TOP 5 SHOTS from "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

It's official. I'm out of excuses for not bringing this column back, be it with less of a bang than a slight ease-in, so another welcome to the retooled "Top Shots". You may have noticed in prior lists that the amount of dynamic shots has a potential to vary from film to film. Occasionally, I'm just stretching to a ridiculous point to bring ten shots in, so having a sense of rotation in the list is as freeing as it is stressful. Not having an extra five shots to lean back on means much more care in picking five for the top, so this week felt the need for something that wasn't so incredibly overbearing in terms of numerous cinematic opportunities.

Seeing as "The Bourne Legacy" is out this weekend, which not only features star Jeremy Renner, but also cinematographer Robert Elswit, the choice for this week wasn't just obvious. It was delightful, given it's a film I have no problem seeing repeatedly. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" made the cut for my Top 20 of 2011 literally under the wire, given an update to replace "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at #20 for something I genuinely had a great deal more encouragement towards. It's a film that not only knows how to have a ridiculously good time, but to evoke some tangible emotional themes throughout that the casual viewer might overlook.

OSCAR 2011: Requiem for an Ensemble

If there's been one category that's been sorely missing from the Academy bracket for ages, it's an award for Ensemble Cast that's been long standing within the SAG Awards. And it's a damn shame because there is plenty of room for them to honor a notably strong ensemble cast. Of course the Academy would quite easily muck it up to accommodate their own favorite films rather than consider the casts as a whole. So I offered them a slot for themselves, with what would very likely end up nominated if they chose. But honestly, I care a great deal more about what I would choose, because I'm just that narcissistic.

The only real overlap there would be would be in "Midnight in Paris", which they'd give access automatically whereas I understand why they deserve to be nominated. The cast of that piece is so immense and on-the-dot in a wide and expansive impersonatory and satirical joust for the win. On the smaller side, I think everybody was stunned by the synchronization of the work on "Drive", but less for the across the board subtle and shattering performances on "Tomboy". That may be just me, but I was devastated fantastically. I was giddy with joy at the assembled cast of the latest "Mission: Impossible", each of which served to a purpose. And the cast of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" leaves nary a weak link in the pot.

Box Office Update: Surge from the "Underworld"

This was a weekend of massive drops that somehow managed to keep up with the pace last weekend had set. The returning films undertook massive drops, as to be expected after a holiday weekend. The greater wealth was spread amongst the films on the opening slate. "Underworld: Awakening" was quite obviously the strongest debut, benefiting from the critics being away at Sundance, and therefore not coming in on a wave of hate. Same can be said for "Red Tails" as well, which did not fare well with critics, but did solidly with audiences. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"s expansion yielded some small gains, but if the film fades out of mind by next week, don't be surprised. It could turn out to get a surprise heap of Oscar nods that push it to greater success, but don't count on it.

Box Office Update: People Remembered About "Contraband"?

Well it doesn't quite look like "Beauty and the Beast 3D" put up the same numbers as "The Lion King 3D" did back in September. To its credit, the 3D Bluray for for "Beauty and the Beast" was already out, while "The Lion King" still had a few weeks to go. That's probably what stunted the income of it a bit, but it still managed to bring in quite a tasty sum. In number one, quite unexpectedly, was "Contraband". It's interesting, because I didn't think a lot of people really knew what "Contraband" was, but apparently they did. I suppose that's what happens when the dumb trailer plays at every single screening you go to. I wouldn't say to expect it to hold well in the future. You know how these things go. They're big on opening, and then they just evaporate.

"Joyful Noise" seemed to evaporate before it was even released, though now that it's out I can easily imagine family audiences returning to it for weeks to come. I hope not, but that's the way it's likely to occur. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" continue to surge towards their benchmarks of $200 million and $100 million, respectively. As a matter of fact, they should reach that point by this time next week. "Sherlock Holmes" may even take $200 million, if just barely. Overall, this weekend was about exactly in line with the same weekend last year, when "The Green Hornet" was the massive debut of the weekend.

1. "Contraband" (First Weekend; $28.8 million)

2. "Beauty and the Beast 3D" (First Weekend; $23.5 million)

3. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Fifth Weekend; $14.2 million)

4. "Joyful Noise" (First Weekend; $13.8 million)

5. "Sherlock Holmes" (Fifth Weekend; $10.5 million)

6. "The Devil Inside" (Second Weekend: $9.2 million)

7. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (Fourth Weekend; $8.1 million)

8. "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3" (Fifth Weekend; $7.8 million)

9. "War Horse" (Fourth Weekend; $7.2 million)

10. "We Bought A Zoo" (Fourth Weekend; $6.8 million)

Box Office Update: "Devil" Brings in the New Year

And cue the hordes of analysts trying to figure out the secret behind the surprise success of "The Devil Inside" this weekend. You rarely expect a new release on the first weekend of the year to bring in the business that the recent horror disaster has. Never mind the fact that it grossed more in its first weekend than any film in my top 20 of 2011, save "Rango". There was no buzz going for the film, or at least none that I saw. Is it maybe that this is the only horror film in the market that drove people to see it? Frankly, I don't care. In the one sense, it brings up the box office heading into this year. In the other, it's an abysmal film, and it's become clear very quickly that nobody here cares about filmmaking.

