Between D*ck Jokes, Judd Apatow Upholds Traditional Values

Quick! Think fast – who’s making the most morally conservative films in Hollywood?
 
The answer may surprise you, but it’s none other than Judd Apatow. Yes, the writer-director of “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and the new film “Funny People” might have a reputation for creating profanity-filled R-rated raunch, but in reality they’re actually films that uphold traditional values. And the fact that Apatow sneaks messages that are pro-life in “Knocked Up,” anti-promiscuity in “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and (SPOILER ALERT) upholds marriage against the temptation and forgiveness of infidelity in “Funny People” under the surface of all the dirty talk, means that he’s found a way to preach to far more than the usual choir and spread positive moral messages to those who might otherwise never choose to hear them.

I remember the night I first walked in to see “Virgin” back in 2005. I thought that it would just be one big sex comedy poking fun at the titular character. But as written by Apatow and the film’s star, Steve Carell, the film actually turned every convention one might have expected upside down.

Carell’s Andy had the “problem” of being a 40 year-old virgin, but after initally laughing at him and trying to get him laid, Andy’s co-worker friends slowly start to respect him. One who brags about cheating on his girlfriends winds up turning monogamous when he sees his impending baby on an ultrasound, while another may find his perfect match with a kinky gal but by the end it’s true love nonetheless. (more…)

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Tags: 40 Year Old Virgin, Funny People, judd apatow, Knocked Up, LA Weekly
Posted Aug 10th 2009 at 5:03 am in Culture, Film, Politics | 19844236 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/08/10/apatow/Between+D%2Ack+Jokes%2C+Judd+Apatow+Upholds+Traditional+Values2009-08-10+12%3A03%3A57Carl+Kozlowski

Weak ‘Funny People’ Box Office Shows What Audiences Really Want

Weighed down by a depressing premise made all too apparent by the theatrical trailer and advance publicity which made the film’s title too obviously sarcastic, Jud Apatow’s Funny People opened relatively poorly at the U.S. box office, taking in only $23.4 million. That was good enough to finish at the top of the heap for the weekend, but was the lowest number one opener since Yes Man last year.

Funny People showed much less audience draw than the great majority of Apatow’s and actor Adam Sandler’s previous efforts, and its failure to connect big with audiences cannot be blamed on any recent disappointments. Apatow’s Knocked Up and Sandler’s Bedtime Stories were both excellent films that did very well at the box office.

The magnitude of the disappointment for the Funny People writer-director and its star was summed up well by Reuters: (more…)

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Tags: adam sandler, box office, Funny People, judd apatow, seth rogen
Posted Aug 8th 2009 at 5:56 pm in Culture, Entertainment | 20052271 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/08/08/weak-funny-people-box-office-shows-what-audiences-really-want/Weak+%27Funny+People%27+Box+Office+Shows+What+Audiences+Really+Want2009-08-09+00%3A56%3A39S.T.+Karnick

‘Funny People’ Review: Mostly Funny

As one of America’s most popular comedians, George Simmons seemingly has the world on a string. But then one thing happens that can ruin everything: he’s diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and told that even with aggressive experimental treatments, he only has an eight percent chance of survival. 

That happy-sad dichotomy is at the heart of the new film “Funny People,” in which Adam Sandler plays Simmons in a terrific performance that no doubt draws on his own experiences as a wildly successful comedy star. As written and directed by Judd Apatow in his third film, following “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” the movie has an intimate awareness of the pain that often lies behind the laughter generated by our modern court jesters.  (more…)

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Tags: "Funny People" Seth Rogen, "Punchline", adam sandler, judd apatow, review
Posted Aug 1st 2009 at 11:02 am in Reviews | 19595019 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/08/01/funny-people-review-mostly-funny/%27Funny+People%27+Review%3A+Mostly+Funny2009-08-01+18%3A02%3A11Carl+Kozlowski

‘Funny People’ Review

Never in a million years did I think Judd Apatow was capable of making something as sharp and penetrating as “Funny People.” Never. Since the director first started dabbling in film, I’ve been a harsh critic of everything he’s touched, labeling it as over-rated, overlong, self-indulgent and as forgettable as last week’s “National Enquirer.” Well, past is the past. “Funny People” is proof that this was a director working towards something, earning his chops and feeling his way to bigger things. And it was worth the wait. “Funny People” is kinda brilliant — an insightful, touching and intelligent dramedy…  James L. Brooks at his best but with a whole lot of dick jokes.

