Breaking Box Office Part Two

The big and unavoidable story this weekend was that the Twilight series finely came to an end with Kristen Stewart vamping out and nobody using red eye autocorrection on their cameras. I've also heard that the story ends in a stupid way that satisfies both Team Edw---  anyway, I've heard how the last book ends and I'm as incredulous as this elephant. 

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME LEE PACE WAS IN THIS MOVIE?

Box Office Top Ten
01 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PT. 2  $141.3 *NEW* 
02 SKYFALL $41.5 (cum. $161.3) Review
03 LINCOLN  $21 (cum. $22.4) Podcast
04 WRECK-IT RALPH  $18.3 (cum. $121.4)
05 FLIGHT $8.6 (cum. $61.3) Review

Skyfall's global gross of 669 million (thus far) makes it the most successful Bond ever. All that and it's only in its second American weekend with a big holiday weekend just around the corner (Happy Thanksgiving in Advance!). Of course if you adjust for inflation, as you should with such a long running franchise, the picture is different and the mid sixties Sean Connery entries (particularly Thunderball and Goldfinger) are still the peak of Bond's popularity... though the series has an uncanny ability to gross in the same-ish ballpark pretty much every time out.

In other box office news: Anna Karenina (or whatever you want to call it) and Silver Linings Playbook both opened on a dozen plus screens to solid business; Argo tied The Town's final $92 million domestic gross in its sixth weekend but it's still going pretty strong and it took The Town twice as long to hit that total; The Sessions expanded considerably but is no longer playing to packed houses. 

Which film did you see and was the ticket price worth it?

Playing Dress-Up: Jodie Foster in "Bugsy Malone"

[For Jodie Foster week, I invited a few guests to write about pivotal Jodie Foster movies for them. Here is Susan Posnock, who you may remember as a regular on Awards Daily a few years back. - Nathaniel R]

With Jodi Foster turning the big 5-0 tomorrow, Nathaniel asked if I would come out of my semi-retirement from film writing to help celebrate the actresses’ oeuvre. He offered up a number of films to reflect on, but the one I immediately thought of – despite the fact that I hadn’t seen it in about 30 years – was Bugsy Malone.

Long before the Internet, DVDs and even videos, I remember catching the film as often as I could (and my parents would allow) on HBO. In addition to Foster in a relatively small part, as tough-talking gangster’s moll Tallulah, it starred then-unknown Scott Baio in the titular role. Watching it this week I was struck by how completely odd it is – something I didn't pick up on as a kid. But as an adult, its unique flavors stand out. [More...]

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Are All Acting Oscar Records Made to Be Broken?

This year's slowly escalating Oscar race (prediction updates real soon) which sped up a little this weekend with major contenders like Silver Linings and Lincoln emerging or expanding, contains a number of big deal possibilities in terms of Oscar statistics. Were all Oscar records made to be broken? 

That's tough to say but this year seems likely to break (or tie) some records given the cotenders that have already emerged.

TRIVIA MADNESS AFTER THE JUMP...

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Jodie's high-low profile in 'Maverick'

Hi Lovelies. Beau here with a look at a fascinating performance from an actress we've been celebrating this week. The Fantastic Ms. Foster.

Jodie Foster gets a bum rap for comedy. A consummate actress who has long been championed for her dramatic talents, Foster is rarely recognized for her comedic efforts, a scant few that round out an already impressive career. It’s not that the criticisms don’t carry some validity; her work in last year’s Polanski vehicle Carnage was an example of taking the clearest path in interpreting an admittedly difficult character. The piety and self-pity comingling with textbook liberal martyrdom is a fine line, a high-wire act that few could tiptoe across seemingly without any effort. (Emma Thompson is one actress that comes to mind. But then, what can’t Emma Thompson do?) 

And this brings me to a point, in that few actresses can so easily traverse the heavy terrain between genres and come to their destination relatively unscathed. Foster struggles, but so does [MORE...]

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Who is Hotter?

"Robert Todd Lincoln" (by way of Joseph Gordon-Levitt) or Robert Todd Lincoln?

poll by twiigs.com

Usually when Hollywood does biopics every actual person gets hotter by way of movie stars. But Robert Todd Lincoln was kind of a looker, yes? Anyway... I know who My Daguerreotype Boyfriend is voting for.