In holdovers, "Mission: Impossible" continued its victory loop on the way to $200 million and its inevitable sequel pickup. "Sherlock Holmes" is still doing quite well, despite the relatively soft opening it had. It's a kind of reminder of how prosperous the January frame can be for films coming out of the holiday fray, as well as Oscar pics. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" expanded well, hopefully making the Academy regret not paying as much attention to it before. Overall, this weekend was a strong 37.2% above the same frame last year, when "Season of the Witch" produced an equal product as "The Devil Inside", but yielded much weaker results.

Box Office Update: "Impossible" End to the Year

At this point, I'm just sick of the negativity surrounding the analysis of the box office. Not the box office itself, as it's doing pretty damn well. I can see the top ten of this weekend doing well in the coming month, and an obvious surge for "The Artist" is coming when the nominations eventually do come. It's wise of the Weinstein Company to hold that back just long enough for it to really bring audiences in later on. For now, the box office gold is being spread pretty evenly, since there's nothing to really hog the spotlight. I don't think that'll change in December of this year either, but it's still an honest earnings.

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" overtook "Sherlock Holmes" as far as total box office goes, with it likely heading to finish at or above $200 million. That seals the deal for a fifth film, after all the work this franchise has done. "Alvin and the Chipmunks" continues to do well, as we knew it would, and the same almost goes for "War Horse". I have an equal interest in seeing either of them in theaters, or ever for that matter. And in spite of some perceived-to-be-poor opening numbers for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", it bounced back properly to bring its total up to $60 million, on its way to +$100 million. I'd consider that a success for a franchise starter based on a Swedish novel. And the rest is the rest, but it's still an more than modest improvement on last weekend.

Weekend Report: Into the Bright Night

This weekend is where all the cards are put on the table as far as the 2011 endgame is concerned. The box office remains the barest of battle grounds as far as the awards season is concerned, with the holiday vacation usually being when most head out to the Oscar players of the season. Either that, or they head out to whatever commercial plays are strongest in the market. Alas, this year is proving about as disappointing as the last. We know that this can be quite a successful frame, if marketed right. The only film that seems to have the advantage, presently anyway, is "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol". It's working off of the desperation for the basic need of fun entertainment, and it is proving quite fruitful. Well played Brad Bird.

So where is the disadvantage? So far, and it's painfully unlikely as well, but "The Adventures of Tintin". People just aren't going for the commercial Spielberg play, even though it has proven to be decent fun. It's got a tough time ahead of it this weekend. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" has things better off, preying on the lovers of the book franchise, and Fincher's own marketed gatherers. "We Bought a Zoo" chose to open on Friday, so no word quite yet on how that will do, but I'd definitely imagine it would be quite the crowd-pleasing heart-warmer. Action whatever "The Darkest Hour" doesn't seem to have any market in the glut of the weekend, and is bound to lose out to "War Horse", which may or may not come sweeping people off their feet with dunder-headed tear-jerking. And that's the long and short of this weekend.

Box Office Update: "Impossible" overshadows "Sherlock"'s game

The latest "Holmes" flick is a tricky contraption of sort, wavering between bigger & better and louder & crasser than the first flick. Keep in mind, that first one had a great many detractors for me, but it came almost out of nowhere and created a dark atmosphere very in tune with director Guy Richie's other films, but it finally works here. In "A Game of Shadows", not so much. Mind you, I'll get slightly more in depth with my thoughts on the film later on, but for now it's simply worth representing how the box office dip between the first and the second films is indicative of the time there is to be had on each. They spent 30% more, and ended up with 30% less.

Not to say that it was a total failure. $40 million is still $40 million, even if there's a strong degree of work left to go. That's why we have the Christmas break to burgeon these opportunities. And even outside "Holmes", we saw strong signs for the box office. "Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked", in spite of horrid reviews, picked up its child audience skillfully without a hitch. Sure, it's not quite as much as they wanted, but they get what they payed for. They're rather good at that. But the big success story of the weekend was "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol", which picked up a hefty sum from its IMAX screens this weekend. That allied with the advanced buzz that is bound to boost its overall income means that it could very well be the massive hit of the holiday season, as well it should be. Check the charts after the jump.

Film Review: "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

When you hit the fourth film in a feature franchise, there are a number of ways you can go. You can establish a strong footing for the rest of your series ("Harry Potter"), you can abandon everything that made the previous trilogy great ("Star Wars", "Indiana Jones", "Pirates of the Caribbean", the list goes on), or you can do what "Mission: Impossible" did, and just go out and make the best film you possibly can. This a series that had nothing to do in the first two installments, so no real purpose, and then they tried something interesting with the third and deepened the characters, gave it a jolt of humor, and several needed splashes of style. They did well to hold onto that.

