Black Sheep @ The Box Office: A Very Full Moon

You will have to excuse me; I was away on business. Now that I am back, I am exhausted so I will be doing nothing for the rest of that day. That said, I could not overlook what amounted to the third best opening of all time. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON opened to the best opening day of all time on Friday with over $70 million and finished the weekend with roughly double that. Everyone knew it would be huge but who could have predicted this? The true test will be next weekend. Most fans caught it right away so next weekend will show how far past its fanbase the film will play.


In other box office news, Sandra Bullock has a great year with THE BLIND SIDE opening over $34 million, following her summer hit, THE PROPOSAL. PRECIOUS continues to expand to incredible numbers, almost increasing by 100% over last week after adding approximately 450 screens. There was nothing out of this world about PLANET 51's fourth place opening. Below the TOP 10, FANTASTIC MR. FOX took in another per screen average of nearly $50K before expanding to over 2000 screens next week. Werner Herzog's update of BAD LIEUTENANT starring Nicolas Cage brought in a mild per screen of just under $10K but good word of mouth could turn that around as it expands. And this week's biggest per screen average went to Pedro Almodovar's latest, BROKEN EMBRACES, pulling $54K on just 2 screens.


NEXT WEEK: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! John Travolta and Robin Williams are looking for WILD HOGS numbers with OLD DOGS opening on 3300 screens. James McTeigue, director of V FOR VENDETTA returns with NINJA ASSASSIN on 2500 screens. The critically acclaimed THE ROAD with Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron opens wide. And on the smaller end, character films like THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE and ME AND ORSON WELLES open on a handful of screens and Disney platforms THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG on just two screens before going wide in December.

Source: BOX OFFICE MOJO

Black Sheep Previews: NEW MOON

After its highly anticipated debut at last week's MTV Movie Awards, the trailer for the second installment in the Twilight vampire series, NEW MOON, has reignited the lust for blood in girls around the world. Clearly, from the overtly romantic tone of the trailer, new helmer, Chris Weitz (who replaced Catherine Hardwicke to many fans' dismay), knows what fans connected with in the first installment and intends to play that up this time out. I'm not a big Weitz fan, when it comes to direction, that is. His writing is surprisingly sensitive (CHUCK & BUCK, ABOUT A BOY) but his direction barely holds big pictures together. As it stands, his work on THE GOLDEN COMPASS left the fate of the series in question so it does not bode well for this immensely popular series. That said, he seems to be holding true to the simple hometown aesthetic of the last outing, as opposed to the glamorizing Alfonso Cuaron brought to the Harry Potter series. Well, Taylor Lautner (Jacob - the one who turns into a wolf), got a much needed haircut and has clearly been doing nothing but working on his pecs since the last production wrapped but aside from that, everything seems to be in line with the sincerity that captured both believers and non-believers so genuinely in TWILIGHT. Just remember boys and girls, Lautner is but a baby of 17. No touching.



Personally, I've lost a little interest in the Twilight Saga. I had none to begin with and then was surprisingly impressed with the film. I mean, it wasn't perfect but it certainly had more going for it than I had anticipated. I loved Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her simple demeanor. Even Robert Pattinson as Edward grew on me after I got over his ability to sparkle in the daylight. I am still looking forward to this sequel but I've also been watching the first season of "True Blood" so my experience is tainted. There are far too many similarities between the two and "True Blood" is not doing a good job of it. The wah-wah whiny nature of the HBO series makes Edward seem all the more sappy. It's almost making me wish everyone would just leave the vamps alone already. That isn't going to happen though so I'll just have to hope NEW MOON reaffirms my belief in the possible love between a teenage girl and a decades old man who can potentially suck every drop of blood out of her at any moment.

BLU-REVIEW: TWILIGHT

Written by Melissa Rosenberg
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson


Edward Cullen: I wanted to kill you. I never wanted a human being’s blood so much.

