That sentiment leads escaped convict Nick (Sam Worthington) onto the ledge of the 21st floor of a New York hotel in the new thriller, “Man on a Ledge.” The former inmate is trying to prove his innocence in front of the police and a national media watching his every move. The concept sounds like “The Fugitive” on a skyscraper. but the film is so mundane and lifeless Dr. Richard Kimble himself might have asked for an autopsy.

“Brother,” available this week on home video, tees up a story laden with comic potential. A lovable slacker (Rudd) imposes himself on his three dysfunctional sisters, all of whom could learn to embrace life as their ne’er do well brother does.

The film doesn’t play the “Idiot” card for all its worth, nor do we get the kind of droll humor indie films so often supply. Instead, it’s a predictable yarn that all but abandons both its star and terrific supporting players.

Rudd stars as Ned, a hirsute dreamer who gets arrested for selling pot to a police officer. It’s entrapment 101, but it also shows how naive poor Ned is. When he gets out of jail he’s taken in by his harried sister Liz (Emily Mortimer), a housewife married to an unctuous documentary filmmaker (Steve Coogan).

Liz would love to kick Ned out, but their fellow siblings, played by Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel, want no part of Ned. But the sisters could take a page from Ned’s dog-eared playbook, one that has him sharing his blissful worldview with everyone who crosses his path.

Rudd’s Ned isn’t a stoner in the grand Jeff Spicoli tradition. He just assumes the best of everyone even when given plenty of evidence to the contrary. He’s so trusting he hands a stranger on a subway car a wad of cash to hold while he cleans up a spill. It’s that benevolent spirit that transforms the lives of his sad siblings. You can see that redemptive arcs coming the moment the opening credits roll, but couldn’t the film offer a few modest surprises along the way?

Ned’s mental clarity zaps the humor out of moments when a Jim Carrey-esque touch would be more than welcome. Instead, we’re left with stale hippie jokes, a flat steam room sequence and some minor love stories barely given enough screen time to matter.

Banks and Rudd clicked in “Role Models,” but they don’t spark here except during a brief bout of physical violence when Ned inadvertently hurts her character’s career.

The film’s rich cast includes two “Parks and Recreation” stars – Rashida Jones and Adam Scott – plus feisty scene swipers Kathryn Hahn and T.J. Miller. Still, only a few guilty smiles emerge from the less than inspired script. Some exchanges feel like on-set improv, and their organic quality gives the film a flicker of life.

And where was the PC police with lines like this?

“What you don’t understand is my brother is a retard.”

Rudd could make a stroll through the park something deliciously comic, and he’s clearly having a blast underneath that scratchy beard. His joyous mood gets consistently squashed by the story’s rote conclusions about never taking life too seriously.

The DVD includes a commentary track from director Jesse Peretz, plus deleted and extended scenes and a perfunctory “making of” docu-feature letting the cast extrapolate on their characters.

That’s an understatement in a genre teeming with impoverished acting, stale dialogue and atrocious direction. For every classic like ‘The Shining’ or ‘The Omen,’ there’s a dozen ‘Saw’ sequels to make horror fans want to run and hide.

AMC is currently running its second annual Fearfest programming, a horror movie marathon meant to scare us silly right through Halloween. It’s a wonderful gimmick, but you’ll need to be wary of the clunkers littering the lineup.

So, here’s a handy guide to help you make the most of this grisly movie marathon. Treats are always better than tricks this time of the year:

Monday Oct. 24 – ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ (10 a.m. EST) – ‘The Exorcist’ casts an impossibly long shadow over any film that dares to deal with demonic possession, but ‘Rose’ manages to blaze its own intriguing trail. AVOID: ‘Dreamcatcher’ (5 p.m. EST) – The worst Stephen King adaptation committed to the big screen and the lowest point of writer/director Lawrence Kasdan’s otherwise brilliant career. Even Morgan Freeman looks ridiculous here, in part thanks to a pair of eyebrows gone wild.

Tuesday Oct. 25 – ‘Thinner’ (Noon EST) – This little-seen adaptation of Stephen King’s novella (written under the pen name Richard Bachman) tracks an obese man cursed to keep losing weight by a gypsy. Not first-rate King, but it bristles with unsettling thoughts and imagery.

Wednesday Oct. 26 -’Slither’ (4 p.m. EST) – Combining horror and comedy sounds easy, but it takes a special elixir to get it just right. The genre’s standard bearer remains ‘An American Werewolf in London,’ but ‘Slither’ deserves credit for fusing the genres with an assured touch.  Plus, we get a young Elizabeth Banks battling an alien invasion as well as a heroic turn by genre fave Nathan Fillion (‘Firefly’).

Thursday Oct. 27 -’Halloween III: Season of the Witch’ (8 p.m. EST) – Noteworthy for being the only ‘Halloween’ feature not to focus on killing machine Michael Myers. An evil company is manufacturing Halloween masks which will explode and kill their young wearers. Hardly a classic, but the sing-song chant introduced in the film will burrow into your brain until Thanksgiving.

Friday Oct. 28 - ‘House of Wax’ (11 a.m. EST) – This competent remake is known more for an appearance by Paris Hilton than any signature scares. But it’s an example of a competent horror movie that hits the spot when you’ve seen ‘The Shining’ and ‘The Exorcist’ too many times. AVOID: ‘Survival of the Dead’ (4 p.m. EST) Horror maestro George A. Romero keeps cranking out zombie films, but his latest undead affair is DOA.

Saturday Oct. 29 - ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ (8:15 a.m. EST) – You’ll have to get up early to enjoy this hair-raising classic, but ol’ Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester will make it worth your time. If only Frankenstein’s Monster had access to Match.com or eHarmony.

Monday Oct. 31 - All ‘Halloween,’ all the time. AMC trots out five films from a franchise that refuses to die. The best, of course, is the original ‘Halloween’ (9:30 a.m. EST, 8 p.m. EST). The film set the template for the slasher movie genre, but we’ve yet to meet one that rivaled director John Carpenter’s shock classic.

The arguments typically end up more theoretical than reality based. In one famous instance, the 1994 Oliver Stone film “Natural Born Killers” supposedly inspired a young couple to kill a person and leave another paralyzed.

More recently, celebrities like Elizabeth Banks, Roger Ebert, Patton Oswalt and Michael Moore twisted the blame game for partisan reasons, using their Twitter accounts to accuse Sarah Palin of inspiring the Tucson shooter without a shred of evidence.

Now, we have a direct tie between an anti-war film and the murder of two U.S. soldiers. So … will the media cover the story? Will it change how the film industry treats the subject matter? And will Miss Banks and co. rush to Tweet their condemnation of the movie in question?”

Yes, I’m being rhetorical on all three fronts, but let’s plow on all the same.

“Redacted” by Brian de Palma (“The Untouchables,” “Scarface”) cast U.S. soldiers as racist, violent thugs. The film flopped in spectacular fashion, earning $65,388 for its entire theatrical run. Apparently, audiences weren’t too keen on seeing the men and women of the Armed Forces smeared.

But “Redacted” impacted Arid Uka, a Balkan Muslim who saw the film and went on to kill two U.S. Air Force servicemen in March. Uka told a judge this week he was inspired by “the movie’s graphic depiction of U.S. soldiers raping a girl in Iraq,” says The Daily Caller citing a BBC report.

The men killed were Senior Airman Nicholas Alden, age 25, and Airman 1st Class Zachary Cuddeback, aged 21.

The Daily Caller (full disclosure – I freelance for the publication) not only reported on the situation today but reached out to “Redacted” producer Jason Kliot for comment. What Kliot says is both stunning in its shallowness and so nakedly partisan even Ed Schultz might balk at saying it.

“I’m terribly sorry to hear that, but I don’t understand how my movie would impel anyone to commit murder,” he said. “I don’t see how people would be made to commit acts of violence [after watching “Redacted”], any more than they would for watching Fox News.”

Will de Palma be asked to comment by the press? How about Mark Cuban, who also helped produce the film?

Ultimately, the price of having artistic freedom means writers and directors can say what they want to say via film, television and music. But it sure would help if those same artists gave serious thought to the ramifications of their content, especially material specifically designed to impugn a population.

