The World's Pretty Woman's Return

Julia Robert returns to the silver screen this week, leading a film on her own. It has been quite some time since the world got to see her fitting into a leading role.. I don't really check it out.. but I figure that it should be Erin Brokovich in the year 2000. I personally love her since she charmed the world as Vivien Ward, the hooker who got the world to be in love with her, and then winning herself an Edward, not a teenage vampire who could ease-drop on people's thinking, but the multi-millionaire played by Richard Gere, who sucked into other people's wealth. Still a sucker. Julia returned this week to USA box office in Eat Pray Love. Not that I know much detail about it, but I have always been fascinated by her ability to gain numbers in the box office success. Not that many women could claim the throne as the female box office champion, although Julia did have several women who could had challenged her stake a few times, namely Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock etc.

Most female leads need charming male leads to share the front roles in order to build a big audience in the cinema. A look at Julia Robert's success, one could see that movies like Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Hook and Valentine's Day have many famous co-stars, but it was the other movies which got the movie reviewers' attention of Julia's starpower. Although Ocean's Eleven was the best of her box office success in America (where stars like Brad Pitt, George (why???) and Matt Damon etc were the factors too), Pretty Woman was easily the winner in the worldwide box office - the movie that got the world to fall in love with a hooker. :p  But seriously, Ocean's Twelve??? What a shameful film.

USA Box Office:

1. Ocean's Eleven (2001) - $183,417,150
2. Pretty Woman (1990) - $178,406,268
3. Runaway Bride (1999) - $152,257,509
4. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) - $126,813,153
5. Erin Brockovich (2000) - $125,548,685
6. Ocean's Twelve (2004) - $125,531,634
7. Hook (1991) - $119,654,823
8. Notting Hill (1999) - $116,089,678
9. Valentine Day (2010) - $110,485,654
10. Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) - $101,599,005


Worldwide Box Office:

1. Pretty Woman (1990) - $463,400,000
2. Ocean's Eleven (2001) - $450,728,529
3. Notting Hill (1999) - $363,728,226
4. Ocean's Twelve (2004) - $363,531,634
5. Runaway Bride (1999) - $308,007,919
6. Hook (1991) - $300,854,823
7. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) - $287,200,000
8. Erin Brockovich (2000) - $258,400,000
9. Valentine Day (2010) - $215,771,698
10. The Pelican Brief (1993) - $194,968,056

Source: The Numbers, as of 17 Aug 2010

Inception Deception

Leonardo DiCaprio might be BIG.. (I have male friends who confessed that they cried to Titanic!), but in my list of A-list stars (see, I am even kind enough to admit that he is an A-list star), he does nothing to jumpstart my interest. I usually catch new movies on the first day of screening.. Even James Marsden and that Katherine whatever in 27 Dresses (2008) were good enough to command my loyalty to catch that movie on its first day.

I caught Inception on its 3rd week. When it came down to absolutely nothing to do, I went to watch this movie people had been talking about on the day when movie ticket was cheaper and I was really, really with nothing to do - on the day I was bored with nothing.

And I was bored, in the cinema. I was bored with Leonardo. I was bored with the storyline. I was not even interested to know if the movie would turn out any other way. I did not even care if his character would see his kids.

Bored out of my mind, I was determined to seek his box office success. And here I have it. Kinda sad to see a guy like him unable to secure a good position to get better earning movies like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise or Will Smith. Sad, really, that without Titanic and Christopher Nolan, Leonardo is almost nothing. Even Julia Roberts has more than 10 movies which earned more than $100 million in USA box office.

I liked him in Gilbert Grape. I liked him in Iron Mask. And that was all. I remember the movie Notting Hill (1999), when Hugh Grant's character accidentally became an interviewer and he asked the young actress whom she enjoyed working with, and she said 'Leonard.' And Hugh Grant's character looked surprise and asked 'Da Vince?'

USA Box Office -
1. Titanic (1997) - $600,788,188
2. Inception (2010) - $214,655,000*
3. Catch Me if You Can (2002) - $164,606,800
4. The Departed (2006) - $133,311,000
5. Shutter Island (2010) - $128,012,934
6. The Aviator (2004) - $102,608,827
7. Gangs of New York (2002) - $77,730,500
8. Blood Diamond (2006) - $57,377,916
9. The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) - $56,968,169
10. Romeo+Juliet (1996) - $46,338,728


Worldwide Box Office -
1. Titanic (1997) - $1,842,879,955
2. Inception (2010) - $414,655,000*
3. Catch Me if You Can (2002) - $351,106,800
4. Shutter Island (2010) - $294,512,934
5. The Departed (2006) - $290,539,042
6. The Aviator (2004) - $214,608,827
6. Gangs of New York (2002) - $190,400,000
7. Blood Diamond (2006) - $171,377,916
8. Romeo+Juliet (1996) - $147,542,381
9. Body of Lies (2008) - $108,394,666
10. Revolutionary Road (2008) - $76,989,671

Source: The Numbers
* Still rising as of Aug 8, 2010