Tag Archives: Entertainment/Culture

“GI Joe: Retaliation is once again the No. 1 film worldwide with an estimated weekend of $61.3 million.
The worldwide cume now stands at $231.9 million. Also, The Croods passed the $200 million mark and Jack the Giant Slayer passed the $100 mark internationally this weekend.”
The top-12 domestic weekend box office estimates listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, April 7, 2013 are below.
1. Evil Dead – Sony – $26.0M
2. GI Joe: Retaliation – Paramount – $21.1M
3. Croods, The – 20th Century Fox – $21.1M
4. Jurassic Park – Universal – $18.2M
5. Olympus Has Fallen – FilmDistrict – $10.0M
6. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – Lionsgate – $10.0M
7. Oz The Great and Powerful – Disney – $8.2M
8. Host, The – Open Road – $5.2M
9. Call, The – Sony – $3.5M
10. Admission – Focus Features – $2.1M
11. Spring Breakers – A24 Films – $1.2M
12. Identity Thief – Universal – $0.8M
Courtesy of Rentrak Corporation, the global leader in box office measurement.
For more information on Rentrak, please visit www.rentrak.com
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When Warner Bros. “42″ hits screens April 12, the Jackie Robinson saga will slap moviegoers with a fresh take on just how accepted racism was in the U.S. back in 1947, when Robinson broke the color barrier as the first African American player admitted into Major League Baseball. That’s the word from Alan Tudyk, who plays Robinson tormentor Ben Chapman in the Brian Helgeland film that stars Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, and Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey.
“It’s a very, very good telling of the story, starting with the amazing script Brian wrote,” notes the “Suburgatory” and “Firefly” actor. “He’s obviously a proven writer — ‘L.A. Confidential,’ ‘Mystic River’ and so many things. This is a brilliant, straightforward telling of this story. People who know the history and the trivia of this time are going to like it because it’s an accurate portrayal. A lot of the quotes known from this story are in the movie.
“I certainly wasn’t aware of the extent of the abuse Jackie had to take and how different the country was,” Tudyk admits. “Racism was very openly accepted as a form of humor — blackface, things like that. In that atmosphere, the things that were considered offensive are just completely outrageous. To my ears and my eyes in 2013, it was amazing, what he had to put up with and how he had to meet all the threats against him. He couldn’t react.”
Tudyk’s character, outfielder-turned-Phillies Manager Ben Chapman, was among the biggest thorns in Robinson’s side — opposing integration and instructing his players to bean him with the ball at every good opportunity.
“He goes out on the field and calls Jackie every name in the book. Then he catches grief for it from the press and gets called out for being a racist. Then, in an effort to save face, he asks Jackie — or, that is, he tells Jackie — that he wants to take a publicity picture with him out on the field before they play the next time. So Jackie agrees to go out and take pictures with this guy, who has been such an ass to him. He’s the bigger man. And then, even when he goes out on the field to do this favor for him, Ben Chapman won’t shake his hand! They’re like, ‘Shake his hand.’ And he’s like, ‘I’m not touching his hand.’ There’s a famous [...]

The comedy “This Is The End” follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles.
As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.
Check the trailer below

