Dance Flick Tagged Articles at Cinematical

So here we have it, the summer movie season finally winding down, and maybe it's just us, but a couple of peculiar trends have cropped up since May that we thought were worth bringing to light. For starters, we've only further elaborated on Eric's early indicator that puking was 'in' this year (seriously, it's gotten to be a pretty considerable theme), and as for the rest, you can check them out after the jump. Some spoilers follow. And if there are any corrections or additions to be made, please pipe up in the comments, and do so gently.

We're four weeks into 2009's summer movie season. X-Men Origins: Wolverine got things off to a soggy start and was eclipsed by Star Trek as a popular favorite. Not many were impressed by Angels & Demons (though it did big business overseas), leading into this long weekend with Terminator Salvation and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian doing battle (and a little Dance Flick on the side).

So what are your general impressions so far? I was disappointed by Wolverine and loved Star Trek. My ambitious weekend viewing plans began with a viewing of Terminator Salvation, which satisfied the 12-year-old boy in me, but left the adult me sorely hungry for more substantial entertainment. So I watched two DVDs that came out last Tuesday. Fritz Lang's Man Hunt (1941) stars Walter Pidgeon as a British big game hunter whose "sporting stalk" of Hitler ends up with the hunter becoming the hunted. Lang is an elegant, efficient storyteller; Man Hunt is intelligent and thoughtful. Peter Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) features Robert Mitchum (pictured) as the weary, wary "Eddie Fingers," a loyal, long-term, low-level Boston hood. Really, though, the story revolves around his "friends" -- criminal colleagues and law enforcement officers, people who don't really care about Eddie. Even with bank robberies and intense stake-outs and stand-offs, the real impact comes from the characters and what happens to them.

What did you watch over the Memorial Day weekend? Feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

Keenen Ivory Wayans' nephew Damien makes his feature directorial debut with Dance Flick, the latest from a comedy factory even bigger and more confusing than Judd Apatow's. Let's see if I can get this straight. Keenen and his brother Damon Wayans started to break into showbiz in the early 1980s (apparently with some help from Eddie Murphy). Then Keenen wrote and directed the very funny blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), which featured roles for many of his siblings, plus one for a young Chris Rock. Then he created the terrific TV show "In Living Color" (1990), which, among its other accomplishments, boosted Jim Carrey's career. There were some other attempts at movies, most embarrassingly White Chicks (2004) and Little Man (2006), but their real bread and butter seemed to come from Sucka-like spoofs and parodies, starting with Scary Movie (2000).

I like that movie, and even its first two sequels have some memorable moments, but those films also inadvertently unleashed upon the world the screenwriting/directing team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Their creations Date Movie (2004), Epic Movie (2006), Meet the Spartans (2008) and Disaster Movie (2008) somehow made lots of money while being universally despised. (Don't ask me how Superhero Movie fits into this mix.) Fortunately Friedberg and Seltzer have nothing to do with Dance Flick, though it would be easy to make that mistake. Rather, no less than five Wayanses worked on the screenplay for this: Keenen, his brothers Shawn and Marlon, his cousin Craig and nephew Damien Wayans. And ten Wayanes appear in the acting credits. I can only imagine that the read-throughs and story conferences were funnier than the movie.

Last week's only new release Angels & Demons took top honors, but without the controversy enjoyed by The Da Vinci Code the numbers weren't nearly as stellar. Star Trek held out well in its second week, making only $3 million less than the number one flick. Here's the top five:

1. Angels & Demons: $46.2 million
2. Star Trek: $43 million
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine: $14.7 million
4. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: $6.6 million
5. Obsessed: $4.5 million

Heading into the Memorial Day weekend we've got two comedies and one kick ass looking science fiction actioner.


