Sandra Bullock Named Top Movie Star of 2009

Thanks to The Proposal and The Blind Side, theater owners and film buyers have selected Sandra Bullock as the performer most responsible for box office revenue in 2009. Don't get in a huff; as movie stars go, nobody had a better year than Bullock. Even All About Steve made $33 million, and it was among the worst reviewed movies all year. Total box office for Bullock this year: Just under $400 million.

Quigley Publishing has run this poll for almost 80 years, and I think I first became aware of it during the original syndicated run of Win, Lose or Draw, when they'd always introduce Burt Reynolds as being the number one box office draw for five years in a row. Of course, there are movies that made more than Bullock's, but they're not as star-driven as hers. Translation: People aren't turning The Hangover into a massive hit because of Ed Helms, no offense to Ed Helms. The funny thing about this selection for Bullock is, despite her fame, she's never been a consistent draw. Only one film, Miss Congeniality racked up $100 million after she started getting her name above the title, and even counting the $93 million Two Weeks Notice made back in 2002, last year's output ran about even with her eight films from 2002 - 2008. Here's the top ten box office stars of 2009:

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Ten New Images from the Vampire Flick 'Daybreakers'

Although this is a dead weekend at the box office for new releases (there's no doubt it will still be huge thanks to Avatar, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Sherlock Holmes), next week it picks back up again with three new films. The highlight is probably Daybreakers, a darker vampire movie than New Moon, certainly, set about ten years in the future when the world's blood supply is about to run out.

Lionsgate just sent us a crop of new photos for the film, which stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Isabel Lucas from the second Transformers movie, and Sam Neill. Take a look:

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The Big Picture's Top Ten Films of the Decade

When counting down my top ten films of the year, I cautioned that it's not an exact science. While I think most knowledgeable movie fans can acknowledge what films are good and what films are bad, saying this one is better than another is usually very difficult business. As you can imagine, that's only magnified when looking at a decade's worth of films.

Different critics look for different things. I appreciate good visuals and good acting, but to me, it always starts with the story. Why? Because 20 years down the road, groundbreaking effects of today will be commonplace or (more likely) outdated. So the story, primarily the way it's written - efficiently, chock full of good dialogue that serves the characters - means more to me than anything else. Why does Silence of the Lambs hold up, or Chinatown or Lawrence of Arabia? Certainly, each of those has other fantastic components, but if not for the screenplays, they'd be sunk. The past ten years have been great for cinematic storytelling, and if anything, we've seen a growing influence of foreign language films on the Hollywood machine. Stars and directors are crossing over, great films from other countries are being remade, and in general, American audiences are more open to the ways other cultures deal with their histories and fiction on the silver screen. It hasn't happened yet, but I predict we're no more than ten years away from our first foreign language Best Picture winner. My list of the decade's best, though not by design, features five foreign language films. Of these, only two bear much similarity at all, and on top of their brilliant storytelling, these films look and sound different, from a cold East Germany to the breathtaking views of rural China. As for the American films, only one failed to make a considerable amount of money or earn significant Oscar nominations, which signals to me that maybe, just maybe, the studios are listening to a larger demographic than the opening weekend 18-34 crowd. 1 - City of God (2002) City of God either glamorizes or accurately reflects the slum of Rio de Janeiro that bears its name. It's a powder keg, with more energy busting off the screen than just about any other film this decade. Scorsese’s GoodFellas is likely the best film that chronicles the entire breadth of a gang – introducing its characters young, green, and stupid and leaving them cold, abusive, wrecked, and in some cases, dead - but City of God is a very close second. Very, very close. Based on true accounts of Brazilian gang violence, City of God picks up in the 1960s, when Rocket was just another slum kid. His older brother was one-third of the Tender Trio, the slum's only "gang," that robbed gas trucks just to avoid eating dirt another day. Eventually, the Trio gives way to Lil Ze, who, at maybe 13 years old, is as fearsome and unflinching as any villain you're likely to find. City of God marked the arrival of director Fernando Meirelles, who has chosen as his subject a terrifying, violent, and stunning story that glues you to the screen. He does not disappoint, and neither does his remarkable, astonishing, and technically perfect film.

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Video - The Wonderful 'TCM Remembers: 2009'

Turner Classic Movies has issued its annual In Memoriam video, remembering members of the film community we lost in 2009. This year, it's set to the tune of "To Live is To Fly" by the great Steve Earle, covering a song by his late mentor, Townes Van Zandt.

These videos are always very tastefully put together, never giving someone more or less attention because of how brightly his or her star might have shone. Actors, of course, are seen in their performances, while writers, directors, composers, and technicians are all captured here in black and white photographs. And the TCM videos are fairly specific about whom they honor - Michael Jackson isn't seen here, even though he did appear in films and provide songs for films at various points in his career. It's a great tribute to some wonderful performers, both active at the time of their passing and already (unfortunately) distant memories to a lot of us.

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Fearless Forecast: 'Avatar' Rinses and Repeats

Not much should change this weekend at the box office, other than the total numbers. Avatar will win again, should do so convincingly, and will close in on $350 million in three weeks. Where is that historically? If it hits $300 million today, then we're looking at the third-fastest film to do that. Not coincidentally, the top two - Dark Knight and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - have been released in the past couple years, both enjoying slightly higher average ticket prices because of business at IMAX.

The holds shown by Avatar are pretty staggering, and it shouldn't slip a normal amount this weekend, either. I expect somewhere between a 20 - 30% drop in weekend number three, a response to big college football bowl games, the final week of the NFL regular season, post-holiday travel, and a few other things that always happen the first weekend of the year. Still, the average is well over 40% for a reigning number one, and Avatar hasn't even gotten close to that yet. If it loses 30%, that's a $52 million weekend, which should make Avatar about another five days away from $400 million.

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