ENTERTAINMENT
www.metro.us Monday, December 16, 2013
Box office. A major ‘Desolation’ indeed
WHAT’S IN THE BOX? DISC SETS TO GET A LOVED ONE (OR YOURSELF) Give a damn
Martin Freeman and many dwarfs return for the second “Hobbit.” WARNER BROS. PICTURES
A small hobbit racked up big sales at movie box offices during the weekend, generating an estimated $205 million at theaters around the world with the debut of highly anticipated sequel “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The second installment in the 3-D “Hobbit” film trilogy earned $73.7 million of its global haul in the United States and Canada, where it easily topped weekend movie charts. Walt Disney Co.’s animated fairy tale “Fro-
zen” took the No. 2 spot, selling $22.2 million worth of tickets from Friday through Sunday, beating new comedy “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas” which was third with $16 million. Sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” earned $13.2 million domestically for the weekend, claiming the No. 4 spot. Its worldwide cumulative total climbed to $740 million, eclipsing the total sales for the first “Hunger Games” movie.
Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection $59.98 Despite headlining “Gone With the Wind,” Vivien Leigh boasts a slim filmography. This box bears four from her youth, including 1937’s “Fire Over England,” in which she and new lover Laurence Olivier scorched up the screen. Also, behold her natural British accent!
REUTERS
Bond 50
$299.99 The 007 franchise is better as a whole and in specific bits than as individual films. Even the best — “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” — has its problems, and one of them isn’t George Lazenby. That’s why it’s advisable, if you must, to get your hands on all 23 of them. It’s a fascinating series, one that adapts nimbly (one could say cynically) to the times. You’ve likely vegged out to these during marathons, but how often has that meant dealing with the wrong aspect ratio and commercials that make “Octopussy” seem even longer than it is? Besides, “Die Another Day” will make a terrific coaster.
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman $224.95 You’re probably not going to get a better deal than this: Twenty-five movies for just over $200, all Criterion Collection-quality. And unlike the Bonds, it’s for a series of which you’ve likely seen nada. Created for the screen, the character Zatoichi (played in every single
one, from 1962 to 1973, by Shintaro Katsu) is one of the more unique martial arts badasses: a seemingly gentle, blind wanderer who just happens to have incomparably lightning-fast moves and deadly accuracy.
Forbidden Hollywood Volumes 6 and 7 $47.99 each You know how most classic Hollywood films are absurdly tame? For a brief moment, they weren’t. The period between the advent of sound in the late ’20s and 1934 is known as the “Pre-Code” era, when the puritanical Production Code existed but wasn’t enforced. Though they seem tame now, the films were sexy, dirty, realistic and teemed with strong female characters. Warner Brothers’ series of obscure, quickie programmers are always fun, and the most recent two volumes boast plenty with forgotten star Warren William.
Crack that whip
Indiana Jones $26.98 each A return to the well five years ago ruined what was a fairly tight franchise — but may we stick up for “Temple of Doom,” whose singular darkness (hearts ripped out, immolation, copious bugs) was the result of its makers both going through nasty divorces?
Remember how fun it was waiting for the bus last winter?
DISC JOCKEY
MATT PRIGGE
matt.prigge@metro.us
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