A summer family movie hit, two romantic comedies, two R-rated movies, and a comic book blockbuster gets its Director’s cut….

New this Week on DVD: “Up”, “The Accidental Husband”, “The Merry Gentleman”, “Spread”, “The Ugly Truth”, “Watchmen” (Director’s cut)

Best Bets: “Up” did very well at the box office and with critics, it will be the first on my rental list… if you’re looking for a romantic comedy: my wife liked “The Ugly Truth” and wanted to see “The Accidental Husband”… “The Merry Gentleman” and “Spread” are R-rated drama and comedy that got limited attention in limited release… and if you like “Watchmen”, the Director’s cut is now available.

Next Week on DVD: “Bruno”, “Franklyn”, “How To Be”, “Is Anybody There?”, “My Sister’s Keeper”, “The Open Road”, “Star Trek”, “Thirst”, “Wild Child”

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

(more…)

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)

(more…)

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)

(more…)

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)

(more…)

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)

(more…)

“Watchmen” is good, not great, its also not a complete disaster for its $100 million budget.

Its also NOT A MOVIE FOR YOUNG KIDS with its brutally graphic violence, nudity, and adult themes… similiar in nature to “Sin City” (2005).

My review is Spoiler-free !!!

“Watchmen” is, as you would probably expect, visually stunning, with a good story, good writing, really good character development, good cinematography, good acting, good costumes, good sound, mostly good music, good visual effects, good sets, good action sequences, and mostly good makeup.

Okay movie fans.. what Oscar category (that applies to this movie) did I leave out?

Its the category that could have pushed this movie into my favorites….

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New on DVD (Tuesday): “Australia”, ”Beverly Hills Chihuahua”, “I’ve Loved You So Long”, “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” 

BEST BET: See the epic drama/romance “Australia” that I liked or the drama with early oscar buzz “I’ve Loved You So Long” (Kristin Scott Thomas).

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New at Theaters (Friday): “Watchmen” (midnight showings, also in IMAX), “Fanboys” (in Grand Rapids at Celebration! Rivertown)

 Watch the trailer for “Watchmen”

 Watch the trailer for “Fanboys”

 CLICK HERE TO FIND A MOVIE SHOWTIME

BEST BET: You’ll have to wait until Friday for my complete review, but if you’re a “Watchmen” fan or really looking forward to this movie see it… if you’re a Star Wars fans, you might like the long awaited comedy “Fanboys”… or you might want to get caught up on any movies you may have missed in theaters or coming out on DVD.

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

(more…)