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March 22nd new releases:
Diabolique / Girl 6 / Race the Sun
The Birdcage remained the only real attraction this weekend, with Sharon Stone’s Diabolique opening at a distant #3 with $5.5 million.

March 29th new releases:
Sgt. Bilko / A Family Thing / All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
In Sgt. Bilko Steve Martin stars as the U.S. Army motor pool scamp based on the 1950s television character. The movie opened at #2 with $8.1 million.


25 years ago - March 1991

March 1st new releases:
The Doors / Shipwrecked / My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Oliver Stone’s take on The Doors came in behind The Silence of the Lambs at #2 this weekend with $9.1 million. In a bit of casting kismet, musician-poet Jim Morrison is portrayed by doppelganger Val Kilmer, who gives a spot-on performance during what was arguably his peak acting period. Reviews were mixed but the movie went on to earn $34.4 million.

March 8th new releases:
New Jack City / The Hard Way / American Ninja 4: The Annihilation / La Femme Nikita
New Jack City was the next opener to take on The Silence of the Lambs and come in second, earning $7.0 million but a significantly higher per-site average the Lambs due to its moderate 862 theater release. La Femme Nikita was only seen in two theaters this weekend and only made $5 million during its run, but this was the film that brought French writer-director Luc Besson (and actor Jean Reno) to the attention of American audiences. Besson’s story about a girl from the streets who is trained to become a deadly assassin features the stylish action and fragile-but-tough female protagonist that have been hallmarks of his career. Nikita was nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Foreign Language Film and was immediately remade in English as Point of No Return starring Bridget Fonda. The highly-rated television series La Femme Nikita ran for five seasons on the USA network from 1997 to 2001.

March 15th new releases:
Class Action / The Perfect Weapon / Guilty by Suspicion / If Looks Could Kill / True Colors
Gene Hackman’s legal drama was the strongest of the new movies this weekend and still only managed to come in at #4 with $4.2 million due to a moderate 778 theater release. But what interests me was the failed attempt at introducing two potential new action stars - martial artist Jeff Speakman in his acting debut in The Perfect Weapon and 21 Jump Street television star Richard Grieco in his theatrical debut, the more comedic spy flick If Looks Could Kill. Neither made much of an impact. Surprisingly, neither did the John Cusack-James Spader legal drama True Colors, which brought in less than a half million dollars during its entire run.

March 22nd new releases:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II / Defending Your Life
Not only was TMNT II the movie to take the #1 box office spot from Silence of the Lambs, its $20 million opening turned out to be the fifth biggest of the year and the second biggest March opening weekend ever, behind the $25 million opening for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the previous year. TMNT II went on to earn $78.6 million overall. Although Defending Your Life was only seen at three theaters this weekend, for me it’s an anniversary worth celebrating. It expanded to a little over 700 theaters in April and must have been on regular cable-TV-station rotation later that year. Albert Brooks wrote, directed, and acted in this sci-fi romantic comedy as a middle-aged man who arrives in the afterlife and finds the legalistic review of his past life choices to be discouraging. At the same time he falls for another recently deceased character played by Meryl Streep. Rip Torn co-stars as his legal counsel. Both critical and audience reviews remain high for this film. Defending Your Life remains one of Brooks’ best and overlooked films. It’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.

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