New on DVD (Tuesday): “Blindness”, “Frozen River”, “Miracle at St. Anna”, “My Name is Bruce”, “Nights in Rodanthe”, “Soul Men”, “W.”

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BEST BETs: A solid group of movies coming out on DVD, highlighted by the Oscar nominated performance by Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”… the Oscar/Golden Globe buzz movies that weren’t nominated, but well reviewed: “W.” and “Miracle at St. Anna”… the thriller “Blindness”… and the romantic drama “Nights in Rodanthe”.

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN: “Soul Men” got mixed, but mostly negative reviews… and “My Name is Bruce” is more for Bruce Campbell fans (”Evil Dead”).

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New at Theaters (Friday): “Confessions of a Shopaholic”, “Friday the 13th” (2009), “The International”

Watch the trailer for “Confessions of a Shopaholic”

Watch the trailer for “Friday the 13th” (2009)

Watch the trailer for “The International”

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BEST BETs: “The International” is a good looking and decently reviewed action thriller, and “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is the romantic comedy based on best selling novels for women that opens just in time for Valentine’s Day.

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN: I was not able to make it to the screening of “Friday the 13th”… so horror movie fans… you’re on your own… although I have a feeling you may like the original better.

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

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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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“Max Payne” tops weekend box office… knocking off “Chihuahua”, but overall box office still down again

New movies last Friday: “Max Payne”, “W.”, “The Secret Life of Bees”, “Sex Drive”

The total box office of $84.76 million is down 2% from last weekend… marking two weeks of decline, but it is $6 million more than this time last year ($78.48 million) !!!

TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):

1. “Max Payne” - $17.64 million (1st week)

2. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” - $11.42 million
(3rd week, was #1 last week, lost 35% of its audience from last week)

3. “The Secret Life of Bees” - $10.53 million (1st week)

4. “W.” - $10.51 million (1st week) (more…)

The 3rd highest grossing movie of the year hits DVD, plus a bio pic, an action, a drama, and a teen sex comedy arrive in theaters this week…

In Theaters (Friday): “W.”,  “Max Payne”,  “The Secret Life of Bees”, “Sex Drive”, “Frozen River” (limited)
On DVD (Tuesday): “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, “Mongol”, “War, Inc.”, “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”, “Stuck”

My Take on What’s New in Theaters: A wide variety of options at the theater this weekend including the Oliver Stone biopic “W.” about George W. Bush, the video game-turned movie “Max Payne” starring Mark Wahlberg, the drama with Academy Award potential “The Secret Life of Bees”, the teen sex comedy “Sex Drive” about a guy who goes across statelines to hook-up with a girl he met online, and the immigration drama “Frozen River” (limited release).

Although I haven’t seen any of these movies yet – the best bet for the serious is “The Secret Life of Bees” and for the action oriented its “Max Payne”.   “W.” and “Sex Drive” have more narrow appeal.

Box Office Predicitions:
1. “Max Payne” – $18 million
2. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” - $13 million (down from #1)
3. “W.” – $9 million
4. “Body of Lies” - $8 million (down from #3)
5. “The Secret Life of Bees” – $7 million
6. “Eagle Eye” - $6 million (down from #4)
7. “Quarantine” - $5 million (down from #2)
8. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” - $4 million (down from #5)
9. “The Duchess” - $3 million
10. “Sex Drive” - $2 million

My Take on What’s New on DVD: For those who followed my advice this summer to wait and rent “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” - now is the time to see it – but you could still be disappointed, the foreign language drama “Mongol” about the life of Genghis Khan got fairly good reviews, “War, Inc.” looks interesting, “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days” is a heavy issue movie about black market abortion, and “Stuck” is reportedly “a darkly humorous pschological thriller” about a nursing assistant that hits a homeless man with her car and he gets stuck in the windshield.

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Next Week at Theaters: “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”, “Saw V”, ”The Passengers“, ”Pride and Glory”

Next Week on DVD: “The Incredible Hulk”, “The Strangers”, “A Threevening with Kevin Smith”