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CINEMATERIA

Bud Greenspan-Documentary filmmaker, "The Olympian" 1926-2010

Bud Greenspan, the filmmaker whose documentaries often soared as triumphantly as the Olympic athletes he chronicled for more than six decades, died at his home in New York City. He was 84.

He died Saturday from complications of Parkinson's disease, companion Nancy Beffa said.

Even as controversies over politics, performance-enhancing drugs and commercialism began vying for attention on the Olympic stage, Greenspan remained unapologetic about his focus on the most uplifting stories from the planet's most spectacular sporting event.

"I spend my time on about the 99 percent of what's good about the Olympics and most people spend 100 percent of their time on the one percent that's negative. I've been criticized for seeing things through rose-colored glasses, but the percentages are with me," he said in an interview with ESPN.com nearly a decade ago.

He received lifetime achievement awards from the Directors Guild of America and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as well as a Peabody and the Olympic Order award. His best-known work was "The Olympiad," the culmination of 10 years of research, more than three million feet of rare, archived film, hundreds of interviews and visits to more than 30 countries. The 10-part series he produced was aired in more than 80 countries.

As a 21-year-old radio reporter, Greenspan filed his first Olympic story from a pay telephone booth at Wembley stadium at the 1948 London Games. With his eyeglasses familiarly perched atop a bald dome, he cut a distinct figure at nearly every Summer and Winter Games afterward. His most recent work dealt with the rough cuts of films from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

Greenspan's career took off with a film he made in 1964 about Olympian Jesse Owens returning to the scene of his gold-medal achievements in Berlin some 30 years earlier. But he never lost his love for the smallest victories as well, citing a last-place finish by Tanzanian marathoner John Stephen Ahkwari at Mexico City in 1968 as his favorite Olympic moment.

"He came in about an hour and a half after the winner. He was practically carrying his leg, it was so bloodied and bandaged," Greenspan recalled in that ESPN.com interview. "I asked him, 'Why did you keep going?' He said, 'You don't understand. My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start a race, they sent me to finish it.' That sent chills down my spine and I've always remembered it."

The International Olympic Committee described Greenspan as a "true supporter of the Olympic Games and their values throughout his career." In 1985, when Greenspan received the Olympic Order award, former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch called him "the foremost producer, writer and director of Olympic films; more than that, he is an everlasting friend of the Olympic family."

The admiration was mutual. Greenspan acknowledged the problems that plagued the Olympic movement, but rarely lingered over them in his films.

"They're two weeks of love," he said about the games. "It's Like Never Never Land. Like Robin Hood shooting his arrow through the other guy's arrow.

"It's a privilege to be associated with the best in the world. How many times are you with the best in the world in something? They bring things forward that they don't ordinarily do."

Greenspan, a native New Yorker, also wrote books and produced nearly 20 spoken-word albums.

And the box office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – Jeff Bridges' sci-fi sequel "Tron: Legacy" has leaped to the top of the box-office grid with a $43.6 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney release reboots the story line started in Bridges' 1982 tale "Tron," in which his character is hurtled into a deadly virtual reality known as the Grid. The movie co-stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde.

Though quaint by today's standards, the computer-graphic effects in the original "Tron" were cutting-edge at the time. Yet the movie was a box-office underachiever whose following somehow swelled in the intervening decades in a way that perplexed even the studio's executives.

"I sure wish I knew, because there is a very, very committed core group of people who just love that movie, and they have fanned the opening-weekend grosses," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.

Other newcomers premiered with modest to poor receipts, continuing a sluggish end to Hollywood's year.

The weekend proved no picnic for Dan Aykroyd's family flick "Yogi Bear," which fell flat at a weak No. 2 with $16.7 million. The Warner Bros. release features the voices of Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake in an adaptation of the TV cartoon about the picnic-basket-thieving bear.

With children out of school over the holidays, Warner Bros. executives hope "Yogi Bear" will hold up well through Christmas and New Year's.

"We wish it had been a bit higher, but we'll catch up as we get going," said Jeff Goldstein, the studio's general sales manager.

The previous weekend's top movie, 20th Century Fox's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," fell to No. 3 with $12.4 million, raising its total to $42.7 million.

Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale's acclaimed boxing drama "The Fighter" had a so-so expansion nationwide after a stellar debut in limited release the previous weekend for the tale based on the life of real-life fighter Micky Ward. Released by Paramount, "The Fighter" came in at No. 4 with $12.2 million.

Reese Witherspoon's love-triangle romance "How Do You Know" was a dud with just $7.6 million, the Sony release opening at No. 8. The movie co-stars Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson.

Overall revenues slipped to $134 million, down 2.6 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Avatar" debuted with $77 million on its way to becoming the biggest modern blockbuster with a $2.8 billion worldwide haul.

Considering the huge gap between the "Avatar" revenues and those for "Tron: Legacy," Hollywood's general business held up fairly well because of this year's diverse undercard of new movies and holdovers.

"We weren't down that badly," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "Last year, it was pretty much that one film. `Avatar' so heavily dominated that marketplace, which was great for `Avatar,' but for the other movies there wasn't much there."

"The King's Speech," a Weinstein Co. release that led Golden Globe contenders Tuesday with seven nominations, remained a strong earner as it continued its gradual expansion in limited release.

The film starring Colin Firth as Queen Elizabeth II's father, a reluctant king coping with a debilitating stammer, took in $1.1 million in 43 theaters, averaging a healthy $25,000 a cinema.

That compared to a $12,634 average in 3,451 theaters for "Tron: Legacy"; $4,752 in 3,515 cinemas for "Yogi Bear"; $4,874 in 2,503 locations for "The Fighter"; and $3,061 in 2,483 places for "How Do You Know."

Fox Searchlight's ballet drama "Black Swan," another top Globe nominee starring Natalie Portman, climbed the chart as it expanded into nationwide release with $8.3 million in 959 theaters, averaging $8,655 and coming in at No. 7.

In limited release, Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart's somber drama "Rabbit Hole" opened solidly with $55,000 in five theaters, averaging $11,000. The film, which earned Kidman a Globe nomination, centers on a couple struggling in their marriage after losing their young son in a traffic accident.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Tron: Legacy," $43.6 million.

2. "Yogi Bear," $16.7 million.

3. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," $12.4 million.

4. "The Fighter," $12.2 million.

5. "The Tourist," $8.7 million.

6. "Tangled," $8.68 million.

7. "Black Swan," $8.3 million.

8. "How Do You Know," $7.6 million.

9. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," $4.8 million.

10. "Unstoppable," $1.8 million.

Cinemateria, programa del Sabado 18 de Diciembre del 2010

En el programa criticamos las películas "Tron: Legacy" y "127 Hours". Con Marcos Rodríguez y Alberto Reyes. Duración 52 min. 01 seg.

Blake Edwards - Director, "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "The Pink Panther", "!0", "SOB". 1922-2010

LOS ANGELES – Blake Edwards, the director and writer known for clever dialogue, poignance and occasional belly-laugh sight gags in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "10" and the "Pink Panther" farces, is dead at age 88.

Edwards died from complications of pneumonia at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said publicist Gene Schwam. Blake's wife, Julie Andrews, and other family members were at his side. He had been hospitalized for about two weeks.

