Last Two American Idol Winners Should be on BillBoard Top 15 Next Week


The Hits Daily Double "Rumor Mill" posted its estimates for next weeks sales, and as expected, Phillip Phillips "World From the Side of the Moon" will see around a 50% drop in sales from his strong debut, to sell around 80K to 85K next week. That should hopefully push him to over 250K in two weeks, halfway to his almost certain gold certification. Despite both selling about 75K this week, both Kelly Clarkson's new greatest hits album and Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" seem to have slipped to under the 30K level to place among next week's Top 15, and we will have to wait until later to see how much they will sell.

The only other American Idol winner to place on next week's Top 15 is the Season 10 winner, with "Christmas with Scotty McCreery" having estimated sales of 40K to 45K. He has a good chance of having a second week in a row where his weekly sales are greater than the album's original debut sales of 41K. That is a great sign that more than just die hard Scotty fans are buying his Christmas album. That will push his total sales in 7 weeks to well past 200K, with a few more weeks yet to go before the Christmas season ends. For him to follow up his platinum selling debut with a Christmas album a year later that ships gold so quickly must be giving the folks at UMG Nashville plenty of holiday cheer!

I noticed that Idol Chatter did release a post this week with Phillip's official numbers as well as some other notable album sales. This did allow me to update my list of album sales totals a little bit, but I noticed of the 8 Idol album numbers he listed, six of them are from the same old three Platinum Idols who have been selling a ton of albums all throughout 2012: Carrie, Kelly and Scotty, each with two listed. I was impressed that Carrie's "Some Hearts" from 2005 sold a whopping 17K copies (an almost 800% increase), and that Kelly's "Stronger" saw a big 500% jump back into the BillBoard 200 at #54 with 18K in sales. That puts "Stronger" at 978K total; so close to the 1 million point but still not quite there! And Scotty even saw a good more than doubling in sales for "Clear As Day" as it sold 3K more to reach 1.127 million. The only other person listed was Mandisa with her 2012 "It's Christmas" album selling 14K to bring its total to 53K (not to be confused with her original 2008 "It's Christmas" release.)
My sales total graph demonstrates the "Black Friday" and holiday shopping effect if you look at Carrie's trend or at the end of Kelly's for "Stronger". They both have little upward "fishhooks" at the end as this year's Black Friday sales have given them both a nice bounce. And then there is Scotty's CWSM trend which is even more impressive, seemingly increasing as times goes on! In seven weeks it will have sold more than just about any Idol not named Carrie, Kelly, Daughtry or, well, Scotty himself! Phillip and Kelly's "Greatest Hits" lines will be added next week once they have two data points! Two more lines for my graph will magically appear.

A Golden Good Time for the Latest American Idol Winners


The final Hits Daily Double estimates were posted and the final numbers looked very impressive for the four American Idol winners on the list. Even though Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" seems to have fallen out of the Top 50, I am sure she did not mind since her new greatest hits album debuted at an impressive 75K, even beating out another American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, whose "Blown Away" still saw an incredible 300% increase to sell over 70K herself. However, their numbers pale in comparison to Phillip Phillip's "World From the Side of the Moon" which ended up #3 on HDD and #4 on the final BillBoard chart with official sales of 169K (topped only by Taylor Swift, Rihanna and One Direction). With an opening like that, Phillip is almost guaranteed a RIAA Gold certified album with a good shot of hitting Platinum.

And speaking of Gold records, someone with two gold singles and a platinum album will now have a lovely gold Christmas album to go with the set. "Christmas with Scotty McCreery" sold an incredible 50K in its sixth week out, outselling even its own first week debut number of 41K. With an impressive six week sales total of almost 200K, it seems the retailers have decided they had better stock up for December, so they have ordered up another 300K copies to allow Scotty to ship gold after just six weeks. Scotty's sales chart for his Christmas album looks pretty good, and his barrage of Christmas shows on TV has not even started (tonight he is on "Christmas at Rockefeller Center" on NBC.)
Weekly sales, "Christmas with Scotty McCreery"
With Phillip's final numbers set, we can now graph the sales for all the winners for the first 11 seasons of American Idol, and the Idol producers can be happy that Season 8 and 9 were the "bad flukes" and that Season 10 was not just a single "good fluke". Since Interscope has taken over the marketing of the winners, they have had two solid money makers with Scotty and Phillip. I am sure they are all very happy the direction things are looking right now.
First week sales - American Idol Winners

Me First!

