Box Office Update: Where's Our "Way Back"?

I didn't end up seeing No Strings Attached this weekend, much to my dismay and disappointment. It still managed to do well enough this weekend, raking in reasonable total for a film sporting a man who I hate. The foursome of major Oscar contenders, The King's Speech, Black Swan, True Grit, and The Fighter, brought in a grand total of $28 million altogether, and that shouldn't drop much after the Oscar nominations are announced on Tuesday, which I'm very excited about. I have no idea how and Little Fockers, and Yogi Bear are still raking in money, but I know they should stop right now. The box office was down about 26.6% from the same weekend last year, so we've got a lot of improvement to make. Does it eeem like anything's missing? If not, I don't necessarily blame you, because The Way Back opened on quiet buzz, and it has nobody to blame but itself for the poor box office results it took in.

1. No Strings Attached (First Weekend; $20.3 million)
2. The Green Hornet (Second Weekend; $18.1 million)
3. The Dilemma (Second Weekend; $9.7 million)
4. The King's Speech (Ninth Weekend; $9.2 million)
5. True Grit (Fifth Weekend; $8 million)
6. Black Swan (Eighth Weekend; $6.2 million)
7. The Fighter (Seventh Weekend; $4.5 million)
8. Little Fockers (Fifth Weekend; $4.4 million)
9. Yogi Bear (Sixth Weekend; $4 million)
10. TRON Legacy (Sixth Weekend; $3.7 million)

2011 Sundance Film Festival: Days 1-2

I'd say that I've entered the fray a little late in terms of the Sundance Film Festival. I've been so swamped this weekend, I never even assumed that there might actually be some new and amazing films debuting at the festival this year. Though the 2010 awards season may not be over yet, it's sure starting to feel like that, and so it's a good idea to get ahead on the next year. It turns out that quite a lot has been doing at Sundance this year, and the only relevant this I thought was premiering was Tom McCarthy's newest feature, Win Win. Even though his film hasn't been getting quite the same accolades as his past features, it hasn't gotten much negative response so far, so I'd say we've got another indie hit from McCarthy.

Transitioning from the expected to the unlikely, the latest film in the string of Blair Witch style caught-on-camera fantasy flicks is apparently upon us. It somewhat dismays me what this film is about: Trolls. I'm not even joking about this one. It's about freakin' trolls! The Troll Hunter is the debut that's caught a great deal of attention, not to mention unnerving looks. I'm not sure if I can buy into this one, or if I want to at all. I find it far easier to put my faith in director Dee Rees' lesbian drama, Pariah. Obviously a young black woman taking center-stage in a film premiering at Sundance is something we're quite familiar with after the film formerly known as Push came out. Last year proved to be the most predominantly white year in film I have seen in years, so it's good to get some diversity back in the swing of things. Pariah is actually aspiring to be the raw emotional-drama of this year's festival, after Blue Valentine lead the pack a year ago. It has definitely peeked my interest as an outside contender.

Awards 2010: Producer's Guild of America Winners

The PGA announced their winners this morning, much to our surprise and delight. The winner of the top prize, However, did not go to the obvious candidate of The Social Network. It was instead opted to go to The King's Speech, and that makes the Best Picture race a bit more of a wild card now than it was before. The PGA have awarded the film that's gone on to win Best Picture for the past three years. Either this is going to be the breaking of that tally, or they're onto something we haven't caught up to yet. I'm still pulling for a come-from-behind victory for Black Swan, but that's just dreams. The rest of the winners are rather procedural, and nothing really too surprising. I'm still happy that Mad Men took the Drama Series prize, especially since it was robbed at the Golden Globes.

Best Picture: The King's Speech
Best Documentary: Waiting for "Superman"
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Drama Series: Mad Men
Best Comedy Series: Modern Family
Best TV Move/Miniseries: The Pacific
Best Talk-Show/Reality: The Colbert Report

Film Review: Rabbit Hole

In the post-2010 scramble to see all the movies I have missed, most times I am only mildly affected by a film. Exit Through the Gift Shop, spectacular and brilliant as it may be, didn't seem to change my life as much as it has changed others. 127 Hours was inspirational and powerful, but it was hindered by the fact that I knew what was going to happen from the moment it started. Everyone has made such a big fuss about the crucial arm-cutting scene, and they're starting to think that that's all the film is about. It makes it impossible to go into it with the unsuspecting mindset that you don't know what will happen. The film that really blew me away, far more than I expected it to, was Rabbit Hole from director John Cameron Mitchell.

Sometimes it is the most simple and mundane of plots that truly grab you, not to belittle the extreme and heartbreaking trials the film presents. The focus is on Becca and Howie Corbett, a married couple who are still recovering over the traumatic and shocking loss of their child, Danny. As they struggle through their grief, Howie befriends somebody who's been at their focus group for a grand total of eight years, and Becca starts meeting with the teenage boy who was driving the car that accidentally killed young Danny. Becca gets some guidance from her mother Nat, who also went through a similar tragedy.

Television Breakdown: Violet Sedan Chair

If you didn't catch the new episode of Fringe last night, I can't truly say that I'm too angry at you. It's not because the episode wasn't up to the caliber that we've grown accustomed to all season, which it absolutely was. It's just that it somehow managed to do perfectly fine without those viewers that didn't tune in, garnering a 4.9 viewership rating, and improving upon where it stood on Thursday nights. It looks like the leap to Fridays turned out for the best, though I still highly encourage people to tune in for the show if they haven't done so already. It's the absolute greatest genre series on television. In the meantime between now and next Friday, take a listen to some of the unique music of the top band in the Fringe universe, Violet Sedan Chair.

Violet Sedan Chair "Seven Suns" LP Side 1 by k1k1chan

Awards 2010: Cesar Award Nominations

I know it's ridiculous to post a story on a bunch of films that nobody has ever heard of before, but I've always admired the choices of the French awards known as the Cesar Awards. It's not surprising that Of Gods and Men was nominated for the top prize, but The Ghost Writer also made the cut, surprisingly enough. Carlos failed to make the top prize, but settled well enough for the lower categories. The Social Network and Inception were the American nominations for Foreign Language Film, while Academy Award winner The Secret in Their Eyes also made it in. Perhaps it's not too relevant, but it's certainly interesting.

Best Film
“Gainsbourg”
“The Ghost Writer”
“Heartbreaker”
“Mammuth”
“The Names of Love”
“Of Gods and Men”
“On Tour”

Best Director
Olivier Assayas (“Carlos”)
Bertrand Blier (“The Clink of Ice”)
Roman Polanski (“The Ghost Writer”)
Mathieu Amalric (“On Tour”)
Xavier Beauvois (“Of Gods and Men”)

Best Actor
Gérard Depardieu (“Mammuth”)
Romain Duris (“Heartbreaker”)
Eric Elmosnino (“Gainsbourg”)
Jacques Gamblin (“The Names of Love”)
Lambert Wilson (“Of Gods and Men”)

Television Breakdown: Rise of the Firefly

There hasn't been much viewing options this past week, but it's hard to quibble after having my mind completely blown away once again by the writers and producers behind Fringe. The show has taken so many brilliantly unfortunate twists and turns across the past nine episodes, and we're just starting to see the complication and repercussions of Olivia's stay over there and Fauxlivia deception over here. I can't say that this was the start of the next chapter of Fringe. It's a standalone adventure with huge mythological importance to what this series is about, and what is to come for our melancholy heroes. This episode was another look into the world of the Observers, most specifically September. He's the one assigned to our group, and we saw a side of the character that we've never seen before. For the first time, the bald man in black took action to influence the course of events, all for the purpose of delivering a simple message, as well as confirming a precarious theory.

It started when September brought former-musician Roscoe Joyce's son several years into the future to see his father. This brings our team around to Joyce, and after Walter has been kept on the sidelines over the first part of this season, the visit from his lifelong idol was especially important for him. I always want to head back to watch a Fringe episode over again, but it's kind of a requirement for this episode. All of the intricate plotting and maneuvers orchestrated by September build towards an emotional climax. September was testing Walter emotionally and psychologically, seeing if he would eventually be willing to finally let go of the most important person in his life: Peter. Walter was hell bent on fixing his memory so he might stop Walternate's insidious plans, and all the potential consequences Walter faced were made apparent from the onset. Walter has become obsessed with saving his son, even if it means the destruction of the universe. We saw huge progress in that respect this week, be it in an ominous fashion.

The Weekend Report: Sex and the Himalayas

It feels like this weekend should be the real start of the new year, with a somewhat relevant romantic-comedy and a newly released drama from a well respected filmmaker. It's crazy to believe that this weekend will best its predecessor, so it's better not to try. Instead, this weekend should simply provide some worthwhile entertainment, after several weeks of receiving anything but that. Oddly enough, the film that I'm most required to see, and oddly enough most anticipating, is No Strings Attached from director Ivan Reitman. I went soft on the "Dread Locks" list for January, and this is the outcome. From here on out, I will only pick films with a guarantee of being absolute garbage.

Natalie Portman has five new films releasing this year, although I doubt any of them will come anywhere near to the level of celebrity that Black Swan garnered her. If anything, 2011 is her victory lap. She's about to win her first Academy Award, has met the love of her life, and is now pregnant with child. She has pretty much earned the right to give us whatever she wants this year, and to act like a bit of a dork. If you don't see No Strings Attached, I can't say you'll be missing a life-changing opportunity, but it should be tolerable at the very least.

Peter Weir's The Way Back is the other major release of the weekend, and it obviously won't be getting the same attention as the more commercial enterprises of this weekend. If anything, I expect probably a $10 million opening weekend tally, and little more. It's definitely worth seeing more than the romantic-comedy, but somehow I don't think I'll get around to it just yet. It's not just that it's not playing in my area. I just don't feel like seeing it at the time. However, if you're looking for something to do tonight, I must suggest that you stay home and watch Fringe at 9 p.m. on FOX. It's definitely the most worthy choice in my opinion.

