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” (ticket sales), “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 “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”.   Look for my reviews on “Twilight” and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” later this week.

MY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTION:

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Getting ready for Twilight

If you’re not already aware of it, get ready for the next big book to movie phenomenon (like the Harry Potter series) that will be huge for tweens.   The excitement for Twilight has been growing for months, from the hundreds of fan sites to the now rapidly increasing sales of tickets.

Twilight opens early Friday morning at 12:01am.

Just like other highly anticipated movies before it, there are midnight shows already selling lots of tickets… but this presale and marketing extravaganza may see numbers that approach those of The Dark Knight.

For example, as of today, Celebration! Cinemas in West Michigan is already reporting 2,000 tickets sold for midnight shows in their circuit of theaters in Grand Rapids.    In a press release, Ron VanTimmeren, Vice President of Programming for Celebration! Cinema says “We expect that number will nearly double by Thursday afternoon.  We will continue adding shows to ensure there is a seat for everyone.” When its all said and done, the theater chain expects to sell out 10 midnight shows in the area.

Twilight is a PG-13 romantic/horror/thriller based on the #1 New York Times Best-Selling book series (more than 17 million books in print) by Stephenie Meyer about a teenage girl who risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

Twilight is directed by Catherine Hardwicke

The movie stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke

“Twilight” poster courtesy Summit Entertainment

“Slumdog Millionaire” is an inspirational journey of rags to riches, the story of a boy who works his way up from nothing to something, and carries the audience through to the end.  Its not the sugarcoated musical rags-to-riches of “Annie” - this is the eye-opening and uplifting tale of a young man risking everything for his true love.

“Slumdog Millionaire” won the “People’s Choice Award” at the Toronto Film Festival… and like other little movies before it, this train is starting to pick up momentum with critics across the country… including me.

Unfortunately, it won’t be playing in Grand Rapids until December 26th.

“Slumdog Millionaire” poster courtesy Fox Searchlight

“Slumdog Millionaire”

(2008) (rated: R for some violence, disturbing images and language) (2 hrs)

Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Irfan Khan

Director: Danny Boyle

Genre: Drama/Mystery/Romance

The Plot: The story of how impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik became a contestant on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be A Millionaire?” — an endeavor made without prize money in mind, rather, an effort to prove his love for his friend Latika, who is an ardent fan of the show.

MY TAKE (contains minor spoilers): Every once in awhile a movie comes along and just grabs you… its realism grabs you, its story inspires you, its little moments makes you smile, and in the end root for the main character - this is one of those movies.

I have to be honest,

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“Quantum of Solace” tops the box office

No real surprise here… Bond is always a big moneymaker… it wasn’t a question of it would be #1, just a question of how much money it would actually make. 

Back on track???  This will be the first time since the summer that I correctly predicted all of the top 10 box office spots.

"Quantum of Solace" tops box office with $67 million

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results)
1. “Quantum of Solace” - $67.53 million (1st week)

2. “Madagascar 2: Ecsape to Africa” - $35.02 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 44% of its audience from last week)

3. “Role Models” - $11.15 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 42% of its audience from last week)

4. “High School Musical 3” - $5.66 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 38% of its audience from last week)

5. “Changeling” - $4.25 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 41% of its audience from last week)

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Quantum of Solace is a riveting sequel with tons of action, but its not as good as Daniel Craig’s first James Bond movie Casino Royale in 2006

Quantum of Solace

(2008) (rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content) (1 hr, 46 min)

Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, Jesper Christensen

Director: Marc Forster

"Quantum Of Solace" good, but not as good as "Casino Royale"

Genre: Action/Adventure

The Plot: Seeking revenge for the death of his love, secret agent James Bond sets out to stop an environmentalist from taking control of a country’s water supply.

MY TAKE (minor spoilers): As you’d expect from the opening sequence of a Bond movie, Quantum takes little time to get going, jumping right into a vicious car chase through Italy.  As previously reported, this is a direct sequel, as the story picks up about an hour from the end of Casino Royale… with Bond racing to his HQ.

Daniel Craig is great again as 007, Judi Dench is awesome as usual as M, Jeffrey Wright and Jesper Christensen were good again in their limited, but important roles as Felix Leiter and Mr. White.   New Bond girl Olga Kurylenko is solid as the female agent trying to conduct her own covert operation on new villian Dominic Greene, played convincingly by Mathieu Amalric.

There’s tons of action in this one - but if you didn’t see Casino Royale, you may be surprised at the style and type of action - its a lot more Bourne Identity that your grandfather’s smooth talking shoot and punch Sean Connery of the classic Bond movies.   Craig’s James Bond is fleet of foot, jumps from rooftop to rooftop, dangles from ropes, shoots, punches, and jumps some more.  But as we saw in Casino Royale, this Bond is also more conflicted and a little darker than the just charming and cool Bond’s of the past - this Bond has many layers and troubles that has M in a constant state of concern.

The script and character development were good as you’d expect after Casino Royale, eventhough Quantum has a different director.

Its fun to see the opening scene going through a construction site again as it did in Casino Royale… all of the action scenes were great: a car chase, a boat chase, foot chases, and an airplane dogfight.

BUT…. there are 2 very noticeable issues that set this apart from the last movie:

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Poster and New Photos from the set of “The Steam Experiment”, now in post-production

"The Steam Experiment" filmed in Grand Rapids, set for a 2009 release

Its been awhile since I’ve had an update on the first movie I’ll be able to follow from its rumors, to announcement, to shooting in Grand Rapids, to a chance to go on-set, to the eventual release of the film.

So here they are, the poster and new photos for the suspense/thriller “The Steam Experiment” from the production company (Cinepro Pictures).

