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The year in movies: It was a zoo
2006-01-01
OK, fewer people went to the theaters this year. Actually, a lot fewer. Individual ticket sales fell by about 89 million this year compared with last, a 6% drop, says Nielsen EDI. So in case you missed something at the multiplex, USA TODAY's Scott Bowles offers the highlights and low points of the year in film, with contributions from Anthony Breznican, Mike Clark, Claudia Puig and Susan Wloszczyna. Best Dakota Fanning moment The 11-year-old (sheesh) is the hardest-working star in the business, and she rarely appears in a dud. She spooked us with her imaginary friend in Hide and Seek and warmed us with her equine friend in Dreamer: Based on a True Story. But only Fanning could steal the thunder from Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds, the sci-fi remake that scored a hefty $234 million. Best reason to call a collection agency Action films didn't get much action at the box office. Ice Cube's XXX: State of the Union cost $87 million, only to see $26 million in domestic returns. Sahara's $68.6 million haul wouldn't be bad if the movie hadn't cost $130 million. But director Rob Cohen may have dipped deepest in the red with Stealth, which cost a reported $135 million and took in a meager $31.7 million. Best reason to call your old boss Orlando Bloom may want to give Peter Jackson a jingle to see if he has any more Lord of the Rings films up his sleeve after Bloom's Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown bombed. And Rob Schneider and Will Ferrell could check for openings at Saturday Night Live after Schneider's Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Ferrell's Kicking & Screaming and Bewitched left audiences yearning for the actors' small-screen days. Best reason to rent a tux Formal wear was all the rage this year. Wedding Crashers became the surprise hit of summer with a $209 million box-office take, and the penguins from Madagascar were such a smash ($193 million) they spawned their own spinoff animated short. But nothing matches the spiffy stars of March of the Penguins, who waddled to $77 million, the second-biggest take ever for a documentary, and convinced us that narrator Morgan Freeman truly may be heaven-sent. Outstanding comeback from career life support Mickey Rourke scored a healthy return as an aging, avenging thug in Sin City, and Jane Fonda helped make Monster-in-Law a surprise summer hit. Still, no return was sweeter than Darth Vader's in Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The dark lord's raspy comeback was all moviegoers needed to make this film the top grosser of the year ($380 million). Moonlighters of the year We know that movie stars yearn to be rock stars, but a few actors showed some serious chops with a mike. Terrence Howard did his own rapping for Hustle & Flow, Rosario Dawson belted her own tunes in Rent, and Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick carried their Broadway songs to the big screen for The Producers. But Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon stole the show for their renditions of Johnny Cash and June Carter in Walk the Line. Don't ask, don't tell award Gender twists and sexual preferences ruled the art houses this year as Philip Seymour Hoffman's Capote, Felicity Huffman's Transamerica and Cillian Murphy's Breakfast on Pluto won raves. Still, nothing has sparked more discussion than the pup-tent cowboys Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who are leading Brokeback Mountain's charge toward the Oscars. Best argument for birth control Who says Hollywood isn't family friendly? You couldn't have squeezed more kids into several 2005 films, including Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (duh, 12) and The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (10 young 'uns). Leave it to Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo, though, to blow the count with 18 kids in Yours, Mine & Ours. Outstanding performance by a body part Jessica Simpson put most of hers on display for The Dukes of Hazzard, while the war film Jarhead covered Jake Gyllenhaal's personal private with a well-placed Santa cap. Let's give this one to the only body part with a sense of humor, though: the wisecracking,squirrelly eyeball in The Corpse Bride. Best reason to get waxed Hirsute hunks populated the cineplexes, beginning with Kevin James in Hitch and ending with the great ape in King Kong. You've got to hand it to Steve Carell, though, who performed the most painful stunt of the year by having his mohair pecs waxed in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, a move that helped pluck $109 million at the box office. Outstanding performance by an inanimate object Who needs actors when you have elaborate props such as the roving mist in The Fog, the bouncing Beetle in Herbie: Fully Loaded and Paris Hilton in House of Wax? Our favorites, though, were the leaky ceilings in Dark Water and The Ring Two, which pleased male viewers no end by forcing Jennifer Connelly and Naomi Watts to run around in wet clothes. Best excuse to apply for a name change Proof that bad names can happen to good movies: A History of Violence, The Constant Gardener and The Squid and the Whale. If you think those are subpar, how does The Chumscrubber not wind up in the adults-only section? Most apt title Sometimes a movie's title is worth heeding. Derailed fell off the tracks at $35 million, and the news wasn't good for the Bad News Bears, which tallied $32.9 million, while Get Rich or Die Tryin' was felled at $30.6 million. No one was more Doom-ed than "The Rock," though, whose latest film did a meager $28 million. Best lateral career move Musicians aren't finding the grass much greener on the big screen. Rob Zombie made a respectable if unspectacular impression as a director with The Devil's Rejects, and 50 Cent (Get Rich or Die Tryin') and Bow Wow (Roll Bounce) may want to keep their day jobs. Our favorite occupational change, though, is our own Susan Wloszczyna (above), who took a break from the newsroom to play a flesh-eater in Land of the Dead. Either way, she's hanging out with a bunch of brain-dead zombies. USA Today
Gay cowboys set sights on Golden Globes glory (2006-01-15)'Producers' stars Broderick, Lane get Hollywood stars (2006-01-10)The year in movies: It was a zoo (2006-01-01)Broadway on track for record year (2005-12-29)'Brokeback' breaks out in Globes derby (2005-12-14)
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