True Grit

It was another lackluster holiday weekend at the box office, and once again, Little Fockers came out on top. Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller's comedy took in $26.3 million over the weekend, though it was True Grit that really made waves. The film stayed in second place with $24.5 million, but the Western has already grossed more than Oscar winner No Country For Old Men, making it the biggest film for the Coen brothers to date.

Tron: Legacy stayed in third with $18.3 million, while Yogi Bear climbed a notch to fourth with $13 million. Completing the top five was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with $10.5 million.

Overall, numbers were down from this weekend last year, but perhaps a new slate of 2011 movies will help the tides change in the coming weeks.

Little Fockers earned top honors at the box office this weekend, but the victory wasn't so sweet. Overall, the holiday weekend estimates were down 45% from last year (which included juggernauts Avatar and Sherlock Holmes). The third Meet the Parents film took in $34 million, followed by the debut of the Coen brothers' True Grit with $25.6 million. Last week's champ, Tron: Legacy, finished third with $20.1 million, followed by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at $10.8 million. To close out the top five, Yogi Bear finished with $8.8 million.

As for other note-worthy performances (both good and bad): Gulliver's Travels suffered (perhaps from abysmal reviews) opened with a mere $7.2 million. On the other hand, The King's Speech reaped the benefits of a wider release, climbing from No. 11 to No. 14 with $4.5 million.

Ethan and Joel Coen's latest, True Grit, isn't another edgy, idiosyncratic drama from the film-making brothers, but an adaptation of the 1968 novel and update of the 1969 movie starring John Wayne. In Wayne's Oscar-winning role of Rooster Cogburn is Jeff Bridges, who is approaching his own legendary status. Hailee Steinfeld is equally important to the film, as the movie's heroine, 14-year-old Mattie Ross.

Mattie is on a quest to avenge her father's death at the hands of the cowardly Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she leaves her family to find a marshal worthy of her hunt. She finds what she's looking for in Cogburn, despite the fact that he's a grizzled, whiskey-soaked curmudgeon. Also in the picture is Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, played to ostentatious perfection by Matt Damon. LaBoeuf is an opponent to Mattie at first — he's also pursuing Chaney, but on a different charge. Cogburn and LaBoeuf team up to find Chaney together, conspiring to leave Mattie behind, sure that a "little girl" will only handicap them.

Riding off into the wilderness with Mattie, Cogburn, and LaBoeuf gives us the bulk of the action, and on that ride it becomes clear: the Coen brothers aren't trying to reinvent anything; this is a true Western, faithful to the book and genre. It's a sweeping accomplishment with a satisfying outcome. To find out what else I enjoyed about True Grit, just read more

• A montage of this year's movies, set to great music — Vulture
• Ben Stiller's most awkward movie moments — Moviefone
• 2010's shows with the shortest shelf lives — TV Squad
• Somewhere's Stephen Dorff shares his five favorite films — Rotten Tomatoes
• Billy Baldwin will return to Gossip Girl for at least two episodes — Deadline
• Dan Brown is writing a screenplay for The Lost Symbol — Cinema Blend
• The scores for Black Swan and True Grit get cut from the Oscar race — The A.V. Club
• The highest-grossing actors of 2010 (No. 2 is very surprising!) — PopWatch
• Which TV character makes you proud to be a woman? — TrèsSugar

Matt Damon says he gets a lot of assistance to look good on camera, but he and wife Luciana look great without any help at the True Grit premiere in NYC. Check it out on PopSugar Rush!