over her dead body Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Today, as millions of (mostly) men are watching the Super Bowl, possibly witnessing the Patriots make history (sorry Erik), millions of (mostly) girls are watching Miley Cyrus (aka "Hannah Montana") make history of her own. As you read this, across the country the 3D concert film Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour is selling out its show times for the day. Actually, it's more likely that at many theaters show times have long been sold out.

On Friday, when the Disney release opened, I took a look at the status of the weekend show times in the tri-state area on Moviefone, Movietickets.com and Fandango. Most times were already unavailable. But I had no way of knowing how recently those times had sold out, because tickets went on sale back on December 1, and many people (our own Kim Voynar and her daughter included) bought theirs way in advance. As Kim mentioned last week, Fandango announced that more than 1,000 show times had already been sold out and that theaters were trying to squeeze in more screenings. The online ticketing company also announced that since December 1, the film has been one of its top selling titles and that this past week the film accounted for 91% of all the company's online ticket sales (compared to 1% each for Rambo, 27 Dresses and Cloverfield).

Even when a movie looks unpromising, you can often find some ray of hope that gets you to the theater or eventually the DVD. In the case of Over Her Dead Body, I latched optimistically onto Paul Rudd. (Not literally. Unfortunately.) Rudd has that rare and magnetic combination of good looks and great comic delivery that worked so well for his supporting characters in Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman and other movies that didn't involve Judd Apatow ... not to mention a recurring role in the last season of Friends as Phoebe's boyfriend. (Ohh, to have to choose between Hank Azaria and Paul Rudd. Geek girls everywhere are sighing with me.)

You can imagine my disillusion when I realized that because Rudd is playing a guy who is deeply mourning his dead lover, someone decided he should look wan and tired. This devotion to reflecting his character's stress and debilitation is truly unnecessary -- it's a movie that includes ghosts and angels, so why would you invoke realism and give a romantic lead these dark circles under his eyes? Very sad, indeed.

Rudd plays the mournful Henry, a veterinarian whose self-centered, bitchy fiancee Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) is killed in a freak accident on their wedding day. Kate finds herself in Limbo and after insulting the angel who is supposed to help her, ends up as a ghost back on Earth with no idea what to do. She decides it must be her job to protect Henry from encroaching females. Meanwhile, a year after Kate's death, Henry's kooky sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) drags him to a psychic who hopefully can assure him that Kate is resting in peace, so he can move on with his life. The part-time psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), is a flaky caterer who is willing to help Henry after Chloe insists ... and also because she's attracted to Henry. Kate doesn't like any of this hanky-panky, and Hilarity Ensues.

If you had told be last week that we'd be seeing Meet the Spartans at the top of this week's list I'd have laughed heartily and perhaps have made a rude gesture or two. Judging by most of the entries in last week's box office competition I'm not the only one surprised. Rambo came in a close second and Cloverfield, which I predicted would hold the top spot for another week, dropped a surprising 68% after a $40 million opening weekend. Here are the final numbers:

1. Meet the Spartans: 18.7 million
2. Rambo: $18.2 million
3. 27 Dresses: $13.6 million
4. Cloverfield: $12.7 million
5. Untraceable: $11.2 million

This week sees the release of two new comedies (one for the boys and one for the girls) a scare flick and a concert movie for an act whose demographic is so far removed from me they might as well be appealing to extraterrestrials.

The Eye
What's It All About: This remake of a Japanese Chinese horror film stars Jessica Alba as the recipient of a cornea transplant who begins having horrific visions and premonitions of deadly events which spur her to find out just whose eyes she been given.
Why It Might Do Well: If you're looking for a good creep-fest, this may fit the bill.
Why It Might Not Do Well: While I've enjoyed a handful of the Asian horror remakes, most of them leave me cold.
Number of Theaters: 2,200
Prediction: $14 million

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour
What's It All About: The young pop star and her character from her successful Disney Channel series appear in a concert film shot during a 69-city U.S. tour and shown in 3-D.
Why It Might Do Well: Not destined for the top five, but given the ridiculous prices Hanna Montana concert tickets are fetching, this should do brisk business within its niche market.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Only if every kid in America between 10 and 14 is grounded this weekend.
Number of Theaters: 680
Prediction: $5 million

All the way back in July of 2006, Cinematical first mentioned the romantic comedy How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancee, which has since become the briefer, easier-to-say Over Her Dead Body. Starring Eva Longoria, the flick is about a female psychic (Lake Bell) who falls for a skeptic (Paul Rudd), and then has to deal with his dead ex-fiance (Longoria) -- a pissy ghost who doesn't want them getting together. (Yes, this is very similar to Ghost Town, which I told you about the other day.) The romcom was written by John Tucker Must Die scribe Jeff Lowell, and is the writer's directorial debut.

Now Variety reports that the comedy has been picked up by New Line, and we'll get to see it on February 1st. I'm pretty psyched -- while Rudd gets a lot of roles these days, they're almost always in that darned supporting realm. He pops on, throws out some highly-quotable lines, whips up some memorable moments, and then backs away while the stars take over. Hopefully this will be a notable lead for him, or the gateway to more leading work. Isn't it about time? He's come a long way since Overnight Delivery, so it's time he gets some love!

But that's not all New Line has picked up. The company has also nabbed Kevin Costner and Ivana Banquero's The New Daughter. However, that hasn't even begun production yet, so we won't be seeing it for a while.