Trailer Park: Bending Losers at the Junction
Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Trailer Trash
The Last Airbender
This TV spot that will be playing during the Super Bowl shows some epic grandeur and way cool special effects. Based on the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender (hmmm, wonder why they changed the name) this represents a serious (and welcome) change of style for director M. Night Shyamalan. This one hits on July 2.
The Losers
It takes guts to call your film The Losers because if it tanks even the least talented film critic in the world will have an easy joke to fall back on. Based on a comic book but not having a particularly comic booky feel this is the story of a group of mercenaries out for revenge against the government that framed them. The resemblance to The A-Team wouldn't be so annoying if there wasn't already an A-Team remake on the way. Watch for this on April 9.
Heartless
A young man with a large birth mark on his face learns there are demons living in London and is offered an irresistible deal for helping them. Looks like an interesting modern take on the pact with the devil story. This opens in the U.K. on May 21. No U.S. release info yet.
Right Now on TV Squad
Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.
- Gary Cole (who I will always remember as the ultra oily Bill Lumbergh from Office Space) is starring as a veteran Philadelphia cop in a pilot for an hour long comedy on TBS.
- Spike.com is presenting Commercial Bowl 2010, which will present the new Superbowl commercials (and several older ones too) immediately after the big game.
- ABC has announced that they are now streaming all their news content for free on Hulu.com.
- Former Scrubs star Sarah Chalke will be appearing in ABC's new series Freshman as a young politician.
- Ever wonder what The Big Bang Theory would be like without its laugh track? Neither did I, but this video shows that it's kind of a strange experience.
- ...and finally, Virginia Madsen will be playing the matriarch of a criminal family in the new ABC series Scoundrels.
Box Office: Dear Paris, From John
Filed under: Action, Romance, Box Office Predictions
In its seventh week of release Avatar still outdid its closest competitor by $14 million. Here's the top five:
1. Avatar: $31.3 million
2. Edge of Darkness: $17.2 million
3. When in Rome: $12.4 million
4. The Tooth Fairy: $9.9 million
5. The Book of Eli: $8.9 million
We've got a romantic drama and an actioner this week. Will either of these be able to unseat Avatar?
Dear John
What's It All About: A young woman meets and falls in love with a soldier while he is on leave and their relationship continues as his deployments become more and more dangerous.
Why It Might Do Well: It's a timely story and Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried make for appealing leads.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The military angle probably won't be enough to get men into theatres.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $12 million
From Paris With Love
What's It All About: A low level CIA operative (John Rhys Meyers) gets his dream assignment when he is teamed with a loose cannon-type (John Travolta) who shoots first and asks questions later.
Why It Might Do Well: The trailer seems to indicate there are some high octane thrills here.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Is it just me or does Travolta look particularly creepy with his head shaved?
Number of Theaters: 2,600
Prediction: $18 million
1. Avatar: $31.3 million
2. Edge of Darkness: $17.2 million
3. When in Rome: $12.4 million
4. The Tooth Fairy: $9.9 million
5. The Book of Eli: $8.9 million
We've got a romantic drama and an actioner this week. Will either of these be able to unseat Avatar?
Dear JohnWhat's It All About: A young woman meets and falls in love with a soldier while he is on leave and their relationship continues as his deployments become more and more dangerous.
Why It Might Do Well: It's a timely story and Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried make for appealing leads.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The military angle probably won't be enough to get men into theatres.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $12 million
From Paris With LoveWhat's It All About: A low level CIA operative (John Rhys Meyers) gets his dream assignment when he is teamed with a loose cannon-type (John Travolta) who shoots first and asks questions later.
Why It Might Do Well: The trailer seems to indicate there are some high octane thrills here.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Is it just me or does Travolta look particularly creepy with his head shaved?
Number of Theaters: 2,600
Prediction: $18 million
Trailer Park: Tatooed Mothers With Dragon Toes
Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, Trailer Trash
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko, the role he originated in 1987's Wall Street and Oliver Stone is once again at the helm. Gekko has been cooling his heels behind bars all these years but now he's out and presumably looking to bask in capitalism once again. The "getting your personal effects back after years in the slammer" bit is sort of a cliche, but there's a cute twist on it here. We'll see if this lives up to the original on April 23.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
A Swedish film in which an investigative journalist and a hacker (the lady with the ink) join forces to solve a forty year old murder. Looks like there's already a U.S. remake in the works, though my money is on the original. Watch for this one on March 19.
