I didn't see a thread about the movie, The Help. Was it already discussed here?

I thought it was very well done. The characters were believable and honest in their roles portraying the type of racism found in the South and East in the early-to-mid 1960s-1970s.

I particularly liked the honesty with which the domestics shed light on their role in the household and how they were used as surrogate mothers with wifely duties such as cooking, cleaning and raising the children.

I was reluctant to see the movie but found its truth to be refreshing; the story is not told from a bitter perspective and instead shows the strength, power and courage of the women who endured certain indignities of that time.

Anyone else with thoughts about the movie?

In a separate thread there was discussion about "The Womens' Movement". I commented that it (the Movement) was great until "we" learned it was not for us...

"The Help" underscores one of the very real divisions among black and white women; of course in the early 60s-70s, but the message still strong paints a historical picture of how black women have not, throughout our history, had the support of white women to attain true equality and how some white women when faced with a choice, throw black women under the bus all too easily.

Perhaps some black women and some white women want separate things or have different goals?

What are your thoughts? (And no, this is not race-bait--and shouldn't be--I'm hoping for honest discussion here.)

x

[Edited 8/21/11 23:30pm]

I saw it with my Mom & Sis last week. I thought it was very well done.

In some ways, it was hard to watch.

Personal story: My Granny was a domestic; she took care of a boy and girl who were a little bit older than I was in the 70s. I remember going over there sometimes and playing with the girl, Karen, while Granny worked. Occasionally, Granny would bring a dress or something home for me.

When we were older and out of college, my first teaching job in 1989 was at a private school where Karen already worked (I did not know that when I applied).

When our coworkers asked how we knew each other, I just said that we "grew up" together and left it at that.

One day, Karen got me in front of a group of teachers and said, "We didn't grow up together. Her Grandmother used to clean my house. I used to give her my hand-me-downs."

Watching that movie brought that memory back so vividly.

I also thought about what Granny must have gone through.

She split her time with another house as well. I don't remember as much about that family.

Granny is 94 now; both the ladies she worked for are dead.

I'm so glad you created a thread about this movie. I went to see this with my mom this weekend. By far, hands down, definitely the BEST movie I've seen that was worth my money. Sure it was very hard to take some of the scenes, but I think it was accurate in how it really was during those times for black women in the south and how they were treated by their white employers. This is definitely not a subject that is not thought about everyday.

I have a few, now elderly, relatives who were maids back in the day. But I never imagined or really thought about the pain they might've endured during that time. Seeing this movie was a real eye opener and a definite tear jerker. I wanted to cry so bad during some of the scenes but held back.

I do agree, the film was really well done and well acted. Viola Davis did an excellent job and I have to give props to Bryce Dallas Howard as well cause she really did make me hate her with all my might.

I did walk away admiring the MANY black women who had to endure such fear, disrespect and shame while still holding their heads up high, not giving any "sass" so that they could pay their bills and support their families. I also admired the white women who existed (those such as Skeeter) who were trying to help make things better for everyone involved and were sincere about it.

It really did irritate me how some of the women made their decisions based off of how they would look by their more "powerful" counterparts.

chocolate1 said:

I saw it with my Mom & Sis last week. I thought it was very well done.

In some ways, it was hard to watch.

Personal story: My Granny was a domestic; she took care of a boy and girl who were a little bit older than I was in the 70s. I remember going over there sometimes and playing with the girl, Karen, while Granny worked. Occasionally, Granny would bring a dress or something home for me.

When we were older and out of college, my first teaching job in 1989 was at a private school where Karen already worked (I did not know that when I applied).

When our coworkers asked how we knew each other, I just said that we "grew up" together and left it at that.

One day, Karen got me in front of a group of teachers and said, "We didn't grow up together. Her Grandmother used to clean my house. I used to give her my hand-me-downs."

Watching that movie brought that memory back so vividly.

I also thought about what Granny must have gone through.

She split her time with another house as well. I don't remember as much about that family.

Granny is 94 now; both the ladies she worked for are dead.

See this is the shit here that pisses me the hell off. I'm so sorry that you experienced that. How did you react to her statement?

There were some two great articles in Essence this month about the Help and Viola was on the cover. I haven't seen it or read the book but I'm taking the book with me on vacation next week.

5 Questions for Viola Davis on 'The Help'

Award-winning and Academy Award- nominated actress appears to almost empty herself in order to bring life to a character.

In her most recent role in the controversial movie “The Help,” which is in theaters tomorrow, she does it again as Aibileen Clark, a maid “surviving” in the South during the Civil Right Movement. While Davis admits some scenes made her uncomfortable, she believes in the story. Do you?

ESSENCE.COM: There's been some criticism of “The Help.” Do you think Black women will support the film?
VIOLA DAVIS: Yes, I do. I think people will support the film because they’ll be curious enough to walk into the theater. And once they walk into the theater, I think that a lot of their misgivings will be dispelled because I believe what me, Octavia, Cicely Tyson, Aunjanue Ellis and Roslyn Ruff are able to do is humanize these maids. They are no longer just women whose backs you only see in the kitchen taking care of kids. These are real people. And it’s palpable. They start off very ordinary -- but human, and by the end of the movie they turn into heroes. I think that in of itself will be enough to satisfy the need we have to be seen and heard as Black women.

ESSENCE.COM: What do you hope Black women will take away from this movie?
VIOLA: I hope they walk away and see that it’s simply a great movie. Sometimes we’re so concerned with image and message, and not excellence. No one ever ask white actresses like Meryl Streep or Jodie Foster what messages they’re going to take away from their films. What they do acknowledge is the execution of how well they bought that character to life. As an artist, it’s so valuable to just tell the story. And bring these people to life. We cannot believe that if there’s not a message in a story, then it’s unworthy of being told. Any story is worthy of being told, if it’s a good one.

ESSENCE.COM: What lessons did you learn from your character, Aibileen?
VIOLA: I learned about the contributions of everyday people. The people who didn’t make it into the history books but paved the way for us. The domestics, bus drivers, garbage men. What I learned from Aibileen is the courage it took to just live the every day being black in 1961 Mississippi. The courage it took to just stand on your own two feet, put food on the table and just survive. Just to simply survive. And to me, it’s homage to my mom, grandmother and women in my life.

ESSENCE.COM: Were there scenes that made you uncomfortable or angry?
VIOLA: Yes, absolutely. Being in that Bridge Club scene pouring tea. I had to shoot that scene for two weeks and I had no lines. I’d do the scene and listen to white people and how they talk about you like you’re not there. Feeling invisible.

ESSENCE.COM: You were gorgeous on the August cover of ESSENCE. What has the response been?
VIOLA: I’ve had an incredible response only because no one really knows what I look like. I think people are shocked that I can actually look half- way decent. So I’ve had an extraordinary response to that cover.

We love us some Viola Davis!

[Edited 8/22/11 5:10am]

Mary J. Blige on Writing 'Living Proof' for 'The Help'

She's been busy working on her new album, "My Life II, The Journey Continues" (out September 13), but watching "The Help" made Mary J. Blige find the time to write a song for the movie's soundtrack.

The R&B songstress says she was so inspired by the movie, starring Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, that she saw it twice and immediately wrote the song "The Living Proof."

"I wrote the song almost in the theater as I was watching the movie," MJB told ESSENCE.com during the ESSENCE Music Festival. "Everything that made me cry, I would write it down. Everything that made me laugh, I would write it down. And then I would listen to different things they were saying and I would write it down."

Blige says she called the song "The Living Proof" in honor of the characters' resilience and ability to forgive. "Learning how to forgive people that hurt you. That's the hardest thing to do," she said. "My song tells the story of how we are all survivors, and how we're living proof that we can come through whatever."

The controversial film, which tells the story of Black maids in the South, already has its critics. Blige isn't one of them. "It was a balanced movie," she says. "It wasn't just woe is me, slave master stuff.

"As much racism as there was, there was so much good to counter it."

missfee said:

See this is the shit here that pisses me the hell off. I'm so sorry that you experienced that. How did you react to her statement?

Being young and new at the school, I think I just smiled sheepishly.

I know I didn't speak to her for the rest of the school year. She left after that.

Now, see, if it was NOW, she and I would have had a "little talk", after I'd aired some of her family's "dirty laundry", since she wanted to go there....

Viola Davis Graces the August Issue of ESSENCE

"As Black women, we're always given these seemingly devastating experiences -- experiences that could absolutely break us. But what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly. What we do as Black women is take the worst situations and create from that point..." –Viola Davis, ESSENCE

Award-winning actress Viola Davis is having the time of her life as one of Hollywood's hottest stars. Despite her evident radiance and mind-blowing talent, she has had to come to grips with a culture that seldom makes dark-skinned women feel like "the chosen ones." However, during her recent successes, including her Oscar-nominated performance in the film "Doubt," she feels more like a "princess" now than ever before.

As she anticipates the release of her new movie, "The Help," Davis shares her story of growth and acceptance with writer Lola Ogunnaike in the August issue of ESSENCE.

[Edited 8/22/11 5:30am]

I havent seen it but my mother in law emailed me and asked if I saw it... She wanted a "younger" persons perspective on the movie to see if I thought about it the same as her..

She only did this because she wants to argue with me... She knows we are gonna have wayyyyyyyy different views on this, we always do... We never agree on ANYTHING, EVER....

It wont be a pretty discussion im sure...

chocolate1 said:

I saw it with my Mom & Sis last week. I thought it was very well done.

In some ways, it was hard to watch.

Personal story: My Granny was a domestic; she took care of a boy and girl who were a little bit older than I was in the 70s. I remember going over there sometimes and playing with the girl, Karen, while Granny worked. Occasionally, Granny would bring a dress or something home for me.

When we were older and out of college, my first teaching job in 1989 was at a private school where Karen already worked (I did not know that when I applied).

When our coworkers asked how we knew each other, I just said that we "grew up" together and left it at that.

One day, Karen got me in front of a group of teachers and said, "We didn't grow up together. Her Grandmother used to clean my house. I used to give her my hand-me-downs."

Watching that movie brought that memory back so vividly.

I also thought about what Granny must have gone through.

She split her time with another house as well. I don't remember as much about that family.

Granny is 94 now; both the ladies she worked for are dead.

I have never wantyed to smack a bitch down more than when I just read that statement

Viola Davis Channels Her ...Was A Maid

Viola Davis has been winning rave reviews for her performance in "The Help." As it turns out, she had a lot of her own help getting into character.

Playing the role of Aibileen Clark, a brave housemaid in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi who agrees to speak out on the mistreatment of black women that serve as domestic help for backwards and racist white women. And while her character was conceived by author Kathryn Sockett, Davis used another inspiration.

"I feel like I've brought my mom to life; I've channeled her spirit," the Oscar-nominee told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's premiere. "I channeled the spirit of my grandmother, and I've kind of paid homage to how they've contributed to my life and the lives of so many people."

Davis' mother was herself a housemaid in Rhode Island during the same era in which the film takes place, as she recently explained to...oes Strong.

"My mom was very young when she had me and worked as a domestic and in factories," Davis said. "It was just terrible because she had gifts. She was capable. But there were no choices for her except basic survival."

Playing the role allowed her to get an even more intimate understanding of that difficult time.

"I learned about the contributions of everyday people," she told Essence Magazine. "The people who didn’t make it into the history books but paved the way for us. The domestics, bus drivers, garbage men. What I learned from Aibileen is the courage it took to just live the every day being black in 1961 Mississippi. The courage it took to just stand on your own two feet, put food on the table and just survive. Just to simply survive."

The acting efforts of Davis, a cast of fellow maids co-led by Octavia Spencer, and film lead Emma Stone have garnered rave reviews thus far, and led the film to take in an impressive $5.5+ milli...screenings.

[Edited 8/22/11 5:35am]

SCNDLS said:

Viola Davis Graces the August Issue of ESSENCE

"As Black women, we're always given these seemingly devastating experiences -- experiences that could absolutely break us. But what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly. What we do as Black women is take the worst situations and create from that point..." –Viola Davis, ESSENCE

Award-winning actress Viola Davis is having the time of her life as one of Hollywood's hottest stars. Despite her evident radiance and mind-blowing talent, she has had to come to grips with a culture that seldom makes dark-skinned women feel like "the chosen ones." However, during her recent successes, including her Oscar-nominated performance in the film "Doubt," she feels more like a "princess" now than ever before.

As she anticipates the release of her new movie, "The Help," Davis shares her story of growth and acceptance with writer Lola Ogunnaike in the August issue of ESSENCE.

Meanwhile, EUR recently sat down with Davis’ co-star in “The Help,” Emma Stone, who described the veteran actress and her divine talent as “just hypnotic.”

“Oh my God, Viola’s like touched by something else. And I think there’s a reason why Meryl Streep is in awe of Viola,” Stone told us. “Viola just is that person.

“It’s rare that you’re in a scene with someone and you’re like zoning out, forgetting to say your lines because you just want to watch them. There’s a scene where I literally just stopped acting. I mean, you’re trying as much as you can to be present in the moment and not be acting when you’re in a scene, but I literally forgot that I was in the scene. It’s insane. She’s just hypnotic and beyond talented – and the coolest person.”

[Edited 8/22/11 5:30am]

What a beautiful cover!

Ablene Cooper, the longtime nanny for Stockett's brother, has filed a $75,000 lawsuit against the author, claiming she was upset by the book that characterizes black maids working for white families in the family's hometown of Jackson, Miss., during the 1960s.

Cooper also once babysat for Stockett's daughter, according to the Jackson Clarion Ledger, and the lawsuit alleges that she had been assured by Stockett, 42, that her likeness would not be used in the book.

The 2009 novel was an instant favorite among book clubs, written in the voice of black "help" by a woman raised by maids herself and who is white.

Cooper, 60, maintains that the book's fictional character -- Aibileen Clark -- is her. She says the alleged unauthorized appropriation of her name and image is emotionally upsetting, and her employers, Carol and Robert Stockett III agree.

He is Kathryn Stockett's brother and employs Cooper as a nanny and maid.

The book focuses on the friendship of three women: a young white woman, Skeeter, who aspires to be a writer, and two African-American maids, Aibileen and Minny.

chocolate1 said:

missfee said:

See this is the shit here that pisses me the hell off. I'm so sorry that you experienced that. How did you react to her statement?

Being young and new at the school, I think I just smiled sheepishly.

I know I didn't speak to her for the rest of the school year. She left after that.

Now, see, if it was NOW, she and I would have had a "little talk", after I'd aired some of her family's "dirty laundry", since she wanted to go there.... :lurk:

I know that's RIGHT GIRL!!!!!

SCNDLS said:

Mary J. Blige on Writing 'Living Proof' for 'The Help'

She's been busy working on her new album, "My Life II, The Journey Continues" (out September 13), but watching "The Help" made Mary J. Blige find the time to write a song for the movie's soundtrack.

The R&B songstress says she was so inspired by the movie, starring Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, that she saw it twice and immediately wrote the song "The Living Proof."

"I wrote the song almost in the theater as I was watching the movie," MJB told ESSENCE.com during the ESSENCE Music Festival. "Everything that made me cry, I would write it down. Everything that made me laugh, I would write it down. And then I would listen to different things they were saying and I would write it down."

Blige says she called the song "The Living Proof" in honor of the characters' resilience and ability to forgive. "Learning how to forgive people that hurt you. That's the hardest thing to do," she said. "My song tells the story of how we are all survivors, and how we're living proof that we can come through whatever."

The controversial film, which tells the story of Black maids in the South, already has its critics. Blige isn't one of them. "It was a balanced movie," she says. "It wasn't just woe is me, slave master stuff.

"As much racism as there was, there was so much good to counter it."

^ that's why I was reluctant to go to the movie, I didn't want to see another "slave" movie. As previously stated, I was happy to see another side to the Civil Rights movement -- dignified women working in the only jobs they were allowed to have, taking care of their children and families the best way they could.

I didn't grow up in the south but domestics were also used in the north. My play grandma was a domestic and my play grandad (her husband) was the "chauffeur" for the same family. I remember seeing the pain on Nana's face once when she took us to the house. We were rambunctious kids with no boundaries (we didn't know "our place") race was not an issue for us -- but something happened and we never went back.

