AVATAR'S STEPHEN LANG AT TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE FOR WHITE IRISH DRINKERS

 

Oh yeah - him!  Stephen Lang's profile has been upped significantly since his villainous role in James Cameron's Avatar and he was spotted leaving Intercontinental Hotel today after doing a bit of Press.  Kindly he signed some autographs and joked about allowing spectators to take his photo before hopping off into a cab.  Lang is in town to promote John Gray's White Irish Drinkers, a drama about two brothers who are abused by their father and wind up living a life of crime.  There's definitely something about his Alpha Male manner and that Salt-and-Pepper hair...

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON SETS WONDERLAND AFLAME

How to Train Your Dragon successfully usurped the throne of The White Queen in Wonderland this weekend, spitting out a fiery $43.3 million from 4,000 screens. Although not a jaw-dropping performance, it fared very well still and will likely do well again next weekend based on all the positive word-of-mouth it's getting. Read my glowing review of it here. Believe me though, I'm not the only one who loved it. Rotten Tomatoes has it a whopping 97% consensus among critics, making it the best reviewed film of the year.   Two-week champion Alice in Wonderland slipped to second this weekend and to-date it has made over $300 million domestically - a stellar showing.

MGM's Hot Tub Time Machine, tries to cash in on the travel back in time formula of Back to the Future and 17 Again, landing in third spot with $13.7 million from 2,700 screens. The comedy which caters to twentysomething plus male demographic hasn't fared decently with a 62% consensus at Rotten Tomatoes.

The Bounty Hunter continues to perform consistently, placing in fourth with $12.4 million this weekend, making it two Gerard Butler films in the Top Ten right now, the other being Dragon. It would be safe to say that he is one of the most bankable male actors now in Hollywood. Butler however isn't the only actor to accomplish the Top Ten double this week, as his Canadian Dragon co-star Jay Baruchel's She's Out of My League ranks in sixth this weekend.

There isn't much else to report from the Box Office this weekend. Many will be interested to know that Avatar finally has dropped off the chart, landing in twelfth spot. Its gross intake worldwide is now up to an unheard of $2.67 billion.

THE BOUNTY HUNTER SHOOTS, BUT MISFIRES

Despite looking like a genuine threat to the throne, The Bounty Hunter was just no match for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland this weekend, which stays on top for a third week in a row taking in $34.5 million.  

Diary of a Wimpy Kid from Fox, lands in second spot with $21.8 million after getting much word-of-mouth build-up in the kids' demographic.  The adapted film is the first from its popular children's novel franchise.

The Bounty Hunter placed in third, a romantic comedy with a bit of action, stars Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston as a feuding ex-husband and wife.  Universally panned by critics, the film brought in $21 million this weekend from 3,074 theatres.  It was made for a $40 million budget and isn't looking like a loss for Sony Pictures as it has yet to open overseas... yet.  Read my review of it here.

Jude Law's action vehicle Repo Men from Universal Pictures, lands in a distant fourth spot earning $6.1 million, after being made for a $32 million budget.  Ouch.

Rounding out the bottom is Avatar which has seen better days, earning just $1.06 million in its 13th week and likely final week in the Top Ten.   Finally!  The film is said to be amidst another relaunch shortly with extended footage because clearly it hasn't made enough money the first time around.  God, help us.

As an interesting aside, The Runaways, which I loved,  landed in 13th spot with just $800k in earnings, but one most note that it only opened in approximately 230 theatres this weekend.  It will be expanding to wide release April 9, 2010.  Expect a huge spike in a couple weeks' time.

SAM WORTHINGTON: A SERIOUS ACTOR?

English-born Australian Sam Worthington is undisputedly the hottest new actor in Hollywood. Out of nowhere he's landed leading roles in big budget blockbusters like Terminator: Salvation, Avatar and Clash of The Titans, which is to be released April 2, 2010 and looks rather amazing.

But is he a "serious" actor though?  And is it all happening too soon?  In addition to Titans, he has another film out at the end of April called Last Night also starring Keira Knightley, about a couple whom encounter extra-marrital temptations. There is also The Debt which comes out later this year and it looks to be a little on the heavier side in its story line of Israeli spies seeking revenge on Nazi War Criminals. This one stars Ciaran Hinds, Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and many more. And lined up after that is a role in The Texas Killing Fields, which is about a string of unsolved murders in Texas. How's that for serious?

Although we have yet to see Worthington's true acting chops with the material he's been in, we'll be getting a clearer picture of his "worth" before long.

THE OSCARS 2010: A QUICK RECAP

We're all strapped for time, so here's the Oscars recapped for those of you who missed it.

• Mo'Nique was absolutely no surprise in winning Best Supporting Actress for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.  She delivered  a poignant speech thanking the Academy for not letting politics decide her fate and basing the award on merit.  Hardly modest, but the audience would seem to have agreed with her as they gave her a standing ovation.  The film also won the Best Adapted Screenplay award.
• Dapper German actor Christoph Waltz won for his terrifying turn in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, being the subject of hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin's Nazi jokes.  Expect his career to take off in North America soon.
• Designer and A Single Man director Tom Ford looked the gold standard in handsome.  I'm anxious to see what's to come next from him after such a strong reception to his first and only film.
• Sarah Jessica Parker arrived on the Red Carpet with husband Matthew Broderick looking like an Avatar character with her fluorescent blue eyes. The Grecian Goddess look constructed by Tom Ford, just didn't work for her and she looked over-tanned.  Broderick later paid tribute with Molly Ringwald (the original Lindsay Lohan) to the late great director John Hughes (Home Alone, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club).
• Helen Mirren looked stunning in a gray Badgley Mischka number.  It didn't even matter that she wasn't a serious contender for Best Lead Actress.

THE OSCARS RACE 2010: A DRAMA BASED ON A DRAMA | FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Check out some of these recently-released For Your Consideration pieces submitted by studios to Academy voters leading up to the Oscars. The ceremony will be televised Sunday, March 7, 2010 8 PM EST on CBS.  More of these pieces can be found on one of my favourite blogs, Awards Daily.

Best Picture favourite The Hurt Locker has raised a few eyebrows with some controversy surrounding one of its four producers, Nicolas Chartier who personally e-mailed a number of Academy voters in January urging they "not to vote for a $500 million film" (Avatar). This of course is a flagrant violation of Academy guidelines which prohibit competitors from "casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film".  Needless to say, his invitation is now "magically" lost in the mail. How's that for drama based on a Drama?  

God, I love Hollywood!

A COUPLE OF DICKS GET BEATEN

Shutter Island makes it two for two, pulling in a strong $22.2 million at the Box Office in its second week.  The film to-date, has earned $75 million domestically, just shy of its $80 million budget.  

Debuting in second with $18.6 million is Warner Bros.' action comedy Cop Out starring Bruce Willis who is currently filming Red in Toronto with Helen Mirren, and Tracy Morgan of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fame.  The film, originally titled A Couple of Dicks was renamed well, for the obvious reasons.  North Americans are among the largest consumers and makers of pornography, yet we can't handle seeing a movie with "that word" in its title.  Go figure.

Overture Films' The Crazies performed respectably in third taking in $16.5 million in its debut.  The horror film was made for just $20 million and lacks any real big names in its cast other than Timothy Olyphant.

Avatar it its eleventh week in the Top Ten, still is performing well enough to hang on to fourth spot this weekend bringing its domestic total gross to $707 million.

Some might be interested to know that The Wolfman, which has performed below expectations domestically, is actually doing very well overseas.  Although slipping to eighth spot this weekend, its worldwide gross is $120.5 million, with $63 million of that coming from overseas ticket sales.  There is hope after all for lead actor Benicio Del Toro's career.

The Oscars are here next Sunday.  Are my Mavenati ready or what?!?

SHUTTER ISLAND PADDLES ITS WAY TO NUMBER ONE

Not that there was ever never any doubt about it, Martin Scorcese's new drama-thriller Shutter Island out-paddled its competition with a gargantuan debut this weekend.  From 2,991 screens, the excellent Paramount film brought in $40 million, recovering half of its production budget already and it hasn't even opened overseas yet.  Expect this total to double shortly.

In its second week after a huge debut, Valentine's Day slipped to second spot this weekend with $17.6 million bringing its total domestic earnings to a stellar $87 million.  A great showing still, but too bad it kinda sucked.

Avatar has definitely seen brighter days, falling to number three with $16.1 million in its tenth week of release.  For those of you who are curious, the film has grossed a ridiculous $2,462,821,000 worldwide. Holy F&#k!

Other than this, there were not much else notable as Shutter Island was the only film in wide release to open this past weekend.  Crazy Heart though, continues to exceed expectations with Jeff Bridges' Best Actor buzz, and that is the sign of a true quality film.  Despite showing at only 1,100 screens, the film made $3 million this weekend, earning $21.6 million to-date. 