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a comedian/movie star as wealthy and popular as Sandler, but having turned his back on his family and cheated on his one true love, Laura (Leslie Mann), he’s now left with only “show-biz friends,” which means he has no friends at all. In-between making films like “Merman” (”Splash” with a guy mermaid) and private-jetting to corporate standup gigs that pay $300k, this desolate 40 year-old haunts a Malibu mansion and looks to fill his emptiness with willing groupies and everything money can buy. (more…)

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Tags: adam sandler, Eric Bana, Funny People, judd apatow, Leslie Mann
Posted Jul 31st 2009 at 8:54 pm in Featured Story, Reviews | 19585848 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/07/31/funny-people-review/%27Funny+People%27+Review2009-08-01+03%3A54%3A17John+Nolte

‘Funny People’ Opens Everywhere Tomorrow

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Tags: adam sandler, Funny People, judd apatow, seth rogen, trailer
Posted Jul 30th 2009 at 3:05 pm in Entertainment, Video | 19509020 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/07/30/funny-people-opens-everywhere-tomorrow/%27Funny+People%27+Opens+Everywhere+Tomorrow2009-07-30+22%3A05%3A38Big+Hollywood

Review: The Hurt Locker **Updated**

Epigraph: a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme.

Epigraphs crop up occasionally in literature and film, but more frequently on the SAT exam.  In fact, I am using the definition of epigraph as the epigraph for this review.  If you are to the right of Bill Clinton, all you need to know about “The Hurt Locker” is its epigraph: “War is a drug.”

Incredibly, the mainstream media is trying to position “The Hurt Locker” as politically neutral.  The mainstream media are dense. “War is a drug.” Drugs are bad.  Thus, war is bad.  This is a left-wing film.  End of story.  Witness the first five seconds of the movie and read the epigraph; if you still have the audacity to trumpet its neutrality, you should be committed to an insane asylum or the newsroom at MSNBC.  (more…)

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Tags: Addiction, air-raiding villages and killing civilians, Anthony Mackie, anti-war movies, Bill Clinton
Posted Jun 27th 2009 at 7:52 am in Media Criticism, Reviews | 17250616 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/06/27/review-the-hurt-locker/Review%3A+The+Hurt+Locker+%2A%2AUpdated%2A%2A2009-06-27+14%3A52%3A40Alexander+Marlow

Why I Walked Out of ‘Year One’ Crying

I had a date with Judd Apatow.  It was around 1991 and I was between husbands: the out-of-work-Jewish-Gypsy-fire-eater-musician, and the high-school-sweetheart-Baptist-helicopter-police-pilot.  I needed a date to a premiere.  I knew the rules of engagement for a Hollywood career, and I tried to follow them.  It’s difficult to do this when you carry the burden of ethics around with you, but I tried to do it and stay within the bounds of morality.

1) Go to the right places.  I went to the Playboy Mansion to find an agent, and I did.  I was 21 and a Baptist virgin, and I found Betty from the William Morris commercial department there.  Check.

2) Wear something provocative to a Hollywood premiere so you can get free publicity.  I did that.  When I was an SNL castmember trying to increase my movie roles, I attended some Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan premiere (go figure – it was a flop!) in a see-through black shirt with a flowered bra underneath.  I felt ashamed, but I did get my picture in a few magazines.  All press is good press, and press leads to opportunity.

(more…)

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Tags: "Juno", "Year One", bestiality, blasphemy, circumcision jokes
Posted Jun 19th 2009 at 7:15 pm in Featured Story, Religion, Reviews | 16542616 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/vjackson/2009/06/19/why-i-walked-out-of-year-one-crying/Why+I+Walked+Out+of+%27Year+One%27+Crying2009-06-20+02%3A15%3A06Victoria+Jackson

Leftist Nihilism Strikes the Hollywood Comedy

We all know that for decades Hollywood has been creating preachy, leftist films all with the sole intention of annoying conservatives.  Conservatives have responded with numerous complaints, and then with complacency.  We now tend to ignore the liberal themes and watch the movies anyway, cheering on the hero, regardless of whether or not we actually believe in his ultimate goal.  Recently, however, Hollywood has pulled another weapon out of its arsenal to annoy conservatives, but it is destroying comedy in the process.