This Sunday, our church celebrated the Feast of Christ the King. It's a big day for the Catholic Church, and the main tradition in ours is to take out a short procession in the city, usually around the massive church block. It's about a mile and a half long, and all the people from the entire Diocese attend. People walk with candles lit and sing and pray, in order to proclaim to the world that Christ is indeed King.

Anyway, on Sunday, after the procession and the service was over, our church provided tea and snacks- "light refreshments"- for the people. My mom loves her tea- so of course, I had to go and fetch a cup for her. As always. So I went over to the place where people were taking the tea- and it was madness. About twenty people were gathered around the same one stall and were literally pushing their way through- for a cup of tea. It took me about a minute to squeeze through- and when I finally did get through, grabbed an empty paper cup and tried to fill it- someone pushed me aside! I'm not even kidding! I got hot tea all over my hand and only managed to fill a quarter of the cup. Well, someone's in a hurry. But it wasn't just that one person. Everytime I tried to put my cup under the tap of flowing tea, someone would come and put their hand there first. Well, I finally managed to get a full cup, but I was just so angry- not the emotion you should be feeling straight after church- and I just started thinking about how much of a hurry people are in these days.

Seriously, it's like, "Me first! Me first!" all over the place. Why? Are people scared that they'll miss out on something so incredibly important, like, I don't know, a cup of tea!? It's not just this case, I see it all over the place- people cutting lines, pushing others aside, staying up all night outside stores just to be the first ones in the next morning (50% OFF!), it's everywhere. And I hate it.

Maybe I'm laid back, maybe Hakuna Matata is my life's motto ("What's the motto with you?") but seeing people get so freaked out about wanting to be first everywhere they are irks me so much. I wish people would calm down, go with the flow and just...chill!

American Idol Winners All Over the Hits Daily Double Top 50


Today was just the preliminary Black Friday sales chart from Hits Daily Double, and four American Idol winners are on the Top 50 list, with one of them there twice! Leading the pack, as expected, is Phillip Phillips, at #2 behind Rihanna. His early estimates are already over 140K, so he is poised for a very strong opening for "World From the Side of the Moon".

The other Idols on the list all saw very strong Black Friday sales boosts. Next comes Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" at #10 with big sales of over 58K. She has a good chance of blasting past the official one million sales number for the week. Next on the list is Kelly Clarkson's "Greatest Hits - Vol 1" at #12 with sales of over 50K. "Stronger" fell out of the Top 200 last week (after 55 weeks), but appears to be back on the chart again at #33 with over 15K in sales, closing in on the one million mark herself. That is two albums in the Top 40 for Kelly this week. Finally on the chart is "Christmas With Scotty McCreery" at #18 which saw a nice boost in sales with over 30K more already posted. That puts Scotty's Christmas album sales at over 150K, and makes it a "sales success" at this point no matter how you look at it. I think all the American Idol winners can say they had a good 2012 Thanksgiving weekend!

Album Review: "Phillip Phillips: The World from the Side of the Moon" (2012)

The World from the Side of the Moon (c) 2012 Interscope/19 Records
If you watched this year's American Idol or watched the London Olympics, chances are, you've heard of Phillip Phillips. The young man with the unique name has taken 2012 quietly by storm. In January, on the very premiere of the eleventh season of American Idol, Phillips was a trending topic on Twitter as a result of his memorable audition. His unique twist on Michael Jackson's Thriller resulted in dropped jaws all over the world (including my home). Week after week, Phillips was declared safe, never finding himself among the bottom three vote getters. In May, after a record 140 million votes, Phillips was declared the eleventh champion of American Idol. But it didn't end there, his coronation song, Home, caused a ripple, shooting to the top of the US iTunes chart and debuting within the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The song, with its unique indie vibe, rose to new heights of popularity when it was used as part of the 2012 London Olympics. It seemed to strike a note with pretty much everyone (including my parents- they listen to it on repeat in the car) and till date has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide- Double Platinum- cementing it's status as the highest selling American Idol coronation song in the show's ten year history. No small feat- he's beaten the likes of Kelly Clarkson (A Moment Like This), David Cook (The Time of My Life) and Scotty McCreery (I Love You This Big).

This week, Phillip Phillips releases his debut album- The World From the Side of the Moon, which features twelve original songs, including of course, Home.

Phillips' sound is hard to explain- I know it's been done a million times before, but I have to say, he has a very Dave Matthews style about him. Combine that with the guitar heavy Mumford and Sons indie vibe, and you get Phillip Phillips. But as he proved on Idol, he's much more than that.

Let's take a look at each track on the album below:

1. "Man on the Moon":  A decent opener. The intricate guitar work and Phillip's gritty "Oh yeah"s pull you in instantly. It's a pretty listenable song and one of my favorites on the album.

2. "Home": Come on, you know you love this song. Apparently the world does too, since at the time of posting this review, this song is still #4 on the US iTunes Chart- six months after it's release! With it's guitar-laden, nostalgic vibe, this song is easily the best song on the album and one of the best songs of 2012 (if not the best). Honest, straightforward and purely original, this song just rules.

3. "Gone, Gone, Gone": Similar to Home, this song is another great one. Mumford vibe firmly in place, Phillip delivers a foot tapping, singable track, complete with hand-claps and a great hook. My favorite song on the album after Home. I hope this becomes the next single, I smell another big hit.

4."Hold On": Not the best song on the album, nor one of my favorites, but you can sit through it. Phillip works it with his voice like nothing else matters. Nice. Not crazy for it though.

5. "Tell Me a Story": A sentimental, simple song,which Phillip delivers flawlessly. His voice is the main attraction here (apart from the guitars, of curse) and it's a great listen.

6. "Get Up Get Down": Remember Phillip's performance of "Beggin'" on American Idol ? This is the same vibe. It reminded me of a Santana song sometimes, and I loved it. Phillip does know how to entertain.

7. "Where We Came From": I loved this song to bits. Another winner for me. It ends up sounding a bit too mainstream pop, but still has the trademark Phillip Phillips stamp on it. Very clever and nicely done.

8. "Drive Me": The song starts out robust and heavy from the start, and leads to a chorus that is again, reminiscent of Phillip's performances on Idol. He sounds comfortable and at home, like he's back on the Idol stage. Do what you do, Phillip.

9. "Wanted Is Love": Another good song, Phillip manages to sound convincing and emotional while delivering this song about a tense relationship. His voice touches new depths and you'll really appreciate his talent on this one. From his gritty deep tone to his light falsetto, he does it all here.

10. "Can't Go Wrong": I loved this song so much! The chorus is one of the best on the album. Again, amid strumming guitars and soft beats, this pleasant song is another highlight on the album. A perfect amalgamation of so many different instruments and Phillip's voice in the midst of it all. Brilliant.

11. "A Fool's Dance": Another of my non-favorites. You can safely skip this one unless you're a superfan. It's delivered well, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the overall sound. A little on the "Meh" side for me. Sorry, fans, don't hate me.

12. "So Easy": And...we close off with a great song. Not too memorable this song, but to round off an album, good enough. You make it (look) so easy, Phillip.

