Call me crazy, but this Disney family adventure actually looks kinda fun. First of all, Dwayne Johnson is perfect for this kind of thing. He's too good-natured and jolly to be playing R-rated bad-asses, but he does the 'gee-whiz I hope we don't die' shtick better than anyone outside of Brendan Frasier. The man who used to be The Rock has always been a terrifically engaging screen presence (and a terrific interview), but only Peter Berg's The Rundown has really allowed him to really break out (terrific adventure film, by the way... I can't imagine why it never caught on as a DVD cult film).
The poster looks more exciting than any of the last half dozen James Bond posters, and this goofy trailer actually has me hoping its good enough to drag my daughter to on a lazy Sunday afternoon. By the way, the kid stars are Anna Sophia Robb (Violet in the recent Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and happy birthday by the way) and Alexander Ludwig (I'm sure tears-inducing adaptation of The Dark Is Rising wasn't his fault). Point being, the plot looks fun, the production values seem high, and Dwayne Johnson is completely suited to anchoring this Disney fluff with just the right amount of grouchy sentiment. This might be just the perfect double bill for a second viewing of Watchmen (or the perfect guilty pleasure if Watchmen ends up being lousy - ala Blade one week after the heartbreaking collapse of The Avengers in August 1998). Plus, Johnson's last line in the trailer actually made me laugh out loud.
The Punisher: War Zone is pretty lousy, that much I stated yesterday. But, I'm desperately concerned that its $1.6 million Friday gross is somehow going to be seen as a judgment on women directing hard action films (especially in light of Lexi Alexander's alleged behind the scenes turmoil). For what it's worth, the ways in which it is bad have nothing to do with the gender of the director.
Also, something that I touched on earlier this week, what are we to make of three films (Madagascar 2, Quantum Of Solace, Twilight) opening well north of $60 million (2 near $70 million), none of which will likely reach $175 million, let alone $200 million? Are we getting to the point where legs are so bad that a film has to open to $80 million to make it to $200 million without some divine intervention?
In this current age of rebooting one comic franchise or horror franchise after another, it is still something of a milestone that we have a single property, The Punisher, that has been rebooted twice in just four years by the same studio. Add that to the fact that the DVD version of the first go at it, nearly twenty years ago, was released by Artisan, which was eventually folded up into the very studio that has continually tried to reboot the property. Thus, we know have three distinct Punisher (part 1) movies, all either originally financed or currently owned by Lionsgate. Let us take a moment to look at all three films (in their original R-rated cuts), in the context of each other. Obligatory spoiler warning for all three pictures...
It seems like they're pretty much ditching the whole concept of a working summer camp amidst the carnage. That's unfortunate, since it always allowed for stupid summer camp humor in between the slicing and dicing. Really, this looks like a completely generic zero-budget HDV 'kids play in the woods and get butchered' horror film, the kind of thing that Lionsgate used to put out on DVD with regularity. Just because the thing is shot on film and contains actual production values doesn't automatically make it that much better than any number of $2 dollar cheapies. On the other hand, I did like Marcus Nispel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (and I loved the sequel), so we'll see. Again, like I've stated before, it's not like they have an uphill battle to improve on the original. To quote Mr. LaFontaine in the trailer for the original, I may only see it once, but that will be enough.
Oh, for comparison's sake, here's the original Friday the 13th trailer, voiced by the legendary, late Don LaFontaine. Pathetically, the 1980 trailer actually looks scarier.
Yes, this video (created by Hairspray director Adam Shankman) is very funny and quite sharp. The singing is terrific and the video makes a different point aside from the standard 'gays are people too' argument. And, yes, it's great fun to see the many major stars that are almost background players (Sarah Chalke, Andy Richter, Margaret Cho). But, in the end, I can't help but wonder why this didn't pop up BEFORE the election. You know, when it might have actually made a difference.
