2011's Best Episodes: Modern Family's Sexy Time, Good Wife's Heartbreaking Split

Archie Panjabi From Oprah's remarkably low-key farewell for the year's most soul-crushing break-around the Great Wife (Kalicia, no!), the season was filled with fantastic several hours of television - virtually which we seen. There has been teary goodbyes (Friday Evening Lights' Texas forever! Smallville's tights and travel arrangements!), tense face-offs (why can't all CIA interrogations occur round the front porch from the cabin, like on Homeland?) as well as we made room for just about any little Glee (because certain underdogs deserved it). Which made this list. Stay updated all week for that top 25. Here's the second batch inside our extended countdown of 2011's best episodes (Get swept up first with Episodes 25-21): 20. "Caught along the way,Inch Modern FamilyStraight in the Three Company's guide, the Emmy-winning episode built around the misunderstanding that is not exactly novel: Gloria accidentally e-mailed naked pictures of herself, intended for Jay, to Claire and Phil, who've also just broken their unique kids when you're caught along the way. ("Whatever it absolutely was, it made an appearance as though father was winning," Luke states of his parents' love-making.) 19. "Being, Act 1," Sons of AnarchySeason 4's penultimate episode can be a fascinating fight of wills involving the show's female energy players. Gemma (Katey Sagal) makes her large move, showing Jax the easiest method to his chair since the mind in the SAMCRO motorcycle club, while Jax's girlfriend Tara (Maggie Siff) out-Gemmas Gemma by considering planning for she and Jax to go away Charming - and Gemma - forever. "What is happening?In . a stunned Gemma asks. "Whatever you trained me," Tara replies. SAMCRO may well be a boys' club, but it's the old women that keep surprising us. 18. "Permit the Sun Shine In," Males from the Certain AgeThree 50-something males get colonoscopies, play golf and gripe about existence - a perfect recipe with an hour of compelling TV, no? Well, no, however, if Joe, Terry and Owen possess a journey to Palm Springs to obtain their colons checked, the discomfort of enlightenment isn't just, you understand, physical. It'll be a really very long time before we, ahem, satisfy the growing demand playing this touching series, nevertheless it was episodes similar to this which will make us realize we're just grateful this awesome little show ever handled to obtain round the air. 17. "Leaving,Inch The Truly Amazing WifeThis might be the episode where Kalinda cries, a meeting that alone qualifies as earth-breaking within the presence of the stoic character. The tears come after Alicia (Julianna Margulies) notifies Kalinda they sees that she rested along with her husband. The facial skin-off between Emmy individuals who win Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi is chilling, particularly since it may be their last scene together for just about any extended while. Bonus: Sarah Silverman, in the rare dramatic turn, guest-stars as who is the owner of a domain that facilitates adulterous matters. 16. "The Spoil," JustifiedIt's difficult to highlight only one episode of Margo Martindale's Emmy-winning season as Magazines Bennett, but her rousing speech in "The Spoil." Martindale's easy, smooth-as-Mags' homemade moonshine delivery reminds us how smart a villain she's, and the way a battle she's prepared to setup to guard her people "approach to livin' and dyin.'" Despite the fact that Mags' icy mean streak didn't fully emerge prior to the following episode, her actions in this particular hour put us on serious red-colored-colored alert.

Adam Lambert Says He's "Embarrassed By Drunkenness"

Adam Lambert Adam Lambert says he's "embarrassed" by the actions that led to his arrest in Finland Thursday. "Violence is not to be taken lightly. Embarrassed by drunkenness," the American Idol runner-up tweeted late that day. "No punches thrown, no injuries and no charges. Media always exaggerates." American Idol's Adam Lambert arrested and jailed in Finland Lambert, 29, and his boyfriend, Finnish reality TV star Sauli Koskinen, reportedly got into a brawl on Thursday inside a Helsinki gay bar called DTM (Don't Tell Mama), and continued the fight outside after being removed from the club. They were arrested at approximately 4 a.m. and spent several hours behind bars. A few hours after he was released, Lambert tweeted that was he "laughing" about the incident.

