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Archive for May, 2007
Monday, May 7th, 2007
This just in: The Harvard Film Archive and the Coolidge Corner Theatre are on the list of grantees for the Academy Foundation's Institutional Grants Program. The Foundation, the educational wing of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (those lovely people who bring us the Oscars every year) has awarded $500,000 to 56 non-profits in the film world.
The HFA will receive $7,500 to help cover costs for visiting filmmakers. The Coolidge will receive $5,000, earmarked for an upcoming seminar on film criticism. Congratulations to both organizations, two of the too-few bright spots on the current Boston moviegoing scene.
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Monday, May 7th, 2007
In movie real estate news, the mansion owned by the family that served as the basis for the 1940 Katharine Hepburn classic "The Philadelphia Story" is up for sale. The AP story starts off "Ardrossan, named after the Montgomery ancestral home in Ayrshire, Scotland, has been a retreat for the privileged for almost a century. Hope Montgomery Scott, the family head for most of that time, was the basis for Katharine Hepburn's character in the 1940 Oscar-winning movie, which also starred Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart."
If you must know more -- and I know some of you must -- the Philly Inquirer has the full backstory.
No price has been set yet, but, come on, a chance to role-play out by the swimming pool, doing drunken Jimmy Stewart carrying Kate up from the poolhouse? Priceless.
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Monday, May 7th, 2007
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, James Franco, Theresa Russell
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Produced by: Stan Lee, Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr, Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr
Written By: Alvin Sargent
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.
Release Date: May 4th, 2007
This movie may not have been as good as the other two Spiderman movies, but it is still a great movie. It is worthy of the title.
The continuing humanization of the Peter Parker/Spiderman character is what makes this movie great. You can relate to this character! Any man who has been in a long-term relationship and who has made the mistake of talking about himself when his wife or girlfriend just needs to be listened to can understand Tobey Maguire’s character. Parker does a good job at ticking off Mary Jane and Maguire does a good job of portraying an arrogant jerk.
The acting wasn’t flawless, of course. When Parker is going through the attitude adjustments caused by the parasite, the viewer is subjected to some “hamming-up” done by Maguire. The whole remake of the Travolta “Saturday Night Fever” strut was pretty damn funny.
But for the few problems, this film does not disappoint. As usual the effects were awesome and they alone make the movie worth seeing.
My think that they just tied to squeeze too much into this movie. You simply can’t do it all.
Those people who get upset because the movie doesn’t follow the comic book’s mythology point by point should just get over it. It follows it close enough, and they need to realize that squeezing several decades of comic book and newspaper story lines into two hours is not an easy task.
Detach yourself from your preconceptions and just enjoy the movie!!!
Posted in Movie Reviews, Spiderman | No Comments »
Monday, May 7th, 2007
Spider-Man caught just about everyone in his web. The superhero’s latest adventure, “Spider-Man 3,” smashed box-office records with $148 million in its first three days, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That put it ahead of the previous record debut of $135.6 million set last summer by “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”
With $59.3 million on opening day Friday, Sony’s “Spider-Man 3” broke the single-day box-office record, also held by “Dead Man’s Chest” with $55.8 million in its first day.
Since it began rolling out overseas on Tuesday, “Spider-Man 3” has taken in $227 million in foreign markets, bringing the film’s worldwide total to $375 million. In just days, the movie has grossed $117 million more than its whopping $258 million production budget.
In just two days, it also nearly matched the $114.8 million opening weekend of 2002’s “Spider-Man,” which had held the debut record until “Dead Man’s Chest” opened.
“Spider-Man 3” reunites director Sam Raimi, who also made the previous two installments, and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.
“Sam Raimi is a genius,” said Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures co-chairman. “I could have never envisioned this. What I was hoping was we would just break the `Spider-Man 1′ record. This is beyond my wildest dream.”
The overall box office soared from “Spider-Man 3,” with the top-12 movies taking in $176.6 million, up 77 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when “Mission: Impossible III” opened with $47.7 million.
“Spider-Man 3” outdid that movie by $100 million and grossed more in each of its first two days than “Mission: Impossible III” did over the full weekend.
Also among the records smashed by “Spider-Man 3” was a $4.8 million domestic gross at huge-screen IMAX theaters, topping the previous best of $3.6 million set by “300” in March.
Playing in a record 4,252 locations domestically, “Spider-Man 3” averaged a whopping $34,807 a theater.
Domestically, “Spider-Man 3” could enter its second weekend Friday with $200 million already in the bank. The film has the market largely to itself for the next week and a half, with no major competition arriving until DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek the Third” arrives May 18.
With “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and an onslaught of other potential blockbusters following, studio executives predict this could be a record summer for modern Hollywood.
