Maybe if the suits would stop pushing that 3D crap all the time, more people might go to the theatre...

 This all thanks to the dark knight prologue I reckon. The MI film isn't the best in the series so something must be behind it's success.

um i liked MI4 - hope they make another one

m glad that smurfs and panda 2 made some cash so they keep making sequels

caught up on some movies the past week:

fright night - 2/5

inbetweeners movie - 3/5

friends with benefits (do people really talk like that in real life?) - 2/5

attack the block - 2.5/5

just go with it - 3.5/5

insidious - 1/5

tower heist - 3/5

tintin - 3/5

yup really made use of the holiday break

So the top 4 films worldwide and half the top ten domestically were 3D and yet some still blame the format for the overall decline in attendance. The economy is the main culprit IMO, at first the bad economy helped the industry but the prolong recession has bit into this as well.
   
tallman buddy you are WAAAAAY off, the TDKR prologue was playing in a total of about 100 screens and only about 42 were here in North America. If you think that is to credit for MI4's performance then I just want to know what meds you're on......and send me some

WarHorse is an amazing film and would get my vote for best film of the year if I had one and Spielberg would get best director as well however the 125% jump isn't as impressive as it sounds above when you consider that the film opened on a Sunday so its first weekend was a short one.
 

My mom and I went down to Florida to visit my brother for Christmas and in between amusement parks, manatee viewing, pirate dinner theateres and other amusements we saw 2 movies.  We watched M:I 4 and The Descendants.  You can not imagine 2 more different movies.  M:I 4 was all action and The Descendants was was all emotion.

There was nothing about the advertising or commercials for The Descendants which would make me want to see it.  The commercials make it look dull as dust.  The movie's name makes sense after you see it,  but is so vague that it won't intrigue any potential audience members.  The only thing it has going for it in the audience attraction dept is George Clooney, which is, of course, why we went to see it.

It's a fantastic film, very quiet.  It's about a guy dealing with the emotional fall out of his wife's injury in a boating accident and resulting coma.  He has to deal with various family and business issues while coping with his own grief and then he find out his wife was having an affair...  I know, it sounds dull but it was actually very good and if Clooney wins an Oscar for his performance it will be well deserved.

We saw M:I 4 but while there were trailers for many movies, the next Batman film was not among them.  And why ANYBODY would pay $10 for a theater ticket to see a trailer which they could view for free on line completely escapes me.  Give me that money instead.  I could use it.

There were a lot of movies I liked this year, but it was definitely a disappointing year at the theater for me. There were only a couple of movies that I was seriously excited to see. There were a few films that surprised me, but many more that fell way below expectations. The highlight for me was definitely Captain America because I had been waiting for that movie for 34 years.

The 3D discussion is a moot point for me because my local theater always gives me the option of 3D or good old 2D. I have nothing against 3D; I just don't like paying an extra $3 for a movie. If the studios want to keep producing 3D versions of films to wring a little extra cash out of a film's run more power to them. If moviegoers are enticed by the studios to see movies in 3D, well, as the old quote goes (not by P.T. Barnum) "There's a sucker born every minute."

I'm hoping 2012 will be a more exciting year at the theaters for me...Nolan's last Batman film, Avengers, Prometheus, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer, Expendables 2...and I'm sure there will be some surprises, too.

I hope all of my fellow maniacs had a happy holiday season and the new year brings you much joy.

I saw two movies this week: Adventures of Tintin & M:I4.

I thought Tintin was fantastic. I have no prior knowledge of the character but that wasn't necessary. You get the basics as the story goes on. The motion capture animation was the best I have ever seen, perhaps better than Avatar because the characters were more human based and an enviornment we already know. Gone was the creepy not-quite-right look you get from most motion capture CG. Storywise this was like the best of all the Indiana Jones movies rolled together. The Spielberg direction, John Williams music, and great action sequences (sometimes cartoony over the top) made me wish it was an Indiana Jones film. Maybe Spielberg can convince Lucas to do it this way. We could get a younger Dr. Jones out of the animation. Tintin is a visual masterpiece and great fun.

MI:4 was the best of the MI films IMHO after the 3rd one. Great action,appropriate humor, cool gadgetry, and an interesting, suspenseful plot. Cruise was his usual serious stunt performing self and I liked the fact that this came across more as an ensemble cast with Simon Pegg being a great standout. Another 2 thumbs up.

Hope everyone had good holidays and we can make it a happy new year for ourselves.

Wise.... I didn't know how many it was showing with, it was just a guess as I didn't think this Mission Impossible matched up to the others. As for the meds I am on... I'll send some over anyway for ya!

You the man :)

 sdtewrew