Michael Jackson: This Is It

This Winter Tuesday brings lots of great new DVD releases (a blessing if you're stuck inside!). In addition to the titles below, Robert Pattinson's Little Ashes, The Boys Are Back, horror flick Saw VI, and Surrogates are all out on video.

Whip It

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut didn't chart highly at the box office, but I enjoyed her girl-power good time a great deal. The story of a meek young girl who finds freedom with a roller derby league, Whip It is way too much fun. Providing hilarious support are Arrested Development alum Alia Shawkat, funny girl Kristen Wiig, and Barrymore herself — rent it for your next girls' night in.

The DVD extras include nine deleted scenes and an alternate opening scene.

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This Is It

Kenny Ortega's documentary about Michael Jackson, This Is It, gives you a chance to experience what would have been the king of pop's last tour. That Jackson died this year just makes the experience of getting to see the tireless work and production put into Jackson's concerts that much more special. I thought it was a striking, intimate tribute, and worth seeing if you're a fan.

The DVD's extras include an hour of unseen footage, a making-of documentary and featurettes about the costumes, the dancer auditions, and Jackson's closest friends revealing memories of him.

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The apocalypse makes for top of the box office: doomsday drama 2012 was the number one movie this weekend, pulling in $65 million in its first outing at theaters. If that sounds like an insane amount of money to you, you're right — it's the seventh highest-grossing November opening ever.

Last week's number one, Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol was pushed into the second spot with $22.3 million, followed by The Men Who Stare at Goats with $6.2 million.

The little move that could, Precious, came in fourth with $6 million, which is more than a 200 percent increase. It's not too surprising, since the much-buzzed-about movie opened up in more cities nationwide, but still a feat considering it has yet to reach wide release. Finally, the Michael Jackson doc This Is It fell to No. 5, earning $5.1 million.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Disney received an early present this year: The revamped version of the classic tale A Christmas Carol took the top spot at the box office in its opening weekend with $31 million. While that figure is on the low end of studio estimates for the film, insiders hope that it will continue to gain more movie-goers as we near the holidays. Following behind at No. 2 was last weekend's box office champ, Michael Jackson's This Is It, with $14 million.

Rounding out the rest of the top five were two more new releases — The Men Who Stare at Goats came in third with $13.3 million, and Milla Jovovich's The Fourth Kind took fourth place with $12.5 million. Fan favorite Paranormal Activity slipped to No. 5 with $8.6 million.

The small success story of the weekend was Precious, which raked in $1.8 million despite only opening in 18 theaters. Expect to see it climb up the box office chart next week as it expands into more cities.

Making a tribute film after the death of an icon is a difficult undertaking — how do you do justice to his or her life without making it feel overblown? But the new Michael Jackson documentary, This Is It manages to strike that balance. The anticipation for its limited release has been building for more than a month now when early ticket purchases broke sales records, and most of you said you wanted to see the film as well. I was worried about how the doc would measure up to the hype, but I'm satisfied with the final product.

This Is it follows Jackson in his final days preparing for his sold-out tour. MJ emerges dressed in a button-down, shades on, and with director Kenny Ortega at his right hand, as we get a front row seat at the rehearsals. It proves to be an intimate look at the performer who, even at 50, still had a fiery passion for his craft. Most of us will enjoy witnessing it here on the big screen, while others may leave the theater feeling even more disappointed about never getting to see the live show. To see what I mean, read more

This Is It, aka the Michael Jackson movie, doesn't open in theaters until Oct. 28, but the late music icon's loyal fans are already securing their seats. The film is breaking records for advance ticket sales, with hundreds of shows selling out in North America and all over the world since Sunday.

LA, San Francisco, Houston, and New York mark strong showings in the States, while Japan, Holland, Sweden, Belgium, and New Zealand represent impressive sales overseas. Many of you said you were planning on seeing the movie, but did you already buy your tickets?