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Cause of Admiral Twin Fire May Never be Known
August 6, 2010

Authorities said they may never know the cause of the fire at the Admiral Twin Drive In because so much of the structure burned. The fire broke out at the theater shortly before 2:00 p.m. Friday. By 3:00 p.m. all that was left of the screens were the charred support posts. The ticket office sustained some damage and small grassfires were also sparked by the blaze.
Click Here For Facebook page “Save The Admiral Twin Drive-in

‘The American’ reigns at weekend box office
August 6, 2010

Spy thriller "The American" rocketed to the top of the North American box office to beat out crime action flick "Takers," preliminary figures showed Sunday.

The debut weekend for George Clooney's atmospheric thriller, hailed by critics as a visually captivating but restrained departure for the Hollywood star, took in 12.3 million dollars in US and Canadian theaters this weekend, according to figures from industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Last week's winner "Takers," starring Hayden Christensen, Idris Elba and singers Chris Brown and T.I., earned 11.5 million dollars and fell to second place in its second week of release.

In third position was "Machete," mixing violence with a campy tribute to 1970s exploitation movies from directors Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis for an opening weekend take of 11.3 million dollars.

Fourth place went to the gruesome documentary-style horror movie "The Last Exorcism," which fell back from its competitive runner-up spot last weekend to take 7.6 million dollars.

The movie, directed by Daniel Stamm and co-produced by Eli Roth, a director known for his bloody thrillers, follows a disillusioned minister supposedly filming his last exorcism for a documentary.

At number five was new release "Going the Distance," a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long about surviving a relationship where the couples live on different coasts of the United States. It earned 6.9 million dollars in its opening weekend.

In sixth was "The Expendables," Sylvester Stallone's film about a group of weathered mercenaries out to topple a South American dictator, which earned 6.8 million dollars in its fourth week in theaters.

Falling one position to the seventh spot was "The Other Guys," the latest Will Ferrell slapstick comedy, about two mismatched police officers paired on a high-profile crime investigation, which had a 5.4-million-dollar take at the box office.

"Eat, Pray, Love," Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's novel about a divorcee's jaunt to Italy, Indonesia and India, starring Julia Roberts, fell to the eighth position with a take of 4.9 million dollars in its fourth week of release.

Down two places to number nine was blockbuster "Inception" starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an expert infiltrator of people's dreams, which took 4.5 million dollars over the weekend to bring its eight-week earnings to 277 million dollars.

"Nanny McPhee Returns," the sequel to a popular kid's film starring British actress Emma Thompson in the title role, rounded out the top 10 with 3.6 million dollars.

‘Takers’ takes ‘Last Exorcism, ‘ Winning Box Office
August 31, 2010

Crime action flick "Takers" narrowly beat out "The Last Exorcism" to take the North American box office top spot this weekend, earning just 145,000 dollars more, final figures showed Monday.

The new release, starring Hayden Christensen, singers Chris Brown and T.I., and Idris Elba, earned 20.5 million dollars in US and Canadian theaters this weekend, according to figures from industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

That was enough to catapult the flick, which follows the exploits of a group of professional thieves on one last job, over runner-up "The Last Exorcism."

The gruesome documentary-style horror movie led the pack in preliminary figures out early Sunday, but the final figures showed the new release earning 20.3 million in box office receipts, just enough to push it back to number two.

The movie, directed by Daniel Stamm and co-produced by Eli Roth, a director known for his bloody thrillers, follows a disillusioned minister supposedly filming his last exorcism for a documentary.

At number three was "The Expendables," Sylvester Stallone's film about a group of weathered mercenaries out to topple a South American dictator, which earned 9.5 million dollars in its third week in theaters.

Down one spot to number four was "Eat, Pray, Love," Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's novel about a divorcee's jaunt to Italy, Indonesia and India, starring Julia Roberts. It earned 6.8 million dollars in its third week of release.

Staying put at number five was "The Other Guys," the latest Will Ferrell slapstick comedy, about two mismatched police officers paired on a high-profile crime investigation. It earned 6.2 million dollars.

Down four places to number six was "Vampires Suck," a send-up of the "Twilight" series of heart throb-meets-horror films, which took 5.2 million dollars after debuting last week at the number two spot.

After spending last week at ninth place, blockbuster "Inception" jumped back up two places to number seven, showing the movie's staying power with audiences.

The mind-bending flick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an expert infiltrator of people's dreams, took 4.8 million dollars over the weekend to bring its seven week earnings to 270.5 million dollars.

"Nanny McPhee Returns," the sequel to a popular kid's film starring British actress Emma Thompson in the title role, stayed put at number eight, earning 4.7 million dollars, while Jennifer Aniston's latest romantic comedy "The Switch" slipped two spots to number nine with earnings of 4.6 million dollars.

Rounding out the top 10 was summer horror spoof "Piranha 3D," which slipped four places after its debut last week, taking in 4.3 million dollars.

Review:  ‘The Last Exorcism’ Startles Naturally
August 25, 2010

"The Last Exorcism" is one of the scariest movies to come along in a long time — until the last five minutes or so, when it completely falls apart.

Really, that's about how quickly it all collapses. Director Daniel Stamm's faux documentary starts out with deadpan delivery and a dry sense of humor, then it turns riveting, then truly frightening, then just plain silly. It's like it morphs from being a Christopher Guest movie to "The Blair Witch Project" — as if writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland didn't know where to go, so they went over the top.

Until then, the filmmakers keep you guessing as to what's real and what's imagined, what's a disturbing mental disorder and what's actually demonic possession. And the fact that this Eli Roth production uses all unknown actors helps us get sucked into this eerie world.

