“Chaos Experiment” limited in first weekend of release

Returns for “The Chaos Experiment”, were limited at just two Grand Rapids area theaters over the weekend with just 225 tickets sold for the R-rated thriller.

The movie that was shot in Grand Rapids over 16 days in September 2008 stars Val Kilmer and Armand Assante, and some noticeable Grand Rapids landmarks like the Amway Grand Plaza, the Van Andel Museum Center, the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Bull’s Head Tavern, and the Grand Rapids Press.

In an earlier press release, we were told that the movie would be out on DVD in June… but now it looks like it will be closer to an August release.   June is just around the corner and “Chaos” has not posted for release on any of the major DVD release websites.   Amazon.com has the release date as August 4th.   But, a spokesperson at Genius Products tells me “we haven’t officially announced the DVD street date, but I can tell you that if it were in June we would have already announced it”.

I’ll keep you posted!!

Read more about “The Chaos Experiment”, formerly “The Steam Experiment”

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  “Twilight at Midnight”

Attention “Twilight” fans!!  

While the DVD isn’t available until Saturday (3/21), Summit Entertainment wants to create a fun event out of the release with organized “Twilight at Midnight” DVD release parties at area stores on Friday from 10pm until midnight, much like book releases as stores are allowed to start selling the special edition DVDs just afer midnight on Saturday. 

There are more than a dozen “Twilight at Midnight” DVD release events across West Michigan, including the Walmart on Alpine, Hot Topic on 28th Street, FYE and Hot Topic at River Town Crossings Mall in Grandville, and the Walmart in Greenville, just enter your zip code through this link to the “Twilight at Midnight” store locator to find out which stores near you are staying open late to sell the DVD!!

Executives at Summit Entertainment are working with retailers to make this special edition DVD something that would not disappoint fans.   President of Home Entertainment, Steve Nickerson said “We wanted to say thank you to all of those who came out in droves last year and helped make Stephenie Meyer’s characters and story a truly successful movie.”   “What better way to celebrate than a weekend party with your fellow Twilight fans”, Nickerson added.

New on DVD (Tuesday): “College”, “Fireproof”, “Lakeview Terrace”, “The Lucky Ones”, “Pride and Glory”, “The Rocker”, “RockNRolla”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

BEST BET: “Pride and Glory”, but from what I’ve heard… EVERYTHING on this week’s list *except*  is worth a rent, although “The Rocker” disappointed at the box office.  Don’t forget “Fireproof”, the romantic drama surprised critics at the box office and did very well for a small budget Christian movie.

New at Theaters (Friday): “New in Town”, “Taken”, “The Uninvited”

BEST BET: Finally… I hope… “Taken” is scheduled to open this weekend… I say that because after I saw the trailer back in August, the release date moved from September 19th to January 23rd to now this Friday, January 30th !!!  I have a feeling my review will be impacted by this massive delay.

Also new this week the cute and funny date movie “New in Town” with Renee Zellweger and Harry Conick, Jr. and the horror flick “The Uninvited” from the producers of “The Ring”.

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

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The new options at theaters (3 movies with Academy Award nominations) are clearly better than the options of movies coming out on DVD this week!   “The Dark Knight” is back in IMAX this Friday!!
You’ve also been warned: “Repo! The Genetic Opera” is considered by many to be the worst movie of the year – so don’t rent it!  

New this week at Theaters (Friday): “Revolutionary Road” (wide release), ”The Wrestler” (wide release), “Inkheart”, “Possession”, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”, “The Dark Knight” (IMAX re-issue)

New this week on DVD (Tuesday): “City of Ember”, “The Express”, “Henry Poole is Here”, “Igor”, “Max Payne”, “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, “Saw V”, “Amusement”

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

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CORRECTIONS: Golden Globe nominated Milk makes its Grand Rapids opening this weekend.   The wide release date for Doubt is now 12/25, so Doubt may be more limited than originally planned this weekend.

Its a blockbuster week for movies both on DVD (The Dark Knight) and in theaters (The Day the Earth Stood Still)…

In Theaters (Friday): “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Nothing Like the Holidays”, “Delgo”, “Milk” (Grand Rapids expanded release), “Doubt” (limited)

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: Keanu Reeves in a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, a family holiday comedy Nothing Like the Holidays, a family animated adventure Delgo and starting in limited release – the relgious drama Doubt with award contenders Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.  I have yet to see any of these… I’ll blog after I do, for now your best bets are either Golden Globe nominated Milk or the blockbuster remake The Day the Earth Stood Still… or see one of the movies already playing (see my reviews below)… or ….

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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:

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There was once a great war between competing high definition disc formats.  At stake: laying claim to the vast collection of HDTVs across the world.  The end came and went several months ago as Blu-Ray was declared the winner and HD-DVD went away in shambles with its movies thrown to the bargain bin and player prices slashed to rockbottom prices.  Buying the loser’s products was never of any interest to me, but this is about how I’m turning my back on the winner.

I don’t want a Blu-Ray player.

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A critics’ favorite for Animated Movie comes to DVD, and tweens get set to flood the box office for “Twilight”…

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

In Theaters (Friday): “Bolt”, “Twilight”, “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 “Boy in the Striped Pajamas”.  

MY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTION:

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A Bond weekend coming up at the box office, and a variety of options coming out to rent/buy on DVD this week.

On DVD (Tuesday): “Beer for My Horses”, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”, “Star Wars The Clone Wars”, “Sukiyaki Western Django”, and “This Christmas.”

In Theaters (Friday): “Quantum of Solace”, “Slumdog Millionaire” (limited), and “A Christmas Tale.”

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(RE-POSTING from 11/6) Wide variety of movies in theaters and on DVD this weekend, including a special Sunday release of “Kung Fu Panda”…

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In Theaters (Friday 11/7): “Madagascar 2: Ecsape to Africa”, “Role Models”, “Soul Men”, “House (limited)

On DVD (Tuesday 11/4): “Get Smart”, “Shrek the Halls”, “Transsiberian”,
On DVD (Sunday 11/9): “Kung Fu Panda”
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MY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTION:

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