Jodie Foster tearing apart a brand-spanking new airplane in search of a child who may or may not exist was the film of choice this weekend. Despite the movie's harsh panning at the hands of critics, Americans shelled out over $24 million to welcome Flightplan on its debut flight. That's a notable accomplishment for a movie this year, particularly in the studio dumping ground month of September. It's certainly more than Bow Wow can claim.
The other major opener this weekend was Roll Bounce, the movie which officially notes the adult hood of Lil' Bow Wow by dropping the "'Lil". A highly unanticipated and largely uninteresting concept according to its ticket sales, the movie made a slip and fall into the number four slot. Bringing in an unimpressive $8 million, it just goes to show that while Americans loved roller disco several decades ago, we've moved on. One critic hailed Roll Bounce as "quite possibly the finest roller disco movie ever made." I'll pause for a moment while you ponder the depth of that statement.
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Tim Burton's Corpse Bride received its full wide release this weekend, bringing in a handsome $20 million. Whether you want to credit the movie's success on its gorgeous claymation or the fact that Burton has taken a cue from Spielberg by slapping his name in the title, the movie made bank, clearing more on its opening weekend than its Burtonian cousin Nightmare Before Christmas did. I for one love the idea of more claymation movie making. CGI is great, but you can't beat the kind of artistry that comes from handcrafted animation. That said, I can't wait for the upcoming Wallace and Gromit movie. Here's hoping there's a trend in the works (I know there's not, but let's hope, shall we?).
Next week the Creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" (occasionally known as Joss Whedon) goes head to head with the most beautiful, untalented lead actors in cinema. Serenity will finally get its chance to earn some respect for the apparently underrated TV series "Firefly" (cancelled in less than one season). On the other hand, it could bomb royally giving fans the chance to flush their favorite characters goodbye. The other major release is Into the Blue which stars pretty boy Paul Walker and pretty girl Jessica Alba running around in wet, skimpy clothing. Will Americans prefer quirky, western-style sci-fi or co-ed scuba diving? I'm not sure there's a good answer to that question.
