turistas Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I didn't realize it until now, but it's probably a safe bet that everyone either likes Steve Zahn or Milla Jovovich. So someone was finally smart enough to stick them in the same movie as newlyweds being hunted down in David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway.

From the looks of things, I do hope that their Hawaiian honeymoon from hell skews closer to The Most Dangerous Game than Turistas, as the couple juggles suspicion between fellow travelers Timothy Olyphant (well, duh) and Chris Hemsworth (Kirk's pop from J.J. Trek, and a Josh-Brolin-in-No-Country doppelganger here).

Twohy demonstrated a knack with B-grade thrills with Below, Pitch Black, and The Arrival, so let's hope he keeps the streak alive and defies the shrug-worthy placement of any film on an August release date (and this after much previous shuffling to boot).

Getaway currently opens August 14th opposite roughly a gajillion movies -- Taking Woodstock, Ponyo, The Time Traveler's Wife, Bandslam, District 9, and others -- so if it (or Wife) flinches and gets put off, don't act so surprised. My suggestion? Counter-program against constant comedies on July 10th or Harry Potter on July 17th. We could use something tropical there...

It is not often that movie geeks can be taken by surprise, but that's exactly what happened at Comic Con back in July when Disney screened test footage from the long-rumored sequel to the 80's sci-fi classic, Tron. Now a few months later fans can rejoice at news that the project is still chugging along -- in fact, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Olivia Wilde (of TV's House) and Beau Garrett ( Wilde's co-star in the horror flick Turistas) have signed to star along side Jeff Bridges in the sequel to the cult classic.

Newcomer Joseph Kosinski will direct from a script co-written with LOST writer Adam Horowitz. This is Kosinski's first feature after making a name directing commercials for Gears of War, Halo 3, and Apple, and has already been signed for the Logan's Run update over at WB (if that happens). According to the Reporter, TR2N, "is acting as a "next chapter." Plot details are being guarded closely, but Wilde will play a worker in the virtual world who tries to help fight Master Control Program, the villainous intelligence protocol that was the nemesis in the original film."

Although, if we're being honest with ourselves, was Tron really about the plot? I know that for me it was all about those cool light-up suits and the possibility that I might disappear into my Commodore 64 (What do you want? I was seven).

TR2N (a title that gets more irritating to type each and every time) is scheduled for release in 2011.

I don't know much about Melissa George because I haven't seen the majority of films she's appeared in. Actually, I haven't seen any of the films she's appeared in. I do know that her star is slowly rising, and we'll definitely get a much better look at her when she stars opposite Josh Hartnett in the upcoming vampire thriller 30 Days of Night. Thankfully, I'm not here to announce George's involvement in a sequel to Captivity -- although the two films do share similar themes. Moviehole reports that George has signed on to star in Captive, a new thriller written and directed by Amanda Gusack. Apparently the film is shooting in Canada this month, yet I, personally, haven't heard of it (and nether has IMDb).

In the film, George will play a happily married mother who wakes up after a bad car accident to find herself a hostage in a remote waterfront warehouse. Some dude named Vince (who's also a "masked killer") is holding her, and "shocking revelations are about to turn her formerly safe and orderly existence upside down." I'm not sure what those "shocking revelations" might be, but I'd say waking up in a warehouse next to a masked killer is shocking in and of itself. As Moviehole cleverly points out, George seems fond of this type of material. Either that, or it's all she can get. Aside from Captive, she was stuck in a loony house with Ryan Reynolds in The Amityville Horror remake, she was kidnapped by organ harvesters in Turistas and we'll watch her fending off a vampire attack pretty soon in 30 Days of Night. Is it just me, or does someone like it freaky?

While surfing online this afternoon, I stumbled upon three pretty funny videos and wondered, "Gee, some of the readers over at Cinematical might enjoy these." Okay, I lied -- first I wondered whether or not I had any food in the fridge, and then came the videos. Check it out:

• Lots and lots of buzz is surrounding a few of the performances in Todd Field's Little Children, but did you ever wonder what the little children are saying about Little Children? Granted, the film itself is in no way targeted towards little children, but there is this comical teaser trailer over on YouTube called Little Sam's Promo for Little Children. Basically, it's just some kid telling us what the critics had to say about the film, but for some reason it made me laugh ... in that, "am I laughing because it's funny or because I'm really really bored" kind of way. [via MCN]
• We already brought you one fake Apocalypto trailer, in which its creator merged the Mel Gibson film with that Zach Braff film, The Last Kiss. Well, Saturday Night Live (God bless their little hearts for still trying to be funny after all these years) came up with their own fake trailer. And, although they're extremely late to the game with the anti-Jew jokes, it's still better than 94% of the crap that show shovels out each week. [via Hollywood Wiretap]
• It's not just audiences who are pissed about spending money on the recent horror flick Turistas, the people of Brazil (where the film was shot) are all up in arms over the nature of the pic and are afraid it will prevent people from visiting. Of course there's your standard boycott from one group, and Paris Filmes (the indie distributor releasing Turistas in Brazil) has already said they will show a text before each screening that claims Paris "is against anything that harms the image of Brazil." To further the protest, some folks got together to create this animated cartoon called Turistas 2, which reverses the roles and shows what happens when two Brazilian tourists visit America. As you can imagine, hilarity (and President Bush) ensues. (Note: Foul language included within) [via MCN]

For the third weekend in a row, Happy Feet took first place at the box office, and for the third weekend in a row Casino Royale was not far behind. Though a ton of folks are questioning its messages and sexual undertones, the animated kiddie flick still managed to take home $17 million; Casino Royale almost topped it, but fell short with only $15 million. Deja Vu ($11 million) looked familiar enough for it to hold onto third place, bringing its total thus far to $44.1 million.

Mixed reviews coupled with a poor (according to me, at least) marketing campaign limited The Nativity Story to a dismal $8 million and third place. Considering the flick opened in 3,183 theaters, those numbers are, well, horrific. Its $8 million is the second lowest in history for a film opening in more than 3,100 theaters -- 1998's The Quest for Camelot still holds top honors in that category with a pitiful $6 million in its debut. And speaking of things that are horrific and dismal, Deck the Halls rounded out the top five with $6.6 million.

As far as this weekend's other wide releases, no one cared much for a bunch of teenage organ donors (even if the scenery looked nice), as Turistas finished eighth with $3.5 million. National Lampoon's Van Wilder sequel, The Rise of Taj, proved that straight-to-DVD probably would have been the safer move -- it barely squeaked into the tenth spot with $2.3 million.

Full numbers after the jump.

Unfortunately one of the most popular ways to hype a movie is to release a bunch of clips ahead of time -- but what purpose does that serve, really? All you're doing is spoiling small stretches of the movie for yourself; all the time wondering when "the fridge scene" or "that bit with the poodle" is about to hit the screen. But sometimes, like a little kid who can't wait for his birthday presents, I steal a few glances at the pre-release packages and try to enjoy the goodies. Not long ago we gave you the option to enjoy five isolated scenes from the Korean monster mash known as The Host, and today Fox Atomic has delivered a whole bunch of Turistas treats to all the coolest horror sites.

Turistas, for those who don't regularly read my horror-obsessed babblings, is about a group of VERY beautiful young adults who run afoul of something VERY unpleasant while enjoying the hedonistic pleasures of Brazil -- and I'm going out on a limb when I surmise that some of these hotties won't be heading home after the holiday. Directed by John Stockwell and written by first-timer Michael Ross, Turistas counts among its lovelies Olivia Wilde, Melissa George and Beau Garrett. Oh, and some male actors too.

Anyway, head on over to Arrowhead's if you want to pick through all sorts of EPK goodness from Turistas: Two trailers, five movie clips and more than a half-dozen interview-style soundbites ... all of which exist to convince YOU that Turistas is worthy of your ten-dollar investment come December 1. So far it looks like something the horror-hounds will devour ... but we've all thought that sort of thing before, now haven't we?

By now you've probably heard a little bit about Fox Atomic, the studio's new "youth-friendly" division that promises all sorts of comic books, sequels and remakes for the discerning young entertainment geek. If you head on over to the official Atomic site, say, right now, you'll find your standard trailers, promos, posters and what-not.

But if you head back to the same website on October 31, you'll find it's been overtaken by the Carnival of Lost Souls, which basically means you'll get brand-new access to all sorts of goodies on Atomic's horror slate. Previously unseen materials on Turistas, 28 Weeks Later and The Hills Have Eyes 2 will be yours for the salivating, plus you'll get a lot more info on the (various and numerous) comic book tie-ins for each of these flicks. Interviews, contests, random eye-candy and more will arrive on Halloween, so if horror's your thing (and if you fit into the Atomic demographic, unlike me) you'll definitely want to check out the Carnival on October 31.

Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? They're making sequels to 28 Days Later and The Hills Have Eyes. I could've sworn I mentioned it.

When a blissful Brazilian holiday becomes a horrific gauntlet of murder, mayhem and involuntary organ harvests -- it's horror movie time. The flick in question is Turistas, which is the very first release from Fox Atomic, and I think it looks pretty darn intriguing -- and no, not just because of the mega-skimpy bikinis, tyvm.

Sixth directorial effort from actor-turned-helmer John Stockwell (he starred in Christine and My Science Project; as director he's previously given us Crazy/Beautiful, Blue Crush and Into the Blue), Turistas is about a bunch of exceedingly photogenic young Americans who run afoul of some black-market nastiness while enjoying a salacious Brazilian vacation. The model-hot "normal kids" are played by Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde (sigh), Desmond Askew and Beau Garrett -- and this crew looks to be in a whole lot of sweaty trouble, despite the fact that they're all too gorgeous for words.

The screenplay comes from editor / first-time screenwriter Michael Ross, and it looks to be a semi-creative take on a fairly standard slasher conceit: Hot kids congregate, commit licentious acts -- and then spend the rest of the flick running desperately for their lives as a killer stalks their every step. Only this one's in Brazil ... and there are gurneys involved. Ick.

So fingers crossed on Turistas, which could either be a great little horror thriller or a depthless, vicious dungpile in which we applaud the numerous demises of people much, much sexier than ourselves. At least with Stockwell behind the camera, you know the thing will most likely LOOK good. (Try watching Into the Blue on MUTE some time. Makes the flick about 45 times more entertaining.) To keep you interested until the movie's December 1 release date, you can check out this old promo clip or this brand-new theatrical trailer.

Either way, Brazil's not gonna like this.

Not very long ago 20th Century Fox announced that they'd be creating a new studio division called Fox Atomic, which would service the needs of under-20 moviegoers the world over. (As if the main studios weren't doing a fine job of that already.) On the Atomic slate is a sports spoof, a Revenge of the Nerds remake, and the sequel to 28 Days Later -- but their very first release hits theaters this December, and it's a slick-looking horror confection called Turistas.

If you check out the extended trailer at the Fox Atomic website, you'll see a clip that looks like a cross between Hostel, The Descent and Into the Blue, but (despite the lame-o rock music) it's a pretty enticing promo clip all the same. The plot's about a bunch of young vacationers who stumble across some seriously unpleasant folks while backpacking through Brazil.

As Martha reported last month, Turistas was written by first-timer Michael Ross and directed by John Stockwell (hey, he directed Into the Blue!); it stars Josh Duhamel, Melissa George and the stunningly hot Olivia Wilde (pictured), whom I predict will be a big star someday, and I will then look like a genius for having predicted it.

Maybe I'm too cynical, and immediately calling Fox Atomic's just-announced slate of films bombs might be a bit harsh, but the new youth-centered specialty division of 20th Century Fox has such an unoriginal bunch of releases, I can't help but expect the worst. Besides, with a name like Atomic, how can one not make the connection? Martha already told you about Turistas, the studio's first, and only fresh, title. After that we'll be treated to two sequels, The Hills Have Eyes 2 and 28 Weeks Later, in the spring of next year and eventually we'll be permitted to suffer through the Revenge of the Nerds redo and The Comebacks, which is yet another movie about an awful sports team.

Even more disturbing than Atomic's horribly worthless crop is how most of the films don't even seem appropriate for the "young adult" demographic the studio is targeting. Maybe I'm unclear as to what "young adult" refers to these days, but I thought it meant adolescents. Maybe it means late teens, though, since the first installments of the two sequels (follow that?) were rated R, as was the first version of Nerds -- not that it makes economic sense for Fox to do the remake with as much nudity (though, come on, wasn't that the only reason you saw it?). So either all these movies are going to be watered down in addition to being totally lacking in creativity, or Fox has changed its mind as to what its new arm is all about. I'm guessing the former, because in addition to being a movie distributor, Fox Atomic will also be publishing comic books (yeah, I know, older people read comic books, I was one of them that did, but you know what I mean). The graphic novels The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning and 28 Days Later: The Aftermath (where is Revenge of the Nerds: Enough Already?) will be released next year.