Terminator: Salvation (Opening on Thursday)
What's It All About: This fourth film in the Terminator series takes place in the year 2018 and John Connor (Christian Bale) is leading the assault against the machines that want to exterminate humanity.
Why It Might Do Well: Bale's presence gives the series a strength it hasn't had since the departure of Linda Hamilton.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's scoring a very disappointing 32% at Rottentomatoes.com.
Number of Theaters: 3,500
Prediction: $78 million


Night of the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
What's It All About: Ben Stiller returns as the night watchman who keeps running into living museum exhibits. This time he's sneaking into The Smithsonian to rescue two living museum pieces that have been shipped there accidentally.
Why It Might Do Well: The first film made $250 million.
Why It Might Not Do Well: 44% at Rottentomatoes.com doesn't impress.
Number of Theaters: 4,000
Prediction: $60 million

I like to think of The Wayans family as the Osmonds of comedy (no seriously, hear me out). They might not be for everyone, but there must be someone out there who enjoys what they do because they keep making movies, and people keep going to see them. If you don't believe me, then tell me how else would Marlon Wayans have managed to get Dance Flick into theaters this May? But this Wayans has been branching out lately, beyond his usual 'low-brow' comedies, and his next flick (according to The Hollywood Reporter) will see him working double duty to produce and star in the feature film version of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs.

If you grew up in even a vaguely Christian family (personally I come from a religion so laid back it won't even commit to the concept of a virgin birth), you are probably familiar with the usual rules of 'thou shalt not steal, kill, covet' -- you know, the biggies. But Jacob's book centers on his attempt to follow all the rules and guidelines he could find in the Bible -- which, as it turns out it, is much more complicated that those Ten Commandments would have you believe.

Julian Farino (Entourage) is already slated to direct Jay Reiss' script, and even though Jacob's book has the makings of a great film, the big question still remains: Will it be great in the hands of the man who made White Chicks?

I don't know about you, but I've barely warmed up this year, yet already I feel inundated with thoughts of summer, thanks to our friends the movie marketers. Bowing to the inevitable -- after all, everyone shops for board shorts and bikinis in the spring, not the summer, right? -- my attention was drawn to "Top 10 Summer Movies Guaranteed to Bomb" in Coed Magazine.

Since that site features some images that are NSFW, I'll list a few here with my comments and encourage you to check out the entire list along with their reasoning -- which, frankly, is faulty on almost every one. Their basic criteria, by the way, is that these movies "just don't jive with the summer spirit. They're too serious, too treacly, or too completely, horribly awful." Here's the bottom five:

• Dance Flick. From the Wayans family; opening against Terminator Salvation and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian; it's a comedy tailor-made for teens. Not a bomb.
• Away We Go. Sam Mendes directs and John Krasinski stars in an indie comedy. Depends entirely on critics and word of mouth. Could be a bomb.
• Final Destination: Death Trip 3D. Did My Bloody Valentine 3-D teach us nothing? Ka-ching!! Not a bomb.
• Battle for Terra. Animated and in 3-D. Might do OK against Wolverine for parents who think claw guy is too violent for their kids.
• All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (pictured). Low-budget horror usually does fine. Not a barn burner, but not a bomb.

I was expecting to see a few big-budget productions on the list -- at least one or two bomb every year -- and so I ask for your input. Are these summer movies guaranteed to bomb? Or are there other, worthier, more potentially cringe-worthy flicks that will prove to be box office poison?

My Life in Ruins
Nia Vardalos, writer and star of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its mercifully short-lived TV version My Big Fat Greek Life stars as an American working as a tour guide in Greece. Apparently she finds romance with a creepy bus driver who likes to be called "Poopy," which is one of the reasons something stinks so badly about this one. The ruination begins on May 8.

Watchmen (Japanese trailer)
I'm almost at the point where I think I should stop watching the new Watchmen trailers (yes, I know, "Who watches the Watchmen?"), but I've read the graphic novel many times so the possiblity of spoilers is slim. There's some footage here we haven't seen before including shots of a cranky old Richard Nixon and a look at how the Kennedy assasination plays out in the Watchmen universe.

The Hurt Locker
Based on reporter Mark Boal's experiences in Iraq, this one is about a team of soldiers whose specialty is the disposal of explosive ordnance. No release info yet.

