Obsessed Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 8/4
Filed under: New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
The Soloist
It seemed like the sort of project to explode with praise and critical acclaim -- Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in the story of a talented homeless musician who once went to Julliard. The reality, however, didn't live up to expectation. In her review, Jette Kernion said: "the overall film isn't compelling, and the plot falls into the easy traps of traditional melodrama." Still ... Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Obsessed
One of the classic cases of reviewer v. audience. The story of a psycho Beyonce didn't charm the critical eye, and Scott even said: "Obsessed feels a lot like a refugee from the Lifetime Network that just happened to have a budget." Nevertheless, it exploded. I say Skip It ... but I have a feeling that won't matter. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Why Are Movie Stalkers Always So ... Female?
Filed under: Thrillers », Fan Rant »
What a hallowed genre Obsessed is a member of! Right up there with such psycho stalker greats as Play Misty For Me, Fatal Attraction, and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. If you'd like to remember a few more, Peter did a great list for Valentine's Day ... and would you look at that, 5 out of 7 of those are chicks! Why the persistence of this cinematic archetype? Why don't we ever see psychotic male stalkers beyond Sleeping with the Enemy? Where's Fatal Attraction where a man is screaming, begging not to be ignored?
My theory has always been that we see these stories played out again and again because they're somewhat of a male fantasy. Think about Play Misty For Me, Fatal Attraction, Obsessed, or even the real B-movie variations like Swimfan, The Temp, and The Crush. There's something very flattering and erotic about a woman who can't get enough of you -- a plot point exploited pretty heavily in Play Misty and Fatal Attraction, since both male protagonists really set their stalkers off by ... sleeping with them. If Fatal Dan and Misty Dave had just taken Alex and Evelyn out for a nice dinner and a movie, no sex, would any butcher knives have been wielded? I guess so, given the chaste plotline of Obsessed: just flirting is enough to drive Ali Larter over the edge.
Weekend Box Office: 'Obsessed' Explodes in Niche Market; Three More Have Strong Debuts
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
The presence of Beyoncé Knowles plus appropriately sultry/trashy advertising scored a big hit for Screen Gems this weekend, with Obsessed raking in a cool $28.5 million between black audiences and thriller audiences. Depending on how it holds up, the airport novel of a film could compete with The Exorcism of Emily Rose for the title of highest-grossing Screen Gems release ($75 million). It's a marketing triumph and a minor April surprise.Three more films debuted in wide release and all posted comparatively strong numbers. That's a somewhat controversial claim for The Soloist, whose $9.7 million, fourth-place finish doesn't seem too robust. It's certainly not overwhelming, but for an arty, detached film that was moved from awards season to April, it's not awful. Rogue's Fighting finished slightly ahead with $11.4 milion, beating last spring's street-brawling movie, Never Back Down. And Earth, the DisneyNature documentary that opened Wednesday, picked up $8.5 million for the weekend -- the second biggest all-time opening for a documentary -- and $14.2 million for the five days. Good for them.
Out of the top ten, the critically panned The Informers -- Senator Entertainment's first attempt at a theatrical release -- floundered with $300,000 in semi-wide release. Senator, you will recall, is the distributor that has kept All the Boys Love Mandy Lane on the shelf for approximately forever. Make of that what you will.
Last weekend's main holdovers, 17 Again and State of Play each fell around 50%. The latter is a bit of a disappointment, as I had hoped that the exceedingly entertaining film would coast at least slightly on good word-of-mouth.
The full top 10 after the jump.
Review: Obsessed
Filed under: Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Sony », Theatrical Reviews »
When I first caught wind of the redundant "sex thriller" Obsessed, my first reaction was to adopt the voice of a blaxploitation announcer and Twitter things like "Bang! It's a black-on-white cat fight you KNOW is outta sight! Look out for the affirmative action Fatal Attraction, baby! Obsessed!" I walked in expecting a base, push-button and knee-jerk story of "white hoochie vs. black wife" story ... but unfortunately the movie turned out way too plain and generic to bother with such immaturities. Had they "trashed" it up a little bit, then Obsessed could have been a grade-A B-movie worth laughing at and cheering with. As it stands, Obsessed feels a lot like a refugee from the Lifetime Network that just happened to have a budget.
Idris Elba (who delivers a performance better than the movie deserves) plays a very successful investment banker named Derek who catches the eye of a pretty new temp (Ali Larter) called Lisa. But Derek is quite married, you see, and rather happily, as would you be if you got to sleep with Beyonce Knowles every night. But that doesn't stop Lisa from (ever so s l o w l y) getting under the skin of poor Derek, and before too long we're dealing with a very basic yet powerful case of, well, obsession. No matter how many times he professes his love for wife Sharon, the tantalizing temp just keeps on flirting. Heavily, shamelessly, redundantly. After about an hour of altercations between Derek and Lisa both predictable and obvious, we finally get into the Act III catharsis, which is when the frequently-dormant Beyonce gets to stand tall and kick some serious booty.
Box Office: Fighting the Earth Obsessed Soloist
Filed under: Action », Documentary », Drama », Thrillers », Box Office », Box Office Predictions »
17 Again marks Zac Efron's second number one opening in six months. The Russell Crowe thriller State of Play took a respectable second place with Crank: High Voltage taking sixth place with only $6.9 million. Here's the top five:
1. 17 Again: $23.7 million
2. State of Play: $14 million
3. Hannah Montana The Movie: $13.4 million
4. Monsters Vs. Aliens: $13.2 million
5. Fast and Furious: $11.7 million
Four new releases this week:
Earth
What's It All About: A 99 minute tour of life on Earth edited down from a 12-hour TV mini-series. This one releases today to commemorate Earth Day.
Why It Might Do Well: Dude, check out the baby polar bears! Also Rottentomatoes.com is giving it an 83% Fresh rating.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's a smaller release and much of the footage has already played on TV
Number of Theaters: 1,800
Prediction: $8 million.
Fighting
What's It All About: A morose-looking small town boy comes to the big city and finds he has a talent for competitive bare-knuckle brawling.
Why It Might Do Well: I suppose anything is possible.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The overly complicated title may confuse some.
Number of Theaters: 2,100
Prediction: $7 million
1. 17 Again: $23.7 million
2. State of Play: $14 million
3. Hannah Montana The Movie: $13.4 million
4. Monsters Vs. Aliens: $13.2 million
5. Fast and Furious: $11.7 million
Four new releases this week:
EarthWhat's It All About: A 99 minute tour of life on Earth edited down from a 12-hour TV mini-series. This one releases today to commemorate Earth Day.
Why It Might Do Well: Dude, check out the baby polar bears! Also Rottentomatoes.com is giving it an 83% Fresh rating.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's a smaller release and much of the footage has already played on TV
Number of Theaters: 1,800
Prediction: $8 million.
FightingWhat's It All About: A morose-looking small town boy comes to the big city and finds he has a talent for competitive bare-knuckle brawling.
Why It Might Do Well: I suppose anything is possible.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The overly complicated title may confuse some.
Number of Theaters: 2,100
Prediction: $7 million
Discuss: Does Screen Gems Care Too Much About Black People?
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Sony »
Yesterday's New York Times featured a rather flattering profile on Screen Gems president Clinton Culpepper and how his Sony studio arm reliably turns a profit on its comedy and thriller titles. Despite Culpepper declining to be interviewed for the piece, it goes noted amidst "past and present associates" that the man has a preference for "the white comedy, done black," a supposed genre brought up with regards to Chris Rock's forthcoming remake of Death at a Funeral with an all African-American cast.The minority-cast likes of You Got Served, Stomp the Yard and This Christmas have certainly proven profitable for Screen Gems, but do any of you out there refuse to see Funeral or The Big Chill, and yet may fork money over if those films were done with a more superficially familiar ensemble? Or do you personally wish for more out of niche filmmaking meant to appeal to the African-American audience than the wacky antics of Martin Lawrence and Madea?
And with regards to this Friday's Obsessed, is there a double standard with regards to a white woman (Ali Larter) interfering with the happiness of a black couple (Idris Elba and Beyonce Knowles)? If the roles were reversed (and if the alleged working title of Oh No She Didn't were kept instead), would everyone be up in arms about stereotyping and such? On the flip side, would anyone argue that having a white villainess is maybe being too politically correct? Let us know.
Exclusive: 'Obsessed' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images », Posters »
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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Obsessed, starring Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles and Ali Larter. Directed by Steve Shill, Obsessed follows in the footsteps of films like Fatal Attraction or The Temp in that it tells of a married well-to-do suit (Elba) who accidentally shacks up with a temp worker (Larter) at the office. Of course, if the movies have taught you anything, it's that the woman you cheat on your wife with will not just walk away from the fling empty handed -- and, as such, Larter's temp causes more than enough trouble for the man and his wife (Knowles).
Obsessed hits theaters on April 24. Check out the trailer over on Moviefone and the full image of the poster by clicking below.
Gallery: Obsessed Poster
Watch Ali Larter Get 'Obsessed'
Filed under: Drama », Trailers and Clips »
On the heels of a few images that popped up earlier this month, you can check out the newly released trailer for Obsessed above. Does it look just a little bit familiar?
It should, if you ever watched Glenn Close stalk Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction. Jumping ahead a few years with Obsessed, Idris Elba plays the poor man who just tried to have a quick fling with his new temp (Ali Larter), only to have her go psycho. She gets busy with suicide attempts, stalking, cutting the wife (Beyoncé Knowles) out of the family pictures -- all that fun stuff. Larter even tries to pull off the trench coat seduction, although set to the music, it looks pretty funny and not at all comfortable or seductive. On the plus side, we need more Jerry O'Connell!
It looks like it could be some good campy fun, although I doubt that's the mood they were going for. But what say you? Can Ali Larter hold a torch to the bunny-vicious Close?
First Look: 'Julia & Julia', 'Stepfather', 'Armored' and More
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Drama », Horror », Sony », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Remakes and Sequels », Images »
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Sony Pictures has provided Cinematical with a brief look at some of their 2009 films, including Julia & Julia, The Stepfather remake, Armored, Obsessed, Max's Mardi Gras, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and Angels & Demons. Some of these images have been released already, but most haven't. Check out the galleries below with descriptions of each film.
The film follows the legendary chef Julia Childs, as well as a government employee who attempts to plow her way through the chef's classic cookbook (starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina and Linda Emond) Release: August 7, 2009
Gallery: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
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Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain (starring Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Andy Samberg, Mr. T and Tracy Morgan). Release: September 18, 2009
The team behind the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code returns for the highly anticipated Angels & Demons, based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals. Release: May 15, 2009
Ali Larter Gets Obsessed with Idris Elba
Filed under: Thrillers », Casting »
Since she won't be struggling with her alternate side in a world of Heroes any time soon, Ali Larter is getting Obsessed. Variety reports that she's going to star in Screen Gems' upcoming thriller, along with Beyonce Knowles and Idris Elba. Television director Steve Shill will helm the project, from a script by David Loughery. The latter has penned the likes of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and The Three Musketeers, had a 13-year break after Tom and Huck, and is now back with this and the upcoming Lakeview Terrace. In the hand that rocks the professional cradle, Elba plays "an asset manager who has a knockout wife (Knowles) and thriving career until a temp office worker (Larter) begins stalking him." What better validation can an actor get? One gets stalked by an attractive woman, and the other gets to be a "knockout." Acting can be so rough!
Screen Gems head Clint Culpepper is said to be "working with Knowles' and Larter's reps to iron out scheduling kinks," but the company is planning to get the film into production this summer.
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 11/24_thumbnail.jpg)
Exclusive 'Nine' Poster Premiere!
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
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