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Trailer Park: Despicable Whipping and Triangular Rice

by Matt Bradshaw Jul 18th 2009 // 5:02PM

Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Trailer Trash, Family Films



Despicable Me
This animated comedy about the world's greatest super villain looks pretty cute and I definitely didn't see the big gag coming. The bad guy is shown in profile silhouette and is it just me or does he look like Danny Devito's Penguin from Batman Returns? Things get dastardly on July 9, 2010.

Whip It!
I had assumed from the title that this was a Devo biopic, but it's actually about a young girl from a small Texas town who grows tired of the beauty pageant scene and joins a roller derby team. Ellen Page stars and this marks Drew Barrymore's first theatrical film as director. Things get rolling on October 9.

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Rare Glimpse of Disney's Failed 'Wild Things' Adaptation!

by Elisabeth Rappe Jul 18th 2009 // 9:02AM

Filed under: Animation, Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, Warner Brothers, Celebrities and Controversy, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Trailers and Clips



Every film fan loves tales of movies that almost were, and Hollywood history is certainly littered with them. Most of the time it's a good thing they didn't take off, but occasionally the result would have been something very special. I think that Disney's version of Where the Wild Things Are might have been one such example. Few people know that in 1983, they were working on their own adaptation with John Lasseter, and trying out that newfangled thing known as CGI. The project fell apart because of budget, and Lasster was fired from Walt Disney Studios as a result of it. A rare clip of the surviving animation has surfaced online at Buzzfeed. I've embedded it below the jump, and while there's not much to it, it's a lovely piece of animation. Max's style is really classic Disney, and we don't get to see how they would have tackled the monsters ... but I really wish this had come to be. An animated and a live action Wild Things in the same universe? That's one I could live in.

Fast forward 26 years, and Where the Wild Things Are is finally making it to the big screen, though not without a similar tale of close calls and filmmaking drama. Isn't it odd that no one ever took up the chance between 1983 and now (and maybe there's rights issues I'm unaware of )? And clearly, there's something in those lush illustrations and simple storyline that have encouraged several filmmakers to become a wild thing, and push the boundaries of filmmaking and creativity.

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David Frankel to Direct 'Septimus Heap'

by Elisabeth Rappe Jul 17th 2009 // 6:02PM

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Warner Brothers, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Harry Potter

With only two Harry Potter films left, Warner Bros is desperately looking for a new fantasy series to replace its boy wizard. (Meanwhile, every studio from Sony to Disney are still looking for their version!) Two years ago, they snapped up the rights to Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series, and now Variety reports they're putting it into motion. They've attached David Frankel to direct, and Rob Lieber to adapt the first volume, Magyk.

Sage's seven-volume series shares a lot of similarities with young Potter. Septimus Heap is the seventh son of a seventh son, who possesses magical powers, and is apprenticed to ExtraOrdinary wizard, Marcia Overstrand. Naturally he must overcome many trials and tribulations in his magical training, and his life is a sharp contrast to that of his adoptive sister, Jenna, who gets to live in the comfort and security of the Heap household after a Skywalker sort of switcharoo. While she lacks magic powers, Jenna makes up for it by being a princess, and heir to the throne of Castle. The overarching villain of the story is necromancer DomDaniel, who is power hungry and up to no good, as all necromancers are.

Unlike the Potter movies, Magick will be animated. Not only is that bound to be disappointing to fans, it's a pretty big departure for Frankel, who is best known for live-action flicks like Marley and Me and The Devil Wears Prada. As animated flicks don't usually turn into ongoing franchises, the plans suggest that even the studio knows this isn't going to hold a candle to Potter.

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First Look: Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

by Erik Davis Jul 16th 2009 // 2:45PM

Filed under: Animation, Fandom, Family Films, Movie Marketing, Images



Not long ago the first image from Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox arrived online and was quickly removed, but now the French website filmsactu has nabbed the first two images from Fox France and, well, here they are. Starring the voices of Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Anjelica Huston among others, the film reunites your typical Anderson cronies and adds a few more to the filmmaker's ever-growing list of regulars.

Gallery: Fantastic Mr. Fox



Based on Ronald Dahl's book of the same name, the film follows Mr. Fox (Clooney) and his family who are targeted by wealthy, angry farmers after the fox steals their chickens, ducks and turkeys from right underneath their noses. This is the first adaptation for Anderson, who up until this point has collaborated with a handful of close friends (Owen Wilson, Noah Baumbach, Roman Coppola) on original stories. Originally Anderson was co-directing with Henry Selick, though Selick later left to go work on Coraline and was replaced by Mark Gustafson. Perhaps the coolest little fact about the making of this film was that Anderson took his actors outside the studio in order to record their voices, winding up in places like a forest, an attic, a stable and even underground.

Fantastic Mr. Fox hits theaters on November 13th.

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Discuss: The Golden Age of 80's Fantasy

by Jessica Barnes Jul 16th 2009 // 12:32PM

Filed under: Fandom, Family Films, Home Entertainment



As I've watched Harry Potter mania spread around the world like something out of The Stand, I've been feeling a little left out of the phenomenon (having never been a huge fan of the fantasy series). But as the kids line up around the block in their 'Snape capes' and plastic spectacles, I've been thinking back to my own days as a 'rugrat' and the fantasy flicks I used to love. So without getting too specific (remember, nobody ever asks a lady her age), the movies I loved as a child were made in a wild and crazy time better known as the 80's, and what a decade it was for fantasy.

