G.I. JOE, JULIE & JULIA Top Box Office

Paramount’s summer actioner G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra raced to the top of the North American box office this weekend with a solid $56.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Directed by Stephen Sommers and based on the popular Hasbro action figure, the film starring Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Marlon Wayans and Sienna Miller scored an average of $14,025 per theater at 4,007 locations.

Debuting in second place with $20.1 million was Nora Ephron’s comedy Julie & Julia, which stars Meryl Streep and Amy Adams as two women whose passion for cooking guide them to newfound happiness.
Disney’s adventure tale G-Force stayed put in third place, [...]

Sundance 2009: I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS, Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere

Damon Wise in the London Times:
"Written by the team responsible for the similarly dark Bad Santa and based on a true story, I Love You Phillip Morris is an extraordinary film that serves as a reminder of just how good [Jim] Carrey [above, with Ewan McGregor] can be when he’s not tied into a generic Hollywood crowd-pleaser. His comic timing remains as exquisite as ever, but this is not a loveable rubber-faced rogue. One could argue that, like The Truman Show, this is another film about a lost naif, but when it plays its final hand, I Love You Phillip Morris is really much, much stranger."
***

Steven Zeitchik in The Hollywood Reporter:
"One [...]

Sundance 2009: Premieres

Sundance 2009: Premieres

Mary and Max by Adam Elliot

Adventureland / U.S. (Director-screenwriter: Greg Mottola)
In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader. World premiere
Brooklyn’s Finest / U.S. (Director: Antoine Fuqua; screenwriter: Michael C. Martin)
After enduring vastly different career paths, three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location. Cast: Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin. World premiere
Earth Days / U.S. (Director: Robert Stone)
The history of our environmental undoing through the eyes of nine Americans whose [...]