—–

Early on in “Brother,” Ned (Rudd) is arrested for selling marijuana to a police officer. The police officer is fully-uniformed and openly asks Ned about buying the illegal drug. I’m not sure why a police officer would try to sell drugs to someone while wearing his uniform but this officer believes that Ned is stupid enough to sell him pot.

He’s right.

After being released from prison, Ned starts living with family members. His ex-girlfriend has broken up with him and stolen his dog so he has nowhere else to go. Of course, Ned is more upset about losing his dog than his girl. He eventually moves in with his mother but later moves in with each of his sisters as well, who each have their own homes. One of his sisters is a married Mom (Emily Mortimer). Another one is a lesbian (Zooey Deschanel) living with her girlfriend, and his third sister (Elizabeth Banks) is an aspiring journalist who lives with a male roommate. The sisters share little in common except for their love for their dimwitted brother. Ned eventually becomes involved in each of their personal lives causing friction in their relationships with loved ones. Ned is brutally honest and as with other movies of this type, his honesty helps create issues for the people he loves.

One of my main problems with this story is its complacency. This story doesn’t try to do anything interesting with the formula of a strange character stirring up trouble with a group of people living supposedly-happy lives who discover that their lives aren’t as perfect as they seem. Ned inevitably gets into trouble, derails some relationships and finds himself being despised by his own siblings. However, as audiences know, there’s inevitably going to be a way for Ned to bring everyone together at the end. If this story had diverted from its formula in one significant or interesting way, it could have been well-done but instead, it settles for being cliched.

Much of the comedy from “Brother” is supposed to derive from the fact that people think that Ned, in all of his stupidity, is funny. Although I think Rudd tries to bring the character to life, he was never funny to me. He was always just a naive, bumbling fool who doesn’t know when to distrust people. Even when he finds his brother-in-law standing naked around a woman that he is trying to “film” for his job, Ned doesn’t understand that they are having an affair. His sister has to tell him the obvious truth. When he understands that, he reveals that he had his doubts about his brother-in-law’s explanation for the incident but Ned trusts people at their word despite all of the evidence to the contrary.

It goes without saying that “Our Idiot Brother” wastes a talented cast. All of the characters are forgettable, including Ned. Paul Rudd can be funny and he seems to be trying here but the material doesn’t measure up. Rudd may have read the script and thought that Ned was both a complete idiot and a funny character. He was half right.

And so it is that I’ve taken a look back over the more than 100 movies I’ve seen in 2010, picking my 10 personal favorites. I won’t presume to say that they’re objectively the 10 best — I would have had to see more than 250 films last year to give an honest assessment of that. And while I know “The Social Network” is great filmmaking and appears to be the unanimous favorite for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, I think it’s too easy to simply agree with the pack. So, instead, I’m offering up 10 flicks that moved me, made me laugh, or thrilled me the most. Many of them were underrated and little-seen, but they are well worth renting now.

1. “Cyrus.” This indie film came out in July and served up what appeared to be the most unusual love triangle ever: Marisa Tomei as a lonely single mother, John C. Reilly as the even lonelier guy who is saved by her love, and Jonah Hill as her grown-up son, Cyrus, who seems way too close to his mom. Thankfully, nothing is as it first appears, and this crazily funny and surprisingly touching film winds up being my favorite gem of the year.

2. “City Island.” In perhaps the funniest movie of the year, Andy Garcia led a stellar, Oscar-worthy ensemble cast in the story of a working-class family in the New York City enclave of City Island, where each family member has their own improbable dream or wild secret. As everything gets revealed in the brilliantly written final half-hour, the audience at the screening I attended was literally whooping with laughter.

3. “True Grit.” My choice for Best Picture among the likely Oscar nominees, this sumptuously mounted Western is classic Hollywood filmmaking at its finest, yet is given an utterly fresh spin by America’s quirkiest filmmakers, Joel and Ethan Coen. Total newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as the young girl who hires Jeff Bridges to find her father’s killer will likely walk away with Oscar gold.

4. “Solitary Man.” Michael Douglas made more headlines for battling cancer and reviving his Oscar-winning character of Gordon Gekko in the also-solid “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” But he delivered what I believe to be the best performance of his career in this criminally under-viewed portrait of a former used-car kingpin struggling to revive his career and his love life after a stint in prison.

