It was an audacious idea to begin with; who in their right mind would attempt to follow Stanley Kubrick‘s science fiction classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, with a sequel? In the year 1984, that person was director Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, The Star Chamber, Timecop), whose adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s follow-up novel picked up nine years after the events of 2001. Roy Scheider stars as Dr. Heywood Floyd, a now-disgraced aeronautics expert investigating the HAL 9000 glitch, who along with John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, and Bob Balaban, tries to unlock the secret of the monolith. While the release comes with woefully few bonus features (a vintage featurette and the theatrical trailer), it’s a great High Def release for science fiction purists.

Until next week, happy renting!

The 14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking. A list of nominees follows below, with winners in bold:

Best Picture:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Wall-E
The Wrestler

Best Actor:
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Actress (Tie):
Kate Beckinsale, Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt

Best Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

James Franco, Milk

Best Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Vera Farmiga, Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Acting Ensemble:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk

Rachel Getting Married

Best Director:
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk

Best Writer:
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt

Best Animated Feature:
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Wall-E
Waltz With Bashir

Best Young Actor/Actress:
Dakota Fanning, The Secret Life of Bees
David Kross, The Reader
Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire

Brandon Walters, Australia

Best Action Movie:
The Dark Knight

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wanted

Best Comedy Movie:
Burn After Reading
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Role Models
Tropic Thunder

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Foreign Language Film:
A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
Waltz With Bashir

Best Documentary Feature:
I.O.U.S.A.
Man On Wire

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young At Heart

Source: Broadcast Film Critics Association

This weekend people were in the mood for movies over Christmas weekend as multiplexes were jam-packed with customers that powered four different new releases to more than $30M in ticket sales each over the long Thursday-to-Sunday holiday session. The Owen Wilson-Jennifer Aniston dog drama Marley & Me led the way with a huge debut that exceeded expectations. Adam Sandler’s new family comedy Bedtime Stories and Brad Pitt’s period drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button generated nearly identical numbers with the former winning the three-day period and the latter grossing more over the four-day span. Tom Cruise also showed some firepower with his war thriller Valkyrie which found a large audience too.

North American ticket buyers had no problems spending ferociously as the Top 20 films hauled in a stunning $200M making for the second biggest weekend of 2008 after only the July 18-20 frame when The Dark Knight scored its record debut. This weekend’s explosive box office was even more impressive considering the fact that there were no sequels in the top ten at all. Instead, moviegoers spread their money across numerous star-driven films as everyone found something to their liking.

Soaring ahead of its competitors, Marley & Me scored a powerful top spot debut grossing an estimated $37M over the Friday-to-Sunday period and a sensational $51.7M since its Thursday launch. After several months of disappointments, Fox finally delivered a surefire smash averaging a sturdy $10,632 over three days from 3,480 locations. The studio began 2008 with hits like 27 Dresses, Jumper, and Horton Hears a Who but then stumbled with a handful of films that generated little excitement.

Based on the best-selling book, the PG-rated Marley drew upon a built-in audience but the studio also marketed the film to dog lovers and families to pull in a wide range of business. Thursday saw a stellar $14.7M in sales which set a new record for Christmas Day openers beating the $10.2M of 2001’s Ali which translates to about $13M at today’s ticket prices. With kids off from school and a large number of adults having no work either, everyday this week will be like a Saturday at the box office so Marley could shatter the $100M mark by next weekend.

Disney’s comedy adventure Bedtime Stories, picked by many to be the top dog this weekend, settled into second with an estimated $28.1M in three days and $38.6M over its four-day Thursday-to-Sunday launch. The Adam Sandler family pic averaged an impressive $7,625 during three days and played to a broad audience. Studio data showed that 51% of the turnout was female and 52% was over 25 so all four quadrants were well represented. Bedtime basically targeted the same audience that powered Ben Stiller film Night at the Museum to a $42.2M four-day Christmas weekend launch two years ago. Reviews were dismal, but moviegoers responded instead to the starpower and effects-driven adventure of the PG-rated entry.

Brad Pitt attracted a sizable audience to his Oscar contender The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with an estimated $27M over the weekend and a stellar $39M over the four-day span. Paramount averaged a strong $9,036 from 2,988 theaters over three days with its PG-13 tale of a man who ages in reverse. Directed by David Fincher, Button co-stars Cate Blanchett and runs 2 hours and 47 minutes in length meaning most auditoriums were offering just four shows per day instead of five. Reviews have been very favorable and the film has scored five Golden Globe nominations. Many expect it to be a Best Picture candidate come Oscar night on February 22.

Adult women made up the biggest sector of the audience for Brad. Females were 60% of the crowd while 70% were over 25. Button was not an easy sell for the studio and competition for mature adults was intense so the large opening truly underlines the drawing power of Shiloh’s dad. In fact its first day take of $12M marked the second biggest Christmas Day opening in history after Marley.

Co-produced by Warner Bros. which will handle the film overseas, Button cost a whopping $150M to produce. But with Golden Globe awards and Academy Award nominations to be announced in January, the epic film should have long legs at the box office and may surpass that figure in domestic coin.

MGM performed a Christmas miracle this weekend. The studio took what was long considered a surefire flop anchored by a star on the decline and turned it around and into a big hit. That film, Tom Cruise’s war drama Valkyrie, debuted in fourth place with an estimated $21.5M over the weekend and a terrific $30M since its Thursday launch. Invading 2,711 venues, the thriller about a plot to assassinate Hitler averaged a sturdy $7,942.Valkyrie‘s debut was in the same vicinity as other Cruise pics like Collateral ($24.7M opening) and The Last
Samurai ($24.3M) although those films opened on Fridays during non-holiday frames.

Valkyrie took advantage of a void in the marketplace and seized the opportunity. Emotional dramas like Marley and Button skewed female and Bedtime appealed more to kids leaving adult men with very few films to be excited about. Studio research showed that the PG-13 film pulled in an audience that was 55% male and 66% over 25. Backed by decent reviews, the World War II flick now has a shot at becoming yet another $100M hit for Cruise capping off a major comeback year for Suri’s old man who also delivered one of the summer’s most memorable performances with his Golden Globe-nominated turn in Tropic Thunder.

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Following a less-than-spectacular opening last weekend, Jim Carrey’s comedy Yes Man dropped from first to fifth place with an estimated $16.5M. But the Warner Bros. release held up well dipping only 10% putting the ten-day cume at a solid $49.6M. A trip to the $100M club may still result for the A-list funnyman. Will Smith also saw a good hold for his latest venture. The do-gooder drama Seven Pounds slipped by 10% as well from its opening frame and grossed an estimated $13.4M pushing its ten-day tally to $39M for Sony.

Universal’s animated film The Tale of Despereaux eased by just 7% and collected an estimated $9.4M for seventh place. The top ten’s only G-rated film has taken in $27.9M in ten days and has helped the studio reach a new company high with $1.1 billion in box office in 2008. Keanu Reeves followed with an estimated $7.9M for his sci-fi remake The Day the Earth Stood Still. Down 20%, the Fox release has pulled in $63.6M in 17 days.

Not all new releases clicked with moviegoers this holiday weekend. The one casualty was Lionsgate’s stylish actioner The Spirit which bowed to an estimated $6.5M over three days and $10.3M across four days. Playing in 2,509 locations, the PG-13 pic averaged a weak $2,593. Graphic novel king Frank Miller made his solo directing debut after co-helming the 2005 hit Sin City with Robert Rodriguez which opened much stronger with $29.1M over three days.

Rounding out the top ten was Miramax’s Doubt which expanded nationally from 39 to 1,267 theaters and grossed an estimated $5.7M. Averaging a respectable $4,479, the Meryl Streep pic has taken in $8.8M thus far and has made the queen bee of actresses a major contender for the Oscar…again.

Everything has been going right for specialty distributors this holiday season as every major limited release has been met with sold out shows and strong averages. Two more new pics enjoyed solid bows this weekend. The much-hyped Leonardo DiCaprio-Kate Winslet reunion in Revolutionary Road led to the year’s best opening weekend average. Paramount Vantage took in an estimated $192,000 from only three sites for a robust $64,000 average and will expand next
weekend into the top 15 markets. Road has earned four Golden Globe nominations and has been well-liked by most critics.

Overture got off to a nice start with its double Globe nominee Last Chance Harvey which bowed to an estimated $96,000 from six locations for a solid $16,000 average. The Dustin Hoffman-Emma Thompson pic has grossed $132,000 since debuting on Christmas Day.

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Holdover pics in limited release scored some extra theaters and saw their weekend grosses climb. Fox Searchlight’s Slumdog Millionaire grossed an estimated $4.5M from 614 theaters for an impressive $7,248 average, up 46% from last weekend. The Clint Eastwood hit Gran Torino expanded from 19 to 84 sites and collected an estimated $2.4M for a powerful $29,048 average. Totals sit at
$19.7M and $4.3M, respectively.

Milk inched up 6% to an estimated $1.8M from 311 playdates for a $5,883 average. The Sean Penn starrer has grossed $13.6M for Focus. Parent company Universal used Christmas to widen its political drama Frost/Nixon from 39 to 205 locations and saw an estimated $1.5M in sales for a strong $7,180 average. Cume is $3.7M.

The Weinstein Co. expanded the Kate Winslet flick The Reader into 116 houses and took in an estimated $671,000 for a $5,787 average. Mickey Rourke’s The Wrestler averaged a muscular $21,170 thanks to its estimated $381,000 from 18 arenas for Fox Searchlight.

Also notable below the top ten was the vampire blockbuster Twilight surpassing the total gross of fellow November hit Quantum of Solace. Just a month ago, nobody would have guessed that the modestly-budgeted $37M teen saga would go on to outgun the latest James Bond film and its $200M+ budget. Twilight grossed an estimated $4.5M this weekend, down only 13%, for a $167.1M domestic total while Quantum fell 29% to an estimated $1.5M pushing its cume to $164.3M. Overseas, of course, is another story with the 007 actioner having a $300M advantage, but Stephanie Meyer fans have given the film industry something that is rare nowadays – a hit with legs. For the year, Twilight ranks as the eighth biggest blockbuster of 2008.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $172.9M which was up 9% from last year when National Treasure: Book of Secrets stayed in the top spot with $36.7M; and up 29% from 2006 when Night at the Museum remained at number one with $36.8M.

This week at the movies, we’ve got a full slate of new flicks: Bedtime Stories, starring Adam Sandler and Keri Russell; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett; Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh; Marley & Me, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston; and The Spirit, starring Gabriel Macht and Scarlett Johansson. What do the critics have to say?

In such films as Punch-Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, Adam Sandler has proven that his adolescent schtick isn’t the only note he can play. So critics are a bit disappointed with Bedtime Stories, in which the beloved funnyman attempts to make a comedy for all ages — and comes up with something that never fulfills its admittedly clever premise. Sandler stars as Skeeter, a handyman at a hotel who notices something strange: the bedtime stories he’s been telling his children have a tendency to come true. A tug-of-war between Skeeter’s attempts to use this strange power to his advantage — and his children’s additions to the stories — ensues. The pundits say Bedtime Stories may offer younger audiences some yucks, but the film’s overplotted and haphazard approach can’t sustain the laughs — or much dramatic interest. At 24 percent on the Tomatometer, it appears to be bedtime for Bedtime.

Taking a break from chronicling the dark side of humanity, David Fincher makes a foray into period fantasy melodrama with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And the critics say the film presents a bold, if flawed, dreamworld. In this loose adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, Brad Pitt stars as a man who is born old and ages in reverse. This profoundly complicates his romance with Daisy (Cate Blanchett), as the two of them can only share love at a fleeting moment in the middle of their lives. While critics say the film is sometimes so taken with its own epic grandeur that it doesn’t quite register emotionally, Button is visually remarkable thanks to some groundbreaking special effects, and Pitt is admirably nuanced in the title role. At 74 percent on the Tomatometer, the Curious may want to check this one out. (And click here for our interview with screenwriter Eric Roth.)

After months of rumor, innuendo, and release-date switcheroos, Bryan Singer’s World War II thriller, Valkyrie, is finally hitting theaters. And the pundits say it’s certainly not the disaster that industry buzz might have portended; instead, it’s respectable, if not spectacular. Tom Cruise stars as Claus von Stauffenberg, the ringleader of a plot by German officers to assassinate Adolph Hitler. It may sound like a plodding procedural, but the critics say the film is well-constructed and sharply-paced, a respectable adaptation of a remarkable true story. However, others say the performances are something of a mixed bag, and a sense of anticlimax can weigh down even some of the sharper scenes. Valkyrie currently stands at 58 percent on the Tomatometer.

Pooch-lovers the world over will likely rejoice at the prospect of Marley and Me, since they get to see the antics of an adorable canine. However, critics say lovers of drama and comedy may find this one to be lacking. Based on John Grogan’s bestselling memoir, Marley and Me stars Owen Wilson as a newspaper columnist who, along with his wife Jenny (Jennifer Aniston) adopts a Labrador retriever as a trial run for parenthood. Unfortunately, the dog is ill-behaved, destroying the house and occasionally threatening the couple’s sanity despite maintaining some measure of lovability. The pundits say what worked on the page doesn’t translate to the screen, as complexity and nuance have been jettisoned in favor a light blend of comedy and drama that feels, well, dog-eared. At 40 percent on the Tomatometer, you may not want to fetch Marley and Me.

Frank Miller’s noir-ish aesthetic fueled such muscular visual treats as Sin City (which he co-directed with Robert Rodriguez) and 300. Now, he’s all alone in the director’s chair with The Spirit — and critics say the result is a big disappointment. Adapted from the Will Eisner comic strip, The Spirit follows the title character (Gabriel Macht) — a slain cop who returns from the grave to fight crime — as he tangles with the evil Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). Negotiating the dark streets of Central City, our hero keeps running into a bevy of femme fatales (including Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson) with murky motives. The pundits say The Spirit‘s over-the-top characterizations could be forgiven in the right circumstances — see Sin City — but the movie is crafted with little regard for coherence, the performances are generally histrionic, and the whole enterprise verges on camp. At 29 percent on the Tomatometer, the scribes aren’t feeling The Spirit.

John Patrick Shanley has adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play Doubt to the screen, and critics say it’s a worthy showcase for some of the finest acting you’ll see this year. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Flynn, a priest trying to bring new life to the staid world of a Bronx Catholic school. However, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is threatened by some of his changes — and that’s before she hears rumors that he’s been spending too much time with the school’s first African American student. The pundits say Doubt at times has a stagey, un-cinematic feel, but it’s more than redeemed by its air of moral ambiguity and outstanding performances; in addition to Streep and Hoffman, Viola Davis and Amy Adams have also earned high marks (and Golden Globes nods). Certified Fresh at 75 percent on the Tomatometer, there’s no Doubt this is a strong film. (Click here for RT’s interview with Davis.)

Also opening this week in limited release:

• Waltz with Bashir, a surreal animated feature that delves into one man’s memories of the 1983 Lebanon War, is at 94 percent.

• Secret of the Grain, about a the complex domestic interactions of a Tunisian family that owns a restaurant in France, is at 90 percent.

• Sam Mendes‘ Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as a couple struggling to transcend their lot in the conformist 1950s, is at 77 percent.

• Last Chance Harvey, starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson as two lonely singles in middle age who make a powerful connection, is at 72 percent.

Recent Brad Pitt Movies:

• 79% — Burn After Reading (2008)
• 75% — The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
• 70% — Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
• 69% — Babel (2006)
• 58% — Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

“If I can’t effectively move people, then I would prefer not to [act].” — Viola Davis

With a brief but heart-stopping performance in this week’s period drama Doubt, actress Viola Davis (Solaris, Far From Heaven) has simultaneously put herself on Hollywood’s Oscar radar and achieved what has got to be a near-impossible feat: stealing a scene from Meryl Streep. Although she’s wont to modesty where the latter is concerned, Davis will un-doubt-edly remain in the minds of pundits as awards season trudges on, especially given the film’s just-announced smattering of Golden Globes nominations: a Best Supporting Actress nod for Davis, as well as nominations for writer-director John Patrick Shanley, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Streep (who nabbed two nominations thanks to her other 2008 film, Mamma Mia). (See a gallery of Golden Globe nominees here.)

It’s a phenomenon that’s drawn attention before: Dame Judi Dench won her only Oscar to date with an eight-minute performance in 1998’s Shakespeare in Love; ditto Anthony Quinn in 1956’s Lust for Life. In Doubt, Davis’s appearance as the dedicated mother of a young school boy who may or may not be the victim of Catholic abuse runs about that long, if only a minute or two longer. And yet it’s among the more potent performances of the year, one that is garnering the Juilliard-trained Davis some much-deserved notice after a long career of television and award-winning theater appearances.

In Doubt, adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his own Pulitzer-winning play, the severe, authoritative Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) objects fundamentally to the progressive attitudes of St. Nicholas’s new priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and is quick to suspect him of inappropriate behavior with the school’s first and only black student, Donald Miller. Below, we go in-depth with Davis about her single scene in Doubt as Donald’s mother, Mrs. Miller, in which she memorably goes head-to-head with Sister Aloysius herself. Davis also discusses the strong social and cultural undercurrents in Doubt, plus her involvement in Tyler Perry’s next Madea film and how she feels about being lauded for her tragic characters.

It’s quite remarkable that, for a performance that’s so brief in screen time, you’re getting awards buzz. What’s it like for you to process, that such a short appearance could lead to so much?

Viola Davis: It’s pretty overwhelming! That’s a great word for it. I think it’s because when I went into the project, my only expectation for myself was to do a good job, because I knew the caliber of actors I was working with. And of course my scene is with Meryl Streep, and of course it’s based on a play that won the Pulitzer, won the actress who played the role that I played on Broadway, Adriane Lenox, the Tony…great expectations to do a good job, and to not fail. So that was it. I certainly didn’t think that in a movie filled with such fantastic performances, that people would even notice it. I thought that it would just kind of fit into the grand landscape of the movie, and just keep it together. [Laughs] I just wanted to hold up my leg of the journey. So everything else has been…I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe right now!

It’s all quite deserved. Now you’re known as the actress who could steal a scene from Meryl Streep!

Davis: Oh my goodness, I didn’t know I had that reputation. I don’t know if I can embrace that one, but I’m definitely flattered by the accolades.

Your character, Mrs. Miller, represents an interesting shift in perspective by the time we meet her in Doubt. Up until that point, the theme of faith has remained pretty religious in nature, but Mrs. Miller’s primary concerns are not faith and religion. So it’s her character that opens Doubt up into maybe a more secular perspective. How do you perceive Mrs. Miller as representative of that, and more specifically of her time and place?

Davis: It’s a great question, and it’s also a very difficult question to answer. Because when John Patrick Shanley wrote the play, he didn’t want to tell people how to feel; he didn’t even want to tell the actors how to feel. So I’m going to take a stab in the dark, as to her kind of secular influence. I think it’s upon her coming into the movie that you see the issues are much broader, and extend beyond religion. They extend into beliefs and ideals and just life issues; here’s a woman coming into the picture who literally just loves her son under extraordinary circumstances. And here is a woman who…you know, it’s funny, because I don’t even feel like Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) even represents a religious view; I feel that she just represents her view.

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But I think it’s when Mrs. Miller comes in that you begin to understand that the argument isn’t just within these insular walls of this church, that it involves issues of rigid belief systems, and broadening your mind and your heart. And it’s not just even about sending this guy down the river, and whether he molested this boy or not. It becomes about love, it becomes about friendship, it becomes about being an advocate for someone, it becomes about being nonjudgmental. When you’re in a religious environment, you’re not exposed to the world, and therefore your views are not challenged. They’re just not! They become very singular, and here I am and I represent the challenge.

Mrs. Miller isn’t the first person to challenge Sister Aloysius, but she’s the first one to effectively challenge her.

Davis: Absolutely. First of all, Father Flynn is not going to get to her because he’s a man. He’s a man and he’s a priest. For me, this is my opinion. He represents the enemy; you see lots of images in the film of how repressed women were even within the convent, and how free the men were. There’s definitely a hierarchy of power, so he was never going to affect her. I affect her because first of all, I’m a woman; second of all, I don’t have an obvious response to the problem that she tells me, and I think it knocks her off her feet. She did not expect how I was going to defend my son.

It raises an interesting conflict: in what circumstances could potential Catholic abuse be anything but reprehensible? To most people, it would be without a question, no circumstances.

Davis: Well absolutely, no circumstances. In life, you know, they do this in focus groups; if you were in such and such circumstance, what would you do? Well, you never know what you’re going do unless you’re faced with it. What did Sophie do when she was faced with a Nazi soldier who said you can choose between your son or your daughter? What do you do? You never think you’re going to be faced with those kinds of situations, as horrific as they are.

And like I said, for me, the movie was about more than Catholic abuse and molestation and ruining this priest’s career, it’s about pursuing what we feel is right at all costs, and never quite admitting that there could be a chance that we could be wrong, out of fear. It’s a much more human message.

Next: Race and gender politics in 1964 New York, plus Davis’s role in Tyler Perry’s next film

The story and motivations of especially your character also rely heavily on this particular time period and social climate; Donald is the only black child at this school.

Davis: And he has very few choices, which adds to the desperation; it adds to my desperation because I have no choice. If he cannot make it through this school, then he dies; there is no gray area. If it were 2008, of course I could put him in another school, or I could get a divorce from my husband. I would have choices. But now, I don’t have choices based on the cultural climate. And that adds to the obstacles that are already in the situation.

That also makes it easier to sympathize with Mrs. Miller’s very difficult parental choices…

Davis: We get on the track of believing what we do is right at all costs, but we forget…with Mrs. Miller and Sister Aloysius, there are a lot of similarities; you know, Sister Aloysius was married before, and I’m sure she joined the convent because there were very few choices for widow, for women who had no husband to basically take care of them. I don’t know if she even joined the convent out of choice, or if she was forced to because of the cultural climate. And here is Mrs. Miller, who is in a similar situation; she’s in a bad marriage, she has a child who may be being abused in every way, he’s black, we’re black, and I’m faced with very few choices, too. So I’m fighting for what is right not knowing that it could be right, not knowing that I could be destroying my son in the process, and she’s fighting for what is right thinking that she has my son’s best interest at heart. It makes for drama. That’s what’s dramatic about the scene.

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How long were you on set, and at what point during production did you come in?

Davis: I felt like I was on set forever, because I was in New York from mid-November to mid-February. That’s a long time for one scene, but we rehearsed for three weeks before. And then of course we shot the first part of the scene, which is an interior shot, and two weeks later shot the second half of the scene. It seemed like we were doing that scene for days — you know, your memory always fails you — but it seems like we were doing the second half of the scene for days. And then I came home to L.A. and I was called back to do the entire scene again!

I find it interesting that your next two projects are State of Play and a Tyler Perry film…

Davis: Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail! Which, I have to tell you, of everything that I’ve ever done in my career, that’s the only thing that’s perked up the ears of my nieces and nephews. That is it, that’s done it for them. That made me a bona fide star in their eyes! That project was just a joy to work on, that’s all, and to work with Tyler Perry in Atlanta…it was a great lesson for me to see someone who just had a vision, a dream, and pursued it and did not wait for Hollywood to bank roll it. It’s a lesson for many artists, because 95% of us are unemployed at any given time because we’re waiting, we’re waiting to be noticed. And this is a man who said, “I’m not gonna wait, I’m gonna pursue it,” and look what he’s done; of course, he faces a lot of criticism…[laughs] but I had fun.

State of Play happened right after Doubt, and that’s just a small role in the film; I have a scene with Russell Crowe. It’s a fabulous story though, kind of a twister — a thriller with a twist.

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Can you describe your role in Madea Goes to Jail?

Davis: I play, of course, an ex-prostitute drug addict. I do those roles really well! An ex-prostitute, ex-drug addict who is now ministering to prostitutes on the street, trying to change their lives around.

You certainly have an interesting body of work.

[Laughs] A varied body of work! I worked in television; I’m the Failed Pilot Queen, I’ve done so many television shows, pilots, theater…when you do it for so long, I’m telling you, you get to the point where it becomes varied because you take what’s available for a number of reasons. It’s just an occupational hazard. Sometimes you take a job for the money, sometimes you take it for the location, sometimes you take it for the script; there are just a number of reasons, and ultimately what you see is the whole landscape of it. But I can tell you from behind the scenes – that’s what it is, as an actor.

Pamela Renner for American Theatre once wrote about you in your theater days that you are “the actress of [your] generation who most honestly and nakedly wears the mantle of tragedy.”

Davis: Oh yes, I think that is a great description of me! I don’t necessarily know if I love that statement, but I am woman enough to say that I think it’s a very honest assessment of me as an actress. I think that’s something that people feel that I do really well; I don’t mind it, because ultimately I think the characters I play move people, and who wouldn’t want to move people? That’s why I do what I do, and that’s why I wanted to be an actress from the time I was six years old. If I can’t effectively move people, then I would prefer not to do it.

For reviews, images and trailers from Doubt, click here.

Keanu Reeves invades multiplexes across North America with his new sci-fi actioner The Day the Earth Stood Still which opens five years to the day after the actor’s last stint in the number one spot. Also debuting are the family drama Nothing Like the Holidays and the animated adventure Delgo.

Gunning for an easy victory at the box office this weekend, The Day the Earth Stood Still sees Fox targeting the same audience that Warner Bros. went after with I Am Legend a year ago this very weekend with its own star-driven end-of-the-world thriller. The PG-13 film co-stars Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, and Kathy Bates. To add to the grossing potential, Day will also open on higher-priced Imax screens plus the film will have attached to it the trailer for the studio’s summer franchise flick X-Men Origins: Wolverine. These tactics will ensure that a large crowd will show up.

Earth has many factors working in its favor this weekend which will join forces to deliver a strong number one debut. Effects-driven disaster films almost always score big numbers and Keanu is a bankable lead in the sci-fi and action genres so his salary will end up being a worthwhile investment. Older sci-fi fans may also be curious to see how a classic tale got updated so the film could play to a broad age range. Plus the current marketplace is weak and ticket buyers are hungry for that next big event film and Earth is the only one that really fits the bill right now. No effects-driven action film has opened north of $20M in four months so Gort and company will capitalize on pent up demand.

Earth should connect with many of the same moviegoers that came out earlier this year for the non-sequel actioners Cloverfield and 10,000 B.C. Those pics bowed on top with $40.1M and $35.9M, respectively, but Keanu should fly higher. TV spots for Day even take a page from the successful campaign Fox put together for its weather disaster smash The Day After Tomorrow more than four years ago. Landing in 3,559 sites, The Day the Earth Stood Still may open to about $48M.

Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still

The always dependable family reunion is used to set up the story in Nothing Like the Holidays, the tale of a Chicago set that gets back together for Christmas to face challenges that can only be solved by…coming together as a family. The mostly Latino cast includes John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez, Jay Hernandez, Alfred Molina, and Debra Messing. Overture is looking for a hit and hoping that the picture can play to a broader audience than just the Spanish-speaking population. But that crowd alone can be a driving force at the box office and should respond to Nothing thanks to its starpower, family bonding plot, plus the fact that a wide release with a mostly Latino cast is a rare event not to be missed.

Reviews have been mixed and business from outside the community will not be easy to generate. African Americans have already proven themselves to be a viable demographic at the box office, but Latinos have had only a fraction of the opportunities even though they make up a larger portion of the country’s population. This film will be looked at as a test. Coming home to 1,671 theaters, Nothing Like the Holidays could collect roughly $7M this weekend.

John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, and Alfred Molina in Nothing Like the Holidays

Freestyle releases the animated adventure Delgo featuring the voices of Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kelly Ripa, and Val Kilmer into about 1,800 theaters. That’s curiously wide for a film with almost no buzz. The PG-rated toon will play mostly to kids and might scrape together around $2M.

Delgo

The usual end-of-year rush with limited release titles continues this weekend with a handful of new films opening in selected cities. Among the more high-caliber dramas are Clint Eastwood‘s second directorial effort of the year, and first that stars him, with Gran Torino which Warner Bros. platforms in New York and Los Angeles. Meryl Streep makes a bid for her record fifteenth Oscar nomination with Miramax’s Doubt co-starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Following his Best Actor win at Cannes earlier this year, Benicio del Toro hits the commercial market in the U.S. with Steven Soderbergh‘s Che in its full two-part four-and-a-half-hour length for a one-week Academy run at the Ziegfeld in New York and The Landmark in Los Angeles playing only two shows per day.

After two weeks at number one, the holiday comedy Four Christmases will drop a notch or two, but expect some decent legs. The Warner Bros. release is going over well with audiences so a 40% decline could result giving the film about $10M for the weekend and $84M in 19 days. Summit’s Twilight has also been staying relatively strong so a 45% drop to $7M may occur. That would give the vampire saga $149M to date.

Disney’s Bolt suffered a big fall coming off of the Thanksgiving holiday, but this weekend look for it to stabilize as it’s still the only major option for younger kids. Delgo will not be much of a threat. Look for a 40% fall to around $5.5M which would push the cume to $87M. A similar decline should result for Fox’s Australia which could round up another $4M lifting its modest domestic tally to $37M. The total snub by the Golden Globes won’t help.

LAST YEAR: Two smash openings led the overall box office to its biggest non-holiday December weekend ever. Will Smith led the way with his apocalyptic actioner I Am Legend which broke the December opening weekend record with a towering $77.2M. Warner Bros. would go on to capture $256.4M domestically and $584M worldwide. Fox also had reason to celebrate as its family comedy Alvin and the Chipmunks bowed in second place with a terrific $44.3M on its way to $217.3M from North America and $358M globally. Clobbered in its second weekend was the fantasy epic The Golden Compass which tumbled 66% falling two spots to third with $8.8M. The princess comedy Enchanted landed in fourth with $5.5M while eventual Oscar champ No Country For Old Men rounded out the top five with $2.8M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeguru.com