Had a coworker come up and say he hadn’t caught ”Truth About Charlie” at the theaters yet. There is a small # of people who know I run MarkWahlberg.com for his management company. I’m sure even fewer know that I have broken images and links on the site that I need to get off my arse and repair. So, ”Charlie” only opened on 700 screens instead of 2000 as originally announced by Universal. They also went through the unusual task of completely changing the marketing campaign a mere two weeks before it was to be released in theaters. I have not been able to see the film just yet. Its third week numbers are pretty dismal, having just cleared over $500,000 and therefore bringing its grand domestic total to just over 5 million. That’s bad if you consider it cost 50 million to make the film. There’s always DVD and VHS sales and rentals, however, so even though nobody went to see the film in theaters, there is always a second chance to recoup. I think one of the other things that Vivendi/Universal did was to downsize the premiere in Los Angeles. That’s why I didn’t get to cover the film for my MW.com peoples. Okay, well, that’s what I keep telling myself. Let a brother dream, ok?
Speaking of movies that you *can* see at the theater, on Sunday night I made a quick stop at Pat’s Philly Cheesesteaks for my standard Whiz With. I then hit Columbus Avenue and drove to the United Artists multiplex. I haven’t been there since I saw ”A.I.” last summer and had the unpleasant experience of sitting in non-stadium seating auditorium. After some investigation it turns out that some screens *are* stadium, so cool deal. I trudged through the cold and rain and bought a ticket to see the latest Harry Potter. My two sentence review? Thoroughly entertaining, yet at times things seem a bit strained. If I see that red headed Ron kid whine and make a face like he’s scared one more time, I’ll scream. Seriously. The movie should have ended 5 minutes earlier, but instead I was forced to endure a prolonged ending that felt more like the contrived way old 70’s TV shows always tried to end — on a punchline. There was none. They even made a sad attempt at implying that we should get all teary eyed because a character had returned after being unfairly imprisoned. Oh, thank goodness he’s back! Not. I was all, ”Heck, leave him in that Azbakistan (sp) prison until the 4th movie comes out, like I care!” I know. I’m cruel and heartless. At least I have good taste in kitchen appliances.
