Life of Pi

Life of Pi

Director Ang Lee snagged an Oscar for his visually stunning adaptation of the bestselling novel. Following a boat accident, Pi (Suraj Sharma) is left stranded on a life boat in the middle of the ocean. He's not alone — his sole companion is his family's Bengal tiger. The story is well told by flashing between a modern-day Pi and his harrowing teenage experience, but the unforgettable part of the movie is its breathtaking visual aspect. The DVD extras include featurettes.

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Hitchcock

Anthony Hopkins portrays the titular filmmaker in this semibiographical movie about Alfred Hitchcock. Set around the time he was filming Psycho, the film follows Hitchcock and his wife, Alma (Helen Mirren), as they work with star Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson) on the horror movie. The enlightening film focuses on backstage drama and the tension between the director and his wife. Hopkins makes a wonderful Hitchcock, but the film is a bit too fluffy. The DVD includes several featurettes, director commentary, and a deleted scene.

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Check out one more new release after the jump.

Looks like Middle-earth has a lot of fans: Peter Jackson's epic adaptation The Hobbit earned $84.8 million in its opening weekend, setting a new record for the best December opening weekend. It also set a record for one-day opening, reaping $34.5 million on Friday and besting the previous record, coincidentally held by 2003's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In a steep drop-off, Rise of the Guardians came in second with $7.4 million, followed by Lincoln with $7.2 million. Last week's champ, Skyfall, slipped to fourth with $7 million, followed by Life of Pi with $5.4 million.

Skyfall reclaimed the top spot at the box office this weekend, earning $11 million and bringing the hit's domestic total to $261.6 million. The box office was among of the weakest of the year as Rise of the Guardians took second place with $10.5 million, Breaking Dawn Part 2 followed with $9.2 million, Lincoln took in $9.1 million, and Life of Pi rounded out the top five with $8.3 million. Gerard Butler's soccer-dad comedy Playing For Keeps drew a mere $6 million, while the week's other new opener, Hyde Park on Hudson, earned $83,300 in its limited release of only four theaters nationwide.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 continued its box-office domination this weekend, earning $17.4 million and bringing the film's total domestic haul to $254.6 million. In fact, all of last week's top five remained steadily at their same ranks this weekend. Runner-up Skyfall took in $17 million, Lincoln and Rise of the Guardians each earned $13.5 million, and Life of Pi rounded out the top five with $12 million. The new releases didn't fare so well: horror flick The Collection pulled in $3.4 million, and Killing Them Softly opened with $7 million, making the thriller the lowest opening Brad Pitt film in over a decade.

Last week's big opener, Breaking Dawn Part 2, remained in the No. 1 spot this weekend, taking in $43 million and bringing its total gross to $227 million, adding to what was the biggest Thanksgiving weekend at the box office ever. Skyfall held tight to second place with $36 million, and Lincoln also stayed at No. 3 with $25 million — thanks to an 18 percent increase in ticket sales over last week. New animated release Rise of the Guardians took in $24 million, and fellow new release Life of Pi earned $22 million and the fifth place spot. The week's other new releases, Red Dawn and Hitchcock, took in $14.6 million and $301,000, respectively.

Adapting a bestseller into a movie is never an easy feat, particularly when most of the story takes place on a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. However, Ang Lee's Life of Pi is a great example of how a movie can take a novel to the next level. Thanks to amazing visuals, imagery, and 3D, the movie version of Life of Pi pumps more magic into the impossible tale of a boy, a boat, and a Bengal tiger.

That boy, of course, is Pi, who is named not for the mathematical constant but for a French swimming pool beloved by his uncle. His unique name is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to quirks; Pi grows up in India, where his family owns a beautiful menagerie — we're talking sloths, tigers, zebras, the works. As a teenager, Pi's parents decide to uproot the family and animals to Canada, but their trip takes a tragic turn when the ship sinks. As the sole human survivor, Pi is left to fend for himself aboard a rowboat with the zoo's resident tiger, Richard Parker. What ensues is a story of endurance, friendship, and the human spirit.

To see what else I thought of the film, just read more

It takes an ambitious director to take on Yann Martel's best-selling novel Life of Pi, and based on the trailer, Oscar winner Ang Lee was definitely the right choice. The story centers around Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma), an Indian boy whose family decides to move to Canada, taking with them some of the exotic animals from their zoo. The ship they're traveling on sinks in a storm, but Pi survives along with a few of the animals. After losing some of the animals quickly, Pi is left in the lifeboat with a single companion: a Bengal tiger.

I held my breath through the first half of this trailer. It's visually stunning, and watching Pi swim through a capsizing ship is intense. However, it's after the storm has passed that the trailer really picks up speed. The scenes with the tiger are incredible, and though there are no words spoken in these clips, the beauty of the shots of India and the creatures Pi encounters while stranded on the ship are enough to make me want to see the whole film. The movie is set for a November release, but you can watch the trailer after the jump.