BadAtGender

Yeah, I'd definitely expect one around that time. (Planes 2 might be more likely, though. But perhaps both.)

http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/japan/opening/?sort=gross&order=DESC&p=.htm It only goes back to 2002, so it's missing Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, but even so.

There really isn't any reason to get a trailer any earlier than this summer. Although I'd guess it's possible we could see one attached to CA2, given the superhero connection.

What the hell?

That's not true. The computer animation industry was well developed by the time Toy Story came out, so if it hadn't been Pixar, someone would have done a feature. PDI was trying to get funding to do computer animated films a decade before Toy Story came out. They didn't succeed, but it wasn't because of a lack of technical knowhow. Also, Casseopeia (a Brazillian computer animated film) came out within a year of Toy Story and started development in the early 90s, so there was definitely concurrent development elsewhere.

Are you seriously arguing that because Miyazaki didn't develop new technologies, he's a lesser director?

There Will Be Blood - Great performance from Daniel Day Lewis. However, I’m left with a sense of wondering what the point of it was. Like many of Anderson’s films, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Also, the music struck me as completely overwrought.

I wonder if we'll see a bump for the animated films for today.

Aw, yeah: 1 The Nut Job $180,213 -21% 3,004 -468 $60 $55,433,180 4 Open Road

While I can understand an argument for Lasseter being on the list, I can't see any argument for him being ranked above Miyazaki. (Or above Stanton, Doctor, or Sanders, truth be told.) He had influence and affected the faces of animation, but those efforts were something he did more as a producer than a director. The quality of his direction lags behind a number of other animators. And as far as Miyazaki's influence, um... he's influenced a TON of animators, including Lasseter. He is, bar none, the best animation director ever. The fact that he's Japanese and creates movies for his own cultural market isn't something that should be held against him.

I know it's opened in Switzerland. A friend of mine lives there. I'd actually guess that some of them have reported, but BOM screwed up the title. I know that happened in Norway, where they missed the first several weeks and had it listed as a separate movie. (The total in Norway is now correct, but it doesn't have the opening weekend, for instance.) As far as I know, Japan is the only remaining territory to open in.

I think I'm up to 19 choices. Just a few more and I can assemble a list.

The discussion about M. Night dovetails into something I've been wondering about. Does a bad film count against a director? Is greatness a question of how good they got at a peak (when a movie worked) or is some of that canceled out with a misstep?

The problem with M. Night isn't his direction. That's fine and you could probably make an argument that he's one of the better directors out there (top 100? I dunno, but possibly.) His problem is that he insists on writing his movies, and his writing is trash. He had one good trick, used it up in The Sixth Sense, and has spent a decade and a half trying to catch that lightning again. He'd probably start turning out good movies if he'd let someone else write the scripts. (Granted, he's not alone in this regard. There are plenty of guys who are plenty keen behind the camera who shouldn't be touching the pen.)

The Iceman - Pretty compelling as a character piece. Shannon and Evans have stand out performances.A Fistful of Dollars - While not Leone’s best (or even as good as Yojimbo), it’s still pretty great.The Great Mouse Detective - Perhaps the best Disney film in the intermediate era between the death of Walt and the start of the Renaissance. It arguably saved the company’s animation division.

I think all the Monday numbers are up: # Title Mon, Feb. 10 2014 Locations Avg. Total Wks. Dist. 1 The LEGO Movie $3,494,064 -83% 3,775 -- $926 $72,544,343 1 Warner Bros. 2 The Monuments Men $1,622,380 -70% 3,083 -- $526 $23,625,813 1 Sony / Columbia 3 Ride Along $559,845 -76% 2,800 -67 $200 $105,872,375 4 Universal 4 Frozen (2013) $443,330 -79% 2,460 -294 $180 $369,080,767 12 Disney 5 Lone Survivor $387,315 -74% 2,869 -416 $135 $113,239,461 7 Universal 6 That Awkward Moment $362,052 -69% 2,809 0 $129 $16,907,273 2 Focus 7 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit $260,121 -71% 2,139 -768 $122 $44,660,823 4 Paramount 8 Vampire Academy $242,653 -72% 2,676 -- $91 $4,164,395 1 Weinstein Company 9 Labor Day (2013) $238,648 -70% 2,584 0 $92 $10,365,829 2 Paramount 10 The Nut Job $227,223 -80% 3,004 -468 $76 $55,252,967 4 Open Road 11 American Hustle $220,841 -72% 1,640 -576 $135 $138,306,562 9 Sony / Columbia 12 The Wolf of Wall Street $215,064 -71% 1,167 -440 $184 $108,111,652 7 Paramount 13 August: Osage County $126,375 -70% 1,327 -992 $95 $34,416,886 7 Weinstein Company 14 I, Frankenstein $123,642 -71% 1,427 -1326 $87 $17,607,491 3 Lionsgate

Just finished The Iceman. That was pretty fun.

Let's gamble my remaining points: Frozen OS over Ice Age 4 - 50 points, 4 people.

3 Frozen (2013) $443,330 -79% 2,460 -294 $180 $369,080,767 12 Disney

1 Ride Along $559,845 -76% 2,800 -67 $200 $105,872,375 4 Universal 2 Lone Survivor $387,315 -74% 2,869 -416 $135 $113,239,461 7 Universal

Well, when they only have one movie to count, they can count it really fast.

I think it was more that in the face of the tremendous success of Monkey King, Dad, and Macau, as well as the slate of Valentines openers, Frozen didn't look likely to post anything beyond that 10 day range. It would still play out to the end of its run, though. (A month? I'm not sure how long it's actually being given.) Since it seems to be holding up pretty well, that's changed.

Of course it's the first actual: 1 The Nut Job $227,223 -80% 3,004 -468 $76 $55,252,967 4 Open Road

Limited is probably right. In the US it's only going to show up in about 250-300 theaters on the opening weekend. (I imagine it could expand beyond that, but it'd need to break out.)

Had I voted, my top three would have been Kurosawa, Leone, and Miyazaki.