MovieGoods Blog

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is a new comedy from director Robert B. Weide which opens in theatres this week and is based on Toby Young's memoir of the same name. Young is a British journalist and at one time a contributing editor to Vanity Fair.

Simon Pegg has the title role of Sidney Young, a smalltime British celebrity journalist who is hired by an upscale magazine in New York City and then proceeds to burn bridges with everyone he comes in contact with.  The film also stars Megan Fox, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges and Kirsten Dunst.

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Movie Box Office: September 26 – 28, 2008

Shia LaBeouf continues to mine gold, as his latest flick, the action thriller "Eagle Eye" took the top spot at the box office this past weekend, pulling in just over $29 million despite facing competition Friday from the presidential debate.

Richard Gere and Diane Lane had a solid opening in second spot with $13.6 million, as the romantic drama "Nights in Rodanthe" managed to draw support from the older female moviegoers. Meanwhile, the Samuel L. Jackson thriller "Lakeview Terrace" had a modest drop in its second week, posting $7 million in ticket sales - good enough for third place.

In fourth place was a movie we missed on our new release list last week - "Fireproof", a Christian-themed firefighting drama starring Kirk Cameron which benefited from advance bookings by church groups. Spike Lee didn't fare as well, as his World War II drama "Miracle at St. Anna" languished in ninth place with $3.5 million.

Last weekend's full top 10 was as follows:
1. Eagle Eye - $29.2 M
2. Nights in Rodanthe - $13.6 M
3. Lakeview Terrace - $7 M
4. Fireproof - $6.5 M
5. Burn After Reading - $6.2 M
6. Igor - $5.5 M
7. Righteous Kill - $3.8 M
8. My Best Friend's Girl - $3.8 M
9. Miracle at St. Anna - $3.5 M
10. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys - $3.2 M

Paul Newman Dead at 83

Hollywood and the world lost another screen legend, as Paul Newman died last Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut at the age of 83. Newman, who was nominated for 10 Oscars during his career, won two honorary ones as well as best actor for his role of pool shark Fast Eddie Felson in "The Color of Money."

With an acting career that spanned over 50 years, Paul Newman had some of the most memorable performances in modern film. His roles included his breakout performance in 1956 playing Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" as well as heroes, anti-heroes, scoundrels and true villians in films like "The Long Hot Summer," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Hud," "The Hustler," "Hombre," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "Road to Perdition," "Slapshot," "Absence of Malice" and "The Verdict."

Known for his unselfish philanthropy, Newman is survived by his wife of 50 years, actress Joanne Woodward and five children. To the blue-eyed devil we say - definitely not "a failure to communicate."

60th Emmy Awards: Actor Awards

The actors that pulled down the main awards at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards were Glenn Close for best actress in a drama series ("Damages"), Zeljko Ivanek for supporting actor in a drama ("Damages"), Bryan Cranston for best actor in a drama series ("Breaking Bad"), Alec Baldwin for best actor in a comedy series ("30 Rock"), Tina Fey for best actress in a comedy series ("30 Rock"), Jeremy Piven for best supporting actor in a comedy series ("Entourage"), Jean Smart for best supporting actress in a comedy series ("Samantha Who?"), and Dianne Wiest best supporting actress in a drama series ("In Treatment").

Also picking up an award was Jeff Probst for best reality competition host ("Survivor") and "The Amazing Race" won its sixth consecutive Emmy for best reality competition program.

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Buy In Treatment TV posters and memorabilia here >>
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Movie Box Office: September 19 – 21, 2008

Audiences turned out to watch bad neighbor, Samuel L. Jackson, take out his angst on the couple next door as the thriller "Lakeview Terrace" pulled off the number one spot at the box office, in what was yet another lacklustre September weekend. It was easily the best opening for director Neil LaBute ("The Wicker Man") as the movie brought in just over $15 million. The movie also featured up and coming star, Patrick Wilson who will appear in next spring's buzz movie "Watchmen" which will be directed by Zack Snyder ("300").

Last week's box office winner, "Burn After Reading" dropped into second place with $11 million, while Dane Cook and Kate Hudson opened in third place with their new comedy, "My Best Friend's Girl" which debuted with $8.3 million.

The other two new releases were the family animation, "Igor" with John Cusack which opened in fourth place with $7.8 million and "Ghost Town" starring Ricky Gervais which opened with just $5 million.

