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Why Hollywood is Still Making Transformers Movies

"This ranks as one of the lowest Fourth of Julys ever," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. "We always think of Fourth of July as being a big weekend. This year, we just have to lick our wounds and look forward to 'Planet of the Apes' and some other films to get us back on track." There seems to be some anxiety surrounding this summer's weak box office, but I'm thinking that Dergarabedian is right and it could recover quickly with international movie successes making up for some losses. 

Last week Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Transformers: Age of Extinction were released internationally, which could make a huge difference in Hollywood. Movies made in the U.S. have the greatest success in China, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom and Ireland. The majority of movies made in the U.S. make on average 60-70% of their total worldwide gross internationally.

Analysts are catching on, and as a result, movies that are expected to win big are released internationally before they are released in the U.S.. Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Marvel's The Avengers, and others were released overseas one to two weeks before their U.S. release date. The international movie industry is no longer on the backburner for Hollywood, but at the forefront. This means that even if summer blockbusters flop in the U.S., there's still a chance for them to make some serious cash overseas. Movies that receive great reviews from critics typically do just as well as movies that receive scathing reviews. This infographic explores how the international movie industry has grown, and which genres do best overseas. 

Why Dota Fans Should Watch ESPN's Coverage of The International

In the lead up to this year's tournament, Valve has taken a number of steps likely to help move gaming from a hobby enjoyed at home to the major leagues. The first major step was the restructuring of Compendium sales, with dollars spent by fans driving this year's prize pool to over 10 million dollars.

Yesterday's announcement that The International, Valve's Dota 2 Championships, will be carried on the ESPN3 with a preview show on ESPN2 could be the first step in getting professional gaming consistent coverage in the one form of media that really matters: Broadcast and Cable TV. Despite all the advances in technology and broader media options available today, TV remains the medium with the largest reach and the greatest revenue driver for sports as an entertainment business, and the greatest means to propel Dota forward.

The Ultimate Debate: Duane Reade vs CVS

Since the beginning of time, or at least since the 1960s, an ancient war has been brewing on the streets of Manhattan and New Yorkers have taken sides: Duane Reade versus CVS (NYSE:CVS). The argument has always revolved around which pharmacy is cheaper, since they sell the same products. The Walgreens Company (NYSE:WAG) acquired Duane Reade in 2010, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the prices at Walgreens Pharmacy as well. I took a trip to the Duane Reade, Walgreens, and CVS closest to the ValuePenguin offices, and checked it out for myself. 

You Won't Believe How Much Your Morning Coffee Adds Up To

My morning walk to the ValuePenguin office consists of some pump-up music and a Starbucks Grande Iced Coffee (if it's a long day ahead, a Grande Iced Skinny Vanilla Latte). There's nothing quite like a cup of joe to get my brain working. I've been addicted to caffeine for nearly three years now... and neither my body, nor my bank account has quite forgiven me. 

I've been thinking about getting a Keurig, a Nespresso, or a drip coffeemaker. At first, I thought buying coffee everyday would be cheaper than a Nespresso, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Foreign Language Films at the Oscars: Which Country is Best?

With the Oscar's coming up on Sunday we thought it would only make sense to look at one of our favorite categories of cinema: Foreign Language Films. The nominees for the 87th Academy Awards features movies from Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Cambodia, and Palestine. While the other countries have been nominated in the past, this will be Cambodia's first foray into the Awards.

And the Winner of the Sochi Olympic Games is...Slovenia?

Yeah, yeah, we know that Russia won that overall medal count (and the most gold medals), but is that really the best indicator of Olympic victory? We don't think so. For starters, for almost the last twenty years either Germany or the United States has won the final medal count. Obviously there are some great winter sports athletes in both countries, but the reality is that both nations have a lot working in their favor if you’re going to judge victory on total medals.

We look at the Best Cities for Fitness Trainers in the US

Being fit and healthy is all the rage these days. And for good reason. Science continues to provide conclusive evidence in support of exercise and its many benefits to your long and short-term well being. As such, people of all ages are looking for direction on what exactly they should be doing to make the most of their time at the gym. So whether it's one-on-one sessions or group training classes, fitness trainers have stepped in to meet the high demand.

The best way to compare travel credit cards for your globetrotting adventures

Interested in figuring out which credit cards offer the best rewards for travelers? Our visualization is here to help. We've built a model for each credit card to determine how it rewards you for spending money and what those rewards are worth. You can compare the travel rewards by card or take a look at how each card performs over time by changing the display options in our one of a kind infographic.

Conversation with Caldwell College Economics student, David Reeth

In this week's feature piece, we spoke with David Reeth. David is a senior Business student with minors in both Economics and Finance at Caldwell College. Beyond being a top business student at the New Jersey school, David also serves as President of the SGA and recently won the 2012 NJ Collegiate Entrepreneur of the Year Award...quite a distinction! In our conversation with David, he told us about the excellent economics program at Caldwell in addition to his plans for the future.

What The Combined Comcast & Time Warner Would Look Like For Broadband

Take a look at would the combined broadband footprint of Comcast and Time Warner look like if the merger were allowed to go forward. What counties are currently served by both providers and could see less competition as a result of a combined company? 

Interview with University of Arizona Business Econ student, Grecia Sanchez

Grecia Sanchez is a Business Economics major and Mathematics minor at the University of Arizona. She is set to graduate in December of 2014. In our recent discussion, we asked Grecia about her experience with the Business Econ program at Arizona and why she's so excited for her future career in Finance. Here's what she had to say: