The Ugly truth Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 11/10
Filed under: New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Up
If there is one disc sure to fly off shelves this week, it's this one. The Pixar film made instant fans out of most viewers, and agonizingly ripped the rest of our hearts out with the love story opening. In her review, Jette Kernion said Up is "a very good movie that defies demographic categorization." By now, your minds are probably made, but if not: Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
The Ugly TruthHow do you follow up comments about Knocked Up being a little bit sexist? By producing and starring in a film that teaches a smart and successful woman the "ugly truth" of life from a notorious chauvinist, naturally. In his review, Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote that this romcom "actually knows next to nothing about dating advice, the behaviors of men and women, or much of anything else romantically human." Skip it and save yourself. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut
We all knew this was coming -- the step above the director's cut, the disc for uberfans of the graphic novel -- a version of the film with all of The Black Freighter interspersed as it was in print. Grab this, and you should have everything you need from the big-screen cinematic experience. If you adore all things Watchmen, Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.
Buy at Amazon
The Accidental Husband
When he wasn't spending time in Watchmen's blood and carnage, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was becoming Uma Thurman's Accidental Husband. Another one of those floofy romcoms, this flick takes Uma back to her Cats and Dogs days, but this time, she gets the radio show and the man. I imagine. Do you care? Skip it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Also out: Robsessed, Love Finds a Home, A Christmas Proposal, The Christmas Clause, Spread, Summer's Moon, The Echo, Hurt, The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger, The Line, Bad Guys
Discuss: Summer 2009 Fun Facts
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Drama », Horror », Independent », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Family Films », Remakes and Sequels », Lists », War », Summer Movies »
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.
Weekend Box Office: 'Basterds' Sets Tarantino Personal Best
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
As pleased as I am at the box office success of Quentin Tarantino's ambitious, pretty terrific Inglourious Basterds, I wonder how many of the folks who saw it this weekend knew what they were getting into. Its clever, funny marketing campaign aside, the movie is two and a half hours of mostly talking, mostly in foreign languages. Movies that fit that description do not have $37.6 million opening weekends. We should know by next weekend whether or not people were duped (and I should say that it's not clear -- the movie is plenty exciting despite, or perhaps in part because of, all the gabbing). For the moment, Inglourious Basterds, "artfully" misspelled title and all, is easily Quentin Tarantino's biggest opening. Robert Rodriguez, Tarantino's occasional partner in crime, also had a movie opening this weekend -- the kiddie 3-D adventure Shorts. With $6.6 million, Shorts actually wound up being a personal worst for Rodriguez, who has never had a movie open in wide release to weaker numbers. (The similarly low-profile The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl did roughly twice the business.) And the non-descript, poorly reviewed Post Grad joins a growing list of late-summer total non-starters, with $2.8 million on 2000 screens.
Julie & Julia continues to perform well for Sony. Aside from holding up nicely in general, it's doing well during the workweek -- and, after three weeks, is at three times its opening weekend gross. The Ugly Truth has also acquitted itself, now having surpassed Katherine Heigl's previous effort as a leading lady, 27 Dresses.
The full top 10 after the jump.
Scenes We Love: Imagine Me & You
Filed under: Romance », Scenes We Love »
What, you might fairly ask, inspired me to think of this well-meaning-but-mediocre 2005 rom-com four years later? This entry stems from my refusal to see The Ugly Truth, which I'm pretty sure is the sort of treacly, cloying, romance that I can't abide, with a contrived, ultra-sentimental happy ending shoved down our throats. Like, oh, I don't know, Must Love Dogs. Or, God forbid, Made of Honor. Two people who are meant for each other, but whom fate has kept apart for an endless 100 minutes, dramatically come together with a big heartfelt speech (or two), maybe an interrupted wedding, and, of course, a big kiss. Needless to say, not my favorite brand of crowdpleaser.Weekend Box Office: 'Harry Potter' Takes a Tumble
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
Sometimes -- more often than I'd care to admit -- I'm wrong about just how the weekend's box office will play out. But I'm rarely gobsmacked like I am this week. I expected G-Force to be part of the Disney live action also rans -- at best, I thought it would put up Race to Witch Mountain-type numbers; maybe $24 million. And I thought that it would handily be beaten by the well-liked Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, coming off a franchise record opening. That is not how the estimates have it. As of Sunday, the guinea pig spy movie is ahead of Half-Blood Prince by just over $2 million: $32.2 to Potter's $30. Potter tumbled over 60% from its opening -- actually not the biggest drop-off in series history, which honor belongs, strangely, to Prisoner of Azkaban. Though I wouldn't shed any tears for the folks at Warner Bros., what with the film's worldwide gross breaking $600 million, the drop is a bit of a disappointment for the well-reviewed sixth film. G-Force, I guess, is a triumph for talking CGI animals and 3D.
