So Far This Year, vol.2

[cine]

1. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
2. Fahrenheit 9/11
3. Baadassssss
4. The Passion Of The Christ
5. The Saddest Music in the World
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Kill Bill Volume 2
8. Spider-Man 2
9. The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

[pete]

man, this summer just has been good so far, so Imma gonna add another one.

before sunset.  go see it you guys.

[xerxes]

man, this summer just has been good so far, so Imma gonna add another one.

before sunset.  go see it you guys.

i just saw it last night, it is quite wonderful

[MacGuffin]

Hollywood Has Record Summer, Nearly $4B

Summer at movie theaters was a true underdog story for Michael Moore and a gang of dodgeball dimwits, who helped propel Hollywood to another season of record revenue, though the number of moviegoers fell slightly.

Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" became the first documentary to top the $100 million mark, while Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn's goofy comedy "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" was another surprise $100 million hit.

Teamed with such familiar favorites as "Shrek," "Spider-Man" and "Harry Potter" sequels, "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Dodgeball" helped lift the industry to an all-time summer haul of just under $4 billion from the first weekend in May through Labor Day, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

That's up 3 percent from the previous record of $3.9 billion set last summer.

But like summer 2003, higher admission prices meant fewer tickets were sold. Exhibitor Relations estimates moviegoers bought 637.8 million tickets domestically this past summer, down 0.76 percent from 2003.

"What this summer on balance taught us, I think, is people were reasonably satisfied," said Marc Shmuger, vice chairman at Universal Pictures, which had hits with "The Bourne Supremacy" and "Van Helsing" and a flop with "Thunderbirds." "I don't think they were extraordinarily satisfied, but you know what? At the end of the day, reasonably satisfied's not a terrible report card."

The sequels "Shrek 2," "Spider-Man 2" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" took the win, place and show spots at the box office, with other follow-ups such as "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" performing well.

"Shrek 2," reuniting the voice cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, raced past 2003's smash "Finding Nemo" to become the top-grossing animated movie ever at $436.7 million.

The slightly naughty irreverence of "Shrek," along with computer-generated imagery that appeals to tech-savvy audiences, helped broaden the movie's appeal beyond the family audience.

"I think one of the reasons is people have to come to accept CGI as a way of making a movie that's compelling to all ages," as opposed to hand-drawn animation, which can carry the stigma that it's mainly for kids and their moms, said Jim Tharp, head of distribution for DreamWorks, the studio behind the "Shrek" movies. "CGI plays to teens, to dads, to the whole 3-to-93 age group."

"Spider-Man 2," a reunion for director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco, came up short of the $404 million gross of the 2002 original, but the sequel still made a fortune at $370 million. It should finish a bit ahead of "The Passion of the Christ" as the year's No. 2 hit so far.

Likewise, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" fell shy of the box-office spells weaved by its two predecessors, but the movie's $247 million gross bodes well for the franchise, whose next installment is due out next year.

Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" was unlike any other summer hit. Its $118 million domestic total was six times that of the previous record holder among feature-length documentaries, Moore's "Bowling for Columbine."

An alternately humorous and horrifying diatribe against President Bush and his actions regarding the Sept. 11 attacks, "Fahrenheit 9/11" blends Moore's cheeky wit with sobering images from Iraq and interviews with those affected by the war.

"We said from the get-go `Fahrenheit' was not just informative but also broadly entertaining," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films, one of the film's distributors. "We've always felt it was the combination of those two things that made it connect with audiences across the country."

Summer regular Will Smith scored another success with "I, Robot," which joined Dennis Quaid's "The Day After Tomorrow," Brad Pitt's "Troy" and M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" to round out the season's $100 million hit parade.

Other solid earners included Tom Cruise's "Collateral," Will Ferrell's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and the teary sleeper "The Notebook."

Summer duds included Halle Berry's "Catwoman," Jackie Chan's "Around the World in 80 Days," Kate Hudson's "Raising Helen" and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's "New York Minute."

Overall, the quality of movies this season proved better than summer 2003, when many moviegoers were disenchanted by a barrage of lackluster sequels, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.

"This was a pretty good summer. You had a solid mix of blockbusters, some great documentaries and indie films," Dergarabedian said. "This is what audiences want. They're looking for a choice. If you couldn't find a movie you wanted to see this summer, then you should stop going to see movies."

[pete]

yeah this really was a good summer, and there wasn't that much hype either, or I just somehow missed it.  but I remember when shrek came out it was a huge marketing thing, but the sequel was just kinda there, quietly breaking boxoffice records, not that the records mean anything anymore (the ticket prizes increase almost yearly now).  domestically there were good adult and kids movies from both indie and hollywood sides.  From Napoleon Dynamite & Harry Potter to Any SummerIndie Movie & Collateral.

Lemme re-update my so far this year list:

1. last life in the universe
2. five obstructions
3. I'm not scared
4. control room
5. before sunset
6. twilight samurai

last life un the universe is like my new ping pong.  the best movie that again no one will ever get to see.

[Ghostboy]

I've seen parts of it; I need to sit down and watch the whole thing one of these days. I don't know why I haven't yet.

Anyway, I'll update my list too:

1. Before Sunset
2. Spring, Summer Fall Winter...and Spring
3. Eternal Sunshine
4. The Brown Bunny
5. The Dreamers
6. Spiderman 2
7. Some Kind Of Monster
8. Cigarettes & Coffee

I'll leave it at that for now...

[cine]

Mine will likely change soon since I'll be seeing Maria Full of Grace, Before Sunset, We Don't Live Here Anymore, and Sean Penn's new film The Assassination of Richard Nixon.

[Finn]

So far for me...

1. Dogville
2. Kill Bill : Volume 2
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. The Village
5. The Dreamers
6. The Passion of the Christ
7. Before Sunset
8. The Manchurian Candidate
9. Collateral
10. Fahrenheit 9/11

I'm hoping The Brown Bunny, Young Adam, The Door in the Floor and Coffee and Cigarettes will make my top ten list once I see them.

[meatball]

No particular order.

Eternal Sunshine
Kill Bill 2
The Passion
Fahrenheit 9/11
Triplets of Belleville
Bourne Supremacy
Man on Fire

[The Silver Bullet]

The best thus far:

Before Sunset (d. Richard Linklater)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (d. Michel Gondry)
The Ister (d. David Barison & Daniel Ross)
Samaria (d. Kim Ki-duk)

[cine]

Samaria (d. Kim Ki-duk)

I'm seeing Ki-duk's new film "3 Iron" in a couple days.  8)

[Henry Hill]

so far...

Kill Bill: Volume 2
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Collateral
Garden State
The Village
Spiderman 2

....but the year is just getting started.

[The Silver Bullet]

I'm seeing Ki-duk's new film "3 Iron" in a couple days.  8)

Where? Toronto?

[El Duderino]

so far....

1. Eternal Sunshine
2. Kill Bill vol. 2
3. Spider-Man 2
4. Garden State
5. Collateral
6. Harry Potter 3
7. Maria Full of Grace
8. Fahrenheit 9/11
9. Coffee and Cigarettes
10. Napoleon Dynamite

my list is surely to change with The Life Aquatic, I Heart Huckabee's, Closer, and Sideways

[cine]

I'm seeing Ki-duk's new film "3 Iron" in a couple days.  8)

Where? Toronto?

You know it.  8)