Welcome to the latest edition of the

BigScreen Weekly Newsletter

brought to you by The BigScreen Cinema Guide!

In This Issue

• Journal Articles
• Top Box Office Movies
• New Releases
• Movies Coming Soon

Journal Articles

On October 26th, I wrote that Netflix Instant Streaming was coming to the PlayStation3 in November. It's now November, and Netflix wasn't lying. I just received an E-Mail that says that my Instant Streaming disc for PS3 will be arriving tomorrow!... (more)

Gift Shop merchant Amazon.com is offering the Blu-ray version of Terminator Salvation (Director's Cut) for just $16.99, so if you're looking for a deal on the latest Terminator movie, you can pre-order it today! Concerned that it might go even... (more)

Cinemark will be celebrating the opening of their large-format "XD" auditoriums on Friday, November 6, 2009. The Century 16 Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska and Century Evanston 18 in Evanston, Illinois will be playing Disney's A Christmas Carol in... (more)

Natural Born Killers (Unrated Director's Cut) Warner Home Video 86 Minutes List Price: $28.99 (Check Price at Amazon.com) This movie is also available from Amazon on DVD. Available 10/13/2009 Click here for additional movie details,... (more)

Warner Bros. Pictures announced yesterday that the World Premiere of The Blind Side will be held at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on Tuesday, November 17, 2009. Scheduled to attend are Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Lily ... (more)

I just added the new trailer for Avatar to the movie's Trailers & Videos page, and I have to say that it's much better than the Teaser Trailer that was released in August. Here is what is being labeled as "Trailer 1" by Hulu: ... (more)

The Galaxy Cannery in North Las Vegas, Nevada has installed 11 more D-BOX motion-enhanced seats, according to a press release from D-BOX Technologies last week. The theater installed 22 seats back in June 2009, making it the first movie theater in... (more)

TV network Turner Classic Movies is teaming up with Universal Studios Home Entertainment to offer rare classic movies on DVD on a made-to-order basis. The TCM Vault Collection Presented by Universal will feature movies not available on DVD starting... (more)

MJR Theatres and Detroit radio station WDVD 96.3 are giving movie fans a chance to help the hungry and see a movie for free in return with the "Canned Film Festival" that is happening on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. When you donate five canned... (more)

30 new photos have been added to the Photo Galleries page for the upcoming animated comedy Planet 51, which opens in theaters Friday, November 20th, 2009. "Chuck" voiced by Dwayne Johnson and "Lem" voiced by Justin Long in Columbia Pictures'... (more)

I just added 20 new photos for the upcoming action thriller 2012, which opens November 13, 2009. John Cusack (left), and Woody Harrelson in Columbia Pictures' 2012. © 2009 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2012... (more)

Walt Disney Pictures announced this week that the World Premiere of the John Travolta/Robin Williams comedy Old Dogs will be held at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on Monday, November 9, 2009. Scheduled to attend the premiere are... (more)

Yellowstone: Battle for Life BBC Warner 150 Minutes List Price: $24.99 (Check Price at Amazon.com) Available 9/29/2009 SourceThis Disc Video Format: Unknown 1080i AVC Aspect Ratio: Unknown assumed to be 1.78:1 ... (more)

Top Box Office Movies for the Weekend of October 30, 2009

1. Michael Jackson's This Is It
2. Paranormal Activity
3. Law Abiding Citizen
4. Couples Retreat
5. Where the Wild Things Are
6. Saw VI
7. Astro Boy
8. The Stepfather
9. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
10. Amelia

For more details, see our Top Box Office Movies page.

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That's it for this week, so take a look at what's new in theaters and what's coming up in the next couple of weeks. Have a good weekend!

Scott Jentsch
Publisher, The BigScreen Cinema Guide

New Releases

The following are new releases opening in theaters in the next week.

The Box Norma and Arthur Lewis are a suburban couple with a young child who receive an anonymous gift bearing fatal and irrevocable consequences. A simple wooden box, it promises to deliver its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world--someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the crosshairs of a startling moral dilemma and face the true nature of their humanity. Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, Basil Hoffman, Gillian Jacobs Genre - Horror View trailers and video clips

thematic elements, some violence and disturbing images

Collapse Americans generally like to hear good news. They like to believe that a new president will right old wrongs, that clean energy will replace dirty oil and that fresh thinking will set the economy straight. American pundits tend to restrain their pessimism and hope for the best. But is anyone prepared for the worst? Meet Michael Ruppert, a different kind of American. A former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter, he predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter at a time when most Wall Street and Washington analysts were still in denial. Starring Michael Ruppert Genre - Documentary View trailers and video clips

The Confessional Starring James Asher, Alexis Boozer, Victor Browne, Joe Carrig, James Anthony Cotton Genre - Action/Adventure View trailers and video clips

