Lakeview Bullies Box Office

(NEWSER) - Inglourious Basterds had a glorious opening weekend, scalping the box office for $37.6 million to give Quentin Tarantino the best opening of his career, USA Today reports. District 9 continued its strong showing in second place with $18.9 million, while GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($12.5 million), The Time Traveler's Wife ($10 million), and Julie & Julia ($9 million) rounded out the top five. More»

Spike Lee's new war film barely breaks Top 10

(NEWSER) - Eagle Eye flew into first at the weekend box office by grossing $29.2 million, Variety reports. The Diane Lane-Richard Gere romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe swooned into second place with $13.6 million, while Lakeview Terrace ranked a neighborly third by banking $7 million. Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna opened with a disappointing $3.5 million, barely clearing the top ten. More»

Porn, as we learned from Mr. Bickle, is not a good idea

(NEWSER) - "The difference between marital bliss and a train wreck of a relationship is the difference between Charlie Wilson's War and Saw IV, " writes Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle. There's no overestimating the power of that first-date movie. How to walk the tightrope:

• Bad isn't bad: Think brainless Matthew McConaughey bad, not brain-exploding Dane Cook bad.

Comedy thriller records biggest opening ever for Coen brothers

(NEWSER) - The Coen brothers' Burn After Reading led an unexpectedly strong box office weekend by nabbing top spot with $19.4 million, Variety reports. With overall sales up 35% over this frame last year, Tyler Perry’s The Family that Preys took second with $18 million, followed by Righteous Kill ($16.5 million), The Women ($10 million), and The House Bunny ($4.3 million). More»

No Country follow-up funny, but not the brothers' best

(NEWSER) - Burn After Reading is your standard Coen Brothers comedy: It’s black, clever, and zany, and David Ansen writes in Newsweek that he “enjoyed just about every heartlessly jolly minute of it.” The film is nominally a spy/thriller spoof, its sidewinder plot involving airhead gym employees trying to sell supposed secrets to the Russians. But really, it’s less a spoof than an “escalating farce of idiotic behavior” from a “cast of delusional dunces who are a wonder to behold.” More»