The King of B.O.*

* potentially.

Several years ago, I finally realized that most movies that come out during the Summer Tentpole Dreckstravaganza are truly terrible. This was the end of the 20th century, when financial news networks deconsructed the stock market, and daytrading went bananas. It was also about this time that the Hollywood Stock Exchange was born, and I found myself thinking less like a moviegoer and more like a studio exec. Who cares whether the movie's any good? What's the domestic gross?

It was also then that my buddy Woodge invented the Summer Box Office Challenge, whereby the two of us predicted the top 20 summer moneymakers, awarded points on a deviation scale, and the winner got to feel like Les Grossman, shaking his ponderous booty.

The competition has ballooned from two people in 2001 to 29 this year, and guess who's ponderous booty is about to reign supreme?

MINE!

The Dark Knight was the undisputed king, grossing over half a billion domestically. I picked it third, only because I thought 1) Indiana Jones would be the hugest crowd pleaser, and 2) we were all drowning in Iron Man buzz. But Ledger (seen above, with the film's earnings) was mesmerizing, and even though the film suffered from Sequel Bloat, it mostly lived up to the hype.

Best picks: I kinda thought people would eat up a jukebox pic like Mamma Mia, especially because people liked seeing Pierce Brosnan get a hiatal hernia every time he sings. And the world will never forgive the X-Files for its craptastic final season.

Worst picks: I underestimated Sex and the City (which as a show was unredeemably awful), and overestimated The Love Guru (which sounded the death knell to the Mike Myers schtick) and Speed Racer (which gave people seizures).

Naturally, it ain't over 'til it's over. A few films might shift the final rankings, and my lead is only 15 points. But right now, I'm getting ready to shake that boot-ay!

Comments

[DavidS]

>Sex and the City (which as a show was unredeemably awful)

Um, what the crack are you smoking? SatC was an iconic show with beautiful production values and well-developed characters. Is there some irony that I'm missing here?

[The Usual Supect]

Wow a guy writer!

Dude I don't even want to get started on that city sex mess. I watched it a few times for a few minutes to try to understand. Here is what I got from it;

Women without jobs can make money appear out of nowhere and have fancy luncheons after getting the spa treatment with imaginary money then spend hundreds of it on shoes. They walk around four blocks of the same set all day long then screw guys in their lofts. Oh wait I think one of them was a writer but from the dialog you would never have guessed it. Almost like Polly Pocket came to life on a tv show with her buddies.

About Batman.....he rules.