A Sad Billboard and A Boring Box Office

By now, everyone knows that I am a X-tina fan. With that said, the popstar’s singles don’t seem to be faring too well on the Billboard charts. I have only heard “Not Myself Tonight” once on the radio, and “Woohoo” just debuted at #79 on the top 100. I think I’m missing something.  I mean….granted, “Not Myself Tonight” created a huge war between Gaga and X-tina fans. But is X-tina really losing?

Personally, I think that “Woohoo” is definitely on point. The sound is more original, and I envision a video that is far from Gaga comparison. This song needs to climb up the charts!!! lol X-tina can’t let Ms. Perry have the only summer hit in June.  I’m starting to think that X-tina’s album should be pushed back from June 8th. Otherwise, she’s relying solely on her fans to buy it on release day instead of increasing sales with newer consumers. We’ll see what happens though. In the meantime, can X-tina get more love on the radio??? Just sayin’…..I guess those Gaga comparisons are doing way more harm than good…

Btws…Lady Gaga will be releasing her music video for “Alejandro” very soon. Check out the sneak peek on her website. It reminds me of Madonna…;)

Lady Gaga Alejandro

p.s. Is it just me or is Gaga’s music and look nowadays just entirely too random? I love both it and her, but who is she as an artist? Just eccentric? She can’t just do EVERYTHING that’s different. That leaves no room for other “weird” newbies. Perhaps that’s what Gaga wants, but that’s not what I want. lol I like new talent, and it would be great if they could enter the industry without the Gaga comparison. At least, Madonna changed her look and sound over decades, not within her first year as a huge artist…

Anyways….

As for the Memorial Day weekend box office, it looks like Hollywood made less money than expected. Thus far, the summer films are not meeting the expectations of their studios. Honestly, I’m not that surprised. Prince of Persia was, in my opinion, a hot mess. Therefore, it’s mere 37.8 mil was expected. As far as for the other films, Variety reports that Shrek, Robin Hood, and Iron Man 2 are still under-performing.

Looks like Hollywood needs to come harder and produce some more original and quality material. Although I am excited for new releases like Angelina Jolie’s Salt, I am getting a little bored with the constant franchise additions and remakes. And, seeing as though there are three assassins films scheduled to be released, this summer will show whether or not other moviegoers agree.

Prince of Persia: A Disney Disaster

Yesterday was the opening night for Disney’s highly anticipated Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a movie based off of the popular Canadian video game. The film centers itself around the story of Dastan, an orphan, who becomes a prince after being adopted by the king of Persia. Once Dastan is older, he and his two brothers work to maintain the Persian empire for their father. Though the brothers have good intentions, they are tricked by a traitor within the empire, which leads to the attack of the city Alamut.  Unaware of the mistake that they have just made, the brothers are more or less proud to have conquered Alamut, and Dastan takes home a beautiful dagger he finds in the city as his prize. Soon Dastan learns that his treasure from Alamut is no ordinary dagger and an “adventure of a lifetime” ensues for the young hero.

As much fun as the trailer looked for Prince of Persia, the film was ultimately a complete bust. Once upon a time, I believed Gyllenhaal’s casting to be potentially the biggest error of the film, but boy, was I wrong. Ol’ Jakie boy was the least of my worries after the first hour. Despite the various action scenes throughout the film, I was not the slightest bit entertained, taking a 20 minute nap midway through the movie. The terrible dialogue combined with the jarring cuts between scenes, the annoying princess’ voice (the girl would not shut up), and the never-ending plot, Prince of Persia failed to pull the audience in.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the film was the director’s attempt to turn an almost non-existent plot into an epic story. Let’s be real…The movie is based off a video game. People do not care about the plot as much as they do about cool fight scenes. With that said, I cannot knock all of the director’s attempts in the film. When Dastan scales the wall to enter the city of Alamut, I thought to myself “That’s pretty badass.” Not to mention, a few of the characters like Seso, a skilled knife thrower, bring some necessary entertainment with their unbelievable abilities every now and then.

Anyways, there’s no need for me to continue to talk about this film. By no means is Prince of Persia the worst movie ever, but it just might become the worst blockbuster of the summer. For those of you, who still want to see Prince of Persia, I can tell you that I did end up laughing hysterically by the end of the film. There was just no other way to respond to its ridiculousness. So, if you go with the right group of friends, you should enjoy being annoyed together. lol

p.s. There were some pretty cool trailers that played before Prince of Persia, one being Disney’s Tron: Legacy. Although Disney disappointed me with Prince Dastan, I must say that Tron: Legacy, the sequel to 1982′s Tron, which starred Jeff Bridges, looks visually amazing! The original Tron was nominated for an Academy Award and is parodied in shows like Family Guy. Since I haven’t seen the first film, here’s its Wikipedia article.