5. “The Crazies.” This remake of an obscure George Romero horror flick came out of nowhere to deliver the biggest mix of laughs and scares to hit theaters in 2010, led by a fantastic performance by Timothy Olyphant as the sheriff of a small town whose residents have suddenly gone insane.

6. “Hereafter.” Clint Eastwood’s epic drama takes on the biggest questions of them all — life, death, and what happens next. Three hauntingly sad stories set in the US, France, and England come together with a powerful yet understated climax, filling me with hope.

7. “The Fighter.” You want uplift? This classic boxing tale follows the true story of Mickey Ward, a career punching bag of a boxer who finds love and finally learns to stand up for himself, both in the ring and in his life. Four of the best performances of the year by Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo, combined with the year’s most rousing climax, has created a new-generation “Rocky.”

And some in Hollywood, like Roger Ebert, Michael Moore, Elizabeth Banks, John Legend, Jeff Wells, Jane Fonda, Michael McKean, and Piers Morgan,  jumped right in with both pedicured feet. Let’s call these witch hunters the Hollywood 8.

There is news on this front to report now. Interesting news. According to those who know the suspect, we now know that Jared Lee Loughner (must it always be three names?) absolutely loved the punk band Anti-Flag. The Incredible Shrinking L.A. Times informs us, that Anti-Flag is a ”radical leftist punk band whose music focuses on themes of corporate greed, U.S. foreign policy and opposition to war.” We’ve also been told that Loughner was “driven over the edge “by a film called “Zeitgeist” – a conspiracy theory documentary that touched on subjects as diverse as 9/11, currency, and religion.

Music and a movie. How about that?

Unlike Governor Palin and Glenn Beck, this band and this film are KNOWN connections to the suspected killer and also products created by our very own entertainment industry. And yet, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, George Soros’ Eric Boehlert, and the rest of the MSM fever swamps have yet to point to or question any of this. And the reason is obvious: they don’t care what might have drove this killer. All they care about is scoring political points against their enemies on the right.

Who I’d really like to hear from on this, though, are Michael Moore and Elizabeth Banks and the rest of the Hollywood 8. Five days ago they believed something as innocuous as a standard political map drove this man to murder. Five days ago they believed political rhetoric from the Right put a gun in this man’s hand. Okay… Now that we know for a fact exactly what political images and words Loughner was exposed to, what say them now?

Time to “watch what we say” in documentary films, Mr. Moore? Time to “watch what we sing,” John Legend?

Or are you not so concerned with political words and images that don’t come from a mother of five residing in Alaska?

That’s what I thought.  

That was my larger point. But in these times where we must now be absurdly clear about what we say — I’m talking to you Film School Rejects – let me be very clear in saying that no matter how reprehensible Anti-Flag and “Zeitgest” might be, neither is in any way responsible for a reprehensible crime committed by someone else.  I’m no doctor but I do watch a lot of television*, and from my long years of toiling away in the trenches of true crime viewing, it’s pretty obvious that if these sickos didn’t have a punk band or a conspiracy doc to obsess over, there would be novel or a  next door neighbor or a door knob to take their place.

*that was a joke, though that is my personal belief

—–

But aside from the vastly underrated “Cinderella Man” five years ago, Crowe has slipped off the rails a bit. He made several missteps that proved largely unappealing to the masses of moviegoers, only starting to rebound this year with the $100 million-grossing yet still disappointing “Robin Hood” (full disclosure: looking back, this is the one positive review this year that I regret givin, as the film has not held up well in memory due to its overly ponderous tone). But in his new film “The Next Three Days,” Crowe digs deep and pulls off his most appealing performance in years. Working under the always-masterful Paul Haggis (“Crash,” “Million Dollar Baby”), who fills the shoes of writer and director in this one, Crowe plays John Brennan, an English professor at a Pittsburgh community college who has a young son and an incredibly sexy and supportive wife, Laura (Elizabeth Banks).

He’s content with his lot in life, but Laura hates her boss so much that when the boss winds up murdered, she gets pegged as the prime suspect and is railroaded into a 20-plus year prison sentence. As months and then years tick by and John sees their son growing up ever more distant and alone, he is frustrated by the fact that all types of appeals have been exhausted and nothing legal will ever appear to get her out.