Edwards had knee problems, had undergone unsuccessful procedures and was "pretty much confined to a wheelchair for the last year-and-a-half or two," Schwam said. That may have contributed to his condition, he added.

At the time of his death, Edwards was working on two Broadway musicals, one based on the "Pink Panther" movies. The other, "Big Rosemary," was to be an original comedy set during Prohibition, Schwam said.

"His heart was as big as his talent. He was an Academy Award winner in all respects," said Schwam, who knew him for 40 years.

A third-generation filmmaker, Edwards was praised for evoking classic performances from Jack Lemmon, Audrey Hepburn, Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore, Lee Remick and Andrews, his wife of nearly half a century.

He directed and often wrote a wide variety of movies including "Days of Wine and Roses," a harrowing story of alcoholism; "The Great Race," a comedy-adventure that starred Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood; and "Victor/Victoria," his gender-bender musical comedy with Andrews.

He was also known for an independent spirit that brought clashes with studio bosses. He vented his disdain for the Hollywood system in his 1981 black comedy, "S.O.B."

"I was certainly getting back at some of the producers of my life," he once remarked, "although I was a good deal less scathing than I could have been. The only way I got to make it was because of the huge success of `10,' and even then they tried to sabotage it."

Because many of his films were studded with farcical situations, reviewers often criticized his work. "In Mr. Edward's comic world, noses are to be stung, heads to have hangovers, and beautiful women to be pursued at any cost," wrote The New York Times' Vincent Canby in a review of "10." Gary Arnold of the Washington Post added: "Edwards seems to take two dumb steps for every smart one. ... He can't seem to resist the most miserable sight gags that occur to him."

However, Richard Schickel wrote in Time magazine: "When director Edwards is at his best, there is something bracing, and in these days, unique about his comedy. ... He really wants to save the world by showing how stupid some of its creatures can be."

Although many of Edwards' films were solid hits, he was nominated for Academy Awards only twice, in 1982 for writing the adapted screenplay of "Victor/Victoria" and in 1983 for co-writing "The Man Who Loved Women." Lemmon and Remick won Oscar nominations in 1962 for "Days of Wine and Roses," and Hepburn was nominated for "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in 1961.

The motion picture academy selected Edwards to receive a lifetime achievement award in 2004 for "his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen."

When he collected the award, he jokingly referred to his wife: "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, and the beautiful English broad with the incomparable soprano and promiscuous vocabulary thanks you."

Edwards had entered television in 1958, creating "Peter Gunn," which established a new style of hard-edged detective series. The tone was set by Henry Mancini's pulsating theme music. Starring Craig Stevens, the series ran until 1961 and resulted in a 1967 feature movie "Gunn."

"Peter Gunn" marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between Edwards and Mancini, who composed melodic scores and songs for most of Edwards' films. Mancini won Academy Awards for the score of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and the song "Moon River," the title song of "Days of Wine and Roses" and the score of "Victor/Victoria."

The Edwards family history extended virtually the entire length of American motion pictures. J. Gordon Edwards was a pioneering director of silent films, including more than 20 with the exotic vamp Theda Bara. His son, Jack McEdwards (the family name), became a top assistant director and production manager in Hollywood.

William Blake McEdwards was born July 26, 1922, in Tulsa, Okla. The family moved to Hollywood three years later, and the boy grew up on his father's movie sets.

Edwards began in films as an actor, playing small roles in such movies as "A Guy Named Joe" and "Ten Gentlemen From West Point." After 18 months in the Coast Guard in World War II, he returned to acting but soon realized he lacked the talent. With John Champion, he wrote a Western, "Panhandle," which he produced and acted in for the quickie studio, Monogram. He followed with "Stampede."

In 1947, Edwards turned to radio and created the hard-boiled "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" for Dick Powell; it was converted to television in 1957, starring Powell with Mary Tyler Moore as his secretary, whose face is never seen on-screen.

Tiring of the TV grind, Edwards returned to films and directed his first feature, "Bring Your Smile Along." After a few more B movies which he usually co-wrote, he made the big time in 1958 with "The Perfect Furlough," starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, and "Operation Petticoat" with Cary Grant and Curtis.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" in 1961 established Edwards as a stylish director who could combine comedy with bittersweet romance. His next two films proved his versatility: the suspenseful "Experiment in Terror" (1962) and "Days of Wine and Roses" (1963), the story of a couple's alcoholism, with Lemmon in his first dramatic role.

"The Great Race," about an auto race in the early 1900s, marked Edwards' first attempt at a big-budget spectacle. He spent Warner Bros.' money lavishly, raising the ire of studio boss Jack Warner. The 1965 release proved a modest success.

Edwards' disdain for the studios reached a peak in the 1970 "Darling Lili," a World War I romance starring his new wife, Andrews, and Rock Hudson. The long, expensive Paris location infuriated the Paramount bosses. The movie flopped, continuing Andrews' decline from her position as Hollywood's No. 1 star.

For a decade, Edwards' only hits were "Pink Panther" sequels. Then came "10," which he also produced and wrote. The sex comedy became a box-office winner, creating a new star in Bo Derek and restoring the director's reputation. He scored again in 1982 with "Victor/Victoria," with Andrews playing a woman who poses as a (male) female impersonator. His later films became more personal, particularly the 1986 "That's Life," which he wrote with his psychiatrist.

After Sellers' death in 1980, Edwards attempted to keep the "Pink Panther" franchise alive. He wrote and directed "Curse of the Pink Panther" in 1983 and "Son of the Pink Panther" in 1993 but both were failed efforts.

A 2006 remake of the original with Steve Martin as Clouseau was modestly successful; its 2009 follow up was less so. Both had new directors, with Edwards credited as a writer.

He continued to supervise Andrews' career, which included a short-lived television series and her 1996 return to Broadway in a $8.5 million version of "Victor/Victoria." Edwards directed the show, which drew mixed reviews. When Andrews was the only one connected with the musical to be nominated for a Tony, she announced to a matinee audience that she was declining the nomination because her co-workers had been snubbed.

Andrews and Edwards married in 1968. She had a daughter, Emma, from her marriage to Broadway designer Tony Walton. Edwards had a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Geoffrey, from his marriage to Patricia Edwards. He and Andrews adopted two Vietnamese children, Amy and Jo.

A longtime painter, Edwards began sculpting in mid-life, and his bronze works in the style of Henry Moore drew critical praise in shows in Los Angeles and Bucks County, Pa.

And the box office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – The latest chapter in "The Chronicles of Narnia" saga has sailed to the top of the weekend box office, though the franchise sank to a weak debut compared to the first two movies.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," the third in the franchise based on C.S. Lewis' fantasy novels, took in $24.5 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie's romantic thriller "The Tourist" opened in second-place with $17 million.

"Dawn Treader" revenues showed a huge drop from 2005's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which took in $65.6 million over opening weekend, and 2008's "Prince Caspian," which did $55 million.

But with the movie topping $80 million in 85 countries overseas, for a worldwide total of $105.5 million, executives at distributor 20th Century Fox said they are making good headway toward recouping the movie's budget of just under $150 million.

