Category: Action Movies (Page 126 of 165)

The Perfect Bombshell

June 3, 2009 /

I’ll spare you the prose poetry, the demands that you drop everything instantly and watch “Some Like it Hot” — one of the few movie farces that really, really works — and simply let you know that a bunch of previously unseen photos of Ms. Monroe are up over at Life.com. By all accounts, she was no easy person to figure out, but staring at the picture of the actress who was both so easy (and wrong) to dismiss and so impossible to define, it’s a lovely thing to attempt.

And, below, a musical moment from a movie I’ll watch all the way through at almost any time. There is nothing perfect in this world, however….

Action Movies, External Entertainment, Movie Comedies, Movies, News

The MTV Movie Awards…Bringing People Together

June 1, 2009 /

So, just to explain myself real briefly, for the time being you’re going to see the tiny little letters of my name a lot more often ’round these parts, as I’ll be blogging a couple of times a day, every day (or close to it), on movies and such. I’m going to try and keep things short and sweet but my record on those matters is a bit, er, mixed. It’s just very important to me that you know the whole story.

Anyhow, one interesting aspect of this gig is that I’ll be paying attention to things that before might have only gotten a cursory glance from me. Like the MTV Movie Awards.

Not surprisingly, as per Variety, “Twilight” won the most awards and “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” won stuff as well in the teeny-bopper friendly proceedings, while Andy Samberg and Will Ferrell performed a routine noting the ever increasing filmic phenomenon of movie tough guys who are so cool they refuse to look at explosions. (I haven’t seen the clip, which has already been pulled off YouTube, but that action film cliche goes back at least 13 years to “From Dusk ‘Till Dawn” and continues on into 2007’s “No Country for Old Men” and beyond I’m sure. Personally, I really would like to see Daniel Craig or Russell Crowe as a movie bomber pause to look at an explosion and go, “Wow…that’s so cool; I probably just incinerated a bunch of people, too. Sweet.”)

But none of that is the big news. That would be Sacha Baron Cohen, promoting his upcoming film starring his very, very gay character, Brüno, by doing what he always does — and his target was the rapper most frequently associated with the word “homophobia.” A video is worth a thousand words. (Via Nikki Finke.)

So, the big question is: Was the event staged and, if so, to what degree? Eminem looked genuinely surprised and angry to me and Nikki Finke’s commenters (those elusive “industry insiders” perhaps?) have theories on how some, but not all of it, might have been spontaneous. He might be an okay actor, but I don’t think his reaction, though somewhat understandable if all is as it appears, does anything for the extremely talented but seriously messed up Shady’s image, so why would he fake that? Also, if a hand-puppet could get him angry, a real Anglo-Israeli’s buttocks and barely covered private parts should really do the trick. Via MTV, Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, has already weighed in. (“I sat on Eminem’s face long before Brüno ever did.”) Any other thoughts?

Somewhat more “real” movie news coming later today.

Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Humor, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, TV, Video

Weekend Box Office: “Up” Surprises; “Drag Me to Hell” in Limbo

May 31, 2009 /

Everyone expected a big weekend for the latest from the seemingly unstoppable Pixar/Disney creative team, but who knew that an elderly human could outperform an immature robot?

Yes, despite apparently being a bit intense for the very small ones, “Up” benefited from its widely noted ability to make adults cry and then laugh a lot as well — and perhaps more pointedly from being shown in what Nikki Finke reports is a record number (over 1,500) of 3-D digital screens. It raised $68.2 million, beating “WALL-E” by about $5 million, making it the third highest grosser in Pixar’s illustrious history. (Though, as always, one should remember that ticket prices keep getting higher.) But for those who think pristine visuals and high tech sound are the only attractions, I also have reason to believe it did well at the few remaining drive-in theaters as well…but more about that in a bit.

Overall, “Family” was apparently the watchword as “Night at the Museum: The Battle of the Smithsonian,” as Brandon Gray points out, dropped what is now considered a very respectable 53.5% to net $25.5 million smackers, buoyed by those premiums for IMAX theaters, both legit and “Liemax.”

Meanwhile, there was just a slight whiff of disappointment in horrorland as the ethically fascinating creepfest “Drag Me to Hell” netted a mere $16.6 million, but Sam Raimi’s presumably lowish budget flick is not quite in the movie toilet. Variety‘s Dave McNary cites a Universal bigwig thusly:

“It was a solid start,” [distribution chief Nikki] Rocco said, who asserted that “Drag Me to Hell” should benefit in coming weeks from a slew of positive reviews.

And, word of mouth of course. Like me, right here. As mentioned in my pre-weekend b.o. post, I really did head down to the Mission Tiki Drive-In in otherwise scenically challenged Montclair, CA. Alongside seeing hordes and hordes and hordes and hordes of families scrambling to see “Up” and meeting some very, very cool fellow cinenerds (some famed far and wide, relatively speaking), I can also say that “Drag Me to Hell” is a genuine hoot. You serious horror fans should be aware that, while it has laughs, they are mostly of the nervous and ironic variety, if that makes you feel any better. I mean, God forbid if a horror movie should actually be, you know, fun — and I don’t mean Dick Cheney’s idea of fun.

Meanwhile, “Terminator Salvation” did a lackluster $16.1 million in its second weekend, meaning that McG, Christian Bale and company likely feel like they’ve been dragged to the unhappy place themselves.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Buffy, We’ll Hardly Know Ye (Updated)

May 26, 2009 /

A veritable geek storm has erupted over an item at the Hollywood Reporter reporting a Star Trek and Twilight inspired reboot, or something, of the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer franchise, only without Buffy creator Joss Whedon, sans Buffy’s erstwhile “scooby” friends (no Willow!!!! Aaaagh!!!!!!), and, if I read it right, without Buffy.

A bit of backstory: Fran Rubel Kuzui, director of the original, pleasantly mediocre, movie version of the franchise once upon a time fashioned a perfectly respectable, pleasantly lightweight autobiographical indie romantic comedy, Tokyo Pop (or that’s how I remember it…I haven’t seen it since it’s 1988 release, when I was but a highly precocious toddler). In typical Hollywood fashion, on her second (and, so far, final) feature as a director, most accounts hold that Rubel and company seriously refashioned Whedon’s original screenplay from a serio-comic actioner to an out and out teen comedy with random changes made to the screenplay from a number of sources, including, according to Whedon, co-star Donald Sutherland (who you will never see in any other Whedon project, it’s safe to say).

Since then, Rubel Kazui has held on to some of the rights, and fans of the Buffy TV show saw her name at the front of every episode…and heard nothing else from her, ever.  It’s safe to assume that she had zero input on the television show and received the credit as part of her compensation for the rights. Now, as most of you probably know, a major plot thread of the TV show was Buffy’s trouble-plagued romance with a (mostly) good guy vampire named Angel, setting the hearts of fans of Sarah Michelle Geller and David Boreanaz seriously aflutter. Hence, the Twilight connection — though lips that touched blood never touched those belonging to movie-Buffy Kristy Swanson.

So, with those Trek and Twilight grosses pointing the way, Kuzui and Vertigo Entertainment, which usually specializes in remaking Asian films for the American market, are trying to restart the franchise, apparently using a loophole from the original concept of there being a new slayer in every generation. As a fan of the show, trust me when I say this is nowhere near as clever as the loophole J.J. Abrams and company came up with to stay on (most) Trekkies’ good sides. Overall, this idea strikes me as if the Coca-Cola company had put out New Coke as a non-carbonated non-cola. Buffy without Buffy Summers, and the Whedonverse, without Whedon = box office gold?!? Nah.

Assuming it ever happens, of course. Whedon is an extremely savvy third-generation show biz writer who has already pulled off the unheard of feats of retrieving a lost screenplay concept and remaking it as his own TV show, and then turning another quickly-canceled television show into a major, if not immediately profitable, Hollywood film (Serenity). He is usually protective of his properties, to the extent that he has any control. I’m guessing that this one is almost certain to generate very interesting behind-the-scenes maneuvers.

As always, on Whedon-related matters Whedonesque is very much on top of the story.

UPDATE: Michael Ausiello has managed to elicit a four word response from Joss Whedon, whose currently working on his horror film collaboration with Drew Goddard, “The Cabin in the Woods.” Those four words are:

I hope it’s cool.

H/t Whedonesque.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, News, TV Action

Weekend at the Multiplex, Pt. II: The Power of Family Defeats Robot Rehash + the Palm Goes to…. (Updated)

May 24, 2009 /

The long holiday weekend is barely halfway through here on the west coast, but the numbers gurus have already spoken. Both Variety and megablogger Nikki Finke report that “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” outgrossed “Terminator Salavation” by 53.5 to 43 million smackers, proving once again the power of family films and that I am, at best, a very mediocre prognosticator. It also indicates that McG’s name and talents may not be pure box office gold.

In other news, in what turned out to be a battle of movie bad boys of various types, the coveted Palme D’Or (that’s Golden Palm to you and moi), has been awarded at Cannes after a week of some very divided audience and critical responses. Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” elicited reactions ranging from reasonably positive to angrily disappointed. “Antichrist,” the new horror film/domestic drama from the personally disliked but often genius-level brilliant Lars von Trier (“Breaking the Waves,” “Dancer in the Dark”) crossed some deep psychological lines in terms of graphic violence and human genitals, leading to a raucous screening and deeply appalling many while eliciting some truly unusual, often more positive, reactions from writers. (Roger Ebert’s take, for one, is certainly worth a look.)

Not too surprisingly, the winner was another overage enfant terrible entirely. Ironically enough, he himself has been simultaneously applauded and despised for the first version of “Funny Games.” The second, English-language, version was mostly just despised for its manipulations and made Bullz-Eyer David Medskar talk of punching its maker in the face, which I’m sure he intended as a metaphor.

That winner would be Austria’s 67 year-old Michael Haneke — often regarded as the world class director most in need of a hug, as well as a punch. He picked up the Palm for “The White Ribbon” a dark (of course!) black and white pre-World War I drama. Haneke has had some out-and-out success apart from “Funny Games” with 2005’s genuinely compelling and thoughtfully upsetting “Caché,” which Ron Howard once considered remaking but, perhaps fearing David’s reaction, choose to make the movie version of “Arrested Development” instead. Probably a wise move, in any case.


UPDATE: Brandon Grey of Box Office Mojo has the final figures “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithinsonian” raked in $70 million on 7,000 screens and “Terminator Salvation” earned $53.8 million on about six-hundred fewer screens. Also, NPR’s hourly newscast this morning suggested that some of T4’s weakness, especially here in Southern Cal, might be related to the ongoing NBA play-offs. Could be, I suppose. That’s what I get for being a guy who writes for an online men’s mag who’s also a complete ignoramus about sports.

Action Movies, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

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