Friday Estimates: April 29

Fast Five gets off to a furious start, leading the box office pack as pundits anticipated. Kiddie flick Rio holds the second position, while Tyler Perry’s latest clings to third in spite of a dip. Meanwhile, newcomers Prom and Hoodwinked Too! linger in the middle of the pack, while Insidious hangs in there, slow but steady.

Box Office Hell — April 29

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Fast Five|75.2|77.5|81.0|70.0|76.0 Rio |16.5|17.9|17.0|16.0|16.5 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family|11.5|11.2|10.0|10.0|8.5 Water for Elephants |10.0|10.6|9.0|9.0|9.9 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil|9.2|6.5|7.0|8.0|9.0 Prom|8.0|8.7|13.0|n/a|10.5

Critics Roundup — April 29

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night||||| Prom||||| Cave of Forgotten Dreams||||Green|Green 13 Assassins||Green||Green| Fast Five||Green|||Green

Wilmington on DVDs. Picks of the Week:The Way Back, Blow Out

The Way Back (Also Blu-ray) (Three and a Half Stars) U.S./Poland: Peter Weir, 2011 (Image) Movie tales of  agonizing attempts at human survival against long odds in dangerous situations — from Robert Aldrich‘s The Flight of the Phoenix (plane-crash in the desert), Mikhail Kalatozov’s The Red Tent (Arctic expedition gone wrong) and Akira Kurosawa’s Dersu…

The DVD Wrapup: Jolene, Bunny & the Bull, Dinoshark, Three Idiots, The Lickerish Quartet …

Jolene: Blu-ray Anyone who’s ever wondered how a pretty young woman ends up on stage, stripping, or in a parking lot doing something less legal, will see in the character of Jolene a familiar stereotype. After reaching puberty on the foster-home circuit, the flirty redhead marries the first guy with a job who pays her…

Weekend Estimates: April 24, 2011

Rio|26.2|-3%|80.7 Madea’s Big Happy Family|25.7||25.7 Water for Elephants|17.4||17.4 Hop|12.4|16%|100.5 African Cats|6.3||6.3 Scream 4|7.1|-62%|31.1 Soul Surfer|5.6|-23%|28.6 Insidious|5.3|-21%|44.1 Hanna|5.2|-28%|31.7 Souce Code|5.0|-19%|44.3

The Weekend Report: April 24, 2011

Holy cow! Easter saw a close race between the animated Rio and the agitated Madea’s Big Happy Family. Sunday estimates gave the former a slight edge of $26.2 million to the latter’s $25.7 million. The holiday session featured another national bow with the adaptation of Water for Elephants that ranked third in the lineup with…

Wilmington on Movies: Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants  (Three Stars) U.S.: Francis Lawrence, 2011 Water for Elephants is an old-fashioned romantic picture done in new-fangled ways, and it‘s so good for such a long time, that it seems a shame, at the end, to feel so let down by it. But that’s how it goes… Director Francis Lawrence’s show, co-starring…

Box Office Hell — April 22

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family|33.3|31.3|34.0|32.0|n/a Rio |25.5|23.8|25.0|26.0|n/a Water for Elephants|14.2|15.6|14.0|16.0|n/a Scream 4 |9.2|10.2|8.5|8.5|n/a Hop|7.6|6.3|7.0|8.0|n/a African Cats|6.3|7.6|7.0|7.0|n/a

Friday Estimates: April 22, 2011

With kids out of school, Rio lands at the top of the Friday box office – ahead of it’s own opening numbers last week. It’s also a good day at the movies for Madea’s Big Happy Family, Water for Elephants and, of course, Hop.

Critics Roundup — April 22

Water for Elephants|Red||Yellow|| Incendies (NY, LA) |Green|Yellow|Green|Green| Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (limited)|Yellow|Green||Green| POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (limited)||Green|Green|Green| The Bang Bang Club (NY, LA)|||Yellow|| Stake Land||Green|Green|Green|

Wilmington on DVD, Picks of the Week: The King’s Speech, Le Cercle Rouge, Legends: Bette Davis

“The movie, thanks largely to Rush and Firth and the sparks of language they strike together, becomes an ode to expression and friendship and the English language, and to the power of the human voice, in the right hands.”

