Year One bombs, The Proposel Wins!

Happy Monday, movie geeks!
To start things off this week, we're going to look at how last week went for some new movies and some old ones.

The Proposal got first place with a decent $34.1 million, which isn't too shabby, considering the film only had a budget of $40 million. Once again, both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds show they can bring in the crowd.
The Hangover, one of the funniest movies of the year took second place on its third week with an impressive $26.8 million, which is amazing considering the total is over $150 million for a movie with a $35 million budget. Clearly there will be atleast 10 more of these made in the coming years.
Disney/Pixar's Up got a handsome third place, showing the movie has some real staying power with a total of $21.3 million.
Year One comes in a dismal fourth place with $20.2 million, which could struggle to get its $60 million budget back.

Star Trek is still in the seventh spot, refusing to drop out of the top 10 with a $4.7 million dollar showing. Clearly the new trekkies are just as passionate as the old ones.

So, now, that we know how last week did, its time to put on the Great Kevini hat of predicting stuff. (I'm still working on the name) Transfomers 2 is set to be released on Friday, which will pretty much desimate the movies I listed above, but how high will it go? The first movie got a $70 million opening weekend, and considering sequels generally do better, I'm going with a $86 million opening weekend.

So, given all the hype, are you going to brave the predicted crowds, or are you waiting?
I don't know if I can wait, but if the crowds are bad, I may have to pull a week-day viewing next week.

The Hangover review

I realize that if your the type of person that was interested in the trailer, you are probably not going to care what I think, you probably have already seen it. But, since I saw it, and loved it and enjoyed it with my friends, I wanted to give you my opinion anyway...ya know, just so ya know.

The Hangover synopsis is simple: four friends celebrate one of their owns last day of being single in Vegas with a great bachelor party, so great that when they wake up the next day, no one can remember anything and the groom-to-be is no where to be found. Now, three friends must trace their steps to find their friend before the wedding.

I always hate it when I see the trailer and laugh my ass off, so I have to go to the movie and see what other shenanigans are in store; when I get to the theater, it is two hours of letdown, with one minute and thirty seconds of fun; the same fun that was in the trailer. I can safely say this is not one of those movies, they truly save some of the best parts for the movie. The characters are funny, the writing is crisp, and the setups are hilarious. The best part of the movie is the mystery, however. About half way through, you are truly trying to figure out what happened and put the pieces together to find the groom.

My favorite character in the movie is Mr. Chow, an Asian mobster who gets tangled up in the crazy night, and afterwards wants the money the group stole from him. This guy has some of the best lines in the movie and is pure comedy gold the whole time. My favorite line is of Zack Galifinakis's Alan trying to negotiate with him saying "it's ok, I hate Godzilla too!"

Overall, I have to say I loved this movie. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard for so long in a movie theater, I mean, it was solid laughs from the beginning, all the way through to the credits. I highly enjoyed everything and recommend it to anyone who is in the mood to laugh. I also recomend to enjoy it with some friends, because the quotes in the movie will offer many laughs at the bar later.

I give it a 9 out of 10

FUN FACT: The foul-mouthed band featured near the end of the movie is the "Dan Band", the same band from Frank's wedding in the movie Old School (2003).