sex drive Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Devastating, haunting, infuriating, and shamelessly manipulative: Kurt Kuenne's film about his murdered friend Andrew Bagby is all of those things and more. Erik Davis described it as "a film that will rock you to your core. You will cry. You will hurt -- and the flick will sit with you for days, weeks, months. But you will come away believing in people." After the film aired on MSNBC in December, we received dozens of comments, to which director Kuenne responded with appreciation. The DVD includes deleted scenes and additional footage as well as other extra features. Buy it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon. | Read Erik's review. | Watch trailer.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley
Mickey Liddell's would-be horror flick is not, in fact, haunting; most often it's simply a series of regurgitated SHOCK cuts accompanied by LOUD music cues. Eric D. Snider called it a "lame, tame psychological thriller ... I've read fortune cookies that were scarier, not to mention smarter and more interesting." Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon. | Read Eric's review.

Sex Drive
A teen comedy featuring a Mexican donut. "It's like The Sure Thing crossed with Road Trip" and five or six other movies, according to William Goss. "Is this the best modern teen comedies have to offer? A Mexican donut costume?" Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon. | Read William's review.

Also out: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.

After the jump: Indies on DVD and Collector's Corner. Plus: Is William Friedkin's rejiggered view of The French Connection on Blu-ray an artistic leap forward or a desecration of a classic?

You have probably already forgotten about the R-rated comedy Sex Drive that opened in 9th place the weekend of Oct. 17 and quickly disappeared altogether. With no big stars, a generic concept, and an uninteresting title, even the smattering of good reviews it got -- and it actually was pretty funny -- couldn't help it.

But you tend to fail upward in Hollywood, and the two guys behind the film -- writer/director Sean Anders and co-writer John Morris -- are still in demand. Not only are they writing a Meatballs remake for Lionsgate, but now they're set to co-direct a comedy called Hot Tub Time Machine. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it's about a group of grown-up friends who visit a hot tub where they once partied, discover it's now a time machine, and travel back to when they were young, raunchy fellows. Hilarity ensues.

You might say, "Why make a movie about a time-traveling hot tub?" Well, I say, "Why not make a movie about a time-traveling hot tub?" Anders and Morris' first film, the indie comedy Never Been Thawed, was about a group of frozen-food collectors and a Christian rock band. It sounds like Sex Drive, about a teenager driving cross-country for a booty call, was probably the least bizarre of their projects.

Hot Tub Time Machine is being written by someone named Jason Heald, by the way, who doesn't appear on IMDB. First-timer? Pseudonym? Typo? If Mr. Heald is reading this, please contact us and tell us whether your screenplay is funny and why we should trust you. Thanks.

In Utah -- the state so pure that some theaters owners refuse to show the relatively tame Zack and Miri Make a Porno but haven't given Saw V a second glance -- one theater moved their audience for the weekend's #1 movie, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, into a larger auditorium that had been showing the raunchy Sex Drive ... and promptly continued to do so once the lights went down.

This isn't a terribly uncommon mistake to be made. Just last year, a Long Island multiplex exposed children to the gruesome opening of The Hills Have Eyes 2 instead of The Last Mimzy, and back in 2005, I found myself attending a Saturday night sneak of Zathura in a theater where The Fog proceeded to begin instead. (Childless and intrepid as I was am, it took my fetching a manager to correct the situation, not any of the number of vocally concerned parents in the surprisingly full house.)

(No, please, it was nothing.)

I just hope that some giddy HSM3 fan let loose with "Go, Wildcats!" regardless. They wouldn't have been too far off...

Well, what do you know: I was right, sort of! Oliver Stone's W. didn't remotely flop. Its $10.6 million opening weekend on just over 2,000 screens is very respectable for a political, current-events-themed drama. In case you're just joining us, those have not been doing well. W. was a couple million away from matching the first weekend gross of the Scott-DiCaprio-Crowe offering Body of Lies (which fell to sixth place this week). Of course, conservative blogs are already spinning its (completely unsurprising) slip from second place on Friday to fourth for the weekend as some sort of referendum on Oliver Stone's politics. Fat chance.

There were other winners this weekend. $18 million is a good number for an inexpensive actioner like Max Payne, though if you think it underperformed a bit you're probably right. $11.1 million in semi-wide release for The Secret Life of Bees is gold. Beverly Hills Chihuahua continues to do well, approaching $70 million. Even Eagle Eye is still kicking down in fifth place; it'll just miss the $100 million mark.

The weekend's only flop was such a foregone conclusion it can hardly be called a flop. Summit's Sex Drive opened to 9th place with $3.6 million. With no stars and no real marketing hook (choosing a picture of the protagonist in a donut suit as the film's main piece of branding probably wasn't the best thing), it could have been worse, and the thing will break even eventually.

The full estimates after the jump.

One normally tries not to bring the marketing of a film up in its review. Maybe one can toss in a mention here of a misleading trailer or of a really clever teaser poster, but that only serves and represents a film up to a point, after which the final product should serve and represent, well, itself.

However, the poster for Sex Drive so clearly represents what I cared for least in this film that we're just going to start there ... specifically not with the relatively apt one in which our protagonist (Josh Zuckerman) has an erect speedometer, but the most recent one, the one that just has a donut on it.

While there's more than enough new content for everyone this weekend, we're going to focus on the three more talked-about films, and try to get a sense of which flicks will cause you to open the wallet. Surprisingly, if you're down for a raunchy teen sex comedy, Summit's Sex Drive might just be your best bet come Friday night. Oh yes, I bet you didn't see that coming. Buzz on both Max Payne and W. has been lukewarm, with a lot of Twitter hate being thrown at the former. Previewing Eric D. Snider's upcoming review of Max Payne for Cinematical, he unfortunately has this to say: "I know we've often complained that these movies were ALL action and NO substance, but this one has gone in the opposite direction. Well, except there's not really any substance, either."

Our own James Rocchi was a bit indifferent with his excellent upcoming W. review for Cinematical, noting: "If distance grants perspective, though, you could also argue that proximity grants immediacy, and argue that Stone's W. is not meant as a somber, serious look back but rather a cautious, nervy attempt to peer into the recent past, a film with, in the words another Presidential candidate recently borrowed, 'the fierce urgency of now.'"

But perhaps neither of these films do it for you. If that's the case, might I suggest a little indie currently airing on Starz called The Big Bad Swim. It's a darling of a film, and it's available through Starz On Demand through October 30th. Quiet, quirky and kinda fun. Check it out. (Paid for by Guys Who Really Dig Jess Weixler)

For those who want to get a head start on Sex Drive, you'll be happy to know the first ten R-rated minutes of the film have arrived online, courtesy of MySpace. I've heard some pretty good things about Sex Drive from everyone who's seen it, which makes me happy because I'm a huge fan of the teen sex comedy genre. Sure, it's reminiscent of past teen sex comedies -- and when you watch the pretty hilarious opening scene, I'm positive thoughts of American Pie will roll around your head -- but I'm of the opinion that, if done right with a solid cast, then, heck, bring it on. Aren't all teen sex comedies kinda sorta the same at the end of the day? Plot: Teen(s) want to get laid. Go!

Sex Drive tells of one desperate high school senior who decides to drive across country in an attempt to hook up with the hottie he met online. Cue all sorts of ridiculous on-the-road antics, and throw in a rowdy, over-the-top performance from James Marsden (think Stifler on steroids) and we have the makings of some much-needed fall laughter. For more, check out Moviefone's interview with Marsden.

What do you think -- has the footage convinced you to see Sex Drive this weekend?

Those furry little buggers took us by surprise and Beverly Hills Chihuahua hung on to the number one spot for two consecutive weeks. Body of Lies surprised too, taking third place despite formidable star power before and behind the camera. Here's the top five:

1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua: $17.5 million
2. Quarantine: $14.2 million
3. Body of Lies: $12.8 million
4. Eagle Eye: $10.9 million
5. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: $6.4 million

Four more new ones this week starting with:

Max Payne
What's It All About: In this video game adaptation, Mark Wahlberg plays a widowed cop with an attitude investigating a series of killings.
Why It Might Do Well: Director John Moore has obviously seen Sin City, so maybe some of Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's dark and gritty neo noir cool will rub off. Based just on the number of theaters I'm betting this takes the number one spot.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Despite having enjoyed Resident Evil, I still cringe at the idea of a movie based on a video game.
Number of Theaters: 3,200
Prediction: $24 million

It's Friday, and what a better way to usher in the weekend than to watch a couple of boys talk about not having sex. Moviefone has just unveiled a pretty funny clip from the upcoming teen comedy Sex Drive, featuring a whole bunch of folks like James Marsden, Seth Green and .... finally ... Clark Duke, who makes his big feature debut after starring opposite Michael Cera in those hilarious Clark and Michael web videos. The film, which I've actually heard quite a number of good things about, follows a high school senior who drives across country with his pals in an attempt to meet a girl he met online. The clip (which you can check out over here) is R-rated, which means you will need to fill out one of those age verification forms. Also, check out a bunch of brand new images from the flick below.

Sex Drive hits theaters on October 17.

To paraphrase the scariest horror movie currently in theaters -- Mamma Mia! -- you wait long enough for a red-band trailer and then three come along at once, at least two of which deal with hitting the road in the name of action, so without further ado...

First up is the age-restricted trailer for this week's Death Race. I've yet to watch this one myself, since reactions posted elsewhere have assured me that whatever meager hopes I have for it being just a fun piece of trash cinema -- from a filmmaker who often lives down to that title -- are to be derived from moments shamelessly showcased therein. I'm no prude, having shelf space and soft spots set aside for the man's Event Horizon and the first Resident Evil, for the reliably butt-kicking Jason Statham and for the surprisingly present Joan Allen (him signing up for it, no big surprise, but her?). However, I'm roughly one trailer away (well, one feature away) from giving it the genuine benefit of the doubt.

Erik wrote about the original trailer back in June, and now one only has to wait until this Friday to determine just how fast and spurious this baby is.

After August comes September, and after Death Race comes Righteous Kill. The profanity-spiked red-band trailer for this NYPD thriller has been included after the jump...