Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (Blu-ray)

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It seems The Hobbit is determined to follow the same pattern as Lord Of The Rings. The first film was good but essentially just involved a lot of walking with a plot where much of it could have been cut out without hurting the overall arc of the story. The second is overall a better movie, but leaves things in a way where it’s difficult to fully judge it without seeing part three, as it spends so much time setting things up for that movie.

The Desolation Of Smaug picks up where the last film left off, with Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the band of dwarves heading towards the Lonely Mountain in order to take on the dragon Smaug, who many years ago took smote Erebor and displaced the dwarves who lived there. [Read more…]

Lone Survivor Tops The US Box Office With The Second Best January Opening Ever

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lone-survivor-posterA few months ago there was talk of Oscars for Lone Survivor. While that talk has died down, the film can take plenty of solace from an exceedingly good US opening, where it took $38.5 million over the weekend (it had been playing on a couple of screens before that, but only so it could qualify for the Oscars, which demand a movie opened on at least one screen in LA or New York before December 31st).

It’s the second biggest January opening ever after Cloverfield’s $40.1 million. It’s also a lot better than most other movies that have concentrated on the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The only other new entry was The Legend Of Hercules, which placed fourth with $8.6 million. It’s not a great start but about in line with expectations due to its lack of marquee names. Kellan Lutz is Hercules, but even his copious shirtlessness couldn’t turn it into a hit. Modest marketing and the fact there was little to make it stand out didn’t help either.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of January 10th-12th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Lone Survivor $38.5 $38.8
2 Frozen $15.0 $317.6
3 The Wolf Of Wall Street $9.0 $78.5
4 The Legend Of Hercules $8.6 $8.6
5 American Hustle $8.6 $101.5
6 The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug $8.0 $242.2
7 August: Osage County $7.3 $7.8
8 Saving Mr. Banks $6.5 $68.9
9 Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones $6.3 $28.4
10 Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues $6.1 $118.5
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The Hobbit Tops The Post-Christmas US Box Office

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hobbit-desolation-poster3It was a busy weekend for new releases at the US box office, but in the end none of them could beat out The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, which topped the charts again with $29.8 million. Perhaps more impressive though was Frozen in second place. It’s $28.8 million is the second highest ever (behind Avatar) for a movie in its sixth week of release, and pushes the movie up to be Disney’s second highest grossing animated movie in the US, with only The Lion King beating it.

Of the five big new releases, The Wolf Of Wall Street did best with $18.5 million over the weekend and $34 million since it’s Christmas Day release. Although it only placed fifth on the chart, it’s still considered a good start for an R rated movie that runs nearly three hours.

Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty grossed $13 million over the weekend and $23 million since Christmas. While about in line with expectations, it’s not great for a pretty expensive movie, especially one that had high Oscar hopes earlier this year.

The big disaster though was 47 Ronin, which cost $175 million to make, but only placed ninth with $9 million over the weekend and $20 million since Christmas. Once marketing costs are taken into account, some believe Universal will lose the entire $175 million it spent making the Keanu Reeves movie.

Outside the top 10, the Robert De Niro & Sylvester Stallone boxing movie had a passable $7.4 million opening, which isn’t bad at a packed box office, especially as it wasn’t a particularly expensive movie. Justin Bieber however had less to cheer about, as while his last concert movie, Never Say Never, opened to nearly $30 million, his new one, Believe, grossed just $4 million since it opened on Christmas Day. It certainly seems the Beliebers stayed home for this one, which shows just how fickle the concert movie business can be.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 27th-29th 2013.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug $29.8 $190.3
2 Frozen $28.8 $248.3
3 Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues $20.1 $83.6
4 American Hustle $19.5 $60.0
5 The Wolf Of Wall Street $18.5 $34.3
6 Saving Mr. Banks $14.0 $37.8
7 The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty $13.0 $25.5
8 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $10.2 $391.1
9 47 Ronin $9.8 $20.5
10 Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas $7.4 $43.7
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The Hobbit Beats Out Anchorman 2 At The US Box Office

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hobbit-desolation-poster5With a lot of films battling it out at the US box office, it wasn’t clear going into the weekend which would end up on top. In the end The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug took the number one spot, with $31.4 million.

That means it beat out the hotly tipped Anchorman 2, which came second with $26.6 million over the weekend and $40 million since it opened last Wednesday. Although not the mega-hit some had thought it might be, it’s still a pretty okay start and it should continue to have decent play of the Christmas period.

After expanding their screen count massively, both American Hustle and Saving Mr. Banks made their first appearance in the top 10 in fourth and fifth spot, with $19.1 million and $9.3 million respectively. It means that Hustle is playing ahead of expectations, which is likely to help its Oscar chances, while Saving Mr. Banks is probably going to need a few awards nods if it’s going to turn into a significant US hit.