The photos show Val Kilmer in his role as “Jimmy” who takes his ridiculed theories on global warming to a deadly extreme, creating “The Steam Experiment” - and turning up the heat on his subjects.

Most of the photos are from on the set inside the turkish bath shot on set at Deano’s in Grand Rapids… with Eve Mauro, Patrick Muldoon, Quinn Duffy and Megan Brown.  Eric Roberts and Cordelia Reynolds (not pictured) are also Jimmy’s unsuspecting victims.

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John Loeks announces closing of Studio 28

Studio 28 set to close, last movie will be Sunday, November 23rd

Its a sad day for John Loeks, owner and president of Celebration! Cinema and Studio 28, telling the people of Grand Rapids that the theater his dad built and made history with as the first mega-plex in the country, will be closing in ten days.

John started the press conference by lightening the  mood, telling us he wasn’t there to talk about the new James Bond movie.

The decision comes after John and other Celebraion! Cinema company officials looked at declining attendance patterns at Studio 28 and the cost of new roofs on a facility that was built in different pieces over the years.

THE CLOSING FACTOR:

While the economy is a factor, the declining attendance at Studio 28, especially for matinees led to today’s decision.  The attendance is down, they say, mostly because of the theaters on the outer edges of town that have shrunk Studio 28’s radius of potential customers.

Loeks says the schedule of movies coming out really wasn’t the factor in when they would close, he said they didn’t want to just close immediately, because they wanted to keep their employees in mind.  Those 55 employees have been offered jobs at other Celebration! Cinema theater locations - an offer that most are taking, according to one employee who tells me that 30 of the 55 will be moving to Celebration! RiverTown, about a dozen others will be going to either Celebration! South or Celebration! North.

Back to the release schedule  - Loeks also told me that if they were looking at the upcoming movie schedule, they would have liked to stay open through the holidays.

"Boeing Boeing" starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis was the first movie to play at Studio 28, December 25, 1965

"Madagascar 2" will be the last movie at Studio 28 on November 23rd at 7:00pm

FROM FIRST TO LAST:

Boeing Boeing with Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis was the first movie that played when Studio 28 opened a one-theater screen with 1,000 seats on December 25, 1965.

Studio 28 expanded to 12 screens and later became the first-ever mega-plex theatre in May of 1988 by adding eight screens for a total of 20 screens.

The family-friendly hit Madagascar 2 will be the last movie at Studio 28, November 23rd at 7:00pm… ending where it all began in theater #1.

There will be a festive atmosphere on the last day:  Studio 28 will be open all day, with an open house from 5:00-7:00pm with special deals on concessions and treats.

There will also be special benefits and showings over the next 10 days at Studio 28.

For those who are big fans of Studio 28, there will eventually be an auction, perhaps a month after closing, of memorabilia and items at the theater.

The future of the property is uncertain, while the company has had conversations with the city, there hasn’t been any formal interest in the 12-acre property.

TRANSITION TO OTHER THEATERS:

Between now and the last day on November 23rd, Celebration! Cinema wants to help transition Studio 28 customers to other theaters by giving out coupons for free pop and popcorn at other theaters.

The popular “air popped” popcorn at Studio 28 will be moving to Celebration! Cinema South.

And all showtimes before 1:00pm will be $5.00 at all the Celebration! Cinemas.

UPDATED AGAIN AT 10:16pm:
Sounds official now… employees were notified at a meeting tonight that Studio 28 will be closing Monday, November 24th… BUT they were also told that nobody will be losing their jobs… and they’ll move to other theaters in the company.

TWO LAST BIG WEEKENDS:

It makes sense for Studio 28 to wait to close and stay open for two more weekends.. because 2 of the most anticipated movies of the season and biggest moneymakers will be hitting theaters… first, this weekend is the latest James Bond movie - “Quantum of Solace”, which as a franchise is historically ressession and critic-proof… its currently tracking to make around $50 million across the country.

Then, the last weekend would be the premieres of “Twilight” and “Bolt”.

Disney’s “Bolt” is an animated family movie that will pull in a big audience and “Twilight” can be considered the next “Harry Potter” phenomenon… a book, turned highly anticipated movie for tweens that is already selling out its midnight shows.

So those 2 weekends should be big for all theaters and could mean a last influx of money for Studio 28… as movie goe-ers catch one last movie at the historic Studio 28.

UPDATED AGAIN AT 8:36pm:
While the rumors continue to swirl around Studio 28’s future in this economy, tonight, we’re learning about a press conference scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) morning at 10:30am “regarding an announcement about Studio 28″.

And while there aren’t any further details in the press release, I have learned that Studio 28 is planning normal business FOR THE WEEKEND(November 14-16).

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The 6 Bonds: Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, Craig

The 22nd official James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” hits theaters Friday… so who do you think is the best Bond? 

Which actor has officially played Bond in the most movies?

Careful, this is a bit of a trick question…

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"Casino Royale" poster courtesy MGM

If you haven’t already seen “Casino Royale” (2006), you should rent it, borrow it, buy it, find it on TV, because the new movie is a DIRECT SEQUEL of the last!

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

“Quantum of Solace” is the 22nd official Bond movie.

“Quantum of Solace” was originally set to release last weekend Nov. 07 (o07 - that marketing would have been cool).

The movie is 1 hr., 46 min. long and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content.

Daniel Craig returns for his 2nd Bond movie… he hearned a BAFTA (British Film Award) for his 1st performance as James Bond in 2006’s ”Casino Royale.”

Judi Dench returns as “M”… her sixth time in the role.

Jesper Christensen returns as “Mr. White”… Jeffrey Wright returns as American CIA agent “Felix Leiter”… and Giancarlo Giannini returns as “Mathis”

"Quantum Of Solace" poster courtesy MGM

Bond movies are known for their intense opening scenes that don’t waste time getting you into the action and it sounds like…

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