Vantage Point

Movies

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays.

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. In addition to the titles below you can also now find the third season of TNT's The Closer on DVD, along with the brutal but stunning Brazilian film City of Men.

Mad Men: Season 1
I'm excited for the release of Mad Men's first season because I've been running around town, preaching to anyone who will listen that they should hurry up and watch it before the second season starts Sunday July 27! The series initially flew under the radar, as it was AMC's first venture into original programming, but it much-deserved attention and credibility by winning multiple Golden Globes.

The series is set in 1960s Manhattan, in the heart and soul of the advertising industry. It follows the trials and tribulations of one Madison Avenue firm's employees who (true fact) named themselves "Mad Men." The attention to detail in this show is impeccable, right down to the coned-bras and smoking in the work place. The series is as wonderful to look at as it is dark, and it doesn't flinch from the politically incorrect behavior of the era, including uncomfortable scenes rife with sexual harassment, racism, and anti-semitism. It may leave your soul a bit shattered and battered at its portrayal of America during this time, but it's so well-executed you'll probably recover fast. Plus, Don Draper is among the dreamiest characters to come along in a while (despite the fact that his behavior is often repugnant).

Special features include cast and crew interviews, a photo gallery, Mad Men music, and commentaries on every episode.

Two more great choices up next so read more

Movies

Horton Hears A Who Marks Biggest 2008 Box Office Opening So Far

Opening to the tune of over $45 million in box office sales this weekend, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who has nabbed the best opening weekend so far in 2008.

Opening to the tune of over $45 million in box office sales this weekend, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who has nabbed the best opening weekend so far in 2008. The title previously belonged to the January release of Cloverfield which raked in $41 million. Twentieth Century Fox's senior VP of distribution Chris Aronson quipped about Horton's success, "It's a who-mongous opening."

In second place, pulling in way less than Horton's giant pile o' cash was last weekend's holdover, 10,000 B.C. with $16.4 million, followed by Never Back Down, a martial arts drama that took in $8.6 million. College Road Trip was No. 4, with oldie-but-goody Vantage Point rounding out the top five. New release Doomsday did poorer than was expected, coming in at No. 7 with $4.7 million.

This weekend it'll be interesting to see if any of the newbies will be able to knock off Horton's crown: Drillbit Taylor starring Owen Wilson, Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and the Joshua Jackson thriller Shutter will be the only real competitors.

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Celebrity Pregnancies

Sugar Bits — Sienna Miller and Rhys Ifans May Be Engaged

Sienna Miller is apparently engaged to Rhys Ifans after accepting his third proposal.

Jumper

Box Office: 10,000 B.C. Has a Mammoth of a Weekend

The lion's share of box office dollars went to director Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C.

The lion's share of box office dollars went to director Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. which earned an estimated $35 million. This same weekend last year saw the outrageous success of 300, but while 10,000 B.C.'s opening comes nowhere near the debut weekend of that blockbuster, it still fulfilled studio expectations, Variety reports.

Disney's College Road Trip starring Raven-Simone and Martin Lawrence secured second place, despite poor reviews. Vantage Point and Semi-Pro took the third and fourth spots, respectively. Coming in at No. 5 was the R-rated bank heist thriller The Bank Job, which stars Jason Statham. The Other Boleyn Girl fell three spots this weekend to seventh place behind The Spiderwick Chronicles which was No. 6.

The charming Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day failed to crack the top ten (rounded out by Jumper, Step Up 2 the Street, and Fool's Gold) as it was only playing in limited release. Not an Oscar nominee in sight for the top 10 this week, so it looks like awards season might officially be over.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Jamie Lynn Spears

Sugar Bits — Win a Date With Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson is auctioning two tickets to the red carpet premiere of He's Just Not That Into You on eBay to benefit Oxfam.

  • Scarlett Johansson is auctioning two tickets to the red carpet premiere of He's Just Not That Into You on eBay to benefit Oxfam. — eBay
  • Despite taking in only $15.3 million, Semi-Pro scored the top spot at the weekend box office, followed by Vantage Point and The Spiderwick Chronicles. — BuzzSugar
  • Rapper The Game has begun serving his 60-day jail sentence for weapons possession, although he'll be kept separate from the general population during his stay. — TMZ
  • Jamie Lynn Spears was spotted shopping with Britney at an LA baby store, and her purchase of light blue items has prompted speculation that there's another baby boy Spears on the way. — The Scoop
  • Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have released the names of their newborn twins: Max and Emme. — UK Popsugar

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Reese Witherspoon

Box Office: Semi-Pro Semi-Beats Out Competition

Despite earning the top spot at the box office, the predictable laughs in Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro only earned $15.3 million over the weekend.

