The Simpsons Movie

There are awards for people in the movies and people making the movies, and just this weekend the people who market movies were honored at the 37th Annual Hollywood Reporter Movie Marketing Key Art Awards.

The marketing teams behind the Simpsons Movie, Bee Movie, Juno and No Country for Old Men were among the most awarded in categories like Best Campaign (No Country), Best TV Spots (Juno for comedy, There Will Be Blood for drama) and Best Website Design (The Simpsons Movie).

Judd Apatow received the Visionary Award, "recognizing a filmmaker who inspires movie marketers," and the theatrical trailer for Superbad won for Best Comedy Trailer. Upon accepting his award, Apatow joked about marketing a movie: "It's one of the most fun parts of the process. This award brings me full circle because I started out thinking you were all f***ing a**holes."

All this swearing and patting of backs got me thinking about promotional stuff for movies that have really stood out. Certainly some trailers are better than others (the one for The Happening, for example, was actually better than the movie itself) and some print advertisements can be absolutely amazing (see: print ads for The Dark Knight). Do you remember any really great movie marketing campaigns? Or is all this stuff so fleeting?

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All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to these titles, you can now find the five-disc collector's edition of Blade Runner.

The Simpsons Movie
In case you missed one of the biggest movies of the summer, you can now enjoy The Simpsons Movie in your very own home. In the movie, one of TV's favorite bumbling dads accidentally contaminates Springfield's water supply, and the town is placed under a giant dome by the government. The Simpsons then need to figure out a way to save the day.

The extras feature an assortment of goodies, including audio commentary by various voice actors and the directors, extended and deleted scenes, and a collection of the promotional stuff they did to generate buzz for the summer release. One of these is Homer's guest monologue on The Tonight Show. Woo-hoo!

Two more titles, so read more

Welcome to BuzzSugar's monthly must-haves, where I show off a handful of the things I'm most looking forward to watching, buying, renting and reading. We're well into the holiday season now, so here are a few things I'm looking at to keep me happy and sane amid all the hustle and bustle.

To find out why "these are a few of my favorite things," read more

Well, Brett Ratner has become an even wealthier man. Having figured out a most profitable buddy action flick formula, his latest movie Rush Hour 3 took the box office crown this weekend, raking in $50.2 million. Though extremely respectable, this sum falls short of the $67.4 million made by Rush Hour 2 its opening weekend in the summer of 2001.

The Bourne Ultimatum stayed strong in second place for its second weekend in theaters, bringing in $33 million, while The Simpsons Movie followed up in the No. 3 slot. Stardust, the fantasy adventure based on the Neil Gaiman novel, sadly didn't do so well its first weekend, bringing in just $9 million in fourth place. It didn't do quite so poorly as Daddy Day Camp did in its first weekend, however, as it just barely edged Transformers out of the tenth-place spot and earned approximately $3.5 million.

This weekend should prove exciting at the box office with the releases of one of the summer's biggest comedies, Superbad, and the creepy-looking The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Hopefully one of those will knock Rush Hour 3 off its throne.

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For this weekend at least, Jason Bourne reigned supreme over James Bond. The Bourne Ultimatum finished its premiere weekend with an estimated $70.2 million in ticket sales, beating not only the other two Bourne films but also the premiere numbers for any Bond movie. It was also the biggest August premiere for any movie ever, and it was a personal best for both star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass.

The Simpsons Movie didn't come close to the $71.8 million it pulled in during its opening weekend, but it still finished strong at No. 2 with an estimated $25.6 million in sales. From there, it was a big drop to Underdog, which made $12 million to finish at No. 3 in its debut weekend. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry pulled in $10 million more in the No. 4 spot, and Hairspray nabbed another $9.3 million to round out the top five.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, No Reservations and Transformers all finished ahead of another new release, Andy Samberg's comedy Hot Rod, which pulled in $5 million in the No. 9 spot. As for the final spot in the top 10? That would be Bratz, which made $4.3 million and proved that toy sales don't necessarily translate into ticket sales.

El Cantante managed to finish at No. 12 with $3.3 million, despite only opening in 540 theaters. Becoming Jane, meanwhile, made $1 million in its first 100 theaters, while The Ten made $117,000 in an extremely limited 25 theaters.

