|
|
 
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
|
|
News Stories About Big Fish
|
2007-03-20
It's a busy week for DVDs, and it's even busier next week.
Not only are the overall numbers high, the quality is good too, with several films from last year's award season / holiday rush coming to the home market.
One of these films, Rocky Balboa - Buy from Amazon, was a serious contender for DVD Pick of the Week, as was a TV on DVD release, NewsRadio - The Complete Fifth Season - Buy from Amazon.
But in the end I went with a cult classic that more people should experience, Re-Animator - Limited Edition - Buy from Amazon.
|
|
|
2005-11-07
Every week Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Buy from Amazon gets a second chance at... I'm just kidding.
We're moving closer to the busy Christmas shopping season, and because of that there are a lot of prime DVDs worth picking up this week.
Leading the way is Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi - Unrated Edition while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - 2-Disc Special Edition earns a honorable mention.
There are also... what's the philosophical term? ... a Metric Buttload of Christmas DVDs coming out this week, most of which should be ignored.
|
2004-04-26
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. A couple of selections caught my eye this week, Love Actually - (Buy from Amazon) and Kids in the Hall - Season 1 both of which are my DVD pick of the week.
|
2004-02-12
It's obvious The Dreamers wasn't hampered by its NC-17 rating. Not only is its per theatre average of $28,526 the best of the week, it was the best this year beating Big Fish by more than $8,000.
|
|
2004-01-27
Nominations for the 76the Annual Academy Awards were announced today. As always, here is a list of the nominations, plus reactions below.
|
2004-01-26
There seems to be a pattern developing for 2004. The number one movie surprises, but the overall box office is lower than expected. This week was no different. The total box office was down from last weekend's 3-day total, which is not surprising as last weekend was a long weekend. But it dropped by a massive 24.7%. The performance compared to last year that is more troubling. Before the weekend 2004 was 7% behind 2003 and at first glance this weekend was almost flat compared to last year, down less than $200,000 or just 0.002%. But this weekend last year was Superbowl weekend, so the performance is really more equivalent to a 10% drop.
|
2004-01-25
With the awards ceremony only hours away, here's one last look at the theatrical nominations for tonight's 61st annual Golden Globes awards.
|
|
2004-01-23
Two movies staring That '70s Show alumnus open this weekend, and while neither of them will be recognized with any major awards, they probably won't light up the box office either. In fact, next weekend isn't looking that spectacular either. The box office should pick up again in February.
|
2004-01-21
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is usually celebrated by the movie industry by dumping movies that the studios have little faith in, in hopes that the holiday crowds will give it an undeserved boost. This year two of the three new releases beat expectations (at least for the 3-day weekend) and the one that didn't had the best reviews for the week. (I really must stop basing my prediction on quality.) The 3-day total box office was 7% above last weekend, but down 8% from last year. The 4-day yearly decline was about the same.
|
2004-01-18
On Thursday the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(R) Nominations were announced. Here is a list of all the nominations in theatrical categories as well as a brief reaction to them.
|
|
2004-01-16
With three new movies opening wide this weekend, we should finally have a new number one at the box office. But don't expect it to be number one in the minds of the critics. With Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday we should see a sizeable increase at the box office.
|
2004-01-12
None of the wide releases were able to mount much of an attack on last weekend's top five. And with the exception of a limited release going wide there was little change. The lack of a dominate opener helped push the total box office lower by more than 25% from last week and 6% from last year. So much for last weekend's strong start to 2004.
|
2004-01-09
January is usually the time when studios dump movies that looked like a good idea on paper, but didn't pan out. This year looks like no exception as the two new movies are getting destroyed by the critics. In fact, the only film that looks capable of challenging Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for the lead is the wide expansion of Big Fish.
|
|
2004-01-06
In an unusual turn of events, Big Fish saw its per theatre average jump this weekend to $20,356 in 125 theatres. This bodes very well for this Friday when it expands into more than 2000 theatres. Next weekend it may no longer be on top on the per theatre average chart, but should place well on the top five overall.
|
2003-12-30
Three of the four movies that broke $10,000 per theatre last week also accomplished that feat this week. However, it was a new comer that took top spot. Monster earned over $100,000 since it opened on Christmas day and it had a weekend average of $21,708, which was more than $5000 above its nearest competitor.
|
2003-12-23
Taking top spot on the Per Theatre Charts in consecutive weeks is not an easy task, but that's just what Big Fish did this week. And it did it by keeping nearly 80% of its premiere audience landing at $27,440 per theatre. Add in a few awards / nominations and an early January wide release and it could add up to box office hit.
|
|
2003-12-16
With only one major release making waves on the Per Theatre Charts, it was a chance for the limited releases to dominate. And by far the most successful was Big Fish. The latest from Tim Burton topped the charts with $34,563 average in six theatres.
|
2003-12-11
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here's a list of highlights, (including this week's winner Big Fish - Official Site ) plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
Big Fish
Current Content: The movie opened yesterday in limited release and the website added most of its content during the past week. The site has the usual features, including very extensive behind the scenes information, and several extras. Most notably is the Script to Screen, which shows how one scene looked at different stages and has commentary from the producers and the actress. There are also four Tall Tales illustrations, but all but one are marked coming soon. Along with the illustrated tall tales are audience submitted tall tales that you can vote on, (when they are all on site.) The only problem with the site is the really bad looping on the background music. But that is not enough to stop it from winning the embellished Weekly Website Award.
The Butterfly Effect
Current Content: Cast and crew bios were added to the site.
Chasing Liberty
Current Content: The flash site went live this week, and while the format is not bad there's a lack of content. Important sections like, 'About the Film' are marked coming soon, so it's hard to tell if this will be a good site or not. It does have a bit of sound and animation and enough marked coming soon to make you want to come back.
The Chronicles of Riddick
Current Content: Just an in-depth introduction.
Club Dread
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with the synopsis, cast and crew and a note saying, 'Website coming soon.'
Cold Mountain
Current Content: The flash site launched this week, but before I get into that … How can Renée Zellweger, who was born and raised in Texas, have such a bas southern accent? Nicole Kidman was raised in Australia and Jude Law is British, so their bad accents are understandable. But Renée Zellweger? Anyway, back to the site. The first thing I noticed was the music; different sections have different background music, which is an excellent addition. The usual features are there, with a couple of extras marked coming soon (Clips, Book and Soundtrack.) Not a lot of content, but miles ahead of most Miramax sites.
Girl With a Pearl Earring
Current Content: This site is, in a word, subdued. Which is probably for the best. The main difference from when the site first launched is the number of reviews posted on the site.
Honey
Current Content: Every week for nine months I looked at this site, and now that it was released I won't be checking it out anymore. And I miss it already. Anyhow, while I'm on the subject there was a huge addition to the media section. Four TV spots, four clips, and twenty-four interviews clips! Ok, they're short clips, but that's still a lot.
I, Robot
Current Content: None, just a redirected to the Fox movie pages.
Japanese Story
Current Content: Definitely a modest site that hits all the major areas, but has little in the way of extras. There's some animation, but no sound outside the trailer.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Current Content: A section on Weapons and Warfare was added. It is mostly text with an image gallery. As I was checking to make sure the link was right, two new features were added: A photo gallery of the premiere and Digital Horses, which is about bringing the huge battle sequences to the big screen.
Love Don't Cost a Thing
Current Content: The film opens tomorrow and the Story section of the site is still marked coming soon.
Man on Fire
Current Content: None, just a redirected to the Fox movie pages.
Miracle
Current Content: So far just the synopsis and trailer are on this placeholder site.
The Passions of the Christ
Current Content: The flash site launched this week and while it has most of the usual features, it has little in the way of flash. (There are some minor animations but no sound.) The synopsis is also marked coming soon, but lets face it, if you don't know the plot you are not in the movie's target audience.
Peter Pan
Current Content: The bios were added to the site, but the clips are still marked coming soon. In many cases clips from the movie are not added to the site till after the movie opens in theatres.
Something's Gotta Give
Current Content: The film opens this week, but there were no changes in the site since it was reviewed last.
The Statement
Current Content: I've got a bone to pick with this site, under the History section the site states that Adolf Hitler said, "one can either be a German or a Christian, but not both." That was actually a quote from Martin Bormann, Hitler's private secretary. This site as all the usual features, synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer, image gallery, etc. And a few extras like the aforementioned History section, and a section where the five main actors briefly speak about their characters. Before you go to the site, be warned than the long synopsis gives away many key details of the plot and should probably be avoided unless you've already seen the movie or read the novel it is based on.
