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Staring into the Abyss (2008 Aug 04)

I have always found there to be something mournful about August. Temperature-wise, it's my second favorite month of the year (behind July), but it always feels more like an ending than a beginning. Perhaps it's the shortening of daylight hours. ...

Spitting Into the Wind (2008 Nov 12)

Note: Over the next week (or so), there will be fewer than usual ReelThoughts entries. I'm in the middle of a stretch during which I'm making five speaking engagements in seven days, so my time for writing has been curtailed, and I want to ...

Spectacle in Miniature (Video View) (2008 May 21)

The biggest theatrical movie being released on DVD this week is National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Within a week or two, it should be at the top of both the sales and rental charts. However, as is the case with all action-oriented would-be ...

Sinking Titanic? (2008 Jul 30)

Note: Numbers in this piece refer to domestic gross, not world-wide gross. While the latter total is widely available for films released in the last 20 years, estimates of international grosses become increasingly unreliable the older a title is.The...

Short Clips (2008 Feb 03)

This is a new regular (or semi-regular) feature for ReelThoughts that's intended to provide some weekend content as well as more interaction with readers. The idea behind "Short Clips" is for me to reply and react (in general) terms to e-mails from ...

Short Clips (2008 Feb 10)

Has the writer's strike actually ended, or are those just rumors flying around Hollywood? Tentative agreements are such fragile things; let's get an actual settlement before rejoicing, if that's what we're supposed to do. Actually, I was hoping the...

Short Clips (2008 Feb 16)

Three topics dominated the mailbag this week: site redesign, advertising versus donations, and HD-DVD. I'm also amassing a nice collection of hate mail, some of which I plan to share in the near future. The irregular "hate mail" features of this ...

Short Clips (2008 Feb 24)

Not much in the mailbag this week about advertising or the site redesign. There is one question I want to address, then I'll move on to other things. When I recently mentioned that I intended to "cap" ads, what did I mean? Simply, that the number ...

Short Clips (2008 Mar 02)

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this past week's e-mail was the lack of volume associated with The Oscars. There were a few obligatory messages but not the usual avalanche. The majority opinion of those writing to me is that this year's ...

Sequelitis Disaster (2008 Aug 18)

Sequels have been around for as long as movies have, but it's only in the last 30 years (or so) that they have begun to dominate the summer box office. Thus far this year, two of the top three movies are sequels. Last year, four of the top five fit...

See No Evil (2008 Sep 23)

[Note: As promised, in-text and pop-under ads have been removed from the site. The deletion of the pop-unders represents a leap of faith since they generated approximately 10% of my income. My hope is that the goodwill resulting from their removal ...

Seasonal Box Office Disorder (2008 Jan 03)

Excited about going to the movies this weekend? Neither am I. Welcome to January, Wasteland of the Cinema. It's not a pretty sight.There is no more uninspired month out there - not even February or August, Hollywood's traditional dumping grounds. ...

Rewinding 2008: The Top 10 (2008 Dec 30)

To p 10 lists are curiosities: fun to glance at but not of much greater or lasting value. Take them for what they're worth. One reason I enjoy putting mine together is that it allows me to spend time re-watching and reconsidering some of the year's ...

Rewinding 2008: Performance Anxiety (2008 Dec 28)

Okay, let me get this out of the way to start with. Who's not on this mixed lead/supporting actor list? Heath Ledger. It's not that I have something against the late performer or his work in The Dark Knight. In fact, I believe it was about the ...

Rewinding 2008: Naked in the Multiplex (2008 Dec 25)

It's time to start looking back at 2008. This year, I'll start this three-part series with a look at screen nudity. Before getting to the specifics, let me establish some parameters and provide a few definitions. For the purposes of this column, I'...

Rewinding 2007: The Bottom 10 (2008 Dec 27)

People ask if it's fun compiling a Bottom 10 list. Yes and no. It's not fun being reminded of the year's dregs but it is fun getting in a parting shot at them. All Bottom 10 lists must be taken with a king-sized grain of rock salt. For major ...

Rewarding the Pirates (2008 Feb 04)

The following applies specifically to the MPAA and the computer game industry, but it wouldn't take much imagination to extend it to the RIAA as well...If we're going to face reality, which is something the MPAA religiously fails to do, it's ...