Now that everything is back in full swing following the writer’s strike, there is a ton of movie business news going on! I’ve waded through it so you don’t have to.
The trial of alleged wiretapper Anthony Pellicano continued in L.A. this week. The LA Times reports that the prosecution introduced tapes of Pellicano and ‘Die Hard’ director John McTiernan discussing tapping producer Chuck Roven’s phones to find out what he was saying about McTiernan while the pair were working on the colossal flop ‘Rollerball.’ Corruption and hyper-egotism in the entertainment business? Who’da thunk? Just shut your eyes and try to remember how awesome ‘Die Hard’ was.
Jim Sturgess (I know, who??) vehicle ‘21‘ was Number One at the Box Office this weekend for some reason. That reason probably being that nothing else is playing. Also, what’s the deal with this poster? It makes me think the movie is about a black jack game at Les Deux.
As expected, 21, has taken the number 1 spot at the box office. I’m not sure whether it was, Kevin Spacey as the bad guy or Kate Bosworth as the MIT math geek, but I guess there was something for everyone. Horton Hears a Who, drops out of the number one spot, but doesn’t go far, it is still right up their in our top two for it’s third week after being released. The new Superhero Movie, rounds off our top three, but we’ll see if it can hang on thru next week. Meet the Browns, hasn’t been getting great reviews, but apparently that’s not what matters to viewers, as it’s only dropped two places from last week. Stop-Loss, the new Iraq war film, didn’t seem to make as much of a dent as some may have hoped for, but it could be one that gains momentum. Drillbit Taylor, Shutter, and 10,000 B.C. are all hanging in their around the middle, proving that there is not much out there at the moment. Somehow, College Road Trip is still on our top ten, but I have no clue why. And, last but not least, The Bank Job finishes off our top 1o, not a great film by any means, but definitely much better than some of your options right now.
It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised when you go to the movies. Especially if you’re a film critic who thinks he know best, and has already deemed certain movies “rentals” based on their trailers alone. Well, I’m happy to report that this critic was wrong, again.
It’s 1960 and the London Diamond Corporation is doing big business. That is, until their diamonds are stolen from the vault. How did such a catastrophe happen? The vault codes are only know to two people, security cameras are monitoring the premises, and it seems quite impossible to move a ton of diamonds without anybody noticing. As it turns, out it’s not that hard at all. All you need is two people who have similar motives, opportunity, and are living somewhat unappreciated lives.
Michael Caine plays Mr Hobbs, the night janitor who turns out to be a lot smarter than anyone would give him credit for. Laura Quinn played by Demi Moore is the underappreciated and very intelligent female director who has been passed over time and again for promotion. Due to the fact that she is surrounded by all male managers. After learning from Mr Hobbs that she is about to be fired, she uneasily takes him up on his offer of stealing a few diamonds from the vault. Only a small amount that nobody will ever notice. Do they get away? One thing is for sure, I’m not telling. Continue Reading
“21” which opens this Friday the 28th, is based on the true story of a group of brilliant M.I.T. students who flew to Vegas on the weekends playing Blackjack and doing their best to beat the casinos with a tag team system of counting cards. Based on the book “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who took Vegas for Millions” by Ben Mezrich is an entertaining, tightly scripted film penned by Peter Steinfield and Allan Loeb.
The story follows Ben Campbell, played aptly by English actor Jim Sturgess, most recently seen in Across the Universe. Sturgess does such a good job playing the fresh faced American student Ben, that I kept turning to my friend Lisa and asking her, “He is British isnt’ he?” I think this film will firmly establish him in Hollywood and in America. Sturgess is believable as the idealistic, gifted but shy senior who finds himself in the dilemma of being accepted to Harvard Medical School but without the means to afford the $300,000 price tag to attend and does a great job with the role.
By no means do we have the next No Country for Old Men in this bunch, but we do have a number of decent films for you to watch, or at least decent actors.21has Kevin Spacey as a bad guy, and bunch of sexy math geeks who go to Vegas to make it big by counting cards. Looks fun. Flawless, another bank robbery film with Demi Moore playing a Brit, Micheal Cane as the old janitor, and both of them out for revenge. Then we have David Schwimmer’s directorial debut, Run, Fatboy, Run, which was released in the UK ages ago, and has finally crossed the pond. Basically a fat Simon Pegg, runs out on his wife while she’s pregnant, then tries to run a marathon to prove he still loves her. Stop-Loss, is a war film about Iraq soldiers coming home, only to find that they have to go back AGAIN, and one solider who just can’t. Superhero Movie! has Leslie Nielson in it and a bunch of stupid jokes. I personally love Neilson style stupid jokes, but that is up to you.
Below are all the films being releases this week, with times, tickets, and cast and crew information. Enjoy!
