Five films that absolutely sucked this year

5. FIRED UP!
Yes, this is that lame movie about two guys going to cheer camp to hook up with chicks, and yes, it is as terrible as it sounds. Stupid characters, painful dialogue and jokes that simply don't work are all over this flick, which is pretty much as absurd as filmmaking can get. Wait, calling it filmmaking is a mistake in the first place. I'm just going to call it big-screen trash. Yes, that sounds about right. More about this one here.

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Box Office: ‘Madea’ kicks Jonas Brothers off stage

Weekend of February 27 – March 1, 2009

Tyler Perry’s “Madea Goes to Jail” topped the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with $16.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The latest installment in the popular “Madea” series regained momentum Saturday and Sunday after briefly losing its No. 1 spot to new entry “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” on Friday. The film’s total currently stands at $64.8 million.

At No. 2, the Bruce Hendricks-directed concert film “Jonas Brothers” collected $12 million. The 3D musical event follows the popular band on its Burning Up tour and offers fans a glimpse at how the boys spend their time offstage.

Meanwhile, Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning drama “Slumdog Millionaire” climbed to No. 3 after expanding into 2,943 theaters, collecting $12.1 million and reaching a total haul of $115.1 million after 16 weeks in release.

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'Jonas Brothers' rule Friday box office

Bruce Hendricks' concert movie "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" topped the North American box office Friday with an estimated $4.8 million in ticket sales.

Playing in 3D, the film follows the popular band on their Burning Up tour. The formula already proved successful for last year's "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour," which grossed $65.2 million.

Last week's winner "Madea Goes to Jail" dropped to No. 2, earning $4.6 million and reaching a domestic total of $52.9 million. Finishing third was "Slumdog Millionaire," which brought its cumulative gross to $106.1 million after Friday's gross of $3.2 million.

Meanwhile, Pierre Morel's thriller "Taken" took home $2.8 million Friday, lifting its total haul to $100.7 million. At No. 5, Ken Kwapis' comedy "He's Just Not That Into You" earned $1.9 million for a cumulative gross of $74.5 million.

The weekend's only other wide release, "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," only made it to sixth place with $1.7 million in ticket sales.

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

Review: “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”

Seen on: February 27, 2009

The players: Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak, Writer: Justin Marks, Cast: Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris Klein, Rick Yune, Moon Bloodgood

Facts of interest: None whatsoever.

The plot: Chun-Li, a female fighter, heads to Bangkok to track down Bison and kick his butt.

Our thoughts: I walked into Andrzej Bartkowiak’s “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” with the lowest possible expectations, but to be honest, I had no idea this film could end up boring me as much as it did. Feel free to hate me for saying this, but this big-screen reboot stinks.

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This week's new movie releases - Feb. 27, 2009

It will be a quiet week, as we're only looking at two wide releases this Friday: Andrzej Bartkowiak's "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" with Kristin Kreuk, and Bruce Hendricks' "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience." Let's take a closer look:

STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI

Synopsis: Warriors converge on the streets of Bangkok, preparing for the ultimate battle of terror versus beauty, light versus darkness and good versus evil. That's the official synopsis, anyway, and I think that pretty much sums it up well enough.

First thoughts: People have been throwing plenty of hate at me already because I think the trailer and clips for "Street Fighter" look pretty lame, but hey, I don't care. I simply can't warm up to this film, and come Friday, I'll know whether I was right approaching it with low expectations.

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Four 'Street Fighter' clips fail to impress

So, are you ready for another round of "Street Fighter" on the big screen? I am so NOT!

Four brand-new clips from Andrzej Bartkowiak's upcoming "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" just debuted online, and you can check them out below.

Sure, the footage includes plenty of action, but none of it is in any impressive. What we do get is plenty of "ughs," "arghs" and a bunch of terrible dialogue.

Based on the popular video game series, the film follows female fighter Chun-Li on her quest for justice. Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Taboo and Moon Bloodgood star. Neal McDonough plays Bison.

"Chun Li" will open Feb. 27, and I'm kind of dreading the flick already. Sure, I'll give it a fair chance, but what I've seen so far doesn't impress me a bit. Maybe you care more about this film? Let me know.

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New TV spots for 'Wolverine,' 'Watchmen'

It's TV spot time!

As you may have heard already, Fox is currently debuting a series of new spots for Gavin Hood's upcoming "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

The first one is available on the Web, and you can check it out below the jump. It's about a minute long and focuses on Wolverine's crappy childhood.

Hugh Jackman returns to reprise his role of the titular character. "Wolverine" opens everywhere May 1, 2009.

The second spot down below is a brand-new one for Zack Snyder's anticipated "Watchmen," debuting in theaters March 6. As you can see and hear, it includes new footage and audio, and like most of its predecessors, it looks awesome.

Finally, if you scroll all the way to the bottom, you'll also find a new spot for "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li," due in theaters Feb. 27. Enjoy.

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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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Domestic 'Street Fighter' trailer now online!

Last week I posted the Japanese trailer for Andrzej Bartkowiak's upcoming "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," and today IGN released the domestic English version, which you can check out after the jump.

Based on the popular video game series, the film follows female fighter Chun-Li on her quest for justice. Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Taboo and Moon Bloodgood star.

I've been having trouble warming up to this project ever since I first heard about it, and I really haven't changed my mind even though I've now seen the trailer in Japanese and English.

"Chun-Li" opens Feb. 27. Let me know what you think about the trailer and if you really care about this film in the first place. Enjoy!

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Brand-new 'Legend of Chun-Li' poster debuts online

Twentieth Century Fox is slowly gearing up promotion for the upcoming "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," due in theaters Feb. 27, 2009.

ComingSoon just posted a brand-new poster for the film, which follows female fighter Chun-Li on her quest for justice. Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Taboo and Moon Bloodgood star.

Can't say I like the poster you can check out below, but at least it's a step up from all the Japanese promotional material we've seen over the past months.

Also, now that I've seen the Japanese trailer, I have to admit I am not particularly looking forward to this one. It just doesn't feel right for some reason.

Anyway, check out the one-sheet and feel free to leave your comments. It would be interesting to find out how many people out there are eagerly waiting for this flick.

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