LOS ANGELES - Of all the people coming to the rescue of Hollywood, who would have thought that this would be the grownups?
But with a wave of violent R-rated films close to August, the summer movie season has accumulated a record. With a week to go in the largest industry (and youth-oriented) season ticket sales hit $ 4.26 billion, up slightly from the record last year, 4.2 billion dollars.
Of course, when adjusting for ticket prices, which actually means the attendance is down this year by 2%, according to Media By Numbers.
But given the weakness of the second half of the summer in general, you should be pretty happy with the season, "said Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. "We came out smoking, then stumbled. But people have responded largely to movies that you would not expect normally. "
Namely those with a penchant for beating and stripping. Inglourious Basterds%, the final destination and Halloween II combined to push the summer of '09 on the top, literally.
The season had its share of clunkers, too. "The Land of the Lost" has never been solved by the spectators."Funny People" left few people laughing.
"We were certainly a little top-heavy; the best films like 'Star Trek' is released early," said film critic Scott Mantz of "E TV!" "But I must say that we very well.
Here's a look at how the stars and films came in the annual review by USA Today.
ACTION FIGURES
Grade: A
You think your mint condition, still-in-box Action Figure Darth Vader is worth something? Try these toys on the size.Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen transformed into the biggest film of the year, topped the level of 400 million dollars this week, eclipsing the original haul of 319 million. Both decried GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, meanwhile, wrapped in his kung-fu grip around 132 million and counting....
Continue Reading...
Ask John Schurman what he learned in the wake of the Halloween nor'easter and he just might offer some recommendations that weren't in the storm preparation plan the governor rolled out with fanfare last week. The 52-year-old machinist from Bethany and more »