When Laura attempts suicide, John reaches the end of his rope and decides the time has come to break her out at all costs. Thus, he embarks on a literally quixotic quest – the film expertly draws a parallel with the moral issues inherent to the “Don Quixote” story – to research how to conduct, fund and plan the perfect prison break. And when that moment comes, Haggis’ utterly brilliant script and direction (based on the French film “Pour Elle” by Fred Cavaye and Guillaume Lemans) hooks the viewer and pulls their strings in ways both subtle and strong, resulting in an intelligent and rewarding thriller that would do Alfred Hitchcock proud.

As good as Crowe is in this film, Banks is even better. So far in her career, she always appeared to be a broad-comedy lightweight in films like “Zach and Miri” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” But here she takes what could have been a thankless role as the damsel in distress and makes Laura a fully alive, three-dimensional and utterly unpredictable character who can shift her emotions on a dime. And backing her and Crowe up is a stellar cast of actors who were apparently so eager to work with Haggis that they filled in even small roles with star power – especially Liam Neeson in the small but key role of a man whose record of committing several prison breaks leads John to seek advice and inspiration from him.

The other most remarkable aspect of the film lies in the fact that it’s not a heavy-handed, pulse-pounding affair. Instead, it takes a slow, thoughtful, methodical approach to the elaborate plot that John hatches and then lets it unspool with a growing force that pays off with stunning results. Even though this is “just” a thriller, it might very well wind up as one of my ten favorite films of the year.

“The Next Three Days” opens everywhere Friday, November 19th.

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen star in the fun, smart DUPLICITY, from writer/director Tony Gilroy

Roberts’ last starring role was in 2003’s Mona Lisa Smile ($63.8M domestic), and since then she has become a full-time Mom. Overall, she has 8 movies on her resume that have reached $100M in the US with her as a lead (I’m not including the Ocean’s Eleven franchise). Her most successful string of movies started in 1997 with My Best Friend’s Wedding ($127.1M cume) and ended with her Oscar winning performance in Erin Brockovich ($125.6M cume). During that span, she starred in 6 movies, generating an average of $115M in domestic box office.

Katherine Heigl is one of the actresses getting all of Roberts' old ingenue roles

But, she has entered the “danger zone” for any actress. All the types of roles that Julia used to turn into $100M blockbusters are going to Katherine Heigl, Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Reese Witherspoon and Elizabeth Banks. What’s a 40+ woman to do?

DUPLICITY writer/director Tony Gilroy

She should be looking for smartly-written, age appropriate movies with some pedigree (co-stars, director, etc.). That is exactly what Duplicity is. Writer/director Tony Gilroy wrote the Jason Bourne movies, and his last film, Michael Clayton, was nominated for 7 Academy Awards. The result is an excellent movie. Clever, smart and charming, and Julia Roberts isn’t trying to pass herself off as an ingénue. The movie was expected to open to about $15M, and that’s exactly what it did, and still, bloggers write things like Julia’s Comeback: Audiences Say Go Back and people question if she’s still a draw.

For comparison sake, here is, to the best of my knowledge, the all-time box office champs for movies starring 40+ actresses above the title.

Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in FATAL ATTRACTION grabbed over $156M

ALL-TIME TOP 15 GROSSING MOVIES WITH A 40+ FEMALE LEAD
1. Fatal Attraction – Glenn Close (40) – $156.6M cume
2. Sex & the City – Sarah Jessica Parker (43) – $152.6M cume
3. Mamma Mia! – Meryl Streep (59) – $144.1M cume
4. 101 Dalmations – Glenn Close (49) – $136.2M cume
5. The Devil Wears Prada – (57) – $124.7M cume
6. Something’s Gotta Give – Diane Keaton (57) – $124.7M cume
7. On Golden Pond – Katherine Hepburn (74) – $119.2M cume
8. Terms of Endearment – Shirley MacLaine (49) – $108.4M cume
9. First Wives Club – Diane Keaton (50), Goldie Hawn (41), Bette Midler (51) – $105.5M cume
10. The Client – Susan Sarandon (48) – $92.1M cume
11. Flightplan – Jody Foster (43) – $89.7M cume
12. Moonstruck – Cher (41) – $80.6M cume
13. The Bridges of Madison County – Meryl Streep (46) – $71.5M cume
14. Bird On Wire – Goldie Hawn (45) – $70.9M cume
15. 102 Dalmations – Glenn Close (53) – $66.9M cume

