New at Theaters: “17 Again”, “Crank: High Voltage”, “State of Play”

New on DVD: “The Reader”, “The Spirit”, “Dark Matter”

BEST BETs: “17 Again” will be number one at the box office, but the best movie of the weeekend (”State of Play”), might not even make the top 2… and Jason Statham’s “Crank High Voltage” might struggle to make the top 5.  Kate Winslet’s Oscar winning performance in “The Reader” might be enough of a reason to rent the holocaust-era drama about a woman and her unusual facination with a much younger guy.  “The Spirit” didn’t do as well at the box office, but might be worth a look now if your looking for a “Sin City”-esque movie.

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Next Week at Theaters: “earth” (Wednesday), “Fighting”, “Obsessed”, “The Soloist”, “The Informers” (limited release)

Next Week on DVD: “Battlestar Galactica: Caprica”, “Frost/Nixon”, “Into the Blue 2: The Reef”, “The Last Word”, “Notorius”, “The Wrestler”

“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)

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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)

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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

If you can’t get to the theaters during this week, there’s always next week, so with no new movies in wide release, we can all try to catch up…

New on DVD: “Burn After Reading” (Sunday), “Savage Grace”, “Pulse 3″, “Beethoven’s Big Break”

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW ON DVD: There’s only one movie to recommend here, UNLESS your rental audience includes kids, then “Burn After Reading” - one of my favorite comedies of the year – is NOT for you, otherwise, I highly recommend this quirky Comedy/Drama from the Coen Brothers with a great cast of characters.

There are nearly a dozen movies out new in theaters this week, including 3 with possible Academy Award chances for Best Picture, so be sure to read the releases for both Thursday (12/25) and Friday (12/26)…

New at Theaters Thursday 12/25: “Frost/Nixon” (wide), “Bedtime Stories”, “The Spirit”, “Marley & Me”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “The Reader” (limited), “Doubt” (wide)

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New at Theaters Friday 12/26: “Slumdog Millionaire” (expanded), “Valkyrie”, “Last Chance Harvey” (limited), “Revolutionary Road” (limited), “Waltz with Bashir” (limited)

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: “Frost/Nixon”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, and “Slumdog Millionaire” are the 3 movies with Oscar buzz… so far, I’ve only seen one, but that will soon change, not to mention “Benjamin Button” was part of my Fall/Holiday Preview, and now its finally here!! 

“Doubt” and “The Reader” are dramas with Golden Globe nominated performances.

If you see “Marley & Me”, be sure sure to take some tissues with you – this movie may be labeled a romantic comedy – but its not a gut buster, its a tear jerker!

For the romance, there’s “Last Chance Harvey” (Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson) and “Revolutionary Road” (Leonardo DiCpario and Kate Winslett) but both are in limited release and may not be playing at any theater remotely near you.

For the kids/family: Adam Sandler’s new “Bedtime Stories” looks like a lot of fun… we’ll see.

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MY REVIEWS OF MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS: 
“Four Christmases”  (7.5)
“Twilight”  (7.0)
“Australia”  (7.9)
“Quantum of Solace”  (7.5)
“Role Models”  (7.5)
“Slumdog Millionaire”  (9.5)
“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”  (7.5)
“Changeling”  (9.5)
“What Just Happened”  (6.5)

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Next Week at Theaters: “Defiance” (limited), “Good” (LA/NY)

Next Week on DVD: “The Duchess” (Saturday), “Eagle Eye” (Saturday), “Ghost Town” (Saturday), “An American Carol”, “Surfer, Dude”, “Towelhead”