THE FINAL DESTINATION Tops Box Office

New Line Cinema’s The Final Destination slashed its competition at the North American box office, as the horror sequel took the No. 1 spot with a solid $28.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The David R. Ellis-directed fourth installment in the popular series delivered a better opening weekend than its predecessors, scoring an average of $9,079 per theater at 3,121 locations. The Final Destination is currently playing in both 3D and standard format.

Last week’s winner, Inglourious Basterds, slipped to No. 2, fending off Rob Zombie’s new entry Halloween II. Starring Brad Pitt (above), Quentin Tarantino’ World War II drama delivered another strong performance at the box office, earning [...]

Cannes 2009: Ken Loach, Ang Lee, Andrea Arnold, Jacques Audiard

Derek Elley on Looking for Eric (above, Ken Loach and Eric Cantona) in Variety:
"… helmer Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty’s ninth feature together is a curious hybrid: Three movies — boilerplate, socially aware Loach; personal fantasy; romantic comedy — wrap around a central core of a hopeless soccer fanatic who’s given a second chance to sort out his life. As in many of Laverty’s scripts, problems of overall tone and character development aren’t solved by Loach’s easygoing direction, though when it works, Eric has many incidental pleasures."
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Anthony Kaufman on A Prophet at indieWIRE:
"If James Toback’s petty-criminal tale Fingers inspired Jacques Audiard’s previous The Beat That My Heart Skipped, it’s Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas [...]