Stuck on You
Current Content: Two for the Road was added to the site. Each part deals with one aspect of the twins life and has an accompanying video segment.
Torque
Current Content: The flash site was added. But despite the change in format the content is mostly the same. E-cards and some downloadables were added, but the game is still marked coming soon.
Way Off Broadway
Current Content: Another film opening tomorrow, it has a simple site without sound or animation (outside the trailer that is.) It does hit all the main points a film site should.
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton
Current Content: The trailer was added to the placeholder site, and there's a new poll on the Tad Hamilton fan site, which isn't as fun to mess with. Not that I messed with the first poll. That would be unethical for a journalist to do.
Submitted by:
|
2003-11-14
elease date updates:
- Twisted moves from April 2, 2004 to February 27, 2004
- Mean Girls gets its first official release date: April 2, 2004 (filling the space left by Twisted
- Sahara is moved to an undetermined date in the 4th quarter of 2004, from July 23, 2004.
- The Missing will no longer have a limited release on November 19. It will still open wide on November 26.
- Big Fish will have an Oscar-nomination run starting December 25, then go wide o
|
|
2003-10-16
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. This was bit of a weird week, the best sites either had little or no changes to an already impressive site, or there was a major update but with most content being marked coming soon. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
Alien: The Director's Cut
Current Content: The flash site was launched during the past week and while there is a lot of information, most of the multimedia is still marked coming soon. Synopsis, Trailer, Cast and Crew Bios, Production Notes and Legacy are there. So is an interesting twist on reviews, they have reviews for the original from 1979 and will have reviews for the Director's Cut when they are available. As I said, most of the multimedia is marked coming soon and this includes 6 clips, TV spots and an interview with Ridley Scott. The site also has good background music and animated intros. The only complaint I have is the animated intros are a little too long, they could be trimmed to improve the pacing of the site.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: The production notes and the cast and crew bios were added.
Big Fish
Current Content: The flash site launched this week but there is very little content. In fact, there is more content on the placeholder site then there is on the flash site. That could change as the release date nears, but there are no features marked 'coming soon' to let us know.
Elf
Current Content: Another game was added, Snowball fight, as was a section on Elf-themed self-help books.
Garfield
Current Content: The redirect was replaced with a placeholder site. Right now there's just the synopsis and cast list, but it says the trailer will be online in November. There's also more animation and sound than most placeholders have, and that's a good sign.
Gothika
Current Content: The flash site went live and it is good. Not so much for its content, (most of which is marked coming soon) but for the mood it creates. The background music helps, so do the little interactive features. And most pages there's something you can click on to see flashed from the movie and some text will appear. I even got the all the menu items to turn to, 'Not Alone' but I have no idea how and I can't seem to do it again. So far the site has the synopsis, trailer, more than two dozen images (all of which can be sent as e-cards) and quite a few downloads. Production notes, cast and crew bios and 2 movie clips are marked coming soon. This is the best mood for site since Identity, and just like that site Gothika wins the fervent Weekly Website Award.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: There was a complete redesign of the site last week, the third design used, and the flash site is marked coming soon. There's less information about the movie than the last site, but more extras like wallpapers, screensavers, image gallery and even two full-length cartoons.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Current Content: Three more interviews were added to the site featuring Viggo Mortenson, Karl Urban and Peter Jackson. Most of the interviews are text, but they are supplemented with video clips. Also, information on the upcoming release of the soundtrack was added.
Love Don't Cost a Thing
Current Content: The trailer was added to the placeholder site.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Current Content: The Non-North American English International Sites is up, but it appears to be the same as the North American site.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: This week's updates include more photos and the cover for the upcoming comic book.
Pieces of April
Current Content: Another movie opening this week with a website that hasn't changed since I last reviewed it. It's worth checking out for the extensive intro alone.
Radio
Current Content: Another flash site that launched this week. There's not much content, Synopsis, Trailer, Cast and Crew Bios, and four part production notes. There are two more previews marked coming soon.
Returner
Current Content: No changes since I first reviewed the site. Given the movie in question, the site could have used more flash.
Run Away Jury
Current Content: This site has previously won the Weekly Website Award. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get to the site right now; it's gone 404 on me.
Scary Movie 3
Current Content: So far there's just the trailer, four posters and a TV you can find. Since the movie is released next week, expect a large update soon.
