Contest: Pick Your Destination

August 4th, 2011

There are four films opening wide or semi-wide and while not all four of them has a shot at top spot, none are the obvious front-runner. (In fact, there's a chance none of them will top the chart.) This makes picking the target film for this week's box office prediction contest a little more difficult. The easiest choice is to go with the film with the highest estimated theater count, which is Final Destination 5. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Final Destination 5. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Bodyguards and Assassins on DVD. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of Bodyguards and Assassins on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for July 26th, 2011

July 25th, 2011

Summer time at the box office is amazing. From the first weekend in May until sometime in August, there is usually an average of one $100 million dollar movie released per week. This year will have at least three months in a row with at least one $100 million film. On the home market, on the other hand, summer time is crappy. This year has been particularly tiresome, as the spring wasn't a fun time at the box office. The biggest release this week is Source Code, which was only a midlevel hit. To be fair, it is one of the best-reviewed wide releases of the year. On the other hand, neither the DVD nor the Blu-ray are exactly overloaded with extras. More...

Featured DVD Review: Bodyguards and Assassins

July 25th, 2011

Bodyguards and Assassins was a huge hit in its native China earning roughly $40 million at the box office, not to mention a record-breaking 18 Hong Kong Film Awards nominations, as well as 8 wins. That sets up high expectations, but can a movie about the Chinese revolution in the early 20th century find an audience here? Or will something be lost in translation? More...