2008 ended with a flurry of activity and several films were released all throughout the holiday season. Will Smith's "Seven Pounds" took 2nd place at the box office with a $14.8 million dollar showing but it was deemed too depressing by most audiences and fans seemed to steered clear of it in favor of lighter fare as Christmas approached and the new year approached.
"The Wrestler" opened up in limited release in only 4 theaters but still managed to finish in the Top 25 on the box office money list by bringing in 288K in just 4 days. Fans were impressed with the film and especially the performances of Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Darren Aronofsky's return to the film world has been a rousing success so far, when the awards season approaches we'll see exactly how successful.
On the other side of the coin, the next week at the box office was extremely cruel to Frank Miller' adaptation of Will Eisner's "The Spirit". It only brought in a paltry $10.3 million dollars over the 4 day Christmas weekend and was panned by critics as well as fans. The last film to inspire equal parts hatred and defense from fanboys was the Wachowski "Brothers" cinematic dayglo nightmare "Speed Racer".
The Tom Cruise vehicle "Valkyrie" that tells the tale of the failed assassination plot against Adolf Hitler did extremely well with fans and the box office by raking in $29.5 million over the same 4 days. It fared much better with critics and it continues to find an audience weeks later. The box office did extremely well over the past weeks due to the wide array of quality films available.
The ambitious adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" wowed theatergoers and critcs alike and it brought in $38.7 million over the long weekend (which was only good for 3rd place). The performances from the cast in this film easily make this a favorite to grab some serious hardware once the awards season comes around. The next big event upcoming in film is the Sundance Film Festival. I'll be back again with a recap on the 20th along with "Dart Adams presents A Tale Of Ten Trailers 14". Now, onto the recommendations:Films I recommend in theaters (1.1.09-1.15.09) or to add to your queue early or for rental from either Netflix or Redbox:
Defiance
Battlestar Galactica-Season 4.0
The Tudors-Season 2
Pineapple Express
Righteous Kill
The Wackness
Babylon A.D.
Appaloosa
Mirrors
The Order Of Myths (documentary)
Frisky Dingo-Season 2
Secret Diary Of A Call Girl-Season One
Duckman: Four Season Pack
Gurren Lagann, Pt.2 & Vols. 3 & 4 (anime)
Hell Girl: The Complete First Season (anime)
Glass Fleet: Box Set (anime)
Dexter: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray]
Bangkok Dangerous [Blu-Ray]
Friday Night Lights [Blu-Ray]
The Last Emperor [Blu-Ray]
Traffic [Blu-Ray]
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence [Blu-Ray]
Glass Fleet: Box Set [Blu-Ray]
Skins-Vol. 1
Eden Lake
The Alphabet Killer
Hit And Run (Unrated Edition)
Ping Pong Playa
Opium And The Kung Fu Master
Hard Gun (Tony Jaa)
Butterfly On A Wheel
Strays
Tokyo Gore Police
Brick Lane
Supercop
The Battle Wizard (Shaw Brothers)
Patti Smith: Dream Of Life (music documentary)
John Lennon-In Performance (music documentary)
Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America (documentary)
The Wrestler
The Brothers Bloom
Seven Pounds
Dark Streets
The Spirit
Valkyrie
Revolutionary Road
Waltz With Bashir
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Burn After Reading
Generation Kill (mini series)
Traitor
Eagle Eye
The House Bunny
Death Race (Unrated Edition)
The Women
Hamlet 2
Babylon A.D.
Bangkok Dangerous
Towel Head
Baby
Sangre De Mi Sangre
Savage Grace
Cass
This Beautiful City
Crashing
The Duchess
Badland
Bobby Z
Anger
The Brave Archer
The Guardpost
Battle Of Wits
Cadillac Records
Nobel Son
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Gran Torino
Wanted
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Twilight
Special
Hancock (Unrated Edition)
Gonzo: The Life & Work Of Hunter S. Thompson
Slumdog Millionaire
Quantum Of Solace
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Planet B-Boy
Sukiyaki Western Django
DJ Dusk's Root Down Soundclash
DJ Spooky's Rebirth Of A Nation
Decon presents Fresh Rhymes And Videotape
W.
What Just Happened
Changeling
Synecdoche, New York
Let The Right One In
Fear(s) Of The Dark
Zack And Miri Make A Porno
The Incredible Hulk
Sold Out: A Threevening With Kevin Smith
Hell Ride
Elite Squad
Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist
Religulous
Quarantine
Body Of Lies
Rocknrolla
Ballast
Boy A
Mongol
Blindness
Miracle At St. Anna
Choke
Iron Man
Snow Angels
How To Rob A Bank
Mad Detective (Johnnie To)
Redbelt
Chicago 10
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?
Smart People
The Legend Of The Shadowless Sword
Warlords
The Rebel
Cocaine Cowboys 2-Hustlin' With The Godmother
Doomsday
The Last Minute
Adulthood
Persepolis
Bomb It
Invisible Target
Street Thief
The Last Winter
Triangle
Dart's Movie Recommendations (I personally cosign all of these joints):
Defiance
Battlestar Galactica-Season 4.0
The Tudors-Season 2
The Wackness
Babylon A.D.
Appaloosa
The Order Of Myths
Dexter: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray]
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence [Blu-Ray]
Traffic [Blu-Ray]
Rent/Watch these movies at your own risk:
The Unborn: If the trailer is any indication the brown folks don't fare too well, do they?
Bride Wars: Kate Hudson vs. Anne Hathaway? Not like this...not like this! © Switch
Not Easily Broken: T.D Jakes< Tyler Perry< A shot glass of Clorox...for each year I've been alive on Earth
Postal (Director's Cut): Uwe Boll should be charged with crimes against humanity.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona: I cannot get with Woody Allen films...just can't do it.
Miss Potter [Blu-Ray]: Why?
Last Legion [Blu-Ray]: Why?
Disaster Movie: Perfect fuckin' title already!
Swing Vote: Obama won easily, we didn't need YOU redneck single dad!
The Family That Preys: Tyler Perry made this so I automatically hate it.
Tyler Perry's Marriage Counselor: Tyler Perry isn't married so...he needs to shut the fuck up. Really.
Tyler Perry's House Of Payne, Vol. 3: Sense a pattern here, yet? Write what you'd think I'D say here:___________________________
Coming (relatively) Soon To A Theater (or computer) Near You:
One.
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