Will Speed Racer Zoom Past Iron Man

Speed Racer zooms into movie theaters this weekend opening on 3,606 screens nationwide. Of course that falls way short of the 4,105 screens Iron Man opened on last weekend for it's big multi-million dollar debut. This weekend they added 6 more screens to the list bumping the comic book hero to 4,111 screens. A quick grab of my calculator tells me Iron Man is on 505 more screens than Speed Racer. I know some will think that's not much of a difference, but believe me, in the world of movie screens, that's a huge difference. If you missed my previous blog post on this you can check it out at "When Hollywood Makes A Box Office Hit." Next weekend brings us the second installment of the Chronicles of Narnia series and it's scheduled to open on 3,800 screens.

But, that's enough with the number breakdown, what's Speed Racer like. Many critics are trashing the movie and looking only at box office dollars when it comes to deciding if it's a good movie or not. Early predictions from Friday night box office numbers puts Iron Man at the top with $15M, What Happens in Vegas second with $6.8M and Speed Racer a close third with $6.6M. Let's remember however, Speed Racer is a kids movie so it's a good bet to say many families will head to the matinee shows Saturday and Sunday.

Is Speed Racer a family-friendly movie? Yes, I believe it is. Lets remember though this is a PG movie, not a G movie. It clocks in at a little better than 2 hours, and that means for the really young, they might have a hard time sitting through the flick. But, for kids say ages 8 and up, they will love the action, they'll love the plot, and yes, they will love the monkey too!

Speed Racer is the live-action adaptation of the 1960's Japenese cartoon. It's pretty much your Saturday Morning Cartoons Coming To Life On The Big Screen. What can you expect from Speed Racer? It's like Roller derby on steriods turned into bumper cars bouncing around in a really big pinball machine. This is pretty much a sensory overload flick directly aimed at kids. For the critics who say the 2 hour 15 minute movie won't keep the attention of the kids, they obviously did not, A) See the movie with a bunch of kids; B) They don't have kids and don't know what keeps their attention; or C) They've forgotten what it's like to be a kid. Yes, I must admit when I screened the movie I wondered about the length. I must also admit I did find myself a little bored at one point as I thought the racing sequences were simply too long. But, when I looked around the theater and saw all the kids glued to the screen, I suddenly remembered, this movie isn't really aimed at me. It's aimed at the kids. As a result, when you toss in all the special effects, the twisting and turning cars, the CGI stunts and the brilliantly bright colors, Speed Racer turns into a wild and fun ride for any kid.

The beginning of the movie seems a little disjointed as it tries to set up the image of Speed Racer, who he is, and where he comes from. But, for the Speed Racer cartoon fans, I don't think you'll be disappointed with what you see. For the most part, the filmmakers tried to remain true to the original as they brought it to life on the big screen. You even have Racer X who of course is a key character in the original.

I also applaud the filmmakers for how they handled the connection between a kid audience and their parents. Many times filmmakers feel they need to stoop to potty humor in order to make any kind of an adult connection. This is simply not the case with Speed Racer. I can safely say this is a family-friendly movie, for the rating, remember, it's PG. The humor is done well, and it's clean! I love that in a movie that's aimed at families. Obviously we have a some filmmakers here who thought this one out. But, even in the midst of all the colorful sets and zooming of cars, there are some good parental messages here too. Things like the importance of family, not being pushed around by big corporate bad guys, and being proud of your kids, no matter what, help to firmly place Speed Racer in the family-friendly arena.

Will Speed Racer zoom past Iron Man? Probably not. But I do think it will do well and come in a nice second over the weekend. The genres are totally different for the two movies. Iron Man, while it's a great movie, is not family-friendly. Speed Racer is a good movie, which is family-friendly. Here's an idea - It's Mother's Day weekend. While Speed Racer is more of a father/son movie, maybe the best gift a dad could give to his wife this weekend is to take the kids out for an afternoon movie, and let her have a quiet house for a nice afternoon nap. Then when the movie is done, swing by, pick up mom, and take her out for dinner.

