Movie Review: Saw V
The Saw horror series seems to peak with every odd-numbered installment.
Weekend Forecast
Whoooooooooooooo! Happy Halloween, boys and ghouls.
How Well Do You Know: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It first aired in 1966, and we've harbored a sentimental place in our hearts for it every year as it airs during Halloween season. The Peanuts gang continues to give us a refreshingly innocent look at daily life as a child, and the characters continue to resonate even in the years after creator Charles Schulz's passing. You've seen it countless times, but how well do you know It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?
This is So Last Week: 10/24/08-10/30/08
This week: A pop star strips down, a music mag scales down and Letterman lays the smack down. As the calendar hurtles past Halloween and toward the election, the world of pop culture continued to prove pleasantly diverting. We hope you were paying attention.
Hindsight: March 1990
Can the box office rebound from a rather unimpressive February that was dominated by the eventual Best Picture winner?
Comics Weekly
DC Comics raises the red lantern this week...or something like that.
Trailer Hitch
This week: Clint Eastwood returns in Gran Torino, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson go on a date and Virginia Madsen makes up for her Number 23 mistake.
Summer in Review
Today, we evaluate July's results. Stay tuned for August early next week.
Movie News:
Monday Morning Quarterback
High School Musical 3 became the biggest opening for a musical ever as it earned $42 million domestically in its first three days.
How to Spend $20
This week: Two pop culture icons celebrate milestones, while Brendan Fraser goes to the center of the Earth...but does he return?
Review: Max Payne
Many film critics are under the impression video games can't be made into good movies, and given Hollywood's track record - Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter, Doom - it's not hard to understand their perspective.
How Well Do You Know: 28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later starts with a shocking sequence of cowardice and betrayal and never lets up on the surprises. The line between good guys and bad guys is blurred throughout the proceedings with the only certainty being that if they're eating brains, you should shoot them. This is the rare sequel that matches its predecessor, no small feat given the pedigree of 28 Days Later. How well do you know 28 Weeks Later?
How Well Do You Know: The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror
For many people, October is one of the best times of year as the seasons change and childhood fun is relived by dressing up, eating candy, or watching scary movies. And for nearly two decades, it has also meant a new Halloween episode of The Simpsons, often the most anticipated of each year. Without further ado, we present a special edition of How Well Do You Know. How well do you know The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror? (Only the first 9 in order to appease the purists out there.)
Movie of the Day: Ninja Assassin
Movie News:
The Avengers
Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau reteam for Avengers
TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex! Now with 100% more Mel Gibson!
A-List: Bush's Legacy
With the recent release of Oliver Stone's celluloid summation of the second Bush administration,I would like, if I may, to take a brief departure from the A-List format.
How Well Do You Know: Clerks II
BOP's love of Clerks and Kevin Smith is well documented. We know that a significant portion of our fanbase going back to the early days of the site shares this same love of the movies as well as the writer/director. We don't have to sell this one, because we know you have been looking forward to it for a while now. Let's get to it. How well do you know Clerks II?
Amazing Race Recap
We start with Ken & Tina planning a trip together. Where's Final Destination when you need it?
Weekend Wrap-Up
It was a battle of franchises this weekend at the box office, and may have been one of the oddest big business battles ever, as we have TWO films earning back their budgets on opening night.
Weekend Forecast
Three new films throw everything they've got at the weekend, with a decent chance of October's weekend records for debut and total box office falling.
Movie Review: W.
Stone, the director behind such condemning films as Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, doesn't slant W. the way we expect.
Review: Zack and Miri
Zack and Miri Make a Porno stars the now ubiquitous Seth Rogen as Zack and the ever-developing Elizabeth Banks as Miri.
Survivor Recap
We begin this week, like we always do, at the Fang camp after Tribal
Movie News:
Review: RocknRolla
Those who thought the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels- and Snatch-era Guy Ritchie was Swept Away and never to be seen again (mostly Madonna haters) can breathe a pleasant sigh of relief.
The Amazing Race Recap
The fourth leg of the Amazing Race starts with tensions between two teams as high as ever, and no underwear is even involved.
Stealth Entertainment
We're taking a trip way back today, back to 1995 to take a look at a Christopher Walken flick.
This is So Last Week: 10/17/08-10/23/08
Lots of babies are born, and certain catchphrases get awfully tired. We're celebrating the World Series and gearing up for an election. We've got all of the trivia about pop culture this week, no matter how insignificant. We hope you were paying attention.
How Well Do You Know: 28 Days Later
Plodding, stumbling zombies are so 1970s Romero. Fast, vicious zombies are the new sexy. 28 Days Later was the Danny Boyle horror thriller that gave us this epiphany. He managed to turn the zombie genre on its head while still offering a cautionary tale of the evil nature of man. You may walk the streets of London all by your lonesome, but How Well Do You Know 28 Days Later?