Frankly, despite the good intentions, this almost feels cowardly. The vote has already been cast and there will be no consequences for this video one way or another. It's almost disingenuous of these well-meaning comedians to wag their finger at the people who voted for Prop 8, after quite a few of them stayed silent during the run-up to the election (major props for Brad Pitt who actually cut a video advertisement decrying it before the election). This is no different than April 2005, when MoveOn.org went out of their way to attack Democrats who were voting for the ghastly bankruptcy bill, even while the organization was mostly silent while the details of said bill were being debated and their voices could have been useful in shaping the bill in the first place.
Courage requires speaking out before a calamity occurs, not merely criticizing the aftermath with righteous superiority. I agree with every sentiment expressed in the admittedly witty clip. I just wished they had put it out when it could have actually made a difference.
I remember the good old days, before the Internet, when Entertainment Tonight was the only place to see trailers early, or to see trailers outside of a theater at all. I watched countless episodes in the mid-90s hoping to see an early trailer to this summer blockbuster or that one. Of course, that's now a needless and bygone task, but here's an ode to the olden days. Here's the preview (of the preview, it seems) for Terminator 4: Salvation: The Future Begins (or whatever it ends up being called on May 22nd).
As for the super brief clip, the emphasis is again on scope and scale (as opposed to Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, which was pretty low-key). One could certainly argue that the final clip of the giant robot is an attempt to ape Transformers, but it's still pretty striking. Come what may, if Christan Bale liked the script, then there is no reason to think that the film won't be at least a solid entertainment. I'll try to update when the full trailer goes online (I presume) over the weekend.
It seems that the tale of the self-depreciating actor is almost becoming a sub-genre all its own.Granted, the idea of a famous actor spoofing or commenting on his screen image is not new.Films as varied as In A Lonely Place, The Shootist, The Cable Guy, and Punch Drunk Love have allowed big screen icons to deconstructing their most famous cinema personas, often placing them in a real life context to show how they come up short in our world (although, the recent films have come not at the end of a career, but at its peak).But in the last several years, we’ve had a major variation on this idea.Not content to merely play variations on their screen personas, we’ve had several actors explicitly playing themselves, or satirical versions of themselves.
Which brings us to My Name Is Bruce, the latest self-parodying film to allow a somewhat on the rocks movie star to rebound by wallowing in their own flawed career.Following in the footsteps of Being John Malkovich (obviously Malkovich wasn’t on the rocks, but one of the best jokes concerned how everyone knew who he was, but no one could name any of his films), Pauly Shore Is Dead, and the recent JCVD (as in Jean Claude Van Damme), My Name Is Bruce stars legendary C-movie star Bruce Campbell.Long known for his cult stardom and his appearance in geek classics like Evil Dead, Campbell has long struggled for some level of respectability and mainstream employment.While he occasionally shows up in small roles in mainstream pictures (Serving Sarah, Sky High), he has long toiled in the z-movie straight-to-video/DVD genre for most of his career.Several forays into series television have garnered solid reviews but few viewers.If you recall, Fox pinned its hopes in 1993 on the Friday night 8pm sci-fi western The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr, while thinking little of its 9pm companion, some toss-off called The X-Files.
With his square-jawed good looks and somewhat cartoonish speaking voice (when he’s doing his stock character), Campbell probably would have been steadily employed in the old studio system days.But today, he gets by on the hero worship of his fans (with whom he has maintained an unusual level of communication), and bit parts from friends like the Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi.This is not to say he is a bad actor.For example, he more than held his own on a two-part guest role on Homicide: Life On The Street back in 1996 (‘Justice’ parts 1 and 2).And he has found a perfect home for his wise-ass shtick as a paunchy, colorful ex-spy on the USA series Burn Notice.Perhaps aging out of his Clark Kent looks will allow him to flourish as a character actor in a way his gee-wiz disgruntled hero routine never did (his devil-may care attitude works better with a solid beer gut).