If you're looking for a fun movie to see as a family this weekend, check out Speed Racer. You, nor your kids, will be disappointed. I'm calling it family-friendly and giving it a 3 Lloyd rating.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus

Speed Racer Bumper Cars

I screened Speed Racer last night. The animee cartoon/real person movie hits the big screen this weekend. While I'll give a fuller review at the end of the week, simply because movie reviewers are supposed to wait until then to review movies they pre-screen, I do want to make a few comments here today. I know there are people following me on Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as regular readers of this blog, that know I screened the movie last night. So, here's a little teaser review for Speed Racer.

First off, I have to admit, I never watched the Speed Racer cartoon. Now that's not because I didn't like it, I simply didn't watch it. But, I do realize a number of Speed Racer fans have been awaiting the release of the big screen flick for a number of months. That was evident at the screening I attended by the fact that one girl came in wearing her Speed Racer t-shirt and proudly sporting bright yellow hair! Wow!

So, what was the move like? Hmmmmm....I came up with this description as my son and I left the theater -- It's like roller derby on steriods with super-charged bumper cars bouncing around inside a pinball machine -- That pretty much sums up the movie, and should also give you a good idea of the CGI special effects throughout the flick.

I liked the movie and it's definitely aimed at kids. But, there's also enough going on to keep adults interested as they go through the Speed Racer experience with their kids. If you like racing, this is racing like you've never seen before. There are some references to conspiracy theories as far as fixing races before they're even won. And, if you've watched NASCAR at all during the past couple years, we may have discovered where Kyle Busch learned to drive. There's a lot of blocking and crashing going on here.

Be sure to stay tuned to my blog as I'll have a fuller review later this week with my family-friendly rating and Lloyd rating!

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus

Iron Man Ironclad At Box Office

Iron Man put an ironclad hold on the box office over the weekend. The new spin on the Marvel superhero pulled in $100.7 million dollars. Over all the flick made $104.2 million dollars since it premiered Thursday night, marking the second-best debut for a non-sequel, trailing only 2002's Spider-Man. The original Spidey movie opened with $114.8 million dollars. Coming in second at the box office, pretty much as an "also ran" entry, another new movie for the weekend, Made of Honor. It only pulled in $15.5 million dollars.

With such a huge box office showing, it's a safe say we'll see Robert Downey Jr. signing up for an Iron Man 2 in the very near future. Downey certainly is an interesting character. Here's a man Hollywood keeps going back to, even though he's had a very colorful life off screen. But, through all the drugs, alcohol and other various run ins with the law, Downey Jr. has a way of pulling off a great performance.

Iron Man clocks in at a little better than 2 hours, and that's a pretty long movie to sit through. If I'm going sit that long, it better be a great flick. I must admit, Iron Man gets off to somewhat of a rocky start, but in the end, it really pulls it off, making the somewhat disjointed first half hour worth the wait for the rest of the movie. I'm not sure why the producers figured they had to do a strange kind of flashback segment after the scenario for the plot had already been set up. But they did, and that's why the beginning is a little confusing. However, after that, the movie really takes off and turns into a great movie.

When it comes to superhero movies, there are a few ways they tend to go. First, they can become extremely cartoonish and hokey. When that happens, you end up with the really bad middle Batman movies that looked more like the Adam West "pow, bam, boom" shows than movies. Secondly, a superhero movie can take itself too seriously. Hey, we're dealing with superheros here. They're not real, they're meant to entertain. So let's not make the movie so serious that it falls flat. Thirdly, and this is the category Iron Man falls in to, a superhero movie ends up with a nice balance of fun, special effects, storyline, and humor.

