Rueben's Ramblings

Movie fans were finally able to return to their local Cineplexes starting this past May – with COVID restrictions in place, of course, and I was able to see about a dozen movies over the past 6 months or so. Most were superhero related (Black Widow, Eternals and Shang-Chi) with a little James Bond (No Time to Die) stirred [not shaken] in too; but my favorites were Jungle Cruise, In the Heights and Free Guy (Ryan Reynolds was hysterical!)

Among the much buzzed about news items in the world of box office movies have been former Twilight leading lady Kristen Stewart get rave reviews for her portrayal of the late Princess Diana in the film Spencer; legends Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci receiving their own share of rave reviews for their roles in the indie flick Supernova. And, Chloe Zhao is now the hottest director in Hollywood, coming off her win at the Golden Globes (she’s the second woman to win Best Director in 78 years) and at the Oscars as well. She was the Director for this year’s Eternals and her next project will be the sci-fi Western spin on Dracula.

Now let’s take a look at the top 30 box office winners from this year (up through Sunday, December 19 that is):

1. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – 224 million
2. Venom: Let There Be Carnage – 212 million
3. Black Widow – 184 million
4. F9: The Fast Saga – 173 million
5. Eternals – 163 million
6. No Time to Die – 161 million
7. A Quiet Place Part II – 160 million
8. Free Guy – 121.6 million
9. Spider-Man: No Way Home -121.5 million
10. Jungle Cruise – 117 million
11. Ghostbusters: Afterlife – 115 million
12. Godzilla vs. Kong – 99 million
13. Dune – 93 million
14. Halloween Kills – 92 million
15. Cruella – 86 million
16. Encanto – 77 million
17. Space Jam: A New Legacy – 67 million
18. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – 66 million
19. Candyman – 61 million
20. The Boss Baby: Family Business – 57 million
21. The Addams Family 2 – 56.4 million
22. The Suicide Squad – 55.7 million
23. Raya and the Last Dragon – 54.7 million
24. Clifford the Big Red Dog – 49 million
25. Old – 48 million
26. Tom and Jerry – 46 million
27. The Forever Purge – 45 million
28. House of Gucci – 44 million
29. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – 40.3 million
30. PAW Patrol: The Movie – 40.1 million

NOTE: This list does not include Spider-Man: No Way Home, as the movie was released on December 17; however, this latest version of the webslinger’s tale is set to cross the $1 billion mark WORLDWIDE on Christmas Day.

On the other spectrum are the movies that were either a disappointment in the box office due to poor ticket sales or, more importantly, had a horrible trailer that made me completely uninterested in seeing them. While several of the below were in the top 30 for ticket sales, they still weren’t very good (at least to me).

They appear in alphabetical order below:

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Don’t Breathe 2
Godzilla vs. Kong
Jackass Forever
Halloween Kills
Malignant
Music
Old
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
Spiral: For the Book of Saw
Separation
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
The Forever Purge
The Last Duel
Venom: Let There Be Carnage

What movies did you most enjoy seeing this year? Which movies were disappointments to you? Please share your thoughts and comments.

TOMORROW: Awards of 2021

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!