But, directed by and starring Mr. Campbell as himself, My Name Is Bruce is not the project that will open the doors to a new kind of career.A token amount of plot:In a classic Three Amigos/Galaxy Quest situation, the faded Z-movie actor is kidnapped by a young boy in Oregon, who has accidentally unleashed a mythical monster.Believing that his screen idol is the only one who can save the town, the Jack tricks Campbell into believing that the whole thing is simply another movie project.Things proceed pretty much how you’d expect.
Since I’ve never met the man, I cannot say if this jack-ass loser version of Bruce Campbell is accurate, but I’m guessing that it’s an approximation of what he fears that he has become on his lowest days (stuck making the zero-budget Cave Alien 2, he hits on the leading lady, yells at his fans, and pushes a wheel-chair bound man into traffic).But Campbell has plenty of fun aping his screen persona and his life as a z-movie god.None of the remaining cast really stands out, but none of them particularly hinder the project either.The obvious lack of production values are actually a plus in a film like this, as the cheap special effects capture the goofy charm of a 1950s sci-fi adventure.There is no real plausibility to the proceedings, but I’ll assume that wasn’t the point (is there really any reason for young Jeff or eventually the townspeople to think that Bruce could help them?).
In the end, My Name Is Bruce is a love-letter to the fans who have kept the man afloat, the ones who saw Serving Sarah just for him, and the ones who ranked this movie at 7.7 on IMDB (a whopping 67% gave this film a perfect 10).If you’re a Bruce Campbell fan, then nothing I say would dissuade you from seeing this one in the first place.If you’re not, I suggest you try watching Burn Notice first.But the movie works as well as it needs to for the audience it was intended for.It’s certainly not as plodding as Bubbo-Ho-tep (in which Campbell played an aged Elvis, sharing a nursing home with Ossie Davis as John F. Kennedy) and several third act bits made me laugh (I particularly appreciated Campbell’s response to being given his trademark chainsaw).My Name Is Bruce can be read as a man coming to terms with the career that he has been dealt, or it can be read as simply a trashy B-movie directed by the man who knows best.
In this current age of rebooting one comic franchise or horror franchise after another, it is still something of a milestone that we have a single property that has been rebooted twice in just four years by the same studio. Add that to the very first Punisher film, released straight to video back in 1989; you have a clear case of ‘three strikes, you’re out’.
Again financed by Lionsgate, this one recasts the Punisher mythos as a kind of horror comedy. Directed by Levi Alexander and starring Ray Stevenson as Castle, this one fashions itself as an adaptation of the 'hardcore' Marvel Knights Punisher series (the logo at the beginning of the film is 'Marvel Knights' rather than 'Marvel Comics'). As such, this one is by far the most gore filled and blood drenched entry in the franchise. So if you want a Punisher picture where Castle and various criminals basically just walk around killing people in grotesque ways (my favorite is Castle punching through a man's head with his bare fist), then this may be your version. But in some ways, it's the worst picture of the three.
First of all, in a manner similar to the second Punisher film from 2004, there is actually very little action. After a wave of carnage that lasts an entire reel, the film settles down and doesn't really pick up again until the climax. Sure there are quick bursts of violence throughout the picture, but no real action between the first reel and the last. The second Punisher film had better actors and more complicated characters to compensate. This one does not (Ray Stevenson, from Rome, does what he can, but the plot cripples his ability to be sympathetic).
Once again, this is not an origin story, but rather a theoretical final Punisher adventure (no, he doesn't die). Set five years after the murder of his family (told in brief flashbacks, and identical to the original comics origin), this brute, monstrous Frank Castle (he doesn't speak a line of dialogue for the first 25 minutes) has wiped out a good portion of the organized crime in New York City. However, an attempt to collar the second-in command of a crime family goes terribly awry when Jack Napier falls into a vat of acid and becomes The Joker... no wait... I meant Billy Rossoti falls into a... uh... a machine that munches glass bottles or something and becomes the crazed Jigsaw (no, he does not want to play a game).