THE NEW YORK TIMES PORTRAITS: THE BEST PERFORMANCES OF 2009

 

The New York Times has released their annual portraits for The Best Performances of 2009 and they are absolutely gorgeous.  The series was photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.  These are just a few of the many portraits featured on their website right now.  Seen above are Tobey Maguire & Jake Gyllenhaal (Brothers), a barely recognizable Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Sam Worthington & Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Penélope Cruz & Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine), and Colin Firth & Julianne Moore (A Single Man).  Impeccable.

VALENTINE'S DAY FINDS LOVE

Mega-romantic comedy Valentine's Day from Warner Bros.' obliterated the competition it its opening weekend of its namesake.  The celebfest brought in $52.4 million from 3,655 screens, knocking one-week champion Dear John out of top spot.  Despite terrible reviews overall, it just goes to show how you can put a bunch of pretty faces on a screen with minimal plot and movie-goers are still happy with a bit of that razzle dazzle.  A review will be coming soon.  Dear John dropped to fifth this week, still bringing in an impressive $15.3 million.

Coming in second was Percy Jackson & The Olympians which in all honesty I've heard nothing about at all.  The animated feature from Fox earned a staggering $31.4 million on a very busy Valentine's Day weekend. 

Much-anticipated The Wolfman from Universal Pictures performed below well, well below expectations in third just getting edged out of second spot with $30.6 million.  The film was made for $150 million, which means a huge loss for the studio.  Perhaps Benicio Del Toro, despite being a fine actor, just doesn't have the star power to carry a big budget film like this as he also headlined Steven Soderbergh's four hour-long epic Che last year and that also failed to impress.

Avatar slips to fourth this week,  bringing Fox $22 million, which makes me wonder, in its ninth week in the Top Ten, who really is still crawling out to the theatre to see it for it to be bringing in these numbers still?

Oscar-buzzed Crazy Heart is also performing quite well in ninth place, earning $4 million from 1,000 screens, bringing its total earnings to $16.5 million.  Not bad from a $7 million investment by Fox Searchlight.

DEAR JOHN HANDS AVATAR A GOODBYE LETTER

Exceeding all expectations, Sony Screen Gems' Dear John finally handed seven week Box Office champion its first defeat taking in $32.4 million.  The tearjerker confirms Vanity Fair's recent prediction that Amanda Seyfried is indeed a bankable star.  Although  recent effort Jennifer's Body tanked, her overall body of work including Mean Girls, Mamma Mia and now this monster, place her at the top of her pack.  Of course, I'm sure heartthrob Channing Tatum might also have had a small part in bringing the girls out to the theatre too!

I'm honestly tired of writing about Avatar, but still being able to pull in $23.6 million in its eighth week of release and landing in second is a mighty impressive feat.

The weekend's only other debut, Lionsgate's From Paris With Love came in third with just $8.1 million.  The action drama stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and marks a significant loss for its studio, which invested $52 million in the picture.

Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart appears to be getting the right amount of buzz in time for the Oscars, jumping from 14th to eighth spot with $3.7 million in its first weekend in wide release.  Its star Jeff Bridges has been popping up allover the place of late, including landing a spot on the upcoming charity remake of We Are the World.  This was no doubt due to his impressive performance in this film as a washed-up country singer.

Other Oscar contenders outside the Top Ten like An Education, A Single Man, Precious and The Last Station all experienced gross spikes landing in 16th, 18th, 21st and 22nd spots respectively.  Click on each of these films' names to read reviews I posted about them.

OSCARS 2010 NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED: A BATTLE OF THE SEXES AND THE EXES

The 2010 Oscar nominations were announced this morning and not only will this year be a Battle of the Sexes, but also a Battle of the Exes.  Director James Cameron (Avatar) will be going head-to-head with his former wife Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) in major categories like Best Director and Best Picture.  Each director garnered an astounding nine nominations. 

For the time ever, the format of the Best Picture category has been ammended to include ten films this year.  This year's nominees include:  Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air, Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side and District 9.  Although my heart leans towards The Blind Side as a personal favourite, in all probability this will be Avatar's year.

Finalists in the Best Actor category are: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).  Make no mistake about it, it's all about Bridges in this category.

Nominees for Best Actress are: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).  I think most of my readers will agree as per a recent poll here, that this will be Bullock's year.

AVATAR FTW!