Remember when Jimmy Iovine (of Interscope Records) told Phillip not to wear grey and that very week, Phillip stepped on stage wearing three different shades of grey? Same thing on this album. This guy defies everyone, and maybe that's what makes him so unique. Thankfully, Phillip ignores temptation and refuses to go mainstream with his music. Still, it's not that indie-sounding that fans of mainstream music will be put off. It's a brilliant combination of the two, and I imagine fans of both styles of music will be pleased. It's also a big step for the American Idol management, since they allowed Phillip to stay true to his roots and not try something radically mainstream.

The overall sound of the album matches Phillips' laid back personality perfectly. Most songs are guitar heavy, without over production and unnecessary enhancements. Phillip's voice is front and center, and that's the way I like it. His growls, tone and gravelly texture are unmatched. On my first listen, I struggled to find my favorites, but after a couple more listens, I found many.

I wasn't the biggest Phillip Phillips fan on this season's Idol (Team Jessica!) but I have to say, I'm a convert now. His debut album stands right up there with Kelly Clarkson's Thankful and Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts as one of the strongest American Idol debuts ever. Phillips' unassuming, laid back style and presence make this album a definite listen. He shows a great level of originality and artistry here, without falling into the post-Idol mainstream-wannabe tendency.

There's plenty on this album for non-fans, and Idol and P2 fans will devour this album. Phillip Phillips could well be one of American Idol's most important contributions to the current music landscape.

RATING:


Other album reviews you may like:

Thanksgiving Means Good Albums Sales Numbers for American Idol Winners!


Yesterday was just full of good sales numbers for several American Idol winners, from the very first one to the two most recent winners. First from Hits Daily Double's sales estimates, both "Christmas with Scotty McCreery" and Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" saw sales increases. With an onslaught of new releases they will both move farther down the charts, but are both poised to stay in the Top 40. Roughstock just posted the actual sales numbers for both of them and Scotty landed in at #23 with 23K in sales to bring his 5 week tally to 118K (+ 5K from the QVC deal), and Carrie added 16K in sales to bring her total to 936K at #34 on the chart. That marks five straight weeks for CWSM being in the Top 25 since its release, and 29 straight weeks in the Top 40 for Carrie. Since I need a pretty graph, here are the Billboard chart positions for the two albums since Scotty's Christmas album release:


Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" will have a harder time remaining in the Top 200 after landing at #177 last week, but her new "Greatest Hits - Chapter One" album is estimated to sell a very solid 45 to 50K on its first week.
But the biggest unknown was answered with the estimates for Phillip Phillips' "The World from the Side of the Moon" coming in at 140K to 160K. It looks like Interscope's estimate of 150K was very accurate, but the number can still move up or down as the week progresses. It will also be very interesting to see how sales for Phillip's album fluctuate as the holiday shopping season continues. But Phillip will now never have to worry about being considered a commercial flop with both a big hit single and a strongly selling debut album to his name.

Press Start!

Recently I was listening to the new episode of The Animation Addicts Podcast with The Rotoscopers (if you're still not listening to them, I'm still angry with you) and the episode was dedicated to the new Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph (listen to their awesome review episode here or read my review here) and the world of video games! The Nerdy Couch Discussion centered on the hosts' Top 5 video games of all time. And of course, I didn't want to be left out!

I've never been a hardcore gamer, but come on, growing up in the 90s, it was kind of hard to avoid video games, right? (90s Baby shoutout!!!) Besides, one could arguably say, the 1990s was the best period for video games ever!

So here are:

MY TOP 5 FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES EVER!

5. All The Disney Games (various platforms; 1990s-present): Aladdin, The Lion King, Hercules, Pocahontas, A Bug's Life, The Incredibles, 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, Tigger's Hunny Hunt, Cars, WALL-E, and many, many more! Some on my old Windows 98 computer, some on my PSP, some at my best friend's place...wow. Most people call them cheap franchise cash-ins, I call them beloved childhood classics.

"Watch out, Al!"

4. Pokémon Black and White (Nintendo DS; 2011): For me, the best Pokémon games since Pokémon Red and Blue! The quality is so incredible and it feels like a refreshed version of the original games. Brilliant use of 3D graphics as well- and a heck of a story! If you love Pokémon and haven't played these, I suggest you pick up one right now. I played White Version and started with Tepig (he's a Level 81 Emboar now but listens to my every word).

649 and more to come...

3.The Harry Potter Movie Tie-In Games (2001-2011; various platforms): Be honest- you've played at least one of these. Although I haven't yet played the final two parts (Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2) I think these games have always been part of my childhood. They're not awesome games, but personally I love them. I played the first four and sixth on PC and the fifth on PSP. Great way to pass the time. My personal favorite is the Prisoner of Azkaban PC game. Awesome!

How can you say no to fighting off a bunch of Dementors?

2. Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo Entertainment System; 1985): Come on!!! You know it, you love it. I know most of this game by heart- where everything's hidden, where the secret 1-ups are, which pipes take you where- it's incredible. This game has defined gaming culture and has to be on your list. You haven't played this? Get out from under your rock and play it now! Or the newer ones too!

Jump, Mario, JUMP!

and my number one, all-time favorite game is...

drum roll...

1. Pokémon Red and Blue (Game Boy; 1998): Just...just...oh my gosh. I have no words to describe how phenomenally awesome these games are. The sheer level of strategy and amount of stuff to do is staggering. I don't remember, but I think I played this for more than 200 hours! In fact, whenever I feel like a  nostalgia boost, I load it up on my computer! It's truly magical. By the way, I played Blue version and started with a Squirtle (I didn't let him evolve even though he wanted to- he was too cute).

I wanna be the very best...


Honorable Mentions:

*Pokémon Gold and Silver (Game Boy Color; 2000): Sequels to Pokémon Red and Blue, they're as awesome as the originals. You could also check out the equally venerable 2010 remakes of these games for Nintendo DS, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.




*Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo 3DS; 2011): Currently what I'm playing (for the third time). It's classic Mario with a 3D twist. If you want lots of hours of fun, get it!



So that's it! Those were some of MY favorite games. Gosh, I turned out to be quite the Nintendo fanboy, didn't I? Ha. What are your favorites? Have a game to recommend? Sound off in the comments!

Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger' Remains on BillBoard Top 200 for 55 Weeks

I could not find the up to date total sales numbers for Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" album just a few days before her "Greatest Hits - Chapter One" album is released on Monday. But "Stronger" remains on the BillBoard Top 200 this week, falling slightly from #152 to #177. This marks her 55th straight week on the BillBoard Top 200, but it looks like her time may be ending soon with more new releases showing up in the next few weeks, including her own.
This means I can at least update my graph of BillBoard album charting for American Idol winners. This is week 28 for Carrie Underwood with "Blown Away" but she still has a long time to worry about falling out of the Top 200 since she is at #26. Her chart placement has been very strong since her release over six months ago.
But the BillBoard album leader among the Idol winners this week is back to Scotty McCreery like he was a year ago. Exactly 52 weeks ago was Kelly's 3rd week out and her chart rank for "Stronger" fell to #19, but on that same week "Clear As Day" only fell back to #14. That started the several week period in November to December 2011 when "Clear As Day" was charting higher than "Stronger". It is quite coincidental now that exactly a year later, Scotty's latest album scoots behind Carrie's chart topping album (while "Stronger" is amazingly still on the BillBoard Top 200!) Hey, that is good news for Scotty, good news for Carrie (still Top 30 after 28 weeks) and good news for Kelly too! Happy chart news for everybody!

