Films often reflect life, and that's why families will be well-represented at the 2011 Academy Awards. When the Oscar nominations were announced this morning, it was thrilling to see that movies made about and for families were recognized in the most prestigious categories. From mother and father roles to those behind animated flicks, see which nominees will be vying to accept the sought-after statue on the big night!
Are you in the mood for an action fest? How about a sweet animated children's movie? Perhaps you prefer something with more heft, like an Italian arthouse flick. Whatever your taste, this week's DVD releases have you covered. Take a look.
Based on the DC Comic character, Josh Brolin stars as Jonah Hex, a bristly outlaw with a hole in his face. His mission: to seek vengeance on Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), the man responsible for the murders of his wife and child. Oh, and Hex can also speak to the dead. Megan Fox steps in as the antihero's rough and tough leading lady, but it's Brolin who stands out. As Hex, he's more interesting to watch than the action of the film itself. The DVD extras include deleted scenes.
Jay Baruchel provides the voice of Hiccup, a young Viking who befriends a dragon — the very creature he's supposed to be hunting. The animated film stayed at the top of the box office for weeks and garnered good reviews. With a sequel in the works already, we might have a franchise on our hands. Bonus features include a filmmakers' commentary and two featurettes.
One more release to rent when you read more
Iron Man 2 saw a big dip in box office revenue this weekend but still remained the weekend's champ, taking in a strong $53 million. Russell Crowe's Robin Hood settled for second place, taking in a respectable $37.1 million. Also making its debut was romantic comedy Letters to Juliet, which came in third with $13.7 million.
The third new film on the list is Queen Latifah's Just Wright, which took fourth place with $8.5 million. How to Train Your Dragon stayed in the top five with $5.1 million.
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Robert Downey Jr. can add yet another film to his long list of successes: Iron Man 2. The film handily earned the top spot at the box office this weekend with an impressive $133.6 million — that makes it the fifth-highest opening gross in Hollywood history! The weekend earnings also bested that of the original Iron Man, which raked in $98.6 million for its opening weekend back in 2008.
Obviously that means that last week's champ A Nightmare on Elm Street fell to second place with only $9.1million in ticket sales (sorry, Freddy). It was followed by How to Train Your Dragon in third with $6.7 million, Date Night in fourth with $5.3 million, and The Back-up Plan in fifth with $4.3 million.
Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Proof that people love a good scare: despite what the critics said, A Nightmare on Elm Street easily won the box office race over the weekend, bringing in $32.2 million. It's the second highest opening in the film's nine-movie franchise, only behind 2003's Freddy vs. Jason. Coming in a distant second was last week's champ, How to Train Your Dragon, which earned $10.8 million.
Date Night held onto its third place spot with $7.6 million, while The Back-up Plan dropped to fourth with $7.4 million. Finishing out the top five was Brendan Frasier's family film Furry Vengeance which eked out a measly $6.5 million for its debut.
After last week's close call with Kick-Ass, the animated family film How to Train Your Dragon came out on top this time with $15 million. Unfortunately, the win is somewhat diminished by the fact that this weekend's box office had the lowest intake of the year thus far (perhaps everyone was playing outdoors?). Even the star power of Jennifer Lopez in newcomer film The Back-up Plan couldn't muster up big figures. It came in second with a modest $12.2 million.
Taking third was Date Night with $10.6 million, while The Losers debuted in its first week with a disappointing $9.6 million for fourth place. Following closely behind was Kick-Ass which dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 with $9.5 million.
Despite its lack of superheroes and weapons, Dreamworks's How to Train Your Dragon managed to regain the top spot at the box office with $20 million. It's been a few weeks since it came in at number one, but it looks like the family fave was a bigger draw than my pick, Kick-Ass, which came in closely behind it at No. 2, earning $19.8 million.
Last week's winner, Date Night, came in third with $17.3 million, followed by new release Death at a Funeral, which pulled in $17 million. The top five was completed by blockbuster Clash of the Titans, which fell to $15.8 million.
UPDATE: Final tallies calculated Monday show that Kick-Ass actually beat Dragon for the No. 1 spot!
Clearly I've got Spring training on the brain, but now I'm thinking of dragons since I checked out the super cute flick How to Train Your Dragon over the weekend. While I only have a canine in my home, this flick prompted a search for cute costumes to make my furball into a pet dragon as I work on training him, too! Let's call it a lesson in dragon style, so get started to peep my picks.
Steve Carell and Tina Fey are taking their collaboration all the way to the bank. Their comedy Date Night earned the top spot at the box office over the weekend with $27.1 million — well deserved, in my opinion, though some insiders are arguing that the race is too close to call just yet. That's because the film narrowly squeaked by last week's No. 1 blockbuster, Clash of the Titans, which took second place with $26.8 million.
Titans was followed close behind by How to Train Your Dragon with $25.3 million for third. Finishing out the rest of the top five was Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? with $11 million, and Miley Cyrus's The Last Song which brought in $10 million.
Photos courtesy of Fox Movies
