Roland Emmerich

“A Christmas Carol” came in second, with the sleeper hit “Precious” placing third. Here are the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

1. 2012, $65.23M
2. A Christmas Carol, $22.30M
3. Precious, $5.87M
4. The Men Who Stare at Goats, $5.86M
5. Michael Jackson’s This Is It, $5.07M
6. The Fourth Kind, $4.60M
7. Couples Retreat, $4.16M
8. Paranormal Activity, $4.04M
9. Law Abiding Citizen, $3.79M
10. The Box, $3.15M
11. Pirate Radio, $2.90M
12. Where the Wild Things Are, $2.41M

Image: Sony Pictures Releasing

Post from: Film Gecko

Movie: 2012 * Trailer * Official Site	In Theaters: Nov. 13, 2009
Runtime: 158 minutes	Directed by: Roland Emmerich
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language	Gecko Rating:

If you’re not familiar with the theories surrounding the year 2012, there are a lot of them, ranging from the Apocalypse, the return of the aliens, a comet colliding with the earth, sunspots, and other various cataclysmic events.

But some also say the year will signal a spiritual awakening, so maybe it’s not all bad. Check out Armageddon Online for more theories.

In the movie “2012,” the focus is on a series of catastrophic natural disasters that center on a shift and destabilization of the earth’s core. Thus we’ve got earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and just about every other sort of disaster you can think of.

More after the jump…

The central character is Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), an author who’s written a book about Atlantis but works as a driver for a Russian diplomat, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buric). Now divorced, Jackson is disconnected from his two kids (Liam James and Morgan Lily), and decides to take them on a camping trip to Yellowstone. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet) and her new husband Gordon (Tom McCarthy) stay behind in their happy suburban home.

But, of course, things start coming apart. California starts experiencing little earthquakes, and Jackson and the kids see some odd happenings during their Yellowstone camping trip, too. They also meet a crazy mountain man, Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson, whose perfectly cast in that role), who broadcasts a radio show, warning everyone that the end is near. 

Meanwhile, the politicians are gearing up in Washington, D.C. and around the globe, including U.S. President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover), his daughter Laura (Thandie Newton), and a geologist, Adrian (Chiwetel Ejiofor). They’re aware of the earth shifts and have a plan of their own. When Jackson catches wind of the plan from Charlie, he does everything in his power to get his family — including Gordon — to safety.

A lot of the dialogue in this movie is downright corny, but the special effects make up for it. You have to just sit back and enjoy the disaster ride that includes giant cracks that open up in the earth and threaten to swallow whole stores, skyscrapers toppling into each other, massive pieces of land sliding into the earth (cities and all), and sweeping tsunamis taking out entire continents, including a monk’s retreat on a mountaintop. And it’s all done really well.

But you also have to snort in disbelief at some of the outrageous things that would never happen, should a real disaster of this type occur. Like planes taking off on rubbled runways, then landing in a remote mountain area near exactly where the travelers were headed.

Still, as far as disaster movies go, this is a fun one. If you like this sort of thing, you should definitely check it out. At 158 minutes, though, it’s long, so be prepared for lots of disaster.

NOTE TO PARENTS: While I wouldn’t call “2012” a family movie, it definitely has some family elements to it. Even though Jackson feel disconnected to his kids and ex-wife, they work together during the disaster and realize they need each other.

The PG-13 rating seems on target for this movie. There are plenty of disaster scenes and people in peril, but you don’t see too many close-up shots of dead people or anything, and the movie isn’t “real” enough to warrant any major emotional upheaval in kids 13 and older.

Images: Sony Pictures Releasing

Post from: Film Gecko

But I’m definitely going to catch “2012,” in theaters this Friday, Nov. 13, 2009. Directed by Roland Emmerich, the movie also stars Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson. Check out a 5-minute clip of the film here. There’s some major computer generated effects in this one. 

Post from: Film Gecko

Roland Emmerich’s tragi-film centers on a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world as we know it — seriously, check out the trailer. I also have a great 5-minute clip with John Cusack front and center.

Until the Nov. 13 release date, here are a few premiere pictures of Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Gilmore Girls’ Lauren Graham, and Chin Han (read my “Dark Knight” interview with him).

Also present was Adam Lambert, who sang one of the movie’s tunes, “Time for Miracles.” Watch the video of that on Idol Stalker!

More after the jump…

Image: INF

Post from: Film Gecko

“2012” opens in theaters Nov. 13, 2009, and looks like the disaster movie to end all disaster movies. Check out the trailers here and here, and a five-minute clip with John Cusack here. Here’s a little sneak preview of the song…

Post from: Film Gecko

The cast includes John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Pete, Danny Glover, and George Segal, to name a few. The story centers on a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world as we know it, and the heroic struggle of the survivors left behind. I just want to know where they end up landing the plane.

Post from: Film Gecko

This is one of those creepy, story-within-a-story trailers that makes you think this could actually happen. Like the first time you read Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” in school. You just couldn’t believe that something like that could actually happen. WILL it happen, is the question…

It creeps me out to even visit the “Institute for Human Continuity” Web site and see the words “Register Now for Survival Lottery.” It seems too real. Clearly, I’ve been watching too many sci-fi movies. What about you? Do these sorts of things creep you out? 

