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Box Office Breakdown: 30 Days of Night Sucks Up the Competition

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Miramax, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Touchstone, Warner Bros, Animation, Drama, Horror, Comedy, Sports, Lists, New Releases,

30 Days of Night

I never thought I would ever find myself writing this:  ‘A Josh Hartnett-led film has opened at #1.’  Of course, he did have a little help from a vampire or two..

The horror film, , had an impressive debut for what was actually an unimpressive weekend.  With only $16 million, the Alaskan-set vampire flick beat out a host of movies filled with Oscar-nominated stars.  Ben Affleck’s well-reviewed directorial debut, , opened up in 6th place.  , starring are-they-or-aren’t-they-dating Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, barely cracked the Top Ten.  Meanwhile, placed a dismal 15th despite the presence of Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro (and promotion on Oprah).

The success of 30 Days and the surprise return of - which placed 8th even though it was only in 564 theaters - clearly spells out the audience’s need for some Halloween fare.  This bodes well for the release of which opens next weekend.  (Yay!)

 

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Box Office Breakdown: Tyler Perry vs. George Clooney

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,

Michael Clayton

This weekend saw , , and all fighting for your box office dollars—so who would have thought would come out the big winner?

Even though two of his last three films opened with impressive numbers, very few predicted the writer/actor/producer/director would topple the competition.  Now the number crunchers know better.  Though the debut underperformed 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman ($21.9 million) and 2006’s Madea’s Family Reunion ($30 million), Tyler Perry’s still scored $10 million more than its nearest competitor.

Additionally surprising was the lasting success of Disney’s .  The film finally dropped one notch to #2 in its third week—also beating out and .  Although kid-friendly fare is rarity these days, the movie’s ability to remain so strong is quite impressive.

 

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Worst Movie Titles of 2007 (So Far)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Lists,

DescriptionThis weekend’s Joaquin Phoenix/Mark Wahlberg flick has been driving me batty for weeks—and I haven’t yet seen the film.  I don’t even have a problem with the trailer.  The movie simply suffers from a horrible case of crap-title-itus.

We Own the Night?  Could that be more vague?  Instead of envisioning a cops vs. mafia film, all I can see is the now-defunct (yet great) soap opera Edge of Night.  And while I understand the film’s title would be explained if I actually watched it,  that doesn’t excuse it’s existence.  The box office shelf life for movies is extremely short these days; more attention should be paid to the little things.  I’m an extremely shallow person who often judges books by their cover.  I need a proper teaser.

And believe me—‘craptitleitus’ does not discriminate.  Great movies, movies actually worthy of attention, often become victims of this affliction.  Poor marketing can affect anything and everyone.

So to honor We Own the Night’s crap-status, I’m going to list my Worst Titles of 2007 (thus far).

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In Theaters This Weekend (10/12)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Magnolia, MGM, Lionsgate, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Yari Film Group Releasing, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Period, Comedy, Sports, Lists, New Releases,

Elizabeth

Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:

This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 2, 2007

Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Classics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Distribution, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases,

Evil Dead 2 posterThis Tuesday brings the release of some great titles, new and old.  As expected, the studios are rolling out some Halloween-inspired classics, filled with zombies, vampires and serial killers; though sadly, only Blu-ray supporters seem to be taking advantage of the upcoming holiday.

HD DVD studios chose instead to use this week to re-release a bunch of titles that were previously only available in those obnoxious HD DVD/DVD Combo discs.  You know, the $40 releases that were appealing to neither the HD owners nor the standard-definition owners?  Those of you who rightly refused to make such a silly purchase can now have some great HD titles for a lower price, thanks to Warner Home Video coming to its senses.  Any of the following films with an asterisk (*) in the title are the re-released versions.

Check out this Tuesday’s HD DVD and Blu-ray releases after the jump.

To see this week’s standard-definition DVD releases, click here.
To see this week’s TV-On-DVD releases, click here.

 

Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 2, 2007


Box Office Breakdown:  Metal Blades Take Down Machine Gun Leg

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,

Grindhouse

Not even the combined directing muscle of Team Tarantino/Rodriguez could take away the gold medal from Team Ferrell/Heder.  Despite the publicity onslaught, Grindhouse didn’t even score a silver.  Heck, it didn’t even make the medal platform.  But I guess it could have been worse.  Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank not only placed fifth—but she too was beat out by a family friendly Ice Cube.  I think it’s now safe to say that the plagues have officially commenced..


1. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $22,522,330
2. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $16,715,437
3. Are We Done Yet?, Sony, $14,262,724
4. Grindhouse, Weinstein Co., $11,596,613
5. The Reaping, Warner Bros., $10,025,203
6. 300, Warner Bros., $8,368,382
7. Wild Hogs, Disney, $6,644,971
8. Shooter, Paramount, $5,856,494
9. TMNT, Warner Bros., $4,825,445
10. Firehouse Dog, Fox, $3,838,916


Box Office Breakdown:  Blades Has The Cutting Edge

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Mystery, Period, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,

Blades of Glory

It really shouldn’t have been hard to predict that a Will Ferrell movie—or frankly a better movie—would take the top spot away from those fightin’ turtles.  Audiences simply love watching him mock their beloved sports.  It’s also worth nothing that TMNT sunk so low…it was even surpassed by the old fave, 300.  Cowabunga?#$%!

Here’s how the rest of the weekend broke down:

1. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $33,014,202
2. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $25,123,781
3. 300, Warner Bros., $11,434,437
4. TMNT, Warner Bros., $9,232,362
5. Wild Hogs, Disney, $8,662,893
6. Shooter, Paramount, $8,364,413
7. Premonition, Sony, $5,213,264
8. The Hills Have Eyes II, Fox Atomic
9. Reign Over Me, Sony, $3,835,022
10. The Last Mimzy, New Line, $3,815,600


Box Office Breakdown: Cowabunga!

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

TMNT

And Xerses thought 300 warriors looked pathetic.  Apparently a handful of shells was all it took to take down that clump of shielded warriors.  The latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles offering, TMNT, took the top spot away this weekend from powerhouse 300.

Also of note—two movies starring a Wahlberg opened up this week:  Shooter with Mark and Dead Silence with Donnie.  While neither movie did spectacular, both movies managed to crack the Top 10.  Here’s the breakdown for the rest of the contenders:

1. TMNT, Warner Bros., $24,255,205
2. 300, Warner Bros., $19,862,491
3. Shooter, Paramount, $14,523,571
4. Wild Hogs, Disney, $13,850,542
5. The Last Mimzy, New Line, $10,024,819
6. The Hills Have Eyes II, Fox Atomic, $9,686,362
7. Premonition, Sony, $9,562,739
8. Reign Over Me, Sony, $7,460,690
9. Pride, Lionsgate, $3,533,300
10. Dead Silence, Universal, $3,440,415


FilmCrunch 012: The Departed Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Warner Bros, Action, Drama, New Releases, Short FilmCrunch, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,

Neil Estep and Veronica Santiago review one of the best movie releases of 2006, The Departed, starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon.

To take down South Boston’s Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise in director Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller. While undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) curries favor with mob kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), career criminal Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there’s a mole among them.

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 othe recommendations you have for the show.


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.


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