It may occasionally sound like a vampire movie but TWILIGHT certainly doesn’t look like any vampire movie I’ve ever seen. For starters, some of these particular vampires are vegetarians. It is much less a movie about vampires as it a movie that just happens to have vampires. You might even say it is the BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN of vampire movies. This is not to say it is anywhere near as good; just that director Catherine Hardwicke cleared the path so that you could see the love and not just the blood lust one would expect. That love is shared between Bella and Edward (played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson). She just moved back to this tiny town to spend some time with her estranged father and he too just moved back to this same town after being away for a few decades. She is 17 and he looks like he’s 17 (he also looks like he’s ready for an all vampire cabaret revue with all that face makeup but that’s besides the point) but really he was born way back near the turn of the century, the last century. Doesn’t anyone else see something wrong with this picture? He could realistically be her great grandfather, people.


This is Bella’s story really and her perspective is what brings both sensitivity and assertive confidence to TWILIGHT. Bella’s relationship with her father is understandably tricky. Her newfound friends from school take some definite getting used to. And as if her life weren’t complicated enough already, what with the big move and the inevitable adjustment period, she just had to go and fall “hang upside down from the rafters” in love with a vampire. The best part about the somewhat ridiculous premise (I say somewhat because maybe vampires really do exist, even vegetarian ones), is that Hardwicke has grounded it firmly. Imagine a teenage movie where none of the “youngins” utter inspired brilliance every time they open their mouths. No, these folks are actually awkward; they actually don’t know what to say sometimes. And they actually live in a place where not everything they wear is right off the runway. All of this realism helps make the supernatural element all the more plausible but it also brings to light a couple of points of concern about the teenage girl.


TWILIGHT reinforces one of the most unfortunate clichés around these days. Every girl out there just really wants a bad boy. They don’t even care if they have admittedly drained innocent bodies of all their blood before. We should definitely make sure that the legions of young girls who see this film, or read the Stephanie Meyers book it is based upon, believe that love can resolve any obstacle, be that a difference of opinion, a disagreement or the distinct possibility that your boyfriend may one day wake in the middle of the night to find he can no longer resist the urge to drink your blood. It is easy to get sucked in to TWILIGHT’s lore (Get it? Sucked?) because we all have these distorted ideas of love ingrained inside of us but last I checked, a guy who sneaks into your room to watch you sleep is called a stalker, not a romantic. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from TWILIGHT though, it is that a teenage girl’s love is infinitely stronger than a vampire’s lust for blood. Oh, and that girls love all things that sparkle.


My apologies to the technical geeks and true fans out there. I had too much to say about this film to go into detail about all the blu-ray special features. I will just say that if you are a fan of this film, you will not be disappointed with which your admiration has been rewarded. There is feature commentary with the director and two leads; the behind the scenes featurettes go through most of the production stages and can be seen picture in picture on blu-ray (which, if you're like me and didn't know what that was before, means that you can watch the film and a separate screen will appear in the corner to give you information about the scene that is playing). On the whole, all the special features point towards the care with which this production came to life and how much it has meant to legions of fans. There are even music videos by Linkin Park and Paramore. You tell me, what more could a bloodthirsty teenage girl want?

FILM

BD

BOX OFFICE 2008

I'm not sure if you noticed but 2008 came to a close a few days ago. This means the box office is officially closed and we can tally up what were the biggest hits of the year. Overall, the 2008 North American box office pulled in a staggering $9.6 billion dollars, moving 1.4 billion tickets. Believe it or not, this is actually down from 2007. It is only down by 0.4% mind you. Apparently, no matter what the economic climate, we've always got money for the movies.


Let's see ... what was the biggest box office story of the year? Geez, that's a hard one. Alright, I'll knock it off. The biggest box office story of the year was easily the success of Eddie Murphy's MEET DAVE. OK, now I will seriously knock it off. So, again, the biggest box office story of 2008 was easily the colossal success of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT. For the first time since its release, a film came within reach of sinking TITANIC to become the number one box office hit of all time. This did not come to pass but I'm sure no one really cares. THE DARK KNIGHT, be it because of the Heath Ledger fascination factor or just because it was so darn great, crossed over every single demographic it could to score the biggest opening weekend in history. I knew it was going to be big; I couldn't even get tickets for opening night. However, I didn't think it was going to be that big. You could feel it though. There was a very strong sense of urgency to see this film and it carried over for weeks. THE DARK KNIGHT also played well on IMAX theatres as well as internationally, where it almost topped $1 billion. It is sure to do so in a couple of weeks though when it is rereleased in theatres to push its Oscar chances. The best thing about THE DARK KNIGHT is that it brought people together. It isn't often that a film connects with so many people so congratulations to the whole cast and crew for all their success.