Seriously though, the similarities between this new Punisher film and Tim Burton's Batman are striking. There's a good fifteen minutes or so of Billy Rossoti/Jigsaw scenes that are seemingly photocopied from the opening Jack Napier/Joker scenes in that 1989 ground breaker. Alas, Dominic West no Jack Nicholson. He does kill several people and spends most of the movie terrorizing a widow and her young daughter, but his shtick gets tired pretty quickly, especially with the ample amount of screen time he takes up (another similarity to Batman, where the main villain threatened to dominate the picture). Frankly, his brother 'Loony Bin Jim' registers as a more compelling villain, even if the over-the-top theatrics negate Doug Hutchison's best quality - his ability to play low-key savagery.
Oh, and during that glass bottle munching factory scene, Frank Castle inexplicably kills a federal agent by accident, which sets a chain of events in motion that puts everyone around him in mortal peril (including the MIA Wayne Knight, as Castle's only friend). More so than any of the other movies, the Punisher is directly responsible for the mayhem and chaos that goes down. As the plot unfolds, we quickly realize that if Castle had simply stayed out of the way, pretty much every bad guy that is targeted by Castle would have been arrested on capital charges in a matter of days anyway.
But this is not a film that overtly questions the nature of Castle's murderous quest, and in the end he learns that it’s OK to kill cops because it's a war and sometimes there's collateral damage. Even the murdered cop's ex-partner eventually comes around to Castle's way of thinking, as do the widow and daughter of Castle's whoopsie. The film even creepily allows the daughter to form an emotional attachment to the man who killed her father and caused her and her mother to be in constant jeopardy for literally the entire film.
The problem with this whole thread is that it removes the fantasy element from the character. Although this is easily the most fantastical and cartoonish of the three Punisher films, it tries to inject real-life consequences to Castle's murderous vigilantism and still expect us to root for him. Sorry, but the fantasy of Castle is that he only kills the bad guys and never targets the innocent. Once you remove that criteria, then it is impossible to justify the concept of the Punisher, even in a fantasy scenario.
So we know have three distinctly different Punisher films. We have a low-budget B-movie, a moderately budgeted action picture that emphasizes character over carnage, and then finally this moderately budgeted and exceptionally violent cartoon.One could argue that cartoonish is the way to go for this patently ridiculous character, but the infusion of real-world consequences neutralizes the fun.Although it’s possible to enjoy the first act and third act carnage without paying attention to the plot mechanics, the storyline itself continuously reminds us of the fallacy of Castle’s quest.After all, what’s the point of enjoying the fantasy of a murderous vigilante who punishes the guilty when the whole film keeps reminding us of the terrible consequences of his vengeful actions?
Four Christmases became just the fifth non-Disney movie since 1985 to open number one on Thanksgiving weekend (during the Fri-Sun 3-day portion). Every other year, it's either been a holdover from the weekend before or a Disney family comedy. The previous four are Rocky IV, Star Trek IV, Back To The Future II, and Mrs. Doubtfire.
For the record, the Disney movies that debuted at number 01 on Thanksgiving are Flubber, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, The Haunted Mansion, and Enchanted. So, in last 25 years, only twelve Thanksgiving weekends have been won by a debuting film. Over half of all Thanksgiving weekends since 1985 have been holdovers, usually from the weekend before (the exception was 1994, when The Santa Clause made it to number 01 in its third weekend after being #2 and #3 in its first two weekends).
For all the hub-bub about Thanksgiving being a major weekend, there has been only one true powerhouse opening weekend in post-Batman era. In 1999, Toy Story 2 went wide, grossing $57 million over the Fri-Sun portion (at the time, it was the third biggest weekend ever, behind The Phantom Menace and The Lost World). But the second biggest opening weekend in history over Thanksgiving is Enchanted, which debuted last year with a 'whopping' $34 million. So, if Disney had swallowed a little pride and moved Bolt out of the way of Twilight, they likely would have once again owned this weekend (Bolt actually out grossed last weekend's opening, showing strong word of mouth and likely long legs). Note to major studios, stop launching insanely expensive and lengthy period pieces like Australia or Alexander during this holiday. You will not get the opening weekend you want.
