Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. The Golden Compass — CDN $6,170,000 — N.AM $48,418,000 — 12.7%P.S. I Love You — CDN $610,457 — N.AM $6,505,000 — 9.4%Atonement — CDN $512,524 — N.AM $5,787,000 — 8.9%Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story — CDN $362,464 — N.AM $4,100,000 — 8.8%Enchanted — CDN $7,470,000 — N.AM $98,351,000 —... Read more

First, a Variety story from three weeks ago: In Cannes this year, Martin Scorsese talked about the importance of preserving such films as Ahmed El Maanouni’s 1981 Moroccan music documentary “Trances.” But he didn’t mention that his own “Taxi Driver” is deteriorating. Although the 1976 film is part of Sony’s vast library, few are rallying to its aid. The myriad film-preservation orgs throw their money and muscle behind titles that are indie, foreign or obscure. It’s assumed Hollywood’s majors will... Read more

Hot on the heels of the feature-length documentary Helvetica comes this two-minute short, Trajan is the Movie Font: UPDATE: More examples abound at the Retire Trajan blog. Read more

The arrests have begun under Canada’s new anti-piracy law, but apparently there is even more legislation to come — and Canada’s librarians are not happy. The Globe and Mail reports: The Conservative government hasn’t even released its proposed copyright reform legislation, but already a showdown is brewing between media producers demanding protection from tech-savvy pirates and the grassroots efforts of thousands of Canadians who believe the bill will be unjustifiably restrictive. As a result, what was once a low-key issue... Read more

Max Boot at Commentary magazine writes: I once wrote a column congratulating a well-known Hollywood liberal—George Clooney—for making “neocon” movies, i.e., movies like “Three Kings,” “The Peacemaker,” and even “Syriana” that support active American intervention in the world in support of our ideals as well as our strategic interests. Now we can add some more Hollywood liberals to the “who knew they were neocons?” club. To wit, Mike Nichols, Aaron Sorkin, and Tom Hanks. This is the trio responsible for... Read more

I Am Legend grossed $100 million in its first seven days, so Will Smith may have just tied the record — set by Tom Cruise and possibly Tom Hanks — of starring in seven consecutive movies that crossed the century mark. I say “may have” and “possibly” because it depends on what sort of films you count. For example, if you don’t count voice-acting in animated films, then Hanks’s role in Toy Story 2 (1999) and Smith’s role in Shark... Read more

Keanu Reeves has been spotted in various locations around downtown Vancouver lately, and that can mean only one thing: The cameras have started rolling on Scott Derrickson‘s remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951; my comments). I met someone at a party recently who works at one of the local film labs, and he tells me 20th Century Fox has moved into the office in a big way — something that almost never happens, or so he tells... Read more

Matt Page at the Bible Films Blog has found an article on Judd Apatow’s Year One that had so far escaped my notice. MTV News posted this story almost two weeks ago: “It’s a comedy that takes place in biblical times,” Michael Cera said of the new Harold Ramis/ Judd Apatow movie “Year One,” which he co-stars in alongside Black. “Jack’s the main guy. I play a character named O, and he plays one called Zed, and I’m kind of... Read more

Sad news for Bible-movie buffs. When The Nativity Story came out on DVD nine months ago, there was talk of a special two-disc edition coming out in time for Christmas. But Christmas is only a few days away, now, and I have heard nothing about any re-issue plans for this film. So I did a bit of asking around, and heard today that such plans have been called off. That’s a shame, especially since the existing DVD is so bare-bones... Read more

NarniaWeb reports that Tilda Swinton, who played the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), was spotted recently on the set of Prince Caspian, where the photo above was taken. If she wasn’t just paying the crew a visit — if she’s actually going to appear in the film — then either they’re shooting brand-new flashback scenes, or the scene from the book where certain characters talk about bringing the White Witch back from the dead... Read more