The second and third place films finished very tightly with less than $1 million difference between them. IRON MAN ultimately won out over INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL though. Well, at least domestically. Internationally, INDIANA JONES was the second biggest hit of the year, while IRON MAN finished fifth. These two films are funny to compare as they are both huge money makers but one could describe their domestic takes as both a huge success and a disappointment. IRON MAN opened to nearly $100 million to kick off the summer season. No one expected this one. I also don't think anyone expected to enjoy it as much as they probably did. Meanwhile, INDIANA JONES opened slightly higher but I think the industry was expecting bigger things. I certainly don't think they thought the bat would best them; that's for sure.


Not surprisingly, the Top 10 contains no less than four animated features. While, MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA is still tracking, I doubt it will move much higher on the chart and surpass the two biggest kid flicks. When WALL-E opened, it too surpassed expectations. The response was extremely positive as well so prognosticators expected WALL-E to go on to become one of Pixar's biggest triumphs. The public did not follow up though and WALL-E merely went on to just pass last year's RATATOUILLE. And while WALL-E is the animated king domestically, KUNG FU PANDA whooped WALL-E's metal butt internationally, earning over $120 million more to become the third biggest international hit of the year. This may just be because KUNG FU PANDA came first and got the jump on WALL-E. Personally, I did my part as I saw WALL-E in the theatre three times. Yup, I'm that geeky.


Hollywood learned a valuable lesson this year, the value of the female dollar. For so many years, it was assumed that the box office was primarily male driven but three films in particular this year made it very clear that women should never be ignored. The most successful female driven pic was TWILIGHT but that also has a huge book following so it may not be fair to discount that. The other two films have huge built-in followings as well but SEX AND THE CITY and MAMMA MIA! made people take notice. SEX AND THE CITY opened to just under $60 million and went on to pull in $152 million, just missing the Top 10. MAMMA MIA! (which opened opposite THE DARK KNIGHT) pulled in half of the SEX AND THE CITY gals in its opening weekend but showed some very strong legs throughout the summer. Both films are also huge international hits. In fact, MAMMA MIA! did in the UK what THE DARK KNIGHT was not able to do domestically; it surpassed TITANIC as the biggest box office in UK history. I would never have expected that ... ever. Now, all they have to do is start making these female skewed pics better as I didn't care for any of these movies. And yes, I know I'm not a girl.


Speaking of movies I didn't like all that much, two other Top 10 hits need singling out as they were also both huge hits internationally as well. HANCOCK is the fourth biggest international hit of the year, proving that Will Smith is still one of the biggest stars on the planet. He followed that one up with his weakest performer in years, mind you, SEVEN POUNDS. James Bond also returned this year with QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The sequel to CASINO ROYALE just squeaked past its predecessor domestically but still has a ways to go to beat CASINO ROYALE's $594 million international total.


In total, 24 films passed the century mark to gross over $100 million. That total will likely go up to 26 if MARLEY & ME and YES MAN stay on track. And while I hate to end on a negative note, I can't get away with not pointing out what seem to me like the three biggest box office disappointments of 2008. I believe you may know them better as flops. When you take international gross into account though, none of them seem that bad. I mean I wouldn't want to lose that kind of money but I just pay to see movies, not to make them. The first high profile flop of 2008 was the Wachowski's SPEED RACER. Audiences scoffed at this colorful explosion and this lead to an $18 million opening weekend. Given the reported $120 million price tag, the future looked grim. SPEED RACER crossed the finish line with $93 million internationally, losing just under $30 million. I never understood why rival studios decided to open THE LOVE GURU and GET SMART on the same weekend. The Steve Carrell pic easily killed Mike Myers' disaster. THE LOVE GURU opened to a mere $13 million and finished its international run at $40 million. That's $22 million less that what it reportedly cost to make. And finally, I mentioned it first so I guess it is fitting to wrap things up with it. MEET DAVE, a movie about I believe Eddie Murphy's multiple personality disorder, I can't be sure, opened to a horrific $5 million. Luckily for Murphy, his international fans were more forgiving and the film ended up pulling in $50 million total, only $10 million less than its budget.

