In other remake news, the rights to The Brave Little Toaster have been purchased and the reboot will be CGI and live-action and updated to include modern technology. Yes, you read correctly, The Brave Little Toaster is making a comeback.
Donald Glover, for my money the best part of Community, has a project in development at NBC, ostensibly to keep him with the network after Community is cancelled later this year (because we all know it's going to happen, sadly). Smart move for NBC. They inexplicably allowed Mindy Kaling to take her new project to FOX, thereby losing a claim on one of the more talented young comedians in the business. Locking up Glover makes a ton of sense.
There will NOT be a director's cut of The Dark Knight Rises released on Blu-Ray and that makes me grumpy.
Charlie Highmore will play Norman Bates in A&E's Psycho prequel series. So the kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will now play a legendary nutjob. This creeps me out perhaps more than it should.
Marshall at Marshall and the Movies saw Killer Joe so you didn't have to and rips it apart to boot. Good call, Marshall.
With summer now in the rear view mirror, Steven at MovieMuse gives us his 5 breakout stars of summer 2012. Excellent list worth checking out.
I will say this about the people behind the Resident
Evil franchise: they excel at picking the right time to release their
films. Each of the last four installments have opened in mid-September, each of
them won the box office that week, and none of them have faced much in the way
of competition. Afterlife went head to head with the very un-American The
American, Extinction had only to tangle with Good Luck Chuck, a bad
film even by Dane Cook’s standards, and Apocalypse faced off against the
insanely forgettable Cellular. In the case of Retribution,
had it opened even a week later, there’s a good chance it would get lost in the
shuffle. But with only a re-release to counter it, the newest Resident
Evil took home a healthy if less than expected win despite probably
being a terrible movie. There’s some definite skill involved in picking the
right time to open.
Finding Nemo continued a bad trend
for 3D re-releases, as each one that has come out of the Disney vault has fared
worse than the one before it. I have to believe this will eventually kill the
calendar of 3D re-releases. I’m conflicted on that point because I pretty much
hate 3D and think the fad needs to end but at the same time, I’m in favor of
studios re-releasing older films, even for limited engagements, to give people
a chance to see their favorite movies on the big screen, many for the first
time. Perhaps the key is to simply scrap the 3D element.
1. Resident Evil: Retribution - $21.1M
2. Finding Nemo 3D - $17.5M
3. The Possession - $5.8M ($41.16M
4. Lawless - $4.21M ($30.14M)
5. ParaNorman - $3.03M ($49.33M)
6. The Expendables 2 - $3.03M ($80.29M)
7. The Words - $2.88M ($9.16M)
8. The Bourne Legacy - $2.87M
($107.81M)
9. The Odd Life of Timothy Green -
$2.51M ($46.28M)
10. The Campaign - $2.4M ($82.85M)
New to DVD and
Blu-Ray
During the doldrums of fall, when there are very few DVD
releases of note, I’m always thankful that A.) Football has started and B.) I
really enjoy watching TV on DVD. Otherwise, getting my entertainment fill from
the DVD rack would be nearly impossible. Other than the titles highlighted
below, most of this week’s new releases consist of TV crime procedurals,
imperfect indie films, and a set of thoroughly lackluster Blu-Ray horror flicks.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Judi
Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkerson
Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me –
Katy Perry
Hysteria – Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh
Dancy, Jonathan Pryce
The Woman in the Fifth – Ethan Hawke,
Kristin Scott Thomas
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon – Mark Kelly,
Steve Zissis, Jennifer Lafleur
Supernatural: Season 7 – Jared Padalecki,
Jensen Ackles
The Mentalist: Season 4 – Simon
Baker, Robin Tunney
Body of Proof: Season 2 – Dana Delaney,
Jeri Ryan
Hawaii 5-O: Season 2 – Alex O’Laughlin,
Scott Caan
Halloween II (1981) – Jamie Lee
Curtis, Donald Pleasence
The Devil’s Advocate (1997) – Keanu Reeves,
Al Pacino, Charlize Theron
Ed Wood (1994) – Johnny Depp, Martin
Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Judge Dredd (1995) – Sylvester Stallone,
Armand Assante, Rob Schneider
Queen of the Damned (2002) –
Aaliyah, Stuart Townsend
The Thing
Everyone Loved…Except Me
Cabin in the Woods – Kristen Connolly,
Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz
I respect the crap out of Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, and
everyone involved with Cabin in the Woods. They set out to
make a moderately budgeted, smart horror-comedy and they absolutely succeeded.
If I had to pick a horror-comedy to get behind, it would be this one but I
really, really do not care for this genre. I also though the big twist ending
was thoroughly unimpressive. If you like horror movies, though, this one is
chock full of classic scary movie staples and has a definite air of Whedonistic
fun. It’s just not for me.
The Thing You
Should Watch
Suburgatory: Season 1 – Jane Levy,
Jeremy Sisto, Cheryl Hines
Yes, the title of this freshman comedy is AWFUL. I
thoroughly agree and in fact, the title alone kept me away for the first few
weeks of its run last year. But when I did tune in, I found Suburgatory
to be a consistently funny, at times special comedy headlined by a star in the
making in Levy. Created by Emily Kapanek (who cut her teeth on Parks
and Recreation) and centering on a New York City high schooler and her
single father who move from the city to the suburbs, the show displayed some
serious promise that I can only hope is realized in the upcoming second season.
The Thing That’s
Overrated But Is Still Pretty Good
Modern Family: Season 3 – Ed O’Neill,
Ty Burrell, Sophia Vergara
The first season of Modern Family is exquisite and the
second season is very, very good. But the third season, the year in which most
sitcoms take it another level, was uneven and showed some signs of an identity
crisis. There are so many quality parts of this ensemble and I felt like the
third season struggled in keying in on the better parts. Personally, I think
the strength of the show is in the male characters and yet too often they took
a backseat to those belonging to Vergara and Julie Bowen. It’s still a very
good show, though, and one that I enjoy week-to-week but not nearly as much as
I enjoy Community, Parks and Rec, etc.
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures (1981-1989)
– Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, John Rhys-Davies
Let me tell you, I’ve been looking forward to this day
for a while now. In the pantheon of my all-time favorite films, both Raiders
of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade each hold a
prominent place. Temple of Doom also has extreme “It’s Saturday and it’s raining
so I just want to lay here and half-pay attention to a fun movie” value. And as
we all know that’s where it ends. There are only three Indiana Jones films, two
great, one pretty good. There is no fourth film, no ill-conceived return from
retirement, no scenes of Indy and his little buddy swinging through the trees
with a horde of monkeys, no Area 51 nonsense, no weird room full of ancient
aliens that makes no sense whatsoever in any context, etc. It all ended,
wonderfully I might add, in 1989 and we never saw Indy again. (Lobotomy
complete.)
Coming to a Theater Near You
As noted previously, most of you didn’t get a chance to
see The
Master this weekend but the critics who did seemed to dig it as it
finished with an 87 percent Fresh rating compared to my 91 percent prediction.
Not too shabby. The newest Resident Evil, meanwhile, not only
won the (lackluster) box office but also managed to earn itself the highest
rating from the franchise, clocking in at 35 percent Rotten as opposed to the
22 percent prediction. Way to go, Alice! Now please stop.
I can’t say that I’m overly excited about any of the
films headed our way this week but at least we’re being given some stinking
options. I feel like the last two weeks have been a complete and utter waste of
time in this department and I’m starting to get withdrawals for having not been
in a theater in a while.
Dredd 3D – Karl Urban, Olivia
Thirlby, Lena Headey
In a post-apocalyptic America, a notorious peacekeeper
known as Judge Dredd (Urban) and his trainee (Thirlby) are sent into a
crime-riddled neighborhood to take down a drug lord (Headey). I was somewhat
excited about Dredd when it was announced but the trailer convinced me it
would be a more violent version of Lockout without Guy Pearce’s humor.
That, of course, sounds awful. And yet, the early reviews have been
overwhelmingly positive, earning Dredd a Certified Fresh rating
before it opens to audiences. So honestly, I don’t know what to tell you. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: Fresh, 83%
A pair of young police officers (Gyllenhaal, Pena) find
themselves marked for death after running afoul of a powerful cartel. I’m not
completely sure if End of Watch will employ the found footage technique or if it’s
just going to go the route of the shaky camera effect but whichever it is, this
is supposed to be a gritty police affair and it has impressed the first batch
of critics. For my part, however, I can’t find much interest within myself, due
in part to my dislike of Gyllenhaal and the fact that I feel like I’ve already
seen this movie tucked away within a dozen other gritty police dramas. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: Fresh, 76%
House at the End of the Street –
Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue
After moving to a new town, a teenager (Lawrence)
befriends a neighbor (Thieriot) whose sister killed their parents. Scary
shenanigans ensue. I think this is a smart move on Jennifer Lawrence’s part as
she continues to prevent herself from becoming pigeonholed into one character
type or another. That said, House reeks of the sort of scary
movie clichés that I just can’t stand. Rotten
Tomatoes prediction: Rotten, 37%
Trouble with the Curve – Clint Eastwood,
Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake
A longtime baseball scout (Eastwood) takes his daughter
(Adams) along for the ride on his final trip. On paper, you see this plot along
with a cast that includes Eastwood, Adams, Timberlake, John Goodman, and
others, and you immediately think “Oscar.” And then you see the trailer and you
realize it’s going to be the sort of over-written, smash you over the head with
emotion schlock that audiences sometimes buy but award committees HATE. I must
tell you, dear readers, the trailer for Trouble is one of the more painful,
embarrassing previews of the year. This looks HORRIBLE to me. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: Rotten, 48%
Also New: An
introverted youngster (Logan Lerman) befriends two older youngsters in The
Perks of Being a Wallflower…A woman’s (Lynn Collins) life is changed at
just the right moment in the faith-based Unconditional…and How
to Survive a Plague takes a documentarian look at two groups who work
with AIDS sufferers.
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