Weekend Box Office: August 27-29, 2010

Here is the top 10 Box Office for Aug. 27-29, 2010:

1. The Takers, $20.5M, Week 1, (2206 screens)
2. The Last Exorcism, $20.4M, Week 1, (2874 screens)
3. The Expendables, $9.5M, Week 3, (3398 screens)
4. Eat Pray Love, $6.8M, Week 3, (3108 screens)
5. The Other Guys, $6.3M, Week 4, (3181 screens)
6. Vampires Suck, $5.2M, Week 2, (3233 screens)
7. Inception, $4.9M, Week 7, (2070 screens)
8. Nanny Mcphee Returns, $4.7M, Week 2, (2798 screens)
9. The Switch, $4.6M, Week 2, (2017 screens)
10. Piranha 3D, $4.3M, Week 2, (2491 screens)

Netflix App for iPhone

Netflix for iPad has been available since April, but now you can download the Netflix app to your iPhone or iPod touch – for free! Your Netflix membership allows you to watch streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix.

With this app, you can do a variety of things related to your instant Netflix queue. Specifically, you can:

• Continue watching an instant movie you have already started. It picks up where you left off viewing on your TV or your computer.
• View instant movies or shows suggested by Netflix.
• Search for and watch instant movies by Genre.
• Search for additional movies and add them to your instant queue or play them right away.
• View your current instant movie queue.

I did notice lots of buffering issues and movies paused/freezed quite a bit.  Also, you cannot reorder movies in your instant queue, but you don’t really need to because you can just touch a movie poster to start watching a movie at any time – so the order of your queue doesn’t really matter. Touch the arrow beside the movie title to see details.

Overall, I think this is a great app which allows you to watch your Netflix movies anytime, anywhere.

Screen shot of my Netflix queue

Movie details on Netflix application

Shot from Orson Welles' The Stranger via Netflix app

* Netflix app * Version 1.1.0 * Cost: Free *

M. Night’s Site part II

As promised, here are some additional hints for opening doors in the haunted house found in M. Night Shyamalan’s official web site.  Use your arrow keys to move around or click the little white dots on the red line at the bottom of the page to jump to particular areas in the house. You need to have Flash loaded to view the site correctly.

From the first floor, click the correct white dot on the red line at the bottom of the screen to get to the second floor. Here’s how I opened the doors to the rooms on the second floor. When you open the doors, click on items in the rooms to see notes from M. Night about his movies, the actors, etc. For each room, click the raven to exit.

• Lounge: On the bookcase to the left, tilt the book over on the fourth shelf down.
• Study: Click the key on the floor and drag it to the key hole in the door.
• Attic: Click the attic door in the ceiling. This was still being built when I visited the site.

M. Night’s Site

Speaking of M. Night Shyamalan, click here to view his official web site.  Not surprisingly, it has a haunted house theme. Use your arrow keys to move around or click the little white dots on the red line at the bottom of the page to jump to particular areas in the house. You can click on certain items for additional information (Hint: Look for the little puffs of smoke). You need to have Flash loaded to view the site correctly.

On the first floor, click white dots on the red line to view doors for certain M. Night movie titles. When you open the doors, you can click on items in the rooms to see notes about the movies from M. Night. Here’s how I opened the doors. For each room, click the raven to ext.

• Sixth Sense room: Click the dial on the thermostat on the wall and drag the dial all the way to the left.
• Signs: Click the glass of water on the table and drag it to the left to tip the glass and spill the water.
• Unbreakable: Click the shard of glass on the table and place it in the correct spot in the broken mirror .
• Lady in the Water: Click the five designs on the wallpaper to open the door. There are three designs to the left of the door and two to the right.
• The Village: Click the handle of the paint brush in the bucket of the red paint. Drag the brush over to the door and paint a red mark on the door to open it.
• The Happening: Click the floor vase on the left and drag it over to the puddle so water dripping down can water the plant.

I will post some hints for opening the doors on the second floor in a later posting.

Devil

Well, as I reported about a month ago, M. Night Shyamalan is co-producing a new movie coming out on September 17, 2010 called Devil.  According to IMDb, the plot of Devil is:

A group of people trapped in an elevator realize that the devil is among them.