Review: The Ugly Truth
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », New Releases », Sony », Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters »
Somewhere in Hollywood I believe there's a conference room that is used for one purpose: to completely deconstruct When Harry Met Sally (1989). The walls are covered with script pages, movie stills, charts, diagrams, lists of actors, character traits, keywords, jokes and many other things. Several times a year, some men in suits enter this room. These men can see and understand all the elements that made the movie successful. They understand that Meg Ryan's Sally was neurotic and tightly wound, and they understand that Billy Crystal's Harry was slightly crude (lovably so) and free-willed. They understand that Sally's fake orgasm in the restaurant was a huge crowd-pleaser.
However, they don't understand the imprecise factors, things like human interaction, and romance and chemistry, things that happen all by themselves during a lucky production and can't be planned or replicated. But they nevertheless cobble together a few rough ideas and greenlight the next romantic comedy. The absolutely awful The Ugly Truth is the latest result. Katherine Heigl plays the new neurotic, tightly wound heroine, Abby Richter, who is the producer of a "Today Show"-type morning television news show. Because of her overly-planned, risk-free programming, the show's ratings are faltering. One night she stumbles upon a cable access, love advice show called "The Ugly Truth" and immediately clashes with its slightly crude (lovably so) and free-willed host, Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler).
Box Office: The Force of Truthful Orphans
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Family Films », Box Office Predictions »
As expected, Harry Potter cast an effective spell over moviegoers taking the top spot at the box office and out grossing the series' last installment. Here's the top five:
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $77.8 million ($158 million for Wednesday through Sunday)
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: $17.6 million
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $13.7 million
4. Bruno: $8.3 million
5. The Proposal: $8.3 million
This is the first time since the beginning of June that we've had three major releases in a single weekend.
G-Force
What's It All About: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Oscar-winning effects artist Hoyt Yeatman, G-Force is a 3-D family comedy about talking guinea pigs working in the field of high tech espionage.
Why It Might Do Well: No doubt this was greenlit after Alvin and the Chipmunks started raking in the dough. If CGI chipmunks can pull in $360 million worldwide then why not guinea pigs? The impressive voice cast, which includes Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, and Tracy Morgan, can only help matters.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Have you ever actually smelled a guinea pig?
Number of Theaters: 3,200
Prediction: $29 million
Orphan
What's It All About: Thriller about a couple who adopt a young girl whose sweet and innocent demeanor is covering up much darker tendencies.
Why It Might Do Well: The creepy little kid horror sub-genre has a long history as I mentioned here.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The notion of a homicidal rug rat may be too disturbing for some.
Number of Theaters: 2,600
Prediction: $14 million
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $77.8 million ($158 million for Wednesday through Sunday)
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: $17.6 million
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $13.7 million
4. Bruno: $8.3 million
5. The Proposal: $8.3 million
This is the first time since the beginning of June that we've had three major releases in a single weekend.
G-ForceWhat's It All About: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Oscar-winning effects artist Hoyt Yeatman, G-Force is a 3-D family comedy about talking guinea pigs working in the field of high tech espionage.
Why It Might Do Well: No doubt this was greenlit after Alvin and the Chipmunks started raking in the dough. If CGI chipmunks can pull in $360 million worldwide then why not guinea pigs? The impressive voice cast, which includes Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, and Tracy Morgan, can only help matters.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Have you ever actually smelled a guinea pig?
Number of Theaters: 3,200
Prediction: $29 million
OrphanWhat's It All About: Thriller about a couple who adopt a young girl whose sweet and innocent demeanor is covering up much darker tendencies.
Why It Might Do Well: The creepy little kid horror sub-genre has a long history as I mentioned here.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The notion of a homicidal rug rat may be too disturbing for some.
Number of Theaters: 2,600
Prediction: $14 million
'The Ugly Truth' of Vibrating Underwear
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Trailers and Clips »
I now take back any defense I gave Katherine Heigl for her comments about Knocked Up. I was already on my way there when I heard about The Ugly Truth and its premise where a smart and successful woman turns to a chauvinist to learn about nabbing her beau. I hit the brink with the second trailer where she actually tries to deep throat a hot dog and stick out her chest to get the guy, while he says every pervish thing he can think of. And now ... now there's vibrating underwear.In the clip after the jump, so appropriately coming to us from Coming Soon, Heigl's character gets a little vibrating gift as she gets ready for a date. She decides to put on the panty rocket and then gets whisked off on a half-date/half-business meeting. At no time does she decide to excuse herself to take off these things, and in fact, gets into some hot trouble when the remote falls into the hands of a kid at the next table. Heigl channels When Harry Met Sally, poorly I might add, and Gerard Butler watches in amusement.
Heigl... How any woman who notes chauvinism in a Judd Apatow movie can then take on this schlock is beyond my comprehension. Furthermore, take away Butler's charm and put ... hmm ... let's say Steve Buscemi into the role -- is it still all romantically funny, or does it get downright creepy? Actually, now that would be a movie -- The Ugly Truth, where a romcom tries to deliver this bull pucky to audiences without a dapper leading man to make it palatable.
Check Out Some Red-Banded Fun From 'The Ugly Truth'
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Sony », Fandom », Newsstand », NSFW », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »
First off, I should be fair and post a classy publicity still that's fair to Katherine Heigl, but I feel the girls need something to balance out this week's Megan Fox overload. So, here's a solo Gerard Butler. Pretend he's holding that heart out while saying "I could never love Optimus Prime or Megan Fox as much as I love you." (Not that I'm implying Transformers is just for the boys. I'd never do that. If you like, you can reverse it to have him begging for you to love him more than Shia LaBeouf and Optimus.)
If you want to hold onto that lovey-dovey image, you might not want to watch this Red-Band clip from The Ugly Truth. But if you're feeling in the mood for some raunchy, naughty talk from Butler (be sure to listen for a slip of that Scottish accent), then go right ahead and click. In this very NSFW clip, Butler's boorish Mike offers Heigl's highstrung Abby some helpful tips on how to really attract and please a man. Surprise! It's all cosmetic, ranging from short skirts to push up bras, and just what she can do with her ponytail. Could all this R-rated dialogue mean The Ugly Truth is destined to be July's Hangover? Or will the romance drive away the ones looking for raunch?
As I wait for your comments (please come back to post one after you watch the clip) I'm off to go hate on myself because I fail all of The Ugly Truth rules. I live in jeans and a ponytail ... oh, who am I kidding. I've gone beyond Heigl's "comfort and efficiency" into fashion evocative of Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski. Butler will never love me. I might as well die.
If you want to hold onto that lovey-dovey image, you might not want to watch this Red-Band clip from The Ugly Truth. But if you're feeling in the mood for some raunchy, naughty talk from Butler (be sure to listen for a slip of that Scottish accent), then go right ahead and click. In this very NSFW clip, Butler's boorish Mike offers Heigl's highstrung Abby some helpful tips on how to really attract and please a man. Surprise! It's all cosmetic, ranging from short skirts to push up bras, and just what she can do with her ponytail. Could all this R-rated dialogue mean The Ugly Truth is destined to be July's Hangover? Or will the romance drive away the ones looking for raunch?
As I wait for your comments (please come back to post one after you watch the clip) I'm off to go hate on myself because I fail all of The Ugly Truth rules. I live in jeans and a ponytail ... oh, who am I kidding. I've gone beyond Heigl's "comfort and efficiency" into fashion evocative of Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski. Butler will never love me. I might as well die.
'The Ugly Truth' Gets a Pretty New Trailer
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Sony », Movie Marketing », ShoWest », Summer Movies », Trailers and Clips »
Oh, Gerard Butler. How do I reconcile my feelings towards you? I go from crushing hard on you to wanting to smack you in the face when you show up in the tabloids and TMZ. (I miss the days when I knew you only as "that Scottish dude from the Tomb Raider sequel.")
But don't take that too personally Mr. Butler, because it's also how I feel about the trailer for The Ugly Truth. (I miss the days when I knew you only as Pillow Talk.)
I mean, it looks funny. I laugh and yet it also causes me to wince, not only at its predictability, but at what it might really be saying about men, women, and dating. Even knowing how it must happily turn out, it's still the kind of story that makes me feel all squirmy and insecure, and tempted to join a nunnery lest I encounter "hilarious" situations like this.
So, without further whining, here's the latest trailer for The Ugly Truth, courtesy of MySpace's Trailer Park. You might remember that the raunchy romantic comedy was supposed to be released this month, but was pushed back to compete with Judd Apatow. Some scenes were played at ShoWest last week to a lot of laughs and thumbs-up, which made Sony very confident in that July 24 date. See what you think.
But don't take that too personally Mr. Butler, because it's also how I feel about the trailer for The Ugly Truth. (I miss the days when I knew you only as Pillow Talk.)
I mean, it looks funny. I laugh and yet it also causes me to wince, not only at its predictability, but at what it might really be saying about men, women, and dating. Even knowing how it must happily turn out, it's still the kind of story that makes me feel all squirmy and insecure, and tempted to join a nunnery lest I encounter "hilarious" situations like this.
So, without further whining, here's the latest trailer for The Ugly Truth, courtesy of MySpace's Trailer Park. You might remember that the raunchy romantic comedy was supposed to be released this month, but was pushed back to compete with Judd Apatow. Some scenes were played at ShoWest last week to a lot of laughs and thumbs-up, which made Sony very confident in that July 24 date. See what you think.
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