New at Theaters: “Dragonball Evolution”, “Hannah Montana The Movie”, “Observe and Report”

New on DVD: “Bedtime Stories”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)”, “Donkey Punch”, “Doubt”, “Not Easily Broken”, “The Tale of Despereaux”, “Yes Man”

BEST BETs: This is one of those weeks where for many moviegoers, the options on DVD are better than the theater. 

So lets start with the DVDs led by ”Doubt” that received 5 Oscar nominations including Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress… there’s the well-reviewed Jim Carrey comedy “Yes Man”… and the fun family comedy “Bedtime Stories” and the animated adventure “The Tale of Despereaux”.  “The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)” should be at the bottom of your rental list this week, because its okay, but not that great.

“Observe and Report” is the second Mall Cop Comedy this year after “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”, but this one is rated “R” and not family friendly… “Hannah Montana The Movie” will be big for tweens and teens who are growing up as Miley Crus fans… “Dragonball Evolution” is a movie adaptation that may be a few years too late of the cartoons and card games that were popular several years ago.

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

Next Week on DVD: “The Reader”, “The Spirit”, “Dark Matter”

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

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“Gran Torino”, the movie shot in Detroit with actor/director Clint Eastwood and first time actress Ahney Her (Lansing native) grabbed the top spot at the box office this weekend.

“Bride Wars” and “The Unborn” also pushed “Marley & Me” out of its two weeks at number one.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):
1. “Gran Torino” – $29.48 million (1st week of wide release)

2. “Bride Wars” - $21.06 million (1st week)

3. “The Unborn” – $19.81 million (1st week)

4. “Marley & Me” – $11.39 million
(3rd week, was #1 last week, lost 53% of audience from last week)

5. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – $9.21 million
(3rd week, was #3 last week, lost 49% of audience from last week)

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“Marley & Me” holds on to number one, “Doubt” moves into 8th place, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” moves down one spot to 9th place, and one of my favorite movies of the year: “Slumdog Millionaire” moves into to the top 10 for the first time.  

“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)

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4 new movies top the box office… but “The Spirit” was almost invisible in its opening weekend.

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)

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It was a slower weekend nationally, perhaps because it was the last shopping weekened before Christmas, or the bad winter weather across a majority of the country could have also been a factor.  

Either way, the weekend’s three new releases came out on top, with Jim Carrey’s comedy Yes Man edging out Will Smith’s latest drama Seven Pounds for first place while the family movie The Tale of Desperaux barely beat last weekend’s number one The Day the Earth Stood Still for third place.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “Yes Man” – $18.16 million  (1st week)

2. “Seven Pounds” – $16.00 million  (1st week)

3. “The Tale of Desperaux” – $10.51 million  (1st week)

4. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” – $10.15 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 66% of audience from last week)

5. “Four Christmases”  – $7.75 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

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