In other words, it is a longshot for a mature woman to open a film in a big way. Last year, Hollywood gave us Mamma Mia! and Sex & The City, but they were both based on popular source material. The only other movies that starred 40+ actress to generate significant receipts were Australia ($49.5M cume) starring Nicole Kidman (40), Nim’s Island ($48M cume) featuring Jody Foster (46) and Nights in Rodanthe ($41.8M) with a 43-year-old Diane Lane.

Meryl Streep had Universal Studios execs jumping for joy with MAMMA MIA!

Given the nature of the business, is it really fair to say, “Julia Roberts can’t open a movie anymore?” The reality is that it is very rare that any woman north of 40 “opens” a movie, and let’s face it, ABBA opened Mamma Mia! and HBO created the success of Sex & The City.

In fact, I would argue that Duplicity is an excellent choice for the former $20M-per-movie star. You could argue that it is quite similar to Adam’s Rib, the movie that Katherine Hepburn starred in at the age of 41, a romantic comedy featuring she and Spencer Tracy as husband and wife operating, as lawyers on opposite sides of a big case. Duplicity is a very good modern-day parallel, not a classic like Adam’s Rib, but very good.

Kyra Sedgwick has scored big with THE CLOSER on TNT

Increasingly, the best roles for women 40+ are on television. Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Glenn Close (Damages), Holly Hunter (Saving Grace), Edie Falco (The Sopranos), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty) and Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters) have all found meaningful work on the small screen, but with two young kids, the TV series grind isn’t likely in the cards right now for Roberts right now.

Based on the $14.5M weekend and the fact that Females 25 Plus don’t often rush out to see a movie on opening weekend, I think it’s reasonable to project a $40M-$45M domestic gross – maybe even $50M. Michael Clayton only reached $49M in the US, so is Julia’s drawing power that much inferior to George Clooney?

In my mind, Duplicity is a creative success and, although the jury is out on commercial viability, it is by no means a disaster. Good for Julia Roberts that she has devoted herself to full-time motherhood. I’m glad she chose a project with an IQ, and I hope she continues making smart career choices. Her success will be of service to other actresses in Hollywood – those who are 40+ now, or will be someday.

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter@LAMase.

The result is a well-reviewed (56% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) action film that will help to satisfy blockbuster-hungry audiences waiting for Warner Bros’ Watchmen (due March 6). Taken has scored big on its opening weekend. After grabbing an estimated $9.4M, the movie surged on Saturday to $11.62M (up almost 24% from opening day) and, despite today’s Super Bowl, the film could reach $24.62M according to studio estimates. That will be more than enough to win the Super Bowl 3-day, and positive word-of-mouth could get this one into the $70M-$75M range domestic.

Prolific French filmmaker Luc Besson

Taken re-teams French action maestro Besson with director Morel, who previously worked together on the brilliant District B13 ($411K opening – $1.2M in the US – $6.9M in France). For the prolific Besson, this movie marks the all-time best US opening for one of his films.

ALL-TIME BEST DOMESTIC OPENINGS FOR LUC BESSON FILMS
- as producer, writer and/or director -
1. Taken (producer/writer) – $24.62M opening (projected)
2. The Fifth Element (writer/director) – $17M opening – $63.8M domestic
3. Transporter 2 (producer/writer) – $16.5M opening – $43M domestic
4. Kiss of the Dragon (producer/writer) – $13.3M opening – $36.8M domestic
5. Transporter 3 (producer/writer) – $12M opening – $31.7M domestic
6. The Transporter (producer/writer) – $9.1M opening – $25.2M domestic
7. Point of No Return (writer) – $7.1M opening – $30M domestic
8. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (producer/writer/director) – $6.3M opening – $14.2M domestic
9. The Professional (producer/writer/director) – $5.3M opening – $19.5M domestic
10. Arthur & the Invisibles (producer/writer/director) – $4.3M opening – $15.1M domestic

Besson has a tremendous international following, and Taken was already a hit before it ever opened in the US. The movie has already been released in many overseas territories, generating $68.8M in 2008. That includes $11.2M in the UK and $9.4M in France. With international numbers like that, it’s not a huge surprise that the picture is working so well in the states.

