craig bierko Tagged Articles at Cinematical
TIFF Watch: First Look Picks Up a Hefty 'Bill'
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Deals », Distribution », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
The Toronto International Film Festival may be winding down toward its close tonight, but that doesn't mean the dealing has stopped. Late Thursday night, according to The Hollywood Reporter, First Look Studios ponied up more than $3 million for US rights to the comedy Bill, starring Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba, with Elizabeth Banks and Timothy Olyphant also featured. THR says the price makes it "the heftiest sale of the event."Bill is based on a script by Melisa Wallack and directed by Wallack and Bernie Goldmann. Eckhart plays the titular character, who is "fed up with his job, his wife and his life," according to a description by GreeneStreet Films. "Bill's life hits an all-time low when he catches his wife having an affair with a local news anchor." He turns to an "unruly, but curiously wise" teen that he's mentoring for inspiration. Banks plays his wife, Olyphant is the news anchor, Logan Lerman is the teen, and Alba is a lingerie salesgirl (!!!) who helps him in more ways than the obvious (we hope). Reliable comedy players Craig Bierko, Melissa Coughlan and Kristen Wiig round out the cast.
Eckhart can be deadpan funny, as in Thank You for Smoking, and I've loved both Banks and Olyphant in most everything they've done lately. With this role and Good Luck Chuck, it looks like Alba is at least trying to expand her range a bit. Co-director Goldmann has been a producer for years, with 300 and George A. Romero's Land of the Dead being his most prominent credits. Wallack appears to be a newcomer. First Look Studios plans a theatrical release for Bill, though no date has been set.
Review: Scary Movie 4 -- Scott's Take
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », New Releases », New in Theaters », The Weinstein Co. », Remakes and Sequels »
It all started, more or less, with a kooky little movie released way back in 1980. It was called Airplane!, and I think it's one of the finest American comedies ever made. (Yes, I'm serious ... and don't call me Shirley.) Not many young filmmakers can rightfully claim to have created an entirely new sub-genre, but the goofball team of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker were just silly enough to chance upon a comedy gold-mine: straight-faced, yet unequivocably outlandish satire that could effectively skewer a convention as readily as embrace it. (Let's face it: Airplane! poked a lot of fun at Zero Hour and the four Airport movies, but I bet you the ZAZ boys really like those flicks.)
With the disaster genre well and duly spooferized, the trio went on to lampoon spy movies (1984's hilarious Top Secret!) and police procedurals (Police Squad! on television and The Naked Gun trilogy in theaters) before mounting their first "straight" farce -- a rather brilliant kidnapping comedy called Ruthless People. After that, the boys amicably chose to go their separate ways: Jim Abrahams would go on to direct Big Business (1988) and Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael (1990) before heading back to spoofsville with Hot Shots! (1991), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), and Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998); Jerry Zucker would move on to direct Ghost (1990), First Knight (1995), and Rat Race (2001); his brother Dave would solo-helm the first two Naked Gun flicks, as well as BASEketball (1998) and My Boss's Daughter (2003). So clearly these are the guys to talk to when the topic of conversation is "movie spoofs."
Review: Scary Movie 4 -- Rob's Take
Filed under: Comedy », New Releases », New in Theaters », The Weinstein Co. », Remakes and Sequels »
A good parody is hard to spin beyond the here and now. Take "Weird Al" Yankovic, for example. The pop-music jokester has put out 11 regular albums since 1983, when the accordian-playing nice guy's spoof of The Knack's "My Sharona" (titled "My Bologna" and recorded in the men's room of his college radio station) started his career as a musician, comedic icon and food fetishist when it blew up on The Dr. Demento Show. However, every hilarious and unforgettable cut like "Eat It", "Like A Surgeon" and "Smells Like Nirvana" that hit was matched by fade-away tracks like the New Kids jape "The White Stuff" (an ode to Oreos), the Rocky III goof "Theme From Rocky XIII (The Rye Or The Kaiser)" or the misjudgment "Taco Grande" (a riff on Latin rough-boy Gerardo's only hit, "Rico Suave"). The secret to a successful parody is complex, involving a careful balance of picking a song that is big enough, worthy of a good-natured dressing down and most important, funny. The same is true with movies, and the latest in the popular Scary Movie series is a great example of what can go right and wrong with such an attempt.
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