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Latest Video: FilmCrunch 067: Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, Premonition reviewed

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, and Premonition in this episode of FilmCrunch.
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Box Office Breakdown: Leatherheads Sacked by Competition

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Satire, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Nim's Island

Despite ‘s role as actor and director, Hollywood’s powerful A-lister still couldn’t get his film all the way to the end zone.

, also starring John Krasinski and Renee Zellweger, came up short this past weekend found itself in third place.  Although it looked like the football film was going to fare much better, Nim’s Island made a last minute score to snag second place.  Previous winner, 21, made it two weeks in a row even with a $10 million loss.

The only other new film to enter the recent Top Ten was .  The film adaptation of the Scott Smith book scared up just over $8 million.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Leatherheads Sacked by Competition

Read More | Variety

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Box Office Breakdown: 21 Cashes In

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Satire, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

21 Movie

Apparently it takes a movie about gambling to finally bring down a family-friendly film.

This past weekend, won big at the tables and brought in over $24 million dollars.  The movie - the third Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey have starred in together - survived less than stellar critical reviews to cash in over $9000 per theater.  (That average was tops for any move in the Top Ten.)  The new box office champ also pushed Horton and its $17.7 million into second place.

Further down the list, once again proved that audiences are not interested in purchasing tickets for pics about the war.  Is it because these films are far too political, or do people simply need a more light-hearted theme to escape with?  Whatever the reason, Loss entered the charts in a disappointing 8th place.  The Ryan Phillippe vehicle did earn a respectable $3500 screen average though.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: 21 Cashes In

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Tyler Perry Produces Another Hit

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Period, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns

This past Easter weekend, Tyler Perry proved once again that he has the Midas touch.  Although his latest venture, Meet the Browns, only came in second, the film bested ! with its per screen take.  Perry’s film averaged $10,011 per theater—thousands better than Horton‘s performance ($6208).  The latter movie was also showing in twice as many locations.

But the Dr. Seuss adaptation wasn’t the only film to snare a prize away from the writer/actor/director.  - a small feature from The Weinstein Company - entered the Top Ten with an impressive $10,414 average.  While Browns was being shown on 2006 screens, Moon was showing on only 266.  The movie, co-starring America Ferrera, wound up being the top domestic scorer ever for a Spanish-languaged film.

In other chart news, Owen Wilson’s debuted at #4 while another Asian horror remake, Shutter, took in $10.5 million for a third place finish.  Films booted out of this week’s Top Ten were , Doomsday, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Tyler Perry Produces Another Hit

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Horton Hears a Who Has Largest 2008 Debut

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists

Horton Hears a Who

Thankfully, ‘s embarrassing stint on American Idol wasn’t all in vain.

earned $45 million dollars over the past weekend, trouncing the competition.  Although the kid-friendly flick has had the biggest opening of 2008 so far, the film falls in the middle of the pack when it comes to Dr. Seuss adaptations.  How The Grinch Stole Christmas opened with $55 million back in 2000; A Cat in the Hat took in $38.3 just three years later.

Horton‘s premiere also made a nice statement for non-Pixar related films overall.  This animated movie found itself in fifth place behind other cartoon debuts.  (Disney’s Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Cars and rank one through four.)

The only other new entries in this week’s Top Ten were the mixed-martial arts pic and the post-apocalyptic thriller .

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Box Office Breakdown: Theatergoers Take a Trip to 10,000 BC

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

10,000 BC

One year ago, pulled in an astounding $70 million dollars.  This past weekend, another period drama grossed exactly half that much.  Half, schmalf—it was still enough for a win.

Warner Bros.’ easily topped its futuristic competitors with a $35 million take over this last weekend.  The total was leaps and bounds better than the amount produced by second place finisher, College Road Trip.  The Disney flick, starring Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symone, rang up only $13.6 million.

Meanwhile, last week’s #1, , was already showing signs of fatigue.  The basketball comedy fell to 5th place and earned a disappointing $5.7 million.  Does this mean the Will Ferrell sports era is finally over?

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Theatergoers Take a Trip to 10,000 BC

Read More | Yahoo! Movies

DVD REVIEW:  God Grew Tired Of Us

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Documentary, DVD Reviews

God Grew Tired Of UsEvery once in a while you are fortunate enough to watch a movie that really shakes you to your core.  Afterwards, you feel compelled to grab any and everyone you see to tell them about it.  I had that experience just last week—and since then, my friends have had to bear the brunt of my enthusiasm.

Earlier this year, I caught a Nightline piece about the film, God Grew Tired of Us.  This documentary about the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ was having it’s Los Angeles premiere.  But the road to completion required a lot of celebrity assistance along the way.  Actor sought ‘s help when his director friend (Christopher Quinn) was running low on funds.  Pitt provided financial assistance and took on an executive producer role.  also contributed as narrator after being asked by actress .

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Read More | Nightline

FilmCrunch 038: Flags of our Fathers Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Period, Short FilmCrunch, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts


Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Flags of our Fathers in this episode of FilmCrunch:

It is the most memorable photograph of World War II, among the greatest pictures ever taken. The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photography and one of the most-reproduced images in the history of photography, the picture has inspired postage stamps, posters, the covers of countless magazines and newspapers, and even the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” a picture taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945 depicts five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi. The image served as a counterpoint for one of the most vicious battles of the war: the fight to take Iwo Jima, a desolate island of black sand barely eight square miles that would prove a tipping point in the Pacific campaign. Lasting more than a month, the fight was a bloody, drawn-out conflict that might have turned the American public against the war entirely, had it not been for the photo, which was taken and published five days into the battle. The photograph made heroes of the men in the picture as the three surviving flag-raisers were returned to the U.S. and made into props in the government’s Seventh War Bond Tour. Uncomfortable with their new celebrity, the flag-raisers considered the real heroes to be the men who died on Iwo Jima; still, the American public held them up as the best America had to offer, the supermen who conquered the Japanese—and then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the glory faded. For two of the surviving flag-raisers, life became a series of compromises and disappointments; for the third, happiness came only by shutting off his war experiences and rarely speaking of them ever again.


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.


FilmCrunch 034: Letters from Iwo Jima, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Movie Theater Etiquette

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: DreamWorks, IFC Films, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Documentary, Independent, Period, Short FilmCrunch, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts


Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep are back with a full episode of FilmCrunch. In this show, expect a review of Clint Eastwood‘s Letters from Iwo Jima, along with a DVD review of This Film is Not Yet rated.


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.


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