This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: January 08, 2008

Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista, Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, Foreign Language, Horror, Independent, Science Fiction, Sequels, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, New Releases

This week marks the release of the first batch of high-definition DVDs since on-the-fence Warner landed decidedly on the Blu side; I must admit, as an HD DVD man, the day feels a bit colder than normal. But no matter—the format war is far from over.

On a lighter note, both formats have some exciting titles to speak of, including the Blu-ray release of one of my favorite movies from 2007, Sunshine; Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning film, The Pianist, on HD DVD; and the long-awaited special edition of David Fincher’s Zodiac, also on HD DVD. The DVD release from July contained nary a special feature, so this two-disc director’s cut ought to please those Fincher fans waiting for a decent version.

Check out the full list of high-def releases after the jump.

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2008 Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations (Film)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Picturehouse, FOCUS, Fox Searchlight, Miramax, Lionsgate, Picturehouse, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, Foreign Language, Independent, Music, Musicals, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Awards, Lists

Thanks to an interim waiver granted by the WGA, the 14th Annual SAG Awards telecast will air as scheduled on Sunday, January 27.  Since plans for the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards are still up in the air, this could be TNT’s most viewed awards show in quite some time.

This year’s film nominees are:

OUTSTANDING LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE

• George Clooney, Michael Clayton
• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Ryan Gosling, Lars And The Real Girl
• Emile Hirsch, Into The Wild
• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

OUTSTANDING LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie, Away From Her
• Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Ellen Page, Juno

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Box Office Breakdown: The Rock Upsets The Heartbreak Kid

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Despite what you may have learned in school, Ben Stiller + The Farrelly Brothers does not necessarily equal box office gold.

The team behind There’s Something About Mary took a backseat to last weekend’s winner:  The Game Plan.  The Heartbreak Kid, a remake of the 1972 Neil Simon comedy, raked in only $14 million.  While Mary did open with a smaller gross back in 1998 ($13.7M), it’s doubtful this critically-panned movie will become another sleeper hit for the trio.  Thankfully co-star Michelle Monaghan will have the upcoming Gone Baby Gone to wash this disappointment away.

The only other new entries into the Top 10 included the fantasy flick, The Seeker ($3.7M), and the J.Lo-produced dance film, Feel the Noise ($3.1M).  Meanwhile, the well-reviewed Michael Clayton pulled impressive numbers in limited release ($46,000 per screen).  Expect the George Clooney vehicle to open wide this weekend.

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Box Office Breakdown:  The Game Plan Scores the Win

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Drama, Horror, Independent, Musicals, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

The execs at Disney must be loving themselves this week.  Not only are are they attached to one of hottest concert tours of the year, they have just taken a surprise win at the box office.  Although many had predicted good things for the terrorism thriller, The Kingdom, a simple father/daughter bonding film moved theatergoers this weekend.

At $22.9 million, The Game Plan took in almost $6 million more than the Jamie Foxx/Jennifer Garner vehicle. The movie about a football player who meets the daughter he never knew he had (how exactly is that a Disney storyline?) gave “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson his second best opening (behind 2002’s The Scorpion King).

Meanwhile, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe made its first entry into the Top 10.  After several weeks in limited release, the musical—which uses 33 Beatles songs to tell its story—will expand into more theaters come October 12th. 

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Box Office Breakdown:  Resident Evil Fights Off Competition

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Lionsgate, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Horror, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Between the cheesy trailer and a cast that includes Ashanti—I never would have predicted much for Resident Evil: Extinction.  But given the success of ‘three-quels’ this year, I’m not sure why I was surprised.  Extinction nearly doubled the the box office take of it’s nearest competitor (Good Luck Chuck) and had the biggest debut of any Resident Evil installment.

But the real winner this weekend may be Sean Penn’s Into the Wild.  The film, based on the Jon Krakauer novel, earned over $51,000 per screen—one of the best averages ever for a movie in limited release.  Given the full-hour coverage on Oprah last week, Wild will probably be able to build on its impressive debut.  (The film goes nationwide on October 5th.)

Eastern Promises also turned out some promising numbers after its wide release.  The film took in nearly $6 million in its second week (though it still underperformed the last David Cronenberg/Viggo Mortensen movie, A History of Violence).  I’m hoping word-of-mouth about the fully-naked Mortensen fight scene (did I grab your attention?) will give this film the lasting power it deserves.

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Box Office Breakdown:  The Brave One Reaches #1

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: FOCUS, Lionsgate, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Drama, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Period, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

The Brave One took in nearly $15 million in its debut, making it the #1 film of this past weekend.  Although some may consider the gross disappointing for a Jodie Foster film, I choose to think of it as a feat for women.

I decided to do a little research today and came away with some very unsettling news.  Since FilmCrunch started reporting Box Office numbers in mid-January, no female-led movie has reached the top of the pack.  That’s unless you count Knocked Up with Katherine Heigl, and I don’t.  Even then, that was almost 3 months ago.

Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close and Mary-Louise Parker made a stand for strong female roles during Sunday’s Emmys—and maybe it’s time that someone finally spoke up for women in film.  Until then, I’ll be counting the days until Cate Blanchett makes her royal return in Elizabeth: The Golden Years (out October 12th).

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Box Office Breakdown:  Yuma Ropes Up The Win

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: FOCUS, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, Horror, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Audiences went old-school this weekend helping 3:10 to Yuma corral the box office crown.  The well-received film, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, marked the second week in a row a classic movie remake landed at #1.  (Previous winner, Halloween slid down a notch this week).

Question now is:  Will the success of Yuma spur an onslaught of Westerns?  Given the lack of any real competition this weekend, it still may be too soon to say.  But any speculation will probably be confirmed when Brad Pitt‘s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford opens on September 21.

A trend that probably won’t be coming back anytime soon?  Brothers-desperately-trying-to-make-a-baby-to-make-their-father-happy-before-he-dies films.  The Brothers Solomon delivered a pathetic $525,000 in its debut weekend.  Granted, it didn’t show in many theaters (only 700)—but I’m guessing there was a reason for that.

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