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Box office dismisses newcomers |
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The summer's sturdiest movie, the raunchy comedy Wedding Crashers jumped from the second to the top spot in its third week, dethroning Charlie And The Chocolate Factory while three widely released new films did ho-hum business.
Stealth, the $125 million action thriller, was dead on arrival, below the far modestly budgeted Sky High. Romantic drama Must Love Dogs was at fifth place. Among the few winners was March Of The Penguins, which added 83 theatres, taking its total count to 778. The documentary, which has been slowly expanding and has grossed $16m, will add over 1000 theatres next week.
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1. Wedding Crashers Cast: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams. Director: David Dobkin.  Bawdy comedy; terrific chemistry between Wilson and Vaughn; Fast tempo in the fist half. Overextends the plot; runs out of humour and salty jokes in the second half.Number of weeks: 3. BO Verdict: Superhit.
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2. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Cast: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, Ned Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Deep Roy and Christopher Lee. Director: Tim Burton. Riot of colours; strong drama; and the amazing Oompa-Loompas.Gets a bit repetitive; too dark and punishing to those unfamiliar with the novel.Number of weeks: 3. BO Verdict: Hit. |
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3. Sky High Cast: Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston and Michael Angarano. Director: Mike Mitchell. Clean, family-friendly movie; decent performances.Script could have been more imaginative.Number of weeks: New. BO Verdict: Average.
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4. Stealth Cast: Jamie Foxx, Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel. Director: Rob Cohen. Tough one, this.Offense against taste and commonsense. Even the stone-deaf will find it too loud. Not even Oscar winner Foxx can save this.Number of weeks: New. BO Verdict: Disaster.
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5. Must Love Dogs Cast: Diane Lane, John Cusack and Christopher Plummer. Director: Gary David Goldberg. Attractive cast.The actors are underutilised. Movie is too mawkish.Number of weeks: New. BO Verdict: Disappointing.
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6. Fantastic Four Cast: Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chilkis, Chris Evans. Director: Tim Story. Amusing and entertaining moments; reputed Marvel Comics characters.Cheesy script; predictable; lacks inventiveness.Number of weeks: 4. BO Verdict: Hit. |
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7. The Island Cast: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou and Sean Bean. Director: Michael Bay. Nonstop action.How many mindless action movies can one take in a summer?Number of weeks: 2. BO Verdict: Disaster. |
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8. War Of The Worlds Cast: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Morgan Freeman. Director: Steven Spielberg. Great first half with many sensational sights.Lacks sustained narrative strength.Number of weeks: 5. BO Verdict: Hit. |
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9. The Bad News Bears Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear and Marcia Gay Harden. Director: Richard Linklater. Feel good story of young misfits who triumph; Thornton and Kinnear.Often mean-spirited; lacks genuine surprises.Number of weeks: 2. BO Verdict: Disappointing.
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10. March Of The Penguins Narration: Morgan Freeman. Director: Luc Jacquet. Amazing visuals; unbelievable insights into the lives of emperor penguins.A bit too sentimental.Number of weeks: 6. BO Verdict: Smash hit.
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Text: Arthur J Pais
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