So do I see this as the fourth film in the franchise? No. I actually consider it the second in the series that Abrams kicked off in 2006. Now it has become the jumping off point for Brad Bird's first time as a live action director. I think I had some trepidation when the first trailer came around, but we should have never expected an emotional hard-hitter. That's not what this series is, but it does have an emotional undercurrent that works as a steady heartbeat to hold everything together. What Brad Bird has established in his past of animated films is a lively energy and constantly upheld excitement. That translates perfectly for this piece.

Carpet-Bagging: Visual Effects Race Down to 15

The Oscar races are cracking down towards their endgame, with the longlist for the visual effects race finally announced. I'm not sure there are many notable absences from this list, but though it's no surprise that "Melancholia" isn't here, I personally have deeper appreciation for the visual effects in that film than sure-to-be-nominated "The Tree of Life". Yes, Lars' visuals are less "real", but that's most of what clinches them for me. But I didn't expect them to make the cut anyway, so lets move on to what is most definitely not going to end up nominated. I think we can rule out "Captain America", "Cowboys & Aliens", "Pirates", "Real Steel", "Sucker Punch", "Super 8", and "Thor".

From there I can narrow it down by axing "Sherlock Holmes", "Mission: Impossible", and "X-Men: First Class". The automatic response is "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", "Hugo", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", "The Tree of Life", and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". But again, this could all change ever so quickly. Check after the jump for the full list of potential candidates.

• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Cowboys & Aliens
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• Real Steel
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• Sucker Punch
• Super 8
• Thor
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• The Tree of Life
• X-Men: First Class

Films to See in 2011: December

Apologies that this edition is late, as is pretty much everything else having to do with this site. You can expect that trend to continue at least for the next week, after which things will get back to normal. More than that, with the critics awards popping up everywhere and the year's end looming as a deadline to be met, you'll see a grand flood of news coming pretty soon. Concerning this month, two of my most anticipated films are already out, be it in very limited releases. "Sleeping Beauty", which I'll get more into later on, is just a small piece of this month which seems ever so promising. I've already effused about my excitement surrounding "Shame". It still looks fantastic, despite a share of reviewers thinking differently.

We get a considerable chunk of new releases this week, with Warner Bros. bound to pull in hefty audiences with "New Years Eve". A cast that star-studded isn't assembled for accolades. Meanwhile the Jonah Hill vehicle "The Sitter" looks to grab its more "mature" comedic audiences, especially given the more than amusing trailer that hit a few weeks back. Personally, I'm much more excited that "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is finally hitting for audiences this week. Out of mild curiosity, "W.E." is also heading out this weekend. So that's... something.

And then the rest of the month finds itself with too many blockbusters than it knows what to do with. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked"... yeah, I've got nothing. Don't do that to your children. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" looks to nail the same crowd as the first film, and if it doesn't look at all fantastic, it should be a generally interesting ride. "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" is still very much up in the air, but I'd like to think that Cruise and Brad Bird have something good here. And of course there's "The Adventures of Tintin", "War Horse", "The Darkest Hour", and "We Bought a Zoo", but who really cares? My interest strains for three particular films this month, and you can find them after the jump.

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" Trailer

There's been a fair bit of silence around the latest "Mission Impossible" film, and I'd like to think it's more skillful than it is apprehensive. Then this trailer comes around and reveals just a little too much. I'm no fan of a film showing its card before it plays, so that kind of upset me a bit. Still, the trailer packs a strong enough punch. Between the Burj Khalifa and a sandstorm car chase, I'm totally in.

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" Teaser Trailer

Really, of all the ways they could've gone, they put Eminem as the musical backdrop of this trailer? More than a tad unorthodox, but I expect the marketing is trying to lure in the Transformers crowd that will be seeing it before Dark of the Moon. Yes, they vault a car in the air that Tom Cruise just barely misses, and he does, once again, vault off the side of a building, but how can you not expect that from a Mission Impossible film? Honestly, Ghost Protocol looks to be an exciting sort of film, but the teaser obviously wouldn't show that. It's a showcase of the action on display in the film. Don't pass judgment just yet. And honestly, when Tom Wilkinson surprisingly shows up in your film, how can you complain?

Something for the Road

The Licensing International Expo is far from a momentous occasion of any sort, only offering us promo art of sorts for upcoming releases. I usually wouldn't care in the slightest, but this Summer continues to be a crop of uninspiring "entertainment", so it's nice to have some validation that major films like The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol are indeed still on their way. Then again, I couldn't care less for Footloose or G.I. Joe 2.

Brad Bird Accepting The Annie Award

Just skip to 4:30 and watch the hilarity ensue.