Top Movies of the Holidays

[JasonEvans]

It would be patently unfair for us to end this contest before the end of January. We need to give the Xmas films time for a real run at the Top 5 and we need to see the impact of Oscar nominations on some of the contenders. Yes, the contest looks over, but something insane could happen.

Dragon Tattoo has shown strong staying power the past week or so and has gotten a slew of award nominations from the Acting/Writing/Directing/Producing guilds. That means it is all but a lock to get an Oscar Best Picture nomination too. I don't think it can top Chipsucks, but it may come close and we should give it time to try.

-Jason "it was a lousy season at the boxoffice-- $120 million for 5th place in our contest is horrid" Evans

[weezie]

I was riveted, although it's pretty involved. Gary Oldman is mesmerizing. Good old school, non-Iphone, no computers spycraft.
Terrific acting. Will go see it again.

[Udaman]

It's just about time to call this. Chipmunks is currently $31M ahead of Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, and it's highly unlikely that the latter will catch the former (especially after getting shut out of the Golden Globes). It is possible an Oscar bid for Best Picture could help it...but unlikely. Still, we'll leave this open until Monday, January 30th.

But it's highly likely that the top 5 will be

Twilight
MIP 4
Sherlock Holmes
Puss N Boots
Chipmunks

That would mean nobody went 5 for 5, but lots went 4 for 5. I'm mad that I let Jason Evans talk me into putting in Dragon Tatoo, and not MI 4 (curse you!)...but even if I had, I would not have made 5 for 5. I didn't think Puss N Boots would be there (I had the Muppets).

[JasonEvans]

It is over.

1. Breaking Dawn - $280,536,000
2. MI4: Ghost Pro - $202,565,000
3. Sherlock 2 - $182,211,000
4. Puss in Boots - $148,139,000
5. Chipwrecked - $127,041,000

That is the top 5. Anybody go 5-for-5?

The also-rans:
6. Dragon Tat - $98,185,000
7. Muppets - $87,314,000
8. Immmortals - $83,396,000
9. Tower Heist - $78,009,000
10. War Horse - $75,618,000
11. Tintin - $74,268,000
12. Jack & Jill - $73,350,000

It was a pathetic movie season. For film #6 to be at less than $100 mil (though Dragon Tat will break through $100 mil in the next week or so), for the #5 film to be at only $127 mil... just sad. A much worse performance than recent years.

So, we go on sabbatical now. No reason to do a top movies of spring as the pickings are pathetic and everyone would just pick The Hunger Games. We will start up again in mid-late April with the Summer poll closing on May 1st with the debut of Avengers. In addition to Avengers, the other films likely to be included in the summer list are: MIB3, Madagascar 3, Prometheus, Rock of Ages, Jack the Giant Killer, Brave, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, GI Joe: Retaliation, Amazing Spider-Man, Ted, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Bourne Legacy, Total Recall, and something called Dark Knight Rises.

As always, it was fun...

--Jason "...even if I only went 3 for 5... ugh!" Evans

[Olympic Fan]

Well, I got 1, 2, 3, 4 ... and 11.

Not a winner, but the best I ever did.

[snowdenscold]

Bah, I always do poor on these things... 3/5 was good for me this season.

But at least I was close - 1,3,5,6,7.

[brevity]

Well, I got 1, 2, 3, 4 ... and 11.

Not a winner, but the best I ever did.

I got 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. But I'm not convinced I did that much better than Olympic Fan (and by a few measures, I think I did worse).

Maybe if someone picked the top 4 and picked a 5th film that finished better than 11th...

[JasonEvans]

I got 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. But I'm not convinced I did that much better than Olympic Fan (and by a few measures, I think I did worse).

Maybe if someone picked the top 4 and picked a 5th film that finished better than 11th...

Yeah, missing #2 is pretty bad form. How did you not bet on Brad Bird?!?!

I got 1, 2, 3, 6, and 11. What was I thinking voting for Tintin!??!

-Jason "it was a tough season -- I would have bet anything that Drag Tat would do more than $125 mil" Evans

[Tommac]

I didn't do too bad with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

[JasonEvans]

I didn't do too bad with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

We have a winner!

[Highlander]

I didn't do too bad with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Same here. Twice in a row after just missing on Megamind last winter...

[brevity]

Yeah, missing #2 is pretty bad form. How did you not bet on Brad Bird?!?!

It was more about betting against Tom Cruise, which made sense at the time. Ever the good sport, once the movie came out, I contributed to its box office myself.

Whoever got 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 is clearly the winner(s). Maybe I'll do better this summer. Maybe not.

[davekay1971]

Strong work, Tommac. I got 1,2,3,4, and wherever Happy Feet 2 ended. I bet on the wrong crappy kids sequel, going with cute dancing enviro-penguins instead of the mind-numbingly dull disease carrying rodents. Alas, to me it was kind of coin toss between two different pieces of garbage, but it turned out picking HF2 to end in the top 5 was the movie-picking equivalent of picking Wake to win the ACC

[JasonEvans]

Strong work, Tommac. I got 1,2,3,4, and wherever Happy Feet 2 ended.

It finished 16th among all movies released in the 4th quarter. It is currently $3 mil above The Descendants which will probably pass it with the Academy Award buzz around it. It is $4 mil ahead of Hugo which has a lesser chance to pass it. So, Happy Feet 2 will likely end up 17th or, maybe, 18th.

-Jason "getting #1-4 was impressive, no shame there" Evans

[Highlander]

It finished 16th among all movies released in the 4th quarter. It is currently $3 mil above The Descendants which will probably pass it with the Academy Award buzz around it. It is $4 mil ahead of Hugo which has a lesser chance to pass it. So, Happy Feet 2 will likely end up 17th or, maybe, 18th.

-Jason "getting #1-4 was impressive, no shame there" Evans

Went through the #s and saw the following:
People who got 4 out of top 6 correct- Tommac, Highlander, dukeblue1206
People who also got 4 out of 5 correct, but not 4 out of top 6 - Brevity, DevilBen, DaveKay1071

Other interesting stats:
* DevilBen apparently had a perfect scorecard, but he only picked 4 movies instead of 5.
* Brevity was the only person to get 4 out of 5, with one of the 4 being Chipwrecked.

[DevilBen02]

Went through the #s and saw the following:
People who got 4 out of top 6 correct- Tommac, Highlander, dukeblue1206
People who also got 4 out of 5 correct, but not 4 out of top 6 - Brevity, DevilBen, DaveKay1071

Other interesting stats:
* DevilBen apparently had a perfect scorecard, but he only picked 4 movies instead of 5.
* Brevity was the only person to get 4 out of 5, with one of the 4 being Chipwrecked.

I did pick a 5th, but it was the Muppets. So, I finished with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.

[Highlander]

I did pick a 5th, but it was the Muppets. So, I finished with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.

Ah, so you did. My bad.