Go, Dragon!

Here's something no box office analyst was predicting headed into the weekend : How to Train Your Dragon 3D was number one at the box office. How the hell did that happen?

Seriously, this almost never happens. Can you name me another movie that opened at number one, dropped down to number three in succeeding weeks, then went back up to number one?

The Dreamworks Animation family film trumped [Kick-Ass] the power of excessive violence and dirty words with theater-goers this weekend, pulling in an impressive $20m haul in its fourth week of release.

I really like this.


Not because I particularly care if Dragon throws Kick-Ass to the curb or not. Kick-Ass has gotten mostly good reviews, but I've heard both bad and good things. I haven't seen it, though, so I have no right to an opinion.

Not because of dragons being my favorite mythological beastie either or because I saw How To Train Your Dragon last week and really enjoyed it.

No, I think I like this because I feel it's more a triumph of simple word-of-mouth than of family film over dirty words. People saw How To Train Your Dragon, thought it was cool and funny (which it is), and told their friends.

More of whom chose to see that than the latest ginned-up "controversial" movie. That's kind of the way it's supposed to work, or at least the way I (and maybe you) often wish that it would work.