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Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Weekend Box Office Round Up

            Well, well,well. Look at my big surprised face, and I say that without a single drop of sarcasm. Not one drop.

            Never in a million years would I have predicted that “The Final, Final” Destination” would top the latest Rob Zombie-directed train wreck.

Subtle... very subtle.

            Oh, right. Predictions. Yeah, see about that. I have a decent excuse for missing my last blog entry— other then conveniently avoiding a darn confounding weekend of new releases— its back to school time and I spent most of Friday preparing myself for the big return to WCU and also the return of the in-print version of The Quad.

            So there, I wasn’t totally shirking my responsibility to you, my prettys. I would never abandon you without a really good excuse. I wouldn’t abandon you, but there is a decent chance that I would forget. A VERY decent chance. I forget lots of things. Like the point of this entry for example. Oh, right!

Courtesy of joblo.com

            First off, a big shake of the head to boxofficemojo.com, the site where I usually pull the numbers from. It appears to have crashed or vanished or whatever it is that websites do when they don’t work.

I warned you it would be a big head shake

            Maybe it’s on vacation. Can’t websites go on vacation? I have no idea. See, I forgot the point again.

            Excuse me for one second.

            I’m back. I just needed to take a minute to do a jig on the grave of “Halloween II” which can now be pronounced BOTH a critical AND a commercial failure. Thank god! Check out my decidedly negative review over at wcuquad.com, by the way.

Get it? Soul Asylum! They had that album called "Grave Dancers Union!" Oh nevermind...

            The critical failure part was a slam dunk, but I am proud to see the commercial bit. Though, in a move that would make Gary Bettman proud, the Weinsteins (who produced the film) are already planning yet another sequel.

            Yup, just because something failed twice, there’s no reason not to try a third time. Brilliant. And Phoenix is actually a hockey town disguised as a desert.

Kind makes you want to play hockey doesn't it?

            According to my sources, the next “Halloween” film will be in 3-D. You know what other movie was in 3-D?

            “The Final Final Final Destination!” Coincidence? I guess cool effects and no story trump no effects or story.

            Aspiring filmmakers take heed!

            How about some props for my boy Quentin Tarantino? His latest, “Inglourious Basterds,”— the film I proclaimed as the best movie of the year— didn’t do too shabby for itself. It already made back its reported $70 million budget and it was a smash hit with critics. I’ve said it before, but it feels good to see quality get rewarded.

            I’m also pleased to see “District 9” chugging along in the top five. A sequel is reportedly on the way, which I await eagerly. There is definitely more story left to tell here, but not in a lame “Matrix” cliffhanger type way.

            That’s about it as my prediction rankings stay unchanged until I mess up this next weekend— which I am sure to do.

            Until that time— vaya con dios.

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Summer, summer, summer time…

            Well here we are. The end of summer approaches.

            It sure was a weird one for movie goers. The way things usually work, May, June and July are cramped with huge blockbuster after huge blockbuster.

            August is the month when studios release the stuff they’re not sure about or simply don’t care about.

            This year, however, things couldn’t have been more different.

            For starters, there was a stunning lack of blockbusters outside of “Harry Potter 6” and the much maligned “Transformers 2.” Sure other movies made some green, but not in the oodles that the summer season is usually known for.

            Also, where were all my superhero movies? Last summer we had: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Hancock” and “The Incredible Hulk.” This summer? How about the “Wolverine” origin story?

            Yawn.

            I suppose that August won’t be known as a “dump month” anymore either.

            The summer’s three best films all were released during the season’s dog days. Considering their reasonable budgets, each of those films either has turned or is likely to turn a fair profit.

            It’s always nice to see quality rewarded. It makes up for things like Michael Bay.

5.) Terminator: Salvation

-Are you Batman? --No, I'm Melvin Pervis, FBI. Are you John Dillinger? - I can't remember!!!

            Diagnosis: The fourth “Terminator” movie didn’t quite live up to the ample amounts of kewl promised in its trailer, but I still had a good time with it. With tons of throwbacks to previous films in the series, the movie was fun, clever and featured some of the summer’s best action scenes. The only thing stopping the film from being higher on this list was a terribly weak script. 