Sylvia
Current Content: Opening this week, there was a bit of content added. There are six main sections, and each one except the last start with a little bit of animation and some background music. The music doesn't loop, so you only hear it when you change sections. The site has the usual information, Synopsis, Trailer and three other clips, Cast and Crew Bios, Image gallery, some downloads. It also has biographical information on the two main characters portrayed in the movie.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Current Content: Not much has changed, just new background music. The clip itself is long enough but the gap between loops is too long.
Timeline
Current Content: This site underwent a complete redesign this week and a lot of content was added, but even more is marked coming soon. It has the synopsis, cast and crew bios, both the teaser and the full trailer, image gallery (including some behind the scenes), downloads and even your chance to ask the director Richard Donner a question. Most of what is marked coming soon is multimedia, movie clips, behind the scene clips, interviews, concept art, etc. Production notes and news are also marked coming soon, as are three mysterious wormholes on the main page. I'm not sure what they do, but they might have something to do with the 1357 features marked coming soon.
Veronica Guerin
Current Content: The film opens tomorrow, but the cast and crew bios and film clips are still marked coming soon.
Submitted by: C.
|
2003-10-09
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
This will be an abridged version due previously mentioned scheduling conflict. But you can't really tell.
The Alamo
Current Content: The full trailer is up, along with the old teaser trailer.
Barbershop 2
Current Content: A placeholder site so far with just the teaser trailer.
Big Fish
Current Content: Typical Sony placeholder site with just the synopsis and trailer.
Broken Lizard's Club Dread
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with just the synopsis so far.
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind
Current Content: The site is based on the company Lacuna from the movie. Right now its just a commercial for that company, but it says to check back tomorrow for further updates.
The Dreamers
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with just the synopsis so far.
Dopamine
Current Content: Simple site without sound or animation. There's some interesting content, including some on the role of Dopamine in the brain. But overall there's not enough to keep a surfer's attention for too long.
Elf
Current Content: Another game was added, Stocking Stuffer. But that background music is getting to me something awful. And to think, I've got to listen to every week to check for updates.
Girls Will Be Girls
Current Content: The format is the same as most IFC sites, but there is more content than most of their sites. Trailer, synopsis and cast and crew bios are all there, so are a few clips, image gallery and even sites for the three girls from the film.
Good Boy
Current Content: Another game was added to the site, this one a variation on concentration. Overall, this is a good site especially for its target audience.
House of the Dead
Current Content: The original site was removed due its graphic nature. The new site is toned down, but relatively unchanged.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: Two TV spots and four clips were added just in time for the movie's release.
Kill Bill
Current Content: No changes from last week, and with Volume 1 opening tomorrow I doubt the remaining three character intros will be added till Volume 2 is nearing its release date.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: The second blog was added to the site, which adds a bit more background information.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Current Content: Did they really need the whole name in the URL? I don't think so. A large portion of the site is called The Journey, which alternates between entries in the Captain's Log and information about life on a ship from the sails to meals. There are also regulars features, but so far much of this is marked coming soon. Synopsis, Cast and Crew Bios, Production Notes and Featurettes are all marked coming soon. That does leave the trailer, images, interviews with three consultants (in .pdf format) and something called The Broadband Experience. The last feature is for Internet Explorer users only, so I can't review it. There are also several international sites, but they are all marked coming soon. The only complaint is the URL, but to deny it an award based on that would be petty, so it wins this week's nugatory Weekly Website Award.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: As expected, there were more updates this week. This time it was information on The Matrix Reloaded's DVD release and a couple more posters, one just for international sites.
Mystic River
Current Content: There were no new additions since the last update. It is still an understated yet compelling website.
Shark Tale
Current Content: New name, new URL, same intro.
The Singing Detective
Current Content: The flash site launched and while it takes a little advantage of the animation flash allows, there is no sound outside the trailer and a clip from E.T. The site does have synopsis and cast and crew bios, but I was looking forward to for some behind the scenes info.
Spider-Man 2
Current Content: Quite a big update this week. A new webisode was added with director Sam Raimi and costume designer James Acheson that is about the changes to Spider-man's costume. The character section was added with brief bios and connections between the characters. In addition, the Ultimate Quiz will quickly show how much time you spent reading Spider-man comics as a kid (for me it was obviously too much.) There were also some more behind the scenes images and another wallpaper added.
Submitted by:
|
|
|
