It took an act of valor, or, more appropriately “Act of Valor,” to get filmgoers into the multiplex this weekend. The Navy Seal cinema-verite flick led the weekend. Courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo, here’s the numbers:
| 1 | N | Act of Valor | Rela. | $24,700,000 | – | 3,039 | – | $8,128 | $24,700,000 | $12 | 1 |
| 2 | N | Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds | LGF | $16,000,000 | – | 2,132 | – | $7,505 | $16,000,000 | – | 1 |
| 3 | 4 | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | WB | $13,475,000 | -32.1% | 3,350 | -150 | $4,022 | $76,731,000 | $79 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 | Safe House | Uni. | $11,400,000 | -51.8% | 3,052 | -69 | $3,735 | $98,100,000 | $85 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | The Vow | SGem | $10,000,000 | -56.6% | 3,038 | +80 | $3,292 | $103,007,000 | $30 | 3 |
| 6 | 3 | Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | Sony | $8,800,000 | -60.2% | 3,174 | – | $2,773 | $37,832,000 | $57 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | This Means War | Fox | $8,500,000 | -51.2% | 3,189 | – | $2,665 | $33,571,000 | $65 | 2 |
| 8 | N | Wanderlust | Uni. | $6,600,000 | – | 2,002 | – | $3,297 | $6,600,000 | – | 1 |
| 9 | N | Gone | Sum. | $5,000,000 | – | 2,186 | – | $2,287 | $5,000,000 | – | 1 |
| 10 | 9 | The Secret World of Arrietty | BV | $4,503,000 | -30.1% | 1,522 | – | $2,959 | $14,660,000 | – | 2 |
Hollywood hostess Connie Wald in her 20s (NYT)
The New York Times profiles nonagenarian actress Connie Wald, whose Beverly Hills home, during the Golden Age of Hollywood was a required stop. The story is a charming tale of dinner parties and movie-screenings that makes old Hollywood sound like a small town.
Here’s the nut graf:
“As the wife and then the widow of the fabled screenwriter and producer Jerry Wald (who received four Oscar nominations; was given the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1949; and produced the Academy Awards shows in 1957 and 1958), Mrs. Wald has been a Hollywood fixture. A notably chic (she is a perennial on the International Best-Dressed List) and enduring emblem of its Golden Age, she is a hostess celebrated for her home cooking (roast chicken and chocolate roll). A good-humored survivor at the age of 95, Mrs. Wald is still automatically included among the guests at any A-list party.”
Read the full story here.
The Cineaste's Lament. 