box office

This week, two new flicks hit theaters. The first is a spooky thriller about a family terrorized by a mysterious force, while the other is an action tale about a father determined to save his son.

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In retrospect, it's easy to say "Of course the new 'Die hard' movie was going to open at number one at the box office!" but you can bet Bruce Willis and company were a little worried. After all, 'A Good Day to Die Hard' opened in the wake of the failure of 'The Last Stand,' 'Parker' and 'Bullet to the Head,' three other macho, R-rated movies starring modern action icons. However, the strength of the 'Die Hard' brand seems to have broken that trend: John McClane's fifth outing made $25 million over the weekend.

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Is Melissa McCarthy a movie star yet? The opening weekend of 'Identity Thief' suggests that yes, she is. After all, all of those people weren't flocking to this movie because of Jason Bateman (as delightful as he is). Anyway, all of this pretty much means that McCarthy's asking price just doubled.

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Two new flicks and a re-released '80s blockbuster hit theaters this weekend. A comedy, a thriller and an action classic—what more could you ask for?

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Eventually, the popular opinion on zombies is going to shift and people are going to stop watching 'The Walking Dead' and buying zombie-themed video games, but that day is not today. People still love zombies and if the opening weekend is any indication, they love 'Warm Bodies.'

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It's Super Bowl weekend, traditionally not a huge one at theaters, but this weekend sees three new films all going for different audiences. One is a supernatural-teen tale reminiscent of 'Twilight,' the next brings a longtime action star in for another round, and the last is crime story featuring three very fine actors.

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Make no mistake: this was a slow and bad weekend at the box office, an example of the January doldrums at their absolute worst. However, this was probably the only environment where a film titled 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' could have flourished, so at least someone is happy.

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This weekend, a classic fairy tale gets a modern twist, one of the biggest casts we've ever heard of assembles, and Jason Statham does his Jason Statham thing. Fantasy-action, comedy and Jason Statham (who is his own genre) provide a nice range of choices at theaters

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Is Jessica Chastain a movie star? Probably not. At least not yet. However, this weekend proved that she's well on her way to being one. Headlining the top two films  at the box office in a single weekend is a great start. The Oscar nomination certainly doesn't hurt either.

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'Mud' is a great story, but not a particularly great film.

Dripping in regional specificity and broad metaphor, Jeff Nichols' new film feels more like a big, fat American novel you get assigned in 10th grade than the follow-up to 'Take Shelter.' That earlier film's ominous tone and psychological portraiture is traded-in for large, gestural story beats that itch to be broken down and discussed for their symbolic meaning. When you are done explaining just what Boo Radley represented, then you can sink your teeth into Joe Don Baker's character "King."

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New to theaters this week: a cops-and-corruption thriller, Ah-nuld's return to his roots and a freaky-looking horror piece about—what else?—creepy kids. A little light on the comedy and family fare, perhaps, but an intriguing mix nonetheless.

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You really only need to say one thing about the opening weekend of Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty': it made more in three days than 'The Hurt Locker' did in its entire run. If there's anything that's going to alleviate getting snubbed for at the Oscars in the Best Director category, it's that.

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