Album Review: Kelly Clarkson: Greatest Hits Chapter One (2012)

Greatest Hits: Chapter One (c) 2012 RCA/19 Records
 It's been exactly a decade since Kelly Clarkson burst onto the music scene, creating history as the very first winner of a little singing contest you may have heard of. Does American Idol ring a bell? Yeah, exactly. In the ten years since the Texas girl's victory, she's experienced a massive level of success, cementing her status as nothing less than a pop icon. With five multi-platinum studio albums, two Grammys, four American Music awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and many, many more, Kelly Clarkson remains among the cream of the female pop divas of today. In fact, she's competed with everyone on the charts, from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in the early 2000s to the likes of Katy Perry and Rihanna in the 2010s. Her career is impressive, with hardly a low point and continued influence on today's dynamic industry. The massive success of her most recent single, "Stronger" in 2011 (her third #1 on the Billboard Hot 100) proves that. At the same time, Clarkson continues to evolve as an artist, experimenting with new styles like country and folk, changing her image, but continuing to remain true to herself and what she represents. This year, she releases what is surprisingly her very first Greatest Hits compilation. Containing a decade's worth of her biggest hits, the album hits stores November 19. Featuring three newly recorded songs, including the new hit "Catch My Breath", the album's 17 tracks serve as a reminder of just why this girl truly rocks and is one of the most easily recognizable voices on modern radio.

I'll take a break from tradition and not review each and every song on the album, since you've probably heard most of them anyway. I'll just review the three newest songs.

* "Catch My Breath": This song is classic Kelly. A thumping beat, powerful vocals and empowering lyrics- it's what the best Kelly Clarkson songs are made of. Just amazing. Kelly blows me away with everything she does.

* "People Like Us": Lady Gaga rip-off introduction aside, this is one heck of a song. Kelly does a good job targeting the same audience that Katy Perry (Firework), Lady Gaga (Born This Way), Pink (Perfect) and Selena Gomez (Who Says) have all pandered to. The "lost and forgotten/living at the bottom". It still stands out for its originality and could well become another anthem for the LGBT community, who knows?

* "Don't Rush" (featuring Vince Gill): That's right, the legendary Vince Gill features on this song! It's the "other side" of Kelly, the homegrown, country girl. Works on every level, this song. You'll love it if you're a country fan. My only disappointment is that Vince Gill's presence is reduced to mere background vocals. Sad, really, but otherwise a very good song!

Greatest Hits: Chapter One includes almost all of Kelly's singles. From A Moment Like This to My Life Would Suck Without You, they're all here. Perfect for the season, the album also includes Kelly's wonderful rendition of I'll Be Home For Christmas. It was a great listen, going down memory lane with songs that I literally grew up with. I was disappointed, however, that some older ones like Before Your Love and The Trouble With Love Is weren't included on the standard edition. Those songs have always been some my personal favorites. That said, the overall collection is impressive and satisfying.

It's funny that it took Kelly ten long years to release a Greatest Hits album. At the same time, there couldn't be more perfect timing. It's been a very impressive and amazing journey for one of pop music's sweethearts. While most female divas feel the need to reveal unnecessary amounts of skin and opt for raunchier music for the sake of "change", Kelly Clarkson, on the other hand, chooses to remain true to her roots, as the classic girl next door, while at the same time, maturing and refining her music. Kelly has been in the news for all the right reasons- success and philanthropy, and she deserves every last bit of acclaim for that. Ten years is enough to lose yourself in the glitz of Hollywood, but it takes true courage to stand your ground.

If you love Kelly Clarkson, get this! It's worth having just for the three amazing new songs! If you're new, then it's a great way to get acquainted to her very best work. This is a shining example of a true Hollywood journey.

Here's to the start of a brand new chapter!

RATING:

                          Then:


                          Now:


Scotty and Carrie Keep Dancing for Top BillBoard Position

BillBoard 200 album sales ranking
Since we keep getting numbers for country albums from RoughStock but nothing consistent elsewhere, I will have to stick to looking at album sales numbers from the top two selling country American Idol winners: Carrie Underwood and Scotty McCreery. Carrie's "Blown Away" and "Christmas with Scotty McCreery" have been doing a cute little dance on the BillBoard 200 album chart for the 4 weeks since Scotty's album was released. As Scotty's chart position had slowly but expectedly decreased (#4, #15, #21), Carries' actually increased for his first weeks (#25, #20, #12). But this week they reversed the dance with "Blown Away" seeing a more natural decrease to #25 (now that the CMA Award show is in the past) but Scotty's Christmas album improved to #18 as Christmas approaches. It is like they are working together to make sure one American Idol winner stays in the Top 20 of the BillBoard chart. They will have to try again for one more week before they will receive help from Phillip Phillips and Kelly Clarkson. This week Scotty sold 20K units (up from 16K last week) to put his total up to 95K. With his extra 5K in QVC sales that really means he has hit 100K in 4 weeks. Carrie saw her sales go down, but her 17K this week (from 24k last week) is still better than her 15K two weeks ago (before her CMA boost.) Interestingly both Scotty and Carrie sold more albums this week than they did two weeks ago.
With Scotty's numbers I can continue my meaningless comparison of his Christmas album sales to his EP from last summer. This week I have added a third line that shows the "complete" CWSM sales from the extra 5K in sales from QVC. Knowing that the EP sold about 200K in total, I find it difficult to believe that CWSM will sell less than that total amount. The big question will be to see how much more than the EP it will sell by then end of 2012 when its sales should come to an abrupt halt (once the "after Christmas" sales are over.) I wonder how much they will be charging for CWSM starting on December 26.

By next Tuesday or Wednesday we should see some Hits Daily Double sales estimates for Phllip Phillips' debut "The World From The Side of the Moon" and also Kelly Clarkson's "Greatest Hits: Chapter One". HDD just posted the label's estimate of 150K for Phillip's album. We shall see how close to the estimates the actual sales numbers will be next week.


Movie Review: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Disney's 52nd Animated Classic Is Just That - A Classic.

It's been a bumpy few years for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. The past decade alone has seen some of the most dynamic, outlandish, and downright bizarre animated films been released by the once-revered studio. Remember Treasure Planet? How about Brother Bear? After the legendary Disney Renaissance of the 1990s ended with Tarzan in 1999, Disney went into something of a creative and financial slump. Although some movies worked (The Emperor's New Groove, Lilo and Stitch), on the whole, people seemed to have forgotten about the studio that once made beloved classics like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Little brother Pixar was dominating the market with their own brand of hits like Finding Nemo and the Incredibles. 

The historic $7 billion purchase of Pixar by Disney in 2006 led to something of a creative re-awakening. Pixar honcho John Lasseter (the brain behind Pixar classics Toy Story and A Bug's Life) took on the role of Chief Creative Officer at both Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. Soon, Disney's movies started getting better. 2007's Meet The Robinsons seemed to follow Walt Disney's "Keep Moving Forward" policy. 2008's Bolt succeeded as a comedy with heart. 2009's The Princess and the Frog re-energized traditional 2D animation. Still, something was missing. Box office returns! However, Disney's 50th Animated Feature, Tangled, in 2010 was a smash hit. It was popular with critics and audiences alike and went on to make $590 million worldwide - second only to The Lion King. But then again, 2011's Winnie the Pooh was a flop. Disney needed a hero- and it got one this year.

Wreck-It Ralph, in case you're not acquainted with the premise- tells the story of Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly), a videogame villain in a retro arcade game from 1982 called Fix-It Felix Jr. Ralph is sick of his job - wrecking the 8-bit in-game building and watching it get repaired by Fix-It Felix Jr. (voice of Jack McBrayer), everyone's favorite good guy, day after day. Desperate for some recognition in the form of a medal, Ralph jumps into a game called Hero's Duty, a slick, futuristic, Halo-esque first person shooter. Wrecking havoc there, the great lug stumbles into another game- this one called Sugar Rush, a candy themed kart racer game. There, he crosses paths with a little girl named Vanellope Von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman), who, like Ralph, is an outcast- or more specifically, a "glitch", shunned by everyone. Fix-It Felix and Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch) must find Ralph and get him back to his original game- before their game's plug is pulled. Vanellope just wants to win a race and prove herself, and Ralph is determined to prove he's a good guy and more than just the sum of his programming.

The iconic Bad-Anon meeting is the highlight of the film. Watch for cameos!

