This is an interesting discussion, and I thank everyone for pitching in their thoughts.  A few more of my own:

1) Regarding Josette and Vicki- in my (rather long ) post from yesterday I didn't meant to try to claim that Josette wasn't involved in Vicki's actions.  But rather, what I was trying to say was that I don't feel that Vicki was being possessed or put under a spell by Josette, and that I felt that she was in control of her own actions.  I think that the flashbacks were meant to show that Vicki (or I guess I should say Maggie) always felt close to Josette- even as a child, she considered her as a companion rather than an entity that she was afraid of.  Even when Maggie was locked up, Josette was her only companion.  I think that she always felt this strong connection to Josette, even if she didn't always fully understand why, until the end when I think it must've all come together for her and she realized/remembered that she was Josette.  So sure, I think that Josette led her, and even demonstrated how to fall a couple of times, but I still feel that the decision was Vicki's to make.  I do agree that this could've all been conveyed better in the film, and perhaps I am making these leaps because of my past familiarity with the characters.

2) I wish that Laura's character would've been brought out slightly more in the film, but on the second viewing I did realize that they refer to her a lot more than I caught onto on the first viewing.  There were the things I mentioned yesterday- that it is Laura who leads David to find Barnabas in his coffin, and it is Laura who tells David to tell Barnabas where Vicki is.  But there is also David in the sheet, multiple mentions at the beginning to both Vicki and Barnabas that David thinks he sees/talks to his mother, and there is the conversation at the shore between Barnabas and Vicki.  So there is a lot there already.  I might be in the minority here, but I don't think that I would've wanted to see David and Laura chatting.  I'd rather that be kept a mystery, and not really know if David is really talking to her or if he's just imagining it all.

3) Regarding Julia's "treatment" of Barnabas, I second MB's thoughts on this.  Julia's first reaction to finding out that Barnabas is a vampire is anger- she can't believe that Liz would endanger the family by letting a vampire stay under their roof.  Liz vouches for him, but more importantly she plants the seed that he could be an interesting case for her to study.  I don't think that really occurred to her until Liz suggested it, but once she did, Julia started to realize the potential of what might be in it for her.  Once she and Barnabas had their conversation about the curse of vampirism vs. aging and dying, I think she was sold on the idea of totally trying to use him to her own purposes (immortality and youth).  I don't think she ever really cared that much about curing him, per se.  Personally, I can accept that this is a different Julia than the one we know, and as much as I loved the OS Julia and her quest to cure Barnabas, I'm okay with this being a different take.  Oh, and as for whether her subplot should've even been in the film at all, I'm okay with it and don't feel it's out of place.  It serves to show (even if too briefly) that Barnabas had a hope of a "monster becoming a man", and having that reduplicated when he wants to be with Vicki (when he storms into the lab and discovers her treating herself, he is coming in to beg her to work harder to cure him).  It also shows him being used yet again, and losing hope in his situation.

4) About Barnabas walking around in the day- in this incarnation, Barnabas was able to be outdoors as long as his skin wasn't directly exposed to sunlight, and I don't think that Julia's treatments (or lack thereof) had any bearing on that.  I don't have a problem with him being able to walk outside during the day- even Dracula could walk outside during the day, as I recall, but he was just weakened.  But I really wish they had added even a sentence or two about this, just to make it make more sense.  In one of the interviews with Johnny that I read, he mentioned that he liked the idea of having to use heavy sunblock.  This agrees with all the theories that popped up when we saw the first photos from the filming, and it explains why his makeup looked even more exaggerated outdoors than indoors.  But there was never any mention of it in the film, and I wonder if something got edited out.  They could've just said that just like the supposed allergy to silver, he had an allergy to sunlight too.  I mean, how do they explain to the family that Willie needs to stand there holding an umbrella over Barnabas?  I am just guessing that the audience is supposed to assume that this all happened offscreen.  In some ways, I think it's better not to spell out every single detail, because then it makes a film tedious if it keeps stating the obvious too many times.  But there is a balance, and they probably could've just clarified this a bit better- like I said, even a sentence or two might've done the trick.

Sorry, I've gotten long-winded again! 

The DS actuals are in on boxoffice.com

http://www.boxoffice.com/statistics/bo_numbers/actual_extended_estimate/2012-05-28

  It makes it look like DS is in 4th place for the 4 day weekend, but that is because The Dictator is not yet on the list- once it's added, I'm sure that it will cut ahead and DS will be in 5th.  But it did beat Chernobyl Diaries!  The actual for the 4 day was a bit better than the estimate, at $9,439,246 (the estimate was $9,405,000), bringing the domestic total to $64,922,142.

When I went to see DS this weekend, at a mid-afternoon showing, it was a smaller theater but was surprisingly packed- I'd say about 75%.  This local theater is rarely so full at afternoon weekend shows, so this was a great sign.  I'd say the audience was more into the movie than at the first showing I saw, but maybe that was because the theater was fuller.  People laughed at the right moments and nobody seemed to react badly to the comedy, and people were engrossed through the movie.  A lot of people were staying through the credits, which they didn't do the first time I saw it- maybe they thought there would be an "easter egg" scene at the end.  All in all, the reaction seemed better than it did when I saw it opening weekend.  Hmm!

With today's estimate of just over $2M, DS's unadjusted box office (~$57.5M) has now surpassed 2 more of Johnny's films: Once Upon A Time In Mexico and Edward Scissorhands.  Up next:  another ~$10M needed to reach The Tourist    The numbers don't look as good if you look at figures adjusted for inflation, how ever they calculate that.  But I've also heard from some film buff forums that it's not really fair to do that, either, because movie attendance in general has been on the decline for years, since we now have so many more choices available to us nowadays (DVDs coming out so much more quickly, cable, on demand, streaming, etc. etc.). So even though there are breakouts like The Avengers, it's tough for a typical box office of today to compare with that of years ago.

I *still* haven't made it for my 2nd viewing, but it looks like tomorrow is going to be the day.  It has been taken away from IMAX at the theater near me, but there are still 2 other IMAX theaters in the general DC area that still have DS airing(s), so I may shoot for a 6 p.m. showing at one of them.  Otherwise the theater near me (non-IMAX) still has plenty of showings.

boxoffice.com is reporting the Tuesday box office numbers.  Like last week, the number is slightly up on Tuesday:  $1,303,235, for a domestic total of $53,280,153.  DS has now officially overtaken Depp's films Finding Neverland, Sweeney Todd and Blow, and has only ~$70,000 more to go to overtake Corpse Bride.

Oh my, Traskbuzz would probably make my brain explode, lol    I'm not good at thinking of hybrids/combos, but I would love to see both Trask and Prof. Stokes represented in some fashion in a sequel.  Trask especially- he was such a delicious adversary.  In Stokes' case, I'm not sure how much it was that I was a fan of the character per se because to be honest, I was just always in awe of Thayer David.  The funny thing is, I could totally see Thayer wearing a hot pink boa!

Hi all, catching up after being out of town for a few days (I popped in a couple of times but didn't really have time to contribute).  I'm glad to see that the film is doing well overseas.  Of course, it can't be anywhere in the same universe as The Avengers, but it was never going to be.

Among Johnny's movies, the domestic box office has just surpassed that of Secret Window (domestic lifetime gross of $48M; realize that I am not adjusting for inflation), and will catch Finding Neverland ($51.7M) in the next couple of days, and Sweeney Todd ($52.9), Blow ($53.0), and Corpse Bride ($53.4) probably by the weekend or so.  I also think that even though The Avengers will be the film to profit the most from Memorial Day Weekend, I do think that the holiday will be good for all movies, hopefully including DS!  I hope to see it my 2nd time over the weekend, and by the way I'm happy to see that more folks than not seem to have enjoyed it better the second time around 

Oh, I'm so happy for Jonny.  I'm most familiar with him as a recurring guest star on Dexter- I think it was the year before last.   He was a motivational speaker.  The season was a sharp decline in quality from Dexter's best seasons, but he himself was great, and many were talking about the possibility of an Emmy nomination.  It's great that he's getting a CBS series!