This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 9, 2007
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Classics, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases, Upcoming Releases,
The war between Blu-ray and HD DVD rages on, but this week the battle looks particularly one-sided.
HD DVD has only one exclusive release this Tuesday (and not even a very good one), which can’t counter-balance the nine exclusive Blu-ray titles. Now, one could see this as merely a slow week for the format’s proponents—Universal has the one title, and Paramount has zilch—or maybe Fox, Sony and MGM have simply realized that the holidays are fast approaching, and that … well, this is a war! Whatever the case, HD DVD loyalists will find little to drool over this week. As for the Blu-ray fans, they’ll find three day-and-date releases plus a high-def 28 Days Later to supplement its impressive new-release sequel.
Have a look at this week’s HD releases after the jump.
Check out this week’s standard-definition releases,
or take a look at the TV-on-DVD titles.
Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 9, 2007
Advertisement
Box Office Breakdown: Chuck and Larry Outmuscle Harry
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, New Line, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Family, Horror, Music, Musicals, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy,
Lord Voldemort should be kicking himself. Wizardry, schmizardry. All he needed was a bag of outdated gay jokes to bring young Harry down.
Wedding planners everywhere had expected 7/7/07 to be the biggest wedding day of the year, but it was 7/20/07 that proved to be eventful for comedians Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Their domestic partnership brought in enough guests to outdo Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, though they only gained $2 million more than the Potter juggernaut. Fan support for Sandler movies has always been strong—which is why I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry is his ninth movie to open at #1.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Chuck and Larry Outmuscle Harry
Box Office Breakdown: Competition Schooled By Hogwarts
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Apparently Daniel Radcliffe can bring in the audiences without having to strip…unless that’s what the female theatergoers were secretly hoping for.
Whatever the reason, a record number of voyeurs helped the Hogwarts clan whip up the biggest 5-day total for a non-holiday release. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’s $140 million beat out Shrek 2’s record set in 2004 ($128 million). The film is now on track to be the largest Potter installment to date.
As for why the producers of Captivity chose to open amongst all the recent family-fare is beyond me. And yes, I know that’s why they call it counter-programming. Ironically, while I would have loved to watch Elisha Cuthbert’s character from 24 (the oh-so annoying Kim) be subjected to torture-porn, I really no desire to see her do anything these days. Apparently I’m not alone….which is why the only other film widely-released this week opened in 12th place. Now that’s torture.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Competition Schooled By Hogwarts
Box Office Breakdown: Optimus Is In His Prime
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Political, Religious, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
We knew that a Michael Bay/ Steven Spielberg venture would be a hit—so what really is there left to say? Well, did you know that this is Bay’s biggest opening since 2001’s awful Pearl Harbor ($59.1 million)?? Did you know that Shia LeBeouf is the first leading man (he just turned 21, so is a leading man) to have two movies reach the top spot this year?
Moving on…how about that awful showing for License to Wed? Not that I predicted much for the film—but ouch. Question is: which Office actor fared worse in this summer’s box office? Steve Carell who starred in an obscenely expensive Evan Almighty—a movie that at least managed #1 berth? Or John Krasinski whose movie clearly looked like a bomb from the get-go but came with low expectations? That may be something for Dwight Schrute to sort out…
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Optimus Is In His Prime
Box Office Breakdown: Yippee-Kay-Yay Ratatouille!
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, MGM, Lionsgate, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Mystery, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Bruce Willis and Co. may have managed to steer clear of gigantic robots—but they somehow overlooked a group of pesky rats. Live Free and Die Hard was conveniently positioned one week ahead of this summer’s most anticipated blockbuster…yet squarely in the path of a rodent’s bite. Nevertheless, the aging John McClane still proved that he can get the job done and earn his keep.
Meanwhile, Ratatouille chewed up the competition with a $47 million dollar debut, although it surprisingly foraged less than most of its Pixar elders (only A Bug’s Life and Toy Story started off lower). What it did manage to do was help boot Surf’s Up out of the Top 10 leaving room for another Shia LeBeouf feature to transform the landscape in just a matter of days…
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Yippee-Kay-Yay Ratatouille!
Box Office Breakdown: Almighty Only Does Alrighty
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Political, Religious, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Question: When is being the #1 movie just not enough? (Hint: You have three chances to answer this question correctly).
Answer(s):
- When the critics don’t really have anything good to say about you
- When you made less than 1/2 of what your predecessor did on opening weekend
- When it cost over $175 million just to create you
Apparently having God on your side doesn’t guarantee you heavenly box office numbers. Evan Almighty, the follow-up to 2003’s Bruce Almighty, failed to bring in a large congregation this past weekend. Although it did better than the rest of the flock, it’s $32 million take paled in comparison to Bruce’s $68 million opening. And then there’s that glaring $175 million bill…
Of course, we shouldn’t feel so badly about Steve Carell’s career. I have a feeling that God is providing for him in other ways.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Almighty Only Does Alrighty
How Mighty is Evan?
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Universal, Sequels, Comedy, Casting, New Releases,
The early reviews are in – how does Evan Almighty stack up against its Jim Carrey counterpart? Morgan Freeman is back as God, and Steve Carell (who is hilarious) will play…well, he’s sort of playing Noah. And this time, it’s all about the ark. The huge-budget comedy takes an age-old story and shoves it, forcibly, right into everyone’s faces. It’s already a stale story – everybody totally already knows everything about the ark.
Click to continue reading How Mighty is Evan?
Read More | Variety
FilmCrunch 011: The Departed, The Little Mermaid, and The Lake House
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Animation, Classics, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Celebrity Gossip, New Releases, Upcoming Releases, DVD Reviews, Full Episodes, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,
We are right back at cha with a full episode of FilmCrunch. This time, Neil Estep and Veronica Santiago go into a bit of news on the upcoming Evan Almighty flick, and also delve into their thoughts on movies like The Departed, The Lake House, and the Platinum Edition The Little Mermaid DVD.
Now we want to hear from you - hit the forums and let us know what you think, what you want us to watch next, and any other recommendations you have for the show.
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.