Regal Eagle Ridge Snags ‘Angels and Demons’

SEBRING, May 12, 2009 – As of this evening, we know that the Regal Eagle Ridge 12 in Lake Wales is getting the Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels and Demons.

Angels and Demons is set to open at the Regal Eagle Ridge on Friday, May 15. There will be four showtimes: a 1:00 p.m. (the only matinee), 4:05 p.m., 7:20 p.m., and 10:25 p.m.

Angels and Demons stars Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, and Stellan Skarsgard, is rated PG-13 for its scenes of violence and thematic material, and last 2 hours and 20 minutes (not counting ads and previews).

‘Wolverine’ Opens At The Fairmount!

SEBRING, May 1, 2009 – It’s showtime!

The summer movie season shifts into full throttle today with the arrival of Wolverine at the Fairmount Cinema 6.

The Hugh Jackman starrer details his origins and as well as those of some other powerful characters and promises to be one of the biggest box office smashes of the summer.

And the Fairmount has two prints and offers a ton of less expensive MATINEES, more than any other theater.

Matinee showtimes: 2:00, 3:00, 4:30, 5:00

Evening showtimes: 7:00, 8:00, 9:30

This weekend is a great time to forget the economic woes most of us are going through, or the rought work or school week, and with little on the plate from the other Highlands County theater, we’re tasting the Fairmount’s buttery goodness already and slaking our thirst with a couple of effervescent Pepsis or Mountain Dews!

Escape to Wolverine!

Wherever you go, whatever you watch, have a great time at the movies!

NEW MOVIES: It’s Jumpin’ At The Fairmount!!!

SEBRING, April 10, 2009 – The Fairmount continues to break new ground, grabbing a fistful of cinema’s top films when they are released.

With the No. 1 film in North America – Fast & Furious – already there, Hannah Montana: The Movie, the R-rated comedy Observe and Report, and Dragonball: Evolution all debut at the Fairmount Cinema 6.

Nothing new opens at the Carmike, but the theater does offer Watchmen, The Haunting in Connecticut, and other films, even as pedestrian traffic seems to be diminishing at the once-busy mall.

Hannah Montana and Dragonball give the Fairmount a powerful kids lineup, adding to the young adult, middle-aged, and senior viewers they have been luring to qulity films such as Taken, Doubt, and Fast & Furious.

Wherever you go and whatever you see, have a great time at the movies this weekend, and a blessed Christian Passover!

BOX OFFICE: Can You Smell What ‘The Rock’ Cooked?

SEBRING, March 16, 2009 – Once he was the biggest name in pro wrestling. And he began his career on a musclebound, action note.

Since his thespian infancy, however, Dwayne Johnson, affectoinately known as ‘The Rock,” has enjoyed more success in kid flicks. That’s not bad, though I hope to see him resurrect his action hero career (did he move over to make room for John Cena?). After all, his latest venture, Race to Witch Mountain, is the No. 1 film at the box office.

Race to Witch Mountain cashed in an even $25 million the weekend of March 13-15 to lead a modest pack of films. Watchmen very much appears to be getting nuked at the box office. Its revenues fell 67.3 % to just over $18 million. Horror thriller Last House on the Left finished at No. 3 with $14.66 million.

However, Last House on the Left finished second in per theater average, above Watchmen and just behind Race to Witch Mountain.

That says much about Watchmen’s fall from moviegoer grace.

Taken continues its strong, consistent run, scoring $6.65 million for the weekend, while Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail rounded out the Top Five with $5.13 million.

Once again in Highlands County, the Fairmount Cinema 6 hosted 3 of the Top 5 films, and 4 of the top 6 if one includes the No. 6 film, Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire.

WHEREVER YOU GO, WHATEVER YOU SEE, HAVE A GREAT TIME AT THE MOVIES!

BOX OFFICE: Fairmount Rules

SEBRING, March 3, 2009 – The Fairmount Cinema 6 continues to dominate the Highlands County movie scene. It has made the right moves to nab the offerings that have most appealed to moviegoers.

The Fairmount hosted four of the top five box office hits the weekend of Feb. 27-March 1, including the champion, Madea Goes To Jail.

Despite a 60 % plus drop, Madea held on to the top spot with a take of $16.5 million, crushing Disney’s hopes for its Jonas Brothers 3D Concert.

Critics panned that concert release, and its take fell well short of Hannah Montana’s similar concert release of a year ago. The Jonas Brothers grabbed $12.7 million to finish second, but some experts expect a quick departure from the Top Ten. The Jonas Brothers is the only top five film not at the Fairmount.

Its Oscar win boosted sales for Slumdog Millionaire by 45 % across North America and gave it a weekend take of $12.15 million to finish third.

Taken continues to be the “sleeper hit” of the new year. Another $10 million weekend pushed Taken past the $100 million mark to a gross-to-date of $107.9 million. It finished fourth this weekend.

And He’s Just Not That Into You finished fifth with a $5.9 million take.

WHEREVER YOU GO, WHATEVER YOU SEE, HAVE A GREAT TIME AT THE MOVIES!!!

BOX OFFICE: Bond Banks Success!

NO WALK ON THE BEACH: No sirree! Spy work is hard! That’s why Bond (Daniel Craig) and Camille (Olga Kurylenko) look so… so… so… sandy? Well, OK, they look great. That’s why they get paid the big bucks. They’re beautiful and know how to deliver fake kicks and punches and fire fake bullets better than most. You can catch the action – and the good looks – in the latest Jame Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES

SEBRING, November 18, 2008 – Bond is back, then he left for the bank!

Quantum of Solace finished the weekend of Nov. 14-16, 2008, as the box office champion for North America. The latest Bond inhaled $67.5 million and averaged a whopping $19,528 at each theater it played.

Surprisingly, Yahoo! users and critics have given it only above average marks. The trailers look good, so I plan to see it.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa dropped only 44.5 % in its second week, so it still grossed a hefty $35 million and has already grossed cumulatively $116.9 million in two weeks of release.

Rounding out the Top Three is Role Models with $11.2 million. No other film scored in double digits.

The Best Movies to See This Weekend!!!

DAYS OF OUR LIES: CIA operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) fabricated a falsehood and foisted it on Hani (Mark Strong), the chief of Jordanian Intelligence. Now he’s in, shall we say, deep doo doo.  Meanwhile, below, behold the beauty from beneath the burkha! Aisha (Golshifte Farahani) gazes on some of her patients. These scenes are from Body of Lies, which plays at the Fairmount Cinema 6.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

SEBRING, October 17, 2008 – So you don’t have quite enough money for Halloween Horror Nights. What to do this weekend?

Catch a movie! With great popcorn and drink specials at the Fairmount Cinema 6, stadium seating at the Regal Eagle Ridge 12, and shops at the Lakeshore Mall, you have many fine choices. Here are some of the best:

Body of Lies: Leo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe shine under the direction of Ridley Scott (Blackhawk Down, Thelma and Louise, Alien) in this poignant political/spy thriller. At the Fairmount.

Fireproof: Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea have both the anitpathy and chemistry of a hostile couple headed for divorce until the husband gets a dare. At the Regal Eagle Ridge.

Billy: The Early Years: Documents the events that shaped the life of evangelist extraordinaire Billy Graham. At the Carmike Lakeshore.

Eagle Eye: Tons of action and suspense in antoher taut, apocalyptic tale of the end of our privacy – and the fight for self-determination. Shia LeBeouf stars. As with Fireproof, folks are still talking about this one. At the Fairmount.

Movie Recommendations for October 10th Weekend

SEBRING, October 12, 2008 – Here is a quick rundown of some of the best movies playing in the Heartland.

FIREPROOF – An outstanding Christian romance about a troubled marriage and what it will take to save it. Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea shine as the spouses bitterly disappointed and angry with each other. Fireproof plays exclusively at the Regal Eagle Ridge in Lake Wales. See our right hand column for a link to movie showtimes.

BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA – Top notch Walt Disney kids film featuring voiced-over real animals. It’s the No. 1 film in North America for a reason. Playing at the Fairmount Cinema 6 in Sebring.

EAGLE EYE – good, poignant film with Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan about our loss of privacy and how the safegaurds we put in place to protect our liberties sometimes betray them. Eagle Eye also stars Michael Chiklis and Billy Bob Thornton. Playing at the Fairmount Cinema 6 in Sebring.

BILLY: THE EARLY YEARS – People don’t usually go from sinner to saint in a snap of the fingers, not even big-time preachers. This film explores Billy Graham’s early life and influences and how they shaped what he became. Playing exclusively at the Carmike Cinema 8 in the Lakeshore Mall.

THE EXPRESS – It’s the story about how a football coach, a player, and a team defied the racial bigotry of the 50s. This movie is rated PG, so it’s family friendly, and a good history lesson. Plus it has exciting action. Playing at the Fairmount Cinema 6.

QUARANTINE – See the review in the previous article, but tis the season for horror movies, and Quarantine does it nicely. At the Fairmount.

BODY OF LIES – We’re all a little sensitive to spy films in the wake of 9/11, but Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe certainly provide star-studded reasons to take a gander at this one. At the Fairmount.

A GREAT WEEKEND: 4 Movies Open in Highlands!

SEBRING, October 10, 2008 – Choices abound for Heartland moviegoers this weekend. Four new movies open – three at the Fairmount Cinema 6 and one at the Carmike.

The biography of Billy Graham, Billy: The Early Years, opens at the Carmike. The promotion of Graham’s biopic could represent a turn in the Carmike’s practices. In our opinion, the company has been willing in the past to display anti-Christian films like the Golden Compass and Hamlet 2 on their screens to make money. If showing Graham’s bio represents a change, one that respects the views and beliefs of a large segment of the local population, it is welcome and appreciated. The Carmike is the only area theater showing the biopic.

Remember that Billy: The Early Years is a Hollywood production rather than one from the small Christian companies. Still, we think it has a lot of promise. The trailer is below:

Three major films open at the Fairmount Cinema 6. Body Of Lies is the highly touted spy flick that stars Russell Crowe, who ate a lot so he could play a porky mastermind, and Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the best actors in cinema today. Below is the trailer for Body of Lies:

Also highly touted is the biopic The Express, about running back Ernie Davis, who helped break color barriers in college sports. Though the theme has been overused, The Express promises an excellent story and acting. The trailer is below:

Finally, sci fi/horror comes to the big screen (tis the month for it) in the thriller Quarnatine. Something nasty is on the loose in an apartment complex of a major city – and authorities won’t let anyone out. Why? You’ll have to make the discovery!. Here is the trailer for Quarantine:

We still can’t stop gushing about the Christain romance, Fireproof. It has done well at the box office in limited release and remains in play at the Regal Eagle Ridge Mall at Lake Wales.

God bless, and have a great weekend at the movies – from your friends at Sebring Cinema and Sports!

NATIONAL BOX OFFICE: ‘Eagle Eye’ Lays Golden Egg

SEBRING, September 29, 2008 – The sassy techno-thriller Eagle Eye looked down at the films that opened with it from its perch atop the box office this weekend.

Eagle Eye deftly played on our justifiable invasion of privacy fears, which are NOT science fiction, and parlayed them into a $29.2 million box office debut. That amount was more than double the No. 2 film, Nights at Rodanthe with big stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane.

Eagle Eye plays at the Fairmount Cinema 6. The No. 3 film, and last week’s No. 1, also plays at the Fairmount. Lakeview Terrace earned $7 million and with more than $25 million since it opened, it has turned a tidy profit for its producers.

FIreproof, which did not open in Highlands County, and Burn After Reading finished No. 4 and No. 5 with earnings of $6.5 million and $6.2 million respectively.