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John Woo to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
8 hours ago | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
He couldn't have done it without his specially-trained slow-motion doves. The BBC is reporting that John Woo -- whose last Us film was the appropriately titled Paycheck -- will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at 2010's Venice Film Festival.
All kidding aside, it's hard to argue with the festival organizers: "The acknowledgment recognizes a filmmaker who in recent decades, with his revolutionary conception of staging and editing, has renewed action movies to the core, introducing an extreme stylisation close to visual art, both in Asia and in Hollywood."
Woo first gained international attention with the action films The Killer and Hard-Boiled, and translated that success to English audiences by directing a number of high-profile American studio films like Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2. I like to believe that all of those movies starred the same doves. His impact on the action genre -- not just films, but video »
- John Gholson
Movie Reviews: “Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
4 hours ago | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »
One of the most surprising blockbusters of all time was the original Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, which grossed more than $217 million in the U.S. The sequel (or "squeakquel" as its called in the title, is not likely to perform as well, although several critics are advising box-office followers to expect the unexpected. Not that they can find much to praise about the film; most of their reviews sound as if they wish they could be writing about something else. Comments Claudia Puig in USA Today; "For anyone over age 8, the arrival of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel may not be the most welcome news." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle brought his four year old along to the screening, who, he says, "laughed pretty much nonstop throughout." However, he writes, "despite its success as a babysitter for preschoolers, it's a not a very good film." Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News says the "movie's plot is a hodgepodge of standard kid-film elements." Tongue firmly placed in cheek, Betsy Sharkey comments in the Los Angeles Times: "Perhaps not since The Godfather: Part II have we seen a sequel come along that more than matches the mastery of the film that came before it -- all the pathos, the brio, the epic sweep ... the cheese balls" Actually Sharkey's is one of the few positive reviews of the movie. "The script includes enough clever moments to help put The Squeakquel in solid family entertainment territory," she concludes. And Michael Sullivan in the Washington Post pays the movie this left-handed compliment: "Call it a Christmas miracle, albeit a minor one: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel isn't entirely awful." »
Hollywood Tops $10 Billion for First Time in 2009
7 hours ago | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
With Avatar the reigning champ and Sherlock Holmes still to come, Hollywood crossed the $10 billion line for the first time in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for 2009. Through Sunday, the total stood just $36 million short of crossing the $10 billion line, according to tracking firm Hollywood Box Office, and was set to plow across it Tuesday night.
The year’s top box office attractions were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and with hits like Harry Potter and The Hangover, Warner Bros. was the North American box office champ among studios. And with both Robert Downey Jr.’s take on Sherlock Holmes and the return of those rascally rodents in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel coming in time for Christmas, the final take is expected to top $10.4 billion.
Hit the jump for a list of the top 20 domestic box office hits of »
- Keith Demko
Repo Men Trailer Gets Bloody
3 hours ago | EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news »
The first trailer for Universal's new sci-fi action thriller Repo Men has arrived online and you can see it in handy, embedded form below, assuming you're of the correct age (stop laughing). The R-Rated promo means there's plenty of blood, guts, boobs and bad language for a film that feels like the organ donor scene from Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life via Repo! The Genetic Opera, but with 100% less singing. We're in a near future world where human organs can be replaced fairly easily, but the cost of paying for them is crippling. Life-saving procedures require heft credit outlay and when the owners of new hearts/livers/whatever can't anymore, that's when the repo men are called in.Enter Remy and Jake (Jude Law and Forest Whitaker), two of the best in the business. They're happy to trade quips and slice up delinquent organ owners, but things take a »
DVD Rental Firm Removing Murphy Film Posters
2 hours ago | | See recent news »
Bosses at an American DVD rental company have issued an emergency recall for promotional posters for Brittany Murphy movie Deadline - because they feature the late actress posing lifeless in a bathtub.
Redbox executives sent out the marketing material prior to Murphy's tragic death on Sunday, but now officials are working fast to remove the posters from their 19,000 kiosks across the U.S. fearing the image is in poor taste. TMZ.com reports the task will take up to 10 days to complete.
The Clueless actress was found unconscious in the shower at her Hollywood Hills home and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
The cause of death has yet to be determined, but officials believe the star died from natural causes.
Murphy will be laid to rest in California on Thursday. »
'Aliens vs. Predator' Video Game Trailer
49 minutes ago | FEARnet | See recent FEARnet news »
I don't know that anyone has really had much luck when they've placed the words Aliens and Predator together, but from the looks of it, Sega may have hit gold with their new Aliens vs. Predator video game. Not only does it seem to capture the essence of what an Aliens vs. Predator match up should look like (even those Alien eggs look amazing), they've got Lance Henriksen providing the voice of character Karl Bishop Weyland. Hit the jump for the trailer and tell us we're wrong. I dare you! The corporation of Weyland-Yutani has a few skeletons in their closet in this story trailer for Aliens vs. Predator. »
First Teaser Posters For Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood Emerge
1 hour ago | FilmShaft.com | See recent FilmShaft.com news »
The first teaser posters for Robin Hood (a matching quad and one sheet) have hit the net! Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Macfadyen and Mark Strong, the Ridley Scott-directed picture is (according to the studio) a more “historically accurate” interpretation that we’ve ever seen before.
Following on from the impressive looking trailer earlier this week, these posters feel like a bit of a disappointment. Still, they are teasers so I suppose they’re not meant to be the all-singing, all-dancing one sheets I’d like them to be. Check them out below:
The story of how an archer in the service of King Richard the Lionheart became to be known as Robin Hood, the famous archer and outlaw of English Folklore.
Beginning after the Death of King Richard at the Siege of Chalus Chabrol, the film follows Robin on his rise to infamy among the English Barons »
- Craig Sharp
Sundance Primer: Lucky
1 hour ago | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
Welcome to a new series here at Cinematical where we'll shine a spotlight on different films premiering at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in January.
Jeffrey Blitz probably isn't a name you know right off the bat, but I guarantee you've seen his work. The writer-director exploded onto the scene back in 2002 with his documentary Spellbound, which followed a group of kids competing in the National Spelling Bee and was nominated for several awards including an Oscar for Best Documentary. Blitz then wrote and directed the unique and compelling Rocket Science (his first Sundance film), which, among other things, helped introduce the world to actress Anna Kendrick. After helming several episodes The Office and Parks and Recreation, Blitz has returned to his documentary roots with the film Lucky.
Premiering in the U.S. Documentary Competition section at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Lucky follows several regular folks whose lives instantly change after winning the lottery. »
- Erik Davis
The 8 Most Oversexed TV Characters of the Last Decade
1 hour ago | Movieline | See recent Movieline news »
Call them sluts, tramps, sexually empowered, "in touch with themselves," or whatever your bedroom religion permits. Still, it can't be denied that the past decade has bred a new kind of television floozy, thanks in part to Sex and the City gently escorting us into the 2000's with its bold bedroom dialogue. After the jump, Movieline recalls the 8 best characters who overindulged in the boudoir. »
Sundance Photo Preview: High school
1 hour ago | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »
John Stalberg's feature directorial debut High school will premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in the Park City at Midnight category. Many people are comparing the film to The Wackness, another pot dramedy that played Sundance a couple years back. Michael Chiklis plays a smarmy high school principal who suddenly institutes a zero-tolerance crusade, introducing mandatory drug tests for all students. Failure of which will result in immediate expulsion. Matt Bush plays a straight-arrow valedictorian named Henry Burke who normally would have nothing to worry about, except he just tried marijuana for the very first time. I'll let the Sundance description take over: With his college scholarship hanging in the balance, Burke begrudgingly teams up with charismatic pothead Travis Breaux to do the only thing they can think of to neutralize this threat—get the entire student body stoned. In his debut feature, director/cowriter John Stalberg Jr. percolates »
- Peter Sciretta
Rumor: Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, Terminator 2 and Star Wars Going 3D?
1 hour ago | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »
We've heard rumors before that George Lucas is working up a 3D version of the original Star Wars films, and those rumors are back again. This time, though, they've brought some friends - new rumors of Terminator 2 getting dimensionalised, and a claim that Ridley Scott is "breathing down the neck of executives at Universal to get them to approve making a 3D version of his new $200 million epic, Robin Hood". Studio Canal owns the rights to Terminator 2 and it's reportedly their plan to have a re-release in 3D. Is that good idea? Well, maybe. It all depends on two factors, I believe: how hungry the exhibitors are for 3D material, and how quickly home 3D systems are adopted. If there's a 3D T2 but nowhere to screen it, because everybody is still 'flat' at home and the 3D screens are filled with new pictures, then it won't matter »
- Brendon Connelly
James Cameron Advances Stealth Avatar Oscar Campaign For Zoe Saldana
1 hour ago | Movieline | See recent Movieline news »
It seemed reasonable enough last week to deduce Jim Cameron's motivations behind issuing a new Avatar set photo of Zoe Saldana -- head-rigged, mo-capped and mewling in character as Na'vi princess Neytiri. Beyond its basic, "here's how we did it" purpose, the photo seemed also to suggest that CGI is only as effective as the flesh-and-blood performance underneath it. Saldana's own performance is pretty strong, and in a new conversation with his fellow Oscar-winning visionary Peter Jackson, Cameron won't let you -- or the Academy, if its members are listening -- forget it. »
Battle: Los Angeles Set Photos
2 hours ago | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »
A batch of photos from the Louisiana set of Jonathan Liebesman's Battle: Los Angeles have been discovered online. The photo features Aaron Eckhart as a Marine staff sergeant, and was taken on base in Camp Horno in the 53 area of Camp Pendleton on December 17th 2009 by Jonathan Hoffon. For those of you who don't know, Battle: La is an alien invasion story, which is presented as an intense real-time war movie from the perspective of a group of Marines. It has been described by some as "Blackhawk Down" meets "Independence Day". See more from these photos after the jump. The photo below was taken by manwithscaryspouse (via io9), who said that the "Mushroom cloud of fire" was caused by a bus explosion. The sequence was shot in Shrevesport, La (the other L.A.) in September, before production switched to "more pyrotechnics in Baton Rouge neighborhoods in October, including areas »
- Peter Sciretta
New to Me: The Black Hole, The Incredible Mr. Limpet and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2 hours ago | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
If "they don't make 'em like they used to" isn't officially a cliché yet, then it soon will be. Sure, it's about as accurate a maxim as they come -- times inevitably change, and culture as well -- but while it usually laments an era bygone, it often ignores the fact that change has often been equal to a sense of improvement and progress.
The 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (henceforth Sbsb), the 1964 cartoon The Incredible Mr. Limpet and the 1979 sci-fi adventure The Black Hole are each fair representations of entertainment from their time periods, little capsules of innocence the likes of which are unmatched today, but these passing years suggest that maybe they were just right for just then, best left to steep in nostalgia...
Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Music & Musicals, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, Disney, Warner Brothers, Family Films, Columns
Continue reading New to Me: The Black Hole, »
- William Goss
Which Real Housewives Star Has the Most Charming Rap Sheet?
2 hours ago | Movieline | See recent Movieline news »
Real Housewives of Orange County star Lynne Curtin is having a hell of a year. The domestic matriarch was evicted from her home in August, and now she's skipping court appearances with her husband and earning herself an arrest warrant. Does something about "Real Housewives Star Arrested" sound familiar to you? That's because this happens all the time. After the jump, we investigate five different manacled stars of the Bravo franchise and decide whose crimes most endear them to us on a 1-10 scale. The competition is stiff. »
If Sherlock Holmes Isn't The World's Greatest Detective, Then Who Is?
