A Weekend of Leftovers...and 'Punisher: War Zone'

By Sarah Sluis

Deferring to the blitz of movies released over Thanksgiving weekend, only one film opens to wide release
this week, Punisher: War Zone (2,508 screens).  The comic book sequel should break the top five, better than last week's action sequel Transporter 3, but the movie's lackluster reviews certainly won't electrify audiences or even fanboys. 

With Four Christmases, Australia, Bolt, and Twilight returning for their second and third week, more eyes will focus on the performance of these holdovers.  Australia opened to a lackluster $20 million, and its success or failure will be determined this weekend, when analysts measure just how much it drops from last week.  Bolt, which rebounded from its Twilight-induced third place opening by posting the same numbers over Thanksgiving (unlike Twilight, which dropped nearly 70%), should finally drop a little this weekend, but the real sign of its longevity won't come until schools let out for winter break--will parents bring their children to Bolt or choose something else?   Last week's number one release, Four Christmases, should hold its appeal through this weekend, especially now that audiences have heard piped Christmas music for a week in virtually every public place.

Last week four specialty releases cleared a million dollars (Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Changeling). While the latter two films are winding down,  Milk and Slumdog Millionaire both expand their releases this week. Milk will move onto 99 screens and Slumdog Millionaire onto 78, including new markets Atlanta, Detroit, and Indianapolis.  Both films are sure to rack up Oscar nominations, so they're worth seeing.

Beyond wide releases, Cadillac Records (686 screens) and Nobel Son
(893 screens) both open moderately this week.  Starring Adrien Brody and Beyonce Knowles, the glamorous and flashy musical was dubbed "rollicking and insightful" by the New York Times but "overstuffed" by our reviewer, David Noh.

A stylistically flashy film, Nobel Son
seems to have inspired a "love it or hate it" response, and is currently tracking at 21% on RottenTomatoes.  Our critic David Noh called it "over the top but in a good way," and predicts the film will have a cult following.  Lastly, Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon opens on 3 screens, and the positively reviewed film will now have a chance to gain or lose momentum based on audience response.