While Indiana Jones 4 hitting the top of the box office two weekends ago was not much of a surprise to most movie critics, it seems that the long-anticipated Sex and that City movie take the top spot this past weekend is a big surprise.

The bigger surprise is that it took in nearly US$57M since it’s opening last Thursday, compared to Indy 4’s take of nearly $45M in approximately the same period. In fact, SEX has the new record weekend take for an R-rated Comedy – ever. Even more to the point, as Richard Roeper said Sunday night, that’s probably with an audience of mostly straight women and gay guys. Is it any good, though? The critics are divided, suggesting especially that if you haven’t seen the TV series, the movie might be difficult to follow.

1. [-] Sex and the City.
2. [1] Indiana Jones 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
3. [-] The Strangers.
4. [3] Iron Man.
5. [2] The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
6. [4] What Happens in Vegas.
7. [5] Speed Racer.
8. [6] Baby Mama.
9. [7] Made of Honor.
10. [8] Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

What is a surprise is that The Strangers took spot #3. From many accounts, it’s a bad horror movie. For me, an aspiring horror film maker, horror is horror. I watch everything. But every single time I watched the trailer for The Strangers, I couldn’t help thinking that when Liv Tyler was screaming, she was actually trying to stop herself from laughing her head off. Well, I’ll find out as soon as I get a chance to see it, I guess.

Is it any surprise that Indiana Jones 4 – The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – made the top of the box office list this past weekend? It took in an enormous weekend gross of $126M ($151M if you include Thursday’s early previews). That’s more than the movies in spots #2-10 combined. And that’s despite the horrible reviews it has been garnering. Even had there been any other large films up against Indy 4, I still think it’d in number #1.

1. [-] Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
2. [1] The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
3. [2] Iron Man.
4. [3] What Happens in Vegas.
5. [4] Speed Racer.
6. [6] Baby Mama.
7. [5] Made of Honor.
8. [7] Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
9. [8] Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
10. [10] The Visitor.

Compared to last week, only Indy Jones 4 is new, pushing out The Forbidden Kingdom.

Given that there is only one blockbuster this coming weekend – Sex and the City – Indy 4 is probably going to stay at the top of the box office charts for another weekend. At least until Get Smart (Jun 20th), though Kung Fu Panda (Jun 6th) might displace it too.

Here is Filmzee’s box office top 10 list for the weekend starting Fri May 16, 2008. Titles in bold link to either a preview page on this site, a review at Film Pundits, or a profile page at IMDB. Numbers in brackets represent the previous week’s rank. (A hyphen, “-”, means a movie just opened. A tilde, “~”, means that the movie opened before this past weekend but was not in the top 10 the previous week.)

1. [-] The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Ben Barnes.
2. [1] Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard.
3. [3] What Happens in Vegas… Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher.
4. [2] Speed Racer. Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon.
5. [4] Made of Honor. Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan.
6. [5] Baby Mama. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler.
7. [6] Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader.
8. [7] Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. John Cho, Kal Penn.
9. [8] The Forbidden Kingdom. Jackie Chan, Jet Li.
10. [~] The Visitor. Richard Jenkins.

The only wide release in North America this past weekend was the second movie in The Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian. This was a movie I’d been waiting a long time for, based on how wonderful the first Narnia movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – was. This movie had way too much battle and not enough story and character development – a thought that Richard Roeper and his guest echoed on Ebert & Roeper. Visually, it’s appealing, but way too long given it’s lack of story.

Once again, now that we’re in summer blockbuster season, everything else that opened last Friday was in limited release, and the small-city I live in isn’t showing any of those releases yet.

Here is Filmzee’s box office top 10 list for the weekend starting Fri May 9, 2008. Titles in bold link to either a preview page on this site, a review at Film Pundits, or a profile page at IMDB. Numbers in brackets represent the previous week’s rank. (A hyphen, “-”, means a movie just opened. A tilde, “~”, means that the movie opened before this past weekend but was not in the top 10 the previous week.)

1. [1] Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard.
2. [-] Speed Racer. Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci.
3. [-] What Happens in Vegas… Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher.
4. [2] Made of Honor. Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan.
5. [3] Baby Mama. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler.
6. [4] Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader.
7. [5] Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. John Cho, Kal Penn.
8. [6] The Forbidden Kingdom. Jackie Chan, Jet Li.
9. [7] Nim’s Island. Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, Abigail Breslin.
10. [~] Redbelt [limited]. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Emily Mortimer.

