You know the old saying: “April showers bring May flowers”…
for the summer of 2009, lets make it: “April downers bring May blockbusters”

May is the official beginning of the summer movie season in theaters with the first big blockbuster and your clear cut new number one movie: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” starring Carson City (Montcalm County) native Daniel Henney… with an anticipated take of around $95 million at the box office.    There’s a new romantic comedy with ties to the holiday season staple: “Christmas Carol”.    And this is just the beginning, next week is “Star Trek”, the following week is “Angels and Demons” (”DaVinci Code”), and the following week is “Terminator: Salvation”.

New at Theaters (Friday): “Battle for Terra”, “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Best Bet(s): Its probably obvious what I’m going to say here: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”… but for audiences who aren’t into X-Men/Superhero/Comic Book/Action movies, there’s the Matthew McConaughey/Jennifer Garner romantic comedy “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”, based on the “Christmas Carol” premise of the ghosts of past, present, and future giving the min character a wake-up call… it could be pretty good… but a longshot at winning the weekend.

New Week on DVD (Tuesday): “Bride Wars”, “Hotel for Dogs”, “JCVD”, “Legally Blondes”, “Nothing But the Truth”, “The Uninvited”, “What Doesn’t Kill You”

Best Bet(s): I haven’t seen all of these offerings, but I can tell you that “Bride Wars” and “Hotel for Dogs” are great rentals for their target audiences (women and families), and pretty good for anyone outside the target audiences.

 CLICK HERE TO FIND A MOVIE SHOWTIME

Next Week at Theaters: “Next Day Air”, “Star Trek” (Thursday evening), “The Chaos Experiment” (formerly “The Steam Experiment”) (Celebration! North and Celebration! RiverTown only)

Next Week on DVD: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, ”Last Chance Harvey”, “Wendy and Lucy”

MY REVIEWS OF OTHER MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS OR AVAILABLE TO RENT/BUY: 

Playing at West Michigan movie theaters:
“Slumdog Millionaire” (9.5/ 10)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (9.5 / 10)
“Defiance” (8.0 / 10)
“I Love You, Man” (8.0/ 10)
“State of Play” (8.0)
“Revolutionary Road” (7.9 / 10)
“New in Town” (7.9 / 10)
“Taken” (7.5 / 10)
“Fanboys” (8.5 for me, adjusted to 7.5 for most)
“He’s Just Not That Into You” (7.5 / 10)
“Four Christmases”  (7.5 / 10)
“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (7.0 / 10)
“Knowing” (7.0 / 10)
“Watchmen” (7.0 / 10)
“The Day the Earth Stood Still” (6.5 / 10)
“Monsters Vs. Aliens” (6.0 / 10)
“Confessions of A Shopaholic” (5.5 / 10)

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Available to rent or buy:
“Slumdog Millionaire” (9.5/ 10)
“The Dark Knight” (9.5 / 10)
“Changeling”  (9.5 / 10)
“WALL-E” (9.0)
“Pride and Glory” (9.0 / 10)
“The Wrestler” (8.9 / 10)
“Righteous Kill” (8.9 / 10)
“Eagle Eye” (8.5 / 10)
“Burn After Reading” (8.5 / 10)
“Wanted” (8.0 / 10)
“The Visitor” (8.0 / 10)
“Australia”  (7.9 / 10)
“Frozen River” (7.9 / 10)
“Quantum of Solace”  (7.5 / 10)
“Traitor” (7.5 / 10)
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“Marley & Me” (7.5 / 10)
“Bride Wars” (7.5 / 10)
“Rachel Getting Married” (7.0)
“Get Smart” (7.0 / 10)
“Bedtime Stories” (7.0 / 10)
“Twilight”  (7.0 / 10)
“Hotel for Dogs” (7.0 / 10)
“Appaloosa” (6.9 / 10)
“Lakeview Terrace” (6.5 / 10)
“Hellboy II: Golden Army” (6.5 / 10)
“Body of Lies” (6.0)
“Noise” (6.0 / 10) 

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