DISTRICT 9 Tops Box Office

Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi actioner District 9 flew past its competition to the top spot at the North American box office this weekend with $37 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Pulling strong reviews, the Peter Jackson-produced film scored a solid average of $12,135 per theater at 3,049 locations. District 9 is set in a world where unwelcomed aliens are living as refugees in slump-like conditions on Earth.

The Time Traveler’s Wife, the weekend’s second wide release, made it to second place with a gross of $19.2 million. Playing at 2,988 locations, Robert Schwentke’s romance follows the relationship between a woman (Rachel McAdams) and a man (Eric Bana) who [...]

Zac Efron’s 17 AGAIN at the Top of the Box Office

Zac Efron’s latest teen comedy, 17 Again, beat the competition at the North American box office this weekend with $24 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Directed by Burr Steers, the film follows a 37-year-old man who despises his existence and gets to relive his past as a 17-year-old. Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon and Michelle Trachtenberg co-star.

Debuting in second place with $14 million was Kevin Macdonald’s thriller State of Play, which stars Russell Crowe as a print journalist who launched his own investigation into the murder of a congressman’s assistant. Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams round out the lead cast.

Things didn’t turned out as well [...]

Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams in STATE OF PLAY Photos

Ben Affleck

Helen Mirren

Rachel McAdams

Ben Affleck

Robin Wright Penn, Ben Affleck
Photos: © Universal Pictures
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

 
Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe in STATE OF PLAY Photos
Sylvia Miles, John Barry at MIDNIGHT COWBOY Screening
Oscar 2009: Robert Pattinson, Sophia Loren, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon
Oscar 2009: Jennifer Aniston, Penélope Cruz, Zac Efron, Daniel Craig
Oscar 2009: Penélope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey

Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe in STATE OF PLAY Photos

Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe

Directed by Kevin Macdonald and adapted by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, and Billy Ray from Paul Abbott’s television series, the thriller State of Play stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Jeff Daniels, Justin Bateman, and Michael Berresse.
State of Play opens in the US on April 19.
Official site
Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams in STATE OF PLAY
Photos: © Universal Pictures
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Russell Crowe

Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe

Jeff Daniels, Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck

 
Sylvia Miles, John Barry at MIDNIGHT COWBOY Screening
Oscar 2009: Robert Pattinson, Sophia Loren, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon
Oscar 2009: Jennifer Aniston, Penélope Cruz, Zac Efron, Daniel Craig
Oscar 2009: Penélope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, Brad [...]

THE FAMILY STONE – Diane Keaton, Claire Danes

The Family Stone (2005)
Direction and screenplay: Thomas Bezucha
Cast: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Ty Giordano, Paul Schneider
 

Diane Keaton, Claire Danes, Ty Giordano, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulroney in The Family Stone
 

The Family Stone is the sort of fairy tale that works in reverse. Watching the film, I was actively rooting for the uptight, sexless, anal-retentive (surely a Republican Committee member) fiancée played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who is brought into the home of the oh-so-liberal Stone family for their annual miserable little Christmas celebration. Something tells me that’s not what writer-director Thomas Bezucha had intended.
But considering how obnoxiously and hypocritically p.c. the Stones are, it’s no [...]