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,
This 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
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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.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Game Plan Scores the Win
This Week on DVD: October 2, 2007
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Sony, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Drama, Horror, Period, Science Fiction, Sequels, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases,
Here are a few of the titles you can find on the rental shelves this Tuesday:
- 1408: starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Collector’s Edition): starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder
- Caligula (Three-Disc Imperial Edition): starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: starring Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis
- The Jungle Book (Platinum Edition): starring Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot
- Misery (Special Edition): starring Kathy Bates, James Caan
- Species (Collector’s Edition): starring Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen
Click here to see the TV-On-DVD options for this week.
Click here to see the new titles released on HD DVD and Blu-Ray.
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.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Resident Evil Fights Off Competition
In Theaters This Weekend (9/21)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases, Upcoming Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Eastern Promises (R): starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts (directed by David Cronenberg)
- Good Luck Chuck (R): starring Jessica Alba, Dane Cook (directed by Mark Helfrich)
- In the Valley of Elah (R): starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron (directed by Paul Haggis)
- Resident Evil: Extinction (R): starring Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr (directed by Russell Mulcahy)
- Sydney White (PG-13): starring Amanda Bynes, Matt Long (directed by Joe Nussbaum)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend (9/21)
The Preview Review: Be Kind Rewind, Lars and the Real Girl, Good Luck Chuck
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: FOCUS, MGM, Lionsgate, New Line, Drama, Independent, Satire, Comedy, Trailers, Upcoming Releases,
Welcome to an exciting August edition of The Preview Review, where the newest trailers get a second glance.
This time, we turn a scrutinizing eye on three upcoming films about bumbling, unlucky men struggling to overcome ineptitude and find happiness, fall in love, or replace hundreds of erased VHS tapes with homemade film homages. I’ll explain after the jump.
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
Box Office Breakdown: Silver Surfer Scores the Gold
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories:
Like Ocean’s Thirteen, critics rated Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer better than its predecessor. And like Ocean’s, Fantastic found its way on top of the ever-revolving box office heap. With help from a more family-friendly rating (down from PG-13 to a PG), the superhero clan raked in $2 million more in its opening weekend than its 2005 turnout.
But it takes more than just a PG to win viewers over—it apparently takes Jessica Alba in a skin-tight outfit…and the prim and proper Nancy Drew had to learn that the hard way. The latest incarnation of the beloved character only placed 7th despite the numerous times Julia Roberts’ name had been dropped these past few weeks. BTW—I feel incredibly bad that daddy Eric Roberts has been continuously trumped by his more famous sister. Emma is HIS daughter after all.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Silver Surfer Scores the Gold
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