So that is it for 2008, folks. My prediction for biggest film of 2009 ... BRIDE WARS. That's right. You read that right.

Alright, I'm kidding ... again.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Four American Christmases and an Australian Turkey

Ah, Thanksgiving. You can always count on this special holiday, even in times of crushing economic woe, to reinvigorate the marketplace and get people spending again. It just makes me feel so warm inside. After all, there are now less than 30 days until the mother of all holidays. You can avoid putting up the lights or block out the holiday tunes at the mall but Christmas has hit the theatres. In fact, four Christmases have hit.


FOUR CHRISTMASES opened behind last week’s champ, TWILIGHT, on Wednesday, when it and a number of other releases entered the marketplace to capitalize on the holiday. It quickly took over on Thursday and led through the weekend for a $31 million debut and a $46 million five-day take. The critically-panned feature is Witherspoon’s return to comedy and a blatant attempt to recapture America’s hearts and it is Vince Vaughan’s second holiday feature in a row in his apparent course to be America’s family man. As obvious the choice is, FOUR CHRISTMASES has opened better than anything either has put out in ages so I’m sure the eggnog is flowing freely by the fire for these two this weekend – that is if they didn’t hate each other. I’m just telling you what I heard.


The next three positions in the Top 5 went to holdovers, which meant that the week’s two other wide releases had to settle for much less prestigious debuts. Baz Luhrmann returned to theatres for the first time since his 2001 Best Picture nominee, MOULIN ROUGE! with AUSTRALIA, a $120 million epic love story. Expensive epic disaster sounds more appropriate right now. This was considered to be a major box-office and award season contender and now it looks like it could end up being neither. Earning a modest but respectable $5,600 per screen average would ordinarily be a solid start but this costly mess needed a grand slam debut to recoup its costs. The fact that critics are split on it certainly didn’t help matters much and without award season kudos, Luhrmann won’t be getting any second helpings. Meanwhile, the TRANSPORTER series starring Jason Statham went back for thirds. The third and likely last installment brought in about $8 million less than its predecessor did in its opening frame. Even TRANSPORTER 3’s five-day take didn’t match the $20 million debut of TRANSPORTER 3. Still, the franchise is relatively cheap to produce so Jason Statham is still sitting pretty at the head of the B-list celebrity action stars table.


There was much to be thankful for if you almost any other movie in the Top 10. As expected (and desperately wished for by the Disney people), BOLT improved upon last week’s take and inched up a notch to the number two spot. Bond’s QUANTUM OF SOLACE saw a slight decline of just 27% as good working folk who had not had a chance to catch their favorite international spy finally made their way out to catch him. The cuddly if not irritating animals of MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA caught another wave of kids out of school for the break and only slipped off a scant 7%. And ROLE MODELS continued to make good on its strong word of mouth, dropping off just 28%. The most troubling stumble was also somewhat expected as the front heavy TWILIGHT plummeted over 62% in its second week. Still, $120 million is 10 days is a bloody mouthful.


Sure it’s great that a little film like THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS can spend two consecutive weeks in the Top 10, even improving in its second week. But it’s hard to take too much notice when two other even smaller releases are producing mind boggling numbers. Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is becoming a surprise Best Picture contender and is stuck just outside the Top 10 for a second week at number eleven. On just 49 screens, SLUMDOG pulled in an average of almost $28K for a grand total of $3.6 million. All this before it has even gone wide. One other film though shut it out from the Top 10 it is gunning for so badly and that film is MILK. The buzz on this one is almost deafening and considering the controversial vote on Proposition 8 earlier this month in California, MILK, a biography of the first openly gay American politician, Harvey Milk, could not be more topical. Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn will likely see many reasons to celebrate as the weeks ahead unravel but whether they can reach BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN numbers remains to be seen.

