Box Office Update: "The Town" Steals Top Spot; "Easy A" Passes!

10. Eat Pray Love (Sixth Weekend; $1.7 million): On my way to see Easy A yesterday, me and my friends were shocked to see this film was still playing. I trust this will be the last week this film tastes the top ten.

9. The Other Guys (Seventh Weekend; $2 million): Will Ferrell and Marky Mark continue to inexplicably make a living with this film. It's success is quite simply an abomination, but one that I'll live with.

8. Inception (Tenth Weekend; $2.1 million): Ten weeks into it's run, and this film still won't go down. I'd say it has a chance of climbing to $300 million, but I seriously doubt that will happen. However, I'm going to take a guess that when we're back here next weekend, Inception will be able to hold onto the top ten for one more week.

7. The American (Third Weekend; $2.7 million): George Clooney's drama continues to take a dive, and at this point I don't think I'll end up seeing it at all. Currently at $32 million, expect just a little more before it checks out.

6. Takers (Fourth Weekend; $3 million): What more can I say about this movie? It's made a profit, so lets leave it at that.

5. Alpha and Omega (First Weekend; $9.2 million): Just when you thought 3D couldn't descend any lower, this Lionsgate train-wreck comes in to prove us wrong.

4. Resident Evil: Afterlife (Second Weekend; $10.1 million): This film did suffer from another 3D film swooping in and taking away a share of it's theatres, but I blame the 61% drop on the fact that the film just wasn't worth it.

3. Devil (First Weekend; $12.5 million): You can try to defend this film all you want. I still have no interest in seeing anything even remotely related to M. Night Shyamalan anymore. Still, the horror film made a decent earning in a small tangent of film-goers.

2. Easy A (First Weekend; $18.2 million): Emma Stone's comedy made second place this weekend, as predicted, but I foresee this film to do better in the coming weeks through positive word-of-mouth.

1. The Town (First Weekend; $23.8 million): In just one weekend, Ben Affleck's new film made more than Gone Baby Gone made in it's entire run. You may chalk that up to it's more action-oriented premise, but I feel this film was more accessible to audiences, and it'll probably be the film Affleck gets a greater reputation for.

Box Office Update: "Evil" Rules A Weak Weekend

10. Eat Pray Love (Fifth Weekend; $2.9 million): The Julia Robert drama looks to be settling on a total gross of $80 million.

9. Inception (Ninth Weekend; $3 million): Christopher Nolan's first film to be nominated for Best Picture, as it undoubtedly will be, takes one more week in the top ten.

8. The Expendables (Fifth Weekend; $3.2 million): Stallone's action pic continues falling down the charts as it gets closer $100 million.

7. The Last Exorcism (Third Weekend; $3.4 million): The documentary style horror film has received a rather startling backlash from audiences, mostly due to its disappointing ending.

6. The Other Guys (Sixth Weekend; $3.6 million): How this film is still earning money, I don't at all understand.

5. Going the Distance (Second Weekend; $3.8 million): It's a romantic comedy starring the Mac guy. What can you expect?

4. Machete (Second Weekend; $4.2 million): Robert Rodriguez's exploitation-action film continues performing at a similar pace as the film that contained its origin, Grindhouse.

3. The American (Second Weekend; $5.9 million): George Clooney just doesn't have the star-power that he used to, but it would help if this film were remotely interesting.

2. Takers (Third Weekend; $6.1 million): It's a heist film that isn't Inception. Why on earth should I remotely care?

1. Resident Evil: Afterlife (First Weekend; $27.7 million): On the weakest weekend in nearly two years, the fourth film in the video game franchise manages to edge out a win with the help of added 3D ticket prices.

Box Office Update: "The American" Comes Out On Top!

This weekend was kind of pathetic, as most Labor Day weekends are. It'd be nice if people released films that deserve the four day weekend. I'm not going to wait until tomorrow for the final tally, because it probably doesn't make much of a difference. The most I can say is that there's a strong chance this'll be the last weekend with Inception in the top ten. They've had a good run, and now it's truly time to leave the Summer behind, and look forward.

