Still playing the catch up game, we present to you Shutter Island.

There  is some heavy debate amongst the hosts regarding this one, so PLEASE, join in.  Comment below, send us an email or shoot us a call.  Our contact info is on the site.

Host:

• Tony
• Tony2
• David
• Darrell

This episode was recorded 3/10/10.

#2 The Last Exorcism from Lionsgate debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $20.3 million in 2874 theaters. Budget was $1.8 million.

#3 The Expendables from Lionsgate drops from #1 to #3 with a weekend gross of $9.5 million (-43.8%) in 3398 theaters (+128). Total gross to date is $82.0 million. Budget was $80 million.

#4 Eat Pray Love from Sony drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $6.8 million (-43.7%) in 3108 theaters (+26). Total gross to date is $60.5 million. Budget was $60 million.

#5 The Other Guys from Sony holds at #5 with a weekend gross of $6.2 million (-38.2%) in 3181 theaters (-291). Total gross to date is $99.0 million. Budget was $100 million.

#6 Vampires Suck from Fox drops from #2 to #6 with a weekend gross of $5.2 million (-57.2%) in 3233 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $27.8 million. Budget was $20 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Inception jumps from #9 to #7 with a weekend gross of $4.8 million (-37.8%) in 2070 theaters (-331) . Total gross to date is $270.5 million. Budget was $160 million.

#8 Nanny McPhee Returns holds at #8 with a weekend gross of $4.7 million (-43.9%) in 2798 theaters (+14). Total gross to date is $16.9 million. Budget was $35 million.

#9 The Switch drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $4.5 million (-45.7%) in 2017 theaters (+5). Total gross to date is $16.4 million. Budget is unknown.

#10 Piranha 3D drops from #6 to #10 with a weekend gross of $4.3 million (-57.4%) in 2491 theaters (+21). Total gross to date is $18.2 million. Budget was $24 million.

#11 Avatar: Special Edition debuts at #11 with an opening weekend gross of $4.0 million in 812 theaters. Budget is unknown.

#12 Lottery Ticket drops from #4 to #12 with a weekend gross of $3.8 million (-63.8%) in 1974 theaters (+1). Budget was $17 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $95.0 million (-13.8%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

The Last Exorcism is a low-budget horror film from producers Eli Roth, Strike Entertainment and directed by Daniel Stamm. Now I’m not really familiar with either of Stamm’s other movies, but I’m definitely familiar with work coming from Roth and Strike Entertainment. Roth of course directed Cabin Fever and the Hostel films, all of which I enjoyed very much. Strike Entertainment was behind the Zack Snyder re-make of Dawn of the Dead and I hold that remake in the same high regard as the original. So having this producing crew behind The Last Exorcism had me looking forward to the movie. For the most part, I think it delivers, though I do have one small problem with it.

This film is shot in the same fake documentary style as movies like The Blair Witch Project, Quarantine and last year’s big smash, Paranormal Activity and right off the bat, I know that will be a big turn-off to a lot of viewers. Whether you see it as an over-used gimmick or you’re just turned off by the shaky hand-held camera style, if you’re turned off by this, then just avoid it at all costs. Personally though, I love this way of filmmaking. It throws you smack dab into the middle of things and doesn’t do anything uncomfortable in it’s set-up. It also doesn’t rely on overly flashy effects, and due to the hand-held camera work, forces you to rely more on your imagination for the real horror.

But, there is a problem within this presentation and it’s just by the fact that the creative team decided to use some minimal music in some scenes to both heighten and dull some of the moments. Now I can understand why they did this. If you check all sorts of movie messageboards, you can certainly see that some are turned off by this style. So, in my opinion, I can see the addition of music to be a tool used to say that this is more your traditional sort of movie rather than the fake documentary. I think it was a mistake to go that route though and the film as a whole would’ve been much more effective had they chosen to exorcise the music from it.

That’s my only gripe. The rest of this, I thought was very well-made for the style of film. It features a nice twist, that I certainly didn’t see coming, at the end. I thought that was a nice little throwback to some horror movies of the 70s. The best part though is the earnest performances from it’s cast.

Patrick Fabian plays Cotton Marcus and he’s really good, sort of coming off to me as what you’d get if you crossed Jeff Daniels with Marjoe Gortner. A good portion of the start of the movie is used to put us in Cotton’s shoes and Fabian has a great charisma that made me want to join him on the road. I’ve also got to give high marks to both Ashley Bell who plays Nell Sweetzer and Louis Herthurm who plays her father, Louis Sweetzer. Bell is appropriately sweet and innocent until the moments of possession sinks in and then she’s just as appropriately creepy. Herthurm was the only cast member who I was familiar with, having seen him in all sorts of character parts in the past. He gets some real shining moments here and certainly has some believable conviction.

I did enjoy this, though as I said it loses some marks from me for it’s unnecessary use of music. As the credits started to roll, I overheard the couple sitting behind me making their comments. The woman really liked the movie while the man with her said “It’s cheesy.” Well, I just had to ask him why. And I know I took him by surprise with that, but still I was genuinely curious. He took a moment and said “It was fake.” to which I immediately asked “How could it be “real?” (though I admit it’s hard to emphasize the quote portion of that) and I didn’t get an answer. Again, I understand that, I was putting the guy on the spot and I can certainly understand if something like the inclusion of music added to that. I tend to think that he more wanted to see a more traditionally-produced horror film and was just turned off by this film’s obvious low-budget approach. I think that will be the case with most who do see this, but regardless, I still had a great time with it.

I maybe going overboard with a few of those adjectives… but maybe not.

This episode was recorded on 3/3/10.

Let us know what you think!

Psst.  The next episode is coming on Saturday.  SRSLY!

This episode was originally recorded on 2/24/2010.

#2 Vampires Suck from Fox debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $12.2 million in 3233 theaters. Budget was $20 million.

#3 Eat Pray Love from Sony drops from #2 to #3 with a weekend gross of $12.1 million (-47.6%) in 3082 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $47.2 million. Budget was $60 million.

#4 Lottery Ticket from Warner Brothers debuts at #4 with an opening weekend gross of $10.6 million in 1973 theaters. Budget was $17 million.

#5 The Other Guys from Sony drops from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $10.1 million (-41.6%) in 3472 theaters (-179). Total gross to date is $88.2 million. Budget was $100 million.

#6 Piranha 3D from Weinstein/Dimension debuts at #6 with an opening weekend gross of $10.1 million in 2470 theaters. Budget was $24 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 The Switch debuts at #7 with an opening weekend gross of $8.4 million in 2012 theaters. Budget is unknown.

#8 Nanny McPhee Returns debuts at #8 with an opening weekend gross of $8.4 million in 2784 theaters. Budget was $35 million.

#9 Inception drops from #4 to #9 with a weekend gross of $7.8 million (-30.5%) in 2401 theaters (-719) . Total gross to date is $262.0 million. Budget was $160 million.

#10 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World drops from #5 to #10 with a weekend gross of $5.2 million (-51.0%) in 2820 theaters (+2). Total gross to date is $20.8 million. Budget was $60 million.

#11 Despicable Me drops from #6 to #11 with a weekend gross of $4.6 million (-33.1%) in 2236 theaters (-687). Total gross to date is $231.0 million. Budget was $69 million.

#12 Dinner for Schmucks drops from #8 to #12 with a weekend gross of $3.5 million (-44.0%) in 2149 theaters (-897). Total gross to date is $65.8 million. Budget was $69 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $110.2 million (-16.6%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

That’s the premise to Piranha 3D, the latest film from horror director Alexandre Aja. It’s also a remake of Joe Dante’s 1978 film Piranha, recently rereleased on DVD as part of Shout! Factory’s Roger Corman’s Cult Classics. And it’s one hell of a good time, especially if you enjoy over-the-top exploitation movies.

This movie lets you know what you’re in for right from the start with it’s opening scene. Featuring a cameo appearance by Richard Dreyfuss, playing a fisherman named Matt, singing the song, “Show Me The Way To Go Home,” this scene acknowledges the intentions of the original movie (being a Jaws rip-off) and sets you up for the wild ride that you’re about to take.

That wild ride is very bloody, very violent and filled with gratuitous nudity (it very much earns it’s R rating- this one isn’t for kids). It’s all in glorious 3D and just fun as all get out. Like the original, everyone here knows just what kind of movie they’re making and it’s all played very straight (with one notable exception), just like it should be.

Previously, Alexandre Aja made the very effective French horror film, High Tension which got him a lot of notice. From there, he headed up the remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and gave us a fun ride with that as well. After that, came the thriller Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland, that I wasn’t quite a s enamored with.

When I first heard Piranha 3D was coming, I was looking forward to it, though at the time I hadn’t seen the original movie. Since seeing the original, and knowing that Aja was attached to it, that raised my expectations quite a bit and I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.

While this varies in story points from the original, structurally it runs the same course with it’s set-up, character introduction, a couple of mini-climaxes and an ending that even uses the same escape scenario. Characters are simply drawn and serviceable to what we really want to see.

It looks great and runs counter to the visuals of Aja’s other movies with tons of bright color and detail. The visual effects with the piranha is pretty obvious CGI work, and by that obviousness, very suitable to the exploitation feel of the movie.

We’ve got a good cast in this film and as I said above, they know what kind of movie they’re in and they go with it. Elizabeth Shue plays Lake Vicotria’s sheriff and it’s really cool to see here do something like this. Ving Rhames is her bad-ass deputy who has his own way of dealing with the piranha. Stephen R. McQueen plays Shue’s son, who’s the hero focus of the film, and he’s suitable to the movie, though more of the fun is being had by the bigger names. Those include the above-mentioned Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O’Connell and Christopher Lloyd. Dreyfuss, is purely there for the set-up and I thought it was very cool that he did it. O’Connell plays a Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild) type of character as the over-the-top Derrick Jones. Jones is in Lake Victoria to shoot his latest video, Wild Wild Girls, and right from the start, you pretty much know what’s going to happen to him in the end. Christopher Lloyd is the notable exception that I alluded to above. He plays the town expert who informs the sheriff of just what she’s dealing with. Right from the moment we see him, he’s in his full Doc Brown glory and chews more scenery than the piranha do. But y’know, I really wouldn’t have it any other way. It doesn’t deter from anything else that has happened in the movie up to that point and really just emphasizes the movie’s fun factor.

I think the 3D is just terrific here. It’s a shame that earlier in the year we had to have some movies with tacked on 3D, because they just took away from the real fun that you can have when a movie is legitimately made with 3D in mind. Like Step Up 3D, Piranha 3D uses it’s gimmick very well with not only immersive depth of the environment but with plenty of reach-out-and-touch-it moments. It works great for all of the piranha scenes and it’s really well-used with an underwater erotic scene that Derrick Jones is filming.

Piranha 3D ain’t for everyone, that’s for sure, but then that’s the case with most exploitation movies. Make no mistake, this is pure exploitation and if that’s you’re thing (it’s mine) and you’re willing to let your hair down, you should have a great time with this. As a remake, I’d put this on the same par as Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of The Dead, a movie that can stand right alongside with the original. With Robert Rodriguez’s Machete around the corner, and with Piranha 3D out now, it’s great to see that these sort of movies are still getting released, especially in the wake of Grindhouse’s failure to do big box office. Now we just need Rob Zombie to make a full length version of Werewolf Women of the S.S.

#2 Eat Pray Love from Sony debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $23.1 million in 3082 theaters. Budget was $60 million.

#3 The Other Guys from Sony drops from #1 to #3 with a weekend gross of $17.4 million (-51.0%) in 3651 theaters (no change). Budget was $100 million.

#4 Inception from Warner Brothers drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $11.2 million (-39.0%) in 3120 theaters (-298) . Total gross to date is $248.4 million. Budget was $160 million.

#5 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World from Universal debuts at #5 with an opening weekend gross of $10.6 million in 2818 theaters. Budget was $60 million.

#6 Despicable Me from Universal holds at #6 with a weekend gross of $6.9 million (-24.9%) in 2923 theaters (-490). Total gross to date is $222.1 million. Budget was $69 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Step Up 3-D drops from #3 to #7 with a weekend gross of $6.9 million (-56.3%) in 2439 theaters (+4). Total gross to date is $29.8 million. Budget was $30 million.

#8 Dinner for Schmucks drops from #5 to #8 with a weekend gross of $6.2 million (-39.4%) in 3046 theaters (+42). Total gross to date is $58.7 million. Budget was $69 million.

#9 Salt drops from #4 to #9 with a weekend gross of $6.2 million (-43.0%) in 2834 theaters (-483). Total gross to date is $103.4 million. Budget was $110 million.

#10 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore drops from #7 to #10 with a weekend gross of $4.1 million (-39.3%) in 2728 theaters (-977). Total gross to date is $35.2 million. Budget was $85 million.

#11 Toy Story 3 drops from #9 to #11 with a weekend gross of $2.2 million (-28.7%) in 1219 theaters (-495). Total gross to date is $400.8 million. Budget was $200 million.

#12 Charlie St. Cloud drops from #8 to #11 with a weekend gross of $2.1 million (-55.0%) in 2083 theaters (-642). Total gross to date is $28.7 million. Budget was $44 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $132.1 million (+7.9%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

That’s about all I’ll say about the overall story to The Expendables, the long-awaited movie from director and star Sylvester Stallone that gathers together some of the greatest ever stars of action movies. Has it been worth the wait? Well, I certainly think so.

Since making Rocky Balboa a couple of years ago and then following it up with Rambo, Stallone’s been showing up that he still has the chops to make a darn good movie, and The Expendables just adds to that, and in my opinion surpasses those two great movies.

This is a cool throwback to 80s action movies with some modern techniques thrown in. The story and character interaction remind of the sort of thing that we would see from writer Shane Black (the Lethal Weapon movies) and that’s very cool, as every character gets a chance to have their little bit of spotlight in the movie.

Yeah, it’s high-charged action but at the same time, it has those moments where it’s allowed to breathe and spotlight more than just moving from action sequence to action sequence. It’s also very self-aware of the type of movie that it is, but it’s not a mocking self-awareness, it’s all played straight.

But really, the main thing that we’re going to see this movie for is just it’s terrific assemblage of action movie stars. And while Stallone is the lead, it never once felt to me like he was dominating the movie, this really felt like an ensemble film. But he is the glue that holds it all together and he’s extremely solid.

And what a cast- Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews form the rest of The Expendables and Mickey Rourke plays a former team member who’s since retired from the life but still hangs with his pals. Statham has been one of my favorite guys to see in movies for awhile now, and he doesn’t disappoint here. He and Stallone have the tightest relationship amongst the group and their chemistry is very good. In the action sequences, while all of the guys are very effective, Statham tends to standout to me with an intensity to his moves that just looks authentic. Jet Li is given top billing in the movie, though his part is a little smaller than Stallone’s and Statham’s, but he also gets the chance to provide some cool comedy relief as well as have one terrific fight sequence with Dolph lundgren.

But it doesn’t stop there, of course we have the uncredited appearances of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger that have certainly been pushed strong in the trailers for the film. Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis are just together for one scene, but it’s a good one. Willis plays the man who’s hiring for the job and Schawarzenegger is the head of a rival mercenary group. Willis brings the intensity to the scene and Stallone and Schwarzenegger take some funny shots at each other. It’s very short, but it still feels like your genuine moment that’s a special thing if you’re a fan of big-ass action movies.

And it still doesn’t stop, Eric Roberts is absolutely terrific as the villain of the piece and Stone Cold Steve Austin plays his right hand man. Roberts looks great here and he’s just a commanding presence whenever he’s on screen. Austin has few words, but when they’re delivered, they’re authentic. He literally goes toe-to-toe with Stallone in one fight sequence, and hands Stallone his hat.

The Expendables is the last of the big three “Men on a Mission” movies for the year (the other two being The Losers and The A-Team) and I have to say, it’s my favorite of the bunch. It’s a rollicking ride that’s self-aware without spoofing and delivers the good with some prime action sequences and big stars. It’s also left open-ended, so there’s the chance for sequels and I hope Stallone and company return for more (and hopefully work with other action stars as well, like Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Dwayne Johnson amongst others). Fun stuff and highly recommended.

Seriously, if you haven’t seen this flick, we’ll ruin it for you.  Before you listen, do yourself a favor and go watch the movie.  Especially if you like any of the following:

1. Sam Rockwell
2. Kevin Spacey
3. Robots that act like robots
4. Good Movies

This episode was recorded 2/17/2010.

Don’t forget, we are still recording every Wednesday night.  For more information check out the Big List o’ Movies.

Hosts:

• Tony - @tonymast
• David - @bafadam
• Darrell - @darrellf

You can also follow the podcast on twitter: @betterintheback

Edited by: Tony

Yeah, it’s late… we’ve got about 20 episodes in the tank that we are working our way through editing now and we’ll release them as they are ready.

Note: There is some clipping (mostly at the beginning) in this episode. It’s part of the raw audio and there isn’t much we can do to fix it.  Hope it doesn’t detract too much from your listening pleasure.

Note 2: This episode was recorded on February 10th, 2010.

HOSTS:

• Tony
• David
• Darrell

#2 Inception from Warner Brothers drops from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $18.5 million (-32.7%) in 3418 theaters (-127) . Total gross to date is $227.6 million. Budget was $160 million.

#3 Step Up 3-D from Buena Vista debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $15.8 million in 2435 theaters. Budget was $30 million.

#4 Salt from Sony drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $10.9 million (-44.0%) in 3317 theaters (-295). Total gross to date is $91.7 million. Budget was $110 million.

#5 Dinner for Schmucks from Paramount/Dreamworks drops from #2 to #5 with a weekend gross of $10.3 million (-55.9%) in 3004 theaters (+93). Total gross to date is $46.6 million. Budget was $69 million.

#6 Despicable Me from Universal drops from #4 to #6 with a weekend gross of $9.2 million (-40.2%) in 3413 theaters (-189). Total gross to date is $209.2 million. Budget was $69 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore drops from #6 to #7 with a weekend gross of $6.9 million (-43.8%) in 3705 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $26.4 million. Budget was $85 million.

#8 Charlie St. Cloud drops from #5 to #8 with a weekend gross of $4.7 million (-62.0%) in 2725 theaters (+7). Total gross to date is $23.4 million. Budget was $44 million.

#9 Toy Story 3 drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.1 million (-39.1%) in 1714 theaters (-391). Total gross to date is $396.3 million. Budget was $200 million.

#10 The Kids Are All Right jumps from #12 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.5 million (-26.3%) in 994 theaters (+147). Total gross to date is $14.0 million. Budget was $4 million.

