In Theaters This Holiday Week: November 25, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Independent, Musicals, Period, Romance, Comedy, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Ninja Assassin (R): starring Ji-hoon “Rain” Jung, Rick Yune, Naomie Harris (directed by James McTeigue)
• Old Dogs (PG): starring John Travolta, Robin Williams, Seth Green (directed by Walt Becker)
• The Road (R): starring Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Kodi Smit-McPhee (directed by John Hillcoat)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Holiday Week: November 25, 2009

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Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Debut for New Moon

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

After months of endless promotion, New Moon finally opened this weekend to monster-sized numbers. But how exactly did the film compare to the other theatrical giants?

1. Despite earning over $142 million since midnight Thursday, the adaptation’s debut still falls behind The Dark Knight ($158.4) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million).
2. The sequel did, though, beat Knight for the best first day open ($72.7 compared to $67.2 million).
3. It had the largest midnight opening ($26.3 million) to date. (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince grossed $22.2 million.)
4. Moon also topped Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire‘s 2005 November debut ($102.7 million).

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Debut for New Moon

Read More | Variety

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This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: November 24, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Adaptation, Animation, Classics, Drama, Family, Horror, Religious, Comedy, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases

Here are some of the DVD and Blu-ray options available this Tuesday:

• Air America: Blu-ray
• Angel Heart: Blu-ray
• Angels & Demons: DVD, Blu-ray
• Blood: The Last Vampire: Blu-ray
• Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition): Blu-ray
• Four Christmases: DVD, Blu-ray
• Frailty: Blu-ray
• Funny People: DVD, Blu-ray
• Ghost in the Shell 2.0: Blu-ray
• Gomorrah: DVD, Blu-ray
• Imagine That: DVD

Click to continue reading This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: November 24, 2009

Read More | Amazon

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In Theaters This Weekend: November 20, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: IFC Films, Magnolia, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Independent, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• The Blind Side (PG-13): starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron (directed by John Lee Hancock)
• New Moon (PG-13): starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner (directed by Chris Weitz)
• Planet 51 (PG): starring Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel (directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: November 20, 2009

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Up Blu-ray review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Disney, Adventure, Animation, Family, DVD Reviews

This week, Pixar released their latest film, Up, on DVD and Blu-ray, and we’ve been going through all the content on the Blu-ray release over the past couple of weeks. We know that the movie did extremely well at the box office, and reviews for the actual movie were great - but how does the home release of Up hold, er, up? Hit that read link, and we’ll let you know our thoughts on one of the biggest home releases of the holiday season.

The Movie
As is typical with our Blu-ray and DVD reviews, we won’t actually be reviewing the movie itself in full, but we will say this: Up is another Pixar release that combines family fun and entertainment with some highly emotional storytelling, with a perfect balance.  The movie easily beats a lot of the cruft that you see other Hollywood studios pumping out on a regular basis. You’ve got lovable characters in Carl Fredrickson, Russell, and Dug, with dialogue that’s funny for kids, with some lines specifically aimed at adults. The movie even features miscarriage and death, but with subtlety, so the kids don’t get confused. It’s definitely worth seeing.

Click to continue reading Up Blu-ray review

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Johnny Depp to Get $35 Million for Pirates 4

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Disney, Action, Adventure, Family, Period, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Casting, Celeb News, Celebrity Gossip, Rumors, Upcoming Releases

While studio execs at Disney may forge ahead without Johnny Depp for the fifth and sixth Pirates of the Caribbean films, they’ll definitely be paying a hefty amount to have him in the latest sequel of the franchise.

Reportedly commanding a minimum of $35 million, Depp would shoot to the top of the highest-paid actors list, placing him above the likes of Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Mel Gibson, who ask for around $30 million (Depp received $25 million for the last Pirates sequel).

Yes, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have dominated at the box office; however, higher-ups usually aren’t known to shell out $35 million paychecks, so what gives?

Click to continue reading Johnny Depp to Get $35 Million for Pirates 4

Read More | Telegraph

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Box Office Breakdown: 2012 Has All the Numbers

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Remakes, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

It was the end of the world as we may soon know it, and that had Sony feeling fine.

The premiere of Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster film, 2012, erupted in theaters this weekend with a $65.2 million finish. Although the movie fell short of 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow (that Emmerich project grossed $68.7 million over three days), it now ranks 5th on the international debuts list. (Sorry, Da Vinci Code.) The John Cusack starrer also managed to cover its reported $200 million budget in one week.

Meawhile, Precious continued to pound the pavement in an expanded release. With only 174 engagements, the critically-acclaimed movie earned itself a third place finish and a $33,762-per screen average.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: 2012 Has All the Numbers

Read More | Variety

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Box Office Breakdown: Christmas Carol Wins, Precious Soars

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Remakes, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

We’re still weeks away from Thanksgiving, but theatergoers already have Christmas on their minds.

Disney’s A Christmas Carol, the umpteenth version of the Charles Dickens tale, brought the story back to life with a visual rendition. Robert Zemeckis’ latest holiday creation earned over $30 million, surpassing Polar Express’ open by $7 million. Although the Jim Carrey film didn’t come close to its reported $180 million budget, Carol still has weeks to go before Avatar takes over 3D screens.

Meanwhile, a film with no bells or whistles made an impact just outside the Top 10. Precious, Sundance’s Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize winner, broke a record while in limited release. The 12th place entry averaged a whopping $104,025 this weekend over only 18 theaters. That’s the largest per screen average for any film opening in more than 10 locations.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Christmas Carol Wins, Precious Soars

Read More | Variety

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This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: November 10, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Classics, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases

Here are some of the DVD and Blu-ray options available this Tuesday:

• The Accidental Husband: DVD
• Ballast: DVD, Blu-ray
• The Echo: DVD, Blu-ray
• The General: Blu-ray
• Godzilla: Blu-ray
• Heat: Blu-ray
• Ink: DVD
• The Line: DVD, Blu-ray
• Logan’s Run: Blu-ray
• The Merry Gentleman: DVD
• Monsters, Inc.: Blu-ray

Click to continue reading This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: November 10, 2009

Read More | Amazon

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Jason Schwartzman Eyed Up Clooney

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: 20th Century Fox, Adventure, Family, Comedy, Celeb News, Celebrity Gossip, Filmmaking

Megan Fox won’t have to worry about Jason Schwartzman staring at her—he seems to have eyes for George Clooney.

The Rushmore actor said working with George Clooney on animated film Fantastic Mr Fox was a bizarre and amazing experience.

“Typically when you’re working with someone it’s not kosher to just kind of gaze at them because you’re usually on camera as well. But when we were sitting around a table with just a recorder, it was really nice for me to be able to look at George. I admit I might have actually been staring. Obviously, he’s a handsome gentleman, but what I found fascinating was just kind of watching him work. It was like having a front row seat in an acting class.”

Jason, 29, said director Wes Anderson got the cast to spend lots of time together, so he could capture audio of them interacting: “He also took us to this farm on a field trip where we ran around and played in the dirt and did all sorts of crazy things. I was like, ‘I can’t believe my life has come to this moment where I’m on the ground digging with George Clooney.’ It was so bizarre and amazing.”

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