01/21/10

Tops at the Box: Same ‘ol same. James Cameron’s movie about blue aliens and greedy soulless humans who try to score with blue aliens continues to set records and move its way towards the top of the money makers list. (Best blue alien movie ever!) With another $41.3 million in the Cameron pocket this past weekend, Avatar will have surely passed the $500 million mark in the U.S. by the time you read this. Meh. Who cares. Lets go to McDonalds. 

More From the Box: No. 2 at the box office this past weekend was the just released The Book of Eli, directed by the Hughes Brothers and starring Denzel Washington. Looks fun. I’d watch it. Sure. Why not. Gary Oldman is in the mix somewhere. Coming in at No. 3 was Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, bringing in a cold $17 million its first weekend. Not a good start when you consider the film cost well over $100 million to produce and promote. Kinda happy about that one. Coming in at No. 4 and No. 5 last weekend were The Squeakquel and Sherlock Holmes; two very different films that are both about to top the $200 million mark in the U.S. Looking back over the numbers, 2009 was a big year for blockbusters. In fact, by the time the current crop of big-name films from 2009 leave theaters, 10 of the Top 50 grossing films of all time will be 2009 films.

New This Week: Three new films will see wide release this week, led by Fox’s The Tooth Fairy, which looks like a surefire bet for one of the worst films of all-time. Hopefully it’s at least as good as Kangaroo Jack. Stars The Rock and Ashley Judd; check out the trailer online for a very solid laff. Sony thriller Legion, starring Jennifer Connelly’s husband as an angel with an uzi, also hits theaters. If you’re on the fence for this one, be sure to note that Sir Tyrese Gibson (R&B singah, underwear model, supposed actor) has one of the lead roles. And, finally, this week will see the release of Harrison Ford drama Extraordinary Measures (wasn’t there a Hugh Grant/Michael Apted flick with that title?), which will surely make some bucks. Also stars Brendan Frasier and Keri Russell and, from the trailer, looks to resemble a James L. Brooks film. So, basically, if you’ve seen everything and are dying to have your heartstrings pulled while Felicity shows the boys how to act, Extraordinary seems like a solid bet.

The Buzz: The Golden Globes went down last weekend, right? Sure. Head over to www.ZeCatalist.com now to see not just a list of winners, but also our predictions and a list of who we wanted to win. We’re pleased to boast that we pretty much nailed our predictions … which of course means that our list of wants meant almost nothing. Our biggest gripes are, of course, the two Best Picture winners. The Hangover won for Best Musical or Comedy and Avatar won for Best Drama. Anyone know where I can get some coma pills? Ugh. (Maybe I can go live with those blue things.) After recently watching The Hurt Locker four times in three days I just kind of figured it would take home some of that worthless steel. Nope. No love for Kathryn Bigelow’s new wartime classic. If we’re attempting to make the argument that awards shows are worthless, then, well, here’s the fodder. On a more satisfied note, Michael C. Hall (our favorite television actor, maybe ever) took home the Best Actor in a Dramatic Television Show away and Marion Cotillard strutted her stuff on the red carpet in a classic Hollywood way that gave us the shivers. Also, Jeff Bridges took home Best Actor in a Dramatic Film and Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon won Best Foreign Language Film. So not a total waste of time, but close. Head over to Ze Catalist now for more thoughts and coverage.

New to DVD: Lots of new, recent films hitting shelves on January 26. Michael Jackson’s Is This It, for starters. Also be on the lookout for the great Bright Star, Bruce Willis sci-fi/action flick Surrogates, Whip It, Saw VI, Little Ashes, The Boys Are Back, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, season one of “Southland,” Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy and, most exciting to us, the reissue of Wim Wenders’ long delayed 1983 classic Paris, Texas.

Written by G. William Locke