Im off too O12 at 9:45 tonight after some Thai dinner. Will report back later...

I'll be leaving in a lil' while for the 10:10 show of Blade: Trinity. I'll report when I get back.

Yep, Ocean's Twelve has a lot of sold out shows everywhere. It'll be very hard-pressed to make under $35M, I think.

I had a double header today

Blade Trinity
12:40
About 20% full

Somehow they managed to make a vampire film without a single interesting vampire. The upside, a vampire Pomeranian (beat that Paul Thomas and your shitty zombie dobies).

Dracula, now a metrosexual, works at Ambercrombie and Fitch. Parker Posey must have some major money troubles to have signed onto this film and Wesley, oh sweet karate lovin' Wesley, seems to be channeling Redd Foxx for no apparent reason. Let's not forget Jessica, nice ipod.

The hours approaching, just give it your best
You got to reach your prime.
That’s when you need to put yourself to the test,
And show us a passage of time,
Were going to need a montage (montage)
Oh it takes a montage (montage)

Sure a lot of things happing at once,
With mind, everyone what’s going on (what’s going on?)
And when every shot you show a little improvement
Just Show it or it will take to long
that’s called a montage (montage)
Oh we want montage (montage)

And anything that we want to know, from just a beginner to a pro,
You want a montage (montage)
even rocky had a montage (montage)

(Montage…montage)

Anything that we want to know, from just a beginner to a pro,
You need a montage (montage)
Oh it takes a montage (montage)

Always fade out in a montage,
If you fade out, it seem like more time
Has passed in a montage,
Montage

I'm back. As I'm sure you've already heard a million times over, Ryan Reynolds is very funny. But he seems to be in the wrong film.

The directing and editing for Blade 3 is horrible. Here's a fun way to play the at home version of "Let's Make Blade 3". Spin around really quick, jam a knife up your ass, and you're now 10% closer to duplicating the shitty snorefest that is Blade 3.

D+

Ocean's Twelve
3:00 PM
About 60% Full
Trailers:
Batman Begins (some talking)
Wedding Crashers (laughter)

This is an art film. Not that there's anything wrong with it. But judging from the conversations in the audience following this film, some people will be lost and bored amid all the freeze frames, flash backs, the Ciao Bellas, the mod look, it's almost too cool for school.

The script is fast paced yet seems to collapse under the immense pressure during the final 20 minutes or so. But you can't beat the look and rhythm of the film. It doesn't feel so much like a sequel to Ocean's Eleven but some sort of weird homage to nothing in particular.

The cast is great, including the two newbies Catherine Zeta-Jones Douglas Cox Arquette and the alien hybrid, Vincent Cassel. I do wish poor brilliant Eddie Izzard had a larger role but you get the feeling Steven and co. were strained enough just to fit everyone in. There's a very clever "what" moment to the film that works, kind of.

Still, I love the look and feel of Ocean's Twelve.

B+

Tomorrow, I see Spanglish on my quest to watch 100 films in 2004.

Ocean's 12 Crowd Report.

Better late then never, but a Team America Crowd Report.

Here is my theater Report (matinee).

For Bandido, the 2:10 show had no people, and the 5:00 managed 1 person.

Anyway, here are the real deals.

Blade: Trinity
12:30 (600 seater) - 3% full.
1:20 (250 seater) - 6% full.
2:35 (400 seater) - 6% full.
3:20 (600 seater) - 4% full.
4:20 (250 seater) - 17% full.
5:30 (400 seater) - 16% full.
6:20 (600 seater) - 14% full.
Yikes, this is nowhere near Blockbuster status. Even the 7:20 show sold only 50 tickets (as of 7:15). This will struggle to get 5 million today.

Oceans Twelve
12:10 (300 seater) - 21% full.
12:50 (300 seater) - 19% full.
1:30 (600 seater) - 6% full.
2:30 (400 seater) - 16% full.
3:10 (300 seater) - 17% full.
3:50 (300 seater) - 18% full.
4:30 (600 seater) - 15% full.
5:35 (400 seater) - 19% full.
6:15 (300 seater) - 46% full.
6:55 (300 seater) - 76% full.
Starting to play like a player after 7. The 7:35 and 8:40 shows sold over 200 tickets so far. It looks like we will run in the same vincity as National Treasure.

Overall, being a matinee, it was hard to tell what kind of a weekend this will be. Though is wasn't that big.

Double header, too

Finding Neverland
7:25 PM
About 35 percent full in a 250 seater.

