via toldeoblade

2009: THE YEAR IN MOVIES

Does anyone else find it odd that 2009 gave us two comedies featuring mall security workers as lead characters?

We’d gone decades with little more than a token nod to the hard-working security personnel at shopping centers and then — poof! — Hollywood decides that rent-a-cops are a source of amusement with Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Observe and Report.

And speaking of incredulous — what’s going on with Steve Martin? Pink Panther 2? Seriously? Steve, you’re better than that. Well, at least 2009 didn’t give us another M. Night Shyamalan disappointment. That’s coming in July with The Last Airbender.

Despite a few eccentricities, in most ways 2009 was a typical year for Hollywood. The studios made bank with box-office behemoths, with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen leading the way.

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via iesb

INTERVIEW: THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND WITH BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond is a new drama based on a recently rediscovered original screenplay by legendary writer Tennessee Williams. Widely considered the most important American playwright of the post-World War II era, Williams wrote the screenplay at the height of his late-1950’s heyday, amid such classic plays-turns-films, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth and Orpheus Descending.

Set in the Roaring Twenties, in the town of Memphis, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond tells the story of Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard), a headstrong young heiress who is bothered by the constraints of proper Southern society and who rebels by asking the impoverished but handsome son of her father’s caretaker, Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans), to escort her to the major social events of the season. Although their relationship starts off as purely a business arrangement, Fisher discovers that she really loves Jimmy, but she finds it impossible to earn the affection she tried to buy.

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via hollywoodinsider

‘AVATAR’ MAKES $75 MILLION ON HOLLYWOOD’S BEST WEEKEND EVER

Hollywood gave itself one heck of a Christmas present this year: the single best day in the history of the box office. The weekend’s slate of movies racked up a record-setting $278 million overall haul, with James Cameron’s Avatar ($75 million) leading the charge. The sci-fi epic dipped an incredibly slim two percent in its second weekend, bringing its 10-day domestic total to an impressive $212.3 million.

Not that newcomer Sherlock Holmes (no. 2, $65.4 million) had a bad weekend, either. The action-adventure pic from director Guy Ritchie scored the best-ever Christmas weekend debut, adding another notch to star Robert Downey Jr.’s box office belt.

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via seattlepi

THE TOP 10 SEQUELS OF 2010

We admit it: we’re suckers for sequels. And while 2010 is chock full of reboots (Nightmare on Elm Street, with a new Freddy), remakes (The Karate Kid, as played by … Jaden Smith?), and adaptations (Machete!!!) the year boasts its fair share of highly anticipated sequels. Whether you’re craving more dancing, vamping, wizarding, or straight-up people-killing in the year to come, here are the continued adventures and resuscitated franchises we’re looking forward to most in 2010, in order of release date.

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What were your favorite movies of 2009? What did you think were the biggest disappointments?

How do you think Bryce will fair in The Loss of the Teardrop Diamond?

Avatar rules the world of movies presently…have you had a chance to see the film yet?

What movies are you most looking forward to in 2010?