Walking With Dinosaurs failed to attract much of an audience, earning just $7.3 million in its first three days. Although it will continue to play over Christmas, it’s still likely to be seen as a significant failure.

More impressive was Dhoom 3, which may have earned only around half of what Walking With Dinosaurs did, but it did so on less than 10% of the screens the dino movie had. It’s $3.3 million weekend is a record for a Bollywood movie in the US, which very rarely make the top 10.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 20th-22nd 2013.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug $31.4 $127.5
2 Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues $26.7 $40.0
3 Frozen $19.1 $191.5
4 American Hustle $19.1 $20.2
5 Saving Mr. Banks $9.3 $9.9
6 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $8.7 $321.7
7 Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas $8.5 $28.2
8 Walking With Dinosaurs $7.3 $7.3
9 Dhoom 3 $3.3 $3.3
10 Thor: The Dark World $1.3 $200.7
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The Hobbit Desolates The US Box Office With $73 Million

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hobbit-desolation-poster2There was little doubt that The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug would top the US box office this weekend. The only question was how much it would take. There was a lot of disagreement going into the weekend, with some suggesting it could take as much as $80 million, while others thought it would struggle to make $70 million.

In the end it made a strong but not as spectacular as some had expected $73.6 million. It’s certainly not a disaster, and with a strong international showing it’s likely to end up grossing around the same as the billion pounds the first movie took worldwide. It’s also true that the film faced strong holdovers from Catching Fire and Frozen, which may have affected it opening, but it should make up some US ground over the coming week.

The only other new opener was Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas, which disappointed with $16 million. Most of Perry’s other Madea movies have had $25+ million openings, so despite the festive theme, it seems audiences aren’t that interested.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 13th-15th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug $73.6 $73.6
2 Frozen $22.1 $164.3
3 Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas $16.0 $16.0
4 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $13.1 $356.9
5 Thor: The Dark World $2.7 $198.1
6 Out Of The Furnace $2.3 $9.4
7 Delivery Man $1.8 $27.9
8 Philomena $1.7 $11.0
9 The Book Thief $1,6 $14.8
10 Homefront $1.6 $18.4
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The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (Cinema)

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After the massive success of Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey wasn’t as well received by fans and critics. This was due to running time, the lengthy introduction to all the new characters, as well as Peter Jackson’s controversial decision to film and project it at 48fps (which many complained gave it a video feel).

So has Jackson redeemed himself with the diehard fans of Middle Earth with part two of the Hobbit trilogy? Yes, Smaug is The Two Towers compared to the slower Fellowship of the Ring. [Read more…]

New The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Sneak Peak, Posters & More

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Yesterday marked the launch of the final rundown to the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, with a slew of new posters, a three-minute sneak peak and a fan event. And you can see all of that below!

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.’

It’s in UK cinemas on December 13th. [Read more…]

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New The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer Debuts

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As we were promised, a new trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has arrived and it certainly looks pretty, showing of the visuals and action, as well as the return of old friends like Legolas and new character played by actors such as Evangeline Lily, Lee Pace and Luke Evans – the last two of which you can see in new banners above.

There’s also a few giant spider to look out for. But once again the dragon Smaug is only glimpsed in bits and pieces.

Here’s the official synopsis: ‘The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece “The Hobbit”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventures of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

It hits cinemas on December 13th.

hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-banner3 hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-banner2

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New The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Banner Arrives

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hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-banner
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has released a new banner, showing off Bilbo and some of the dwarves, with plenty of cobwebs to suggest what they are up against. Along with the banner, we’ve also been promised that a brand new trailer will hit on Tuesday.

And it seems there are only two colours for Middle Earth posters – yellow and brown, or tinged with blue. Seriously, take a look at the Lord Of The Rings ones and you’ll see what I mean.

Here’s the official synopsis: ‘The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece “The Hobbit”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventures of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.’

It hits cinemas on December 13th.

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New Pics: Daniel Radcliffe In The F Word, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug & American Hustle

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f-word-pic1A few interesting new images from some of 2013 and early 2014’s most-anticipated movies have emerged, with pics from The F Word, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug and American Hustle arriving.

The F Word stars Daniel Radcliffe as Wallace, a young man who meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan) at a party where they hit it off. The problem is, Chantry has a long-term boyfriend, and the duo must navigate through a tenuous friendship (that’s the F word), while keeping their feelings at bay. The film will premiere at TIFF (who debuted the image), with a February UK release set.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is, of course, Peter Jackson’s continuation of the classic JRR Tolkien story. The pic shows us the return of Orlando Bloom as Legolas, along with a new character, Evangeline Lilly’s elf Tauriel.

American Hustle is David O. Russell’s movie based on the true story of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), a con artist who, along with his lover and accomplice Sydney (Amy Adams), are forced by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to help with his ABSCAM conspiracy case in the 1970s. That ended with a US Senator and five Congressmen were convicted on corruption charges. It’ll be out later this year. [Read more…]

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