Watching the preposterous Man On A Ledge DVD (free from Redbox). Typical silly attempt to make a NY picture that fails on all levels. Elizabeth Banks as the negotiator is just ridiculous. Pretty? sure....but come on. And our hero, an ex-NYPD cop thats in jail for larceny has an Australian accent.

Strangely this $45M movie made $45M.

Prometheus opens today so I'm trying to avoid spoilers and even reviews till I get to see it next week.

I never read reviews for any movie until after I've seen it

That said, I do look at "star" ratings and this one has been getting very good ones!

Not that any of that ever really matters

It's rare these days we get an intelligent sci-fi horror film. 99% of the stuff released is absolute junk not worth spending over $15 to see.

And I believe I heard that a ticket to a NYC IMAX 3D event movie is now $18.

Watched Kevin Smith's "Red State" on DVD tonight. Got it for Christmas, just never made time.

If you're a Smith fan or a Smith detractor, you can put your preconceptions aside. On several of his podcasts that I've listened to, Smith has said that people tell him this doesn't look like any of his films. They're right - if you didn't know this was a Smith movie, you'd never connect it. It looks nothing like any of his previous movies. It's very dark - a take on the Phelps family, but an exaggerated version. Michael Parks plays the father and leader of the church clan, and he is wonderful.

Definitely worth a rental, IMO.

Alan

Agreed. On all points. So not traditional Kevin Smith, and well worth the rental. Parks was great.

Just booked tickets for me and my Saturday movie crew to see Prometheus in 3D.

Sure, I already saw it Friday, but what's another $18.00? And it's really hanging out with friends that's important.

Which was proven many years back when I joined your crew for a Saturday night showing of The Amityville Horror. The Mystery Science Theater wisecracking back and forth made it a hoot.

rented "safe house" last night.

totally preposterous....yet amusingly entertaining.

Need to see that one. I have J Edgar on tap one of these nights.
Watched Shame the other night, a NC17 movie. Interesting but kind of shallow. Worst rendering of New York New York ever.

From boxofficemojo.com:

June 10, 2012


What looked like a tight race on Friday turned out to not really be much of a competition, as Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted handily defeated Prometheus over the three-day weekend. That being said, even if it didn't quite reach the astronomical levels some had been expecting, director Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi still had one of the best second place debuts in history. The Top 12 earned an estimated $172 million this weekend, which is up 30 percent from the same frame last year when Super 8 and Judy Moody both underperformed.

Madagascar 3 debuted to a strong $60.35 million at 4,258 locations, which is the fourth-highest opening of the year and the seventh-highest ever in June. It was a tad lower than Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa's $63.1 million, but was about in line with the first Madagascar's $61 million four-day Memorial weekend debut. It's also right in line with DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, which earned $60.2 million at about the same time in 2008.

The fact that Madagascar 3 retained 96 percent of Madagascar 2's opening revenue is a minor miracle considering how family-skewing sequels have been getting punished lately. Just last year, DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda 2 was off 21 percent from its predecessor, and Happy Feet Two and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked both opened to about half as much as their previous entries.

Madagascar 3 overcame this sequel-itis issue for two main reasons. First, it had a great spot on the schedule: the last animated hit was The Lorax over three months ago, and there hasn't been anything specifically targeted at families yet this Summer. Paramount/DreamWorks also did a great job differentiating this entry from the previous ones with the vibrant new setting (Europe, instead of Africa), and the much-maligned but very effective "Wig Out" campaign (sure, Chris Rock's "circus afro" song is grating, but it's also insanely catchy).

The audience skewed female (56 percent) and younger (54 percent under the age of 25), and they awarded the movie a strong "A" CinemaScore. 3D ticket sales accounted for 45 percent of the box office, which is identical to the 3D share for Kung Fu Panda 2 last year.

While it had to settle for second place, Prometheus still earned an impressive $50 million in its opening weekend. That's off from Inception's $62.8 million, though it's a significant improvement over Super 8's $35.5 million from the same weekend last year. It's the second-highest opening of director Ridley Scott's career behind 2001's Hannibal ($58 million), and it's also a new record for the Alien franchise ahead of Alien Vs. Predator's $38.3 million (though ticket sales were about on par with that entry).

Prometheus's debut ranks 12th all-time among R-rated movies, and among action-oriented ones it was behind The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million), 300 ($70.9 million), Watchmen ($55.2 million) and Wanted ($50.9 million).

This may not be the monumental opening many were hoping for, but by pretty much any measure it's an unqualified success. Dark, "original," R-rated sci-fi movies are a tough sell, and on paper Prometheus resembled recent duds Pandorum and Sunshine (total of $10.3 million and $3.7 million, respectively). Of course, Prometheus was a big-budget Ridley Scott movie getting a nationwide release from a major studio, so it was always going to be significantly bigger than those titles, but to get this high is really a tribute to 20th Century Fox's incredible marketing effort. When the attention-grabbing teaser trailer landed in December the movie immediately shot to the top of many must-see lists, and future material (including some cool viral videos) was equally enticing. Also, for most of the campaign there wasn't an explicit connection made to Alien, which made the movie feel like a must-see original movie event.

The audience was 57 percent male and 64 percent 25 year of age and older. 3D accounted for 54 percent of ticket sales, while IMAX contributed 18 percent (nearly all of which is included within that 3D figure).

While this is a great start for Prometheus, its ultimate success really comes to down to whether or not it holds up in the coming weeks. Without a CinemaScore available, and with a steep 25 percent drop from Friday-to-Saturday, the movie's long-term prospects are highly questionable. Sometimes discussion-ready movies develop must-see word-of-mouth (here's looking at you, Inception), but if the movie is frustrating enough (which anecdotally seems to be the case for some people with Prometheus) that doesn't necessarily happen.

After a strong first place start last weekend, Snow White and the Huntsman took a big hit in its second outing thanks to middling word-of-mouth and intense competition. The movie plummeted 59 percent to an estimated $23 million, and has now made $98.5 million.

MIB 3 fell 52 percent to $13.5 million, which brings its 17-day total to $135.5 million. It continues to trail Men in Black II ($148 million) through the same point in its release, and it has virtually no chance of catching up.

In fifth place, The Avengers was off 47 percent to an estimated $10.8 million. It's now earned $571.9 million, and if it can hold on to most of its screens for the next few weeks it still has a chance of reaching $600 million.

Moonrise Kingdom expanded to 96 locations and grossed an estimated $1.58 million, which was good for 10th place. The movie isn't hitting quite as well as last Summer's Midnight in Paris: in its third weekend, the Woody Allen comedy had a per-theater average of $18,843 at 147 locations, which is better than Moonrise's $16,448 at 96 theaters. So far, writer-director Wes Anderson's latest movie has earned $3.75 million.

The Hunger Games eased 33 percent to $1.05 million this weekend. On Sunday, its 80th day in theaters, the movie is expected to pass $400 million, making it the 14th title to ever reach that milestone.

Finally saw Prometheus 3D on a rainy day this afternoon. Loved that beginning and wow! what 3D effects in many of the scenes.
Love space based sci-fi and this one didn't disappoint.
Great cast especially Dr Elizabeth Shaw played by "The Dragon Tattoo's" Noomi Rapace who looks older and heavier in this picture. She is the glue of the film. Another spectacular performance by Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class/ Shame) who plays David, the on-ship "computer".
The movie has a real 2001 vibe, very Kubrick at times.

Can't wait for the eventual Blu-ray (my pre-order is in), all I can say is you should try and catch this at the movies now. Its a big picture that needs to be seen on a big screen.

Makes me want to get a 3D TV.

Battleship is such a bomb, its hard to find a theater on LI thats still playing it.

Saw Prometheus the other night on $5 Wednesday (we opted for the $7 3D only because it was so cheap), and I definitely liked it but I understand the complaints.
The story lacked enough suspense and the pacing was very Kubrickesque. It had plenty of dull moents and ironically the same cliched stock cast the Ridley Scott essentially created fresh back in 1979 for Alien. It was hard to care about most of the crew especially the cliched ones.
The story borught forth way too many unanswered questions and confusing, muddled plot points and things they never went back to.
However, visually it was absolutely striking and the 3D while not doing too much for me, was utilized fairly well. The score was excellent and like John said Fassbender was amazing and Rapace was also quite good. Charlize Theron didn't have much to do, but sure looked good in that space suit!
The opening few minutes was amazing to look at and throughout the landscapes and other visuals were awesome.
I love true Sci-Fi and it has been a while since something like this was done and done well. There were some good icky moments, but they were only here and there and this certainly was not the action packed wallop of 1987's Aliens that most people were looking for, which is fine. There's been a decent amount of gripes and bashing of the film and I think it's for those reasons along with the plotline.
There really were a lot of problems with the narrative, pacing and muddled side stories and lack of any satisfactory explanation. Another problem was it seemed throughout that Ridley Scott was repeating himself from decades earlier.
Overall, I am glad I saw it and also like John said, it must be seen on the big screen. I will add this to my Alien collection (I do not count the abysmal AVP crapfests) when it comes out and watch it once more. It could have been better though.

Yeah, it tries to go where the answer will always be muddled or just not possible.....how did we get here and is there a God?

I give them props for trying to be like a 2001 but in the end, this is just another monster movie with great CGI.

That escape pod that Charlize hangs out in was spectacular. I'd love to make love in space in that thing!
But that scene where she invites the two scientists in for a drink was the first sign the movie was going off the rails a bit. What scientist is gonna start drinking when they just landed on a strange planet that needs exploring? There was a lot of drinking in this movie.

Good points! I also would've loved to known more about why the android did what he did to the couple (I won't say what) but it was never resolved. I have an idea, but that's all. Plus, I never knew how quick someone can go through an operation like that!
The Kubrick influence was so obvious, but like you, I really did enjoy seeing something like this on the big screen and was really blown away by the visuals, mood and score. I think I'll like it even more next time around but still be a bit frustrated.

I'll definitely catch it one more time in 3D.

i didn't see it in 3D but it def needs to be seen on the big screen. loved it!

Just put on Chronicle for tonights movie and they have a trailer for Prometheus on the blu-ray that is just awesome. The sound scared the crap out of my dog who just went running away. The Blu-ray will be the new top demo disc.Though it is a flawed film plot wise.....it is a stunning video acheivement.

Makes me want to get a 3D TV.

Well, sad to see Prometheus fall so badly, but not surprising for Sci-Fi. Despite the obvious flaws it is worth seeing in a theatre, better hurry!
It is WONDERFUL news to see Rock Of Ages and That's My Boy flop so badly. Anyone who actually shelled out money for That's My Boy should not be allowed into a theatre for the rest of the year. How the hell Adam Sandler gets $30 million a film is beyond me-sickening.
From boxofficemojo.com:

June 17, 2012


Initial box office results for Rock of Ages and That's My Boy seem to confirm two very important things: the 1980s was a lousy decade, and starpower is a bit overrated.

The latest projects from box office heavyweights Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler both bombed hard this weekend, which allowed Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted to easily hold on to the top spot. Prometheus remained in second as well, though it took a big hit in its sophomore outing, and the Top 12 wound up down 15 percent from the same frame last year.

Madagascar 3 dipped 41 percent to an estimated $35.5 million this weekend. That's a strong hold for an animated sequel: in comparison, Cars 2 fell 60 percent, Toy Story 3 dipped 46 percent, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa fell 44.5 percent. The movie remains ahead of both of its predecessors with a 10-day total of $120.45 million.

Prometheus crashed 60 percent to an estimated $20.2 million in its second weekend. That drop is about on par with Wanted and The Matrix Reloaded, but is significantly worse than Inception (32 percent) and Super 8 (39 percent). Through 10 days, the Alien prequel has earned $88.9 million, which technically makes it the highest-grossing movie ever in the Alien franchise (though of course it still lags behind most of the movies when adjusting for ticket price inflation).

Rock of Ages took third place with an estimated $15.06 million from 3,470 locations. It had the sixth-highest opening ever for a musical, and third all-time for one adapted from a stage production. That being said, with a prime Summer date, a massive release, recognizable tunes and an all-star cast, the movie should have done much better. Clearly, the goal was to see similar results as past Summer musicals Mamma Mia! ($27.8 million) and Hairspray ($27.5 million), and Rock of Ages didn't come close.

The audience skewed female (62 percent) and older (74 percent over 25), and they awarded the movie a "B" CinemaScore. The movie earned $225,000 from 35 IMAX theaters.

That's My Boy wound up even lower than Rock of Ages with a terrible $13 million from 3,030 locations. That's a little over half of Jack and Jill's $25 million debut last November, and that movie was already on the low-end for Adam Sandler comedies. It was also lower than notorious Sandler bomb Little Nicky, which earned $16.1 million in its opening weekend. In fact, That's My Boy had the worst debut for a live-action traditional Sandler comedy since 1996's Happy Gilmore ($8.5 million).

The audience was 54 percent male and 52 percent under the age of 25, and they gave the movie a "B-" CinemaScore (though that improved to "B" among the under-50 crowd).

On the surface, the disappointing results for Rock of Ages and That's My Boy seem to suggest that Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler have lost some of their mojo (Sandler more so than Cruise, since Rock of Ages ads didn't really play up Cruise's presence). It's more likely, though, that this is just an example of the financial pitfalls of stretching in to a different type of role. Tom Cruise is an action movie star—Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol just earned nearly $700 million worldwide—while Adam Sandler is a family movie star. Cruise and Sandler were out of their elements in Rock of Ages (musical) and That's My Boy (R-rated), so their fanbases didn't show up. Genre fans could have compensated for that had either of the movies looked worthwhile, but that wasn't really the case. Both actors should ultimately survive this weekend relatively unscathed: Cruise is back in his wheelhouse in December with Jack Reacher, while Sandler is starring in sequel Grown Ups 2 next Summer.

Snow White and the Huntsman actually took fourth place ahead of That's My Boy with $13.8 million, which is a 40 percent drop from last weekend. So far, the dark interpretation of the classic fairy tale has earned $122.6 million.

MIB 3 eased 28 percent to an estimated $10 million, bringing its 24-day total to $152.7 million. Disney is expecting a strong Father's Day turnout for The Avengers, so they estimate the movie will dip 21 percent to $8.8 million for a new total of $586.7 million.

In ninth place, Moonrise Kingdom expanded to 178 locations and earned $2.18 million. That's a very solid $12,253 per-theater average, though the movie continues to pale in comparison to last Summer's quirky hit Midnight in Paris. So far, Wes Anderson's latest has grossed $6.78 million.