Disney's A Christmas Carol Ebeneezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (Gary Oldman), and his cheery nephew (Colin Firth). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come (all played by Carrey) take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it's too late. Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn Genre - SciFi/Fantasy View trailers and video clips

scary sequences and images

Disney's A Christmas Carol: An IMAX 3D Experience Ebeneezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (Gary Oldman), and his cheery nephew (Colin Firth). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come (all played by Carrey) take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it's too late. Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn Genre - SciFi/Fantasy View trailers and video clips

scary sequences and images

Disney's A Christmas Carol in Disney Digital 3D Ebeneezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (Gary Oldman), and his cheery nephew (Colin Firth). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come (all played by Carrey) take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it's too late. Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn Genre - SciFi/Fantasy View trailers and video clips

scary sequences and images

Endgame The African National Congress (ANC) wages an armed struggle against apartheid; President P.W. Botha clings to the last threads of power; the country is on the brink of bloody insurrection. In a gripping thriller based on real-life events, Endgame drops us into this brutal conflict's control centers: Nelson Mandela's prison, Botha's chambers, ANC headquarters, and, to our surprise, the rented car of a British bureaucrat. It turns out that Consolidated Gold, a British mining concern, convinced that peaceful resolution in South Africa serves their interests, has initiated covert, unofficial talks between opposing sides. Brilliantly building suspense befitting the situation's high stakes, Endgame chronicles this dangerous mission, where Michael Young, Consolidated's head of public affairs, doggedly assembles a reluctant, yet impressive, crew to confront intractable obstacles in the way of reconciliation. ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse are chief among them. Zeroing in on the growing emotional empathy between Mbeki and Esterhuyse, which becomes the linchpin for the talks, this enormously moving story dramatizes the way that meticulous strategies, combined with serendipity, finally unlock change. While Mandela endures house arrest, terrorist bombs threaten the dialogue, and Botha's regime gives way to F.W. de Klerk's leadership, an unlikely cadre, secreted in a distant British manor, pave the way to black South African freedom and form a template for peace negotiations around the world. Starring William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jonny Lee Miller, Mark Strong, Derek Jacobi Genre - Drama View trailers and video clips

violence/disturbing images and some strong language

The Fourth Kind In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document...until now. Structured unlike any film before it, "The Fourth Kind" is a provocative thriller set in modern-day Nome, Alaska, where-mysteriously since the 1960s-a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year. Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered. Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented. Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, The Fourth Kind exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film. Starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Corey Johnson Genre - Suspense/Thriller View trailers and video clips

violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements and brief sexuality

The Men Who Stare at Goats Reporter Bob Wilton is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady, a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of "Warrior Monks" with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy's thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. Now, the program's founder, Bill Django, has gone missing and Cassady's mission is to find him. Intrigued by his new acquaintance's far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides to accompany him on the search. When the pair tracks Django to a clandestine training camp run by renegade psychic Larry Hooper, the reporter is trapped in the middle of a grudge match between the forces of Django's New Earth Army and Hooper's personal militia of super soldiers. In order to survive this wild adventure, Bob will have to outwit an enemy he never thought possible. Starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Root Genre - Drama View trailers and video clips

language, some drug content and brief nudity

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Set in Harlem in 1987, it is the story of Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a sixteen-year-old African-American girl born into a life no one would want. She’s pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother (Mo’Nique), a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write. Precious may sometimes be down, but she is never out. Beneath her impassive expression is a watchful, curious young woman with an inchoate but unshakable sense that other possibilities exist for her. Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school, Each One/Teach One. Precious doesn’t know the meaning of “alternative,” but her instincts tell her this is the chance she has been waiting for. In the literacy workshop taught by the patient yet firm Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), Precious begins a journey that will lead her from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination. Starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz Genre - Drama View trailers and video clips

child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language

That Evening Sun An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm. Based on a short story by award-winning author, William Gay. Starring Hal Holbrook, Raymond McKinnon, Walton Goggins, Mia Wasikowska, Carrie Preston, Barry Corbin, Dixie Carter, Barlow Jacobs, Anthony Reynolds Genre - Drama View trailers and video clips

brief strong language, some violence, sexual content and thematic elements

Evangelion: 1.01 You Are (Not) Alone (Evangerion shin gekijôban: Jo) Starring Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi, Yuriko Yamaguchi, Akira Ishida Genre - Animation View trailers and video clips

The Good Soldier The journeys of five combat veterans from different generations of American wars as they sign up, go into battle, and eventually change their minds about what it means to be a good soldier. Starring Michael McPhearson, Perry Parks, Will Williams, Edward Wood, Jimmy Massey Genre - Documentary View trailers and video clips

For a complete list of recent movies playing in theaters, please see our "New Movies" page.

Coming Soon

Watch for these movies coming to a theater near you!

Friday, Nov 13th

• Army of Crime (L'armee du crime)
• The End of Poverty?
• The Messenger
• Oh My God
• Pirate Radio
• Ten9Eight
• 2012
• Uncertainty
• William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
• Women in Trouble

For a complete list of movies coming soon to theaters, please see our "Coming Soon" page.

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