LA has a whole bunch of good rental stores, like Vidiots (Pico and 4th St), Rocket Video (La Brea and Melrose), and A Video Store Named Desire (Santa Monica and Federal). Some like Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee in North Hollywood the best for hanging onto so many obscure old VHSs, but being a westsider, my favorite is Cinefile, at Sawtelle and Santa Monica (conveniently located next to the Nuart), whose main virtue is a healthy stock of DVD-Rs (shh! don’t say bootleg!) and DVDs from all regions, as well as the remnants of their majestic VHS selection. Where else could I have found Two-Backed Beast (parody doc featuring Jonathan Rosenbaum), Fuller’s final feature (Tinikling), Fassbinder’s TV series “World On A Wire” (in a horrendous unsubtitled version – good luck finding another, though). They are also, incidentally, the good people behind the CineFamily at the Silent Movie Theatre, but the search is still on for a copy of the Sterling Hayden-starring Sweet Hunters which is my personal acid test of movie rental catalogues (there was a VHS once, but no-one seems to have a copy any more..)
Horton Hears a Who, holds it’s number one spot for the second week in a row. Kids love it and parents seem to be finding it enjoyable as well. Overall, it’s a good film, especially out of everything you have to choose from at the moment. To prove my point, Meet the Browns andShutter round out the top three. One of the good reviews I found for Meet the Browns is, “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns isn’t exactly a good movie, but it is a good Tyler Perry movie.” So if you are a Tyler Perry fan then I guess you’re in heaven right now. As for Shutter, I think critics and audiences have unanimously decided that it’s best to stick to stop badly remaking old Asian forror flicks and start coming up with some new ideas for ghosts to haunt people. Drillbit Taylor, again by no means a great film, but at least has a few laughs, had a decent opening weekend. The rest 10,000 B.C, Never Back Down, College Road Trip, The Bank Job, and Vantage Point are slowly being pushed down from previous weeks. I was glad to see Under the Same Moon make it into the top ten, if only for a week. It’s the only film that I think has some relevance to today even though it’s a bit emotionally contrived.
America Ferrera will be one of the supporting actresses to grace the screen in directors Ligiah Villalobos new Spanish speaking film Under the Same Moon. The movie does not delve into the ‘electric fences’ or minute men militia type immigration process’. More so it takes a look at love and family. Villalobos believes that the significant drive behind each individual choice to cross the border is always based on love and family. Parents and siblings alike leave their towns and head to Los Angeles; finding menial jobs like washing dishes and selling tomatoes to stay under the radar of INS agents. The hardships unfortunately do not end once the border has been crossed. Poor living conditions followed by below minimum wage jobs often provide for a dismal situation. Most their earnings are sent home to family living in even harsher situations back home.
Under the Same Moon looks at a single mother who leaves Mexico and her son behind to find a job in Los Angeles in the desperate attempt to offer a better future. The son, tired of waiting for his absent mother to return pays a child smuggler to take him across the border. The movie chronicles both characters quest, trials and unconditional love that gives them the courage to survive.
Under the Same Moon opened yesterday March 20th in over 200 theatres in Los Angeles and is definitely worth your time and money. If you would like to see it below is ticket information, trailers, reviews, and a cast and crew lists.
Michael Haneke’s new film Funny Games is upon us (at the Landmark). Except it’s not that new because it’s a remake of his 1997 Austrian production. I should confess right away that I don’t like Haneke; I suspect that he has little but contempt for his audience. Part of the point of Funny Games (and it is said that the new version offers no departures whatsoever from the original, apart from being in English – not unlike van Sant’s misguided Psycho experiment but without the sheer weirdness) is to teach the audience a lesson about screen violence and their eagerness to see it.
He does this by withholding the violence, by and large, teasing, and denying for some members of the audience the pleasure of seeing it, for others the catharsis. By simultaneously encouraging identification with the two psychopaths and the family that they terrorize, he is prompting the audience to consider their relationship with screen violence, how they receive it, how it relates to real life, and how it relates to their own selves and morality. My problem with this is that it comes across simply as school-teacher patronizing.This is not the deranged death-wish of Saló, nor the cathartic explosion of Straw Dogs, but a cool and detached exercise by someone with a well-developed superiority complex – poor misguided audience-member, Haneke is here to teach you how to be a better media-viewer.
Now that everything is back in full swing following the writer’s strike, there is a ton of movie business news going on! I’ve waded through it so you don’t have to.
As expected, 
It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised when you go to the movies. Especially if you’re a film critic who thinks he know best, and has already deemed certain movies “rentals” based on their trailers alone. Well, I’m happy to report that this critic was wrong, again.
“
By no means do we have the next No Country for Old Men in this bunch, but we do have a number of decent films for you to watch, or at least decent actors. 
America Ferrera will be one of the supporting actresses to grace the screen in directors Ligiah Villalobos new Spanish speaking film 
