Just Movies? Not According to the Oscars, They’re Not.
About midway through Sunday’s Oscar telecast on ABC, host Chris Rock brought out his daughters’ Girl Scout troop and had them sell cookies to Hollywood’s A-listers. “Leo, you made $30 million—come on!” Rock hollered in the direction of Leonardo DiCaprio. By the time he tallied the troop’s earnings for the evening—somewhere north of $65,000—I was […]
Deadpool Drowns Gods of Egypt
Gods of Egypt proved to be just a bunch of false gods—and certainly for their would-be devotees at Lionsgate. Not a single box office receipt was turned into a money-making snake, as far as I know, and the only things that ran red were the studio’s ledgers. Oh, and Deadpool, of course. That guy loves […]
Deadpool Kills Again
For the second straight week, Marvel’s profanest protagonist stuffed its competition into the back of a taxi cab—then drove straight to the top of the box office. It wasn’t even much of a contest, really. Deadpool collected an estimated $55 million en route to its second weekend title, bringing its total North American gross to […]
Deadpool Lives!
This side of The Punisher, Marvel’s Deadpool is about as antihero as superheroes get. He swears. He sleeps around. He certainly doesn’t adhere to any sort of Batman-based “no-kill” ethos. So is it a wee bit apropos that the guy made such a killing at the box office? Deadpool may dress in red, but his […]
Panda Eats, Shoots and Wins
Hail, Panda! Kung Fu Panda 3, that is. Despite a trio of shiny new movies galumphing into theaters this week, America’s most popular animated bear since Yogi (scientists no longer think that giant pandas are just big raccoons) fended them all off and won its second straight weekend box office title. It earned $21 million, […]
Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Phone
IKEA, those clever Swedish furniture makers who have convinced us all to make our own furniture, are getting creative again. Their latest invention: A table that somehow cooks soup via your smartphone. Well, not your smartphone. Not unless you live in Taiwan and frequent the IKEA store there. And, of course, you’ve got to be […]
Kung Fu Panda 3 Chops its Way to Win
Quick: What’s black and white and green all over? Kung Fu Panda 3, that’s what. Never mind that most pandas will only nibble on bamboo. Fox’s rotund martial artist gobbled up a pile of dough this weekend—an estimated $41 million of it, in fact. In fact, it nearly set a January opening-weekend earnings record, finishing […]
The Revenant Chills at No. 1
Hugh Glass, the main character in The Revenant, was thought to be a goner—his still-breathing body plopped in a makeshift grave in the dead of winter. But somehow, in the cold and snow, the guy crawled back. Sounds a little like the box office performance of the movie, actually. Shrugging off a historic East Coast […]
Ride Along 2, Revenant Force Star Wars Off the Top
What does it take to topple an utterly dominant, seemingly invincible galactic force? You need a vertically challenged, fast-talking cop, apparently. Oh, and maybe a very angry bear. After four weeks bestriding the box office charts like a colossus, Star Wars: The Force Awakens fell to third this weekend—slipping behind both the comedy Ride Along […]
David Bowie’s Countercultural Legacy
David Bowie died Jan. 10 after an 18-month struggle with cancer. He was just 69. Bowie was one of the era’s most influential singers and songwriters, and he won fans as an actor, too. When I think of him, I flash back to my junior high and high school days: Listening to “Modern Love” on […]