street kings Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Lionsgate Goes 'All-Inclusive'
Filed under: Foreign Language », Lionsgate Films », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
In my recent celebratory rant about the new Latin American cinema classics, I failed to mention any films from Chile. This was not my intention, but admittedly I am not familiar with that country's film production, as most Americans are not. The most well-known contemporary Chilean filmmaker is probably Raoul Ruiz (or Raúl Ruiz), who is likely more associated with French cinema and is considered even more generally to be an international filmmaker. Like Ruiz, a lot of Chile's filmmakers left their country 35 years ago when Pinochet came to power. Fortunately, since Chile became a democracy again in 1990, film production there has been on the rise and will fortunately one day be as big as neighboring Argentina's film industry.Chilean cinema could have a boost thanks to Lionsgate, which has just picked up Rodrigo Ortuzar's All Inclusive for U.S. distribution. The film, about a family trapped at a resort when a Hurricane hits its Yucatan location and co-starring Street Kings' Martha Higareda (pictured), is set in and was co-produced by Mexico, which is fine considering the association allows the film to be lumped with recent partially Mexican films like Under the Same Moon and the Spanish-language work of Guillermo Del Toro. Lionsgate also handled distribution for last year's U.S.-produced Spanish-language film Bandoleros, Lionsgate has yet to announce a release date for All Inclusive.
Indie Weekend Box Office: 'The Visitor' Beats Out 'Young At Heart'
Filed under: IFC », Box Office », Fox Searchlight », Miramax », Cinematical Indie », Samuel Goldwyn Films »
"A damn fine film with a good heart and some really excellent performances" finished atop the indie weekend box office charts. The quote is from our own Scott Weinberg's review of Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (Overture), and I agree wholeheartedly. The film earned $22,000 per-screen at four theaters, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Richard Jenkins stars as a college professor who strikes up a friendship with an immigrant couple he finds living in his NYC apartment. It's even better -- and deeper -- than that description might sound.An elderly chorus sings a repertoire of modern pop and rock songs in Stephen Walker's documentary Young @ Heart (Fox Searchlight); audiences responded to the tune of $13,075 per screen at four locations. Cinematical's James Rocchi wrote: "Even for all its flaws and failures it still succeeds in showing us friends who -- through song and art and community and, yes, love -- are doing their best to face it with everything that they've got."
David Ayer's Street Kings (Fox Searchlight) should be included, I suppose, because it's distributed by an studio specialty division known for its indie releases, though not much about the police drama screams "indie." By the per-screen numbers, it finished third, earning an average of $4,864 at each of 2,467 engagements. "As yet another tale of dirty criminals and even dirtier cops," Scott Weinberg opined, "Street Kings works well enough, albeit strictly in a 'been there, seen that' sort of way."
Review: Street Kings
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Theatrical Reviews », 20th Century Fox », Fox Searchlight »

It's not very often that the "credits line" in a movie poster will cause you to look twice, but I was both curious and intrigued when I read that David Ayer, Kurt Wimmer and James Ellroy were collaborating on a movie called Street Kings. Ayer is a prolific screenwriter who digs cop stories (he wrote Dark Blue, Training Day, S.W.A.T., and The Fast and the Furious) and recently directed his debut effort: the seriously underrated Harsh Times. Kurt Wimmer, on the other end of the genre spectrum, is the writer / director of sci-fi flicks like Equilibrium and Ultraviolet. And James Ellroy? A very respected novelist making his screenwriting debut. (His works have spawned movies like L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia.) And weirdly enough, although Street Kings is very similiar in theme and content to Ayer's earlier works, he's not credited as a screenwriter. Just Ellroy and Wimmer.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting, but that was before I spelled it all out in a large paragraph. Now I just realize it was a cheap way to kick off a review of a film I don't really have a whole lot to say about. As yet another tale of dirty criminals and even dirtier cops, Street Kings works well enough, albeit strictly in a "been there, seen that" sort of way. (Heck, if you've seen Training Day then you've already seen much of what this new film has to offer.) It's a well-constructed piece filled with colorful actors doing fine work -- but much of Street Kings offers that weird vibe that occurs when someone's in the middle of telling a joke you've already heard two or three times: The new presenter might be a fine joke-teller, but as a listener you're left with little response but to smile and nod politely.
Cinematical Seven: Out of Control Cops
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Cinematical Seven », Lists »

What happens when men in blue, sworn to protect and to serve, fly out of control? If we're lucky, we get a good movie out of it. If we're really lucky, we get a larger than life character to cheer and to fear. Are you feeling lucky, punk?
Keanu Reaves, of all people, will follow in the steel-toed shoes of some of cinema's finest as a cop who goes on an avenging rampage in David Ayer's Street Kings, which opens tomorrow. That made me reflect on my favorite out of control cinematic cops, men in blue who break free from the laws of god and man. Let us know who we missed in the comments section. But be nice, or we'll track you down and crack you over the head with a night stick.
1. Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry
Clint is so cool as Harry Callahan that he can just glare at bad guys and they give themselves up. Dirty Harry never met a criminal he couldn't beat up, a sergeant he couldn't hate, or a partner he couldn't get killed. He can't help it: he married justice a long time ago and the blind old bat won't leave him alone until he takes out the garbage. Don't even think about getting in his way: he solved the Zodiac killings in 102 minutes! Dirty Harry paved the way for several sequels and countless gruff, lone wolf outlaw police detectives.
Box Office: Smart Prom King
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Horror », Box Office », Box Office Predictions »
1. 21: $15.3 million
2. Nim's Island: $13.2 million
3. Leatherheads: $12.6 million
4. Horton Hears A Who: $9.1 million
5. The Ruins: $8 million
Here are this week's newbies:
Prom NightWhat's It All About: Loosely based on the 1980 film of the same name which starred Jamie Lee Curtis. In this new version, a young woman named Donna and her friends are stalked by an obsessed killer on, you guessed it, prom night.
Why It Might Do Well: The trailer shows a bunch of teenage characters consistent with what you see on the CW Network, so if that's your bag you may enjoy this.
Why It Might Not Do Well: A PG-13 slasher film? That's like washing your feet without taking off your socks.
Number of Theaters: 2,400
Prediction: $11 million
'Street Kings' Poster Arrives
Filed under: Drama », Movie Marketing », Posters »
The good folks over at Fox Searchlight have just sent us the new poster for Street Kings (click on the image for a larger version), starring Keanu Reeves as a cop who, following the death of his wife, finds himself framed for a murder he didn't commit. In order to clear his name, he'll have to up against a cop culture he's been a part of his entire career. And he'll do it without help from steroids. Take that Clemens! The first trailer debuted a couple days ago, and the film also stars Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Common, Chris Evans, The Game and Jay Mohr. It's gritty, it's directed by David Ayer and it arrives in theaters on April 11. For more on Street Kings, head on over to the film's official site (which is in teaser mode right now, and will be updated with all sorts of goodies as the release date draws near).
Keanu Reeves' 'Street Kings' Gets a Trailer
Filed under: Drama », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »
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In two weeks, they've changed the title from The Night Watchmen to Street Kings, we got a look at the film's first images and now Yahoo has debuted the trailer. My first reaction to the trailer was that it looks a lot like Training Day, which is an obvious reaction seeing as director David Ayer also penned that film. Here, Keanu Reeves stars as a cop "who plays by his own rules," but when he's accused of a crime he did not commit --coupled with the death of his wife -- our nasty cop must go up against an entire force full of guys just like him.
I'm not so sure how I feel about Keanu Reeves playing a badass cop. The trailer itself primarily focuses on this angle, instead of introducing the actual story, and so you'll probably walk away saying to yourself, "Wait, how is this different from Training Day?" There's rap music, there's gun fights, there's lines like, "I'm gonna ask him a few questions ... and then I'm gonna kill him" and there's that gritty Los Angeles feel that David Ayer is so attached to. So check out the trailer and let us know what you think; Street Kings also stars Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Hugh Laurie and Common, and it arrives in theaters on April 11.
First Pics from 'Street Kings'
Filed under: Action », Drama », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images »
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Since news hit this week that The Night Watchman starring Keanu Reeves had changed its name to Street Kings (apparently to avoid folks confusing it with Zack Snyder's Watchmen), why not use this time in the spotlight to release the first stills from the film? And yup, that's exactly what's happened. IMDB has the first couple stills up on their Street Kings page, and we've included another photo that showed up over at Empire earlier today. You can see one up top, and the other two after the jump.
Street Kings follows one unlucky cop (Reeves) who, following the death of his wife, is framed for a murder he did not commit. Thus, he sets out to clear his name (and blame everything on a man with one arm?), and in the process he'll learn some disturbing things about the people he works with. The film also stars folks like Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Naomie Harris, Hugh Laurie, Jay Mohr and Common. Directed by David Ayer (who likes to bring the gritty), Street Kings is due out on April 11. Check out the other two photos after the jump ...
Keanu Reeves Is No Longer 'The Night Watchman' -- He's a 'Street King'
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Fox Searchlight », Movie Marketing »
So while I seriously doubt that most people were actually going to confuse the crime drama, The Night Watchman with Zack Snyder's Watchmen at the box office, the similarity in titles probably wasn't helping much in the marketing department. It looks like someone at Fox Searchlight thought the same thing and Slashfilm is now reporting that the studio has decided it was time for a name change. The title of James Ellroy's The Night Watchman will now be known as Street Kings. Frankly, neither of these titles are 'rocking my world,' but at least now it's going to clear up a lot of confusion.Street Kings stars Keanu Reeves as Tom Ludlow; an LA cop who has recently lost his wife. With his life already in shambles, it gets even worse when he is framed for a murder and his abandoned by his fellow boys in blue. Ellroy wrote the script along with John Ridley (U Turn and Three Kings) and David Ayer (writer for Training Day) is at the helm. The cast also includes Forest Whitaker as Reeves' supervisor, Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) and TV's infamous Dr. House, better known as Hugh Laurie, will play another cop on the force.
Filming began back in July and we got our first look at Reeves in his 'blues' when Erik brought us over 20 photos of the actor hard at work on the set. The flick is now in post production, so I guess Fox figured that it was now or never if they were planning on a change -- and personally I think they made the right decision. Street Kings arrives in theaters this spring.

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