Red Tails

CHICAGO – 2012 continues its trend for the fourth straight weekend with another new film coming in at number one. In a month of all sorts of new releases, “The Grey” is the fourth different film to win the box office on its opening weekend.

CHICAGO – With the success of “Red Tails,” currently in theaters, movie goers may want another, less Lucasversed take on the same story and could get it with one part of the three-movie wave of releases from HBO Home Video meant to celebrate Black History Month — “The Tuskegee Airmen,” which just hit the format with “Thurgood” and “The Josephine Baker Story.”

CHICAGO – In the heat of award season, with critically praised movies getting most of the buzz in Hollywood, it is sometimes easy to forget some of the films currently in theaters. But while the Golden Globes took place last weekend and Academy Award nominations come out in two days, “Underworld: Awakening” was the winner at the weekend box office.

CHICAGO – The courage of the Tuskegee Airmen cannot be denied. The all African American World War II fighter pilot squadron not only braved battle, but also the virulent prejudice of the 1940s. The new film “Red Tails” chronicles the circumstance of that squadron, with a sappy and overlong treatment.

CHICAGO – In a battle between action/thriller and Disney/animation, Mark Wahlberg’s new film “Contraband” came out on top. Battling all weekend against the 3D re-release of “Beauty and the Beast 3D,” “Contraband” was able to come in at number one after earning an estimated $24.1 million in its first weekend in theaters.