Monday, September 02, 2013

Box Office RESULTS August 30, 2013 - September 1, 2013

Alright ladies and gents, here are the latest box office results. The conversation for a lot of the summer has revolved around how bad so many of this year's movies have been and yet, Exhibitor Relations reports it was a record summer at the domestic box office with this year's crop of films estimated to have brought in $4.75 billion (10.5% over 2012) with 582 million tickets sold, the highest number of tickets since 2007.

Leading the charge on this final weekend was Morgan Spurlock's One Direction: This is Us concert documentary, which opened with an estimated $17 millionand received an "A" CinemaScore from the groupies in attendance. Expectations are for the film to cross $20.5 million by the end of the four day weekend.

Moving on to the Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez thriller Getaway I have to wonder, what kept fans away? Was it the 2% RottenTomatoes rating or were the trailers enough? Maybe it was simply word of mouth as opening night audiences gave it a "C+" CinemaScore, which pretty much translates to an "F" and for good reason, the movie is terrible and it reflects in its $4.5 million opening.

The biggest news of this weekend, however, is the staying power of Lee Daniels' The Butler, which only dropped 11% in its second weekend for $14.7 million, bringing its domestic cume to $74 million. Oscar talk may be ramping up with screenings out of Telluride and Venice, but The Butler is putting money where its mouth is and has assured us it will be part of the conversation over the coming award season.

Below that we have Focus' new thriller Closed Circuit, which the studio opened on Wednesday and played in only 862 theaters this weekend and it wasn't playing to full houses. The film brought in an estimated $2.5 million and it's likely the last time we'll even hear of it.

Just below Closed Circuit is Wong Kar Wai's Grandmaster, which expanded into 749 theaters this weekend and brought home $2.4 million. Check out the list below for the remainder of the top 12 films in theaters.

TW	LW	Title	Studio	Weekend
1	-	One Direction: This Is Us	TriStar Pictures (Sony)	$17,000,000
2	1	Lee Daniels' The Butler	The Weinstein Company	$14,742,000
3	2	We're the Millers	New Line Cinema (Warner Bros.)	$12,610,000
4	5	Disney's Planes	Walt Disney Pictures	$7,756,000
5	-	Instructions Not Included	Lionsgate (Pantelion Films)	$7,500,000
6	7	Elysium	TriStar Pictures (Sony)	$6,300,000
7	3	The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones	Screen Gems (Sony)	$5,200,000
8	4	The World's End	Focus Features	$4,759,000
9	-	Getaway	Warner Bros. Pictures	$4,505,000
10	8	Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters	20th Century Fox	$4,425,000
11	10	Blue Jasmine	Sony Pictures Classics	$4,021,000
12	6	You're Next	Lionsgate	$4,000,000

Games on the AVE: Gamespot Lost Planet 3 Review

Also available on PS3

In the third iteration of the Lost Planet series, some things are gained, and some are, appropriately enough, lost. Lost Planet 2 was a frustrating and beautiful concoction, loaded with grand ideas that all too often sacrificed basic playability. In this mediocre prequel to the original Lost Planet, the frustrations are minimal, but so are the ideas; its predecessor's variety and visual panache are steamrolled in favor of perfectly decent, perfectly standard shooting encounters. Lost Planet 3 is a difficult game to hate and an equally difficult game to adore. It might feature monstrous aliens, but it never thinks big.One aspect of this third-person shooter that will keep you thinking, however, is its story, a surprise given the series' lack of a personal touch and grand plot ambitions. The early hours move slowly, introducing you to hero Jim Peyton, who has journeyed across the blackness of space to the planet E.D.N. III to assist the Neo-Venus Construction company in its mining efforts. Jim is an excellent everyman, frequently exchanging personal video messages with his devoted wife, who is raising their newborn son while Jim works toward a brighter financial future. The couple labor to maintain a tone of normalcy, but never fully contain their misgivings and personal longing. The dialogue is natural and delivered gracefully; Jim's love is not characterized by overwhelming passion, but by quiet adoration and sincere concern.

