It’s been a long time since Jim Carrey was tops at the box office. His new “I say yes to everything” comedy topped the charts this past weekend, pulling in just over $18 million.
Yes Man – $18.2M
Seven Pounds – $16M
The Tale of Despereaux – $10.5M
The Day the Earth Stood Still – $10.2M
Four Christmases – $7.75M
This weekend was the first Will Smith movie that I can remember in a long time that didn’t take the number one spot on opening weekend. Beat out by Jim Carrey, drats!
This year’s Snobbies had a fantastic turnout! We had almost 4,000 voters. Several categories were won by only a few votes (Bratz won over Norbit for Worst Movie with only five votes).
No one matched all 16 categories to win the grand prize, but we had a few other winners for the prizes of an iPod Touch, 3 DVDs of your choice, and 1 DVD. To see how many you matched enter your email address on this page and it will show you your votes and the winners.
Without any further ado, here are the winners of the 2008 Snobbies (don’t forget that some categories have spoilers):
After having seen I Am Legend at the premiere in New York City, I was thoroughly satisfied with the film. It had an elegant ending that left viewers with an explanation, if even a typical Hollywood one.
When the DVD release announcement was made, with the news that an alternate ending would be included, I was anxious to see the “controversial” ending. I had heard that the movie’s original ending was extremely different from the original Richard Matheson novel, so I picked up the book.
For those that don’t know the ending of the Matheson novel, and don’t mind me spoiling it, Show Spoilers
Neville realizes he is now the outsider, the abnormal one. The creatures fear him and hate him. Rightfully so, since he’s been hunting and killing them every day since the world ended. He accepts that he has become a legend, and that they must kill him, because he is no longer the way humans are supposed to be. This is a new species, one where he is the one that’s out of the ordinary.
The ending of the book intrigued me, mainly because I think Will Smith would have done a fantastic job with it. This isn’t the ending that the filmmakers made as the alternate ending, but it has similar themes.
The alternate ending is detailed below, behind spoiler hiders. Read on if you have seen the alternate ending, or don’t mind heavy spoilers.
When Neville, Anna, and Ethan barricade themselves behind the Plexiglass in Neville’s lab, we see the alternate ending. After realizing the creature has been cured, Neville doesn’t send Anna and Ethan away with the cure to find the colony of healthy people in Vermont, nor does he grab an old Army grenade and take as many creatures with him as he goes.
While watching the Alpha Male creature’s actions, he realizes that in taking a creature for his studies, he was intruding on their society. It’s a similar concept to that from the book – that the creatures are existing as they should, and Neville is interfering. The Alpha Male (played by Dash Mihok of Romeo & Juliet) hunted Neville down, not to kill him and satisfy his basic instincts, but to rescue one of his own. Contrary to Neville’s assumptions, the creatures have not completely devolved and lost all human traits.
Neville calmly opens the Plexiglass doors and rolls the subject out into the destroyed lab full of creatures. The Alpha Male screams at his subordinates, and while they hiss and growl at Neville, they do not harm him as he retrieves the injection to revive his subject. After reviving her, the test creature and the Alpha Male have a tender moment, showing that the creatures are still capable of love. The creatures take their rescued hive member back, and leave Neville, Anna, and Ethan unharmed.
The creatures weren’t after Neville to kill him and eat him. All they wanted was to take back what he stole from them. They go back to their existence as a new kind of society, a variety of the human species, while Neville, Anna, and Ethan start out on the road to Vermont.
The alternate ending has points that I prefer to the original, such as the fact that the creatures can still think, plan, and love. I also enjoy the open-ended feel to it. Rather than show the viewers that Anna and Ethan arrive at a colony in Vermont, and that the world will eventually be okay, all we know is that Neville and his new friends head towards Vermont, leaving the creatures behind to live their lives.
What did you think of the alternate ending of I Am Legend? Did you prefer it over the original ending?
This week’s new releases are powerhouse films starring big stars. I Am Legend stars Will Smith as Robert Neville, the last man on Earth. Atonement stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy as lovers torn apart when he’s wrongfully accused of a crime. Enchanted stars the adorable Amy Adams in her own Cinderella-story, where Prince Charming could be James Marsden or Patrick Dempsey (I’m sold either way).
