Transformers 2 breaks into top 25 on Movietickets.com list
According to Movietickets.com, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has sold out 600 performances nationwide, and accounts for 93 percent of ticket sales at the site. The movie has moved into 25th place in MovieTickets.com’s list of the Top-25 Pre-sellers of All-Time. In doing so, it bumped the 2007 “Transformers” from the list.
“So much for being robots in disguise,” said Joel Cohen, executive vice president and general manager for MovieTickets.com in a release. “‘Transformers 2′ is sure to be one of our highest grossing and most visible openers in 2009.”
See below for Movietickets.com’s Top 25. Given the number of “Harry Potter” films on that list, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the top 25 shaken up again in the coming weeks, as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” nears.
MovieTickets.com’s Top 25 Pre-Sellers of All-Time (includes IMAX)
1. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4. The Dark Knight
5. Twilight
6. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Disney Digital 3-D
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. The Matrix Reloaded
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
10. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
12. Sex and the City
13. Spider-Man 3
14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
17. The Passion of the Christ
18. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
19. High School Musical 3: Senior Year
20. Dreamgirls
21. Quantum of Solace
22. The Departed
23. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
24. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
25. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
I’m Batman: A look back at live-action Dark Knights
Today is the 20th anniversary of the 1989 “Batman” film starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. I remember my brother and I desperately anticipating this film, which we then saw multiple times over the summer. (Thanks to the Bat-Blog for the reminder.)
With the 1989 “Batman” on my mind, I decided to take a look back at the men who have portrayed Batman in live-action over the years.
Lewis Wilson was the first man to don the cowl of the Bat in the 1943 serial “Batman.” It’s done well enough for the time, though the racial overtones are difficult, if not impossible, to get around. Batman and Robin protect Gotham City from Dr. Tito Daka, who’s about as stereotypical as you’d expect for 1943. Ironically, perhaps, the DVD of the serial was released by a subsidiary of Sony.
Robert Lowery replaced Wilson in 1949′s “Batman and Robin,” as the Dynamic Duo face the Wizard and his death ray. It’s cheaper, and not as well-done as 1943′s “Batman,” but contains less offensive content, if you’re considering checking it out with younger viewers.
Here’s what The Oklahoman‘s entertainment editor Gene Triplett wrote about “Batman and Robin” for its DVD release:
The Saturday morning serial model of Batman shown in the theaters of 1949 was pretty low-budget: His 
pointy ears and nose more closely resemble those of a Doberman pinscher than a bat, Robin’s mask is of the dime-store rubber-band Halloween variety, and the Batmobile is nothing more than a stock 1949 Mercury convertible, sans fins, Bat-mask grille or any other snazzy options.
Batman is played by Robert Lowery, accurately described as a “colorless B-movie actor” in David Inman’s “TV Encyclopedia,” and best-known as Big Tim Champion on the ’50s TV series “Circus Boy.” John Duncan, a young body-builder with an Okie accent, is Robin, and B-movie stalwart Lyle Talbot (“Plan 9 From Outer Space”) is Commissioner Gordon. If you don’t take your Batman too seriously, here’s 15 chapters (261 minutes) of unintentional hilarity.
Batman next appeared when Adam West brought the character back with the campy 1960s television series. Rights issues have precluded the TV series from being released on DVD, though the 1966 movie is 
available. “Batman” reruns were a staple of television throughout the 1980s, showcasing the program’s quirky charm to another generation. My brother and I couldn’t wait to race home to watch “Batman” for years; we were older before we realized it was supposed to be funny.
The Oklahoman‘s Renee Lawrence asked West in 2001 what he thought gave the 1960s “Batman” its staying power among later generations.
“I think possibly it’s because we made a great effort to do it on several levels: for the kids, so they would enjoy all the splash, adventure, color, the bizarre villains and situations and so the adults would see the humor and laugh along with it,” West said. “And I think it worked because, I’m not that old, but I have three generations of folks coming to see me at these live appearances. It’s wonderful.”
Though Batman appeared in his own cartoons and in “SuperFriends” in the 1970s and 1980s, that was it for live-action “Batman” for several years, until Tim Burton’s ” Batman” was a critical and commercial 
tour-de-force in 1989.
” Batman” took nearly a decade to get made, as multiple approaches were tried before director Tim Burton came aboard.
The film likely couldn’t have been made without the darker ” Batman” comics of the 1980s, including “Dark Knight Returns” and “Killing Joke,” which Burton showed at meetings to get the 1960s “Bam! Pow!” version out of executives’ heads.
Michael Keaton is an unlikely but outstanding Bruce Wayne/ Batman, who sees his parents killed and dedicates his life to fighting crime. Burton mentions he didn’t want a traditional muscleman for Batman. Keaton looked crazy enough to put on a Batsuit to frighten criminals.
Casting Jack Nicholson as the Joker was almost “too obvious,” Burton says in the commentary, while Kim Basinger was a last-minute replacement as Vicki Vale for Sean Young.