4.) Up

Kids today with their fancy U-Haul trucks. Back in my day this is how you moved!!

            Diagnosis: There are two kinds of kids movies out there, the ones made by Pixar and then everything else. All you need to do is watch the heartbreaking first 10 minutes or so of “Up” to know what makes Pixar great. The rest of the film is funny and heartfelt while never skimping on the action or adventure. But it’s the opening minutes that will stay with you.   

3.) (500) Days of Summer

My picture can be seen on the upper right hand corner. Look closely, it is there. I promise you...

            Diagnosis: A charmingly funny indie drama-dy, “(500) Days” was the summer’s biggest surprise. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is THE quintessential indie leading man. Think of this film as a more straightforward “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”    

2.) District 9

Ah that's a shame. When are people going to stop discriminating against Gary Bettman?

            Diagnosis: The best sci-fi movie in recent memory. Smart, moving and full of action; “D-9” has something for everyone. It takes the unbelievable and makes it very, VERY believable.  

1.) Inglourious Basterds

Would it be too much to ask for Tarantino to get a Best Director naked man statue? I think not!!

            Diagnosis: Not only the best movie of the summer, Quentin Tarantino’s latest is the best movie of the entire year. Violent, talky and cool, it is the quintessential Tarantino movie. Brad Pitt is fantastic, but it’s Cristoph Waltz who will likely bring home some Oscar gold come award season. Waltz portrays the most delightfully maniacal big screen villain since Heath Ledger’s Joker. If you see only one movie this summer, make it “Inglourious Basterds.”

            So there you have it. My official Summer Top 5… that is until Mr. Rob Zombie rocks my world this Friday. And by rocks my world I of course mean bores me to tears with loud noises and ample amounts of gore.

            I can’t wait.

            Vaya con dios.

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Box Office Round-up

            Ugh!

            I knew this was going to happen! Gone is my sterling 5 for 6 record in picks. It has been replaced with a tarnished 5 for 9.

            That said, I’m not really that upset because my favorite movie of the year finished in the top spot!

            That’s right “The Collector” capped off perhaps the greatest cinematic comeback story since “Rocky Balboa” and … oh wait. I’m sorry. I’ve confused myself.

It's the job o' the collector, it's the thrill of the trap...

            What I meant to say was my favorite movie of the year, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” took the top spot.

No Quentin! Put the gun away! This one was a hit with both critics and at the box office! I know, now give that gun back to the producers of "The Collector" and give me a hug...

            Now, I saw this puppy on Friday night and the theater was absolutely packed. It was then that I knew I would not be looking at another dandy week as far as my picks were concerned.

            Oh well, I can live with that. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Quentin Tarantino’s sixth film and if anything had to sink my prognostication streak, I’m happy it was this. Best of all, in addition to being Tarantino’s biggest opening weekend ever, it was also a critical smash, sitting pretty at 87% on rottentomatoes.com. 

            All that malarkey aside, let’s take us a look at the chart, shall we?   

Courtesy of Boxofficemojo.com 

            Who would have thought “G.I. Joe” would hang on to a top three spot? I suppose we have a weak showing from the weekend’s other new releases, “Shorts” and “Post Grad.”

            Interesting tidbit: “Shorts” was directed by Robert Rodriguez, who directed the “Planet Terror” half of “Grindhouse.” What about the other half you ask?

            Well, that just happened to be Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof.” It seems that these two guys are attached at the hip, even when they aren’t trying to be.

Ahh... a bromance made in Hollywood heaven.

            I blame the failure of “Post Grad” on the fact that it starred the “other Gilmore Girl.” Put Lauren Graham in it and people would go see it.

            Well, I might anyway.

She was the best part of "The Gilmore Girl." Wait, what? "Girls" What do you mean there were TWO?

            Just because she’s a tiny bit older then your average recent college graduate is no reason not to cast her. You’re not prejudiced are you?

            What happened to the ladies? You guys were supposed to help me out! Sure “Julie & Julie” and “The Time Traveler’s Wife” did solid business, but it wasn’t enough for me!

