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Subject: Box Office Prediction: Voices, Visions and Vineyards
Time: 12:15:00 AM EST
Author: summermovieblog
Hi there. I'm Patricia, and I'll be your tour guide for this weekend's box office predictions. Please keep your carry-on stowed and your seatbelt securely fastened. Wow, I really dropped the ball last week when it came to 'Borat,' didn't I? Or perhaps you cracked my secret code and read "has no chance in hell of winning" as "is definitely assured of winning." Yeah, that's the ticket. Anyway, congrats to brldisteach and zsxxx03 for correctly picking 'Borat' first before the returns came in on Sunday, and here's hoping I do better this week. Let's get to it.
'Stranger Than Fiction': Will Ferrell takes a break from his usual wild-eyed, slapstick fare to star as Harold Crick, an IRS agent who starts hearing voices in his head. Scratch that -- he hears one voice, and it's a narrator who sounds suspiciously like Emma Thompson. Turns out she's Kay Eiffel, a writer working on a novel whose main character is named -- surprise! -- Harold Crick. It's all a bit much for poor Harold, who pieces things together with the aid of a literary theorist (Dustin Hoffman) and an anarchist baker (the adorable Maggie Gyllenhaal).'Stranger Than Fiction' is clever, charming and bittersweet, 'Adaptation' meets 'The Truman Show' -- and while it's being billed as Will Ferrell's first big serious role, he's still funny in a fine, understated performance. This is a tricky one to predict. The teens and young males who made 'Talladega Nights' a hit aren't going to go for a Ferrell who doesn't take his clothes off; on the plus side, he doesn't take his clothes off. (No worries, guys, Borat's taken up the clothes-shedding mantle quite nicely.) Also, I loved it, and I figure that's gotta count for something, even if only in my head. Yup, I've got an inner voice, too. 'Cept mine sounds like Christopher Walken.
'The Return': You know her as the star of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'The Grudge'; now Sarah Michelle Gellar is starring in ... a horror movie. Shocker! (Let's not forget, she also co-starred in 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and 'Scream 2.') She's come a long way since her days as the bitchy Kendall on 'All My Children' ... but I digress. Gellar plays a young woman, haunted by visions, who starts to believe that she may have been murdered in a past life. 'The Return' is the only horror movie opening wide this weekend, and 'Saw III' may have peaked by now, so this should have the thrill-seeking crowd all locked up. On the other hand, it seems fairly forgettable as far as horror movies go, and that bland title doesn't help. It may as well be a movie about a young woman haunted by her overdue DVD rentals.
Also opening wide or wider this week: 'Harsh Times,' which stars Christian Bale as a would-be cop, and 'Babel,' Alejandro González Iñárritu's film of intersecting storylines that stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Neither should make the top five this week. 'Babel' is getting a good bit of Oscar buzz, but it's still an indie, and not a particularly easy one, at that; while 'Harsh Times' is ... um, has anyone really even heard of this film? Sorry, Batman.
That's it for the new releases. I won't bore you further by rambling on about 'Borat,' since I already did that last week -- God bless that crazy Kazakh and his little moviefilm that could. Is niiice. And now, without further ado, the picks you've all been waiting for. Please play along: one point for every movie in the top five, two points for every correct placement,and one extra point for getting the No. 1 movie right. Good luck, and have a great weekend. Peace out.NOTE: Prediction entries must be submitted by midnight (Pacific time) on Saturday, and you may only post one prediction. Void where prohibited, yadda yadda yadda.
POST: What's your weekend top five prediction?
POST: What do you think of these movies?
Stranger Than Fiction: Showtimes, trailer & more info | Ferrell & Hoffman get surreal
The Return: Showtimes, trailer & more info | Photos
A Good Year: Showtimes, trailer & moreinfo|Photos
Borat: Showtimes,
trailer& more info | Exclusive
Q&A | Clips
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my box office predictions are:
1. Stranger than fiction
2.borat
3.the santa clause 3
4.flushed away
5.a good year -
my prediction is:
1. Borat
2. Stranger Than Fiction
3. The Departed (that's my desperate wish for it to do well b/c the movie was BRILLIANT)
4. Santa Clause 3 (even though the movie looks absolutely awful, it's the most advertised "family friendly" film out right now)
5. Babel -
1.Stranger Than Fiction
2.Borat
3.A Good Year
4.Santa Claus 3
5.Flushed Away -
1.) Stranger Than Fiction
2.)Borat
3.)Flushed Away
4.)The Santa Clause 3
5.) The Return
11/11/06 6:27 PM
2. Stranger than Fiction
3. Santa Claus 3
4. Harsh Times
5. Flushed Away