NEXT WEEK: One needs at least one week to recover from this much consumption. This would explain why next week is pretty quiet. The widest release is the new PUNISHER movie (huh?). Aside from that, there are a couple of mid-size releases, CADILLAC RECORDS and NOBEL SON. At least the art house crowd can get excited over FROST / NIXON but it seems pickings will be slim so eat up now.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Twilight's Big Bite

Every now and then I am reminded that I am not a teenager anymore. I don’t have a favorite Jonas Brother; I couldn’t get through the first 20 minutes of the first HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL; and up until this past spring when I first saw posters appearing in the city, I had never heard of Stephanie Meyer or TWILIGHT. Little did I know, it was a phenomenon amongst the younger folks. Even going in to this weekend, I thought it was going to be that big. It was a crowded weekend and the trailers looked pretty flat. When I read that 2,000 advance screenings had already sold out though, I knew I was bloody wrong about the whole thing.


And so TWILIGHT flew out of the cave with midnight Thursday screenings tallying $7 million and rode that wave to a total of $35 million on Friday alone. That’s $8 million more than Bond brought in last Friday. TWILIGHT finished the weekend surpassing everyone’s expectations (and essentially annihilating mine) with a grand total of over $70 million, becoming the fourth biggest November opening of all time, behind three separate Harry Potter installments. I wonder if the Potter people regret the move out of this weekend now.


Meanwhile, Bond got banged by bad word of mouth and tumbled nearly 60% in its second week to just $27 million. This kind of fall means QUANTUM OF SOLACE will struggle to surpass CASINO ROYALE’s $165 million domestic total. Overseas, Bond has nothing to cry about as the film is seriously outpacing the last installment but this is definitely a different story on the home front. QUANTUM OF SOLACE barely came in second place, and may very likely end up in third after the final numbers come in tomorrow. Considering Sony over inflated last weekend’s gross to look as though QUANTUM OF SOLACE had done better numbers than THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, it would not shock me if they did to save face for losing to an animated dog.


The dog in question is BOLT, Disney’s 3D animated film featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. I’m sure the Disney peeps were hoping for a bigger haul this weekend than $27 million but BOLT’s bite was no match for that of TWILIGHT. With very little strict family fare coming in the weeks to follow though, BOLT could surprise with strong legs. The Thanksgiving holiday is certainly going to give BOLT a big boost.

Two particular arthouse films have much to celebrate this weekend. The first is THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS. The WWII drama debuted last week to strong numbers and expanded this week into 368 screens to see its haul increase by 252%. The even bigger success is hiding just below the Top 10 at number 11. One of this year’s biggest crowd pleasers, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, added 22 screens this weekend and saw another week averaging over $31K per screen. The Danny Boyle Oscar hopeful shot up over 176% and looks poised for the Top 10 next week.

Speaking of … NEXT WEEK: It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without holiday film fare. Enter Vince Vaughan and Reese Witherspoon in FOUR CHRISTMASES. Baz Luhrmann returns to cinemas after a seven-year absence with AUSTRALIA, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. And for those who think holidays are for guns and explosions, Jason Statham returns with TRANSPORTER 3. Mmmm, pass the turkey, please.

Fall Foliage: November

BLACK SHEEP'S FALL FILM PREVIEW


I am not American but the majority of films I review are. For Americans, and I say that in a very broad sense, November is a month for thanks. It is also a month for spending and one of the last chances for Hollywood to unleash its big guns before the jolliest of holidays the following month. This doesn’t just mean big blockbusters like the new James Bond or that vampire movie all the kids are talking about. November is also the perfect occasion to platform potential award contenders, otherwise known as Oscar bait. And so, there is something for everyone at this Thanksgiving feast. So let us be thankful for all that we will receive.

In 2006, we gave thanks to director, Martin Campbell (GOLDENEYE), when he gave the world the new face (and body!) of Bond, Daniel Craig, and they both made it look so easy. CASINO ROYALE was smooth and satisfying to both Bond fans and neophytes alike. For the first time, Bond is back in a sequel instead of an entirely separate story. Now we give thanks for the next chapter, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and while Craig is back for his second at bat, Campbell has bowed out to make room for Marc Forster (FINDING NEVERLAND). From the trailer, it would seem as though Bond is on his own to fight injustice and that his character is increasingly in question. I needn’t divulge any information on the plot (not that I have any really) because with stunts and shots as exciting and dynamic as the ones featured in the teaser, what does it even matter?

