The Informant Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Weren't we seeking flashy, content-free teaser trailers for Fame, like, a year ago? Or nine months out at least? That's the sort of marketing generally reserved for event blockbusters, not movies that get dumped into theaters in late September en route to a $10 million opening and -- most likely -- a final gross in the vicinity of $25 -30 million. What happened? Given the bad reviews, perhaps MGM/Sony realized with a few months to go that they didn't have an awards contender or likely crowd favorite on their hands.

On the other hand, I don't know what excuse Disney has for Surrogates, a perfectly serviceable, extremely commercial sci-fi actioner starring Bruce Willis and directed by T3's Jonathan Mostow. Willis actionally doesn't have the greatest track record in opening non-franchise releases, but $15 million for a movie like this is awfully weak; here is an instance where hiding a movie from critics arguably hurt. Overture's Pandorum, also hidden from reviewers, was a less surprising flop, with $4.4 million dollars for the weekend.

Taking top honors for the second weekend in a row was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , which held up very well; it probably helped that it was really the only family film in the market for the second weekend in a row. The Informant! which did not make big waves last weekend, also held pretty well; it won't do Ocean's business, but should end up as Soderbergh's highest-grossing non-Ocean's film (the current titleholder is Out of Sight with $37 million).

The full top 10 after the jump.

It's not like snapping your fingers, and it can't all be attributed to hair and make-up. So how does a marquee beauty like Matt Damon transform himself into an ordinary-looking businessman in Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!?

Damon plays Matt Whitacre, the cinematic version of a real-life character, a scientist who became the vice-president of a chemical company and then turned informant for the government in the early 1990s. Damon doesn't perform a complete disappearing act, to the point that we don't recognize him. True, he gained 30 pounds for the role and his character wears a toupee. The extra pounds make him look "doughy" and soft, which is what Soderbergh wanted, according to USA Today. Yet he doesn't look excessively obese and he doesn't walk around with his shirt off; he just looks rather ... ordinary, a normal, thickening man from the middle of the country, with a wife and children and a house and a car (make that cars).

The actor has played pretty boys many times, which is kind of inevitable when you're a good-looking guy. Still, he has the deft ability to shift his charm downward, in service of the role, even in fluffy entertainment like Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen. He doesn't turn all his lights off, just selected ones, just enough to dim the wattage of his stardom. All his skills as an actor are needed in The Informant!, which has an increasingly jaw-dropping story to tell. Scott Weinberg described it as a "quietly odd performance." It's also hilarious. Damon hits every note, blending into the story while retaining an innate goodness that makes you root for him even as you slowly realize you probably shouldn't. It's brilliant; I just don't know how he does it.

(By: Scott Weinberg, reprinted from TIFF 9/13/09)

If you're about to dig into a mid-'90s "period piece" about a plain nebbish at a food additive company who decides to blow the whistle on his corporation's illegal price-fixing practices, well, you better get a few interesting people to bring this sort of story to the screen. With a leading man less reliable than Matt Damon and a director less colorfully unpredictable than Steven Soderbergh, a flick like this could play like a well-meaning but hopelessly yawn-worthy docu-drama. Happily, since The Informant! boasts both of those filmmakers (and a big handful of others), it turns out to be a seriously entertaining film ... about a seriously plain man.

Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a high-ranking suit for a chemical company called ADM. Essentially, these guys create all sorts of wonderful food additives, and the focal point this time around is a corn product called lysine. Only problem is that ADM and virtually all of its executives, not to mention their competitors, are knee-deep in a global "price-fixing" scheme, which (in case you didn't know) is all sorts of illegal. But while Mark seems more than willing to narc on his colleagues, simply because it's the right thing to do, it quickly becomes evident that our semi-hero is hiding more than a few skeletons inside his own closet.

