I’d be interested to see what Frank Oz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?) thinks about his 2007 British comedy, Death at a Funeral, being remade into a Tyler Perry-ized, Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence-starring comedy due in theaters on April 16, 2010. I can’t imagine he is super-hyped; I know I wasn’t when I saw the announcement last March. However, I will say this: After watching the trailer, even with my loathing of Lawrence, this remake could be pretty …
Month: December 2009
Looks like the New Moon love affair, a pasty and depressing one at that, is over and people – families – are moving on to more uplifting entertainment. Yes, after three weeks at number one, The Twilight Saga: New Moon was booted from the box office top spot by The Blind Side, the true-to-life story of Baltimore Raven’s offensive lineman, Michael Oher and how he was taken in and loved by Tuhoy family. Sandra Bullock (The Proposal) stars as Leigh …
Meh. Yawn. Sigh. Perhaps this 55 second teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will give Potterites chills and tingles, but it didn’t do squat for me. Frankly, this could have been spliced together from bits and pieces of the last few Potter films and I wouldn’t know the difference, that’s how bland and vanilla this preview tastes to me. This was not a teaser. And what about timing? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is split into …
The National Board of Review announced their 2009 winners yesterday, with Up in the Air winning best film, Clint Eastwood winning best director for Invictus, Morgan Freeman and George Clooney sharing best actor nods for Invictus and Up in the Air, and best actress going to Carey Mulligan for her performance in An Education. You can see the full list of awards, including their top ten films of 2009, by clicking here. I haven’t seen Up in the Air yet, …
Precious is an exercise in endurance. It’s a film intent to look you in the face with no intention of sparing any modicum of pain, hurt and unbearably selfish horror. Even the title itself is a tragic blow– a name with inherent meaning that’s been melted under the acidic wash of fate to become a mockery. And yet, it’s also a reminder of individually infinite value. So Precious goes: an experience almost wholly unpleasant but one where, by the end, …
Admit it. You’ve got a mean streak: at some point or another, you’ve relished seeing at least one movie take a thunder-clapping, open-chested and loin-smashing belly flop into the pool of public opinion. Relive those glorious moments thanks to Hollywood Reporter’s Flops of the Decade. You won’t be in for many surprises but oh, the putrid memories. I fondly recall my cementation of loathing for John Travolta with Battlefield Earth. My head hanging shame for finding mild enjoyment amid the …
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one 2010 movie I have zero desire to see. I’ve been unimpressed with the trailer or poster, and I’m not going bananas over this Very Hairy Jake Gyllenhaal one sheet with the words “courage” boldly stamped at the top. Who was the designer behind this, Dan Rather? Either way, it’s lame, but that’s not what has this flick on a collision course with Turdville. Nope, it’s the boring cast, director and the …
I haven’t read one word of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, but I have seen the movies and they’re nothing special. I have read two pages of Meyer’s novel, The Host, and I thought it was absolute poop. Not just poop, in fact, but cat poop, which is the worst. At any rate, I’m not going to start banging the I-Hate-Twilight drum, because I also refuse to jump on it’s sibling, the I-Dry-Hump-Twilight bandwagon. I prefer to stay Switzerland on this …
A few weeks back, AATM was host to a minor row over Universal’s debut of some “artsy” The Wolfman posters. I liked the overall concept, but my esteemed colleague and others didn’t agree. I was dejected. And sad. Hopefully, Universal has redeemed itself with the newer poster at left. It’s one of a couple Universal debuted last week and if you don’t think this one is more striking, straightforward and scary-like, well, I don’t know what to tell you. Of …
Totally unrelated to District 9 in any way beyond trashy slums and mean-spirited gang members, District B13 has spawned a sequel: District B13: Ultimatum. Don’t worry if you didn’t know a movie called District B13 even existed. It’s a Luc Besson (Taken, The Professional, The Transporter) production, which means it’s French and was thus hated by all red-blooded Americans when it came out circa 2004… even if it did have some pretty incredible parkour themed stunt work and saw sweet …