A History of Violence at the multiplexes

What is wrong with America? Going to the movies to see the latest and greatest is one of our favorite past times. Lately, though, if you aren't packing heat you might not make it home.

First there was the case at Benjamin Button (in my hometown no less). Then Notorious ended badly -- for more than just Biggie. Now, a screening of Friday the 13th ended with a costumed man wounded in the hospital.

The movie theater this time turned the screening on Friday into an event, including an appearance by Jason Voorhees himself -- as played by Warrington Gillette, who played the villian in 1981's original sequel.

Well, a woman in the audience thought things were a little too real when Gillette came on stage wielding an axe. The audience member got overzealous and tried to wrestle it away from the hockey masked killer. In the process the actor got wounded by the axe and ended up in the hospital.

Come on, people let's try to play safely when going to the movies. Leave the action onscreen.

The Week in Review

A look at what I've been watching, listening to and enjoying over the past 7 days. Share what you've been doing in the comments section or if there are things that I missed and shouldn't have..

TV
The Grammys were kind of ho-hum and with Gossip Girl a repeat this week some of the joy from television was missing. The Big Bang Theory had a hilarious outing with Christine Baranski guesting as Leonard's therapist mother. In series premiere news, Dollhouse started on Friday and the show didn't necessarily leave me wanting more. Perhaps one more episode to give it a second chance.

Film
Friday the 13th was just alright (despite cleaning up at the box office).

Music
While I plan to check out some of the winners from the Grammy Awards, my week was a little crazy. Coming to Terms by Carolina Liar is an album that has been flying under the radar, despite the band's music appearing in television shows and films throughout the last year. Finally listening to it this week makes me understand why it's keeps chugging along. Check out their myspace page to sample their music.

Beat the Blogger Results

Talk about over/under. Friday the 13th debuted much higher than expected with a record setting $42 million dollars between Friday and Sunday. The film only cost $16 million to produce, which was recouped by the end of business Friday.

Coming in at number 2 is He's Just Not That Into You with just under $20 million dollars. Coming in third place was the extremely durable Taken. Debuting in fourth, under the expectations I gave, was Confessions of a Shopaholic at $15 million. That was barely ahead of last weekend's Coraline.

The International debuted in seventh place with an expected $10 million.

Friday the 13th -- the long and short

The short of it: Friday the 13th is back in all of its 80s slasher flick glory. Filmmakers take an interesting approach by working it into the already existing series, but that creates problems because keeping with the old Jason makes Voorhees remain unscary. This leaves director Marcus Nispel with gotcha moments and a few gory scenes to tide fans over. On the plus side, Jason learns how to run for this outing. With a young, pretty cast and some cool moments, Friday is like a meal that fills you up but doesn't satisfy.

The long of it: to read my full review of the film, click here

Buzz Factor (out of 5): 2.5

Photo by: John P. Johnson. Courtesy of New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures