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On DVD (Tuesday): “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2″, “Tropic Thunder”, WALL-E”

In Theaters (Friday): “Bolt”, “Twilight” (ticket sales), “Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (expanded release), “Special” (limited)
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     MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW ON DVD: One of the critics’ favorites for Best Animated movie of the year is “WALL-E”, a box office hit “Tropic Thunder”, and a popular summer movie sequel for teen girls “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2″ also hits DVD.  Unfortuantely, I have yet to see any of them.

   MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: While Disney’s “Bolt” is getting good reviews and will make some money this weekend, it will lose some of its potential audience to the families with tweens and young girls going to see “Twilight”, the most anticipated movie for tweens this season.  “Twilight” is looking like the next Harry Potter phenomenon - a popular book turned into a movie franchise - that will bring in a lot of money at the box office, some theaters in West Michigan are already seeing an increase in ticket sales.  In expanded release, but in fewer theaters is the Drama set in the time of the Holocaust “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”.   Look for my reviews on “Twilight” and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” later this week.

MY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTION:

1. “Twilight” - $65 million
2. “Quantum of Solace” - $45 million
3. “Bolt” - $30 million
4. “Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa” - $17.5 million
5. “Role Models” - $6 million
6. “High School Musical 3″ - $3 million
7. “Changeling” - $2 million
8. “The Secret Life of Bees” - $1.5 million
9. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” - $1 million
10. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” - $0.9 million

Next Week at Theaters: (Wed 11/26) “Australia”, “Four Christmases”, “Transporter 3″, “Milk” (limited)

Next Week on DVD: “Fred Claus”, “Hancock”, “Meet Dave”, “Space Chimps”

With that said, he better get his act together fast.  When former players like Desmond Howard are saying you look more like Michigan Tech than Michigan, you’re in trouble.  When you lose the trifecta (Notre Dame/Michigan State/Ohio State) as they are in danger of doing, you’re in trouble.   Rodriguez needs a win over Ohio State in the worst way.  Then he needs a top notch recruiting class and a public relations firm to help make Michigan fans forget his entrance and year one performance. 

He’s been too good a coach in the past to suddenly become Michigan’s Matt Millen.   But another season like this, on and off the field, and that’s how he’ll be remembered if Michigan power-brokers lose patience and push him out.   In the meantime Michigan fans need to show a little patience.  Give him a full year to recruit and a chance to get the speedy skill players his system requires. 

One piece of advice for Coach Rod.  Stay off the message boards, turn off your radio, and quit reading the papers.  large_071217-rich-rodriguez-looks-up-at-presser.jpg

The Big Reds pounded on Lowell on Saturday in the quarterfinals.  It was an incredibly dominant performance.  Muskegon scored on every single drive in the first half.  They shut down a powerful Lowell offense that hadn’t been held under 35 points in a game all season.  They stuff Lowell on a goal line stand early to set the tone.  The ran the ball at will against a solid Lowell defense.  Now the question is, how will they respond now that we’re all singing their praises.  Last year they were rolling until the week they were on Versus Network against Rockford.  It was as if somebody flipped a switch and that team struggled from that point on.   I don’t see that happening again, but it has to be in the back on Tony Annese’s mind.

What’s even more amazing is Muskegon Oakridge and Muskegon Catholic Central both look ready to make runs at another state championship.  The Eagles are the top ranked team in Division 5.  The Crusaders are #1 in Division 8.  Dusty Fairfield has Ravenna barking again in Division 7.  And in Division 6 Montague is 11 and 1 heading into its semi-final game against Saginaw Nouvel.  Five teams from one area in the semi-finals, led by the winningest program in history of Michigan.  Something tells me we’re going to see a lot of traffic on I-96 over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

If you’re not already aware of it, get ready for the next big book to movie phenomenon (like the Harry Potter series) that will be huge for tweens.   The excitement for Twilight has been growing for months, from the hundreds of fan sites to the now rapidly increasing sales of tickets.

Twilight opens early Friday morning at 12:01am.

Just like other highly anticipated movies before it, there are midnight shows already selling lots of tickets… but this presale and marketing extravaganza may see numbers that approach those of The Dark Knight.

For example, as of today, Celebration! Cinemas in West Michigan is already reporting 2,000 tickets sold for midnight shows in their circuit of theaters in Grand Rapids.    In a press release, Ron VanTimmeren, Vice President of Programming for Celebration! Cinema says “We expect that number will nearly double by Thursday afternoon.  We will continue adding shows to ensure there is a seat for everyone.” When its all said and done, the theater chain expects to sell out 10 midnight shows in the area.

Twilight is a PG-13 romantic/horror/thriller based on the #1 New York Times Best-Selling book series (more than 17 million books in print) by Stephenie Meyer about a teenage girl who risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

Twilight is directed by Catherine Hardwicke

The movie stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke

“Twilight” poster courtesy Summit Entertainment

“Slumdog Millionaire” won the “People’s Choice Award” at the Toronto Film Festival… and like other little movies before it, this train is starting to pick up momentum with critics across the country… including me.

Unfortunately, it won’t be playing in Grand Rapids until December 26th.

“Slumdog Millionaire” poster courtesy Fox Searchlight

“Slumdog Millionaire”

(2008) (rated: R for some violence, disturbing images and language) (2 hrs)

Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Irfan Khan

Director: Danny Boyle

Genre: Drama/Mystery/Romance

The Plot: The story of how impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik became a contestant on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be A Millionaire?” — an endeavor made without prize money in mind, rather, an effort to prove his love for his friend Latika, who is an ardent fan of the show.

MY TAKE (contains minor spoilers): Every once in awhile a movie comes along and just grabs you… its realism grabs you, its story inspires you, its little moments makes you smile, and in the end root for the main character - this is one of those movies.

I have to be honest,

when I heard some of those national critics saying good things about it, I had my doubts, but I also tried to avoid their reviews (as I’ve tried to do with every movie until I see it).  And in the end, Slumdog Millionaire delivers a great story.

Slumdog Millionaire has a love story, but its not a romance.  Its about the relationship between two brothers and their female friend.   Its also set in India: a different country and culture, than most of us our used to seeing - but its themes are easy to translate to our own lives.

Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as young Jamal in "Slumdog Millionaire"

The audience is dropped into the slums of India, with people living in poor, unhealthy conditions - and as this theme is weaved in, it gives the audience an overwhelming sense to root for the main characters: two young brothers Jamal and Salim, who are constantly on the run from from one life-preserving scheme to another as cool, upbeat soundtrack weaves its way through the story, enhancing the great cinematography and editing.

But when an older Jamal (Dev Patel) makes it on as a contestant for the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”, the police are called in to investigate how an uneducated slum kid could know so many answers.

Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor in "Slumdog Millionaire" courtesy Fox Searchlight

The movie uses the flashback, something we’ve all seen before - but in a way that is somewhat fresh: Jamal flashes back to different chapters of his life, showing us how he might have known the answers to each question on the game show.

When he’s first interrogated by the Inspector and his officer, we start to get the feeling that he might have cheated, but as the movie goes on, we and police officers begin to believe the opposite.

This is another movie with great work by young actors - a good third of this movie hinges on the acting of the young kids playing Jamal, Salim, and Latika.

Remember when “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” was the event on tv?   When millions would tune in to watch, or you and your co-workers would huddle around the tv to watch, then call in to try to be a contestant?   This movie harnesses that feeling: but its not just the studio audience and people all over India rooting for Jamal as he moves up the prize winnings, becoming a national obessession - the audience is also pulled in.

The host, Anil Kapoor is very good as the Indian version of Regis, but he’s not as simple to figure out as he first seems.   And his line saying “from rags to riches” couldn’t be more perfect on multiple levels.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Slumdog Millionaire HAS TO BE considered for Academy Awards, the movie is inspiring with an underdog you can’t help but root for!   Its almost perfect: I give it 9.5 out of 10.

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

“Slumdog Millionaire” poster courtesy Fox Searchlight

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No real surprise here… Bond is always a big moneymaker… it wasn’t a question of it would be #1, just a question of how much money it would actually make. 

Back on track???  This will be the first time since the summer that I correctly predicted all of the top 10 box office spots.

"Quantum of Solace" tops box office with $67 million

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results)
1. “Quantum of Solace” - $67.53 million (1st week)

2. “Madagascar 2: Ecsape to Africa” - $35.02 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 44% of its audience from last week)

3. “Role Models” - $11.15 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 42% of its audience from last week)

4. “High School Musical 3” - $5.66 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 38% of its audience from last week)

5. “Changeling” - $4.25 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 41% of its audience from last week)

6. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” - $3.15 million
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 50% of its audience from last week)

7. “Soul Men” - $2.35 million
(2nd week, was #6 last week, lost 57% of its audience from last week)

8. “The Secret Life of Bees” - $2.34 million
(5th week, was #9 last week, lost 24% of its audience from last week)

9. “Saw V” - $1.77 million
(4th week, was #7 last week, lost 56% of its audience from last week)

10. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” - $1.58 million
(7th week, was #11 last week, lost 37% of its audience from last week)

- - - -

11. “Eagle Eye” - $1.46 million
(8th week, was #10 last week, lost 42% of its audience from last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Quantum of Solace” poster courtesy MGM