'The Hobbit' Trailer: Bilbo Baggins and also the Many Dwarves Mind On an Unpredicted Journey

Awesome trailer week comes on! Only one next day of the very first trailer for 'The Dark Dark night Rises' launched on the internet and 2 days before 'Prometheus' arrives, Warner Bros. has revealed the very first teaser for 'The Hobbit: An Unpredicted Journey.' So, so how exactly does it look? Like 'Lord from the Rings,' however with Tim from 'The Office' (United kingdom version, natch), Youthful Gandalf and Cate Blanchett. Also, dwarves singing! You crazy in love with that one, Healing For Peter Jackson. Mind to Apple to look at in HD or take a look below. Starring Martin Freeman (that's Tim), Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and precious Andy Serkis, 'The Hobbit: An Unpredicted Journey' comes to theaters on 12 ,. 14 2012. Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Bartkowiak dives into 'Deep'

BartkowiakAndrzej Bartkowiak is going "Beneath the Deep," signing on to direct Hannibal Prods.' action-adventure set in the Carribean."Deep" will launch production in March in Puerto Rico on a $16 million project.Hannibal CEO Richard Rionda Del Castro is producing with Armand Speca, who penned the screenplay. Exec producers are Patricia Eberle, Douglas W. Miller, Jeff Andrick and Anthony Gudas.Hannibal Pictures is the worldwide sales agent for the independent film. Casting is currently under way. As helmer, Bartkowiak's credits on actioners include Jet Li's "Romeo Must Die," "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," "Cradle to the Grave"; "Doom"; and "Exit Wounds." His credits as d.p. include "The Verdict," "Lethal Weapon 4," "Dante's Peak," "Prizzi's Honor" and "Terms of Endearment.""Beneath the Deep" follows a group of tourists in search of an underwater adventure in the Caribbean. When natural forces strand them in a vacation spot from hell, they must contend with unexpected visitors that view them as intruders and a threat to their own survival. "I am always fascinated by what I learn about myself, when I'm thrown into an unknown and uncontrolled situation," Bartkowiak said. "?'Beneath the Deep,' set in the idyllic islands of the Caribbean, is a story of resilience and ingenuity when people are faced with unexpected forces, who have no other choice but to fight for survival." Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

