I was on my way into work the other morning, listening to the soundtrack for "The Wackness," ye olde coming-of-age comedy opening here next month. It's redolent of New York City circa 1994, and you can smell the urine and other indecencies that Mayor Giuliani gleefully wanted to purge from his Big Apple. The music in the movie takes you back to that high-school dance/summer-before-college house party, where you first heard Biggie Smalls and Craig Nice. The soundtrack happens to include DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's surprisingly durable "Summertime." Listening to it got me thinking about two amazing things: the Fresh Prince is now the biggest movie star in the world and that this song is 20 years old.
Young, gifted, and wack
June 30th, 2008Weekend Box Office: Wall-E vs Jolie
June 30th, 2008
The interesting news this Monday isn't that "WALL-E" kicked metallic butt at the box-office -- $62.5 million at just under 4,000 theaters -- but that the R-rated "Wanted" (above) kept pace. The Angelina Jolie action orgasm made $51 million at 3,175 theaters, which means its per-theater-average ($16,100) was actually higher than the Pixar movie's ($15,656). Give the people what they want, and they'll turn up, especially the women; surprisingly, 52% of the audience for "Wanted" was female. And 22% of the audience for "WALL-E" were adults without children, so forget the cliches about Pixar attracting only family audiences.
It'll be interesting to see how these two fare in the coming weeks: "WALL-E" is getting a rapturous response from most moviegoers but I'm expecting a right-wing backlash against its eco-friendly message to kick in any day. Oh, wait, it already has.
The rest of the chart is the same old same old: "Kung Fu Panda" holding steady in its fourth week and closing in on $200 million total gross, "Get Smart" also hanging in there in its second week, "The Happening" and "The Love Guru" tailing off fast with 60-plus percent drops from the week before. So far the big dog of the summer isn't "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" ($299 million total) but "Iron Man" ($309 million). It'll be interesting to see what "The Dark Knight" does to the playing field when it arrives in a few weeks.
Here's the full chart, courtesy of Box Office Mojo, along with Leonard Klady at Movie City News.
One ‘Hobbit’ Movie to (Maybe) Rule Them All
June 30th, 2008Filed under: Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, MGM, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Newsstand, Peter Jackson, Remakes and Sequels
There has been a lot of heated debate about that second Hobbit film. Many Lord of the Rings fans will take anything Middle-Earth, even if it's two hours cobbled out of appendices. Others see it as a betrayal of the Tolkien canon, and a blatant money grab by all involved. I readily admit I fall into the first category -- but I certainly don't want to see a bad film just to get a visual Middle Earth fix. No matter what camp you fall into, however, Guillermo del Toro just made a statement that should please everyone. According to Defamer, he promises they are looking at adapting The Hobbit first and foremost -- and that a second film may not even happen. "We believe there is a second movie," del Toro said. "If there isn't, there will not be. If we find it, we will shoot it, but by God, if we do not find it, we will not shoot it. I am anxious to shoot the book, and I'm willing and able to dedicate myself to shooting the [second film]. In the four books that are in the domain of the copyright, there are appendices and ideas and things that can be traced without risk. But I have to be careful not to overstep. We believe there is a way to create this film and make it interesting, but it's too early."
Continue reading One 'Hobbit' Movie to (Maybe) Rule Them All
Traitor – Trailer 1
June 30th, 2008 | Traitor - Trailer 1 Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) and Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) star in Traitor, a taut international thriller set against a jigsaw puzzle of covert counter- espionage operations. Traitor is written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenwriter of The Day After Tomorrow). When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle). A mysterious figure with a web of connections to terrorist organizations, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter (Jeff Daniels), a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), a fellow FBI agent. The task force links Horn to a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative — or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue. Directed by: Jeffrey Nachmanoff Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, Neal McDonough |
Diminished Capacity – Trailer
June 30th, 2008 | Diminished Capacity - Trailer Director Terry Kinney’s delightfully poignant and bittersweet comedy poses the question: How much is a good memory worth? That’s the question that faces newspaper editor Cooper (Matthew Broderick) after a debilitating concussion takes him from the political pages to comic strip detail. Looking for answers, he travels home to Missouri where his now senile Uncle Rollie (Alan Alda) is on the verge of losing his home. When a valuable baseball card is thrown into the mix, these two men along with a motley group of hometown friends, including Cooper’s high school sweetheart, Charlotte (Virginia Madsen) , head to a memorabilia expo to make the deal of a century, diving headfirst into a snakepit of slick salesmen, crooked dealers, and rabid fans revealing that there are some things in life that you can’t put a price on. Diminished Capacity also stars Dylan Baker, Louis C.K. and Bobby Cannavale in hilarious supporting roles. Directed by: Terry Kinney Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, Virginia Madsen, Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale |
Kabluey – Trailer
June 30th, 2008 | Kabluey - Trailer Inept Salman (Scott Prendergast) comes to help his sister-in-law (Lisa Kudrow) tend to her homicidal toddlers while Salman’s brother is off fighting in Iraq. Salman must take a humiliating job as a giant blue corporate mascot to help make ends meet and hold the family together. Packed with a parade of delightful comedy character actors, KABLUEY is a hilarious, unique and heartfelt comedy. Directed by: Scott Prendergast Starring: Lisa Kudrow, Scott Prendergast, Christine Taylor, Conchata Ferrell, Jeffrey Dean Morgan |
Garden Party – Trailer
June 30th, 2008 | Garden Party - Trailer On the sleazier side of Sunset, teenage beauty APRIL has humble ambitions. She’s searching for a way to get by without taking off her clothes—any more than she already has. But the going is tough. SALLY ST. CLAIR is a realtor whose business has been built upon her sex appeal and secret past. Success has hardened Sally and rendered her disconnected, but it has given her a great eye for spotting lost souls in need of direction. One such soul is her assistant, NATHAN, who has moved to Los Angeles from Nebraska in search of fame as a dancer. Lacking drive and confidence, Nathan finds himself making late night photocopies for Sally and her clients. TODD is one of those prospective clients. A porn addicted artist in search of a way out of a sexless relationship and into an adventure, he’s happy to help Sally get revenge for some past indiscretions. In exchange, Sally helps Todd live out his fantasy. Blazing his own path is SAMMY, a cunning, off the bus musician/street kid with his eyes on stardom. When Nathan meets SAMMY, Nathan sees a light at the end of the tunnel and maybe more than just a friend, while Sammy sees a much-needed roof over his head When a local erotic photographer introduces April to Nathan, the dominoes fall on a series of chance encounters. And after everyone has met just about everyone else, each comes away changed in the strangest of ways. Directed by: Jason Freeland Starring: Vinessa Shaw, Willa Holland, Richard Gunn, Patrick Fischler, Fiona Dourif |
Mirrors – Trailer A
June 30th, 2008 | Mirrors - Trailer A A troubled ex-cop must save his family from an unspeakable evil that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home. Directed by: Alexandre Aja Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart |
Encounters At the End of the World – Trailer
June 30th, 2008 | Encounters At the End of the World - Trailer Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man,” “Rescue Dawn”) confirms his standing as poet laureate of men in extreme situations with ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. In this visually stunning exploration, Herzog travels to the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station, the hub of the US Antarctic Program and home to eleven hundred people during the austral spring and summer (Oct-Feb). Over the course of his journey, Herzog examines human nature and Mother nature, juxtaposing breathtaking locations with the profound, surreal, and sometimes absurd experiences of the marine biologists, physicists, plumbers, and truck drivers who choose to form a society as far away from society as one can get. Directed by: Werner Herzog Starring: |
Fido (2006)
June 28th, 2008
Fido’s premise is a unique one; take the 1950’s suburban era and add flesh-eating zombies. You would think that the idea itself would give all sorts of opportunities for great social satire. Sadly, this is not the case. Perhaps if the movie was an animated cartoon, the laughs would have occurred more often; I only found myself merely chuckling every once in a while. Upon more thought, Fido, simply takes the last 30 seconds of Shaun of the Dead (a much superior film) and struggles to extend it to 90 minutes. (more…)
