Less than a day after the trades announced that Lindsay Lohan had signed to appear in the film Poor Things, her life appears to have turned upside down again. It's being reported that, earlier today, Lohan ran her Mercedes convertible up onto a curb and into some trees while speeding in Beverly Hills and then fled to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Police, responding to a *911 call, tracked Lohan to the right hospital and arrested her for investigation of DUI. At a subsequent afternoon news conference, they said that a "useable amount" of a drug they've tentatively identified as cocaine had been found while investigating the crash, though they declined to be specific about where exactly.
This is the latest in a laundry list of troubles for the young actress, which have played hell with her filming commitments, and now there's no telling if we'll be reading in the coming weeks about a replacement for Lohan in Poor Things. The domestic gross on Georgia Rule, which currently stands at $14.8 million, seems proof that the actress's uber-dramatic private life isn't exactly translating into box-office gold, so it's unclear if she'll continue to be a bankable star -- especially in teen-aimed romcoms -- after a stunt like this. The next film she'll be seen in is I Know Who Killed Me, which is currently utilizing a rather successful marketing campaign. That one is expected to hit theaters on July 27.
Heroes has been described as a good series for those who don’t usually like super-heroes. Well, that may be but I do like super heroes and I love Heroes too. I love nothing better than watching seemingly ordinary people discover that they possess special powers like being able to fly or read people’s minds. That’s why I loved the first half of Spiderman I, before he started fighting the Green Goblin and the special effects got out of hand. Heroes, feels like one big first half of Spiderman I (more…)
From supporting roles in Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” and the various films with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp has always proven himself a good actor, but without a doubt, the Pirates franchise has launched him into superstar status. It is rather sad then, to see that Depp appears to be out of energy for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End , the third entry into the franchise, which filmed back to back with last year’s Dead Man’s Chest. There are points in this film where something supernatural has to happen because it is a requirement, and that’s alright, so long as the film itself is a stack of fun. World’s End only gets mildly fun in the last half hour of two and a half hours, with the energy coming not from Depp or Orlando Bloom, but from Geoffery Rush and Keira Knightley, the latter who not only has nice costume changes but also gets more of the swashbuckling action than most of the guys. (more…)
So apparently the voice of Wilbur in that live-action version of "Charlotte's Web" from last year is some kind of filmmaker (he's 11). Anyway, the kid -- his name his Dominic Scott Kay -- made this short about his dead dog starring Kevin Bacon, and wound up suing one of his "backers" (the one who gave him $11K) because she was a mad woman desperate for creative control. Obviously, this raises a few questions. $11K? (For real?) Who's so domineering that they have to take over some little kid's short film, even for $11K? How does an 11-year-old sue? Is there no one Kevin Bacon won't work with?
Hello, blog. Long time no see. Sometimes a week gets away from a movie critic, and between all the screenings and the copy deadlines, the youngest child (that would be you, blog) gets neglected. Please don't go through a rebellious stage in a desperate bid to get attention.
Everyone will be going to see "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" this weekend. I mean everyone. Didn't you get the memo? This will assuredly break the box office record set by "Spider-Man 3," and it's everyone's duty to pitch in. Just go to the theater and throw money at the screen.
The critics are mixed-to-peevish, not that it matters with a juggernaut like this. Me, I liked it better than the second installment while acknowledging that it's not a patch on the first one -- but what threequel is?
If you want some beautifully noisy peace and quiet instead, I urge you to see "Once," the amazing Irish rock musical (sort of) romance (sort of) opening today at the Coolidge and the Harvard Square. All the actual human feeling that "Pirates" can't fit into its 168 minutes is here in half the running time, and, lord, the tunes soar. If you know the Irish band The Frames, whose Glen Hansard plays the anonymous male lead, you know what to expect. If not, think Damien Rice duetting with Keren Ann in a Dublin back alley.
"Day Night Day Night" is still at the Coolidge, too. Make it a double-bill and blow your mind out the back of the theater.
I haven't seen "Bug," but Wesley gives it three and a half and as a certified member of the Ashley Judd Guilty Pleasure Fan Club ("Eye of the Beholder"? A brilliant addition to world cinema) I consider it my duty to check it out in due time. Fans of the strange may want to as well. Warning: It's half horror movie, half Off Broadway play.
The Brattle is still acting like a grindhouse: Bruce Lee lands onscreen on Sunday. It's my personal opinion that if there's not a junkie shooting up in the third row, a couple having sex in the back, and a scary guy breathing hard in the seat directly behind you, it is faux grindhouse, not the real thing. But you take what you can get.
So far the Cannes Film Festival has toasted Michael Moore's new docu-provocation "Sicko" about the American health care system (well, some Canadians are annoyed, since he might be be overly smitten with their health care system).
Abel Ferrara's "GoGo Tales" was also well received. Apparently, it's a sentimental look at a sleazy nightclub and its denizens, with Asia Argento, who's also sleazy in Olivier Assayas's latest, "Boarding Gate." Hou Hsiao-hsien's new movie, "The Flight of the Red Balloon, is also there, with Juliette Binoche narrating a puppet play.
Here is the Village Voice's J. Hoberman's entertaining report from this year's festival, his appreciation of the Romanian director Cristian Mungiu's abortion drama "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" is particular good.
And the New York Times has a somewhat daily podcast in which Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott talk to each other and to filmmakers like the Coens. It's worth subscribing to, if only to make you regret staying home.