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At Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend, Team member Phasekitty got some great scoop on some upcoming movies from Disney, Focus Features and more. Be sure to check out all of her blogging about the event. Here are a few highlights:

• At the Simpsons panel, Phasekitty got the answer to one burning question about The Simpsons Movie: What happened to Spider Pig? Apparently, the special creature will return in this year's season premiere. Another fun Simpsons Movie fact: The script went through 166 drafts in four years. As for the TV version of "The Simpsons," Jack Black and comic legend Alan Moore will voice characters in an episode about a rival comic shop opening in Springfield, and Dan Rather and Jon Stewart will lend their voices to a politically driven episode that finds Ralph Wiggum as the frontrunner for both parties in their primary elections.
• Liv Tyler really knows how to please a geek: She spoke elvish upon request during the Rogue/Focus panel. She was there to promote her upcoming horror film, The Strangers. Phasekitty says: "First time director Bryan Bertino brings to life his own script about a couple who is attacked in their home by three strangers. Bertino, along with stars Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, headed up this panel and showed two tension-filled clips and an eerie, original teaser trailer."
• Balls of Fury, on the other hand, kind of bombed: Phasekitty says the humor among the panelists seemed forced, the clips were only mildly funny, and "the questions were mostly directed to the creative team about other projects of theirs like 'Reno 911' and 'The State.'"

More, including a glimpse at the next Pixar film, so read more

• The Simpsons Movie stole the #1 slot away from Chuck and Larry at the the box office this weekend, making $71.8 million. All that clever advertising really paid off! - BuzzSugar
• Ingmar Bergman passed away at the age of 89. The legendary movie director will certainly be missed. - BBC News
• Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds got engaged last week. This probably isn't going to be happy news for Scary Spice. - People
• Mel Gibson sold his mansion in Malibu for $30 million, which earned him a $6 million profit. Guess his scandalous past isn't slowing down his income much. - LA Times
• Ozzy Osbourne is doing well after being hospitalized over the weekend for a minor procedure. We wish him a speedy recovery. - Reuters
• Talk show host Tom Snyder passed away after a battle with leukemia. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. - AP

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Looks like Bart, Homer, Marge and the gang aren't just small-screen superstars anymore. The Simpsons Movie pulled in an estimated $71.8 million — the third-highest opening ever for an animated movie, behind only the two latest installments of the Shrek series — to run away with the weekend box office title. According to the Hollywood Reporter, that's well above the industry's highest expectations. Springfield must be so proud.

The cartoon family bumped I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry down to the No. 2 spot with about $19 million in sales. Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix stayed strong at No. 3 with $17 million and is now on pace to become the highest-grossing film franchise in worldwide box office history, topping Star Wars and the James Bond movies. Hairspray, meanwhile, grabbed another $15.5 million to capture the No. 4 spot.

Pleasant surprise No Reservations edged out Transformers for No. 5 with about $11.7 million (Transformers brought in $11.5 million). The weekend's other much-discussed new release, the Lindsay Lohan film I Know Who Killed Me, sneaked into the top 10, bringing in $3.4 million to finish at No. 9.

The Simpsons might not want to get too comfy on that couch atop the box office rankings, though. Next weekend, a man named Jason Bourne is coming to town.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

First and foremost, The Simpsons Movie is very funny. In many ways, it's a perfectly satisfying Simpsons adventure with plenty of gags to keep the laughs rolling on. Thus, as a major summer comedy, this movie is a success.

However, as a longtime fan of the TV show, I suppose I'd expected certain things that the movie did not ultimately deliver. Much of the enjoyment of this movie hinges upon surprise, so I won't reveal plot details or specific jokes here — though the great number of you who voted Lisa as your favorite Simpson will be very pleased: She has some of the greatest moments in the whole thing, in my opinion. The movie felt like a longer episode with a little more obscenity, but still basically an episode. To check out my thoughts on the good and the bad, as divided into "woo hoo!" and "d'oh!" read more

The humans behind our favorite yellow family and some of their other famous friends came out in LA last night to celebrate the premiere of The Simpsons Movie. It's been impossible to avoid the hype (and adorable promotion), and we'll all finally be able to see the long-awaited film on Friday. On the yellow carpet the adorable Hank Azaria cheekily stuck his finger up Homer's nose while JC Chasez was a little more tame in front of the poster. What do you think of Erika Christensen's more mature look? As for Dr. Phil, never one to miss an opportunity to impart advice, he had this to say about Lohan's problems:

"Somebody's going to have to step up and tell these young talents that they're not bulletproof. I just hope somebody doesn't have to get dead before somebody wakes up and says 'we've got to wake up and slow down.'"

While I'm loathe to admit that Dr. Phil is ever right, he's got a point. That being said, it came out in the most smarmy & smug way possible.

To see a bunch more pictures from the premiere, including Ian Ziering, Patricia Heaton, David Hasselhoff, Lisa Edelstein, Matt Groening, Leslie Mann, Judd Apatow and more just read more