Tron Legacy did manage to take a commanding lead at the box office this weekend, but its final numbers were not high enough to warrant the title of blockbuster. The $170 Million follow-up to Disney’s 1982 movie made a solid $43.6 Million at the box office.

Box Office Mojo reports that almost 82% of that total was from 3D screenings. Fortunately, audiences seemed to like the movie more than the critics, giving it a B+ score on CinemaScore.

Compare that total to last year’s must see event movie  Avatar, which made $77 Million on the same weekend last year. Avatar went on to make almost $750M domestically.

Yogi Bear came in at a distant second place with $16.7 Million.  That’s rather ho-hum for a family friendly movie.  Perhaps some parents took heed of the rather dismal reviews.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader added another $12.4 Million to its total, which now stands at $42.7 Million after two weeks, far below its $155 Million price tag.  The Fighter expanded wide into 2,500 theaters this weekend, and pulled in $12.2 Million.  With all the Oscar buzz around this movie, it should easily surpass its modest $25 Million budget during its theatrical run.

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The Screen Actor’s Guild has announced their nominees for best in film and television for 2110.  Since these awards are voted on by other actors, they usually carry a certain prestige. Rosario Dawson and Angie Harmon announced the guild’s nominees this morning in Los Angeles.

For those keeping score, The King’s Speech leads the film pack with four nominations, along with Black Swan. On the TV side, Modern Family came in with 4 awards, followed by Dexter, Glee, and Mad Men with three nominations each.

The awards will be  given on Sunday, January  30th on TBS. For a complete list of nominees, visit the official SAG website.

FILM

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

JEFF BRIDGES / Rooster Cogburn – TRUE GRIT

ROBERT DUVALL / Felix Bush – GET LOW

JESSE EISENBERG / Mark Zuckerberg -THE SOCIAL NETWORK

COLIN FIRTH / King George VI – THE KING’S SPEECH

JAMES FRANCO / Aron Ralston – 127 HOURS

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

ANNETTE BENING / Nic - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

NICOLE KIDMAN / Becca – RABBIT HOLE

JENNIFER LAWRENCE / Ree Dolly – WINTER’S BONE

NATALIE PORTMAN / Nina Sayers – BLACK SWAN

HILARY SWANK / Betty Anne Waters – CONVICTION

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As we approach the end of 2010, we will naturally see list start to appear. List of best movies, best TV shows, best video games, best gadgets and tech and a whole lot more. In fact, you’ll see a few lists from us pretty soon too. It’s just how this end-of-the-year thing works these days.

Until we start to roll out our own lists, we have one for you to kick things off. This one comes from the American Film Institute and highlight their picks of the best Movies and TV programs for 2010. When you read over their selections, most of them pretty much make sense.

Most of the films and most of the TV programs listed here are among our favorites as well and all are of a high quality. Of course, on every list there’s always some items that don’t seem to belong. However, we won’t disparage the AFI’s list, we will just counter with a list of our own (or three) soon.

Here are AFI’s picks:

Movies

• BLACK SWAN
• THE FIGHTER
• INCEPTION
• THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
• 127 HOURS
• THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• THE TOWN
• TOY STORY 3
• TRUE GRIT
• WINTER’S BONE

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It was a pretty bland weekend at the box office considering that two big studio releases opened.  Despite the built in audience for Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and the mega-watt star power of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in The Tourist, neither of the films managed to make much of a splash.  Both came in under the low end of their respective projected estimates.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader won the weekend with a relatively low take of  $24.5M.  This is far below the other films in the franchise. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe made $65.6M in its opening weekend, and Prince Caspian made $55M in the same time frame.

The film has a reported budget between $140 and $150M, which seems rather daunting to recoup at this point.  Fortunately, the film fared better overseas, grossing over $67M, bringing its total to $81M.

