justin long Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: Planet 51
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Sony », Theatrical Reviews »
As voiced by Dwayne "the artist formerly known as The Rock" Johnson, astronaut Chuck Baker is the paragon of all-American achievement -- that is, until he conquers a far off world with an unexpected population, one inexplicably steeped in our '50s-era culture and terrified by the prospect of an alien invader in human form. More unfortunately for us, Chuck has landed smack-dab in the middle of Planet 51, a short-sighted assembly of sci-fi references and scatalogical humor that should nonetheless placate undemanding tots and, by extension, their undiscerning parents for ninety minutes or so.
Making The (Up) Grade: Galaxy Quest
Filed under: Paramount », Fandom », Home Entertainment »
What's Already Available: Paramount originally released Galaxy Quest on DVD in May of 2000, and in addition to the film, the single-disc release featured deleted scenes, an "On Location in Space" feature, a Thermian-language audio track, cast and crew bios, and production notes.
Paramount's Deluxe Edition was released on May 12, 2009, and featured a new transfer as well as several new bonus features, including "Historical Documents: The Story of Galaxy Quest," "Never Give Up. Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector," "By Grabthar's Hammer, What Amazing Effects," "Alien School - Creating the Thermian Race," "Actors in Space," "Sigourney Weaver Raps" (yes, you read that right), deleted scenes, the Thermian audio track, and the theatrical trailer.
What's In The New Set:
AFF Review: Serious Moonlight
Filed under: Comedy », Magnolia », Theatrical Reviews », Austin »
The first thing everyone seems to mention about Serious Moonlight is that its screenplay is the last one written by the late Adrienne Shelly. Actress Cheryl Hines, who had a role in Shelly's film Waitress, is making her feature directorial debut with the dark comedy, which stars Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton. The movie opened Austin Film Festival this year. It sounds like a sure-fire comedy, but unfortunately it just left me with a headache.
Serious Moonlight focuses on a married couple, Louise (Meg Ryan) and Ian (Timothy Hutton), who are supposed to meet in their country house for a rendezvous, but both arrive a day early. Louise wants to surprise her husband, but finds out that he also has a surprise: he's leaving her. She refuses to accept this, and ends up cracking him on the head with a vase, binding him with duct tape, and refusing to let him loose until he comes to his senses and realizes how much he loves her and wants to stay with her.
A Trailer for Adrienne Shelly's 'Serious Moonlight'
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Trailers and Clips »
Time flies... We're rapidly approaching the third anniversary of Adrienne Shelly's death. Although she spent almost twenty years in the business, Shelly was killed just as her career reached an inspiring new level with Waitress, the sweetly effective story of a woman and creative pie-maker coming to terms with the fact that she's having a child with the husband she hates. Shelly left behind a number of unfinished projects, one of which was Serious Moonlight, a film that Waitress co-star Cheryl Hines took over in her memory. Almost two years after that news hit, we've finally got a trailer courtesy of Yahoo. (You can see it after the jump.) I'm happy to say that Shelly's vision and personality are immediately visible in the trailer. You could almost close your eyes and imagine what she would have done with it. However, I can't figure out whether it's the casting that I'm having a problem with, or the way it's been morphed into the trailer. I still can't get past Meg Ryan's surgery. And I hate to harp on it, but one of the most charming parts of her acting was her expressive face. However, in their rather positive review, The Hollywood Reporter did say she was "terrific" in the film, and I'm really hoping I agree once it hits theaters on December 4. The rest seem fine, but the magic of the trailer definitely comes from the quirks of the story and the lingering feel of Shelly.
What do you think of the trailer?
Could Robert Redford Have Picked a Better Cast?
Filed under: Drama », Casting »
Steven Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln pic will definitely have a run for its money if it ever gets made. Robert Redford is cooking up one hell of a roster for his drama The Conspirator, which focuses on Mary Surratt's involvement with the assassination. Now Variety reports that the filmmaker has lined up the rest of his cast. First, as we already learned: Robin Wright Penn will play Mary Surratt, "the only female charged in the conspiracy to kill" Lincoln. She was said to have given John Wilkes Booth and David Herold weapons. James McAvoy, meanwhile, will play Frederick Aiken, the war hero and man tapped to defend her in court. And now:Tom Wilkinson -- Reverdy Johnson, a Surratt sympathizer and mentor to Allen, who was the former attorney general and U.S. senator.
Evan Rachel Wood -- Anna Surratt, daughter of Mary. She later had to fight for her mother's remains.
Kevin Kline -- Edwin Stanton, Lincoln's War Secretary who took charge of the crime scene after the assassination. He was very involved in the entire proceeding, including concocting a rather unique and painful hood for the accomplices while on trial.
Alexis Bledel -- Sarah Weston, the young Aiken's wife.
Justin Long -- "a role" ... The trade outlined everyone's role but his. Will this be, I dare say, Lincoln? (hah.)
Frankly, Kline would be enough to sell me, but I'm impressed both by the fresh story picked (and all the aspects Redford has to choose from), and the heaps of talent laid on it -- a mixture of names we'd expect and some surprises as well. Could this be a big twist for Long, perchance?
Exclusive Images from Christina Ricci's 'After.Life'
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images »
By: Peter Hall
Horror Squad just got our hands at a swath of exclusive images from the upcoming film After.Life, starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Long. The film, written by Paul and Agnieszka Wojtowicz Vosloo, tells the story of a woman (Ricci) drifting between her corporeal life and the after life while under the care of a funeral director (Neeson) who may or may not be intentionally trying to bury the poor woman alive.
Those details may seem vague at this point and you may never have heard of the writer/director Vosloo team, but considering the acting talent attracted to the material, I'm willing to plant After.Life firmly on my radar. If anything, the gallery bellow should help whet your appetite until more information bubbles to the surface. After. Life is currently in post-production and is due out in 2010. Special thanks to the mysterious source who passed along these images.
Check out the gallery of exclusive images over at Horror Squad
Magnolia Picks Up Adrienne Shelly's Posthumous 'Serious Moonlight'
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », New Releases », Distribution »
Among the many sad things about the 2006 murder of writer-actress-director Adrienne Shelly was the fact that she left behind a screenplay that was apparently intended to be her next film, after Waitress, which she finished just before her death. The acclaim Waitress received from critics and audiences throughout 2007 gave Shelly's husband, Andy Ostroy, even more reason to keep her spirit alive by producing the film, and now audiences will have a chance to see it.The film, Serious Moonlight, premiered at Tribeca in April, and now indieWIRE reports that it's been acquired by Magnolia Pictures, which will make it available through its video-on-demand system in November and release it theatrically in December. Cheryl Hines, who co-starred with Shelly in Waitress and is best known for her work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, directed the project, her first feature film.
Exclusive: 'Youth in Revolt' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images », Posters »
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Get ready all you Twispians, because Cinematical has just received this exclusive teaser poster for Youth in Revolt, which stars Michael Cera as the ultra-angsty (and legendary) Nick Twisp and is based on one of my favorite books of all time. Ah, what can you say about Youth in Revolt? The book, written by C.D. Payne, has amassed a huge, cult-like following partly because we can all relate to being an awkward teenager who'd do anything to capture the love of that special someone, and also because it's just damn funny.
For those who haven't read the book (seriously, read it -- the thing is hilarious), Youth in Revolt follows the misadventures of a love-sick teen who stops just short of destroying the world in order to win the love of one Sheeni Saunders. Cera plays said teen, Nick Twisp, while newcomer Portia Doubleday plays Sheeni. The film also boasts a pretty impressive supporting cast, including Steve Buscemi (as Nick's seedy, trailer-trash father), Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Fred Willard, Ray Liotta, Jean Smart and Ari Graynor. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see this cast bring some of these wacky, ridiculous (and memorable) characters to life, and I'm sure you Revolt fans are right there with me.
Youth in Revolt hits theaters on October 30. Click the image below to view entire poster.
Gallery: 'Youth in Revolt' Teaser Poster
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Discuss: The Curious Case of 'Drag Me to Hell's Button
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Thrillers », SXSW », Mystery & Suspense », Universal », Summer Movies », Polls »
(Spoilers herein.)Okay, so you lot have had two weekends now with which to see Sam Raimi's sublimely ridiculous Drag Me to Hell, and I'm seeing the debate that a couple of us waged out in front of the Paramount at SXSW last March coming back around on a grander scale, so I want to open up the floor.
Some have claimed that the third-act twist -- in which Alison Lohman's character mistakenly gives away an envelope with a quarter instead of an envelope with a cursed button and is consequently dragged to, um, Hell -- is telegraphed so far in advance that it takes the suspense out of the last reel or so, while others (including yours truly) believe that Raimi is smarter than that, and knows that we're in for this ride anyway, so even if we know that her efforts to pass on the curse are futile, we'll take a certain pleasure in knowing that her fate is sealed regardless.
Sure, Raimi could have simply cut out an insert shot of everything falling on the floor and mixing up, thus letting himself slightly, temporarily off his own hook. Lohman's character could have simply reached into her boyfriend's bag and grabbed the wrong one (oddly enough, the button falls out of her purse -- which she's holding -- but the quarter was placed in her boyfriend's bag, which is nowhere to be seen...). But he does seem to go just enough out of his way to let us know what's afoot. If you've seen the film, what do you think - rookie mistake or intentional wink?
Yeah, 'Galaxy Quest' Still Rocks
Filed under: Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Dreamworks », Home Entertainment », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Those who know and love the film will no doubt mention its innate "watchability," but newcomers to the great comedy Galaxy Quest may find themselves most intrigued by the bizarre cast. Is that Tony Shalhoub and Sam Rockwell stealing every scene that isn't nailed down? And what's Sigourney Weaver doing in a broad comedy? And wasn't that Justin Long ... and there's Missi Pyle ... and Rainn Wilson! And how is the film so funny if Tim Allen is the lead? When did Alan Rickman become so funny? And (my favorite) who is that guy playing the babbly alien leader Mathesar? He's hilarious!But the cast is not the reason that DreamWorks is re-releasing Galaxy Quest on DVD this week. Nope, it's because Dean Parisot's widely-adored Galaxy Quest is an obvious but very affectionate Star Trek satire, and what with the new Trek making all sort of waves this month, the Galaxy Quest re-release seemed like a pretty obvious idea. Clearly I believe that this fine farce deserves a spot on your DVD shelf, but is the new version actually worth the "double dip," or should you just stick with your current version?
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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