious problems which performance can lead to changes in the society, and it may be cause of interest. And as for me I want to achieve something great in my life but not for being well known.
We know that people around judge us whether we want it or not. And that is why it is possible, that the recognition of society flatters our vanity, but it is so big responsibility to be the well-known person. And I think that people who want to be famous shouldn’t try to achieve popularity; they should aspire to do their best and then their popularity will come to them.

And what are your thoughts on this matter?

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

I’m not a philosopher, but sometimes I like to meditate on different things and write something like an essay. Today I would like to speak about fame. When we speak about films and actors we often use this word.

I wish to start with my answer to the question: “What people can be famous or notorious for?” I consider this question as a very difficult one, because we should mention a lot of fields, in which people can reveal themselves. I get the impression that these fields determine qualities that famous or notorious people usually posses. For example people, who have become famous in the sphere of science, are very clever, talented, educated and responsible, I must admit that fame is a serious responsibility for such people. And as for notorious people, I think it will be more illustrative to say about people, who have revealed themselves in the sphere of show business, because they usually posses almost opposite qualities: they are not obliged to be modest and to have genius brain and good manners. Especially it concerns to people which become famous for 15 minutes. I quite agree with the opinion, that the extravagant behavior of such people can draw the attention of great amount of people, but only for little time. . But I must say that there are some fitches as persistence, purposefulness and bravery, which are typical, both for famous and notorious people.

And now I’m going to define how people can become famous. Some people suggest that when people succeed that is because of hard work; luck has nothing to do with success. In order to comment this suggestion I’d like to say two more statements. The first: «Life is a sequence of accidents; therefore people are only victims of Her Majesty of Destiny» and the second: «A person is the smith of his happiness». As for me I can agree completely with none of these statements. I think that the person himself chooses his road to the future, but he should make this choice at right time and in a right place. And only then he will be able to achieve success in his life. It means that hard work plus good luck is the formula of our success. For example one of the richest people in the world Bill Gates proposed his new computer program and achieved success not only due to his original idea but also because of suitable situation on the software market.

I also would like to speak about different disputable questions that connected with the life of celebrities. First of all it’s their high wages. In fact, some famous athletes and entertainers earn millions of dollars every year. Some people maintain that that it’s unfairly, but others say that entertainers such as actors, singers and comedians contribute as much to society as professionals such as doctors, engineers and teachers do. Economics states, quite rightly, that people of the certain profession receive this or that sum of money not because of they deserve it from the moral point of view, but because of their work was appreciated by this sum. So, from the point of view of economics, these people quite deserve their high wages. However as for the moral aspect of this question, I suppose that, it would be unfair to speak, that stars have no rights to earn such sums. When we speak about the salary of actors, singers and comedians, we should notice, that they receive so much money because their work is important for society. It is possible, that certain actor, singer or comedian does not represent big value for each of us as our family doctor, for example. However the same actor, singer or comedian “serves” thousand people while our doctor is able to work only with several families. No doubt that stars influence emotions of thousands of people of over the globe and deprive themselves the right of private life (by the way, to my mind, it’s one of the most significant cons of these professions ). And that is why it seems to me that such high salaries completely justified to the contributions.

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra