First things first I would like to thank everyone who responded to my last blog post for CONVINCING me to see John Carter. I have been flying all over the country for business and finally had a minute to see this epic film this week. This was definitely something that needed to been seen on the big screen … the BIG BIG IMAX screen and in 3D. I do still have a bone of contention for how expensive these movies are at the box office. I mean I paid $16.50 to get into a random Wednesday night showing which seems a bit steep for a movie that will be no more than 25 dollars on Blu-Ray 3D in likely less than 6 months…but I digress.
This felt like a blockbuster from the first dip to black and I always get chills when I see the Disney logo in 3D. Disney is usually a stickler for showing their logo as is so it is always special to see it a little different and the color tinting was a nice effect to match the overall feel of the film. Reading some reviews I have to agree with what most people thought – it was good. Really enjoyable … but was it great? I can’t say that it was. I’m already going to go out on a limb and say The Avengers will blow this film away but that is neither here nor there.
The acting was good but for a movie with such a large budget and that has been in production for so long. Some of the story felt a bit forced. I felt that because it was Disney they threw in a loveable alien dog like character to save the day along with a princess love story dialogue about 1.15 hours in that thankfully I went to the restroom for. It also seemed like they paid the Avatar graphics guys and used their modeling. Nit picky … maybe and I don’t want to offend anyone because I am a Disney nut and I would still give this a solid grade. I just more than anything else WANTED it to be better because I knew there was so much at stake for Disney and the current leadership regime.
With Hunger Games releasing last weekend and the fact that it pulled in more than $19 million on midnight showings alone – it looks like Carter’s US theatrical run will be short lived. That said, it seems to be doing well enough overseas. It remains to be seen if the previously green-lit sequel turns yellow. Finally, I have to say the sound was incredible though.
So has anyone else seen the movie that would like to say anything? Anyone going to Hunger Games this weekend? Anyone see Battle Royale? Anyone think it looks exactly like that movie ;-)? (show of hands) … well it’s OK because it looks incredible anyway.
So what else – check out this little fact from ABC Family – this is just incredible:
The season 2 finale of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars generated the most social media buzz for any one-hour episode of TV on record, with more than 720,000 comments, according to SocialGuide. In addition, it was the #1 social media program of the night according to numbers from Trendrr, with a “total activity” of 842,000. The episode generated 32,000 tweets per minute at its peak, with a total of 645,000 tweets over the hour and nearly 1.6 million over the course of this past Monday’s all-day “catch-up” marathon. The Twitter data was courtesy of TweetReach. It “was one of the biggest hours of TV on Twitter we’ve ever seen,” said TweetReach Founder Jenn Deering Davis.
That’s about all I’ve got for this week – happy spring break everyone!
Finally, here’s a little more ABC Family information curtesy from our friends at Cynopsis:
UPFRONT 2012: ABC Family
Yesterday, ABC Family hosted its upfront presentation at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. The network released its summer lineup including the premiere dates of three new original series and other returning original series:
- Bunheads – Sutton Foster stars in this new one-hour original series from Amy Sherman Palladino (Gilmore Girls) about a Las Vegas showgirl who suddenly marries a man and moves to his sleepy coastal town and takes on an uneasy role at her mother-in-law’s new dance school. Premieres June 11 at 9p.
- Baby Daddy – New half-hour comedy series about a young man (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) who becomes a surprise dad to a baby girl who is left on his doorstep by an ex-girlfriend. He decides to raise the baby with help from his mother (Melissa Peterman), his brother (Derek Theler), his best buddy Tucker (Tahj Mowry) and his close female friend Riley (Chelsea Kane) who secretly has a crush on him. Premieres June 20 at 830p.
- Beverly Hills Nannies – From the production company behind The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Real Housewives of Orange County, this new docu-series follows the lives of nannies working for wealthy families in Beverly Hills. According to Michael Riley, President of ABC Family at today’s upfront referring to Beverly Hills Nannies, “it’s our version of Downton Abbey meets the Real Housewives.”
- New episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager begin March 26 at 8p.
- New second season episodes of Melissa & Joey launch May 30 at 8p with back-to-back episodes.
- Pretty Little Liars is back for its third season debut on June 5 at 8p followed by Jane By Design returning with new episodes at 9p.
- Switched at Birth will also be back with new original episodes next fall.
ABC Family‘s The Secret Life of the American Teenager is coming to DVD via Amazon’s CreateSpace on Demand service, per a new deal between the network and CreateSpace. The three-disc set featuring 13 episodes from the first half of the series’ fourth season are immediately accessible at Amazon.com, and in advance of the March 26 premiere of new episodes. This seventh volume, as well as prior seasons of the show, is also available on Prime Instant Video. Titles available on CreateSpace are only manufactured in response to customer demand.
Part time weatherman / Part time television producer / full time lover of all things Disney. I’ll be here helping out with some entertainment/media reporting. If you ever have any questions about TV/movies/music throw em at me here and I’ll get you some answers!
Glad you went to see John Carter. As far as your thoughts about the plot, I hope I can convince you to now go and read A Princess of Mars. I still think John Carter was an epic movie that the whole family can enjoy. I took DD8 and DS5 to see it and they both loved it, too.
As far as Hunger Games goes, it was a good movie adaptation of the novel.