The film was wonderful. I loved the acting, the story, everything. I laughed, I cried, and I had an excellent experience at the cinema. Overall, A-. One of the year's best

Ocean's 12
9:45 PM
95 percent full in a 350 seater. The film was on a total of five similar screens, the biggest offered at this venue.

While the film had an amazing sense of style, the direction was beautiful, and, well, everything was damn sexy, there were far too many problems with the film. The pacing was slow at time, and it was a bit too long. A few too many twists that weren't exucted properly in my opinion. Too little action (I hate to be one to complain, but, seriously. It really did NOT have ANY action by comparison to the first). It was a decent film, and the soundtrack was kick ass. but, overall, with the slow pacing, lack of action or even suspense most of the way through, I felt let down. Its a shame, too, because O12 was far better made than the first one. It just couldn't keep me entertained the whole way through.

A beautiful mess. B-

Double header, too

Finding Neverland
7:25 PM
About 35 percent full in a 250 seater.

The film was wonderful. I loved the acting, the story, everything. I laughed, I cried, and I had an excellent experience at the cinema. Overall, A-. One of the year's best

Ocean's 12
9:45 PM
95 percent full in a 350 seater. The film was on a total of five similar screens, the biggest offered at this venue.

While the film had an amazing sense of style, the direction was beautiful, and, well, everything was damn sexy, there were far too many problems with the film. The pacing was slow at time, and it was a bit too long. A few too many twists that weren't exucted properly in my opinion. Too little action (I hate to be one to complain, but, seriously. It really did NOT have ANY action by comparison to the first). It was a decent film, and the soundtrack was kick ass. but, overall, with the slow pacing, lack of action or even suspense most of the way through, I felt let down. Its a shame, too, because O12 was far better made than the first one. It just couldn't keep me entertained the whole way through.

A beautiful mess. B-

Blade: Trinity

AMC Marple 10
10:10pm, 350 Seater, 90% Full

Trailers
The Wedding Crashers (looks funny, huge laughs)
Constantine (looks awesome, whispering)
Elektra (looks cool, good reaction)
White Noise (looks interesting, no reaction)
The New World (not interested, talking)
Dark Water (looks great, nice reaction)

Movie
I'll save you all the trouble. I'm giving this an A+. Someone will come out and say, "Zingaling, you have the worst taste in movies!". I shall respond, "Thanks for the compliment (insert name here)!". People roll their eyes at the computer screen after looking again at this A+. Then, after some time, someone in an arguement with me will come out and say, "but this guy gave Blade: Trinity an A+, that's horrible taste." I'll argue back, and so on and so on. It's an A+. It's my #1 movie this year. Didn't think that would happen, for I thought nothing would top Saw for the year. Blade did it. Blade was just that wildly entertaining, action-packed thrill ride I've been waiting for all year. Not that there weren't others like it (Resident Evil, Spidey, I, Robot), but this movie is thee definition of "action-packed". Ryan Reynolds gave the movie the humorous side of the movie, and he was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Yada yada yada. I'll explain more in detail when I get around to writing a review. My Grade: A+

Zingaling, you have horrible tastes in movies


No, actually, I am happy for you. I am glad it was what you wanted. Thats what its all about. Getting what you want.

Thanks for the compliment (insert name here)! ... I mean Zach!

:wink:

Yeah, it's more than I expected, and I'm happy. :-)

bastard forgot my name...... :wink:

Blade: Trinity
10:15 PM
200 seater, about 50% full = horrible
I checked O12, and it was probably selling 6 times better then Blade (4 screens to Blade's 2; all 4 were much larger; and they were much more packed). O12 was doing well, but not as well as I, Robot, Bourne, The Incredibles, or National Treasure.

Trailers:
Coach Carter - No reaction

Elektra - Looks just as amazing the third time. No reaction.

White Noise - No reaction

xXx: State of the Union - The plot seems absurd, but I do have to say it is a well cut trailer. Sony does always do a good job marketing action movies. The reaction: laughs, yeah laughs afterwards.

Weddingcrashers - One of the best audience reactions I can remember for a comedy trailer in a long time. The laughs were not the loudest I've ever heard, but it's the first time I can remember them lasting into the next trailer.

The New World - This movie looks amazing visually. I want to see it now. there was some talking about it afterwards.