Another year over, and another top ten list. December was a great month for movies, with the release of I Am Legend, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and many other great flicks. Here’s what the MovieSnobs readers were reading the most last month:
The Prestige – Explained – Possibly our most popular post ever, Mike’s minute-by-minute explanation of the film The Prestige has inspired a lively debate in the comments. It heated up this month with several people challenging Mike’s explanation of the film. Come join the discussion (if you’ve seen the movie, of course – this post is beyond spoiler-heavy).
New Hitman Images – While Hitman wasn’t my favorite movie of the year (see my review), it was a decent enough action flick, and fanboys everywhere were drooling over new pictures of Timothy Olyphant as the video game character Agent 47.
Optimus Prime Phone Call – The release of Transformers on DVD had everyone looking for the awesome promotion Paramount had on the official site where you could craft a phone call to a friend from…Optimus Prime. Unfortunately, the promotion was only live on the site for a short period of time.
The Dark Knight Viral Marketing – Another of our most popular posts ever, this kicked off the start of the intense viral marketing campaign for the Summer ’08 Batman movie. December saw less of the viral games and puzzles and more of the official straightforward releases of posters, trailers, and the first six minutes of the film (which screened before IMAX showings of I Am Legend).
Movie Theme Songs – Up a spot from last month, the YouTube video of a piano player doing some classic movie theme songs is still getting tons of clicks.
Ryan Gosling – Underrated Actor of the Year – My love letter to the talent of Oscar-Nominee Ryan Gosling has been attracting fellow fans from all over the world. I have a feeling the adorable picture of him might have something to do with it…
40 Hottest Women Over 40 – Mike’s picture-filled post about the 40 hottest women over 40 features such beauties as Demi Moore, Emily Proctor, Halle Berry, and Maria Bello. Each one is accompanied by a blurb about why you know her, why she’s hot, and a picture to prove it.
I Am Legend Review – The glowing, five-star review of I Am Legend tells just why this movie is worth the overpriced ticket, and why Will Smith is, and will always be, awesome.
Batman Vs. Superman – Best Easter Egg Ever – The discovery of an Easter egg hidden in I Am Legend was exciting enough, but finding out that it was a movie poster for the fictitious Batman Vs. Superman movie? Comic fans swooned. Now that the film’s been out a while, there have been a few other movie poster Easter eggs, but none as interesting as this.
Anyone else think it’s about time Will Smith was cast as a superhero? In Hancock he stars as an apathetic superhero with a knack for destroying things while saving lives. In the trailer he destroys several highway signs, a sailboat, and most of a train. Check it out below, followed by the awesome poster.
Hancock hits theaters July 2nd, 2008, and is sure to be yet another Will Smith Fourth of July Blockbuster.
A three-minute clip of one of the opening scenes of I Am Legend is online at Yahoo Movies. Check out Will Smith driving a Shelby Mustang GT500 around the empty and overgrown streets of Manhattan.
Kai said "Siafu is the Swahili word for Dorylus, you fool..." Indiana Jones Ants are Semi Real Ganesh said "Yes, I am also of the same opinion - the last frame which shows an Angier with an eye open…" The Prestige – explained Carl jolly said "Have you considered if they were twins or if Tesla had made a clone of bale earlier in tests" The Prestige – explained Dyanasthasia Rin said "Hello! I know that’s it’s super late for me to discover the disscussion. However, knowing peope have the same question…" The Prestige – explained mike2 said "I believe it was the one who loved Olivia, cause it fits with my theory above, and that is the…" The Prestige – explained
04/26/2019
This week’s new releases are powerhouse films starring big stars. I Am Legend stars Will Smith as Robert Neville, the last man on Earth. Atonement stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy as lovers torn apart when he’s wrongfully accused of a crime. Enchanted stars the adorable Amy Adams in her own Cinderella-story, where Prince Charming could be James Marsden or Patrick Dempsey (I’m sold either way).
