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

3rd Sequel

So, what's hot now in the market are Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Predators, Toy Story 3, Eclipse aka Twilight 3 and Jacob's chest.

So, just to do a simple comparison of how good a 3rd installment of a movie series should be, here's the stats, without inflation adjustment...

USA Box Office

1. Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) - $380,270,577
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - $377,027,325
3. Toy Story 3 (2010) - $342,040,500*
4. Spider-Man 3 (2007) - $336,530,303
5. Shrek the Third (2007) - $322,719,944
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - $309,420,425
7. Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) - $309,205,079#
8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - $249,538,952
9. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) - $239,699,029*
10. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) - $234,362,462

Source: The-Numbers, as of 14 July 2010
* - Still rising
# - Of the original series


Worldwide Box Office

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - $1,133,027,325
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - $960,996,492
3. Spider-Man 3 (2007) - $890,871,626
4. Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) - $848,998,877
5. Shrek the Third (2007) - $798,958,162
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - $795,538,952
7. Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) - $572,700,000#
8. Toy Story 3 (2010) - $555,140,500*
9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)- $474,171,806
10. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) - $459,359,555

Source: The-Numbers, as of 14 July 2010.

* - Still rising

# - Of the original series

X-Men will not be standing long in its placing for the World's Top 10. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is just short of USD1 million to kick Wolverine, Storm and Phoenix's ends off the chart.

2012

I had been waiting for this film, counting down for a week when I thought it was just right amount of time to be excited of the film. I have always been a fan of natural disaster film. I don't know why, and neither am I interested to explain. Something about how the earth opens up and fury and anger of the mother nature terrifies me and I like it when the special effect catch the moments well. So, yes, I love The Day After Tomorrow, Dante's Peak, Armageddon, Twister and more. They were really good.

To know that the producers of this film are the same as The Day After Tomorrow is almost like an assurance that the film would be as exciting and good. So, I got my ticket early.. way before tickets are announced to be sold out, and only leaving front row seats.



Even the trailer was terrific, making audience with great expectation and excitement.

The special effects were good. I have to give the movie that. And that was what I was paying to watch. I mean, the special effects are the actual actor of the show. And of course, good stories and believable plots should be good too, except that I am not feeling them for this film.

I like John Cusack. I have liked this actor since.. I don't know when. I don't really recall his films right now, other than Must Love Dogs. But as much as I had wanted to see him in a believable reluctant hero spot, I was not. He was not supposed to outshine the film, and he did not. But neither should he had to struggle to convince me that he was a true hero inside. I was not feeling it for him. Neither did I care if he had lived or died, unlike Dennis Quaid or Jake Gyllenhaall in The Day After Tomorrow.

Maybe.. just maybe it was because I did not like the role he was playing - Jackson Curtis. Jackson Curtis is the divorced dad, who is struggling to prove that he is very much the good dad he believes himself to be. So, he takes his two young kids to a campsite in Yellowstone. There, although the place is already sealed off, with warning, he climbs over the fence, bringing his children to the 'no entry' zone. Not only that, he walks his children to the dried spot of the lake, which has mysterious steams oozing out, as well as corpse of a deer. Such a loving father.

And then of course later on, as he rushes to find an important map, he has to bring his daughter along, instead leaving her with the mother near the important vehicle to fly away with - the plane. And leave the kid in the van when an earthquake could have separated the child from him?

And what's with the kids and their inability to stick to a spot? After a wasted time explanation to the boy that he has to stay behind to take care of the sister, the boy still swims away to find his father.. irritating.. as irritating as the screaming little witch girl (Dakota Fanning) in Tom Cruise's War of the World. Just like that movie, I was screaming in my mind - Die you, kid. Die!

And then, the stupid speech. You know.. with only 14 minutes to go.. when people are already panic about survival, the director allows the speech of mankind and not. Damn. It was crap. Come on. Tsunami is coming. There's no time for a great speech of good humanitarian value and all that shit.

As well as Jackson's moment with his kid and the kiss for the ex-wife. Damn it! People are going to die. Stop being horny for the ex.

And then, as the door was shut eventually, the people in the ship did not even cheer for that their lives are already saved. Nope. They wait. They wait for some man - in this case, Jackson Curtis (whom they have no idea who he is, nor what he is doing in screen or that room) to merge from the water, and then they cheer. They cheer for a man they don't even know. No, they do not cheer when they are safe. They cheer for some seemingly unrelated event.

And really, I hate Woody Harrelson. I would have loved the volcano special effect at Yellowstone, but Woody spoils it for me.

Brigette Lin Ching Hsia's Characters Trauma

I was in awe of Brigette Lin Ching Hsia's glamorous comeback in the 90's, signaling her retirement from her retirement from the movie industry.

Brigette Lin first returned in Tsui Hark's film - Swordsman II. She acted as a man who castrated himself to become perfect martial art leader. To become a perfect martial art leader, he must be a woman. I was surprised at first when my friend told me that Brigette was a man in the movie. I was surprised but I loved the idea of her comeback. It was different from her many roles of repetitive characters of same storyline love movies from Taiwan.


At the moment of the popularity of the film, I thought her character's death was one of the most beautiful in any film.

And then came Dragon Inn, where Brigette Lin again acted as a character with martial art ability. And in a male costume. And the character died again.

And then there was the famous Bride with White Hair, acting angrily against straight character played the late Leslie Cheung. She did not die in the first movie, but she went crazy, jilted by love.

And I believe there was the Ashes of Time, where again, in a male costume, her character went crazy with jealousy.

And there was the film Fire Dragon, where she was denied of love again.

And she was the cold killer, really depressing-like, in Chung King Express.

I think her character died again Handsome Sibling, acted opposite the not-handsome Andy Lau.

Actually, by the time her character was denied of happy ending in Bride with White Hair, I was already having a trauma - Brigette Lin's dead characters trauma.

Funny Movie Caption

"I said I want McDonald's Drive Thru,
and for the last time, STOP calling me ROBOCOP!"