Things turned darker with 1992′s ” Batman Returns,” featuring Michelle Pfeiffer’s slinky Catwoman and Danny DeVito’s malformed Penguin. Christopher Walken was slimy businessman Max Shreck.
Critics and parents squawked at the misfit Penguin, who was a far cry from Burgess Meredith’s dapper interpretation.
The result was Burton’s sliding into the producer’s role for ” Batman Forever,” allowing Joel Schumacher to take over the directorial reins.
Val Kilmer makes a striking Batman and a perfectly acceptable Bruce Wayne; the film does offer some psychological insight into the character – now in a love triangle with Nicole Kidman’s sexy psychologist Dr. 
Chase Meridian. The origin of Robin (Chris O’Donnell) is right from the comics and manages a good introduction for a character Burton had twice avoided.
Where the film fails is with the villains. Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face is a poor man’s Joker, and while Jim Carrey’s Riddler is at times sparkling, the movie is too much at Carrey’s disposal.
Still, audiences were crazy for Carrey, and the lighter “Forever” was a huge moneymaker in 1995.
This led to almost immediate preproduction on ” Batman and Robin.” George Clooney, then best-known for his role on “ER,” donned the cape, cowl, and nipples of Batman. While Clooney isn’t a great Batman, it’s hard to say it’s entirely his fault.
The film introduces Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Schwarzenegger is badly miscast, doesn’t carry off the tragic arc of Mr. Freeze (imported from the excellent animated series) and can’t get through a scene without a hideous cold-related pun. The failure of ” Batman and Robin” kept the series on ice until the recent ” Batman Begins.”
The Oklahoman’s George Lang called “Batman Begins” the second-best movie of 2005.
Joel Schumacher’s ” Batman and Robin” was so ghastly in its day-glo kitschiness, it almost qualified as a directorial hate crime, and it fell to Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Insomnia”) to rehabilitate the moribund franchise. But this was no mere rehabilitation: ” Batman Begins” is a glorious creation story 
drawing from Frank Miller’s ” Batman: Year One” and featuring the best cinematic Bruce Wayne to date, Christian Bale. The British cult actor balances introspection with the expected physicality in a performance that never condescends – Bale takes every element of his task seriously. Throw in Nolan’s customarily nonlinear storytelling, a truly scary villain (Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow) and a supporting cast (Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Tom Wilkinson, Gary Oldman and Rutger Hauer) working at peak levels, and ” Batman Begins” becomes the first Batman film completely worthy of its subject.
That brings us to last year’s “The Dark Knight,” the best Batman film yet. While Bale’s Batman is overshadowed by Heath Ledger’s Joker – much like Keaton was overshadowed by Nicholson – it’s a 
tour-de-force of a movie. ”The Dark Knight” begins as a heist caper, as goons in clown masks execute a bank robbery. But the twists in that scene foreshadow the entire film: “The Dark Knight” will not be business as usual.
In Gotham City, an aggressive new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and police Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) are following the lead of the crime-fighter Batman (Christian Bale) in taking it to the Mob. Together, the three have put a dent in the Mob’s control over the city. But the game is about to change. Anarchic madman the Joker (Heath Ledger) tells the Mob’s leaders that the answer to their problems is clear: Get rid of Batman.
The Joker looms large over the film “The Dark Knight,” at least partially because Ledger, who portrays the villain, died of an accidental drug overdose. But “The Dark Knight” is a tribute to his talents, as Ledger disappears into the role of the Joker. As the madman at the center of this crime epic, the Joker’s lunacy has the town on edge. While the Joker ostensibly is working for the city’s criminal powers, his real goal is chaos. This creepy vision of the Joker is original and unsettling, with greasy hair and a painted-on smile covering scars.
“The Dark Knight” is as much, or more, crime epic as comic-book adventure, and it reveals how far competent hands can take the Batman character when played straight. Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, yearns for a real life, possibly with Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). But as long as Gotham needs him as a protector, he must fill that role. Batman sees in Dent a possible replacement; his legal solutions for crime could take the place of Batman’s fists and technology.
The Joker doesn’t want a return to normalcy; he wants a city mad enough to need Batman for a defender. Their battle takes on multiple dimensions, both in the persons of Batman and the Joker, and the city at large, as director Christopher Nolan asks: What rules are worth breaking?
- Matt Price
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters tops GameFly top 10
1980s nostalgia rules the gaming realm this week. “Ghostbusters” tops the GameFly Top 10 List for the week ending June 22, 2009, knocking off defending champ “Prototype.” The GameFly Weekly Top 10 reflects gamers’ choices from more than 6,000 titles for the Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PSP consoles.
