Max Payne

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Henry Poole Is Here
What a difference a year makes! Last Winter I was reporting live from Sundance that I really enjoyed this little movie starring Luke Wilson. I know many people didn't get the chance to check it out in theaters, which makes it a great rental.

Wilson plays Henry Poole, a grouchy man who buys an ordinary house in Southern California. Soon after, his very friendly neighbor Esperanza (Adriana Barazza) notices a stain on the outside of Henry's house that she thinks is the face of Jesus. She calls in a priest (George Lopez) and starts telling everyone in town about "the miracle" at Henry's house, much to Henry's annoyance. This movie features great performances and a quirky look at the old discussion of faith vs. reason.

Special features include audio commentary with director Mark Pellington and writer Albert Torres, a featurette titled "The Making of Henry Poole Is Here," and the Henry Poole Is Here music video directed by Mark Pellington and featuring the MySpace.com theme song contest winner Ron Irizarry.

Two more up next, so read more

We knew High School Musical was a huge television hit but now it's a bona fide silver screen success. The third installment of the perky Disney musical bonanza scored the top spot at the box office over the weekend, earning an estimated $42 million.

Meanwhile, Saw V did excellent business over the weekend as well, earning an estimated $30.5 million in the No. 2 spot. Variety notes that both titles were record breakers:

The top two films each entered record territory. Disney’s High School is by far the biggest musical bow ever, besting Mamma Mia! Lionsgate’s Saw franchise is within $2 million of eclipsing Friday the 13th to become the top-grossing horror series ever.

Max Payne and Beverly Hills Chihuahua came in at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, with the top five being rounded out by the Ed Norton cop thriller Pride & Glory.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

• Mr. Blackwell, a designer and the creator of the Worst Dressed list, passed away yesterday due to complications from an intestinal infection at age 86. — FabSugar
• Mark Wahlberg's Max Payne scored the top spot at the box office with $18 million. Beverly Hills Chihuahua and The Secret Life of Bees came in second and third place, respectively. — BuzzSugar
• When asked by a reporter, David Duchovny's tennis coach, 28-year-old Edit Pakay, said she won't deny that she had an affair with him. The two met a year ago, and a source said they have been physically intimate for at least six months. — Daily Mail
• Madonna's rep said Madonna and Guy Ritchie's divorce has not been settled yet, despite reports to the contrary. — AP
• Travis Barker was released from the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, just as he predicted. — Us Weekly
• Natascha McElhone gave birth to her third child with her late husband, Martin Kelly, who passed away five months ago. — The Mirror
• Lil Wayne said he's expecting his baby son to be born "any day now." — People

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Mark Wahlberg had a good weekend. His movie Max Payne was No. 1 at the box office, with an estimated $18 million. Plus, it looks like he made nice with Andy Samberg, after things got tense last week.

Second place turned out to be what Variety calls a "photo finish" between those dancing dogs and The Secret Life of Bees. Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua just barely eked out a second place finish its third weekend in theaters with an estimated $11.2 million with Bees close behind with about $11.1 million.

Oliver Stone's biopic W also did well, coming in at No. 4 with an estimated $10.6 million its first weekend out followed by Eagle Eye at No. 5.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

In its own haunting way, Max Payne is beautiful to watch. I knew that director John Moore had utilized some new digital technology while filming, but I didn't quite expect the movie as a whole to be so visually mesmerizing. This world never strays from its grainy state, everything awash in a blue-gray sheen — except for striking spots of bright red, and sometimes twinkly orange sparks — and there is near-constant precipitation usually large snowflakes swirling through icy air.

In other aspects (you know, the actual story and stuff), there's not too much to chat about. The story is fairly simplistic and the visual symbolism of this sad, dark world is obvious (in his memories of his past life, the world is bright and lovely, his miserable present-day life is only cold darkness). This isn't a subtle film by any means. But while there's plenty of violence and gunfire, somehow it doesn't seem to be fetishizing it. There's a greater goal to be met, and violence is par for the course in reaching this goal. To see why else I kinda liked this movie, read more

Max Payne may be an action packed video game come to life, but it was all glamor at last night's LA premiere. Mark Wahlberg may not have loved his SNL skewering, but he looked to be in great spirits with Rhea out on the red carpet for the first time since recently giving birth. The two have been together for years but according to Mark they're looking to finally tie the knot next August. Just a few feet down the red carpet, one of our favorite underrated actresses, Mila Kunis looked just stunning in white. While Heidi and Spencer managed to scrounge up an invite and smiled for the cameras as usual. The movie hits theaters this weekend so we'll see if Mila, Mark and Ludacris can knock those chihuahuas out of the top spot at the box office.

To see more from the premiere including Mila, Mark, Rhea and others just read more

Greetings from sunny San Diego! And I'm not kidding about the sunny: Though I'll be spending most of the weekend indoors, I at least got to bask in the rays (or, OK, sweat next to other sweaty people) while waiting in line for this morning's 20th Century Fox panels.

Frankly, it's been a pretty insane trip so far. The morning's big events (panels for Max Payne and The Day the Earth Stood Still and surprise appearance by Wolverine himself!) were delayed because of collapsing curtains and rods. I did have some time to wander the floor, as well as to catch a Disney panel where some of the studio's storyboard staff took us through the creation of a sequence from the upcoming Bolt, which looks like it could be pretty clever. You can check out some of my initial observations — and a whole lot of photos from the floor, including a super-geeky sequence with this year's special Comic-Con My Little Pony — if you read more

The trailer for the video game-turned-movie Max Payne looks dark and spooky, though the story doesn't seem particularly new. According to the plot description, Mark Wahlberg's character, Max Payne, is looking to avenge the deaths of his family members. Mila Kunis costars as an assassin who is also looking to avenge a loved one's death (her sister's). Lots of avenging going on.

Ludacris and Chris O'Donnell also star. Additionally, there is a giant bird.

The dark thriller hits theaters October 17. To check out the new trailer, read more

Mark Wahlberg gave a wave from the set of his new movie Max Payne in Toronto yesterday. In this film, he plays a cop who is chased by the police and the mob after being framed for murder. We love seeing Mark being a badass like in The Departed, but we'd love to see him take on a romantic comedy every once in a while too.

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