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Blu-ray and DVD Picks For May 15 – 21

Damon Houx — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:20:53 +0000

2012’s biggest films of the early months are starting to hit DVD and Blu-ray, and we’ve got some of January and February’s surprise hits, and at least one of its failures. We’ve also got a great Criterion catalog title and a bunch of Disney films from the 1980’s and 90’s. Check out this week’s big releases below.

New:

Albert Nobbs: Watch Glenn Close dressed as a man, baby! This Oscar hopeful wasn’t much of a film as it was a chance for Glenn Close to win awards. She lost to Meryl Streep, who also had a role tailor-made for an Oscar. This dreary film doesn’t offer much of interest, though it’s got a reasonably good cast.

Chronicle: One of the most pleasant surprises of 2012, this superhero film was done in the found-footage style. Though the found footage thing starts to make less sense the further the film goes along, director Max Trank does a great job building the characters, and found a new way to tell an origin story. Really impressive.

The Grey: Liam Neeson survives a plane crash and helps the survivors stay alive while fighting off wolves. Director Joe Carnahan does this sort of Jack London-y narrative fairly well, and Neeson is great as the wounded hero who is pushed to survive by his circumstances.

One for the Money : This may be the end of Katherine Heigl’s run as a leading lady in chick flicks, as the film bombed. What a generic title, and what a generic looking movie. I think the world has already forgotten this film exists.

Rampart: Woody Harrelson gives a fine performance in this film, which comes from the mind of James Ellroy. Unfortunately – as a cop film – the genre has been so exploded by great television like The Shield and The Wire so this can’t compare. It’s a little bit of a disappointment, but if you like Harrelson, he is really good in it.

Classics:

Being John Malkovich: Spike Jonze’s first feature film is getting the Criterion treatment, and this was the film that launched him and writer Charlie Kaufman into art-house superstars. This also comes with some fun supplements, and it will be great to dig into this film now that it’s thirteen years old (or twelve and a half).

Born Yesterday, Bringing Down the House, D.O.A., Duets, Father of the Bride / Father of the Bride Part II, Gone Fishin’, Holy Man, Mr. Wrong, New York Stories, Terminal Velocity, White Squall: Disney and its studios Hollywood Pictures and Touchstone produced a lot of crap in the 1980’s and 90’s. For whatever reason, there are a bunch of their catalog titles hitting the market. For Ridley Scott completists there’s a certain appeal to getting White Squall, and J.J. Abrams fans may want to check out his earlier work with Gone Fishin’. But the real winner here is the release of New York Stories, which features a great short film by Martin Scorsese, and a really good one by Woody Allen.

Road Trip: This was Todd Phillips’ breakthrough film, and is from the time when people thought Tom Green and Breckin Meyer were going to be movie stars. This is a very enjoyable time-waster, and Phillips knows how to put films together. It may have been horribly derivative at the time, but it’s still funny enough.

What are you picking up this week?

‘Star Trek 2′ Villain Finally Revealed (Spoilers!)

Travis Woods — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:28:44 +0000

One of the more hotly debated elements concerning the upcoming sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot was who, exactly, was the villain? After Eric Bana’s not so memorable turn as a pointy-eared tattoo enthusiast hellbent on traveling through time to destroy the home planet of a guy who just couldn’t save Bana’s civilization in time (so, what, revenge for someone’s inadequacy, I guess?) in the original film, Star Trek 2 definitely needs an strong villainous anchor to hold the piece together. And now, it seems, that villain’s name has finally been leaked, after much speculation. Spoilers after the jump.

It’s long been rumored that the villain would be Khan—Ricardo Montalban’s big bad from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (long considered the best villain and the best film in the Trek series). When word broke that Benicio del Toro might be cast as Khan, and then Benedict Cumberbatch was finally cast as the villain, and shots were leaked showing him in combat with Spock, many assumed the baddie was Khan.

