Avatar, Hangover Big Winners at Golden Globes

BEVERLEY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: Box office sensation Avatar was named best film drama and The Hangover claimed the top comedy trophy at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday in Hollywood’s annual race to the Oscars.

Among actors, Sandra Bullock earned the title of best film actress in a drama for football movie The Blind Side, while Jeff Bridges was best dramatic actor for his turn as a down-and-out country singer in Crazy Heart.

Robert Downey, Jr. won the Golden Globe for best comedy actor for his turn as super sleuth Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes, and Meryl Streep was the top actress in a comedy for cooking film Julie & Julia in a show that took on a somber tone after the recent earthquake in Haiti.

The glitzy Golden Globes, one of the most-watched awards shows in Hollywood, were filled with statements of thankfulness by A-list celebrities far from the chaos of the recent disaster in Haiti. Many stars wore yellow, blue and red ribbons to show their support for victims.

Accepting her award, Streep said she had to remember “my happy movie self, in the face of everything I’m aware of in the real world.” She said her mother, now deceased, had a sense of joy that, during difficult times, taught Streep how to be grateful for success.

The Golden Globes are given out by some 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to film and television actors, directors and others, and a win here can give movies the momentum they need in Hollywood’s race for Oscars, the world’s top movie honors given out in March.

“Inglourious Basterds” star Chistoph Waltz was named best supporting actor in a film, and Mo’Nique earned best supporting film actress, going against her reputation as a comedienne and playing an abusive mother in dark drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

Disney adventure Up won two early Golden Globes, best animated movie and original score. Avatar also earned best director for James Cameron, and corporate downsizing drama Up In the Air garnered writing honors for Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner.

Among television awards, “Mad Men,” about the lives of Madison Avenue advertising executives, claimed its third straight Golden Globe for best drama and upstart musical “Glee” was named best comedy or musical.

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Avatar, Hangover Big Winners at Golden Globes was first posted on January 18, 2010 at 5:14 pm.

Avatar Passes $1 Billion At World Box Office

LOS ANGELES: “Avatar” sped past the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office after three weekends in release, making it the fourth-biggest movie of all time, according to data released here.

James Cameron’s 3-D sci-fi epic earned $1.02 billion, powered by sales of $202 million during the New Year holiday weekend, distributor 20th Century Fox said.

The only movies ahead of it are Cameron’s “Titanic” ($1.8 billion), “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” ($1.12 billion), and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” ($1.07 billion).

North American moviegoers chipped in $68.3 million, setting a record for a film in its third weekend. The old mark of $45 million was set by “Spider-Man” in 2002.

After 17 days in cinemas across the United States and Canada, “Avatar” has earned $352.1 million, placing it at No. 15 among all movies in terms of ticket sales.

Cameron’s 1997 drama “Titanic,” the biggest film of all time before accounting for inflation, earned $601 million, followed by 2008’s “The Dark Knight” with $533 million. “Star Wars” currently holds the No. 3 berth with $461 million.

“This is like a freight train out of control,” said Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. “It just keeps on going.”

Even “Titanic” could be threatened. When ticket-price inflation is included, that film had earned $241 million after 17 days, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojor.

The international total for “Avatar” stands at $670.2 million. The film is playing virtually everywhere. It opened in China on Saturday, and will reach Italy — its final market — on Jan. 15.

“Avatar” is the tale of a disabled ex-Marine sent from Earth to infiltrate a race of 10-foot blue aliens and persuade them to let his employer mine their homeland for natural resources. It was reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300 million.

In the absence of any major new releases, the rankings of the rest of the films in the North American top 10 were largely unchanged from the previous week.

“Sherlock Holmes” was No. 2 with $38.4 million, taking the 10-day total for the Robert Downey Jr. action-adventure to $140.7 million. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Fox’s family offering “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” followed at No. 3 with $36.6 million, and a 12-day total of $157.3 million.

The Universal Pictures comedy “It’s Complicated” held steady at No. 4 in its second weekend with $18.7 million. The film, starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, has earned $59.1 million. Universal is a unit of General Electric Co.

The Sandra Bullock smash “The Blind Side” was No. 5 with $12.7 million. Warner Bros.’ football-themed drama has earned $209.1 million after seven weekends.

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Avatar Passes $1 Billion At World Box Office was first posted on January 4, 2010 at 2:24 pm.
©2009 “India News“.

Avatar Box office gross

“Avatar” earned $23.5 million on Friday :- British director Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” set a Christmas Day sales record at the box office in North America, taking a narrow lead over last weekend’s champ, “Avatar,” according to early estimates.
“Sherlock Holmes,” earned $24.9 million during its first day of release while “Avatar” earned $23.5 million on Friday. The record for a Christmas Day opening was set last year when “Marley and Me” launched with $14.4 million.

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Avatar Box office gross was first posted on December 28, 2009 at 3:30 pm.

Avatar Tops Record Box-office Weekend

NEW YORK: It was a memorable and merry Christmas in Hollywood as moviegoers shattered box-office records, responding in droves to a diverse array of high-profile releases over the holiday weekend.

The estimated $278 million in weekend box-office revenue broke the previous record of roughly $253 million set in July 2008, the weekend “The Dark Knight” was released.

