The Silver Surfer rose to the top of the box office charts this weekend, unseating last week's winner, Ocean's 13. The sequel to 2005's Fantastic Four succeeded in surpassing the original in both quality and in its opening weekend gross. For my money, the movie has been the most satisfying superhero flick of the year, standing above the fun but insubstantial Ghost Rider, and definitely more satisfying than the bloated spectacle Spider-Man 3 was able to deliver.
There was only one other new release to make any sort of splash in the top ten, and it wasn't much of a splash at all, at least not as big as the studio was hoping for. That film is Nancy Drew, the new take on the sleuth of years gone by, and star vehicle for Emma Roberts. I did not see this, so I cannot say if it was any good or not, though the trailers did not excite me (though I am definitely not in the target audience). I do think it would have been a better fit 10-12 years ago when they were putting out Flipper, The Little Rascals, and Caspar-type films.
Among the returning films, Knocked Up is still going strong, only dropping 28% from last week. This movie is a definite winner. Judd Apatow does a glorious job of combining raunchy comedy with feelings from the heart. Knocked Up seems to have struck a chord and found an audience. It is a special film that deserves all of the attention it gets. On the flip side, Hostel Part II took a nosedive in its second weekend out the gate, slipping 63%. I cannot say that surprises me, as that type of film has a somewhat narrow appeal, though I'm still at a loss as to why the Saw films have done so much better, aside from the release time.
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