The 80's brought us some of the most iconic fantasy flicks ever made, like Conan, John Boorman's Excalibur, and Highlander. But today isn't about ranking the best and the worst -- it's about my favorite fantasy flicks of the 'me generation' and, who knows, you might just find some recommendations for the little ones in your life once that boy wizard finally exits stage left.

After the jump: my fantasy favorites, and a glimpse into the world of prime 80's cheese...

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Box Office: Who is the Half-Blood Prince?

by Matt Bradshaw Jul 15th 2009 // 8:02PM

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Family Films, Box Office Predictions

Bruno topped the box office this past weekend, ending the Transformers two-week reign while pushing the giant robots all the way down to third place. America was not feeling the love for Beth Cooper which debuted in seventh. Here's the top five:

1. Bruno: $30.6 million
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: $27.6 million
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $24.2 million
4. Public Enemies: $13.7 million
5. The Proposal: $10.6 million

Just one new release this week and it's rolling out on Wednesday.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
What's It All About: The adaptation of the sixth and penultimate novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The threat of Voldemort's return and raging teenage hormones make for an interesting year at Hogwarts.
Why It Might Do Well: Apparently the first trick they teach the kids at Hogwarts is how to conjure up currency as the series has proven to be a license to print money. A 95% rating at Rottentomatoes.com suggests the trend will probably continue.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Rowling's books got quite a bit longer as the series progressed. The film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix felt like a Cliff's Notes version of the novel, hitting the highlights but not quite jelling in my humble opinion. Might the Half-Blood Prince do the same?
Number of Theaters: 4,250
Prediction: $96 million

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Chris Columbus' 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' Looks VERY Familiar

by Elisabeth Rappe Jul 15th 2009 // 10:02AM

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Harry Potter, Trailers and Clips



It's definitely Harry Potter week, and every studio is taking advantage of it by offering up their own versions of gifted boy wizards. One such fellow is Percy Jackson, who is coming to the screen in all his half-godly glory thanks to Chris Columbus and Fox, who hopes Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief will be their answer to the boy who lived.

They've gone beyond hoping and just jumped into "blatantly ripping off" as evidenced by the teaser trailer. The first look at Percy Jackson has premiered over at Moviefone, and there's nary a glimpse of ancient Greece in it. Instead, Olympus has happily borrowed its exterior design from that ancient English institution known as Hogwarts. In fact, I think they may have just copied and pasted our beloved School of Witchcraft and Wizardry right into the film. Even kids will snicker at the blatant Potter name-dropping that merges straight into that shot, and then into a title card that might as well have lightning bolts in it.

The comments we've gotten on all the Percy Jackson stories prove Rick Riordan's series have quite a few fans, and I mean no disrespect to them or the series they enjoy. I know they like the books for what they are, and must have a distinct impression of its mythological Greek world. Does that world really look like the wizarding one? The fans and the film's cast (which is very good) deserved an adaptation that was original ... which it still might be. I guess we'll see when the film hits theaters in February of 2010.

Watch the trailer after the jump

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33 Comments

Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

by Jette Kernion Jul 14th 2009 // 10:03PM

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Theatrical Reviews, Family Films, Summer Movies


It's a tricky situation -- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a strong entry in the series about the boy wizard, but won't work as a stand-alone film. No background is provided, so audience members must have seen the previous movies or read the J.K. Rowling books or they'll be lost. Fortunately, the movie doesn't assume you've read the sixth book -- there are no gaps in the story that require the novel to fill.

In case you haven't read the book, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince for his sixth year of study, while Death Eaters terrorize both the magical community and the ordinary Muggle world. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) trusts Harry with increasingly important tasks in the fight against Voldemort ... and Harry is also learning a lot from an old Potions textbook that contains clever notes from someone self-styled the "Half-Blood Prince." Harry's best friend Ron (Rupert Grint) is taking lessons in Quidditch, self-confidence, and romance -- and why is Hermione (Emma Watson) displeased? Draco lurks in hallways and towers looking pale and conflicted.

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Are You Up for a Harry Potterthon This Tuesday?

by Eric D. Snider Jul 12th 2009 // 3:03PM

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Fandom, Exhibition, Family Films, Harry Potter

Many fans of a certain boy wizard have already bought tickets to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, opening Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. in theaters across the land. But have you considered this: This is the sixth film in the series. The last one came out two years ago. The first came out eight years ago. Have you faithfully watched and re-watched the movies enough to be up-to-speed for Half-Blood Prince? Or will you be as lost as a muggle in a wand store?

Sure, you could refresh your memory by watching the DVDs, but where's the fun in that? Carmike Cinemas is hosting an event this Tuesday at about 65 of its theaters where all five films will be screened back-to-back, starting at 9 a.m., leading up to a midnight screening of Half-Blood Prince. The cost is only $15 for all five (you have to buy your Half-Blood Prince ticket separately), and you get to enjoy the films on the big screen, surrounded by the other Potterphiles in your community who don't have jobs.

Not all the Carmikes are doing this, so check out the list on the company's website to see if there's one close to you. Don't just show up at 9 a.m. at your nearest Carmike wearing a quidditch uniform. Most of the participating locales are in the Southeast quadrant of the U.S., though a few are scattered elsewhere, too. If you go, be sure to tell us about it in the comments, especially if anything crazy happens like Dementors showing up and sucking everyone's souls.

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