Variety reports that the ABC Family network has made a deal for two of this year’s Disney movies: Jerry Bruckheimer’s guinea pig action movie “G-Force” and Robert Zemeckis’ animated version of “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey.

The five-film deal also includes “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” “Bedtime Stories” and “Race to Witch Mountain”.

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is expected to air on ABC Family next year, “G-Force” will air in 2011, while “A Christmas Carol”, “Bedtime Stories”, and “Race to Witch Mountain” will be on the cable network in 2012.   

Carrey’s “A Christmas Carol” is expected to be part of ABC Family’s increasingly popular “25 Days of Christmas” December programming block, like Zemeckis’ “The Polar Express” has the past few holiday seasons.

New on DVD: “Bedtime Stories”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)”, “Donkey Punch”, “Doubt”, “Not Easily Broken”, “The Tale of Despereaux”, “Yes Man”

BEST BETs: This is one of those weeks where for many moviegoers, the options on DVD are better than the theater. 

So lets start with the DVDs led by ”Doubt” that received 5 Oscar nominations including Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress… there’s the well-reviewed Jim Carrey comedy “Yes Man”… and the fun family comedy “Bedtime Stories” and the animated adventure “The Tale of Despereaux”.  “The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)” should be at the bottom of your rental list this week, because its okay, but not that great.

“Observe and Report” is the second Mall Cop Comedy this year after “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”, but this one is rated “R” and not family friendly… “Hannah Montana The Movie” will be big for tweens and teens who are growing up as Miley Crus fans… “Dragonball Evolution” is a movie adaptation that may be a few years too late of the cartoons and card games that were popular several years ago.

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Next Week at Theaters: “17 Again”, “Crank: High Voltage”, “State of Play”

Next Week on DVD: “The Reader”, “The Spirit”, “Dark Matter”

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)
“The Wrestler” (8.9 / 10)
“Defiance” (8.0 / 10)
“I Love You, Man” (8.0/ 10)
“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)
“Bride Wars” (7.5 / 10)
“Four Christmases”  (7.5 / 10)
“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (7.0 / 10)
“Knowing” (7.0 / 10)
“Watchmen” (7.0 / 10)
“Hotel for Dogs” (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)
“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)
“Get Smart” (7.0 / 10)
“Bedtime Stories” (7.0 / 10)
“Twilight”  (7.0 / 10)
“Appaloosa” (6.9 / 10)
“Lakeview Terrace” (6.5 / 10)
“Hellboy II: Golden Army” (6.5 / 10)
“Noise” (6.0 / 10)

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I’ve been telling people to see “Slumdog Millionaire” ever since it was released in West Michigan, now it seems that the Golden Globes wins, the Oscar nominations, and national advertising is working.  The movie saw an 83% increase in ticket sales from last weekend, which was already up 55%  than the weekend previous.

Also seeing a Golden Globes/Oscar bounce, the audience for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” grew 9% from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):
1. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $21.62 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 32% from last week)

2. “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” – $20.82 million (1st week)

3. “Gran Torino” – $16.24 million
(3rd week of wide release, was #2 last week, lost 26% from last week)

4. “Hotel for Dogs” – $12.86 million
(2nd week, was #5 last week, lost 24% from last week)

5. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $10.70 million
(11th week, was #10 last week, gained 83% more audience from last week)

6. “My Bloody Valentine” – $10.01 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 53% from last week)

7. “Inkheart” – $7.60 million (1st week)

8. “Bride Wars” - $6.87 million
(3rd week, was #6 last week, lost 41% from last week)

9. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – $6.09 million
(5th week, was #11 last week, gained 9% more audience from last week)

10. “Notorious” – $5.78 million
(2nd week, was #4 last week, lost 72% from last week)

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11. “Defiance” - $5.67 million
(2nd week of wide release, was #8 last week, lost 36% from last week)

12. “Revolutionary Road” – $5.19 million (1st week of wide release)

13. “The Unborn” – $4.36 million
(3rd week, was #7 last week, lost 53% from last week)

14. ”The Wrestler” – $3.75 (1st week of wide release)