"We had a huge task ahead of us to resurrect this franchise and get movie-goers back to that feeling of affection they had for the first movie. I think all the evidence says we've accomplished that," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox, which took over the "Narnia" series when Disney dropped it after the second movie finished at $141.6 million domestically, less than half the $291.7 million haul of the first. "I think they all had such a bad taste in their mouth from the last one. That's why we really had our work cut out for us."

"Dawn Treader" follows the adventures of some of the Pevensie siblings from the first two films as they take a magical sea voyage with their royal pal Caspian. Liam Neeson again provides the voice of talking lion Aslan.

Sony's "The Tourist" also had a quiet start. The film stars Jolie as an Englishwoman who picks up a mild-mannered American (Depp) on a train in Europe as a diversion while she's on the run from cops and gangsters.

"You have two of the biggest stars in the world, so expectations could be skewed a bit," said Rory Bruer, Sony's head of distribution. "But it certainly is a respectable opening."

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Disney's animated musical "Tangled," slipped to third-place with $14.6 million, raising its domestic total to $115.6 million.

Hollywood remains in a lull as it heads into the Christmas frenzy. Among the movies that will compete for holiday audiences are Jeff Bridges' sci-fi tale "Tron: Legacy," Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller's sequel "Little Fockers," Jack Black's comic adventure "Gulliver's Travel's" and Reese Witherspoon's romance "How Do You Know."

Overall revenues totaled $94 million, down 3 percent from the same weekend last year, when "The Princess and the Frog" was No. 1, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"The marketplace is pretty much in a malaise, unless you're a specialty or indie film playing in a limited number of theaters," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Those are really the bright spots in an otherwise lackluster post-Thanksgiving period."

In limited release, Natalie Portman's ballet drama "Black Swan" expanded to more theaters and leaped into the top-10, coming in at No. 6 with $3.3 million in just 90 cinemas. That gave it a strong average of $37,024 a theater, compared to $6,892 in 3,555 cinemas for "Dawn Treader" and $6,168 in 2,756 locations for "The Tourist."

Distributor Fox Searchlight expands "Black Swan" into nationwide release Friday, three days after the Golden Globe nominations, where the film is considered a likely contender in acting and other categories. Portman, also a strong Academy Awards prospect, plays a ballerina coming unglued amid the stress of fending off a rival for the lead in "Swan Lake."

Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale's boxing drama "The Fighter" was the latest awards contender to put up huge numbers in a limited-release opening. The Paramount film took in $320,000 in four theaters, averaging a whopping $80,000.

"The Fighter" stars Wahlberg as real-life boxer Micky Ward, who overcame harsh family conflicts to earn a title shot in his mid-30s with help from half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale), an ex-fighter whose life unraveled amid crime and crack addiction. The film expands to wide release Friday.

Disney's Shakespeare adaptation "The Tempest," with Helen Mirren playing the traditionally male lead of the play, opened modestly with $45,000 in five theaters, for a $9,000 average.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," $24.5 million.

2. "The Tourist," $17 million.

3. "Tangled," $14.6 million.

4. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," $8.5 million.

5. "Unstoppable," $3.8 million.

6. "Black Swan," $3.3 million.

7. "Burlesque," $3.2 million.

8. "Love & Other Drugs," $3 million.

9. "Due Date," $2.55 million.

10. "Megamind," $2.5 million.

Cinemateria, programa del Sabado 11 de Diciembre del 2010

En este programa discutimos "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Duración 52 Min, 7 seg.

And the Box Office Champion this week is...

First weekend I've slept past 8 AM in what feels like forever. But this is Hollywood's lone box office break for big movies before the end of the year, and the 2nd slowest grossing weekend of the year (since the Fri-Sat-Sun post-Thanksgiving is usually a turkey). But a lot of specialty films had their debuts or expansions including Fox Searchlight's drama Black Swan from Darren Aronofsky starring Natalie Portman (18 theaters in 8 cities -- NY, LA, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Dallas, Toronto). It had Friday's best per screen average with $23,660, and the studio knew it was over-performing when Friday's matinees were double the per screen average of Aronfsky's previous The Wrestler. Black Swan grossed $1.3M with a gross per theater average of $77,459, setting an all-time record for Fox Searchlight. (More than Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, Sideways, and Little Miss Sunshine all of which were in fewer theaters.) The drama also is the 2nd highest opening of a limited release for 2010, passing The Kids Are All Right and now only behind The King's Speech.

Disney's Tangled finally surged past Warner Bros' Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows which continues to dominate the overseas marketplace, grossing an estimated $54.4M in 62 territories for an international cume to date of now $469.1M and a global cume of $713.3M. Disney's 50th animated toon took in $26M this weekend from 15 territories representing 35% of the international market. With Tangled now hitting a domestic cume of $96.5M and overseas total of $45.8M, the new global cume is $142.3M:

1. Tangled (Disney) Week 2 [3,603 Theaters]
Friday $5.1M, Saturday $9.9M, Weekend $21.5M (-56%), Cume $96.5M

2. Harry Potter/Deathly Hallows (Warner Bros) Week 3 [4,125 Theaters]
Friday $4.8M, Saturday $7.4M, Weekend $16.7M, Cume $244.2M

3. Unstoppable (Fox) Week 4 [3,152 Theaters]
Friday $1.9M, Saturday $2.7M, Weekend $6.1M, Cume $68.8M

4. Burlesque (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 2 [3,037 Theaters]
Friday $2M, Saturday $2.5M, Weekend $6.1M (-50%), Cume $26.9M

5. Love And Other Drugs (Fox) Week 2 [2,458 Theaters]
Friday $1.9M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5.7M (-41%), Cume $22.6M

6. Megamind (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) Week 5 [3,173 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5M, Cume $136.7M

7. Due Date (Warner Bros) Week 5 [2,450 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4.2M, Cume $91M

8. Faster (CBS Films/Sony) Week 2 [2,470 Theaters]
Friday $1.2M, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.8M (-55%), Cume $18.1M

9. The Warrior's Way (Rogue/Relativity) NEW [1,622 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $3M

10. The Next Three Days (Lionsgate) Week 3 [2,236 Theaters]
Friday $815K, Saturday $M, Weekend $2.6M, Cume $18.4M
---
Specialty Films
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Week 5 [433 Theaters]
Weekend $1.6M, Cume $6.5M

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) NEW [18 Theaters]
Weekend $1.3M

Fair Game (Summit) Week 5 [436 Theaters]
Weekend $1M, Cume $7.3M

The King's Speech (Weinstein Co) Week 2 [6 Theaters]
Weekend $325K, Cume $808K

I Love You, Phillip Morris (Roadside Attractions) NEW [6 Theaters]
Weekend $113K

Waiting For 'Superman' (Paramount Vantage) Week [85 Theaters]
Weekend $36K, Cume $6.3M

All Good Things (Magnolia) NEW [2 Theaters]
Weekend $40K

Cinemateria, Sabado 4 de Diciembre del 2010

En este programa criticamos las peliculas "The Warrior's Way" y "Black Swan". Con Marcos Rodríguez y Alberto Reyes. Duración 52 Minutos 20 Segundos

And the box office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – Young wizard Harry Potter fended off fairy-tale princess Rapunzel at the weekend box office.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" took in $49.1 million over Thanksgiving weekend to remain the No. 1 movie.

