This Weekend in Theatres… April 4th

While we are stuck in a rut, waiting for the Summer movie season to begin… it’s worth noting that there are a few good titles being released in the coming days.

Coming on Friday, April 4th 2008:

Leatherheads – George Clooney is in this.  Who can resist George Clooney, especially when he is playing football for some reason?

Shine a Light – Scorsese and The Rolling Stones make a documentary, it looks really good. See it in IMAX.

Meet Bill (Limited Release) – Sound track sounds terrible, but Jessica Alba can ruin any good film.  I still have hope that this might be kind of good.

Also, on Wednesday, April 9th is a limited release of Young@Heart.   I was able to see this last weekend at a special screening and was part of an audience that gave a standing ovation.  I highly suggest you check this one out.

– Keith

Michael Cera To Star In ‘Scott Pilgrim’s Little Life’

It looks like Michael Cera and Edgar Wright are joining up on the fantasy/adventure/romance, Scott Pilgrim’s Little Life for Universal. This comes from the Hollywood Reporter:

‘”Life” tells the story of a young slacker (Cera) who meets the woman of his dreams but finds that he can only win her heart by battling and defeating her seven evil ex-boyfriends.

The project is based on the Oni Press graphic novel “Scott Pilgrim Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life,” written by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Michael Bacall and Wright wrote the screenplay.”

I’m not sure what to make of this storyline quite yet, but I am still interested. Michael Cera is a favorite of mine, and it is an extreme rarity for his style of comedy to fail at making me laugh. It sounds like a fun project for him, and I hope they can pull together a great cast now that Cera is involved. The fact that Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) is directing is very reassuring as well. It seems like an awesome combo, and it leaves me longing for some onscreen Simon Pegg-Michael Cera interaction, holy cow.

Wright and Cera have worked together before on a viral promo for Superbad, where Wright posed as an offensive reporter that pissed off Jonah Hill to no end.

Universal is looking to start production in the fall this year, and that makes for a fairly busy year for Cera. He is currently filming Year One, which also stars Jack Black and is being produced by Judd Apatow. After that he moves on to shoot Youth In Revolt directed by Miguel Arteta, and then finally, production can start on Scott Pilgrim’s Little Life.

The Vice Guide to North Korea

Vice is a long standing, well recognized magazine that now has a web channel that continues to put out some of the best alternative journalism articles and videos around. They have recently given us a chance to take a peak in to the mysterious (and dangerous) North Korea to get a first hand look on what is happening there. The series created is hosted at VBS.tv now. You can follow the link below for it, too.

This Weekend in Theatres…

This weekend, March 14th, there are only four big releases hitting theatres. There is Doomsday (R), Horton Hears a Who (G), Never Back Down (PG-13) and Funny Games (R, Limited release)

Funny Games will more than likely be the only thing really worth seeing, but it is a remake and there has been little promotion for it. This one could go either way, but it does seem pretty promising so far.

Doomsday looks pretty bad, I won’t be seeing it unless it gets good reviews elsewhere.

Horton Hears a Who… Dr. Seuss books cannot be recreated with CGI.

Never Back Down, what?

– Keith

Something About Wall-E

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/walle/hd/

The new Pixar film, Wall-E, had it’s final trailer released today, you can watch it on the Apple website.
I had originally been hoping that there would be as minimal dialog by Wall-E as possible. Sort of like an older silent film, only with more robots. I now am under the impression that we are being set up for a surprisingly verbose robot with too much to say, in a situation where less is more. I would have loved to have seen the animators and directors work to tell the story through actions and subtle details, but if this were the case and I was the one who made the new trailer, I certainly would not have added in any voices. That is just not how something like that should be marketed, but what do I know?
The reason I say the vernacular of a robot beyond a name, bleeps, bloops and curious clinking sounds would be a bad thing is that this probably means either a big let down for audiences everywhere or it will be aimed more towards just families, while the critics leave bad reviews and no award shows even nominate it past best animation. I guess this could also mean that I am dead wrong and Pixar has something amazing in store for us beyond a talking robot film, in which case I will delete all of this out of shame.