Bass Ackwards
A particularly indie looking indie film about a man who embarks upon a cross-country road trip in a VW bus after ending a disastrous affair with a married woman. I have nothing against road trip movies but I don't see anything particularly special about this one. This just premiered at Sundance and will be in theaters sometime in 2010.
Right Now on TV Squad
Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.
- Now that Conan O'Brien's final Tonight Show has aired you might think the debacle was over, but NBC recently deleted the last posting on the show's official Blog.
- ABC has announced the cancellation of Ugly Betty.
- I've always thought clowns had more to do with horror than hilarity and apparently someone agrees. Check out this collection of commercials that use scary clowns to good effect (I LOVE that Walmart ad).
- The latest project for Neil Patrick Harris is an American version of the British game show The Cube.
- Check out this sneak peek of Bridgestone's Super Bowl commercial featuring three guys trying to keep a whale alive in a pickup truck.
- ...and finally, David Spade will be reprising his role as Joe Dirt for an upcoming animated series on TBS.
Trash Cinema That Might Have Been
Filed under: Action, Horror, Independent
The Temple of Schlock blog recently posted a nice collection of old Variety ads, mostly featuring grindhouse era exploitation films that were announced but never quite made it out of the studio. It's kind of cool seeing artwork and logos for movies that never existed including:- Devilfish, an underwater horror flick that was to have been produced and directed by B-movie king Bert I. Gordon. Presumably this is no relation to the Lamberto Bava film Devil Fish.
- Devil's Riff was a live action/animated fantasy flick from the folks who made Yellow Submarine and Godspell with music by the Electric Light Orchestra. Damn, I would have paid to see that.
- There are two ads for an unproduced movie called The Department Store. Based on the bullet hole riddled logo this was to have been an action film of some kind. It was supposed to start shooting in July 1977 with Brian Hutton directing. He was replaced by a director named Bruce Geller for the second ad, but the film never materialized.
- Some of the film's listed did actually get made but are included because of a title change like Mati which was eventually released as Beyond Reason and was the only feature film directed by Telly Savalas.
Box Office: When on the Edge...
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Thrillers, Box Office, Box Office Predictions
So have you heard about this movie Avatar? I hear it's doing pretty well. So well in fact that it now holds the title of second highest grossing domestic film of all time, having passed The Dark Knight this weekend. Legion and The Tooth Fairy did OK business but Extraordinary Measures opened in 8th with a mere $6 million. Here's the top five:
1. Avatar: $34.9 million
2. Legion: $17.5 million
3. The Book of Eli: $15.7 million
4. The Tooth Fairy: $14 million
5. The Lovely Bones: $8.4 million
Two new releases this week. One brooding thriller and one light romantic comedy.
Edge of Darkness
What's It All About: Mel Gibson stars in this thriller based on a BBC mini-series playing a police detective investigating the death of his political activist daughter.
Why It Might Do Well: Director Martin Campbell also helmed a pretty successful little flick called Casino Royale, as well as the original TV version of Edge of Darkness.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Mel's image has tarnished badly in recent years. Might that effect sales? We shall see.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $24 million
When in Rome
What's It All About: Kristen Bell plays an American vacationing in Rome who plucks several coins from a love fountain and soon finds herself pursued by an equal number of colorful suitors.
Why It Might Do Well: Bell was a delight in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Sadly the trailer gives the impression of a dopey romantic comedy.
Number of Theaters: 2,200
Prediction: $12 million
1. Avatar: $34.9 million
2. Legion: $17.5 million
3. The Book of Eli: $15.7 million
4. The Tooth Fairy: $14 million
5. The Lovely Bones: $8.4 million
Two new releases this week. One brooding thriller and one light romantic comedy.
Edge of DarknessWhat's It All About: Mel Gibson stars in this thriller based on a BBC mini-series playing a police detective investigating the death of his political activist daughter.
Why It Might Do Well: Director Martin Campbell also helmed a pretty successful little flick called Casino Royale, as well as the original TV version of Edge of Darkness.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Mel's image has tarnished badly in recent years. Might that effect sales? We shall see.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $24 million
When in RomeWhat's It All About: Kristen Bell plays an American vacationing in Rome who plucks several coins from a love fountain and soon finds herself pursued by an equal number of colorful suitors.
Why It Might Do Well: Bell was a delight in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Sadly the trailer gives the impression of a dopey romantic comedy.