10. Nanny McPhee Returns (Third Weekend; $3.5 million)
9. Inception (Eighth Weekend; $4.5 million)
8. Eat Pray Love (Fourth Weekend; $4.8 million)
7. The Other Guys (Fifth Weekend; $5.4 million)
6. The Expendables (Fourth Weekend; $6.6 million)
5. Going the Distance (First Weekend; $6.8 million)
4. The Last Exorcism (Second Weekend; $7.6 million)
3. Machete (First Weekend; $11.3 million)
2. Takers (Second Weekend; $11.4 million)
1. The American (First Weekend; $12.9 million)

Box Office Update: Well Aint That Just Dandy?

10. Piranha 3D (Second Weekend; $4.3 million): The Weinstein Company continues to prove themselves utterly incompetent, so far as not knowing that it's a better idea not to greenlight a sequel to a film that's been performing poorly.

9. The Switch (Second Weekend; $4.6 million): Add another Jason Bateman comedy to the list of films that disappointed at the box-office, because this movie's a dud.

8. Nanny McPhee Returns (Second Weekend; $4.7 million): For that matter, put it on record that people don't have the same soft spot they do for candy colored kids films.

7. Inception (Seventh Weekend; $5.1 million): It appears that people do enjoy the Christopher Nolan brand of challenging cinema, leading this film to gargantuan sales.

6. Vampires Suck (Second Weekend; $5.3 million): People came and saw, and now they're done with this film. Enough said.

5. The Other Guys (Fourth Weekend; $6.6 million):How this film has been a staying power for weeks, I have no idea. Leave it to an Adam McKay film to completely ignore logic.

4. Eat Pray Love (Third Weekend; $7 million): Well into it's third weekend, the romantic-drama continues to draw female-oriented audiences.

3. The Expendables (Third Weekend; $9.5 million): Sometimes, people just want to see a decent action pic, and though I can't attest for that, it seems that most audience members will.

2. Takers (First Weekend; $21 million): A heist movie, because we haven't had a really good one of those for almost a month now. The action flick is currently neck and neck with one other film for the top spot on this list, and we won't know until tomorrow who came out on top.

1. The Last Exorcism (First Weekend $21.3 million): Currently the top grossing film of this weekend, the horror film may be edged out by Takers when Sunday's grosses are taken into account.

Box Office Report: "Expendables" Holds Strong

10. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Second Weekend; $5.2 million): The modern movie going audience rarely rewards originality, and Edgar Wright's comedic action romance continues to suffer as a result.

9. Inception (Sixth Weekend; $7.8 million): Then again, when originality is rewarded, it does give the more critically minded some satisfaction, as Christopher Nolan's masterpiece continues to ensnare audiences, now rising to $262 million.

8. Nanny McPhee Returns (First Weekend; $8.4 million): In a world where kids movies do spectacularly, this summer hasn't been too friendly to them. The children's sequel failed to draw audiences this weekend.

7. The Switch (First Weekend; $8.4 million): Another genre that's been butchered for the most part this summer is romantic comedies, which Jason Bateman's film opening this weekend had the misfortune of being.

6. Piranha 3D (First Weekend; $10.1 million): See critics! This is what you get for selling out on your beliefs! The 3D horror film with blood and boobs, didn't do very well this weekend. Odd, isn't it?

5. The Other Guys (Third Weekend; $10.1 million): Adam McKay's action-comedy-whatever keeps earning more money than it should be, now at $88.2 million.

4. The Lottery Ticket (First Weekend; $10.6 million): The black comedy (as in comedy with black people in it) made a decent, but barely noticeable opening.

3. Eat Pray Love (Second Weekend; $12.1 million): Ryan Murphy's drama adaptation continues to do well by its own standards, taking a 47.6% drop and adding to a total gross of $47.2 million.