I didn't really know what to expect when I went to see Iron Man, but when I left the theater, I must admit I found myself asking the question, "When will the sequel come?" I really enjoyed the flick. The special effects are great, and not over-done. There's a nice balance of humor and seriousness tossed in, and, I especially like the fact that we have a superhero addressing some issues that actually face the world today when it comes to the weapons market.

All in all, Iron Man is most definately worth the big screen big money showing from the weekend. However, for parents, lets remember this is a PG-13 movie. Iron Man is not your squeaky clean comic book superhero dealing with weak criminals. No, this is a pretty intense movie, especially in the beginning. I watched a number of parents taking their younger kids out of the theater simply because the material is too intense for the really young.

In the end, it's a great movie, and I loved it! But, with a rating of PG-13, I'm saying Iron Man is not family-friendly. But, it does get a 4 Lloyd rating from me.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus

When Hollywood Makes A Box Office Hit

Have you ever wondered how Hollywood makes a box office hit? If you track the number of screens a movie opens on, or even stays on during a big screen movie run, you soon pick up a trend or two. This week presents a classic example of Hollywood trying to make a box office hit.

From the handful of so-called anticipated summer movies awaiting release this year, the first one hits movie screens this weekend. Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. as the Marvel comicbook superhero Iron Man, makes its way to movie theaters. The only other movie opening this weekend is Made of Honor. But here's what's amazing not only about those two movies, but even about movies that are already on the big screen.

In an effort to make sure Iron Man pulls in what's hoped to be substantial weekend box office dollars, it's opening on 4,105 screens. By comparison, Made of Honor finds its way to just 2,729 screens. I know what you're thinking, but before you even say it, that's not many screens for a new movie. Why do I say that? Because the Jackie Chan, Jet Li movie The Forbidden Kingdom is still on 2,960 screens! Next week another anticipated summer movie opens. This time it's the cartoon come to the big screen flick Speed Racer. Even though Speed Racer is receiving a lot of publicity, it's slated to open on just 3,600 screens for its opening weekend. Some may say that's not much of a difference. But, when you're looking for a big openning weekend box office take, the more screens, the more possible dollars.

On the reverse side of box office smash hits, sometimes it seems Hollywood buries good movies. The recent Dennis Quaid flick provides an example of the opposite. Smart People is a great movie. But, it only received a limited release and as a result, has all but pretty much disappeared from the movie scene. Then there's movies like Brokeback Mountain. On many levels this is simply a bad movie. I make those comments based on quality of the movie, not content. When it comes to quality most agree Brokeback Mountain was poorly done. But, when it grabbed the attention of the so-called Hollywood insiders, a movie that opened on a limited release was pushed on more and more screens each week. It didn't break the top ten at the box office until Hollywood finally got it on thousands of screens. What does this tell you about how Hollywood makes a hit?

Then there's the movie Juno. Again, this was a movie which started in a limited release. But, as it gathered steam, and then nominations for awards, the number of screens it was on kept expanding. As for Juno, it is a great movie, and deserved to win some awards. But, since it started out as an independent movie, there's no way the Hollywood insiders are going to admit it's better than the big budget movies out there. I think the only reason Ellen Page received a nomination for an award as a result of her role in Juno revolved around the fact they simply couldn't ignore it because it was making huge strides at the box office.

So, just how does Hollywood make a box office smash? Some might say it's through smoke and mirrors. But it also has a lot to do with the number of screens any given movie opens on.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus

Katie Holmes Might Need Batman Again

In the movie Batman Begins, Christian Bale, who plays the role of Batman, comes to the rescue of the Katie Holmes character, Rachel Dawes. Could it be Batman needs to make another rescue attempt of Katie Holmes?

Star Magazine is reporting that Tom Cruise recently sent his wife, Katie Holmes, to a Scientology boot camp for three days. The magazine says Katie went to Gold Base, a super-secret Scientology compound in Hemet, California. (Super-secret, that sounds pretty scary already.) What happened while she was there you ask? She endured a grueling schedule of lie detector tests, confession sessions and physically-demanding purification processes. Apparently hubby Tom sent his wife Katie to the camp pushing her brain-washing, or I mean training, into the world of Scientology into high gear after Katie told him she wanted to head to New York to do a Broadway play.

