“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was a $480 million worldwide hit, but buzz-averse distributor 20th Century Fox rolled out the movie in early August with a blitz of TV advertising but otherwise so little fanfare (as per their usual operating procedure, screenings for critics were “opt-in,” and additionally hush-hush) that a lot of more savvy filmgoers who perhaps look to advance reviews and feature coverage peeks as signs of studio confidence in the marketplace thought the movie was a brainless dud. Far from it, actually. Director Rupert Wyatt’s reboot of Tim Burton’s reboot of Fox’s second most well known franchise property (not counting “Star Wars,” which they don’t own)…

With Turkey day upon us, one of our talented writers (Melissa Molina) came up with an idea to have the ShockYa scribes come up with a list that represents what they were thankful for in the realm of cinema and/or television this year. A lot has happened so allow me to drop in my humble thoughts (a.k.a poor attempts at humor) that had me rejoicing: A Decent Year For Remakes -Which means for yours truly: “Fright Night,” “Straw Dogs,” and “Footloose” did not draw out my writing rage. Those were the ones I had a particular interest in; and with regards to Fright Night and Footloose – they respectfully topped…

No one expected “The Lion King” to stay at no. 1 for two weeks in a row, but the film has done the improbable. Before we get into any analysis, let’s go over the top ten movies of the week: “The Lion King (in 3D)”–$22,130,000 “Moneyball”–$20,600,000 “Dolphin Tale”–$20,260,000 “Abduction”–$11,200,000 “Killer Elite”–$9,500,000 “Contagion”–$8,565,000 “Drive”–$5,771,000 “The Help”–$4,400,000 “Straw Dogs” $2,100,000 “I Don’t Know How She Does It”–$2,053,000 Analysis: My analysis for this week is pretty much a repeat of last week’s; people are flocking to “The Lion King” because 1)it’s a limited-time theatrical release, and people who didn’t see it in the theaters want to see it where it was meant to…

With last week’s newcomers underperforming big time, save for The Lion King (in 3D) , these four new wide releases will all have a chance at snagging a top spot. Moneyball is likely the one to watch as not only does it star Brad Pitt, but it’s rocking some stellar reviews. Will this be the next The Blind Side? Probably not, but Moneyball should have no trouble matching another Aaron Sorkin film, The Social Network. Should that be the case, Moneyball could wrap its first weekend out with about $22 million. While Taylor Lautner isn’t heading towards Twilight-like earnings with Abduction, the film might fall between I Am Number Four‘s…

Hi, ShockYa readers! Monique Jones here–I’m taking over the “Box Office Report” for this week and next week for Joe Belcastro, who is on a well-deserved vacation. Now, with the housekeeping out of the way, let’s get into some box office reporting, shall we? Before we get into the studio estimates, I just want to say that there’s been a small trend in studio estimates as of late. Three movies in particular, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “The Help” and this week’s number one, “The Lion King,” broke initial studio predictions. There are bigger ramifications as to why this is important, but I’ll get to that in the…

Can you feel the chill in the air? Winter’s coming! Okay, so many of you likely don’t live in the northeast and this is the Movie News Cheat Sheet, so there’s little room for TV references here, but fall is right around the corner! Even with Oscar season approaching, our Academy Awards potentials aren’t getting much love at the box office. After a weak start, Warrior took a tough fall and this weekend newcomer Drive lacked the zest to earn it the #1 spot, or even the #2 one for that matter. In other dark news, Nicolas Cage is apparently a vampire and Tim Burton’s take on Dark Shadows looks…

A discussion and review the week’s new movie release from your favorite entertainment and celebrity website. Hello everyone, this is episode 14 of the Movie Night Podcast. This week Rudie Obias and Perri Nemiroff discuss the remake of “Straw Dogs” and the new thriller “Drive”. Subscribe on iTunes or Download and Listen Here. “Straw Dogs” features James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd, James Woods, Dominic Purcell and Willa Holland. It was written and directed by Rod Lurie. “Drive” features Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks and Ron Perlman. It was written by Hossein Amini and it was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Read Perri…

This is going to be an interesting weekend at the box office. We’ve got four new wide releases, but none are hitting more than 3,000 theaters and none have a particularly wide appeal. Drive‘s getting the most theaters and is backed by some solid reviews, but after last weekend’s Academy Award potential, Warrior, had a lackluster start, there’s some concern. However, it seems more likely that we could have another The Town on our hands. Should that be the case, Drive could wrap weekend one with about $20 million. Also on the darker and gorier side we’ve got the remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs. Story-wise, this one bears some…

Title: Straw Dogs Directed By: Rod Lurie Starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård, James Woods, Dominic Purcell, Rhys Coiro, Billy Lush, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, Walton Goggins, Drew Powell Whether or not you’ve seen the original, the promotion campaign for Straw Dogs lays it out quite clearly; this film boasts a bloodbath. Emotion? Character development? Some sense? Not so much. But, if you’ve got a taste for this type of horror film and don’t mind forgoing effective storytelling for some gruesome and original kills, it might be worth a watch. Big time screenwriter David (James Marsden) and his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth) ditch Los Angeles so he can take…

The box office results for the weekend of September 9th – 11th sees a Warner Bros. outbreak, as their latest release easily quarantines the top spot. Meanwhile, the other two newbies are going to have to live up to their respective titles if they want to see black ink on the balance sheet. Here are the studio estimates: 1. Contagion ($23.1 million) 2. The Help ($8.6 million) 3. Warrior ($5.6 million) 4. The Debt ($4.9 million) 5. Colombiana ($4 million) 6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($3.8 million) 7. Shark Night 3D ($3.5 million) 8. Apollo 18 ($2.9 million) 9. Our Idiot Brother ($2.7 million) 10. Spy Kids:…