"CLASH" IS A TITAN

Director Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans (3-D) remake was Box Office gold this Easter weekend, pulling in a stunning $64.1 million dollars from 3,777 screens. The Warner Bros. film stars Hollywood's most bankable new actor Sam Worthington (Avatar), Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson. A strong cast wasn't enough to save it from being ripped to shreds by critics. Also, foreign totals have yet to come in, but it won't be long before this one recoups its $125 million budget. Well done, indeed.  Did any of you see it?  I'm still on the fence about it.

Director/actor Tyler Perry has his market cornered and they turned out again this weekend to show their ardent support for his latest effort Why Did I Get Married Too?, which came in second with $30.1 million from 2,700 theatres. The Lionsgate film stars Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Louis Gossett Jr.,  Michael Jai White and Perry himself.

The year's best-reviewed film How to Train Your Dragon from Disney earned $29.2 million in its second week bringing its total to $92.3 million in earnings. Worldwide, the film has made $134.6 million and should be sticking around the Top Ten for a while as the positive word-of-mouth continues to spread.

Alice in Wonderland (3-D) hangs on in fifth with $8.2 million this weekend, just surpassing the $300 million in earnings mark domestically.

Comedies Hot Tub Time Machine ($8 million), The Bounty Hunter ($6.2 million), She's Out of My League ($1.4 million) and the incredibly resilient Shutter Island just hangs on to a spot in the Top Ten with $1.4 million. Click on the links to read reviews for each of these.

Fox's Date Night opens in 3,300 screens next Friday. Expect a massive debut for the comedy starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND - UNTOUCHABLE

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland continues to demolish its opponents at the Box Office. In its second week the film brought in an outstanding $62 million from 3,700 screens. It looks like a safe bet to hold on for a third week on top.

Matt Damon's latest film Green Zone which has been panned pretty much across-the-board, debuts in second with $14.5 million, which is uncharacteristically low for a film starring the Hollywood hunk.

Paramount's She's Out of My League (aka The Girl Next Door, aka Can't Buy Me Love) follows the formula of hot girl-paired with-geek yet again and performs respectably with a number three spot debut, with $9.6 million in earnings.

Shutter Island is still performing well even it its fourth week of release, slipping only to fifth spot with $8.1 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $108 million thus far.

Ugly Betty star America Ferrara headlines her first widely released film, Our Family Wedding from Fox Searchlight, bringing in $7.6 million in its first week. The interracial romantic comedy opened in 1,600 in theatres, which is by all means a fair showing.

Gerrard Butler and Jennifer Aniston's The Bounty Hunter is expected to debut big next weekend. But will it be enough to challenge Alice?  Maybe.  We'll see....

ALICE IN HOLLYWOOD

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland obliterated the competition this weekend at the Box Office, exceeding all expectations with $116.3 in domestic earnings alone.  This sets a March Box Office record for biggest opening ever.  The Buena Vista film wowed audiences in 3-D, proving that the strategy for a delayed release post-Avatar was actually a smart idea.  Read my review of it here.

Action drama Brooklyn's Finest debuted in distant second spot with $13.5 million in ticket sales, just edging out Scorcese's Shutter Island, which is still showing a lot of staying power.  Internationally, it has grossed $130 million in only three weeks of release.  Mighty impressive.

The Crazies slips to sixth spot this week, but has actually proven to be a profitable investment for Overture Films with $27 million in earnings to date.  Crazy Heart continues to perform very well in  ninth spot all based on Jeff Bridges' Oscar buzz.  The film has almost surpassed $30 million in earnings, having been made for only $7 million.  He'll more than likely take a golden statue home tonight.

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. 

REVIEW: SHUTTER ISLAND

Martin Scorcese is simply in a league of his own.  He is a Master of gripping storytelling and once again, he has done it.  This this time with a considerably shorter film in Shutter Island.  The film is not his best work, but still a top-tier caliber achievement. 

Leonardo DiCaprio has very much become Scorcese's muse, starring in a string of four feature films by the director dating back to 2002's Gangs of New York.  DiCaprio plays Marshall Teddy Daniels, who at the beginning of the story is assigned to investigate a missing patient at a mental institution for the criminally insane, The Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital.  His wife Dolores (Michelle Williams) we learn, died in a fire at the hands of the man who is believed to be a patient at the institution.  After being made aware that the missing patient is located, he and his sidekick Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), become suspicious to whether or not they are being framed by the hospital's administration.  They believe they have been trapped in a secret plot which would result in their being used as experimental subjects under the hospital's questionable treatment programs (i.e. inducing of hallucinations through prescription drugs, lobotomies).

Teddy perpetually wanders off in different wards of the hospital, engaging in suspense-laced encounters with patients, adding more fuel to his paranoia.  He also keeps seeing his deceased wife, who speaks to him and urges him to escape the island.  He is obsessed with a lighthouse where the most dangerous patients are housed and lobotomies are performed and keeps gravitating towards it despite being aware of imminent danger.  Ultimately the audience is left with the question, of whether this is real or if this is all in his head.