2. Vampires Suck (First Weekend; $12.2 million): I'm glad that this film didn't open at number one, but I'm still disappointed that people actually spent money on this movie at all.

1. The Expendable (Second Weekend; $17 million): The Sylvester Stallone directed action fest (starring Sylvester Stallone) held onto the top spot in a slow weekend, echoing the dying desperation of the end of summer 2008.

Weekend Preview: 2nd Week of Aug.

Well, I think that this is the official end of the summer movie season, and what a disappointing summer it's been. Last year at was kind of similar, but at least we had the saving grace of District 9 and Inglourious Basterds. This year, the most renewal in our faith that we've gotten outside of Pixar and Nolan has been from this weekend's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which stands the best chance at nailing the box office this weekend. What does it have against it? The release isn't as wide as could be hoped for, and it's up against Sylvester Stallone and Julia Roberts. Still, I think the film will have enough traction with audiences to bring them back for more.

As for the opposition, the biggest threat is The Expendables, with a cast of masculine men who want nothing more than to kick peoples asses all over again. A lot of people have placed this as their top film of the weekend, but it doesn't look very interesting. Just chalk it up to every other action movie exactly like it. Even less of a threat is Julia Roberts' Eat Pray Love. I don't think this film has had any buzz going for it at all. The trailers scream schmaltz, and though I'm sorry to say it, Ryan Murphy (Glee) doesn't display the same charm on the silver screen as he does on television.

My opinion: If you're a woman who wants to see Julia Roberts cry, and suffer, and crap like that, go see Eat Pray Love (NOT a recommendation). If you're a man who wants regularly dull action and nothing more out of this weekend, go see The Expendables. If you want uniquely stylized action, perfectly timed comedy, and a sweet romance, go see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. As a matter of fact, just go out to see Scott Pilgrim, RIGHT NOW! Or when you're not busy working or spending time with your friends, or when you actually can afford to go.

3 to See in August!

As the summer comes to a close, we begin to enter Oscar film season. In the first seven months of the year, we have three or four films that could be nominated, and I don't think we're likely to get many more out of August. We don't have the comfort of Neill Blomkamp or Quentin Tarantino. On a side note, when is Quentin going to get back to making movies. He's had a solid year off. It's time to get back to work. As for August, it's really hard to find three films I might be looking forward to seeing, but I'll do my best.

3. Eat Pray Love

In a Summer this bad, this film somehow finds its way onto this list. The film focuses on a woman who goes on a journey of self discovery in some other country, I think somewhere in Africa. The film stars Julia Roberts, so it should have little trouble getting women to see it, and they'll probably drag their man friends to see it. I wasn't planning to see this film at all, and it's very likely I still won't. However, I did learn that Ryan Murphy, co-creator of Glee has written and directed the film, so maybe it won't be all that bad. It has Javier Bardem in it, so how bad can it be?

2. The Other Guys

This has the potential to be the rare Will Ferrell or Mark Wahlberg film that I don't aggresively hate. Adam McKay is directing, which opens up some obvious opportunities for great, or at least good comedy. I don't see this film being spectacular, but I can see it being fun. It has Samuel L. Jackson in a comedic role, rather than a serious one. Lose Dwayne Johnson, and I'd be there opening weekend. As it stands, I'll probably be there opening weekend anyway, but what's the alternative? Step Up 3D? Go see Inception for the seventh time?

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Usually the most anticipated film of the month has a lot going for it, but in a Summer that's mostly bummer, there's no guarantees, certainly not for Michael Cera. Cera is one of those actors who plays the exact same guy in every movie, which works because he's good at it. Still, this is kind of an action movie, so it's got something more than just comedy fueling it. It's written and directed by such a great director as Edgar Wright, so there will definitely be some great comedy. Whether it will resonate emotionally is unsure. This film is still very up in the air, but it's got more of a shot than most films in August.