Of the new releases for this past weekend, Speed Racer does not deserve its #2 spot by any stretch of the imagination. (I’m surprised by the total lies positive reviews that Richard Roeper and his guest gave about Speed Racer on Ebert & Roeper on Sunday night.)

I’m expecting it’ll be dropping down the list by next week, especially since The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will be out. Or you could take the kids to see The Forbidden Kingdom, which is more deserving of a better ranking. (While martial arts might be considered violent by some parents, it’s almost comical when it’s not artistic, in this movie.)

What Happens in Vegas…, while not a great film, is entertaining. It only missed #2 by about US$200K. One reviewer said that guys just don’t like Ashton Kutcher, and it’s true. At least, I despise him and his Kelso role from the TV sitcom That 70s Show. I’d also like to punch him out everytime I’ve had the misfortune of seeing Punk’d. But he was a surprise in this movie. The trailers make it look as if he’s kind of like Kelso, but he’s not. At least not through the film. In fact, I think he’s starting to mature as an actor.

Once again, living in a small city means not getting to see limited-release films. I really wanted to see the horror thriller Frontieres, which just opened. David Mamet’s Redbelt, which opened May 2nd, is another limited release movie I wanted to see but couldn’t. The latter placed at #10 this weekend, taking in only $1.14M – a lot more than the $100K or so that it took in on its opening weekend. (Note that it earned more per theater, on average, in week 1.) So that shows you how bad a weekend it was for movies that weren’t either Iron Man, Speed Racer, or What Happens in Vegas. The top three movies took in the lion’s share of box office receipts. Heck, Iron Man alone took in almost as much as movies #2-10, collectively.

So I pity the non-blockbusters that’ll be opening against Prince Caspian this weekend and Indiana Jones next weekend. (Fact: It doesn’t matter how crappy a movie is if you can use the trailers to lie and get people out on opening weekend. It’s not like movie theaters issue refunds if we hate the product.)

1. [-] Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard.
2. [-]  Made of Honor. Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan.
3. [1] Baby Mama. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler.
4. [4] Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader.
5. [2] Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. John Cho, Kal Penn.
6. [3] The Forbidden Kingdom. Jackie Chan, Jet Li.
7. [5] Nim’s Island. Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, Abigail Breslin.
8. [6]  Prom Night. Brittany Snow.
9. [7] 21. Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Spacey.
10. [8] 88 Minutes. Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Benjamin McKenzie.

It’s no big surprise that Iron Man made #1, though I’m not sure Made of Honor deserves #2. Then again, the latter stars Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey, and given it was the only new-release alternative to Iron Man, made it’s not much of surprise. Still, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Baby Mama are much more deserving in the non-action categories.

These are the movies opening this weekend, from Thur May 1, 2008, onwards. (Some cities received early previews of certain movies in the list.) Note: links for Friday Preview posts will no longer go to preview pages on this site. Instead, they go to IMDB, where you can find far more information. (Just click on the bolded movie titles.) Links to reviews will be added here later. To see the poster for a movie, click on the thumbnail. (A poster image will be floated on this page.)

1. Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard. PG-13; 126 min; Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller. Directed by Jon Favreau; written by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, with characters by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Larry Lieber.

2. Made of Honor. Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan. PG-13; 101 min; Comedy, Romance. Directed by Paul Weiland; written by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, and Harry.

3. Mister Lonely [limited]. Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, Werner Herzog, Anita Pallenberg, David Blaine. 14A (Canada), unranked in the USA; 112 min; Comedy, Drama. Directed by Harmony Korine; written by Avi and Harmony Korine.

4. Redbelt [limited]. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Emily Mortimer. R; 99 min; Action, Drama. Written and directed by David Mamet.

5. Son of Rambow [limited]. Bill Milner. PG-13; 96 min; Comedy, Drama. Written and directed by Garth Jennings.

Iron Man was actually one of my faves when I was a kid, but I was hesitant about how a film adaptation would be. It looks a lot better in the trailers than I thought it might, and the gadgets look like a lot of fun. Of course, don’t know how the story is without seeing it. Does anyone not think Iron Man will be top of the box office for this weekend?

