Category: Movies (Page 311 of 498)

What Else Ya Got? “17 Again”

It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these here on Premium Hollywood (recently, they’ve been combined into my sometimes-weekly Blu-ray column), but with the DVD version of “17 Again” disappointing fans with, as Edwin Starr would say, absolutely nothing, it seemed like a good idea to break down just what exactly HD fanatics will be getting for the seven dollar upcharge.

“Zac Goes Back”

Your standard EPK-style production featurette, this 12-minute collection of interviews features the cast and crew talking about what it was like to work with one another on set. Along with explaining how Zac Efron became attached to the project to begin with, the interviews also expose Efron’s attempts at mimicking Matthew Perry’s various acting habits in order to properly portray him as a youngster.

Going Back to 17

Cut from the same set of interviews, this brief collection of footage asks the cast and crew about their own high school memories (complete with childhood photos), as well as whether or not they would accept the chance to experience it all over again. You can probably guess what the unanimous answer is.

Way Cool Tell-All Trivia Track

Certainly not as way cool as its title suggests, this pop-up track features trivia from the making of the film and general facts about the 80s. It’s probably the most interesting extra on the disc, but it’s only something that diehard fans will want to sit through the whole thing. Thankfully, the pop-ups aren’t at all distracting, so you can actually enjoy the movie while learning a few things along the way.

Breakin’ Character Outtakes

No surprise here, as Thomas Lennon steals the show with a series of funny adlibs and cast crack-ups – especially Zac Efron, who can’t seem to keep a straight face when working opposite the improv veteran.

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Box office victory for “G.I. Joe”; “Julie and Julia” attracts many ladies of a certain age

Not a lot of big surprises at this weekend’s box office. “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” apparently did even better than some expected in the “flyover” or “heartland” areas (this is supposedly where “real Americans live,” which is nice to know as a coastal fictitious American). As per the trades, it made an estimated $56.2 million this weekend, several million better than $45-50 million number I repeated last time.

For those of us (me!) seeking a cloud in Paramount’s silver lining, Nikki Finke does offer that the studio actually predicted a round $60 million earlier and that the film’s $175 million budget is just a tad on the high side. (That’s a minimum of 17 smallish budget studio films that could have been made for the same price tag.)

Finke has some doubts that the movie will hit $300 million or be profitable all on its own, though merchandising here is obviously a possible financial bonanza for toy maker Hasbro. She also has some doubts about the foreign market in light of sentiment abroad opposed to U.S. militarism. It might be tempting to say then, that Barack Obama is the best friend Paramount has here, but Finke points out that “G.I. Joe” came in at #2 in Australia, once the third most enthusiastic member of “the coalition of the willing” under Bush-esque rightwinger John Howard. She also expects it to be blown out of the water by the apparently entirely non-brainless “District 9” next weekend. I never thought I’d say this, but from Nikki Finke’s mouth to God’s ears.

Meryl Streep and Stanley TucciMeanwhile, the culinographic “Julie and Julia” also performed pretty much precisely according to expectation and pulled in a satisfactorily satiating estimate of $20.1. According to a “rival exec” Finke quotes, the dual memoir dramedy had one of the oldest demographics he or she had ever seen, which I guess makes sense considering you have to be over a certain age to have watched Julia Child regularly on television. Finke also says the audience was almost exclusively female, despite the fact that we all like food that tastes good. In any case, those whose dating preferences includes middle-aged and older women now know their next film-going destination.

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Movie Moments for John Hughes Fans #2

Following on from this morning’s post, a couple more key clips.

A brilliant 7:35 with two great comics from”Planes, Trains & Automobiles.”

And, from “Pretty in Pink (written by Hughes and directed by Howard Deutch),” just as Annie Potts tries out her Spanish on Molly Ringwald and spins a little Otis Redding, enter Duckie (Jon Cryer).

The adventures of Doug Liman

A couple of loosely related items today:

* Via Jeff Giles, and Nikki Finke, comes this true life tale of heroic derring do by “Bourne” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” director Doug Liman and producer Avram Ludwig.

The event won’t hurt Liman’s personal rep, which a polite person could call “eccentric,” but this seems like a good time to mention he’s not the only Hollywood fashioner of action myths to be involved in real life heroism. Jimmy Stewart is regarded as a real-life war hero for service in World War II, where he flew over twenty combat missions and, much more recently, Werner Herzog helped River Phoenix escape from a car wreck. Okay, that’s not really on the same scale as Stewart, and it doesn’t really sound like Herzog was in any danger, but given his background, Herzog is definitely the working director I’d most want around in a dangerous situation. I’m sure there are better examples, but I can’t think of them right now.

* I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody reading this has ever heard of “Rocket Robin Hood” (actually, knowing Will Harris, he probably watched the entire run of this obscure late sixties cartoon series last Wednesday night). Steven Zeitchik reports that a new, futuristic but far more earthbound Robin Hood may be coming up, alongside the more traditional Robin Hood variation already in production directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

He’s made some great movies in past decades, but Scott has never been known for his light touch. As far as I’m concerned, he’ll have a helluva time topping this.

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