New at Theaters (Friday): “Dance Flick”, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, “Terminator Salvation” (Thursday)

Best Bet(s): Two good options this holiday weekend: the 4th entry in the sci-fi action Terminator franchise “Terminator Salvation” and the family friendly “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”.  DO NOT see “Dance Flick” (read my review), it would be a waste of your time and money!!!  And there are still several good offerings that aren’t new: “Star Trek” (read my review), “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, and “Angels & Demons” (read my review).

New on DVD (Tuesday): “Fanboys”, “My Bloody Valentine”, “Outlander”, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”, “Valkyrie”

Best Bet(s): While the theaters aren’t offering good choices for comedies, you can now rent or buy two of this year’s best comedies “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (read my review) and  “Fanboys” (read my review). “My Bloody Valentine”, “Outlander”, “Valkyrie”

 CLICK HERE TO FIND A MOVIE SHOWTIME

Next Week at Theaters: “Drag Me To Hell”, “Up”

Next Week on DVD: “Killshot”, “New in Town”, “Powder Blue”

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

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Free matinees include family friendly films

Here’s a good way to take the kids to the movies this summer and save some money…. the lineup is set for free summer matinees at The Regent Theatre in Downtown Allegan.   Each week, the Regent will feature a different PG or G rated film.   

The matinees are Monday through Friday at 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm.   Admission to the movie is free for all ages.

Free Summer Matinee Lineup (I’ve seen 4 of the 12 movies offered):
June 1 – 5: “Journey to the Center of the Earth”

June 8 -12: “Kung Fu Panda”

June 15 – 19: ”Speed Racer”

June 22 – 26: ”Madagascar 2″

June 29 – July 3: ”Kit Kittredge: American Girl”

July 6 -10: ”Tale of Despereaux”

July 13 -17: “Hotel for Dogs”

July 20 – 24: ”Inkheart”

July 27 – 31 : ”Igor”

August 3 -7: “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”

August 10 -14: ”City of Ember”

August 17 – 21: “Horton Hears a Who”

The Regent is located at 211 Trowbridge Street in Allegan.  For more info: (more…)

“Fast and Furious” smashes this year’s record for biggest opening weekend, pulling in $72 million, that’s the biggest April opening ever and $14 million more than last weekend’s number one movie “Monsters vs. Aliens”.   Its a 9% increase from last weekend.

In addition to breaking the April record, “Fast and Furious”’s $72.51 million was nearly as much as all of the Top 12 movies combined for the same weekend in 2008 ($80.22 million April 4-6, 2008).

“Adventureland” opened in 6th place, while “Sunshine Cleaning” cracked the top 10 as it opened in West Michigan for the first time.

So much for staying power, “Watchmen” drops out of Top 10 in just its 5th week (from 8th to 13th)… meanwhile “Taken” holds on in its 11th week, losing 41% of its audience from last week, moving just 2 spots (2 new movies) from 9th to 11th.   But “I Love You, Man” lost the least of the top 15 movies, down just 38% from the previous weekend. 

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Fast and Furious” – $72.51 million (1st week)

2. “Monsters vs. Aliens” – $33.51 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 44% of audience from last week)

3. “The Haunting in Connecticut” – $9.55 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 59% from last week)

4. “Knowing” – $8.13 million
(3rd week, was #3 last week, lost 45% from last week)

5. “I Love You, Man” – $7.85 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 38% from last week)

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Its the biggest opening weekend so far this year…. the animated sci-fi/action movie “Monsters vs. Aliens” hauls in $58 million in a weekend with very little family film competition.   The horror movie “The Haunting in Connecticut” was a distant 2nd and the action thriller “12 Rounds” was an even more distant 7th.

Last week’s number one “Knowing”, number two “I Love You, Man”, and number three “Duplicity” dropped two spots, holding their order from last week, but “I Love You, Man” lost the least from last week, just 29% of its audience while “Knowing” lost 40% of its audience and “Duplicity” lost 46% from last week.

“Sunshine Cleaning”, which opens in Grand Rapids market this Friday, nearly cracked the Top 10 in its 3rd week of limited release, despite playing in just 167 theaters nationwide. 

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Monsters vs. Aliens” – $58.20 million (1st week)

2. “The Haunting in Connecticut” – $23.01 million (1st week)

3. “Knowing” – $14.71 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 40% of audience from last week)

4. “I Love You, Man” – $12.60 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 29% from last week)

5. “Duplicity” – $7.56 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 46% from last week)

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The futuristic thriller “Knowing” leads the pack of three new movies released on Friday, the buddy bromance “I Love You, Man” was second and the Julia Roberts-Clive Owen espionage romance “Duplicity” was third.