The irrepressible Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) is headed for a #2 finish for the weekend. The Adam Sandler-produced comedy sold another $4.2M in tickets on its third Friday, and Kevin James has ridden that dopey Segway to another strong 3-day of about $14M. By Monday morning, PB:MC will have banked a stellar $83M.

Poster for the 1998 Japanese film Ringu

In 1998, Hollywood discovered a Japanese film called Ringu, and they have been remaking Asian horror films ever since. Director Gore Verbinski turned the get-under-your-skin creepy Ringu into an American version called, simply, The Ring, and that 2002 movie starring Naomi Watts grossed a spectacular $129M.

The latest Asian horror adaptation is The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount), based on the 2003 South Korean thriller Janghwa, Hongryeon (released in the US as A Tale of Two Sisters). The movie was a sensation in Korea where it remains the all-time highest-grossing horror film, and now Elizabeth Banks (W.) and David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) headline the American version. After grabbing a decent $4.3M to start the weekend, The Uninvited got a 9% Saturday bump, and it will likely finish the weekend in third-place with $10.51M.

That is slightly disappointing given the performance of some other recent Asian horror remakes. (Note these are all based on Japanese films with The Uninvited being the first South Korean adaptation.)

2002 – The Ring – $15M opening – $129.1M cume
2004 – The Grudge – $39.1M opening – $110.3M cume
2005 – The Ring Two – $35M opening – $76.2M cume
2005 – Dark Water – $9.9M opening – $25.4M cume
2006 – The Grudge 2 – $20.8M opening – $39.1M cume
2006 – Pulse – $8.2M opening – $20.2M cume
2008 – One Missed Call – $12.5M opening – $26.9M cume
2008 – The Eye – $12.4M opening – $31.4M cume
2009 – The Uninvited – $10.51M opening (projected)

In final studio estimates, Hotel for Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) has managed a surprise fourth-place finish with $8.7M for a new cume of $48.2M. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl has pushed Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino (Warner Bros) to #5 with $8.6M. Walt Kowalski has now growled his way to an amazing $110.5M cume.

Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) has received a nice boost from and its 10 Oscar nominations, adding another $7.58M. This micro-budgeted movie ($14M) which almost went straight to video when Warner bros didn’t quite know what to do wth it has grossed a staggering $67M. Also this weekend, director Danny Boyle has won the ultimate Oscar bellweather, the DGA award, and that may seal the deal for Best Picture and Best Director at the upcoming Academy Awards.

The other new wide release is the horribly-reviewed New In Town (Lionsgate), starring Academy Award winner Renee Zellweger. The romantic comedy that makes sport of small town America opened soft, but it could have been worse. The movie coaxed about $2.4M on Friday (#7 for the day), and Lionsgate says the movie will finish the weekend with $6.75M, enough for eighth place. That number marks only the eighth-best opening of Zellweger’s career.

ALL-TIME BEST RENEE ZELLWEGER OPENINGS
- non-animated –
1. Me, Myself & Irene – $24.2M opening
2, Cinderella Man – $18.3M opening
3. Jerry Maguire – $17M opening
4. Cold Mountain – $14.5M opening
5. Leatherheads – $12.6M opening
6. Bridget Jones’s Diary – $10.7M opening
7. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason – $8.6M opening
8. The Bachelor – $7.4M opening
9. Nurse Betty – $7.1M opening
10. New In Town -$6.75M opening (projected)

There is not much of an Oscar bounce for the current crop of Best Picture nominees. Stephen Daldry’s The Reader (Weinstein) and Milk (Focus) starring Sean Penn are the last two of the big five to go wide, and neither film has scored big.

David Kross and Kate Winslet in The Reader

The Reader, which has Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress: Kate Winslet, Best Director: Daldry, Best Adapted Screenplay: David Hare and Best Cinematography, expanded to 1,002 locations on Friday and could only muster $700,000. That should project to about $2.37M or so for the 3-day and a new cume of $12.64M.