No Strings Attached
The Way Back

Oscar 2010: Final Nomination Predictions (Part 1: Technical Categories)

We're less than a week away from the announcement of the nominations for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, so it's a good idea to go over our predictions for what will and won't be nominated. If you want to skip this explanation, you can just skip over to the Oscar Prediction page as we update it over the weekend, although I obviously recommend that you read our drawn out explanation. Today we'll be covering the technical categories. Tomorrow we'll be going through the acting nominations. Monday, we'll go over the top race of Best Picture, Director, Animated Feature, Documentary, Foreign Language Film, and the Screenplay races. So lets get started, shall we?

It's been a pretty slow week, and that's probably a good thing since I had a lot of settling in to do. It gave me some time to take a closer look at the technical categories, and as set in stone as they may seem, I feel like we're going to get some surprises. The obvious frontrunner in the technicals is Inception, which has some pretty solid locks in Score, Cinematography, Art Direction, Visual Effects, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. There's no qualms or quibbles about the film making its due. It was snubbed out of the Makeup category, which it had a minor chance at because of old Saito. I hoped for Costume Design to be surprise nomination for this one, but it's probably not going to happen.

Alice in Wonderland is a film nobody wants to honor, yet it somehow deserves those honors. It had a fantastic team on Makeup, Art Direction, and Costume Design, so it'll take some kind of miracle for it not to take home anything. The Wolfman will be securing a nomination in Makeup, but nothing else. Rounding out the makeup category is a rather difficult choice between The Way Back and Barney's Version, though I'm rooting for the latter. God forbid Jonah Hex walk away with an undeserved nomination. The only categories I can't really do any advising on are Sound Editing and Mixing. TRON Legacy is probably going to get some nods, but I've not a clue beyond that.

Only slightly more insightful am I at Costume Design, which I keep placing I Am Love in because I can't see why it should be nominated. The King's Speech is a lock, not to mention the frontrunner against Alice in Wonderland for the win. Burlesque could make it in for obvious reasons, but I don't really see why it should. Heading into the categories I'm more well associated with, Original Score is a bit of an obsession of mine. The ultimate battle will be between Inception and The Social Network, but as far as filling out the other nominees, it's a bit harder. John Powell will probably get a nod for How to Train Your Dragon, and as for the rest, I'm hoping that Alexandre Desplat doubles for two of his films. The King's Speech will obviously make it in, but I hold onto my belief that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 will make the cut.

Speaking of Deathly Hallows: Part 1, I still think that this will be a great year for the fantasy franchise. It'll definitely snag a Visual Effects nomination, but it's more of a struggle to get nods in Cinematography, Art Direction, and Original Score. It probably won't happen, but I hold out hope that it will. Black Swan is another one to watch for, properly becoming a presence in Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Cinematography. Perhaps the most extreme prediction I have is that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will make the Visual Effects race over Alice in Wonderland. Probably won't happen, but I hope it will.

Rounding out the technical categories is Film Editing, which is the most straight forward in terms of predictions. The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, and 127 Hours are all practical locks, but my guess to fill out that final slot is The Fighter. Of all the aspects of that film, the aggressive way it was edited was the thing I loved the most. That just about covers the technical achievements, albeit in a jumble and non-routine way. For the simple rundown of my guesses, check out our Oscar Predictions page as it is updated over the weekend. In the meantime, please comment on which films you think will or should be nominated come Tuesday morning!

For Your Anticipation: Fringe Friday

You might have been routinely ignoring these posts of me rambling on about my fondness for Fringe and how more people should notice it. By now you know it's transitioning to Friday nights and so there's a precarious chance that it'll either hit it big or die a slow death. You know that I'd do absolutely anything to keep that from happening, because it is the only show that is occasionally cinematic in how it is told. That is to say it's the only show currently airing that provides such an experience. The world would be a poorer place if Fringe suddenly left far before its time was done. We don't know how long Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman intend for the series to go on, so for all we know it could go on to season 10. I'd certainly love such a thing to happen, but only time will tell. Tonight's episode is a big one, and I understand if you decide not to tune in, but if you do then you will not be disappointed. It's airs at 9 p.m. tonight on FOX.

"He Totally Wants To Sleep With Me!"

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

For Your Anticipation: I've Got The World On A String

It's a certain sign of the depressing atmosphere we've been stuck with this month when I'm actually looking forward to an Ashton Kutcher film. In all honesty, No Strings Attached doesn't necessarily look like an awful film as originally assumed, but anybody expecting a great one should leave those expectations at the door. Aside from Kutcher, the film has a great cast including Greta Gerwig, Mindy Kaling, and the eventual Oscar winner Natalie Portman. She's got a flood of films on the way before taking a break because she's getting kind of pregnant, and that works against quite a few character choices. I assume that's one of the reasons she didn't get the role of Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. That would certainly change Nolan's plans pretty quickly.

<a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/browse?mkt=en-us&vid=7ad35202-87aa-45db-88b3-6a311738695d&from=en-us&fg=dest" target="_new" title="'No Strings Attached' Exclusive Clip: "A Period Mix"">Video: 'No Strings Attached' Exclusive Clip: "A Period Mix"</a>