Archive for June, 2008

4. The Love Guru – $13.9M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Pitka (Mike Myers) is an American who was left at the gates of an ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus. He moves back to the U.S. to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality. His unorthodox methods are put to the test when he must settle a rift between Toronto Maple Leafs star hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) and his estranged wife. After the split, Roanoke\'s wife starts dating L.A. Kings star Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake) out of revenge, sending her husband into a major professional skid - to the horror of the teams\' owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) and Coach Cherkov (Verne Troyer). Pitka must return the couple to marital nirvana and get Roanoke back on his game so the team can break the 40-year-old "Bullard Curse" and win the Stanley Cup.

5. The Happening – $10.5M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
In THE HAPPENING, M. Night Shyamalan serves up over-the-top, apocalyptic strangeness. The film opens onto New York City\'s Central Park with a crowd of people enjoying an idyllic summer day. The carefree scene soon takes a terrifying turn, when out of nowhere, hordes of people begin to commit suicide en masse. People scramble to make sense of the pandemonium, and many believe it is a terrorist attack. It appears that some sort of deadly toxin is being released into the air. Cut to Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) a science teacher in Philadelphia. When he learns of the attack on New York, he meets up with his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), his friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and Julians\'s daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez). They make plans to get out of the city via train, but the train is evacuated in the middle of a small Pennsylvania town. When they learn that the mysterious toxin is spreading its way across the Northeast, they break up into groups, with Elliot, Alma, and Jess running through open farmland in search of safety. They are unsure of where to hide, or what exactly they are hiding from, until Elliot slowly forms a theory about the threat. He fights to keep Alma and Jess free from harm, and the film builds to a bizarre, unsettling climax, with Shyamalan\'s usual surprise ending.<br><br>Shyamalan\'s premise of escaping an unknown, unexplainable attack is a timely one, and is quite chilling in concept. However, while he at times appears to be groping for the frenzied scariness of THE BIRDS, THE HAPPENING\'s outlandish death scenes and implausible plot line often veer closer to B-movie classics. The film doesn\'t match the clever creepiness of THE SIXTH SENSE, but for fans of campy horror à la THE EVIL DEAD, it is truly something to behold.

9. Iron Man – $4.0M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Tony Stark is a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man.

10. The Strangers – $2.1M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
The Strangers

TV Review: Traces of the Trade – A Story From the Deep North

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Do we share in the shame of our ancestors? Think about your answer.
2008 marks the bicentennial of the United States’ abolition of the slave trade on its shores. That’s a landmark event in the nation’s history, and yet, it’s been largely overlooked. Maybe it’s because we like to pat ourselves on the back about the quantum leaps we’ve made in the two centuries since, or perhaps…

Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

How Universal and Marvel successfully course-corrected the struggling franchise.
Place me firmly in the camp of those who think that Ang Lee's Hulk (2003) is almost criminally underrated. Bringing his art house sensibilities to the project, Lee chose to focus on the complex, rage-filled father and son relationship that fueled Bruce Banner's anger management issues. Giving it an icy counterpoint in the father-daughter…

DVD Review: Futurama – The Beast with a Billion Backs

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

The Futurama team is still firing on all cylinders.
Written by Caballero OscuroThe Planet Express crew is back in action in this second new direct-to-DVD feature. Following the events of the first film, Bender’s Big Score, the gang find themselves faced with a gigantic rip in the fabric of space near Earth, which isn’t so bad by itself until a gigantic tentacle monster starts coming…

Cheryl Burke of Dancing With The Stars in a bikini

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

If you've ever watched ABC's Dancing with the Stars, then you'll recognize professional ballroom dancer Cheryl Burke enjoying the beach in Hawaii. If you're like me and do more productive things like drink whiskey and build LEGOs, you have no idea who the hell she is. However, Cheryl passes the ever critical test of being on this site: A.) she's quasi-famous. and most importantly B.) she's in a bikini. Tom Brokaw once asked me how I've adhered to such high standards for so long. I just looked him deep in the eyes and said "No, Tom, you're not getting a job here." Then he sucker punched me in the pancreas. Non-fiction tale. NOTE: Last pic is LSFW depending on your work's areola policy. Here, we allow it. But only in the context of breast-feeding or stirring my coffee. Because, at The Superficial, it's people who matter most.

‘Nailed’ Gets Nailed Yet Again

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

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I'm very sad to say that it's not looking good for Nailed. ... again ...

After a slew of shutdowns and a whole heap of monetary problems, it looked like David O. Russell's strange comedy was on the up and up. Earlier this month, the production struck a deal with Comerica Bank, and things seemed to be back on track, at least, until filming shot and post-production began.

Still, just two days shy of wrapping principal photography, Variety reports that the production has once again been halted. Some "below-the-line" crews refused to work on Friday when they weren't paid and IATSE told them not to show up. I guess Comerica didn't fork over enough cash. However, a Variety source says that the hope is to finish up the last two days this week, which includes "a key restaurant scene." I'm not sure where they're getting the cash for the final two days, but I hope they find it.

So, should things go smoothly this week, we can expect the filming to be wrapped, and then we can look forward to a long line of post-production money troubles. I just hope we get to see it in the end.

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Barbecue for Lexus Hybrid Drive

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Looks like our fellow German mographers have been keeping busy! Following our latest Deutsch features, this two minute Lexus Hybrid Drive short by Frankfurt-based Barbecue Design is nothing but jaw-dropping elegance.

Created for auto shows promoting Lexus’ new Hybrid cars, the film tells a beautiful and poetic tale of synergy, love and transformation. It is filled with engaging, mysterious moments, backed up by an amazing soundtrack that gave me goose bumps.

Make sure to check out the rest of Barbecue’s work. Some top notch stuff in there!

UPDATE: One of our readers found a quick little behind-the-scenes at the Trapcode Gallery page, apparently the only 3D generated image is the reveal of the drivetrain and the packshot of the cars, the rest was entirely done in After Effects 2.5D using Trapcode Particular and Shine, WTF?! (Thanks, Lex!)

Client: Lexus - Lexus Hybrid Drive
Agency: Deri Design
Directorial Studio: Barbecue design
Music: Michael Kadelbach

   Post from: Motionographer