All About Steve poster

Bradley Cooper plays the titular Steve and gets third billing? THIRD?! Don't get me wrong, I've loved Thomas Haden Church since his Ned & Stacy days, long before Sideways fans hopped on the bandwagon. But Sideways is 5 years ago. What's with the 2nd billing? Bradley Cooper is one of the hottest actors working in Hollywood today thanks to The Hangover. Good Lord, 20th Century Fox, try to bank on that! The movie looks awful, the poster is awful. I don't look at this poster and think it's ALL ABOUT STEVE. I'm wondering why Sandra Bullock looks crazy. And if I didn't have any knowledge about the movie, I'd be wondering which of these guys IS Steve. Step it up, 20th Century Fox.

The Proposal is a success?

I continue to be puzzled by The Proposal's box office success this summer. Box Office Mojo tells me the romcom is currently sitting on $145 million domestically! That's the 13th highest grossing movie this year, sitting right between Paul Blart: Mall Cop at #12 with $146m and Liam Neeson's Taken at #14 with $145m (but a few thousand less than The Proposal). Since the film is still in theaters it's more than likely the movie will surpass Mall Cop.

I saw the movie weeks ago, didn't have time to write/post a review and now I barely remember the movie. I mean, I liked the movie, I'm just not sure what I liked about it. Well, besides Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock.

Or maybe that's just it. People really like Reynolds and Bullock. According to Box Office Mojo, The Proposal's opening weekend gross of $33 million is Bullock's highest opening ever. While Bullock is one of America's sweethearts and most of her movies end up doing pretty well or at least decent, her openings are not that strong. Her previous career best opening is 2007's Premonition with $17m. It's been a while since Bullock starred in a romcom like The Proposal. Romance The Lake House was released in 2006 and comedy Miss Congeniality 2 was released in 2005! Her last true romantic comedy was 2002's Two Weeks Notice with Hugh Grant! Were people suffering from Bullock withdrawal and en masse flocked to the theater when The Proposal was released?

Then there's Reynolds, who has turned into quite the capable leading man since his days on Two Guys, a Girl, & a Pizzaplace. People generally like him and his supporting role in Wolverine was well received. Excluding Wolverine (which clearly wasn't about him), Reynold's career best is also The Proposal. His previous highest opening was for 2005's The Amityville Horror, which grossed $23.5 million. Reynolds seems to be one of those actors that appeals to both females and males. I never hear guys say they like that Orlando Bloom guy. But Reynolds has appeared in a lot of guy flicks, such as Van Wilder, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Blade: Trinity and the aforementioned Wolverine. Has his casting helped The Proposal? Would guys rather take their girlfriends to a romcom starring Ryan Reynolds than, say, Matthew McConaughey?

Take McConaughey's latest romcom, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (awful title, btw). The movie opened only a few weeks earlier than The Proposal. It grossed $15 million in its opening weekend and ended up grossing $55 million domestically. To be fair to McConaughey, his previous three romcoms (Fool's Gold, Failure to Launch, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) all grossed between $20-$25 million in their opening weekends. Nothing to be ashamed about at all!

So what I really have been wondering lately is why is The Proposal a big hit and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past came and went without much notice? I wasn't too kind to both movies when I reviewed their trailers, but I gave kudos to GOGP for being less generic than The Proposal. Though it seems pretty obvious how both will play out, yes? I didn't want to see either on the big screen, but ended up seeing The Proposal just because a friend wanted to go see it. She thought it looked funny.

Maybe The Proposal is just the better movie. Maybe people were tired of McConaughey's romcoms and were waiting for Bullock's instead. Maybe Ghosts of Girlfriends Past just isn't an appealing title. Who knows?

Bullock & Cooper in All About Steve

I'm hoping to figure at least part of this out when Bullock's next romcom, All About Steve is released on September 4. She plays an eccentric crossword puzzler who think CCN cameraman Steve (sexy Bradley Cooper) is her true love and follows him around the country. I've seen the trailer and the movie looks awful. But both Bullock and Cooper are at career highs at the moment so I expect the movie to do well despite its awfulness. If so, it seems it doesn't really matter how awful or generic a romcom is, as long as you have two appealing leads, the movie will do well at the box office. To be continued...

Trailer Park: Confessions of a Shopaholic

I don't watch a lot of trailers online, so this feature will mostly feature (hee!) trailers that were attached to movies I've recently seen. Keep in mind that I live in The Netherlands, and that the trailers attached wont necessarily be the same as the ones in your country. In this post I'll review the trailers that were attached to Confessions of a Shopaholic.

My guesses: He's Just Not That Into You, Bride Wars, 17 Again

Sunshine Cleaning
This was unexpected! I didn't think a little movie like Sunshine Cleaning would get a theatrical release here. I mean, the movie is doing well in the US, but in limited release. Isn't that usually code for direct-to-DVD here in The Netherlands? Guess they are wising up. Anyways, loved seeing the trailer on the big screen. Amy Adams is adorable. I want to see this movie now!
To be viewed: probably on DVD cause it will end up getting a limited release here as well and no one I know wants to see it.

17 Again
Except for the Zac Efron factor, this movie looks pretty entertaining. But the scene where Leslie Mann abuses Zac's face, made me cringe. He looks exactly like her husband, played by Matthew Perry? Yeah, right.
To be viewed: on DVD. I will not support Zac Efron projects until he leaves Footloose alone.

He's Just Not That Into You
I'm just not that into this movie anymore. The more I see this trailer, the more it bores me. How is that possible when the cast includes Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Long, and Kevin Connelly? Did I mention the Bradley Cooper factor?!
To be viewed: on DVD

The Proposal
Poor Sandra Bullock. Poor Ryan Reynolds. Okay, not poor Ryan Reynolds. He gets to be married to Scarlett Johansson. But they both deserve better than this. The Proposal doesn't look bad, it just looks awful. Nothing we haven't seen before. I'd rather see Bullock's other romcom, All About Steve. Not that that movie looks like a winner, but at least it has Bradley Cooper in it.
To be viewed: on TV