They can try all they want, but they still can't come close to topping Avatar.  In its seventh week atop the Box Office, the film brought in $30 million this weekend.  Shall it go for an eighth consecutive week?  Likely.

Coming in second in its debut weekend was Warner Bros.' The Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson, which earned $17.2 million.  Gibson's definitely still got it despite one P.R. botching after another.  What is it about him that keeps the public asking for more?  

Touchstone Pictures' romantic comedy starring television show Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell, who has successfully transitioned into a bankable film actress, came in third in its opening weekend with $12.1 million.  Not stellar, but not horrible either. Read my review of it here.

Rounding out the Top Ten this weekend were The Tooth Fairy, which is showing some gumption in its second week with $10 million in slipping to fourth spot.  The Book of Eli drops to fifth spot, but in its third week has almost recouped all of its $80 million production budget.  The bottom three, Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 and It's Complicated respectively, are all showing amazing resiliency after having opened on Christmas Day.

Also noteworthy is Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart in fourteenth spot, which in only 250 theatres, is averaging just under $10,000 per theatre.  The musical drama starring Jeff Bridges showcases the actor at his absolute finest. Read my review of it here.  The film will expand to 500 theatres next Friday.

KE$HA VS. LADY GAGA - POP MUSIC IS NOT DEAD

VS.

As announced last week, Lady Gaga set a new airplay record for most spins in a week (10,859) for her smash hit Bad Romance according to Nielsen BDS.  Newcomer Ke$ha however, shattered Lady Gaga's record just one week later with 11,224 spins of TiK ToK, which has been number one for the past five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.  Dance Pop is definitely back and bigger than ever, indeed.

We often pit two strong young women together in the media - i.e. the whole Britney vs. Christina thing back in the late '90s.  Why do we do it?  Because it's fun and we all love a good catfight   Besides the point, it's great publicity for both and clearly they are benefitting from it all.

Just scrolling through the comments section of my YouTube channel, the Ke$ha versus Lady Gaga debate is already starting to heat up.  The general consensus however, is that fans know to differentiate the two artists still.  Ke$ha is fun, carefree pop music; Lady Gaga is Pop-Art.  I would tend to agree with this observation.  And if I were to draw a parallel myself, I'd say the former 's music is like a Big Mac Combo at Mcdonald's - it hits the spot and leaves you wanting more.  The latter's music is more like a sit-down sushi dinner - accessible, yet intricately-detailed.

Avatar also now also holds the all-time record for worldwide Box Office gross, earning $1.86 billion in just 38 days in theatres.  Whomever said that it is a bleak time for Film and Pop Music may just need to rethink that train of thought.  How can we claim that the illegal downloading of movies and music are killing the entertainment industry in a time when records are being set?   (Photo Credit: MR. WILL-W.)

THE MONSTER KNOWN AS AVATAR - ON TOP... AGAIN!

Once again, Avatar has demolished its competition at the Box Office, taking home $36 million in its sixth week at the top. By the looks of it, the film should hang on for a seventh week at number one. We'll see....

Sony Screen Gems' action-fantasy Legion performed decently earning $18.2 million from 2,476 screens in its first week. The loyalty of the story's cult following was enough to land it in second, just $8 million shy of its total production budget. This one looks to be profitable.

Denzel Washington's latest film The Book of Eli slips only slightly to number three this weekend after debuting last week behind the monster that is known as Avatar. The film brought in $17 million this weekend alone.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's latest family comedy The Tooth Fairy debuts in fourth with $14.5 million, from 3,344 screens - an underwhelming performance.

Extraordinary Measures, the first ever film to come from television giant CBS, debuts in seventh. The tear-jerker starring Harrison Ford earned just $7 million, also under-performing, especially considering that it is being marketed as being on-par with the excellent The Blind Side.  Clearly, the public still knows when to cut through the fog of the PR Machine.

THE GOLDEN GLOBES: A QUICK RECAP

Congratulations to the cast of Glee, The Hangover, Mad Men and Avatar, in addition to Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore, Mo'nique, Meryl Streep, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, who were among the big winners from the 2010 Golden Globe Awards tonight at The Beverly Hilton. 

There were no real surprises tonight other than I'd say, Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) and Bridges (Crazy Heart) winning for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy and Drama respectively.  Many were banking on George Clooney (Up In The Air) winning in the latter category.   Mo'nique was pretty much a shoe-in for her performance in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire and you can expect the same result a the upcoming Oscars. And true to form, Bullock was humble and gracious in accepting her award for The Blind Side, acknowledging that she is not the most talented actress in accepting her award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama.  This win definitely solidifies her chances at a possible Oscar win, although we will only know the list of nominees when they are announced February 2, 2010.