I am, despite the worries of a possible major let down, still very excited to see this film. Wall-E may be the film I look forward to the most this year actually. If there is no dialog I will hope this to be the first year an animated feature is nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
I will bring a review to this site for Wall-E before June 27th 2008, I assure you.

– Keith

‘The Foot Fist Way’ Trailer

This movie looks entertaining. It took the funniest part of an on and off funny movie called Hot Rod, Danny McBride, and gave him his own movie. He recently did a spot on The Conan O’Brien Show and I thought his interaction with Will Farrell and Conan were priceless. I’m not saying the movie looks amazing, but it looks like if you take it for what it is, it can make anyone laugh.

The Trailer:

Conan spot:

The Foot Fist Way is in theatres on April 11th.

‘Burn After Reading’ Release Date Announced

I am very excited for Burn After Reading. It may even be my most anticipated film of the year, and I’m glad it is solidifying well. This comes from Yahoo News:

“Moviegoers won’t to have wait long to see the next film from Joel and Ethan Coen, the Oscar-winning brothers behind “No Country For Old Men.”

Their next project, the dark espionage comedy “Burn After Reading,” will be released September 12 via Focus Features, the studio said Monday. The cast includes George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, and Frances McDormand, Joel Coen’s wife.”

This cast is stacked with so much talent it is ridiculous. I can’t see any way for this film to go south. The Coen brothers are some of the best creative minds in the business (personal favorites of mine), and with their Oscars for No Country For Old Men it isn’t any surprise that they’ve attracted all this talent. They are masters of dark comedy and they’ve brought in people like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and John Malkovich, who are equally suited for the genre. September is still a ways away, but It’s comforting to have something to look forward to.

Ellen Page Drops Off of ‘Drag Me To Hell’

Due to scheduling conflicts Ellen Page has dropped out of Sam Raimi’s return to horror, Drag Me To Hell. Production for the film has been bumped back because of a longer than expected pre-production process. Pushing the production date back caused a scheduling conflict with two other films Page is set to star in. Drew Barrymore’s roller derby comedy, Whip It and the thriller Peacock also starring Cillian Murphy. Part of the time crunch is caused by the physical training preparations Page is undergoing for Whip It.

A statement from Ghost House and Mandate:

“We were racing to start production so that we could accommodate Ellen’s schedule, but like so many other productions trying to start before the potential SAG strike date, this one needed more time and we had to push back the start of production.”

You read correctly, we are facing yet another monumental strike in Hollywood.

Now the rush is on to find another actress for the role, while at the same time trying to keep investors that bought into the movie mostly based on Page’s participation in the film.

John Goodman and More Join ‘Gigantic’

The more I hear about this film, the more excited I get about it. More great names have signed for Gigantic this week, including one of my personal alltime favorites, John Goodman. We get the news from Yahoo:

” Ed Asner, Jane Alexander and John Goodman are joining Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel in the indie romantic comedy “Gigantic.” Dano, in theaters with “There Will Be Blood,” plays Brian, a depressed mattress salesman whose quest to adopt a Chinese baby is sidetracked when he falls for Happy (Deschanel).

Asner is set as Brian’s pot-smoking, gangsta rap-loving father, and Alexander as his long-suffering mother. Goodman will play Happy’s brilliant, domineering dad. Director Matt Aselton starts shooting the indie film Monday in New York.”

In my opinion, it is nearly impossible for John Goodman to do any wrong and I must say that the role sounds perfect for him. I’m even willing to give Speed Racer (I think it looks absolutely ridiculous) a chance, simply because he is in it. Gigantic already had my attention and the addition of Goodman can only make it better. Also joining the cast are the two veterans, Ed Asner and Jane Alexander, both of whom are beyond qualified to be in any film. The story and the characters sound great, and I cannot wait to hear more.