The number one movie over the weekend of 8/8-8/10/08 was…surprise…again The Dark Knight in its fourth weekend atop the box office chart with $26,117,030, bringing its overall total to $441,628,497, putting it in third place of the all-time film grosses.  To become the second highest grossing film of all time, it will have to make more than the $460,998,007 gross of 1977’s Star Wars IV: A New Hope (a.k.a. the “original” Star Wars), but analysts are saying that there is virtually no chance of beating the $600,788,188 gross of the number one movie of all time…1997’s Titanic.  Coming in second place for the weekend was Pineapple Express…the R-rated, violent, Judd Apatow comedy starring former “Freaks & Geeks” co-stars Seth Rogan and James Franco.  I’ve noticed that every production Apatow has done since 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin has been R-rated, with the exception of this year’s Drillbit Taylor (which was rated PG-13.)  I’ve seen all of them, and Drillbit is the only one that I didn’t think was hilarious…so Apatow should only be making R-rated comedies, because Pineapple was a black stoner comedy that cracked me up (and I’ve never smoked the wacky weed before in my life.)  Franco was practically channeling Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli from 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Rogan proved again that an overweight, schlubby guy can lead a movie effectively.  My girlfriend didn’t like the end, but I did.  Bonus: the greatest rock band of all time (in my mind)…Huey Lewis & The News…sings the theme song of the same name!  I’m so getting the soundtrack! (more…)

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…)