Hunger Games: Mockingjay is the most anticipated movie for 2014

This does not surprise me in the least.  Although the usual critics give it the  brush off on their bests of lists for 2013, I’ve placed Catching Fire squarely at the top  followed by Gravity.  (Note:  I have not seen every film out there.  As of yet, nobody has invited me to a bunch of free screenings so I see what I can, when I can, and when I can afford to). 

But despite having some heavy duty underlying themes throughout the film that the Hollywood elitists continue to ignore (How can a movie that makes that much money be about anything but pure entertainment?!), it will be ignored at awards ceremonies everywhere.  Yet, Catching Fire has a lofty 89 per cent approval by critics counted at Rotten Tomatoes.  So go ahead, explain it to  me.

From Hollywood Reporter:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire topped Fandango's 2012 most-anticipated movies list. It went on to become the top-selling movie in Fandango history, surpassing the previous record-holder, Avatar. The film -- starring Jennifer Lawrence andJosh Hutcherson -- was a box office smash when it opened in the U.S. in November, earning $158.1 million in its domestic debut to set a new November opening record (Twilight: New Moon held the previous record at $142.8 million). The following weekend -- Thanksgiving -- Catching Fire earned $110 million over five days, and $74.5 million of that during the traditional weekend frame, setting a new record for both the three-day and five-day Thanksgiving weekend. It has earned a stunning $765.3 million worldwide to date.

Mockingjay -- Part 1, the third of four films based on Suzanne Collins' popular YA novels, will hit theaters Nov. 21, 2014. Mockingjay -- Part 2 will follow one year later, Nov. 20, 2015.

There's also the usual assortment of favorite lists that I don't care about at the end of the article. Use the same link.  And Amazon is taking pre-orders on the Catchin Fire blu-ray if you want to turn off your adblocker and order one as I already have.  Thanks I appreciate it.

How do you spell Bomb? G-r-u-d-g-e M-a-t-c-h

After a while audiences get tired of seeing over age actors doing things overage actors shouldn’t be doing.  Stallone brought his Rocky character back a few years ago and was quite successful at it, but you can only push geriatrics so far.  So what do you do?

You make a boxing movie where the main character is Rocky but isn’t called Rocky. 

And DeNiro was just a little  too old to be doing a reincarnation of Jake LaMotta.  Be that as it may, I will check this movie out…..as soon as it hits Redbox. It’s not on my list of must haves.


From Variety:

Grudge Match,” which opened Christmas day and stars the veteran actors, finished in 11th place on Friday at the box office with $2.4 million and is expected to earn just $13 million through Sunday. Warner Bros.-based producer Bill Gerber had hoped that “Grudge Match” will offer a parallel box office success story to the 2008 hit “Grand Torino,” which starred Clint Eastwood and went on to gross $270 million worldwide. But so far, “Grudge Match” has been a swing and a miss financially. Made for $40 million, “Grudge Match” still has plenty of time to find older audiences but the boxing comedy wraps an otherwise forgettable year for Stallone and De Niro at the box office. “Bullet to the Head,” Stallone’s recent action film (also distribtued by Warner Bros.), was one of the biggest underachievers of 2013, earning just $9.4 million worldwide on a $55 million budget.

They are however working on the next sequel of The Expendables which has been a successful series so far.  I guess as long as your arthritis doesn’t keep you from holding an AK-47, you can do those types of movies forever.  You just can’t box.

Amazon Kicked Ass During the Holidays

From Ars Technica:

Amazon gave away a tiny inkling of how big its Amazon Prime program has grown: it likely has at least 20 million members, with one million of those members signing up in the third week of December during the run-up to Christmas, according to a press release from the company. In fact, the press release indicates that the take-up rate was so brisk that the company had to at times limit new sign-ups "to ensure service to current members was not impacted by the surge in new membership."

The company hit its peak sale rate on Cyber Monday, when customers were ordering 426 items per second. Amazon stated that “millions” of customers bought Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets, though it didn't break out specific numbers for either type of device.

Analyst estimates previously pegged Amazon Prime’s base as somewhere between 16 and 18 million members, per the New York Times. Amazon generally charges $79 a year for Prime membership, though there are discounted versions of the service for students and “moms.” In the press release, Amazon refers to its Prime subscriber base as being made up of "tens of millions of members" scattered around the world.

And while I’m on the subject of Amazon, I'm sure you've seen all the ads for Amazon products running rampant on this blog. This is of course unless you have your adblocker turned on.  I used to keep mine on everywhere as well, until I realized there were others out there in the same boat I am.  Now, I generally use it on web pages with annoying endless unnecessary pop ups.  You’ll get none of that here. 

Granted, I’ve hardly kept the blog up to date.  And the only people I’ve directly asked to click on the ads have been friends and family members, but I just as well be talking to those eight dogs I have running around out back tearing up the yard.

But here’s the thing.  I don’t make much off those ads.  Maybe anywhere from $15 to $50 a year, and I get that in an Amazon gift certificate which usually goes towards the purchase of either some blu-ray or classic TV series I’m wanting.  But if you click on an ad, any ad, you don’t have to purchase that product in order for my blog to get credit.  Whatever you buy during that particular visit will be attributed back to me. 

I’m always appreciative of those who do, and yes I know the ads need updated.   But since so many of the sites I visit ask me to click on their ads, I finally decided I might as well join the crowd.  I mean, I’m a one man show here and certainly my effort is no less than their effort is it?

Anyway, thanks to those who have clicked the ads.  I appreciate it immensely.

The Sound of Music Live: Best of Twitter

I don’t know how you felt about NBC’s live Broadway Production of The Sound of Music starring Carrie Underwood as Julie Andrews and some vampire dude as Christopher Plummer, but Twitter was on fire as #TheSoundofMusicLive was trending heavily.

I haven’t watched yet, but will later.  (I live on the west coast so we don’t get to watch it live regardless)  I’m sure the ratings will be red hot, but if Twitter is any judge, the whole experience was less than memorable.  So I gathered these up just for you to save you the trouble of sifting through them yourself.  You’re welcome.

And if the imitation Julie Andrews gave you heartburn, you can always get the blu-ray of the real deal to wash away your sins.  Thanks!