The movie - A disappointment. There were a few good moments, but generally I found myself bored with action scenes that were mostly generic. There was some good eye candy, but not nearly enough. I suppose that one disadvantage of having such a great quantity of action is that the quality is bound to wear thin in many parts. Blade was the only interesting character in this movie, and even he was not as compelling as in the first two. Blade's new sidekicks served no purpose. Loyal couldn't have said it better: "Ryan Reynolds is very funny. But he seems to be in the wrong film." The directing, editing and the production in general were poorly done at times (as I said before there were some good moments). There were a number of times that I seriously could not believe that this was a film from a hollywood studio that had tens of millions spent on it. the whole endeavor generally came across as very amateurish.

Throughout the movie I was trying to like it, but it just could not happen.

Ocean's Twelve
10:15 Showing

Trailers:
Constantine (looks okay; no reaction)

The sequel was a minor disappoinment. The movie though wasn't bad it just didn't meet up to the first movie which is in my Top Ten All Time List. This one will definitly not make that list.

GRADE: B+

Ocean's Twelve
2:00 PM show, 200-seater, sold out.

Trailers
Constantine (blah; no reaction)
Spanglish (a few laughs)
Meet the Fockers (a lot of laughs)
The Pacifier (more laughs)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (talking)
Be Cool (some talking)
Batman Begins (*a lot* of excited whispers)

Movie
Ocean's Twelve is breezy fun. There is not really any other way to describe it. It's not quite as impressive as Ocean's Eleven, but it is a very entertaining and fun film to watch. George Clooney's part almost seems to be slightly downsized in this one, as Brad Pitt's character is given more attention. Not that that's a bad thing, as he has formidable chemistry with Catherine Zeta-Jones, as Interpol agent Isabel Lahiri. Zeta-Jones positively smolders in this role, needless to say. Matt Damon is even funnier than he was the last film. Andy Garcia is hardly in the film, which also holds true for Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac (especially) and the rest of the gang, who are not given that much to do. Julia Roberts repeats what happened last time by staying absent for most of the first half of the movie, but when she comes back, the film (I'm not spoiling anything) comes forth with an ingenious plot device that is insanely clever, and completely unlike anything I've ever seen in a movie. It was a brave move to pull it off, and I liked the fact Roberts was game. Steven Soderbergh's direction is very stylistic, just like it was in the first film. A major complaint that could be seen with this film is that there are gaping plot holes everywhere. It doesn't really matter much, though, when you're having as much fun as I did when I watched this. B+

My second double header of the weekend.

Spanglish
7 PM
90% Full

Trailers:

Bewitched - Silent...and deadly
Hitch - Too many laughs
The Pacifier - Stupid people with their stupid laughter
Monster in Law - Will be a big hit
Phantom of the Opera - Oh, great big juicy trailer. Looked great, some chatter.

The Movie -

As Good As It Gets is probably my favorite romantic comedy of all time, one of my overall favorite films of the 90's, and my favorite Jack Nicholson film. So yeah, I hold James L. Brooks and his ability to craft a smart film in high regard.

Spanglish doesn't disappoint. It's warm, heartbreaking at times, funny, but above all else, a great little film. The acting is incredible, especially the two young female leads, Sarah Steele and Shelbie Bruce. They carry the film and I think the story would of been better served to focus more on their journey then the failing marriage of Tea Leoni and Adam Sandler's characters. Both Leoni and Sandler are good in this film, Tea over the top as a women suffering from serious mental issues, and Sandler manages to hit all the right notes as he channels Barry Egan from his last dramatic film Punch Drunk Love. Paz Vega, a relative newcomer to American audiences shines and steals every scene she's in. Cloris Leachman rounds out the cast, playing an alcoholic former celebrity who happens to be partly responsible for at least some of Leoni's issues. Had Cloris had that one great scene Oscar voters love, I would expect her to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Spanglish isn't a perfect film. In runs about 30 minutes long, a good fat trimming would have done wonders. The story does meander because of this, which really keeps it from being a perfect film. The ending is a somewhat somber one which throws all conventional wisdom for romantic comedies out the window and really, after witnessing some of the antics of Leoni's character, the ending seems even more odd, as if odd for odd sake.

I highly recommend this film.

A-

Christmas With the Kranks -
9:55 PM
About 80% Full

There are ok films. Then there are bad films. And finally there's horrible films. Somewhere below horrible, the afterbirth of a truly awful film, lies Christmas With the Kranks.

I would be shocked if Kranks didn't top the worst of the 2000's list. Yes, it's that bad. A comedy that isn't funny is just about the worst thing imaginable. Watching this film was like having someone shit on your chest for 99 minutes.

F-

Okay, do tell...is it the worst of the year?

I can't remember a worst film.

Aww, it wasn't perfect, and, yes, you have to love Tim Allen to tolerate it.... but