The animated musical "Tangled," an update of the Rapunzel fairy tale, debuted in second-place with $48.8 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I," Warner Bros., $49,087,101, 4,125 locations, $11,900 average, $219,056,129, two weeks.

2. "Tangled (3-D animated)," Disney, $48,767,052, 3,603 locations, $13,535 average, $68,706,298, one week.

3. "Megamind," Paramount/DreamWorks Animation, $12,575,778, 3,411 locations, $3,687 average, $130,218,934, four weeks.

4. "Burlesque," Sony/Screen Gems, $11,947,744, 3,037 locations, $3,934 average, $17,300,213, one week.

5. "Unstoppable," Fox, $11,432,903, 3,183 locations, $3,592 average, $60,442,621, three weeks.

6. "Love and Other Drugs," Fox, $9,739,161, 2,455 locations, $3,967 average, $13,901,532, one week.

7. "Faster," CBS Films, $8,523,153, 2,454 locations, $3,473 average, $12,002,840, one week.

8. "Due Date," Warner Bros., $7,167,885, 2,555 locations, $2,805 average, $84,861,008, four weeks.

9. "The Next Three Days," Lionsgate, $4,683,123, 2,564 locations, $1,826 average, $14,392,072, two weeks.

10. "Morning Glory," Paramount, $3,910,058, 2,441 locations, $1,602 average, $26,340,571, three weeks.

Irvin Kershner, Director "The Empire Strikes Back", "The Eyes Of Laura Mars", "Robocop 2". 1923-2010

LOS ANGELES – When George Lucas needed someone to direct the sequel to "Star Wars," he turned to veteran filmmaker Irvin Kershner.

Under Kershner's direction, Luke Skywalker learned that Darth Vader was his father and Han Solo delivered one of his most memorable lines, responding to Princess Leia's "I love you" with "I know."

Lucas and others in Hollywood on Monday mourned the death of "The Empire Strikes Back" director. Kershner died Saturday at his Los Angeles home after a 3 1/2-year battle with lung cancer. He was 87.

Kershner had already made several well-received movies when Lucas tapped him to direct "Empire," the second "Star Wars" film to be released but the fifth in the overall "Star Wars" chronology.

Lucas, the "Star Wars" creator, said he didn't want to direct the sequel himself.

"I needed someone I could trust, someone I really admired and whose work had maturity and humor. That was Kersh all over," Lucas said in a statement. "I didn't want 'Empire' to turn into just another sequel, another episode in a series of space adventures. I was trying to build something."

Lucas said he considered Kershner a mentor and called him "a great director and one of the most genuine people I've had the pleasure of knowing."

Released in 1980, "Empire" was a darker story than the original. It initially got mixed reviews but has gone on to become one of the most critically praised.

Kershner told Vanity Fair in October that he tried to give the sequel more depth than the 1977 original.

"When I finally accepted the assignment, I knew that it was going to be a dark film, with more depth to the characters than in the first film," he said. "It took a few years for the critics to catch up with the film and to see it as a fairy tale rather than a comic book."

Kershner said he had only one sharp disagreement with Lucas. The script originally called for the heroine, Princess Leia, to tell space pilot Han Solo "I love you" and for him to reply "I love you, too."

"I shot the line and it just didn't seem right for the character of Han Solo," Kershner said.

Instead, actor Harrison Ford improvised the reply: "I know."

Lucas wanted the original line but after test previews agreed to leave in Ford's reply.

The Philadelphia-born Kershner studied music, painting and photography before turning to film. He attended the University of Southern California film school and in the 1950s made U.S. government documentaries in Greece, Iran and Turkey.

He was a director and cameraman for a television documentary series called "Confidential File" in Los Angeles before getting his first movie break in 1958 when Roger Corman helped finance his first feature, "Stakeout on Dope Street," which Kershner wrote and produced with colleague Andrew Fenady, said longtime friend and Hollywood publicist Dick Guttman.

Kershner went on to direct a number of noted features in the 1960s and 1970s, including "A Fine Madness" with Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward and Jean Seberg; "The Flim-Flam Man" with George C. Scott; "Loving" with George Segal and Eva Marie Saint; and "The Eyes of Laura Mars" with Faye Dunaway.

The 1976 television movie "Raid on Entebbe" earned him an Emmy nomination for direction.

Along with "Empire," his big-budget work included the 1983 James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" with Connery and "Robocop 2" in 1990.

Kershner also was an occasional actor. He played the priest Zebedee in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ."

In recent years, Kershner taught screenwriting at the University of Southern California while continuing to produce, write and create still photographs, Guttman said.

Francis Ford Coppola said in a statement, "We all enjoyed knowing Kersh, learning from him and admired his creative spirit and indomitable will."

Barbra Streisand, a friend who worked with Kershner on 1972's "Up the Sandbox," said, "He had the most incredible spirit, an exuberance for life. Always working, always thinking, always writing, amazingly gifted and forever curious."

At the time of his death, Kershner was working on a documentary about his friend, writer Ray Bradbury, and a musical called "Djinn" about the friendship between a Jewish immigrant and an Arab sheik in Palestine before it became Israel.

Kershner is survived by two sons, David and Dana.

"My father never really retired. He had a powerful drive to create — whether it be through film, photography or writing," David Kershner said.

Leslie Nielsen - Actor, "Forbidden Planet", "Poseidon Adventure", "Airplane", "The Naked Gun" 1926-2010

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Leslie Nielsen, who went from drama to inspired bumbling as a hapless doctor in "Airplane!" and the accident-prone detective Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" comedies, has died. He was 84.

His agent John S. Kelly says Nielsen died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Ft. Lauderdale where he was being treated for pneumonia.

The Canadian-born Nielsen came to Hollywood in the mid-1950s after performing in 150 live television dramas in New York. With a craggily handsome face, blond hair and 6-foot-2 height, he seemed ideal for a movie leading man.

He quickly became known as a serious actor, although behind the camera he was a prankster. That was an aspect of his personality never exploited, however, until "Airplane!" was released in 1980 and became a huge hit.

Cinemateria, programa del Sabado 27 de Noviembre del 2010.

En este programa criticamos a "Faster" y "Tangled". Con Marcos Rodríguez y Alberto Reyes. Duración 48 min, 50 seg.

And the Box Office Champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – Harry Potter has cast his biggest box-office spell yet with a franchise record $125.1 million domestically over opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" also added $205 million in 54 overseas countries, bringing the film's worldwide total to $330.1 million.

In terms of domestic revenue, "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" came in ahead of the series' best previous debut of $102.7 million for 2005's "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."

But factoring in today's higher admission prices, the latest movie had roughly the same size audience as the franchise's best previous draws — "Goblet of Fire" and 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which launched the series. "Deathly Hallows" and those two earlier movies each sold around 16 million tickets in their first weekend.

Overseas markets for "Deathly Hallows" were led by a $28 million opening in Great Britain, $21.8 million in Germany, $14.8 million in Australia, $14 million in Japan and $12.3 million in Russia.

The movie audience has grown up along with young wizard Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint). Distributor Warner Bros. reported that 25 percent of the audience for the new movie was between 18 and 34, compared with only 10 percent for "Sorcerer's Stone" nine years ago.

