Although we still have four months left in the year, we’re already getting a jump start on the best movies of 2010.

From summer blockbusters like ‘Inception’ to small indies like ‘The Kids Are All Right,’ these 16 movies have already made a serious impression on moviegoers across the country.

Check them out below.

16. ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’
As they say, third time’s the charm. ‘Eclipse,’ the third chapter in the uber-popular ‘Twilight’ saga, ranks as the franchise’s best film to date, with a storyline that is mature, exciting and, in the case of the final showdown between Edward and Victoria, downright epic. We’re still not sure where we stand in the Team Edward vs. Team Jacob debate, but after seeing ‘Eclipse,’ we’re 100 percent Team ‘Twilight.’

UPDATE THURSDAY, AUGUST 26:

Box office numbers are in for Wednesday, August 25. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in another $71,270 from 557 locations for a per theater average of $128, representing a decrease of 5.5% from Tuesday. This adds up to a cumulative domestic total of $297,439,330 after 57 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $380.6M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $678,039,330.

For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, at this point in its release history (after 57 days) New Moon had taken in $291,550,109. Eclipse is now at $297,439,330. Both films hit the $250M mark on the 16th day. The total domestic gross for New Moon was $296,623,634 (after 132 days). Eclipse has now broken that total by $816,696 (after 57 days). The film is now within striking distance of the elusive $300M mark. It needs about $2.56M to get to that number. It took New Moon 22 more days to earn an additional $2.56M after its 57th day, and Eclipse is clearly doing better. On the other hand, New Moon was still in 1,167 theaters after 56 days while Eclipse is in 557 locations. Still, even after New Moon’s theater count had dropped to 444 (after 63 days) it still went on to take in another $3.8M. Therefore, it should take no more than one more month for Eclipse to earn another $2.6M and pass $300M.

Now wouldn’t be a bad time to start planning for your DVD release parties. The street dates for Twilight and New Moon were both on day 121 of their theatrical runs (Saturdays). Following that line of thinking, Eclipse’s 121st day will be October 28th, a Thursday. The following Saturday would be October 30th — Halloween weekend. On the other hand, sources have told me that Summit is planning for a holiday season release — some say November while others say Christmas time.

Keeping track of records, the film with the least number of days to reach $250M was The Dark Knight, which hit $261,847,503 after eight days. New Moon is in 13th place, having taken 16 days to reach $251,530,186. Eclipse lands just behind it in 14th place, taking 16 days to reach $251,371,417. This puts the film ahead of Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and Iron Man 2, which all took 17 days to hit $250M.

So far, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has set all-time box office records for Opening Wednesdays, Single Day Wednesday Gross (non-adjusted), and Single Day Wednesday Gross (adjusted for inflation). It is in second place for Opening Day Gross, Single Day Gross, and Non-Opening Thursday Gross. Release records include Widest Releases, Widest Independent Releases, Widest Opening Independent Releases, Widest PG-13 Rated Openings, and Widest PG-13 Rated Releases.

There’s been quite a bit of discussion online regarding the film’s box office success. In particular, I wonder about the fairness of comparing the Twilight films against each other. Despite the fact that Eclipse has now passed New Moon in domestic totals, the validity of judging one against the other is questionable given their strikingly different release schedules. As I’ve been saying since it opened, the idea was not to compete against or beat New Moon’s early numbers. That may be a goal of some people but the idea is to make money, and maybe set some records in the process.

First, remember that the film’s opening weekend started on a Wednesday. There is no way that a “weekend” that begins on a Wednesday can be compared to a “normal” 3-day weekend (when New Moon opened). So any comparison between the two based on how many “weekends” it’s been out simply isn’t valid. Next, look at the time of year the two films were released. New Moon came out during the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season. It’s a big time of year for Hollywood but still doesn’t compare to summer, when they put out their “tentpole” films — the potential blockbusters that will keep the studios in the black for another year. The competition is much more fierce beginning Memorial Day weekend through the 4th of July. It’s simply a different marketplace.

Is Summit happy with the film’s box office returns? I don’t know but I’m fairly sure they must be. Again, the goal was not to “beat New Moon.” That may be something the press or some others will latch on to but it may not be a fair comparison. It was very easy to compare Twilight to New Moon since they opened at the same time one year apart. Not so much New Moon to Eclipse. I think it’s wise to judge the film on its own merits a box office success, with DVDs and more to follow.

Source

Remember Me is currently top ranked on I-tunes rentals in the romance category. It is ranked #39 in all films.

In total sales, Remember Me is currently #3 in the romance category and #95 among all films.