Last weekend's full top 10 was as follows:
1. Lakeview Terrace - $15 M
2. Burn After Reading - $11 M
3. My Best Friend's Girl - $8.3 M
4. Igor - $7.8 M
5. Righteous Kill - $7.4 M
6. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys - $7.3 M
7. The Women - $5.4 M
8. Ghost Town - $5 M
9. The Dark Knight - $2.9 M
10. The House Bunny - $2.7 M

Opening in Theaters this Weekend: September 19 - September 21, 2008

This week's new movie releases:

As well as "Igor" opening in theaters today, we have a new Kate Hudson and Dane Cook r-rated romantic comedy opening called "My Best Friend's Girl." Cook plays a dating gun-for-hire that ex-boyfriends hire to get their girlfriends to come back, and Hudson is the ultimate challenge for Tank (Cook) and his best friend, Dustin (Jason Biggs).

"Ghost Town" is an comedy as well, starring Ricky Gervais as a man who after being dead for seven minutes, wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen (Tea Leoni).

And last up is "Lakeview Terrace," a thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as a tightly wound cop who terrorizes his new neighbors, a young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) just married and moved into what the thought would be their dream home.

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Buy Igor posters and memorabilia here >>
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Opening in Theatres: Igor

Of the four new wide releases this week, we have a new family animated comedy called "Igor." Directed by award-winning animation veteran Tony Leondis ("Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch") and written by Chris McKenna ("American Dad!"), the movie features the voices of John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jennifer Coolidge, Arsenio Hall, Sean Hayes, Eddie Izzard, Jay Leno, James Lipton, Molly Shannon and Christian Slater.

The plot revolves around the lowly lab assistant Igor, who dreams of becoming a mad scientist, and who finally gets his chance when his cruel master dies a week before the annual Evil Science Fair.  Aided by his two creations, "Brain" and "Scamper", Igor must fight to save his world after uncovering an evil plot that threatens to destroy it.

Igor opens in theatres on September 19, 2008, and is distributed by MGM and The Weinstein Company.

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Movie Box Office: September 12 – 14, 2008

After the fizzle and no sizzle of last week, this weekend at the box office it was all new releases pulling the top four spots, as Ethan and Joel Coen snapped up the top spot with "Burn After Reading," registering their their best opening weekend ever. After the commercial and critical success last year of "No Country for Old Men," the brothers seem to have garnered attention from a much broader audience.

Tyler Perry continued with his winning formula, as "The Family That Preys" locked down the number two spot, while the big star pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino certainly helped "Righteous Kill" get third place.

In fourth spot with just over $10 million, was Diane English's "The Women" which suffered from some poor reviews, despite having a high powered cast of actresses which included Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Eva Mendes, Candice Bergen, Cloris Leachman, Bette Midler and Carrie Fisher.

Last weekend's full top 10 was as follows:
1. Burn After Reading - $19.1 M
2. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys - $17.4 M
3. Righteous Kill - $16.3 M
4. The Women - $10.1 M
5. Tropic Thunder - $4.2 M
6. The House Bunny - $4.2 M
7. The Dark Knight - $4.1 M
8. Bangkok Dangerous - $2.6 M
9. Traitor - $2.1 M
10. Death Race - $2.1 M

Opening in Theaters: The Women

The fourth movie opening today is a comedy, "The Women" from director and writer Diane English - the creator of "Murphy Brown". An adaptation of the stageplay, the movie should certainly appeal to the female crowd this weekend, as it features an outstanding cast that includes Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Ana Gasteyer, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Bette Midler and more.

The story revolves around Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a clothing designer who seems to have it all until her world and the lives of her circle of friends are turned upside down after his husband has an affair with a perfume counter girl (Eva Mendes).

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Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys Opens in Theaters

Also opening this weekend, and perhaps destined for top spot at the box office is a new comedy drama, Tyler Perry’s "a href="http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_product.asp?master_movie_id=37672&mgaid=MG+blog">The Family That Preys" starring Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Tyler Perry and Cole Hauser, and directed and written by Tyler Perry.

Bates and Woodard play the matriarchs of two very different families being torn apart by greed and scandal. "The Family That Preys" is Perry's sixth feature film, and he has developed a strong following amongst moviegoers.

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