Box Office Prognostication Stats

Last Week: 0-3 (0%)

Total 5-9 (55.6%)

        Better luck to me next week, other wise I may have to turn in my big predictin’ hat. Vaya con dios.

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Hitting the Silver Screen…

            I’m not sure how I should feel about this weekend.

            On the positive side of things, one of my most anticipated movies of the summer, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” is coming out. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time and thus common sense would dictate that I would be MOST excited.

            Alas, common sense and I parted ways a long time ago.

            Today is August 21. There is a little over a week left to go before classes resume. Bad times.

            So, in additionto being a fun filled cinematic experience, “Inglourious Basterds” also represents the end of summer vacation. After it hits the screens, there’s nothing really to look forward to for some time. Also, it’s the last of my “Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies of the Summer” blog from a few months back.

            Stay tuned for a complete wrap up of that later in the week.

            As I crossed off movies from that list, there’s was always still “Basterds,” looming large way back there at the end of August.

Pretty yes, but approaching all too quickly...

            But now we’re here. After this one, my list is gone baby gone and summer right along with it.

            What makes this even more depressing is that it may be my LAST honest to god summer ever. Next summer I will be a college graduate and the world will be my oyster.

            Oh wait. I have a degree in English and Journalism.

            The world will be my…er… dumpster. The world will be my empty refrigerator box. The world will be my ticket to “The Collector.”

My future's so bright, I gotta wear... whoops. Oh well, wasn't gonna need them anyway...

            Alright, well I’m certain that you didn’t come here to read about me feeling sorry for myself and lamenting another summer past. For that you can just visit my facebook page or show up at my house.

            If there’s one thing that I love to do, it’s lament.

            To the business at hand.

            If you’re unawares, “Inglourious Basterds” is the sixth film from Quentin Tarantino, not the seventh as it says in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

            “Kill Bill” isn’t two films but one big one. Geez, it’s that kind of shotty reporting that’s killing the newspaper industry.

            In any case, “Basterds” stars Brad Pitt as the leader of a platoon of Jewish American soldiers behind German lines during WWII. They’re men on a mission and that mission is to kill and maim as many Nazis as possible. Their goal is to strike fear in the hearts of the German army through these actions.

            If there’s a line from the trailer that best sums up the film, it’s this: “We ain’t in the prisoner taking business, we’re in the killing Nazi business and cousin, business is booming.”

            Unapologetically violent, talky and fun. Tarantino in a nutshell

            But if you disagree with that statement, there are a few other options for you.

            You could check out Tarantino-crony and all around cool dude Robert Rodriguez’s latest kid’s movie about a wishing rock.

            Meh. Doesn’t look like a winner but there really hasn’t been a kids movie out for a bit so who knows.

            For the ladies we have one of the “Gilmore Girls” in a movie called “Post Grad.”

            After my earlier rant about life after college, I may just need to see this puppy to settle my nerves a bit.

            Sadly, my favorite “Gilmore” has always been Lauren Graham and this one stars Alexis Bledel, aka “The OTHER Gilmore.”

Box Office Predictions

            Well, I’m 5 for 6 so far but this week is going to kill me. I honestly have NO read on what the aforementioned new movies will make. This is a total shot in the dark, the prognostication equivalent of running the New York Islanders.

            1.) “District 9″

            2.) “Inglourious Basterds”

            3.)  ”Time Traveler’s Wife”

            Yikes. Well, I’m prepared to drop to 5 for 9, still not too shabby I suppose. Have a pleasant weekend at the cinema kiddies and do your best to help my predictions come true! Please?

            Vaya con dios.

www.lostpedia.com

The episode: Confidence Man
Original Airdate: November 10, 2004
Written By: Damon Lindelof
Directed By: Tucker Gates

Content (from original ABC press release/lostpedia.com): Shannon begins to suffer badly from her asthma and requires her inhaler. When the survivors ask Sawyer for it, he refuses, leading Jack and Sayid to contemplate using any means necessary to get it. Flashbacks in this episode focus on a smooth-talking Sawyer conning his lover Jessica and her family.