Most Popular Games Cross-Platform:
1GhostbustersPS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PS2Action AdventureAtari
2PrototypePS3, Xbox 360Action AdventureActivision
3Red Faction: GuerrillaPS3, Xbox 360ShooterTHQ
4Fight Night Round 4PS3, Xbox 360FightingElectronic Arts
5InfamousPS3Action AdventureSony Computer Entertainment
6Transformers: Revenge of the FallenPS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP Games, PS2Action AdventureActivision
7Call of Juarez: Bound in BloodPS3, Xbox 360ShooterUbisoft
8Halo 3: ODSTXbox 360ShooterMicrosoft
9UFC 2009 UndisputedPS3, Xbox 360FightingTHQ
10Overlord IIPS3, Xbox 360RPGWB Games
Click past the cut for more top 10 lists.
Norman writer Rob Vollmar tweets comic book script
In what may be a first-of-its-kind experiment, Norman writer Rob Vollmar (“Bluesman,” “The Castaways”) is writing a comic book script, 140 characters or less at a time, on twitter.
At www.twitter.com/robvollmar, Vollmar is tweeting one page each day. The reading process is a little unusual – as it is, by the nature of the medium, backwards – but this is an experiment that bears watching.
- Matt Price
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” already selling out
Hundreds of tomorrow night’s midnight show times for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have sold out, and the film makes up 76 percent today’s ticket sales at Fandango.com, according to information from the company.
Tulsa is among cities with sellouts; also included are New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Colorado Springs, Fresno and Buford, Georgia. Some theaters are adding 4 a.m. screenings to handle demand.
The film is selling twice as many tickets at Fandango as the first “Transformers” at this point in the sales cycle.
And Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf, while popular, don’t appear to be the only draws. A poll at Fandango of more than 2,000 moviegoers planning to see “Transformers 2″ indicates a majority of them would see “Transformers 3″ without LaBeouf or Fox.
· 92% of respondents said that Megan Fox’s political statements do not affect their interest in the movie.
· 84% of respondents said they would still be in interested in seeing Transformers 3, even if Megan Fox did not appear in the third movie.
· 69% said they would still be interested in seeing Transformers 3, even if Shia LaBeouf did not appear in the third movie.
Monday movie quote challenge #33
“I really feel, in short, to recap it slightly in a clearer version, in the words of David Cassidy in fact, while he was still with the Partridge family, ‘I think I love you.’”
Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!
Could ‘Transformers 2′ be summer’s biggest opening?
At this point in the sales cycle, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is outpacing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Up,” “Star Trek,” “Night at the Museum 2″ and “Angels and Demons” in pre-sales at MovieTickets.com.
As of 12 p.m. ET today, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” accounts for 83 percent of ticket sales at MovieTickets.com.
Most of the fans aching to see “Transformers 2″ were influenced by the first film, according to a Movietickets.com poll, reproduced below.
WEEKLY MOVIETICKETS.COM POLL
What has most influenced your desire to see “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”?
72% – Transformers (2007)
16% – The original television series
12% – The trailer
Total Votes on MovieTickets.com: 4,242
Video game art director of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was longtime fan
Like many Oklahoma boys growing up in the 1980s, Justin Thomas played with Transformers, the action-figure robots that change into trucks, jets and other vehicles. Now 34, he is turning his boyhood fantasy into the art direction for the “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” video game.
After graduating from Edmond Memorial High School in 1993, Thomas attended the Art Institute of Dallas, focusing on computer graphics. Upon graduation, he found work in the video game industry, eventually working on the “Medal of Honor” and “Call of Duty” World War II franchises.
“I’ve been doing World War II games for longer than the U.S. was involved in the war, so I’ve got quite a bit of World War II knowledge rolling around up there,” Thomas said. “It was an absolutely incredible time. Some really great and heroic stories.”
Now living in Los Angeles, Thomas is the art director of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” based on the Michael Bay movie set for Friday release. The “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” video game will be released Tuesday. Thomas said several people working on the game were fans of the property and wanted to do it justice.
“The first and foremost thing that we concentrated on was getting the transformations right; really getting 
the feel of being one of those bots, one of those Transformers, this giant robot just kind of rumbling through the city,” he said. “The transformations are very fluid. … There’s lots of really quick activity. It’s almost like a parkour with these giant robots.”
Thomas visited the set of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and pitched ideas to Hasbro for updating classic characters for the game.
“Who knows how much money my parents sunk into buying toys from them when I was a kid,” he said. “So, it’s kind of amazing. It feels like everything’s come full circle.”
By Matthew Price
From Monday’s The Oklahoman
Happy Father’s Day!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Keep up the good work. Jor-El here had a pretty good fatherly quote in “Superman: The Movie”:
“All that I have, all that I’ve learned, everything I feel… all this, and more, I I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine.”
NewsOK Comics Podcast: Captain America 600, Young Allies Special 1, Supergirl 42, X-Men Origins Gambit
Kyle Roberts and Matt Price discuss Captain America #600, Young Allies Special #1, Supergirl #42 and X-Men Origins: Gambit.
