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.

Box Office Report: "The Expendables" K.O.'s "Scott Pilgrim"

This is one of those successful weekends where the wrong films are successful. I am of course talking about The Expendables taking the weekend with $35 million, and Eat Pray Love coming in second with $23.7 million, while Scott Pilgrim vs. The World opened disappointingly with $10.5 million. Hopefully those estimates will change when Pilgrim's Sunday total is confirmed, but things definitely aren't what could've been hoped for. Even worse, The Other Guys took in another $17 million this weekend, which will likely lead to it being the third worst movie of the summer to make it past the $100 million mark.

On the flip side of things, Inception took in another $11 million this weekend, after a 38% drop from last weekend. The film currently stands just outside of $250 million. On top of that, Toy Story 3 made quite a milestone this weekend, not only becoming the highest grossing animated film of all time, but also becoming just the eleventh film to pass the $400 million mark domestically. Oddly enough, this weekend was up from the same weekend last year when District 9 opened in the number one spot.

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.