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At the movies

By Lou Gaul calkins Media Film Critic 3 min read

A comedy sequel (“American Reunion”), an action import (“The Raid Redemption”) and a hit rerelease (“Titanic 3-D”) are the top titles arriving on this weekend of Passover and Easter.

“American Reunion,” with Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Jennifer Coolidge and Eugene Levy in an R-rated “American Pie” installment. In this one, the characters gather for a high school reunion in Michigan and sexual shenanigans follow. “Reunion” is the fourth big-screen installment after “American Pie” (1999), “American Pie 2” (2001) and “American Wedding” (2003). Four titles – “Band Camp” (2005), “The Naked Mile” (2006), “Beta House” (2007) and “The Book of Love” (2009) – are in the “American Pie Presents” direct-to-video series. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who teamed on “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” co-directed.

“Boy,” with James Rolleston in a 1984-set coming-of-age import about an 11-year-old boy who idolizes Michael Jackson and hopes to get to know his father when the absent parent returns home for a bag of stolen money he left behind when he deserted the family. New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi (“Eagle vs. Shark”) directed.

“The Raid Redemption,” with Iko Uwais in an extremely intense Indonesian import that features nonstop action and some martial arts battles that might impress the late, great Bruce Lee. The R-rated picture follows the members of an elite police force ordered to remove a drug kingpin and his heavily armed army of thugs from a crumbling 15-story building. All hell soon breaks out and continues for the entire running time. Welsh-born filmmaker Gareth Huw Evans (“Footsteps”) directed.

“The Salt of Life,” with Gianni Di Gregorio directing an unrated bittersweet comedy about a middle-aged man who believes he’s invisible after retiring from his job and losing his purpose in life. He then must contend with a demanding mother, a patronizing wife and his daughter’s slacker boyfriend. The Italian import is being shown with subtitles.

“Titanic 3-D,” with director James Cameron floating his Oscar-winning disaster epic (1997) in the pop-off-the-screen 3-D process he improved with “Avatar.” The 194-minute picture, rated PG-13, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

 

At the Buck$ Office

The combined grosses of “Wrath of the Titans” and “Mirror Mirror” weren’t enough to knock “The Hunger Games” out of the box-office top spot last weekend.

The PG-13 adventure tale grossed $61.1 million in its second week. “Games” was followed by “Titans” and “Mirror,” which grossed $34.2 million and $19 million, respectively.

According to Box Office Mojo, the top 10 films last weekend were:

1. “The Hunger Games” ($61.1 million)

2. “Wrath of the Titans” ($34.2 million)

3. “Mirror Mirror” ($19 million)

4. “21 Jump Street” ($15 million)

5. “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” ($8 million)

6. “John Carter” ($2 million)

7. “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” ($1.2 million)

8. “Act of Valor” ($1 million)

9. “A Thousand Words” ($915,000)

10. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” ($835,000)

 

 

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