Turkey Day Weekend Movie Report: ‘Millionaire,’ ‘Milk’ and ‘Miley’ Slug It Out

In the closest race to date, one box office titan and two Oscar frontrunners playing in limited release battled for the top slot on our weekend chart (an average of box office, critics’ reviews and audience response**) for the Thanksgiving weekend of Nov. 28-30. Unfortunately for the box office champ, Four Christmases, the rating system went all Grinch on its ass, knocking it out of the Top 10 as a result of its abysmal critical and audience response (e.g. 26 tomatometer score and 5.7 IMDB user rating). Fortunately, these 10 flicks had plenty of Yuletide cheer to spread to savvy moviegoers:

1) Slumdog Millionaire (1). Director Danny Boyle gave us the brilliant Trainspotting and the petrifying 28 Days, and now it looks like Slumdog may give him a date with Oscar. Judging by the film’s whopping 8.6 IMDB user rating, it looks well earned.

2) Milk. Opening on only 36 screens—but with an astonishing $40,385-per-screen average—the new biopic about Harvey Milk met with superlative reviews (an 85 metacritic score, tied with Slumdog for #1 among the box office Top 20) and excellent audience response (8.0 IMDB).  

3) Bolt (3). The strong year for animation continues, with the John Travolta and Miley Cyrus-voiced pic following in the footsteps of Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda with strong numbers across the board.

4) Role Models (2). Co-star Christopher Mintz-Plasse—Superbad’s immortal McLovin—has scored chart hits with his first two films. So keep an eye out for his next flick, 2009’s The Year One, which stars Jack Black and Superbad co-star Michael Cera.

5) Changeling (4). It’s easily standing as Angelina Jolie’s highest rated film among IMDB users, more than a point above runners-up Girl, Interrupted and Wanted. Will Angelina and director Eastwood reunite on the rumored film version of Atlas Shrugged?

6) Quantum Of Solace (5). Currently standing as the third-highest-grossing James Bond film, ahead of Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough and behind Die Another Day and Casino Royale.

7T) Rachel Getting Married (8). Debra Winger, a Best Supporting Actress contender for her role in this film, has been nominated for three acting Oscars: An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, and Shadowlands.

7T) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (6). Currently standing as the 25th-best grossing animated film of all-time, having hauled in a little more than $159 million at the box office.

9) The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (9). Has maintained a strong score at IMDB (7.8, sixth among the B.O. Top 20), and the good word-of-mouth helped it increase its box office 3 percent from the previous weekend.

10) Australia (NR). Though a critical disappointment (its 54 metacritic score ranked it 16th among the B.O. Top 20), the latest from director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) scored a solid 7.6 among IMDB users.

**Tired of reading about the latest dumb action flick, lame gross-out comedy or played-out torture porn horror pic that took home the box office crown? Wish the media balanced out screaming headlines about box office winners with more stories about “the top reviewed films” or the “films audiences loved the most”?

I’m with ya. And that’s why I’ve devised a new ranking system (see list above) that combines critics’ reviews, audience response and, yes, box office to deliver a comprehensive list of what’s hot in theaters in each weekend. (The previous week’s chart position is listed in parentheses after the film title.)