The Ebb and Flow of Movies: Box Office Receipts 1986-2007 February 26, 2008
http://nytimes.com/interactive/2008/02/23/movies/20080223_REVENUE_GRAPHIC.html
this is one of the coolest things i’ve ever seen. i’ll honestly say that i spent a good 15 minutes scrolling through it.
some interesting things i noticed:
- movies like titanic, which doesn’t even fit on the graph, and my big fat greek wedding, which recorded box office profits for over a year. juno is also interesting, it starts thin and gets thicker, which is against the norm.
- in recent years there have been more highly profitable films. to me, the triple-$300-million-plus-whammy of spiderman 3, shrek the third, and pirates of the caribbean 3 comes to mind
- the pattern of profitable summer blockbusters and christmas/holiday films is clear
my one problem… i wish that when you clicked on the film, the box office revenue came up. make sure you use the search box to find your favorite movies!
Colbert Portrait Hangs at the Smithsonian January 17, 2008
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=293152&Gt1=7703
…although, probably not where he wanted his painting to be hung, it’s still cool. i might go down to the mall to see it this weekend if it’s not snowing again.
‘Mona Lisa’ Model Identified January 14, 2008
it’s about time! they’ve discovered so much about this painting in recent years, but this was the big piece missing from the puzzle.
