Get The Big Picture

Dustin Hoffman Out of 'Little Fockers'?

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:16:04 +0000

If conditions hold, it looks as though Dustin Hoffman is out of Little Fockers. Entertainment Weekly says Hoffman wants a more sizable role in the threequel, in addition to squabbles about the shooting schedule.

Although Hoffman was not going to carry much of the action - he was only planned for an extended cameo - it does crack the shell of this movie just a little bit. Le Babs will still play Ben Stiller's mother, according to the report, which neither Hoffman's reps nor Universal would confirm nor deny.

Box Office: 'New Moon' Breaks $20 Million at Midnight

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:48:05 +0000

We knew New Moon would be headed for a great big weekend, but this big? Even that's a little surprsing. Deadline Hollywood cites sources from other studios saying that the Twilight sequel has debuted in the mid-$20 million range for midnight showings, slightly better than Harry Potter, and substantially more than The Dark Knight last summer.

Dark Knight set a towering 12:01 mark at $18.4 million, which lasted a year. Half-Blood Prince raised the bar to $22.2 million, and the estimates for New Moon are about a million bucks ahead of that. "It could break every existing record for Friday," one executive claimed. "But Saturday will be a different story."

And indeed, it probably will be. Twilight slumped 40% in just its second day, and dipped another 40% on Sunday, meaning its day three tally was only about one-third of the Friday high. Our own estimate for New Moon takes on a similar model, but the raw numbers are much higher - $51 million today, $31 million tomorrow, $18.5 on Sunday. Again, that's just our estimate, and for the Friday totals, I lumped midnight screenings in with the regular show times.

Video - Inside the 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Puppet Shop

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:52:12 +0000

I can't even begin to fathom how exacting the work is to make a film like The Fantastic Mr. Fox. A feature-length production that is literally shot frame-by-frame instead of scene-by-scene is grueling enough to consider, but then there's the mechanical setup required for every frame, which as you probably know, only constitutes 1/24th of a second. Now extend that amount of work over 87 minutes...that's over 125,000 frames, and each one (not counting credits, obviously) has to be completely engineered from the ground up.

There's a new featurette for Mr. Fox that goes inside the puppet shop with Wes Anderson, so you can see a little bit about the sort of determination and dedication required to make a film like this, to say nothing about making a film like this good or entertaining.

I do wish it were a bit longer - I know, I know: That would be even more work - because once you start watching something like this, it's so fascinating that you just want to learn more about it.

'Jackass' Returns...In 3-D

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:06:39 +0000

Well, all I can say is I hope there's still enough story left to tell: Cinematical reveals that Paramount is pushing a Jackass 3-D into theaters next year. Clearly falling into the "better you than me" category, watching the Jackass stunt players risk life and limb in the most ridiculous, grotesque fashion imaginable has been downright huge business for the studio, which of course, always had an inside track thanks to the show's MTV roots.

The two films have combined for over $150 million and cost about one-tenth of that amount, and I apologize for calling them "films." A term like "geek shows" seems more appropriate, and I'm sure Johnny Knoxville and company would find that rather flattering. And after four long years, they'll be back with more things you can't bear to watch.

Week in Review: 'New Moon,' Oscars, 'Batman 3'

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:34:57 +0000

Hey, whaddya know: It's New Moon weekend, and it's bound to be a big one. In fact, we break down the potential box office for the film and its remarkable pre-sale numbers below, as part of our weekly bite-size news bundle. But put it this way: It's pretty much going to be the dominant movie headline of the weekend. The kinds love their vampires.

However, that's the future, and unlike Mark McGwire, we're here to talk about the past. So let's reflect on the week that was, which including another crushing defeat for Will Ferrell, a pretty solid list of the decade's best films, notable exclusions in the Oscars documentary pool, and another smokin' trailer for Nine.

New Moon Money #1: Pre-sale record shattered

New Moon Money #2: Anybody got change for $100 million?

The decade's top film accoring to Paste

Kate Hudson sings, dances in hot new Nine trailer

We know we'll know something about Batman 3 in January

Casting rumors for Spidey 4's Black Cat heat up

Will Ferrell named Hollywood's most overpaid actor

No Michael Moore, No Tyson: The Oscar documentary shortlist

Speaking of Oscar, can Inglourious Basterds win Best Picture?

Robert Downey, Jr. wants some time off...maybe lots and lots of it

Movie Review - 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon'

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:11:24 +0000

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner
Directed by Chris Weitz
Rated PG-13

Like last year's toy left out in the yard to endure the elements, The Twilight Saga has lost its novelty with the second entry, New Moon. Fans of the series probably won't be disappointed, but that's what fans are for. If you're only mildly curious or in any way objective, it's hard to call this movie a success.

On a certain level (and only one), it's slightly better than Twilight, but that film had a greater sense of arrival and better storytelling. New Moon is at odds with itself, alternately taking itself way too seriously and interjecting uncomfortable humor where it's not necessary.

The best thing about New Moon is probably its moody cinematography. It shares that, generally speaking, with its predecessor, but Chris Weitz is a more assured visual director than Catherine Hardwicke, and the film looks like the world it's supposed to portray. And unfortunately, Weitz doesn't even make the most of his best feature, never trying with any consistency a more Gothic directorial style that could certainly feel at home here. It's fairly pedestrian outside of its color palette.

The visual effects, which have to be considered under the same umbrella, show the seams of a cheap production, or at least a production not at all concerned with realistic werewolves. If you're making, I dunno, The Godfather, CGI werewolves probably aren't a top priority. But if you're making a film that is in part about a guy who transforms into a wolf, it's rather important. It undercuts, to a degree, the accomplishment of the cinematography.

But the praise for New Moon more or less ends there, and I think you'll admit, it was fairly faint praise. The great Michael Sheen, who should have at least one Oscar nomination based on his work in The Queen and Frost/Nixon, was apparently handsomely paid for playing the evil, calculating vampire mafioso Aro, and the producers got their money's worth. His performance is the only standout, and it's all too brief.

Movie Review - 'The Messenger'

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:51 +0000

The Messenger

Starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, and Samantha Morton
Directed by Oren Moverman
Rated R

The best parts of the Mel Gibson Vietnam film We Were Soldiers did not take place on the battlefield. Instead, they were the quiet moments when the bad news was delivered to loved ones that a soldier was killed in action. And it's an interesting perspective to see if you've never really thought about it, particularly in that environment, where it is balanced with the a different kind of savagery altogether.

Or so I thought at the time. And now I've seen The Messenger.

Centered on the unenviable task at hand and the relationships these soldiers forge with each other and - in a turn of events that is strictly against protocol - the next of kin (stripped of its emotional impact by the military abbreviation NOK), The Messenger is a poignant film without wringing the tears out of you at every opportunity. And it features very strong performances by Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, and Samantha Morton.

Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Foster) is new to the job, and is obviously not prepared for what it entails. The first rule of delivering this news to the next of kin is to never make physical contact with them, which could be for personal safety, emotional distance, or both. He is shown the ropes by grizzled veteran Capt. Tony Stone (Harrelson), who we can imagine was a lot like Montgomery once upon a time, before the rigors of the job turned him into something else, someone more mechanical, and probably because he had no choice.

The conflict arises from a meeting that has unexpected fallout: Montgomery tells Olivia (the always strong Samantha Morton) that her husband was lost in battle and she reacts in an unusual way: She feels sympathy for her messenger, forced to to be forever linked with the deaths of all of these soldiers. What's the protocol for that kind of response?

Cool 'For Your Consideration' Ads and Posters

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:50:37 +0000

Kudos to Awards Daily for putting together a nice gallery of posters specifically tailored to the awards season. It's beginning to look a lot like Oscar, of course, and the studios spend, spend, and spend to get the attention of Academy voters and press members alike.

We won't steal their thunder, so please check out Awards Daily to see the gallery, which is sure to expand in the coming weeks. But here's a sample: "Please vote for us" posters for Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man. Click on any poster to see the full image.

Brad Pitt Aquires Rights to 'Dark Void' Video Game

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:25:04 +0000

Here's another big get for Brad Pitt's Plan B production company: Pitt will produce and star in an adaptation of the Capcom video game Dark Void. Plan B has teamed up with Reliance Big Pictures, an Indian financing outlet, to possibly turn Dark Void into a franchise.

The kicker in all this might be that Pitt will star in at least the first film, according to Variety's coverage, although if he goes for more, it will be his first series since the Ocean's movies. It is probably more important to Pitt the producer than Pitt the actor to establish the franchise, so his presence in the first film might have been a concession or he could genuinely like the idea as a movie star.

The game won't be released until January, and follows a pilot who crashes his plane in the Bermuda Triangle "and wakes up to find himself in an alternate world resembling a primitive earth where aliens with superior technology are planning to take over civilization."

New and Improved 'Percy Jackson' Trailer

Colin Boyd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:02:03 +0000

Poseidon...you are the father. That's the jumping off point for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which involves a kid (Logan Lerman) who discovers he the demi-god son of the the Greek landlord of the oceans and seas.

It will try to get some of the Harry Potter momentum by involving - and thoroughly promoting - Potter director Chris Columbus, which is probably not a dumb move at all. The film is clearly not intended for the kids that were targeted for Sorcerer's Stone, because they're in college now or close to it, but the connection can't hurt.

You know what else can't hurt? A better trailer, which has more humor and more action than the previous stuff we've seen. I wouldn't say it can replace the boy wizard in anyone's mind, but it's a pretty good two minutes for young adult fare. Plus, for the non-young adults: Rosario Dawson.