knocked up Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Weekend Box Office: 'Funny People' for the Modest Win
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
Attempting to market Funny People as a typical Adam Sandler comedy was quixotic, and as another laugh riot from the Apatow factory only marginally less so. Still, the combination of Sandler and Apatow (and, probably, Rogen) was enough to get the off-kilter, two-and-a-half-hour dramedy off to a $23 million start -- not one for the record books, but hey, not too far off the opening numbers for Apatow's Knocked Up and Sandler's Bedtime Stories. There are shades of M. Night Shyamalan in Judd Apatow, in the way that he appears to be moving from blockbuster crowdpleasers to more personal, slightly odd films that not everyone "gets." Aliens in the Attic, hidden from critics and not really sold as any sort of event, unsurprisingly ended up with a middling $7.8 million -- a minor opening for a minor flick. The independently-distributed horror film The Collector, from some of the folks behind the Saw franchise, debuted in 11th place and $3.6 million; not great either, but probably above expectations, and perhaps an indication of how many ticket buyers are willing to see a horror movie, any horror movie, on a given weekend. (500) Days of Summer continues to do very well in limited release, with the highest per-screen average in the top 20. Next week, when the film expands to over 1000 screens, will be the real test.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince found its footing a bit in its third weekend after last week's big tumble; it won't wind up atop the franchise, but may make a run for second place. And I was glad to see Orphan hold up at least semi-respectably after a weak start. That's one summer movie that deserves better than it got.
The weekend's top 12 after the jump.
Rogen & Apatow Speak Out on Heigl v. 'Knocked Up'
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy »
This week has been all about drama behind the scenes in Hollywood, so why not kick off the weekend with a little more? Well before Summit fought a sh*tstorm over recasting Victoria, Katherine Heigl was irking fans with her comments on Knocked Up. Although she tried to smooth things over, the damage was done. For a while, I saw where she was coming from ... until she decided to produce and star in a little project called The Ugly Truth. And it looks like I wasn't the only one to note the hypocrisy. While making the rounds for Funny People, Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow stopped by Howard Stern, as US Magazine reports. They were asked about Heigl's comments, and Rogen noted that Truth "looks like it really puts women on a pedestal in a beautiful way." Meanwhile, Apatow tried to be a bit diplomatic, noting potential fatigue from working the circuit. Rogen, however, would have none of it. "I didn't slip and I was doing f****** interviews all day too ... I didn't say s***!"
Apatow wrapped up his thoughts on the matter with: "[You think] at some point I'll get a call saying 'Sorry, I was tired...' and then the call never comes."
Maybe it'll come once every bridge in Hollywood's been burned.
Just How Funny is Seth Rogen Anyway?
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Trailers and Clips »
So maybe I was a little late to the party, but over the weekend I finally caught a screening of Observe and Report and as I wandered from the theater in a misanthropic haze, I began to wonder: Just how funny is Seth Rogen? Being hailed "the new hero of comedy" is a lot of pressure for anyone -- and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't like the guy; I know he's a great writer and a whiz at improv, but after getting a load of the darker side of Rogen's range as Ronnie Barnhardt I was kind of happy to see that maybe he wasn't the soft and fuzzy stoner (not to mention one-note wonder) that Hollywood would like us to believe.
Think back to 1999 when Rogen made his acting debut in Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks as the acid tongued 'freak', Ken Miller; it was a role that was perfect for Rogen's sarcastic laid back style, and he's been doing a variation of it ever since. Whether it was Cal from 40 Year Old Virgin, Ben in Knocked Up, or Zack Brown in Zack and Miri Make a Porno, each character wasn't necessarily someone you wanted to bring home to Mom, but they charmed audiences nonetheless. Sure they were all kind of jerks, but they were all loveable jerks, and more importantly they were relatively 'toothless' when it came to their bad behavior -- compared to Ronnie, Officer Michaels was practically a choirboy.
