When you look at the top grossing films of 2011, you find one thing. Most of them are from movie franchises. Thirteen of the top twenty grossing movies are sequels or prequels. (Box Office MoJo 2011 Domestic Grosses)
Who's to blame for the lack of originality at the top? Is Hollywood out of ideas? Look, when it comes to who Hollywood can count on to go to the movies, they know it's one demographic. Teenagers. (NPR story on who goes to movies.) That's why you have the top eight films out of the top ten to be science fiction-fantasy genre. But is it bad? Not if you like science fiction or fantasy. The bad part is that more original science fiction should be made. Of course, there is always a concern that Hollywood will skip producing movies like "The King's Speech." (2010) Let's hope that doesn't happen. Last thing I would like to see is a Twilight movie nominated for Best Picture.
One last note on my favorite franchise, Star Trek. I know that Simon Pegg who plays Scotty in the new Star Trek reboot, got in a wee bit of trouble when he labeled Star Trek as a result of "execs favoring familiarity." Of course Star Trek does have brand name recognition. But that doesn't mean you can't have quality with a franchise. Star Trek is intelligent science fiction. It's creator Gene Roddenberry's vision. His vision was to make a series that was an entertainment and smart. It was to be serious with big ideas.
THE TOP TEN GROSSING FILMS FOR 2011 Figures rounded.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 381.0 million.
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon. 352.4 million.
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 279.8 million
4. The Hangover Part II 254.5 Million
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. 241.1 million.
6. Fast Five. 209.8 Million.
7. Cars 2. 191.5 Million
8. Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol. 189.5.
9. Thor. 181 Million.
10. Rise of the Planet of Apes. 176.8 Million.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Bill Maher unbaptizes Mitt Romney's father-in-law
I like Bill Maher but I disagree with his views on religion. You see I'm a Christian but still I can laugh at Bill Maher's jokes about religion. Yesterday on Real Time with Bill Maher, he unbaptized Mitt Romney's father-in-law who was a critic of religion. You see the Mormons believe they can baptize the dead. So Maher decided to unbaptize him.
Republicans have new words for the poor
Thursday night, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show did a segment with John Hodgman. The segment features video of Gov. Mitch Daniels (Indiana) using the term "haves and soon to haves." Then there's Republican wet dream Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) who says that poor people drive by rich houses and say to themselves, "Congratulations... guees what we will be joining you soon." Yeah, Sen. Rubio, I'm sure poor people say that to themselves all the time. This is similar to the Republicans calling rich people "job creators." Anyway, here's the humorous piece.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Colbert injects Trekkers and Khan into his Gingrich piece
Stephen Colbert likes to inject Star Trek into many of his comedy pieces. Yesterday when discussing Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, he injected Star Trek by morphing the Newster into a Vulcan saluting Trekker and included a clip from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Check it out.
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Mitt Romney is out of touch
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made the comment to CNN that "I'm not concerned about the very poor." Soledad O'Brien asked Romney about the perception that he doesn't understand average Americans. Here's Romney's full quote.
"This is a time people are worried. They're frightened. They want someone who they have confidence in. And I believe I will be able to instill that confidence in the American people. And, by the way, I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it."
Huh? He goes from reassuring to taking a potshot at poor people. But think about the other things he's said. Tried to bet former candidate Rick Perry, ten thousand dollars. Almost all Americans don't have that kind of money. Described concerns about the gap between wealthy and the middle income people as politics of "envy" to his "I like to fire people" even though he was referring to health insurance companies. These comments indicate he doesn't understand working people. MSNBC article.
Here's Ed Schultz's report.
"This is a time people are worried. They're frightened. They want someone who they have confidence in. And I believe I will be able to instill that confidence in the American people. And, by the way, I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it."
Huh? He goes from reassuring to taking a potshot at poor people. But think about the other things he's said. Tried to bet former candidate Rick Perry, ten thousand dollars. Almost all Americans don't have that kind of money. Described concerns about the gap between wealthy and the middle income people as politics of "envy" to his "I like to fire people" even though he was referring to health insurance companies. These comments indicate he doesn't understand working people. MSNBC article.
Here's Ed Schultz's report.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Jon Stewart on Mitt Romney's company, Bain Capital
Wondered what Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's former company Bain Capital did? Here's Jon Stewart of the Daily Show's humorous take. Oh, just in case you want to know, he uses the term leveraged buyout. (LBO) Here's the wikipedia article for LBOs.
The Politicians Pander
You know it's an election year when you see the politicians pander. From Newt Gignrich's attempt to speak Spanish to Mitt Romney's saccharin, stiff version of America to President Obama promising a woman that he would look at her husband's resume, it's ass kissing time. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show has a funny take.
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