Two months ago, I mentioned that Ratatouille was seen as something of an “underperformer” by Pixar standards. Now that the movie is coming out on DVD tomorrow, I figured a little update might be in order. It is true that, of the eight films produced by Pixar to date, the rat movie ranks way down at #6 in terms of domestic box office. The film has grossed $205.6 million in North America, which would ordinarily be considered pretty good, but... Read more

Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. Rendition — CDN $1,540,000 — N.AM $9,283,593 — 16.6%We Own the Night — CDN $3,420,000 — N.AM $27,648,264 — 12.4%30 Days of Night — CDN $3,560,000 — N.AM $33,970,509 — 10.5%Gone Baby Gone — CDN $1,340,000 — N.AM $14,786,017 — 9.1%Michael Clayton — CDN $2,740,000 — N.AM $33,083,619 — 8.3%Bee... Read more

The newest issue of BC Christian News is now online, and with it, my film column, which looks mainly at 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days but also includes a mini-review of Lars and the Real Girl. Read more

Variety reports: NBC has greenlit production on “Kings,” an modern retelling of the King David story penned by Michael Green (“Heroes”) and directed by Francis Lawrence (“I Am Legend“). . . . “It’s a really great hook and an incredible mythic story,” Silverman told Daily Variety, adding that the script was “brilliantly written.” People familiar with the script said “Kings” could work well as a companion to “Heroes.” . . . “Kings” will be set in a modern city that’s... Read more

My review of Martian Child is now up at CT Movies. Read more

… it could be because my wife and I have bought a new apartment and are going to be moving there this weekend, while juggling work assignments and doctor’s appointments, etc. (Just in case I haven’t mentioned it here before, we are expecting another addition to the family in mid-January. The twins, meanwhile, are just a few days shy of 21 months. My, how the time flies.) Just because I like embedding things, here is the route that Google Maps... Read more

So says the Globe and Mail. Apparently the Canadian dollar is now worth about $1.0585 in American currency — which means my paycheques from the States ain’t worth as much as they used to be. Sigh. No wonder it was reported yesterday that the post office is facing a huge parcel backlog, now that Canadians have begun to do a lot of their shopping with American outlets over the internet. Read more

Carmen Andres at In the Open Space links to an item purporting to be a summary of the upcoming teaser for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and says her own “insider source” — presumably the same person she referred to here? — considers the summary “legit”. And oh, yes, it would seem to confirm that the Ark of the Covenant does play a significant role in this film. Read more

Well, not exactly. But still. Reports Variety: Antonio Banderas’ Spain-based production shingle Green Moon Producciones has teamed with Spanish animation studio Kandor Graphics to create a toon production house. The still-unnamed company aims to make five animated features over the next 10 years. The 50-50 joint venture kicks off with a pic already in production, “The Missing Lynx,” which is directed by Kandor partners Manuel Sicilia and Raul Garcia, a former animator for Pixar, Disney and DreamWorks. . . .... Read more

I acted in a church-based promotional video or two back in the day, myself, so I derive a certain comfort from the fact that Russell Crowe has at least one of these in his closet, too. Click here if the video file above doesn’t play properly. Read more