The 3rd highest grossing movie of the year hits DVD, plus a bio pic, an action, a drama, and a teen sex comedy arrive in theaters this week…

In Theaters (Friday): “W.”,  “Max Payne”,  “The Secret Life of Bees”, “Sex Drive”, “Frozen River” (limited)
On DVD (Tuesday): “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, “Mongol”, “War, Inc.”, “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”, “Stuck”

My Take on What’s New in Theaters: A wide variety of options at the theater this weekend including the Oliver Stone biopic “W.” about George W. Bush, the video game-turned movie “Max Payne” starring Mark Wahlberg, the drama with Academy Award potential “The Secret Life of Bees”, the teen sex comedy “Sex Drive” about a guy who goes across statelines to hook-up with a girl he met online, and the immigration drama “Frozen River” (limited release).

Although I haven’t seen any of these movies yet – the best bet for the serious is “The Secret Life of Bees” and for the action oriented its “Max Payne”.   “W.” and “Sex Drive” have more narrow appeal.

Box Office Predicitions:
1. “Max Payne” – $18 million
2. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” - $13 million (down from #1)
3. “W.” – $9 million
4. “Body of Lies” - $8 million (down from #3)
5. “The Secret Life of Bees” – $7 million
6. “Eagle Eye” - $6 million (down from #4)
7. “Quarantine” - $5 million (down from #2)
8. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” - $4 million (down from #5)
9. “The Duchess” - $3 million
10. “Sex Drive” - $2 million

My Take on What’s New on DVD: For those who followed my advice this summer to wait and rent “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” - now is the time to see it – but you could still be disappointed, the foreign language drama “Mongol” about the life of Genghis Khan got fairly good reviews, “War, Inc.” looks interesting, “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days” is a heavy issue movie about black market abortion, and “Stuck” is reportedly “a darkly humorous pschological thriller” about a nursing assistant that hits a homeless man with her car and he gets stuck in the windshield.

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Next Week at Theaters: “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”, “Saw V”, ”The Passengers“, ”Pride and Glory”

Next Week on DVD: “The Incredible Hulk”, “The Strangers”, “A Threevening with Kevin Smith”

(RE-POSTING FROM 5/23/08)

Indiana Jones 4: a shocking disappointment
 

Yes, I hate to say it, but “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was a sucker punch to the stomach of *this* eager fan of the franchise.     I am a huge fan of “Indiana Jones”… its 2nd only to “Star Wars” as a favorite franchise… these are the movies that got me excited about going to the theater when I was a kid… but this leaves a sour taste in my movie-going stomach.

Don’t get me wrong… all the elements were there: the typical edge of your seat action, good versus evil, gags, fighting, heroes in peril, one liners, a little romance… it was a fun adventure… the whole franchise is…

((… and I was disappointed by the way they explain what the crystal skull was.. and they way they explained it… why? why? why? did they have to do it that way? it unravels all the little flaws I had accepted earlier in the movie… at one point in the end sequence I wasn’t sure if I was watching Indiana Jones or “A.I.” ))