Meanwhile, the Gus Van Sant-directed Milk, which some pundits believe may be peaking with Academy voters at just the right time, will not be a box office juggernaut. Despite 8 Oscar nominations, Milk managed only a $471 Per Theatre Average on Friday on 882 screens. The first wide weekend for the Harvey Milk biopic will likely yield only $1.41M for a new domestic cume of $23.41M.

Golden Globe winner Sean Penn as slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk

In all, the five Best Picture nominees, now all in wide release, have combined for less than $17M for the weekend. By Monday, the five movies contending for Hollywood’s biggest prize have a combined total domestic gross of just $234M. I am projecting that Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader will finish with a total of about $285M in US ticket sales, which would be the second-worst total of the last 15 years.

For example last year, the five Best Picture nominees grossed a combined $357M, so the 2009 crop will be down a full 20% from 2008. Snubbing movies like The Dark Knight and Gran Torino, Academy voters have narrowed the field to what amounts to a very expensive arthouse movie (Benjamin Button), a surprise crowd-pleaser (Slumdog Millionaire) and three niche art titles with very specific audiences (Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader). When the ratings for the Oscar telecast are dismal, the Academy will have its own voters to blame.

The worst combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees in the last 15 years was in 2005 when Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night & Good Luck and Munich generated $245M at the box office. That resulted in the all-time third-worst television rating for the Academy Awards broadcast.

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Taken (Fox) – $9.4M, $2,953 PTA, $9.4M cume
2. NEW – The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $4.3M, $1,834 PTA, $4.3M cume
3. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $4.2M, $1,310 PTA, $73.57M cume
4. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $2.6M, $862 PTA, $104.54M cume
5. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $2.55M, $867 PTA, $28.13M cume
6. NEW – New in Town (Lionsgate) – $2.4M, $1,236 PTA, $2.4M cume
7. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $2.3M, $1,630 PTA, $61.86M cume
8. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $2M, $633 PTA, $41.52M cume
9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $1.5M, $1,067 PTA, $41.84M cume
10. Bride Wars (Fox) – $1.25M, $630 PTA, $51.61M cume
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $1.1M, $517 PTA, $114.02M cume
12. Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $975,000, $367 PTA, $10.06M cume
13. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $850,000, $789 PTA, $14.22M
14. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $775,000, $466 PTA, $21.07M cume
15. The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $730,000, $1,011 PTA, $11.46M cume
16. The Reader (Weinstein) – $700,000, $699 PTA, $10.97M cume
17. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $590,000, $546 PTA, $33.9M cume
18. Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $425,000, $385 PTA, $13.33M cume
19. Milk (Focus Features) – $415,000, $471 PTA, $22.39M cume

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Taken (Fox) – $24.62M, $7,736 PTA, $24.62M cume
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $14M, $4,367 PTA, $83.37M cume
3. NEW – The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $10.51M, $4,485 PTA, $10.51M cume
4. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $8.7M, $3,160 PTA, $48.22M cume
5. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $8.6M, $2,852 PTA, $110.54M cume
6. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $7.68M, $4,703 PTA, $67.24M cume
7. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $7.2M, $2,447 PTA, $32.78M cume
8. NEW – New in Town (Lionsgate) – $6.75M, $3,478 PTA, $6.75M cume
9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $4.26M, $3,030 PTA, $44.6M cume
10. Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $3.7M, $1,394 PTA, $12.79M cume
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $3.61M, $1,698 PTA, $116.54M cume
12. Bride Wars (Fox) – $3.57M, $1,798 PTA, $53.93M cume
13. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $2.65M, $2,469 PTA, $16.03M
14. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $2.53M, $1,524 PTA, $22.83M cume
15. The Reader (Weinstein) – $2.37M, $2,369 PTA, $12.64M cume
16. The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $2.35M, $3,255 PTA, $13.08M cume
17. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $1.7M, $1,574 PTA, $35M cume
18. Milk (Focus) – $1.41M, $1,603 PTA, $23.41M cume
19. Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $1.39M, $1,265 PTA, $14.31M cume