Tag Archives: films

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: While one half of the movie blogosphere attended an early screening of “The Muppets” (word is it’s extremely funny and more touching than you’d expect), the other half – the one dedicated to the ongoing Oscar race – filed into the New Beverly for a “Surprise Screening” that wasn’t such a secret to those who knew Paramount was bringing Jason Reitman’s “Young Adult” for a sneak peek and Q-and-A.
The studio has been road-showing the awards hopeful, though this is, I believe, the first official look at Reitman’s reunion with “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody ahead of its planned December release.
And the reactions have done nothing to slow the film’s Oscar momentum down.
“Short version: Young Adult is fantastic. More later,” InContention’s Kris Tapley Tweeted right after the screening.
“Patton Oswalt, portraying a blunt-spoken, half-crippled fat guy who befriends Charlize Theron’s neurotic writer character, is now a Best Supporting Actor contender…definitely,” Jeff Wells writes on Hollywood Elsewhere.
Journalist Chris Willman added, “I think ‘Young Adult’ might be my second-favorite movie of the year. But my No. 1 unredemptive movie. … Theron’s Young Adult character would be unwatchable if she weren’t… Charlize Theron. Trying/failing to imagine who else could’ve played it.”
High praise. I feared “Young Adult” wasn’t interested in being an Oscar player when it sidestepped the fall film festival circuit. Especially Toronto, where Reitman is king. But it sounds like all systems are go for “Adult,” which is ramping up what could be a very successful Oscar campaign.
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HollywoodNews.com: Kim Kardashian may have been putting on a little bit of a front when she hosted Midori’s Green Halloween party at LAVO in Las Vegas this weekend as she claimed she was making her marriage work with Kris Humphries.
When discussing the relationship, Kim admitted that they struggle to spend time together, states UsMagazine.com. However, she also made it seem like the two were working things out and doing what they could to stay married.
“It’s always tough when you’re apart. But we do what we can to try and spend time together and make that time for each other,” Kim commented.
Kim filed for divorce today. It is rumored that they split up because they didn’t agree on how to spend their future as he allegedly wanted to settle down and she wanted to focus on work.
When do you think things went wrong with them?
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Image by PR Photos

By Scott Mendelson
Hollywoodnews.com: Dreamworks seems to have paid a price for their risky release date, as Puss In Boots (review) debuted with a comparatively soft $34 million over the weekend. We’ll find out for sure on Monday if it broke the Halloween opening weekend record (Saw III grossed $33 million on this weekend in 2006), it’s still a pretty disappointing number and well below the norm for major Dreamworks cartoons. The studio has had a healthy run on the first weekend in November for the last several years (Megamind, Madagascar 2, Bee Movie, Flushed Away), but the decision was made recently to move the film back one weekend right into the heart of the kid-friendly holiday known as Halloween. As it stands for the $130 million production, the debut is the lowest opening for a Dreamworks cartoon since Flushed Away, which debuted with just $18.8 million in November 2006 (an Aardman Animations production, it nearly doubled its $64 million US gross overseas). While a massive snowstorm on the East Coast likely kept moviegoers indoors on Saturday and possibly Sunday, the film’s $9.6 million opening day was below par as well. As it is, the film played 59% female and 55% over-25. It also played to a 35% Hispanic audience, while 51% of the tickets were in 3D and 7% were in IMAX. The comparative uptick in 3D sales makes sense, since it’s some of the better 3D we’ve seen to date.
Perhaps they wanted an extra week before the deluge of kid-friendly competition starting November 18th (Happy Feet 2, Hugo, Arthur Christmas, The Muppets, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3, The Adventures of Tintin). Maybe they hoped the genuinely good movie could parlay word of mouth into two solid weekends instead of one massive debut. But whatever the case, they now have to counter the sense of disappointment, at least stateside (Kung Fu Panda 2 made a somewhat underwhelming $165 million domestic but $663 million worldwide). At the risk of speculating, this may be a case of a ‘No no… wait, it really is good!’ movie. In that sense, it was marketed as an overly jokey spin-off, the kind of cheap, seemingly throw-away product that might have otherwise gone straight-to-DVD without the 3D element. In fact, it’s a pretty terrific cartoon, full of the studio’s usual technical polish and a stand-alone [...]

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: It has been an extremely unfortunate week for Sylvester Stallone’s “Expendables” franchise. Earlier, the property was sued for copyright infringement after a screenwriter claimed Stallone and his team lifted key concepts for their premise. Today, we’re learning of something much worse.
A stuntman has been killed in a sequence for “The Expendables 2,” while another has been badly injured, according to Deadline.
The stunt, on the movie’s Bulgaria set, involved an explosion that took one man’s life and sent the other to a local hospital. According to the site, Stallone and his director, Simon West, were in a separate location miles away filming a different scene. Area officials were launching an investigation into the explosion.
“It is with great regret that we confirm this unfortunate accident,” Nu Image/Millennium Films said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the families and those on the production affected by this tragedy. The filmmakers are working closely with the authorities in responding to and investigating this accident.”
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By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Interesting developments out of London, where Lynne Ramsay’s provocative parental drama “We Need to Talk About Kevin” took home the Best Film prize at the BFI London Film Festival Wednesday night.
Ramsay’s film — which has amassed a strong critical following with screenings at Cannes, Telluride and Toronto – tells the story of a shell-shocked mother (Tilda Swinton) dealing with the repercussions of her son’s devastating actions. John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller are brilliant in support, but it’s Swinton’s show, through and through.
(Click HERE to read our exclusive interview with the Oscar-winning actress from the Toronto International Film Festival.)
”We were struck by the sheer panache displayed by these great storytellers. In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love,” film festival chair John Madden said of Ramsay’s film, which beat out such competition as Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” Steve McQueen’s “Shame,” and Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist.”
This could be a big boost for “Kevin” as the awards race turns a corner and starts to determine frontrunners. Ramsay’s film has been talked about as being able to earn potential nominations for Swinton, Miller, screenplay and a few technical categories. But now we have to wonder if Picture and Director are possible if enough Academy voters are able to see Ramsay’s film for themselves.
“Kevin” wasn’t the only Oscar hopeful to receive a momentum blast out of BFI. Werner Herzog’s “Into the Abyss” grabbed top documentary honors, while David Cronenberg – who brought his “A Dangerous Method” to the fest – collected the BFI Fellowship trophy from Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas and “Method” co-star Michael Fassbender.
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By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: The awards race has transformed from a protracted marathon to a healthy sprint over the past few days. We’re not yet at a full-blown run, but activity is buzzing around a handful of titles that hope to compete in various Oscar categories. Let’s take a moment and run through a few recent movements.
- The 15th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala recognized several talents whose names should find their way into the Oscar race. George Clooney and Michelle Williams picked up trophies for “The Descendants” and “My Week with Marilyn,” respectively. “Moneyball” director Bennett Miller earned what Sony hopes is the first of several awards for his work on the baseball drama. The same goes with supporting actors Carey Mulligan (“Shame”), Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) and the cast of “The Help.” My friend Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter does an excellent job breaking down the Oscar prospects of the Hollywood Awards Gala honorees. Read it here.
- And here’s my official recap of the event, which came across as a celebration of this year’s truly outstanding films.
- Meanwhile, Jeff Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere attended the gala and was struck by the poignancy of certain speeches. He says Glenn Close’s acceptance speech for the Career Achievement was the frontrunner until Viola Davis took the podium to speak for the “Help” ensemble. Wells goes so far as to say Davis’s speech was so amazing, it cemented her status as this year’s inevitable Best Actress winner. Do you agree?
- Warner just invited me to a “J. Edgar” press screening. Not a week-of opening, but an early, pre-AFI Fest screening. That’s a great sign for a picture that hasn’t begun screening in earnest. Not sure when I can officially “talk” about Clint Eastwood’s biopic (with Leonardo DiCaprio playing the late FBI director). But you can bet I’ll have plenty to say once the film opens on Nov. 9.
- Speaking of invites, Roman Polanski’s “Carnage” is hosting several press screenings in N.Y. and L.A. leading up to its Dec. 16 release date. I’m interested to see if the picture can gain better traction after a mixed festival start. I see it myself next week at the Savannah Film Festival.
- Ah, the Savannah Film Fest. It starts Saturday, with Michel Hazanavicius’ winning “The Artist.” It includes festival screenings of “A Dangerous Method,” “Butter,” “Carnage,” “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” “Another Happy Day,” “The Son [...]

