Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
U.S Box Office August 21-23, 2009
| # | Title | Aug 21 - 23 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | ||
| 1 | Inglourious Basterds | $ 38,054,676 | 3,165 | 1 | $ 12,024 | $ 38,070,437 | |||
| 2 | District 9 | 18,213,546 | -51.2 | 3,050 | 2 | 5,972 | 72,804,317 | ||
| 3 | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | 12,204,927 | -45.3 | 3,953 | 3 | 3,088 | 120,235,874 | ||
| 4 | The Time Traveler's Wife | 9,742,427 | -47.7 | 2,988 | 2 | 3,261 | 37,165,676 | ||
| 5 | Julie & Julia | 8,800,674 | -27.0 | 2,463 | 3 | 3,573 | 59,088,965 | ||
| 6 | Shorts | 6,410,339 | 3,105 | 1 | 2,065 | 6,410,339 | |||
| 7 | G-Force | 4,114,661 | -40.5 | 2,561 | 5 | 1,607 | 107,224,616 | ||
| 8 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 3,478,149 | -32.3 | 1,936 | 6 | 1,797 | 290,238,524 | ||
| 9 | The Ugly Truth | 2,774,174 | -37.6 | 1,971 | 5 | 1,407 | 82,811,624 | ||
| 10 | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard | 2,710,194 | -52.0 | 1,849 | 2 | 1,466 | 11,247,625 |
Source: Box Office Guru Read more!
Monday, August 24, 2009
'Dollhouse' Season 1 Favorite Episodes
*Possible Spoilers*
Original Pilot "Echo" (Written, and directed by Joss Whedon)
Agent Ballard gets new wind in his investigation of the Dollhouse when he receives a photo of Echo. DeWitt and the handlers become nervous when the Actives begin to exhibit signs of self-awareness.
Episode 6 "Man on the Street" (Directed by David Straiton , Written by Joss Whedon)
One of Echo's engagements is disrupted by Agent Ballard. Ballard's interrogation of the client (guest star Patton Oswalt) first makes Paul aware that his interest in disrupting the Dollhouse is becoming obsessive. Paul defies this by beginning a relationship with Mellie, but is further shaken when Echo is sent to assassinate him—only to go catatonic and recite a message from a spy inside the Dollhouse. Meanwhile, Sierra begins to show signs of trauma, and Victor is implicated as her assailant. However, Boyd stages a sting operation and discovers that Sierra's handler, Hearn, has been raping her. DeWitt sends Hearn to kill Mellie, only to reveal that she is a "sleeper Active" by activating her latent combat training, which she uses to eliminate Hearn with ease. Finally, acts are bookended by clips of a TV reporter preparing an exposé on the Dollhouse.
Episode 8 "Needs" (Directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Written by Tracy Bellomo)
Echo, Sierra, Victor and November awake with most of their original personalities intact, and Echo attempts to escape from the Dollhouse with her fellow Actives, reclaiming bits and pieces of their past as they do so. Sierra discovers that she was forced to become a Doll after turning down sexual advances from a well-connected man; Victor is finally able to act on his attraction to her; November grieves over her dead infant daughter, Katie; and Echo, after guaranteeing the other three have escaped, re-enters to the Dollhouse and forces DeWitt, at gunpoint, to release all remaining Actives. Thereafter all four "escapees" fall asleep due to subliminal programming; the entire process is revealed to have been masterminded by DeWitt and Dr. Saunders, allowing their Actives to achieve closure on their personal issues before putting them back to work.
Episode 11 "Briar Rose" (Directed by Dwight Little, Written by Jane Espenson)
Echo helps a young girl deal with her traumatic past, using the fairy tale of Briar Rose as a vehicle; a corpse apparently slain by Alpha turns up in Tucson, Arizona, with Sierra imprinted as an FBI forensics expert to investigate; and a thumb drive arrives for Dominic, who is imprinted onto Victor's body for questioning. Ballard's investigation leads him to the Dollhouse's agoraphobic, pothead architect, Stephen Kepler (guest star Alan Tudyk), and with his forced assistance manages to sneak into the Dollhouse. Though Ballard finds Caroline, Boyd manages to detain him; he takes Ballard to DeWitt for questioning, where they learn from Sierra that the Tucson corpse is that of the real Stephen Kepler. Ballard's helper is actually Alpha, who reveals himself by attacking Victor and Dr. Saunders. Alpha imprints Echo with a memory that makes her recognize him; with Sleeping Beauty now awakened, the lovers escape the Dollhouse together.
Episode 13 "Epitaph One" (Directed by David Solomon, Written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon (teleplay), Joss Whedon (story))
The year is 2019. A group of "actuals" (non-imprinted humans) are attempting to get underground to avoid technology and "butchers." The Rossum Corporation has let imprinting technology slip from their hands and China has created a way to spread the imprint through phone lines and also blanketing areas with a wave, and as a result the humans of the world have been imprinted to kill those who have not been. The group discovers the Dollhouse and the chair. Through a series of memories left on a tablet, they discover how the world came to be as it is.
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Sunday, August 23, 2009
'Avatar' footage impressions
Avatar is a highly anticipated film.The reasons are obvious: it's the first J.Cameron film in more than a decade, the first since 'Titanic', it's a film, with brand-new technology, that promises to change the way we view cinema.Of course, one of the key factors to the success of 'Avatar' is its promotion.In an interesting move, a global event was organised, to promote the film, months before its release.
When i saw the first trailer, i was kind of underwhelmed, but i liked what i saw.Last Friday, it was 'Avatar' day.Almost 20 minutes of footage were shown in 3D, in cinemas around the world.I was one of the people, who saw the footage (which consists of 4 scenes, with a brief introduction by J.Cameron, and no major spoilers).I was certainly impressed.It seems that 3D is used to add depth to the image, and not as a simple gimmick.The film uses brand new technology internally developed in the director's studio, and the results are evident.You may not realise it, but most of the footage is computer-generated.The landscapes seem real, and you could say the same for the creatures and the Na' avi/Avatars.Pandora is a living, breathing world, and there were some really impressive shots.The purpose of the preview is to introduce us to the film, and to some of the characters, and this purpose is achieved.
It's going to be a long wait until December...
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Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
U.S Box Office August 14-16, 2009
| # | Title | Aug 14 - 16 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | ||
| 1 | District 9 | $ 37,354,308 | 3,049 | 1 | $ 12,251 | $ 37,354,308 | |||
| 2 | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | 22,324,341 | -59.2 | 4,007 | 2 | 5,571 | 98,577,529 | ||
| 3 | The Time Traveler's Wife | 18,623,171 | 2,988 | 1 | 6,233 | 18,623,171 | |||
| 4 | Julie & Julia | 12,055,918 | -39.8 | 2,354 | 2 | 5,121 | 43,340,386 | ||
| 5 | G-Force | 6,915,642 | -29.9 | 3,065 | 4 | 2,256 | 99,056,616 | ||
| 6 | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard | 5,642,137 | 1,838 | 1 | 3,070 | 5,642,137 | |||
| 7 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 5,141,072 | -42.4 | 2,771 | 5 | 1,855 | 283,879,025 | ||
| 8 | The Ugly Truth | 4,448,232 | -34.1 | 2,733 | 4 | 1,628 | 77,450,118 | ||
| 9 | Ponyo | 3,585,852 | 927 | 1 | 3,868 | 3,585,852 | |||
| 10 | Funny People | 3,010,755 | -62.3 | 2,584 | 3 | 1,165 | 47,910,620 |
Source:Box Office Guru Read more!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Trailers: Legion, The Fourth Kind, Imaginarium of Dr.Parnassus
Legion
The Fourth Kind
Imaginarium of Dr.Parnassus
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'Vampire Chronicles' Reboot?
With two film adaptations already released (the most successful of which was 'Interview With A Vampire.' The other was 'Queen of the Damned.'), the film series based on Anne Rice's novels may be rebooted.According to Bloody Disgusting Universal is looking to cash in on the current vampire frenzy, by rebooting 'Vampire Chronicles.'The site also reports that Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to play Lestat (previously played by Tom Cruise, and Stuart Townsend). Read more!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
U.S Box Office July 31-August 2, 2009
| # | Title | Jul 31 - Aug 2 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | ||
| 1 | Funny People | $ 22,657,780 | 3,007 | 1 | $ 7,535 | $ 22,657,780 | |||
| 2 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 17,909,385 | -39.2 | 4,393 | 3 | 4,077 | 255,672,245 | ||
| 3 | G-Force | 17,515,489 | -44.8 | 3,697 | 2 | 4,738 | 66,918,912 | ||
| 4 | The Ugly Truth | 13,187,433 | -52.2 | 2,882 | 2 | 4,576 | 54,668,841 | ||
| 5 | Aliens in the Attic | 8,008,423 | 3,106 | 1 | 2,578 | 8,008,423 | |||
| 6 | Orphan | 7,525,419 | -41.5 | 2,750 | 2 | 2,737 | 27,066,812 | ||
| 7 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | 5,526,015 | -34.3 | 2,757 | 5 | 2,004 | 182,068,804 | ||
| 8 | The Hangover | 5,194,475 | -19.6 | 2,071 | 9 | 2,508 | 255,890,892 | ||
| 9 | The Proposal | 4,931,064 | -22.7 | 2,435 | 7 | 2,025 | 148,964,741 | ||
| 10 | Transformers: ROTF | 4,688,329 | -42.3 | 2,626 | 6 | 1,785 | 388,189,320 |
Source: Box Office Guru Read more!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
"No matter how close two people are, an infinite distance separates them"
"No matter how close each of us becomes to another, there remains a final, unbridgeable gap; each of us enters existence alone and must depart from it alone. The existential conflict is thus the tension between our awareness of our absolute isolation and our wish for contact, for protection, our wish to be part of a larger whole" (Irvin Yalom, Existential Psychology (1980) p. 9). Read more!
