It was a slower weekend nationally, perhaps because it was the last shopping weekened before Christmas, or the bad winter weather across a majority of the country could have also been a factor.  

Either way, the weekend’s three new releases came out on top, with Jim Carrey’s comedy Yes Man edging out Will Smith’s latest drama Seven Pounds for first place while the family movie The Tale of Desperaux barely beat last weekend’s number one The Day the Earth Stood Still for third place.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “Yes Man” - $18.16 million  (1st week)

2. “Seven Pounds” - $16.00 million  (1st week)

3. “The Tale of Desperaux” - $10.51 million  (1st week)

4. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” - $10.15 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 66% of audience from last week)

5. “Four Christmases”  - $7.75 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

(more…)

The Day the Earth Stood Still #1 in Weekend Box Office

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” - $31.00 million  (1st week)

2. “Four Christmases”  - $13.27 million
(3rd week, was #1 last week, lost 22% from last week)

3. “Twilight”  - $8.01 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 39% from last week)

4. ”Bolt”  - $7.46 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 24% from last week)

5. “Australia”  - $4.17 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 41% from last week)

(more…)

Four Christmases tops box office for second straight week

It was a down weekend for theaters and studios, with numbers down significanty from Thanksgiving weekend.  The weekend’s poorly reviewed new release of Punisher: War Zone and the limited distribution of the other new releases Cadillac Records and Nobel Son and the fact that this wasn’t the big movie watching Thanksgiving weekend all added up to a loss of 50% nationwide and the 3rd lowest total box office since kids went back to school in September.   Twilight and Australia both moved up one spot from last week as they lost less of their audience than Bolt and Quantum of Solace.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (studio estimates)
1. “Four Christmases” - $18.18 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 42% of its audience from last week)

2. “Twilight” - $13.20 million 
(3rd week, was #3 last week, lost 50% of its audience from last week)

3. “Bolt” - $9.70 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 64% of its audience from last week)

4. “Australia” - $7.00 million
(2nd week, was #5 last week, lost 53% of its audience from last week) 

5. “Quantum of Solace” - $6.60 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 65% of its audience from last week)

(more…)

Of the four new movies, the holiday comedy Four Christmases was the highest earner of the new bunch, making more money than the other 3 new movies combined during the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (studio estimates)
1. “Four Christmases” - $31.68 million (1st week)

2. “Bolt” - $26.60 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, gained 1% more than its audience from last week)

3. “Twilight” - $26.37 million 
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 62% of its audience from last week)

4. “Quantum of Solace” - $19.50 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 27% of its audience from last week)

5. “Australia” - $14.82 million (1st week)

(more…)

A cornucopia of movie choices this thanksgiving week, both at theaters and to rent/buy…

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In Theaters (Wednesday): “Australia”, “Four Christmases”, “Transporter 3″, “Milk” (limited)

On DVD (Tuesday): “Fred Claus”, “Hancock”, “Meet Dave”, “Space Chimps”

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MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: 3 very different movies in wide release this week Four Christmases is trying to be another holiday comedy, but is getting mixed reviews, Australia is an epic movie with romance and adventure mixed in, and Transporter 3 is all action, a sequel to the other Jason Statham movies.  

Since I’ve only seen one, its hard to make a recommendation and since Australia isn’t for everyone, you may need to see something that’s already out in theaters, check out my list of reviews for previous releases.

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW ON DVD: One of last year’s decent christmas comedies, Fred Claus, the solid superhero movie Hancock, the box office bust sci-fo comedy Meet Dave, and the poorly reviewed family adventure Space Chimps.

The best bet here by far is Hancock - a superhero hero movie that many overlooked due to the success of The Dark Knight and Iron Man, my second choice would be Fred Claus - a christmas comedy that was good, but not great.

Next Week at Theaters:

(more…)

Australia is a new modern epic, that is very good, but its no Gone with the Wind

The nearly 3 hour run time of Australia is noticeable, but the movie’s plot didn’t drag - there’s just a lot of story to tell

With its sweeping scenes, set pieces, costumes and great cinematography, Australia could get some Academy Awards - Nicole Kidman could get a nomination, but Hugh Jackman probably won’t - there’s just too many strong performances from male leads already this year - and more to come in the next few weeks

 “Australia”

(2008) (rated: PG-13 for some violence, a scene of sensuality, and brief strong language) (2 hr, 45 min)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Tony Barry, David Gulpilil, Brandon Walters, David Wenham, Jack Thompson

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Genre: Period Adventure/Drama/War/Western/Epic

The Plot: Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.

MY TAKE (spoiler-free): I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, in middle school I even had a pen pal from Australia and was jealous when my grandparents went to Australia and literally - all I got was a t-shirt.  The scenery and the sweeping landscapes in this movie may be enough to hold me over for a few more years.

While other modern epics like Lord of the Rings (2001), Gladiator (2000), Empire of the Sun (1987), are better, Australia is a dramatic look back at a time in history when most Americans were focused on the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. involvement in World War II.

In Australia, the film’s smart casting of native Australians Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman pays off - as they grab the accent and effortlessly breathe life into their characters.   Their chemistry is great - going from prickly to passionate over the movie’s nearly 3 hours.  

(more…)

UPDATED September 24, 2008 at 1:00pm:

“Release Dates Are Subject to Change” … glad I added that to this list… because one date change pushed a movie completely out of the Fall/Winter season… “Taken” moves from September 19th to January 23rd !!!  Also moving: “Crossing Over” moves from October 24th to December 3rd and “Blindness” moves from September 26th to October 3rd.

That means “Blindness” moves into to my “15 to See”:

“Blindness” (October 3rd) - everyone is going blind.. except for Julianne Moore… sounds crazy!

.

And that means “The Lucky Ones” (September 26-limited release) moves on to my “Honorable Mentions” list…

Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, and Michael Peña star as three soldiers that meet one another as they have all returned from Iraq, and circumstance unites them for a road trip across the country.

—–

Originally Published: September 5, 2008 at 10:48am:

The first week of September… its a signal of back to school and the end of the summer movie season… and I’ve got 15 movies for you to look forward to during the Fall/Holiday Movie Season…

Laff’s Fall/Holiday Movie Preview - 15 to see

15 is a bonus… some people give you a Top 10… but I’m giving you 15…  15 movies over the next 4 months that are likely to be big at the box office and/or fill out the ballots for Academy Award consideration !!!!

(release dates are subject to change)

“Burn After Reading” (September 12th)

New comedy-drama from Ethan and Joel Cohen… with a great cast and cool trailer!!!

Watch the “Burn After Reading” trailer at trailerspy.com

Starring: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simmons

Plot: A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Early look at “Burn After Reading”

—-

“Righteous Kill” (September 12th)

I was ready for this one as soon as they announced Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino would be in the movie together … and they are both police officers.. and the trailer solidified it for me!

“Righteous Kill” trailer at trailerpsy.com

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy

Plot: Two veteran New York City detectives (De Niro and Pacino) work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

—-

“Taken” (now January 23rd )

I can’t wait to see Liam Neeson back in a leading role kicking some butt !!

Watch the ”Taken” trailer at trailerspy.com

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, (more…)

The first week of September… its a signal of back to school and the end of the summer movie season… and I’ve got 15 movies for you to look forward to during the Fall/Holiday Movie Season…

Laff’s Fall/Holiday Movie Preview - 15 to see

15 is a bonus… some people give you a Top 10… but I’m giving you 15…  15 movies over the next 4 months that are likely to be big at the box office and/or fill out the ballots for Academy Award consideration !!!!

(release dates are subject to change)

“Burn After Reading” (September 12th)

New comedy-drama from Ethan and Joel Cohen… with a great cast and cool trailer!!!

Watch the “Burn After Reading” trailer at trailerspy.com

Starring: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simmons

Plot: A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Early look at “Burn After Reading”

—-

“Righteous Kill” (September 12th)

I was ready for this one as soon as they announced Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino would be in the movie together … and they are both police officers.. and the trailer solidified it for me!

“Righteous Kill” trailer at trailerpsy.com

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy

Plot: Two veteran New York City detectives (De Niro and Pacino) work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

—-

“Taken” (September 19th)

I can’t wait to see Liam Neeson back in a leading role kicking some butt !!

Watch the ”Taken” trailer at trailerspy.com

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, (more…)