the international Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Gran Torino
In his last acting stint, Clint Eastwood dances behind and in front of the camera playing a racist Korean War vet who faces his prejudices after a Hmong teen tries to steal his beloved Gran Torino. James Rocchi said: "Gran Torino is, bluntly, a pretty good film -- sleek and brawny like the title car, but a little clumsy on the corners and with no small amount of knock in its dramatic engine." Rent it on DVD or Blu-ray.

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The International
When you mix Run Lola Run helmer Tom Tykwer and Clive Owen, you get The International -- an action thriller where Owen plays an Interpol agent itching to battle corruption in the world's largest banks. In his review, William Goss said: "Throughout, The International is a thankfully, skillfully mature effort by Tykwer to produce a proper thriller for adults, that of a man on a mission, and one lent little extra resonance in our cash-strapped times." Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.

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Crossing Over
Not all Harrison Ford films get slapped on the big screen with a bang. There's the multi-story immigration drama Crossing Over. But it's not exactly a little-known gem, according to Jeffrey M. Anderson: "Crossing Over is a bad movie ... about as airless and preachy as movies come." Skip it.

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Also Out: Fired Up, Nobel Son, Strike, Guns

Like thousands of others, I lost an important source of income earlier this year, so I've keenly felt the impact of the current economic recession on my greatest passion: watching movies. But though it may "sound counterintuitive," CNN reports that "movie ticket sales are way up in this down economy" because "struggling people are looking for a $10, two-hour escape."

They point to the stunning box office success of the critically slammed Paul Blart: Mall Cop, He's Just Not That Into You, and Bride Wars, and quote Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com, who claims that "only movies that turn away from financial realities will succeed during the recession." Dergarabedian also cites the opening weekend success of the new version of Friday the 13th and declares: "If Jason is scaring the crap out of you, you can't really be thinking about your mortgage, you know?" Riiiiiiiiiight. Of course, most of the younger crowd that were scared by Jason don't have mortgages yet to worry about.

In my case, I recently raced out to a late morning screening to catch Clive Owen in The International because the first weekend screening of the day at my local multiplex costs only $6.00, compared to $8.00 for early afternoon shows and $10.00 for anything after 4:00 p.m. I shaved down my Netflix account, canceled the premium movie channels from my satellite TV subscription, and now shop only for bargain-priced "gotta have" DVDs online.

What about you? Is the recession impacting your movie watching? Are you choosing different types of movies -- comedies and thrillers instead of dramas? Are you going to more matinee shows? Are you watching fewer movies in theaters and more on TV, your computer, and your cell phone not for the convenience, but because it's cheaper?

New Line insists on "reimagining," but from reading the reviews I take it nobody's buying.

Anyway. Friday the 13th set a horror remake opening weekend record, grossing $40.7 million over the three days and $45.2 including President's Day Monday. That beats Marcus Nispel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake by more than $12 million. It's also roughly the second best President's Day weekend opening ever, behind only Ghost Rider and just about tied with 50 First Dates and Daredevil.

Confessions of a Shopaholic opened to a halfway decent $17.3 million, while The International more or less flopped with $10.7 million; the marketing for the latter really pushed the evil bank concept, complete with a shot of an ATM offering "murder" "corruption" and "extortion" as options instead of "withdrawal" "deposit" and "check balance." Maybe people thought it was a comedy.

It was another good weekend for holdovers, with Taken, Coraline and -- once again -- Paul Blart: Mall Cop all doing well. Taken's $81-million-and-counting is really remarkable. $120 million is assured at this point, with more possible. "Sleek, preposterous and breathlessly entertaining" appears to be a good formula. Meanwhile, maybe if I stop mentioning Paul Blart in these posts, it'll go away? Seems unlikely.

Leading up to the Oscars, Slumdog Millionare should be close to $100 million by the big night. The Reader also saw a late bump this weekend; a Kate Winslet win on Sunday can't hurt.

The full 4-day top 10 after the jump.

Movies can be very educational, especially if you look beyond the obvious marketing messages that are used to sell them. This past Friday, for example, James Gray's romantic drama Two Lovers was sold as "the movie where you can see what Joaquin Phoenix looks like without a bushy beard and a Grizzly Adams haircut" -- that's why he appeared on David Letterman, right? Tom Tykwer's The International was advertised as a "the movie where you can learn what the banks are really doing with your money." But both of these advertising campaigns obscured the educational possibilities of the films.

Two Lovers. This quiet character study follows the emotionally-wounded Joaquin Phoenix and his relationships with the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow and the beautiful Vinessa Shaw. Single folks might be surprised at Phoenix's incredibly successful pickup technique. What I learned: He does nothing. Abso-frickin'-lutely nothing. His parents invite Shaw and her parents to dinner, and then she confesses to an interest in him. (Bear in mind that he attempted suicide, like, an hour before.) Shortly thereafter, he meets Paltrow, a new neighbor, in the hallway outside his parents' apartment. Whammo! He's juggling two relationships.

The International. The intended lesson to be learned from Tom Tykwer's tepid thriller is that bank debt is evil and makes CEOs do wicked things. (And here I thought it was simple greed and ignorance.) What I learned: Museums are dangerous. Stay out of the Guggenheim! That place is a shooting gallery. If you carry that thought through to its logical conclusion, then what the movie is really saying is that art and culture aren't good for you. Which ties in to its theme that corporations have taken over the world and there's nothing you can do about it. Unless you're Clive Owen with a three-day beard.

It never fails to impress me, the number of indie filmmakers who come around to crank out big-budget affairs within years of landing on the Hollywood scene. Striking while the iron's hot is one thing, but if you popped up after I pushed stop on a VHS copy of Swingers and told me that same director would also be responsible for not just one, but two high-gloss spy thrillers (The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith), I'd probably be more than a little skeptical (not to mention concerned as to who you were and what you were doing there). Similarly, if you stopped me immediately after viewing Following or Memento and insisted that this very same lot would soon reboot the Batman franchise to record-breaking success, I'd probably grin politely and begin to eye my exits.

My point is, it's been very close to a decade since director Tom Tykwer made a distinct impression with the fast life and loud sounds of his calling card, Run Lola Run, and to see him helming a Clive Owen-Naomi Watts espionage thriller like The International proves that much more unique when one considers how admirably straight-forward and strait-laced the end result is in comparison, to both his own work and that of others.

Romance in the modern age took the lead this past weekend with He's Just Not That Into You beating out the competition. Taken held strong, dropping only 17% for its second week. Here's the top five.
1. He's Just Not That Into You: $27.7 million
2. Taken: $20.5 million
3. Coraline: $16.8 million
4. The Pink Panther 2: $11.6 million
5. Paul Blart: Mall Cop: $10.9 million

Three new releases this week, highlighting consumerism, evisceration and international intrigue.

Confessions of a Shopaholic
What's It All About: Isla Fisher is shopping herself into bankruptcy and dreams of working for a prestigious fashion magazine. Irony comes a knockin' when the only job she can get is writing an advice column for a finance magazine.
Why It Might Do Well: This is based on a popular series of books so it has a ready made audience, and Isla Fisher is as adorable as ever.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The film's guy appeal is limited.
Number of Theaters: 2,400
Prediction: $16 million

Friday the 13th
What's It All About: The classic slasher series gets reimagined. The machete-wielding hockey mask-wearing Jason Voorhees inflicts his own brand of dismemberment on those who dare trespass on the abandoned remains of Camp Crystal Lake.
Why It Might Do Well: Despite all the grumbling you hear about horror remakes, this is from the guys who redid The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and made $107 million worldwide on a movie that cost less than $10 million to make.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The Saw Series has really upped the ante in the grossout department, making Jason's shenanigans look quaint by comparison. Can Mrs. Voorhees' little boy adapt to the twenty-first century?
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $36 million

So Erik-with-a-k covered the coming comedies of 2009, Scott was all over the horror picks (though his inclusion of Race to Witch Mountain still boggles my mind), Eric-with-a-c nabbed the family-friendly fare, and Elisabeth went over the geek fodder that awaits. But while I respect their calendar years and made-up math alike, I've opted to divide my list of 2009's action and adventure flicks into four categories: Action Flicks I Couldn't Care More About, Action Flicks I Couldn't Care Less About, Action Flicks That I Hope Surprise Me, and Those Which Fell In Between. Enjoy!

Action Flicks I Couldn't Care More About: First and foremost -- Watchmen (March 6th). It's one hell of a graphic novel and looks to be one hell of an adaptation (with or without the Giant Blank), but the only problem is it may not hit theaters on time if 20th Century Fox has anything to say about it. Both Fox and Warner Brothers are fighting over who actually owns the rights, and if a judge favors Fox comes January 20th (when the court date is set), we're looking at a delayed release and a whole ton of angry fans. Then there's Public Enemies (July 1st), which has me sold on not the subject matter, but sheer pedigree: Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as '30s gangsters. (It doesn't hurt that the earliest word ranges from damn good to great.) On the skimpier side, I can only hope that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17th) streamlines its source material as the previous one had, and I can only hope that Crank 2: High Voltage (April 17th) lives up/down to the depravity of its predecessor. There's one last action movie that I couldn't care more about because, well, I've already seen a version of it. The international cut of Taken (January 30th, though reportedly opening with some R-dodging trims) is about as brisk and butt-kicking as one might hope out of a man-on-a-mission kidnapping thriller, and if you disagree, I'll send Liam Neeson to change your mind.

Gallery: Watchmen

You'd think there wouldn't be a ton of stuff to catch you post-Turkey blokes up with, but it's the exact opposite. So here's some stuff(ing) and things to skim over today:

-- Folks are going bonkers today over news in Production Weekly that the much-anticipated (and kinda secretive) Tron sequel has changed its title to TRZ in order to trick young kids into thinking MTV has adapted their now-retired TRL for the big screen. Okay, that's not the real reason ... but do we really need to know the real reason? TRZ? Here's the snippet of plot synopsis they provided: "After being transported into the surreal landscape of a mainframe computer to destroy an intruder, a programmer finds himself allied with the leader of a rebellion against a corrupt cyber-entity." According to Disney, an official title for the Tron sequel is not set yet.

-- George Miller finally went on the record and told a talk show in Sydney that he's officially off Justice League. He's done. That's it. Over. Dark Horizons says Miller thinks the film will be recast when (and if) it happens because "the studios seem to want bigger stars in their superhero movies now." We wonder why?

-- According to Shock, a source tells them Rob Zombie will indeed return to direct Halloween 2, the follow-up to his successful (at the box office) reboot of the franchise, titled Halloween. Additionally, the site claims Halloween 2 will begin shooting as early as this March.

-- Why do all the Nazi flicks come out during the holidays? And how do you sell them?

-- Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law has been arrested for the deaths of the actress/singer's mother, brother and nephew, according to CBS News.

After the jump: First looks at Whip It and Youth in Revolt, more on Chef and a very cool short film contest.

It's amazing what a little Run Lola Run flavor can do for a trailer. Back in September, William Goss shared the first trailer for Clive Owen's The International. It was your typical uber dramatic sort of trailer -- what-if text, overtly dramatic music, gunshots -- way too familiar to really stick out and differentiate itself from every other action thriller out there. As a fan of the Clive, it did nothing for me.

But now the international trailer is out (go see it over at First Showing) and it looks like The International has hit its stride and made itself stand out. Ironically, they did it by going back to the familiar, the film that made director Tom Tykwer recognizable -- Run Lola Run. The trailer starts off typically, but then the beats slip in as "From Columbia Pictures" slips on the screen. Soon Owen is walking along a roof and it seems like Lola is going to rush by him at any second. While this might make the whole thing seem typical, it's still easy to see that this is nothing like Tykwer's run fest, even if the trailer has its share of running set to the beat. The music merely does its job at piquing interest and excitement.

I think I know what I'm doing on Valentine's Day. How about you? (The film hits theaters on February 13, 2009.)

Remember how Clive Owen showed up in The Bourne Identity as a fellow/rival assassin to Matt Damon's butt-kicking amnesiac? After watching the trailer for his new film, The International, I feel like director Tom Tykwer decided that he wanted to make something like that guy's own movie.

Okay, so maybe it's a bit more generic than that, with Owen playing an Interpol agent teaming up with a partner/potential love interest/possible traitor* (Naomi Watts) to take on some big bad bank with ties to all sorts of global espionage, and probably some ridiculous withdrawal fees to boot.

I'm not so hot on the prospect of the February "dumping ground" release date (see: Jumper, Vantage Point), but it'll be nice to have a more testosterone-fueled offering to counter-program all that other Valentine's Day fare. Besides, if Tykwer (Run Lola Run) decides that a big-budget thriller is worth his while, maybe it'll show past the paycheck -- I mean, if the director of Swingers can show us...

*Come on, he's even fed that adage of "Everyone is involved." Think about it...