Now, one of the top Trek sites on the web, TrekMovie, seems to have gotten their hands on the name of Star Trek 2’s villain via multiple sources. Again, here there be spoilers:

TrekMovie has confirmed this with a number of sources so we no longer consider it to be a rumor. Khan is back in 2013, however sources indicate that the film is not a rehash of “Space Seed,” the original Star Trek episode where Kirk and crew first encounter the genetic superman from the past.

Well, there you have it. No altogether surprising, but still, it’s news. That said, while Khan was the finest, most potent and dangerous villain of the original series (not counting the ravages of age and overeating that hit Shatner around Trek III), it’s going to be hard to top Montalban’s indelible and melodramatic turn as Khan, a genetically-engineered tyrant of Earth’s 20^th century who cryogenically froze himself into the future and attempted to commandeer the Enterprise and kill Kirk.

Further, it would be nice to see this reboot establish its own set of villains (unless Bana is the best they can do). Oh well—we’ll find out how well it works when the film is released on May 17, 2013.

What do you think of Khan as a villain in Star Trek 2?

Source: /Film

Bryan Singer And ‘Heroes’ Producer To Reboot ‘Star Trek’ For TV?

Travis Woods — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:36:35 +0000

Potentially exciting news for fans of Star Trek and science fiction television: on the heels of the successfully rebooted Star Trek film franchise (2009’s Star Trek nearly made $400 million worldwide, with a highly anticipated sequel set for a May 2013 release), Bryan Singer and Heroes producer Bryan Fuller are currently discussing a potential new Star Trek television series.

Singer (who did wonders for the X-Men franchise with X-Men and X-2, not so much for Superman Returns, and whose Jack the Giant Killer is currently in post-production) and Fuller (who is also producing the upcoming Hannibal Lector TV series for NBC) are now in talks, hashing out a potential Star Trek TV series. It’s currently unknown as to whether or not the television series would be a reboot of a previous Trek series, set in the current “alternate timeline” of the rebooted film series, or would take place in the “original timeline” of the five previous series (Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise).

Also unclear as to whether or not such a series would even get a green light, as according to Fuller, it would be wisely under J.J. Abrams‘ purview of what happens. He’s the guardian of Trek right now.” And since Abrams might be a just a tad busy crafting a new and successful Star Trek film franchise, a weekly TV may be put in the backseat.

As for the plot of the series, all Fuller would reveal in a recent interview is that “Bryan and I are big fans of Trek and have discussed a take on what we would do, and we would love to do it…I don’t think anything is going to happen in any official capacity until after the next movie comes out.” So let the ceaseless online speculation now begin!

Would you want to see a new Star Trek franchise?

Source: Coming Soon

Original RoboCop Star Peter Weller Cast In Star Trek Reboot Sequel

Travis Woods — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:23:41 +0000

While the world continues to debate whether or not Benicio Del Toro will be appearing as Star Trek super villain Khan in the upcoming Trek reboot sequel, Peter Weller (that’s the original RoboCop to you), has quietly joined the cast of the hyper-anticipated sequel.

Very, very little is known about Star Trek 2 beyond the fact that the cast from the hit reboot will be returning, to be joined by Trek newbies Alice Eve, Benicio Del Toro as the film’s villain, and now, Peter Weller. Also, we know that JJ Abrams will be shooting the sequel early next year, and that the script was penned by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. And that… that’s pretty much all we know. Oh! And space. It will probably be set in space. You know, the whole trekking through the stars thing.

So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go craft a bit of fanfic in which the crew of the starship Enterprise finds RoboCop frozen inside a block of ice outside the ruins of his old hometown, Detroit, and revive him. RoboCop goes on to have a torrid love affair with Uhura, leaving Spock in the grips of a soul-crushing depression soundtracked by lots of Coldplay. It could work, right?

What do you think of the Star Trek news?

Source: /Film

J.J. Abrams Makes Another Mystery Movie

Damon Houx — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:24:44 +0000

There are about two schools of thought on J.J. Abrams and his love of “Puzzle Box” movies. One is that it’s great to see a film where you know little to nothing about what the film is besides a vague impression going in. The other is that Abrams is the master of leading audience’s to P.T. Barnum’s famous Egress, where the mystery is just a way to con the audience. Abrams is back at his mystery movie, this time done with Director/screenwriter Billy Ray, as reported by Deadline Hollywood.

So far this mystery box approach has worked well for his Star Trek, but not so great for Super 8 or Cloverfield. Super 8 was seen as a minor win for the filmmaker, which is the best that could be said of Cloverfield as well. The problem with 8 was that – though it played longer than many of the summer pictures – it did just okay business. The film has a supposed production budget of $50 Million, so with a worldwide total of $258 Million – even if it did cost closer to $100 Million – it turned out okay. But okay and wunderkind aren’t synonymous.

On television, Abrams applied the mystery box philosophy to Lost. Enough said?

Abrams is currently prepping Star Trek 2. It’s possible this project will be handed off to someone else (like Matt Reeves did on Cloverfield) once the script is done.

Do you like the Mystery Box approach?

Weekend Box Office: Super 8 Debuts On Top

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:21:13 +0000

Super 8 is the new No. 1 movie in America. The J.J. Abrams‘s sci-fi film topped the box office charts during its debut weekend by taking in a predictable $37 million. But the release of the Steven Spielberg flick, also brought films like last week’s winner X-Men: First Class and the record-breaking The Hangover Part II down… a considerable amount. X-Men: First Class in only its second week in theaters managed to come in second place, with $25 million, which is quite a drop from it’s opening weekend numbers (and more people should have seen it because it’s the better film!).

Super 8 | NEW | Paramount | Weekend Gross $37,000,000 | Average Per Theater $10,950 | Total Gross $38,000,000 | Film’s Budget – $50 | Week 1
X-Men: First Class | Last Week #1 | Fox | Weekend Gross $25,000,000 | Average Per Theater $6,771 | Total Gross $98,894,000 | Film’s Budget – $160 | Week 2
The Hangover II | Last Week #2 | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $18,500,000 | Average Per Theater $5,034 | Total Gross $216,560,000 | Film’s Budget – $80 | Week 3
Kung Fu Panda 2 | Last Week #3 | Paramount/Dream Works | Weekend Gross $16,635,000 | Average Per Theater $4,234 | Total Gross $126,904,000 | Film’s Budget – $150 | Week 3
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | Last Week #4| Buena Vista | Weekend Gross $10,846,000 | Average Per Theater $3,159 | Total Gross $208,774,000 | Film’s Budget – $250 | Week 4
Bridesmaids | Last Week #5 | Universal | Weekend Gross $10,154,000 | Average Per Theater $3,475 | Total Gross $123,904,000 | Film’s Budget – $32.5 | Week 5
Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer | NEW | Relativity | Weekend Gross $6,267,000 | Average Per Theater $2,483 | Total Gross $6,267,000 | Film’s Budget – $20 | Week 1
Midnight in Paris | Last Week #8 | Sony Classics | Weekend Gross $6,146,000 | Average Per Theater $6,511 | Total Gross $14,225,000 | Film’s Budget – $30 | Week 4
Thor | Last Week #6 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $2,370,000 | Average Per Theater $1,330 | Total Gross $173,600,000 | Film’s Budget – $150 | Week 6
Fast Five | Last Week #7| Universal | Weekend Gross $1,714,000 | Average Per Theater $1,290 | Total Gross $205,081,000 | Film’s Budget – $125 | Week 7

Also new in theaters was the kids’ Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, which other than being a film with a self-explanatory title, was also a big fail in theaters. The film made the bottom half of top ten movies, but had a weekend gross of only $6.2 million. What a bummer!

What did you watch this weekend?