That movie brought back a lot of memories. As a private school kid, I dealt with those "society ladies" and their daughters at a very young age.

chocolate1 said:

I saw it with my Mom & Sis last week. I thought it was very well done.

In some ways, it was hard to watch.

Personal story: My Granny was a domestic; she took care of a boy and girl who were a little bit older than I was in the 70s. I remember going over there sometimes and playing with the girl, Karen, while Granny worked. Occasionally, Granny would bring a dress or something home for me.

When we were older and out of college, my first teaching job in 1989 was at a private school where Karen already worked (I did not know that when I applied).

When our coworkers asked how we knew each other, I just said that we "grew up" together and left it at that.

One day, Karen got me in front of a group of teachers and said, "We didn't grow up together. Her Grandmother used to clean my house. I used to give her my hand-me-downs."

Watching that movie brought that memory back so vividly.

I also thought about what Granny must have gone through.

She split her time with another house as well. I don't remember as much about that family.

Granny is 94 now; both the ladies she worked for are dead.

guuuuuurrrrrrrl, I know this story.

SCNDLS said:

There were some two great articles in Essence this month about the Help and Viola was on the cover. I haven't seen it or read the book but I'm taking the book with me on vacation next week.

5 Questions for Viola Davis on 'The Help'

Award-winning and Academy Award- nominated actress appears to almost empty herself in order to bring life to a character.

In her most recent role in the controversial movie “The Help,” which is in theaters tomorrow, she does it again as Aibileen Clark, a maid “surviving” in the South during the Civil Right Movement. While Davis admits some scenes made her uncomfortable, she believes in the story. Do you?

ESSENCE.COM: There's been some criticism of “The Help.” Do you think Black women will support the film?
VIOLA DAVIS: Yes, I do. I think people will support the film because they’ll be curious enough to walk into the theater. And once they walk into the theater, I think that a lot of their misgivings will be dispelled because I believe what me, Octavia, Cicely Tyson, Aunjanue Ellis and Roslyn Ruff are able to do is humanize these maids. They are no longer just women whose backs you only see in the kitchen taking care of kids. These are real people. And it’s palpable. They start off very ordinary -- but human, and by the end of the movie they turn into heroes. I think that in of itself will be enough to satisfy the need we have to be seen and heard as Black women.

ESSENCE.COM: What do you hope Black women will take away from this movie?
VIOLA: I hope they walk away and see that it’s simply a great movie. Sometimes we’re so concerned with image and message, and not excellence. No one ever ask white actresses like Meryl Streep or Jodie Foster what messages they’re going to take away from their films. What they do acknowledge is the execution of how well they bought that character to life. As an artist, it’s so valuable to just tell the story. And bring these people to life. We cannot believe that if there’s not a message in a story, then it’s unworthy of being told. Any story is worthy of being told, if it’s a good one.

ESSENCE.COM: What lessons did you learn from your character, Aibileen?
VIOLA: I learned about the contributions of everyday people. The people who didn’t make it into the history books but paved the way for us. The domestics, bus drivers, garbage men. What I learned from Aibileen is the courage it took to just live the every day being black in 1961 Mississippi. The courage it took to just stand on your own two feet, put food on the table and just survive. Just to simply survive. And to me, it’s homage to my mom, grandmother and women in my life.

ESSENCE.COM: Were there scenes that made you uncomfortable or angry?
VIOLA: Yes, absolutely. Being in that Bridge Club scene pouring tea. I had to shoot that scene for two weeks and I had no lines. I’d do the scene and listen to white people and how they talk about you like you’re not there. Feeling invisible.

ESSENCE.COM: You were gorgeous on the August cover of ESSENCE. What has the response been?
VIOLA: I’ve had an incredible response only because no one really knows what I look like. I think people are shocked that I can actually look half- way decent. So I’ve had an extraordinary response to that cover.

We love us some Viola Davis!

[Edited 8/22/11 5:10am]

Thanks, this is good reference, I finish reading later today and comment.

sweething said:

SCNDLS said:

There were some two great articles in Essence this month about the Help and Viola was on the cover. I haven't seen it or read the book but I'm taking the book with me on vacation next week.

5 Questions for Viola Davis on 'The Help'

Award-winning and Academy Award- nominated actress appears to almost empty herself in order to bring life to a character.

In her most recent role in the controversial movie “The Help,” which is in theaters tomorrow, she does it again as Aibileen Clark, a maid “surviving” in the South during the Civil Right Movement. While Davis admits some scenes made her uncomfortable, she believes in the story. Do you?

ESSENCE.COM: There's been some criticism of “The Help.” Do you think Black women will support the film?
VIOLA DAVIS: Yes, I do. I think people will support the film because they’ll be curious enough to walk into the theater. And once they walk into the theater, I think that a lot of their misgivings will be dispelled because I believe what me, Octavia, Cicely Tyson, Aunjanue Ellis and Roslyn Ruff are able to do is humanize these maids. They are no longer just women whose backs you only see in the kitchen taking care of kids. These are real people. And it’s palpable. They start off very ordinary -- but human, and by the end of the movie they turn into heroes. I think that in of itself will be enough to satisfy the need we have to be seen and heard as Black women.

ESSENCE.COM: What do you hope Black women will take away from this movie?
VIOLA: I hope they walk away and see that it’s simply a great movie. Sometimes we’re so concerned with image and message, and not excellence. No one ever ask white actresses like Meryl Streep or Jodie Foster what messages they’re going to take away from their films. What they do acknowledge is the execution of how well they bought that character to life. As an artist, it’s so valuable to just tell the story. And bring these people to life. We cannot believe that if there’s not a message in a story, then it’s unworthy of being told. Any story is worthy of being told, if it’s a good one.

ESSENCE.COM: What lessons did you learn from your character, Aibileen?
VIOLA: I learned about the contributions of everyday people. The people who didn’t make it into the history books but paved the way for us. The domestics, bus drivers, garbage men. What I learned from Aibileen is the courage it took to just live the every day being black in 1961 Mississippi. The courage it took to just stand on your own two feet, put food on the table and just survive. Just to simply survive. And to me, it’s homage to my mom, grandmother and women in my life.

ESSENCE.COM: Were there scenes that made you uncomfortable or angry?
VIOLA: Yes, absolutely. Being in that Bridge Club scene pouring tea. I had to shoot that scene for two weeks and I had no lines. I’d do the scene and listen to white people and how they talk about you like you’re not there. Feeling invisible.

ESSENCE.COM: You were gorgeous on the August cover of ESSENCE. What has the response been?
VIOLA: I’ve had an incredible response only because no one really knows what I look like. I think people are shocked that I can actually look half- way decent. So I’ve had an extraordinary response to that cover.

We love us some Viola Davis!

[Edited 8/22/11 5:10am]

Thanks, this is good reference, I finish reading later today and comment.

You should try to find this issue of Essence. They had 3 different articles on the movie and Viola's interview and pics were GREAT!

SCNDLS said:

sweething said:

Thanks, this is good reference, I finish reading later today and comment.

You should try to find this issue of Essence. They had 3 different articles on the movie and Viola's interview and pics were GREAT!

yes, I'll go to the essence website.

The more I think about the movie the more I think everyone should see it, truly. It tells a story that hasn't really been told before that needs to be told. Again, its honesty and real-ness is on point.

The dynamics of American society today are direct result of this story; in the workplace, with familes, the womens movement, etc.

Octavia seems to be already stealing the movie.

I know i'll be watching it for her. one of the finest/most underappreciated actresses around.

[Edited 8/22/11 11:03am]

Rayan said:

Octavia seems to be already stealing the movie.

I know i'll be watching it for her. one of the finest/underappreciated actresses around.

[Edited 8/22/11 11:02am]

I loved her on Ugly Betty

'Help' moves upstairs with $20.5M, No. 1 weekend

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Help" continues to clean up at the box office, taking over the No. 1 spot with $20.5 million in its second weekend. The DreamWorks Pictures film starring Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer in a drama about Southern black maids had debuted in second-place a week earlier. "The Help" raised its domestic total to $71.8 million and bumped 20th Century Fox's " Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which slipped to No. 2 with $16.3 million after two weekends at the top, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" remains a solid hit, lifting its domestic total to $133.8 million.