“Taken” continues to hold on, now in its 8th week of release, it is losing less than the movies that have been in theaters for fewer weeks, losing 38% of its audience from last week while “Watchmen” lost 62%, “Last House on the Left” lost 58%, and “Race to Witch Mountain” lost 47% of the audience from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Knowing” – $24.81 million (1st week)

2. “I Love You, Man” – $18.00 (1st week)

3. “Duplicity” – $14.40 million (1st week)

4. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $13.00 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 47% from last week)

5. “Watchmen” - $6.73 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 62% from last week)

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I’m not surprised this week either, the Disney Family/Adventure/Remake ”Race to Witch Mountain” pulled in the top bucks at the box office… leaving the “Watchmen” struggling in their battle for justice, I mean, 2nd place.

Also new over the weekend were “The Last House on the Left” (2009) and “Miss March”.   The horror remake gave “Watchmen” a run for its money, while the buddy comedy “Miss March” barely made the top 10.

Word of mouth or bad reviews, or both??   “Watchmen” saw one of the biggest declines in recent memory (67%) for a number one movie after its opening weekend (last week’s $55 million was the biggest opening of the year so far).

“Taken” is holding its own, now in its 7th week of release, it continues to hover around 4th place, losing just 9% of its audience from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $25.00 million (1st week)

2. “Watchmen” - $18.07 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 67% from last week)

3. “The Last House on the Left” (2009) – $14.66 million (1st week)

4. “Taken” – $6.65 million
(7th week, was #4 last week, lost 9% from last week)

5. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $5.13 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

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No surprise here, as “Watchmen” dominate the box office with more than $55 million in its opening weekend… the biggest opening of the year so far, and while its likely to be number one again next weekend, but will the mixed reviews reduce its box office returns over the following weeks?

“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” dropped to second after two weeks at the top of the box office, but lost less of its audience than the previous week.  “Slumdog Millionaire” is still seeing returns on its Oscar win for Best Picture, but the box office momentum may be slowing down, as it lost 40% of its audience and slipped down to 4th place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Watchmen” - $55.66 million (1st week)

2. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $8.80 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 46% from last week)

3. “Taken” – $7.45 million
(6th week, was #4 last week, lost 25% from last week)

4. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $6.93 million
(17th week, was #3 last week, lost 42% from last week)

5. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $4.20 million
(8th week, was #6 last week, lost 25% from last week)

6. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $4.02 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, lost 33% from last week)

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“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” tops the box office for second week, despite losing 60% of its audience.

The Oscar winning bump saw a 45% increase in audience for “Slumdog Millionaire” moving up from 5th to 3rd place.

Another trend of weak post-Oscar offerings is the week’s other new movie “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”… opening in 8th place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $16.50 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 60% from last week)

2. “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” – $12.70 million (1st week)

3. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $12.15 million
(16th week, was #5 last week, gained 45% more from last week)

4. “Taken” – $9.95 million
(5th week, was #3 last week, lost 12% from last week)

5. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $5.88 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 31% from last week)

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It wasn’t the weekend to see romantic comedies or horror moves (that was last week)… during Oscar weekend most moviegoers either saw “Tyler Perry’s Made Goes to Jail” or the Oscar favorite “Slumdog Millionaire”.

The other new movie of the week, “Fired Up” opened in 9th place with just $6 million.

Last week’s number one “Friday the 13th” (2009) dropped to sixth, losing 81% of its audience from the week before… the biggest week-to-week loss by a number one movie so far this year.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $41.12 million (1st week)

2. “Taken” – $11.40 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 40% from last week)

3. “Coraline” – $11.03 million
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 25% from last week)

4. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $8.54 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 56% from last week)

5. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $8.05 million
(15th week, was #9 last week, gained 11% more from last week)

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What a Valentine’s gift for movie theaters: a huge $168.12 million weekend… the biggest so far this year… $27 million more than last year’s Valentine’s weekend… and a 28% increase from last weekend.

And it wasn’t even close… with the remake “Friday the 13th” taking in more ($42 million) than the second and third place movies combined, the slasher movie also becomes the biggest opening of the year, passing “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”’s $31 million opening in January. 

Last week’s number one “He’s Just Not That Into You” slipped to second and new movies “Confessions of A Shopaholic” and “The International” opened in fourth and seventh place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Friday the 13th” (2009) – $42.25 million (1st week)

2. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $19.61 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 29% from last week)

3. “Taken” – $19.25 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 6% from last week)

4. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $15.41 million (1st week)

5. “Coraline” – $15.32 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 9% from last week)

6. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $11.70 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, gained 7% more than last week)

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