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)

The Weekend Report: Clooney Just F**ked With The Wrong Mexican!

If there's one thing people could have predicted about this weekend, it would be that Going the Distance was never going to be a good movie. It's a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and the Mac guy. That does not qualify a good cinematic experience. It qualifies a funny trailer, but some trailers just weren't meant to be fleshed out into feature length films. On the other side of the spectrum is the surprising front-runner for this weekend, Robert Rodriguez's Machete, based on the renowned Grindhouse trailer.

I was frankly surprised to hear that this was likely to be a hit with both audiences and critics. Out of this weekend, everybody just assumed that the winner would be The American, starring George Clooney. Here's a film from a new director who has displayed skill in the past, but is currently beginning a sort of slump. Critics have been mixed about this film, hoping for something to actually happen in their movie. As a matter of fact, this was the film I was most looking forward to seeing. Perhaps I should be thanking the local theaters for not screening it in my neighborhood.

On the other hand, critics have been really getting behind Machete, because it offers audiences what they couldn't get from The American. All we want at this point in our lives is a good, insane, exploitation action jamboree, and who better to give us that than Robert Rodriguez? Planet Terror remains, for me, his best work today, because he explored all the things he's been good at in the past. I'll be checking out Machete tomorrow, and seeing if all the buzz has benefited his film, or hurt it.

My Verdict: The women of the world, afraid of Rodriquez's "unique" sense of humor, will find entertainment in watching another sub-par romantic comedy, or gazing at two hours of George Clooney not really doing anything. The men who aren't seduced by Clooney, will be spending their time and money wisely with Machete. Or you can screw off the theater crowd altogether and stay at home watching Camp Rock 2. It's your decision.