Xmas ghosts, a dead popster, goat starers, aliens, a box, and some demons
Yes, it’s a real mishmash this weekend at the box office and I’ve got less time than usual — but let’s just see how it goes.
Anyhow, the clear winner over the next few days will almost certainly be yet another version of Charles Dicken’s constantly remade and revisited holiday perennial, this time from Disney, “A Christmas Carol.” Jim Carrey stars as Scrooge, who won’t hurt at the box office and Robert Zemeckis, in his “Polar Express” mode, is at the helm. Personally, while I found the earlier motion-capture movie a fun visceral thrill ride in Imax 3-D, despite a story that was the very definition of treacle, I personally find this style of animation extremely ugly; it’s as if it’s always stuck in the armpit of the Uncanny Valley. Moreover critics, including our own David Medsker, complain that Zemeckis gets carried away with the effects and makes things a bit too visceral and scary for the film’s own good. Still, if it worked even for Mr. Magoo, there’s no reason to think it won’t work well enough for some fiscal redemption. THR‘s Carl DiOrio, whose nearly as jolly as an way-too-early St. Nick, is guessing it’ll grab about $40 million in premature yuletide cheer. A split decision by critics is, I suppose, neither here nor there.
After that, we have four films that will be duking it out with two extant strong releases, Michael Jackson’s ghostly final bow, “This Is It,” which may benefit from better than expected word of mouth and, of course, the horrifyingly profitable “Paranormal Activity.” Intriguingly, all these new major releases have a slightly spooky and/or “paranormal” spin and trying to guess which will do best is probably about as wise as playing with a Ouija board at a demon-infested San Diego townhome.
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Posted in: Actors, Actresses, Documentaries, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies
Tags: Cameron Diaz, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Disney, Disney's A Christmas Carol, Donnie Darko, Ed Wood, Edward D. Wood Jr, Ewan McGregor, Fargo, Frank Langella, George Clooney, Headlines, I Am Legend, Imax 3-D, James Marsden, Jeff Bridges, Jim Carrey, Kevin Spacey, Michael Jackson, Milla Jovovich, Mr. Magoo, Myra Breckenridge, Oprah Winfrey, Overture, Paranormal Activity, Precious, Push, Richard Kelly, Richard Matheson, Robert Zemeckis, Scrooge, Southland Tales, the Amazing Criswell, The Box, The Fourth Kind, The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Polar Express, This Is It, Twilight Zone, Tyler Perry, uncanny valley, Warner Brothers