And Here We Go - The Dark Knight Breaks All Opening Weekend Records

I could go on and on about The Dark Knight, but I probably don’t need to because according to the numbers from this past weekend everyone and their mother has already seen the film. It is no surprise that The Dark Knight out grossed previous record holder Spider-Man 3 to claim the title of highest grossing opening weekend ever with a tally of $158.4 million. (link) The Dark Knight also claimed three other impressive records, “including biggest single-day haul ($66.4 million), biggest midnight screening ($18.5 million) and best debut in IMAX ($6.4 million).” (link) It was also the centerpiece to the biggest three-day weekend over all box office ever, with a record industry intake of $258 million. (link)

I am really interested in seeing if The Dark Knight is able to build upon this impressive opening weekend. With the amazing buzz it has garnered already, it should hopefully make a strong push to some huge domestic and international numbers. I think its dark tone does hurt it some, and I will be interested in seeing how the movie’s audience broke down by age. If parents ended up being ok with their children seeing the movie then the sky is the limit for its eventual final numbers. But, it will be really hard to live up to its huge opening weekend numbers without the under 13 demographic.


Aly and I were debating all weekend the impact Ledger’s death had on the movie, but both of us agreed on how amazing his performance of the Joker truly was. The movie was great, but it was his portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime that really put it over the top. To be honest I didn’t love the ending. But with a third installment in the Batman franchise all but guaranteed, I guess that’s the type of ending we had to have to leave the door open for Batman’s return to the silver screen few years down the road. The Dark Knight might just be my favorite movie in recent memory. I think I am going to have to see it again this weekend to truly appreciate all of the Joker’s little nuances. If this is to be Ledger’s final performance, oh what a performance it was!

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

The Blot had a killer birthday weekend. Not only did I get to finally see The Dark Knight in IMAX, but I got a sweet Joker Variant Dr. Destruction figure and got to watch the ridiculously awesome Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. I should have written about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog before it came out, but for some reason I never knew when it was going to debut until it was much too late.


You see it’s not actually a blog at all, but a three part musical miniseries created by Joss Whedon during the writers strike. Whedon described it as “the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to,” and best of all it stars How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion (Desperate Housewives, Firefly) and Felicia Day. Let me just say it’s awesomeness is indescribable.

While the musical was originally aired for free all of last week, all three Acts were taken down as of midnight last night. I actually didn’t get to watch it until this weekend, because when I tried to watch Act One on Tuesday I learned that the site had gotten so many hits it crashed and fried the servers almost instantly upon release. Talk about the power of the fans of the Whedon-verse! I really don’t want to go into much detail about the show since in total it is under 45 minutes long, but trust me it’s really good and definitely worth a viewing.

If you missed out and would like to see Whedon at his musical best, you can download all three parts here on iTunes for $3.99 or wait for it on DVD, which will have some of “the finest and bravest extras in all the land.” (link) More details about the DVD will be released later in the week at San Diego Comic-Con 2008. Until then enjoy the official trailer of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog:

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Saudi Arabia

The Blot is pleased to bring a new feature to The Blot Says… every Monday where I will spotlight that week’s new episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. I’ve become a little obsessed with Bourdain’s travels and culinary adventures over the past two years, and hope these posts will spark some interest in his amazing Travel Channel show. Each week I’ll be posting an entertaining new promo video highlighting that week’s destination. This week Tony returns to the Middle East to visit Saudi Arabia, and you can get your first look at tonight's episode right now by checking out this 30 second promo:



This week’s No Reservations is a very special fan episode in which Bourdain's guide around Saudi Arabia is the winner of No Reservations' FAN-atic Casting Call, Danya Alhamrani. The FAN-atic Casting Call was a contest where fans of No Reservations could submit videos to convince Tony why he should visit a location they were passionate about and the eventual winner would be featured in an episode of the show. If you’re interested in seeing how Danya Alhamrani was chosen as the winner of the No Reservations' Casting Call, which ultimately brought Bourdain to Saudi Arabia, check out the promo video below:



Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations airs every Monday night at 10/9c on the Travel Channel.