John Logan on Skyfall, Rango, and the Secret of Successful Screenwriting

comments: 0 || add yours Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain have each had a well-documented great year, each no fewer than three well-received films — and all their corresponding buzz — arriving in theaters in 2011. Investigate slightly below the radar, however, and you’ll find screenwriter John Logan faring just as well — if not better. The busy scribe has his name on a trifecta of acclaimed work this year, once again positioning the two-time Oscar nominee (for Gladiator and The Aviator) in the awards race for both original (Rango) and adapted (Hugo, Coriolanus) screenplay prizes. The fall whirlwind complements his work on Skyfall, the new James Bond film on which Logan has been working for the last year. Heady times! Logan recently talked them over with Movieline. Congrats on the success this year! Considering how busy you are and how much ground we have to cover, let’s get right to the movie everyone wants to talk about. Can you enlighten us on the creative experience of writing Bats? [Laughs] You know, let me tell you something, my friend: Every Halloween I get a nice residual check from Bats! So, not to scoff at our winged friends! Who’s scoffing? You wrote dialogue for Lou Diamond Phillips! Hello! You know? The thing is that you were a very successful playwright before you ever ventured into screenwriting. How much of those early scripts still amounted to ‘paying dues,’ if at all? Not a lot, if only because I spent 10 years as a starving playwright in Chicago. That’s where I learned how to do my job, and that’s how I learned what a dramatist does as opposed to a poet or a prose writer or a journalist. So it was the 10 years in Chicago — shelving books, eating tuna fish — that I considered paying my dues, because that was the education that figured into what it meant to be a dramatist. Movies were a different form, obviously — a different internal engine, a different political landscape. But by the time I wrote Any Given Sunday or Bats, I sort of knew what my job was in terms of what a writer of dialogue does. So obviously it was a long haul to get where you are, and it’s very different. But is that still a route you’d encourage young writers today to explore as well? Oh my God, absolutely. Young screenwriters are always very frustrated when they talk to me. They say, “How do we get to be a screenwriter?” I say, “You know what you do? I’ll tell you the secret, it’s easy: Read Hamlet. You know? Then read it again, and read it again, and read it until you understand it. Read King Lear, and then read Othello. Then go back and read Aristotle and Sophocles and Euripedes and Chekhov and Kushner. Know where you stand in the continuum of your art form.” The history of screenwriting — of what we do — is more than 100 years old. It’s thousands of years old, going back to Sophocles and Euripedes. I believe the only — the only — separation for being a dramatist is reading drama. Which gets us to Coriolanus. I spoke with Ralph Fiennes about this a while back, and he told me about his long-standing relationship with the play. Did you have one as well? I did. I mean, the reason that I’m a writer today is because of Shakespeare and falling in love with Shakespeare when I was 8. That was through the movies, actually — through Olivier’s Hamlet. That was the first thing that got me to fall in love with Shakespeare and movies and everything in one big preadolescent rush. So when I started doing movies, I always wanted to do a Shakespeare adaptation. And to me, the play I always wanted to do was Coriolanus. To me, there was always something very modern and very cinematic about that particular play. So when I heard that Ralph Fiennes shared the same mad vision, I was very happy, because I couldn’t imagine there was someone other than me who wanted to do that play. So how did you two connect to make this happen? It was through the good grace of Brian Siberell, my agent at CAA — my one and only agent for 15 years, since the beginning of my career. He knew that I was besotted with Shakespeare and Coriolanus, and Ralph went in to have a general meeting there, and he was talking about wanting to do it. So Brian said, “Before you go any further, you need to sit down with John Logan.” So we met, and Ralph started talking about his vision for the movie — pitching very enthusiastically his modern take on it. And I said, “That’s exactly right.” So we just resolved to do it. There was no deal — obviously no money, no studio. We said, “Let’s do this thing!” Clearly it’s been condensed and adapted from Shakespeare’s original, yet it still hews very closely to the spirit of the language — how language shapes character. How far did you think you could go while writing? Did you ever find a line you couldn’t cross? And if so, how? That’s a very good question. Yes. The response is sort of complicated in that Coriolanus is Shakespeare’s second longest play — second only to Hamlet. So we knew just looking at it that we would need to be muscular in the adaptation. But I knew just looking at it that this play’s been around for 400 years, and it’ll be around for another 400 years. I can’t fuck it up. Nothing I can do is going to put an arrow through the heart of Coriolanus. It’s a great Shakespeare play. It will always be done. The thing that made me think it could be a movie was that character. Beyond the superficial similarities to our world — a superpower in crisis, urban strife — this guy makes it modern for me. It has nothing to do with all that. It has to do with Coriolanus’s character because he’s so opaque. He’s so complex. And I think that one thing movies do really well is close-ups of interesting, complex people. And they hold! That’s Peter O’Toole from Lawrence of Arabia, or Jack Nicholson from Chinatown. Or Ralph Fiennes as Coriolanus. Think there is something very cinematic about that kind of very troubled, hard to reach central character. You’re trying to reach past his eyes and get into his soul. So it seemed very natural when we were adapting the play that we would try to focus on that particular story. And I tried tons of stuff that didn’t work, but finally came to a story that seemed to have the right grit to it. What didn’t work? Well, my God: We had like 12 different endings, for one. It took a long time to settle on the ending we had. Originally the film began and ended with the image of a white horse — sort of man as beast, nature teaches beasts to know their own… There’s a lot of animal imagery in the play. And you see this white horse riding around a paddock, and we ended with that same image. But it seemed very removed for the drama — it seemed like a very attenuated thematic idea as opposed to something organic. And at one point, there’s this great speech in the play where they talk about Coriolanus’s son chasing a butterfly and ripping it to pieces. I started with that image for a while, and that wasn’t appropriate either. And so the beginning and the ending had to boil down to what now exists. So I think everyone knew Rango was a good film, but it’s become this phenomenon that just carries on to this day. Were even you, as someone who was so intimately involved with it, surprised it made the splash it did? Yes. Very much so. Jim Byrkit and Gore Verbinski, who did the story with me, and all the story artists and everyone involved, we knew we were doing something very idiosyncratic. We reveled in the fact that it wasn’t like every other animated movie in the world; we thought it was fantastic. The Western tropes, the iconography, the literary references, the theatricality, the central character… They were all fascinating and very entertaining. It was deeply gratifying to know other people felt the same way. What about Hugo, which initially hit the zeitgeist as this kind of 3-D family film but has been received as this kind of magic-realist/film-preservation message? What do you make of its reception to date? I never looked at it as a 3-D family film. I never consider an audience that way when I’m working. To me, it was a compelling story about an orphan making a home for himself. It’s also vital to remember that Hugo is based on a brilliant book by Brian Selznick — a very, very popular and successful book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret. He created it, and we were all very, very fortunate to get a chance to explore it in our own form. But personally speaking I’m uniquely gratified by Hugo, because at the time it was a very hard job, and I personally find it the most moving of any move I’ve written. It touches me the most deeply. There’s a majesty of The Aviator that is unmatchable in my work. There’s moments of Gladiator or Rango or Coriolanus or any of my movies that are inspiring or exciting. But to me, there’s something very moving and touching about Hugo, and I’m glad other people feel the same way. What is it specifically that touches you? I love the fact that it finally shows that it can be a just world — with a little grit and determination, we can make a future for ourselves. The really significant point to Hugo, to me, is not that he falls into a happy ending. He starts out from a place of desolation and real damage. I mean, here’s a boy: he’s 12 years old, he’s lost his parents, and he’s living this rat like existence behind the walls of a train station. He has no friends or any idea what his purpose is in life. But by the end of the movie, he’s found home. He’s found happiness — because he’s worked for it. He was brave, he was bold, he was inquisitive, he was daring. I find that a really worthwhile story to tell. And so next I guess you’re on Skyfall. Is there anything you can elaborate on about that screenplay and your role with it? I’ve been writing it for a year! That’s my role in it. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote a fantastic script. They worked very closely with Sam Mendes and Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson and wrote a really brilliant script. And Sam, who I’ve known forever, invited me to come on and work on it. And so I’ve even working on it since then. I was on the set four days ago. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a movie; it’s a thrilling collection of artists working on it, and I think the movie is going to be fantastic. Why? What’s thrilling about this story and this episode in the James Bond canon? Well, I can’t tell you anything about the story, obviously. As much as I would love to! We can talk about that this time next year. But to me, it’s really about a number of things: Sam is a great director and a great colleague from the theater. He knows how to work with writers and with actors. It’s an unbelievable cast that’s doing it. To sit around a table with Judi Dench and Albert Finney and Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem and Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear… For a theater guy like me, it’s a little head-spinning. To sit with Judi Dench? And rehearse scenes? For me, that’s as good as it gets. You know, I was watching a James Bond marathon on Thanksgiving, which mixed films like Diamonds Are Forever and Goldfinger with the likes of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. And while the latter are good, they’re not especially fun the way the older movies were. Is Skyfall any different, at least the way you approached it? What I find really exciting about Skyfall is that we’re going to come out on the 50th anniversary of Dr. No. So for 50 years and for 23 movies, this franchise has been going strong, and it’s been reinterpreted by various artists over the years, and yet it has a very specific spirit to it. Once again, it’s a little like Coriolanus: It has an inner muscularity that can take a lot. So I would like to think that I’m bringing a little of myself to it — my personal vision as a writer — in collaboration with Sam and the designers and producers. So far I couldn’t be more delighted with the process and what it looks like. What’s your favorite James Bond movie? I think Goldfinger, although I have a very sentimental attachment to Diamonds Are Forever because it was the first one I saw in a theater as a kid. But Octopussy is very underrated. From Russia With Love is top-notch espionage. I think both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are thrilling and modern and exciting movies. So I’m just a fan of the franchise. [Top photo: Getty Images] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter. Tagged: coriolanus, gore verbinski, hugo, james bond, john logan, martin scorsese, rango, screenwriting, shakespeare, skyfall, william shakespeare

SAG/AFTRA Merger Committee Shifts Into High(er) Gear; Sets Unprecedented Marathon Meeting to Work on Plan

Getty Images Universal has picked up North American rights to the untitled Angelina Jolie-Luc Besson drama. Jolie will star in the project, which is described as a "dramatic thriller with action."and is said to be a cross between Besson's own much-admired movies The Professional and The Fifth Element. Besson wrote the screenplay for the new project and will produce and direct. The studio is touting this as Besson's return to the genre in which he made his name. Universal picked up 80 percent of worldwide distribution rights to the project, which answers the question of what movie Jolie will do next. PHOTOS: Angelina Jolie and Hollywood's 10 Highest-Paid Actresses The actress, who has her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey opening Dec. 23, has several projects vying for her attention. The high-profile ones include a biopic of Gertrude Bell and Scarpetta, the latter which is set up at Fox. Universal has been tracking the development of the Bell biopic, which has Ridley Scott attached to direct, and is hoping to land it. The new movie will begin shooting April 2012 in Paris. Email: Boyrs.Kit@thr.com Twitter: @Borys_Kit Angelina Jolie Luc Besson

An Actor Pens An Open Letter To IMDB; Says He's 4 1/2 Years Younger Than They Claim

CBS CBS beat Fox among adults 18-49 on Thursday night, buoyed by the Pittsburgh affiliate airing the Steelers/Browns match-up and initial numbers giving a season high for The Mentalist and Person of Interest's strongest showing since its premiere in September. Averaging a 3.3 rating in the key demo, with an audience of 12.3 million, CBS kicked off the night with a 4.7 among adults 18-49 with a new episode of The Big Bang Theory. Rules of Engagement followed with a 3.2, with the 9:00 p.m. broadcast of Person of Interest pulling a 3.0. That's only down a tenth of a point from its series debut and marks its second highest showing of the season. The Mentalist enjoyed a season high with a 3.0 rating in the demo. PHOTOS: Fall TV Death Pool: Which New Show Will Be Axed? Fox's dramatic X-Factor elimination and a new episode of Bones were both down a tenth of a point in their 18-49 rating from last week, pulling in a respective 3.0 and 2.7 in the demo. The network averaged a 2.8, with the second strongest audience of the night, 9.5 million. NBC finally saw some traction at 10:00 p.m. A new episode of Grimm, sitting in the old Prime Suspect slot, gave the network an 11-week high among adults 18-49. It scored a 1.6 rating. As for its comedic lead-ins, The Office (2.9) and Whitney (1.9) were both steady with their last two performances. At 8:00 p.m., however, the last episode of Community before its hiatus was down two tenths of a point for a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49. Parks and Recreation was down one tenth of a point for a 1.7 in 18-49-ers, giving the network a nightly average of a 1.9 and a viewership of 4.2 million. ABC placed fourth with a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 and a slightly skewed line-up of Wipeout (1.9), a holiday-themed America's Funniest Home Videos (1.9) and The Great Big American Auction (1.4). The net averaged 5.96 million viewers for the night. The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle continued their stretch of late fall repeats on The CW, averaging a 0.4 adults 18-49 rating for the night and 1 million viewers. Thursday, Dec. 8, Overnight Ratings: 8 p.m. CBS: The Big Bang Theory (14.4 million viewers, 4.7 rating in adults 18-49) Fox: The X Factor (9.9 million, 3.0) ABC: Wipeout (6.6 million, 1.9) NBC: Community (3.6 million, 1.5) The CW: The Vampire Diaries (R) (1.2 million, 0.4) 8:30 p.m. CBS: Rules of Engagement (10.9 million, 3.2) NBC: Parks and Recreation (3.7 million, 1.7) 9 p.m. CBS: Person of Interest (13.4 million, 3.0) NBC: The Office (5.8 million, 2.9) Fox: Bones (9.0 million, 2.7) ABC: America's Funniest Home Videos (6.5 million, 1.9) The CW: The Secret Circle (R) (873,000, 0.3) 9:30 p.m. NBC: Whitney (4.1 million, 1.9) 10 p.m. CBS: The Mentalist (13.8 million, 3.0) NBC: Grimm (4.0 million, 1.6) ABC: The Great Big American Auction (4.8 million, 1.4) TV Ratings