Why It’s Worth Re-Watching: Up until this point in season one, the audience had nothing but ill feelings for Sawyer. The only glimpse of decency of him was in the Pilot when he is seen reading the letter. Kate realizes that Sawyer wants people to hate him. This episode is one of the finest in the show. There’s three separate Island stories in this episode. The biggest one is, of course, whether or not Sawyer has the inhalers. The second is Shannon’s asthma and the danger that she’ll have an attack without the inhalers to aid her. The third, and most underrated, is Charlie’s efforts to convince Claire to move into the caves. There is a minor fourth story in which Sayid talks about being hit on the head in the jungle while trying to get a signal with the tranceivers. Locke (the culprit) throws Sawyer under the bus which leads to…well, I’ll get to it. Sawyer also has one hell of a flashback in which he nearly does the same thing to a family that was done to him. This is one of the many first season episodes that I’ll point to when discussing why LOST is the greatest television drama ever created. Strong flashback, strong Island stories, beautiful cinematography, strong acting, excellent pacing, excellent writing, great directing.

To be honest, I’m in awe of season one, especially the first eleven episodes. I think it’s about as close to perfection as a season of television gets. I digress though.

Back to the episode, Sawyer beats up Boone for going through his stash. Jack and Sawyer nearly come to blows before Kate separates them. Jack states that ‘we’re not savages yet’ when asked why he didn’t kill Sawyer. Kate tells Jack that she thinks she’ll be able to talk to Sawyer because Sawyer thinks the two of them have a connection. She does talk to him in which she finds out it’ll take a kiss from her to get the inhalers. She also reads the letter after she questions how bad of a guy Sawyer really is. This question of character leads to the flashback in which we see the events described in the letter. Meanwhile, Jack and Sayid get increasingly angry. Sayid offers to use what he learned in the Republican Guard on Sayid. Jack is at first reluctant but then gives in. Sayid tortures the heck of Sawyer. Sawyer doesn’t talk. Kate reluctantly agrees to kiss Sawyer. They do. And then Sawyer admits that he doesn’t have the inhalers. Sayid comes back, goes crazy, tackles Sawyer, and stabs him in the arm and hits a major artery. Later, when Sawyer comes to after being saved by Jack, Kate is sitting with him and tells him that she knows he wrote the letter and that it happened to him. The end of his flashback is poignant as well. Sawyer doesn’t go through with the deal after seeing the child. Anywho, Sawyer tells Kate that he became the man he was hunting, he became Sawyer at the age of 19 and then gets angry and asks Kate not to feel sorry for him.

I know I pretty much summarized the A plot but it’s worth it. It’s that good. The end of this episode is one of my favorite scenes in the series. It’s the final scene of the episode before the montage begins. The music swells, the ocean is hitting the shoreline, and Sayid is packing some things. Kate wonders what Sayid’s doing. Sayid tells her that he can’t stay at camp, that what he did today, what he almost did he swore to never do again. Kate reminds him that they still don’t know “what’s out there.” Sayid then tells her: “I have worse things to fear than what’s in the jungle.” A line that speaks volumes about the show’s true purpose. I’ll quit rambling about the final scene and instead show it:

As for the rest of the episode, Sun saves the day for Shannon with eucalyptus (that Michael brings to her as he is the only one on the Island who knows she speaks English at this point). I always enjoyed the scene when Sun is aiding Shannon with the eucalyptus, and Jack is surprised at himself for not remembering eucalyptus. And Charlie is able to convince Claire after bonding with her about what they miss from home. She says peanut butter and that leads to a delightful scene.

This is also the last episode with a montage as Hurley’s CD player batteries die.

The great Damon Lindelof wrote this episode alone. He nailed this episode. There’s not a weak spot writing-wise in it. Tucker Gates, a former director for Buffy (Fear Itself) and ANGEL (Hero) directed the episode. Larry Fong did a marvelous job as the DP.  And, as always, Michael Giacchino wrote a beautiful score for this episode.