Fan Made: Hilarious Movie Poster Anagrams
Filed under: Fandom »
Every once and awhile we here at Cinematical like to hop on over and visit our disturbed friends at Worth1000 to see what new (and inspiring) photoshop contest they're currently promoting. Well, not long ago they ran one called Movie Anagrams, and the rules were pretty simple: Find a movie poster, create a new anagram based on the film's title and alter the original poster to fit that new title. Users were not allowed to add any letters to fit their new title, and so they had to create an anagram from only the existing letters.
The contest itself was inspired by the number of people who were messing around with the title of the latest James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, and the end result produced some pretty hilarious movie posters -- like the one above, which is obviously a spoof on the poster for Knocked Up. We've added a few of our favorites to the gallery below, so check them out. You can see the rest over at Worth1000.
Bored At Work? Listen To A Movie!
Filed under: Fandom », Home Entertainment »
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This is a very cool little tool, especially for those of you movie nerds stuck in cubicles all day long with nothing but the latest hipster wannabee music to listen to. A good friend of mine just sent over a link to this site called Listen To A Movie, which boasts right on its main page that it's "For The Cubicle Workers Of The World." Essentially, it's exactly as it sounds: There's literally hundreds of films that you can just listen to. Not only that, but some of them even give you the option to also listen to that film's commentary! Does it get any better?
Once you click on a movie title, it gives you the cast, the year it came out, its IMDB rating and its user rating. Additionally, the ratings, year and genre are also listed next to the title on the main page -- and you can search by any one of these categories as well. It doesn't look like they have any 2008 films yet, but a bunch of flicks from 2007 are on there, like Knocked Up, Transformers and Wild Hogs. Pretty neat tool if you ask me, so try it out and let us know what you think.
[Thanks Aaron and Dana!]
Interview: Rainn Wilson
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », New Releases », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Interviews »
Above: Rainn Wilson lets his hair down for The Rocker.
Fans of Rainn Wilson's offbeat, hilarious and strangely endearing performance as Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office might expect him to transition into film work with straightforward comedy, and The Rocker confirms that suspicion. However, they might not realize the serious professional motives behind his choice. In the movie, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Grown Monty), Wilson plays a grown-up dolt named Fish with a scary fixation on classic rock. Abandoned by the band Vesuvius in his teens -- before they became a commercial phenomenon -- Fish spends the next twenty years working deadbeat jobs and wishing things happened differently. Naturally, he gets a second chance: When the opportunity rolls around to drum for his nephew's high school, Fish goes for it. Ageism and slapstick humor ensue.
While not exactly a classic, The Rocker proves Wilson has the charisma to carry a movie. The script could use some polishing, but Wilson manages to play a completely dysfunctional human being without ever becoming an annoyance. It's a testament to his skill as an actor with calculated timing. The humor emerges from the naturalism of his performances, which make you believe in the outlandish characters he portrays. In a conversation with Cinematical recently, Wilson elaborated on his particular strategies as his career advances, reminisced about his days as a New York theater actor, and shed some light on a few upcoming projects.
R-Rated Comedies Fare Poorly at the Box Office
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », New Releases », Box Office », Distribution », Exhibition »
According to a report conducted by Nielsen PreView published today in The Hollywood Reporter, R-rated comedies don't do so hot at the box office. The timing of these findings seems odd, considering that Step Brothers made a solid $30 million last weekend, while analysts are predicting that another summer comedy slapped with the restricted label, Tropic Thunder, will collect at least that much. Right in the middle of those two releases comes Pineapple Express, which, like Step Brothers and Tropic Thunder, has a built-in core audience interested in raunchy masculine humor. The findings of this report suggest that larger audiences don't want to attend R-rated movies, but it's sort of a pointless observation because R-rated comedies are only made for people who want to see them. Everyone else can check out You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Of course, there is the occasional R-rated comedy with cross-over appeal, such as Knocked Up, but studios are probably hesitant to make many of those when a safely PG-13 Juno will suffice. Anyway, it's usually not difficult for Hollywood movies to trim a few vulgarities or the fleeting shot of exposed skin in order to knock down the rating a notch and maximize turnout. Horror films are a different story: They usually make bank with the R-rating intact.
Speaking to the 18 and over audience here: Do ratings play any role in the movies you choose to see?
Next Spoof Flick to Attack 'Superbad'
Filed under: Comedy », RumorMonger », DIY/Filmmaking »
Well, we knew it wouldn't be too long before writer/director's Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer tortured us with yet another one of their awful "spoof" movies. And I put the word 'spoof' in quotations because I don't believe they're making spoof films; they're making sh*tty films. It's a whole new genre. Moviehole tells us the two dudes behind such instant microwave classics as Meet the Spartans and Epic Movie will next give us Goodie Two Shoes. Apparently, the "film" will follow "a group of friends who go on a life-changing adventure." MH tells us the main movie being "spoofed" here is Superbad, which means the "group of friends" in the description will probably resemble Jonah Hill, McLovin,' etc ... I wouldn't even be surprised if they threw in a few cracks at some other Apatow films like Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. What was that? The latter film hasn't even come out yet? Oh, I know -- but that won't stop these boys from spoofing it. In fact, MH says they'll also be going after Will Smith's Hancock, Sex and the City and The Love Guru. WTF? So now we're writing jokes about films that haven't even hit theaters, and won't for a couple months? I can't. I won't. Where's the gun?
Discuss: Do High School Boys Find Juno Hot?
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », Fandom », Fox Searchlight », Oscar Watch »
Jeff Wells is beating his drum again about Jason Reitman casting Ellen Page in the role of Juno, asserting that most high school guys -- even the dorkerific Michael Cera -- wouldn't find her attractive, much less want to have sex with her. Wells first brought this up back in December, calling Page "great but miscast," and got ripped a new one by many of his readers for it, but maybe he just likes the abuse ... or stirring up a little controversy. Having just interviewed a pack of highschoolers for their Oscar predictions (more on that later) and hearing what they have to say about Juno, the film, and Ellen Page as Juno, the character, I think Wells must be smoking something, or else he's just been living out there in La-La Land for way too long.
If it's believable that women would find Seth Rogen's character in Knocked Up sexually attractive, it's certainly plausible that high school guys would be hot for a smart girl like Juno, even if she's not a blond cheerleader with big boobs. What do you folks think? Do guys go for the smart, sassy, somewhat dorky chicks, even if they're petite and perky rather than Hollywood-hot (whatever that is)? Discuss away ...
Moviefone's Top 25 Romance Films of All Time!
Filed under: Romance », Fandom », Lists », Hold the 'Fone »
What makes a film romantic? Is it the setting, the dialogue, the actors, the sex? And when your snuggling up next to your significant other this Valentine's Day, which films will you prefer to slide into the DVD player? Moviefone has assembled the definitive list -- the top 25 romance films of all time -- and now it's up to you to decide what they got right, what they got wrong and what they didn't get at all. Of course, Casablanca tops off the list at number one (is there a list in which Casablanca is not featured in the numero uno spot?), but following closely behind are Titanic (#2), Wuthering Heights (#3), An Affair to Remember (#4) and Gone with the Wind (#5). Obviously, when we're talking romance flicks, they don't make them like they used to.
When it comes to films made within the past few years, we don't find one until Brokeback Mountain shows up at number 12, followed by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at number 15, and last year's Atonement at 18. Personally, I have a few issues with placement -- not so much with the films themselves -- like why Sleepless in Seattle is at 25 when it should've been higher. Films that didn't make the cut? Surprisingly, not many romantic comedies made the list. Even though they rely more on humor, some of us enjoy a little laughter with our cheesy romance. That being said, why not throw When Harry Met Sally a bone? Or even last year's Knocked Up? Either way, let us know what you think about the list below -- which films belong in different spots, which don't belong on the list at all and which are your favorites?
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