The Top 5 Funniest Scenes of 2013

This year has been full of great, mediocre, and just plain awful movies. But regardless of where certain films stand (and none of the films on this list are bad ones, mind you), a lot of them had good or really funny moments. So, in honor the end of 2013, I've come up with a list that highlights the five funniest scenes from movies this year. They're in no particular order (because I'm too indecisive), but they are each unique and funny in their own way. Be it laugh out loud, or chuckle-worthy, these scenes stood out in their own form of comedic execution.  

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• I couldn't find the actual scene anywhere, but if you've seen The Kings of Summer, then you know that the scene where Biaggio is speaking with his dad in Spanish about friendship while his dad shaves and only the lower half of his face is showing, is one of the most comedic scenes in the film. After the conversation ends, all Biaggio says is "thought so" and flies out the door. Made me laugh out loud. 

• The scene of Leo DiCaprio crawling after taking too many drugs called Quaaludes, which were expired because no one was making them anymore, is probably the funniest scene in the three hours that is The Wolf of Wall Street. I couldn't get a full video, but this GIF pretty much sums it up. Epic Leo crawling. That. Is. All. 

• The Backstreet Boys may be still be around, but let's face it, they're so '90s. Granted, our love of their classic songs is still very much around. And in This is the End, it looks like Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel are big fans too. So much so, that their wish in heaven is to have the Backstreet Boys show up and sing "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", all with the original choreography. Pretty original and outrageous at the same time. 

• This scene still hasn't made it to YouTube yet, so that's disappointing, but one of the funniest scenes of the year comes from The World's End, where Simon Pegg's Gary finally makes it to the twelfth bar on the list and is met with the head of The Network, which has been taking over human bodies left and right. So, in order to stop an alien invasion, what does Gary do? Talk the alien's ears off, of course. The real question here is this: do aliens actually have ears?

• What's a better way to spoof a romantic comedy than in a romantic comedy? Well, that's exactly what Joseph Gordon-Levitt does in his directorial debut Don Jon. When he and Scarlett Johansson go to see a movie called "Special Someone", two surprise cameos by Channing Tatum and Anne Hathaway as the movie couple who meet and fall in love make this scene memorable and funny. 

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Box Office: 'Gravity' Soars with Record-Breaking $55M Debut

1. Gravity- $55.55M
It's one giant leap for Alfonso Cuaron's acclaimed sci-fi epic, Gravity, as the long-awaited film broke October records on the way to a $55M debut. The film has now surpassed Paranormal Activity's $52M to become the top all-time grosser for the month, fueled by overwhelming critical reviews that emphasized the need to catch it in more expensive IMAX theaters. The larger IMAX format accounted for $11M of the overall ticket sales, with roughly 80% of those also in 3D. It certainly didn't hurt to have stars like Sandra Bullock and George Clooney tackling a genre neither is really known for, and since both stars' movies tend to have long theatrical runs we can be looking at a massive blockbuster if attendance doesn't slip too quickly.
2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2- $21.5M/$60.5M
Slipping only 37% from last week was Cloudy 2, making the most of being the only animated comedy available for the next few weeks.  That's basically identical to where the first film was after its second weekend.
3. Runner Runner- $7.6M
Despite Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake fronting the online gambling flick, Runner Runner, the film failed to flop the nuts at the box office. Marketing for the film was lousy to start, focusing on its star power rather than offering a compelling reason beyond that to see it. So it came across as a generic crime film that will turn up on pay cable in short order, which to be honest is exactly what it is. Affleck won't be hurt by this, but it's another example of Timberlake not quite being ready for prime time.Working in its favor is the $11M already earned overseas, so it should be able to make up for the $30M budget before too long.
4. Prisoners- $5.7M/$47.8M
5. Rush- $4.4M/$18M
6. Don Jon- $4.1M/$16M
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's $6M directorial debut held strong in its second weekend, dropping 52% and solidifying the film as a solid, small scale hit.
7. Baggage Claim- $4.1M/$15.1M
8.  Insidious Chapter 2- $3.8M/$74.7M
9. Pulling Strings- $2.5M
As the surprising Latino-themed smash Instructions Not Included exits the top 10, another one takes its place in Pulling Strings. The bilingual rom-com, which stars Jaime Camil, Laura Ramsey, and Stockard Channing; not exactly household names; opened at 387 theaters and pulled an impressive $6400 per site.
10. Enough Said- $2.1M/$5.3M
Driven by strong reviews and high praise for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in his final lead performance, Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said cracks the top 10 in its third week. Holofcener's brand of high-minded comedies have never been huge earners, 2006's Friends with Money topping the list at $13M, but Enough Said seems to be riding a wave of solid buzz that could carry it through the Oscar season.

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Box Office: 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2' Devours Top Spot; 'Don Jon' Opens Strong

1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2- $35M
Because animated family comedies will always beat a hokey rom-com with no stars, a film about race car drivers, and a male-oriented flick about porn, Sony's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 dominated with a $35M debut, more than triple its closest competition. That's good for the fourth biggest September opening ever, and $5M more than what the first film did back in 2009, and that finished up its run with $243M worldwide. Expect this one to surpass that total, mostly due to expanded international grosses, and the fact that it's the only major animated film until November.
2. Prisoners- $11.2M/$38.95M
Slipping 45% in week two is the dark crime thriller Prisoners, which perhaps was a little too disturbing to keep audiences coming back for more. The film will still surpass its $46M budget, and a possible Oscar push will only help the bottom line.
3. Rush- $10.3M/$10.5M
Expanding into national release after a quiet open last week, Ron Howard's F-1 racer Rush brought in a modest $10.3M. A 1970s-set racing flick is a tough sell, even with Chris "Thor" Hemsworth's face on all of the movie posters. If anything it proves he's still got a long way to go before he's a true A-lister. F-1 racing has always been more of an international sport, and the $13M foreign haul suggests it should run laps over the competition overseas.
4. Baggage Claim- $9.3M
Despite a dreadful marketing campaign that made Baggage Claim look like one of those unrealistic "hot chick can't get a guy" movies (which it is!), the Paula Patton-starrer did well enough in its opening weekend to turn a profit. It's a clear win for Patton who has been stuck in a number of thankless roles ever since Jumping the Broom earned her some accolades. She won't win any awards here, but it shows there is an audience to check her out, regardless of how unbelievable the story may be.
5. Don Jon- $9M
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is someone who is making moves to become a bankable box office star, and Don Jon may be the first step in doing just that. He makes a successful directorial debut with the romantic comedy about a womanizer who also happens to be a porn addict. That aspect is pretty well-known at this point, although the TV spots have done a pretty good job of hiding it. At a budget of only about $6M the film is already in the black, but the 'C+' Cinemascore suggests audiences won't be coming back for more.
6. Insidious Chapter 2- $6.7M/$69.5M
7. The Family- $3.7M/$31.6M
8. Instructions Not Included- $3.3M/$38.5M
9. We're the Millers- $2.8M/$142.4M
10. Lee Daniels' The Butler- $2.4M/$110.2M

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Cinema Royale #34- 'Rush'; 'Don Jon' Early Best Actress Predictions

The Oscar season has begun, and many are predicting Ron Howard's Rush to be a definite contender. But does the Formula One flick starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl have goods to reach the finish line?  Plus, we'll take a look at Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, the sex addiction comedy Don Jon!

Plus, we'll be joined by the Cinema Siren +Leslie Combemale  to wrap up our insanely early Oscar predictions, picking the Best Actress nominees.

You can find Cinema Royale every single week on Blogtalkradio, Itunes, Libsyn, and Podomatic. Listen to this week's episode below...

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Interview: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Talks Love, Porn, and His Directorial Debut 'Don Jon

Is there a more popular actor right now than Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Probably not. He's the guy everybody wishes was Batman, and pretty much everything he touches turns to gold. Like most people I was familiar with him through the series Third Rock from the Sun, and saw him in various things over the years without giving him much thought. But when he teamed up with Rian Johnson for the first time in his brilliant neo-noir Brick, suddenly it was like a light switch had flipped on. Suddenly Gordon-Levitt was knocking it out out of the park in literally every film he appeared in, making it impossible for anybody to ignore him.

Now nobody would ever think of brushing aside anything Gordon-Levitt takes on, and that includes his directorial debut, the sexy romantic comedy Don Jon. Since it debuted at Sundance, press has been quick to label it as the "porn addiction comedy", but the insight it gives into sex, love, and the interactions between men and women are what it's really about.

Along with my friends +Tim Gordon  and +Nell Minow, I had a chance to talk to Joseph Gordon-Levitt about Don Jon. We discussed his decision to use porn as the lens into Jon's character; doing something different in the genre; and of course his future plans behind the camera.

Listen To Movies Internet Radio Stations with Cinema Royale on BlogTalkRadio

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New Posters for 'Don Jon', 'The Family', and 'Rush'

"Everyone Loves a Happy Ending" on the new poster for Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Don Jon, but will it be a happy beginning to his directorial career? The fan friendly actor's charm has helped the film win over audiences at Sundance and SXSW, and with a cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza, plus a clever little cameo from Anne Hathaway and Channing Tatum, it could be decent fall season sleeper. Gordon-Levitt plays a New Jersey bro who can basically have any woman he wants, but none compare to the ladies he obsesses over in the porn movies he's addicted to. Don Jon hits theaters on September 27th.

Five new posters have been released for The Family (formerly Malavita), each featuring a member of the mob family and one loyal pooch. Directed by Luc Besson and starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Tommy Lee Jones, the film has a mafia crime family relocated to a quiet town in France as part of the Witness Protection Program, but find it difficult giving up old habits. Besson has had more success lately as a writer and producer, but with De Niro coming off an Oscar-nominated turn in Silver Linings Playbook, maybe he's due for another hit.

We aren't getting a lot of variety from these posters for Rush, Ron Howard's F-1 racing film starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. They've all been pretty much the same, and none of them particularly inspiring, so hopefully we get more from the film which looks like it could be Howard's next stab at some awards gold. Written by Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan, the story follows the rivalry between English racer James Hunt and Austria's Niki Lauda, as they literally risk everything to win the 1976 World Championship. Rush hits the starting line on September September 27th.

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First trailer for 'Don Jon', Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut

It was pretty much a given that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, Don Jon, was going to be a festival darling. The immensely-talented and extremely popular actor (dude made playing Batman's sidekick cool!)  took his porn addiction comedy to Sundance and SXSW where it won rave reviews and was bought by Relativity Media for a hefty sum. Now the trailer has finally hit the web, and it looks like a supremely confident rom-com that could be the start of an interesting career shift.

"There's only a few things I care about. My body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls and… my porn." Gordon-Levitt plays the titular lothario who sees his list of priorities suddenly change when he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), who is more than a match for his charms. Falling in love, everything seems perfect until she walks in on him enjoying his porn collection. Stylishly directed and featuring a couple of surprising cameos in a "movie within the movie" moment, Gordon-Levitt may have a sleeper hit on his hands.

Co-starring Brie Larson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza, Don Jon hits theaters on October 18th.


Don Jon (Trailer) by tvPRIME

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