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Poster Friday: Kick-Ass, Avatar, Green Zone, Wolfman & More!

Rob Keyes — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:59:26 +0000

Happy Friday everyone! For our first Friday of November 2009, we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up. So, before you head out to see this week’s opening movies, namely The Men Who Star at goats, A Christmas Carol, The Box and The Fourth Kind, check out the latest promo sheets below.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for Kick-Ass, The Wolfman, Conan, The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse, Clash of the Titans, Scream 4, A Single Man, Avatar, Machete, Green Zone, Let Me In, Tell Tale and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

We also have a few bonus items for this year’s Pixar movie, Up.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here’s the first (awesome) batch of Kick-Ass posters that IGN premiered yesterday:

Continue to the next page for the other Kick-Ass posters and more!

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GROAN… Summer 2009 Sets Box Office Record

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:55:02 +0000

So we just finished telling you why the Summer of 2009 was the season of bad movies. Now, as if to validate our point (sarcasm alert) Variety has just announced that the Summer of ‘09 has set a new record as the highest grossing summer of all time at the U.S. domestic box office.

So there you have it, folks, it’s official: Hollywood has no reason to ever hire good writers, produce good scripts, or offer us anything better at the multiplex than what Michael Bay can half-envision.

Awesome.

The numbers of course tell a deeper tale than that, so if you’d like to find out just how the heck this summer managed to break the box office bank, here’s the breakdown:

Top earners for the season were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($399.4 million), Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince ($294.3 million), and Disney/Pixar’s Up ($289.6 million). We all know why the franchise players made bank (it certainly wasn’t because the newest installments were great films in and of themselves) and Pixar is a proven brand that happened to offer a truly exceptional film. Other crap sequels that helped fill the piggy bank: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($193.3 million), Angels and Demons ($133.4 million) and Night at the Museum 2 ($176.5 million)

There were also some unexpected boosts to the box office this year, thanks to Warner Bros.’ breakout hit The Hangover ($270.2 million) and the Sandra Bullock / Ryan Reynolds rom-com, The Proposal ($160.2 million).

Rounding out the Summer ‘09 box office cash pile were reboots/relaunches of popular franchises. On that front you had Star Trek ($256.7 million), Wolverine ($179 million), Terminator Salvation ($125.3 million) and G.I. Joe ($133.4 million and counting).

This really must be just a cruel joke being played by God, IMHO. You have he Writers Guild of America strike back in 2007, during which the scripts for a lot of these films were forced to go into production half-cooked (or less), and what’s the moral of the story? What’s the grand example that the talented writers in Hollywood can hold up to the studios? “Hey, you better treat us right, otherwise we’ll stop working and you’ll end up making more money than you ever have before!”

Pretty short soapbox to be standing on.

It’s also arguable evidence of the (snooty) stereotype that the average American moviegoer has the cerebral capacity of a third grader. Just looking at the numbers I have to wonder just how so many people could be so entertained by so much crap. It once again raises a question one of our readers put to us back in June, after the release of Transformers 2: Is there really a difference between movies like The Dark Knight and TF2 when both films start pulling in crazy bank? How much does quality count?

It was an intriguing topic before, but after hearing that the Summer of 2009 will go down as a the “best” summer at the movies ever (from a profit standpoint), it’s now a raging debate. Expect Screen Rant’s post about it soon.

Source: Variety

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Summer 2009: The Season Of Bad Movies [Updated]

Heath McKnight — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:38:14 +0000

Well, the summer movie season is officially over, and while box office earnings are way up, it seems like the quality of the films have actually gone way down. But for every few badly-written movies (like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2, and G.I. Joe–though some will say it’s not that bad), there was a diamond in the rough like District 9. So why were so many movies so bad in the summer of ‘09, even if they did make a lot of money? Hint: The Writers Strike!

Before the summer began, I wrote an article about how the 2007 Writers Strike might affect the summer 2009 movies. I speculated that back in 2007, studios were nervous about how long the writers strike could last, leaving them with a possible lack of films for the fall/winter 2008 and all-important summer 2009 season (early May to late August 2009). To make sure they had big films lined up for Summer ‘09, the studios pushed to have their big-budget scripts quick-finished before the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) contracts were up in November 2007 and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in summer of 2008.

So what happened? Movies like Wolverine, Transformers 2, GI Joe, Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, and others got thrashed by critics (and our own, brave reviewers here at Screen Rant), for their lackluster scripts that showed every sign of being half-cooked. Now, some of you might thing bad scripts and summer blockbusters go hand-in-hand – but let’s be honest, when was the last time there were so many stinkers that came out in one summer? Sure, many of these films made a lot of money, but how much of that profit hinges on moviegoers looking for affordable entertainment and “stay-cations” in this bad economy?

It’s very well known that most of the summer ‘09 films were rushed into production. Angels and Demons was delayed a year due to the Strike, but that didn’t seem to help make the final product that much better; Michael Bay has said in interviews that he worked out the overall story of Transformers 2, all the way down to the action AND comedic bits. However, when the WGA strike ended, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were joined by fellow writer Ehren Krueger to try and get the script for TF2 hammered out in a matter of three or four months to meet the production start deadline. At that rushed pace, the script was bound to suffer.

Several Big-budget franchise installments failed to live up to the hype.

Here’s a quick recap of some of the more disappointing movies this summer:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Terminator: Salvation
Angels and Demons
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Year One
Public Enemies (this one is open to debate–it seems kind of split on how people and critics liked it–Vic liked it)

(Continue to pg. 2 to see which movies of Summer ‘09 were actually good!)

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2009 Scream Award Nominations

Ross Miller — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:37:08 +0000

The nominees have been announced for the fourth annual Scream Awards, held every year by Spike TV. The decisively more “fan-friendly” award ceremony (compared to the Oscars) honors films from the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic-book genres of movies, TV shows and comic books. The awards are described as, “the first and only global event of its kind,” to honor those genres.

The Scream 2009 nominees were chosen by the Advisory Board of Hollywood and Genre Leaders, a list which this year includes the likes of Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, plus many more. The event will be taped on Saturday, October 17th this year at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on Spike TV ten days later on Tuesday, October 27th (check for local times).

Along with the awards, the show will also be airing some exclusive, world premiere of footage of some of the most anticipated movies of 2010! Presenters and musicians for the event are to be announced shortly.

Below is the list of a selection of the 32 categories from this year’s Scream nominations. For those of you (all of you?) who want to have YOUR say on which film should win, you’re in luck! Public voting for the awards has opened already and will run right up to October 17th. But before you head off to vote, here are some of the nominees:

BEST FANTASY MOVIE

“Coraline”

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

“Twilight”

“Up”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST HORROR MOVIE

“Dead Snow”

“Drag Me to Hell”

“Friday the 13th”

“Let the Right One In”

“My Bloody Valentine 3D”

“Splinter”

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

“Dragonball Evolution”

“Punisher: War Zone”

“The Spirit”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST VILLAIN

Eric Bana as Nero; “Star Trek”

Cam Gigandet as James; “Twilight”

Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush; rag Me to Hell”

Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth; “X-Men”

Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman; “True Blood”

BEST DIRECTOR

J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”

Tomas Alfredson; “Let the Right One In”

Michael Bay; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”

Duncan Jones; “Moon”

Sam Raimi; “Drag Me to Hell”

BEST TV SHOW

Battlestar Galactica

Dexter

Fringe

Lost

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

True Blood

BEST ACTOR IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Ed Asner, “Up”

Hugh Jackman, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Robert Pattinson, “Twilight”

Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Michael Sheen, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

BEST ACTRESS IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Scarlett Johansson, “The Spirit”

Jamie King, “The Spirit”

Rhona Mitra, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

Kristen Stewart, “Twilight”

Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

For the rest of the nominees you can head over to Spike.com, where you can also cast your votes.

Although some of the awards are truly suspect (how the hell The Spirit got nominated for ANYTHING is beyond me), I still like the overall celebration of the type of sci-fi, fantasy, comic book and horror films we here at Screen Rant revel in Although I won’t go into a specific rundown of who I think should win, I’d like to throw my opinion in the ring for a few of them:

Lost should win Best TV Show (I love Dexter, but it’s no Lost); Best Horror Movie should go to Let The Right One In (I would say Drag Me To Hell, but since that’s a comedy too, Let The Right One takes it for me); Best Actor in a Fantasy Movie Or TV Show should go to Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and Best Comic Book Movie should (EASILY) go to Watchmen.

But enough from me, what and who will YOU vote for? As stated, you can cast your votes over at Spike.com, and you can see if the winners match your picks when the Scream Awards 2009 air on October 27th this year on Spike TV.

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SR Picks: Pixar Makes a Little Girl’s Dying Wish Come True

Rob Keyes — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:42:49 +0000

When the world seems full of doom and gloom, there are always those special people that step up and make you feel good about life. When I hear stories about these heroes, I feel compelled to share them. Not long ago, I wrote about such a thing happening when Somchai Yoosabai, a Bangkok firefighter, single-handedly saved a young autistic boy with the help of his Spider-Man costume.

Today, we have another story of people doing something special for someone out of the goodness of their hearts.

Colby Curtin, a 10-year old girl described as fun, active and mature for her age, was diagnosed with a rare vascular cancer nearly three years ago and since then she has been fighting strong against it. For the last month or so however, her condition got worse and she would not live for long.

After seeing previews for Up attached to Monsters vs. Aliens, Colby absolutely had to see the upcoming Disney-Pixar 3-D film as lover of movies and animals herself. The problem was that by the time the film came out, she quickly became too ill to be brought to a theater to see it. And in those few days before her condition worsened, her mother’s request for a wheelchair came unanswered as the weekend passed by.

A photo of Colby Curtin by family friend Carole Lynch

The family feared that she would pass away without ever seeing the film. Terrell Orum-Moore, a family friend, was determined not to let that happen and began cold-calling Disney and Pixar to try to get someone to help.

The big obstacle for Orum-Moore was Pixar’s automated telephone system which asked for a specific name of an employee to pass the call through. Guessing names, she was able to get through to someone and the folks at Pixar listened to the story of dying Colby Curtin and agreed to fly someone out there the following day with a copy of the DVD.

The family friend then called Colby’s mother, Lisa Curtin, and told her the good news. Lisa asked her daughter if she could hang on just a bit longer to see the film. Colby responded:

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,”

The following day, around lunch hour, the Pixar employee arrived with the DVD in hand and plenty of gifts.

They watched the film together but Colby couldn’t see much of the movie with pain forcing her eyes closed. Her mother helped by detailing what was happening on screen. After the film ended, the employee, who was described as being incredibly nice was very touched by the situation, left with the movie, having helped bring Colby her last wish.

After being able to experience the film she looked forward to so much, Lisa asked her daughter Colby if she liked it and she responded that she did. Colby passed away a mere seven hours later with both of her divorced parents at her bedside. Pixar came through and was able to make her last day something very special for the young girl and her family. They weren’t using this as some marketing scheme or to benefit their brand, they simply helped out the family to make Colby’s last wish come true.

Thank you, Pixar.

What do you think of this story?

To see more details on the story, check the original article at the OC Register, linked below.

Source: Orange County Register

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Why Is Pixar’s ‘UP’ Using Bait-and-Switch Advertising?

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:45:50 +0000

A week ago I wrote a post about how the Weinstein Company supposedly tampered with the trailer for The Road, in order to “help” the film – which is essentially a meditative look at the bond between a father and son traveling across the ruins of America – reach a (supposedly) wider audience.

The post caused a tiny stir and even inspired a response post from Alex Billington over at First Showing, who claimed (echoing the sentiment of many readers) that I was crying foul about something that is by now a banal topic: Hollywood using bait-and-switch advertising to lure us into theaters under false pretenses.

Well, this week I find myself “crying foul” about bait-and-switch advertising once again, this time in reference to a movie I actually saw and loved. I’m talking about Disney/Pixar’s wonderful new film, UP.

[WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS CONTAIN SPOILERS ABOUT THE PLOT OF UP]

If you’ve read my review of UP, then you already know that my overall opinion of the film is that it offers a surprisingly mature (and moving) look at the nature of grief and loss and how we climb back from those crushing emotions. Of course being a Pixar film, that serious undertone is dressed up as a fantastic adventure about a widower who ties a bunch of balloons to his house and flies off to explore South America. However, as I confessed in my review (and many other readers seconded) many key scenes of UP are so wrenchingly powerful, sad even, that you can’t help but be moved to tears. The film really urges you to take stock of your life and (if you’re lucky) the love in it, and (arguably) sends you away with a new appreciation for both.

While that kind of emotional resonance is a phenomenal accomplishment for an animated film (UP is clearly worthy of a Best Picture nomination, IMHO), it’s not so easy for the kids to digest. Sure, there are some silly talking dogs and a juvenile comedic foil thrown in there for the kids to enjoy and laugh at, but at its core, UP tells a very adult story.

That isn’t just my opinion, either. If you check out the comment thread on my UP review you’ll see several instances of parents complaining that the film made for a bad experience for them and their children. A couple of parents even went as far as to say they had to leave the theater at the behest of their melancholy children. My first reaction to these parents was “That’s YOUR fault: Do your homework before you take your kids to a movie; never assume something is going to be OK for them just because it has a familiar brand name slapped on it.” And, truth be told, I was good with that response. I stood by it.

Flash-forward to last night: I’m sitting on my couch catching up on some summer TV when all of a sudden I catch a TV spot for UP – one of those “UP is the number one movie in America!” spots where they flash you all the names of critics and publications that have praised the film. Imagine my shock: Of all fancy names they flashed (New York Times, USA Today, Time, etc…), only one critic (Hollywood.com’s Pete Hammond) was quoted – and then, only quoted for one word out of his entire review: “Hilarious.”

I nearly fell off the couch.

Continue reading ‘Why Is Pixar’s ‘UP’ Using Bait-and-Switch Advertising?’

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 31, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:34:07 +0000

In the Wrap Up this Week:

The box office is UP; Robert Downey Jr might still saddle up for Cowboys and Aliens; Lucy beats Nicole Kidman to the Punch; Natalie Portman, Danny McBride and James Franco salute Your Highness; Seann William Scott and Adam Brody are A Couple of Dicks and Chevy Chase dips his toes in the Hot Tub Time Machine and he may return as Fletch.

BOX OFFICE:
The summer season is now well and truly here. Pixar’s Up shows that family films and the Pixar brand are hugely profitable. The animated film banked a huge $68 million over the weekend. For a film that sells most of it’s tickets in half price matinees that’s a lot of attendance.

Last week’s champion Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian had to settle for the runner up spot with a weekend take of $25 million. With a total now over $100 million it looks like we might be in for a third installment.

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man stop-gap, Drag Me To Hell, opened to a disappointing $16 million. It probably cost about $20 million to produce, so it’ll be profitable, but I’m sure Raimi wanted more.

Speaking of more – will we ever get to see any more Terminator films? With a weekend take of just $16 million for Terminator Salvation it looks like McG might not get to finish his proposed trilogy. Maybe international grosses will help. It looks like the franchise needed Schwarzenegger’s charisma and not just a grumpy looking Christian Bale.

Star Trek flew past the $200 million mark with a weekend gross of $12 million. Angels & Demons has crossed the $100 million milestone, but will the film be profitable to warrant a sequel? Doubtful.

Dance Flick made another $4 million giving the spoof a total gross of almost $20 million. Who pays money to see that?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine made just under $4 million this weekend bringing the Hugh Jackman starrer’s total to $170.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past hit $50 million and Beyonce Knowle’s Obsessed is closing in on $70 million.

MOVIE NEWS

1. Everyone wants Robert Downey Jr in their movie these days. It’s funny how times have changed. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have spoken about how they still hope to snag the Iron Man for their upcoming adaptation of Cowboys and Aliens.

Speaking to Sci-Fi Wire the duo said that they‘ve been speaking to Downey Jr about the film but that scheduling is the issue:

“We’ve been talking to him about that. He’s one of the busiest men on the face of the Earth. If the schedule can line up, we’d absolutely love it.”

The pair also said that they’re finishing up scripting duties on the film:

“We are just about to finish our draft of Cowboys and Aliens, which we are writing with Lost’s Damon Lindelof. For Cowboys and Aliens, we got an amazing first draft from Mark Fergus, who wrote Iron Man, and now we are continuing on with Damon. We are in the middle of the second draft.”

*Please note that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman do speak separately.
They’re also incredibly in demand with Transformers 2 and Star Trek out this summer alone!

Source: Sci Fi Wire

2. Nicole Kidman has dropped out of Woody Allen’s forthcoming film. The Aussie star will be replaced by British actress Lucy Punch.

The plot and title for the film are unknown but sources believe:
“Punch will play a high-priced call girl similar to Ashley Dupre, who was at the center of the scandal that brought down New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.”

The cast for the film is pretty darn good – even for a Woody Allen film. Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Naomi Watts and Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto have roles in it.

Source: Variety

3. Natalie Portman will join Danny McBride and James Franco in Your Highness for Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green.