#11 Grown Ups drops from #8 to #11 with a weekend gross of $2.4 million (-47.1%) in 1769 theaters (-500). Total gross to date is $155.6 million. Budget was $80 million.

#12 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice drops from #9 to #12 with a weekend gross of $2.3 million (-47.1%) in 1766 theaters (-758). Total gross to date is $57.0 million. Budget was $150 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $122.5 million (-10.0%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Yep, I just had no appreciation for them whatsoever, and so they were something that I just made fun and had contempt for.

That all changed a few years ago when Fox premiered So You Think You Can Dance. Now here’s the deal, I had no intention of ever watching this show when it premiered. American Idol had just finished another season, and I was ready to move on. The day that SYTYCD started, I had just gotten a a new DVR from my cable company and along with getting that DVR, I was also now getting High-Def access. I got this late in the day, and so once it was all installed, I was flipping around to see what I could see in glorious HD. SYTYCD was just starting and I kept the TV on that channel for the first audition and man… it just struck me the same way that a great painting does, this dancer I saw in action was a beautiful piece of live action art.

So I continued to watch the show, and just got hooked. Every episode, I always see something that’s just absolutely amazing. The panel of judges, always headed by Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe, just had a great and positive energy about them and always handed out praise and constructive criticism to their contestants. The show’s host, Cat Deeley, is to me, a positively magnetic personality and she does a fantastic job hosting this show. She’s, in my eyes, the best of the hosts of the various talent shows that are on the air now.

But the main thing that got to me about the show was just it’s sheer celebration of it’s artform, encompassing all forms of dance. On American Idol, I’d actually grow to actively dislike some of their contestants, but that rarely happened with SYTYCD (only once so far). There’s a lot of joy to this show, and even for someone with two left feet like myself, there’s a lot to appreciate. And this went even further, because I started watching America’s Best Dance Crew as well, and that just gave me even more to appreciate.

Adam Shankman has been one of the regular judges on the show for the last two seasons and I knew he was one of the producers of the Step Up movies. Because of that, I eventually saw both Step Up and Step Up 2 The Streets on cable and had a pretty good time with them. On top of that, it doesn’t hurt that Shankman was behind this year’s Oscar broadcast, delivering what I thought was the best Oscar show that I’d seen in a long time.

So, when I finally saw the trailer to Step Up 3D, I was finally ready to want to see one of these movies theatrically. When this opportunity came up through The Trades], I jumped at the chance to go see it. Recently on SYTYCD, Cat Deeley said something to the effect that Step Up 3D is the kind of movie that their viewers should go see, and I have to say, she’s absolutely right.

Step Up 3D starts with one of the characters from Step Up 2 The Streets, Moose as he’s about to start college at NYU. Everyone thinks Moose has this dancing thing out of his system and now he’s ready to start his life in the real world and concentrate on his studies to be an engineer. Well, right off the bat, Moose inadvertently gets involved in a dance showdown with a member of a dance group called The Samurai, and Moose pretty much schools this guy. Moose catches the eye of Luke, a budding filmmaker who has his own dance crew called The Pirates and right away, Luke drafts Moose into his crew. But Luke and his crew have their own problems. The building that they’re staying in is about to be foreclosed on and their only chance to save the building is to compete against the top dance crews in epic B-Boy battles. At the same time that Luke is showing Moose around the building, a young lady named Natalie catches Luke’s eye with her own moves. Now Luke has what he needs to put his crew on the map and save their building… though it won’t quite be that easy.

Now, Step Up 3D won’t win any awards for originality in it’s story, but really that’s OK, it’s story acts as a frame for some really spectacular dance sequences. When it comes right down to it, if you’re going to see this movie, that’s really what you’re wanting to see and director Jon M. Chu really delivers the goods.

But coming back to it’s story, yeah, it’s heavily derivative, the characters are pretty shallow and there’s a few holes that you could drive a truck through, but y’know, it just didn’t bother me. You’ve got a very amiable cast at work here (even if they are shallow) and more than anything else, like SYTYCD, it’s a celebration of dance and for fans of this, that will probably suffice, it certainly did for me.

Chu’s shooting this almost like a classic Technicolor musical. There’s a kaleidoscope of bright colors and exquisite detail in every single shot. The dance numbers themselves are mostly shown full on and though there are some cuts, those cuts are spare making you feel like you’re watching a live show more often than not.

And it’s all presented in beautiful 3D! Yeah, there’s a lot of bellyachin’ going on these days about the overuse of 3D in movies and for a lot of those productions, I’m right there with you. But when something like this comes along that’s specifically shot for 3D and takes full advantage of it, well that’s when the pluses of 3D loom large. This isn’t tacked on 3D by any means and it works on both ends creating immersive environments as well as giving you that reach out and touch it effect. For me, this is the best live-action 3D that I’ve seen in a movie so far.

While this movie won’t win any acting awards, I still thought that our main three characters, Luke, Natalie and Moose were likable characters and actors Rick Malambri, Sharni Vinson and Adam Sevani certainly look good and do serviceable jobs. There are a few SYTYCD alum in the cast as well, most notable being Season 4’s winner Joshua and one of the finalists from Season 6, Legacy. The one that’s a real treat to see though is from Season 4 and this year’s All-Star cast and that’s Stephen “tWitch” Boss. For my money, tWitch is the best pure performer that I ever saw on the show. In this current season, he had one of the real standout moments with a routine that he performed with early favorite Alex Wong choreographed Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo (do yourself a favor and check this out on Youtube). tWitch is pure support here, and while he’s not given the chance to stand out like he does on SYTYCD, it’s still a genuine pleasure to see him in this film and I just hope that he gets the chance to do more in the future (and maybe even more than just dance, I thinks he’s got those kind of chops).

So if you’re a fan of dance and musicals, by all means see this (it’s not just Hip-Hop in this movie, there’s also a nice ballroom number and a terrific salute to the type of thing that Gene Kelly would do later in the film) and see it in 3D. This 3D doesn’t disappoint in the slightest and thanks to the talent of director Jon Chu and his fine cast of dancers, you’ll see some things here in live action that will rival some of the more ambitious mechanical and digital effects of other movies. If you’re not a fan… well, a few years ago, I wasn’t either and I’ve certainly had my eyes peeled in recent years. Step Up 3D could go a long way to giving others a big appreciation for the art of dance.

#2 Dinner for Schmucks from Paramount/Dreamworks debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $23.5 million in 2911 theaters. Budget was $69 million.

#3 Salt from Sony drops from #2 to #3 with a weekend gross of $19.4 million (-45.9%) in 3612 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $71.0 million. Budget was $110 million.

#4 Despicable Me from Universal drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $15.5 million (-34.5%) in 3602 theaters (+2). Total gross to date is $190.3 million. Budget was $69 million.

#5 Charlie St. Cloud from Universal debuts at #5 with an opening weekend gross of $12.3 million in 2718 theaters. Budget was $44 million.

#6 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore from Warner Brother debuts at #6 with an opening weekend gross of $12.2 million in 3705 theaters. Budget was $85 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Toy Story 3 drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $5.1 million (-42.6%) in 2105 theaters (-661). Total gross to date is $389.7 million. Budget was $200 million.

#8 Grown Ups drops from #7 to #8 with a weekend gross of $4.5 million (-38.8%) in 2269 theaters (-590). Total gross to date is $150.7 million. Budget was $80 million.

#9 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice drops from #4 to #9 with a weekend gross of $4.4 million (-53.7%) in 2524 theaters (-980). Total gross to date is $52.0 million. Budget was $150 million.

#10 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $4.0 million (-44.1%) in 2334 theaters (-787). Total gross to date is $288.1 million. Budget was $68 million.

#11 Ramona and Beezus drops from #6 to #11 with a weekend gross of $3.7 million (-52.5%) in 2719 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $16.3 million. Budget was $15 million.

#12 The Kids Are All Right drops from #11 to #12 with a weekend gross of $3.5 million (+35.9%) in 847 theaters (+646). Total gross to date is $9.6 million. Budget was $4 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $136.0 million (-12.3%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

#2 Salt from Sony debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $36.0 million in 3612 theaters. Budget was $110 million.

#3 Despicable Me from Universal drops from #2 to #3 with a weekend gross of $23.6 million (-27.8%) in 3600 theaters (+99). Total gross to date is $161.2 million. Budget was $69 million.

#4 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Buena Vista drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $9.6 million (-45.2%) in 3504 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $42.6 million. Budget was $150 million.

#5 Toy Story 3 from Buena Vista holds at #5 with a weekend gross of $8.9 million (-25.7%) in 2766 theaters (-411). Total gross to date is $379.4 million. Budget was $200 million.

#6 Ramona and Beezus from Fox debuts at #6 with an opening weekend gross of $7.8 million in 2719 theaters. Budget was $15 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Grown Ups drops from #6 to #7 with a weekend gross of $7.4 million (-25.0%) in 2859 theaters (-215). Total gross to date is $142.2 million. Budget was $80 million.

#8 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse drops from #4 to #8 with a weekend gross of $7.1 million (-46.5%) in 3121 theaters (-880). Total gross to date is $279.8 million. Budget was $68 million.

#9 The Last Airbender drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $4.2 million (-45.6%) in 2127 theaters (-678). Total gross to date is $123.3 million. Budget was $150 million.

#10 Predators drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $3.1 million (-55.5%) in 1846 theaters (-823). Total gross to date is $46.8 million. Budget was $40 million.

#11 The Kids Are All Right jumps from #12 to #11 with a weekend gross of $2.5 million (+143.8%) in 201 theaters (+163). Total gross to date is $4.9 million. Budget was $4 million.

#12 Knight & Day drops from #9 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (-53.0%) in 1265 theaters (-660). Total gross to date is $72.6 million. Budget was $117 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $155.0 million (-9.5%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Two years later, Salt’s cover is still good and things are going well for her. One day though, a defector comes in from the cold. A master Russian spy named Orlov who reveals a plot to kill the Russian president scheduled to happen in the United States. Orlov tells that this will happen due to a deep cover operative placed within the CIA- an agent named Evelyn Salt. Now Salt is on the run in order to supposedly clear her name.

Salt is the latest movie from director Philip Noyce and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer. Noyce is best remembered for his work on two of the Jack Ryan movies, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Wimmer is certainly no stranger to the action genre, having written movies like Law Abiding Citizen, The Recruit and the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Wimmer’s better known (at least to me) for the two movies that he wrote and directed, Equilibrium and Ultraviolet. I think they’ve delivered a pretty fun movie here, with just a few quibbles on my end.

It’s been awhile since seeing Philip Noyce do this kind of big action movie, and he hasn’t lost his touch. The action scenes here are genuinely thrilling with one of the big highlights being a chase scene near the start of the film. The pacing of this film is pretty balls to the wall all the way through, though you never get lost in it.

Salt’s story revisits the days of the Cold War in a big way, offering up it’s own comic book take on a huge Russian master plan. Now I’ve seen some complaints regarding it’s realism, or lack of, and I have to say, this didn’t bother me. It might’ve if this had some sort of mocking quality to it, but it doesn’t. It’s all handled very straight with some solid conviction all around.

Angelina Jolie plays Evelyn Salt and I think she does one hell of a good job here. She looks terrific (as always) and she’s one of the few actresses around who I think can pull off this kind of action and make it convincing. She’s backed up with some fine support from Liev Schrieber and Chiwetol Ejifor. Daniel Olbrychski plays Orlov and does a nice job as this Russian master spy. He’s mainly there for story exposition, but certainly carries the authority to pull it off.

Some of my quibbles though are in the casting. I think this should’ve gone a little bigger with it’s casting of both Mike Krause and the President of the United States. I’m sure that both August Diehl (Krause) and Hunt Block (the president) are doing just what’s asked of them, but there’s not a whole lot more. And while their casting doesn’t really hurt the movie, having actors who could’ve brought a bit more to it could’ve added a lot more. Andre Braugher is cast as the Secretary of Defense and he’s only seen in a single scene near the end where he barely has anything to do- and so to me, an actor of his calibre is wasted. He could’ve served this movie better being cast as the President of the United States.

Now the next quibble goes into spoiler territory, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, then skip this paragraph. Almost from the moment he’s introduced, you sort’ve suspect that something is up with the character that Liev Schrieber plays. Indeed by the movie’s end, you find out that there is indeed something going on with him. Now I really like Schreiber and I think it would’ve actually been pretty cool had they defied convention with his use and maybe have had another CIA agent introduced at the start to take on what Schreiber ends up doing. It would’ve been nice to see him more in the good guy role here. Again, like with the casting of the president and Mike Krause, this doesn’t really hurt the movie, but it really could’ve improved if this had just defied convention a bit.

Still, even with my quibbles, Salt is a lot of fun and hopefully the start of a new franchise for both Jolie and Philip Noyce. I had a great time with this.

#2 Despicable Me from Universal drops from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $32.8 million (-41.8%) in 3501 theaters (+25). Total gross to date is $118.4 million. Budget was $69 million.

#3 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Buena Vista debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $17.6 million in 3504 theaters. Budget was $150 million.

#4 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse from Summit drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $13.4 million (-57.7%) in 4001 theaters (-467). Total gross to date is $264.7 million. Budget was $68 million.

#5 Toy Story 3 from Buena Vista drops from #4 to #5 with a weekend gross of $11.9 million (-42.9%) in 3177 theaters (-576). Total gross to date is $362.9 million. Budget was $200 million.

#6 Grown Ups from Sony holds at #6 with a weekend gross of $9.9 million (-37.3%) in 3074 theaters (-389). Total gross to date is $129.1 million. Budget was $80 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 The Last Airbender drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $7.7 million (-53.4%) in 2805 theaters (-398). Total gross to date is $115.1 million. Budget was $150 million.

#8 Predators drops from #3 to #8 with a weekend gross of $7.0 million (-71.7%) in 2669 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $40.3 million. Budget was $40 million.

#9 Knight & Day drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $3.6 million (-53.3%) in 1925 theaters (-703). Total gross to date is $69.1 million. Budget was $117 million.

#10 The Karate Kid drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.2 million (-57.3%) in 1532 theaters (-926). Total gross to date is $169.2 million. Budget was $40 million.

#11 Cyrus drops from #10 to #11 with a weekend gross of $1.0 million (-14.6%) in 446 theaters (+246). Total gross to date is $5.0 million. Budget was $7 million.

#12 The Kids Are All Right jumps from #15 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.0 million (+116.3%) in 38 theaters (+31). Total gross to date is $1.8 million. Budget was $4 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $171.3 million (-6.9%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Cobb’s talents though have made him a wanted man in the United States, and since the death of his wife Mal (related to their work in dreams), he’s desperate to be able to come back to the States and be a real father to their children. Dom gets his chance thanks to a ruthless corporate head named Saito. Saito wants Dom and his associates to infiltrate the dreams of a corporate rival. But instead of taking a secret from him, Saito wants Cobb to implant an idea through a process that they call Inception. Inception has never been performed successfully, but Saito has promised Cobb that if he can perform this, Saito will use his connections to clear Cobb’s way to get back to his family.

Of course, Cobb accepts the mission and what follows is one hell of a terrific and extremely smart ride.

Inception is the much awaited new film from director (and writer) Christopher Nolan. Nolan of course made huge waves with his second film, the low-budget Memento and has since become a real power player with Warner Brothers since helming Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (and about to go even further with him shepherding the next iteration of Superman for film). Inception, from what I understand, has been an idea that he’s been developing since making Memento. That long thought and planning is very much evident on the big screen.

I tend to think of this film as the sort of thing you might get if you mashed art house guys like Peter Greenaway (who’s been known to make movies where he’s set himself some specific rules for how his films unfold) and David Lynch (who’s readily dealt with dream interpretation in his past work) with just a touch of a hardcore action filmmaker. This combination doesn’t exactly make for what one tends to think of as a typical summer blockbuster. Yet, it really does work. And further, this harkens back to Memento, giving you the type of movie that you can watch again and again just to see how all the pieces work together.

This film is a mix of two things: an intense character study and your classic caper film. On one end, we get a very intense character with Dom Cobb and Cobb has a pretty dark past with the death of his wife, Mal. This is so ingrained in Dom that even in the midst of a shared dream world, Mal will manifest herself and threaten the entire operation. As this progresses, Dom must come to grips with his involvement in his wife’s death while still staying on point with the task at hand.

On the other end, we have the classic caper film- and as with all good caper films, we have some clear rules for how things are supposed to play out. Of course though, nothing ever sticks to the plan in the end of these movies and everything gets incredibly screwed up.

Add in the idea of dealing with deep layers of the subconscious and you’ve got some pretty impressive meat to chew on here.

It’s all skillfully handled and a lot of credit has to go to the editing of the film- especially in the film’s second half where eventually we end up seeing Cobb’s team dealing with the main dream and then three stages of dreams within the main dream. This could easily become confusing if you don’t have a deft touch on the cutting room floor. As complicated as this becomes, it’s never confusing to follow- as long as you’re paying attention. Kudos to Mister Nolan and film editor Lee Smith (Smith should get an Oscar nomination for his work here).

Inception certainly looks terrific thanks to some pretty smart production design and the sure eye of cinematographer Wally Pfister (who’s worked on every Nolan film except for Following). I also have to give high marks to Hans Zimmer for a knockout score- it’s not atypical of his previous action work and it’s particularly effective as the caper plays out.

None of this would work if you didn’t have a cast that’s ready to convict to the ideas here in spades, and fortunately Nolan has that cast. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb and there’s a lot of similarities here to what we’ve seen from him earlier in the year with Shutter Island (I wasn’t that taken with Shutter Island on the first viewing and certainly owe it another shot down the road). The difference here is that it wasn’t as apparent to me what his final resolution was going to be as it was in Shutter Island. What DiCaprio brings to this though is a an intensity that feels authentic to a man who spends a deep amount of time and study to the dream world and knowing just how harmful that world can be. He’s the anchor here, but as we find out, you’re just not sure how sturdy that anchor is and DiCaprio is pretty convincing on that end.

DiCaprio’s got a lot of excellent support. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays his right hand man, Arthur. Gordon-Levitt’s certainly come a long way since Angels in the Outfield and Third Rock From The Sun. Now he’s strictly support here and does a solid job of being Cobb’s second. But even as support he gets a true area to shine in one of the film’s most innovative and imaginative action scenes in the caper’s second dream stage. This scene, even though it’s skillfully edited with the other layers, is a standout and you have to figure a lot of credit goes to Gordon-Levitt’s conviction to make this play just right. Ellen Page plays Ariadne who becomes Cobb’s new Architect for building a dream world. Page is one of those actors that you can always see has a brain in her head when she’s on-screen. It pays off here handsomely as she tries to figure out everything she can about Cobb’s demons.