“Spider-Man 3” packed in enormous crowds that were captive audiences viewing trailers for those upcoming flicks.
“If you could imagine the best kickoff to what could be the biggest summer of all time, this is the scenario,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “This will have a ripple effect on audiences exposed to the marketing for all the other summer films.”
The gap between “Spider-Man 3” and the No. 2 movie DreamWorks and Paramount’s “Disturbia” at $5.7 million was larger than any other movie’s debut.
“Lucky You” from Warner Bros., bombed with $2.5 million to come in at No. 6.
Directed by Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”), “Lucky You” stars Drew Barrymore as a budding Las Vegas singer, Eric Bana as skilled gambler and Robert Duvall as his estranged father in a tale set against the World Series of Poker.
Two critically acclaimed films opened well in limited release.
Fox Searchlight’s “Waitress,” starring Keri Russell as a small-town woman whose flavorful pies are named after the hard knocks in her messy personal life, debuted with $91,470 in four theaters. “Waitress” was written and directed by co-star Adrienne Shelly, who was slain in her Manhattan apartment last fall.
Lionsgate’s “Away From Her,” the directing debut of actress Sarah Polley, premiered with $56,000 in four theaters. “Away From Her” stars Julie Christie as a woman losing her memory from Alzheimer’s and Gordon Pinsent as the devoted husband agonizing over her loss.
Both films expand to more theaters throughout May.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
- “Spider-Man 3,” $148 million.
- “Disturbia,” $5.7 million.
- “Fracture,” $3.4 million.
- “The Invisible,” $3.1 million.
- “Next,” $2.8 million.
- “Lucky You,” $2.5 million.
- “Meet the Robinsons,” $2.46 million.
- “Blades of Glory,” $2.3 million.
- “Hot Fuzz,” $2.1 million.
- “Are We Done Yet?“, $1.7 million.
Posted in Celebrity Gossip, Spiderman | No Comments »
Monday, May 7th, 2007
Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Home Entertainment  Start building that MySpace fanbase people, because Madison Road Entertainment and Madonna's Maverick label are preparing to a launch a new internet-based talent competition called Big Shot (think along the lines of a new version of Star Search, except it appears the goal here is to use your online popularity to promote other properties). The show, which will run for 13 weeks and host 91 webisodes, will be dedicated to an assortment of talents which include singing, modeling, stand-up comedy, filmmaking and acting. Each person will be able to upload their profile, as well as a 30-second video showcasing their particular talent, which will then be voted on by a number of people with names like ILoveRyanSeacrest4Eva.
Since most internet surfers have the attention span of a mouse (myself included), there will be a new winner every day. That person will then be flown out to Hollywood and given a chance to audition for a "talent rainmaker" -- basically, that's just a snazzy way of saying you'll be meeting with some agent's assistant. At that time, you'll be given the chance to impress someone live and in person (which, right away, could prove difficult for those who feel more comfortable acting like an ass in the comfort of their own home) and, if your series of cartwheels are enough to get someone to say, "Sure, we can use him/her as an extra on our new FX TV show," then you could be on your way to red carpet stardom. Subsequently, the folks in charge get to promote their other products (like, for example, the Maverick-produced FX drama The Riches) and you get to say that, well, you had more MySpace friends than the dude who sang The National Anthem upside down. Fear not all you aspiring internet celebrities (yes, I'm talking to you lonelygirl90210), you still have time to prepare; Big Shot won't premiere until September 10. Permalink | Email this | Comments
Posted in cinematical, Movie News | No Comments »
Monday, May 7th, 2007
Everyone carps about sequelitis and the death of originality in movies, but you know what? Originality isn't in the studio business model, and it never has been. This morning all the suits in Hollywood are grinning fatcat grins because the model has been once more proven sound.
"Spider-Man 3" cost $260 million or so to make, is getting mixed reviews from critics and even a lot of moviegoers, and so what? The movie arguably recouped its cost in a single weekend: $148 million in U.S. box office plus an additional $227 in foreign ticket sales equals a total of $375 million. Using "Coming to America" accounting methods, this puppy might just break even.
That's a record for weekend box office, eclipsing last year's $136 million for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (and doubtless to be eclipsed next summer when "Indiana Jones IV: The Search for a Title" opens on May 22, 2008). Friday's take -- $59.3 million -- broke the one-day record. "Spider-Man 3" also opened on the greatest ever number of screens (over 10,000) in the most theaters (4,252), proof that Sony was aiming for the record books. (By opening the film last Tuesday in 107 other countries, by contrast, the studio was just hoping to make as big a pre-piracy profit as possible.)