As the readers of Big Hollywood know too well, Hollywood began its attacks by ridiculing those of us who hold our values dear—claiming a pluralistic high ground that all beliefs are equal and we shouldn’t judge others (unless you happen to be one of those white, bigoted, hillbilly Jesus freaks).  Now that pluralism no longer seems to ignite conservatives with the same fervent anger, Hollywood has turned to nihilism; because, after all, when everything is true, nothing is true.  With no truth, Hollywood can no longer give its heroes any reason to mature or chase after dreams because lives and journeys have no meaning, draining the enjoyment out of their films. (more…)

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Tags: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, judd apatow, Knocked Up, man
Posted Jun 10th 2009 at 3:16 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 154798No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smitchell/2009/06/10/the-tragedy-of-hollywood-comedy/Leftist+Nihilism+Strikes+the+Hollywood+Comedy+2009-06-10+22%3A16%3A30Seth+Mitchell

Review: The Hangover

Over the past few years, Judd Apatow has unfairly forced me into sounding like something of a prude. But Todd Phillips’ “The Hangover,” an absolutely fantastic R-rated raunch-fest, has just arrived just in time with the promise of redemption.

Raunchy comedies aren’t anything new; it’s just that Apatow (and his too-many imitators) are all about the raunch. You can feel the story gears turn to get to the raunch – to get to the “big” set-piece — you can feel the strain to fashion an iconic moment. Content has little to do with whether or not something’s funny. It’s all in the set up, and with the Apatow crowd you can see the wizard pull the strings. There’s practically a sign that reads, “Cool People Laugh Here.”

No matter how dirty or over-the-top the gag, if it evolves from believable characters and situations true to the world created by the filmmaker, you’re going to laugh. No matter how many times Eugene Levy catches Jason Biggs humping that pie, it’s a thing of comedic beauty because the set-up and the character reactions show full fidelity to what we know and what came before.

For this reason, “The Hangover” is easily the best and funniest comedy to spring from this genre in years. The three main characters are well defined, the story structure is seamless and the belly laughs just keep coming. Most important, unlike an Apatow-type film, you’re laughing too hard and enjoying yourself too much to be taken out of the story with a wince and an “Oh, gross…” (more…)

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Tags: "American Pie", Animal House, bradley cooper, Caddy Shack, Ed Helms
Posted Jun 5th 2009 at 3:06 pm in Reviews | 153030No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/06/05/review-the-hangover/Review%3A+The+Hangover2009-06-05+22%3A06%3A01John+Nolte

‘The Hangover’: Comedy Hit of the Summer?

–

Lou Lumenick says this might be THE comedy hit of the summer.

Nothing would be more welcome than an R-rated comedy in this genre that doesn’t resort to forgettable gross-out gags, scenes that never end and a mind-numbing runtime. And if it sounds like that’s picking on Judd Apatow … it is.  (more…)

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Tags: "American Pie", comedy, Deuce Bigalow, judd apatow, Lou Lumineck
Posted May 28th 2009 at 5:49 pm in Entertainment | 146314No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/05/28/the-hangover-comedy-hit-of-the-summer/%27The+Hangover%27%3A+Comedy+Hit+of+the+Summer%3F2009-05-29+00%3A49%3A43John+Nolte

The Inevitable Apatow Backlash

You could feel it in the air as Apatow basked in the glow of his 2006 double whammy, the hilarious “Knocked Up” and “Superbad.” By the time 2007’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” rolled around, the backlash was gathering steam.

I told a friend I’d seen it.

“Is it just more of the Judd Apatow formula,” he sniffed. It was, I admitted. But I like the formula. I like it a lot. And not to get too Harry Knowles on everyone, but I’ve liked it for a long while.