Movie News:
Survivor Recap
Sure, I'm late as hell, but think of it this way...you'll have two recaps from me in a teeny little 72 hour span, and that's always a good thing.
Comics Weekly
Comic book sales were up in September. Wall Street should be asking what their secret is.
Trailer Hitch
This week: Vampire rage continues with a Swedish release, Jason Statham drives more cars and Daniel Craig disappoints Hitler.
Review: Quarantine
One of the creepiest things about Quarantine is that it doesn't fully explain itself.
How Well Do You Know: Resident Evil: Extinction
$146.2 million. That's the amount of money Resident Evil: Extinction earned worldwide, the most by the franchise to date. It explains why there is going to be a fourth film and it explains why BOP has a good feeling you have seen Extinction. You may have loved the trailer that showed Las Vegas buried in sand, but that just makes you human. What we want to know is how well you know Resident Evil: Extinction.
How to Spend $20
This week: James Bond goes hi-def, Ben Stein criticizes evolution and Liv Tyler does her best Janet Leigh impression.
Review: W.
In my weekly Trailer Hitch column back in July, I smacked the trailer to Oliver Stone's W. with a big, fat F.
How Well Do You Know: Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the rare sequel that outperforms the original. In fact, the middle film of the Resident Evil trilogy is the most successful of the three in terms of domestic box office. You surely know your lickers from your Nemeses, but how well do you know the Raccoon City Apocalypse?
Movie of the Day: Milk
Review: Body of Lies
As a thriller, Body of Lies has more in common with Clear and Present Danger than Syriana.
TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex: now with 30% more plexing!
Monday Morning Quarterback
As the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their World Series berths, BOP discusses Max Payne, The Secret Life of Bees and W.
Weekend Wrap-Up
This weekend we had another wheelbarrow full of releases, led by Mark Wahlberg and Fox, who brought Max Payne to movie theaters, trying again to make a successful video game to big screen transition.
How Well Do You Know: Resident Evil
At the time of its release, Resident Evil staked a legitimate claim as the first videogame adaptation that was good. Six years later, the shock over this turn of events remains. It does, however, support BOP's core philosophy: everything is better with zombies. And Milla Jovovich in skimpy outfits. You have seen Resident Evil - whether you admit it or not - but how well do you know it?
Movie of the Day: Notorious
Movie News:
Stealth Entertainment
This movie did $14.6 million in box office, and that's downright amazing considering the subject matter.
Amazing Race Recap
We start the third leg of the Amazing Race still in Brazil, but we also find that the show has briefly merged with an episode of The Hills.
Prophecy
The Box Office Prophets staff discusses the prospects for a little upcoming release known as High School Musical 3.
Weekend Forecast
Whoever opened up the floodgates for new releases seems to have forgotten where the shut off switch is.
This is So Last Week: 10/10/08-10/16/08
Which superstar's fake British accent now seems downright silly? Which presidential candidate ruled pop culture? To whose body part did Sharon Osbourne deliver a most unusual smackdown? This is So Last Week knows all, sees all. We hope you have been paying attention.
How Well Do You Know: The Blair Witch Project
Setting the standard for low-budget, shaky-cam horror movies, the Blair Witch project is one of the great indie film success stories of all time. Riding a wave of multi-media promotion, it set the standard for chills, hype and nausea-inducing camera work. You may have escaped the woods if you'd only kept following the creek, but how well do you know The Blair Witch Project?
Comics Weekly
Read Air. Now.
Trailer Hitch
This week: Robert De Niro arrives back in comedy, Tom Cruise plots a conspiracy and Amy Adams cleans up dead bodies.
How Well Do You Know: Children of Men
BOP's love for Children of Men was clearly defined when we posted the 2007 Calvins. The movie earned high placement in several of the categories, and garnered top three positioning for Best Picture of the year. We weren't the only ones mesmerized by its genius, either. The film received three Academy Awards nominations and immediately claimed a spot as one of the finest releases of the 2000s. You simply must love it but how well do you know it?
Movie News:
Monday Morning Quarterback
We discuss all of the big new releases this weekend...er, well, we discuss the big release from last weekend and all of the movies that came in behind it.
Review: Nick and Norah
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist has one great thing going for it, and it's in the name.
How to Spend $20
This week: Harrison Ford readies his bullwhip, John Carpenter celebrates Halloween a little early and The Matrix looks better than ever before.
Movie News:
TiVoPlex
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex!
