Well, we kind of figured that Alice in Wonderland would set the top box office opening of 2010, but I dunno how many people predicted this: $116 million!

There seems to be more discussion about this category than usual, even from casual movie-goers, for one big reason — Avatar. The inclusion of James Cameron’s latest indie featuring copious amounts of CG imagery begs a very basic question: what is cinematography? All that and more is just one click away.

Read as we break down the films nominated for Best Picture and what their chances are of taking home the prize. We’re pretty sure it won’t be Crash.

Best Director is a tricky category with, like many awards bestowed at the Oscars, a questionable track record. Venerated filmmakers like Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Altman, for instance, never won the award. While it’s arguably impossible to objectively compare different works of art, Best Director is an especially elusive and subjective category that forces one to compare apples to oranges, especially with this year’s nominees.

Welcome to another 3-D edition of The Reject Report, where we take a look at the box office prospects for this big Oscar weekend. And with the Academy Awards on the minds of a lot of people you would think there will be a lot of people showing up at the theaters. This weekend we have two new wide releases in Top Ten contention: Brooklyn’s Finest, and of course Alice in Wonderland in 3-D, directed by Tim Burton.

Visual effects are an often overlooked and underappreciated aspect of film making. It’s surprising that VFX has traditionally been one of the last things considered in budgeting/schedule and VFX houses often get the bad end of the money stick when it comes down to the last minute studio changes. But this year’s VFX Oscar nominees (Avatar, District 9 and Star Trek) are all great examples of how being mindful of the importance of VFX can gain your film box office and Oscar success.

If there was a non-technical star in Avatar, it was Stephen Lang. As Colonel Quaritch, he brought a great deal of humor and murderous prowess. James Cameron’s movie needed a great villain in order to work, and he was the perfect man for the job. Now, there’s another movie that needs a villain. And once again, Lang looks perfect for the job.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we talk for three full hours about God Knows What (and The Oscars).

Well, the best opening weekend for director Kevin Smith still wasn’t enough as Cop Out was nosed out by Shutter Island for its second straight winning weekend at the box office.

As expected, Shutter Island was the winner at the box office this weekend. What was not so expected was the margin of victory: it raked in $40 million dollars and represents the best weekend opening ever for both Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese.

James Cameron took it to a whole new level with Avatar, and it would only be so long until some other hotshot directors had their turn to get their hands on the technology. The first hotshot director to go crazy for Cameron’s toys is Steven Spielberg. Spielberg will use this technology to create a digital world for his newest film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which he’s co-producing with Peter Jackson.

This week looks fairly calm on the movie front. We have only one new release, Shutter Island, doing battle against the usual holdovers such as Valentine’s Day, Percy Jackson, Avatar and the rest of them.

Quick, what’s your favorite part of James Cameron’s epic blockbuster Avatar? If your answer includes any mention of the screenplay, story, or deep and detailed characters then you’re only lying to yourself my friend.

Landon Palmer explores the nature of the Oscar nominated film The Hurt Locker, and the right of critics to call it an art house film.

Well, it’s fair to say theater owners fell in love on Valentine’s Day with all the money they were reaping in.

Well, it is certainly odd to go into a weekend without Avatar as either the defending weekend champion or even as a favorite to win the box office — but that is exactly the situation we are facing this weekend at The Reject Report.

Need to keep track of your picks for this year’s Oscar night? Want to challenge your friends on Twitter to pick against Sandra Bullock for Best Actress? Well, there’s an app for that.

In this year’s Academy Awards ceremony we will have 10 Best Picture nominees for the first time in 60 years, see how our viewing trends prompted this.

The story of the hour is that after winning the weekend box office for seven weeks in a row and after setting some big-time records, the reign of Avatar is over. Dear John won the weekend with an unofficial haul of $32.4 million compared to $23 million for Avatar.

All month long we celebrate Best Picture Nominees that didn’t win. This week, we take a look at the Avatar of its time.