While checking up on how the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel “Glamorama” was progressing, I noticed a new addition to the cast: Robert Sean Leonard, the former It guy who disappeared from the mainstream after incredible performances in “Dead Poet’s Society” and “Swing Kids.” Now, Leonard is set to star alongside Kip Pardue and Estella Warren in what is the last of 80’s pop satire writer Ellis’ great novels. This book, including characters from every novel proceeding it, is probably the most tailor-made for a big screen adaptation, but since Ellis’ past projects (“Less Than Zero,” “American Psycho,” “Rules of Attraction”) haven’t gone over nearly as well, it’ll be interesting to see how much attention the release is given.
Category: Movies (Page 485 of 498)
New on DVD this week:
1) Doom – RENT: Okay, so we all got a nice big laugh out of this one when it was released in theaters, but honestly, “Doom” is one of the best video-game adaptations ever. That’s not saying much, especially for a decade-old genre constantly being held back from progress due to annual Uwe Boll films, but gamers will eat it up.
2) Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit – RENT: I still haven’t found the time to check out this Oscar-nominated feature, but anything that comes from Aardman Animation is usually pure gold – yes, even “Chicken Run.” I can’t imagine it would be any different, and while this could very well be worthy of a “BUY,” I’ll stick with recommending a rental for now.
3) Elizabethtown – RENT: Certainly one of Cameron Crowe’s lesser films, but its still not an entirely horrible film. Make good use of this one as that required monthly date movie – both people may come out of pleased.
4) Just Like Heaven – RENT: If I had to pick just one romantic comedy this week, it would have to be my above recommendation, but seeing as how Reese Witherspoon is so good to look at, and Jon Heder is so funny to laugh at, a second helping might just be in the works.
5) Waiting – RENT: Ok, so this movie isn’t exactly worth renting for just ANYBODY, but to those of you who have ever worked in a restaurant environmen, enjoy! There’s also quite a bit of bonus material to sift through, but most of it’s garbage.
Also out on DVD this week are Sean Connery and Cary Grant box sets, the Johnny Knoxville flick “Daltry Calhoun,” as well as special edition rereleases of both “The French Connection” and “Speed.”
Based on Sunday’s estimates:
1) When a Stranger Calls: $22 million (first week)
The “action” takes in a house with motion sensor-triggered lights, and a cat. Any questions?
2) Big Momma’s House 2: $13.35 million ($45.4 million, second week)
They didn’t screen this to critics, and we were thrilled to have the night off. Still, couldn’t they have come up with something other than “BMH2”? How about “Big Momma’s Summer House”? “Big Momma’s Other House”? But hey, why put any more effort into the title than you put into the movie?
3) Nanny McPhee: $9.9 million ($26.6 million, third week)
Our friend at Fromthebalcony.com insists that this is the best movie he’s seen all year. We’re sure he’s right, but still, we are sooooo glad we slept in that morning.
4) Brokeback Mountain: $5.6 million ($59.7 million, ninth week)
We have it on a good source that if you type “brokeback to the future” into Google, you’ll see the best, parody, ever. (We tried checking it out, but the servers were bogged down.)
5) Hoodwinked: $5.3 million ($44 million, eighth week)
“Annapolis,” we hardly knew ye. We miss ye even less.
With the notorious February 10th film weekend only a week away, we could only hope that there’s an excellent film just waiting to take our minds off this subject. Unfortunately, this weekend at the movies won’t be much different from the next, or the next, or the next, for that matter. This weekend brings only two new films in wide release, the urban comedy “Something New,” and a remake of the thriller “When A Stranger Calls.” Not exactly box office magic material.
Also out this week, but in limited release, is the teen horror flick “Tamara,” as well as two indie hits starring verteran actors: Tommy Lee Jones in “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” and Anthony Hopkins in “The World’s Fastest Indian.”
The Academy Award nominations were announced at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am PST, and the most remarkable thing about the selections is that, at last, it looks as thought the tide is turning from the old guard to the new one. Scores of actors and actresses, directors and composers received their first nods this year, and thank heaven for that. You can only shut out Paul Giamatti for so long before it becomes clear that the fix is in.
Here are the nominees:
Best Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman: Capote
Terrence Howard: Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger: Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix: Walk the Line
David Strathairn: Good Night, and Good Luck
Comment: This is a great list, each one of them a worthy nominee. Tyler Durden is no doubt pumped that his boy Terrence Howard got the nod, and while I was blown away by Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in “Walk the Line,” I’m secretly hoping that either Hoffman or Strathairn get the Oscar. After seeing “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Buffybot and I joked that for the ones that hadn’t already won an Oscar (Damon, Paltrow), the rest of the cast soon would (Blanchett, Law, Hoffman). Cate’s now in the club. Maybe the jolly fat guy from “Twister” isn’t far behind.
Best Actress
Judi Dench: Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman: Transamerica
Keira Knightley: Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron: North Country
Reese Witherspoon: Walk the Line
Comment: This is clearly a two-horse race between Huffman (who won the Golden Globe for Drama) and Witherspoon (who won the Golden Globe for Musical/Comedy). Theron’s nom, if nothing else, allows her to say that “Monster” was no one-shot fluke. Knightley and Dench are just filling holes. Truthfully, I would have given Naomi Watts a long look for her performance in “King Kong.” Seriously. She was amazing.
Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney: Syriana
Matt Dillon: Crash
Paul Giamatti: Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal: Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt: A History of Violence
Comment: Holy schnikes. Clooney, Dillon, Giamatti and Gyllenhaal all get their first nods, while Hurt continues to torture me with his presence in the movie industry. While everyone was livid over Giamatti’s omission last year for his work in “Sideways,” look for Clooney to be the sentimental favorite here. Plus, (SPOILER ALERT) the dude lost two fingernails via torture for the part.
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams: Junebug
Catherine Keener: Capote
Frances McDormand: North Country
Rachel Weisz: The Constant Gardener
Michele Williams: Brokeback Mountain
Comment: Had to admit, I needed to look up Amy Adams on IMDb to find out who she was. This looks like another two-horse race between Keener, a longtime indie darling, and Williams, whose performance in “Brokeback” was the textbook definition of smoldering rage. As for Weisz, we expect her to be late for the show, as she will be too busy telling the screaming fans how dumb they are.
Best Director
Ang Lee: Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller: Capote
Paul Haggis: Crash
George Clooney: Good Night, and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg: Munich
Comment: The one time where we can safely say that Spielberg doesn’t have a prayer. Haggis has been riding a wave of good will (except from Defamer’s Mark Lisanti, who has been a one-man “Crash” wrecking crew since the movie’s release), but the clear favorites here are Lee and Clooney. It would be a mighty impressive feat if Clooney won Oscars for performing in one movie and directing another. That has to be a first.
Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
Comment: Again, Spielberg doesn’t have a prayer. Was “Match Point” not eligible? Everyone’s raving about that, and I could swear that it was released in time to be considered. At this point, this is “Brokeback Mountain”’s Oscar to lose.
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