“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)

- – -

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)

- – -

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

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)

6. “Twilight”  – $5.22 million
(5th week, was #3 last week, lost 34% from last week)

7. ”Bolt”  – $4.26 million
(5th week, was #4 last week, lost 43% from last week)

8. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $3.15 million (limited release: added 420 theaters – now playing in Grand Rapids)
(6th week, was #11 last week, 44% more audience than last week)

9. “Australia”  – $2.33 million
(4th week, was #5 last week, lost 44% from last week)

10. “Quantum of Solace” - $2.15 million
(6th week, was #6 last week, lost 42% from last week)

- – -

11. ”Milk” – $1.64 million   (limited release: added 28 theaters)
(4th week, was #9 last week, lost 36% from last week)

14. ”Doubt″ – $0.73 million (limited release: added 24 theaters)
(2nd week, was #19 last week, 43% more than last week)

18. ”Gran Torino″ – $0.47 million (limited release: added 13 theaters)
(2nd week, was #20 last week, 72% more than last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

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)

6. “Quantum of Solace” - $3.72 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, lost 45% from last week)

7. ”Nothing Like the Holidays” - $3.53 million  (1st week)

8. “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – $3.18 million
(6th week, was #8 last week, lost 37% from last week)

9. ”Milk” – $2.60 million   (limited release: added 229 theaters)
(3rd week, was #11 last week, 42% more than last week)

10. ”Transporter 3″ – $2.35 million
(3rd week, was #7 last week, lost 50% from last week)

—

11. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $2.18 million +55.2%   (limted release: added 91 theaters)
(5th week, was #12 last week, 55% more than last 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)

6. “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – $5.10 million 
(5th week, was #6 last week, lost 64% of its audience from last week)

7. “Transporter 3″ – $4.50 million
(2nd week, was #7 last week, lost 63% of its audience from last week)

8. “Punisher: War Zone” – $4.00 million (1st week)

9. “Cadillac Records” – $3.50 million (1st week) (limited release: 686 theaters)

10. “Role Models” – $2.62 million
(5th week, was #8 last week, lost 50% of its audience from last week)

- – -

11. “Milk” – $1.69 million  (limited release: 99 theaters)
(2nd week, was #10 last week, gained 16% more than its audience from last week, added 63 more theaters)

12. “Slumdog Millionaire” – $1.41 million  (limited release: 78 theaters)
(4th week, was #11 last week, gained 5% more than its audience from last week, added 29 more theaters)

13. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” – $1.69 million  (limited release: 678 theaters)
(5th week, was #9 last week, lost 40% of its audience from last week)

14. “Changeling” - $0.50 million
(7th week, was #12 last week, lost 50% of its audience from last week)

15. ”Nobel Son” – $0.37 million (1st week) (limited release: 893 theaters)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Four Christmases” poster courtesy New Line Cinema

While this Christmas Comedy is a good comedic break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it won’t make my top 10 favorite Christmas Movies.

The movie is carried by the relationship concept between the main characters of Brad and Kate and their families that most audiences will find relevant and easy to relate to…

 “Four Christmases”

(2008) (rated: PG-13 for some sexual humor and language) (1 hr, 22 min)

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Billingsley, Carol Kane, Colleen Camp

Director: Seth Gordon

Genre: Comedy/Christmas

The Plot: A couple struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day.

MY TAKE:

Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) have a mission to avoid their dysfunctional families on Christmas and they nearly pull it off again this time, until fog grounds their flight to Fiji.   As you’ve probably seen in the trailer – they are then forced to spend Christmas with each of their divorced parents and siblings, making four stops in one day, hence the title of the movie.

While this has all the makings of becoming a holiday classic: a couple, holiday travel, dysfunctional families, comedy, a good cast, a fresh concept, it falls a little short along the way.

As I mentioned above this isn’t a new holiday classic, but the story does have a lot of heart, not just all jokes, pranks, gags, and physical humor.    Unfortunately some of the best lines and moments are in the different trailers and clips on tv, so if you can manage to avoid some of them you’ll still be laughing when you get to the theater.

The really good ensemble cast (which includes a grown up Peter Billingsley who played Ralphie in 1983’s A  Christmas Story) helps remind us about how truly blessed we are despite our messed up families.

As we’ve seen in his previous comedies - inlcuding last year’s Christmas Comedy that also missed making my list of classics – there was a lot of ad-libbing from Vince Vaughn, playing the character of Ben the way he’s played most of his other comedic characters in Fred Claus, Wedding Crashers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Dodgeball, and Old School.

I’m not saying Vaughn’s acting is always the same, because its not – check out his serious roles in Domestic Disturbance (2001) or Clay Pigeons (1998) for example… you’ll see why he was offered so many roles in the last few years.

Reese Witherspoon did a pretty good job of trying to keep up with Vaughn’s comedy, although she plays it slightly more of the “straight man” to Vaughn’s comedic performance.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Its one of the better holiday comedies since Elf (2003) and while I wanted to like it more, I can’t give it a great review… I give it 7.5 out of 10… remembering the movie is a holiday comedy, that is supposed to make you laugh and feel good in the end, but its just not one of the best ever in this category.

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

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“Four Christmases” poster courtesy New Line Cinema

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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)

6. “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – $14.50 million 
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 7% of its audience from last week)

7. “Transporter 3″ – $12.33 million (1st week)

8. “Role Models” – $5.28 million
(4th week, was #5 last week, lost 28% of its audience from last week)

9. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” – $1.69 million
(4th week, was #8 last week, gained 3% more than its audience from last week, added 30% more theaters)

10. “Milk” – $1.38 million (1st week)

- - 

11. “Slumdog Millionaire” – $1.37 million
(3rd week, was #11 last week, gained 44% more than its audience from last week, added 35% more theaters)

12. “Changeling” - $1.21 million
(6th week, was #6 last week, lost 55% of its audience from last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Four Christmases” poster courtesy New Line Cinema

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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:

“Punisher: War Zone”, “Cadillac Records” (limited), “Nobel Son” (limted)

Next Week on DVD: “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, “The Longshots”, “Lower Learning”, “Step Brothers”, “Wanted”, “The X Files: I Want to Believe”