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12 Great Films

19- BoxOffice News (2009.12.30)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	Avatar (2009)	$75.6M	3,456	$212.7M	10
2	Sherlock Holmes (2009)	$65.4M	3,626	$65.4M	3
3	Alvin And The Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel (2009)	$48.9M	3,700	$75.6M	5
4	It'S Complicated (2009)	$22.1M	2,887	$22.1M	3
5	Up In The Air (2009)	$11.8M	1,895	$24.5M	24
6	Blind Side, The (2009)	$11.7M	2,766	$184.4M	38
7	Princess And The Frog, The (2009)	$9M	3,475	$63.7M	33
8	Nine (2009)	$5.5M	1,412	$5.8M	10
9	Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009)	$5M	2,718	$15.6M	10
10	Invictus (2009)	$4.4M	2,160	$23.4M	17
11	Twilight Saga 2: New Moon, The (2009)	$3M	1,593	$281M	38
12	3 Idiots (2009)	$1.6M	119	$2.1M	5
13	Disney'S A Christmas Carol (2009)	$1.3M	1,245	$135.9M	52
14	Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009)	$1.2M	858	$25.3M	24
15	2012 (2009)	$994.5K	800	$161.5M	45
16	Precious (2009)	$865.1K	629	$41.8M	52
17	Old Dogs (2009)	$652.7K	645	$45.9M	33
18	Young Victoria, The (2009)	$645.3K	163	$928K	10
19	Road, The (2009)	$449.1K	311	$5.9M	33
20	Single Man, A (2009)	$352.7K	46	$920.5K	17
	For the top 20 movies:	$270.5M	34,504	$1.4B

20- BoxOffice News (2009.12.08)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	Blind Side, The (2009)	$20M	3,326	$128.9M	17
2	Twilight Saga 2: New Moon, The (2009)	$15.4M	4,124	$255.4M	17
3	Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009)	$9.5M	2,088	$19M	3
4	Disney'S A Christmas Carol (2009)	$7.8M	2,546	$115.2M	31
5	Old Dogs (2009)	$6.9M	3,425	$33.9M	12
6	2012 (2009)	$6.8M	3,220	$149M	24
7	Armored (2009)	$6.5M	1,915	$6.5M	3
8	Ninja Assassin (2009)	$5.1M	2,503	$29.8M	12
9	Planet 51 (2009)	$4.4M	2,904	$34.1M	17
10	Everybody'S Fine (2009)	$3.9M	2,133	$3.9M	3
11	Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)	$2.9M	2,034	$14.1M	24
12	Precious (2009)	$2.3M	664	$36.3M	31
13	Up In The Air (2009)	$1.2M	15	$1.2M	3
14	Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day, The (2009)	$922.6K	432	$7.2M	38
15	Escape From Huang Shi (2008)	$749.5K	128	$3.2M	12
16	Princess And The Frog, The (2009)	$747.7K	2	$2.4M	12
17	Education, An (2009)	$479.8K	236	$6.3M	59
18	Men Who Stare At Goats, The (2009)	$400.2K	509	$31.3M	31
19	Pirate Radio (2009)	$333.5K	285	$7.4M	24
20	Couples Retreat (2009)	$313K	432	$107.2M	59
	For the top 20 movies:	$96.6M	32,921	$992.1M

21- BoxOffice News (2009.11.26)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	Twilight Saga 2: New Moon, The (2009)	$142.8M	4,024	$142.8M	3
2	Blind Side, The (2009)	$34.1M	3,110	$34.1M	3
3	2012 (2009)	$26.4M	3,408	$108.1M	10
4	Planet 51 (2009)	$12.3M	3,035	$12.3M	3
5	Disney'S A Christmas Carol (2009)	$12.3M	3,578	$79.8M	17
6	Precious (2009)	$10.9M	629	$21.3M	17
7	Men Who Stare At Goats, The (2009)	$2.8M	2,056	$27.7M	17
8	Couples Retreat (2009)	$1.9M	1,712	$105M	45
9	Fourth Kind, The (2009)	$1.7M	1,648	$23.4M	17
10	Michael Jackson'S This Is It (2009)	$1.6M	1,640	$70.3M	26
11	Law Abiding Citizen (2009)	$1.6M	1,327	$70M	38
12	Pirate Radio (2009)	$1.5M	883	$5.2M	10
13	Paranormal Activity (2007)	$1.4M	1,902	$106.1M	59
14	Education, An (2009)	$826.8K	303	$4.3M	45
15	Where The Wild Things Are (2009)	$688.1K	1,010	$74.7M	38
16	Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day, The (2009)	$599.3K	204	$3.6M	24
17	Box, The (2009)	$494.3K	965	$14.5M	17
18	Serious Man, A (2009)	$444K	198	$7.5M	52
19	Astro Boy (2009)	$406.1K	724	$18.6M	31
20	Kurbaan (2009)	$403.7K	83	$403.7K	3
	For the top 20 movies:	$255.3M	32,439	$929.6M

22- BoxOffice News (2009.10.31)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	Paranormal Activity (2007)	$21.1M	1,945	$61.6M	31
2	Saw 6 (2009)	$14.1M	3,036	$14.1M	3
3	Where The Wild Things Are (2009)	$14M	3,735	$53.6M	10
4	Law Abiding Citizen (2009)	$12.4M	2,890	$40M	10
5	Couples Retreat (2009)	$10.6M	3,074	$77.7M	17
6	Astro Boy (2009)	$6.7M	3,014	$6.7M	3
7	Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire'S Assistant (2009)	$6.3M	2,754	$6.3M	3
8	Stepfather, The (2009)	$6.2M	2,734	$20.1M	10
9	Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009)	$5.3M	2,741	$114.9M	38
10	Zombieland (2009)	$4.2M	2,447	$67.2M	24
11	Amelia (2009)	$3.9M	820	$3.9M	3
12	Serious Man, A (2009)	$1.1M	176	$3.2M	24
13	Toy Story 3D Double Feature	$1M	778	$30.1M	24
14	Good Hair (2009)	$946K	466	$2.8M	17
15	Invention Of Lying, The (2009)	$839.2K	802	$17M	24
16	Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)	$726.5K	636	$13M	33
17	Surrogates (2009)	$590.4K	797	$37.6M	31
18	Whip It (2009)	$466K	435	$12.3M	24
19	Education, An (2009)	$367.4K	31	$940.3K	17
20	Informant, The (2009)	$348.2K	411	$32.4M	38
	For the top 20 movies:	$111.2M	33,722	$615.4M

23- BoxOffice News (2009.09.15)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009)	$23.4M	2,255	$23.4M	3
2	District 9 (2009)	$10.7M	1,661	$108.5M	5
3	Inglourious Basterds (2009)	$6.1M	3,215	$103.9M	24
4	All About Steve (2009)	$5.6M	2,265	$21.7M	10
5	Final Destination 4, The Final Destination (2009)	$5.5M	2,732	$58.3M	17
6	Sorority Row (2009)	$5.1M	2,665	$5.1M	3
7	Whiteout (2009)	$4.9M	2,745	$4.9M	3
8	District 9 (2009)	$3.5M	2,560	$108.5M	31
9	Gamer (2009)	$3.3M	2,502	$16.3M	10
10	Julie And Julia (2009)	$3.2M	2,342	$85.2M	38
11	G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009)	$2.5M	2,120	$144.2M	38
12	Time Traveler'S Wife, The (2009)	$2.3M	2,228	$59M	31
13	Extract (2009)	$2.2M	1,614	$8.6M	10
14	Halloween 2 (2009)	$2.1M	2,350	$30.1M	17
15	Shorts (2009)	$1.2M	1,701	$19.7M	24
16	(500) Days Of Summer (2009)	$1.2M	790	$30M	59
17	G-Force (2009)	$1M	965	$116.7M	52
18	Harry Potter 6: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)	$908.5K	744	$298.8M	61
19	Hangover, The (2009)	$709.2K	564	$273.1M	101
20	September Issue, The (2009)	$693.9K	111	$1.3M	17
	For the top 20 movies:	$86.2M	38,129	$1.5B