The Slammin' Salmon (Red Band Trailer)
"You have to dominate the swordfish. Only then can you sautee it," explains Michael Clarke Duncan's character in this comedy from the folks behind Super Troopers, right after he punches said swordfish in the face. The title refers to the restaurant where the film is set, a place where shenanigans reign supreme apparently. This may have some moments but I predict a long life in rotation on Comedy Central. No release info yet.

Dance Flick (International Trailer)
This new international trailer has footage we didn't see in the domestic version but I'm still not seeing any compelling reason to go see this latest from the Wayans brothers. If you disagree you'll have your chance on August 14.

Captain Berlin Vs. Hitler
Although the trailer promises a February 2009 release I doubt we'll be seeing this German super hero comedy here in the states any time soon. I question whether the premise is even strong enough to carry a feature, but this preview is pretty neat in a schlocky kind of way. The disembodied brain of Hitler and Dracula threaten to destroy all that is good in the world, but standing in their way is "the one and only German super hero: Captain Berlin!" This appears to be a filmed stage play but the most interesting part is that Jorg Buttgereit is behind this. Buttgereit directed Nekromantik (a story about a love triangle involving a man, a woman, and a corpse) which was one of the darkest most unpleasant films I've ever seen, so I'm curious to see his take on a super hero comedy.

New this week on AOL Moviefone:

• State of Play - Feature remake of a British TV mini-series about a reporter's investigation of the murder of a congressman's mistress. Check it out right here:
  
  
• Monsters vs. Aliens - Animated comedy that pays homage to science fiction films of the 1950s. Here's the trailer:
  
  
  
• Yonkers Joe - Family drama about a con man and seeking the ultimate scam to help care for his mentally challenged son.
• The Proposal - A high level executive played by Sandra Bullock is about to lose her status as a U.S. resident and hatches a scheme to marry her assistant played by Ryan Reynolds.

Trailers? Oh yeah, we got your trailers here.

Star Trek
Like a lot of people, I got my first glimpse of this one when it played with Quantam of Solace last weekend. While this will obviously play hell with Star Trek continuity, I am one Trek geek who is looking forward to the J.J. Abrams take on the franchise. It opens on May 8.

Astro Boy
Here's a teaser for the CGI animated adaptation of the classic anime about a robot boy built by a scientist to replace the son he lost. The trailer doesn't give us much to go on, but the impressive voice cast includes Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland, Eugene Levy, and Nathan Lane. Things get cosmic on October 23.

Coraline
I find it odd that Neil Gaiman's name isn't mentioned in the trailer, since the film is based on his novella. Gaiman isn't a household name but I would have figured he was well enough known to catch a few people's attention. Nevertheless, this stop-motion animated feature from Henry Selick, the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, deals with a young girl who finds a pathway to a parallel world in which duplicates of her parents sport buttons for eyes. This deliciously creepy looking film will be in theaters on February 6.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
All of our favorite characters return for this third installment of the series, and this time it's in 3-D. The only one we see in this new trailer is Scrat, on the trail of not just another acorn but apparently romance as well. The one hits on July 1.

In the wake of White Chicks and Little Man, the Wayans Brothers return to grace the world with the presence of next February's Dance Flick, which lampoons last February's Step Up 2: The Streets, not to mention Save the Last Dance, You Got Served, How She Move, maybe Center Stage, possibly Robert Altman's The Company, and probably plenty of stuff that isn't related to actual dance flicks.

Having watched the initial Scary Movie last week for the first time since my formative teen years, their spoof efforts there still aren't on par with SM3 (which they didn't do), but remain above SM2 (which they did do). In short: humor that's dated and crude is right up their alley (I'm frankly impressed they remembered to work Flashdance in), and besides, you saw that break-dancing newborn, right? Call up Calista Flockhart, and count me out already.

Starring the usually amusing Amy Sedaris and the often less so Wayans clan, Dance Flick serves the last laugh to the streets on February 6, 2009.