This Weekends Movie News – Whats Hot This Weekend, What Happened Last Weekend

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Where the Wild Things Are Tagline - There is One in All of Us

How it Performed at the Box Office Opening Weekend:  This movie really took the box office by storm this weekend.  It opened for a total weekend “take” of $32.5 million, almost $12.5 million more than the number two weekend movie “Law Abiding Citizen”, and the reviews are pretty spectacular.  Spike Jonez can still say he has yet to make a bad movie…which you may or may not agree with once you’ve gone to see the movie.  Some are saying it is an amazing movie, and others are saying that you just can’t make a decent movie out of such a small book.

Release Date (everywhere):  October 16th, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis:  Young, mischievous Max is sent to bed without his supper, but when his bedroom turns in to a magical jungle landscape filled with strange creatures, he embarks on a wild imaginary adventure.

Starring: Forest Whitaker, Catherine O’Hara…

My Thoughts:  I truly believe Warner Brothers (Studio making the film) is going to have a huge hit on their hands.  I read this book as a child as I’m sure many others have and I (for some unknown reason I can’t figure out) have some sort of an attachment to this movie/idea…and I’m an adult.  Now for the children this movie is obviously being marketed to, they are going to want to see it based solely on its appearance (it looks REALLY cool).  Now because this movie is going to appeal to the adults whom actually remember where/what this movie came from and the childred who think it looks cool all at the same time, you end up with that perfect concoction of the kid asking the parent to see the movie and the adult saying yes (because they kind of want to see it themselves).  Should be a blockbuster movie and I believe it is actually going to be a very good movie content wise as well.

The Buzz: There was buzz for this movie over a year ago (a lot of this movie was filmed a long time ago believe it or not).  There was apparently a test screening for this movie that even left some childred in tears.  I’m choosing to link you to an article from over a year ago to see where this movie came from and how it may (or may not have) evolved since then.

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The Stepfather Movie Tagline - This Fall Daddys Home

How it Performed at the Box Office Opening Weekend:  This movie opened at the number 5 spot at this weekends movies, bringing in roughly $12.3 million.  Sony Pictures doesn’t seem unhappy with that result, but I think that is a pretty abysmal opening for a brand new movie with some “star power” behind it.  It being a scary movie and opening while Paranormal Activity is still taking in all the viewers for that genre at movie theaters right now just gave this movie more competition than it could handle.

Release Date (everywhere):  October 16th, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis:  Michael Harding (Penn Badgley) returns home from military school to find his mother (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?

Starring: Penn Badgley, Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward

My Thoughts:  Well, in case you didn’t know, this movie is a remake of a movie (that shares the same title).  Remakes can sometimes go very very well, and sometimes they go very very awry.  Which direction this one will take, I’m not entirely sure.  From the previews it looks as though Penn Badgley is doing a great job as a psychopath, but then again, previews always look great.  I enjoy a good thriller movie…actually, I enjoy almost any thriller movie.  I may see this…I’m undecided.

The Buzz: See what is being said about The Stepfather.

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Arriving at the Island...Still Happy

How it Performed at the Box Office Opening Weekend: Well even though Couples Retreat didn’t get great reviews (in fact, it got pretty bad reviews) it ended up being a pretty big hit.  It brought in about $35 million this weekend…pretty impressive for “just a romantic comedy”.  One of the things that helped this movie do well is the fact that it was the ONLY wide release film for the weekend.  It actually ended up breaking the Columbus Day opening weeked record (the previous holder of that title was “Meet the Parents” which opened up nine years ago).  Here you can see what others that have actually seen Couples Retreat are saying.

Release Date (everywhere):  October 9th, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis:  A comedy centered around four couples who go to a tropical-island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on the marriage, the others fail to realize that participation in the resort’s therapy sessions is not optional.

My Thoughts:  This movie will not be anything new…which isn’t to say it won’t be good for a few laughs.  This movie will be the typical comedy that will yield a couple of decent laughs with some exaggerated scenarios (check out the trailer), have a “plot twist” and then end with the characters all “learning” something about their relationships and themselves.  It should end with a bow tied neatly around everything.

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The incredible true story of LeBron James and the Akron Fab Five

How it Performed at the Box Office Opening Weekend: Well, if you were to compare it to even the worst movie that opened over the weekend (just looking at dollar amount brought in) you’d be inclined to think that it did terrible.  The gross (I’m referring to the total amount of money made by the film…no pun intended while using the word gross and this amount of money in the same sentence) amount of money took in by this movie was….drumroll…just shy of $183,000….

But, it was a limited release…so…well, that is still pretty bad.  Oh well.

Release Date (limited): October 2nd, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis: This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James’ journey to fame.

My Thoughts: I don’t really watch basketball…no thoughts here.  If you’d like to add your comments where I’m obviously unable to make any, please, go right ahead.  You can post your comments below.

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Would You Choose to Live as a Surrogate?

Would You Live as a Surrogate?

I just recently went to see the movie Surrogates (you can read about that here) with my girlfriend, and it actually ended up starting a friendly debate between her and I (I say debate, others might say argument…tomato/tomoto…)

Anyway, I just wanted to get some others feedback on the topic.  Below I’ll list some of the benefits (as I see them) and drawbacks (again, as I see them) to living as a “Surrogate”.

Benefits

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• You don’t ever have to worry about getting sick
• You don’t have to worry about being murdered
• Those days when you had too much to drink the night before, you simply call your boss and say “Hey, my surrogate is in the shop (busted flux capacitor).  I’ll be in as soon as it’s fixed.”
• You can look however you want
• No more listening to your wife/girlfriend talking about wrinkles and “Crows Feet” or how your husband/boyfriend is “getting love handles”
• You’re “body” never gets tired (you simply find the nearest outlet and plug ‘er in)
• Getting yelled at by your boss or girlfriend/boyfriend?  Simply turn off your ears…literally

Drawbacks

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• Everybody Else can look however they want (you just never know who’s operating that thing do you)
• The organization you work for can always supply with a “backup” surrogate…can’t ever miss a day of work….eughk
• There are actually plenty of drawbacks, but on a serious note, there is one that kind of encompasses them all…here it is:

You never actually get to live….here is what I mean (and they touch on this in the movie…don’t worry, no movie spoiler here)  Have you ever done something moderately dangerous or just plain old exciting? (like skydiving, rock-climbing, wake boarding or bungee-jumping)  If you have, you’ll know that crazy feeling that you get inside of you.  It is similar to wanting to scream as loud as you can combined with a feeling of “I can do anything” with a dash of wanting to punch somebody in the face (not because you’re mad, but because you just need an outlet).

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You get that feeling because of the thrill behind what it is you’ve done.  There is only a thrill doing those things because of the inherent danger attached to the act itself.  Living as a surrogate, bungee jumping wouldn’t be exciting.  Even if the machine you’re sitting in that controls the surrogate could replicate the rush of the wind across you’re face, you’re hair blowing every which way, the feeling your stomach gets like it has just been ripped out of you (caused by falling very fast…I.E. – Bungee jumping), all the little things…at the end of it, you wouldn’t be left with that feeling…because there was never any danger involved.

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Even take almost getting into a car accident…it is horrifying…but afterwords (if you didn’t get hurt) you feel like you’ve conquered the world.  Even the horrifying feeling itself is worth actually “feeling” (not that I’m saying almost getting into a car accident is a good idea or anything).  You wouldn’t ever have true fear or true excitement living as a surrogate…ever.

So What do You Think?  Would You Choose to Live Life or Would You Choose Safety Over Living?  Leave Your Comments Below and Read Others…Discuss it!

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This weekend is particularly weak…in regards to movies actually opening and good movies.

With that being said, here would be my pick for this weekend.  I’d actually go to see Zombieland…and it isn’t even opening this weekend.  Zombieland actually came out last weekend (Oct. 2nd 2009) but with the only new movie to hit the big screen this weekend being a romantic comedy (Couples Retreat) I’ve got to go with a previously released movie.

I’m not saying Couples Retreat is going to be bad, it just isn’t really my cup of tea.  I’m sure I’ll end up seeing the movie though when it hits DVD as I’m a big fan of Jason Bateman, and Vince Vaughn is an actor I actually find to be pretty funny.  It just isn’t a movie I’m willing to pay $25.00 to go and see.  I say $25 because I’ve got to buy my ticket, then my girlfriends ticket and then that gallon and a half of Diet Soda my girlfriend is going to want (I really hate diet soda….)

Hopefully next weekend has some better choices for me to choose from…