Actor Zac Efron won a coveted Teen Choice surfboard for Choice Movie Actor in a Comedy, for his turn as Mike O’Donnell, the dad who gets to be "17 Again." The movie is on DVD now, and I thought it was sweet and funny; check out my review here. 
Image: INF

Tops at the box office this weekend was "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." I wasn’t that crazy about the movie (read my review here), but it’s the only new family flick out right now, which is why I think it scored high. It wasn’t bad; just wasn’t as good as the first movie. Take a peek at the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $70M
Terminator Salvation, $53.82M
Star Trek, $29.40M
Angels & Demons, $27.70M
Dance Flick, $13.10M
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $10.10M
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $4.83M
Obsessed, $2.50M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $1.90M
17 Again, $1.28M

Images: TM and … [Read More]

I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that "Star Trek" ruled the box office universe this weekend, beating "Wolverine" by a million light-years. Here’s the scoop from Box Office Mojo:

Star Trek, $75.20M
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $26.40M
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $10.25M
Obsessed, $6.56M
17 Again, $4.23M
Next Day Air, $4.11M
The Soloist, $3.94M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $3.26M
Earth, $2.66M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $2.19M

Image: © Paramount Pictures

Hugh Jackman and his alter-ego Wolverine grabbed the top spot at the box office this weekend, with Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner coming in a distant second, and “Fast & Furious” dropping off the list to 11th place. Check out the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $85.05M
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $15.41M
Obsessed, $12.05M
17 Again, $6.36M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $5.80M
The Soloist, $5.65M
Earth, $4.34M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $4.16M
Fighting, $4.01M
State of Play, $2.76M

Image: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, TM and Copyright 20th Century Fox Film Corp., 2009

Moviegoers were "Obsessed" this weekend, heading out in droves to see Ali Larter and Beyonce duke it out over a man. Here are the weekend numbers from Box Office Mojo:

Obsessed, $28.61M
17 Again, $11.51M
Fighting, $11.02M
The Soloist, $9.71M
Earth, $8.82M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $8.52M
State of Play, $6.84M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $6.43M
Fast & Furious, $6.20M
Crank: High Voltage, $2.61M ((Read my interview with Clifton Collins, Jr.)

Photo Credit: 2009 Screen Gems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo by Suzanne Tenner

"17 Again" and "State of Play" are both great movies, for different reasons. And everyone else thought so, too, based on the box office numbers from this past weekend. Here’s the scoop from Box Office Mojo:

17 Again, $23.72M
State of Play, $14.07M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $13.40M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $13.24M
Fast and Furious, $11.77M
Crank: High Voltage, $6.96M (Read my interview with Clifton Collins, Jr.)
Observe and Report, $4.17M
Knowing, $3.57M
I Love You, Man, $3.32M
The Haunting in Connecticut, $3.11M

Image Credit: © Universal Studios

Movie: 17 Again * Trailer * Official Site
In Theaters: April 17, 2009

Runtime: 102 minutes
Directed by: Burr Steers 

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying
Gecko Rating:

I predict that Zac Efron is headed for mega-stardom, if he doesn’t implode from all the fame and fortune and paparazzi, that is. In "17 Again," he carries the movie admirably, and does so with sweetness, heart and humor. He’s only 21, but already has the "High School Musical" franchise, mega-hit "Hairspray," and a long list of TV roles on his IMDB page, dating back to a small role in "Firefly" … [Read More]

Shining in theaters today are some hot, hot, hot movie stars – namely, Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, and Jason Statham. Oh, it’s a good time to be a movie lover. Here’s the rundown:
17 Again (PG-13). Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Perry) is feeling blue that he hasn’t made more of his life. So when he gets the chance to go back and do it again, he goes for it – and is suddenly 17 again in the form of Zac Efron. Sweet movie about what matters most in life. [Trailer] [Official Site] [Interview with Lorna Scott]
State of Play (PG-13). Russell … [Read More]

Zac Efron hit the red carpet for the L.A. premiere of his movie, “17 Again,” in theaters tomorrow. The movie stars Efron as a the 17-year-old version of Matthew Perry’s character, who wishes he could go back in time and do it again. It’s directed by Burr Steers and rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material, and teen partying. Watch the trailer here.
Efron said this would be his first time watching the movie all the way through, “in English anyway,” he said. “I’ve seen it in French, and it was funny, but I don’t really know what I was … [Read More]

"17 Again" is one of those movies I think I’ve probably seen about 23 times, one way or another. You wonder how many variations of the middle-aged-person-getting-young-again they can come up with. "Big" and "13 Going on 30" are just two that spring to mind.
It stars Matthew Perry as a guy whose life hasn’t turned out exactly as he would have planned. So he’s pretty overjoyed when he’s suddenly "17 Again" and gets to take another shot at it. Zac Efron plays the younger version, and I have no doubt his career will continue to zing along at a … [Read More]