‘Terminator’ Opens Thursday At Fairmount

METAL GOD: Those fire-in-the-eyes robots return to erase mankind from the face of the earth in Terminator: Salvation, which opens today (Thursday, May 21) at the Fairmount Cinema 6.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

Sebring, May 21, 2009 – The big Memorial Day weekend begins Thursday with the wide release of Terminator Salvation.

Locally, the fourth installment of the series shows at the Fairmount Cinema 6 in Sebring. It has a full schedule with matinees at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m. and in the evening at 7:00 and 9:30.

When Friday rolls around, Terminator will duke it out with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. The Ben Stiller sequel will air at 500 more theaters and will boot Star Trek off most of the IMAX screens, but even then some predict Terminator: Salvation will sell more tickets.

It’s a tough call. Normally, I would say Night would win; however, this second film seems to lack story and compensate with too many characters and eye-popping effects. That could spell disappointment.

Night will open at the Regal Eagle Ridge and the Carmike.

Mitigating the appeal of Terminator: Salvation is its director, McG. He’s heavy on action, almost to the absurd, and weak on story and characters, so he has something to prove, especially with such a gem of a series.

The Wayans family will also audition for viewers’ time this long weekend with Dance Flick, which also opens at the Fairmount. This comedy will be a nice counterpoint to the superfluity of sci-fi fantasy flicks that are out there.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend with time at the movies!

BOX OFFICE: ‘Knowing,’ ‘Man,’ Propel Fairmount to Top

PLANE PROPHECY: A commuter jet crashes before the runway at a Boston airport, just like a child’s numbered paper pulled from a time capsule said it would. It’s part of the creepiness of Knowing, the No. 1 film in the nation, which plays exclusively at the Fairmount Cinema 6 in Sebring.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT

SEBRING, March 22, 2009 – The Fairmount’s run at the top as Highlands County’s most popular movie theater continues, if the national box office is the measuring stick.

The top two movies at the box office for the weekend of March 20-22 both played at the Fairmount Cinema 6: Knowing and I Love You, Man. The former was king with projected earnings of $24.8 million, while the latter was No. 2 with earnings of $18 million.

No. 3 was Duplicity, with $14.4 million. The only other film that grossed in double digits was Race to Witch Mountain, which earned $13 million.

Watchmen continues its plummet toward watchlessness. This perverse film that features male frontal nudity lost another 64 % in ticket sales. One hundred theaters dumped the bomb in just its third week. It continues to play at the Carmike.

Every movie at the Fairmount placed in the Top Ten except for Doubt, which was released last year and has just come to Highlands County. It is an excellently acted film worthy of your viewing. It stars Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.

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!

Two Films Debut At Fairmount!

SEBRING, March 13, 2009 – With the Carmike banking on the graphic sex and violence of Watchmen, the Fairmount Cinema 6 added two new movies to its lineup.

Already that lineup is strong. The Fairmount hosts the Oscar-winning best film Slumdog Millionaire, the  No. 1 box office hit for two weeks, Madea Goes to Jail, the hugely popular Taken and Gran Torino (some folks have seen the latter 2 and 3 times, it’s that good).

Add to the mix The Last House on the Left, a horror remake that is not for the squeamish, and the Chinese-style fight movie, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.

In short, there’s something for just about every taste at the Fairmount.

And the Fairmount gets our nod for the best popcorn and the best concession prices.

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

Oscar’s Best Picture Comes To Fairmount

SEBRING, Feb. 27, 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire, the blockbuster comedy that won best picture at the 2008 Academy Awards last Sunday, opens at the Fairmount Cinema 6 today.

The arrival of Slumbdog Millionaire helps to strengthen the iron grip the Fairmount already holds on the best pictures in Highlands County. The No. 1 film at the box office, Madea Goes To Jail, plays there, as do the blockbuster hits Taken, with Liam Neeson as a CIA dad looking for his kidnaped daughter, and Clint Eastwood’s gritty Gran Torino.

The Fairmount also boasts the comedy He’s Just Not That Into You and the action thriller The International.

The Carmike tries to counter with films like Frost/Nixon and Hotel For Dogs – two good films – but the rest of the lineup is littered with commerical busts: Friday the 13th – a horrible film, The Pink Panther 2, which has devolved into a film for toddlers, Push, which desperately needs an economic shove in the wake of its failure even among its targeted youth market.

The Carmike does offer one or two 3D films, but in these difficult economic times, customers have to pay more for that “experience.” They are already paying wallet-grabbing ticket and concession prices at the Carmike, and getting all too little in customer service in return.

That leaves the Regal Eagle Ridge. The Regal also charges higher ticket and concession prices but offers good customer service and much better seating than the Carmike. It’s a legitimate alternative to watching a movie at the Carmike, especially for residents at the north end of Highlands County. But because of the Fairmount’s excellent prices, customer service, and excellent treatment of seniors, the Regal is not a worthwhile alternative to the movies that play there.

WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO GO, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES!

BOX OFFICE: Rehash Wins Box Office

SEBRING, Feb. 16, 2009 – Connosiuers of refried beans, left over, pulled out of the fridge, and microwaved, again and again, will appreciate the remake of Friday the 13th. That means it’s time to roll out the Latin.

“De gustibus non est disputandum.”

Producer Michael Bay rounded up the best looking bods teenagerdom offered, threw them into one contrived situation after another, and gouged, cut, spiked, and axed them up to the tune of  $42.2 million to make Friday the 13th the box office champ for the weekend of Feb. 12-15. It plays at the Regal Eagle Ridge and the Carmike.

But while Hollywood proved, at least for one weekend, that you can do the same thing over and over again, and not very well at that, articulate audiences still took to some of the other films out there.

Ticket sales for He’s Just Not That Into You dropped only 30 percent to help it to a second place finish with a gross of $19.6 million.

Even more impressive was Taken, the action thriller of a CIA dad out to get his daughter back from kidnapers in Europe. Its ticket sales declined by a mere 6 percent so that it grossed $19.25 million in its third week of release. Taken has grossed almost $78 million since its release and is a surefire bet to cross $125 million and possibly even $150 million – a  nice profit for the makers and good promotion for Liam Neeson, a fne actor whose talents have not always been used well.

Confessions of a Shopaholic finished 4th wtih $15.4 million and Coralie finished 5th with $15,3 million.

Once again, three of the Top Five films played at the Fairmount Cinema 6: He’s Just Not That Into You, Taken, and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop continues to impress. It hauled in $11.7 million this past weekend and has grossed more than $110 million since it debuted five weeks ago. It’s a huge winner for comic Kevin James. I would predict  sequel, but I see that comedian Seth Rogen has a nearly identical film coming out this year – a mall cop who comes to the rescue of a shopper and takes over the inveestigation into who attacked her. I think James is going to win this battle, but Rogen does appeal to those of a raunchier bent.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop plays at the Regal Eagle Ridge and the Carmike.

The International, with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, debuted modestly with $10 million. The Pink Panther 2 is a dud. Though its numbers did not drop much from Week One, it is in way more theaters so that its per theater average is the lowest of any film in the Top Ten. Gran Torino has a better per theater average and still hauled in $6.75 million in its 10th week of release – and it’s still playig at the Fairmount Cinema 6, so now is a good time to catch it.

BOX OFFICE: Top Movies at the Fairmount

SEBRING, February 11, 2009 – He’s Just Not That Into You and Taken ruled the roost atop the North American box office the weekend of Feb. 6-8, giving the Fairmount Cinema 6 a crushing advantage over the other county theater, the Carmike.

He’s Just Not That Into You grossed $27.8 million to finish first and usurp Taken’s No. 1 spot, but the Liam Neeson actioner about a dad with deadly skills going after his daughter’s abductors dropped a ridiculously low 16.9 % from its debut to its second week. Taken grossed $20.5 million to grab that No. 2 spot.

Together, He’s Just Not That Into You and Taken grossed $10 million more than the next three movies combined, an early indication that they are resonating with audiences. The Pink Panther 2, on the other hand, debuted weakly, having lost its native attraction to sophisticated viewers. It now panders to a narrower range of children with its excessive use of predictable pratfalls.

By its dollar votes, the viewing public  heartily recommends Taken and He’s Just Not That Into You.

BOX OFFICE: Fairmount Grabs Top Spots

SEBRING, February 5, 2009 – Three of the top five grossing movies for the weekend of Jan. 30 – Feb. 1 played at the Fairmount Cinema 6.

Taken, starring Liam Neeson as a deadly CIA agent whose daughter has been kidnapped during a European trip, took top honors with a $24 + million haul. It also sported a solid $7,800 per theater average, tops in the Top Ten. This exciting action film plays at the Fairmount.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop, finished at No. 2 after two weeks at No. 1. It plays at the Regal Eagle Ridge and at the Carmike.

Scare flick The Uninvited hauled in $10,3 million to register as the only other movie in double digits for the Super Bowl weekend. It also plays at the Fairmount.

Hotel for Dogs and Clint Eastwood’s smart, emotional film of atonement, Gran Torino, rounded out the top five. Hotel for Dogs plays at the Regal Eagle Ridge and Gran Torino at the Fairmount.

We give high marks for Gran Torino, a film for which both young and old have left the theater with a favorable impression.

BOX OFFICE: ‘Marley and Me’ Tops!

SEBRING, December 29, 2008 – Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, and a dog pushed Marley and Me to the top of the box office charts for the weekend of Dec. 26-28.

And they did so amid some of the fiercest competition for a Christmas day opener. Marley and Me had to fend off big names Tom Cruise (Valkyrie), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Adam Sandler (Bedtime Stories) to earn the championship.

Marley and Me grossed $37 million at theatres in North America. Bedtime Stories finished second with $28 million, followed by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with $27 million and Valkyrie with $21.5 million.

Yes Man and Seven Pounds finished fifth and sixth with $16.45 million and $13.4 million respectively.

No other films finished in double digit millions.

Four of the top six films played at the Fairmount Cinema 6, and its parking lot was full to overflowing on Christmas, as local moviegoers took advantage of its superior offerings, less expensive ticket prices, and outstanding customer service.

Marley and Me also won the top spot in per theatre average, hauling in $10,632. Benjamin Button took second place with a $9,036 per theatre draw.

The moviegoing weekend was good overall, with heavy attendance across the nation that helped films drop by only single digit percentages.

BOX OFFICE: Weekend Gives Us ‘The Day the Earth Got Bored”

SEBRING, December 17, 2008 – Hollywood continues to falter and fail. But if you were looking to commit suicide the weekend of Dec. 12-14, you could have subjected yourself to the customer service at the Carmike or just watched The Day The Earth Stood Still and done yourself in with acute boredom and pseudo-apocalyptic special effects.

One thing got murdered for certain: your wallet. How much are movies these days and what do moviegoers get in return? In tough times, wise customers go for the biggest bang for the buck, and, in general, that’s not at theaters charging $8 and $9 to see a film and $12 or $13 for popcorn and a drink.

But we digress. 

The Day The Earth Stood Still did finish as the box office champ with a $30.5 million take. The only other film to finish in double digits was Four Christmases with $13 million. Four Christmases plays at the Fairmount Cinema 6, where the excellent Christian film Fireproof is.