Tron

As far as Tron: Legacy goes, I am honestly just curious about the film because of its visuals. The movie will be playing on Digital 3D and IMAX 3D screens come December.

Check out the trailer for Tron: Legacy here!

Looks pretty cool, eh? 

Here are links to another trailer for Tron Legacy and for the original Tron if you’re interested.

Tron Legacy

Tron

Also, check out this scene I found on from the original Tron. Disney was definitely ahead of its time in the 80s! This still looks impressive even for today.

Anyways, I promise that that is the last Tron video I have for you. lol I got a little too excited when I started looking up more information about the movie….Let’s hope that Disney doesn’t mess up the Tron franchise. I have faith!

What do you think about Tron: Legacy? Do you think it’s going to be another Prince of Persia? Leave a comment!

And The Winner Is….

Bret Michaels!

Last night on the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump hired Bret over his friendly rival Holly Robinson Peete. For weeks now, Bret has been battling major health scares. Recently, a hole was discovered in Bret’s heart, only adding to the ailing rocker’s troubles. BUT, at least Bret can celebrate as the winner of Celebrity Apprentice. In an interview, Holly discussed going up against a man, who “cheated death” and how great of a guy Bret is. We’ve already prayed for Bret once, but maybe some extra prayers tonight wouldn’t be a bad idea….Congratulations Mr. Michaels on your win and managing to make the finale in New York!

Bret Michaels Wins Celebrity Apprentice

p.s. Kudos to Holly for having such a gracious attitude. She is the definition of a winner, and more celebrities need to be like her. For those of you who are not familiar with Holly, she is known for her starring role on Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper as well as a number of other television shows. Check out Holly’s Access Hollywood interview below.

Holly Robinson Peete on Celebrity Apprentice Final and Bret Michaels

In the latest film news…

The fourth and last installment of the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After, won out at the domestic box office,  debuting at numero uno with just over $71 million. The  animated feature beat out Iron Man 2, which took the number 2 spot, and Robin Hood. Because Shrek Forever After is technically a winner, I won’t mention that the movie fell short of its expected $100 million goal and caused shares in DreamWorks Animation to drop….

DreamWorks Shares Sink After Shrek Disappoints

Anyways, we cannot forget that next week marks the opening of Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The trailers for Prince of Persia have created a nice buzz around the film, and is definitely making people want to check it out, including me. Personally, I can’t wait to put in my two cents about Ol’ Jakie boy as the main character Dastan. I’ve been talking about Mr. Gyllenhaal for weeks….lol

Who else is excited for Prince of Persia???

**And, in true Bina fashion, I am going to provide music that is appropriate for today’s theme. I have been hearing Jamie Foxx and Justin Timberlake’s single “Winner” all over the radio lately, and I must say that I am a fan.

Enjoy!

Oooooooh JT,  I’m still waiting for you to drop that new album… lol 

The New Hollywood Hero Is On A Roll

Remember that post I did about the new type of leading man in Hollywood? Well, it looks like Robert Downey Jr. will continue his “odd” leading man status, considering Iron Man 2 is expected to take in a a whopping $300 million after its debut at the global box office.  Although Downey does not fit the typical mold for a superhero, his charming and hilarious nature can pretty much get him whatever role he wants.  And, after falling from the Hollywood stars for a while due to drugs and jail time, I’m glad to see Downey having so much success these days. He’s a great actor. I saw Iron Man 2 on Friday night, and absolutely loved both it and Downey in it. Iron Man 2 is sure to continue to rake in millions!

All of Downey’s success this weekend causes me to wonder how our other Hollywood heroes will fare. Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood is next up on the chopping block and will give Iron Man 2 some competition next weekend on May 14th. Robin Hood will then be followed by the release Ol’ Jakie boy’s Prince of Persia in two weeks on May 28th. If you’ve been reading, then you already know how I feel about Gyllenhaal’s casting in Prince of Persia. However, only the box office will tell what and who audiences want to see. I hear Robin Hood is good though. Variety’s Justin Chang reports that the film is not as “campy” as its predecessors, but more gritty,  realist, and political. Personally, I’m excited for this fresher approach to a classic story, and cannot wait to see the movie next weekend!

As for Prince of Persia, the overall concept is pretty cool, so I’ll have to go see it…I just hope I get over my disappointment of Jake Gyllenhaal. Maybe he will show some Downey charm? We’ll see. At least the movie poster makes me want to see it.

Also, in case you’re interested, here is a press conference that the cast of Prince of Persia did recently. Even Jerry Bruckheimer, the film’s producer and man responsible for such major successes as Pirates of the Caribbean, is present.

**Below are some other links that may be of interest. Enjoy!

LA Times – Iron Man 2 is box office gold

Robin Hood

On set with Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe