I didn't think Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Wall-E movie would do as well as it did over the weekend. I thought $60 million was too much to hope for (see my previous piece on the subject). I was wrong. According to Boxofficemojo, the Pixar picture pulled in more than $62 million at domestic theaters and came out on top.

Assuming the film continues to do well in upcoming weekends, Wall-E should provide a nice counterbalance to the relative disappointment of Disney's Prince Caspian project that was released in May. While Wall-E won't move Disney's stock all by itself, the movie and its characters should help drive the studio segment in future quarters, as well as provide some opportunities for promotions and initiatives in other parts of the company, such as the theme parks.

Wanted, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, debuted in second place with a haul of more than $50 million. The movie, starring Angelina Jolie, had some snazzy, Matrix-like commercials powering its appeal. I can see why the numbers were big on this one. Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Get Smart didn't stand a chance against Wanted. It dropped two spots to third place with a tally of $20 million. And, no, I still don't find Steve Carell funny.

Continue reading Disney's "Wall-E" beats my expectations

Disney's "Wall-E" beats my expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kudos to a reader named Kathleen for pointing out that we missed "vetted" in our list of the most overused buzzwords. I also agree with her that the mashing together of celebrity couple names like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (Brangelina) has got to stop.

We probably should have vetted our buzzword list with Kathleen (who didn't give her last name) before publishing it. Vetted, like all buzzwords, is a fancy-sounding word that describes something simple. It started out meaning reviewing or checking out for accuracy as in the qualifications of a nominee for a cabinet position on an article for scientific journal. Now, it's being bandied about to describe every type of review. For example, officials in Louisville are vetting a dog ordinance. When words like vetting get overused, their original meaning becomes diluted.

Finally, please dear God, when will the name mashing madness end? I mean first there was Bennifer, now Brangelina. I think Stephen Colbert created the ultimate celebrity couple when he merged William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman into Filliam H. Muffman. With the 2008 presidential election gearing up, I'm afraid the name mashing will only get worse. I'll get the process started with Hillbama (Hillary Cilnton and Barack Obama).

--Jonathan Berr is the editor of http://www.desperateinvestors.com

Vetted deserves a place in Buzzword Hall of Shame as does Brangelina originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Dec 2006 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As if  you hadn't heard enough about hybrids lately -- the Toyota Prius, for instance, or the tomato genetically modified with salmon DNA -- now  Warner Home Video decides to drop a hybrid DVD on us.

That right, a hybrid DVD. What that means is that on one side, it's a standard DVD while on the other side, it's a high-definition DVD (those in the know will refer to it as "HD DVD." That's just FYI).  On May 9, Warner Home Video will roll out the the company's very first hybrid DVD -- the Jennifer Aniston vehicle Rumor Has It -- at $39.99.

Clearly, this news raises some pretty important questions:

• will owning a hybrid DVD will allow you to be as smugly self-righteous as owning a hybrid car?
• will Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston's beau, get insecure because Dodgeball is only available in standard DVD format?
• will the release of the Rumor Has It hybrid overshadow forthcoming Angelina Jolie - Brad Pitt hybrid?

Warner launches DVD hybrid with Jennifer Aniston; Brangelina response unclear originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.