Ledger honoured with Australian acting prize
The late actor Heath Ledger has been handed one of his country's highest film honours: the Australian Film Institute's international award for best actor for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight.
The 28-year-old actor died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and other medicines in a New York apartment in January.
"Heath was never one to accept mediocrity. He put his heart and soul into achieving what he believed was required and followed his passions with great enthusiasm and an insatiable curiosity," Sally Ledger said of her son.
Sister Kate stood alongside her parents as they accepted the award Saturday night at a film institute gala in Melbourne.
"It has been without a doubt the most difficult year, losing such a loved family member," Kate Ledger said, fighting back tears. "We are so proud of him and humbly accept this award on behalf of his beautiful daughter [Matilda], who we will cherish forever."
Audience members rose to their feet as the award was announced. The AFI also paid tribute to Ledger as a "ground-breaking actor trapped in the body of a leading man."
Ledger was nominated for an Oscar playing a gay cowboy in 2005's Brokeback Mountain. The Dark Night will be re-released to cinemas in January the day after this year's Oscar nominations are disclosed.
Cate Blanchett won the Australian Film Institute's female acting award for her role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Meanwhile, The Black Balloon — about a teenage boy learning to live with an autistic brother — captured best film.
Heading into the awards with 11 nominations, The Black Balloon also took home trophies for best supporting actor and actress for Luke Ford and Toni Collette, while director and co-writer Elissa Down won for best direction and original screenplay.
In the TV category, the acclaimed crime drama Underbelly, about Melbourne's gang world, garnered six of eight awards for which it was nominated, including best TV drama series and best acting for its male and female leads.
'Christmases' repeats at No. 1 with $18.2 million
LOS ANGELES – Movie crowds kept up their holiday spirit as Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn's comedy "Four Christmases" rang up $18.2 million to lead the box office for a second-straight weekend.
The Warner Bros. flick raised its 12-day total to $70.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"'Four Christmases' was set up perfectly. It's an evergreen subject for the holiday period," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "This is a movie that can play and is playing from Thanksgiving through the end of the year."
Despite the economic downturn, Hollywood continued to outperform last year's holiday season, with revenues up for the fifth weekend in a row.
The top 12 movies took in $77.5 million, a 6 percent increase from the same weekend in 2007, when "The Golden Compass" opened at No. 1 with $25.8 million.
Revenues for the year are at $8.7 billion, slightly ahead of the pace last year, when Hollywood ended up with record receipts of $9.7 billion. However, that reflects higher ticket prices, because actual attendance is down 4 percent, according to Media By Numbers.
Only one new movie opened in full wide release, Lionsgate's action tale "Punisher: War Zone," which delivered a weak No. 8 debut with $4 million. Based on Marvel Comics' "The Punisher," the movie stars Ray Stevenson in the title role as a vigilante hero going up against a crime boss.
In narrower release, Sony's music saga "Cadillac Records" opened solidly with $3.5 million to come in at No. 9. The film features Adrien Brody, Beyonce Knowles, Jeffrey Wright, Cedric the Entertainer and Mos Def in the story of legendary blues label Chess Records.
Ron Howard's drama "Frost/Nixon" had a huge debut in limited release, taking in $180,147 in just three theaters, averaging a whopping $60,049 a cinema. That compares to a $5,451 average in 3,335 theaters for "Four Christmases."
A likely contender for a best-picture nomination at the Academy Awards, the Universal Pictures film stars Frank Langella as former President Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as TV personality David Frost in the story of their momentous 1977 interviews.
"Frost/Nixon" expands to more theaters over the next two weeks.
Sony's James Bond sequel "Quantum of Solace" took in $6.6 million to raise its domestic total to $151.5 million. The film topped the $500 million mark worldwide.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Four Christmases," $18.2 million.
2. "Twilight," $13.2 million.
3. "Bolt," $9.7 million.
4. "Australia," $7 million.
5. "Quantum of Solace," $6.6 million.
6. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," $5.1 million.
7. "Transporter 3," $4.5 million.
8. "Punisher: War Zone," $4 million.
9. "Cadillac Records," $3.5 million.
10. "Role Models," $2.6 million.