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Another Sylvester Stallone hit, and another lawsuit claiming he lifted his idea from somebody else.
This time, it’s Stallone’s action ensemble “The Expendables” that’s being sued for similarities to a short story and screenplay titled “The Cordoba Caper” that was penned by Marcus Webb back in 2006. In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, according to Reuters, Webb says his script tells “the story of a team of elite, highly trained mercenaries hired to defeat General Garza, a rogue army general of a small Latin American country.”
Sounds like Stallone’s film. The “Expendables” villain, played by David Zayas, even went by the name General Garza. That can’t be good for Sly.
“There can be no dispute that Stallone and/or [screenwriter David] Callaham had access to and copied protectable elements of the screenplay,” the lawsuit says.
But can it be proven in a court of law? “The Expendables” isn’t “Inception,” which works from a truly original premise. It’s meat-and-potatoes action, and the concepts – while similar – could have come from any source. Yet Webb wants compensation, and he’d like to block Stallone’s planned “Expendables” sequel until the matter is ironed out.
Stallone’s reps declined comment on the issue.
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By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Warner Bros. representatives recently put to rest the theory that Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” would not film near the Occupy Wall Street movement while shooting on location in New York City, and that the protestors would not stand in – as believed by some – for disgruntled Gotham citizens trying to take back their city from rampant criminals.
But that doesn’t mean “Rises” won’t shoot in the Wall Street district at all.
In fact, On Location Vacations is reporting that “Magnus Rex” – the bogus name Nolan’s been filming under when on location – will shoot a major scene in Wall Street that’s “expected to be more than 1000 extras used in the scene which will be set in a Gotham that has been taken over by Bane.”
“After months of chaos the cops return and the ‘good guys’ battle it out with the ‘bad guys’ for the streets of Gotham,” the site notes. “Tom Hardy and Christian Bale are both expected to be there in full costumes as Bane and Batman. It’s also rumored that they will begin rehearsing for the shoot in a couple day at Riis Park.”
I wonder if that’s similar to the street-level fighting we saw during visible Pittsburgh shooting over the summer. In addition, “Rises” plans to film in midtown Manhattan this week, occupying West 58th Street between 7th and 5th Ave. on Friday, Oct. 28.
Expect plenty of photos and set videos to reach the Web shortly after.

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By Pete Hammond
HollywoodNews.com: It’s rare that a third edition of a horror movie franchise could not only actually outperform its predecesors at the boxoffice but actually get good reviews in the process. Paramount’s latest annual installment of the Paranormal Activity series of creep-you-out genuine spookiness “home movies” did just that earning a way over-performing estimated total of $54 million and 72% positive reviews on the aggregated Rotten Tomatoes site.
Overall the film which only cost around $5 million to make is seemingly already in profit. Of course that $5 million total is gargantuan compared to the original cost of the first PA film which was reportedly made for $11,000 before Paramount acquired it for release in 2007. Since then they have kept the series going with back to back installments last Fall and now. It’s a tricky concept to keep pushing since the surprise element that made it work so well is by now a formula. Without giving too much away PA3 stretches that formula to the limit. Still at its heart this is one of those films, like Blair Witch Project that works because it touches the core of our fears, things that go bump in the night in our own homes. I would say it is also the anti-horror movie , at least of the sort like the ever-so-bloody Saw franchise that wore out its welcome long ago. Whether Paramount can figure out a way to keep this thing going throughout this decade like their Friday The 13th franchise managed to do in its own time is another question. Signs of viewer fatigue may already be creeping in if you go by the mediocre C+ Cinemascore rating of audience satisfaction this one got and the perilous 30%+ drop the film experienced from Friday’s blazing boxoffice to Saturday’s numbers. Actually you have to wonder what the deal is when a supposedly crowd-pleasing horror movie pleases the critics more than the “crowd”.
Proving no competition at the box office at all was the latest attempt to turn the time-honored tale of The Three Musketeers into gold at the ticket window. This souped-up 3D version of the classic tale earned only an estimated $8.8 million , good for an underachieving 4th place. Was it the marketing? Even its star, Milla Jovavich went public via [...]

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning “The Hurt Locker” was going to attract attention mo matter the topic. But when it was revealed that she was mounting a military drama about our nation’s hunt for Osama Bin Laden with “Hurt Locker” screenwriter Mark Boal, our interest level increased tenfold.
This morning, however, we’re hearing that Bigelow’s anticipated and as-yet-untitled Bin Laden drama could be held until late 2012, when our nation’s has moved past what’s shaping up to be a contentious presidential campaign.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Sony, which had circled an Oct. 12, 2012 release date for the project is now looking at November, December or possibly 2013 as a window for Bigelow’s film. The director has not begin filming yet, and in fact had to make changes to her plot once Bin Laden actually was captured and killed by U.S. forces earlier this year.
The trade emphasizes that Bigelow’s film is not political. Bigelow, herself, says it isn’t focused on current president, Barrack Obama, but rather focuses on a years-ling hunt that spanned multiple administrations.
“Indeed, the dangerous work of finding the world’s most wanted man was carried out by individuals in the military and intelligence communities who put their lives at risk for the greater good without regard for political affiliation,” Bigelow said, putting several minds at ease. Now we just need to wait and see what she and Boal have planned. It sounds like our wait will be longer than we might have hoped.
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