- Must Watch: Destructive Trailer for Roland Emmerich's 2012 (169 Comments)
- First Grueling Trailer for The Twilight Saga: New Moon (150 Comments)
- Does This Final New G.I. Joe Trailer Convince You to See It? (109 Comments)
- Profile on Marvel Studios with Big Updates from Kevin Feige (80 Comments)
- Must Watch: First Trailer for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (79 Comments)
- Visual Effects Supervisor Charles Gibson Directing The Goblin (Jun 21, 2009)
- Sony Dumps Steven Soderbergh's Moneyball Movie Last Minute! (Jun 21, 2009)
- Producer Joe Gatta Updates Rodriguez' Red Sonja Movie (Jun 20, 2009)
- Latest Updates from David S. Goyer on The Invisible Man (Jun 19, 2009)
- Sly Stallone's The Expendables Could End Up Being PG-13? (Jun 19, 2009)
| Inglourious Basterds | 8.5/10 |
| Star Trek | 9/10 |
| Monsters vs Aliens | 5/10 |
| Sin Nombre | 8.5/10 |
| Duplicity | 7.5/10 |
A Full Rundown and Update on The Last Airbender Trilogy
Exactly one year from today, M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender will hit theaters. Today, however, we've got a rundown for you covering all-things-Airbender — everything we know up until this point about Shyamalan's feature film adaptation of the hugely popular, critically lauded, award winning Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Here's what you need to know: Avatar aired from February of 2005 to July of 2008 and spanned three seasons. While on air, the series won 2 Pulcinella Awards, 5 Annie Awards, 1 Emmy, a Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award, and a Peabody. So, to say the least, it's kind of a big deal.
Michael Bay is a Drug - And It's Time to Quit
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has raked in over $400 million worldwide. Double its budget. Almost $50 million more than Star Trek and loads more than Pixar's Up, the previous top two. It's a smash. A commercial juggernaut. And its been out just over a week. But to say I'm surprised just wouldn't be the truth. No matter how critically flayed ROTF was bound to be after the tepid response to its predecessor - sliced to bits by critics and dragged asunder by the very fanboys at which the film is aimed - it was destined to destroy. Even when the bile started to spew just before its release, I don't think there was ever any doubt.
The Weekly Moviegoer - Favoring the Ticket Kiosk
Expect long lines at your local box office this week thanks to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Public Enemies, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. But remember you can always avoid the long line at the ticket booth by buying your tickets at a ticket kiosk instead. No, you don't have to have already purchased your tickets online. As long as you have a debit or credit card, you can just walk up to a kiosk and get your tickets easily and quickly. Plus, you avoid at least one impolite theater employee. Certainly this isn't a new concept, and you're probably reading this and wanting to comment with something like, "how is this news?"
Christopher Nolan's Batman 3 - It Starts and Ends with Time
In the recent weeks passed, there has been a lot of talk (coming from this Batman-on-Film.com article or this MTV piece from Christian Bale) about what I'll refer to as Batman 3, or to put this prospective film in context, the third film of what I always hoped (expected) would be Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy (essentially, what is the sequel to The Dark Knight). That talk has all been negative, unfortunately. Film journalists, bloggers, and fans alike (as seen here) have been waxing pessimistic about the rumors that Nolan may not return to what is, ostensibly, both his largest and, in my opinion, very best work to date.
Scene From Bruno Cut Out Due to Michael Jackson's Death
We already brought you one hilarious new Bruno update today, so how about another not-so-hilarious update? Steven Zeitchik over on the Risky Biz Blog confirms that Universal is cutting out a scene from Bruno that references Michael Jackson. The studio re-cut the film just hours before its Los Angeles premiere last night. They're considering removing it from all of the prints before it opens nationwide on July 10th. I personally find it absolutely ridiculous to remove this scene, but I think Universal is making a smart decision in order to prevent a backlash from moviegoers. Who knows if they'll ever re-release it.
Fox Searchlight's Brilliant 500 Treats of Summer Promotion
When it comes to indie distributors, no one is better than Fox Searchlight. They really are the Pixar of the indie film world, not only with films they produce and develop, but also with the films they acquire from festivals - they're almost always great. You probably already know that they've got Marc Webb's wonderfully unique romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer due out in July, but earlier today, Searchlight coordinated one of the best promotions I've ever seen. They really know how to market their movies, especially the ones that people are falling in love with, and this 500 Treats of Summer stunt has created some great buzz.
Rumor: Bruno Added Scenes to Appease the Gay Community?
There's one thing you don't want to do in Hollywood - upset the gay community. And unfortunately that's just what Bruno is doing. An editorial coming from GLAAD just hit Hollywood Reporter today and a separate article on The Wrap addresses the issue as well. However, Dominic Patten of The Wrap claims that Universal and Sacha Baron Cohen actually reshot part of the movie due to pressure from prominent gay individuals in Hollywood - like director Mike White - who apparently "found the Bruno character to be a depiction of fetishism rather than a comedic stereotype." Were there really reshoots on Bruno? I doubt it.
The Weekly Moviegoer - Pump Up the Volume!
People are so noisy and disrespectful at the movies. Often I find myself trying to enjoy a good comedy, and the audience goes and ruins it by laughing out loud, causing me to miss whatever dialogue follows a joke or bit of slapstick. Who knows if I've missed an important line of exposition or a successive joke because of these rude outbursts? It's no wonder that I tend to wait for comedies to hit DVD, when I can watch them in the privacy of my own home and hear every bit of it over my light guffawing. Obviously I'm kidding… mostly. Although I've never been a loud laugher, I appreciate the sound of a crowd in amusement.
Marvel's Joe Quesada Talks Iron Man 2 and Thor Directors
If you read comics, you already know who Joe Quesada is, I don't need to introduce him. But for everyone else, Quesada is the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, the head honcho, you could say. Every week he writes a column on Comic Book Resources called Cup O' Joe. In this week's piece, he talks about two big upcoming movies - Iron Man 2 and Thor. Not only is it great to hear Quesada's feelings on Iron Man director Jon Favreau and Thor director Kenneth Branagh, but he tells a few great stories that should make everyone feel like both of those franchises are really in the best hands. So from here, I'll just let Quesada tell the stories.
Discussion: What if Paramount Merged with Sony or Universal?
This isn't news - it's all a rather crazy claim from a Wall Street investor. But there is a great discussion worth having. In a Forbes article published yesterday, veteran investor Mario Gabelli claims that "Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures could merge with Sony Pictures, Universal Studios or another movie studio amid a wave of consolidation in the industry over the next few months." It's a very lofty prediction, especially since Paramount is one of the studios who is doing very well right now (and will be doing even better when Transformers 2 opens next week). But the discussion is whether this could be beneficial if it ever happened.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura Responds to G.I. Joe Rumors and Accusations
Earlier this morning we ran an article about a rumor that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra director Stephen Sommers had been fired mid-way through post-production. The story originally came from a user on the Don Murphy Message Boards. I don't want to claim that he doesn't know what he is talking about, but without additional confirmation, there's no way we can be certain any of it was true. I was awoken this morning by calls from Paramount, as they're claiming that it's all false. In order to squash the rumor, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (who is involved) answered some questions for Latino Review.
Rumor: Stephen Sommers Fired Mid-Way Through G.I. Joe?
This sounds like the kind of story we'd usually hear coming from Fox, but this time it's Paramount. A user on the Don Murphy Message Boards (via Latino Review) has posted an unverified story detailing a behind-the-scenes fiasco regarding the upcoming G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra movie. You can read their full write-up below, but in essence they're claiming that director Stephen Sommers was fired and locked out of the editing room mid-way through post-production by a Paramount exec named Brad Weston. And that's just the start, as he goes on to explain everything that has transpired since Sommers was supposedly fired.
Sony Takes a Tour of New York's Secret Subway Tunnels
I haven't had a chance to talk about The Taking of Pelham 123 yet, which I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Sony recently coordinated a tour of the secret tunnels that are a part of the New York City subway system as a promotion for Pelham. Why? Well, the last third of the film involves some of these secret tunnels, and I guess it was a sly way of proving that it all actually exists (and wasn't just made up for the sake of storytelling). Alas, I'm in Los Angeles and not New York, but a few other sites did attend and have published great write-ups, like UGO and ComingSoon.
The Weekly Moviegoer - Watching Terminator with Motion Seats
As much as I enjoyed Terminator Salvation for what it is, I left the movie theater thinking I'd never have reason to watch it again. But I was wrong. Last week, while visiting my grandmother in Arizona, I felt compelled to revisit the relatively disappointing yet sufficiently entertaining sequel when I drove out to the Ultrastar Cinemas Surprise Pointe 14 movie theater in Surprise, AZ, for a first-hand trial of the new D-Box motion seats. I previously wrote about these fun auditorium furnishings a couple months ago in a column about cinema gimmicks, but I just had to experience the seats for myself. And how was the experience?
Harvey Weinstein Wants to Cut 40 Minutes from Inglourious Basterds?!
If you haven't been following industry news recently, The Weinstein Company is in a lot of financial trouble. Similar to New Line a few years ago, their survival is somewhat dependent on the performance of three big movies this fall: Inglourious Basterds, H2: Halloween 2, and Rob Marshall's Nine. This wouldn't matter much, except that Harvey Weinstein is attempting to get his hands on Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and cut out 40 minutes of it, according to The Wrap. There have been numerous industry pieces on the TWC situation, but Sharon Waxman's article is the only one that mentions this rumor specifically.
Cameron Says Avatar Won't Be Shown the Same Size Everywhere
Most of you may be wondering "what does that mean?" Well, we'll explain exactly what that means. James Cameron recently appeared at a special showing of The Abyss and Aliens in 70mm back-to-back at a theater in Santa Monica last night. I couldn't attend (as I couldn't get tickets), but a scooper over at Ain't It Cool News did and sent over some details from the Q&A with Cameron. The only interesting thing he revealed was that apparently the 3D presentation of Avatar will be shown in 1.78:1 aspect ratio, while the 2D will be in scope, with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. It's sort of half of an IMAX conversion (I'll explain below).
Woody Allen's Whatever Works Was Originally Written in the 70's!
At least two of my friends are big fans of Woody Allen (you know who you are) and anytime a new movie comes out, I always call them to hear their thoughts. Hitting theaters soon is Allen's latest, Whatever Works, starring "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David. And if there are fans out there who have been waiting for Allen to get back to his roots, then we've got good news. "Whatever Works is a screenplay that dates so far back it was originally written for Zero Mostel, who died the year Annie Hall came out (1977). Allen updated it very slightly, but make no mistake: This movie is literally vintage Woody Allen."
The Weekly Moviegoer - So What's the Solution?
When it comes to certain problems at the cinema, we can easily and concretely put the blame on the movie theater staff (be they managers or projectionists). But some issues affecting the business of moviegoing are not so clear-cut when it comes to determining who is at fault. Sure, for the most part we can complain to and criticize the managers for anything that ruins our experience. However, the lack of definite rules and etiquette combined with the ever-increasing amount of inconsiderate and ignorant people going to the movies makes it difficult for us to wholly condemn the theater for every problem we may encounter there.
Confused by Charlie Kaufman? Then Ask Charlie Kaufman!
Our good friends at Empire over in the UK published a really great feature a few weeks ago that we only recently had the chance to take a look at this weekend. It's called simply Charlie Kaufman On Charlie Kaufman and in it, they ask Kaufman himself to talk about his own movies (see, simple, eh?). He's notoriously tough to talk to - both because he doesn't do that many interviews and because he doesn't like to talk about the themes in his movies. Which is why this is such a great feature and why I'm excited to go through it. From Being John Malkovich to Adaptation to Synecdoche New York, Kaufman covers them all.
The Weekly Moviegoer - Cinemas Should Be More Attentive
In latest week's column, I took a break from my usual complaints about movie theater operations in order to take a jab at the audience. But I meant not to appear apologetic of projectionists or to come off so passive regarding projection snafus. Despite my amusement with the way moviegoers react in certain situations, I definitely never consider it a moviegoer's fault for how long it takes for a problem to be remedied, and I definitely don't consider it a moviegoer's responsibility to take charge of these situations. While I may have in the past declared poor customer service to be the biggest problem in the movie theater industry