Here are some of the words Harvey Weinstein is using to describe his critics: jealous; disgruntled; has-been. The first two, you may have assumed, refer to the many people criticizing the ability and financial stability of The Weinstein Co. The latter, though, is directed at an internationally respected filmmaker, Luc Besson. The comment was in response to Besson's claim that TWC mishandled the American release of his animated film Arthur and the Invisibles. Weinstein says he'll give the "has-been" $1 million if he can prove that Arthur actually cost $85 million, as Besson claims. So, once again, a film industry dispute turns into a messy blame game, battled with egos rather than brains (and here, I thought Weinstein actually believed Arthur failed because audiences are not used to films that feature both animation and live-action).
But Weinstein could never be personally apologetic for his company's failures. Then he wouldn't be Harvey Weinstein. And it has become a regular thing for him to tell reporters, such as Variety's Anne Thompson, how everyone else is wrong about The Weinstein Co. Despite the obvious, which has been easily noticed by all of us following the film business, Weinstein continues to claim that TWC is doing just fine. Sure, most criticisms are speculative, but mostly they are reasonably so. According to Thompson, rumors are floating around that the Weinstein brothers could lose TWC to its investors; either they will be forced to sell the company or merge with a studio. She also questions TWC's chance for independent success given that even Dreamworks was unable to survive on its own.
Still, Weinstein feels secure in the future of TWC, stating to Thompson that the only thing it's missing is a "glamorous theatrical hit." And he seems hopeful about this summer's release of SiCKO, as well as next year's slate of in-house productions like The Great Debaters, Crossing Over and The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. According to Weinstein, anyone who is doubtful about TWC making it is either a jealous competitor, probably some exec just trying to look cool, or a disgruntled former employee. Considering Weinstein has already surprised me once this year, with his almost personally apologetic reaction to the disappointment of Grindhouse ("We obviously didn't do it that well."; "We didn't educate the South or Midwest."; "We missed the boat." -italics mine), I will just have to be open-minded about the possibility of him turning TWC's reputation around.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
I can’t wait for this movie. I’m a huge fan of the books and fantasy films in general (Hawk the Slayer blew my mind), so this is the big one I’m looking forward to this December. However, I don’t approve of New Line Cinema’s tacky Lord of the Rings linkage to kick off the trailer. I understand that Philip Pullman’s trilogy has a much smaller fanbase and the films will require a wider marketing strategy, but it’s misleading to Tolkien fans to market The Golden Compass as a similar beast to the Rings trilogy when they are different in almost every way imaginable. Hopefully, Weitz and co. can do justice to an incredible series of books. And judging by the trailer, they’ve done a good job so far.
Sylvester Stallone follows his late-life crisis biopic Rocky Balboa with a revisit to another staple of 80s extremism, Rambo. John Rambo as he’s ever so cleverly called it (I would have gone with Rambo IV: Fuck Em All to Hell… Again) will mark the fourth time that entire armies will regret pissing off one guy. This time, Rambo is again coaxed out of voluntary solitude (where he knits, writes about his feelings and mends boats or something) to rescue some idiot war-protesters who head on into Burma unarmed to ask them nicely to stop fighting. Using only his bare-hands and his exploding bow and arrows, John shows those pissy protesters that there’s only one way to stop a war. And that way is John Rambo.
WARNING: The following trailer contains scenes of extreme manliness and all out testosterone-fuelled brilliance that may offend subscribers to reality.
Some political films are naturally provocative, like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.Death of a President, however, is unnaturally provocative, where every frame of film feels forced. Sure, curiosity peaks when a film fictionalizes the assassination of President Bush. Yet after five minutes into this film, curious viewers will realize that the whole thing is a publicity stunt and nothing more. The greatest sin that Death of a President makes, isn’t the distasteful content, but how painfully boring it is. (more…)
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Less than a day after the trades announced that Lindsay Lohan had signed to appear in the film Poor Things, her life appears to have turned upside down again. It's being reported that, earlier today, Lohan ran her Mercedes convertible up onto a curb and into some trees while speeding in Beverly Hills and then fled to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Police, responding to a *911 call, tracked Lohan to the right hospital and arrested her for investigation of DUI. At a subsequent afternoon news conference, they said that a "useable amount" of a drug they've tentatively identified as cocaine had been found while investigating the crash, though they declined to be specific about where exactly. 
Heroes has been described as a good series for those who don’t usually like super-heroes. Well, that may be but I do like super heroes and I love Heroes too. I love nothing better than watching seemingly ordinary people discover that they possess special powers like being able to fly or read people’s minds. That’s why I loved the first half of 
From supporting roles in Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” and the various films with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp has always proven himself a good actor, but without a doubt, the Pirates franchise has launched him into superstar status. It is rather sad then, to see that Depp appears to be out of energy for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End , the third entry into the franchise, which filmed back to back with last year’s Dead Man’s Chest. There are points in this film where something supernatural has to happen because it is a requirement, and that’s alright, so long as the film itself is a stack of fun. World’s End only gets mildly fun in the last half hour of two and a half hours, with the energy coming not from Depp or Orlando Bloom, but from Geoffery Rush and Keira Knightley, the latter who not only has nice costume changes but also gets more of the swashbuckling action than most of the guys. 
Here are some of the words 