“The title of Le Cercle Rouge refers to an alleged saying and story of Buddha, who supposedly draws a red circle with red chalk and explains to his students that those who are destined to cross paths, will do so within the circle, no matter what.”

“Ah, if only we had more Bettes today: actresses battling to bring more quality and beauty and fierce snap and idealism and sparkling adult intelligence and unforgettable moments to our movies: fighting to make them better, fighting to make them good, fighting to make them great, by whatever means necessary.”

Wilmington on Movies: The Conspirator

Redford obviously made this movie with all his heart. The picture, economically shot, has a grim, dusty look, and, for me, it also looks a little too TV-historical-dramatic-ish. But the story and the actors are so good, it doesn’t matter.

The Weekend Report: April 17, 2011

The box office continued to be animated with the aviary stereoscopic Rio high aloft from the film flock with an estimated $39.9 million. Session bridesmaid was another freshman, the long delayed squeamquel Scream 4 that grossed $18.9 million.

Critics Roundup — April 15

The Conspirator|Yellow||||Green Armadillo||||Green| Atlas Shrugged Part One||||| Rio|Yellow||||Green Scream 4|||||Yellow The Princess of Montpensier|Yellow||||Green Little White Lies|Yellow||||

Box Office Hell — April 15

Our Players|Coming Soon|Box Office Prophets|Box Office Guru|EW|Box Office . com Rio|44.7|43.0|50.0|45.0|n/a Scream 4 |40.4|25.0|13.0|38.0|n/a Hop|11.0|13.2|11.5|11.0|n/a Arthur |6.8|6.1|6.0|n/a|n/a Soul Surfer|6.7|6.8|n/a|7.0|n/a Hanna|6.5|8.0|6.5|8.0|n/a The Conspirator|2.0|n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a

Wilmington on Movies: Rio

Rio (Three Stars) U.S.: Carlos Saldanha, 2011 Rio is a big, coruscatingly colorful feature-cartoon love-letter to Rio de Janeiro from Brazilian director/writer Carlos Saldanha (director and co-director on the Ice Age movies), and it’s full of spectacular computer-cartoon images of Saldanha’s legendary city of samba, aswarm with funny animals acting wild and crazy in Carnival time….

Friday Estimates: April 16, 2011

Rio|10.1|3826|NEW|10.1 Scream 4|7.9|3305|NEW|7.9 Insidious|2.3|2213|-30%|31.4 Hop|2.3|3608|-59%|73.7 Hanna|2.1|2545|-49%|18.1 Arthur|2.1|3276|-53%|17.5 Soul Surfer|2.1|2214|-43%|14.7 Source Code|1.8|2557|-35%|32.5 Your Highness|1.2|2772|-67%|13.3 Limitless|1.1|1885|-38%|67 The Conspirator|1.1|707|NEW|1.1 |||| Also Debuting Atlas Shrugged|0.67|299|| Teenmaar|0.11|32|| Frissons des collines|44,100|57|| Les Petits mouchoirs|15,200|29|| The Double Hour|7,500|2|| The Princess of Montpensier|5,700|3|| Daydream Nation|2,600|3|| Fly Away|2,200|4|| Armadillo|1,500|1|| The First Beautiful Thing|1,400|1||

Review – Game of Thrones

“Game of Thrones delivers a lot of male-first sex. Women are most often taken from behind or see with their heads bobbing just out of frame. Women, is seems, are objects for these men. (We also get many sexual varieties, loving and otherwise, as we travel through the series.) But like so many elements of this series, it goes to the next level. The women are not unaware of what’s going on in this piece. And the power of sex is discussed and manipulated smartly.

Violence is also a big part of this film. It doesn’t take long to run into the first chopped up bodies. And there will be blood…. lots of it. But it is all for a purpose. And it isn’t only creatively done, but it is connected to character in a real way. It never feels like someone came up with something cool that they wanted to see played out on screen. It all feels necessary.”

Wilmington on Movies: Scream 4

“I was glad they had some more adults in this one. In fact, that’s an idea: Why don’t they make the next one, Scream 5, with a lot of horny or fornicating, slaughtered adults instead of, you know, the usual horny or fornicating, slaughtered teenagers? Broaden the audience. Just an idea.”