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Archive for the ‘Movie News’ Category
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
For major-studio new releases, it's your choice today: Steve Carell as Noah in the toothless fantasy "Evan Almighty" or Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl in "A Mighty Heart." I know, you're swinging toward Carell; who wouldn't? "Heart," as problematic as it is, is still the one you should see, if only for the vexing questions it raises about how best to portray the West's collision with radical Islam. Jolie's surprisingly effective, too; she almost but not quite shakes the earnest Hollywood patina off this thing. And director Michael Winterbottom versus "Evan" director Tom Shadyac? That's craftsman vs hack. But, yeah, Carell's a funny guy even in a lame movie, so take your popcorn where you will.
Both movies back off from contemplating their respective apocalypses, for whatever that's worth.
For my money, the best film appearing in the Boston area this weekend is Jennifer Baichwal's "Manufactured Landscapes" (photo, above) which is playing at the MFA this weekend and later selected dates. You need a certain stamina for this transfixing document of eco-catastrophe -- the movie slows your metabolism down until you see the big picture, which is both beautiful and horrifying. I haven't been able to get the thing out of my head since I saw it in Toronto last September.
I haven't seen "Journey From the Fall" at the Brattle yet, but based on Janice Page's review today (as well as other reviews), it's an effectively sweeping epic melodrama of Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. Recommended to those who wish "Napoleon Dynamite" had been more of a romance, "Eagle vs Shark" is a sweet little New Zealand misfits-in-lurve snack. John Cusack does his best to energize the Stephen King adaptation "1408," but as Wesley points out, the King hotel horrorshow you're looking for is "The Shining."
The Harvard Film Archive is still closed for renovation but re-opens next weekend with a terrific line-up of new American independent film. Mark your calendars accordingly.
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Friday, June 22nd, 2007
 Hi kids, it’s me Steven Seagal. My last movie remake, Titanic Under Siege was such a success that 20th Century Vole have approached me to produce, direct, star in and write the music for it. It’s gonna be an edgy score, I’ll be using a lot of steel drums and some pots and pans. And to prepare for the role, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the North Pole amongst icebergs, studying their daily rituals, mating habits and what they do for fun. It’s been edu-fucking-ational!
But why stop there, there’s a guzillion other ‘classic’ movies in awesomely serious need of some SEAGALIFICATION!
This week: Schindler’s List
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Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy  Now I have a story that I'd like to tell, about this guy you all know -- he had me scared as hell! He comes to me at night after I crawl into bed. He's burnt up like a weenie and his name is... Pauly! ...I can't believe that there's a nightmare on my street! Yeah, I just picked up this story for the chance to recite some Fresh Prince Nightmare on my Street lyrics, but they're also quite fitting. See, TMZ has got their hands on a lawsuit that was filed yesterday in Los Angeles Country Superior Court, one that pits the master of spook, Wes Craven, against the "master" of kook, Pauly Shore. According to Craven, Shore hasn't been keeping up with his neighborly duties -- he isn't keeping up his yard, or his pool, spa, sprinklers, irrigation, swales, downspouts and slopes. It makes me wonder if he's also got some junker cars up on cinder blocks and waist-high weeds. Anyway, Pauly's carelessness is said to have resulted in water that "intruded and infiltrated" Wes' property, which caused "a slope failure/landslide" in December of last year. But that's not the kicker. Landslides have to suck, but we've all got crappy neighbors that drive us nuts. It seems that this ordeal has had a very bad influence on Wes' head, and the director claims that he "suffered and will continue to suffer severe emotional distress and anxiety." There's something too good to be true about the guy who brought us The Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream claiming emotional distress because someone got lazy with their lawn. Will this become his next scary movie? Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Filed under: Animation, Executive shifts, Celebrities and Controversy, Remakes and Sequels  Off with her head! Er, wait that's the wrong movie -- one of the few that Disney didn't "honor" with a direct-to-DVD sequel. As for other classics, they weren't so lucky. At first, it seemed like only the more recent animated hits would be affected. In the 90's, we got videos like The Return of Jafar and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Of course, this was a short-lived blessing as old-school films started getting picked up. In 2001 it was Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure. Then there was Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (followed this year by a second sequel). Then, the whole thing became unstoppable and almost nothing was sacred -- 101 Dalmations, Bambi and The Fox and the Hound all got sequels. Now, amazingly, Disney has decided to halt future sequels citing inferiority to the originals -- duh! Some sources, like the previous AHN link, say it's the crappy quality, but over at Variety, there's a little different news about the who and what of the switch. Disney has sacked Sharon Morrill, who has been head of DisneyToons direct-to-DVD work for a while now. She's not completely gone, however, as a Disney rep says that she's being moved to some sort of "special projects" work, whatever that means. The reasoning behind her dismissal, according to V -- the costs for the upcoming Tinker Bell adaptation have skyrocketed to the not-so-costly $50 million (AHN says it's $30 million). Apparently the movie has had around two dozen script versions and a ton of different directors attached. To top that off, sources say that she's not getting along so well with Pixar heads, since Disney bought the company last year. What the exact story is, remains to be seen. I would imagine that if this was all about Morrill, then Disney wouldn't be bringing their DVD sequels to an end, they'd just find someone to replace her. Whatever the exact numbers and rationale are, I can't help but be a little relieved that it's coming to an end, and relieved that Disney CCO John Lasseter acknowledged that not only are the sequels inferior, but they "erode" the brand. Quality over money...wonders never cease! Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Filed under: Animation, Celebrities and Controversy, Exhibition, Newsstand  "A friend hooked me up with it." This is what a fifth-grade teacher told his class right before he showed them a bootlegged copy of Shrek the Third. And he may have even gotten away with it if one of his female students didn't run home and write Dan Glickman a scathing email. Okay, I'm kidding -- but she did tell her father what had happened, and he subsequently told MSNBC that he is pissed -- not because his daughter was shown an illegal bootleg of a film still in theaters -- but because the teacher in question was actually screening this film in replace of whatever the lesson plan should've been for that day. And I whole-heartily agree.