I liked “The Ben Stiller Show,” loved “Heavyweights” and what I saw of “The Larry Sanders Show.” Heck, I even chuckled at “Celtic Pride” and saw “The Cable Guy” opening weekend. Aside from the latter, most people didn’t see much of Apatow’s work, but those who had loved most of it. (more…)

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Tags: 40 Year Old Virgin, adam sandler, Funny People, James L. Brooks, judd apatow
Posted May 5th 2009 at 11:01 am in Entertainment | 125442No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ccannon/2009/05/05/the-apatow-backlash/The+Inevitable+Apatow+Backlash2009-05-05+18%3A01%3A58Cam+Cannon

FAST & FURIOUS Opens With a Scalding $30M Friday & Could Speed to $70M by Monday, Surpassing CARS as the All-time Biggest Opening for an Auto Racing Movie!

With 400,000 Americans showing up every year at the Indy 500 and 200,000 more buying tickets to see NASCAR’s premiere event The Daytona 500, you would think that the most creative minds in Hollywood would be looking for a way to cash in with more movies about car racing and car culture. NASCAR has an estimated 75 million fans, and it is second only to the National Football League in terms of television ratings, so where are all the good racing movies?

Jordana Brewster is reunited with Vin, Paul and Michelle in FAST & FURIOUS

Universal seems to have answered that question by getting its successful street racing franchise back into the fast lane this weekend with Fast & Furious. The movie, which reunites Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez for the first time since 2001’s original surprise blockbuster, has exploded to a high octane $30.11M or so on Friday and that could mean a $70M opening weekend. That would make it the all-time #1 opening for a car racing movie.

(more…)

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2 fast 2 furious, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take
Posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 10:32 pm in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 971669 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/03/estimates43/FAST+%26amp%3B+FURIOUS+Opens+With+a+Scalding+%2430M+Friday+%26amp%3B+Could+Speed+to+%2470M+by+Monday%2C+Surpassing+CARS+as+the+All-time+Biggest+Opening+for+an+Auto+Racing+Movie%212009-04-04+05%3A32%3A48Steve+Mason

FAST & FURIOUS may “race” to $48M opening weekend with MONSTERS VS. ALIENS holding strong at $35M!

Universal’s Fast & Furious will be “burning rubber” this weekend at America’s multiplexes as the original street-racing cast reunites after some sub-par chapters of the franchise.

The original The Fast & The Furious hit theatres in 2001 under the direction of Rob Cohen who had shown a knack for action with Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story ($35M US cume) and Sly Stallone’s Daylight ($33M US cume) and a savvy feel for bigger-than-life characters in his Golden Globe winning biopic The Rat Pack (which, if you’ve never seen you should put in your Netflix cue and prepare to be amazed by Don Cheadle’s turn as Sammy Davis, Jr.). In tow, he had a 34-year-old Vin Diesel in only his second starring role following the surprise low budget hit Pitch Black ($39M cume) and 28-year-old Paul Walker, who had just starred in Cohen’s forgettable The Skulls. Also in the cast was Jordana Brewster (As the World Turns) and a pre-Lost Michelle Rodriguez, whose most notable credit was a gritty little indie called Girlfight.

Vin Diesel returns for FAST & FURIOUS

The result was box office jet fuel. Seemingly out of nowhere, The Fast & The Furious scored a scalding $40M opening weekend and reached $144.5M domestic and over $200M worldwide. But Diesel, whose signature line in the original movie is “I live my life one quarter of a mile at a time,” didn’t like the script for the sequel (or they wouldn’t pay his asking price depending on who you ask). That led to the 2003 sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious directed by Academy Award nominee John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) starring Walker along with rapper Tyrese Gibson and Eva Mendes. Despite Diesel’s conspicuous absence, 2 Fast still delivered $127M in the US. (more…)

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2 fast 2 furious, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take
Posted Apr 2nd 2009 at 7:24 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 961308 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/02/tracking43/FAST+%26amp%3B+FURIOUS+may+%22race%22+to+%2448M+opening+weekend+with+MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+holding+strong+at+%2435M%212009-04-03+02%3A24%3A21Steve+Mason

3-D returns in a MONSTER way! MONSTERS VS. ALIENS with $16.7M Friday & a possible $58M opening weekend!

