MileyCyrus Tagged Articles at Cinematical

No, it's not one of those large-living, seaman-snatching Somali pirates to blame for those shoddy stolen copies of Hannah Montana: The Movie hitting the streets already. In fact, if you believe Gerardo Arellano, who was arrested along with his wife Maribel Fernandez last weekend for illegally filming the movie in the theater, his mom is to blame.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Arellano said of the 44,000 pirated movies found in his home, "my mother saved all of the DVDs, CDs and videos...She saves those." His mom is also selling the stolen movies on a French website, I guess, since his computer turned up a link to such a site during the investigation.

His kids are big fans of Hannah Montana, too. Maybe they were in on it.

On the other hand, at least he didn't wish on Miley/Hannah various venereal diseases and drug habits as per class act Jamie Foxx.

Strictly as an outside observer, I'm always surprised / perplexed by teen sensations making the leap to the big screen. The latest examples are Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron. Are they really movie stars already? Or are they beloved by millions simply because of the character(s) they've played?

When Cinematical's Dawn Taylor recently expressed her horror at the idea that Cyrus, a "marginally talented, pudding-faced 'tween idol," would be starring in a movie written by Nicholas Sparks, commenters were divided between hating Miley and hating Dawn. Nick Schager's review of Hannah Montana: The Movie was quite negative ("enduring the film is akin to being drawn and quartered"), but fans had clearly already decided to flock to theaters no matter what the reviews said. The narrative follow-up to the 3-D Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour proves, if nothing else, that 'tweens love Hannah Montana. But do they love the actress who plays her enough to follow her in other roles?

Efron has been making an effort to demonstrate his range beyond the High School Musical movies. He took on a dramatic role in Richard Linklater's yet to be released Me and Orson Welles, decided not to dance in Footloose, and stars in the comedy 17 Again, which opens on Friday. Is he a deft comic actor? I don't know. I missed Saturday Night Live, which he hosted last weekend, and the recent Pool Party video was not very funny. He became beloved for his singing, dancing, and romancing, but will his fans follow him to comedic and dramatic roles?

Do Zac Efron and/or Miley Cyrus have what it takes to be movie stars? Take our poll and let us know.

Googly-eyed Disney muppet Miley Cyrus makes her inevitable big-screen debut in Hannah Montana: The Movie, and the nicest thing one can say about the film is that at least it's not The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: The Movie. A tweener saga that's been crafted mainly with focus-group tests in mind, Hannah's maiden cinematic offering delivers a combination of romance, humor, music, glamour and yay-country-living blather that aims to satisfy the cross-platform franchise's myriad devotees. Given Hannah's roots on a Disney channel show whose primary claim to fame is schooling young television viewers in the finer nuances of sitcom pratfalls and laugh tracks, as well as the illustrious record of director Peter Chelsom, he of Town & Country and Shall We Dance? ignominy, it's hard to feign surprise at the dispiriting results of this movie-cum-brand-marketing-tool. Yet the lengths to which it goes to satisfy a wide array of interests is, even in the wake of its High School Musical kindred spirits, somewhat astonishing, pandering in so many directions that enduring the film is akin to being drawn and quartered.

Message in a Bottle didn't do it, but The Notebook sent Hollywood into a Nicholas Sparks frenzy. For the most part, it's been adaptations of his novels, like that Nights in Rodanthe and the upcoming Dear John. But last September, word hit that Disney was cooking up a different type of project -- Sparks was going to switch his write the novel and sell it approach by doing a tandem project -- writing a special screenplay for Miley Cyrus while also cooking up a new novel. At the time, all details were under wraps, but now the veil is being lifted.

Variety reports that the film will be called The Last Song, and Julie Anne Robinson will make her feature directorial debut with the project. (She's previously directed episodes for shows like Weeds and Pushing Daisies.) I can't help but wonder if Sparks found his inspiration in Miley, because the young actress and singer will play "a rebellious teenager sent to spend the summer with her estranged father."

Of course, this is already being touted as Cyrus' stepping stone to be taken seriously as an actress, but if this reflects her cell phone shenanigans at all, it could easily become a project that sadly mimics adolescence rather than moving beyond it. At some point, they've got to realize that the best way to be taken seriously as an actress, or to be seen as a grown up is to, well, act mature!

But now this feature needs a dad. Will the "Achey Breaky" one do?

Last November, around the time that Bolt came out, I was offered with a night's notice a phone interview with Miley Cyrus. Despite my completist habit of seeing pretty much all theatrical releases in a given year, I decided to make an exception with Miley's 3D concert movie, an exception which had now come to haunt me in the most unexpected of ways. To my luck, the film happened to be instantly available through Netflix, and so I sat at my computer for 75 minutes, confirming all that I had been told the previous spring: it was a fine flick for her fans, and equally harmless and pointless to anyone else.

Anyhow, Ms. Cyrus stood me up, but I bring up that story for two reasons: one, to pad my word count, and two, to assure you that I know I am not the ideal audience for Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, that I know that you know this, and that you know already whether or not you're interested, pumped, and/or psyched -- and chances are that if you are any of those things, then you won't be disappointed.

We just got a press release saying that the Jonas Brothers are teaming up with Marquis Jet to cross the country and pop up in random cities over this weekend to celebrate the release of their 3D concert film. We really interpret this press release to say that ticket pre-sales aren't as gonzo as those for Ms. Miley Montana were this time last year, and here's a gimmick that'll make sure the kids turn up just in case the Brothers decide to.

Just imagine, though: Kevin, Joe and Nick show up at your theater. They sit right behind you, kicking your chair and asking each other how awesome they were at this part and that part. They couldn't text behind you and spill popcorn on your lap at just any old concert now, could they?

The 3D experience will kick Coraline off of those digitally-dedicated screens this Friday (so hurry up already if you haven't gone!), and the IMAX experience in particular will only last for a week after that before getting booted in favor of a movie that only two of the three brothers are actually old enough to see...

Vanity Fair is known for their ambitious (and sometimes controversial) photo spreads, and whenever one pops up online -- with the exception of those ultra funky Hitchcock recreations -- the name most likely associated with them is Annie Leibovitz. She's worked as the featured portrait photographer for VF since 1983, and some of her most buzzed-about photos include the very pregnant (and very naked) Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover, as well as the sexed-up Miley Cyrus photo that caused quite the stir last year. Some of the more geeky Leibovitz images can be found in her series of Disney photographs featuring celebs recreating classic scenes from our favorite Walt Disney movies (read more about that here and here).

This time around, Leibovitz's Something Just Clicked collection for Vanity Fair features 10 partnerships that helped generate more than four dozen Oscar nods this year. The image above, featuring Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger (The Risktakers), is of course a composite, but it's one of my favorites -- especially the way they position both Nolan and Ledger, with the former quietly sneaking off to the corner away from the spotlight. Other partnerships photographed include Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz (The Odd Couple), Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann (The Colonists), Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn (The Milk Men), Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet (The Partnership) and Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke (The Ringers), among others. Check out a few of our favorites below, then swing over to Vanity Fair to see the rest.

Here's some stuff (and things) to take with you into the weekend:

-- We'll be highlighting and previewing some of the films from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival real soon, but you horror hounds HAVE to check out this freakishly over-the-top trailer for the German Norwegian flick Dead Snow, which will premiere in the Midnight section in Park City. It's in Norwegian, but I believe some teenagers find Nazi gold during their snowy camping trip and then have to deal with its Nazi owners who rise from the dead ready to kick white-boy ass. That's a photo from the film above. [via Shock, who have more pics)]

-- And, ahem, speaking of Nazis, how would you like to take a trip to New York City with your entire book club? Well, in conjunction with the film The Reader, they're hosting a sweepstakes where the grand prize allows five people (or one book group) roundtrip airfare to NYC, hotel accommodations and lunch with The Reader author Bernhard Schlink. Visit the official website for more details.

-- Back to the living dead, seems like Sigourney Weaver is talking Ghostbusters again -- but, unlike previous times, now she's interested in returning for another go-round. She told MTV that she's "supposed to get in touch with Bill Murray next week" regarding the sequel, and also offered up a potential new character: "I would hope that my little Oscar would be one of the Ghostbusters even if I'm not in it!" Oh, and the Ghostbusters video game is finally coming out this June; check out a trailer for it below.



After the jump ... Shia Labeouf's hand screws up again, Miley Cyrus needs a babysitter and more.

I'm trying to muster up some enthusiasm for Disney's latest animated film, Bolt. It's cute. It has funny pigeons. My eight-year-old niece is going to like it, especially since Miley Cyrus is involved. It's the first non-Pixar Disney feature produced by John Lasseter, who directed the Toy Story movies and Cars. It's got Hollywood jokes in it, including a director voiced by James Lipton, and a comically pushy agent. And yet I never thrilled to the story or the characters; I wasn't half as amused as I'd been by Kung Fu Panda, a film for kids I saw earlier this year.

The story should sound familiar to anyone who grew up with Lassie movies or other animal-road-trip films, but with a Hollywood twist. The title character, a cute dog called Bolt (John Travolta), is fiercely attached to "his person," teenage Penny (Miley Cyrus). Bolt saves Penny's life on a regular basis as she and her dad are pursued by the evil Dr. Calico and his nasty cats ... or so he thinks. The truth is that Bolt is the star of a TV series, but the cast and crew are very careful not to let him know that he's not in real-life situations. So he believes he's a genetically engineered dog with laser eyes and amazing strength and a supersonic bark. When Bolt is separated from Penny and ends up halfway across the country on his own, for the first time he's in a world that isn't a soundstage or his trailer. Now, how will he get back to Penny?

Here are some stuff and things for your Tuesday (or shall we call it Almost But Not Quite Twilight Friday Yet Day):

Just Added: We don't have a Captain America just yet, but the film has two writers: The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian) are in negotiations to write The First Avenger: Captain America. The film is currently due in theaters on May 6, 2011.

-- Screw Heath Ledger and The Dark Knight getting nods come Oscar time, we've got one better: How about Miley Cyrus? Yup, The Envelope's Gold Derby shows us how Hannah Montana herself could be up for an Oscar for Best Song due to her writing and singing I Thought I Lost You in Disney's Bolt. Since Disney always owns this category, there's a pretty good chance Cyrus will nab at least a nod -- though, if you want my opinion, Peter Gabriel's Down to Earth (from WALL-E) should take it.

-- The Los Angeles Times spoke to South Park co-creator Trey Parker recently, and found out that the boys might be looking to end the series with another film. While they're contracted until 2011, Parker claims a big-screen finale could be the way to go: "We talked about maybe some day doing a movie to sort of end it all, and that seems like the best idea. That's been a big thought to do the last show as a movie." During the same interview, Parker also says that what eventually became the three-part Imaginationland episode was originally supposed to be their second feature film ... until the guys realized they needed more content for the season. The Imaginationland episode eventually went on to win an Emmy.