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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The new options at theaters (3 movies with Academy Award nominations) are clearly better than the options of movies coming out on DVD this week!   “The Dark Knight” is back in IMAX this Friday!!
You’ve also been warned: “Repo! The Genetic Opera” is considered by many to be the worst movie of the year – so don’t rent it!  

New this week at Theaters (Friday): “Revolutionary Road” (wide release), ”The Wrestler” (wide release), “Inkheart”, “Possession”, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”, “The Dark Knight” (IMAX re-issue)

New this week on DVD (Tuesday): “City of Ember”, “The Express”, “Henry Poole is Here”, “Igor”, “Max Payne”, “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, “Saw V”, “Amusement”

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

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 From the big sign outside the theater to the seats to the film projectors, the Studio 28 assets auction is set for January 20th

After closing for business November 24th, Studio 28 has now hired Miedema Auctioneering (Orbitbid.com) to sell all assets including sound equipment, 35mm film projectors, theater seating, signs, and more.

Items can be inspected January 19th from 9:00am-4:00pm and on the day of the online auction January 20th from 8:00am-5:00pm.

The online auction is January 20th from 8:00am-6:00pm.

For terms and conditions, go to this website

For a list of the items, go to this website

For questions on the auction process (more…)

CORRECTIONS: Golden Globe nominated Milk makes its Grand Rapids opening this weekend.   The wide release date for Doubt is now 12/25, so Doubt may be more limited than originally planned this weekend.

Its a blockbuster week for movies both on DVD (The Dark Knight) and in theaters (The Day the Earth Stood Still)…

In Theaters (Friday): “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Nothing Like the Holidays”, “Delgo”, “Milk” (Grand Rapids expanded release), “Doubt” (limited)

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: Keanu Reeves in a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, a family holiday comedy Nothing Like the Holidays, a family animated adventure Delgo and starting in limited release – the relgious drama Doubt with award contenders Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.  I have yet to see any of these… I’ll blog after I do, for now your best bets are either Golden Globe nominated Milk or the blockbuster remake The Day the Earth Stood Still… or see one of the movies already playing (see my reviews below)… or ….

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A cornucopia of movie choices this thanksgiving week, both at theaters and to rent/buy…

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In Theaters (Wednesday): “Australia”, “Four Christmases”, “Transporter 3″, “Milk” (limited)

On DVD (Tuesday): “Fred Claus”, “Hancock”, “Meet Dave”, “Space Chimps”

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MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: 3 very different movies in wide release this week Four Christmases is trying to be another holiday comedy, but is getting mixed reviews, Australia is an epic movie with romance and adventure mixed in, and Transporter 3 is all action, a sequel to the other Jason Statham movies.  

Since I’ve only seen one, its hard to make a recommendation and since Australia isn’t for everyone, you may need to see something that’s already out in theaters, check out my list of reviews for previous releases.

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW ON DVD: One of last year’s decent christmas comedies, Fred Claus, the solid superhero movie Hancock, the box office bust sci-fo comedy Meet Dave, and the poorly reviewed family adventure Space Chimps.

The best bet here by far is Hancock – a superhero hero movie that many overlooked due to the success of The Dark Knight and Iron Man, my second choice would be Fred Claus – a christmas comedy that was good, but not great.

Next Week at Theaters:

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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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(RE-POSTING from 11/6) Wide variety of movies in theaters and on DVD this weekend, including a special Sunday release of “Kung Fu Panda”…

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In Theaters (Friday 11/7): “Madagascar 2: Ecsape to Africa”, “Role Models”, “Soul Men”, “House (limited)

On DVD (Tuesday 11/4): “Get Smart”, “Shrek the Halls”, “Transsiberian”,
On DVD (Sunday 11/9): “Kung Fu Panda”
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MY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTION:

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Some changes are coming next for a Grand Rapids movie theater… there are a lot of rumors out there… but here’s what we know at this point:

** Studio 28 will be eliminating some matinees starting Monday, November 3rd **

A spokesperson tells me that’s because “Studio has a centalized location and has had to share its part of the matinee market with the other theaters for a few years now.”   Steve VanWagoner says “we do 90 percent of our business at Studio during evening shows”.  

So starting next Monday, November 3rd – Studio 28 will begin eliminating two matinees each day Monday through Friday, one matinee on Saturday, and one on Sunday.

But, there is some good news for movie fans: during the week, the shows between 5pm and 6pm will still be considered matinees.