Tom Hardy and Dileep Rao make up the rest of Cobb’s team. Hardy plays Eames who acts as the Forger and can literally shapeshift himself in the dreamworld to play specific people in the subconscious. Dileep Rao plays Yusif who acts as the sedative supplier to the team and has his own special concoction that can work through three layers of the subconscious as well as connect up to 12 people at one time. Both are solid, but Hardy really stands out here with his own brand of self-confidence.

It doesn’t stop there either. Ken Watanabe plays Saito, the man who wants Cobb to do the job. There’s just one catch, Saito wants to go in with Cobb’s team and see firsthand that the job gets done. Now Watanabe’s good here, but I have to admit I had a little trouble following some of his dialogue in some places. Some of that though I chalk up to the theatre that I saw this in and where I sat, so I expect something different when I’ll next see this. Cillian Murphy plays Robert Fischer, Jr.- the Mark. Up to the point where we first see him, this whole film has centered around Cobb and his team. So Murphy has to do his best to give you a pretty rounded character in a short amount of time and he certainly does here. Tom Berenger (man, it’s cool to see Berenger in a movie like this- sort of like how cool it was to see Rutger Hauer in Batman Begins) plays Browning, Fischer’s advisor and he’s certainly good there, but he gets to go in for double duty when Eames assumes Browning’s identity in the dream world and he brings in some nice subtleties.

Finally though, I have to give extremely high marks to Marion Cotilliard who plays Mal, Dom’s wife. First, she’s just gorgeous, an absolutely beautiful woman but that’s just the surface. She’s the root of Cobb’s own problems and so whenever she comes on screen, then she’s got to carry a lot of weight and a lot of presence and she certainly does. And as we get further and further in, she has some pretty heavy and harrowing moments that are indelible.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a movie that has dealt with the world of dreams and the perception of reality. Dreams have been dealt with in things like Dreamscape and the anime Paprika. Reality has certainly been dealt with in things like The Matrix movies, The Cell and Vanilla Sky. But rarely do we get to see something that takes it as far as what Inception does (The Matrix[ films being the ones that next do it best in my mind). This is the sort of film that demands being seen again and again. Oh, I certainly had a satisfying experience the first time, but there’s just so many layers of depth here that certainly makes me want to see it again). Don’t miss this one, make it a point to see it in a theatre on the best screen you can- you’ll be glad you did.

Without a doubt, another film that will definitely figure in as one of the best that I’ve seen for 2010. Inception is highly, highly recommended.

#2 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse from Summit drops from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $31.7 million (-51.1%) in 4468 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $235.3 million. Budget was $68 million.

#3 Predators from Fox debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $24.7 million in 2669 theaters. Budget was $40 million.

#4 Toy Story 3 from Buena Vista drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $21.0 million (-30.6%) in 3753 theaters (-275). Total gross to date is $339.2 million. Budget was $200 million.

#5 The Last Airbender from Paramount drops from #2 to #5 with a weekend gross of $16.6 million (-58.7%) in 3203 theaters (+34). Total gross to date is $99.7 million. Budget was $150 million.

#6 Grown Ups from Sony drops from #4 to #6 with a weekend gross of $15.8 million (-17.0%) in 3463 theaters (-71). Total gross to date is $110.7 million. Budget was $80 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Knight & Day drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $7.7 million (-26.1%) in 2628 theaters (-476). Total gross to date is $61.8 million. Budget was $117 million.

#8 The Karate Kid drops from #6 to #8 with a weekend gross of $5.3 million (-32.9%) in 2458 theaters (-651). Total gross to date is $164.3 million. Budget was $40 million.

#9 The A-Team drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $1.7 million (-45.1%) in 1236 theaters (-917). Total gross to date is $73.9 million. Budget was $110 million.

#10 Cyrus jumps from #11 to #10 with a weekend gross of $1.2 million (+65.3%) in 200 theaters (+123). Total gross to date is $3.4 million. Budget was $7 million.

#11 The Girl Who Played with Fire debuts at #11 with an opening weekend gross of $0.9 million in 108 theaters. Budget is unknownn.

#12 Get Him to the Greek drops from #8 to #12 with a weekend gross of $0.7 million (-42.3%) in 442 theaters (-442). Total gross to date is $59.4 million. Budget was $40 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $184.0 million (+2.0%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Producer Robert Rodriguez was pretty much given carte blanche from 20th Century Fox to do something with the Predator franchise. And I think that he and director Nimrod Antal have got something pretty cool here.

Predators starts with our main character, an American mercenary, plummeting from the sky to the ground below. He’s just wakened up and realizes that he has some sort of parachute around him, but he can’t activate it. It activates on it’s own at the last moment and this mercenary lands in the midst of a steaming jungle. One after another, others also land. All of them are warriors from other cultures with one seeming exception, a doctor. They all form a reluctant truce to try and find who tossed them out of an airplane. Well, soon our little band of warriors find that they’re no longer on Earth and they’ve been brought to an interplanetary game reserve. They realize that they’re the game and they’re being hunted by the most fierce hunters in the galaxy, the Predators.

What follows is a pretty cool cat and mouse chase story with this fierce band of prey trying to outwit and escape from the Predators. Oh, there’s really nothing new here, though a new twist is thrown in with the Predator race, but that doesn’t really matter. If you’re familiar with the other Predator movies, you pretty much know what you’re going to get, and that’s some slick and brutal science fiction action.

Predators delivers on that count for sure. While this isn’t anything overly complex in how it’s set up, director Antal manages to have his action unfold logically and for the first half hour of the film, really builds up a nice sense of dread. Our characters are all of the two-dimensional variety, but again, with this series, that’s not really a detriment. And there are some nice bits thrown in along the way, though you really won’t find yourself necessarily identifying with any of these folks, other than just through their desire for survival.

It all really looks good, and in some scenes, I almost get the feeling that Antal and Rodriguez are channeling the art of Frank Frazetta in some places. The visual effects are really nice and of course, with a movie like this, the main standout is more in make-up effects. When you have the best in the business, KNB EFX Group, handling that, you know you’re in good hands.

Another huge plus for the movie is it’s musical score by John Debney which is basically repurposing Alan Silvestri’s scores from the first two Predator movies. With this series, it’d be wrong to do anything any different.

Now as I said, the characters are all two-dimensional (again not a bad thing) but still you want a cast that can give it all some credibility and fortunately, they have a good cast here with a couple of surprises for me anyway.

Adrien Brody leads the cast as our American mercenary (and yeah, he does have a name, but it’s left unrevealed until the end of the film- the name itself isn’t really a big deal, but it’s revelation is something of a turnaround point for this character, so I’m not going to reveal it). Now I’d never expect to see Brody head up this sort of action film, but I have to say, he’s really got the chops to do it. His character seems the most hardened out of the entire cast, so much so that he’s the most ready to sacrifice everyone else for his own survival. As far as I’m concerned, he’s had a pretty good year this year with genre entertainment with both this movie and earlier this summer with Splice. He’s an intense character, not a lot of joy in this man, but you definitely get the feeling that he’s having a good time doing this sort of part.

He’s backed up with a solid supporting cast that includes Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Topher Grace and Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne comes into the movie a little later as previous bit of prey who’s managed to survive in this environment for quite a long time, and as such, he’s a little off his nut. It’s still good work from him though, and again, he’s just the right sort of guy to give this some credibility. the real surprises for me though were Alice Braga and Topher Grace. I’ve not necessarily been a fan of either previously. The last thing that I saw Braga in, Repo Men, she was quite the drag in that film. But here though, she holds her own well with this group of hardened guys, being both tough and having a little maternal quality to her. Topher Grace was really unexpected. He plays the doctor amongst this crew. I really don’t want to reveal anything further about his character, but I’ll just say that for me, this might be the best thing that I’ve ever seen him do, so take from that what you will.

And of course, this wouldn’t be a Robert Rodriguez film if Danny Trejo wasn’t in it in some way or another. Trejo’s here and doing just what we want him doing, playing the badass. Even better though, is that running with Predators we get the trailer for the next Rodriguez movie, which will be Trejo’s starring vehicle, Machete which we first saw with Quentin Tarantino’s and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse and is already looking like it might be some of the most fun on the big screen this year, but I digress…

Predators is just a whole lot of B-movie fun and it really helps to put this franchise back on the map again. I’m not going to denigrate the Aliens Vs. Predators movies (I actually really enjoy them), but it’s nice to see them back in their own movie. You’ve got a rock solid cast here, a great look, terrific visual and make-up effects, and the music that you want to hear with this franchise. By all means, see this one.

After making a big splash with movies like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs, an M. Night Shyamalan movie was something like a mini-event when it would come along. These were nice movies that embraced genre filmmaking and all punctuated with a twist of some sort, and they resonated with audiences Then came The Village and Lady In The Water. Things got a little more ponderous. While I like these, I don’t like them to the same extent that I like the other three movies. Then came The Happening, Shyamalan’s only venture into R-rated territory and things really devolved. The movie was ill-cast, there was little credibility to what was on screen and overall it was just plain laughable… and not in the good way.

But I like M. Night Shyamalan, I really do, and so when I heard he was going to adapt the Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar, The Last Airbender, I was hoping that he was going to succeed with something that didn’t rely on his past formula.

With it’s alternate history setting, The Last Airbender tells the story of the four nations of the Earth, each represented by different elements- Water, Air, Earth and Fire. All are kept in check by a being known as the Avatar, who has mastery over all of the elements. 100 years ago (from the present day shown in the movie), a young boy named Aang was chosen to be the next Avatar. Aang was part of the Air Nation and has mastery over the element. Aang didn’t want the responsibility and ran away. He got into trouble and found himself encased in ice only to be discovered 100 years later by Katara and Sokka, two siblings part of the oppressed Water Nation. In the time that Aang was gone, the harmony that the other nations had was no longer in place. The Fire Nation sought domination over the rest of the tribes and now rule the world. Aang now accepts his responsibility, but in order to succeed, he must first master the other elements. He sets off on a journey with Katara and Sokka at his side to first master Water.

The Last Airbender is a loose adaptation of the first season of the animated show. Shyamalan’s got a difficult task here in that he has to encapsulate that first season (20 episodes) into something that can run a reasonable time in movie theatres, and honestly, I think it was more than he could handle. The way the movie plays out, it’s almost as if the season was broken down into a bare bones outline without any of the glue that binds it all together. Of course liberties are taken, and I expected that they would, but some just seem to come out of left field. The biggest of these is just a mispronunciation of Aang’s name. I mean this is just about as basic as it gets- you already have 20 episodes of a show that pronounces the main character’s name in a pretty exact way. That’s right in front of you, so why ignore it?

So that’s the starting point and from there, everything else falls. Characterization hardly exists here. One of the big charms of the animated series is that Aang likes to have fun along the way and he develops a real bond with Katara and Sokka. Well, that fun aspect of the character is almost entirely lost here. There’s little bits in Noah Ringer’s performance as Aang, but it’s real threadbare (and no I don’t blame Ringer or any of the other actors for this). The bond with Katara and Sokka is just there. There’s nothing to show how it develops, it’s just there to move things forward. The only character to have any real sort of development is Prince Zuko played by actor Dev Patel (best known for his role in Slumdog Millionaire). Zuko is the disgraced son of the leader of the Fire Nation. He seeks to gain redemption by being the one to find the Avatar and bring him back for his father to control. Patel does a pretty good job with the character and at least by what’s shown on-screen, he gets the chance to show that he’s not just one-note.

The rest of the cast I think looks really good here, this script just uses them more as placeholders more than giving you something to really care about.

Now I might be willing to forgive the lack of characterization if there was more flow in how events happen here. Like I said above, this plays out as if it was just a plot outline with high points to hit. It hits the points, but it’s disjointed in how it goes from point A to B, it just happens without any real continuity. And when there is continuity, it’s told to us in either narration by Katara or long passages of dialogue by other characters. There’s nothing else to give us any real resonance, it just moves forward.

The animated series is also known for it’s action and the action on the show is quite good. It looks like Shyamalan has studied the action work of directors like The Wachowski Brothers and Zack Snyder and he tries some pretty cool stuff here, but it just doesn’t carry the same impact that you’d get from the Wachowskis or Snyder. They have a real affinity for action and I just don’t think that’s in Shyamalan. He’s never really been a guy to deal with this sort of fast-paced action in the past and I just don’t think that’s something that’s been real important to him. It shows here.

Now I only recently started to watch the animated series. I never watched it when it was on Nickelodeon originally. I only watched the show because I knew this was going to be Shyamalan’s next movie and I wanted find out a little bit more about it before going into the movie. I thought this whole thing was going to be little too “kiddie” for me. I was pleasantly surprised. The series is a whole lot of fun and it’s really sucked me in. Everything is there to craft a good live action movie out of it and yet Shyamalan misses the boat on just about every point. To it’s credit, as I said above, the cast certainly looks good in their parts. The production design is pretty decent and overall the visual effects are very nice. James Newton Howard provides a pretty stirring score. All nice parts, but the man in charge just can’t bring them all together. As the credits roll, the first thing you see is “Written, Produced and Directed By M. Night Shyamalan” and so there’s only one person to blame for the whole thing and that’s really unfortunate. I really did want him to succeed with this and get back on the right track.

One final note, this movie is being presented in 3D. I did not see it in 3D. After seeing Clash Of The Titans, I was pretty much in the camp that if it was a movie where the 3D was simply being tacked on- I was going to avoid seeing the 3D version and save myself a bit of money. I read a few things about the 3D in advance of this and if there was anything that was universal in what I read, it was just that the 3D wasn’t very good. So obviously, I can’t comment on that. It doesn’t matter though, all of the other elements are so far gone here, that even a good use of 3D couldn’t save this mess.

I’d still like to see M. Night Shyamalan succeed, but after the universal drubbing this movie has been getting (and justly deserved), I’ve little hope that that will ever happen again in a big Hollywood production. This one’s right up there with Robin Hood and Jonah Hex as one of the worst that I’ve seen this year.

#2 Grown Ups from Sony debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $40.5 million in 3534 theaters. Budget is unknown.

#3 Knight & Day from Fox debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $20.1 million in 3098 theaters. Budget is unknown.

#4 The Karate Kid from Sony drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $15.5 million (-48.0%) in 3740 theaters (+77). Total gross to date is $135.7 million. Budget was $40 million.

#5 The A-Team from Fox drops from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $6.2 million (-56.9%) in 3242 theaters (-302). Total gross to date is $63.0 million. Budget was $110 million.

#6 Get Him to the Greek from Universal drops from #4 to #6 with a weekend gross of $3.1 million (-48.6%) in 2188 theaters (-404). Total gross to date is $54.6 million. Budget was $40 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Shrek Forever After drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $3.1 million (-44.8%) in 2340 theaters (-867). Total gross to date is $229.5 million. Budget was $165 million.

#8 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time drops from #6 to #8 with a weekend gross of $2.8 million (-48.9%) in 1851 theaters (-754). Total gross to date is $86.2 million. Budget was $200 million.

#9 Killers drops from #8 to #9 with a weekend gross of $1.9 million (-61.5%) in 2271 theaters (-348). Total gross to date is $43.9 million. Budget was $75 million.

#10 Jonah Hex drops from #7 to #10 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (-69.7%) in 2825 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $9,1 million. Budget was $47 million.

#11 Iron Man 2 drops from #9 to #11 with a weekend gross of $1.4 million (-50.0%) in 1169 theaters (-443). Total gross to date is $306.9 million. Budget was $200 million.

#12 Sex and the City 2 drops from #11 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.2 million (-49.4%) in 901 theaters (-779). Total gross to date is $93.0 million. Budget was $100 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $157.0 million (-18.0%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

#2 The Karate Kid from Sony drops from #1 to #2 with a weekend gross of $29.8 million (-46.3%) in 3663 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $107.1 million. Budget was $40 million.

#3 The A-Team from Fox drops from #2 to #3 with a weekend gross of $14.4 million (-43.9%) in 3544 theaters (+9). Total gross to date is $50.4 million. Budget was $110 million.

#4 Get Him to the Greek from Universal holds at #4 with a weekend gross of $6.1 million (-38.6%) in 2592 theaters (-110). Total gross to date is $47.8 million. Budget was $40 million.

#5 Shrek Forever After from Paramount/Dreamworks drops from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $5.6 million (-64.4%) in 3207 theaters (-661). Total gross to date is $223.0 million. Budget was $165 million.

#6 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from Buena Vista holds at #6 with a weekend gross of $5.5 million (-14.2%) in 2605 theaters (-503). Total gross to date is $80.8 million. Budget was $200 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Jonah Hex debuts at #7 with an opening weekend gross of $5.3 million in 2825 theaters. Budget was $47 million.

#8 Killers drops from #5 to #8 with a weekend gross of $5.0 million (-37.1%) in 2619 theaters (-240). Total gross to date is $39.3 million. Budget was $75 million.

#9 Iron Man 2 holds at #9 with a weekend gross of $2.8 million (-36.5%) in 1612 theaters (-693). Total gross to date is $304.2 million. Budget was $200 million.

#10 Marmaduke drops from #7 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.4 million (-58.8%) in 2495 theaters (-718). Total gross to date is $27.7 million. Budget was $50 million.

#11 Sex and the City 2 drops from #8 to #11 with a weekend gross of $2.4 million (-55.7%) in 1680 theaters (-1070). Total gross to date is $90.1 million. Budget was $100 million.

#12 Robin Hood drops from #11 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.4 million (-45.6%) in 1046 theaters (-849). Total gross to date is $102.0 million. Budget was $200 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $191.4 million (+32.3%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Hex now makes his living as a bounty hunter and he’s good at what he does, with his vengeance fueling his path. Quentin Turnbull resurfaces and now wants to take vengeance on the entire United States and he plans to with an ultimate weapon designed by Eli Whitney. President Ulysses S. Grant thinks that this bounty hunter, Jonah Hex, is the man to go after Turnbull and thusly, enlists his aid.

And so that’s the basic premise of Jonah Hex directed by Jimmy Hayward, who previously directed Horton Hears A Who from an original screenplay from Neveldine & Taylor, who have previously made Gamer and the Crank movies. Neveldine & Taylor were originally supposed to direct this as well, but left due to creative differences and so, from what I understand, their script was heavily altered.

Jonah Hex is also the latest comic book-to-movie adaptation out there. Now, I am a comic fan, but I was never a devout Jonah Hex reader. I’ve read a story or two with, to me anyway, always his most memorable stuff from writer Michael Fleisher (and now his latest series by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray is getting much acclaim). Now even though I wasn’t a fan, I do know a little something about the character and one of the things that I know was that Hex never had any sort of paranormal abilities.

