Blogphiladelphia was a blast. Here are two recaps from Phillyist:

Day One

Day Two

I met Jill, who wrote these, at the conference. I now understand why she was typing all the time.

These particular nuggets from that article are from my mini-presentation on day two:

- “The convention of the hyperlink has essentially changed the way we write.” Some sentences on blogs don’t even make sense without the embedded hyperlinks.

- People who watch The Daily Show are better-informed than NPR listners. Apparently.

- “Andre Agassi used to look like Richard Marx.”

- “Hyperlinks are footnotes on crack.” Heh.

I could explain those, but what fun would that be?But wait, there’s more.

Also, videos and photos.

More tomorrow. Check out the newbies in the blogroll for a sneak peek.

No real box office surprises this weekend. Will Transformers and Harry Potter end up walking away with the summer? The only thing left that looks like it might have legs is Bourne, and that’s not til August.

Oh, and BlogPhiladelphia was awesome, but more on that later.

6/20

Wide

HAIRSPRAY

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
From movie to musical to movie – just like The Producers.

WILL IT SUCK?
This is John Waters as reimagined by the director of Bringin’ Down the House and The Pacifier and the writer of Pay It Forward and Look Who’s Talking Now (to be fair, she also wrote a kick-ass remake of Freaky Friday). It’s hard to imagine this going well. Early buzz, however, is sick good.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Other than the second frame of Harry Potter (and the first frame of Chuck and Larry – not exactly the same demo), there’s really not much competition. $49mil.

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Adam Sandler and Kevin James have to pretend to be gay in order to keep living with Janet and Chrissy. Or something like that.

WILL IT SUCK?
Dennis Dugan has directed such classics as The Benchwarmers, National Security and Saving Silverman. On the other hand, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor have written all those, well, Alexander Payne movies. Who will win? Early buzz says Dugan.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
When he sticks to his wheelhouse, Sandler’s damn near unstoppable. $124mil.

SUNSHINE

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Someone turned out the pilot light on the sun. A group of astronauts go to relight it.

WILL IT SUCK?
Normally I’d dismiss this as so much The Core bunk, but Danny Boyle is directing with his 28 Days Later compatriots Alex Garland writing and Cillian Murphy starring. That and with its staggered worldwide release it’s garnered plenty of praise.

PS: This is the first movie Web site I’ve seen with its own tag cloud.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Could be a sleeper hit. $44mil.

Limited

GOYA’S GHOSTS

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Story of Goya and his muse.

WILL IT SUCK?
The main criticism here seems to be that it doesn’t achieve its lofty goals, even with Milos Forman directing and Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard and Javier Bardem (guess which one plays Goya – nope, Skarsgard) on board. Interestingly, the film was nominated for three Goyas (Spanish Oscars) but won zero. Also, this is probably the only film about which you can say, “…and starring Randy Quaid as King Carlos IV.”

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Another old-timey creative type gets a movie next week, but that one doesn’t have any stars. $1mil.

CASHBACK

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Art student works in a supermarket.

WILL IT SUCK?
I’ve seen the short on which this is based and it’s…okay. I don’t know if I’d watch it for two hours though. Early buzz is mixed.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Needs more buzz. $750,000.

Next Week: The reason I know what KrustyO’s taste like (Froot Loops, if you’re keeping score).

My buddy Kev has just launched a site with Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson. Check it out.

In other news, the following is more shocking than Hostel.

Finally, I’ll be at BlogPhiladelphia tomorrow and Friday. Will I see you there?

Update: The blended iPhone is now on sale on eBay for almost as much as an actual iPhone (admittedly with blender included).

World Series of Pop Culture

Happy day. The World Series is back. And where last year one of the tiebreakers was to name all U2′s albums, this year one was to name all of Spielberg’s films. #@($*!!!!!

Flight of the Conchords

If you ever get the chance to see these guys live, do it.

Entourage

Season eight or four or twelve or whatever.

Doctor Who

Yes, all the cool people downloaded this season already, but I’m content crawl along with Sci-Fi broadcasts.

Netflix

CSI: Season 3 like a mofo!

Any time you open a movie on a Tuesday (technically on a Monday, with multiple preview screenings), whatever record you break is going to be a weird-ass one. In this case, Transformers (which doesn’t exactly suck, btw) has broken the top-grossing, non-sequel, first-seven-days gross record with $152.6 million against the original Spider-Man’s $151.6 million. For those of you keeping score, the all-time seven-day-gross record if you include sequels is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest at $196 million. It also holds the record for eight-day-gross, nine-day-gross, ten-day-gross and we really should have stopped counting already.

By the way, that “non-sequel” caveat shouldn’t be taken lightly. There are a total of six sequels that top that list before you get to an origin story. Can you name the other five? I can’t. Answers at the bottom.

Oh, and Sicko lives up to the hype. His most intimate film since Roger & Me.

7/13

Wide

CAPTIVITY

(Delayed from May, and then June)

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Model and her chauffeur fall in love while being terrorized by a serial killer. Awww.

WILL IT SUCK?
Did you know that the guy who directed The Killing Fields also directed (uncredited) Super Mario Bros? Well, he directed this, too with a script co-written by Maniac Cop schlockmeister Larry Cohen. Early buzz has this as a lame Saw rip-off.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Note how the trailer tries to spin that whole ad fiasco into some sort of hardcore cred. Might work until people actually see the film and realize it’s much ado about crap. Constant delays don’t help. $8mil.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Voldemort in the hizzy.

WILL IT SUCK?
A lot of changes here. David Yates directs off a screenplay from Michael Goldenberg. Yates did Girl in the Cafe, which was nice enough, but wasn’t a Potter film. On the other hand, Mike Newell had non-Potter-y Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco on his jacket and turned in one of the best in the series. Also, Yates did a bunch of eps of a show called State of Play which is supposed to be off the hook, so…

Then you have Goldenberg, the first time they’ve switched screenwriters after Daniell Kloves turned in some sick adaptations. Will the guy who wrote Contact and Peter Pan and, um, Bed of Roses be able to bring it? Good casting as usual. The only surprising thing about Helena Bonham Carter is that she made it this far without being in a Harry Potter film. Imelda Staunton is, from what I hear, an excellent choice for Umbridge and it looks like David Thewlis is back to play gay werewolf Remus Lupin.

Early buzz is off the heezy fuh-sheezy.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Nobody wants to open into Transformers‘ second frame, but I think they’ll be fine. $304mil.

Limited

TALK TO ME

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Good Morning, D.C.

WILL IT SUCK?
It’s hard to go wrong casting Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the same film. Unless the script sucks. The co-writers have The Wood, She Hate Me and Brown Sugar between them, so it’s a decidedly mixed bag. Also, Kasi Lemmons is directing, and she’s gotten props for The Caveman’s Valentine and Eve’s Bayou. Early buzz is good.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
With the right marketing, this could do well. $9mil.

INTERVIEW

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Steve Buscemi interviews Sienna Miller.

WILL IT SUCK?
People forget how good a writer/director Buscemi is. Here he adapts a film by slain director Theo Van Gogh. Early buzz is good.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
People also forget how poorly his films often do. $1mil.

DRAMA/MEX

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Short Cuts Acapulco.

WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is mixed, but people seem to like the Inarritu-ish mixing of stories.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Needs more exposure. $250,000.

MY BEST FRIEND

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Guy tries to prove that he has friends.

WILL IT SUCK?
Daniel Auteuil is one busy motherfucker. He was just in The Valet and now he teams with Patrice Leconte for the third time to do this. While this isn’t considered one of Leconte’s best (like The Girl on the Bridge, also with Auteuil), it’s got good buzz.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
It’s actually more crowded now for indies than for mainstream films. $1mil.

SHORTCUT TO HAPPINESS

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Too bad they couldn’t come up with a better title. Based on The Devil and Daniel Webster. Yup. Titles are tough.

WILL IT SUCK?
The fact that this has been around since 2001 might be the only indication that this might suck. It’s directed by Alec Baldwin, but for all we know he’s Tarkovsky. It’s got a good cast (Baldwin as Jabez Stone, Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Scratch as well as Dan Akroyd, Kim Catrall, Bobby Cannavale, Jon Savage and Jason Patric) – okay, an interesting cast. And a screenplay that mixes the talents of Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Chicago, Gods and Monsters, Kinsey) and Peter Dexter (Mullholland Falls, Michael). Okay, maybe there are a few indications.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
If the Yari Film Group had any confidence in this film, you would have heard of it by now. $500,000.