The school, located in Peekskill, New York, is currently investigating the issue, and Superintendent Judith Johnson issued a statement saying that, essentially, it is against school policy to show a pirated video. No word yet on what will happen to the teacher, Lovell Quiroz, but personally I feel he should be sent to some sort of moron jail. I mean, c'mon dude -- was it that important for you to look "cool" in front of a bunch of fifth graders? Next week, during show and tell, will you pass around that bag of pot your friend hooked you up with as well? And it's actually quite comical, because this is exactly where I think the MPAA should be focusing a lot of their efforts. In a couple of years these kids will be wizards of the online world (if they aren't already), and they'll most certainly learn how and where to download illegal movies. If you want my opinion, the MPAA should set up some sort of program where actors (or what have you) travel around to different elementary schools to talk about the disadvantages of movie pirating. Get to these kids while they're still young and naive.
And as far as this teacher goes, I'm not sure what should happen to him. Should the guy lose his job over this? Should he be given a warning? If you were the parent of a child who was in that classroom, what type of penalty would you suggest? Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Thursday, June 21st, 2007
This particular passage from a NYT article about a typical ‘social activist’ play cracked me up (“Examining Black-Latino Relations, Gentlyâ€):
“Platanos & Collard Greens†concerns itself with the tension between the African-American and Latino communities in New York and the overwhelming majority of men and women who go to see it, some over and over, are […]
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Thursday, June 21st, 2007
Here’s a heart-warming NYT article about the new (covered) face of England (“Muslims’ Veils Test Limits of Britain’s Toleranceâ€).
It’s not a sign of subjugation, it’s a celebration of diversity!
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Thursday, June 21st, 2007
A storm is brewing. The media refuses to delve into the reason the American public (according to Gallup) has a 14% approval rating:
Just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress.
This 14% Congressional confidence rating is the all-time low for this measure, which Gallup initiated in 1973. The […]
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Thursday, June 21st, 2007
What's that fairly hideous Sgt. Pepper-style dingus adorning the full-page newspaper ads for "Evan Almighty," the Steve Carell sequel comedy opening tomorrow? Why, it's an "award of excellence" from the Film Advisory Board. Inc.
Okay, I'll bite: What's the Film Advisory Board? According to its website, it's a Burbank-based member-supported organization "dedicated to awarding and promoting quality family-oriented and children's entertainment in all areas, including film, video, TV, CD-Rom, books and music." It even has its own rating system, similar to the MPAA guidelines, except that no one uses them other than a few producers of direct-to-video movies.
The group clearly intends the award of excellence to honor family fare of unusually high quality in CDs, books, films, and television. Sort of like the Newbery Medal. The problem is that most of the films chosen are terrible. The extremely out-of-date list of "in theaters" awardees posted at the FAB site includes such dogs as "Radio" (Cuba Gooding Jr. playing a mentally challenged football mascot) and the painful dog-from-outer-space comedy "Good Boy." Yes, "Finding Nemo" and "Elf" are on there. So is "Johnny English" and, over on the DVD list, such bad multiplex memories as "Kangaroo Jack," "Hey Arnold! The Movie," and "Santa Clause 2."
Yikes. What kind of criteria does it take for a movie to be honored with a FAB "award of excellence" -- that it has sprocket holes? And why do the producers of "Evan Almighty" want us to know they got one?
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Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
This is hilarious. The NYT (naturally) has an article on Rosie “9/11 Was An Inside Job†O’Donnell’s video blog.
Her ‘video blog’ entries, painful as they are to watch, are outright creepy with the nodding, affirming behavior of her sychophants in the background.
So, what does Rosie think of Michael MooreOn’s new film “Sicko�
Ms. O’Donnell hadn’t seen […]
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