10/30-11/1 Halloween and All Saint's Day Weekend BoxOffice
Juan F. Lara
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/
7 6 Astro Boy $3,460,651 -48.4% 3,020 +6 $1,146 $11,316,418
11 9 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs $2,747,476 -47.7% 2,322 -419 $1,183 $118,604,078
20 13 Toy Story / Toy Story 2 (3D) $262,347 -74.0% 343 -435 $765 $30,593,152
27 35 The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D $140,037 -2.3% 103 -2 $1,360 $356,022
41 36 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $59,748 -49.7% 108 -34 $553 $196,363,405
51 41 Up $46,268 -37.6% 100 -32 $463 $292,979,556
55 48 9 $32,953 -35.8% 91 -43 $362 $31,389,319
64 50 Ponyo $19,418 -55.8% 65 -38 $299 15,081,783
109 105 Walt & El Grupo $1,329 -25.8% 2 -2 $665 $19,900
116 101 Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone $634 -73.2% 3 +1 $211 $106,551
November has a crowded list of new releases, starting with Disney's
"Motion Capture Christmas Carol" (Say that fast 10 times.) and continuing with
"The Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Planet 51".
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So I saw "Astro Boy" last week, and it had the exact same problems I
suspected from its commercials. A Westernized bastardization of the property
instead of a faithful adaptation. I thought that Astro Boy had his own
identity: He was modelled after Tobio Tenma, but he had his own personality,
characterized by innocence. In this movie, which plays like a PG version of
"Robocop", Astro has Tobio's memories right from the start. So we're watching
the adventures of Tobio Tenma instead, who here has the standard personality
of the movie version of a U.S. 13 year old: a smartass kid who always has
tricks to get what he wants. The celebrity voice casts only distracted.
Nicholas Cage as Dr. Tenma? I waited for him to slip into "Wild at Heart"
mode. Bill Nighy as Dr. Elefun. I didn't really Dr. Elefun was so British.
And Charlize Theron and Samuel L. Jackson were brought in for only two or three
lines. Donald Sutherland is stuck with the role as the movie's villain, giving
lines so very badly written you can torture people with them.
I could see why no one warmed up to this movie...
- Juan F. Lara
Paul S. Person
Well, now you know how fans of JRRT feel about how PJ changed many of
the characters in /LOTR/ (Aragorn, Arwen, Elrond, ... the list goes
on).
On the other hand, being one of those fans, I can understand how you
feel about /Astro Boy/. Not that that is going to stop me from buying
it on DVD and enjoying every time I see it, mind you. But I can
understand your point of view.
--
Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, "I never knew him."