15. “Marley & Me” – $3.03 million
(5th week, was #9 last week, lost 50% of audience from last week)

18. “Bedtime Stories” – $1.95 million
(5th week, was #12 last week, lost 59% of audience from last week)

26. “The Dark Knight” – $0.67 million
(IMAX re-issue, total gross now $531.71 million, still $69 million behind “Titanic”, the #1 domestic movie of all time)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” was number one… by more than $10 million dollars over second place “Gran Torino”.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):
1. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $31.83 million (1st week)

2. “Gran Torino” – $21.98 million
(2nd week of wide release, was #1 last week, lost 26% from last week)

3. “My Bloody Valentine” – $21.24 million (1st week)

4. “Notorious” – $20.50 million (1st week)

5. “Hotel for Dogs” – $17.01 million (1st week)

6. “Bride Wars” - $11.65 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 45% from last week)

7. “The Unborn” – $9.34 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 53% from last week)

8. “Defiance” - $8.91 million (1st week of wide release)

9. “Marley & Me” – $6.14 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 46% of audience from last week)

10. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $5.85 million
(10th week, was #11 last week, gained 55% more audience from last week)

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11. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – $5.78 million
(4th week, was #5 last week, lost 39% of audience from last week)

12. “Bedtime Stories” – $4.73 million
(4th week, was #6 last week, lost 46% of audience from last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Bedtime Stories” is fun for kids and adults, a good family fun film with a good story that stirs the imagination for kids.

Sandler and company roll out his first PG rated movie… a fun one for the family that has all the stories he tells his niece and nephew coming true… the stories also feature the actors in the movie as various characters. 

Adam Sandler plays Skeeter, a guy who grew up in a small hotel run by his father, a hotel later turned into a megahotel when the father can no longer keep the business successful.

Skeeter’s father is an inspiring storyteller for his son, weaving one bedtime story after another… and as Skeeter watches his niece and nephew for a week, he tries to do the same.

His stories are fun and exciting, but he puts himself in as the hero… with the supporting cast of the movie as the supporting characters in the stories.

Skeeter dials up the stories to improve his personal life when he realizes that parts of the stories he tells end up coming true.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The kids will like it, adults can enjoy it too, its not perfect, its a little predictable, but its good for what it is meant to be: a family movie… I give it 7.0 out of 10.

“Bedtime Stories”

(2008) (rated: PG for some mild rude humor and mild language) (1 hr, 39 min)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Richard Griffiths, Teresa Palmer, Lucy Lawless, Courteney Cox, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Laura Ann Kesling, Jonathan Pryce

Director: Adam Shankman

Genre: Family/Comedy/Fantasy

The Plot: A family comedy about a hotel handyman whose life changes when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true.

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

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“Bedtime Stories” poster courtesy Disney

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“The Spirit” followed up its poor opening weekend by dropping to 13th (losing 49% of its audience) during a weekend with no wide releases (that’s a red flag movie go-ers !!!).

There were 27% fewer people ($130 million) at the movies over the New Year’s weekend compared to the big Christmas weekend ($179 million).

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated): 
1. “Marley & Me” – $24.05 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 34% of audience from last week)

2. “Bedtime Stories” – $20.32 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 26% of audience from last week)

3. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” - $18.40 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 32% of audience from last week)

4. “Valkyrie” – $14.04 million
(2nd week, was #4 last week, lost 33% of audience from last week)

5. “Yes Man” – $13.85 million  
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 17% of audience from last week)

6. “Seven Pounds” – $10.00 million 
(3rd week, was #6 last week, lost 24% of audience from last week)

7. “The Tale of Desperaux” – $7.02 million 
(3rd week, was #7 last week, lost 21% of audience from last week)

8. ”Doubt″ – $5.03 million
(4th week, was #10 last week, lost 6% from last week)

9. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” – $4.85 million
(4th week, was #8 last week, lost 37% of audience from last week)

10. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $4.77 million (limited release: just 612 theaters)
(8th week, was #13 last week, 11% more audience than last week)

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11. “Twilight”  – $4.53 million
(7th week, was #12 last week, lost 5% from last week)

13. “The Spirit” – $3.27 million
(2nd week, was #9 last week, lost 49% from last week)

15. ”Gran Torino″ – $2.82 million (limited release: just 84 theaters)
(4th week, was #15 last week, 21% more audience than last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

The life story of a dog “Marley & Me” and the life story of a man who ages backwards “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” take first and third place, while Adam Sandler’s family movie was second and Tom Cruise’s nazi-era drama was fourth.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “Marley & Me” – $37.00 million  (1st week)

2. “Bedtime Stories” – $28.07 million  (1st week)

3. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” - $27.00 million  (1st week)

4. “Valkyrie” – $21.53 million  (1st week)

5. “Yes Man” – $16.45 million  
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 10% of audience from last week)

6. “Seven Pounds” – $13.40 million 
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 10% of audience from last week)

7. “The Tale of Desperaux” – $9.37 million 
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 7% of audience from last week)

8. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” – $7.90 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 20% of audience from last week)

9. “The Spirit” – $6.51 million (1st week)

10. ”Doubt″ – $5.68 million
(3rd week, was #15 last week, gained 733% more audience than last week, added 1,228 theaters)

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11.  “Four Christmases”  – $5.05 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, lost 35% from last week)

12. “Twilight”  – $4.52 million
(6th week, was #6 last week, lost 13% from last week)

13. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $4.45 million (limited release: added 25 theaters)
(7th week, was #8 last week, 45% more audience than last week)

15. ”Gran Torino″ – $2.44 million (limited release: added 65 theaters)
(3rd week, was #18 last week, 421% more audience than last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

If you can’t get to the theaters during this week, there’s always next week, so with no new movies in wide release, we can all try to catch up…

New on DVD: “Burn After Reading” (Sunday), “Savage Grace”, “Pulse 3″, “Beethoven’s Big Break”

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW ON DVD: There’s only one movie to recommend here, UNLESS your rental audience includes kids, then “Burn After Reading” - one of my favorite comedies of the year – is NOT for you, otherwise, I highly recommend this quirky Comedy/Drama from the Coen Brothers with a great cast of characters.

There are nearly a dozen movies out new in theaters this week, including 3 with possible Academy Award chances for Best Picture, so be sure to read the releases for both Thursday (12/25) and Friday (12/26)…

New at Theaters Thursday 12/25: “Frost/Nixon” (wide), “Bedtime Stories”, “The Spirit”, “Marley & Me”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “The Reader” (limited), “Doubt” (wide)

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New at Theaters Friday 12/26: “Slumdog Millionaire” (expanded), “Valkyrie”, “Last Chance Harvey” (limited), “Revolutionary Road” (limited), “Waltz with Bashir” (limited)

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: “Frost/Nixon”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, and “Slumdog Millionaire” are the 3 movies with Oscar buzz… so far, I’ve only seen one, but that will soon change, not to mention “Benjamin Button” was part of my Fall/Holiday Preview, and now its finally here!! 

“Doubt” and “The Reader” are dramas with Golden Globe nominated performances.

If you see “Marley & Me”, be sure sure to take some tissues with you – this movie may be labeled a romantic comedy – but its not a gut buster, its a tear jerker!

For the romance, there’s “Last Chance Harvey” (Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson) and “Revolutionary Road” (Leonardo DiCpario and Kate Winslett) but both are in limited release and may not be playing at any theater remotely near you.

For the kids/family: Adam Sandler’s new “Bedtime Stories” looks like a lot of fun… we’ll see.

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MY REVIEWS OF MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS: 
“Four Christmases”  (7.5)
“Twilight”  (7.0)
“Australia”  (7.9)
“Quantum of Solace”  (7.5)
“Role Models”  (7.5)
“Slumdog Millionaire”  (9.5)
“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”  (7.5)
“Changeling”  (9.5)
“What Just Happened”  (6.5)

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Next Week at Theaters: “Defiance” (limited), “Good” (LA/NY)

Next Week on DVD: “The Duchess” (Saturday), “Eagle Eye” (Saturday), “Ghost Town” (Saturday), “An American Carol”, “Surfer, Dude”, “Towelhead”