‘Star Trek 2′ Scheduled For Summer 2012; Pushes Back Jack Ryan Sequel

Travis Woods — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:04:24 +0000

While James Bond fans scored a big one today, fans of the Jack Ryan film franchise (The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears) will have to keep holding their collective breaths—Paramount is putting the spy franchise on the back burner as the new Jack Ryan, Chris Pine, is going to be busy starring as Captain Kirk in the rushed-release of Star Trek 2 next summer.

Coming Soon has it that Paramount is so adamant about Star Trek 2 meeting its June 29, 2012 release that the company is pushing the new Jack Ryan film indefinitely, and hustling J.J. Abrams to finish up with the mysterious Super 8 to get back to Paramount’s recent sci-fi cash-cow.

Coming Soon recently spoke with Abrams, who had this to say about the rushed schedule:

“We’re working on the story. That’s probably more important than the release date at this point, but at the moment, we’re not going to change anything.”

What strange times we live in—who would have ever thought that the Star Trek franchise would be so viable to a mainstream audience that Paramount would be shelving other potential blockbusters in order to get a Captain Kirk and Co. sequel?

What do you think of Paramount’s decision to shelve Jack Ryan for Captain Kirk?

‘Cloverfield 2′ Is Coming, According To Original’s Director

Travis Woods — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:51:53 +0000

Coverfield fans—didn’t get enough ‘big-ass monster beats the living tar out of New York City’ action last time around? Missing the whole ‘Blair Witch Project, please meet my friend Godzilla’ aesthetic of the original? Well, fret not: according to Cloverfield director Matt Reeves, Coverfield 2 is definitely happening.

However, according to /Film, it may be awhile before you actually get to see it. The creative team behind the film has been busy—Reeves directed Let Me In, producer J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek, and writer Drew Goddard has been working with Steven Spielberg on Robopocalypse. And they still kinda sorta have to actually come up with a story for the thing, according to Reeves:

“Well, you are going to see it – we just don’t know when [laughs]. At the moment we are talking about the story quite a lot. Drew Goddard, who wrote the original, is going to pen the sequel and JJ Abrams is very much involved. However, the three of us have been so busy that getting the right idea together has been taking a long time…

“We want it to be shot like the first but how can you continue that idea successfully for a second time? We have a lot of affection for the original and the sequel can’t just be the same thing. But that is tricky when you need to have a monster destroying stuff once again.”

Rumor has it that Cloverfield 2 won’t be a sequel in the traditional sense in which it takes place after the original; rather, it may be a parallel film that takes place in the same time period as part one—meaning that another group of survivors (and I use that term loosely) film their experiences with the monster. Because if there’s one thing audiences are clamoring for, it’s self-absorbed New Yorkers running through the Big Apple while conveniently pointing a camera at themselves and yelling “OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAAAAAAAT?” for 90 minutes.

What do you think of the Cloverfield 2 news?

New Poster for JJ Abrams’ Super 8

Krystal Clark — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:13:24 +0000

This morning we got blown away by some good old fashioned science fiction thanks to the new trailer for JJ Abrams‘ Super 8. The film is produced by Steven Spielberg and we got a real E.T., Jurassic Park vibe from it, which is a good sign in our book! To follow up such a great piece of marketing, Paramount has released a poster for the film and it’s a total head trip. Take a look…

They’re really playing up the mystery factor for this film, which is refreshing considering how much movies are spoiled these days through trailers and posters. We have no idea what’s terrorizing the town (we assume it’s an alien), and we have no idea what it looks like. Super 8 is following in the same footsteps as Cloverfield. Remember when everyone wanted to know what the monster looked like? There was a whole viral campaign built around the great mystery.

This poster begs the question: why is everything side ways? Can the creature only see from that angle? Does it mean the town people’s world will be turned upside down? Who knows!

Super 8 opens in theaters everywhere on June 10th.

What do you think of the poster for Super 8? What does it all mean?

Source: Apple

Super 8 Super Bowl Commercial Channels E.T.

