Entertainment

Weekend Box Office: Oz Uses No Magic to Land at Number 1

by Myke Havoc | Mar 11, 2013 | 1 comment

‘Oz: The Great and Powerful‘ exploded at the box office this week, debuting at #1, raking in $80 million. ‘Jack the Giant Slayer‘ gets bumped to 2^nd place, only managing another $10 million, for a two-week total of $44 million. Against the year delay and nearly $200 million budget, I can only imagine that Warner Bros is depending on foreign territories to at least make its money back. ‘Identity Thief‘ naturally moves to 3^rd, adding $6 million for a total of $117 million against a mere budget of $35 million.

Sam Mendes Wont Return for ‘Bond 24’

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 6, 2013 | 4 comments

The James Bond franchise has done well for Sony Pictures. With three films under the studios belt to date, staring Daniel Craig, each picture has gone on to be the highest grossing film of the series at the time. A first for the Bond franchise, Skyfall also crossed the covenant billion dollar mark, becoming the 7th highest grossing movie of all time. Sam Mendes, the films director is widely credited as a major part of the films success and soon after the films theatrical run, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were eager to lock him in for Bond 24. While not known as a sequel man, Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) seemed interested in return to the spy world and entertained the idea of return with Daniel Craig and Co. for another round. But now, Mendes has confirmed that he has passed on the project.

Listening To – TRON: Uprising Soundtrack

by A Glitch | Mar 2, 2013 | 6 comments

Welcome to The Grid, a digital utopia filled with infinite possibilities. A digital world designed for games, but it became so much more. However, due to his thirst for power, Clu, a powerful program based off of the creator, betrayed his creator and all other programs in this utopia. The only program who had the power to stop Clu, named Tron, was defeated by Clu and left for dead. With no one to stop him, Clu seized control of The Grid and has become a malevolent dictator. However, one program, named Beck, has the ability to surpass his own programming and take over the role of Tron, to try and overthrow Clu’s Empire.

The TRON: Uprising soundtrack is scored by Mr. Joseph Trapanese, who also arranged the music of Daft Punk for TRON: Legacy. To portray the digital and somewhat foreign atmosphere of The Grid, Trapanese uses extremely interesting digital and electronic sounds along side an orchestral sound. His mix of the acoustic orchestral instruments and the electronic sounds makes an extremely interesting sound that sounds like a foreign electro-orchestral type instrument, which is extremely successful in portraying the digital word of Tron. After the jump, we load deeper into the TRON: Uprising soundtrack.

Weekend Box Office: Yippee Ki-Yay for ‘Die Hard’ at #1

by Myke Havoc | Feb 18, 2013 | 2 comments

Four new releases in the top 10 this week, three of which opened early due to Valentine’s Day. First up is Good Day to Die Hard, which pulled in $25 million, for a four day total of $33 million. It bumps Identity Thief from the top spot, which still manages to hold second place, adding $23.5 million for a $70.7 million total (twice it’s $35 million budget).

Safe Haven debuts at #3, with $21.4 million, managing a four day total of $30.3 million. Escape From Planet Earth, which was the only new release to open on Friday, pulled in $16 million for the #4 spot. Warm Bodies falls from #2 to #5, with a $9 million pull, crossing the $50 million mark.

Beautiful Creatures debuts at #6, with a disappointing $7.5 million and a four day total of $10 million, against it’s $60 million budget. Hit the list below for the other stats.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Being Shot on Film Rather Than Digital

by Myke Havoc | Feb 12, 2013 | 2 comments

Just a quick note: Director Marc Webb has revealed through his Twitter page that shooting has begun for the sequel to last year’s Amazing Spider-Man, with picture confirmation and hashtags making note of the use of 35mm film, over the digital RED cameras that were used on the first film. Also, an official synopsis for the film has been released, confirming the many rumors flying around lately that Paul Giamatti will be playing the Rhino.

Weekend Box Office: ‘Identity Thief’ Steals Top Spot

by Myke Havoc | Feb 11, 2013 | 1 comment

‘Identity Thief‘ opened strong, taking first place with $36.6 million, already grossing its budget back. ‘Warm Bodies‘ was bumped to second, but still managed to add $11.5 million, dropping only 44% for a two-week total of $36.7 million. ‘Side Effects‘ opened third with $10 million. ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘ is bumped to fourth, adding $7 million for a $90 million total. ‘Hansel and Gretel‘ drops to fifth, only adding $5.8 million for a $44 million take (still $6 million below its budget).

‘Mama‘ falls to sixth, with $4.3 million, giving it a $64 million total in comparison to its mere $15 million budget. At seventh is ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘, adding $4 million for a $83.6 million total. ‘Argo‘ jumps back into the top ten at eighth place, adding another $2.5 million to its total, equating to $123 million (three times it’s budget!) while ‘Django‘ hangs on in ninth place, adding $2.3 million for a total of $155 million.

‘Bullet to the Head‘ slips to the bottom of the top 10, not quite cracking $2 million for a disappointing two-week take of $8 million. Between that and ‘The Last Stand‘, I can only imagine Stallone and Schwarzenegger hope their co-starring vehicle ‘The Tomb‘, to be released in September, brings in their combined audience to manage better numbers.

Sony Pictures Signs Exclusive Deal with Sky in UK

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 6, 2013 | 0 comments

With Netflix looking to flex its muscles in the world stage, Sky, their European competitor just made life a little more difficult for them by signing an exclusive deal with Sony Pictures in the UK. Under the deal, Sky would get exclusive access to Sony Pictures films, 6 months after their theatrical release like the upcoming Will Smith film, After Earth. Sky would also be able to keep Nextflix away from recent titles like Men in Black 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Django Unchained. Sony Pictures has most recently been the center of much debate after CBS signaled an interest to buy the company from Sony Corp.

Sony’s Crackle Expands to LG, Samsung, and Vizio

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 6, 2013 | 0 comments

Crackle, the Sony operated interned video service that hosts original videos, as well as catalogue Sony films and shows, is expanding. The free video service which is already available on consoles, smartphones, tablets, and the web is expanding to LG, Samsung, and Vizio. All three companies are bringing Crackle to their line of 2013 smart televisions while Samsung is taking things further and also offering the ad-supported streaming service to its line of Blu-ray players.

Weekend Box Office: Audiences Warmed Up to ‘Warm Bodies’

by Myke Havoc | Feb 4, 2013 | 1 comment

‘Warm Bodies’ opened at #1 during the Super Bowl weekend, pulling in $20 million. The only other new release this week was Walter Hill’s ‘Bullet to the Head’, the new Sylvester Stallone vehicle, which only managed 6^th place with a gross of $4.5 million. ‘Hansel and Gretel‘ moved to #2, with the expected 53% drop, pulling in $9.2 million for a $34.5 million 2-week total.

‘Silver Linings Playbook‘ took in another $8 million which bumped it up to 3^rd place, for an $80 million total. ‘Mama‘ dropped to 4^th, pulling in $6.7 million for a $58 million total. ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘ dropped to 5^th, taking in $5.3 million for a $77 million total. ‘Parker‘ dropped to 7^th, adding $3.2 million for a $12.4 million total.

‘Django Unchained‘ pulled in another $3 million for a $151 million total and dropping to 8^th place. ‘Les Miserables‘ stayed at 9^th, adding $2.4 million for a $141.5 million total, and ‘Lincoln‘ bumped back up into the top 10, pulling in just $30,000 less than ‘Les Miserables‘ for a total close to $171 million. As expected, overall box office numbers were down, due to the Super Bowl.

2012 Films In Review Pt. 4

by Myke Havoc | Feb 3, 2013 | 1 comment

It wouldn’t be a proper film year without a series of action movies and 2012 was no different. Our 2012 films in review pt. 4 takes a look at films like Killer Joe, Expendables 2, Dredd 3D, and Looper. If action isn’t your thing, fear not as I’ve shared my reviews on documentaries like Side by Side and Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 which bears my highest recommendation.

Sony Music Unlimited Bumps Up to 320Kbps

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 29, 2013 | 0 comments

Music Unlimited, Sony’s answer to popular music streaming services like Pandora and Spotify is getting a free upgrade. As of today, subscribes can choose to listen at a higher, 320Kbps, ensuring richer music. One caviet to note is that the upgrade will be gradual across Music Unlimited compatible devices. As of today, only Android, the PlayStation 3 and any supported web browser can take advantage of the higher bitrate. Sony has indicated that devices left out like the PlayStation Vita, Sony Bravia home theater units, and iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) will also receive the upgrade at a later time this year.

Weekend Box Office: ‘Hansel and Gretel’ Slays Its Way to First Place

by Myke Havoc | Jan 28, 2013 | 1 comment

Paramount’s ‘Hansel and Gretel‘ opened at #1 this week, pulling in $19 million from a budget of $50 million. ‘Parker‘ and ‘Movie 43,’ the other new releases, managed $7 and $5 million respectively, putting them at 5^th and 7^th place. While far from a hit, ‘Movie 43‘ had a budget of only $6 million.

Depending on how much they spent on the heavy internet promotion, that may or may not equate to a decent take. Universal’s ‘Mama‘ dropped to second place, managing to pull in $12.8 million, for a total of $48.6 million, equating to a drop of a little over 54%. The Weinsteins’ ‘Silver Lining Playbook‘ held it’s 3^rd place position from last weekend, pulling in $10 million, accounting only for a 7% drop and a total take of nearly $69.5 million, from a $21 million budget.

Sony’s ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘ dropped 38%, falling from it’s 2^nd place spot to 4^th, and adding $9.8 million for a total take of $69.9 million from a budget of $40 million. ‘Django Unchained‘ rose a spot, from 7^th to 6^th place, pulling in just $5,000 above ‘Movie 43‘, equating to a total of $46 million above it’s $100 million budget.

‘Gangster Squad‘ and ‘Broken City‘ both dropped 4 slots, settling at 8^th and 9^th positions with a take of $4.2 and $4 million respectively. ‘Les Miserables‘ rounds out the top ten this week, adding $3.9 million to it’s take for a total of $137.2 million.

Sony Pictures for Sale After All? CBS to Buy?

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 22, 2013 | 2 comments

sony pictures

According to Variety, analysts on Wall Street aren’t buying that Sony Pictures, the motion picture arm of Sony Corp., isn’t for sale. In early November, rumors began from the CBS CEO, Les Moonves which made the whole thing more credible. Since then, Sony CEO, Kaz Hirai has came out and dismissed it, stating that,

“There is absolutely no truth to rumors that Sony’s entertainment businesses are for sale,”

Even as early at CES, Kaz Hirai was seen on stage touting the huge benefit to Sony and their push for 4K content by having a studio under their wing who could not only produce native 4K content, but could also help tweak the technology. Sony insisted that, unlike competitors, their 4K offering is the most natural since they are part of every step, from creation via Sony Pictures and their 4K pro cameras, to distribution via their 4K televisions and Blu-ray format that Sony heavily fought for. Brian Wieser from Pivotal Research Group thinks differently,

“It seems difficult to imagine Sony retaining the division in the long-run given absence of fit with the rest of Sony’s businesses,”

2012 Films In Review Pt. 3

by Myke Havoc | Jan 20, 2013 | 0 comments

Our 2012 films in review pt. 2 concentrated on the DC universe with animated titles like Justice League: Doom, Superman VS. The Elite, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1. Now, in our part 3, we take a look at summers biggest blockbuster, The Avengers and Prometheus, two crowd favorites. In the mood for comedies, we tell you if the adorable and potty mouth Ted and The Dictator are worth your time, after the jump.

2012 Films In Review Pt. 2

by Myke Havoc | Jan 12, 2013 | 0 comments

What do American Reunion, Cabin In The Woods, Lockout, The Raven, Justice League: Doom, Superman VS. The Elite, and Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Part 1 all have in common? They’re part of our 2012 films in review part 2 of course! In our part one coverage, we reviewed The Divide, Chronicles, Woman In Black, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Hunger Games, The Raid: Redemption, and Wrath of the Titans. Anything worth seeing or should you move right along with these movies? Our review, after the jump helps answer that. Disagree with our take? Let us know in the comments section!