Original US release date: June 4, 1982 Production budget: $10,700,000 Worldwide gross: $121,706,019 Horror films are among the most common, being both extremely popular and inexpensive to produce. That's a great combination and, when one really hits, it pays off in a major way. In the years preceding 1982, moviegoers had been treated to many... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: December 9, 1983 Production budget: $25,000,000 Worldwide gross: $65,884,703 There can be any number of reasons why a given film may go on to live forever in the public consciousness, achieving legendary status. Sometimes, it's due to the story. Sometimes, it's the property. Sometimes, a film may represent a giant leap... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: July 31, 1998 Production budget: $20,000,000 Worldwide gross: $7,027,290 Twenty years ago, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were riding high. Their brand-new animated series "South Park" had taken off and become a huge hit for Comedy Central and, seeing as how fandom at wide was beginning to take a greater interest... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: December 25, 1993 Production budget: $35,100,000 Worldwide gross: $70,172,621 For those who might not be aware, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were a common theatrical comedy duo, much like the pairings of Don Knotts and Tim Conway, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, or Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Their first movie... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: December 7, 1960 Production budget: $200,000 Worldwide gross: $2,175,000 There's something special about old-fashioned, black-and-white horror, isn't there? Without reliance upon grisly and grotesque images, profanity, or nudity, horror used to stay firmly focused on delivering compelling stories, characters, and atmosphere. There are still horror films that accomplish those feats, today,... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: July 17, 2009 Production budget: $7,500,000 Worldwide gross: $60,722,734 It's hard to believe that (500) Days of Summer is now over nine years old (that's 3,304 days of (500) Days of Summer, to be exact). Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, the film was the first to be directed by Marc... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: May 29, 1992 Production budget: $31,000,000 Worldwide gross: $231,605,150 Back in 1992, Whoopi Goldberg was a huge star. She garnered an Oscar nomination for Steven Spielberg's 1985 film The Color Purple and then went out and actually won one as the Best Supporting Actress for 1990's Ghost. Despite both of these... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: June 12, 1987 Production budget: $15,000,000 Worldwide gross: $98,267,558 As I mentioned in my review of Incredibles 2 (which you can find here), Predator is another in the recent litany of theatrical intellectual properties set for a revival. Hollywood has met with mixed results in these attempts to reignite enthusiasm for... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: December 14, 1979 Production budget: $35,000,000 Worldwide gross: $92,455,742 In 1979, Steven Spielberg was already riding high. His two previous efforts in the director's chair, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, were massive hits, with Jaws being the highest-grossing film of all-time up to that point and the first... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: May 2, 2008 Production budget: $140,000,000 Worldwide gross: $585,174,222 Where does one begin when discussing the lasting impact this movie has had on the film industry, worldwide culture, and our lives, in general? Let's start here: Marvel was in trouble. They had filed for bankruptcy and needed money badly. They were... Continue Reading →
The Movie March! 