January 27th, 2009 at 7:17 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
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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November 10th, 2008 at 2:27 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
(UPDATED WITH final numbers)
Well, if I was picking winners of the weekend football games, I would be 5 out of 10 in MY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTION: – with 1st, 4th, 7th, 9th, and 10th place right….
The #1 movie – “Madagascar 2″ wasn’t just #1, it was a smash hit with $63 million – that’s a bigger opening than these other family movies: “High School Musical 3″ ($42 million)… more than “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” ($29 million)… “Horton Hears a Who!” ($45 million)… …only “WALL-E” ($63 million) and “Kung Fu Panda” ($60 million) had opening weekends as big !!!! Its actually the 5th biggest opening of the year!
The weekend’s #2 movie “Role Models” cruised in with a solid showing of nearly $20 million… as the alternative choice to “Madagascar 2″.
TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (ACTUAL results):
1. “Madagascar 2: Ecsape to Africa” – $63.11 million (1st week)
2. “Role Models” – $19.17 million (1st week)
3. “High School Musical 3” - $9.16 million
(3rd week, was #1 last week, lost 40% of its audience from last week)
4. “Changeling” - $7.25 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 22% of its audience from last week)
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November 3rd, 2008 at 11:43 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
(RE-POSTING FROM 11/3)
TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):
1. “High School Musical 3” - $15.31 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 64% of its audience from last week)
2. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” - $10.07 million (1st week)
3. “Saw V” - $9.74 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 68% of its audience from last week)
4. “Changeling” - $9.35 million (1st week of wide release)
(2nd week, was #20 last week, gained 1800% of its audience from last week)
5. “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” - $5.42 million (1st week) (more…)
October 27th, 2008 at 11:35 pm by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
No surprise to me: “High School Musical 3″ was #1, “Saw V” was #2, all other movies fighting for #3 at the weekend box office
New movies last Friday: “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”, “Saw V”, ”Pride and Glory”
This was a REALLY GOOD WEEKEND for theaters and studios, the total grosses were up 40% from last weekend…. the top 12 grossed more than $100 million ($119.84 million) for the first time since the weekend of August 15-17 (opening weekend for “Tropic Thunder”/5th week for “Dark Knight”)… its also about 40% higher than this time last year !!!
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October 26th, 2008 at 12:17 pm by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
“Pride and Glory” a gritty, edgy, emotional look at the brotherhood of police officers and a family being torn apart by a corruption that could tear one NYPD precinct apart… Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich are outstanding. I’m not going to predict it now – because this could be buried by the success of last year’s success of “The Departed” – but I would not be surprised to see one or two Academy Award nominations for this movie.
“Pride and Glory”
(2008) (rated: R for strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content) (2 hr, 5 min)
Starring: Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle, John Ortiz
Genre: Crime/Drama/Police
The Plot: A saga centered on a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family’s moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney, investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law.
MY TAKE (spoiler free):
“Pride and Glory” is a visceral experience that easily jumps into the Top 10 best police dramas I’ve seen… with a storyline focused on the family relationships struggling to stay strong despite a tragedy that killed 4 police officers and a corruption that could wreck everyone’s career.
The acting is exceptional from the entire cast – everyone from the leads to supporting characters, the storyline is great, the camerawork is a good mix: sometimes traditional and sometimes the shaky on-the-shoulder camera – but the director uses (more…)
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:07 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
This will be one of the easiest predictions in weeks for #1 movie at the box office, but that doesn’t mean the #1 movie is the best new movie. In Theaters (Friday): “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”, “Saw V”, ”Pride and Glory”, “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D” (2008 re-issue). On DVD (Tuesday): “The Incredible Hulk”, “The Strangers”, “A Threevening with Kevin Smith”, “Anaconda 3: Offspring”, “The Lazarus Project”, “The Stone Angel.”
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October 20th, 2008 at 9:23 pm by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
Jon Voight talks to Laff at the Movies about “Pride and Glory” and more
CLICK HERE TO WATCH
Jon Voight talks to Laff at the Movies about his new movie “Pride and Glory” that opens nationwide Friday, October 24th… a role that happened very quickly for him…. working with Edward Norton and Colin Farrell and other ‘younger’ actors… he also talked about playing George Washington in the Michael Moore spoof “An American Carol”, his upcoming projects (”Four Christmases” and a 3rd “National Treasure”), and the possibility of making movies in Michigan.
Jon’s Next Projects:
“Four Christmases” – set for November 26th release
(clips from ”Pride and Glory” courtesy New Line Cinema)
enjoy
PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:
CHECK OUT my interview with Maggie Gyllenhaal (”The Dark Knight”, “Stranger Than Fiction”)
CHECK OUT my interview with Ed Harris (”Appaloosa”)
CHECK OUT my interview with Joe Pantoliano (”Risky Business”, ”The Matrix”, “Bad Boys”)
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