Granted, movies opening over the holiday are hoping to have legs that will allow them to play into Christmas, and then take advantage of the two weeks of 'weekend' weekdays (kids are off of school and lots of adults have vacation time), but the lack of mega-openers over Thanksgiving weekend is stunning. Speaking of those weekend-weekdays, I've always said that the very best weekend to open is the weekend before Christmas (Titanic, Lord Of The Rings, I Am Legend, Mouse Hunt, Sabrina, Tombstone - huge weekend-to-final gross multipliers for all of them).
Shocking facts about the big 'November 3'. In three successive weekends, Madagascar 2, Quantum Of Solace, and Twilight opened to well over $60 million. Yes, this is a record. Also, these three openings now stand, in ascending order of release, as the seventh, sixth, and fifth biggest November weekends of all time. Also worth noting... it's quite possible (though not inevitable) that none of these films will make it to $200 million domestic. Madagascar 2 is already trailing the day to day numbers for Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and even A Shark's Tale. Quantum Of Solace is severely trailing The Bourne Ultimatum in daily and weekend totals. And Twilight... well, Sex & The City made a solid recovery after a crash an burn in the second weekend. We'll see if the vampire romance can pull a similar trick (if it pulls a complete crash - ala The Village and 8 Mile, it still ends up with $160 million). If 2 or 3 of these films fail to reach the $200 million mark, is there anything to blame other than front loading and mediocre word of mouth? I shudder to think that a movie now needs to open to at least $60 million, if not $70 million to even have a chance at the $200 million mark. For the record, The Simpsons Movie has the biggest opening weekend ($74 million) for a film that failed to cross $200 million (it finished with $184 million).
Oh, and nice work by Lionsgate, opening The Transporter 3 to only a little less than 20th Century Fox's The Transporter 2 ($16 million 3-day, $20 million four-day). The $12 million 3-day opening ($18 million five-day) was just a little higher than the $10 million ceiling for Jason Statham Lionsgate vehicles (War, Crank, The Bank Job). And, like it's predecessor, The Transporter 3 has almost out grossed The Transporter ($25 million total domestic) in its opening frame.
First of all, hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Second of all, I'm officially back after a holiday sabbatical of sorts. So, in order to get my load count back up (somehow, 7-year old college essays on Dirty Harry don't set the hit meters flying), here's a rundown on a few trailers worth discussing.
Astro Boy (October 23rd, 2009)
This is the very definition of a teaser, showing only a token amount of footage. However, it's worth noting that Summit is now considered enough of a player thanks to Twilight (as opposed to the clever and fun, but little-seen P2) that it can now claim release dates well over a year in advance. The press release announcing the October release was put out way back in September. The film is based on an allegedly classic Manga book by Osamu Tezuka (allegedly the 'god of Manga' or 'father of anime', but I'm not your source on such things), which explains how they can release a teaser for a cartoon with barely any footage (it's not like the animation on display is going to blow anyone's doors down). The cartoon is made by Imagi Studios, who also made the visually impressive but stunningly boring TMNT reboot back in March, 2007. I'm not sure if it's good news or bad news that the cast is filled with B-level stars, although the teaser ends with a roll call for Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy with Freddie Highmore (as Astro Boy). Anyone out there marking their calendars for this one?
