john goodman Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Shelf Life: Monsters, Inc.
Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Disney », Home Entertainment », Shelf Life »
On November 10, 2009, Walt Disney Home Entertainment is releasing a 4-disc Blu-ray set for Monsters, Inc., Pete Docter's feature directorial debut. Much like Finding Nemo set the stage for what Andrew Stanton eventually did on Wall-E, the 2001 Pixar film offers a glimpse of what was yet to come from Docter – who went on to direct this summer's Up, also out next week – but it also reiterates some of the themes that run throughout all of the studio's best work, including the concept of an alternate perspective on a place or idea that seems obvious, and the idea of families that are both familiar and unconventional. But how effectively does it examine and explore those things, particularly in light of what the studio has done since?
Suffice it to say that the Blu-ray set offers not only the best presentation of the film imaginable, but a bounty of extra content that expands the film's universe in new and interesting ways. As for the movie itself?
You Don't Know Jack... Kevorkian!
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Home Entertainment »
I really don't know who thought You Don't Know Jack would be a great title for an HBO biopic about Jack Kevorkian, the doc who spent eight years in jail for his role in assisting the terminally ill to commit suicide, but whoever you are, I applaud you. It adds a smidge of levity (and inappropriate humor, my favorite kind!) to what is sure to be a rather dark feature, indeed.Al Pacino has taken on the role of Kevorkian, a friendly enough looking older fellow whose name has become synonymous with assisted suicide. (Now is not the time for jokes about his roles in Righteous Kill or 88 Minutes and what effects either might have had on movie-goers.) Kevorkian's interest in dying patients, his creation of a device to assist the terminally ill in their own suicides, and his own work helping 130 people with terminal diseases end their own lives earned him the nickname Dr. Death, about eight years in jail, and a Time magazine cover.
Tony Montana will be joined by Susan Sarandon and John Goodman in You Don't Know Jack, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The pic is a "loose" adaptation of the book Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia by Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie. I haven't read the book, but it seems like a somewhat empathetic look at this controversial man. Noted political activist Sarandon has been cast as Janet Good, an advocate of the right-to-die movement who took her own life because of pancreatic cancer.
Exclusive: 'The Princess and the Frog' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Animation », Disney », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images », Posters »
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Click the image below to view entire poster
Cinematical has just received this beautiful exclusive teaser poster for Disney's The Princess and the Frog, which marks the studio's triumphant return to 2D hand-drawn animation. Featuring the voices of Anika Noni Rose (as Princess Tiana), Oprah Winfrey, Keith David, Jim Cummings, John Goodman, Jenifer Lewis, Bruno Campos, Michael-Leon Wooley, Peter Bartlett and Terrence Howard, The Princess and the Frog is based on E.D. Baker's classic novel The Frog Princess, except this film -- written and directed by the filmmaking duo of John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules) -- is set in New Orleans, stars a singing crocodile and features Disney's first African-American princess. Famed songwriter/composer Randy Newman (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc.) lent his familiar voice to the soundtrack, which I'm sure will carve out its special place alongside Disney's long list of memorable tracks.
The first trailer for The Princess and the Frog was also just released on Apple (watch it there or after the jump), and folks will have a chance to see the film when it hits theaters in New York and LA on November 25th before expanding wide on December 11th. Click the image below to view entire poster -- does this look like vintage Disney, or what?
Gallery: The Princess and the Frog
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Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Disney », Theatrical Reviews »
I keep hearing concern that it is grossly inappropriate and perhaps even irresponsible to release a movie with a title like Confessions of a Shopaholic during the current economic downturn. I didn't find that to be an issue. My concern is that during an economic crisis, I want far more escapist fare than this adaptation of Sophie Kinsella's novel, which is far too lame and annoying to make me forget about my own little fiscal crises.
The biggest problem with Confessions of a Shopaholic is that the main character, Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher), is even dumber than the store mannequins she imagines are beckoning her to buy things she can't afford. I nearly stopped reading the book mid-Chapter 2 because I wanted to smack Rebecca for her unbelievable cluelessness. Rebecca is just as flaky in the movie, and worse yet, never reaches even the tiny level of self-awareness of her counterpart in the book. Maybe the point is that you can feel happily superior to her, but I don't find that especially enjoyable.
Exclusive: 'Gigantic' Poster Premiere
Filed under: Movie Marketing », Images », Posters »
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Cinematical has received this exclusive poster for the film Gigantic, starring Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel and John Goodman (check out the full-sized version in the gallery below). Co-written and directed by Matt Aselton, Gigantic follows a depressed mattress salesman (Dano) who, while on a quest to adopt a Chinese baby, is sidetracked when he falls in love with a girl named Happy (Deschanel). Completely bizarre plot, but I have no problem whatsoever watching Deschanel in anything, and it's damn good to see our buddy Dano back up on the big screen (that yellow on the poster remind you of anything?). Oh, and I should mention that Ed Asner and Jane Alexander co-star. Right on! Click on the image below to see the full poster.
Gigantic hits theaters (in limited release) on April 3. Check out a full synopsis after the jump.
Gallery: 'Giantic' Poster
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John Goodman Heads Back to 'Pope Joan' with the Creepy Eden Fletcher
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Deals », Celebrities and Controversy », Religious »
It can be a challenge just to work with people you clash heads with, but imagine going back to work after a big lawsuit? Back in April of 2007, John Goodman started off the Pope Joan plague by backing out of the project and getting sued. Then there were those director kerfuffles, and then star Franka Potente had to back out because the film was taking too damned long to come together. But now at least one drama is righting itself.Variety reports that the case between Goodman and Constantin films has been settled, and he is once again starring in the film as Pope Sergius. But that's not all. David Wenham has also signed on to the film and will play Gerold, "a kind knight who becomes Joan's greatest love" as she disguises herself as a man and takes the papal throne. Too bad he's not playing a creepy guy again. He was excellent as Eden Fletcher in The Proposition.
With the cast now in place, the film is finally schedule to begin production next month in Germany and Morocco.
New 'Lebowski' DVD May Be Right Up Your Alley
Filed under: Comedy », Universal », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Movie Marketing »
To triple dip or to wait? That is the question facing Dude-loving fans of the Coen Brothers' cracked comedy The Big Lebowski, which is due out on September 9 in a Tenth Anniversary Edition from Universal Home Video. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, and Julianne Moore star. The announcement was made without details on bonus features; DVD Active has now posted pictures of the menu screens, so we know what's new.
The Big Lebowski was initially released on DVD in 1998, and then was remastered for the 2005 Collectors' Edition. That edition included a "making of" feature, photos by Jeff Bridges, and a brief, jokey introduction. Those extras were included on the HD-DVD edition, released in June 2007 (and reviewed at High-Def Digest). The Tenth Anniversary Edition features those extras plus more: "The Dude's Life," "The Dude Abides: The Big Lebowski Ten Years Later," production notes, theatrical trailer, "The Lebowski Fest: An Achiever's Story," "Flying Carpets and Bowling Pin Dreams: The Dream Sequences of the Dude," interactive map, and photo gallery.
A standard Tenth Anniversary Edition will reportedly retail for $19.98, while a Limited Edition "in special bowling ball packaging" (pictured) will also be available. No news on a Blu-ray edition, though, so the question remains: will you triple dip or wait for Blu-ray? Or will you roll this sucker into your alley? The Dude wants to know.
Crap! Franka's No Longer Pope Joan
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Casting », Celebrities and Controversy », Religious », Cinematical Indie »
Next time Terry Gilliam gets down about his bad luck, he should talk to Constantin Film about Pope Joan. In October of 2006, Franka Potente signed on. In April 2007, John Goodman got sued for backing out of the feature. That made production stop. Then director Volker Schlöndorff was fired over comments he made to a paper. Last we heard, there was a new director, Sönke Wortmann, but that was last August.And I just had to go and say: "How funny would it be if she could no longer do it? Also disappointing, since I'd love to see her really command a period piece." The Hollywood Reporter posts that due to scheduling conflicts from the rampant delays, Franka is out and German actress Johanna Wokalek is in as Pope Joan. That news just, well, sucks. It would've been a great opportunity for Franka, and Wokalek isn't well-known stateside, which could affect the production further.
But here's where things get weird. It seems that although he was sued and left eons ago, "Constantin said Wednesday that it remains in talks with Goodman and that the actor could still join the cast." That would certainly help foreign cred, but is he really still around? Is this just due to the lawsuit? The whole production just seems like a mess.
Should I even bother saying that principle photography is now set for August, with the film's release set for 2009? Will this come to fruition, or are more problems on the way?
Review: Speed Racer
Filed under: Action », New Releases », Tribeca », Warner Brothers », Theatrical Reviews », Family Films », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
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I don't know a lot about Speed Racer aside from what I've gleaned from the theme song over the years -- apparently, the young man's a demon on wheels -- so, in many ways, I'm the best possible audience for Larry and Andy Wachowski's new big-screen interpretation of the character. Originally a Japanese animation program exported and re-dubbed for the American market in the '60s, Speed Racer has now been revived and revitalized for now. And the Wachowskis have created a blast of pure pop family fun; Speed Racer's a bright, bold visual spectacle designed for kids.
And why shouldn't it be? Or, rather, how could it not? This is a property where one of the supporting characters is, after all, a monkey; any fully-grown individual hoping for an adult action film or racing realism is looking in the wrong place. Speed Racer plays like a car-crazed visual wonder -- it looks and feels like what pop artist Roy Lichtenstein would dream if you locked him in a room full of gas fumes, gave him only candy to eat and showed him nothing but Tron, Indianapolis 500 footage, episodes of the '60s Batman TV show and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All at the same time. With the volume very, very high.
Joan Cusack & John Goodman Want to Be Shopaholics Too!
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Casting »
After delays presumably linked to the little tot that Isla Fisher just had with Sacha Baron Cohen, the adaptation of Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic has finally gone into production -- with some shopaholic-breeding parents along for the ride. Variety reports that Joan Cusack and John Goodman have signed on to play Rebecca's (Fisher) parental units in the comedy.I say "Yay!" to the casting, because Joan and not-brother John are great, but oh, I love how real-life ages never really factor in. That is, unless Joan's character had the money-obsessed daughter in her early teens. Joan is 45, and Isla is 32. Luckily, the credit card-addicted heroine of the film is 25. This is just like The Graduate, where Anne Bancroft was only 6 years older than Dustin Hoffman, when she was really supposed to be old enough to be his mother.
Anyhow, this shallow shopping extravaganza is currently shooting in New York and Connecticut, and is scheduled to hit theaters just in time for Cupid's next holiday on February 13, 2009.
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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