Certainly it won’t be Made of Honor. There’s just something so insulting when Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) asks Tom (Patrick Dempsey) to be her maid of honor. Does this girl not have any female friends? Do women hate her? Is she so dense that she hasn’t any clue whatsoever that Tom likes her? Or is he such a loser that he has never revealed any of his feelings to her? What right does he have to ruin her impending marriage? Is Michelle Monaghan even lead material? Who gave this lovely girl such an unflattering hairstyle for this movie? Do I even give a crap enough to see this contrived-looking movie? Will I ever shut up? It might not be #1 this weekend, but unfortunately it’ll probably be in the top 5, thanks to all the people fooled into going to see it.

As you can see from the list above, it’s blockbuster season and oddly enough, there are fewer wide releases than earlier this year. I live in a small town, so I won’t be able to see any of the limited releases for quite some time. That leaves very little to watch this weekend, except to catch up on recent theatrical releases that I missed. On my to-do list this weekend are Iron Man, 21, Deception, Nim’s Island and Horton Hears a Who, with short reviews to follow soon after.

May 01/02, 2008.
Iron Man’s release launches the 2008 summer blockbusters. Unless you’re near a large city, your new weekly alternatives are going to be limited.

1. Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard.
2. Made of Honor. Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan.
3. Mister Lonely [limited]. Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant.
4. Redbelt [limited]. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Emily Mortimer.
5. Son of Rambow [limited]. Bill Milner.

May 09, 2008

1. Frontier(s) [limited]. Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Patrick Ligardes.
2. Speed Racer. Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci.
3. What Happens in Vegas. Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher.

May 16, 2008
Not sure if the listing will change, but right now, there’s only two new movies this weekend. Prince Caspian is going to be such a huge blockbuster, maybe no one else wants to go up against them?

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley.
2. Reprise [limited]. Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman-Høiner, Viktoria Winge.

May 23, 2008
How years has it been since there was an Indy Jones? Sure, #3 had all kinds of cultural factual errors, but come on. It’s Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Yet another “summer” blockbuster for May.

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf.
2. War, Inc. [limited] John Cusack, Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff.
3. Postal. Zack Ward, Dave Foley, Verne Troyer.

May 30, 2008
Another slow week? Sex and the City showings are going to mostly be full of women, gay guys, and the straight guys who were dragged there by girlfriends. Or maybe not. But this is going to be another blockbuster.

1. Sex and the City: The Movie. Sarah Jessica, Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis.
2. The Foot Fist Way [limited]. Danny R. McBride, Ben Best.
3. The Strangers. Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward.

Note that this list is subject to change, as movies sometimes get delayed, moved up, or even added at the last minute. Links to the “Filmzee Friday Film Preview” page for each weekend will be added as available.

Download audio file (movieboxofficetop1020080428.mp3)

1. [-] Baby Mama. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler.
2. [-] Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
3. [1] The Forbidden Kingdom. Jackie Chan, Jet Li.
4. [2] Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader.
5. [5] Nim’s Island. Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, Abigail Breslin.
6. [3] Prom Night. Brittany Snow.
7. [6] 21. Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Spacey.
8. [4] 88 Minutes. Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Benjamin McKenzie.
9. [8] Horton Hears a Who! Jim Carrey, Steve Carell.
10. [-] Deception. Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor.

Of the eight movies that opened last weekend in North America, only the three wide releases made the box office top 10. Deception barely squeezed in at #10, and its not much of a suprise that Baby Mama and Harold & Kumar 2 made the top 5. Actually, they did better than that, taking the top two spots, respectively.

1. Baby Mama. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler.
2. Deal [limited]. Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning,
   Jennifer Tilly, and numerous professional poker players including
   Isabelle Mercier, Chris Moneymaker, and Joe Hachem. By the way, Maria Mason is not related to Marsha Mason, as far as I can tell.
3. Deception. Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor.
4. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris.
5. Rogue [limited]. Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington.
6. Roman de gare [NYC]. Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon.
7. Standard Operating Procedure [NYC].
8. Then She Found Me [NYC]. Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler.

Information, posters, and video clips for each movie can be found below. Click on a poster to see a larger version floated (no browser change).

