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16 articles
New Photos of Neeson and Seyfried in 'Chloe'
1 hour ago
Here's our first look at Atom Egoyan's Chloe, starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Mamma Mia's Amanda Seyfried. It's a remake of the French film Nathalie, which is not a classic, but its story is functional enough that a filmmaker like Egoyan can have some good luck with it.
It's the story of a woman who suspects her husband is having an affair, so she hires an escort (Seyfried) to seduce him, directing their interactions to trap her husband into bad behavior. The film toured the fall film festivals and opens in several European countries in early March, and in the Us and Canada on March 19th.
Thanks to Filmofilia for the pictures, and you can check out a few more over there. »
- Colin Boyd
This Just In: Movie Critics Love 'The Hurt Locker'
4 hours ago
It means nothing in and of itself, but it's always interesting to see what the various sides of the motion picture industry pick as their favorites. The Golden Globe voters are different from the Oscar voters, who are different from critics, a group that is generally less sentimental about its choices than the tuxedo-laden affairs coming soon to a television near you.
Alt Film Guide has taken the liberty of grouping all of the critics votes together (counting the Hfpa votes for the Globes, as well) to come up with a general consensus about 2009. The winner is The Hurt Locker, taking the top prizes in New York City, San Francisco, Oklahoma, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Chicago, Boston, and Austin, as well as awards show nominations from the Satellite Awards, the Screen Actors Guild, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and the Golden Globes.
I don't think it will play out that way at the Oscars, »
- Colin Boyd
Saldana Says 'Trek 2' Pre-Production A Year Away
6 hours ago
I don't think J.J. Abrams would want to work much faster than this outlined schedule by Zoe Saldana, his beautiful Star Trek star who spoke to MTV recently about a sequel. Trek was a blast in my opinion, but it was also a pretty accomplished film with a tight, efficient script. That's no accident, because those things don't happen by accident.
As a comparison, I offer Transformers, which went from a pretty entertaining first film to an absolute train wreck because there was no time to develop the story. It was two years between installments there, and Trek looks like it will wait three years before boldly going again. That gives Abrams and company time to get it right, a process that Saldana say is already underway.
"I spoke to J.J. and Bryan Burk, his producing partner at Bad Robot, and they are still in the middle of building »
- Colin Boyd
Yahoo! Presents the Most Viewed Trailers of 2009
9 hours ago
I'd say nine of the movies on this list won't surprise you one iota, but that tenth one will knock you for a loop twice. It's the most viewed trailers of 2009, as unveiled and presumably counted by Yahoo! You've got your Transformers, your Harry Potter, and your New Moon, but...what the hell is Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus?
It comes to us from Asylum, makers of such films as The Da Vinci Treasure and Transmorphers. And who could forget Snakes on a Train? But this is something a little bit different, and wait 'till you see the stars of Mega Shark. Fantastic casting! If you're wondering how you missed it, Asylum generally releases straight to video, but Mega Shark played in one theater in the UK, scraping together £433 in August. So I guess that means the trailer was ineffective.
We've got the entire top ten here to refresh your memory, »
- Colin Boyd
Cameron Exploring Other Moons in 'Avatar' Sequel?
12 hours ago
What's next for James Cameron and Avatar? He's already discussed making a sequel, but now a little more light has been shed on it.
Cameron tells The Los Angeles Times that an Avatar 2 or whatever it might be called could explore the other moons in the same planetary system occupied by Pandora, the moon at the center of his new runaway hit.
"The planet in Pandora's sky is called Polyphemus and it's a primary for a system of moons just like in our solar system," explained the King of the World. "We have some story ideas about how to branch out into other moons of Polyphemus and the Alpha Centauri A solar system." »
- Colin Boyd
Warner Bros. Wins 2009 Studio Derby with $2 Billion
14 hours ago
Owing as much to unexpected hits as total smashes everyone knew would be blockbusters, Warner Bros. earned over $2.1 billion in the United States this year, making it the box office champ once again. Last year, the biggest factor was obviously The Dark Knight, but in 2009, WB had Harry Potter and Terminator earmarked as its biggest sluggers, although it didn't work out that way.
Potter is presently the number two film of the year, but Terminator tumbled, taking in just over $125 million and finishing outside the top 20. However, let's not forget about The Hangover, The Blind Side, and Gran Torino, hich is technically a 2008 release, but its early 2009 expansion added over $100 million more to the studio's total. Actually, that film helped Warners crutch through a trio of underperforming films in he first half of the year, Watchmen, Observe and Report, and, as we mentioned, Terminator.
The second half of the year was enormous. »
- Colin Boyd
'ThunderCats' - Ho? 'Thundercats' - No
17 hours ago
Is this a reaction to G.I. Joe or something else? ThunderCats is dead as a movie property, according to Collider. Warner Bros. has apparently cooled on the idea, but since that studio isn't as immersed in the toy property updates as, say, Paramount, this could be a smart move.
I'm not sure how they were looking to develop it, and that could be part of the problem. If it's live action, it could look pretty silly, even with effects similar to what were used in where the Wild Things Are. If it's animated, the studio may have trouble selling audiences that it's something new and different.
The film was intended to be an origin story, and that implies that there would be bigger plans for the future, so if Warner Bros. bailed, it could have something to do with trepidation about developing a two- or three-film arc. »
- Colin Boyd
'Captain America' to Begin Shooting Next Summer
20 hours ago
The Avengers will be here in 2012, and most of the pathways that lead us there have already become familiar to us: Iron Man was a huge hit and its sequel is on the way in May, Hulk has been attempted twice and the more recent version is really underrated, and Thor is shooting soon, overcoming major hurdles to put together what sounds like a very interesting production. That leaves Captain America.
Cap will probably jump in front of cameras soon, if Joe Johnston is to be believed. He's the director of The Wolfman and the man who is lined up for the fourth Avenger origin story. I think the success or failure of Wolfman could tell us a lot about whether or not Johnston stays attached to the project (for a while, it was going to be Nick Cassevetes directing it), but for the time being, he's the guy.
Johnston »
- Colin Boyd
Nolan's New 'Inception' Trailer Now in English
23 hours ago
I saw this trailer attached to Sherlock Holmes over the weekend and, having seen the French trailer a week ago before it was summarily pulled offline, put back up, pulled down again, and repeated, I have to say my original assessment was incorrect. Because the movie is a bit out there, I thought it would work in favor of Christopher Nolan's Inception to have it be in a foreign language...just to keep you off-balance.
However, having seen the same thing in English, I realize that it doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference. Actually, the lines in the new trailer are just as confusing, but I can't deny how incredibly cool and unique this looks. You know, I don't think I've given Nolan enough credit as a visual artist, because his stories are so strong and compelling, and while his films do have a tonal signature, »
- Colin Boyd
The Washington Post's Top Ten Films of the Decade
28 December 2009 11:02 AM, PST
These end-of-the-year lists are always an interesting read, and given that most people consider 2009 the last year of the decade, there are plenty of end-of-the-decade picks to go over as well. We're about two days away from publishing our own, so sit tight.
But for all the conversations that can be had about the best movie from this year, they're only magnified when you expand the playing field to include nine more years. So when you look at this new list from The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday, please remember how difficult this little game is.
To me, she has some strange choices at the top. Finding Nemo might not have been the best Pixar movie of the decade, and You Can Count on Me didn't shiver my timbers that much. But I'm not Ann Hornaday. There are, however, a couple titles we'll see a lot of on the end-of-the-decade countdowns, »
- Colin Boyd
New Red Band Clip from 'Solomon Kane'
28 December 2009 8:13 AM, PST
I've commented before on how much the filmmakers of Solomon Kane seem to be stretching their $40 million. Take, for example, King Arthur from 2004. Somehow, it cost three times as much as this movie even though from a visual standpoint, I can't see three times worth of difference. Even with the success of Avatar, I think over the next couple of years, you'll see studios and production companies pare down the size of budgets not just to make movies that are immediately more profitable but also to counteract a sluggish home video market, as well. It'll be a survival instinct.
But for Solomon Kane, it appears as though it's all up there on screen. The film has been in development for years and years, so some of that budgetary restraint might be due to spending more in the development phase than we might normally see. But now the Robert E. Howard »
- Colin Boyd
Weekend Recap: Box Office Mayhem, Year-End Stuff
28 December 2009 5:04 AM, PST
You just lived through the biggest box office weekend ever, so how do you feel? Yeah, thought so. It was, though, the most money ever earned in three days, pushing the total Us grosses to $10.3 billion. In fact, there's a small chance this year can do a billion more than last year. Avatar led the way, and you can read all about the weekend below.
We've also got some year-end lists, including IMDb's top films of the decade and 2009's most pirated movies, plus a look at what happens when you ask The King of the World for an autograph.
Go!
Avatar beats Sherlock in biggestest weekend ever
The year in review only takes seven minutes
The Dark Knight tops IMDb voters' list of the decade Sherlock Holmes review
An update of sorts on the Justice League of America movie
James Cameron vs. the autograph hound
Nothing to be proud »
- Colin Boyd
'Magneto' Movie Demagnetized
28 December 2009 2:35 AM, PST
This happened a few days ago, but maybe you hadn't heard: The Magneto origin story is not happening, at least not in the form we thought for a couple of years. The culprit, in addition to several months of atrophy, appears to be X-Men Origins: First Class.
Earlier this month, director Bryan Singer announced that he's taking the reins on that project, which is essentially the birth of the X-Men. Part of that story involves the younger Magneto, too, Erik Lehnsherr, because of his relationship with Charles Xavier. And as if that connection wasn't enough to kill the project, Singer told The Hollywood Reporter that Origins will strip Magneto for parts.
"This story would probably utilize some of the Magneto story because it deals with a young Magneto, so it might supersede that because this would explore that relationship between a young energetic professor and a disenfranchised victim of the Holocaust, »
- Colin Boyd
The Big Picture's Top Ten Performances of 2009
28 December 2009 12:02 AM, PST
Even if you're the kind who waits to see everything on DVD, you have no doubt heard a thing or two about these performances. No, it was not Hollywood's best year; several of the awards favorites released in November and December miss the mark a little bit, and it was already a weak year before that. But what is fascinating to me about the performances from the past 12 months are how many new artists we met along the way.
There's no Winslet, no Day-Lewis, no Depp in this year's crowd. Of the ten we've picked, six are names almost nobody knew a year ago and a seventh would have never been pegged to be anywhere near such a collection, much less leading it. There are, in fact, only three performers you'd immediately recognize, and even one of those hadn't touched his best work in a few years.
Perhaps, though, I was looking for that. »
- Colin Boyd
'Prince of Persia' Featurette: 'The Sands of Time'
27 December 2009 9:13 PM, PST
Jerry Bruckheimer's latest major push will be or is already Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It'll be out on Memorial Day weekend, but once upon a time it was supposed to be released in June of this year, the week before Transformers, in fact. The upcoming Tooth Fairy was also a June 19th film at one time, if you can believe it.
The extra time Bruckheimer and Disney gave Persia allows for things like this, the second in what promises to be a long line of featurettes related to the video game adaptation. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to them so far, like Watchmen's once-a-month video journals, but it is keeping the name out there a little bit before the studio really starts pushing it, which should be sometime between Alice in Wonderland and the summer kick-off.
The latest featurette explains, through Bruckheimer, »
- Colin Boyd
Another Look at the Best Picture Hopefuls
27 December 2009 6:39 PM, PST
Here's a cool chart placing the best films of the year into a more complete perspective. It comes to us by way of Sasha Stone at Awards Daily, and if you don't read her stuff yet, what are you doing here? I don't think this is reflective of everything, though, just films in the running for Best Picture. Otherwise, where's Fantastic Mr. Fox or some of the documentaries?
Critical reviews are represented along with public votes at IMDb, which may or may not be as reliable. If, for example, you think Up is overrated, you could vote it a 1 out of 10 without ever seeing it. Still, it's a good thing to take into account because it provides a more complete view of how these films are perceived. Seven of the top ten here will probably go on to receive Oscar nominations, and eight of those ten are in our own »
- Colin Boyd
16 articles