I go into most comic book adaptations knowing that liberties will be taken, but this one seems to come at us right from left field. It doesn’t really help that the whole way in which Jonah acquires this ability is told through a bit of animation and voiceover. And while the animation is nice in it’s limited sort of way, it doesn’t really have any sort of weight for how the use of this power plays out. It’s there to speed things up and get us right into the action. Because this does get sped up, well there’s not a whole lot here to really get invested in.

The whole movie suffers from an edit job that seems more like a salvage operation more than anything else. There’s lots of jump-cutting from scene to scene and not really a lot of glue to hold the whole thing together. Oh sure, it’s plot does progress forward, but it does so at the expense of making this a fuller experience. As such there’s really little to care about when it comes to our main character. From what I understand of the character in the comics, there’s a lot more to him than this two-dimensional drive that he has here.

Now none of this is the fault of lead Josh Brolin who plays Jonah Hex. when I first heard Brolin was taking the part, I thought it was pretty cool, especially since Brolin was coming off of some high-profile work in things like American Gangster, Milk and No Country For Old Men. I think Brolin has certainly invested himself here, and it’s seen through little bits with his character. But as to a big picture, it’s hard to tell, because the editing of the film doesn’t really allow anything to breath.

Much ado has been made about Megan Fox being in this movie. She plays Lilah, a cold prostitute who has a warm spot in her heart for the disfigured Hex. My expectations were pretty low for her coming into this, and while she’s only on-screen for a short portion of the movie, I actually think she does a pretty decent job with what she has (and this isn’t really making huge demands on her, considering what’s on screen) and certainly looks good. My bigger problem is with John Malkovich who plays Quentin Turnbull. Now I’m a fan of Malkovich’s, but here he comes off more disinterested than anything else. There’s no magnetism to the character and you’re sort of hoping you’ll get him as he was in Con Air or In The Line Of Fire but it’s more like he’s just reading the lines and waiting for the check to clear. Even though I’m saying that, it’s still a little hard to fault him due to the editing of the movie and it’s bigger concern to just get action on the screen more than letting anything develop.

Other members of the cast include Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Tom Wopat, Michael Shannon, Aidan Quinn and Jeffrey Dean Morgan who’s uncredited as Quentin’s brother Jeb. Everything here from these guys is certainly serviceable, with standouts being Fassbender, who’s definitely eating things up being Quentin’s right hand man, and Morgan who has a pretty good scene as Hex raises him from the dead.

To the movie’s credit, it does have a nice look to it and in the words of SCTV’s Big Jim McBob and Billy Saul Hurok, they blow things up real good. But that’s about it. The way this is edited, it doesn’t want to do anything fuller let alone do anything that could make it be a nice western adventure. Of course though, I have to wonder just what they had originally which would cause this, and unfortunately, I doubt we’ll ever find out. It’s a shame, there’s a lot of talent here and (from what I understand) a rich comic book mythos to mine from and it’s all squandered away.

Well, Andy decides to put all of his toys except for Woody in the attic. Woody, gets to go with Andy to college. As Buzz and the rest are ready to be put in the attic, something unexpected happens and they end up mistakenly being put out for the trash. Well, Woody sees this all happening and naturally he wants to save his friends and he does, though his friends aren’t convinced that Andy wanted them to go in the attic. The toys make the jump to another box marked for donations and soon they find themselves in an all new adventure at a daycare center where it looks like their life after Andy is going to be rosier than ever… but of course, it’s not.

This is the premise to Pixar’s and Disney’s latest chapter in the lives of these magical toys for Toy Story 3 and right off the bat, I’m going to tell you this is the best movie I’ve seen all year.

This one has it all- comedy, action, adventure, romance and sentiment. It’ll probably end up being one of the funniest movies that you’ll see all year and at the same time it’ll get you all welled up by it’s end- it certainly did for me.

I’m continually stunned at just how well Pixar makes movies. Oh sure, we know that their computer animation is just the best all around, but the fact that all of their movies are terrific stories is truly amazing. They’ve come so far since the first Toy Story (and that’s still brilliant), especially with their cinematic techniques, but none of it has ever been at the expense of their stories or their characters.

Pixar has always managed to truly make something for everyone, and Toy Story 3 is no exception. There’s plenty of entertainment for the kids to be sure, but there’s always something there for the adults as well. I saw this preview screening in a packed house with probably a 50/50 split of adults and kids, and from what I could tell, all were entertained.

All of your favorites are back, but we also get introduced to some brand new characters- Lotso, the “kindly” but villainous old teddy bear who’s in charge of the toys at the daycare center, Big Baby, Lotsie’s “enforcer,” and my personal favorites, Ken and Barbie. Barbie starts off with the rest of the crew at Andy’s house, she being one of Andy’s sister’s toys and getting ready to be donated. We’re introduced to Ken at the daycare center and of course, it’s love at first sight for these two. For me, the funniest gags in the whole movie revolved around Ken and of course, his impeccable fashion sense.

The voice cast is truly fantastic. Of course Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Wallace Shawn are all back and it wouldn’t be a pixar movie without John Ratzenberger. New to our main cast is comedian Blake Clark taking over for the late Jim Varney with the voice of Slinky Dog. New to this movie are Ned Beatty as Lotso and Michael Keaton as Ken, and they perfectly fit in with the main cast. Out there on the side though is Timothy Dalton doing one of the voices and it’s only for a couple of scenes, but he’s truly memorable with what he does.

I saw this in 3D, and much like the 3D was with Up, the 3D here is used mainly for depth of scenes more than give you an eye-popping effect. It’s good, but it’s not essential to your enjoyment of this movie. Like all of the previous Pixar features, we get a short film with this as well. This little film is called Day & Night and really this is more of a showcase for their use of 3D than the main movie. It’s a really nice combination of 2D and 3D animation that features two characters, one filled with night and the other filled with day and it will not disappoint.

Don’t miss this. As I said above, this has now become for me the best movie that I’ve seen for the year, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again in a couple of weeks. Pixar knocks another one right out of the park, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

#2 The A-Team from Fox debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $25.6 million in 3535 theaters. Budget was $110 million.

#3 Shrek Forever After from Paramount/Dreamworks drops from #1 to #3 with a weekend gross of $15.7 million (-38.1%) in 3868 theaters (-518). Total gross to date is $210.0 million. Budget was $165 million.

#4 Get Him to the Greek from Universal drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $9.9 million (-43.4%) in 2702 theaters (+5). Total gross to date is $36.4 million. Budget was $40 million.

#5 Killers from Lionsgate drops from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $8.0 million (-49.4%) in 2859 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $30.2 million. Budget was $75 million.

#6 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from Buena Vista drops from #4 to #6 with a weekend gross of $6.4 million (-53.7%) in 3108 theaters (-538). Total gross to date is $72.2 million. Budget was $200 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Marmaduke drops from #6 to #7 with a weekend gross of $6.0 million (-48.2%) in 3213 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $22.2 million. Budget was $50 million.

#8 Sex and the City 2 drops from #5 to #8 with a weekend gross of $5.4 million (-55.9%) in 2750 theaters (-695). Total gross to date is $84.6 million. Budget was $100 million.

#9 Iron Man 2 drops from #7 to #9 with a weekend gross of $4.5 million (-42.9%) in 2305 theaters (-702). Total gross to date is $299.2 million. Budget was $200 million.

#10 Splice drops from #8 to #10 with a weekend gross of $2.9 million (-60.2%) in 2450 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $13.1 million. Budget was $30 million.

#11 Robin Hood drops from #9 to #11 with a weekend gross of $2.6 million (-51.3%) in 1895 theaters (-704). Total gross to date is $99.4 million. Budget was $200 million.

#12 Letters to Juliet drops from #10 to #12 with a weekend gross of $1.6 million (-44.2%) in 1331 theaters (-631). Total gross to date is $46.7 million. Budget was $30 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $144.7 million (+18.5%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

• Colonel Hannibal Smith, known for having a plan for everything.
• Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck, a smooth talker and Smith’s comrade for this mission.
• Sergeant Bosco “B.A.” Baracus, a disgraced Ranger who unexpectedly gets drafted into this mission.
• Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock, their pilot who is “recruited” at the hospital where he’s being held for reasons of insanity.

Their mission is a success, and eight years and 80 missions later, this team is now highly regarded as an elite unit who basically specialize in the impossible. Now stationed in Iraq, the team is contacted by a CIA Agent named Lynch to take on a mission. Lynch reveals that the Iraqi are in possession of U.S. treasury plates being used to manufacture counterfeit currency. Lynch wants the team to steal the plates and over a billion dollars in cash before it can make it out of Baghdad. At the same time, a Department of Defense captain, named Sosa comes into play, warning her ex-lover Faceman to stay far away from this mission. Of course, the team takes the mission and they’re successful with that, but it all falls awry in the end, and now the team finds themselves all dishonorably discharged and having to serve prison sentences.

Six months into their sentences, Agent Lynch makes contact with Smith again, and gives them the chance to clear their names.

That’s the premise to The A-Team, the big-budget film re-birth of the iconic 80s TV series from producer Stephen J. Cannell. When the TV series made it’s debut, I saw a few of them, but wasn’t really a big fan of the show (though I wasn’t really against it either). It was criticized for being the most violent hour of television on the air and along with that, of course, a sign that TV was going to hell in a handbasket. It was in essence, a big live-action cartoon with bigger than life characters and ridiculous situations and that’s certainly recognized by director Joe Carnahan.