Next Week: Just when you thought John Travolta couldn’t get any creepier…

Here are the answers to that lame-ass trivia question:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $196mil

2. Spider-Man 2 – $192mil

3. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – $191mil

4. Spider-Man 3 – $182mil

5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – $160mil

6. The Matrix Reloaded – $153mil

Hababam sinifi sinifta kaldi is not usually the answer you get when you ask someone, “What is the third funniest movie ever made?” In fact, I’m not sure what answer you’d get to that question other than “Why third?” but it’s unlikely they’ll pull out Hababam after they get through Ghostbusters and Animal House. Still, if you go to the IMDB and click on “Comedy” under “Top Movies,” this Turkish delight is right behind Ratatouille and Dr. Strangelove.

(Yes, Ratatouille is currently number one in comedy and #32 in the top 250. Like most Pixar films, though, it will probably settle into the 120-180 range after a year or so.)

Apparently, Hababam is a coming-of-age high school comedy that came out of Turkey in 1975. If you speak Turkish, I figure the following is funny as balls.

Okay, I didn’t follow much of that but wherever you’re from, a fat guy punching an old guy is comedy gold. Also, that stuffy guy at the end looked like he was about to say “Hababam houuuuuuuuussssse!” and that would have rocked.

I will be in D.C. for the next couple of days so not so much with the blogging. But I leave you with video I just posted on E-Gear about a guy who buys an iPhone.

Enjoy!

They deserved so much better. Die Hard opened to a $33.2 million weekend ($48.2 million if you start counting on Wednesday) and Ratatouille only earned $47.2 million. Now that we have some summer blockbusters that actually rock, they too are underperforming.

I’m especially disappointed by Ratatouille‘s take. Once again Pixar has shown that they are better at making movies than any other studio on the planet, and for the third time in a row they’re seeing diminishing returns for that effort. And as a sequel/action film, Live Free or Die Hard earns the boast, “See Spidey 3, was that so fucking hard?” Len Wiseman has completely redeemed himself from the Underworld films.

I wonder if time would have been kinder to these films had they launched on separate weekends in late July, which is turning into a bit of a graveyard, instead of against each other now.

It’s worth noting, in light of Friday’s post, that Live Free or Die Hard is now in the IMDB top two-fiddy (at no. 161). It may even make it to 161 on the all-time top-grossing U.S. list, if it can beat The Santa Clause‘s $145 million take.

7/6

Wide

TRANSFORMERS

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
The iPhone of summer movies.

WILL IT SUCK?
Picture Pearl Harbor with Autobots. On the other hand, the writers did a lot of Jack of All Trades and Alias and contributed to the Mission Impossible III screenplay so, much as it pains me to say it, there is hope (although the story credit goes to a guy who did Catwoman and The Core). On the other hand, they turned Bumblebee into a fucking Camaro. As difficult as it is for me to write these four words for a Michael Bay film, I have to admit: Early buzz is good.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Being squeezed in between Ratatouille and Harry Potter isn’t the best position in the world, but I think Optimus Prime can hack it. $356mil.

LICENSE TO WED

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Meet the Reverend

WILL IT SUCK?
Well, you’ve got a director who’s helmed his share of Offices along with one of that show’s stars (John Krasinski). The writers are more or less unkowns and Mandy Moore’s comic timing was pretty much confirmed by her stint on Scrubs. Robin Williams may have jumped the shark a long time ago, but he’s perfectly capable of pulling out the funny if he so chooses. All of this doesn’t change the fact that the trailer has about one laugh in it. Early buzz is very not good.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear your little romcom over the sound of giant robots blowing shit up. $38mil.

Limited

JOSHUA

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Wargames prequel. Too obscure? Actually, kid goes all Omen-y without being bona fide hellspawn.

WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is mixed, but you gotta love Sam Rockwell. Trailer and clips are genuinely creepy, and it won the cinematography award at Sundance so, it’s got that going for it.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Hard to say. Indie thrillers only break out every once in a while, but Rockwell could be a draw. $1mil.

INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Son of entertainers tries to start a relationship.

WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good. Brenda Blethyn does her Little Voice schtick, much to critics’ delight.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Few enough people have heard of Little Voice. Almost nobody has heard of this. $500,000.

RESCUE DAWN

WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Christian Bale gets captured by the Viet Cong.

WILL IT SUCK?
Considered, on IMDB anyway, to be writer/director Werner Herzog’s greatest achievement. Even better than his Little Dieter Needs to Fly, the doc on which this is based. Also starring Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies.

HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Could also be Herzog’s greatest b.o. to date, but that wouldn’t be difficult. $4mil.

Next Week: Harry Potter gets his swerve on.