Post from: Film Gecko

The cast is impressive, too: John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Pete, Danny Glover, and George Segal, to name a few. The story centers on a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world as we know it, and the heroic struggle of the survivors left behind. See what you think of the trailer:

Post from: Film Gecko

Now it’s your turn! Tell me which movies you’re excited about. And if they’re not listed in the poll, feel free to add your own or tell me in the comments.

Image: © Paramount Pictures

Post from: Film Gecko

1. Watchmen (March 6). “Who watches the Watchmen?” That’s the question in this graphic-novel-turned-movie directed by Zach Snyder. Vigilantes, murders, superheroes, and lots of good and bad karma populate this movie, along with stars Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jackie Earle Haley. [Trailer] [Film Gecko Links] [Official Site]

2. Sunshine Cleaning (March 13). This probably won’t hit all the mainstream theaters, but it looks like a quirky film that will hit all the right notes. Amy Adams is a single mom who, along with her slacker sister (Emily Blunt) starts a crime-scene cleanup biz as a way out of their dead-end lives. Alan Arkin plays the doting dad in this dramedy that scored big at Sundance last year. [Official Site]

3. Knowing (March 20). Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne star in this latest movie about number puzzles. Cage plays an MIT professor investigating a mysterious sequence of digits unearthed in a time capsule. Oh, and the numbers foretell tragic events, like a jet crashing on a freeway. [Official Site]

4. Duplicity (March 20). Ack! Julia Roberts and Clive Owen star in this romantic crime-thriller from Michael Clayton mastermind Tony Gilroy. I’ve heard that Clive Owen watched old Cary Grant films like “His Girl Friday” to get the fast-talking witty banter down to a science. [Trailer] [Official Site]

5. Monsters vs. Aliens (March 27). Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, and Seth Rogen star in this animated 3D flick from DreamWorks about, you guessed it, monsters who are called upon to battle a group of aliens who’ve invaded Earth. They’re the kind of monsters you’d see in a B movie in the 1950s. [Trailer and Super Bowl Spot] [Official Site]

6. Fast & Furious (April 3). Get your speed fix with this newest installment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. Crash-and-burn stunts, high-octane chases, and plenty of action are in store here. The stunt doubles have all the fun, don’t they? After his release from prison, Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) teams up with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) to work with the feds and bring down a heroin importer. Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster also star. [Trailer] [Official Site]

7. Dragonball: Evolution (April 8). If you missed the cult manga comics/animated TV shows, you can catch up with this movie. It’s a live-action version about a group of warriors protecting Earth from an evil force. Stars Justin Chatwin, Jamie Chung, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters, Yun-Fat Chow and Ernic Hudson. [Official Site]

8. State of Play (April 17). An overweight Russell Crowe plays a hard-nosed crime reporter investigating a politician (Ben Affleck) implicated in his assistant’s murder. Rachel McAdams and the fabulous Helen Mirren also star. [Official Site]

9. Angels & Demons (May 15). This sequel to 2006’s brings back Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist working to solve a murder and thwart a terrorist attack on the Vatican. Newcomer Ayelet Zurer also stars. [Teaser Trailer] [Official Site]

10. Terminator Salvation (May 22). Christian Bale plays John Connor, roaming a post-Judgment Day wasteland and gathering an army to fight the dreaded terminators. I can already tell this McG-directed flick will feature fantastic special fx. [Trailer] [Moon Bloodgood Gets Nude] [Christian Bale Goes Ballistic] [Official Site]

11. Up (May 29). Some animated movies just look lame right off the bat, and others look awesome. This one falls into the latter category. It’s a Pixar story about a curmudgeon (voiced by Ed Asner) who tries to escape his life by floating away in a house buoyed by balloons. The only flaw in the plan is the chirpy stowaway voiced by Jordan Nagai. [Official Site]

12. Public Enemies (July 1). Could a 1930’s gangster movie directed by Michael Mann and starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, and Channing Tatum be anything less than magnificent? I doubt it! It’s all about the Feds trying to take down notorious gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during the gritty crime wave of the 1930s. [30-Second Clip] [UNOfficial Site]

13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17). Harry and the gang return for their sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As usual, nothing is as it seems. Harry comes into possession of a mysterious book scrawled with “This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince,” and learns more about Lord Voldemort and how he got to be so evil. [Trailer] [Official Site]

14. 2012 (Nov. 13). John Cusack and Amanda Peet star in this Roland Emmerich-directed movie about the year 2012, when a global cataclysm that brings ruin to the world and leaves a few struggling to survive. [Trailer]

15. New Moon (Nov. 20). The much-anticipated sequel to “Twilight” continues the romantic and brooding story of vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart). Directed by Chris Weitz, Bella finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires. [Film Gecko Links]

16. Sherlock Holmes (Dec. 25). My family and I will make our traditional trek to the theater on Christmas to see this flick, starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the classic detective. Directed by Guy Ritchie, also stars Jude Law and Rachel McAdams. [Film Gecko Links]

Images: Watchmen, © 2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved; Duplicity, Universal Pictures; Terminator Salvation, © 2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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