For the fifth time Tyler Perry scored a number one opener which was followed by the animated science fiction flick 9 in second place. Last week's other new releases, Sorority Row and Whiteout, missed the top five, landing in sixth and seventh place respectively. Here's the top five:

1. Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself: $23.4 million
2. 9: $10.7 million
3. Inglourious Basterds: $6.1 million
4. All About Steve: $5.6 million
5. The Final Destination: $5.5 million

Another four new releases this week:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
What's It All About: In this animated feature a young inventor builds a machine that causes food to rain from the sky.
Why It Might Do Well: It's based on a beloved kid's book and presented in 3D. The presence of Bruce Campbell in the voice cast is icing on the cake.
Why It Might Not Do Well: People with food allergies may be leery of this one.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $32 million

The Informant
What's It All About: A corporate whistle-blower thinks his cooperation with the FBI will make him a hero to the people, but it only serves to expose his own impropriety.
Why It Might Do Well: Steven Soderbergh, the director of Oceans 11 -13 is behind the camera, with Matt Damon adding star power in front of it. Also, Rottentomatoes.com gives it a 75% Fresh rating.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The mustache and glasses give Damon a kind of creepy uncle look.
Number of Theaters: 2,400
Prediction: $15 million

Tooling around online this morning I came across this pretty funny interview from National Lampoons' Matt Zaller for Jennifer's Body, where, during the junket, he sat down with both Megan Fox and Johnny Simmons, but then ignored Fox the entire time -- made her wear a paper bag over her head so she wouldn't "get in the way" -- and then proceeded to chat with Simmons about potential sequels for Hotel for Dogs ... for like four and a half minutes. I was like, um, okay, that was odd -- because it was pretty clear this wasn't a skit or a sketch, and that neither Fox nor Simmons had any idea this dude was gonna pull out this weird stuff. So, instead, they just went with it ... and if you've seen Fox interviewed before, nothing phases this girl. You could be interviewing her while on fire, and she'd use you to light her cigarette and make the best of the situation.

So I thought, should I post this? I don't know. Because I figured you all would yell and cry stuff like, "That was so lame dude -- Cinematical sucks! I've seen other people do stuff like this! Huge fail!" But then a friend of mine just passed along Zaller's interview with Matt Damon for The Informant, and, well, it's fantastic. Not only does the dude wear clothing with pictures of himself photoshopped to make it look like he was hanging with Damon at some point, but he plays this recorded song that he made ... and, yeah, you just have to watch it for yourself.

Zaller's shtick sort of reminds me of Zach Galifianakis' Between Two Ferns, except here I don't believe the celebs are aware of what's going to take place. Watch them both after the jump and let us know what you think.

Oh, and more please.

Like Peter Cullen, the actor who provides the voice for his on screen adversary, Optimus Prime, Frank Welker is a bona fide icon of the voice recording world. Not just because he has more than four decades of work and 600 individual credits to his name. Not just because yes, he provided the voice for Megatron, one of the most famous villains in cartoon history. Rather, it's because people know and identify him just from his voice, which may run contrary to the idea of actors disappearing into their roles, but it demonstrates that what he does is so distinctive and special it transcends the limitations of the medium.

Sci Fi Squad recently caught up with Welker via email to discuss his illustrious history in voice recording, in conjunction with Shout! Factory's Sept. 15 DVD release of Transformers Season Two, Volume One. In addition to talking about bringing Megatron to life, he talks about the technical and creative challenges of voice work, and reflects on a few of the roles that linger in the memories of movie and TV fans long after the characters left the screen.

Sci Fi Squad: I'll start with the obvious first: How did you get into voice acting, and by the time you performed on Transformers, was your work as Megatron initially just another job or was the process of getting the role distinctive in your career?

Left to right: Colin Farrell on the red carpet, Oprah Winfrey greeting fans, unidentified running clock man.

Read fast -- we've got 48 hours of the Toronto International Film Festival to recap and you've only got 60 seconds!

Celeb Sightings. Viggo Mortensen decisively declared that he is not "quitting acting," he just doesn't have any films lined up for now. (He's next acting in a play in Spain.) He stars in the long-awaited The Road. Matt Damon called journalists "motherf******"" and "lazy," because of false reports last week that he'd died during a mountain hike in California. He is Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! (see below).

Colin Farrell reportedly grabbed a photographer by the back of the neck, to defend the honor of his sister on the red carpet; he's in Toronto for Triage. Oprah Winfrey attended in support of Precious, Lee Daniels' Sundance hit drama that opens soon, and spoke about her personal connection to the film.

Our Coverage. In A Serious Man, Joel and Ethan Coen have delivered a film that "speaks as much with its structure as it does with its dialog," says Monika Bartyzel, yet also manages to be "wildly funny." With The Informant!, starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, you can expect "a seriously entertaining film ... about a seriously plain man," according to Scott Weinberg. Clive Owen shows a "familial heart underneath the macho exterior" in The Boys Are Back, Monika observes. Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus features Heath Ledger's final performance, but, more to the point, "feels sort of like a favorite uncle just burst through the door, smiling and loaded with nifty presents," Scott writes, after confessing his unabashed love for Terry Gilliam.

A special moment with George Clooney, and more Internet confesions - after the jump!

If you're about to dig into a mid-'90s "period piece" about a plain nebbish at a food additive company who decides to blow the whistle on his corporation's illegal price-fixing practices, well, you better get a few interesting people to bring this sort of story to the screen. With a leading man less reliable than Matt Damon and a director less colorfully unpredictable than Steven Soderbergh, a flick like this could play like a well-meaning but hopelessly yawn-worthy docu-drama. Happily, since The Informant! boasts both of those filmmakers (and a big handful of others), it turns out to be a seriously entertaining film ... about a seriously plain man.

Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a high-ranking suit for a chemical company called ADM. Essentially, these guys create all sorts of wonderful food additives, and the focal point this time around is a corn product called lysine. Only problem is that ADM and virtually all of its executives, not to mention their competitors, are knee-deep in a global "price-fixing" scheme, which (in case you didn't know) is all sorts of illegal. But while Mark seems more than willing to narc on his colleagues, simply because it's the right thing to do, it quickly becomes evident that our semi-hero is hiding more than a few skeletons inside his own closet.

I may be a jaded and cynical movie 'professional', but that doesn't mean I don't like to get in touch with my innocent side every once in awhile -- which is why, after all this time, I still get excited about the fall movie season. Now, traditionally, the fall season is the time to release those serious Oscar-type films (or awards contenders), but this year there's more to offer than just drama, and this year's slate has a little something for everyone.

This season is littered with kids movies, sci-fi and horror, and a little touch of comedy -- basically you're looking at a line-up that's all over the map. But, everyone has their own tastes, and what makes me froth at the bit may leave you cold, and inevitably some films just naturally find their way the top of your must-see list. So today, I've laid out some of my most anticipated fall flicks, and I hope you'll do the same.

September:
Well, we're already a week into the start of the season, and we've gotten Mike Judges' Extract and the action no-brainer Gamer from Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, but there are still some pretty tasty selections coming in the following weeks. So let's get started, shall we?



9 (09/09/09)
Shane Acker's tale of a post-apocalyptic world packed with 'stitchpunks' and killer machines may have had the bonus of getting a bit of a boost from the reputations of its producers (Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov), but there is still plenty of reasons to recommend the animated sci-fi tale. Judging by the buzz surrounding this flick, it could turn out to be one of the big sleeper hits of the season, but there's still the small matter of whether or not Acker's flick will be more than style over substance.

After the jump: the rest of what September has to offer, and my top picks for October and November...

Luckily, for every craptacular poster that looks like it was made by a computer-illiterate fool learning Photoshop, there are marketing drives that remind us that there is some talent out there. Recently, Erik shared the excellent Brothers poster premiere, and now Yahoo is sharing a new poster for Steven Soderbergh and Matt Damon's The Informant! (I am excited for this film, but the exclamation is all in the title. Just look to the right.)

While the first poster was funny -- in all its 40-Year-Old Virgin-esque wonder (a look quickly entering over-used land) -- the new one wonderfully balances Mark Whitacre's awkward goofiness with a classic, Vertigo-reminiscent retro style. Oh, how I love me some nostalgia -- especially attached to the humor-heavy true story of a bi-polar whistle-blower. (And also one that is corn-tastic.)

The film should hit theaters in September, but in the meantime, which posters wow you with their ability to boil down the essence of entire movie into one alluring image? Not one that just looks nice, mind you, but one that actually embodies what will appear on the big screen?