Despite earning the top spot at the box office, the predictable laughs in Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro only earned $15.3 million over the weekend. This is considered a disappointing sum, especially compared to opening weekends of other Ferrell films like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Variety reports that this underwhelming performance by the basketball comedy may have been due to mediocre reviews and an R-rating.

Vantage Point was only bumped down one spot to No. 2 over the weekend followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles at No. 3. The adaptation of Buzz Book Club's February selection The Other Boleyn Girl took the fourth spot earning an estimated $8.3 million. Penelope starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci also opened this weekend coming in at No. 8 behind Jumper, Step Up 2 The Streets, and Fool's Gold.

Filling out the top ten were Oscar-nominated films No Country for Old Men and Juno.

Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema

Lindsay Lohan

Sugar Bits — Lindsay Lohan Cleans Up at the Razzie Awards

Lindsay Lohan and her movie I Know Who Killed Me set a new record at the Razzies, walking away with eight awards.

  • Lindsay Lohan and her movie I Know Who Killed Me set a new record at the Razzies, walking away with eight awards. Lindsay even won two Worst Actress trophies because she played a character suffering from a split personality disorder. At least she didn't go empty-handed over the weekend! — BuzzSugar
  • Brad and Angelina made headlines at the Independent Spirit Awards but skipped the pre-Oscar party they were set to host alongside Jennifer Aniston. It's fun to speculate but it's also old news . . . until the next fake showdown headline, we're moving on. — Page Six
  • Vantage Point took the top spot at the weekend box office, followed by Jumper and The Spiderwick Chronicles. Wonder if next week audiences will be rushing to see No Country for Old Men? — BuzzSugar
  • Alicia Keys has postponed two UK tour dates because she has laryngitis. Hopefully she gets well soon! — AP
  • Amy Winehouse apparently trashed her hotel room before the Brit Awards last week, leaving spilled alcohol and cigarette ash all over the floor. Sounds like more of the same from the troubled singer. — Page Six

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Movies

Box Office: Vantage Point Thrills Audiences

The star-studded cast of Vantage Point enjoyed the No.

The star-studded cast of Vantage Point enjoyed the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend earning an estimated $24 million. The biggest weekend of the year for Hollywood also helped Academy Award-nominated films, giving movies like No Country For Old Men a significant boost at the box office, Variety reports.


Jumper came in at No. 2, followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles in the third spot. The silly-funny Be Kind Rewind came in at No. 7 followed by Juno, which took in another $4.1 million this weekend. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins slid in at No. 9 and There Will Be Blood rounded out the top 10.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movies

Vantage Point: A Pretty Solid Action-Mystery

Here's what I liked about Vantage Point: It's a gradually unfolding thriller-mystery with elements of an action movie thrown in.

Here's what I liked about Vantage Point: It's a gradually unfolding thriller-mystery with elements of an action movie thrown in. Here's what I don't like about Vantage Point: While it benefits from being both thriller-mystery and action flick, it also falls into the same traps as many other movies in these genres. In trying to keep our attention, the film employs this tactic of repeatedly winding back the clock to show what's happening in every character's story in a certain time span. But while this is neat the first few times, it becomes laughable after a while — literally, laughable. The audience I was with started to anticipate the rewind and would roar with laughter every time it happened. As an action film, there's a lot of gunfire and bombing and people betraying other people by killing them, all of which is fine. But then there's an impossibly long and exhausting car chase that makes this hour-and-a-half movie feel twice as long.

Regardless of those minor criticisms, however, Vantage Point is still one of the finer movies like this to come out in a long time. The action centers around a speech the President is supposed to make in Salamanca, Spain, yet everything goes awry when two shots ring out across the square and the President is struck down. Soon after, two bombs explode in the city. Rewinding the clock several times allows us to follow many different points of view and piece together the full picture of what went down. That's just the basic outline of this tense, twisty tale, though, so read more

Matthew Fox

Vantage Points to NYC

After hitting up a few cities abroad, the boys of Vantage Point were back stateside at the New York premiere last night.

After hitting up a few cities abroad, the boys of Vantage Point were back stateside at the New York premiere last night. The boys look cute all suited up, although they seem a little bit tired of being interviewed on the red carpet — check out the video after the jump. The movie hits theaters tomorrow, but we'll wait for Buzz's full review before running out to buy tickets. Hopefully now it's time for Matthew to head back to Hawaii and get to work on the rest of the season of Lost. Luckily, we've still got a new episode to look forward to tonight — fingers crossed it will be a good follow up to last week's dramatic ending.

For more pics and a video of the cast talking about the film, just read more