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Marley & Me Wins Box Office Again
Another weekend and another win for the dog. Marley & Me, the David Frankel-directed, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston-starring family flick, netted $24.1 million over the weekend pushing it over the $100 million mark ($107 million, to be exact) in 11 days. Finishing the weekend in second with a $20.3 million weekend was Bedtime Stories, directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray) and starring Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce and Russell Brand.
January 5th, 2009 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Andrew Gnerre
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>In Theaters Now: Defiance
Ed Zwick's Defiance, the fourth Holocaust drama of the season, arrives In Theaters Now.
January 2nd, 2009 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Kyle Rupprecht
Video Views Pick: Burn After Reading
The Coen brothers' Burn After Reading is this week's Video Views pick. CIA analyst Oswald Cox (John Malkovich) is a very angry man. He has just been demoted and his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton), doesn’t listen to anything he says. She’s too busy with other things, like her affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a married man who also surfs the Internet for women to hook up with. Having quit his job, Oswald is now writing his memoirs, a computer disc of which is found by the cleaning man at Hardbodies Fitness Center. Two of the trainers there, Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), think the disc contains top secret information and see an opportunity for blackmail.
December 31st, 2008 | Category: Video Views Pick | By Art Slavin
Marley & Me Enjoys a Record-Breaking Christmas
After enjoying a $14.7 million first day gross, the largest Christmas Day opening ever, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston's family-friendly Marley & Me went on to win the weekend with $37 million and a four-day total of $51.7 million. Coming in second was the week's other PG release, Bedtime Stories, starring Adam Sandler, which brought in $28.1 million for the weekend and $38.6 million over four days.
December 29th, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Andrew Gnerre
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>In Theaters Now: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Spirit, Revolutionary Road, Valkyrie & More
Studios are releasing the big guns this long holiday weekend, with moviemaking feats like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Spirit, family tales like Bedtime Stories and Marley & Me, and anticipated adult fare like Revolutionary Road, Valkyrie, Last Chance Harvey and Waltz With Bashir.
December 25th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Kyle Rupprecht
Jim Carrey Takes Back the Box Office
The showdown of the two $20 million men ended with Rubberface out-earning the Fresh Prince by a little more than $2 million. Jim Carey's Yes Man, co-starring Zooey Deschanel and directed by Peyton Reed (Down with Love, The Break-Up), took in $18.2 million in its debut weekend, while Will Smith's Seven Pounds, co-starring Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson and Barry Pepper, finished its first weekend with $16 million.
December 22nd, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Andrew Gnerre
In Theaters Now: Seven Pounds, The Tale of Despereaux, The Wrestler & More!
With awards season in full swing, audiences everywhere are finally getting a chance to see what award committee voters saw weeks earlier: Seven Pounds, The Wrestler and Nothing But the Truth. Plus, audiences can catch some lighter treats for the season, including a brave little-mouse-that-could in The Tale of Despereaux and Jim Carrey's return to comedic form in Yes Man.
December 19th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Douglas Polisin
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Video Views Pick: Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia is this week's Video Views pick. Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep) runs a hotel on the Greek island to which she brought three men to more than 20 years ago. And while she had sent them all away, now her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married to her boyfriend (Dominic Cooper) there tomorrow. Sophie wants her father to walk her down the aisle, but doesn’t know who he is. After reading her mother’s diary, she narrows it down to those three guys: Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgärd) and Harry Bright (Colin Firth)—and, unbeknownst to Donna, invites them all to the wedding.
December 17th, 2008 | Category: Video Views Pick | By Art Slavin
Keanu Reeves is The One at the Box Office
A couple weeks after a massive Thanksgiving weekend, the box office continues to lumber along. The big "winner" this weekend was The Day the Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith and John Cleese, pulling in a paltry (for an event movie like this) $31 million in its first week. Four Christmases finished the weekend in second with $13.3 million, pushing its total gross up to $88 million and handily beating the new Christmas movie Nothing Like the Holidays.
December 15th, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Andrew Gnerre
In Theaters Now: Doubt, The Reader, The Day the Earth Stood Still
Meryl Streep challenges Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kate Winslet takes on Ralph Fiennes and Keanu Reeves succumbs to his alien nature—in theaters now.
December 12th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Brian Hickey
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Golden Globe Nominations Announced
The Golden Globe nominations have just been released and this year’s list is full of surprises and upsets, standout performances and indie comebacks. In the category of Best Motion Picture—Drama, David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Stephen Daldry’s The Reader all picked up nods with each director also picking up nominations for Best Director—Motion Picture.
December 11th, 2008 | Category: Awards Watch | By Douglas Polisin
Video Views Pick: The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is this week's VIDEO VIEWS magazine pick. In the sequel to Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, Christian Bale returns as the caped crusader, hoping to stop Gotham from falling into the evil clutches of Heath Ledger's The Joker and his love from the arms of Aaron Eckhart's District Attorney Harvey Dent. The two-disc edition includes the record-breaking box office behemoth and special features like "Batman Tech: The Incredible Gadgets and Tools."
December 10th, 2008 | Category: Video Views Pick | By Jennifer M. Wood
Finale: Behind the Screams of “Scream Queens”
MOVIEMAKER TIP OF THE WEEK: Move to Los Angeles!
People around the country often ask me what one thing they should do if they want to be a successful moviemaker. My answer almost always pisses them off, because it is as follows: MOVE TO LOS ANGELES. If not L.A., New York. Yes, you can be a successful moviemaker in other cities. But you increase your odds of success by a hundredfold with this one simple act. People who really want to make money in the film industry need to commit fully—and that usually requires a move to the places where movies are made.
December 9th, 2008 | Category: James Gunn: Behind the Screams | By James Gunn
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>National Board of Review Awards Previews the 2009 Oscars
If the National Board of Review awards are a hint of what’s to be expected at this year’s Academy Awards, then we’re all in for one hell of an Oscar night. Independent movies upset the studio features, with late entrant Slumdog Millionaire leading the pack as Best Film, relegating popular favorites like The Dark Knight and WALL-E to be among the Top Ten.
December 9th, 2008 | Category: Awards Watch, News/Commentary | By Douglas Polisin
Broadcast Film Critics 2009 Award Nominations Announced
“At the Movies” co-hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz announced the 14th annual Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Critics Choice Awards in Gotham’s Time Square. The proceedings were aired live on VH1, which will broadcast the ceremony January 8th from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received the most critical love, tied with eight nominations apiece.
December 9th, 2008 | Category: Awards Watch, News/Commentary | By Kyle Rupprecht
Four Christmases Goes Back for Seconds
Without many enticing new options hitting theaters this past weekend, moviegoers stuck with what they knew. The Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn vehicle Four Christmases was victorious again, taking home $18.2 million in its second week, pushing this poorly reviewed Christmas comedy beyond the $70 million mark. Twilight and Bolt, each movie in its third week in release, pulled in $13.2 million and $9.7 million, respectively. These grosses place the teenage vampires just shy of an insane $140 million three-week total and the animated dog just south of $80 million.
December 8th, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Andrew Gnerre
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>In Theaters Now: Cadillac Records, Frost/Nixon, Punisher: War Zone & Nobel Son
Audiences are doing a double-take at the box office this week as Beyoncé stars in another musical drama, Ron Howard takes another look back in history, the Punisher gets another shot at the box office and the team behind Bottle Shock offers another yet another ensemble dramedy.
December 5th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Kristin Forte
Canadian Film Centre and National Film Board Announce Joint Program
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and National Film Board (NFB) have recently announced the confirmation of four Canadian directors who will participate in the inaugural CFC/NFB Feature Documentary Program. The program was designed to allow accomplished Canadian directors develop cinematic documentaries. Among this year's chosen honorees are Yung Chang, Sarah Polley, Shelley Saywell and John Walker. The six-month program not only provides the directors a residency with the CFC but also a project-specific mentorship with the biggest talents in the documentary world.
December 4th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Douglas Polisin
Video Views Pick: Wanted
The editors of VIDEO VIEWS magazine pick Wanted, based on the Mark Millar graphic novel, as the best new DVD this week. Featuring eight bonus featurettes and a cast that includes James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, home video watchers can't go wrong.
December 3rd, 2008 | Category: Video Views Pick | By Jennifer M. Wood
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Film Independent Announces the 2009 Spirit Award Nominees
Ballast, Frozen River and Rachel Getting Married lead the pack
Awards season has officially begun, with studios heavily campaigning for end-of-year success stories and the first of the year's award nominations announced. The 24th annual Spirit Awards will take place on February 21, 2009 and honor, among others, Charlie Kaufman's Syndecdoche, New York, which is receiving the Robert Altman Award. Nominated movies include Lance Hammer’s Ballast, Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River, Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married, Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy and Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler.
December 3rd, 2008 | Category: Awards Watch, News/Commentary | By Kyle Rupprecht
Episode Seven: Behind the Screams of James Gunn’s “Scream Queens”
MOVIEMAKER TIP OF THE WEEK: Wet your monsters!
Almost any prosthetic effect looks better and more realistic when it’s wet, especially if it’s a creature of some sort. Always keep your fake monters covered in Ultraslime or some other wet liquidy substance. Re-wet in-between takes!
December 2nd, 2008 | Category: James Gunn: Behind the Screams | By James Gunn
Four Christmases Kicks Off the Holiday Season On Top
This Thanksgiving there was plenty to go around—both at the dinner table and the box office. The big winner of the weekend was the modestly reviewed Four Christmases, directed by Seth Gordon (King of Kong) and starring Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Robert Duvall and Jon Voight. The season's first batch of holiday hijinx netted an estimated $31.7 million in Friday to Sunday grosses with an even more impressive five-day total of $46.7 million. Smash hit Twilight slipped to second place with a $26.4 million Friday to Sunday gross and a $39.5 million five-day total—a far cry from its $69.6 million opening weekend.
December 1st, 2008 | Category: Top of the Box Office | By Andrew Gnerre
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Notes from Movieland: Do-It-Yourself Distribution—Part III
NewFilmmakers Online
I’m going to end this short series on self-distribution with some info on yet another outlet for distribution. Many others exist or are about to be birthed—with a little research, I trust you’ll stumble on at least a dozen. For now, I humbly present NewFilmmakers Online.
I met Barney Oldfield, the brains behind the service, when his NewFilmmakers screening series featured my film, Red is the Color of, at the Anthology Film Archives in New York. Barney’s been faithfully screening and promoting independent films, short and feature length, for over a decade. He’s relentless in his support of the indies and with his new company, VLADIcast, Inc., he's offering another distribution option for independents—one that puts the profit right back in the moviemaker's pocket.
November 28th, 2008 | Category: Notes From Movieland | By Anne Norda
In Theaters Now: Australia, Milk, Transporter 3, Four Christmases
Baz Luhrmann returns to the screen with an ode to his homeland, Gus Van Sant tackles Harvey Milk, Jason Statham finds more villains to battle while Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn gather 'round the Christmas tree.
November 27th, 2008 | Category: In Theaters Now | By Douglas Polisin
MySpace and Lionsgate Team Up for Movie Giveaways
Those MySpace junkies having a hard time walking away from their screens have got another reason to stay close to the keyboard. No, it’s not another friend request. After partnering with Lionsgate, MySpace has announced the launch of some themed skins from movies like Transporter 3, Punisher: War Zone, and The Spirit. By skinning your profile with the themes, you can be submitted into a sweepstakes to win some amazing prizes.
November 26th, 2008 | Category: News/Commentary | By Douglas Polisin
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