2011′s Acting Overachievers

It seemed everywhere you turned in 2011, there was a gorgeous new actress tearing up the screen. Whether playing a dim bulb Southern belle, a long-suffering wife, a young Mossad agent or a Shakespearean muse, Jessica Chastain was pretty much flawless. And it’s likely she’ll grab an Oscar nomination for her role in The Help (though some have championed her work in The Tree of Life). Regardless, Chastain is 2011′s biggest overachiever with roles in 7 films…. However, she’s not alone. Take a look at this list of the year’s biggest stars and their multiple film roles.

2011′s Big Screen Overachievers:

1. Jessica Chastain: She’s the undisputed breakthrough star of the year and is being hailed as the heir to the Meryl Streep/Cate Blanchett throne.
Her output this year~ The Help, Take Shelter, The Tree of Life, The Debt, Corolianus, Texas Killing Fields, Wild Salome

2. Michael Fassbender: this sexy star first turned our heads in Inglorious Basterds. Now, he has three potential Oscar contenders and should grab his first nomination for his soul and body baring role in Shame.
His films: Shame, A Dangerous Method, X Men: First Class, Jane Eyre

3. Robin Wright: the critically respected actress finally parted ways with Sean Penn a while back and has been working nonstop in critically respected films big and small turning out amazing work this year, especially in Rampart as a conflicted boozy litigator and as the stoic woman being held responsible in the assassination of Lincoln in The Conspirator.
Wrights films: The Conspirator, Rampart, Moneyball, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

4. Daniel Craig: Mr. James Bond had a rather roller coaster year with a big summer bomb (Cowboys & Aliens) and a smash end of the year hit (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Craig’s films: Cowboys & Aliens, Dream House, The Adventures of Tin Tin, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

5. Matt Damon: the guy just never stops working and he’s always good even when the movies are bad…
Damon’s films: The Adjustment Bureau, Contagion, Margaret, Happy Feet 2, We Bought a Zoo

And some honorable mentions go to these busy actors over the past year…

Kate Winslet: Carnage, Contagion and the epic miniseries Mildred Pierce
Ryan Reynolds: poor guy was bomb central with The Green Lantern, Fireflies in the Garden (what?) and The Change Up
Emma Stone: The Help, Friends with Benefits, Crazy Stupid Love
Chris Evans: Puncture, What’s Your Number, Captain America: The First Avenger
Dame Judi Dench: Jane Eyre, My Week with Marilyn, J. Edgar

And I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few, so if you want to add to the list, hit me up in the comments. And who do you think will be 2012′s overachiever?

Captain America knocks down Harry Potter

After breaking all kinds of box office records last week, it only took an American icon to end Harry Potter’s spell over the box office as the latest comic book movie of the summer Captain America: The First Avenger starring Chris Evans opened to a big $65 million. That was on par with Thor’s opening from earlier this summer, and the fact that the film is actually quite good (I gave massively entertaining film a “A-” grade) should help it have legs in the weeks ahead. It also towered over the opening for X Men: First Class which has been a modest hit this summer and The Green Lantern which tanked…. Now, back to Harry. Despite falling into second, the last Potter film still took in a strong $47 million for a huge $273 million easily on its way to being the highest grossing film of the series…. The other news at the movies this weekend was the opening of the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis comedy Friends with Benefits which took in a decent $18.6 million, just a hair behind the $19 mil that the similarly themed (and much less funny) No Strings Attached grossed in January when it opened. We’ll see how Friends holds up as the smart and hilarious romantic comedy Crazy Stupid Love hits theatres this weekend… For all your box office news, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Captain America: The First Avenger Par. $65,058,524 – 3,715 – $17,512 $65,058,524 $140 1
2 1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 WB $47,422,212 -72.0% 4,375 – $10,839 $273,539,281 – 2
3 N Friends with Benefits SGem $18,622,150 – 2,926 – $6,364 $18,622,150 $35 1
4 2 Transformers: Dark of the Moon P/DW $12,051,735 -43.5% 3,375 -542 $3,571 $325,841,185 $195 4
5 3 Horrible Bosses WB (NL) $11,884,319 -33.1% 3,104 -30 $3,829 $82,566,703 $35 3
6 4 Zookeeper Sony $8,702,055 -29.4% 3,215 -267 $2,707 $59,206,255 $80 3
7 5 Cars 2 BV $5,655,857 -32.7% 2,668 -581 $2,120 $176,375,295 $200 5
8 6 Winnie the Pooh BV $5,162,046 -34.3% 2,405 – $2,146 $17,594,297 $30 2
9 7 Bad Teacher Sony $2,610,925 -49.3% 2,034 -625 $1,284 $94,365,688 $20 5
10 10 Midnight in Paris SPC $1,804,662 -3.8% 621 -85 $2,906 $44,783,206 $30 10

Your Superhero Summer Movies

Every summer the studios trot out big movies full of action and superheroes hoping to start a big successful franchise. But for every Iron Man and Batman, there’s a stinker like The Punisher. This summer is no different as we have four giant superhero movies coming at you. First out of the gate on May 6th is Thor starring Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) and Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman. Then you have the newly rebooted XMen franchise offering X Men: First Class starring James MacAvoy (Wanted), Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), January Jones (Mad Men), Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man) and recent Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) which looks at the origins of these people with extraordinary powers. Two weeks later on 6/17) Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively hook up in The Green Lantern which unfortunately looks like it might just as bad as this winter’s Seth Rogan mess The Green Hornet. (FYI Hollywood~ perhaps you should avoid comic book characters with the word “green” in the title, just some friendly advice…). Finally on 7/22, Captain America comes to town in the guise of Chris Evans (Fantastic Four). Of these films, I’m most excited about the X Men film with Captain America a close second. Looking at the trailers for the other two, I’m left rather skeptical to say the least…. But now, I want to know which comic book superhero you want to see. Check out the trailers for all the movies below and then vote in my poll

. Enjoy

 

Thor

X Men: First Class

The Green Lantern

Captain America

Holy Hotness ~ Captain America!

All I have to say is thank you Entertainment Weekly! … In their new issue, they give you a first look at the new Captain America film starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Stanley Tucci, Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones. The comic book film is the latest in The Avengers series (which also includes Iron Man and Thor characters among others) and will be released on July 22, 2011. In the issue, EW gives you all the intel on the new film and a series of photos from the movie including the ridiculously hot pic of Chris Evans below. It’s reason enough to see the film, don’t you think? Head to EW.com for more here.