In 2005, we gave thanks to Ang Lee for giving the world a benchmark for not just gay themed cinema but all cinema, with his masterpiece, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. It was expected that Hollywood, as it always does, would jump on the film’s success and begin pumping out the gay stories for the masses. Only the complete opposite happened; what happened up on Brokeback, stayed up on Brokeback. Now, we can thank openly gay director, Gus Van Sant, for breaking the silence with his biographical account of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to political office. MILK is set is the late 70’s and features potential powerhouse performances by the young Emile Hirsch and James Franco as well as the Milk man himself, Sean Penn. Van Sant is not often overtly gay, thematically that is, in his films (the most notable and breathtaking exception would be his 1991 classic, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO) but if he can pull MILK off, than I can perhaps think of forgiving him for PARANOID PARK. (No trailer available yet.)


It has been seven years since director, Baz Luhrmann, gave those that enjoy a good musical a great reason to be thankful with MOULIN ROUGE! While that film was a delightful overdose of colour and love, his latest, AUSTRALIA, is simply epic, if that can even be possible. To describe it, it sounds quite plain. Nicole Kidman plays a British aristocrat who has inherited an enormous cattle drive. When her land is threatened, she travels across 2,000 miles of terrifying terrain, only to end up in the middle of the second world war. The good news, she has handsome Hugh Jackman at her side for protection. To watch it though, is nothing plain at all (except in YouTube quality, of course). Luhrmann seems ready to stake his own claim as a serious director with a drastic departure and masterful turn of style (much like Paul Thomas Anderson did last year with THERE WILL BE BLOOD). The best part I’m sure is that he’s doing it all on his home turf.

I am personally thankful that I have not had to sit through a Jamie Foxx film of late. I marveled like the rest of the world at his compelling turn in RAY and enjoyed the understated counterpart performance in COLLATERAL. Then it all changed. He was everywhere and he was downright cocky about it. Now though, thanks to director, Joe Wright (ATONEMENT and PRIDE & PREJUDICE), I am ready to let him back in. In THE SOLOIST, Foxx plays a musical genius who ends us schizophrenic and homeless. While busking for change, he meets a journalist that will change his fate, played by 2008’s comeback kid, Robert Downey Jr. While it all sounds like it has no edge at all, I have total faith in Wright as he has yet to do any wrong and had the gall to cast actual homeless and mentally ill people as extras to ensure he had both authenticity and the most humble of performances from his cast. (No trailer available yet.)


And lastly, I am thankful that I grew up in the time of Anne Rice’s vampires and not those of the iPod generation’s, Stephanie Meyer’s vampires. After Harry Potter abandoned the Thanksgiving weekend spot for a tentpole position next July, TWILIGHT swooped in for the kill. The books are international successes and the film is highly anticipated but if it truly is a teen sensation, I suspect it will retreat back into the dark of night before the light of the following box office weekend. Can it play outside the teen market? Watch the trailer and judge for yourself.

Also in November … Ooh, Jason Statham in TRANSPORTER 3! What could possibly be more useless and uninteresting … Oh, right. How about Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer all coming back to lend their voices to MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA … Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott search for deeper meanings to life in the testosterone driven comedy, ROLE MODELS … Both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes recently passed away on the same weekend and eerily enough will be appearing in the same film, SOUL MEN … It’s a family Christmas in Chicago for John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez and Debra Messing in NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS … John Travolta and Miley Cyrus lend their voices to Disney’s BOLT, in which a TV dog believes he’s the real deal … THE ROAD features Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron in a film based on a Cormac McCarthy novel? Stop, you got me … And finally, there is FOUR CHRISTMASES, where Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughan (who apparently struggled to get along on set) have to trek a trek I’m all too familiar with to visit four separate families on one joyous day.

I thought of one more thing to be thankful for … You, for reading.