Back in the Bronze Age, when Windows 3.11 was the latest thing, I worked as an American reporter for a British magazine via the Internet. Yes, those were the magical days when virtually everything was in text, Usenet was around, and we all spent many...
In a race closer than the 2000 election, the two-dimensional Date Night has apparently unseated the latest exercise in 3D mythology. Or at least it had, until the slightly bizarre recount. But no matter how the figures are re-jiggled (barring a Supreme Court decision), the...
Maybe we need to change the name of this column. Something a little more upfront, like The Wall Street Journal. Since you will soon be able to bet on the weekly box office gross, you're going to need some solid advice on the betting spread...
Success has a thousand fathers, but failure has a movie named Motherhood. This ambitious but unsuccessful little film has scored the dubious honor of having the poorest opening weekend in British box office history. Its US opening last fall was pretty gawdawful as well, though...
The 3D revolution is supposed to be the salvation of the Hollywood commercial film industry. Or is it about to devour the industry? This is actually a pretty important question, because we have now been hit with the first two major punches (Avatar and Alice...
A few weeks ago, Boxoffice.com asked me what makes a film a "sleeper." I think I gave them a decent enough answer. In truth, how the heck would I know? If I had that sort of psychic power, I would right now be in Vegas...
It isn't often that the Academy Awards bring to mind the quotations of Mao Zedong, but by 10 pm last Sunday I was busy hunting for my copy of The Little Red Book. I felt the need to re-read Section Four on "The Correct Handling...
The most notable event next Sunday at the Academy Awards will be when Kathryn Bigelow receives the Oscar for Best Director. At least she’d better win. She won the Directors Guild of America award, and it’s basically the same bunch voting for Best Director at...
What qualities can make an apparently unpromising movie premise into a box-office hit? Dennis Toth, a regular columnist on R&R Consulting's Spectrum Blog, shares his insights in a feature story on Boxoffice.com. Read the full article by Christian Toto, "Sleeper Material?", posted on February 25, 2010...
When you think movies, you think Wal-Mart. OK, normally there's no way Wal-Mart should be in this equation, but with their purchase of the digital movie provider Vudu, Wal-Mart is hoping to dominate the brave new world of movie downloadables. Sort of makes sense. By...