Baby Mama

Film: Baby Mama.
Release: Wide.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Comedy.
Director: Michael McCullers.
Writer: Michael McCullers.
Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, with appearances by other Saturday Night Live cast members.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 96 min.
Notes: Tina Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a high-ranking business woman who wants to have a baby. Problem is, she has no significant other and fertility seems a bit wonky. She pays big bucks for a surrogate mother, Angie Ostrowski, played by Amy Poehler, and the hilarity begins.
Trailer:

Deal

Film: Deal.
Release: Limited.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Comedy, Drama.
Director: Gil Cates Jr.
Writer: Gil Cates Jr., Mark Weinstock.
Cast: Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning, Jennifer Tilly, and numerous professional poker players including Isabelle Mercier, Chris Moneymaker, and Joe Hachem.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 86 min.
Notes: Poker has been a controversial topic in the U.S. for the last couple of years, but with 21 and The Grand out recently, and now Deal, gambling seems like a safe subject for movies again. Except have you ever watched poker on TV? I love the game and I even can’t stand watching. What’s going to make me go to see a movie about it? This one is about a mentor, Burt Reynolds, against his student – a college student. But besides the appearances by numerous professional poker players, there’s no one here I’d go see in a movie theater except Shannon Elizabeth – and she’s only in it for a few minutes.
Trailer:

Deception

Film: Deception.
Release: Wide.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Action, Drama, Thriller.
Director: Marcel Langenegger.
Writer: Mark Bomback.
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams, Bruce Altman, Andrew Ginsburg, Charlotte Rampling, Natasha Henstridge.
Rating: R
Runtime: 108 min.
Notes: In the trailers at least, Hugh Jackman looks terrifying as a deceiver who gets a new friend, Ewan McGregor into trouble. McGregor becomes a suspect in a number of crimes including a multi-million dollar heist.
Trailer:

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Film: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
Release: Wide.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Adventure, Comedy.
Director: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg.
Writer: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg.
Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Corddry, Beverly D’Angelo.
Rating: R
Runtime: 102 min (USA).
Notes: This movie just seems wrong in so many ways. But I’m guessing it’s going to appeal to appeal to several groups: teens, stoners, fans of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and possibly fans of Neil Patrick Harris – who plays himself in a cameo and is as much of a prick here as he seems to be lately in most of his roles. But buried in the gutter/ toilet humor and behind that haze of pot smoke is a social and political message. (Warning: seeing it sober might cause brain damage.)
Trailer:

Rogue

Film: Rogue.
Release: Limited.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Action, Adventure, Horror, Thrilller.
Director: Greg Mclean.
Writer: Greg Mclean.
Cast: Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington.
Rating: R
Runtime: 92 min.
Notes: Rogue actually opened last November in Australia and is in limited release in North America. Now, haven’t movies about giant man-eating crocs already been done? I’m not sure what sets this apart other than that it’s in Australia. Or I could be wrong. Maybe you should see it after watching Harold and Kumar 2.
Trailer:

Roman de gare

Film: Roman de gare.
Release: Limited [NYC].
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Drama.
Director: Claude Lelouch.
Writer: Claude Lelouch (adaptation, screenplay), Pierre Uytterhoeven (adaptation).
Cast: Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon.
Rating: R
Runtime: 103 min.
Notes: Roman de gare was released in France, in late June of 2007. In this murder thriller, a writer seeks inspiration for her next novel.
Trailer:

Standard Operating Procedure

Film: Standard Operating Procedure.
Release: Limited [NYC].
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Documentary.
Director: Errol Morris.
Writer: n/a
Cast: Christopher Bradley, Sarah Denning, Joshua Feinman.
Rating: R
Runtime: 118 min.
Notes: Remember photos published of suspected male terrorists stripped naked, with uniformed male and female U.S. solidiers laughing and posing? In this documentary, Errol Morris explores the supposed injustices at Abu Ghraib by U.S. forces.
Trailer:

Then She Found Me

Film: Then She Found Me.
Release: Limited [NYC].
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Comedy, Drama, Romance.
Director: Helen Hunt.
Writer: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, and Helen Hunt, based on a novel by Elinor Lipman.
Cast: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler. Matthew Broderick.
Rating: R
Runtime: 100 min.
Notes: I’m a big fan of Helen Hunt, so I can’t wait until this is in wide release. Then She Found Me is a slice-of-life drama about a teacher who has to deal with a number of personal traumas in her life, while trying to find herself, and also finding her mother. This is her debut as a movie director (though she did direct three episodes of the Mad About You TV comedy series), so I’m willing to give this amazing actress some leeway.
Trailer: