I love to go to the movies and I am sure that lots of readers enjoy doing the same thing. I saw a list of the top ten grossing films in the US last year and something jumped out at me. The list I saw just had the name of the film and gross revenue and not the rating of the film. When I added the rating here is how the list looked:
| Revenue | Movie | Rating | |
| $532,831,967 | The Dark Knight | PG-13 | |
| $318,298,180 | Iron Man | PG-13 | |
| $317,011,114 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | PG-13 | |
| $227,946,274 | Hancock | PG-13 | |
| $223,806,889 | WALL·E | G | |
| $215,395,021 | Kung Fu Panda | PG | |
| $187,748,420 | Twilight | Pg-13 | |
| $179,606,381 | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa | PG | |
| $168,368,427 | Quantum of Solace | PG-13 | |
| $154,529,187 | Horton Hears a Who! | G |
The reason I added the ratings is I thought that none of the top 10 movies were R rated and I was right. I actually brought my kids to Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E, Madagascar and Horton Hears a Who. So maybe the strategy is, the more family oriented the more gross revenue?
- Is it me or is violence, swearing and sex not selling these days?
- Or at least in the movies?
- How many of the top 10 grossing movies have you seen?
Maybe I knew that but never really thought about it.
- What do you think?
- Are you surprised by this trend?
I look forward to your comments.
Even though I am a few months away from another birthday (which will allow me to celebrate my 43rd birthday a number of times over) I thought I would post about how I am feeling.
It is probably on everyone’s mind daily. If you watch TV, you hear about it. If you look at the newspaper, you read about it. And probably it is a topic of conversation with your family, friends and industry contacts.
So there I am at my house on a Saturday night and everyone has gone to sleep. It is 11:00pm and as I click on channel after channel I come to the conclusion that there isn’t anything good on TV. I walk over to the computer and begin to go on a few websites. I remember the past few business trips I have been on the flights haven’t been crowded and the hotels seem to have lots of empty rooms. Clearly the economy is affecting them dramatically. Since that is the case there must be great deals at hotels. 
Over the past few weeks this sports star has been called so many names — many of which haven’t been flattering at all. He went from Alex Rodriguez to AROD to AFRAUD (courtesy of Joe Torre’s book) to AHOLE to AROID. The last two "new" nicknames were headlines from New York newspapers.
Some of the most effective marketing tools these days are webinars. They are inexpensive (sometimes free) to attend. And since you can participate from wherever you are there are no travel costs and frankly the time commitment isn’t that great.
As I am writing this post, the Super Bowl is thirteen days away. Yes, that is how far ahead I write. It will probably take one more day before someone on the Pittsburgh Steelers or Arizona Cardinals says something that ends up on the locker room bulletin board. The media can’t wait to make a big deal out of it! The other coach will probably bring it up in team meetings and use it (or at least try to use it) to their advantage, saying they disrespected you etc. Why is that? You are making millions of dollars, playing a sport that you probably love, and have been playing since you were a little kid. Why do you need any more motivation? Why do you need someone to say something about the way you play the game, the way you look or even say something bad about one of your family members? Why do coaches need to motivate athletes with bulletin board material? I am not sure why the use of bulletin board material has been going on for decades!
Over the years two of the most famous people who taunted their opponents prior to their game were Muhammad Ali and Joe Namath. Great athletes — certainly could be considered the best ever in their sports. Because they are so great maybe I can understand the taunting (because they can back it up) but I don’t think that would motivate me anymore if I was playing against them.
I guess everyone has one! Every time I mention that I am going to Las Vegas or a location that has a casino, people will say, "My favorite number is ‘blank.’ Please put a few dollars on the number at the roulette table." Most of the time I will write down the number and do precisely what they want me to: Go up to a roulette table and put a few dollars on a few numbers for friends.
Animals Sometimes Do The Funniest Things
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009As you have heard many times I get so many emails with blog suggestions, videos and funny stories. Well this one is no different (thanks M.C., for sharing).
I love animals, and sometimes they do the funniest things. Get ready to view six pictures that I hope will get a chuckle out of you:
For me the funniest ones are the raccoons looking out from the sewer and the horse doing the split. Very funny!
I look forward to reading your comments.
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