The number one movie over the weekend of 8/1-8/3/08 was again The Dark Knight in its third weekend atop the box office chart with $42,664,219, bringing its overall total to $393,751,065.  Some people are saying that the movie could surpass the overall champ, 1997’s Titanic ($600 million), but analysts are predicting that it will actually only gross $515 million in the end.  Meanwhile, the #2 movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emporer, came in with a decent $40,457,770.  Almost every other critic hated it, but I thought it was a fun, action-packed movie that teen boys and adults would like…especially if they liked the first two movies (or the 2002 spin-off The Scorpion King.)  Forget the critics…check it out for yourself. (more…)

The number one movie over the weekend of 7/25-7/27/08 was again The Dark Knight with $75,166,466, bringing its overall total to $313,781,677.  That is the first movie to cross the $300 million mark in just 10 days.  I ended up watching the movie over again myself with my girlfriend’s nephew, and I liked it better the second time (though I still liked Iron Man better.)  Surprisingly, the #2 movie…the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly comedy Step Brothers…was very funny.  It was much better than last year’s Blades of Glory or this year’s Semi-Pro.  That movie was lucky to rake in $30,940,732 in its first weekend.  If you are looking for a stupid funny R-rated comedy…check it out. (more…)

Shawn the Chart Guy here…The number one movie over the weekend of 7/18-7/20/08 was The Dark Knight with $158,411,483, exceeding the previous record of $151.1 million for a three-day opening set by Spider-Man 3 last year.  The movie also set a record for the biggest single-day gross for a movie ($67.9 million), the biggest midnight preview ($18.5 million), the biggest IMAX opening ($6.21 million), and the most opening theaters (4,366.)  While it’s not my favorite superhero movie of the year (that would still be Iron Man), I did think that it was very good.  In fact, I liked it better than the original Christian Bale Batman movie, 2005’s Batman Begins.  Heath Ledger is amazing as The Joker.  They decided not to give him a back story…he’s just crazy.  All of the buzz about him getting a possible posthumous Oscar nomination is completely justified.  James Dean became the first actor to be nominated for an Academy Award after his death for the 1955 movie East of Eden and in 1956 for the movie Giant (he is the only actor to get two posthumous Oscar nominations.)  Spencer Tracy (1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), Peter Finch (1976’s Network), and Massimo Troisi (1994’s Il Postino) were also recognized, though Finch is the only actor to actually win the award posthumously.  Ledger might be added to this list. (more…)

Shawn the Chart Guy here…The number one movie over the weekend of 7/11-7/14/08 was Hellboy II: The Golden Army with $34,539,115.  I personally didn’t like it quite as much as the original 2004 flick, but it was okay.  In a summer where there is a superhero movie every other week, this ranks below Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and even Hancock. (more…)