Watch What We Say
This week on Watch What We Say: Two brainless women named Kath & Kim.
How Well Do You Know: Film Analogies, SAT Style
Tom Hanks is to Rita Wilson as Warren Beatty is to Annette Bening. We've collected a number of film analogies, and presented them SAT style (Hanks:Wilson::Beatty:Bening). So put on your thinking caps, sharpen your No. 2 pencils, and get ready to dazzle us with your accumen accummen smarts.
Weekend Wrap-Up
It was supposed to be a big horse race this weekend.
Movie News:
BOP 25 of Holiday
BOP chooses its top 25 most anticipated films of the holiday season.
Weekend Forecast
It's not as crazy as last weekend (how could it be?), but we've still got a huge number of new options at the theater this weekend as Hollywood works through a fall glut of films.
A-List: Confinement Horror
All horror, in one way or another, deals with being trapped. There's something after us, and we can't get away from it.
Survivor Recap
Hello, good people, and welcome back to the BOP recap of Survivor: Gabon. Three episodes, three Tribal Councils, three Survivors dumped and none that had any real impact on the game.
Amazing Race Recap
Welcome back to Brazil, for the second leg of The Amazing Passive-Aggressive Race.
Stealth Entertainment
Scott says that the Astronaut Farmer is an enjoyable family film...despite Billy Bob Thornton.
This is So Last Week: 10/3/08-10/9/08
People get married. People break up. Other people make up. Movies get remade. Sequels get started. Sex tapes are released. It's been One Crazy Week out there in the world. We hope you were paying attention.
Comics Weekly
Zombies return to the Marvel realm this week.
Trailer Hitch
This week: Tom Cavanagh gains a boyfriend (and son), Nicole Kidman goes down under and Kevin James rides a Segway.
Review: Rachel Getting Married
Take a moment and consider how resilient your family is. Think about all the fights, embarrassing public scenes and emotional pain you've suffered together.
How Well Do You Know: Cloverfield
You didn't just watch this movie. You experienced it in a tangible way. Cloverfield broke the fourth wall and made the viewer feel like an integral part of the crisis. You watched friends die, monuments explode and a giant monster walk the streets of New York City. You lived through Cloverfield, but how well do you know it?
Movie of the Day: Changeling
Review: Miracle at St. Anna
Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna is a sluggish, over-stuffed war drama filled with so many long, drawn-out scenes I started to forget what the original conflict was, and even worse, I stopped caring.
TiVoPlex
That's right, folks. Scarface gets some love in the latest edition of TiVoPlex. All together now: "Say hello to my little friends!"
Monday Morning Quarterback
Who's up for eight new wide releases this week? No? How about five? Still no? How about one movie about a chihuahua?
How Well Do You Know: The Office, Season 2 Episode 21: Conflict Resolution
Michael tries to soothe tensions in the office. Is he successful? Not so much.
How Well Do You Know: Iron Man
Okay people: Iron Man is out on home video now and odds are quite good you have seen it. If you haven't, wait to take the quiz until you have. Here there be spoilers. Other than that warning, less talk, more Stark. How Well Do You Know Marvel's masterpiece?
Movie of the Day: Role Models
Weekend Wrap-Up
An unbelievable number of new films hit screens as the first movie going weekend of October 2008 saw Hollywood continuing to use the "see what sticks" method of releasing films.
Survivor Recap
The show begins after Tribal as the Fang tribe returns to camp. They all seem to be happy to still be in the game.
Movie of the Day: The Other End of the Line
Weekend Forecast
For some reason, studios have circled this weekend on their calendar in red pen, drew some stars on it and covered it in glitter. An incredible eight new films open or go wide this weekend.
October Forecasts
Movie News:
Trailer Hitch
This week: Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio finally team up, Bernie Mac makes a huge mistake and Adam Sandler enters a dream world.
Review: Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye (2008) will draw inevitable comparisons to Enemy of the State (1998), and rightly so, because it's an inferior rip-off.
The Amazing Race Recap
It's sort of stunning to think that The Amazing Race, the ultimate travel porn show, is now in its 13th season, considering how many times it's been on the chopping block...
How Well Do You Know: Octopussy
After some hemming and hawing, Roger Moore was coaxed back to play Bond for a sixth time in Octopussy. He may be a little bit older and a little bit wrinklier, but the crease in Bond's tuxedo pants is as straight and crisp as ever and when circumstances force Homer Simpson to think of something great about England, what does his mind turn to? That's right! How Well Do You Know... Octopussy?
How Well Do You Know: The Office, Season 2 Episode 19: Michael's Birthday
An impending medical crisis has the gall to coincide with Michael's birthday.
Movie of the Day: Happy Go Lucky