How Questionable Antipiracy Laws and regulations Might Be Passed Even Without Congress

On December 15, home of Reps is scheduled to consider debate from the questionable "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA). The antipiracy legislation has trigger a firestorm in recent several weeks thanks mainly to provisions that will permit the government to chop use of rogue foreign piracy websites and open legal avenues through which organizations could be blocked from using the services of the problem sites. Experts fear the finish from the Internet as you may know it, as well as in a reaction to cries of "censorship," the film industry states it'll a minimum of tone lower a few of the language within the legislation.But even when the balance does not pass, courts may ultimately place the results of the balance into pressure anyway with p facto blacklisting of web sites considered to become assisting violation. A few recent judicial choices illustrate this potential.Can search engines like google like Google be purchased to wash an internet site considered to become enabling copyright and trademark violation? Can payment services like Visa or PayPal or ad-support companies be enjoined from using the services of an internet site hosting illicit activities? Could domain registrars like GoDaddy find out to undercut these web sites by altering access info?In 2007, the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made an appearance to foreclose these options in denying an effort by porn writer Perfect 10 to keep Visa responsible for infringing photographs available on websites using Visa's charge card services. The justices determined that Perfect 10 had not proven that Visa had caused or materially led towards the infringements.However, some courts are entertaining motions to grant remarkable injunctive relief against organizations in ex parte proceedings.For instance, in November, one judge inside a situation including Chanel luxury items required action against 100s of web sites getting used to market knock-off handbags, purses, footwear, along with other products. Of particular note, the judge's order not just hit those sites themselves, but based on the Technology & Marketing Law Blog, also hit a number of tech firms that were not parties towards the action. GoDaddy was purchased to alter registration info. And services like Google, Facebook, Bing, and Twitter were advised to "p-index and/or remove [the domains] from the search engine results page."Quite simply, those sites were eradicated from ever getting been around.Exactly the same blog inside a separate publish noted another situation including an internet site, pharmatext.org, which in fact had pointed customers to allegedly infringing copies of books released by Elsevier.In The month of january, a judge purchased two advertising systems to prevent helping these web sites generate ad revenue. The ad systems needed to stop serving up ads and freeze money. A week ago, after among the ad systems, Chitika, complained, the judge corrected course because Chitikahadn't been proven to possess requisite understanding from the violation. The judge, however, left open the chance that Chitika might have liability upon a takedown/cut-off notice from Elsevier.Had Elsevier sent a legitimate warning and Chikita ongoing to conduct business with pharmatext.org, tech legal expert Eric Goldman thinks the judge might have knocked lower Chikita's objections towards the ex parte injunction. Meaning, pharmatext.orgwould basically happen to be blacklisted in much of the identical manner as SOPA expects. "Rightsowners like Elsevier most likely could possibly get 90%+ of the advantage of SOPA Section 103 by simply delivering cutoff notices to ad systems," creates Goldman in summing in the implications from the decision.Even when Hollywood does not bring congress aboard to pass through the most recent anti-piracy measures, it's likely we'll see alternative attempts by copyright holders to achieve injunctive relief against search engines like google, social networking sites, advertising systems, and domain registrars. When the MPAA is effective in the suit against Hotfile, for example, the next phase may be wiping off the organization in the face of digital Earth. The MPAA has already been collecting data on its many affiliate marketers.The way forward for copyright cases looks to become a dragnet. The Hollywood Reporter

Hot Trailer: Iran Oscar Entry A Separation

Iran’s official admittance to the Oscars for Foreign-Language Film now needed honors in addition to foreign independent film within the Moet British Independent Film Honours. Occur contemporary Iran, A Separation handles the dissolution from the marriage. Simin desires to leave Iran along with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh, but Nader won't leave his father, which has Alzheimer’s. In line with the NY Occasions, it starts just like a family drama, becomes another factor altogether and somewhat strangely has emerged just like a real contender inside the category. Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi and distributed inside the U.S. through the new the new sony Pictures Classics, it opens December 30 in limited release.

Hollywood's Biggest Real Estate Deals of the Week: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Hudson, Robert De Niro

The weekend after Thanksgiving is one of the slowest of the year, and 2011 is no different.our editor recommendsBox Office Preview: 'Shame,' Oscar Contenders Jockey for Position as Awards Season Heats Up 'Shame': What the Critics Are Saying'Shame' Director Steve McQueen on Making His NC-17 Sex Addiction Drama (Video)New Movie Reviews: 'Shame,' 'Sleeping Beauty,' 'Coriolanus' Hitting Theaters With no new wide releases, Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 continued to top the domestic box office, grossing $5.5 million on Friday for a cume of $235.9 million. The pic is on track for a $16.8 million weekend. Disney's kids pic The Muppets held at No. 2, grossing $2.8 million on its second Friday for a winning domestic cume of $48 million and projected $12 million weekend. PHOTOS: Films that Narrowly Avoided an NC-17 As expected, movies saw steep drops from the previous Friday, a holiday. Breaking Dawn was down 67 percent from the previous Friday, while Muppets fell 77 percent. But overall, box office revenues for the weekend aren't expected to fall behind 2010 levels. The real action is among award contenders. Martin Scorsese's Hugo upped its theater count by more than 500 on Friday after being named best film of the year by the National Board of Review (Scorsese also won best director). Hugo, distributed by Paramount, grossed $2 million on Friday, putting it at No. 3. VIDEOS: THR's Awards Season Roundtable Series 2011: The Directors Hugo, now playing in 1,840 locations, will be in a close race Saturday and Sunday with Sony and Aardman's 3D family film Arthur Christmas. Arthur Christmas, playing in far more theaters, grossed $1.7 million on Friday from 3,376 locations for a domestic cume of $19.6 million. Both Arthur Christmas and Hugo are projecting a $7 million weekend. In addition to Hugo, award contenders Shame, The Artist, The Descendants and My Week with Marilyn all did good business on Friday. COVER STORY: Martin Scorsese Talks 'Hugo,' How His 12-Year-Old Rules the Roost Shame's performance is particularly impressive since it's rated NC-17. From Fox Searchlight, the film grossed $110,476 from 10 theaters in five cities. Directed by Steve McQueen, Shame stars Michael Fassbender as a sex addict. Carey Mulligan also stars. Searchlight's The Descendants, directed by Alexander Payne and headlining George Clooney, did well enough on Friday to come in No. 6, grossing $1.4 million from only 574 locations for a cume of $14.3 million. Silent film The Artist grossed an impressive $55,574 on Friday as it expanded its reach into the San Francisco area. From the Weinstein Co., the awards darling is now playing in six theaters in Los Angeles, NY and the Bay Area. The Weinsteins' awards hopeful My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams as the iconic Marilyn Monroe, came in No. 12 on Friday, grossing $345,000 from 244 locations in top markets for a cume of $1.4 million. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery The Dirty Dozen: Films that Narrowly Avoided an NC-17 Related Topics Box Office The Muppets Shame Hugo

I am Singh

A Reliance Large Pictures presentation. Produced by Sardar Peshaura Singh Thind, Sardar Dalbir Singh Thind. Directed, put together by Puneet Issar.With: Gulzar Chahal, Amy Rasimas, Brooke Johnston, Rizwan Haider, Puneet Issar, Albert Stroth. (Hindi dialogue)Somewhat late and many somewhat crazy, "I am Singh" splices a very serious subject -- publish-9/11 hate crimes against turban-wearing Sikhs -- onto a Bollywood format, watering lower a sobering message with hysterical dance amounts, engorged dialogue, bimbo-esque blondes well as over-the-top performances. Helmer Puneet Issar's righteous indignation is obviously ready, but his cartoonish portrayals of police, racists and white-colored Us citizens generally will prove off-putting, as will the generally inept construction from the products might have been (say, eight or nine in the past) a very potent political story. A sense of camping triumphs over anything else in this particular Hindi production, with begins with footage around the world Trade Center attacks and follows getting a flashback for the subcontinent, where Ranveer (charming newcomer Gulzar Chahal) finds out the fate of his brothers and sisters and father in La: People with the 9/11 "revenge" attack by white-colored supremacists, one brother is dead, another jailed, in addition to their father make the hospital. (In re-enacting several real-existence prejudice crimes against Sikhs and Muslims, Issar places the reason on organized hate groups rather than ignorant, drunk otherwise impaired people, making the crimes appear more premeditated.) First, however, "I am Singh" -- the title mentioning with a previously significant and oft-shared title among Sikhs -- needs to visit a bachelor party, occasioning a musical number through which new meaning is provided for the term "spicy peas.Inch ("He asked for more," sings a statuesque blonde. "I beat him with my spatula.") It's tough for your viewer to consider the plight of harmed L.A. Sikhs when being assaulted with a lot hilarity. Ranveer travels to L.A. to comfort his troubled family, and becomes allied with radicalized Pakistani Rizwan (Rizwan Haider) together with a mountainous Sikh named Fateh Singh (helmer Issar), that's been overlooked within the "U.S. police department" for wearing a turban. A couple of from the film's better moments will be the musical amounts featuring Sikh gamers, which stimulate the martial spirit of Sikhism, as Fateh, Rizwan and Ranveer all make apparent that they are not really tread on by "racist goons." The implication that mistaken identity was mixed up in anti-Sikh violence indicates it may be OK against Muslims, but that's a finer distinction than this film ever can get close to making. Inside their mission for justice, our heroes need to handle a sheriff's department based at Pasadena police headquarters and recognized since the LAPD, introduced with the heinous but comically named Ivan Nick Ernest (Albert Stroth), a officer so racist he wouldn't survive a few minutes in any real-world law-enforcement situation north of Alabama. The Three may also be assisted with the very attractive Amy Washington (Amy Rasimas) and Amelia White-colored (Brooke Johnston), lawyers who dress like cocktail waitresses. "I am Singh" should really generate righteous indignation, plus it could do this for auds who'll not question the film's consistent errors of law and geography, or the way rails against "Us citizensInch while fighting that it's trapped figures are simply that. Production values are subpar, specially the erratic editing, dubious usage of slo-mo and pork-handed music cues.Camera (color), W. B. Rao, Raja Ratnam editor, Sanjay Verma music, Surender Sodhi music managers, Daler Mehndi, Sukhwinder Singh, Monty Sharma, Sudhakar Dutt Sharma, Arvinder Singh, Sumitra Iyer art director, Narendra Rahurikar appear (Dolby Digital), Pradeep Suri re-recording mixer, B.K. Chaturvedi choreographers, Chinni Prakash, Rekha Chinni Prakash, Rajiv Surti, Raju Khan. Examined in particular Cinemas Manhattan, NY, 12 ,. 1, 2011. Running time: 127 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com