The Time Traveler's District
In the US: There's an impressive debut for Neill Blomkamp's independently-spirited sci-fi feature-length debut DISTRICT 9, as its viral hype and great word-of-mouth propels it to #1 with $37m... time-travel romance THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE does decent but unremarkable business to debut at #3 with $18m... there's bad news for comedy THE GOODS: LIVE HARD, SELL HARD, which only attracts $5m worth of business to flop at #6... and the latest Hayao Miyazaki anime, GAKE NO UE NO PONYO, arrives at #9 with $3m, which isn't so bad considering it's a foreign animation without much marketing clout...
US TOP 10
(-) 1. District 9 $37.4m
(1) 2. G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra $22.3m
(-) 3. The Time Traveler's Wife $18.6m
(2) 4. Julie & Julia $12.1m
(3) 5. G-Force $6.92m
(-) 6. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard $5.64m
(4) 7. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince $5.14m
(6) 8. The Ugly Truth $4.45m
(-) 9. Gake no ue no Ponyo $3.59m
(5) 10. Funny People $3.01m
In the UK: We're more receptive to THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE in the UK, as it goes straight in at #1 with just over £1m (admittedly the worst-performing #1 all year)... narrowly edging kid's film ALIENS IN THE ATTIC into #2... while musical-comedy BANDSLAM disappoints with a mere £628k to take #6... there's abysmal news for David Twohy's B-movie A PERFECT GETAWAY, which only just scrapes into the chart with £418k at #10... but even that flop can't compare to Eddie Murphy's Imagine That, which only made £109k and came in off-chart at #16... yikes!
UK TOP 10
(-) 1. The Time Traveler's Wife £1.4m
(-) 2. Aliens In The Attic £1.3m
(4) 3. G-Force £941k
(3) 4. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince £932k
(2) 5. G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra £827k
(1) 6. The Ugly Truth £809k
(-) 7. Bandslam £628k
(7) 8. Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs £508k
(5) 9. The Proposal £445k
(-) 10. A Perfect Getaway £418k
UK RELEASES THIS WEEK
Dance Flick
Spoof comedy. Street dancer Thomas Uncles is from the wrong side of the tracks, but his bond with the beautiful Megan White might help the duo realize their dreams as the enter in the mother of all dance battles.
Director: Damien Dante Wayans Starring: Shoshana Bush, Damond Wayans Jr., Essence Atkins, Affion Crockett, Luis Dalmasy Jr., Chris Elliot & Christina Murphy
Tomatometer: 22% (Rotten; based on 69 reviews) "Dance Flick scores a few laughs thanks to the Wayans brothers' exuberance, but it’s ultimately a scattershot collection of gags without much direction."
I Love You, Beth Cooper
Comedy. A nerdy valedictorian proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school – Beth Cooper – during his graduation speech. Much to his surprise, Beth shows up at his door that very night and decides to show him the best night of his life.
Director: Chris Columbus Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack Carpenter, Lauren London, Lauren Storm & Shawn Roberts
Tomatometer: 15% (Rotten; based on 96 reviews) "Heavily reliant on stereotypes and shallow teen comedy clichés, I Love You Beth Cooper is a humorless affair that fails to capture the charm of its source novel."
Inglourious Basterds
Action drama. In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.
Director: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Diane Kriher, B.J Novak, Melanie Laurent & Daniel Brühl
Tomatometer: 89% (Fresh; based on 154 reviews) " A classic Tarantino genre-blending thrill ride, Inglourious Basterds is violent, unrestrained, and thoroughly entertaining."
Shorts
Family. A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
Director: Robert Rodriguez Starring: William H. Macy, John Cryer, Jimmy Bennett, Jake Short, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Devon Gearheart & Jolie Vanier
Tomatometer: 35% (Rotten; based on 46 reviews) "Shorts has imagination and energy, but most viewers beyond elementary school will likely tire of the kiddie humor and sensory overload."