Expectations were high for the Summit Entertainment release Eclipse. It took in a respectable $650 million, but it failed to out-earn its predecessor in the Twilight series, New Moon, which brought in $710 million at the box office last fall. Summit has set the release dates for the next two films for November of 2011 and November 2012.

And to think, the screen’s longtime Dracula, Bela Lugosi, died practically broke. But by a brand new count, the current vampire craze – on TV and in movies, books and merchandising – is estimated to be pumping some $7 billion (that’s with a b) into the showbiz economy. Suddenly, money is flowing like blood.

Taking into account the $20 million box-office of this past weekend’s batty Twilight parody Vampires Suck, the 5 million devotees of HBO’s weekly True Blood, and the bestselling titles from authors Justin Cronin (The Passage), Stephenie Meyer (Breaking Dawn) and Charlaine Harris (Dead and Gone), the Hollywood Reporter estimates that in the past two years, bloodsuckers have pumped new life into Tinsel Town, creating what the trade paper terms an “entire inexhaustible industry.”

“By starting with one simple mythological creature that’s been part of our literary universe for centuries,” Julie Plec, writer and exec producer of the CW series The Vampire Diaries, says of novelist Bram Stoker’s 1897 Count Dracula, “you can create a story that has it all: romance, horror, action, special effects, sex, epic love, wish fulfillment, romantic leading men, delicious bad-boy villains, female bad asses, damsels in distress, death, monsters and, ultimately, the perfectly flawed hero who would give it all up if it meant they wouldn’t have to spend eternity alone It doesn’t get more universal than that.”

Breaking down the numbers, the Reporter” calculates that recent vampire movies have generated $3 billion ($1.76 billion from the three Twilight flicks alone, along with another $160 million thanks to their home-video sales); vampire books, $1.6 billion; vampire merchandising (including vampire video games), $600 million; vampire TV shows and DVDs, $1.2 billion.

Vampire books, says one literary agent, “are just growing There is no one area in which it’s stagnating. It goes from fiction to [young adult] fiction to genre fiction – they are king.”

And still on the horizon: the November 2011 and November 2012 screen installments of Breaking Dawn, which are expected to make $1.7 billion, and several more movies now in development.

They include an adaptation of Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, Justin Cronin’s The Passage, Dracula Year Zero, Castlevania and something called Vamps.

Talk about immortal life.

“THE BAD MOTHER’S HANDBOOK”

Lionsgate, $26.98, available Tuesday.

Grade: B

Robert Pattinson made this British dramedy in 2007 P.T. (pre- “Twilight”), which explains his top billing on the DVD. But the heartthrob isn’t central to why this small, sweet film delivers. Based on the best-selling UK book of the same name, the movie about three generations of women struggling to survive accomplishes so much in its modest 70 minutes.

Catherine Tate powers the cast as Karen, a single mom sandwiched between her aging mother and outspoken teenage daughter Charlotte (Holliday Grainger). Karen’s unexpected discovery that she was adopted and Charlotte’s unplanned pregnancy set the scene for lovely performances that will remind viewers of the mid-1990s hit “Secrets and Lies.”

Pattinson’s supporting turn as a geek with a crush on Charlotte is slightly hysterical. His character, Daniel, sports an anti- Edward bowl haircut, sweater vests and thick black eyeglasses, but his jerky movements are overly awkward, even for a nerdy teen. The disc contains no extras. – JILL RADSKEN

Source

UPDATE FRIDAY, AUGUST 20:

Box office numbers are in for Thursday, August 19 and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has now officially surpassed the domestic total of New Moon. The film took in another $190,143 from 1,212 locations for a per theater average of $157 representing a decrease of 0.7% from Wednesday. This adds up to a cumulative domestic total of $296,649,934 after 51 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $380.6M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $677,249,934.

Before Robert Pattinson won the adoration the world’s teenagers for playing Edward Cullen in “The Twilight Saga” franchise, he had already made his mark in film. His 2007 comedy-drama “The Bad Mother’s Handbook” is finally due to be released on August 24.

Pattinson stars as Daniel Gale, a teen who is in love with Charlotte Cooper (Holly Grainger). However, things take an interesting turn for Daniel when he discovers Charlotte may be pregnant.

Meanwhile, as the nine months pass, the young man gets to know Charlotte’s family, which includes her mother, Karen (Catherine Tate), who gave birth to her daughter when she was a teenager as well.

Although Pattinson is best known for starring in “Twilight,” there are plenty of other films that fans of his work may enjoy. In fact, the tearjerker “Remember Me,” which also stars Emilie de Ravin, was just released on DVD.

The talented performer also starred in the independent drama “Little Ashes,” in which he played the renowned Spanish artist Salvador Dali.

UPDATE TUESDAY, AUGUST 10:

Box office numbers are in for Monday, August 9. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has moved back into the top 10, taking in another $389,276 from 1,704 locations for a per theater average of $228 representing a decrease of 41.6% from Sunday. This gives the film a cumulative domestic total of $293,491,146 after 41 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $372.8M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $666,291,146.

This moves the film up from #13 to #10 behind The Other Guys, which drops 49.8% from Sunday but stays on top with $4,979,332 at 3,651 locations for a per theater average of $1,364, Inception, with $2,531,134 at 3,418 locations for a per theater average of $741 and a domestic cumulative total of $230,168,703 after 25 days in release, Step Up 3-D with $2,015,167, Dinner for Schmucks with $1,586,385, Despicable Me with $1,467,590, Salt with $1,371,236, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore with $1,056,046, Charlie St. Cloud with $831,125, and Toy Story 3 with $537,274.

For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, at this point in its release history (after 41 days) New Moon had taken in $283,870,180. Eclipse is now at $293,491,146. Both films hit the $250M mark on the 16th day. The total domestic gross for New Moon was $296,623,634. Eclipse only needs about $3.13M to break that. It should happen by the end of the week. That would put the film within striking distance of the elusive $300M mark, which it may pass by the end of next weekend.

ROBERT PATTINSON
Yes, we are aware that legions of Twilight fans will scream in unison no matter what R.Patz says, does, or wears. But couldn’t the man who plays Edward Cullen have hired a stylist — or even a dry-cleaner — to steam those troublesome wrinkles from his too-too-casual blue plaid shirt? Grade: D+

Robert Pattinson rose to the style spotlight after appearing in the Twilight Saga, although he was previously in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire he was not fully recognised until he starred in Twilight. Robert Pattinson had previously done some modelling before acting but didn’t achieve much work from in. Robert Pattinson’s style is known to be messy and thrown together.

Outfit one is a casual day-to-day look which any guy can pull off. The layered effect of the shirts makes them look more stylish than if they were just worn on their own.

Outfit I have chosen: white t-shirt – River Island £4.99, blue shirt – River Island £26.99, check shirt – Topman £28 and black trousers – Topman £20.

Outfit two is a good night-time outfit, it’s not too casual yet not too smart. The leather jacket adds a sense of toughness to the outfit and really brings it together. Robert Pattinson is also known for wearing his key piece, the beanie.

Outfit I have chosen: black leather jacket – Topman £110, black cardigan – River Island £21, grey jeans – Topman £36 and beanie hat – River Island £9.99.

The third outfit is smart yet different. Robert Pattinson chooses to mis-match the suit jacket and trousers but he makes it work.

Outfit I have chosen: suit jacket – River Island £90, trousers – River Island £29.99, shirt – Topman £26 and black lace boots – River Island £59.99.

All of the above outfits can be bought from www.topman.com and www.riverisland.com.

With Zac Efron’s latest film, the romance ‘Charlie St. Cloud,’ now an official box office disaster, everyone is asking what happened to the ‘High School Musical’ golden goose. The answer, two words: Robert Pattinson.

“Robert is the new King of all the screaming girls at this moment and they have forgotten Zac. You only need to look at this years MTV Movie Awards, when Zac entered the girls were excited but when Robert walked in the place went nuts,” relationship expert Matt Titus tells me. “Twilight has changed everything and Robert Pattison gets it. He says nothing, and acts mysteriously. This is what teenage girls really want right now.”

However, it seems that Zac has received that memo too. Switching from his more playful roles to ones that focus on his character rather than his pretty-boy looks have come at a huge box office cost.

“Hollywood only cares about making money,” one producer tells me. “We honestly don’t care if Zac is singing ‘Hello Dolly’ or playing a vampire, as long as he sells tickets. That fact that ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ dropped a whopping 60% in its second week following a very mediocre opening tells me Zac should speak less, smile more and take off as much clothing as possible. Or else he will end up like countless other pinup popcorn actors and actresses that decided that they all of a sudden wanted to be taken seriously when all their fans.”

According to Box Office Mojo, ‘Charlie’ has raked in a mere $23 million since opening July 30. It’s budget: $44 mil.

Joe Neumaier, film critic for the New York Daily News, thinks Patz isn’t Zac’s biggest problem, telling me, “I blame an overcrowded pin-up boy field. Yes, Rob Pattinson is in that jam-packed yearbook but so is Taylor Lautner, some ‘Gossip Girl’ boys, Shia LaBeouf, the ‘Glee’ guys and at least one Jonas brother. All these young dudes are now starting to cancel each other out. I think at this point, there’s only so many dewy-eyed sulking guys girls can keep track of.”

PopEater’s own Celebenomics columnist, Jo Piazza, agrees. “Efron is in an oversaturated market for adorably coiffed young gentlemen of a certain age with nothing to differentiate him. He isn’t as edgy as Robert Pattinson, as heartthrobby as Chace Crawford or as cutesy as Bieber. His claim to fame, ‘High School Musical’ was too quickly eclipsed by ‘Glee.’ There is no demand out there right now for a product that is specifically Efron.”

So is Zac career really over at a tender 22-years of age? Please say this isn’t true!!!

“I don’t think Zac Efron has a career problem. I just think that he made a movie that didn’t connect with an audience. This film didn’t have mass appeal and was a departure from Efron’s normal roles. His audience didn’t follow. He needs to choose his next role wisely, but he absolutely still has a career,” Tina Wells, Author of tween book series Mackenzie Blue & CEO, Buzz Marketing Group told me.

So, let’s hope Zac is listening because it sounds like it’s time to dust of those tap shoes, break out the Jazz hands and start warming up those vocal chords. Stop trying to be Robert Pattinson and start being yourself again.

“Zac needs to stick with his strengths,” Paul Dergarabedian, President of Box-office Division of Hollywood.com says. “Singing, dancing and comedy.” And leave the depressing stuff to Mr. Pattinson.

Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson, and Miley Cryus ARE genuine movie stars. Because true stardom is opening a movie with just your face on the poster.

Brent Lang of The Wrap just doesn’t get it. Plain and simple. In his provocatively-titled piece ‘Zac Efron and the Incredible Shrinking Teen Idol Stars’, Land submits that the newest generation of young stars (Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson, Miley Cyrus, etc) have disappointed at the box office even as the numbers he uses fail to bear that out. Once again, a pundit has fallen into the classic trap: Because a movie star’s latest movie has failed to match up with his or her all-time best performances, said actor’s star must be fading. But it fails to take into account two obvious factors: not every film an actor makes is identical in appeal and marketability, and a star cannot be expected to top their previous best every time out of the gate.

As I’ve said any number of occasions, movie stars are worth certain paydays for certain projects. Robert Downey Jr. is worth whatever he can get for a theoretical Iron Man 3, and he’s worth almost as much for the upcoming Sherlock Holmes 2 (on that note, fan-favorite Jude Law can and should hold out for a career-high payday to return as Dr. Watson, as the sequel needs his chemistry with Downey Jr. to work again). But no one should expect The Soloist, a dark, sobering drama about homelessness and mental illness, to perform at the same levels as a crowd-pleasing franchise picture. Brendan Fraser knew that The Mummy Returns was his big payday back in 2001, so he asked for and got $12.5 million. And for that film and that franchise, he was worth every penny. But he certainly wasn’t so foolhardy to ask for another $12.5 million for The Quiet American.

The absurd idea that a small intimate drama starring a given actor should be expected to perform as well as a crowd-pleasing genre picture is asinine. In fact, such expectations actually discourage actors from stretching or trying artier or more challenging works. Call it the Harrison Ford trap: all of Ford’s fans constantly belittled Ford for not stretching his acting muscles and branching out. But every time he did (Random Hearts, Six Days Seven Nights, Hollywood Homicide), he faced the wrath of box office pundits who couldn’t figure out why a romantic drama about two people whose cheating spouses died in a plane crash didn’t perform quite as well as Air Force One. Eventually Ford caved in and went ahead and made Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where he was again lambasted (not entirely unfairly) for not living up to his prior work in his iconic role.

Point being, Charlie St. Cloud is not High School Musical 3, Hairspray, or even 17 Again. It is a dark drama about grieving and loss, and it had absolutely nothing going for it other than Zac Efron’s name and face on the poster. Opening a well-marketed and appealing mainstream comedy like 17 Again to $23 million is impressive. Opening a poorly-marketed and not-terribly appealing drama like Charlie St. Cloud to $12.5 million all by yourself: You, Zac Efron, are a genuine movie star. Same goes for Robert Pattinson. Sure Remember Me ‘only’ made $55 million worldwide (on a budget of just $16 million), but that means that $55 million worth of tickets were sold completely on the shoulders of one Robert Pattinson (quick, raise your hands if you saw that one for Pierce Brosnan or Chris Cooper….?). And by all means, let’s compare the box office performance of Kristen Stewart’s The Runaways, an R-rated 70s rock biopic that never even got a wide release, with the box office run of New Moon.

Sure, Shia LeBeouf is a big star in theory, but does he really deserve much credit for the opening weekends of Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (or the upcoming Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps)? Even his two other star vehicles, Disturbia and Eagle Eye, were mass-marketed all-audience thrillers that were backed by Steven Spielberg himself. While he obviously gets points for shrewd choices in selecting solid commercial projects (and all of the above projects, even Transformers 2, had legs, implying that they clicked with audiences past just opening weekend), let’s see how well he can open a film that has absolutely nothing to offer except Shia LeBeouf. Star power, true star power, is about opening a film to a level to bring about eventual profitability with nothing but your pull on audiences.

While Angelina Jolie’s Salt opened ($36 million) a touch below Tomb Raider ($47 million) and Wanted ($50 million), Salt’s opening is just as, if not more impressive, because it relied purely on the draw of Angelina Jolie the action star. Again, this is a question of comfort zones. A Mighty Heart and The Changeling did not pull in blockbuster numbers, but Jolie is worth whatever she can get as an action heroine. Thus, quite obviously, Robert Pattinson shouldn’t be getting paid nearly as much for Remember Me as he did for Twilight Saga: Eclipse. He didn’t, so the film’s box office should not be judged on the same level.

Pattinson and Efron could spend their entire careers doing rip-offs of, respectively Twilight and High School Musical. The fact that they are instead making more challenging pictures, and still posting decent returns, means that they are absolutely bankable names on a reasonable budget. Miley Cryus could spend her whole career making Hanna Montana sequels, but she chooses not to. And to say that the $88 million worldwide gross of The Last Song (on a budget of $20 million) is a disappointment compared to the $155 million gross of The Hanna Montana Movie is no different than saying that Inception is a flop because it won’t gross two-thirds of what The Dark Knight pulled in. Both Chris Nolan pictures cost around $180 million, yet one will only make around $700 million worldwide while the Batman sequel grossed a billion. So obviously Inception is a stinker and Nolan should be laughed out of town, right?

Stardom is relative and somewhat flexible. Put Johnny Depp in a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel or a big-budget Tim Burton fantasy, and he’s worth $30 million plus points. But he shouldn’t be getting, nor will he be asking for, the same cut for a theoretical Terry Gilliam picture, and thus said Gilliam picture should not be judged on the same scale as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Depp didn’t become a star when Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl opened to $43 million in July 2003. Depp became a star when The Secret Window, a thriller than basically starred Depp all-by-himself in an old cabin, opened to $17 million in the Spring of 2004. Will Smith isn’t a star because Men in Black 2 opened to $52 million back in July 2002. He’s a star, arguably the biggest one around, because he can open Seven Pounds to $14 million in the middle of a crowded pre-Christmas weekend. And speaking of the Smith family, don’t be that idiot who screams failure when Jaden Smith’s next movie doesn’t equal or top the $56 million opening weekend of The Karate Kid.

Star power isn’t opening something that is already highly appealing to a mass audience that has the benefit of your name on the poster. Star power is scoring a reasonable or better opening weekend for a film that has nothing to offer except your name on the poster. On that scale, Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, and Robert Pattinson are genuine movie stars.

Scott Mendelson

You can follow Scott Mendelson on Twitter.

Our talented guest blogger Jessegirl is back again and this time has written a very comprehensive and interesting article on critic bias and the audience reaction to Remember Me.

I would like to dedicate this piece to those who had the vision, courage, respect and integrity to bring this beautiful film to the screen, so that the sorrow of September 11th and those innocents who died there will not be forgotten.
-jessegirl- July 26, 2010

“You must have been watching another movie!”

It is curious how a masterpiece like Remember Me has not been better received by critics. Even more puzzling is how determined they were to use their influence to actively keep people away, apparently based on the film’s ending, the touted ‘twist’. Clap for the critics, who did this job particularly well. Domestically, RM’s (RM=Remember Me) gross was lower than it could have been. Given that RM wasn’t a blockbuster, huge box office was never expected.

However, the majority of those people who did go to see it were baffled by RM’s poor critical ratings; many viewers disagreed markedly with the critics. The refrain echoed by so many was: “You must have been watching a different movie.” I’ve addressed this disconnect elsewhere but here I’ll tackle the thorny issue of the movie’s ending.

I hope I do this topic justice but it is really too large to cover in a little piece like this. I’m aware that I cannot cover all bases; I just hope I speak to the important ones adequately. At the end, I’ve listed the sources from which I obtained the quotes. The three articles—Brevet, Bartyzel and Reesman—and their comments, are a rich source for discovering rare critical impartiality and substantive viewer comments. I participated and it was an interesting experience. Laremy Legel’s review is one of the best.