The Big Screen Bulletin 07.03.06: Now With Artificial Colors and Flavors!
Posted by Chad Webb on 07.03.2006
Tom Hanks gets honored, the box office totals for Superman, Harrelson goes berzerk, Kevin Smith and MySpace, new project for Keira Knightley, birthday bash, new releases, the critic's quickee, trailers, hotties, and more!
Birthday Bash
Pamela Anderson is 39 – She is approaching 40 and still as sexy as ever. The Baywatch star has nothing going on right now, except for the show Stacked, which I don't think is on anymore, but I'm not sure.
Liv Tyler is 29 – I expected her to be a lot older than this. I have always found her attractive just because her looks are so unique. She seems calm, but I'll bet she's spicy underneath. Her future projects are a 9/11 film with Adam Sandler called Empty City, and Coin Locker Babies with Val Kilmer.
Dan Aykroyd is 54 – The comedy star is getting older, but this is the age I would have thought for him. You might be excited to know that he is in the process of writing the screenplay for Ghostbusters in Hell, which is being directed by Harold Ramis. The group finds a portal to Hell, and must travel through it to save the world. Yay.
Tom Cruise is 44 – The nut case is rapidly getting closer to 50. I suppose he looks ok for his age. His future projects are 3:10 to Yuma directed by James Mangold and The Few directed by Michael Mann about American pilot Billy Fiske
Lindsay Lohan is 20 – She is still so young. We forget sometimes because she is in the news enough as if she has been a celebrity for like 10 years. She has 5 films on the horizon, one of which is called Bobby about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and Chapter 27 about the assassination of John Lennon.
The News Bulletin Dissection
Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" posted a mighty $21,015,000 in ticket sales on its opening day Wednesday, including midnight screenings the previous night, according to unofficial figures posted by the industry website Showbiz Data today (Thursday). Although well ahead of last year's $15.1-million opening of "Batman Begins", the figure paled compared with the $40.5 million taken in during the July 2004 opening day of "Spider-Man 2", which holds the record for the biggest box-office take for a Wednesday opener. It also ranks considerably below the Wednesday opening of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", which debuted with $34.5 million in December 2003.
Rival studios were claiming Thursday that Warner Bros. overestimated the opening-day gross of Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" by more than $2 million, according to L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke. Finke also reported that Warner Bros. is rushing to "retool" its marketing campaign in an effort to "stem the gay buzz surrounding" the movie. "As late as this week," Finke wrote, "new TV ads transformed [star Brandon] Routh from doe-eyed softie to macho techno-man of steel, borrowing heavily from other comic-books successes like "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" in its look and feel." In any case, "Superman Returns" is expected to exceed $100 million by the end of the July 4th holiday.
Personally, I view that Wednesday opening as pretty disappointing considering the fact that it is a new Superman movie. I would have placed a bet for Superman to gross more than Spiderman any day of the week. After seeing the film, I can say the "gay buzz" is just friggin ridiculous. I am sure Superman will do incredibly well by the end of the weekend. On a side note, I never realized that Batman Begins did so low on its opening day. For anyone who cares, I give my thoughts on Superman Returns down below, but if I had to compare Batman Begins to Superman Returns, I would say Batman Begins is better by a long shot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike TV attracted its biggest audience ever Wednesday with the two-hour premier of "Blade: The Series." According to Nielsen Research, the drama, which stars Kirk "Sticky" Jones in the Wesley Snipes movie role, drew 2.5 million viewers and outdrew a rerun of ABC's "Lost" (which recorded its worst ratings). It is rare for any cable TV show to attract more viewers than a broadcast-TV competitor in primetime.
Are people actually watching this sludge? I saw a commercial for this and laughed about with my friends. It was no surprise that they tried to make a show out of something like this, but I didn't expect people to look forward to it. It is uncreative shows like this that piss me off. I hope this and the Friday Night Lights last less than one season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks was inducted into the United States Army's Ranger Hall Of Fame on Thursday for his portrayal of a Ranger in "Saving Private Ryan." "The Da Vinci Code" actor was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Army Ranger company commander John H. Miller in the 1999 World War II movie. The Fort Benning, Georgia group chose to honor Hanks for his services to World War II veterans, having served as the national spokesman for the World War II Memorial Campaign and as the honorary chairman of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign.
Good for him. He's Tom Hanks, and he rules the world.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jesse Eisenberg will star alongside Richard Gere and Terrence Howard in "Spring Break in Bosnia" for the Weinstein Co. Richard Shepard wrote the script and is directing. The comic thriller follows a young journalist (Eisenberg), a seasoned cameraman (Howard) and a discredited journalist (Gere) who embark on an unauthorized mission to find the No. 1 war criminal in Bosnia. They find themselves in serious jeopardy when they are mistaken as a CIA hit squad and their target decides to come after them. Producing are Mark Johnson ("The Chronicles of Narnia") and Scott Kroopf ("Runaway Bride").
This sounds like an original movie. I like the idea of Gere in a comedy, and he could use a good film under his belt after the travesty that was Bee Season. Jesse Eisenberg is a star that has a very promising career ahead of him, and I hope he picks roles that are as good as The Squid and the Whale. We all know Terrence Howard is great now, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keira Knightley again will be hitting U.S. shores with the romantic drama "Atonement." Focus Features has nabbed domestic theatrical rights to Joe Wright's film, which has just begun filming in the U.K., and plans a release next year. The Working Title production, adapted from Ian McEwan's Booker Prize-nominated novel, tells the story of Briony (Saoirse Ronancq), a 13-year-old girl who falsely accuses the boyfriend (James McAvoy) of her older sister (Knightley) of assaulting their cousin. The film follows the characters from the mid-1930s through World War II to the end of the 20th century, as Briony tries to atone for her earlier actions with the couple. Vanessa Redgrave and Brenda Blethyn also star.
Keira Knightley is an actress who I feel is slightly under rated. Yes, she has the blockbuster of Pirates of the Caribbean at the top of her resume, but she always seems to pick parts that are intriguing and unusual, regardless of how they actually turn out. I did not like Domino, but it was a neat role for her. She can play a female bounty hunter to a more refined young woman in Pride and Prejudice. I like her a lot. She has the full package. Good looks and talent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xenon Pictures has acquired North American rights to "Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror," tentatively set for a fall theatrical bow followed by a DVD release in the early spring. "Hood of Horror" unspooled Tuesday at the Los Angeles Film Festival as part of the Guilty Pleasures lineup. The film's ensemble cast includes Snoop Dogg, Ernie Hudson, Danny Trejo, Method Man, Jason Alexander and Billy Dee Williams as well as such sports notables as the NBA's Lamar Odom and Tayshaun Prince and the NFL's Teyo Johnson, Justin Fargas and Glenn Cadrez. The film features three blood-soaked tales involving the residents of an inner-city neighborhood whose actions in this life determine their destination in the afterlife. The film features anime sequences created by Madhouse under the supervision of Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor John Gaeta (the "Matrix" trilogy).
Doesn't this just sound like something we will all rush to get advance tickets for? I think Snoop Dogg is a comical guy. He smokes pot, and has a funny look and voice to him, and that's all well and great, but he is not an actor. I'm sorry, but acting is not his calling. A few minor roles and/or appearances are fine, but we as moviegoers should not have to suffer through Bones, The Wash, or enormous flops like Soul Plane. This could be ok if it is funny, but I am almost positive this will be horrible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MySpace members will get the chance to have their names immortalized onscreen in Kevin Smith's new comedy "Clerks II." Starting at 5 pm EDT Friday, the first 10,000 people to add the MySpace "Mooby's Presents: Clerks II" Web page to their Friends list will be listed in the ending credits of the Weinstein Co. film and DVD, which will be released nationwide on July 21 by MGM. Web interactive agency Deep Focus helped arrange the promotion. "I've been a total MySpace junkie since March of this year, and have given up countless hours to the ten-at-a-time art of friend-approving," said Smith. "For MySpace to let 'Clerks II' into their 'Top 8,' so to speak, is not only a major coup for the movie - it's like being able to say that I know (MySpace co-founder and automatic 'friend') Tom (Anderson) personally. Even though, y'know, I don't."
Kevin Smith connects with his fans in ways other directors can only dream of. This is a superb way to get your film added publicity. Maybe I will check this out. I am newly a member to MySpace, but only to communicate with certain friends. I honestly don't have time to go on there that much. I am also a member of Facebook.com, which is a bit classier version of MySpace. Anyway, I am looking forward to Clerks II even it does flop. I would highly anticipate any Kevin Smith film, no matter how many disasters he has. I'm a loyal fan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actor Woody Harrelson was involved in an alleged assault on a photographer Thursday night as he left a Hollywood nightclub. The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the incident that occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m. outside celebrity hot spot Element. The former Cheers star was leaving the club with three women and two men when photographer Josh Levine and other photographers began taking pictures. Harrelson became irritated and asked Levine to stop shooting. He then walked over to Levine, put his hand on the camera and again asked him to stop taking photographs. A fight erupted between the two, which was captured by another photographer at the scene. Harrelson's publicist Ina Treciokas tells website TMZ.com, "Unfortunately, this is not the first or last time the paparazzi have provoked an incident with a celebrity. "Mr. Harrelson is evaluating all of his legal options against the photographer." Levine filed a criminal complaint against the actor and Los Angeles Police Detective John Padilla says an investigation is ongoing. He explains, "We're going to present it to the District Attorney's office as early as today. "With the tapes and all, it's pretty good evidence."
Padilla said vandalism and assault and battery charges could possibly be filed against Harrelson.
I am siding with Harrelson on this one, and I don't even know the story. I was one of the few who sat through the film Paparazzi, and after reading about countless reports of those idiots harassing celebrities, I can say that something needs to be done about this problem. They have no shame, and they just don't give a shit. What sucks for Harrelson is the fact that he has a handful of good films that have been released in the past two years, and now his reputation is tarnished because of an incident that could have easily been prevented had the photographer just walked away after he was asked to stop.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Superman Returns" flexed its muscle at Northern American multiplexes, soaring to the top of the weekend boxoffice with $84 million in ticket sales during its first five days, according to studio estimates released Sunday Warner Bros. Pictures' big-budget comic book adventure, starring newcomer Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, generated $52 million in receipts Friday through Sunday after its midweek debut. "The Devil Wears Prada," the 20th Century Fox picture starring Meryl Streep as a tyrannical fashion magazine editor, came in second at the boxoffice with $27 million in revenue in its debut weekend. Last week's No. 1 film, the Adam Sandler comedy "Click," fell to third place this weekend with $19 million for a 10-day tally to $78 million.
Just think if they had stayed with the original release date. $52 million is really low for a film that has received this much publicity on cereal boxes, soda can, etc. etc. I am surprised to see The Devil Wears Prada finishing so high. My friend who works at the theater said that movie was packed for every showing. It kind of startled me. A couple small surprises this week, but we all knew Superman Returns would be number 1.
What's Coming to DVD…Buy or Avoid?
The Matador - What a great comedy this was. It went tremendously overlooked in theate4rs, but hopefully it receives a big audience on DVD like The Big Lebowski. The cover looks dumb though. Buy
The Libertine - I am an enormous Johnny Depp fan, but this film never came remotely close to my area. I will have to rent it at some point. I read both good and bad things about it.
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School - A movie pet peeve of mine is ridiculously long titles. This did get a limited release in theaters, but the buzz wasn't that big. I won't lie, I'm not going to rent this. It looks dumb.
Doctor Who-The Complete First Series - I know nothing about this show, but there is hardly anythign being released this week, so I wanted to put something on here.
Superman Returns - I never thought that a meaningless conversation in Mallrats would come back to haunt me in another film, but it did, and that's all I'll say about that. Without spoiling too much, Bryan Singer and company open a huge can of worms in this film, and it was quite risky. I enjoyed this film a lot more than I expected. It was amazingly faithful to the original films, and I respected that, but it does have some noticeable flaws. In particular, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane was just bad casting, and while Kevin Spacey didn't bother me as much as anticipated, he was still rather goofy. Those are small complaints, but the main problems stem from the plot (a certain airplane sequence to be exact). I did love the character arc of Superman/Clark Kent, who experienced many different emotions throughout. This was a hugely entertaining and even somewhat compelling film, but in other ways it is too ambitious. Final Rating = 7.0/10.0
Click - I'm not surprised by critics' hate for this film. What gets on my nerves though is the constant comparisons to It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, and The Family Man. Yes it is very similar to those, but this story works no matter what. Nothing will top the movie with James Stewart, and we all know that. This time the main character has a remote to control his life, and I adored almost every minute of the funfilled chaos. To start, it appeared as if it would be normal Sandler schtick, but that dissapeared quickly. The special effects, makeup, and soundtrack are superb here. The various remote control features were incredibly fascinating to see. Movies where a person gets a glimpse at their life are just so interesting to me. Some jokes could have used some fine tuning, but all in all, this is a humorous, moving, and rewarding story that has some charmingly unique visuals. It is just about everything you could want in a summer blockbuster. Final Rating = 8.0/.10.0
Waist Deep - The trailers for this film expose it as a cliché action flick targeted for a specific group, but in truth, this deserves loads more credit than it will ever receive. Tyrese's career has so many hills and dips that one would get car sick, but ocassionally he can deliver the goods. The reason this works is because of the gritty, sharp, and realistic atmosphere and direction contributed by TV director Vondie Curtis Hall. With some small slices of humor, and a sexy young actress in Meagan Good, this piece of cinema has style and substance. The downfall is the ending, for one, and the sudden appearance of a nasty cliché every now and then. What is so shocking is that the rap artist "The Game" is actually very effective as a villain. He has few lines, which was a wise decision, but his evil looking kisser can be intimidating in a way. This is not a movie to add to your collection of DVD's, but it makes for an enjoyable night at the theater. Final Rating = 7.5/10.0
Movie Dictionary: Word of the Week
Potboiler - A potboiler is an artistic work (usually written) created for the sole purpose of making money quickly or to maintain a steady income for the artist, thus implying that artistic values were subordinate to saleability.
The word was derived from "to boil the pot": in other words, the author wrote the book to keep a pot of food boiling. (See pot boiler.)
One of the most famous potboilers is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, demonstrating that works written primarily for money are not always of subpar quality. Even Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", now so famous, was written as a potboiler. Television host Mike Wallace used the term while interviewing writer Rod Serling about his upcoming show, The Twilight Zone. At that time, science fiction writing was considered amateurish and juvenile, and Wallace questioned whether or not Serling was moving away from "serious" writing.
A "potboiler" is a common term used to refer to a film also. For instance, I received a piece of hate mail from one guy, who didn't like my review of The Da Vinci Code. He called it "potboiler garbage."
Based on the Trailer…
Spiderman 3 - Despite my dislike of the second one, this trailer is friggin awesome. The black spiderman suit storyline was always one of my favorites. Trailer Rating = 9.0/10.0
Little Man - I know there are some who enjoy this type of comedy, but I think this looks dreadful. Trailer Rating = 3.0/10.0
My Super Ex-Girlfriend - I personally think this looks dumb. It had some funny parts, but I don't think it will end up good. Trailer Rating = 5.0/10.0
Ghost Rider - This looks decent to me. The special effects might be a downfall, but all in all I'm looking forward to Cage in this role. Trailer Rating = 7.5/10.0
Accepted - This could be really funny or really dumb, but holy shit, comedian Lewis Black is in this! Trailer Rating = 7.0/10.0
Little Miss Sunshine - This looks pretty funny to me with a nice cast in Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, etc. Trailer Rating = 8.0/10.0
Monster House - This actually looks good to me. The trailer has some funny things in it, and I think children and grown ups would enjoy it. Trailer Rating= 7.5/10.0
World Trade Center - A wonderful trailer in every way. This will not be like United 93, but it can still be good. I can't wait to see this trailer in the theater. Trailer Rating = 10.0/10.0
Miami Vice - Normally, I think remakes of TV shows are bad ideas, but Michael Mann looks to have cleared out the cobwebs, and used his own vision. I think this looks good. Trailer Rating = 8.5/10.0
Lady in the Water - I loved the teaser trailer to this with the music in the background, but this is much different. This movie still looks pretty interesting though. Trailer Rating = 7.5/10.
