The Curious Case of Silver Linings at The Box Office

I have made it very well known (or at least I think I have) that I support the movie "Silver Linings Playbook". From the minute I saw the trailer I thought it looked like an excellent movie. And as the weeks approached to the premiere I grew more excited for it. I have admitted that it is not my usual style of movie (a future blog about that will be coming) but I still knew that I wanted to see it. Both my girlfriend and I were waiting for the movie.

I mean who wouldn't be. It was written and directed by a previous Oscar nominee. The main character's parents were played by people who had previously been nominated, and in the case of his father actually won an Oscar. Plus it had young stars that are slowly reaching top acting statuses. And while we are at it, it featured Chris Tucker who hadn't been seen really since Rush Hour 3!

Nothing about this movie says blockbuster. Mental disease and dancing can't really compare to super hero movies these days when it comes to Box Office. So when Silver Linings started off slowly, no one was surprised. I know a few people that still haven't even heard of this movie to this day.

It only opened on sixteen screens its first weekend, grossing $ 443,003 (Figures according to IMDB). Its second weekend it expanded to three hundred sixty seven screens and grossed $ 4,383,669. These numbers are not stellar at all, especially when the movie cost approximately $21,000,000. The numbers slowly got better, but it still didn't gross nearly what it cost to make.

That all changed the morning of January 24th when Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane announced the nominees for the Oscars. By that point Silver Linings had been in the theaters for eight weeks, a time most movies start to climb down the charts and make their way to DVD retailers near you. But thanks to all those nominations, Silver Linings had a second life. According to Entertainment Weekly it grossed five million dollars that week. It was only the tenth highest grossing movie of that weekend, but the fact is it grossed 39 % higher than it did the weekend before.

And the numbers continue to rise. For a movie that only made $443,003 its opening weekend it sits on the verge of grossing $100 million dollars now, thanks to the nominations of Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver and director David O. Russell and the win by Jennifer Lawrence. For most people that analyze movies, that is a good mark to have. It's something only thirty movies did in all of 2012.

Oscar 2013 Wrap Up Edition

Welcome Back to the Entertainment Guru News and Views Oscars 2013 Wrap up Edition. There were a few surprises in this year's ceremony. Which is of course always a good thing. No one wants to see it if it's completely predictable. But we will get into the winners in just a few minutes.

We will start with my thoughts on your Oscars host Seth McFarlane. I am not a fan of his TV work (ie Family Guy, American Dad, or the Cleveland Show) but I did want to see Ted and I think he has an amazing voice. For anyone that hasn't heard him, you will enjoy this. At first I was a little skeptical about him hosting the Oscars. His brand of humor doesn't fit what the Oscars stand for. If it did, Ace Ventura and Anchorman would both be Oscar winners. But after watching his performance as host, I thought he did a good job. Was it great? Was he the best Host ever? No, I don't think so. Maybe he pushed a few boundaries that didn't need to be pushed, but you have to know that the producers got exactly what they asked for with him. I think the skit with William Shatner went a little too long, but that really was my only complaint.

I fell for the rumors that they were going to have all the actors who played James Bond on the stage at the same time for the first time in history. I think that would have been a piece of cinematic history, but unfortunately that didn't happen. It is the 50 anniversary of Bond on the big screen. It would have been a nice touch, but another rumor I had heard was that Pierce Brosnan refused to do it. So I can understand not doing it if all of them weren't there.

I think that J-Law, Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway winning were almost guaranteed to win and they did. Christoph Waltz winning was definitely a surprise to me. But not to my girlfriend Lori, but there will be more on that a little later. I liked that Argo won Best Picture. It definitely deserved it. It almost (BUT NOT QUITE) made up for the Academy not recognizing Ben Affleck as both an Actor and director.

If it was anyone else, I would have enjoyed watching them trip up on the steps. But not Jennifer Lawrence. I think she will be a multiple time winner throughout her career.

Last week I ran a contest between myself, my girlfriend Lori and a fellow blogger ThePeverettPhile. What I forgot to mention was that since there was only going to be nine categories, if it ended in a tie then if one of us was able to get Best Picture winner they would win. Well, untimely that didn't matter. So without further adieu, I give you the standings from this challenge.

In third place with a record of 5-4 was my girlfriend Lori. She correctly guessed Christoph Waltz, J-Law, Anne Hathaway and Brave (Animated Movie) and Argo

In second place was me with a 6-3 record. I guessed Daniel Day-Lewis, J-Law, Anne Hathaway, both screenplays and Brave.

So winning the first ever Entertainment Guru News and Views Oscar Prediction Challenge, Congratulations to Jason for getting 7-2 only missing Supporting Actor and Director.

After not being around for a long time, I promise that I will continue to blog!