"When we started `Harry Potter,' basically, the audience was driven to theaters by their parents. Today, those same kids are driving to the midnight shows themselves," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

DreamWorks Animation's "Megamind," the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends, fell to second-place with $16.2 million, raising its three-week total to $109.5 million.

Russell Crowe's thriller "The Next Three Days," the weekend's only other new wide release, debuted weakly at No. 5 with $6.8 million. Crowe plays a college instructor who plots a jail break to free his wife (Elizabeth Banks) after she's convicted of murder.

Playing in 4,125 theaters domestically, "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" averaged an enormous $30,332 a cinema. That compared with a $2,633 average in 2,564 theaters for "The Next Three Days."

The huge opening bodes well for next July's "Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the eighth and final movie based on J.K. Rowling's seven "Harry Potter" novels. The franchise so far has taken in more than $5.5 billion worldwide.

Warner Bros. plans to release "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in 3-D, which should give it a big box-office boost, since theaters charge a few dollars more to see movies projected in 3-D compared with 2-D.

"This is kind of the warmup to the potentially 3-D supercharged finale, and that could really take these `Potter' numbers to another level," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

The studio had hoped to release "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" in 3-D, but the filmmakers ran out of time to convert the film, which was shot in 2-D, for 3-D projection.

"Deathly Hallows: Part 1" landed at No. 6 on the domestic revenue chart for biggest opening weekends, a list headed by 2008's "The Dark Knight" with $158.4 million. It also was this year's second-biggest debut, behind "Iron Man 2," which is No. 5 on the all-time chart with $128.1 million.

With $61.2 million Friday, "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" had the fifth-biggest opening day ever.

The film took in $12.4 million, just over 10 percent of its weekend domestic revenue, in huge-screen IMAX theaters. That broke the previous IMAX record debut of $12.1 million set in March by "Alice in Wonderland."

"Harry Potter" was not able to lift Hollywood's total weekend receipts above last year's. Overall revenue came in at an estimated $197 million, down 24 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when the industry had a one-two punch with debuts of $142.8 million for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" and $34.1 million for "The Blind Side," according to Hollywood.com.

Hollywood is poised for big business over Thanksgiving, one of its busiest weekends.

Revenues should remain strong for "Harry Potter," while studios are delivering a broad range of newcomers with Disney's animated musical "Tangled," featuring the voice of Mandy Moore; Sony's song-and-dance tale "Burlesque," starring Christina Aguilera and Cher; 20th Century Fox's romance "Love & Other Drugs," with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway: and CBS Films' action thriller "Faster," featuring Dwayne Johnson.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," $125.1 million.

2. "Megamind," $16.2 million.

3. "Unstoppable," $13.1 million.

4. "Due Date," $9.2 million.

5. "The Next Three Days," $6.8 million.

6. "Morning Glory," $5.2 million.

7. "Skyline," $3.4 million.

8. "Red," $2.5 million.

9. "For Colored Girls," $2.4 million.

10. "Fair Game," $1.5 million.

Cinemateria, programa del Sabado 20 de Noviembre del 2010.

En este programa presentamos las criticas de las películas "Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows" y "Unstoppable". Duración 53 min. 30 seg.

Programa de Cinemateria Grabado el Sabado 13 de Nov. del 2010.

En este programa criticamos la película "Skyline". En exclusiva, tenemos una entrevista con el director Sigfrid Monleón sobre su película "El Cónsul de Sodoma", que se exhibe en el Puerto Rico Queer Filmfest.

Anfitrión : Marcos Rodríguez.

Invitados : Alberto Reyes (El Ultimo Bunker), Carlos Torres (Paquines.Com) y Siegfrid Monleón ("El Cónsul De Sodoma")

Duración 52 min. 36 seg.

And the box office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – Will Ferrell's dastardly schemes continue to succeed, with the animated "Megamind" staying at the top of the box office.

The DreamWorks Animation 3-D comedy, featuring Ferrell as the voice of a super villain, made just over $30 million in its second week in theaters, according to Sunday studio estimates. It's now made nearly $90 million total. "Megamind" also features the voices of Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill.

Opening in second place is the 20th Century Fox action thriller "Unstoppable," starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as railroad workers trying to stop a massive runaway train. It made $23.5 million. The movie is based on a 2001 Ohio incident in which a train carrying hazardous cargo traveled 66 miles without a crew.

Last week's No. 2 film, "Due Date," fell to the third spot with $15.5 million. The Warner Bros. comedy features Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis as opposites stuck together on a cross-country road trip. It's now made $59 million in two weeks.

Among the weekend's other new releases, "Skyline" opened in fourth place with $11.7 million. The Universal Pictures sci-fi thriller depicts aliens invading and destroying Los Angeles. And "Morning Glory," a Paramount comedy set in a network morning show starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, opened at No. 5 with about $9.6 million.

Anne Globe, head of worldwide marketing for DreamWorks Animation, said positive word of mouth helped "Megamind" remain on top.

"It's exciting because audiences are clearly responding very well to the movie," said Globe. "This was a decided No. 1 again. We were only down 35 percent, which is a pretty terrific hold for the movie."

But "Megamind" is the rare family movie in theaters these days, which also helps, said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Next week, the feverishly anticipated first half of the "Harry Potter" finale, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," debuts.

"Up until 'Megamind' the marketplace was virtually devoid of any family films," Dergarabedian said. "The R-rated films were dominating: You had 'Paranormal Activity 2,' 'Saw 3-D,' 'Jackass 3D.' Then there was a plethora of adult-oriented dramas: 'Secretariat,' 'The Social Network,' 'Hereafter,' all those films. Then there were movies for older audiences like 'Red.'"

The fact that "Megamind" is in 3-D is also a draw to younger audiences, he said: "Kids love 3-D. Kids love the gimmicky thing."

"Unstoppable," the fifth film Washington has made with director Tony Scott, debuted slightly better than the $21.4 million average opening of their collaborations. Previously, they'd worked on "Crimson Tide," "Man on Fire," "Deja Vu" and "The Taking of Pelham 123."

The movie had surprisingly good reviews for an action picture — 86 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes — and the audience was evenly divided between men and women, said Bert Livingston, general sales manager for 20th Century Fox

"It doesn't happen very often, but when you get reviews like that and people like the movie so much, and they come out and tell their friends, it's the first weekend but it's just a beginning," Livingston said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Megamind," $30 million.

2. "Unstoppable," $23.5 million.

3. "Due Date," $15.5 million.

4. "Skyline," 11.7 million.

5. "Morning Glory," $9.6 million.

6. "For Colored Girls," $6.75 million.

7. "Red," $5.1 million.

8. "Paranormal Activity 2," $3 million.

9. "Saw 3-D," $2.75 million.

10. "Jackass 3-D," $2.3 million.

Dino De Laurentiis-Film Producer: "La Strada", "Serpico", "King Kong" 1919-2010

ROME (Reuters) – Oscar-winning Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis, who brought to the big screen nearly 500 films including "Serpico," "Three Days of the Condor" and "King Kong," died in Los Angeles aged 91, Italian media said on Thursday.

De Laurentiis produced several Italian classics in collaboration, including Federico Fellini's "La Strada," for which he won an Oscar in 1957.

He moved to the United States in the 1970s after the failure of his film studios in Rome, and turned to a string of big international productions, including a few flops.

He was behind the legendary King Kong remake of 1976, the killer whale film "Orca," several adaptations of Stephen King's novels, and most recently "Hannibal," the sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs."

Apart from his film career, he was also the loving grandfather of The Food Network's star Giada De Laurentiis.

May he Rest in Peace

Cinemateria, Sabado 6 de Nov. del 2010.

En este programa, criticamos las películas "Let Me In" y "Megamind". Como invitados tenemos a Víctor Gonzalez y Jaime Santiago para hablarnos de la segunda edición del "Puerto Rico Queer Film Fest".

Jill Clayburgh, Actress, "An Unmarried Woman". 1944 - 2010

Jill Clayburgh, whose Broadway and Hollywood acting career stretched through the decades, highlighted by her Oscar-nominated portrayal of a divorcee exploring her sexuality in the 1978 film "An Unmarried Woman," died Friday. She was 66.

Her husband, Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe, said she died after a 21-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was surrounded by her family and brother when she died at her home in Lakeville, Conn., he said.

She dealt with the disease courageously, quietly and privately, Rabe said, and conducted herself with enormous grace "and made it into an opportunity for her children to grow and be human."

Clayburgh, alongside peers such as Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine and Jane Fonda, helped to usher in a new era for actresses in Hollywood by playing women who were confident and capable yet not completely flawless. Her turn as a mother dealing with life after 16 years of marriage in "An Unmarried Woman" earned Clayburgh her first Oscar nod.

"There was practically nothing for women to do on the screen in the 1950s and 1960s," Clayburgh said in an interview with The Associated Press while promoting "An Unmarried Woman" in 1978. "Sure, Marilyn Monroe was great, but she had to play a one-sided character, a vulnerable sex object. It was a real fantasy."

The next year, Clayburgh was again nominated for an Academy Award for "Starting Over," a comedy about a divorced man, played by Burt Reynolds, who falls in love but can't get over his ex-wife.

Clayburgh came from a privileged New York family. Her father was vice president of two large companies, and her mother was a secretary for Broadway producer David Merrick. Her grandmother, Alma Clayburgh, was an opera singer and New York socialite.

Growing up in a such a rich cultural mix, she could easily have been overwhelmed. Instead, as she said in interviews, she asserted herself with willful and destructive behavior — so much so that her parents took her to a psychiatrist when she was 9.

She escaped into a fantasy world of her own devising. She was entranced by seeing Jean Arthur play "Peter Pan" on Broadway, and she and a school chum concocted their own dramatics every day at home. She became serious-minded at Sarah Lawrence College, concentrating on religion, philosophy and literature.

Clayburgh also took drama classes at Sarah Lawrence. She and her friend Robert De Niro acted in a film, "The Wedding Party," directed by a Sarah Lawrence graduate, Brian DePalma. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree, she began performing in repertory and in Broadway musicals such as "The Rothschilds" and "Pippin."

Alongside Richard Thomas, she headed the 2005 Broadway cast of "A Naked Girl on the Appian Way," Richard Greenberg's comedy about one family's unusual domestic tribulations.

Director Doug Hughes, who directed her in a production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" at the Westport Country Playhouse two years ago, called her for "Naked Girl."

"That she has the time to do a run of a play is just an extraordinary boon because I've had the pleasure of seeing her play a bona fide tragic American role beautifully, and I have had the pleasure of directing her in a very, very smart light comedy and be utterly brilliant in that," he said in 2005.

During an interview that year, Clayburgh explained the unglamorous side of acting.

"One of the funny things about actors is that people look at their careers in retrospect, as if they have a plan," she said.

"Mostly, you just get a call. You're just sitting there going, 'Oh, my God. I'm never going to work again. Oh, God. I'm too old. Maybe I should go and work for Howard Dean.' And then it changes."

Besides appearing in such movies as "I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can," "Silver Streak" and "Running With Scissors," Clayburgh's Broadway credits include Noel Coward's "Design for Living," the original production of Tom Stoppard's "Jumpers," and the Tony Award-winning musicals "Pippin" and "The Rothschilds."

Clayburgh's work also stretched across TV. She most recently played the matriarch of the spoiled Darling family on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money." She was nominated for two Emmys: for best actress in 1975 for portraying a prostitute in the TV film "Hustling" and for her guest turn as a vengeful plastic surgery patient on "Nip/Tuck" on FX in 2005. She also had a recurring role on "Ally McBeal" as McBeal's mother.

Clayburgh will next be seen playing the mother of Jake Gyllenhaal's character in the upcoming film "Love and Other Drugs."

She is survived by three children, including actress Lily Rabe, Michael Rabe and stepson Jason Rabe.

There will be no funeral, Rabe said. The family will have a memorial in about six months, though plans have not been finalized.

And the Box Office Champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The "Saw" horror franchise is not as sharp as it used to be, but the seventh -- and reportedly -- final entry in the annual Halloween franchise managed to take the top spot at the weekend box office in North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

"Saw 3D" earned $24.2 million during the three days beginning on Friday, in line with muted expectations, but still the series' third-lowest opening.

Last year's disappointing "Saw VI" launched to just $14.1 million, crushed by the "Paranormal Activity" chiller. The four entries before that all opened at No. 1 with more than $30 million each. The first film in distributor Lionsgate's lucrative series, opened at No. 3 in 2004 with $14.1 million.

Last weekend's champion, "Paranormal Activity 2," slipped to No. 2 with $16.5 million, taking the 10-day haul for Paramount Pictures' scary movie sequel to $65.7 million.

Summit Entertainment's Bruce Willis-led crime ensemble "Red" held at No. 3 with $10.8 million, giving it a $58.9 million total after three weekends.

The only other new entry in the top 10 was Fox Searchlight's Hilary Swank legal drama "Conviction," which jumped 15 places to No. 10 with $1.8 million in its first weekend of wide release.

Lionsgate is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. Summit Entertainment is privately held. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of News Corp.

James Mac Arthur, Actor; Hawaii Five-O, Hang Em' High, Swiss Family Robinson. 1937-2010

James MacArthur, best known for playing Detective Dan Williams in the original Hawaii Five-O TV show, has died of natural causes at the age of 72.

The actor passed away in Florida with his family by his side, his agent Richard Lewis said.

For 11 years MacArthur appeared in Hawaii Five-O, one of the longest-running crime shows in US TV history.

Son of playwright Charles MacArthur and actress Helen Hayes, MacArthur also appeared in several films.

They include Swiss Family Robinson and the western Hang 'Em High, alongside Clint Eastwood.

MacArthur's appearance in 1958 film The Young Stranger earned him a BAFTA for most promising newcomer.

He made his Broadway debut opposite Jane Fonda in Invitation to a March, going on to win the Theatre World Award for best new actor in 1961.

Yet it is for his role in Hawaii Five-O, which the actor spent 11 years playing, that he remains best known.

Episodes often ended with detective Steve McGarrett - played by Jack Lord - saying the show's catchphrase: "Book 'em, Danno!"

MacArthur quit the role before the programme's final season, saying he had grown bored with the show.

"The stories became more bland and predictable and presented less and less challenge to me as an actor," he said.

He is survived by Helen Beth, his wife of more than 25 years.

Via BBC
Images Reuters

Ok...1, 2, 3...BOOK 'EM DANNO!

And the box office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – Fear has taken hold at the box office with a $41.5 million debut for scary movie "Paranormal Activity 2," according to studio estimates Sunday.

Paramount Pictures' follow-up to last year's micro-budgeted hit "Paranormal Activity" got a jump on Halloween as fans packed theaters for another documentary-style thriller about a household plagued by a menacing spirit.

"Paranormal Activity 2" did nearly half its business on Friday, following the pattern of many fright-flick franchises, which often draw big crowds on opening day then drop off sharply. The movie took in $20.1 million Friday, with receipts falling to $13 million Saturday and $8.4 million Sunday.

The first "Paranormal Activity" rolled out gradually from city to city in a stealth-marketing campaign that built the buzz for the independently produced thriller that was shot for less than $15,000.

By the time the movie went into nationwide release, it had turned into a horror sensation that went on to become a $100 million hit.

The first movie came out of nowhere, and follow-up films to similar surprise smashes sometimes fall flat, such as "The Blair Witch Project" sequel. In its publicity campaign, Paramount tried to maintain an air of mystery around "Paranormal Activity 2."

"The challenge was to not make the mistake of some other movies of the past, and to treat it as its own very special entity. Even though we went wide with it, we tried to treat it a lot like the first one was treated from a publicity and marketing standpoint," said Don Harris, the studio's executive vice president for distribution.

Paramount also had the No. 2 movie with the stunt comedy "Jackass 3D," which opened in first place the previous weekend. "Jackass 3D" pulled in $21.6 million, down sharply from its $50 million opening.

But the movie raised its 10-day total to $87.1 million, more than either of the earlier two "Jackass" movies took in during their entire runs.

Summit Entertainment's action comedy "Red" held up well from its No. 2 debut a weekend earlier, slipping to third with $15 million and lifting its 10-day total to $43.5 million.

After opening Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon's "Hereafter" in limited release a week earlier, Warner Bros. expanded the supernatural drama nationwide, and the film came in at No. 4 with $12 million.

That slightly exceeded the studio's expectations, yet like most Eastwood dramas, it was a modest start. His films play to older adults who do not rush out on opening weekend in the same numbers as young crowds.

"Clint's movies these days are more of a marathon than they are a sprint, so we'll see how it plays out," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner. "I always tell Clint, `Let's not talk about the first weekend. Let's talk about the third.'"

"Hereafter" played well in bigger cities but delivered softer business in some parts of the South and Midwest. That could be a sign that Bible Belt areas were not as interested in "Hereafter," which deals with the afterlife in secular fashion without bringing God or religion into the picture.

The big opening for "Paranormal Activity 2" sets up a rematch of last Halloween season, when the first "Paranormal Activity" dismembered an established horror franchise and "Saw VI" debuted weakly with the worst opening weekend in the series' history.

Lionsgate went back to the drawing board for the seventh "Saw" movie, opening this Friday. "Saw 3D" brings back Cary Elwes from the franchise's first movie and mixes other cast members from throughout the series, while trying to capitalize on fan appetite for flicks shot in 3-D.

"This is a bigger, more powerful `Saw,' so to speak," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It kind of primes up audiences for a major Halloween smackdown battle of the horror films, but I think `Saw 3D' is going to be a much more formidable opponent."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Paranormal Activity 2," $41.5 million.

2. "Jackass 3D," $21.6 million.

3. "Red," $15 million.

4. "Hereafter," $12 million.

5. "The Social Network," $7.3 million.

6. "Secretariat," $6.9 million.

7. "Life as We Know It," $6.2 million.

8. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," $3.2 million.

9. "The Town," $2.7 million.

10. "Easy A," $1.8 million.

And the Box Office Champion this week is...

As a studio exec joked to me Friday, "The Oscar race has been turned on its head". That's because Paramount's Jackass 3D aimed at the youth market not only earned twice the gross of Sony's Academy Awards-touted Facebook origins film starting its 3rd week Friday, but knocked it out of #1. Producers Johnny Knoxville's and Spike Jonze's stupid stunt pic directed by Jeff Tremaine earned a "B+" CinemaScore. Still the headline is that, despite the restriction of an "R" rating, it opened to a whopping Friday for the biggest single day ever in October because of the higher 3D ticket prices. That included $2.5M from midnight shows, also the most ever for October. Plus a healthy Saturday after the "first to see" subsided. Its $50M weekend take was the record for the biggest opening in the month of October (besting Scary Movie 3 which did $48.1M in October 2003 but was only 2D). Guess this shows Hollywood that movies don't need a script and a plot, right? With a budget of only $20M, the studio would have been more than happy with the $30M weekend it expected from the higher ticket prices from the 2,452 3D-equipped locations. (The first 2D Jackass opened with a $22.8M weekend and the 2D sequel to $29M.) Believe it or not, I'm told the filmmakers debated whether or not shooting a film in 3D would mess up their comedic timing.

1. Jackass 3D (Paramount) NEW [3,081 Theaters]
Friday $21.8M, Saturday $17M, Weekend $50M

2. Red (Summit) NEW [3,255 Theaters]
Friday $7.3M, Saturday $9.2M, Weekend $22.5M

3. The Social Network (Sony) Week 3 [2,868 Theaters]
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.6M, Weekend $11M, Cume $63.1M

4. Secretariat (Disney) Week 2 [3,072 Theaters]
Friday $2.8M, Saturday $4.1M, Weekend $9.5M (-25%), Cume $27.7M

5. Life As We Know It (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,150 Theaters]
Friday $3.1M, Saturday $3.8M, Weekend $9.2M (-37%), Cume $29.1M

6. The Town (Warner Bros) Week 5 [2,368 Theaters]
Friday $1.2M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4M, Cume $80.6M

7. Legend Of The Guardians (Warner Bros) Week 4 [2,502 Theaters]
Friday $1M, Saturday $1.9M, Weekend $4.2M, Cume $45.7M

8. My Soul To Take (Rogue/Universal) Week 2 [2,529 Theaters]
Friday $1M (-62%), Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.1M (-54%), Cume $12M

9. Easy A (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 5 [2,314 Theaters]
Friday $855K, Saturday $1.2M, Weekend $2.6M, Cume $52.3M

10. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Fox) Week 4 [2,405 Theaters]
Friday $715K, Saturday $1M, Weekend $2.2M, Cume $47.9M

And the Box Office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – Movie fans have bookmarked the Facebook drama "The Social Network" as their weekend favorite.

David Fincher's saga about personality clashes and legal feuds among the website's founders took in $15.5 million to remain the No. 1 film for a second straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Released by Sony, "The Social Network" raised its 10-day total to $46.1 million.

Debuting a close second with a so-so $14.6 million weekend was the Warner Bros. romance "Life as We Know It," starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel as sparring guardians to an orphaned girl.

Disney's horse-racing drama "Secretariat," starring Diane Lane, also had a so-so debut, coming in at No. 3 with $12.6 million.

Opening a weak No. 5 with $7 million was Wes Craven's serial killer thriller "My Soul to Take," released by Rogue Pictures.

In narrower release, the Focus Features tale "It's Kind of a Funny Story" opened at No. 12 with a slim $2 million. The movie stars Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts and Zach Galifianakis in the story of a teen who checks himself into a psychiatric ward.

With great reviews, audience word-of-mouth and Academy Awards buzz, "The Social Network" saw its business hold up well, dropping a scant 31 percent from opening weekend.

"It's the type of picture that people can't take their eyes off of," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony. "Just about everyone has said to me that it's a movie they want to see again, as well. This picture is going to be around for a long time."

"The Social Network" dominated a field of newcomers and holdovers fighting largely for fans 25 and older, a segment of the audience less likely to jam into theaters than those in their teens and early 20s.

"There's probably a bit of an overabundance," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution at Disney.

Like other distributors, though, Disney was counting on positive reactions from older fans to keep "Secretariat" on track in subsequent weeks. Along with Sony's "The Social Network," Warner Bros. has maintained strong business for Ben Affleck's heist thriller "The Town," which took in $6.4 million this weekend and raised its total to $73.8 million after four weeks.

"Typically, this should be a horse race, but if what's happening this fall continues, this is probably going to play out more like a marathon for all of us," Viane said.

Female crowds made up just over two-thirds of the audience for "Life as We Know It," according to Warner Bros. That segment of the audience often holds up well in the weeks following a movie's debut.

"Yes, there is a whole bunch of stuff for adults this year," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner general sales manager. "But the female audience goes for a certain level, and for us, I think we kind of hit that. I think we'll hang around a while."

While studio executives are talking optimistically, overall business is lagging, with revenues down most weekends since early September.

Total receipts came in at about $93 million, down 15 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Couples Retreat" led the market with a $34.3 million debut, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"It's a great time for the adult drama genre," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "But if you're just tapping into the over-30 crowd, you're going to be fine, but you're not going to see the sort of business you'd get with a big, populist movie like `Couples Retreat' a year ago. That appealed to everybody, the date crowd and all that."

Paramount has a potential hit for younger fans this coming weekend with "Jackass 3D," the latest installment of crazy stunts and pranks from Johnny Knoxville and company.

Several films opened well in limited release. Sony Pictures Classics' documentary "Inside Job," which examines the 2008 economic crisis, took in $42,017 in two theaters, averaging a strong $21,009 a cinema. That compared to an average of $4,646 in 3,150 theaters for "Life as We Know It" and $4,102 in 3,072 locations for "Secretariat."

The Weinstein Co. drama "Nowhere Boy," the story of John Lennon's teen years, opened with $56,065 in four theaters for a $14,016 average.

Overture Films' prison parole tale "Stone," starring Robert De Niro and Edward Norton, premiered with $73,000 in six theaters for a $12,167 average.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Social Network," $15.5 million.

2. "Life as We Know It," $14.6 million.

3. "Secretariat," $12.6 million.

4. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," $7 million.

5. "My Soul to Take," $6.9 million.

6. "The Town," $6.4 million.

7. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," $4.6 million.

8. "Easy A," $4.2 million.

9. "Case 39," $2.6 million.

10. "You Again," $2.5 million.

___

Via Hollywood.com

Zack Snyder signs to direct the new reboot of "Superman"

This must be a dream come true for Zack. Despite including some truly inspired choices like Darren Aronofsky, Matt Reeves and Duncan Jones, Deadline and Heat Vision are now reporting that Zack Snyder (of Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch) has been officially chosen to direct The Man of Steel, with final negotiations currently taking place this week with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.

Not many details are known about the project besides the fact that they need to get it going by 2012 before they lose the rights and that it will have some sort of connection to the Richard Donner Superman series of the past. Heat Vision, interestingly, also hints that the villain might be none other than General Zod. Zack won the gig by meeting with studio execs and producers Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, almost all of whom are familiar with him considering his last few movies have all been made at Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. He also just opened the animated adventure Legend of the Guardians at WB back in late September.

Is Zack Snyder the perfect choice for Superman? That's going to be the question on everyone's mind the rest of this year (and probably next). I'm one of the few who defends Watchmen, especially Zack's Director's Cut, because it is a great adaptation stylized in a perfect Snyder way but with the same, fantastic story from the graphic novel. David S. Goyer is currently working on the screenplay for The Man of Steel from his own idea, and I'm sure Zack will tweak the script once he gets his hands on it. I'm kind of excited to see what he'll do with this superhero. Let's just hope Superman isn't his downfall like it was for Bryan Singer.

And the box office champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES – "The Social Network," David Fincher's drama chronicling the contentious origins of Facebook, won the most friends at the weekend box office with a $22.4 million debut.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Social Network," Sony, $22,445,653, 2,771 locations, $8,100 average, $22,445,653, one week.

2. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," Warner Bros., $10,887,429, 3,575 locations, $3,045 average, $30,079,298, two weeks.

3. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," Fox, $10,002,578, 3,597 locations, $2,781 average, $35,778,429, two weeks.

4. "The Town," Warner Bros., $9,749,332, 2,935 locations, $3,322 average, $64,056,752, three weeks.

5. "Easy A," Sony Screen Gems, $6,748,777, 2,974 locations, $2,269 average, $42,176,967, three weeks.

6. "You Again," Disney, $5,722,566, 2,548 locations, $2,246 average, $16,607,633, two weeks.

7. "Case 39," Paramount, $5,350,570, 2,211 locations, $2,420 average, $5,350,570, one week.

8. "Let Me In," Overture, $5,147,479, 2,021 locations, $2,547 average, $5,147,479, one week.

9. "Devil," Universal, $3,564,055, 2,392 locations, $1,490 average, $27,291,460, three weeks.

10. "Alpha and Omega," Lionsgate, $2,924,868, 2,303 locations, $1,270 average, $18,949,437, three weeks.

Cinemateria, programa de Octubre 2, 2010

En este episodio de Cinemateria, discutimos y criticamos las peliculas "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" y "Case 39". Con la participacion de el Prof. Marcos Rodriguez, Alberto Reyes del "Ultimo Bunker" y Seles Benz.

Tony Curtis, Actor, "Some Like It Hot", "Spartacus", "The Sweet Smell of Success" 1925-2010

ABC News has confirmed the passing of actor Tony Curtis through his business manager and family spokesman, Preston Ahearn Thursday.

Curtis passed away at midnight ET peacefully in bed laying next to his wife in their home in Henderson, NV. He was 85.

Curtis starred alongside Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe in the film, "Some Like It Hot."

He dominated the box office in the 50s and 60s with his 1957 turn in "The Sweet Smell of Success" opposite Burt Lancaster and earned an Oscar nomination for "The Defiant Ones."

But Curtis may best be remembered for his magic touch displayed with some of Hollywood's leading ladies including Natalee Wood, Marilyn Monroe, and Janet Leigh - the first of six wives.

Curtis and Leigh had two children, one of them actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Born Bernard Schwartz June 3, 1925 in the Bronx, Curtis joined the Marines in World War II.

He took the name Tony Curtis when he began his film career in 1949.

His career stalled later and he battled with drugs and alcohol problems.

Via ABC News

Here's Tony with two other late legends, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe in a scene from Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" (1959).