In Theaters This Holiday Week: November 25, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Independent, Musicals, Period, Romance, Comedy, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Ninja Assassin (R): starring Ji-hoon “Rain” Jung, Rick Yune, Naomie Harris (directed by James McTeigue)
• Old Dogs (PG): starring John Travolta, Robin Williams, Seth Green (directed by Walt Becker)
• The Road (R): starring Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Kodi Smit-McPhee (directed by John Hillcoat)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Holiday Week: November 25, 2009

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In Theaters This Weekend: November 20, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: IFC Films, Magnolia, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Independent, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• The Blind Side (PG-13): starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron (directed by John Lee Hancock)
• New Moon (PG-13): starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner (directed by Chris Weitz)
• Planet 51 (PG): starring Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel (directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: November 20, 2009

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500 Days of Summer Without the Script

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Fox Searchlight, Independent, Romance, Comedy, Celeb News, Filmmaking, New Releases, Scripts, Videos

The cute overload that is 500 Days of Summer continues, as stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel performed an impromptu, short version of how the film would be without a script.

Set to present an award to the film’s screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel ditched the teleprompter and offered a silent skit of the elevator/Smiths scene. Then the pair realized that they wouldn’t have had stage directions without a script and redid the scene appropriately (albeit, quite boring and proving a good point).

It’s nice to see actors who appreciate those other people working on a film.

Read More | Movie Line

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First Look: 30 Days of Night Sequel

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Adaptation, Horror, Independent, Sequels, Thrillers, Casting, Filmmaking, Upcoming Releases

The first image from the 30 Days of Night sequel, Dark Days, is out and fails to make an impression on me.

Kiele Sanchez replaces Melissa George as our heroine, Stella Oleson, wielding a particularly large knife. While the movie may be a direct adaptation of its graphic novel origin, this photograph recalls the typical Friday the 13th cinematography.

A fan of the novel, I’m hoping that more images say otherwise. I’m still not buying Sanchez’s portrayal, either.

Read More | Ain't It Cool

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Casting Corner: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gwyneth Paltrow and More

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Sony, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Animation, Biopics, Drama, Family, Independent, Period, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Casting, Celeb News, Rumors, Upcoming Releases

Here’s a quick look at some of the casting announcements made recently:

Jake Gyllenhaal: The Jarhead star may be prepping to play another military man in Source Code, a sci-fi thriller. The movie, which will be directed by Duncan Jones (Moon), centers on a soldier who wakes up as a commuter on a train. The passenger is forced to relive the experience again and again until the mystery behind a bombing is determined. Shooting should start in early 2010.

Click to continue reading Casting Corner: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gwyneth Paltrow and More

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In Theaters This Weekend: November 6, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Universal, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Animation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Independent, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• The Box (PG-13): starring James Marsden, Cameron Diaz, Frank Langella (directed by Richard Kelly)
• Disney’s A Christmas Carol (PG): starring Jim Carrey, John Cleese, Gary Oldman (directed by Robert Zemeckis)
• The Fourth Kind (PG-13): starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton (directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi)
• The Men Who Stare at Goats (R): starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges (directed by Grant Heslov)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: November 6, 2009

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Magnolia, Sony, Adaptation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Music, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG): starring Michael Jackson (directed by Kenny Ortega)  **in theaters now**
• Aladin* (NR): starring Ritesh Deshmukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt (directed by Sujoy Ghosh)
• The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day* (R): starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly (directed by Troy Duffy)
• The Fall* (NR): starring Benny Ciaramello, Scott Kinworthy, Erica Shaffer (directed by John Krueger)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

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Paranormal Activity May Get Sequel

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Paramount, Horror, Independent, Mystery, Thrillers, Box Office, Filmmaking, New Releases, Rumors

Its first week in national release, Paranormal Activity raked in an astounding $22 million, coming to a total of $64 million. For a movie that was made for $15,000 and did those numbers at the box office, you know that those higher-ups will want more out of such a successful franchise.

“We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do ‘Paranormal 2,’ and we’re looking to see if that makes some sense,” Paramount chairman Brad Grey said.

Many fans fear (myself included) that we’ll get another Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 on our hands if a sequel does get made.

Director Orsen Peli seems to be a bit more cautious about the idea: “Even if we had some ideas for sequels, we wouldn’t be talking about them in advance.” When asked if a prequel was a possibility, he slyly replied, “Maybe.”

Check out a short video after the jump of Peli talking about the overwhelming success of the film.

Click to continue reading Paranormal Activity May Get Sequel

Read More | MTV

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Antichrist Lacks Scares, Boasts Biblical Allegory

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: IFC Films, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Religious, Thrillers, Casting, New Releases, Trailers

For a film whose trailer advertises a critic hailing it as “The most shocking film in the history of Cannes Film Festival,” you’ve at least got to wonder—if not for a mere moment—what a movie like that has to offer. While some remarkable trailers go on to pull back the curtains on so-so films (Where the Wild Things Are, anyone?), a plethora of descriptive words come to mind as I write about Antichrist and “so-so” is hardly one of them.

Opening on a handful of screens in the midst of Halloween season, Lars Von Trier’s latest achievement seemed the perfect pick for the indie lover (or at least those sick of the Saw franchise and/or already viewed Paranormal Activity, the little horror film that could). A fan of the ever-adroit Willem Dafoe and alluring French singer/actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, I find myself drawn to limited casts (Hard Candy); with that, I cannot imagine that Von Trier’s history with Dogme 95 had little to do with this. There was also the slight fact that the director himself was clinically depressed during the writing and some of the production process. Here marks more of an appeal and effort to view the film—did Von Trier meet the challenge of a two-person cast?

Aside from the slight deceit of its “scary movie” marketing poised for shocks (i.e. the bombarding, sanguine title atop corpses intertwined with a tree on the film’s poster), I believe that Von Trier does just that.

Click to continue reading Antichrist Lacks Scares, Boasts Biblical Allegory

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 23, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: IFC Films, Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Universal, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Horror, Independent, Period, Sequels, Comedy, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Amelia (PG): starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor (directed by Mira Nair)
• Astro Boy (PG): starring Nicolas Cage, Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell (directed by David Bowers)
• Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (PG-13): starring John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson (directed by Paul Weitz)
• Saw VI (R): starring Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith (directed by Kevin Greutert)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 23, 2009

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