It also meant that if you wanted to see a movie this weekend, "Spider-Man 3" was almost all that was playing. The next film down the chart, at #2, was old standby "Disturbia" with $5.7 million. The weekend's only other new studio release -- all others having had the good sense to get the hell out of Dodge -- was Curtis Hanson's gambling drama "Lucky You," which was a bug on the windshield of the Spidey 18-wheeler. Seriously: "Spider-Man 3" made an average $35,000 at each of those 4,252 theaters. "Lucky You," at 2,525 theaters, could barely scrape together $1,000 bucks per house.
There was action down in art-house land, though, where the late Adrienne Shelly's "Waitress" debuted at four theaters and averaged $23,000 at each. Boston will get this lovely little comedy on Friday, and it's worth the wait.
Here are the Box Office Mojo numbers. Leonard Klady's on vacation, but here's the Movie City News chart.
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Monday, May 7th, 2007
Filed under: Action & Adventure, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels  The soccer player turned swashbuckler, Keira Knightley, is getting run down. While Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End gets ready to knock us away in theaters, it looks like its star is ready to knock away not only any chance for sequels, but her part in the whole industry. In an interview with the Guardian, which was released yesterday, Keira says that the film series has run its course: "It's definitely time. I think everyone's glad to move on to different things." Johnny Depp has previously shared an interest in more, so there's a chance the series can go on, but I'm not sure that Disney could convince Knightley to go back. While the actress seemed full-steam-ahead before the film, now she seems weary, edgy and cautious -- mainly due to the stories claiming she has an eating disorder after some pictures of her in a bikini hit newsstands. Just last week, she hit back at the reports, describing her grueling cardio for Pirates as the reason for her increased skinniness, and griped that naturally thin women are becoming "scapegoats for promoting mental illness." Weary from the personal attacks, she said of her career: "I think I just have to move away or give it up altogether." While she doesn't sound as gung-ho on leaving a week later, her anxiety is still there. In the Guardian interview, a discussion about her cooking and dinner parties quickly turned bitter when she was asked about her stylist, Rachel Zoe, who also works with Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan. While I enjoy a number of her roles, although I've stayed far away from Domino, I'm wondering if this girl should at least take up a long break, if not give up the biz altogether. One good round in the tabloids and the actress is as tense as can be. While she describes herself as a drama queen, interviewer Chrissy Iley also mentions that Knightley had once described herself as insecure. It might just be a good idea for her to take a break after her mother's film, The Best Time of Our Lives, and try to find her best time. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Posted in Celebrity Gossip, cinematical, Movie News | No Comments »
Monday, May 7th, 2007
Filed under: Action & Adventure, Casting, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels  I'm not sure what a great-looking blonde is doing out in the middle of the Myanmar jungles, but apparently Sylvester Stallone needs a tad more tasty eye candy for his Rambo sequel. Variety tells us that Julie Benz has signed on to star as the female lead in John Rambo, however no further role description was given. Seeing as the plot revolves around a group of missionary aid workers who go missing, one has to assume Benz will play "the hot aid worker." For those who never managed to catch the 12 episodes of Dexter in which Benz starred as Rita Bennett, you might know her as the third jaw-dropping hottie in the 1999 flick Jawbreaker. Apart from that, the girl has done a ton of TV work (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI, Roswell, Taken), as well as landed much-coveted leading roles in The Midget Stays in the Picture (as A-List Actress) and Shrek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth.
Due out next May, John Rambo also stars Sam Elliott, Matthew Marsden and Paul Schulze. Not long ago, Stallone tapped a retired rebel soldier from the jungles of eastern Myanmar to play a brutal Burmese soldier in the pic. I'm thinking he'll be the guy you want Rambo to lay the smackdown on. Sai Mawng was chosen out of 300 applicants who turned out for the part; the casting notice asked for an unlikeable 32-40 military man. In the pic, Rambo is pulled out of retirement and recruited by a group of Christan human rights missionaries to help protect them against pirates (and no, not the Johnny Depp-type pirates). Also, in case you're itching for more Rambo, the first pics of Stallone on set have recently appeared online. As I said before, John Rambo (which was previously known as Pearl of the Cobra, until Stallone realized that people might confuse the situation and think this film was instead a sequel to Cobra -- and, not for nothing, but that would've been wicked cool) is due in theaters in May 2008. Permalink | Email this | Comments
Posted in cinematical, Movie News | No Comments »
Monday, May 7th, 2007
 | | Ratatouille - Clip
A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau.
Directed by: Brad Bird
Starring: Patton Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm |
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Monday, May 7th, 2007
| | Ratatouille - Featurette
A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau.
Directed by: Brad Bird
Starring: Patton Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm |
Posted in Movie Trailers | No Comments »
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