The Tourist was troubled by bad reviews, but many still thought the film would benefit from its star power. However,  the film made a measly $17M.  Disney’s Tangled only dropped around 33%, earning an additional $14.6M for third place. The film has now made $115M to date.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows dropped almost 50%, making $8.5M.  Its four week total stands at $257M, good enough for placing number six on the highest grossing films of 2010.  Unstoppable was the number five movie this weekend.  Playing on over 2,900 screens, the film grossed about $3.75M.

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Seems that everyone got their fill of turkey and movies last week, as the overall box office was down 54% from last weekend.  Don’t worry, that’s normal.  Despite the box office being fairly slow, Tangled managed to best Harry Potter and finished the weekend in first place with $21.5M.  That brings its total to just over $96M.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 took a comfortable second place finish with $16.7M.  It dropped off about 65% in its third weekend.   The film is still playing on over 4,000 screens.

Burlesque and Unstoppable tied for third place, earning $6.1 each. Love and Other Drugs nabbed the fifth spot, making $5.7M.

The Warrior’s Way opened to little fanfare, and no screenings for critics. The film failed to make any sort of impact at the box office, placing in 9th place for the weekend, barely clearing $3M.

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By Shannon Hood / Originally posted on October 7, 2010

Darren Aronofsky has made a career of choosing interesting, non-traditional material and illuminating the unexpected aspects of his subject matter. Case(s) in point: The Wrestler (a down-trodden wrestler), Pi (mathematicians), Requiem For a Dream (middle-aged drug addiction), and now Black Swan (competitive ballet.)

His knack for taking something completely mundane and elevating it to something tense and dreadful is astonishing. Who would have ever thought that a movie about mathematicians could be exciting, much less sinister? It is no surprise that the man who brought us Pi delivers a dark, provocative, psychological drama, set in the cutthroat (who knew it?) world of competitive ballet.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a beautiful ballerina who dances for a New York City ballet company. Though technically gifted, she has never gotten her big break because the company’s arrogant art director thinks she is too bland to carry a performance.

The film opens with us being privy to some of the cattiness that takes place behind the scenes at the ballet. The troupe’s principal ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder), is being forced into retirement at the ripe old age of 37. Nina finds it sad, and defends the dancer, while the other girls titter on about her age and diminished athletic ability. It’s immediately established that the women are highly competitive. There is no sense of camaraderie, everyone is out for themselves.

The perennial classic Swan Lake is set to be the season opener, and Beth’s departure leaves the principal role wide open. Director Thomas (Vince Cassel) pits the girls against one another as they audition for the coveted role of The Swan Queen.

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While director Darren Aronofsky may be focused on a certain metal-clawed mutant in the near future, he still has his upcoming supernatural thriller Black Swan hitting theaters in a matter of weeks.

The film stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballerinas who vie for the top spot in a brand new New York City production of Swan Lake. As Portman tries to show her darker side, she literally begins to personify the Black Swan she’s trying to get the part of.

It’s an Aronofsky film, which means you can expect to see some of the insanely trippy and metaphoric visuals that you got in such films like Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain. To get you into that mindset, the studio has released a brand new “music video” for the film.

Check out the video after the jump, and be sure to catch Black Swan in theaters on December 3rd.

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The AFI Fest 2010 (presented by Audi) has just announced its gala screenings, and a tribute to The King’s Men director and cast. The centerpiece galas will include the following films.

Abel directed by Diego Luna.  Synopsis: A strange, alluring fable of a disturbed child attempting to become his own father. Cast includes Christopher Ruíz-Esparza, José María Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragón, Gerardo Ruíz-Esparza, and Geraldine Alejandra.

Barney’s Version directed by Richard J. Lewis. Synopsis: A wise and witty tale of a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. Cast includes Dustin Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, and Scott Speedman.

Blue Valentine directed by Derek Cianfrance. Synopsis: Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Cast includes Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

Casino Jack directed by George Hickenlooper. Synopsis: Notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff finds himself in bed with mafia assassins in this fact-inspired film. Cast includes Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Rachelle Lafevre, Jon Lovitz.

The Company Men directed by John Wells. Synopsis: Bobby Walker is living the American dream when corporate downsizing forces him and two co-workers to re-define their lives. Cast includes Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello, and Rosemary DeWitt.

A special ensemble tribute to The King’s Speech will also serve as a gala screening. Director Tom Hooper and actors Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush will be in attendance.

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Darren Aronofsky has made a career of choosing interesting, non-traditional material and illuminating the unexpected aspects of his subject matter. Case(s) in point: The Wrestler (a down-trodden wrestler), Pi (mathematicians), Requiem For a Dream (middle-aged drug addiction), and now Black Swan (competitive ballet.)

His knack for taking something completely mundane and elevating it to something tense and dreadful is astonishing.  Who would have ever thought that a movie about mathematicians could be exciting, much less sinister?  It is no surprise that the man who brought us Pi delivers a dark,  provocative, psychological drama, set in the cutthroat (who knew it?) world of competitive ballet.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a beautiful ballerina who dances for a New York City ballet company.  Though technically gifted, she has never gotten her big break because the company’s arrogant art director thinks she is too bland to carry a performance.

The film opens with us being privy to some of the cattiness that takes place behind the scenes at the ballet.  The troupe’s principal ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder),  is being forced into retirement at the ripe old age of 37. Nina finds it sad, and defends the dancer, while the other girls titter on about her age and diminished athletic ability.  It’s immediately established that the women are highly competitive.  There is no sense of camaraderie, everyone is out for themselves.

The perennial classic Swan Lake is set to be the season opener, and Beth’s departure leaves the principal role wide open. Director Thomas (Vince Cassel) pits the girls against one another as they audition for the coveted role of The Swan Queen.

Continue Reading →

Reports have been trickling in from the Telluride Film Festival about Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama Black Swan, and word on the street is that the film is good, very good. Star Natalie Portman is receiving early Oscar buzz for her portrayal of a Ballerina with a very unhealthy obsession.

This is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the late fall film season.  If the movie is as good as early buzz indicates, Portman will certainly be a hot commodity.

Now, Deadline is reporting that Portman has been offered the lead role in the 3D adventure Gravity, after Angelina Jolie reportedly declined the role.

Gravity began its development journey at Universal, but is now being backed by Warner Brothers, who have extended the offer to Portman. When Jolie declined the role, many feared the project was dead.  With a budget of around $80M, Warner Brothers needed to find someone who could carry the movie.  Portman may be the perfect choice.

Her most well-known roles to date are in the movies V for Vendetta,  Star Wars Episodes II and III, Beautiful Girls, Cold Mountain, and The Professional, which was her stunning acting debut.  She has also amassed several indie films on her resume, including Closer and Garden State.

Gravity will be directed by Alfonso Cuarón, notable for Children of Men, Y tu mamá también, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Robert Downey Jr. will co-star, though the female role will be of primary importance in the movie, as it tells the story of a lone survivor of a space mission and her fight to get back to earth and her daughter.

Black Swan is scheduled for a US release on December 1st.

A new teaser trailer for the highly anticipated film Black Swan has been released and is up over at Apple Trailers. Aronofsky will direct a primarily female cast that includes Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder.

I’ll admit that I thought a psychological thriller set in the world of competitive ballet seemed pretty silly, but this trailer has me sold. Portman plays Nina, a ballet dancer who has been chosen to replace the principal dancer in Swan Lake. Just as she is settling into her new role a new dancer, played by Mila Kunis, shows up and lots of eerie things start unfolding.

The film plot has been tightly guarded, so that is about all I can tell you. What do you suppose is going on with the whole skin condition? How does that factor in? We’ll have to wait until December 1st to find out. The film will make a few festival stops at the Toronto Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival prior to its official release.

I find the career trajectory of Darren Aronofsky so interesting. He is one director who is never going to be pigeon-holed into one genre. His filmography is amazing. He started with Pi, which blew my mind, then moved on to Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, and now Swan Lake.

He’s a great talent, and he has yet to commit a career misstep, so I can’t wait to see what he does with this one. Check out the new teaser after the break.

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