The weekend box office showing for films that opened September 26th was highly anticipated as the new blockbuster "Eagle Eye" was expected to open big. It didn't fail to live up to expectations and raked in $29.1 million, opening in first place in it's premier weekend in theaters. The movie received favorable reviews from fans and critics alike and it looks poised to make back it's original $80 million dollar production budget as it's approaching a $60 million dollar take after just 12 days of release.
Spike Lee's World War II film "Miracle At St. Anna" has received mixed reviews from critics and film fans and it opened at an anemic 9th by only taking in $3.5 million dollars over the same weekend in approximately 1, 500 screens across the nation. Considering that Spike made this film as an answer to Clint Eastwood's lack of Black soldiers in his World War II films "Flags Of Our Fathers" but especially "Letters In Iwo Jima" where Black soldiers played a major role in Americas victory in the Pacific Campaign it sucks that Eastwood's upcoming "Changeling" will easily outperform "Miracle At St. Anna" and capture some nominations come awards season while Lee's film will likely go unrecognized as it received sparse critical praise.
By the same token, highly anticipated indie film opened at #14 for the same weekend taking in $1.3 million in only 463 theaters. If it had opened in the same amount of venues it would've outperformed "Miracle At St. Anna" based on sheer numbers alone. At least both films have a chance to catch on and make some money when they get released on DVD likely in early 2009 (January or February). For now, it's up to the final quarter films and remaining blockbusters from Halloween to the holiday season to pick the box office back up and get back on a record pace.
This past weekend the best film that looks poised to most likely be this year's indie darling is "Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist". It opened at #3 this past weekend taking in $11.3 million behind "Eagle Eye" ($17.7 m) and the head scratching #1 spot went to "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" ($29.3m). These numbers are strong but I lose a little more faith in humanity when films like this open big. If I was Snake Plissken, I'd destroy the tape, too (Oldhead alert: 80's film reference).
Fernando Meirelles new film and adaptation of José Saramago's novel "Blindness" opened at a disappointing 12th place and only brought in $1.95 million dollars in almost 1, 700 screens across the country. Miramax really expected more out of this film and I don't know if the protests from blind activists have affected the film or if it's just a lack of proper promotion but it's discouraging when quality films that are made to point out the human condition and are character based fail so miserably at the box office. I expect "Quarantine", "Body Of Lies" and "Rocknrolla" to do fairly well this weekend, though.Films I recommend in theaters (10.1.08-10.15.08) or to add to your queue early or for rental from either Netflix or Redbox:
Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist
Religulous
Quarantine
Body Of Lies
Rocknrolla
Rachel Getting Married
Flash Of Genius
Ballast
30 Rock: Season 2
How I Met Your Mother-Season Three
Robot Chicken: Season Three
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
War, Inc.
Paranoid Park
Boy A
The Visitor
Mongol
Standard Operating Procedure
The Sarah Silverman Program: Season Two, Vol One
Slacker Uprising
Le Doulos-Criterion Edition
You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown
Watership Down (Deluxe Edition)
The Amityville Horror (Blu-Ray)
Carrie (Blu-Ray)
The Omen (Blu-Ray)
Casino (Blu-Ray)
Constantine (Blu-Ray)
American Gangster (Blu-Ray)
Eastern Promises (Blu-Ray)
Appaloosa
Blindness
Lakeview Terrace
Miracle At St. Anna
Choke
Eagle Eye
The Mist
The Hulk
88 Minutes
Iron Man
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Snow Angels
Noise
Re-Cycle
A Broken Life
Two Laws
Taxi To The Dark Side
Chapter 27
The Rebel
The Vanguard
Bangkok Dangerous
Burn After Reading
Righteous Kill
How To Rob A Bank
The Promotion
Mirrors
Henry Poole Is Here
Traitor
Babylon A.D.
Towel Head
Sukiyaki Western Django
Gonzo: The Life & Times Of Hunter S. Thompson
Hamlet 2
Tropic Thunder
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Mad Detective (Johnnie To)
Street Kings
Redbelt
Chicago 10
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?
Hellride
The Killing Of John Lennon
Smart People
The Legend Of The Shadowless Sword
Warlords
Cocaine Cowboys 2-Hustlin' With The Godmother
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Bank Job
Meet Bill
Doomsday
City Of Men
Drillbit Taylor
Stop-Loss
Dragon Squad
Drunken Angel
Adulthood
Vantage Point
Sleepwalking
The Tracey Fragments
Chop Shop
Blood Brothers
Chaos Theory
The Incredible Hulk
Wanted
Mongol
In Bruges
Charlie Bartlett
Persepolis
Cleaner
A Dirty Carnival
Iron Man
I'm Not There
Bomb It
Invisible Target
Street Thief
Dart's Movie Recommendations (I personally cosign all of these joints):
Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist
Religulous
Quarantine
Body Of Lies
Rocknrolla
War, Inc.
Standard Operating Procedure
Paranoid Park
Boy A
Mongol
Rent/Watch these movies at your own risk:
The Happening-Here's what happened. I saw this bullshit and I was deeply disappointed. I saw it for free and yet I still wanted my money back.
You Don't Mess With The Zohan-No...No, I don't © Robin Gibb
Kill Switch-Perfect fuckin' title.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua-That's kinda racist © Norbit
An American Carol-Finally, a movie that even Sarah Palin can follow. I say thee nay.
Coming (relatively) Soon To A Theater (or computer) Near You:
One.
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