This is one of my favorite episodes of LOST. You’ve gotta re-watch this one. Link for the episode is at the very top. To end this, here is the LOST: On Location for Confidence Man:

THE ‘LOST’ EPISODE OF THE DAY

www.lostpedia.com

The episode: Fire + Water
Original Airdate: January 25, 2006
Written By: Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz
Directed By: Jack Bender

Content: Charlie comes to the conclusion that Aaron must be baptized and be “saved”, prompting him to recall his past of trying to save his brother. Meanwhile, the first signs of Hurley and Libby’s relationship begin to show.

Why It’s Worth Re-Watching: The source of Charlie’s dreams has never been revealed. These dreams are what lead to Charlie’s temporary fall in season two. On certain LOST message boards, this episode is being perceived differently in light of the finale. Be cautious though. LOST is a story. Not a Calculus III problem. It seems safe to assume that Charlie’s dreams were a result of the none-too-pleasant situation with Claire. She ousted Charlie from contact with her or Aaron after she discovered the Virgin Mary statue. As the flashback reveals, Charlie is a big family man and he struggles to help Liam with his drug addiction. He wants Liam to be there for his wife and newborn baby girl much like, on the Island, he wants to be there for Claire and Aaron. The episode features a lot of religious symbolism (as was custom during this Man of Faith vs. Man of Science season). This episode also connects the dots as far as Liam’s recovery is concerned. We see Liam as a rehabilitated man in ‘The Moth’ and in this episode we see how he began to make that change (selling Charlie’s piano for a plane ticket to his new life).

This episode also features an intentionally-set-fire-to-distract-people scene, so that Charlie can save Aaron. I will note that season five featured a similar scene, in the episode ‘He’s Our You.’ In that episode, a vacant Dharma van crashes into a house and sets fire to the house. This seems to be little Ben’s deed so that he can free Sayid ‘The Other’ and have Sayid take him to The Others camp. Of course, this backfires on Ben and Sayid shoots him. Anywho, the fire in Fire + Water backfires on Charlie (don’t do what Charlie did, kids), he gets the tar beat out of him by Locke.

Locke became Claire’s unofficial protector for a brief period of time. But Claire liked Locke ever since he made her that crib for Aaron.

In the Official Podcast re-hash for the episode, Carlton and Damon wonder whether or not Locke feels for Claire in a more than friendly way or whether he just wants to protect her. They never gave an answer to the question but the series did. Charlie and Claire make up later in the season to put your minds at ease (he even gets a kiss!) and Locke is busy being a key player in the set-up for the final four seasons (more on that some other time).

As for the B story in this episode, Sawyer helps Hurley with Libby. Libby is more mysterious on every re-watch. In this instance, she makes up an anecdote about Hurley stepping on her foot on the airplane. Hurley remembers her from the mental hospital but he doesn’t remember that he remembers and she steers him away with that false anecdote.

Claire does listen to Charlie about baptism. She consults Mr. Eko about it. Mr. Eko tells her the story of John the Baptist baptizing Christ. His explanation is much different than the one Locke gives to Claire earlier. Claire is motivated to also get baptized so that she and Aaron will never be apart.

Overall, it’s a good episode. It’s not the best episode of LOST but it’s not the worst. I had issues with it when it originally aired but then again I had issues with some of season two and how characters were being written and the reruns and other stuff. Anywho, Dom Monoghan and Emilie de Ravin were both great in this. Emilie breaks our hearts with her ‘you’re hurting me, Charlie.’ Oh Emilie.

UPDATE

The entire episode can be seen right here

I’m in a writing kind of mood tonight. Check out a piece I cooked up on (what else?) LOST at wcuquad.com. I think the piece turned out well. I would link it in this very spot but wcuquad.com isn’t working at the moment.

This entry will most involve posting the final LOSTed episode, some archival LOST stuff I wrote in 2007, and that’s about it. A fairly lax entry. Plus, I’m watching Phils and Braves so no real interest in writing a lot. Time for True Blood:

TRUE BLOOD

I didn’t write about last week’s episode of True Blood. Godric emerged as Jesus of the vampire community, Jason became friends with vampires, etc, etc. You know what happened.

On this week’s episode, which ended rougly 90 minutes ago, Eric pulled a Squints from The Sandlot on Sookie, Sookie had quite a dream about Eric because he is now a part of her and with that comes sexual feelings, Jason and Sookie are finally on the same page, Bill punched Eric in the mouth for pulling a Squints on his girl, Luke launched a suicide attack on the vampire community, Godric sacrificed himself for some reason, Eric didn’t want him to, Hoyt and his mother continued to fight, Sam found a clever way out of prison, Maryann continues to be the worst part of season two, Alan Ball continues to avoid character assassination by blacking out the eyes of characters the audience likes, Eggs got his butt kicked while under the control of bulljawn by Lafayette, Lafayette continued to show that no person should ever mess with him or his family, Isabel is surely becoming a favorite of mine, Anna Paquin looked fantastic, Sam visited Andy in a hotel room to presumably begin plotting against Maryann/bulljawn, the parallels between Sookie and Eric to Buffy and Spike makes it feel like Alan Ball/Charlaine Harris is plagiarizing the work of Joss and his writers, Angel will always be cooler than Bill, and that’s about it for the summary/my thoughts for the episode. An enjoyable episode. I’m looking forward to everyone ganging up to take down Maryann. I’m also looking forward to how similar Sookie and Eric are to Buffy and Spike and later writing comments about Alan Ball ripping off Joss Whedon.

LOST archive time!

ARCHIVES

I don’t like informing the reader of what it is being written about LOST wise . I don’t know why that is but that’s the way it is.  You’ll be able to figure it out though. Quotation marks begin said archives.

“To the rankings I shall go!
Whereas last week so no moves from me or steve, this week has some movement. No change in the top fives, but there’s some movement. Tom moved up Steve’s board, which demoted Juliet. The ladies moved around on my board save for Kate. Charlie also moved up a spot.

As far as the episode, I had two Holy Shit! moments. The two being when Mikhail showed up and when the new girl said the plane was found and no one survived the crash. I love this show. And the small Claire scene rocked so much that she jumped two spots on my list. Jin rocks. The scene when he promised to take care of Sun and his alertness to get the phone from Mikhail are two of the lights. Additionally, Jin’s father is great. The LOST writers are very good when they create characters. Jin’s father made an impression on me in season one and did not disappoint tonight. 5/5.

Now, enjoy the rankings. Or don’t. It’s up to you.

CHRIS’ TOP 16

1. Sayid
2. Desmond
3. Kate
4. Sawyer
5. Jack
6. Locke
7. Jin
8. Hurley
9. Ben
10. Claire
11. Sun
12. Charlie
13. Juliet
14. Tom
15. Rousseau
16. Aaron

STEVE’S TOP 16

1. Sayid
2. Locke
3. Sawyer
4. Desmond
5. Kate
6. Jack
7. Jin
8. Ben
9. Hurley
10. Rousseau
11. Claire
12. Sun
13. Tom
14. Juliet
15. Charlie
16. Aaron”

Here ends this week’s edition of Archives. I am sure that was fantastic for all reading.

It’s time to post the final episode of Guy Sahaf’s LOSTed. It ended in 2006. Nothing topped the Everybody Hates Henry episode though. As far as this episode is concerned, the animation for Dr. Chang is fantastic. Walt is also hilarious in this one.  The voice for Ben always cracks me up as well. Enjoy:

Well, that about wraps up this fairly eventful edition of Jacob’s Foot. Expect a LOST episode of the day tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out wcuquad.com for the latest edition of the special summer online version of The Quad. The EIC himself penned a review for District 9 and wrote about how Philadelphia has become a town that embraces second chances for troubled players.

And, check out the other blogs on this very site. Tara wrote about Facebook and its many transformations. And Colin has all-things-movies covered.

And Ryan Howard just hit his second homer of the night (a three run shot). Phils lead 4-1. Good times!

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Box Office Round-up

           Well call me Criswell.

I predict that man will colonize Mars by the year 2002, but it will all be for not as Michael Bay will destroy the entire planet by 2003...

            Looks like I went 3/3 in picks this past week, dragging my overall record up to 5/6.

            I would be perfect too if it wasn’t for those meddling guinea pigs of “G-Force.”

            Oh well, that’s in the past, and I’m not one to hold grudges— except for you Sidney Crosby, always you— so lets try and focus on this week’s chart.

Courtesy of boxofficemojo.com

            B-e-a-utiful! “District 9″ is thus far the best movie of the summer and it deserves to hold that top spot.

            Taking into account the fact that the biggest name involved with the film is producer Peter Jackson, finishing first is darn impressive. Also, the near 90% that it scored on rottentomatoes.com will hopefully translate into some legs for this big movie trapped inside a little movie’s body.

The opposite of this sign was posted outside theaters showing "The Collector," which contributed to its poor box office performance...

            Also, considering it only cost $30 million to make and it looks absolutely gorgeous, one is left wondering just how Michael Bay spent that “Transformers 2″ budget.

            I didn’t realize that shooting an entire movie in slow motion cost that much…hmm. Learn something new everyday.

             Thanks to mostly negative reviews, “G.I. Joe” pretty much rolled over and died this past weekend, losing almost 60% of its audience from last week.

            Once again the ladies made their voices heard, as “Time Traveler’s Wife” and “Julie and Julia” each made decent money, though honestly, ladies, go take a trip out to see “D-9.”

            You won’t regret it.

            Sadly, it doesn’t seem that audiences were that interested in buying what Jeremy Piven was selling in “The Goods,” though I’m not really sure what the expectations for this “R” rated diddy were. Maybe the sixth spot is actually a pleasant surprise.

            Lastly, something called “Ponyo” finished in the nine spot. From what I’m to understand this is an anime version of “Little Mermaid” which means that I won’t be seeing it.

            Not a fan of the anime folks, no matter how good it is. Sorry.

            All that said, congrats to this thing for finishing in the nine spot. I didn’t see a single advertisement for it, but apparently some people out there did and were happy to fork over their hard earned cash on it.

            Alright, that’s about it. Let’s see if my uncanny picking streak continues for another week.

            My prediction: Nope.

I predict that "Inglourious Basterds" will be a rollicking, bloody good time!!

            I tend to lean a bit towards the pessimistic when I’m concerned.

            Vaya con dios.

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Hitting the Silver Screen…

            Looking at the diverse crop of new movies coming out this weekend, I’m pretty certain that there is something there for everyone.

            Like action/ sci-fi?

            Try the Peter Jackson produced, aliens-in-South African-flick, “District 9.”

            Or do you prefer a bit of romance with your Sci-Fi (or SYFY if you suck)?

            Don’t worry; Eric Bana’s got you covered in “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” I think the title of this one pretty much says it all.

            What if you hate Sci-Fi, but enjoy laughter?

            Jeremy Piven of “Entourage”-fame has your back with his used car dealer comedy “The Goods.”

            Like to laugh but can’t get into the “R”-rated “The Goods?” Do you also happen to love, love, love the Disney Channel? Boom baby! Check out “Bandslam” about a bunch of teens forming a rock band with that chick from the Disney Channel who can’t keep her clothes on.

            No not Lohan, the other one. The one with the dark hair… Vanessa something… Hudgens! That’s the one.

            If you’re anything like me you fall into more then one of those categories. Actually, if you’re anything like me you will be pulling off a quadruple feature today. Oh heck yeah!!

            Well, probably not really but, alas, a guy can dream.

            Ok, now just hold on one second while I put on my big, fancy fortune teller hat.

Predicted Top 3

            Alright. The hat is on. Let’s get to it.

            Last week I went a respectable 2/3 so let’s see if I can build on that success this week. The odds are not in my favor. Usually, I have a bit of beginners luck with these types of things and then the wheels just fall completely, unmercifully off.

            In a month or so I’ll be predicting that “The Collector 2″ will make more money than Chris Nolan’s latest Batman sequel. You just watch. In any case, here’s the list that I can only assume will be utterly incorrect.

            1.) “District 9″

            2.) “G.I. Joe”

            3.) “The Time Traveler’s Wife”

            Well, there you go. Please feel free to share your own predictions in the comment section below. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have movie tickets to purchase. MANY movie tickets.

            As always, vaya con dios.