LOS ANGELES, June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Rentrak Theatrical, a
business unit of Rentrak Corporation (Nasdaq: RENT), today announced the
weekend theatrical box office estimates for the weekend period of June 20
through June 22, 2008 according to the company’s Box Office Essentials(TM)
theatrical box office data collection and analytical service.

    The twelve estimated top producing motion pictures for the weekend, per
data collected as of 9:30AM Pacific on Sunday, June 22 by Rentrak Theatrical
include:

    Rank  Title      Weekend Gross                (Locations)
    1     Get Smart     $39,155,000                (3911)
    2     Kung Fu Panda     $21,700,000         (4053)
    3     The Incredible Hulk    $21,556,660  (3508)
    4     The Love Guru     $14,000,000         (3012)
    5     The Happening     $10,000,000        (2986)
    6     Indiana Jones Kingdom Crystal Skull $8,414,000  (3171)
    7     You Don’t Mess With The Zohan  $7,200,000  (3278)
    8     Sex And The City    $6,465,000        (2442)
    9     Iron Man      $4,002,000                   (1912)
    10    The Strangers     $1,948,830            (1578)
    11    Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian $1,708,000  (1462)
    12    What Happens In Vegas   $770,000  (708)

    Weekend of 06/20/2008 to 06/22/2008

    (C) 2008 by Rentrak Corporation

    About Box Office Essentials

    Box Office Essentials provides each studio with password-protected,
real-time, web browser-based and 24/7 access to data pertaining
specifically to their movie release titles. A sophisticated toolset allows
studio distribution executives to view and analyze the information at
different levels of detail and across a multitude of attributes (by theatre
circuit, DMA, time zone, etc.), enhancing their ability to make faster, and
better informed decisions. Additional features include online school
calendars (K-12 and college), interactive release schedule and 24-hour
subscriber support.

    About Rentrak Corporation

    Rentrak Corporation, based in Portland, Oregon, is an information
management company serving clients in the media, entertainment, retail,
advertising and manufacturing industries. The company’s Entertainment
Essentials(TM) suite of services is redefining media measurement in the
digital broadband era. Entertainment Essentials provides customers with
near-real-time, actionable insight into performance of content distributed
over a wide variety of modern media technologies. Available by license or
subscription, each Entertainment Essentials application allows executives
to analyze detailed industry-wide and title-specific data to make decisions
that enhance the bottom line and provide competitive advantage. For further
information, please visit Rentrak’s corporate Web site at
http://www.rentrak.com.

     Contacts: Rogers & Cowan for Rentrak Corporation
               Sallie Olmsted                       Amanda Bartz
               (310) 854-8124                       (310) 854-8151
               solmsted@rogersandcowan.com          abartz@rogersandcowan.com

I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the original Get Smart but I’d been seeing previews for the new movie and thought it looked okay.  I enjoy Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, but the previews didn’t really promise anything too funny so when my Dad suggested seeing Get Smart, I thought why not. After seeing the movie I was glad he had, because I found this movie to be hilarious!

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell, The Office) works as an analyst for a secret agency called Control.  He always dreamed of being an agent, but was unable to pass the test.  Finally, he passes and can’t wait to get started; unfortunately the Chief (Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine) can’t afford to loose his best analyst and does not promote him.  A chance arrives soon enough when Control is infiltrated by KAOS, Control’s number one enemy, who steals all their secret agents identities and begins killing them off. Smart and a recently surgically changed Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada) are the only agents not compromised and are teamed up to solve the case. 

Get Smart is a movie filled with comedy and action.  Director Peter Segal (50 First Dates) really knows how to mix things up, and keep the movie interesting at the same time.  I never felt bored during this movie, and by the time it ended I was sad because I just wanted to keep watching! Originally I was concerned about Carell and Hathaway’s pairing, as I didn’t think they’d make a good team.  They proved me wrong as they made a great team. Carrell’s goofiness is perfectly offset by Hathaway’s straight-laced routine.  But they can switch their roles just as easily, though they don’t do it very often.

Carrell and Hathaway may be the stars of the movie, but movie wouldn’t be the same without the excellent supporting cast.  Arkin as the Chief is gruff when needed, but a friend to his agents too.  I might also add the Arkin shows himself as kind of a bad ass in this movie too, which was well enjoyed by me! Even Dwayne Johnson (formally known as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, The Game Plan) is fun to watch as Agent 23, who Smart looks up to as being the best agent around.  Masi Oka (Heroes) and Nate Torrence (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) also show up as nerdy Control workers who help Smart out on more than one occasion.  One scene had me cracking up just from seeing their facial expressions (when you see the movie, you’ll know which scene I’m referring to).  Although the biggest laugh in the screening I saw came from a Chuck Norris joke (which wasn’t the funniest for me, but still got a chuckle…will those Chuck Norris jokes ever not be funny?)  I also must mention David Koechner’s (Anchorman) performance.  He may not get much screen time, but he makes the most of it and I always enjoy watching him.  

If it wasn’t obvious enough from reading above, I’ll summarize.  I highly recommend seeing this movie.  From what my Dad told me there were some good references to the old TV show (and I even caught a couple – like the theme song, and shoe phone) so I think fans of that will be happy, but I think the movie is good enough to stand on its own for new fans to enjoy too.  I’d definitely give this movie an A, and I really have no complaints about this movie.  The only one I could really come up with was that the last chase scene was a little long, but I think it ended on the right note and I won’t hold it against the movie whatsoever.  This is one that would be worth seeing in theaters, especially if you’re in the mood for some good laughs!

At first, I hadn’t even intended to watch this movie. The trailers made it appear mediocre at best, and I had heard next to nothing about it from anyone. But I was bored and it was there, so I gave Mad Money a shot. And I was happily surprised.

The story begins when Don and Bridget Cardigan, an average middle-age couple, find themselves unemployed and in need of financial aid. With her outdated college education and very weak grasp on today’s technology, Bridget winds up as a janitor in the Federal Reserve. Soon her money-hungry mind starts running and suddenly Bridget and two fellow employees find themselves concocting and initiating a fool-proof plan to steal piles of old, tattered cash otherwise headed for destruction.

Now the premise doesn’t sound like much, but actors Ted Danson (Becker), Diane Keaton (Because I Said So), Katie Holmes (Batman Begins) and Queen Latifah (Bringing Down the House) did with their roles what their roles did with the money – took it and ran. All of these actors have years of experience under their belts and it showed. They did a superb job in presenting their characters as plain, everyday people who couldn’t turn down a perfect opportunity. I actually found myself being reminded of people I know in the real world while watching the movie, and that fact kept me engaged and interested (and also made the plot slightly more amusing). 

The writing itself probably circled more around “mediocre”, but not annoyingly so. I’d imagine it’d be quite challenging for Mad Money writer Glenn Gers (Fracture) to formulate a new and believable way that a few American citizens could rip off a highly-secured federal building. Fortunately I think Gers did a satisfactory job in that case. However, there were a couple of scenes that I felt could’ve been cut out and have little to no effect on the comedy or quality of the movie at all. But Hollywood produces a lot of movies that way, so I really didn’t see it as a significant problem. It just took away from any edge or originality this movie could’ve held.

There’s really not much else to say about Mad Money. It wasn’t anything special, but was certainly a very entertaining surprise for me. Anyone open to have a few laughs should definitely give this movie a chance.

Marvel Studios has released their second film of 2008, and while not as highly anticipated as Iron Man, there is a lot of buzz surround The Incredible Hulk.

Marvel has decided to reboot the Hulk franchise, ignoring Ang Lee’s Hulk movie which was not well received at all.  This time around, Louis Leterrier (The Transporter 1 and 2) is at the helm, and there is much more action as a result.

This film is very much an homage to the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferigno TV series from the 1980s.  Many images in the film are straight out of the show, as well as the Hulk’s origin.  Even the theme music makes an appearance.  But there are also a lot of comic book references as well, including the Mr. Green/Mr. Blue exchange from Bruce Jones’ “Return of the Monster” storyline, and cameos by some familiar comic characters.

Banner is in hiding after his first Hulk-out, where he nearly killed his girlfriend, Betty, and her father, General Thunderbolt Ross.  But he’s slipped up, and now the General is closing in, which gives the movie a Fugitive-type feel.  To help hunt Banner down, General Ross assembles a team of specialists, including Emil Blonksy, a life-long soldier who loves a challenge.  After Blonsky sees the Hulk first hand, he wants to do whatever it takes to bring him down, including being injected with the Super Soldier Serum (hinting at the upcoming Captain America film).  This gives him enhanced strength and speed, but it’s not enough for Blonsky.  So he’s infused with some of Banner’s blood and becomes the Abomination, and monster bigger and badder than the Hulk.  This sets up the film’s final confrontation between the two monsters.

All of the roles from the first film have been recast, with Edward Norton playing Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, and William Hurt as General Thunderbolt Ross.  Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs) plays the Emil Blonsky/The Abomination.  Marvel has done it again with the casting, and everyone plays their roles perfectly.  Norton really shines as Banner, and it’s great that he gets a chance to strut his stuff in an action/comic book movie.

The Hulk looks like he’s supposed to this time - Nine feet tall, green and mean.  The film makers were able to capture more emotion in this Hulk which should make him more acceptable as a CGI character.  The CGI Hulk didn’t bother me at all, but the Abomination was a bit much.  He really looks nothing like his comic book counterpart, and more like a mini-Godzilla crossed with something out of a horror movie.

The best parts of the film are when Banner is on the run.  That’s not to say that the Hulk scenes were bad - most of them weren’t - but one of the things that made the Hulk TV show work well was the Fugitive aspect of it, and it works well here, too.

The weakest part of the movie is the big Hulk/Abomination battle.  Maybe it was the CGI, maybe it was that seeing two monsters beat the tar out of each other can only go so far, but it just didn’t work for me.  The final scene of the movie also seemed forced and out of place.  I think that it would have worked better a little earlier than where it showed up.  Despite that, it’s a great scene for the fans.

Since I’m a movie score nut, I’ve got to deduct points again for the music in the film.  Much like Iron Man, the music has no themes for any of the characters, nothing that you walk away from the film humming, (except a few bars from the Hulk TV show).  It would be nice to see a recognizable name composing music for future Marvel films, because so far, they’ve been pretty lame.

Overall, The Incredible Hulk is far superior to the Ang Lee Hulk movie.  It’s faster paced, more engaging, and just plain fun.  Fans of the TV show will like it, fans of the comic books will like it, and even casual fans should enjoy it.

I’m giving the Incredible Hulk a B rating.

Thanks for reading.

Marc Bowker
Sideshow Movie Collectibles