BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA Beats EAGLE EYE
Walt Disney Pictures’ adventure comedy Beverly Hills Chihuahua took an easy lead at the North American box office this weekend with US$29 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Raja Gosnell’s film about a spoiled chihuahua ending up astray in Mexico had no problems taking over the No. 1 spot from last week’s box-office winner Eagle Eye, which finished in second place.
D.J. Caruso’s action thriller starring Shia LaBeouf took home another $17.7 million, reaching a domestic total of $54.6 million after only two weeks in release. Released by DreamWorks, the film follows a slacker and a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) who are framed as terrorists and forced to participate in a political assassination.
Debuting in third place with $12 million was Peter Sollett’s Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which stars Michael Cera and Kat Dennings as two young adults who spend an incredibly chaotic night together in New York City.
The remaining four wide releases this weekend failed to make it to the top of the chart. David Zucker’s satire An American Carol finished in ninth place with $3.8 million, followed by Bill Maher’s Religulous (above, in only 502 theaters) with $3.5 million at No. 10.
Universal’s drama Flash of Genius, about Robert Kearns‘ battle to receive recognition for the invention of the intermittent windshield wiper, opened at No. 11 with only $2.3 million. Meanwhile, Fernando Meirelles‘ drama Blindness, starring Julianne Moore (above), ranked twelfth with a weekend gross of $2 million.
Simon Pegg’s latest comedy How to Lose Friends & Alienate People suffered the worst opening, scoring only $1.4 million at No. 19. Directed by Robert B. Weide, the film follows a British journalist’s journey to New York, where he’s offered a job at a respected magazine.
Nights in Rodanthe, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, slipped to No. 4 this weekend, picking up $7.3 million and bringing its cumulative gross to $25 million after a solid two-week run. Following in fifth place was Ed Harris‘ Western Appaloosa, which earned $5 million.
At No. 6, Neil LaBute’s thriller Lakeview Terrace pulled in $4.5 million, lifting its total haul to $32.1 million after three weeks in release. Thanks to weekend earnings of $4 million, Joel and Ethan Coen’s comedy Burn After Reading, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, reached a total of $51.6 million in seventh place.
Last but not least, Alex Kendrick’s Christian-themed drama Fireproof took home another $4 million at No. 8, reaching a cumulative gross of $12.4 million after a two-week run.
Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)
LAKEVIEW TERRACE Tops Box Office
BURN AFTER READING Beats THE FAMILY THAT PREYS at the Box Office
BANGKOK DANGEROUS at the Top of Dismal Box Office
TROPIC THUNDER Beats BABYLON A.D. at the Box Office
TROPIC THUNDER Roars Twice at the Box Office
TROPIC THUNDER Roars at the Box Office
THE DARK KNIGHT Tops Box Office for 4th Consecutive Weekend
THE DARK KNIGHT Defeats THE MUMMY
THE DARK KNIGHT Remains at the Top
GOOD DICK Trailer
I’ve rented pornos at several videostores, but never (intentionally*) at Cinefile — where I usually get stuff I can’t find anywhere else — so I can’t tell if their clerks have the habit of advising customers on the quality (or lack thereof) of their sex-film offerings. That’s the starting point of writer-director-co-producer Marianna Palka’s romantic comedy Good Dick, in which Palka stars as a reclusive woman with a porn fixation whose local videostore clerk (Jason Ritter) falls for her. The questions are: is he as big as those guys in the sex industry? And if so, is that enough?
In Salon, Andrew O’Hehir calls Good Dick a "dark, sweet and sophisticated confection that might find a surprisingly large audience," while Cinematical’s Scott Weinberg says it is "one of the most non-traditional romantic comedies you’ll ever see. Hell, it’s not even very romantic — although it is very funny in a casually dark and disconcerting sort of way."
Also in the Good Dick cast: Eric Edelstein, Mark Webber, Martin Starr, Tom Arnold, Charles Durning, Jesse Garcia, and Jeremy Glazer.
Good Dick opens at the Nuart (right next door to Cinefile) in Los Angeles on October 10 and at the Sunshine Theater in New York City on October 17.
Clip posted by layarfilm.
* Once I rented a gay-themed film whose titles escapes me, but shortly after I began playing the DVD — featuring lots of hunky naked guys having a hell of a good time — I realized that what I was watching wasn’t what I’d thought I’d rented.
Mark Wahlberg in MAX PAYNE Trailer
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO Trailer
Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Trailer
Sally Hawkins in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY Trailer
Josh Zuckerman in SEX DRIVE Trailer
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 Trailer
Keanu Reeves in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Trailer
Anne Hathaway in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED Trailer
Mark Wahlberg in MAX PAYNE Trailer
Adapted from a videogame, the upcoming thriller Max Payne stars Mark Wahlberg as a federal agent out to solve a series of murders in New York City. He’s joined by a young woman (Mila Kunis) intent on avenging her sister’s death. When the duo isn’t hunting about, they’re hunted by the police, the mob, and an evil corporation. Directed by John Moore, whose previous credits include The Flight of the Phoenix and The Omen; screenplay by Beau Thorne.
Also in the Max Payne cast: Beau Bridges, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Chris O’Donnell, and Nelly Furtado.
Max Payne opens in the US on October 17.
Clip posted by vashpl.
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO Trailer
Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Trailer
Sally Hawkins in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY Trailer
Josh Zuckerman in SEX DRIVE Trailer
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 Trailer
Keanu Reeves in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Trailer
Anne Hathaway in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED Trailer
Artivist Film Festival 2008
The 5th Artivist Film Festival, held at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, kicked off last night with a screening of Peter Joseph’s Zeitgeist Addendum, the sequel to Joseph’s documentary Zeitgeist which had its official world premiere at the 2007 Artivist. Since then, Zeitgeist has been released on Google Video, becoming — as per the Artivist press release — "an on-line phenomenon as the most downloaded film in Internet history."
The 2008 edition of Artivist, which runs until Sunday, October 5, will screen no less than 40 films from no less than 40 countries. Themes range from human and animal [...] Continue Reading…
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO Trailer
In Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, a couple of friends, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), try to earn some much needed dinero by making an adult movie together. (The word "adult" here doesn’t refer to a movie with Oscar aspirations.) When the going gets hot, Zack and Miri come to realize that they actually have feelings for one another. (The word "feelings" here doesn’t refer to either fraternal love or unbridled lust.)
Also in the Zack and Miri Make a Porno cast: Jason Mewes, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, and Justin Long.
Zack and Miri Make [...] Continue Reading…
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Trailer
Directed by Tomas Alfredson and adapted by John Ajvide Lindqvist from his own novel, the horror-romance Swedish production Låt den rätte komma in / Let the Right One In follows a bullied boy (Kåre Hedebrant) who falls in love with a weird girl (Lina Leandersson) who happens to be a vampire. Together, they set out to draw bully blood — but then the boy starts wondering about the ethics of it all. How far will his love for the girl go?
Also in the Let the Right One In cast: Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, and Peter Carlberg.
Let [...] Continue Reading…
Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: A Forum on Contemporary Technique
“Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: A Forum on Contemporary Technique" is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ three-evening seminar series that will be held on Thursdays, October 16, 23, and 30, from 7 to 10 p.m., at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.
As per the Academy’s press release, "’Makeup Artists and Hairstylists’ will offer a comprehensive look at contemporary motion picture makeup and hairstyling techniques from the perspective of the practitioners themselves. Each week’s topic will be illuminated by film clips, onstage discussions with working makeup artists and [...] Continue Reading…
Getting Perspective: The Art and Science of 3-D Motion Pictures
"Getting Perspective II: The Art and Science of 3D Motion Pictures" is the title of a presentation about the making of 3-D films and advances in stereoscopic motion picture technology that will be hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Science and Technology Council on Friday, October 17, at 8 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.
Council member Rob Hummel will be in charge of the evening, which will feature clips from a new digital version of Jim Henson’s last directorial effort, the short Muppet*vision 3-D (1991), and [...] Continue Reading…
DAYS OF WAITING, AMERICAN DREAM: Oscar’s Docs
Two 1990 Oscar-winning documentaries, Steven Okazaki’s short Days of Waiting (above, top photo) and Barbara Kopple’s feature American Dream (above, lower photo), will be screened as part of "Oscar’s Docs, Part Four: Academy Award-winning Documentaries 1988-1997" on Monday, October 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.
Barbara Kopple (right, whose recent Shut Up & Sing, co-directed with Cecilia Peck, caused quite a stir) and cinematographer Hart Perry (who worked on American Dream) will take part in a post-screening discussion.
Days of Waiting tells [...] Continue Reading…
A TIME FOR BURNING: Monday Nights with Oscar
A Time for Burning, a 1967 Oscar-nominated documentary about the interactions between two segregated churches in Omaha, Nebraska, during the height of the civil rights movement, will be screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ "Monday Nights with Oscar" on Monday, October 20, at 8 p.m. at the Academy Theater in New York City.
Hosted by journalist and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell, the evening will include an onstage discussion with the film’s producer-director, William C. Jersey (right), and Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers, who is featured in it. The [...] Continue Reading…
Irish Film Festival of Los Angeles 2008
The Irish Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFF), the first "stand-alone" Irish film fest to be presented in the city, begins today and runs until Sunday, October 5, at the Clarity Theater in Beverly Hills.
The festival will open with the West Coast premiere of Eden (to be distributed in the US by Liberation Entertainment). Directed by Declan Recks and adapted by Eugene O’Brien from his own play, Eden follows a small-town married couple as they prepare for their 10th anniversary. Eileen Walsh (best actress winner at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival) and Aidan Kelly star.
Also of [...] Continue Reading…
THE ELEPHANT KING Trailer
The feature film debut of writer-director Seth Grossman, The Elephant King follows two poles-apart brothers — one is a writer with suicidal tendencies (Tate Ellington); the other is an aimless dissolute (Jonno Roberts) — struggling to maintain a grip on their lives while enmeshed in Thailand’s underworld.
Also in the Elephant King cast: Ellen Burstyn, Josef Sommer, and Florence Faivre.
The Elephant King opens in the US on October 17.
Official site.
Clip posted by movietrailertalk.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Trailer
Sally Hawkins in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY Trailer
Josh Zuckerman in SEX DRIVE Trailer
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 Trailer
Keanu Reeves in THE [...] Continue Reading…
Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Trailer
Directed by Sam Mendes and adapted by Justin Haythe from Richard Yates’ novel, Revolutinary Road stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as a young couple attempting to raise two children while coming to terms with their own personal issues in a mid-1950s Connecticut suburb.
Also in the Revolutinary Road cast: Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon, Kathryn Hahn.
Revolutinary Road opens in the United States on December 26.
Clip posted by allthatmcnazz.
Sally Hawkins in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY Trailer
Josh Zuckerman in SEX DRIVE Trailer
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 Trailer
Keanu Reeves in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Trailer
Anne Hathaway in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED [...] Continue Reading…
Sally Hawkins in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY Trailer
Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky stars Sally Hawkins as a free-spirited schoolteacher named Poppy, who brings love and laughter to those she meets. Considering that this is a Mike Leigh film, I wouldn’t exactly expect a sort of "Auntie Mame in the Classroom." But we shall see.
Sally Hawkins won the Silver Bear for best actress at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Also in the Happy-Go-Lucky cast: Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, and Sylvestra Le Touzel.
Happy-Go-Lucky opens in the US on October 10.
Official site.
Clip posted by JustReleasedTrailers.
Josh Zuckerman in SEX DRIVE Trailer
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 Trailer
Keanu Reeves [...] Continue Reading…
Josh Zuckerman in SEX DRIVE Trailer
Directed by Sean Anders, and adapted by Anders and John Morris from Andy Behrens’ book All the Way, Sex Drive stars Josh Zuckerman as an Average Teen who goes on a cross-country trip to meet the Woman of His Dreams — an Internet hookup — so he can lose his virginity. (He’s 18, so it’s legal — at least in most states.)
Also in the Sex Drive cast: Amanda Crew, Seth Green, James Marsden, Clark Duke, and Katrina Bowden.
Sex Drive opens in the US on October 17.
Official site.
Clip posted by SexDriveTheMovie.
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 [...] Continue Reading…
Howard Hawks: Auteur
David Schwartz discusses Howard Hawks and the auteur theory with Andrew Sarris and Molly Haskell at Moving Image Source. Here are a couple of brief quotes from Schwartz’s introduction to the interview:
"If Howard Hawks didn’t exist, auteurist film critics would have had to invent him. He was the epitome of the idiosyncratic, existential artist who worked undercover, disguised as a competent craftsman with a clean, direct style. Hawks was equal parts entertainer and intellectual; box office receipts rewarded the former, critical insight revealed the latter. The paradox of Hawks was that he toiled [...] Continue Reading…
Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer DVD Set
Flicker Alley, described as "a specialty supplier of fine silent films and classic cinema programming," in association with the Blackhawk Film Collection, has announced the December 2, 2008, release of "Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer," a five-disc DVD collection featuring eleven early Douglas Fairbanks’ vehicles. Fairbanks, one of the founders of United Artists and at one point the husband of superstar Mary Pickford, was one of the biggest film attractions in the world from the mid-1910s to the late 1920s.
The Flicker Alley set includes digitally mastered editions from 35mm or original-negative prints of the [...] Continue Reading…
THE DAY THE EARTH STILL STOOD STILL 1951 Trailer
To this day, the 1951 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, written by Edmund H. North and directed by Robert Wise, remains one of my all-time favorite movies. I first saw it as a kid. Patricia Neal immediately became one of my favorite actresses (and this was long before I saw her in Hud and The Subject Was Roses), though at the time Michael Rennie didn’t do much for me. (I did, however, love the robot.)
Watching it as an adult, I was surprised that so little in The Day the Earth Stood Still looked silly or [...] Continue Reading…
Keanu Reeves in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Trailer
Written by David Scarpa and directed by Scott Derrickson, the 2008 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still stars the appropriately expressionless Keanu Reeves as an alien (apparently, god created other beings in its image elsewhere) who arrives on Earth to teach love to Jennifer Connelly and peace to the blood-thirsty human race.
Since idiotic humans didn’t learn anything from the excellent 1951 movie written by Edmund H. North, directed by Robert Wise, and starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, I’m not sure why said alien would bother with us again. Surely there are other planets out [...] Continue Reading…
Anne Hathaway in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED Trailer
As per the US-based press, Anne Hathaway was a top contender for the 2008 Venice Film Festival’s best actress Volpi Cup for her star turn as a problematic woman who returns home for her sister’s wedding in screenwriter Jenny Lumet and director Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married. Dominique Blanc ended up winning the Volpi Cup for her performance in L’Autre; nonetheless, Hathaway remains a potential Oscar 2009 contender.
Also in the Rachel Getting Married cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Mather Zickel, Debra Winger, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Anisa George, and Anna Deavere Smith.
Rachel Getting Married opens in the US on October [...] Continue Reading…
EAGLE EYE Soars to the Top of the North American Box Office
D.J. Caruso’s action blockbuster Eagle Eye stormed to the top of the North American box office this weekend with US$29.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
DreamWorks’ Shia LaBeouf vehicle easily knocked out its competition after opening in 3,510 theaters and securing the top spot early on Friday. Co-starring Michelle Monaghan, the flick centers on a slacker and a single mother who are framed as terrorists and forced to participate in a major political assassination.
Debuting in second place with $13.5 million was George C. Wolfe’s romantic drama [...] Continue Reading…
AUTISM: THE MUSICAL, WAR/DANCE: Contemporary Documentaries
Tricia Regan’s Autism: The Musical (above), and Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine’s War/Dance will be screened as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ "Contemporary Documentaries" series on Wednesday, October 1, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free.
Autism: The Musical, directed by Regan and produced by Regan, Perrin Chiles, and Sasha Alpert, chronicles the efforts of one woman, Elaine Hall, who leads a group of autistic children in putting own a full-length musical. Chiles, Alpert, and Hall will take [...] Continue Reading…
David Hughes’ Top Ten Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made
In The [London] Times, author David Hughes, whose The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made was published in the UK last July, lists the top "10 greatest sci-fi films never made." The #1 spot in the list is held by Vincent Ward’s Alien 3:
"Having rejected a script by sci-fi author William Gibson, the producers of the Alien franchise planned to follow James Cameron’s "Vietnam in space" Aliens with an ambitious, arty third instalment by Vincent Ward, the visionary New Zealand-born director of The Navigator and, more recently, The River Queen. A planet made [...] Continue Reading…
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK Trailer
Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York chronicles the inner and outer struggles of a successful theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) trying to deal with the women in his life while attempting to create a life-size replica of New York City inside the warehouse where he’s staging his new play.
Also in the Synecdoche, New York cast: Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Hope Davis.
Synecdoche, New York opens in the US on October 24.
Official site.
Clip posted by leoRano.
Paul Newman, Tom Hanks in ROAD TO PERDITION Clip
Angelina [...] Continue Reading…
Paul Newman
Paul Newman, who died of cancer yesterday in Westport, Connecticut, at the age of 83, was not one of my all-time favorite actors. He was, however, one of my favorite actors of the last three decades or so.
Watching Paul Newman in his younger days, doing Marlon Brando-ish impersonations in films such as Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Left Handed Gun, The Long, Hot Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Young Philadelphians, Exodus, From the Terrace, and Sweet Bird of Youth, I was thoroughly unimpressed. Newman’s playing was capable in The Hustler and Hud, but when [...] Continue Reading…
