Commentary: February '09 a weak movie month

January '09 was a pretty disappointing month as far as new movie releases were concerned, but February wasn't that brilliant either. On the contrary: the number (and quality) of wide releases dropped sharply compared to last year.

Let's take a brief look at what ruled and what really sucked in February 2009:

THE BAD

February didn't start well this year. One of the first films I saw was the totally unnecessary "The Pink Panther 2," an atrocity of a movie. After seeing the first one, I really hoped they wouldn't go there again, but that's exactly what happened, and the result is cheap, lousy and plain embarrassing.

On that same weekend I also saw Ken Kwapis' comedy "He's Just Not That Into You," a film I looked forward too because I really liked what I saw in the trailer and TV spots.

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Daily news dose: Petroni to write third 'Narnia,' Banderas joins Allen flick

Here's your dose of film news for Feb. 27, 2009:

• Michael Petroni is set to write "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," which Walden Media will develop with Fox 2000. Richard LaGravanese wrote the most recent draft, according to Variety. Fox hopes to have the film ready for the 2010 holiday season.

• Steven Zeitchik at the Risky Biz Blog has learned from sources that Damian Shannon and Mark Swift are gearing up to work on a script for a second "Friday the 13th." Nothing is confirmed at this point, but given the success of the first reboot, chances are we'll see more Jason on the big screen in the near future.

• Woody Allen is casting like crazy for his untitled movie, and the latest to join the project is Antonio Banderas. Freida Pinto, Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins and Josh Brolin are already on board. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will start shooting this summer. Plot details are unknown.

• Remake alert! Warner Bros. is planning to reboot "The NeverEnding Story." Wolfgang Petersen directed the original in 1984, based on the book by Michael Ende. According to the Hollywood Reporter, no writers are attached at this point.

Box Office: 'Madea' delivers whopping $41M

Weekend of February 20 -22, 2009

Tyler Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail" took over the North American box office this weekend with $41.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Not only did the latest installment in Perry's popular series completely dominate its competition, but the film also managed to beat the $30 million opening weekend gross of 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion." This time around, Madea goes to prison, where she quickly befriends and inspires a troubled prostitute.

Still delivering a strong performance in second place this weekend was Pierre Morel's thriller "Taken," which collected $11.4 million and brought its total haul to $95.1 million after a solid four-week run. Liam Neeson stars as a protective father who stops at nothing to find his kidnapped daughter.

Climbing back up to No. 3 was Henry Selick's 3D stop-motion adventure "Coraline," which earned another $11 million for a domestic total of $53.3 million after three weeks in release.

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'Madea' goes straight to top of Friday box office

Tyler Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail" topped the North American box office Friday with an estimated $14.8 million in ticket sales.

Not facing any major competition, "Madea" opened at 2,032 locations, delivering quite a strong one-day gross. Starring Tyler Perry, this latest installment in the series follows Madea as she gets sent to prison. 

Still going very strong at No. 2 was Pierre Morel's thriller "Taken," which earned $3.4 million for a total of $87.2 million. In the film, Liam Neeson stars as a father who will stop at nothing to find his kidnapped daughter.

Following in third place Friday with $2.9 million was "He's Just Not That Into You." The Ken Kwapis-directed comedy lifted its domestic total to $64.4 million after two weeks in release.

At No. 4, Henry Selick's 3D stop-motion adventure "Coraline" picked up another $2.7 million, bringing its cumulative gross to $45.1 million. Last week's winner "Friday the 13th" dropped to No. 5, taking home $2.7 also for a cume of $49.9 million.

This weekend's only other wide release, "Fired Up!," only made it to No. 7 with a daily gross of $2.2 million.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)

'Button' continues overseas b.o. dominance

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" topped the overseas box office this weekend with an estimated $31 million in ticket sales.

Playing in 53 markets, David Fincher's Oscar-nominated drama lifted its international gross to $118.6 million, compared to $122.2 million domestically.

At No. 2, Walt Disney's "Bolt" scored $16.5 million for a total of $131.8 million. Following in third place was Tom Cruise's WWII thriller "Valkyrie," which took home $11.9 million and reached an overseas total haul of $72 million.

Meanwhile, "He's Just Not That Into You" picked up $11.4 million in 16 territories. Starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper, Drew Barrymore, Ginnifer Goodwin and Scarlett Johansson, among others, the film follows a bunch of individuals making new discoveries about dating and marriage.

While it topped the box office domestically with $42.2 million, Marcus Nispel's remake "Friday the 13th" collected $10.4 million in 30 markets, placing the movie at No. 5.

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Box Office: 'Friday the 13th' reigns with $42M

Weekend of February 13 – 15, 2009

“Friday the 13th” slashed its competition at the top of the North American box office with a whopping $42.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Marcus Nispel’s remake of the 1980 horror flick follows Jason Voorhees as he brutally murders everyone daring to enter his territory at Camp Crystal Lake. The film was produced on a $19 million budget.

Things didn’t look that great for this weekend’s two other wide releases. P.J. Hogan’s “Confessions of a Shopaholic” debuted only at No. 4, pulling in $15.4 million. Based on the books by Sophie Kinsella, the film follows Isla Fisher as a journalist struggling to get control of her debt.

Meanwhile, Tom Tykwer’s thriller “The International” finished in seventh place, collecting only $10 million. Starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, the movie focuses on an Interpol agent and a NY district attorney trying to bring down a corrupt bank.

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Movie Review: "Friday the 13th"

Seen on: February 14, 2009

The players: Director: Marcus Nispel, Writers: Mark Swift, Damian Shannon, Cast: Julianna Guill, America Olivo, Jared Padalecki, Amanda Righetti, Danielle Panabaker

Facts of interest: This is yet another horror remake produced by Michael Bay.

The plot: Jason is back for more killing, and this time, he's after a bunch of rich kids who spend their weekend close to Camp Crystal Lake.

Our thoughts: Marcus Nispel’s “Friday the 13th” is yet another proof that remakes of horror flicks are completely unnecessary (of course they are). Sure, they generally boast a better visual style than the original versions, but in most cases, that’s really all you get in return for the price of admission.

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'Friday the 13th' web reviews

Jason Voorhees returns to the big screen in Marcus Nispel's remake "Friday the 13th," hunting down and killing everyone he come across. Let's take a brief look at what some online critics have to say about his resurrection:

• Kevin Carr at FilmSchoolRejects: "'Friday the 13th' delivers in all the departments for a slasher film. It has plenty of violence with unique kills. It has quite a few scary scenes."

• JimmyO at Joblo: "While the latest installment feels more like a really dark and vicious sequel, it is still a welcome return for America‘s favorite hockey masked donning slasher killer."

• Matt Goldberg at Collider: "Where 'Friday the 13th' really thrives are the jump scares and I'm disappointed that some of them are spoiled in the trailer."

• Brad Brevet at RopeOfSilicon: "'Friday the 13th' is still a fun film with some fun kills and a fantastic first act, but it just doesn't have enough steam to carry it out all the way to the end."

• Cinematical's Peter Martin: "Better acting might have helped the film escape the clutches of a third act letdown, which includes several groan-inducing moments, but who am I kidding?"

f• Ron Henriques at LatinoReview: "All kidding aside, this 'Friday the 13th' is juvenile filmmaking, but can be quite fun when viewed with friends in the mood for silly horror or screaming girls with bare boobs."

This week's new movie releases - Feb. 13, 2009

We're only looking at three wide releases this week: "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with Isla Fisher, Marcus Nispel's horror remake "Friday the 13th" and Tom Tykwer's thriller "The International" with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Let's take a closer look:

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC

Synopsis: Rebecca Bloomwood is a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she's hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt. While Rebecca has dreams of working for a top fashion magazine, she can't quite get her foot in the door -- that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company.

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Poster mania: 'Up,' 'Friday the 13th,' 'Street Fighter'

I stumbled across new movie posters everywhere I looked on the Web today, and here's what I found:

The first one down below is the new one-sheet for Pixar's "Up," about 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen, who decides to finally fulfill his dream and explore the globe. But instead of catching a plane ride, Carl builds his own transportation by tying thousands of balloons to his home.

The second poster is a new one-sheet for Marcus Nispel's "Friday the 13th" remake, which is due in theaters Feb. 13, 2009. This one will give you another solid look at Jason's badass mask.

If you scroll further down you'll comes across a new poster for Andrzej Bartkowiak's upcoming "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," due in theaters Feb. 27.

Finally, to wrap things up, I've also included one of a series of new character posters for DreamWorks Animation's new flick "Monsters vs. Aliens," which starts in 3D March 21.

Enjoy the poster madness, and let us know if you stumble across some cool, new one-sheets.

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