2 hours ago | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
Is Sherlock Holmes the greatest detective that's ever lived? It's hard to make such a statement without some serious subjective reasoning (Editor's note: espeically since he's a fictional character and thus, never lived!), but there is at least one objective fact that we can all agree upon — Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective that has a movie coming out this weekend.
The eccentric private eye's fan base is likely to grow following the release of Guy Ritchie's upcoming film, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective and Jude Law as his mustachioed sidekick Watson. But even with the man occasionally known as Tony Stark behind Sherlock's pipe, there is a formidable faction of cinematic investigators that Holmes must contend with for the title of fiction's greatest detective.
Here are just a few of the other fine detectives that could give Holmes' deductive skills some stiff competition.
Batman »
- Josh Wigler
New Alice in Wonderland Images Give a Good Look at the Creatures
2 hours ago | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »
The first teaser for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland left me scratching my head a little. That may have partly down to incomplete effects, but some of it was down to the unexpected aesthetic. By the time the next trailers rolled around, however, the images and I were ready to meet in the middle. After the break are a series of big, big pictures that showcase the White Rabbit, the March Hare, the Dormouse and the Cheshire Cat, and a smaller one of the Caterpillar. Looking at these new hi-res images of itchy critters, I'm properly on side with the picture. There's a richness to the images, and a consistency. Burton's tastes are evolving slowly, I think. I see similarities between this film and the sea-side fantasies in Sweeney Todd, likely influenced in part by Dariusz Wolski, Burton's cinematographer on just these two films. There's a crushed and textured, »
- Brendon Connelly
All the film highlights this Christmas
2 hours ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Penguins, Nicole Kidman and Narnia – Paul Howlett picks his film highlights
Christmas Eve
(Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick, 2006) 4.25pm, BBC1
A DreamWorks animated adventure in which Rj, the cynical racoon (laconically voiced by Bruce Willis) teaches a burrowful of innocent woodland animals to forage off the waste of an encroaching housing estate rather than rely on boring old natural food, before inevitably seeing the error of his ways. Plenty of good slapstick fun for kids and cine-literate gags for adults, although it all seems a bit glib compared to Shrek and co.
(Tim Burton, Mike Johnson, 2005) 6pm, ITV1
Life, in Burton's typically weird and ghoulish fantasy, is a dull, grey affair: death is much more colourful and fun, as young Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp) discovers when he is whisked into the underworld by the maggoty Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Trouble is, he's in love »
- Paul Howlett
Hollywood to Continue Sending 3D at You
2 hours ago | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
With the expected success of James Cameron’s Avatar, a 3-Dimensional craze has begun to sweep Hollywood according to Waxword columnist Sharon Waxman over at The Wrap. Although filming completed some time ago and despite a trailer already online, director Ridley Scott is apparently seeking approval from Universal executives to create a 3D version to his $200 million Robin Hood reimagining. A deal is currently in the works with Studio Canal-the studio that owns the rights to Cameron’s legendary “Terminator 2″-to fast track a screen-popping version of the film.
Hit the jump for more directors looking to send audience’s eyes into a frenzy.
In a move that surprises pretty much no one, George Lucas is pondering the possibility of a 3D version to Star Wars. Meanwhile, the director’s good buddy Steven Spielberg reportedly called Avatar the best film he’s ever seen, so don’t be surprised »
- Kevin Mahadeo
'Repo Men' - Red-Band Trailer, Pics, Poster
2 hours ago | FEARnet | See recent FEARnet news »
Wow, this one came out of nowhere and totally caught us by surprise. First there was Repo! The Genetic Opera and now there is Repo Men, (formerly Repossession Mambo) starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. Which came first? I'm not really sure; I think it depends on who you ask. But for now we have your first official look at Repo Men including a restricted trailer, image, poster and official synopsis. Despite the fact that the trailer appears to be giving everything away, i'm intrigued, I think it looks pretty cool. If only there were musical numbers...Hit the jump for all the goodies. In the futuristic action-thriller Repo Men, humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive »
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