It is an excellent weekend for Dreamworks Animation. Although the credit crunch prevented financing that would allow exhibitors to undertake the digital conversion of more of its theatres, Monsters vs. Aliens is benefiting spectacularly from the 2,075 or so standard Digital 3-D engagements and the added 143 Digital IMAX runs. The audaciously ambitious animated send-up of 50’s B-movies has used the “bleeding edge” of technology to milk an estimated $16.7M in opening day ticket sales. The which could translate to $58M or so for the 3-day weekend.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS towers over previous 3-D releases from Hollywood

If that number holds, and, if anything, they could drift higher as family audiences flood America’s multiplexes, Monsters vs. Aliens will be the all-time third-best opening in the month of March.

(more…)

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, 300
Posted Mar 27th 2009 at 11:02 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 907822 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/27/estimates3-27/3-D+returns+in+a+MONSTER+way%21+MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+with+%2416.7M+Friday+%26amp%3B+a+possible+%2458M+opening+weekend%212009-03-28+06%3A02%3A58Steve+Mason

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is the widest non-summer release ever with over 7,000 screens! Katzenberg’s 3-D bet could pay off with $60M opening!

Jeffrey Katzenberg has been the film industry’s strongest proponent of 3-D over the past few years, and this weekend his advocacy will start paying dividends for Dreamworks Amimation. Monsters Vs. Aliens will debut with 4,104 playdates. That makes it the 13th-widest release in modern film history, and it becomes the biggest non-summer debut of all-time.

Jeffrey Katzenberg - The Pied Piper for Digital 3-D

ALL-TIME WIDEST NON-SUMMER RELEASES
- with summer defined as May 1 – August 30 -
1. 3/27/09 – Monsters Vs. Aliens – 4,104 playdates
2. 11/07/08 – Madagascar 2 – 4,056 playdates
3. 10/01/04 – Shark Tale – 4,016
4. 3/31/06 – Ice Age: The Meltdown – 3,964
5. 3/14/08 – Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears A Who – 3,954

(more…)

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, alan moore
Posted Mar 26th 2009 at 9:30 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 89914No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/26/finaltracking-3/MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+is+the+widest+non-summer+release+ever+with+over+7%2C000+screens%21+Katzenberg%27s+3-D+bet+could+pay+off+with+%2460M+opening%212009-03-27+04%3A30%3A07Steve+Mason

Summit scores a nice hit with KNOWING, which could reach $60M domestic, while I LOVE YOU, MAN has a shot at $70M in the US!

It was another good weekend for Summit Entertainment. The distributor behind last year’s meteoric hit Twilight has scored a solid hit with the Alex Proyas-directed Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage. Despite shaky word-of-mouth and negative reviews, the sci-fi thriller got a solid 9% bump on Saturday for a $9.7M second day, and it will likely finish its opening weekend with a possible $24.8M.

As a production company, Summit is responsible for some monster hits, including commercially and/or artistically successful films like Once (Oscar nominee for Best Picture), American Pie ($102..5M domestic), Memento (Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay: Chris Nolan), Mr. & Mrs. Smith ($186.3M domestic) and In the Valley of Ellah (Tommy Lee Jones nominated for Best Actor). But as a distributor, they got off to a slow start. (more…)

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Tags: 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, a.r. rachman, academy awards
Posted Mar 22nd 2009 at 11:33 am in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 8666210 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/22/studioestimates-2/Summit+scores+a+nice+hit+with+KNOWING%2C+which+could+reach+%2460M+domestic%2C+while+I+LOVE+YOU%2C+MAN+has+a+shot+at+%2470M+in+the+US%212009-03-22+18%3A33%3A54Steve+Mason

KNOWING grabs $8.95M Friday & targets $23.2M weekend, but word-of-mouth may push I LOVE YOU, MAN to $70M domestic; DUPLICITY gets a only a C from CinemaScore!

Early box office returns are pointing to a weekend win for Knowing from Summit, but I will put my money on I Love You, Man (Dreamworks/Paramount) to generate more in US ticket sales over the long haul. The Nicolas Cage sci-fi thriller has grabbed an estimated $8.95M to start the weekend, and it will likely finish at $24M or so. That is, unless word-of-mouth catches up to it first.

Will reviews and word-of-mouth catch up to KNOWING?

Reviews for Knowing, written and directed by Alex Proyas, the inventive filmmaker behind the visually striking 1998 film Dark City and the 2004 Will Smith mega-hit I, Robot, has received overwhelmingly negative reviews (25% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), but thanks to Twitter, real-time movie-goer reactions spread like wildfire. Here are some Tweets I just grabbed off the social networking platform.

(more…)

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Tags: 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, a.r. rachman, academy awards
Posted Mar 20th 2009 at 10:30 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 8596218 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/20/estimates-9/KNOWING+grabs+%248.95M+Friday+%26amp%3B+targets+%2423.2M+weekend%2C+but+word-of-mouth+may+push+I+LOVE+YOU%2C+MAN+to+%2470M+domestic%3B+DUPLICITY+gets+a+only+a+C+from+CinemaScore%212009-03-21+05%3A30%3A27Steve+Mason

KNOWING is favored to win the weekend, but is I LOVE YOU, MAN poised for an upset?

For the last few weeks, Summit’s Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, has appeared to be the likely winner of the upcoming box office weekend. But, my sources tell me that I Love You, Man, the new comedy starring Paul Rudd (Role Models) and Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) has surged in the latest pre-release industry tracking.

In the spirit of March Madness, I’m calling for the upset. I Love You, Man may not actually be a Judd Apatow movie, but it sure does look like one in trailers and commercials. The movie reportedly “rocked the house” at the South By South West Festival last week, and the buzz is very positive. I am calling for $21.5M, which would be above industry expectations.

(more…)

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Tags: 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, a.r. rachman, academy awards
Posted Mar 19th 2009 at 5:39 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 8503027 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/19/tracking-3/KNOWING+is+favored+to+win+the+weekend%2C+but+is+I+LOVE+YOU%2C+MAN++poised+for+an+upset%3F2009-03-20+00%3A39%3A04Steve+Mason

Look to DVD for Best of 2008

Some of the biggest movies of any year aren’t in wide release until January, so some of us don’t see all them until much later. As of this week, I think I’ve seen what passes for “everything” from 2008. Herewith, my list of the Top Ten for the year just passed:

10. Sex Drive. Hilarious, under-seen, low-budget comedy starring the creative partner of the funny Michael Cera. Defeated at the box office because of its name, it features a few show-stopping scenes with Seth Green and a live-action pair of Beavis-and-Butthead types who steal the whole thing. This’ll do great on DVD. (more…)

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Tags: Appaloosa, burn after reading, Clark Duke, coen brothers, Dark Night
Posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 6:23 am in Entertainment, Reviews | 7001446 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mlong/2009/03/02/best-of-2008-a-little-late/Look+to+DVD+for+Best+of+20082009-03-02+14%3A23%3A12Mike+Long

Oscar ratings up 11% and up over 14% with the coveted 18-49 demo!

Good news for the Motion Picture Academy. Despite the fact that the five Best Picture nominees had combined to gross less than $300M domestic by showtime, Oscar ratings were up considerably from last year’s all-time low. Early numbers show that the ABC telecast scored a 27 share, surging by 11% overall and by over 14% with TV’s “money demo” 18-49s. Compare that to last year when the show was down 25% in households from 2007 and down 30% among 18-49s.

The credit should go to producers Lawrence Mark and Bill Condon, although I can see why the streamlined show is a bit of a Rorschach test for viewers. If you love movies, and especially actors, last night’s show was respectful and enlightening. If you are inclined to dislike awards shows and actors, then the telecast would be pretty dreary.

(more…)

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Tags: acadamy awards, anne hathaway, ben kindsley, ben stiller, bill condon
Posted Feb 23rd 2009 at 10:55 am in Entertainment, Media Criticism, News | 6465022 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/23/oscar-ratings/Oscar+ratings+up+11%25+and+up+over+14%25+with+the+coveted+18-49+demo%212009-02-23+18%3A55%3A10Steve+Mason