Evangelical Louisiana preacher Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) has been performing exorcisms for the past 25 years but he knows they're all a sham. He long ago lost his faith — if he ever had any, that is — and for a while has had no qualms about taking money from true believers in the name of supporting his own family. But now, with his conscience weighing on him, he decides to let a camera crew come behind the scenes to expose his tricks as he "performs" one last exorcism.

And it truly is a performance. Cotton is hugely charismatic, a natural showman, and he's all too happy to divulge how he uses his iPod to make evil groaning sounds, or how he gets a puff of smoke to come out of his crucifix at a climactic moment. But he's not arrogant about it, which is key: He's engaging and confident but never so full of himself that he's off-putting. Fabian finds the balance in his character's conflicting motivations, which is crucial to allowing us to go along with him on this tried-and-true one last job.

Randomly, he selects a letter from the Sweetzer family living in fictional, rural Ivanwood. There, teenage daughter Nell (the extraordinary Ashley Bell) has been acting strangely and the livestock are being slaughtered. Her father, Louis (Louis Hertham), a serious fundamentalist, begs Cotton to purge the demon he thinks has possessed his innocent little girl. Her younger brother, Caleb (Caleb Landry Jones, creepy in his stillness) isn't shy about telling the reverend and his camera crew he wants them to go away.

Cotton breezes in, works his magic and breezes out. Or so he thinks. In that classically frustrating horror-film fashion, he finds he can't leave. And as he gets dragged deeper into this family's troubles, he finds himself in deeper trouble than he ever could have imagined.

Even before things turn violent, though, Stamm capably creates a suspenseful mood through the naturalism of the film's look, the expert use of silence and pacing. The insularity of the Sweetzer family, the defiant way they've cloistered themselves from the outside world since the death of Louis' wife two years ago, is enough to put you on edge. There are moments in "The Last Exorcism" that will make you hold your breath, and others that will make you want to look away.

It's rated PG-13 but don't let that fool you into thinking it's soft. Actually, it's the vagueness, the unknown, that make "The Last Exorcism" so powerful — at least for a while.

"The Last Exorcism," a Lionsgate release, is rated PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material. Running time: 88 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Will Ferrell Cop comedy Collars Box Office Crown
August 9, 2010

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg grabbed the box office crown from Leonardo DiCaprio on Sunday as their  new cop comedy "The Other Guys" sold about $35.6 million worth of  tickets, the film's distributor said.

 The opening, which was in line with expectations, marks the  second-highest of Ferrell's career and a big rebound from his 2009  summer bomb "Land of the Lost."

Wahlberg, making a rare foray into comedy, achieved his best opening since 2001's "Planet of the Apes" remake kicked off with $68.5 million.

 In "The Other Guys," they play mismatched underdogs on the trail of a  con artist played by English comic Steve Coogan. Reviews were strong for the $85 million film, which skewed to young men, said Sony Corp's Columbia Pictures.

 Ferrell suffered disappointing openings for both "Land of the Lost"  ($18.8 million) and 2008's "Semi-Pro" ($15.5 million), raising  speculation that another flop could hurt his ability to get big-budget  studio films green-lighted.

 His best opening remains the 2006 comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad  of Ricky Bobby" with $47 million. "Talladega Nights," "The Other Guys,"  and Ferrell's 2007 hit "Blades of Glory" ($33 million opening) were  directed by Adam McKay.

 Ferrell and McKay are "one of the best comedy combinations in the industry," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Columbia.

 "INCEPTION" RETAINS LEAD OVERSEAS

 After three weekends at No. 1, DiCaprio's dreams thriller "Inception"  slipped to No. 2 with $18.6 million, taking the total for the hit Warner Bros. release to $227.7 million after four weekends.

 The film led the foreign box office for a second weekend after earning  $46.6 million from 58 markets. Its overseas tally climbed to $250  million, with Britain ($39.4 million) and Japan ($23.7 million) leading  the contributors.

 Also new in North America was "Step Up 3D," the underperforming third  release in the urban dance series. The Walt Disney Co release opened at  No. 3 with $15.5 million, well below its predecessors even with the help of higher prices for 3D engagements. Disney partnered on the project  with closely held studio Summit Entertainment.

 The acclaimed comedy-drama "The Kids are All Right" finally cracked the  top 10 in its fifth weekend, rising two places to the final spot with  $2.6 million. The total for the Focus Features release, starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a lesbian couple, rose to $14 million.

 Rounding out the top five were Columbia's Angelina Jolie spy thriller "Salt" with $11.1 million, and Paramount's Steve Carell comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" with $10.5 million. Their respective  totals rose to $92 million after three weekends, and $46.7 million after two.

 Ominously for Carell, "Dinner For Schmucks" lost 55 percent of its  audience, one of the biggest drops in the top 10, and far steeper than  the 34 percent second-weekend dip earlier this year for his comedy "Date Night." That film, which opened in the same range as "Schmucks," ended  up with $98.6 million.

 The picture looks even bleaker for Zac Efron, whose female-skewing  tearjerker "Charlie St. Cloud" tumbled 62 percent in its second round.  The Universal Pictures release fell three places to No. 8 with $4.7  million, taking its 10-day total to $23.5 million. That's still less  than the $23.7 million opening for his film "17 Again" last year.

 Warner Bros. Pictures is a unit of Time Warner Inc. Paramount Pictures  is a unit of Viacom Inc. Universal and Focus are units of General  Electric Co's NBC Universal.

Local News courtesy of KRMG