Awards 2010: African-American Film Critics Association

These critics awards are becoming a little more taxing than endearing, with a lot of the winners over the past week being rather predictable. On a certain level, that's still continuing, but I'm a bit surprised by some of the choices of today's critics, starting with the African-American critics. It's not surprising that they nominated a few predominantly black films, including the critically maligned For Colored Girls, which took most of the awards. Although, it was nice to see Christopher Nolan be honored for his work on Inception. It's a little strange that they gave Best Actor to Mark Wahlberg, but it's something different.

TOP 10 FILMS
1. The Social Network
2. The King's Speech
3. Inception
4. Black Swan
5. Night Catches Us
6. The Fighter
7. Frankie and Alice
8. Blood Done Sign My Name
9. Get Low
10. For Colored Girls

Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Inception)
Best Actor: Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter)
Best Actress: Hally Berry (Frankie and Alice)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Ealy (For Colored Girls)
Best Supporting Actress: Kimberly Elise (For Colored Girls)
Best Screenplay: Night Catches Us
Best Documentary: Waiting For "Superman"
Best Song: "Four Women" from For Colored Girls

Box Office Update: It's A Kind Of Magic

It was a rather fantastical weekend at the box office, with the biggest opening weekend we've had since Toy Story 3 opened in July. Unsurprisingly, but more than welcome, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 took the top spot this weekend, posting the highest opening weekend for the beloved franchise, as well as the second best November opening, behind the infamous Twilight: New Moon. I'm glad to know that our fanbase isn't as crazed or insane as that one. It's still a really impressive take, especially considering that they didn't get the added price that comes with 3D. This definitely paves the way for Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to break some serious records.

Meanwhile, The Next Three Days disappointed, opening in fifth place with a meager amount. Megamind held on exceptionally well, barreling past the $100 million mark. Tony Scott's Unstoppable continues to defy the odds and succeed with audiences. I wish I could say that this weekend was up from the same last year, but for obvious reasons, that didn't happen. Still, it was favored better than the same weekend two years ago, when Twilight began to warp the minds of our teens.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (First Weekend; $125.1 million)
2. Megamind (Third Weekend; $16.2 million)
3. Unstoppable (Second Weekend; $13.1 million)
4. Due Date (Third Weekend; $9.2 million)
5. The Next Three Days (First Weekend; $6.8 million)
6. Morning Glory (Second Weekend; $5.2 million)
7. Skyline (Second Weekend; $3.4 million)
8. Red (Sixth Weekend; $2.5 million)
9. For Colored Girls (Third Weekend; $2.4 million)
10. Fair Game (Third Weekend; $1.5 million)

Box Office Update: Safely Derailed

Well I'm feeling pretty confidant right now. Clearly not confidant enough to come up with a better title for this segment, but we can't expect all the problems with the world to be solved in one day, now can we? Needless to say that Megamind ended up keeping the top spot for one additional weekend, dropping a mere 35% despite the blunt force that Unstoppable was beginning to accumulate. Tony Scott's new thriller has a chance to post a higher total before the weekend is officially over, but I doubt it will end up topping the Dreamworks favorite. 3D sells when it is used properly and in service of a good story. As for Unstoppable, I'd much rather watch this SNL sketch that premiered last night than the actual film. You get the point easily from it.

Skyline didn't post a debut as high as analysts were expecting, though it somehow did break even this weekend due to a short budget. Morning Glory held up much better than I expected, though still nothing too impressive. Due Date dropped 52%, but only went down to third place, so it can still be called a success. Not as huge as The Hangover, but that's too much to hope for. For Colored Girls took to biggest drop of 65%, proving that audiences didn't quite adore it so much as expected. This weekend certainly paled in comparison to the same weekend last year, when 2012 opened in first with $65 million. Expect a huge increase next weekend when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 opens big while setting new records.

1. Megamind (Second Weekend; $30 million)
2. Unstoppable (First Weekend; $23.5 million)
3. Due Date (Second Weekend; $15.5 million)
4. Skyline (First Weekend; $11.7 million)
5. Morning Glory (First Weekend; $9.6 million)
6. For Colored Girls (Second Weekend; $6.8 million)
7. Red (Fifth Weekend; $5.1 million)
8. Paranormal Activity 2 (Fourth Weekend; $3.1 million)
9. Saw 3D (Third Weekend; $2.8 million)
10. Jackass 3D (Fifth Weekend; $2.3 million)

Box Office Update: Mind Over Mindless

This was a pretty phenomenal weekend at the box office, for both films deserving of it and undeserving. Working from the top down, Megamind rightfully took first place thanks to the boost from 3D as well as some positive reviews. It's barely above the opening weekend that How to Train Your Dragon sustained before becoming the sleeper hit of the year. Hopefully positive word of mouth will boost the action-comedy to similar status. Meanwhile, Todd Philips' Due Date took second place with an opening not quite as high as The Hangover. The film was opening against largely mixed reviews that might have narrowed the amount of customers for the new film.

On the bottom of the spectrum for newly released films is Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls, which opened to pathetic reviews which dispel any Oscar hopes the film had. However, it is from the illogically appealing Tyler Perry, so I guess it was always destined for box office success. It took third with a rather hefty total, but as with all of Perry's films, it will take a hit from negative word of mouth. Red held as strong as it has been for a while, keeping a solid standing the top five where other have been falling out. Saw 3D took a beating, falling north of 60% to fifth place. In all, this was a huge improvement on last weekend, and the same weekend last year when A Christmas Carol opened at the top spot.

1. Megamind (First Weekend; $47.7 million)
2. Due Date (First Weekend; $33.5 million)
3. For Colored Girls (First Weekend; $20.1 million)
4. Red (Fourth Weekend; $8.9 million)
5. Saw 3D (Second Weekend; $8.2 million)
6. Paranormal Activity 2 (Third Weekend; $7.3 million)
7. Jackass 3D (Fourth Weekend; $5.1 million)
8. Hereafter (Fourth Weekend; $4 million)
9. Secretariat (Fifth Weekend; $4 million)
10. The Social Network (Sixth Weekend; $3.6 million)

Theatrical Trailer: For Colored Girls

I'm sick and tired of the Oscar talk For Colored Girls is actually getting, because outside of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot, Tyler Perry has never made a good film. There are some African-American dramas that work, and some that don't. This one doesn't, at least from what I see here. Then again I just saw a two-hour-long soap opera about some self-involved girl trying not to be black, so I'm not too intent on seeing another one of those. It might be just me, but take a look at this trailer, and comment below on what you think of it.