24- BoxOfice News (2009.08.21)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	District 9 (2009)	$37.4M	3,049	$37.4M	3
2	G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009)	$22.3M	4,007	$98.6M	10
3	Time Traveler'S Wife, The (2009)	$18.6M	2,988	$18.6M	3
4	Julie And Julia (2009)	$12.1M	2,354	$43.3M	10
5	G-Force (2009)	$6.9M	3,065	$99.1M	24
6	Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The (2009)	$5.6M	1,838	$5.6M	3
7	Harry Potter 6: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)	$5.1M	2,771	$283.9M	33
8	Ugly Truth, The (2009)	$4.4M	2,733	$77.5M	24
9	Ponyo (2008)	$3.6M	927	$3.6M	3
10	Funny People (2009)	$3M	2,584	$47.9M	17
11	(500) Days Of Summer (2009)	$3M	1,048	$17.9M	31
12	Perfect Getaway, A (2009)	$2.9M	2,159	$11.6M	10
13	Bandslam (2009)	$2.2M	2,121	$2.2M	3
14	Hangover, The (2009)	$2M	1,185	$265.8M	73
15	Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)	$1.6M	1,007	$396.8M	54
16	Orphan, The (2009)	$1.6M	1,261	$38.3M	24
17	Aliens In The Attic (2009)	$1.4M	1,535	$20.6M	17
18	Proposal, The (2009)	$1.3M	1,084	$157.7M	59
19	Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009)	$1.3M	858	$190.9M	47
20	Kaminey (2009)	$726.8K	82	$726.8K	3
	For the top 20 movies:	$137.1M	38,656	$1.8B

25- 48 cool movies of the past 8 months (2009.08.14 / 2009.08.25)

A friend recently asked me to recommend some films... Given that i have seen an insane number of films so far in 2009 (almost 600 since Jan 1st and now, mid-Aug), i thought it would be a perfect time for a mid-year check up. So here are the films that have marked me in 2009 so far, with links to reviews for many of them.

Foreign

12 (2007), Russia. Superb remake of 12 Angry Men (1957) that is deeper, more layered, and richer than the original.
Tokyo! (2008), France, US, Korea. Three funny, quirky shorts on Tokyo.
Princesa (2001), Italy. A Brazilian transexual's search for a legitimate life in Italy.
Storm (2005), Sweden. Action, horror, and pshychological thriller.
Summer Time Machine Blues (2005), Japan. A romp of a comedy with teenagers inadvertently messing up the space time continuum and trying to fix it.
Chocolate (2008), Thailand. One of the best martial arts films of the past couple of years.
Red Cliff, Part 1 (2008) and Red Cliff, Part 2 (2009), China, the return of John Woo. Grand, epic, classic Chinese history.
Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The (2006), Japan. A beautiful Anime about a high school girl who can leap through time.
Right Now (2004), France. A coming of age story for a young parisian girl on the run with her bank-robbing boyfriend.
JCVD (2008), France. A surprisingly really good film with, and about Belgian b-movie martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme stuck in a bank heist.
Lila Says (2004), France. Erotic awakening of a French-Arab teenager with a beautiful provocative young blond girl.
Battle Of Algiers, The (1966), France. A classic film about the escallations to the war in Algeria. A lesson in terrorism, and counter terrorism gone wrong.
Epitaph (2007), Korea. A gorgeous horror film with 3 stories about love.
Ip Man (2008), China. One of the best martial arts film of the past few years with the underrated and phenomenal Donnie Yen.
I'Ve Loved You So Long (2008), France. A great french drama about a woman who murdered her son and comes back home to her sister after prison.
In My Skin (2002), France. A stunning portrayal of a woman on a slow path to self destruction and autosarcophagy.
Tipping The Velvet (2002), UK. A BBC mini-series about the coming of age of a young lesbian artist in Victorian London.

American studio

Watchmen (2009), big visuals, and cool story and characters.
Australia (2008), lots of people hated it. I loved it. It's gorgeous.
Revolutionary Road (2008), superb acting from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet caught in a disintegrating marriage.
Reader, The (2008), great story about the holocaust, great performance from Kate Winslet.
WALL-E (2008), one of the best animated film ever made.
Mist, The (2007), a great Stephen King adaptation about monsters from another dimension invading us. Great writing, memorable characters, great mood and visuals.
Batman Begins 2: The Dark Knight (2008), the monster hit from last year, and a great film.
Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, The (2008), beautiful, mysterious, must-see.
Coraline (2009), so wonderful and so imaginative, not just for kids.
Body Of Lies (2008), solid Ridley Scott/Leonardo DiCaprio/Russell Crowe collaboration. Great visuals, and an intricate counter-terrorism story set in the middle east.

American Independent

Wendy And Lucy (2008), slow, sweet story about a homeless young woman and her dog.
Splinter (2008), a nice independent horror flick with a cool never-seen-before monster and good performances.
Nick And Norah'S Infinite Playlist (2008), sweet coming of age story of 2 teenagers in NYC.
Girl Next Door, The (2007), a horrific and graphic tale of child abuse as the hands of a psychotic mother.
Rachel Getting Married (2008), great performance from Anne Hathaway and great family drama.
You Kill Me (2007), quirky comedy with Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni about an alcoholic hitman.
Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), visually cool, with great music, this horror musical is a cult hit and so will enthrall some, and bore others.

Documentary

Steep (2007), the history and evolution of extreme skying.
Style Wars (1983), Graffitti artists in NY in the late 70's and early 80's.
Glass: A Portrait Of Philip In Twelve Parts (2007), Philip Glass as a composer, and his creative process.
Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul (2005), the alternative music scene in Istanbul. Great music.
Singing Revolution, The (2006), how the Estonians lead themselves to independence from the Soviets during the late 80's through a song festival.

Lucio Fulci, an Italian shock and exploitation master from the 60's, 70's and 80's whom i re-discovered recently by watching/re-watching 30 of his films spanning his whole career. Here are some of his best ones ihmo.

Contraband (1980), a great mafia movie, with as much blood as there are twists and turns.
Perversion Story (1969), a surprising giallo with a complex story of deception a la Alfred Hitchcock 's Vertigo (1958).
Eroticist, The (1972), a farce about Italian politics involving a senator who can't help groping women.
Beyond, The (1981), a classic horror film.
Don'T Torture A Duckling (1972), a mystery about children being killed by a serial killer in a little Italian village.
New York Ripper, The (1982), scandalous, misogynistic, graphic, controversial exploitation horror about a serial killer in NY who likes to cut women.

Cannibals. OK, this section is perhaps just for me, but i have been watching lots of Cannibal movies of the late 70's and early 80's recently and came up with a few gems that i either saw before but didn't quite connect with, or never knew even existed. These movies come with a huge warning of graphic violence and nihilism purity that will turn off most viewers.

Black Emanuelle 09: The Last Cannibals (1977), so over the top even for the Black Emanuelle series, and with of course, Laura Gemser who is an idol of mine.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980), the Cannibal movie that all others are measured to. This is sick, disturbing, and so eerily nihilistically beautiful. Initially an accusation of all the Mondo documentaries, it ended up sinning with the same sword by escalating violence on screen.
Jungle Holocaust (1978), a fascinating look at the cultural clash of a captured westerner and a Cannibal tribe. Not as graphic as others, but still disturbing.

Enjoy!

26- BoxOffice News (2009.08.12)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009)	$54.7M	4,007	$54.7M	3
2	Julie And Julia (2009)	$20M	2,354	$20M	3
3	G-Force (2009)	$9.9M	3,482	$86.2M	17
4	Harry Potter 6: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)	$8.9M	3,455	$273.8M	26
5	Funny People (2009)	$8M	3,008	$40.5M	10
6	Ugly Truth, The (2009)	$6.8M	2,975	$68.8M	17
7	Perfect Getaway, A (2009)	$5.9M	2,159	$5.9M	3
8	Aliens In The Attic (2009)	$4M	3,108	$16.3M	10
9	(500) Days Of Summer (2009)	$3.7M	817	$12.4M	24
10	Orphan, The (2009)	$3.7M	2,270	$34.8M	17
11	Hangover, The (2009)	$3.4M	1,690	$262M	66
12	Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)	$3M	1,948	$393.7M	47
13	Proposal, The (2009)	$2.8M	1,870	$154.8M	52
14	Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009)	$2.7M	1,727	$187.9M	40
15	Collector, The (2009)	$1.3M	1,270	$6.4M	10
16	Hurt Locker, The (2008)	$1.3M	535	$9M	45
17	Public Enemies (2009)	$987.7K	906	$95.5M	40
18	Up (2009)	$625K	431	$287.4M	73
19	Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian (2009)	$467.1K	329	$174.9M	80
20	Star Trek (2009)	$438.7K	375	$255.3M	94
	For the top 20 movies:	$142.6M	38,716	$2.4B

27- BoxOffice News (2009.07.22)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	Harry Potter 6: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)	$77.8M	4,325	$158M	5
2	Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009)	$17.6M	3,817	$151.9M	19
3	Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)	$13.7M	3,857	$363.8M	26
4	Br�no	$8.3M	2,759	$49.5M	10
5	Proposal, The (2009)	$8.3M	3,043	$128.1M	31
6	Hangover, The (2009)	$8.2M	2,667	$235.7M	45
7	Public Enemies (2009)	$7.7M	3,118	$79.6M	19
8	Up (2009)	$3.2M	1,706	$279.6M	52
9	My Sister'S Keeper (2009)	$2.8M	1,967	$41.5M	24
10	I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)	$2.8M	1,872	$10.4M	10
11	Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3, The (2009)	$889.3K	610	$62.9M	38
12	(500) Days Of Summer (2009)	$834.5K	27	$837.6K	3
13	Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian (2009)	$759.6K	515	$171.8M	59
14	Hurt Locker, The (2008)	$740.2K	94	$2.1M	24
15	Star Trek (2009)	$690.6K	505	$253.2M	73
16	Moon (2009)	$525.7K	251	$2.7M	38
17	Away We Go (2009)	$496.9K	299	$8.3M	45
18	Whatever Works (2009)	$471.3K	228	$3.9M	31
19	Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (2009)	$421K	195	$123.8M	60
20	Angels And Demons (2009)	$413.5K	396	$132.5M	66
	For the top 20 movies:	$156.6M	32,251	$2.3B

28- BoxOffice News (2009.07.01)

#	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Total	Days
1	Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)	$109M	4,234	$201.2M	5
2	Proposal, The (2009)	$18.6M	3,058	$69.2M	10
3	Hangover, The (2009)	$17M	3,525	$183.2M	24
4	Up (2009)	$13.1M	3,487	$250.2M	31
5	My Sister'S Keeper (2009)	$12.4M	2,606	$12.4M	3
6	Year One (2009)	$6M	3,024	$32.5M	10
7	Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3, The (2009)	$5.5M	2,995	$53.5M	17
8	Star Trek (2009)	$3.7M	1,823	$246.3M	52
9	Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian (2009)	$3.6M	2,250	$163.4M	38
10	Away We Go (2009)	$1.7M	495	$4.1M	24
11	Land Of The Lost (2009)	$1.2M	1,504	$46.8M	24
12	Angels And Demons (2009)	$1.1M	906	$130.3M	45
13	Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (2009)	$1.1M	1,102	$121.9M	39
14	Imagine That (2009)	$942.3K	1,135	$14.1M	17
15	Drag Me To Hell (2009)	$583.2K	659	$40.5M	31
16	Cheri (2009)	$405.7K	76	$408K	3
17	Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)	$365.1K	311	$196M	94
18	Whatever Works (2009)	$359.8K	35	$765.4K	10
19	X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)	$310.2K	360	$177.8M	59
20	Food, Inc. (2008)	$291.4K	75	$834.8K	17
	For the top 20 movies:	$197.2M	33,660	$1.9B