The directors are Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle and the cast includes Chris Messina, Geoffrey Arend, Logan Marshall-Green, and Bojana Novakovic. The movie starts Friday, September 17, 2010 and it is rated PG-13.

I just saw the trailer on TV for the first time.  Here it is:

Weekend Box Office: August 20-22, 2010

Here is the top 10 Box Office for Aug. 20-22, 2010:

1. The Expendables, $16.5M, Week 2, (3270 screens)
2. Vampires Suck, $12.2M, Week 1, (3233 screens)
3. Eat Pray Love, $12M, Week 2, (3082 screens)
4. Lottery Ticket, $11.1M, Week 1, (1973 screens)
5. The Other Guys, $10.1M, Week 3, (3472 screens)
6. Piranha 3D, $10.0M, Week 1, (2470 screens)
7. Nanny Mcphee Returns, $8.3M, Week 1, (2784 screens)
8. The Switch, $8.1M, Week 1, (2012 screens)
9. Inception, $7.7M, Week 6, (2401 screens)
10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $5.0M, Week 2, (2820 screens)

DVD Releases: August 17, 2010

Here are some of this week’s DVD releases:

1. Ugly Betty: The Complete Fourth and Final Season; Starring: America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Judith Light, Vanessa Williams; 860 minutes (4 discs), note rated; Television/Comedy
2. The Last Song; Director: Julie Anne Robinson; Starring: Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Greg Kinnear, Bobby Coleman; 107 minutes; rated PG; Love/Romance
3. Temple Grandin; Starring: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn, Catherine O’Hara; 103 minutes; rated PG; Television/HBO
4. Furry Vengence; Director: Roger Kumble; Starring: Brendan Fraser, Dick Van Dyke; 91 minutes; rated PG; Family
5. The City of Your Final Destination; Director: James Ivory; Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Omar Metwally, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg; 118 minutes; rated PG-13

Salt Movie Game: Day X Exists – Bonus Code

For those of you still playing, here is one of the bonus codes for the Salt Day X Exists game.

cathedral

Weekend Box Office: Aug. 13-15, 2010

Here is the top 10 Box Office for Aug. 13-15, 2010:

1. The Expendables, $34.8M, Week 1, (3270 screens)
2. Eat Pray Love, $23.1M, Week 1, (3082 screens)
3. The Other Guys, $17.4M, Week 2, (3651)
4. Inception, $11.3M, Week 5, (3120 screens)
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $10.6M, Week 1, (2818 screens)
6. Despicable Me, $7.0M, Week 6 (2923 screens)
7. Step Up 3-D, $6.9M, Week 2, (2439 screens)
8. Dinner for Schmucks, $6.3M, Week 3, (3046 screens)
9. Salt, $6.2M, Week 4, (2834 screens)
10. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, $4.2M, Week 3, (2728 screens)

DVD Releases: August 10, 2010

Here are some of this week’s DVD releases:

1. Date Night; Director: Shawn Levy; Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey; 88 minutes; rated PG-13; Comedy/Crime
2. Max Headroom: The Complete Series; Starring: Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, Chris Young, Jeffrey Tambor; 660 minutes (5 discs); not rated; Fantasy/Science Fiction
3. Death at a Funeral; Director: Neil LaBute; Starring: Loretta Devine, Peter Dinklage, Danny Glover, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock; 92 minutes; rated R; Comedy
4. Letters to God; Starring: Jeffrey Johnson, Tanner Maguire, Michael Bolten; Ralph Waite; 113 minutes; rated PG; Christian/Family/Drama
5. National Lampoon’s Vacation [Blu-ray]; Starring: Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, John Candy; 100 minutes; rated R; Comedy
6. Adam-12: Season Five; Director: Hollingsworth Morse; Starring: Martin Milner, Dent McCord; 600 minutes (4 discs); not rated; TV/Crime
7. Numb3rs: The Final Season; Starring: Rob Morrow, David Krumholtz, Judd Hirsch, Alimi Ballard; 678 minutes (4 discs); not rated; TV/Suspense/Crime