Push Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Knowing
Forget Nostradamus. In this Nick Cage flick, a young girl in the '50s draws a picture of numbers for a time capsule. Fifty years later, when the contents are examined, it turns out that those numbers indicate the dates, death tolls, and coordinates of major disasters, and a few haven't happened yet! But it's not exactly the doomsday flick fans would hope for. In his review, Jeffrey M. Anderson says: "rather than becoming a comfortable hybrid between a small, smart movie and a big, dumb movie, Knowing became a horrible mutation, bulging out in all the wrong places, with unsightly scars where the butcher's knife had been." Skip it. Also on Blu-ray.

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Push
Not every Dakota Fanning movie is a shocker of a drama. In this psychic espionage thriller, she plays a "watcher" and one of the psychic rogues determined to end a creepy government agency. (Also stars Chris Evans, Djimon Hounsou, and Camilla Belle.) For this feature, Anderson said: "Push is a better-than-average sci-fi thriller with genuine jolts and unexpected texture." Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.

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The Unborn
A girl is plagued with bad dreams, ghosts, and supernatural unpleasantness, so she hunts down a spiritual advisor in Gary Oldman to help. But that's not enough to help this film. Peter Martin wrote earlier this year: "Not even the sight of the lovely, lean and fit Odette Yustman, whose last name became Yowza! when the trailer and pics first hit the net, can salvage the film from mediocrity." Skip it. Also on Blu-ray.

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Also out: Night Train, Border Town, Five Fingers, A Day in the Life, The Prodigy, Flying By, Dead Wood, Applause for Miss E, One Missed Final Call, Garrison, Rivers End, Scorched, See Dick Run

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

This week I was thinking of two very different movies, both in need of a boost. One of my favorites of 2009 so far is Fados (1 screen), which I saw last year, but has happily received a theatrical release this year. Director Carlos Saura generally makes movies with music and dancing as a main theme, such as in his Oscar nominated films Carmen (1983) and Tango (1998). He's not mentioned very often with the names of the world's greatest filmmakers, but his films have recently earned the distinction of a Criterion DVD release (Cría cuervos) and a Criterion Eclipse DVD box set. Fados is more or less a collection of music videos, all performed in the Portuguese fado style. The music is very sentimental, passionate and sad, very often about poverty and lost loves.

Just a couple of weeks back, it seemed that only film bloggers could bring themselves to crack jokes about how Dakota Fanning's super-power sub-performer Push might get confused with the award-winning and far-from-fantasy Sundance title Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire -- and lo, most did.

Well, hopefully, they've gotten that out of their system, because attached today to the release of Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail is a trailer that now refers to it as Precious: Based on a Novel by Sapphire, after the protagonist's preferred nickname.

Having not seen the film -- which our Eric D. Snider referred to as "unsettling and bleak," though "ultimately triumphant and hopeful" -- I can't help but think that the change not only avoids confusion with that other film's eventual DVD release (an admittedly unlikely scenario), but it adds a sense of the personal that was lacking before (having seen the trailer, which is not yet online, I still wouldn't know what "Push" referred to). Wouldn't you rather want to know who this Precious is exactly and what she's about?

Better yet, the very word itself lends a hint of the positive, which could very well make the difference between some Academy voter either picking it up or passing it over in their mounting pile of screeners in favor of something a bit more obvious like So The Holocaust Kinda Sucked.

This past weekend at the box office brought us the fairly mediocre Push, in which Dakota Fanning (roughly 14 at the time of filming) played a snappy psychic 13-year-old with rebel streaks in her hair, whiny quips at every turn, and an unfortunate penchant for short skirts and shots.

The weekend before that gave us the fairly entertaining Taken, in which Maggie Grace (24 or 25 at the time of filming, by our best guess) played a seemingly psychotic 17-year-old with a U2 fascination, a disturbingly giddy run not unlike the one at the 5:20 mark here, and a fortunate (for us) habit of getting snapped up by European human traffickers and thus not proving to be a distraction while Liam Neeson goes all out of bubble gum on the streets of France.

So, among those of you who saw both films, which teen did you find to be more aggravating with their respective performance: Fanning or Grace? (Or, for the real saints out there, were you irritated by neither?)

I am anything but a rom-com fan (there's maybe one good one a year, by my reckoning), but even I was charmed by the lovely, funny trailer for He's Just Not That Into You. A bunch of genuinely funny people -- Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Long, Drew Barrymore -- in what appeared to be a breezy, clever rumination on romance (that voicemail Goodwin leaves, starting out as a practiced, casual come-on and deteriorating into a panicked digression about how "more women are admitted to law school now than men," made me laugh every time): I wanted to see it. I haven't yet -- the unversally bad reviews dampened my enthusiasm -- but apparently the rest of the country wanted to see it too. The two-hour-plus film won a busy weekend with $27.5 million dollars, beating out a sci-fi thriller, a broad comedy with Steve Martin, and a 3-D animated wonder.

The latter, Henry Selick's Coraline, settled for third with $16.3 million. That may not seem like much, but consider that the film had no brand (with the possible exception of the "from the makers of A Nightmare Before Christmas label) and that the marketing did little to hide its deep-seated creepiness. On the other hand, Push, the gorgeous-but-incoherent sci-fi thriller only managed $10.2 million, a disappointing opening for what could have been at least a minor event film. Blame a crowded weekend and the fact that Summit Entertainment is still a relative newcomer to this whole wide distribution thing.

Welcome back to another funtastic edition of Insert Caption -- the game that's very into rewarding your great captions with equally-as-great prizes. Last week we asked you to shove your fellow captioners aside while spitting out some of that good stuff for a photo from the new sci-fi thriller Push. While we help peel Chris Evans off that cotton candy-coated floor, let's congratulate our one grand prize winner ...




1. "Once he hit the floor, Chris knew his run through the breakdancing brackets would end in the quarterfinals." -- Matt H.

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This week we're taking a ride on that star-studded romantic comedy bus called He's Just Not That Into You, and if you thought this flick was packed with enough talent to fill an entire year's worth of rom-com fare ... well, then wait till you check out this prize package. The cats behind our three favorite captions will walk-of-shame away with (deep breath) one He's Just Not That Into You Jeweled Heart Mirror Compact, one He's Just Not That Into You Black Thermal Women's Hoodie, one He's Just Not That Into You Lip Gloss, one He's Just Not That Into You Nail File, one He's Just Not That Into You Heart Shaped Post-it Notes, one He's Just Not That Into You Sweetheart Candies, one He's Just Not That Into You Pama Liqueur Prize Pack (No liqueur but prize pack includes: hot tees for him & her, cool hat, recipe booklet and a pomegranate scented candle) and one He's Just Not That Into You Soundtrack CD.

Phew ... if he's just not that into you after your ass takes home all of that, then, damn, lose that fool once and for all. Sound off ...



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Maybe it's all in the context.

Earlier this week, I saw He's Just Not That Into You, which took place in Baltimore and may as well have taken place in the Mojave Desert or on a blank stage; the filmmakers didn't incorporate that city's personality in the slightest. It's a totally generic cityscape, and it doesn't help the already underwritten characters. The other thing that movie did was to drag on past the two-hour mark, obsessively wrapping up even the tiniest scraps of plot thread, or, in other words, flogging a dead horse. But then, the following night, I saw Paul McGuigan's Push. While not a classic by any stretch, I was endlessly impressed by how thoroughly the filmmakers incorporated its Hong Kong location; it feels like they actually spent real time there, and understood some of the local customs. And, at the end, the film merely stops when it gets to a satisfying stopping point, even though there's a bit more plot left to go. (It's the old showbiz adage: "always leave them wanting more.") It felt great, like someone was alive behind the camera, actually thinking about ways to make the movie.

Paul Blart finally fell out of the number one spot, but he didn't go far. He's still clinging to second place like it's a runaway shoplifter, though with four new releases this week his time in the top five may be over. Liam Neeson's kidnapping thriller Taken took top honors, with the second highest grossing Super Bowl weekend opening in history, trailing behind last year's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. The new scare flick The Uninvited took third with the Reneé Zellweger romantic comedy New in Town taking seventh place with a mere $6.7 million. Here's the top five:

1. Taken: $24.7 million
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop: $13.8 million
3. The Uninvited: $10.3 million
4. Hotel for Dogs: $8.6 million
5. Gran Torino: $8.2 million

Four new releases and there's a double dose of Dakota.

Coraline
What's It All About: Based on a book by renowned fantasy writer Neil Gaiman and directed by Henry Selick (who helmed The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach), this stop-motion animated feature tells the story of a young girl who discovers a parallel world she likes much better than her normal, mundane existence. Voice talent includes Dakota Fanning, Ian McShane, and Teri Hatcher.
Why It Might Do Well: Personally, the participation of Gaiman and Selick has me sold on this one. The way-cool trailer and 80% rating at Rottentomatoes.com are just icing on the cake.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The story may be too dark for younger kids.
Number of Theaters: 2,100
Prediction: $12 million

One of the minor eyebrow-raisers at this year's Sundance Film Festival was that the fest ended without its most acclaimed film being picked up by a distributor. That would be Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire (not to be confused with that Chris Evans/Dakota Fanning super-power thing coming out this week), the harrowing drama that won both the grand jury prize AND the audience award -- a rare feat. Would it languish in obscurity and go straight to DVD, despite its critical and popular acclaim?

No! It won't! And as usual, we have Oprah to thank. Her production company and Tyler Perry's company will help finance distribution of the film, which has been officially purchased by Lionsgate. Lionsgate tends to be frugal in its marketing (at least in comparison with the bigger studios), hence the need for partners. Plus, the film is a hard sell: It's about an obese, illiterate Harlem teen who's pregnant for the second time by her father and who lives with her abusive mother. It's not the usual Lionsgate product (i.e., a Saw sequel) and not the kind of thing that will have a $20 million opening weekend.

But Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Perry evidently recognize its value, and don't worry -- since the film is already done, it's too late for either of them to mess it up. (Had Perry made the film, surely he would have played the overweight teenage girl himself.)

My rave review for Cinematical can be found here. But if my word and the words of Oprah and Madea aren't enough to convince you, look at what Variety, Film School Rejects, IndieWire, and the New York Post said about it. Lionsgate hasn't said when they plan to release it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wait until fall and give it a push for awards season.

Welcome to another edition of Insert Caption -- that game that pushes you to get down with your creative bad self. Last week we asked you to get a little funky with an image from Open Season 2, which just hit DVD earlier this week. Congrats to our two winners for using their animal instincts to create the following witty captions:


1. "Oh man....they got Fred. I told him that cheap cow costume was a bad idea. But would he listen? Nooooo." -- Chaz K.

2. "And the animal kingdom froze in fear when they realized Dick Cheney was once again jobless, and would soon be bringing his rifle back into the woods. " -- Kathi F.

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This week we're tapping into our own freak-ish abilities in order to come up with an outstanding caption for the cool-looking sci-fi thriller Push (in theaters February 6), starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle and Neil Jackson, among others. The one lucky person who we deem worthy of our Grand Prize this week will slip away with one PUSH full set of the DC Comics' mini-series (issues 1 - 6) and one PUSH signed poster. Now push each other out of the way and give us your captions!



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