He's Just Not That Into You (February 6th - so they claim)
This is quickly becoming the movie that will never be released. The ever-shifting release date does not bode well for quality, but I suppose the week before Valentine's Day is as good as any place (alas, they couldn't use the day before as that's Friday the 13th, occupied by... guess). The inclusion of Jennifer Connelly does bode well for the potential for a climactic mass suicide and/or chainsaw massacre. Seriously, Jennifer Connelly appears in movies that are depressing throughout and/or have miserably unhappy endings as often as Gary Oldman dies (think Requiem For A Dream, Dark City, The Hulk, House Of Sand And Fog, Dark Water, Little Children Reservation Road). I'm starting to wonder if in fact the aliens do annihilate the earth at the end of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Otherwise, we can assume her appearance in these two mainstream pictures is caused by a quick attempt to pay down the college tuition of Stellan, her son by husband Paul Bettany (he's actually named after their pal, actor Stellan Skarsgard).
Star Trek (May 9th, 2009)
The same trailer as last month, but with an extra closing shot of Leonard Nimoy as Spock requesting that viewers live for awhile and be prosperous. Not exactly something that's going to pull in the non-fans, but I suppose this was a bone to the Trekkies/Trekkers. Still, if you're going to pitch to the fans, why or why didn't they close the trailer with that Star Trek theme that closes every movie ('space: the final frontier... etc')?
Duplicity (March 20th, 2009)
This one looks like good, dumb, adult fun, and just the sort of low-key, low expectations vehicle for Julia Roberts' return to the silver screen. The cast (Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Giamatti, and Tom Wilkinson) is worth the price of admission alone, and the idea of two ex-spies using their skills for a con game of corporate espionage is amusing. The director is Tony Gilroy, who last scored with Michael Clayton, so even if the tone seems a little too frothy, there is reason to hope. You'll know the movie is working if you're not spending the running time trying to guess the climactic twist (I'm assuming there is one).
The Great Buck Howard (May 30th, 2009)
John Malkovich in another broad comedy? John Malkovich in a broad comedy that's rated PG? What kind of sorcery is this? Hey, if that's the reason that John Malkovich is hosting Saturday Night Live again this week, I don't care how good or bad this film is (his previous turn in late summer 1993 was a classic). This Magnolia festival pick up (in other words, you'll have to wait for video if you don't live in Chicago, LA, or New York City) concerns the attempted comeback of a once famous magician. Also of note is the solid cast (Ricky James, Emily Blunt, and Steve Zahn). Also of note, Tom Hanks and Colin Hanks star onscreen together (for the first time?), as father and son, natch.
Slumdog Millionaire (now in limited release) I am not linking to this trailer or embedding this trailer. Consider this a warning. Pretty much everything associated with the marketing of this film is incredibly spoilerific. The official movie stills, the poster, the trailer... avoid them all. They all contain gigantic and all-encompassing spoilers. I was lucky to see this film quite early, and it's pretty darned good. However, I'll admit that I've been turned off by the marketing campaign which makes the movie feel far soapier and syrupy than it actually is (it's actually a pretty dark fable). It's a film worth seeing, but please, go in blind. Not since the second trailer for Red Eye (which gave away the climax, as well as the carrying out and actual outcome of the main evil scheme) has a trailer so ruined a film going experience. So, in the future, if you notice that I use the same one or two stills every time I write about the film, consider it a favor.
Well, it's a pretty slow week for trailers, as everyone seems to be waiting for the next big tent pole (The Day The Earth Stood Still - December 12th).
The poster looks more exciting than any of the last half dozen James Bond posters, and this goofy trailer actually has me hoping its good enough to drag my daughter to on a lazy Sunday afternoon. By the way, the kid stars are Anna Sophia Robb (Violet in the recent Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and happy birthday by the way) and Alexander Ludwig (I'm sure tears-inducing adaptation of The Dark Is Rising wasn't his fault). Point being, the plot looks fun, the production values seem high, and Dwayne Johnson is completely suited to anchoring this Disney fluff with just the right amount of grouchy sentiment. This might be just the perfect double bill for a second viewing of Watchmen (or the perfect guilty pleasure if Watchmen ends up being lousy - ala Blade one week after the heartbreaking collapse of The Avengers in August 1998). Plus, Johnson's last line in the trailer actually made me laugh out loud.