Say what!? She wants to do a Broadway show and Cruise thinks she's whacked in the head and decides to send her to a camp where she goes through sessions of lie detectors and being forced to stay awake for 36 hours straight, with little food or sleep. Who's the one whacked in the head here? I wonder if she also had training on how to look like a fool while jumping on a couch.

Katie, it might be time to call on Batman to come and find you and get you away from the madness. If you thought Scarecrow was nuts in Batman Begins, I'd like to know what you really think of your nut-bar husband Tommy Cruise. Katie, if hubby Tommy asks you to drink some Kool-Aid, you better have it tested to make sure he didn't stop by the Jimmy Jones Supermarket to make the purchase.

Looking for the Bat Signal...
Dr. Rus

A Simpsons Movie Review

No, this isn't a review of The Simpsons Movie. Instead, this is a movie review done by The Simpsons in a recent Simpsons TV episode. In the midst of another Bart Simpson excursion, we discover a review of Johnny Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean.

I must admit up until last summer I didn't give much notice to The Simpsons. I always figured it was nothing more than rude and crude humor with bratty Bart Simpson behaving poorly. That may have been the case when the show first appeared on TV, but, after close to 20 years of airtime, that's certainly changed. After viewing the movie, I discovered these four fingered yellow people actually make a number of incredible statements about what's going on in the world today.

In a recent episode of The Simpsons Bart decides to join a 4H Club. Of course this has disaster written all over it. Visions of flying body parts abounded when Bart jumped into the drivers seat of a combine unit. But, just when you figure the writers will have him running over cows and other livestock on the farm, they throw an amazing, and humorous twist into the plot line. Instead of running over animals, Bart starts in the hay field. The combine works wonders putting out nice square bails of hay. However, Bart soon becomes bored with hay and turns his attention to other things on the farm.

First he drives through a clothesline -- the clothes come out nicely pressed and folded. Next he takes aim at a river -- the combine scoops up the water and spits out nice aquariums with fish swimming around.

Last, but certainly not least, Bart takes aim at a manure pile, and gives us a surprise movie review! The machine spits out -- a script of Pirates of the Caribbean Three with a picture of Johnny Depp on the front of it! I must admit I laughed out loud, very loudly, at a very appropriate movie review tucked away in the midst of another Simpsons episode. Bart pretty much summed up the the third Pirates movie with his combine 4H experimental movie review.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus

Child Stars Growing Up

On the day when the non-family-friendly game Grand Theft Auto is released, a child star from a very family-friendly TV show turns 50. The makers of Grand Theft Auto should be ashamed of themselves. Sure they say they're not pushing their game toward kids, but we all know - wink, wink, nudge, nudge - that's exactly the market they're going after.

On the other hand, a child star that many people watched grow up right before their very eyes, turns 50 today! Eve Plumb, the actress who played Jan on the Brady Bunch is another year older. It's kind of hard to believe that the girl who will forever be remember by the phrase "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" has hit the age of 50.

While it's true the Brady Bunch was a little hokey at times, you have to admit in its day, the show represented a far more innocent TV time. This was long before the far-from-reality shows we have on TV now. First off, there's nothing real about the reality on those shows. Secondly, those shows are nothing more than an excuse for people to act badly, and get paid for it. Now I'm not an old fuddy-duddy, but I certainly would like to see shows exhibiting a strong moral base instead of loosey-goosey do what makes you feel good material.

While her frustrated words of "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" will live forever in re-runs, no one can deny the postive impact that Eve Plumb, and the Brady Bunch had on millions of viewers each week.

Happy birthday Eve!

Enjoy the show,
Dr. Rus