DIRECTED BY
Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
SCREEN STORY & SCREENPLAY BY
Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
PRODUCED BY
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Nathan Kahane, Nicole Brown, Jason Stone, Barbara A. Hall, Ariel Shaffir, Kyle Hunter
CAST
James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson with Michael Cera and Emma Watson
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Roger Ebert has died, but the art form he loved is very much alive. We honor him not so much by remembering his reviews of North but rather his and Gene Siskel’s raves for Do The Right Thing during a time when pundits were sure that Spike Lee’s drama would cause race riots. We honor him by remembering his essays and his and Gene Siskel’s relentless championing of Hoop Dreams. We honor him by remembering what films and what filmmakers we never would have discovered at a young age had Ebert (and yes Siskel) not introduced us to them.
If the film critic has any kind of noble purpose, it is to shine a light on the good and the unexpectedly great in film.
No one gets into film criticism because they hate movies. We got into this because we love the cinema and we love the singular experience of watching great movies. If we have any kind of noble goal, it is to highlight what we love, even if its a minority opinion and even if it opens us up to ridicule from our peers.
If we have a social good, it is in highlighting the great movies that may have slipped under the radar. It is in highlighting the little-seen independent film that desperately needs the publicity to stand out alongside its peers.
It is also in highlighting the genuine artistry found in mainstream studio pictures, especially in a time when so many film scholars are all-too willing to write off every would-be ‘big movie’ and thus declare that cinema is dead. Cinema is not dead. Cinema is as alive as it’s ever been.
To read more go to Mendelson’s Memos
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Tom Hanks got a wildly enthusiastic standing ovation last night as he made his Broadway debut with Nora Ephron’s “Lucky Guy.” The response was not just from friends and fans because they like Hanks, but because his portrayal of Mike McAlary is such a moving, funny, and lovely experience. This was my second time seeing “Lucky Guy” and I do admit to having a soft spot for it. Ephron captured life in a New York newsroom between 1985 and 1998 perfectly. A lot of the specifics of McAlary’s life have been telescoped to fit a normal running time. But even taking dramatic license, Ephron worked in enough to capture the triumphs and the hubris.

And Hanks broke down in tears at the end of the show, when a curtain pulled back on stage to reveal a large portrait of Ephron, who died last July. “Nothing like sharing a personal moment with 11,000 strangers,” Tom said to me later at the afterparty at Gotham Hall. But those were real tears. “Nora and I were always showing each other what we were writing. I ran into her in London last year, and she said, ‘You know I finished that thing.’ I read it and said, What can we do with this now?”
Hanks is not alone on the stage. And under George C. Wolfe’s heartfelt direction, the supporting cast each gets a chance to shine, from Peter Gerety to Courtney B. Vance to Peter Scolari and Christopher MacDonald.
So was there? Who wasn’t there? Loads of folks from the New York tabloids, starting with eminence, Pete Hamill. The Times was represented by current editor in chief Jill Abramson and past legend Gay Talese. The News was there in the person of Mort Zuckerman, who is referred to in “Lucky Guy” as “the owner.” He may have winced at some of the references.
To read more go to www.showbiz411.com
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I’ll make this simple. My first theatrical viewing of Jurassic Park remains, without question, the best theatrical movie going experience of my life. It encapsulated pretty much everything good about the theatrical experience, including any number of elements that are perhaps non-replicable in today’s film culture.
The viewing was an unexpected advance-night screening, back before every movie opened on Thursday at 12:00 am, if not 10:00 pm or earlier. Jurassic Park had a whole slate of advance screenings on Thursday the 10th of June, starting at I believe 8:00 pm. I had presumed I would be seeing it sometime that weekend, but my mother informed me that my dad was coming home from a business trip and he was picking me up in time for a 10:00 pm screening.
Obviously excited, I hurriedly rushed to finish the original Michael Crichton novel that I had been blazing through. We got to the theater early enough and the auditorium, as well as the auditoriums around us, were absolutely jammed packed. Everyone was excited to be there, but nobody really knew what they were in for.
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Evil Dead is a surprisingly faithful yet reimagined retread of the legendary Sam Raimi film that pushes the limits of commercial theatrical wide release horror films. This is a horror film that isn’t afraid or ashamed to be one. With a intense, blood-drenched finale that should leave a packed theater cheering, Evil Dead falls on the side of good remakes.
The story of this iteration of Evil Dead surrounds a girl, Mia (Jane Levy), who is being taken out to an old abandoned secluded cabin, once owned by her family, to hopefully detox her current drug problem. Along the way to assist, are 2 of her friends and her brother with his girlfriend. Upon exploring a smell in the basement, Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) and David (Shiloh Fernandez) find a ritualistic set of dead cats and the Book of the Dead. After reading some passages, wild things begin to happen to Mia. Should her friends believe the things she says or is it her trying to escape cold turkey detox?
By Brandon Peters
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The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by founding partner American Express, today announced a variety of programming that will allow domestic audiences to experience the Festival from across the country, including the lineup and programming for the Tribeca Online Festival, and Tribeca Film’s video-on-demand offerings during TFF. The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 17-28 in lower Manhattan.
“We are always looking for ways to expand our community and engage new audiences,” said Geoff Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer, Tribeca Enterprises. “For the past three years, viewers nationwide have been able to take in a selection of Festival films and activities, even if they aren’t able to make it to Tribeca. This year we have expanded the opportunity for the public to participate in the Festival not just as observers, but also as creators through our first ever Vine competition, which is open to anyone with an imagination and a Vine app.”
The Festival announced the program for the fourth annual Tribeca Online Festival, a digital initiative that offers front row access to exclusive Festival content and new storytelling opportunities. New this year is the launch of Tribeca Film Festival’s #6SECFILMS Vine Competition, an online juried competition using the six-second, micro-movie making app. Filmmakers can submit in one of four categories — #genre, #auteur, #animate and #series – using both the category hashtag and #6SECFILMS. Shortlists in each category will be viewable for the public on April 17 and will compete for cash prizes of $600. Submissions are now open through midnight on April 7. Winners will be announced by the Tribeca Online Festival on April 26.
As in years past, the Tribeca Online Festival (TOF) will provide free streaming of Festival films. Seven titles including features Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution, Lil Bub & Friendz, and Farah Goes Bang (which will be streamed just after their Festival theatrical premieres), and short films RPG OKC, Delicacy, The Exit Room, and A Short Film About Guns will be accessible on tribecaonlinefestival.com . Via TribecaOnlineFestival.com audiences can vote on the best online feature and short, with the winners receiving a total of $16,000 in prize money.
The Tribeca Online Festival will stream a number of highly anticipated conversations during the Festival as well as the 2013 TFF awards show on Thursday April 25, 2013.
Tribeca Film will also release 2013 TFF selections What Richard Did, Greetings from Tim [...]

G.I. Joe: Retaliation opened with a relatively solid $51.7 million over the four-day frame, for a $41.2 million Fri-Sun gross. Any way you slice it, this is a slightly lower figure than the $54 million Fri-Sun debut of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra back in August 2009. Yes that film opened in late summer but this film had 3D-enhanced ticket prices, so it’s basically an even comparison.
The sequel/reboot was scheduled to open in late June of last summer only to be pulled and rescheduled so that the film could be converted to 3D in order to theoretically boost foreign grosses. One can only wonder whether Paramount possibly cut off its nose to spite its face, sacrificing a prime summer slot when the buzz was hottest only to achieve an arguably lower debut than it might have achieved had it opened when intended. G.I. Joe: Retaliation probably won’t cross $120 million in America, which in normal circumstances would be very bad.
More likely, Paramount knowingly sacrificed domestic strength for international muscle, which is yet another sign of the times. The current worldwide total is estimated to be about $132 million, so it’s nearly halfway to the first film’s entire $300 million worldwide total. Assuming it has anything resembling legs, Paramount’s risky bet may have paid off.
The new film cost less ($130 million) and the first film ($175 million), so presuming the rescheduling didn’t massively add to the marketing and distribution costs, equaling or surpassing the first film’s total ($150 million domestic and $150 million international) still counts as a single if not a double depending on the overall result.
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Brandon Peters has returned! Leading up to the April 5th release date of the new Evil Dead remake, Mr. Peters will be doing his voodoo with the Evil Dead series. He continues with a look at Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn. As only a casual Evil Dead fan, this was an extra-special treat as this isn’t a film series that I’ve memorized by heart. This was as informative for me as I hope it will be for you. So without further ado…
Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn
1987
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Ted Raimi
Rated R
We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound “fine”?
~Ash’s mirror image

The second installment of the Evil Dead trilogy is the bridge between the first film and Army of Darkness in terms of tone. Whereas the first film was a straight horror film, the 2nd adds a level of humor while still able to maintain jumps, scares and intensity. This film is definitely one of the earlier and most notable films in the splatstic sub-genre of horror. The film also serves as pretty much a big budget remake of the first film.
to read more go to Mendelson’s Memos
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