A diverse group of films drew throngs to the multiplexes: James Cameron’s “Avatar” pushed strongly into its second week while “Sherlock Holmes,” ”Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” and “It’s Complicated” all opened.

“Avatar,” the 3-D epic, topped them all, earning $75 million for 20th Century Fox, according to studio estimates Sunday. Remarkably, that was only a 3 percent drop from its opening weekend total of $77.4 million. (Blockbusters typically drop 30-50 percent in the second weekend.) In its 10 days of release, “Avatar” has made $212 million domestically — and could be on its way to a worldwide gross of over $1 billion.

“This thing is going to be playing and playing, I can tell you that,” said Bert Livingston, 20th Century Fox distribution executive. “There’s a lot of business out there. Everybody’s got good movies out.”

In second was “Sherlock Holmes,” British director Guy Ritchie’s reboot of the franchise with Robert Downey Jr. starring as Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective. The Warner Bros. film opened with a weekend total of $65.4 million, including a record Christmas Day debut of $24.9 million.

It was a start that seemed sure to pave the way for sequels. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., called the result “sensational.”

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” which opened Wednesday, took in $50.2 million on the weekend and $77.1 million in its five days of release. The film, also from Fox, earned an impressive $18.8 million on Wednesday alone. The strong start suggested that “Squeakquel” was likely to surpass its 2007 original, which made $217 million.

Also opening was Nancy Meyer’s “It’s Complicated,” the romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. With an audience 72 percent female, the Universal film took in $22.1 million, a solid debut.

The strong Christmas weekend results spelled good things for all the films in release in the coming week — one of the most lucrative of the year.

“We all know what next week means to the industry. This is huge,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. “Christmas is past us. No more shopping, no more returning. College kids are home. … I’m so optimistic about what the next weekend holds for us.”

Said Livingston: “Starting this Monday, every day is a Saturday.”

Two films with Oscar aspirations also released wide over the weekend: Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air” (Paramount) and Rob Marshall’s “Nine” (Weinstein Co.).

“Up in the Air,” which has some of the best awards momentum including Oscar buzz for star George Clooney, grossed $11.8 million, bringing its cumulative total to $24.5 million — already nearly earning back its production budget.

“For us, this movie was always the movie that we felt was going to be a real focus during the awards season,” said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman. “It feels like this should have a long run as awards season continues.”

“Nine,” the adaptation of the Broadway musical (which itself was a riff of Federico Fellini’s classic film “8 1/2″) earned $5.5 million in 1408 theaters.

Hollywood also seemed to be offering good old spectacle to moviegoers. “Avatar” grossed $8.8 million in IMAX theaters, actually increasing from its opening weekend. IMAX chairman and president Greg Foster said they were operating essentially at capacity.

“There is no context,” said Foster. “It’s so far beyond where we’ve ever been. It’s not eking past a record, it’s shattering it.”

Christmas weekend was also neatly organized around various demographics. There was science-fiction, romantic comedy, family fare, action-packed thriller and serious awards-contender.

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

1. “Avatar,” $75 million.

2. “Sherlock Holmes,” $65.4 million.

3. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” $50.2 million.

4. “It’s Complicated,” $22.1 million.

5. “Up in the Air,” $11.8 million.

6. “The Blind Side,” $11.7 million.

7. “The Princess and the Frog,” $8.7 million.

8. “Nine,” $5.5 million.

9. “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” $5 million.

10. “Invictus,” $4.4 million.a

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Avatar Tops Record Box-office Weekend was first posted on December 28, 2009 at 11:31 am.

Sherlock Holmes” Beats Out “Avatar” at Box Office

Sherlock Holmes” Beats Out “Avatar” at Box Office, British director Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” set a Christmas Day sales record at the box office in North America, taking a narrow lead over last weekend’s champ, “Avatar,” according to early estimates.
“Sherlock Holmes,” earned $24.9 million during its first day of release while “Avatar” earned $23.5 million on Friday. The record for a Christmas Day opening was set last year when “Marley and Me” launched with $14.4 million.

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Sherlock Holmes” Beats Out “Avatar” at Box Office was first posted on December 27, 2009 at 6:54 pm.

Whiteout Movie Review

Fancy a trip to the South Pole? If so, then this is the film for you. In fact, ice majestic landscapes of Antarctica are the only reason to venture into this confusing potboiler.

Adapted from a graphic novel, Whiteout also has the dubious distinction of being the script for two sets of brothers.

After a rather tense prologue involving a Russian airliner crashed into the snowy wastes, the description of the beaters made for 50 years.

The rest of the connect the dots refer to a U.S. Marshal history (Beckinsale) who must unravel a murder mystery before the arrival of the winter storm holder. As secondary characters die around her, Ms. Sherlock Holmes ax is stalked by a psychopath driving. The ensuing confrontation provides a scare or two, but really nothing we have not seen before.

Just in case you are wondering why the law enforcement officer is stationed at the post forgetful of God, director Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds) uses flashbacks about his past mission failure.

Kate Beckinsale, it is considered that the advantage far better in films like Underworld (2003), barely passed muster. Deaf and dithering best describes this movie.

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skerrit,
Address: Dominic Sena

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Whiteout Movie Review was first posted on November 18, 2009 at 1:45 pm.
©2009 “India News“.