Kimputer's Weblog

The Harry Potter series of books reached the 250 million mark this week. This includes all 200 countries it has been released in (and just 60 languages in which it has been translated in).
This, of course, makes J.K. Rowling the best paid author of this side of the world. With £125m earned this year, it kind of calculates to £388 for every word of her most recent book. Hah, I would not mind being paid uhmm……*count*…*remove contractions*.. £35696 for this piece l just wrote. Would you ?

Big bucks for holiday laffer Elf, taking the nr. 1 spot with $27.2 million in its second week. Barely dropping a beat, it’s this months winner for sure. Second one storming in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, an Oscar contender for sure, sailing away with $25.7 million. Taking a plunge faster than Neo could ever fly is The Matrix Revolutions at the third place with a measly $16.3. The Architect might not be happy, I imagine.
Fourth is Disney’s Brother Bear with $12 million. Fifth was for the premiere of Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Not so much action, as it only took in $9.5 million.
Expanding to wide release helps Love Actually to take the sixth place with $8.9 million.

Rate 1 (FR#^&% MESS !) to 5 (how very tidy !). Only rate the latest picture, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 931 out of 259 votes > Average is: 3.595

Eliza Dushku stars in this Early Edition/Seven Days/Haunted kinda mix, and it seems there’s some continuous development going in the series, which is a good thing. This mix however, bodes a dark cloudy warning of expecting the exact unexpected, which means, in the end, it’s predictable. The episodes are very clearly cut into the same pieces every time. Let’s see if they can change that within this new season, otherwise, the repetition, which every episode in itself is already, will wear thin.

Starting out really cozy in a seemingly happy family home, you wonder why you chose to see a sub-low budget independent film again. Then the psychological thriller thingy starts kicking in, which by any means, seems quite good at times. Then, it kinda hovers over the same subject over and over again, and in the end, it’s almost a Requiem for a Dream like experience. So, definitely not for the faint of heart. Go see a standard blockbuster movie if you want any worth yer money.6-.

The Matrix Revolutions revolutionised the worldwide box office alright, but back home it racked only a $50.2 million for the normal time span measured for the box office. It was, of course, good enough for the first place. Second place was for Will Ferrell’s comedy Elf, $32.1 million for the second place. Disney’s Brother Bear hangs on the third place with $18.6 million, while the public still wants to be scared by the 4th ranking Scary Movie 3, with a $11.1 million. Fifth place still has strong signals, Cuba Gooding Jr’s Radio is 5th with $7.4 million. Limited released Love Actually (starring a whole trailer park of English star actors) was loved indeed by the public, nr 6 with $6.6 million.

Worldwide performance record was broken again by The Matrix Revolutions, with a 5 day income of $200+ million, while The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers had a $188 million run last December. Time for the King to show his teeth.

BBC reports:
“Playing simple computer games at the office could improve productivity and job satisfaction, research suggests”. This research originating from the University of Utrecht, I can only concur.
Do you ?

Rate 1 (FR#^&% MESS !) to 5 (how very tidy !). Only rate the latest picture, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 929 out of 257 votes > Average is: 3.615

Yupz, you’re seeing it correctly, that’s the TNG DVD Series Borg Cube number 229 out of 1000. Pretty unique eh (Borg pun intended).

While definitely a must-see movie, this concluding part of the trilogy has a few points to bar the experience from being totally fulfilling. The story somehow seems much less complicated, and while the suspense is still there, it’s not as extreme as it could have been. The ending is done nicely, but still has a predictable feel to it. As for the special effects, it’s more massive then you’ve seen before, but the overall baffling ingenuity of the previous effects is much less in this one. Still worth having on DVD though.8.

A scary drop of no less than 56%, but Scary Movie 3 still retains its nr. 1 spot with $21.1 million Probably a tradition, “Yay, it’s Halloween, let’s see a Scary Movie !”. Ah well, it works, obviously.
Disney’s classic animation Brother Bear opens with a $18.5 million, good for a second place, but with the Matrix Revolutions opening next week, it won’t be a box office $100+ million hit.

This season opener is a blasting take-off, not too surprising, as the season ender left you glued to your seat for at least an hour. This episode is still in the same league as previous seasons, but with a hightened suspense level, with a lot of backstory to be revealed slowly, as flashbacks does not fit in this series. With the same creative team behind the scripts, it’s surely gonna be another heart-pounding 24 hours. It’s almost sad there are only 23 eps left this season.

Yupz, this is going to be a good season. A self contained story for every episode, while the arch runs in the background. The lingering atmosphere makes it a richer experience and the allows the character development to unfold slowly, while also sneakingly introducing known elements of the future. Definitely must-see.

Rate 1 (FR#^&% MESS !) to 5 (how very tidy !). Only rate the latest picture, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 919 out of 254 votes > Average is: 3.618