While performing odd jobs and fighting off the wildlife that threatens the mining operation, Jim spots a figure eyeing him in the distance. Jim's paranoia turns to confusion as he uncovers truths about NEVEC and the indiscretions of the company's past. Here, the tale begins to follow recognizable paths, invoking elements of stories like Pocahontas and James Cameron's Avatar by contrasting the greed of the invader with the purity of the land. But it's how Lost Planet 3 subverts cliches that makes it so compelling. In fiction, lines like "I didn't know you had a wife" often lead to predictable story outcomes--but not here. Lost Planet 3 avoids overt moralizing and soap-opera melodrama, instead placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and allowing them to find their way.

On E.D.N. III, it's best not to anger the wildlife.

That isn't to say there aren't sour notes. A miner with a deplorable French accent tops that list, though an annoyingly chatty engineer can also grate on your nerves. Both ultimately earn a vital place in the story, though not before injuring your sense of good taste with their cliched characterizations. The game's tone wanders, sometimes shooting for "space cowboy" a la StarCraft or Firefly, and other times getting jokey, going so far as to point out its own mechanical shortcomings. A little lighthearted humor is appreciated, but when it's a bit of dialogue pointing out how often you have to turn on an elevator's power, you can't help but wish developer Spark Unlimited had avoided repetitive mission design rather than cracked wise about it.

That repetition is a problem. Many of Lost Planet 3's missions have you heading out into E.D.N. III's icy wilderness to perform odd jobs for NEVEC or other allies, flipping switches, riding elevators, and shooting some aliens in a comfortable but overfamiliar pattern. Like in the previous games, your primary foes are the akrid, aliens primarily known for their insectlike appearance and the glowing orange growths that indicate weak points. Previously, fighting the largest of these creatures could be both a stunning and frustrating affair, with their outlandish attacks sending you flying through the air and into drifts of snow, where you had to struggle to your feet and resume battle. Combat arenas were often large and gave you the opportunity to pilot combat mechs, and giant akrid forced you to use your wits when you weren't busy cursing the frustrations of irritating knockbacks

Friday, August 30, 2013

In theaters NOW

alright ladies and gents here's the latest batch of movies in theaters. Will any of these have what it takes to dethrone "The Butler" ?? We'll let you know the results monday !!!

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES (THIS WAS INCLUDED BECAUSE I DIDNT POST IT LAST WEEK)

Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.

CLOSED CIRCUIT

A terrorist attack in London results in the capture of suspect Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto). The attorney general appoints Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) as special advocate on Erdogan's legal team. On the eve of the trial, Erdogan's lawyer dies, and a new defense attorney, Martin Rose (Eric Bana), steps in. Martin and Claudia are former lovers, a fact which must remain hidden. As Martin assembles his case, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy, placing him and Claudia in danger.

GETAWAY

Though he used to race cars for a living, Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) is now pitted against the clock in the most important race of his life; an unseen criminal (Jon Voight) has kidnapped Brent's wife, and to get her back, he must follow the man's instructions to the letter. Brent commandeers the ultimate muscle car -- a custom Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake -- and, with a tech-savvy young passenger (Selena Gomez), sets out on a high-speed chase to rescue his beloved.

ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US

Groomed for stardom by "X-Factor's" Simon Cowell, the members of pop supergroup One Direction -- Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne -- have emerged as a worldwide phenomenon. Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock follows the young singers on their 2012-2013 world tour and mixes live concert footage with behind-the-scenes interviews and antics. Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, actor-comic Chris Rock and filmmaker Martin Scorsese also drop by to meet the guys.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Sneaks on the AVE: THURSDAY EDITION

Ok sneakerheads, heres the latest batch of J's dropping in stores this weekend so you guys have an idea of how much bread yall need to get up for this weekend !! LOL. Happy sneaker hunting !!