Much as Kathryn Stockett's novel "The Help" became a best-seller through readers talking it up, the film is holding strong as audiences tell friends to go see it, said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney, which releases DreamWorks films.

While revenues often drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend for big studio films, receipts for "The Help" were down only 21 percent from opening weekend.

"It is a rare feat to see a film not open at No. 1 and then become No. 1," Hollis said. "To me, it's a testament of it being a great film, as well as the viral nature of the word of mouth about it."

A rush of new movies had weak openings: the Weinstein Co. family sequel "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World" at No. 3 with $12 million; Lionsgate's action remake "Conan the Barbarian" at No. 4 with $10 million; the DreamWorks-Disney horror-comedy remake "Fright Night" at No. 5 with $8.3 million; and Focus Features' literary adaptation "One Day" at No. 9 with $5.1 million.

Overall domestic revenues slid for the first time in five weekends. Receipts totaled $124 million, down 3 percent from the same weekend last year, when "The Expendables" led with $17 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

Other than "Fright Night," the new movies were panned by critics, and audiences were apathetic about all of the newcomers.

"This is the reason the term dog days of August was invented," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Other than the 'The Help' and to some extent 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' everybody else got beat up this weekend. This was one of those really slow, turn-movie-theaters-into-a-ghost-town weekends."

Three of the new movies — "Spy Kids," ''Conan the Barbarian" and "Fright Night" — had the benefit of higher-priced 3-D screenings, but none were able to capitalize.

Robert Rodriguez's fourth "Spy Kids," featuring Jessica Alba as an agent whose step-kids get in on the espionage action, also added odor to the picture with scratch-and-sniff cards handed out to viewers so they could smell what the characters were smelling.

The gimmick failed to pack in crowds, though, with the sequel's revenues coming in at barely a third of the $33.4 million debut for the last "Spy Kids" flick in 2003.

"Conan the Barbarian" stars Jason Momoa as the fierce warrior played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s original. "Fright Night" features Colin Farrell as a vampire going after a neighbor (Anton Yelchin) who discovers he's a blood-sucker. Based on David Nicholls' best-seller, "One Day" casts Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as friends in a decades-long romantic dance that plays out on the same day each year.

With solid reviews, Disney executives thought "Fright Night" would offer a good mix of scares and laughs for fans in their late teens and early 20s. But distribution boss Hollis said "Fright Night" fell victim to an issue that has troubled studios all summer: How do you bring out younger crowds when they have so many personal entertainment options, from video games to downloading movies?

"What happened here has been a problem for the industry for a long time, and that's just how do you crack the nut with young adults?" Hollis said. "They've been increasingly finicky."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

SCNDLS said:

I loved her on Ugly Betty

"to hell with Beyonce, do me like Mariah"

she's seriously fantastic wherever you put her. she doesn't even have to speak, you get it all right away from her eyes

I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the book. I really enjoyed the book. It was well written and most of the characters were very interesting. I also learned something about that era and when I learn something from a book, I usually enjoy it. I will see the movie eventually.

I think I'd like to read the book... Like any other movie based on a novel, I'm sure things were missing.

typing mess

[Edited 8/22/11 11:45am]

My grandma worked as a cook for a rich family in the early part of the 20th century. (She was born in 1894.) Sadly, she died when I was 5 - before I had a chance to ask her about what that was like.

I do remember she was an amaaaaaaazing cook, though.

chocolate1 said:

I think I'd like to read the book... Like any other movie based on a novel, I'm sure things were missing.

typing mess

[Edited 8/22/11 11:45am]

My MIL did say the movie followed the book closest as shes ever seen... She said she expected to be dissapointed by the movie because the books are always better, but she wasnt at all...

sooo, I'm wondering, are we allowed to "sass" racist white folk now???

myfavorite said:

sooo, I'm wondering, are we allowed to "sass" racist white folk now???

When were you ever told you couldnt?