And guess what?  You, my Mavenati, guessed correctly in a recent survey posted here on who would win in Bullock's category.  Way to go!  Streep also had some of her fellow nominees like Marion Cotillard in tears during her speech in accepting her award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy for Julie & Julia.  A true class act.

View some fantastic photos from this evening's rainy red carpet.  The ladies below looked absolutely amazing, particulary Kate Hudson and Sandra Bullock in purple.  Despite appearing under-dressed, Julia Roberts looked chic in a simple black number accessorized with a showpiece necklace.  Once again, Lea Michele from Glee is proving that she belongs with the best of them, after dazzling in red recently at the People's Choice Awards.

For a full list of winners, visit The Hollywood Foreign Press Assocation's official website here.  (Photo credit: Getty Images)

ELI IMPRESSES, BUT AVATAR DEVASTATES

Unbelievable. In its fifth consecutive week on top of the Box Office, Avatar is still devastating the competition, taking in $41.3 million this weekend from 3,285 screens. Is there anybody left on this planet who hasn't seen this film yet? Without any major blockbusters coming next week, I'll bet it'll be hanging on for seventh week on top. Make no mistake about it, this will be the biggest grossing film ever.

Denzel Washington-headlined action film debuted this weekend in second with an excellent showing with $31.5 million from 3,111 screens. The Warner Bros. film was made for $80 million and is well on its way to making all of that back considering it has not yet opened internationally yet.

Paramount's The Lovely Bones, which I reviewed earlier, performed very well with $17 million in earnings in third in its first week in wide release. Despite terrible reviews, the novel's loyal following has shown its support. Whether or not it will make back the $100 spent in production is another story though.

Jacky Chan's action comedy The Spy Next Door from Lions' Gate Films pulled in $9.7 million, good enough to land it in sixth place for its debut.

Leap Year, which I enjoyed very much, slips to eighth spot this week, bringing its total earnings to $17.5 million, just shy of the $19 spent in production for the film.

AVATAR, UNSTOPPABLE

Avatar is unstoppable.  Pulling in $48.5 million this weekend at the Box Office, it is now only a question of how many weeks it will be before it gets toppled by another film.  It's been on top for four weeks now, which is pretty much a rarity in this day and age.

In second position was Sherlock Holmes, which still brought in a healthy $16.6 million in its third week, which on any other week would be enough to place it on top.

Lions Gate Films' Daybreakers was the top debut in fourth this week, taking in $15 million.  The well-reviewed vampire action film stars Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke and is well on its way to recouping back its $20 million budget.

Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode debuted in sixth this weekend with $9.2 million in earnings.  The film set in Ireland has a Transatlantic appeal with its American in Europe theme and should do well overseas when it sees a release there.  Read my review of it here.

The Weinstein Co.'s Youth in Revolt starring Canadian Michael Cera opened in ninth with $7 million.  The film which may have seen further revisions since its premiere at TIFF in September, has also received great reviews.

AVATARIZE YOURSELF

In the spirit of celebrating Avatar, what will become surely the largest grossing film of our time, the McDonald's Finland website now has a fun tool where you can Avatarize yourself into a Na'vi.  The Oddcast.com application is a bit fickle, but fun.  Give it a go! Gosh, it looks like my brother Paul...

xW

AVATAR SURPASSES $1 BILLION MARK

Avatar just continues to slaughter the competition in its third week on top of the Box Office, earning an estimated $68.3 million in ticket sales this weekend.  In its short run, the film ranks as the world's fourth biggest film of all time, just surpassing the $1 billion mark this weekend.  Incredible.

Sherlock Holmes, which I enjoyed very much, came in a distant second at a still very excellent $38.3 million. Surely this is just the start of a successful franchise for the Warner Bros. film, making Robert Downey Jr. perhaps the most bankable male actor in Hollywood today heading both this and the wildly popular Iron Man series.

Fox's Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel continues to nail those high notes with a $36.6 million take this weekend, easily beating out its closest competition in the animated genre, Buena Vista's The Princess and The Frog, which placed seventh this weekend with $10 million.

My personal favourite NINE still continues to underperform, rounding out the Top Ten with $4.2 million this weekend, bringing its total North American earnings to $14 million in its second week in wide release.  The film opens overseas soon and will likely fare much better internationally.  I've seen it four times already!