taare zameen par Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Three new indie releases were left out in the cold this weekend but critical fave Juno vaulted into the overall top 10, according to estimates compiled by Leonard Klady at Movie City News. Two of the new releases are from India: Welcome, a comedy directed by Anees Bazmee and starring Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor, earned $5,180 per screen at 40 locations; Taare Zameen Par, the directorial debut of actor Aamir Khan, who stars as a teacher trying to help an unhappy young student, made $4,330 per screen at 70 engagements.

The other new release, extreme skiing doc Steep, could manage only $1,340 per screen at 17 engagements in winter-sport friendly areas. I wished that the film dug deeper into the questions it raises, but I'm surprised at the cool reception by its target market. Was everyone out on the slopes?

In its third week of release, pregnancy comedy Juno expanded to 304 theaters and raked in $11,184 per screen, which bodes well for its upcoming expansion (Tuesday, December 25) when it moves into 850 theaters. With its PG-13 rating, it looks like it's well-positioned to grab a big chuck of the teen audience that's home from school this week.

Atonement also expanded, though its success continues to be overshadowed by Juno. Joe Wright's period drama earned $6,630 per screen at 297 engagements. The Kite Runner was the third indie that expanded; it made $3,080 per screen at 377 locations, not bad at all for a drama without stars. In that same range of success could be found both The Diving Bell and the Butterfly ($3,890 per screen; 28 theaters) and The Savages ($3,520 per screen at 60 engagements).

No Country for Old Men has topped many critics' list for best of the year; now in its seventh week of release, it declined to $1,389 per screen, but that's at 1,222 theaters. I would imagine the theater count will soon drop, but it should stay in theaters until the Academy Award nominations are announced next month.

Ho ho ho and welcome to The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar, a weekly look at what's happening beyond the multiplexes all around North America. If you know of something indie-related happening near you -- a local festival, a series of classic restored films, lectures, workshops, etc. -- send the info to me at Eric.Snider(at)weblogsinc(dot)com and I'll add it to the list.

There's a shload of big flicks opening wide today and on Christmas, but don't overlook the smaller films! Actually, some of them might deserve to be overlooked. But don't overlook the fact that they exist, that's what I meant.

• If you've spent any time at Cinematical Indie in the last few months, you've seen Persepolis mentioned at least once, and probably many times. It's won awards at several film festivals (including Cannes), it's France's submission for the Oscars, and it has the buzz to overtake Ratatouille for Best Animated Film. And now it's finally opening! It will arrive Christmas Day in New York and L.A., and expand from there. Here's James Rocchi's review from Cannes and Kim Voynar's from Telluride.

• Flakes is a slacker comedy directed by Michael Lehmann (Heathers ... but also Because I Said So and My Giant) about some Gen-Yers trying to get their cool business idea back from the wealthy jerk who stole it. Aaron Stanford and Zooey Deschanel star. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg didn't have much good to say about it at South By Southwest. Now playing at IFC Center in New York City.

• Steep is a documentary about extreme skiing, including its history and its perils. It looks pretty gnarly, unless the kids are no longer saying that. You'll find it in New York, L.A., and a couple places in Montana.

• From India comes Taare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth), an inspiring drama about a dyslexic and unfocused little boy who finds himself after a special teacher intervenes. Playing in New York.

After the jump, special events in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, L.A, New York, Portland, and Seattle....