Everything about Wreck-It Ralph is delightful. The very premise screams originality. Very few videogames have made a smooth transition to the big screen and Ralph does that seamlessly, even though it's not based on a videogame, just gaming culture in general. There are some brilliant, shining touches of  creativity, from the iconic "Bad-Anon" meeting where videogame villains come together for a support group, to the amazing Game Central Station, where everyone from Sonic the Hedgehog to Frogger cross paths while travelling to their own destinations. More than once, I was thinking to myself, How did they get such an awesome idea? Much of the fun in the first half hour will be derived from spotting the cameos- that is, if you've ever spent time playing games. If you haven't, that isn't a problem at all, because you don't have to be a "gamer" to enjoy the lovely references in the film. Besides, chances are, you know Bowser and Pac-Man without having ever even picked up a controller!

Sargeant Calhoun from Hero's Duty has one heck of a back story.

I loved the characters. John C. Reilly was perfect as Wreck-It Ralph. It's been a while since I've seen such perfect casting. He lends so much to the character, it's incredible. Jack McBrayer does a good job with Fix-It Felix, Jr., although you can't help but feel like he's playing the same character from 30 Rock. Same thing with Jane Lynch's Sergeant Calhoun. I could literally see Coach Sue Sylvester in her tracksuit. But the character that stole the show was hands down, Vanellope Von Schweetz, expertly voiced by Sarah Silverman. Silverman lends a degree of irreverence and crudeness to the character that I couldn't help but fall in love with.

Pint-sized Vanellope is a sweet-tart.

Another standout for the movie was the overall look of the film. In a first for an animated film, there's a whopping four different worlds- five if you include the arcade: the simplistic 8-bit world of Fix-It Felix Jr, the snazzy high definition futuristic world of Hero's Duty, the sparkly, sugary world of Sugar Rush, the grandeur of Game Central Station and the real-world location of Litwak's Arcade. And to think that in essence, the entire movie takes place inside just one room- the arcade- mindblowing.

As far as animation is concerned, the film doesn't do anything groundbreaking, or innovative, but the quality is still really impressive. The film's budget- $165 million - isn't as much as Tangled's whopping $250 million. And I'm pretty sure that close to 25% of that was spent on getting the videogame cameos. Who knows? Still, the animation is impressive. Since there's characters from so many different eras, each one has it's own style of movement. From the jerky actions of the Nicelanders of Fix-It Felix Jr. to the smooth movements of the Hero's Duty characters, the attention to detail is amazing. And when the characters share space, you really appreciate all the effort that's gone in.

"Fix-It Felix! Woot Woot!"

The humor is fun, ranging from subtle to downright juvenile. Vanellope is the source of many of the film's laughs, and also much of the film's heart. When she comes up with potty jokes, you can't help but giggle, even thought you know how lame it is. She just makes it work! The banter between Sergeant Calhoun and Fix-It Felix is pretty fun too. However, the lowest point for me in the film was a really dumb exchange between the two that also included "Nesquik Sand." It was funny enough for the kids, but you know adults will just be rolling their eyes. Also, be prepared for a little product placement, although they are pretty inspired (Oreo meets The Wizard of Oz is all I'm saying).

That said, Wreck-It Ralph has more than enough to keep adults entertained. The sheer amount of emotion in the film is amazing, and I didn't expect to be tearing up so many times! You come to care for Ralph and Vanellope as they set off to find themselves. Ralph's a hero's journey, one of self-discovery and knowing that you are special no matter what.  

Wreck-It Ralph is a victory for Disney Animation, they've proved that they can still compete with the CGI biggies like Pixar and DreamWorks. If you like Disney, animation, videogames, or just good movies, watch this now. You need not be a gamer to enjoy this one. I've never recommended a movie more wholeheartedly. You'll laugh, cry, and have your spirits lifted.

Not only is Wreck-It Ralph the best animated film of the year by far, it's one of the best films of the year, period. Disney, you've done it again.

100% Hero.


RATING: and a medal.