Number of Theaters: 2,200
Prediction: $12 million
Right Now on TV Squad
Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.- The FBI is investigating a death threat against Two and a Half Men star Jon Cryer.
- NBC has has made a $45 million deal with Conan O'Brien in the wake of his departure from The Tonight Show.
- The battle of the bulge has entered a new phase now that Weight Watchers is suing Jenny Craig over a commercial starring Valerie Bertinelli.
- Push, the science fiction film about people with various psychic powers is being made into a TV series.
- Being asked to appear on Sesame Street really means you've arrived. Check out the list of celebs who have been asked to be on the classic children's show in the near future.
- ...and finally, lovers of pop culture skewering stop-motion animation can rejoice. Cartoon network has ordered two more seasons of the hilarious Robot Chicken.
Trailer Park: I Love You, Wimpy MacGruber
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Trailer Trash, Family Films
MacGruber
I had hoped that we as a society had gotten past the idea that a good movie can be made from a Saturday Night Live sketch. Yes, we have The Blues Brothers and Wayne's World in the plus column, but on the flip side we also have turkeys like Superstar, A Night at the Roxbury, It's Pat and god knows how many others. While there were a few minor laughs in this red band trailer, I'm pretty sure MacGruber, Will Forte's MacGyver parody, will fall into the latter category. We'll find out for sure on April 23.
Happy Tears
Comedy drama starring Demi Moore and Parker Posey as sisters who must care for their father (Rip Torn) now that his health has taken a turn for the worse. This one is from the director of Teeth. Posey is worth seeing in just about anything and the rest of the cast is pretty good too. This will be out sometime in February.
Cyrus
No, this is not the long-awaited Miley Cyrus biopic. John C. Reilly plays a man who has finally found true love in a woman played by Marisa Tomei. The conflict comes in the form of her creepy son played by Jonah Hill. Looks like this could be pretty funny. No release date yet.
Box Office: The Legion of Extraordinary Fairies
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Box Office Predictions
Avatar hung on to the top spot for the fifth consecutive week, now placing third in the all time domestic box office. The Book of Eli took a respectable second for its premiere and The Spy Next Door, last week's other newbie, placed sixth. Here's the top five:
1. Avatar: $42.8 million
2. The Book of Eli: $32.8 million
3. The Lovely Bones: $17 million
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: $11.7 million
5. Sherlock Holmes: $9.8 million
We've got three new ones hitting theaters this week:
Extraordinary Measures
What's It All About: Brendan Fraser plays a man who risks everything by funding an unconventional medical researcher (Harrison Ford) to save the lives of his children who suffer from a genetic disorder.
Why It Might Do Well: To this day, a movie starring the guy who flew the Millennium Falcon still gets my attention.
Why It Might Not Do Well: While it may well be a good film, a story about children with a life threatening illness will be a deal breaker for many.
Number of Theaters: 2,450
Prediction: $9 million
Legion
What's It All About: A supernatural thriller in which God decides humanity is a failed experiment and sends his angels to wipe us out. The customers in an out of the way diner are mankind's first line of defense.
Why It Might Do Well: Based on the trailer this is a visually spectacular flick with some genuine creep outs.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Reminds me a bit of Constantine, which is not a good thing.
Number of Theaters: 2,400
Prediction: $12 million
1. Avatar: $42.8 million
2. The Book of Eli: $32.8 million
3. The Lovely Bones: $17 million
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: $11.7 million
5. Sherlock Holmes: $9.8 million
We've got three new ones hitting theaters this week:
Extraordinary MeasuresWhat's It All About: Brendan Fraser plays a man who risks everything by funding an unconventional medical researcher (Harrison Ford) to save the lives of his children who suffer from a genetic disorder.
Why It Might Do Well: To this day, a movie starring the guy who flew the Millennium Falcon still gets my attention.
Why It Might Not Do Well: While it may well be a good film, a story about children with a life threatening illness will be a deal breaker for many.
Number of Theaters: 2,450
Prediction: $9 million
LegionWhat's It All About: A supernatural thriller in which God decides humanity is a failed experiment and sends his angels to wipe us out. The customers in an out of the way diner are mankind's first line of defense.
Why It Might Do Well: Based on the trailer this is a visually spectacular flick with some genuine creep outs.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Reminds me a bit of Constantine, which is not a good thing.
Number of Theaters: 2,400
Prediction: $12 million
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams Reunite for 'Mission Impossible 4'
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
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