Krystal Clark — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:15:35 +0000

Classic Steven Spielberg is back! The film legend is one of the producers for J.J. Abrams sci-fi flick Super 8, and it has old school Amblin written all over it. The first official trailer for the movie debuted during last night’s Super Bowl and it did not disappoint. We got a great look at the cast, which includes Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning, and a mystical creature that has a small town on edge. Does this premise sound familiar? Check out the TV Spot…

Abrams recently spoke to The LA Times and opened up about the story that lies behind all the special effects and action.

“This is a movie about overcoming loss and finding your way again and finding your own voice,” Abrams says of the film’s tone, “A boy whose lost his mother and the man whose lost his wife. There’s this father who, because of the era, never really had to be the parent. He’s a good man, he works hard, he’s a deputy in the town, but he’s never stepped up as father.”

He also confirmed that the film will be set in 1979 Ohio and “introduces a troupe of six youngsters who are using a Super 8 camera to make their own zombie movie. One fateful night, their project takes them to a lonely stretch of rural railroad tracks and, as the camera rolls, calamity strikes — a truck collides with an oncoming locomotive and a hellacious derailment fills the night with screaming metal and raining fire. Then something emerges from the wreckage, something decidedly inhuman.”

This sounds like old school Spielberg at its best!

Super 8 is scheduled to hit theaters on June 10, 2011.

What do you think of the first trailer for Super 8?

Sons of Anarchy Alum Sarah Jones Cast in J.J. Abrams Alcatraz

Krystal Clark — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:24:46 +0000

Last week we learned that JJ Abrams tapped his “Lost” acting reserve for his new television series “Alcatraz.” The producer brought on Jorge Garcia who played Hurley on the island drama to fill a pivotal role on the show. Today, we’ve learned that he’ll be joined by a fresh face in the form of Sarah Jones, who’s been hired to play the female lead in “Alcatraz.” Do we have our next Keri Russell, Jennifer Garner, Evangeline Lilly, or Anna Torv on our hands?

According to Deadline, Jones will play the role of “Rebecca Madsen, a smart, thoughtful and a little obsessive police officer.” “Alcatraz’s” premise centers on “a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day. It chronicles the efforts of a team of FBI agents to track them down and unravel the mystery behind their disappearance thirty years prior.” Garcia will star as Dr. Diego Soto, a hippy geek who’s an expert on the prison and the island.

If Jones’ face looks familiar to you it’s probably because of her previous television work on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and HBO’s “Big Love.” She knows a thing or two about playing recurring characters but now it’s her time to shine as the lead.

What do you think of Sarah Jones being cast as the female lead in Alcatraz? Is she a good choice? Have you seen her previous work?

Lost’s Jorge Garcia Joins JJ Abrams’ New Series Alcatraz

Krystal Clark — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:38:11 +0000

JJ Abrams sure knows how to keep it in the family. The producer and director has a new TV series on the horizon called “Alcatraz” and he’s already roped in one of the alums from his past show “Lost” to join the cast. According to Deadline, Jorge Garcia has signed on to star in the series, which will have the actor jumping from ABC to the Fox network.

“Alcatraz” is described as a drama that will be all “about secrets and the most infamous prison of all time.” In other words, Abrams has found another way to conjure up a show that has to do with an island that has something to hide. Damn it, we thought we were done with these games?! Obviously Garcia doesn’t have a problem with being submerged in mystery again because he’ll be playing one of the main characters.

“Alcatraz” will center on “a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day. It chronicles the efforts of a team of FBI agents to track them down and unravel the mystery behind their disappearance thirty years prior.” Garcia will star as Dr. Diego Soto, a hippy geek who’s an expert on the prison and the island.

Of course Garcia would play the island expert, he was trapped on one for six years before this. He should be really familiar with the lay of the land.

What do you think of Garcia joining another Abrams show…about an island?

ScreenCrave.com » jj abrams

Blu-ray and DVD Picks For May 15 – 21

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Classics:

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