According to Variety:

“McBride, who wrote the script with Ben Best, plays an arrogant lazy prince who with his brother (Franco) must complete a quest to save the kingdom and his brother’s fiance. Portman will play a warrior princess that the lazy prince falls in love with.”

The Princess Bride with pot anyone?

Source: Variety

4. Seann William Scott and Adam Brody know A Couple of Dicks. The pair will join Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan in Kevin Smith’s forthcoming detective comedy.

“Scott plays a thief known as the Sh**t Bandit for the souvenirs he leaves at his robberies. Brody is an abrasive detective not happy to be working with Willis and Morgan.”

A Couple of Dicks starts shooting this Monday in New York.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

5. Chevy Chase seems to be on the comeback trail. Not only has the 80’s icon scored a role in John Cusack’s Hot Tub Time Machine but the Weinstein Company have apparently approached him with a script for a third Fletch movie.

With regards to Hot Tub Time Machine:

“Chase plays a mysterious repairman who dispenses pearls of wisdom and may or may not be behind the metaphysical road trip.”

Now, a Fletch film has been in the works for almost a decade. Kevin Smith originally wanted to make a Fletch film with Jason Lee, and then Scrub’s Zach Braff was attached to the project for a while, but nothing ever came of it. This new script is passing of the baton-type film where Chase’s Fletch advises his journalist nephew on his career.

With a bit of luck this will mean that we get to see more of the criminally underused Chase on the big screen.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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‘UP’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:11:37 +0000

Short Version: UP is arguably Pixar’s finest achievement to date, and is surprisingly mature (and moving) in its subject matter. Oh, and the 3D visuals are pretty awesome too.

Screen Rant Reviews Pixar's UP (in digital 3D)

There’s nothing better than an easy review: Pixar’s latest summer offering, UP, is a fantastic film. Simply fantastic. Seriously, if Ratatouille and Wall-E deserved to be in the running for Best Picture of the Year (as many said they did at the times of their releases) then UP certainly does.

It’s that good.

The film – which was written by Bob Peterson (Finding Nemo, Ratatouille) and directed by Peter Docter (Monsters, Inc.) – delivers all the things we’ve come to expect from a Pixar animated feature: gorgeous visuals, a strong story rife with moral lessons and (gasp) good character development; humor both low-brow (for the kids) and high-brow (for the grownups), with strokes of bold wit and a dash of sagely wisdom for good measure.

And yet, UP also delivers something quite unexpected: Pixar’s most adult-oriented story yet, slyly disguised in a fantastic adventure tale.

UP tells the life story of Carl Fredricksen (the unmistakable voice of Ed Asner), a shy little boy who grows up in (1930s?) America, an era in which people pack into movie theaters to watch news reels about adventurous explorers like Charles Muntz, who travels the world on one epic quest after the next.

Young Carl Fredricksen idolizes Muntz: He spends his lonely days roaming his neighborhood pretending to be Muntz until one day he runs into Ellie, an energetic and fearless young girl (everything Carl is not) who idolizes Charles Muntz just as much as Carl does. Ellie and Carl cross their hearts then and there and swear to be great adventurers like Charles Muntz, and with that oath, theirs is a match made in heaven.

After that fateful first encounter, we get a truly beautiful montage of Carl and Ellie’s life-long romance. We see the young kids grow into a teenage couple; see them get married and buy a house, working day jobs (balloon vendor) while saving up for the kind of adventures they fantasized about as kids. We watch the couple deal with the ups and downs, joys and tragedies of life; and gradually we watch them grow into old age, Ellie’s “My Adventures” scrapbook still unfilled, even as her time on Earth ends.

With Ellie gone, Carl becomes a disgruntled old man desperately trying to hold on to a house, heirlooms and a lost-love he cherishes. A physical confrontation with neighborhood developers leads to Carl being forced into a retirement home for the rest of his days – but before the old man will give in he decides to honor the oath he and Ellie swore as kids and take one last shot at adventure! Carl ties an impossible number of balloons to his house (working a balloon cart at the zoo was his job for many years), rigs a steering system and UP he goes!

But there’s a stowaway on board: a young boy scout-type named Russell (Jordan Nagai), who is desparately trying to earn his last merit badge assisting the elderly, for personal reasons that are as moving as a they are heartbreakingly naive. From that point on, the story mainly focuses on Carl trying to find room in his broken heart for love and friendship again, with Russell acting as his primary foil and simultaneous source of inspiration. Russell is also handy for providing the comedic relief the kids will get.

Of course there’s a whole flying to South America, evil nemesis (Christopher Plummer), talking dogs/mythical bird adventure thrown in there. All of that stuff is pretty cool, and will be sure to entertain the kids. However, as one of the grownup kids, the story (for me) was all about Carl dealing with his profound sense of loss and love. The flying house escapism, fantastic creatures and evil villains were all just means and metaphors for that awesome emotional narrative.

No lie, there were a lot of sobs and sniffles around me in the theater. If you’re old enough to know about love and loss, it’s hard not to be affected by UP. By now it’s no secret that Pixar knows how to tell a fantastic story, but who knew they could handle romantic drama so well? Superb work.

Visually, UP is just as stunning. The digital 3D tech employed for this film is far from a gimmick – it enhances the experience of the film by multitudes. When Carl and Russell are walking over cliffs or trekking through gorgeously rendered South American jungles, with an enormous floating 3D house harnessed to their backs, it’s not just some of the most gorgeous eye-candy seen onscreen (the balloons are truly amazing), it’s also a very clever and potent metaphor for grief. Rendered in 3D, those themes stood out loud and clear; the rest of the time, this movie was just a treat to look at.

I confess having wet eyes myself, not once, or twice, but on several instances during UP. Sometimes I was thinking, “This movie is breaking my heart.” Other times I was thinking, “This movie is melting my heart.” And sometimes, I was simply thinking, “This movie is so damn beautiful.”

It definitely lifted me UP.

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Pixar’s ‘Brave’ is Actually ‘The Bear and the Bow’

Carl Lee — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:24:34 +0000

With Up coming out this weekend (May 29th), you might have guessed that director Pete Docter has been doing lots of interviews and other press. In a discussion with Coming Soon, an intriguing slip lead to massive amounts of speculation. We tried to stay out of that mess until some clear(er) details were available. So what exactly is Brave you ask?

Apparently, it’s Pixar’s 2011 winter feature The Bear and the Bow.

‘Brave’, it turns out, is Pixar’s internal name for The Bear and the Bow. Writer and director Brenda Chapman (Cars, Prince of Egypt) is ‘behind the lens’ of Pixar’s first fairy tale, which stars Reese Witherspoon. The Pixar Blog reports the story is of a Scottish princess Merida, who would rather be known as a great (and brave) archer. Against her mother’s wishes, she “make[s] a reckless choice which unleashes unintended peril on her father’s kingdom and her mother’s life…”

The slip about The Bear and the Bow happened during a conversation about general work practices at the Pixar Studio. The question asked was while working on Up, did Docter have any involvement with developing pictures? His response:

Once in a while, we’re at these meetings where we all look at ‘Toy Story 3′ or ‘Brave’ or whatever and we all give comments and notes, but that’s just like a day here or there.

In other Pixar news, as many of you know by now, the studio produces two shorts for every film – one for the theatrical run (Partly Cloudly will be in front of Up) and the other for DVD/Blu-ray release, usually a spin-off using characters from the feature. SciFi Wire has word that the Blu-ray release of Up contains Dug’s Special Mission, and it’s said to be a bit of backstory on Dug the talking dog. In a sense it’ll be a prequel because it will explain what he’s doing when the main characters of Up, Carl and Russell, stumble upon him.

As far as The Bear and the Bow goes, how do you think Pixar will fair with its first fairy tale picture?

The Bear and the Bow is slate to hit theaters in the Winter of 2011.

Source: Coming Soon, The Pixar Blog, SciFi Wire

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 17, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:49:46 +0000

This week:

Tom Hanks is the box office champion; Terry Gilliam kills Don Quixote…again; Spider-Man has a new Green Goblin (on stage); the Basterds are online; Toy Story 3 is moving Up; Ewan McGregor won’t be Trainspotting and who are the Six Suspects?

Box Office

Tom Hanks charged to the top of the box office with Angels and Demons. The sequel to The DaVinci Code grossed $48 million over the weekend, which is down from the $77 million opening for the first film. Having said that, reviews are better and the audience is more mature so it might have legs to make it profitable. Expect a third movie – but might they replace Hanks with someone younger and cheaper next time?

Star Trek showed great legs with a second weekend take of $42 million and a drop of less than 45% from its opening weekend. With a total gross of $147 million it looks like this installment of the long running science fiction franchise really does have phasers set for stun!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine clawed in another $15 million for a grand total of $151 million.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past pulled in another $4 million for a total of $40 million. Expect it to hit the $50 million mark.

Obsessed has now banked $62 million so expect to see Beyonce Knowles in more romantic comedies. 17 Again is also teetering around the $60 million mark while Monster Vs Aliens is closing in on $200 million.

Movie News

1. It looks like Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is looking like it’s going to finally hit the big screen. Although having said that I wouldn’t get too excited until I’ve bought my ticket.

Gilliam and Tony Grisoni (a very nice man) have rewritten the script where a filmmaker ends up in Don Quixote’s world.

Gilliam said:

“I’m not so much a filmmaker as someone who gets possessed by an idea and it doesn’t leave me until I make the film. I commit myself to it so fully.”

Johnny Depp was set to star in the original incarnation of the film and Gilliam is in talks with the star to return to the project, but Depp’s a busy man these days and he might not be able to fit it into his schedule.

Time will tell.

Source: Variety

2. X-Men 2 star Allan Cumming is in negotiations to star in Julie Taymor’s $40 million Broadway musical production of Spider-Man.

Cumming would play the Green Goblin in the play which will have music by U2.

Anybody else think that this is a crazy idea?

Source: New York Post

3. The official website to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds has been launched. Excited? Don’t be – there’s just a trailer there and some facebook and twitter links.

Expect more as we get closer to the August 21st release date.

Source: Inglourious Basterds

4. If you’ve been waiting 10 years for Toy Story 3 then wait no more. Well…you’ve got to wait a bit more. The trailer for the long awaited animated film will be attached to Pixar’s forthcoming UP.

Toy Story 3 will open on June 18th, 2010.

Source: Movieblog

5. With Slumdog Millionaire raking in Oscars and grossing millions it’s no surprise to learn that the author of the book on which the film was based – Vikas Swarup has become a hot commodity. The author’s next novel Six Suspects is being developed by BBC Films. The book which is billed as “Agatha Christie meets Elmore Leonard” is being adapted by John Hodge, who also wrote Slumdog director Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

The film is due to shoot in Delhi next year.

Source: Screen Daily

6. Speaking of Trainspotting – it looks like Ewan McGregor won’t be slipping back into Renton’s tight jeans in a Trainspotting sequel.

Speaking to Moviefone McGregor said:

“I don’t think I would, for several reasons. The first one is that I didn’t think the book was very good. The novel of ‘Trainspotting’ was quite fantastic, it was beautiful, quite moving and disturbing writing, and then I find that the sequel … the book that Irvine Welsh wrote was called ‘Porno,’ and … it didn’t move me as much … He’d written a good sequel to the film as opposed to a sequel to his book. It’s also a similar story, you know, the betrayal of trust … Renton walks away with all the money at the end again. And I thought I don’t want to make the same story again. And, also, I think just the idea of getting the cast together again 10 to 15 years later isn’t good enough, you need more than that.”

Fair point – I think the fact that Boyle and McGregor had a huge falling out over Leonardo DiCapario being cast in The Beach might have something to do with it.

You might be angry Ewan – but he did do you a favor on that one.

Source: Moviefone

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Pixar’s UP Earns Early Critical Praise

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:07:32 +0000

Pixar’s lastest offering, the odd-couple adventure UP, has been bringing smiles to people faces ever since the first trailer dropped, or in my case, when I was treated to a special screening of the first 45 minutes of UP, back in February at the New York Comic Con.

By now most of us are used to Pixar films getting love from both fan$ and critics alike; after all, they don’t hand out those Oscar noms to Pixar every year for nothing. Well, UP is continuing in that proud Pixar tradition: the film is getting praise from some of the movie industry’s biggest critics. Check it out:

Time: “Though it’s not yet summer, we can declare that Up, like WALL-E, will prove to be one of the most satisfying movie experiences of its year.” … “Extending the patented Pixar mix of humor and heart, Up is the studio’s most deeply emotional and affecting work.”

Roger Ebert: “This is a wonderful film. It tells a story. The characters are as believable as any characters can be who spend much of their time floating above the rain forests of Venezuela.” … “This is a story as tickling to the imagination as the magical animated films of my childhood, when I naively thought that because their colors were brighter, their character outlines more defined and their plots simpler, they were actually more realistic than regular films.”

Variety: “Depending on what you think of “Cars,” Pixar makes it either 9½ out of 10 or 10 for 10 with “Up,” a captivating odd-couple adventure that becomes funnier and more exciting as it flies along.” … “proves disarming in its deep reserves of narrative imagination and surprise, as well as its poignant thematic balance of dreams deferred and dreams fulfilled.”

THR: “Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it.” … “But what gives Up such a joyously buoyant lift is the refreshingly nongimmicky way in which the process has been incorporated into the big picture — and what a wonderful big picture it is.”

Special thanks to Slash Film for compiling that list of quotes for yours truly to mooch off!

What can I say? Everything those critics say echoes my own experience with UP. The visuals are stunning, the characters real and engaging (and pretty darn funny) and there’s an epic adventure thrown in there just for kicks. If you want to have a good time at a Summer movie that will also allow you to keep your brain turned on (a la Star Trek), then you definitely want to check out UP. Parents, this maybe the one window of true fun for the whole family you get this Summer. Don’t miss out.

Did I also mentioned that UP was filmed in Disney digital 3-D? All those gorgeous visuals are going to be literally jumping off the screen! Fun times!

For those who love the comfort of living under rocks, here is what UP is all about:

Up is described as a “comedic adventure” starring a 78-year man named Carl Fredricksen, who’s “spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest”. Due to his age, he thinks life has “passed him by”. One day, however, a “twist of fate”, and an 8-year old “Wilderness Explorer” named Russell, changes his outlook on life. The pair go on adventures, encountering “wild terrain”, “unexpected villains” and “jungle creatures”.

In case you missed the link up top, click on the link to check out the trailer for UP. You can also check out these clips from UP.

Pixar’s UP opens in theaters on May 29, 2009. Will you be checking it out?

Source: Slash Film & The Pixar Blog

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Wolverine Shreds Box Office: $87 Million Opening Weekend

Heath McKnight — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:35:26 +0000

They call him Wolverine, and he’s the best at what he does, and what he does is shred the box office with berserker rage! Okay, enough of the Wolverine analogies, but you can’t help but be impressed with the $87 million haul of X-Men Origins: Wolverine!

What a way to start off the summer–with the 2009 box office up over last year, people are still hungry for movies, even in this economy. Fox need not fret any more about the pirated version that leaked out, hurting the box office, because the Hugh Jackman-starrer proved that people love to see movies in the theaters.

But the one thing Wolverine’s healing factor and near-indestructible adamantium-laced skeleton can’t stop, and that’s the critical drubbing it’s receiving. It stands at an awful 37% rating over at RottenTomatoes.com, though Screen Rant’s owner and Editor-in-Chief Vic Holtreman gave it 3 out of 5 stars. I’ve been reading online that it’s also getting fair-to-poor word-of-mouth ratings from viewers, and that has the potential to hurt the film in the coming weeks.

I’d say a Wolverine 2 is now extremely likely to get green lit (how about Bryan Singer directing?!), and other X-Men movies could see the green light, too, like X-men: First Class and X-Men Origins: Magneto and spinoffs for Deadpool and Gambit.

Add to that another May that’s over-stocked with movies, so something’s going to give and a movie will crash and burn. Iron Man, which opened the same weekend last year, was able to stay invincible because it was a well-received film by fans and critics, while Speed Racer and The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian were both weak films that crashed and burned.

With Star Trek, Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, and Disney/Pixar’s Up all coming out in the coming weeks, can Wolverine stay the positive box office course? We’ll have to keep our eyes on it. For now, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has started the summer off with a rip-roaring howl!

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New Image From Pixar’s Latest Short Film: ‘Partly Cloudy’

Ross Miller — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:53:48 +0000

Partly Cloudy is the newest short film from the animation wizards at Pixar. It will precede their newest feature film called Up, and it tells the story of where storks get babies before they deliver them to people’s houses.

You know, that old tale…

We’ve already had our first glimpse at the short film last month, which was just wonderful, and today we have another image from it for you to feast your eyes on. It gives a lot closer of a look at the faced-cloud and the stork this time around, and although less photo-realistic than the first released image was (purely because of the animated faces), it’s still damn great looking. Check it out below (click for high res version):

As I have said before, it just shocks me that Pixar is able to Up (see what I did there?) their game every single time they release a new movie. Although I think as straight-up movies, as stories and such, some of their work is a tad overrated (I won’t name names…), as far as pure technical animation goes, they are simply untouchable.

Not long to go now before we can bask in yet another wondrous Pixar animation, and as always I’m sure their newest short film will be a great precursor to the fun adventures that will follow.

What do you make of what we’ve seen of Pixar’s newest short Partly Cloudy? Are you looking forward to it, as well as Up?

Partly Cloudy will be shown before Up when it is released on May 29th in the US, and October 16th in the UK this year.

Source: AICN

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ShoWest Update

Sabrina Cognata — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:54:29 +0000

For those not in the know, ShoWest is a convention for theater owners where studios pimp out their movies with the hopes of making a mark regarding their up and coming films. Yesterday, at ShoWest in Las Vegas studios decided to give one another a run for their money. Warner Bros. president Alan Horn showed clips of Terminator Salvation and the new Harry Potter. Both were things we’ve seen before and nothing particularly special.

Horn then introduced the trailer for the comedy The Hangover, which the audience seemed to really enjoy as they broke into laughter, and the action-comedy Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey Jr. was there for the unveiling of the film’s trailer. He joked with the crowd and explained that he chose to do this film after the mega success of Iron Man. The trailer itself is said to be classic Guy Ritchie with a mix of action and comedy tied together with a certain supernatural element.

At the Disney panel, they announced that the new Tron film will be in 3D, as well as, asserting that the film will be called just “Tron.” In addition to that they showed the trailer that was originally brought to the public back at Comic-Con. They also dropped the news that Toy Story 1 & 2 will be rereleased in October for a limited engagement in 3D, as well as Beauty and the Beast, but it’s release date will be in February of 2010.

In total, Disney/Pixar have 17 theatrical 3D films planned for release between 2009 and 2012. Included on this list is Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, which will also be released on IMAX 3-D. They did not show a trailer for Alice In Wonderland, but showed stills from the film including the already seen photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and new shots of the Cheshire Cat and it’s smile oddly reminiscent of the Joker. Finally, we got a glimpse of the Queen of Hearts’ Castle, which happens to resemble the Disneyland Castle. Way to highlight the Disney iconic logo. However, the middle part of the castle is appropriately shaped in a giant heart.

Up was also shown again, as it has been at every major movie event for the past few months. At this point I have seen the first 45 minutes of Up more times than I have seen most of my favorite films. Still the film does not miss the mark. It continues to shine in a way that makes the story and characters both believable and relatable.

All in all, the footage shown at ShoWest has been pretty impressive. Perhaps that has something to do with the 3D wow factor or the fact that most of the movies being marketed there are already highly anticipated films with mega blockbuster potential.

What do you think? Which films are you excited to finally be hearing more about?

Sources: Collider, IESB.net, SuperHeroHype.com, HitFix, and AintItCool

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Cleanse Your Palate Of MvA With These Pixar ‘Up’ Clips

Vic Holtreman — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:44:05 +0000

I haven’t had a chance to write a review yet, but I saw Monsters vs. Aliens with my daughter this weekend and was pretty disappointed. I didn’t exactly go in with high expectations, but it was much weaker than I expected – even with the addition of 3D. It’s strictly for the 8 year old and under crowd.

So I’m happy to present these latest clips from Pixar’s next film, Up, which I’m quite sure won’t disappoint.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not a big fan of Pixar’s Wall-E, but Up looks like a return to the type of film that has made Pixar so respected, loved and appreciated by parents starved for movies to take their kids to – which are wonderful to watch for the parents as well.

Up opens on May 29, 2009

Sources: IGN, MSN Movies, Yahoo Movies Hat tip: /Film

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Check Out A Full Minute Of Pixar’s ‘Up’

Ross Miller — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:15:30 +0000

We’ve already had some sneek peaks of Pixar’s newest animated creation Up, with posters, trailers, and images (including one of the accompanying short film Partly Cloudy). Screen Rant even got a look at the first 45 minutes of the film which validated hopes that it’s going to be another winner from the best animation studio in the business.

Although we don’t quite have half the film to show you, we do have a full minute of it for your viewing pleasure. Just to put things into perspective: The scene takes place after our grumpy hero Carl Fredericksen and the young boy Russell have landed the led-by-balloon house in South America, and the two of them are trying to drag it through the jungle.

It’s pretty damn brilliant, check it out below:

This marks Pixar’s first foray into using human characters as the protagonists since 2004’s The Incredibles, so I’m excited to see how it turns out. This fantastic minute-long clip just adds to the list of reasons to be excited about this project.

As far as technical animation goes, Pixar never fails to impress. And it’ll be interesting to see if having an old-timer as our protagonist can really work, or whether it’ll backfire.

I suspect the former.

What are your thoughts on Pixar’s upcoming animated adventure? And what do you make of this clip in particular?

Up is scheduled for a May 29, 2009 release.

Source: /Film

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First Look At Pixar’s Newest Short Film: ‘Partly Cloudy’

Ross Miller — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:51:13 +0000

Most of the attention on Pixar always gets directed straight at the main feature they produce every couple of years (although for the last three years in a row they have released one every year), with the always accompanying short film only really being paid attention to once it’s been shown with the main feature.

Well thanks to our good friends over at /Film, we get our first info about the short film which will appear before Up, entitled Partly Cloudy. The short film is the directorial debut of storyboard artist, animator and voice-artist (he was the voice of Emile in Ratatouille) Peter Sohn. And thanks to AWN, we get our first look at an image from it:

A scene from Pixar’s ‘Partly Cloudy’

Wow.

Sometimes I think Pixar has a special machine hidden away that allows them to make things look more realistic than real life itself. If it weren’t for the stork and the face on the cloud you’d think that was simply a really well photographed shot of the sky.

Just when you think they couldn’t do any better…

The short films which always accompany Pixar’s main feature are part of the experience for me. They set up the main film nicely, simultaneously complimenting it and yet standing firmly alone.

What is that still image all about, I hear you ask? Here is the synopsis:

Everyone knows that the stork delivers babies, but where do the storks get the babies from? The answer lies up in the stratosphere, where cloud people sculpt babies from clouds and bring them to life. Gus, a lonely and insecure grey cloud, is a master at creating “dangerous” babies. Crocodiles, porcupines, rams and more-Gus’s beloved creations are works of art, but more than a handful for his loyal delivery stork partner, Peck. As Gus’s creations become more and more rambunctious, Peck’s job gets harder and harder. How will Peck manage to handle both his hazardous cargo and his friend’s fiery temperament?

That just sounds like a wonderful idea although is it just me or does that seem as if it could fill up a whole feature length movie? It’ll be interesting to see how they tell that ambitious story within about five minutes or so.

Partly Cloudy will precede Up when it gets released on May 29th 2009.

Sources: /Film and AWN

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New ‘Up’ Trailer Reveals More Story Details

Rob Keyes — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:50:45 +0000

A brand new full length trailer for Disney Pixar’s Up has debuted for the weekend and if you have seen Watchmen, there’s a chance you’ve already seen it.

While my Thursday midnight screening of Watchmen didn’t have the new Star Trek trailer, it did have this one and I’m happy it did as it had the whole crowd laughing and smiling.

This third trailer for Up finally presents us with a bit of the adventure that the main characters go on in the film. The first trailer only showed the bitter 78-year old Carl Fredricksen launch his home into the skies with the use of balloons and him meeting Russell (the young boy scout).

The best part of the trailer (for me) is meeting a new main character, Dug. Dug is a golden retriever dog who can speak – you’ll quickly see why he’s my favorite.

Watch and enjoy:

[See post to watch Flash video]

For HD versions of the trailer head over to Yahoo! Movies.

We also get to meet the villainous mad scientist Charles Mudds who’s voiced by the talented Christopher Plummer.

The scenes with Dug and the giant colorful bird brought big laughs in our sold out show of Watchmen and I think most are pretty excited to see it – I know I am.

May is the ultimate movie month for 2009. We have X-Men Origins: Wolverine on the 1st, Star Trek on the 8th, Angels & Demons on the 15th, Terminator Salvation on the 21st and Up opens May 29, 2009!

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New Posters For ‘Wolverine’, ‘Up’ And ‘State Of Play’

Rob Keyes — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:24:35 +0000

Today we have a batch of new posters for your viewing pleasure for the upcoming movies X-Men Origins: Wolverine, State of Play and Disney Pixar’s Up.

To start, we have the French one-sheet for X-Men Origins: Wolverine which depicts Hugh Jackman as the fierce mutant re-enacting a scene from The Sound of Music (with his claws out mind you). Following that is the very generic poster for State of Play which lets us see the faces of its lead actors. And last but not least, three new posters for Up, each featuring one of the lead characters.

Out of the Up posters, take notice of the one with the dog called Mudds (voiced by Christopher Plummer) and look how real the dog looks from the collar down – it looks like a photo of a real canine.

Pixar’s posters, while simple, can afford to be that way based on the reputation they’ve earned and the quality of their movies that moviegoers have come to expect – I’m looking forward to seeing this one.

Enough talking, check them out:

There’s nothing really special or amazing about these in my opinion, but you can’t go wrong with a little Wolverine yelling at the clouds.

What do you think of the posters and will you catch these movies in theaters?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens May 1 2009, Up opens May 29 2009 and State of Play opens April 17 2009.

Sources: Collider, Coming Soon, First Showing, /Film

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‘Up’ Sneak Peek Proves It’s Everything We Hoped For

Sabrina Cognata — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:00:54 +0000

This past weekend I was lucky to have a chance to catch the first 45 minutes of Pixar’s new film Up. I was lucky because I had to beg my way in – the line was so long the IGN theater reached capacity immediately. Short of selling my soul, I was able to view a sneak peak of the film as well as a Q&A with the director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera.

Up is the story of Carl Frederickson’s last stand to embark on the adventure he’s always dreamed about. Frederickson, voiced by Ed Asner, is a 78-year-old balloon salesman and the quintessential grumpy old man. He’s recently lost his wife and is spending his twilight years defending his home from becoming another victim of urban sprawl, like everything else in his neighborhood.

The next thing we know, Carl is sent to live in a convalescent home after being blamed for one of the construction worker’s accidents. During his last 24 hours of freedom, Carl morphs his home into an all terrain vehicle by hoisting it far above the city by tying thousands of balloons to his chimney. His plan appears to go along without a hitch until we realize he’s accidentally taken a stowaway along for the ride.

The stowaway, Russell, is a charming, hilarious and eager 9-year-old “Wilderness Explorer” who’s working on getting his very last badge: For assisting the elderly. Comically, he decides Carl is the perfect candidate to help him achieve this while Carl thinks Russell is yet another person in his way. Together they are the perfect odd couple and their hijinx are endlessly hilarious.

Up is Pixar’s second foray into animation with humans as the main characters. The first being their 2004 film, The Incredibles. Visually, the film is stunning and exactly what you’d expect coming from Pixar. The storyline breaks into two parts, the backstory leading up to the main character’s adventure and then the scene change from the big city to South America.

Although I have only seen part of this film, I can tell you the third part will consist of the bringing the two worlds together in a way that highlights “the grass is always greener” theme from movies like The WIzard of Oz. That sort of seamless storytelling is what audiences have come to expect from Pixar films.

The only problem I have with the entire film is that I have to wait until May to finish viewing it.

Up opens on May 29, 2009.

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