Carnahan knows he’s dealing with a live-action cartoon and he surely amplifies that with this movie. The characters, at least to me, are even more extreme and the film’s action scenes are just really ridiculous… but for the most part, it all works and it’s a pretty fun ride, as long as you know what you’re getting into.

Yes, the action scenes are ridiculous, but they’re also pretty thrilling and very well-made. They fit this film and if Cannell and company would’ve had the budget back in the day, they probably would’ve done the same type of stuff on television. For the biggest set pieces, Caranhan does a pretty skillful job of interweaving the action with the description of the plans. It’s a nice touch and if this should go to a franchise, this should remain as a signature for future films.

I do have a few problems with the film though, and those are mostly with the casting and an element of the casting.

Now our main players are really well cast. Liam Neeson plays Smith, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson plays B.A., Bradley Cooper plays Faceman and Sharlto Copley plays Murdock. Neeson was the big surprise to me when I first heard about this movie. Even though it is a huge cartoon, putting an actor of his calibre here is a huge, huge plus and he genuinely looks like he’s having fun in the part. Jackson’s really rock solid as B.A. and while I’m not exactly looking for huge depth in something like this, he actually does try his best to bring some to the role and it works. Cooper and Copley were both coming off of some big films before making this (Cooper had The Hangover and Copley had District 9 and I still think Copley should’ve been Oscar nominated for District 9) so their stars are on the rise. Copley’s my favorite in this cast and yeah, he’s nuts, but he also brings a huge zest for life in just about every scene he has. Cooper is smooth and suave and he certainly looks good. He does a nice job with the part, but he’s also one of my problems with the film.

Basically, near the end of the film, this starts to lose the team dynamic that was built up so well at the start and it becomes the Bradley Cooper show. Now this isn’t really Cooper’s fault, it’s more in the script and taking advantage that this guy is popular now and on the rise. I get that, I understand why they’re doing it, but it does hurt the film and shortchanges the rest of the main cast, in particular Copley. I would’ve liked this even more had they been more even with everyone for the final action scene.

Patrick Wilson plays CIA Agent Lynch and Brian Bloom (also one of the film’s writers) plays a leader of a private military contractor group and they’re the bad guys of the movie. They both do a pretty good job with this with Bloom getting to be the more venal of the two and Wilson getting to have the better dialogue moments. Jessica Biel plays Sosa and she’s my other problem with the movie. I’m sorry, I’m just not a fan and with the exception of her part in the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I tend to think she’s ill-cast in everything else that I see her in. This doesn’t really make any huge demands on her, but she doesn’t really bring anything to the table either.

This is the second of the three big “men on a mission” movies for the year. I prefer The Losers over The A-Team so far and am still hoping for greatness from The Expendables. Overall, director Joe Carnahan and the writers do a nice job of translating this TV series to the big screen, with the stumbles just being in a part of the casting and the amplification of one of the main characters over the others by the film’s end. If you have an appreciation for the TV series or love big over-the-top action films, you’ll have a pretty good time with The A-Team.

#2 Get Him to the Greek from Universal debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $17.5 million in 2697 theaters. Budget was $40 million.

#3 Killers from Lionsgate debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $15.8 million in 2859 theaters. Budget was $75 million.

#4 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from Buena Vista drops from #3 to #4 with a weekend gross of $14.0 million (-53.4%) in 3646 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $59.6 million. Budget was $200 million.

#5 Sex and the City 2 from Warner Brothers drops from #2 to #5 with a weekend gross of $12.3 million (-60.2%) in 3445 theaters (no change). Total gross to date is $73.1 million. Budget was $100 million.

#6 Marmaduke from Fox debuts at #6 with an opening weekend gross of $11.5 million in 3213 theaters. Budget was $50 million.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Iron Man 2 drops from #4 to #7 with a weekend gross of $7.9 million (-51.9%) in 3007 theaters (-797). Total gross to date is $291.4 million. Budget was $200 million.

#8 Splice debuts at #8 with an opening weekend gross of $7.3 million in 2450 theaters. Budget was $30 million.

#9 Robin Hood drops from #5 to #9 with a weekend gross of $5.3 million (-48.4%) in 2599 theaters (-774). Total gross to date is $94.4 million. Budget was $200 million.

#10 Letters to Juliet drops from #6 to #10 with a weekend gross of $3.0 million (-48.0%) in 1962 theaters (-863). Total gross to date is $43.3 million. Budget was $30 million.

#11 Raajneeti debuts at #11 with an opening weekend gross of $0.8 million in 124 theaters. Budget is unknown.

#12 Date Night drops from #8 to #12 with a weekend gross of $0.7 million (-57.3%) in 658 theaters (-468). Total gross to date is $95.3 million. Budget was $55 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $122.1 million (-15.9%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

After a few failures, they finally strike gold with a successful combination. Their creation starts to grow at an alarming rate, and soon our ambitious scientists are way too caught up in their experiment, naming their creation Dren and virtually treating it as their child, all the while fighting over the ethical aspects of their experiment. And then there’s Dren, who of course is developing into her own.

Splice is from director Vincenzo Natali, who’s at least best known to me for previously making the science fiction movie Cube, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It puts me in the mind of the type of movie that David Cronenberg used to make, and at least for me, that’s a good thing. Cronenberg’s earlier sci-fi/horror films manage to bring up some high ideas that get on the disturbing side thanks to the ambitions of their lead characters, and Splice certainly does the same.

Now honestly, I don’t know how accurate the science is in something like this, and I don’t necessarily care. It’s science fiction with the accent on the fiction. The story at it’s core has been done before- man plays with nature, man is successful playing with nature, nature has it’s own ideas, nature runs amok, and man must atone for what’s he’s done. That’s certainly here, but the ride getting there is another matter entirely.

Splice has a nice leisured pace and it doesn’t really go for any sort of shock scares. Oh there’s a few, mostly near the end of the movie, but for the most part, Natali is content to fully have you watching Dren’s development and to get both comfortable and disturbed by it. The film certainly has a good look to it, and I think the visual effects work with Dren are absolutely first rate.

Clive and Elsa are played by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley and they’re both quite good at playing two exceptionally smart people who end up doing some stupid things, thanks to their own inner demons and ambition. Clive is the warmer of the two, and Brody plays him in an engaging way. Elsa, on the other hand, suffers some deep scars, and we see those play out as she engages with Dren. When the situation becomes too much for her to handle, she goes to a detached state which complicates matters even further. Polley does a good job with this and she’s not really a likeable character, but you certainly understand how she got to where she is. A real surprise here though is actress Delphine Chanéac who plays Dren in her most developed state. Chanéac’s got a tough part here, especially having to deal with special effects end of her physical form. She manages it well though and makes Dren, at least to me, the most sympathetic character of the film.

I had a great time with this. As I said above, it evokes the type of film that David Cronenberg used to make and seeing that Cronenberg isn’t making movies like this any more, it’s time for someone else to pick up the reins. Vincenzo Natali is the guy to do it, and I certainly look forward to seeing what he does next. With all of the big budget effects laden films and lame-looking comedies, even with it’s familiarities, I thought Splice was a breath of fresh air.

#2 Sex and the City 2 from Warner Brothers debuts at #2 with an opening weekend gross of $31.0 million in 3445 theaters. Budget was $100 million.

#3 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from Buena Vista debuts at #3 with an opening weekend gross of $30.0 million in 3646 theaters. Budget was $200 million.

#4 Iron Man 2 from Paramount drops from #2 to #4 with a weekend gross of $16.4 million (-37.6%) in 3804 theaters (-373). Total gross to date is $275.0 million. Budget was $200 million.

#5 Robin Hood from Universal drops from #3 to #5 with a weekend gross of $10.4 million (-44.6%) in 3373 theaters (-132). Total gross to date is $83.1 million. Budget was $200 million.

#6 Letters to Juliet from Summit drops from #4 to #6 with a weekend gross of $5.8 million (-35.2%) in 2825 theaters (-150). Total gross to date is $36.5 million. Budget is unknown.

Rounding out the top 12 are:

#7 Just Wright drops from #5 to #7 with a weekend gross of $2.1 million (-49.7%) in 1195 theaters (-636). Total gross to date is $18.1 million. Budget is unknown.

#8 Date Night drops from #7 to #8 with a weekend gross of $1.8 million (-37.6%) in 1126 theaters (-743). Total gross to date is $93.5 million. Budget was $55 million.

#9 MacGruber drops from #6 to #9 with a weekend gross of $1.5 million (-61.3%) in 2546 theaters (-5). Total gross to date is $7.2 million. Budget was $10 million.

#10 How to Train Your Dragon drops from #9 to #10 with a weekend gross of $1.1 million (-39.5%) in 825 theaters (-926). Total gross to date is $212.7 million. Budget was $165 million.

#11 A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) drops from #8 to #11 with a weekend gross of $0.9 million (-60.2%) in 891 theaters (-1234). Total gross to date is $61.7 million. Budget was $35 million.

#12 Alice in Wonderland (2010) jumps from #15 to #12 with a weekend gross of $0.5 million (+21.1%) in 341 theaters (-70). Total gross to date is $333.0 million. Budget was $200 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $145.3 million (+1.6%).

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo