LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Michelle Williams will play Marilyn Monroe in a new movie based around the iconic actress's 1956 film shoot in London opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, producers said on Friday.
Williams, 30, who earned an Oscar nomination for her 2005 role in "Brokeback Mountain" and also appeared in "Shutter Island", stars as Monroe alongside a British cast that sees Kenneth Branagh as Olivier, Julia Ormond playing actress Vivien Leigh and Judi Dench in the role of British screen veteran Dame Sybil Thorndike.
"My Week with Marilyn" chronicles a week in the life of Monroe as she escapes her Hollywood routine and is introduced to the pleasures of 1950s Britain by an assistant on the set of "The Prince and the Showgirl".
British actor Derek Jacobi, and young stars Dominic Cooper and Emma Watson of "Harry Potter" fame, will also appear, with Simon Curtis directing.
Work on the co-production between BBC Films, Trademark Films and the Weinstein Company has already started at Britain's Pinewood Studios, producers said.
The movie is the second planned film treatment of Monroe -- still one of the world's best-known sex symbols more than 40 years after her death.
Australian Naomi Watts is due to play Monroe in the Hollywood movie "Blonde" based on U.S. writer Joyce Carol Oates' 2000 fictional biography of the star. "Blonde" is expected to start shooting in early 2012.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Craven conjures dull, generic horror in "Soul"
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Understandably not screened for critics before its Friday release, "My Soul to Take" represents a particular disappointment because it represents the first writing-directing effort from Wes Craven since his fiendishly clever "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" in 1994.
Unfortunately, the director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Scream" and other horror classics comes a cropper with this dull, talk-heavy snoozer that most closely resembles something that would show up on the CW network. Even more egregious is the converted 3D presentation of the Universal release, forcing moviegoers to cough up extra bucks for effects that are barely noticeable -- other than, of course, the inevitable increased dimness.
After a fairly slam-bang opening sequence introducing serial killer the Riverton Ripper, who is promptly dispatched (seemingly) after attempting to murder his family, the film fast-forwards 16 years. We are then introduced to the Riverton Seven, a septet of local teens who were born on the day the Ripper died, with one of them possibly harboring his murderous soul. Their number soon dwindles as each proceeds to suffer a gruesome death at the hands of a faceless killer, with the most obvious suspect being Bug (Max Thieriot), a rather disturbed youth who has a strange obsession with the vulturelike California condors.
Unfortunately, neither the Riverton Ripper nor his faceless successor is likely to compete with Freddy Krueger in iconic horror-movie villain terms, and the overall proceedings lack the wit and style that marked the best of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream" series.
Craven's trademark satirical humor sadly is in little evidence here, though he does try at times, most notably in an absurd sequence that riffs off the classic mirror routine performed by the Marx Brothers in "Duck Soup." The film becomes particularly leaden as it lurches endlessly toward its conclusion, with the action, such as it is, giving way to endlessly confusing exposition that had the audience stirring restlessly.
The generic teen characters are dully played by the youthful ensemble, though the wild-eyed Thieriot does try his best to create a memorably weird figure.
At one point in the film, Craven makes a classic mistake, showing a clip of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." It only serves to remind us that our money would have been better spent renting horror classics on DVD.
Unfortunately, the director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Scream" and other horror classics comes a cropper with this dull, talk-heavy snoozer that most closely resembles something that would show up on the CW network. Even more egregious is the converted 3D presentation of the Universal release, forcing moviegoers to cough up extra bucks for effects that are barely noticeable -- other than, of course, the inevitable increased dimness.
After a fairly slam-bang opening sequence introducing serial killer the Riverton Ripper, who is promptly dispatched (seemingly) after attempting to murder his family, the film fast-forwards 16 years. We are then introduced to the Riverton Seven, a septet of local teens who were born on the day the Ripper died, with one of them possibly harboring his murderous soul. Their number soon dwindles as each proceeds to suffer a gruesome death at the hands of a faceless killer, with the most obvious suspect being Bug (Max Thieriot), a rather disturbed youth who has a strange obsession with the vulturelike California condors.
Unfortunately, neither the Riverton Ripper nor his faceless successor is likely to compete with Freddy Krueger in iconic horror-movie villain terms, and the overall proceedings lack the wit and style that marked the best of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream" series.
Craven's trademark satirical humor sadly is in little evidence here, though he does try at times, most notably in an absurd sequence that riffs off the classic mirror routine performed by the Marx Brothers in "Duck Soup." The film becomes particularly leaden as it lurches endlessly toward its conclusion, with the action, such as it is, giving way to endlessly confusing exposition that had the audience stirring restlessly.
The generic teen characters are dully played by the youthful ensemble, though the wild-eyed Thieriot does try his best to create a memorably weird figure.
At one point in the film, Craven makes a classic mistake, showing a clip of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." It only serves to remind us that our money would have been better spent renting horror classics on DVD.
Harry Potter can't make 3-D magic
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Warner Bros on Friday said it abandoned plans to convert the next Harry Potter movie to 3-D, bringing mixed reactions from box office watchers and fans of the multibillion-dollar blockbuster franchise.
The Hollywood studio said it was unable to produce a 3-D version of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" in time for its release on November 19.
The movie will be presented only in conventional 2-D and in Imax theaters, but the second installment, due to be released in July 2011, is still set to be released in 2-D and 3-D.
"Despite everyone's best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality," Warner Bros. said in a statement.
The six previously released Harry Potter movies, based on the best-selling novels by author J.K. Rowling, have raked in an estimated $5.4 billion at the worldwide box office.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", released in 2-D in 2009, earned $933 million worldwide at the box office. "Deathly Hallows; Part 1" is expected to do about the same figure, Hollywood sources said.
IMAX Corp declined to comment on Friday's statement regarding "Deathly Hallows: Part I" -- which covers about half of the final book in Rowling's series.
The news was greeted with a mixture of shrugs and dismay by Harry Potter fans, but most said on websites they would go to see "Deathly Hallows" anyway.
Some industry sources said the movie might take a hit in terms of box offices receipts, given the $2 to $3 dollar markup in prices for 3-D screenings, but others weren't so sure.
The DreamWorks Animation 3-D movie "How to Train Your Dragon," for example, saw 68 percent of its opening weekend ticket sales in March come from 3-D and Imax screenings.
Brandon Gray, president of Boxofficemojo.com, said the financial impact was hard to predict.
"People are going to 'Harry Potter' primarily for the story. It is one of the few sure things this holiday season,' Gray said. "3-D is over-rated and might be cooling. It is not the end of the world for Warner Bros," he added.
Paul Dergarabedian of box office trackers Hollywood.com said the shortfall from higher 3-D ticket prices could be offset by fans going more than once.
"Whatever is lost from the 3-D ticket bonus might be made up in repeat business. And families will appreciate the lower prices," Dergarabedian said.
"3-D isn't that big of a deal anyway. ALL I CARE ABOUT IS HARRY POTTER. The awesomeness of the movie trumps all obstacles," wrote Joshua.A on Harry Potter fan site mugglenet.com.
Other fans said they would rather see the movie next month than wait even longer for a 3-D conversion. But there was also huge disappointment in some quarters. "This sucks big time!!!!," wrote Carrie-Ann Brooks.
Warner Bros. is owned by Time Warner Inc..
The Hollywood studio said it was unable to produce a 3-D version of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" in time for its release on November 19.
The movie will be presented only in conventional 2-D and in Imax theaters, but the second installment, due to be released in July 2011, is still set to be released in 2-D and 3-D.
"Despite everyone's best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality," Warner Bros. said in a statement.
The six previously released Harry Potter movies, based on the best-selling novels by author J.K. Rowling, have raked in an estimated $5.4 billion at the worldwide box office.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", released in 2-D in 2009, earned $933 million worldwide at the box office. "Deathly Hallows; Part 1" is expected to do about the same figure, Hollywood sources said.
IMAX Corp declined to comment on Friday's statement regarding "Deathly Hallows: Part I" -- which covers about half of the final book in Rowling's series.
The news was greeted with a mixture of shrugs and dismay by Harry Potter fans, but most said on websites they would go to see "Deathly Hallows" anyway.
Some industry sources said the movie might take a hit in terms of box offices receipts, given the $2 to $3 dollar markup in prices for 3-D screenings, but others weren't so sure.
The DreamWorks Animation 3-D movie "How to Train Your Dragon," for example, saw 68 percent of its opening weekend ticket sales in March come from 3-D and Imax screenings.
Brandon Gray, president of Boxofficemojo.com, said the financial impact was hard to predict.
"People are going to 'Harry Potter' primarily for the story. It is one of the few sure things this holiday season,' Gray said. "3-D is over-rated and might be cooling. It is not the end of the world for Warner Bros," he added.
Paul Dergarabedian of box office trackers Hollywood.com said the shortfall from higher 3-D ticket prices could be offset by fans going more than once.
"Whatever is lost from the 3-D ticket bonus might be made up in repeat business. And families will appreciate the lower prices," Dergarabedian said.
"3-D isn't that big of a deal anyway. ALL I CARE ABOUT IS HARRY POTTER. The awesomeness of the movie trumps all obstacles," wrote Joshua.A on Harry Potter fan site mugglenet.com.
Other fans said they would rather see the movie next month than wait even longer for a 3-D conversion. But there was also huge disappointment in some quarters. "This sucks big time!!!!," wrote Carrie-Ann Brooks.
Warner Bros. is owned by Time Warner Inc..
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Katherine Heigl's Movie Life As We Know It
Boy meets girl. Boy and girl don't like each other. Boy and girl are forced to raise a child together. What will happen next? That's the premise of the new movie Life As We Know It (in theaters Oct. 8), starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. After their mutal best friend dies, Holly (Heigl) and Eric (Duhamel) -- who previously went on one really terrible first date -- must put their differences aside, move in together and raise their goddaughter Sophie.Heigl seems to be a natural fit for this movie. She's proven her comedy chops before (did you see the orgasm scene in The Ugly Truth!?) and she can make you cry at the drop of the hat (remember the Denny Duquette death scene in Grey's Anatomy?). And as for Josh Duhamel, well he's extremely easy on the eyes, and, if you saw Ramona & Beezus, you know he has the perfect charisma around kids.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Toy Story 3: The highest grossing animated film ever
His catchphrase is to go "to infinity, and beyond" and, if his box office receipts are anything to go by, Buzz Lightyear is on course to set sky-high standards of success for any big-screen animated character to follow.
Toy Story 3, in which Lightyear stars, is set to become the first animation to take $1bn at box offices globally after becoming the highest grossing animation ever, this weekend.
Its characters, including spaceranger Buzz, cowboy Woody and resourceful Barbie, helped Disney/Pixar gross $920m in global ticket sales since it opened in June. The previous record holder was DreamWorks Animation's Shrek 2, which raked in $919.8m.
Toy Story 3's success makes it the fourth highest grossing Disney movie ever, behind Johnny Depp blockbusters Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07bn), Alice in Wonderland ($1.02bn) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ($961m).
Cinemagoers' love affair with animation shows no sign of waning. Shrek Forever After is currently pulling in viewers across the country, while Lionsgate's 3D wolf animation Alpha and Omega hits the big screen in October. Universal's Despicable Me, which knocked the latest Twilight instalment off the top of the box office on its release in the United States last month, is also due out in the UK in October.
Charles Gant, film editor at Heat magazine and a box office analyst, said studios had invested in their own animation divisions over recent years after seeing the success of DreamWorks Animation in rivalling Disney. "3D has been fantastic for animation and also the family market just keeps getting bigger," he added. "It's very rare a big studio loses money on a family film."
Toy Story 3 is the latest in a line of hits for Pixar, which also created Up, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. The film has been credited with reducing grown men to tears with its themes of growing up, separation and loss.
Helen Nabarro, head of animation direction at the National Film and Television School, said the success of the Toy Story franchise and feature-length animations such as Oscar winner Up was down to sophisticated scripts and strong stories. "It can be a recognisable human world but with this extra fantasy that you believe," she explained.
Ms Nabarro, who was an executive producer on the BBC's Robbie the Reindeer films, said animation was "very much mainstream" now. It may have been viewed as "kids' stuff" in the past but now targeted adults.
Aardman's Wallace & Gromit did animation a "massive service" in showing that the genre could work for both adults and children, she added.
Hollywood's top actors are increasingly keen to voice animated characters. Steve Carell features as Gru in Despicable Me, while Brad Pitt will voice hero Metro Man opposite Will Ferrell's villain in DreamWorks Animation's Megamind this December.
Toy Story 3, in which Lightyear stars, is set to become the first animation to take $1bn at box offices globally after becoming the highest grossing animation ever, this weekend.Its characters, including spaceranger Buzz, cowboy Woody and resourceful Barbie, helped Disney/Pixar gross $920m in global ticket sales since it opened in June. The previous record holder was DreamWorks Animation's Shrek 2, which raked in $919.8m.
Toy Story 3's success makes it the fourth highest grossing Disney movie ever, behind Johnny Depp blockbusters Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07bn), Alice in Wonderland ($1.02bn) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ($961m).
Cinemagoers' love affair with animation shows no sign of waning. Shrek Forever After is currently pulling in viewers across the country, while Lionsgate's 3D wolf animation Alpha and Omega hits the big screen in October. Universal's Despicable Me, which knocked the latest Twilight instalment off the top of the box office on its release in the United States last month, is also due out in the UK in October.
Charles Gant, film editor at Heat magazine and a box office analyst, said studios had invested in their own animation divisions over recent years after seeing the success of DreamWorks Animation in rivalling Disney. "3D has been fantastic for animation and also the family market just keeps getting bigger," he added. "It's very rare a big studio loses money on a family film."
Toy Story 3 is the latest in a line of hits for Pixar, which also created Up, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. The film has been credited with reducing grown men to tears with its themes of growing up, separation and loss.
Helen Nabarro, head of animation direction at the National Film and Television School, said the success of the Toy Story franchise and feature-length animations such as Oscar winner Up was down to sophisticated scripts and strong stories. "It can be a recognisable human world but with this extra fantasy that you believe," she explained.
Ms Nabarro, who was an executive producer on the BBC's Robbie the Reindeer films, said animation was "very much mainstream" now. It may have been viewed as "kids' stuff" in the past but now targeted adults.
Aardman's Wallace & Gromit did animation a "massive service" in showing that the genre could work for both adults and children, she added.
Hollywood's top actors are increasingly keen to voice animated characters. Steve Carell features as Gru in Despicable Me, while Brad Pitt will voice hero Metro Man opposite Will Ferrell's villain in DreamWorks Animation's Megamind this December.
The Expendables
A 101 percent action packed movie which brings together the greatest action stars. You have action veterans Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, and Jet Li; plus you have new age action stars like Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, and Steve Austin.
The movie is full of blood and gore and lots of fighting and explosions. You will surely remain glued to your seats till the every end and gasping at the amount of action and killing the movie has.
Though, “The Expendables” is a far match against Ninja Assassin and other Japanese-made hardcore action movies, this is the first American Hollywood film that shows a seeming hardcore action.
The Expendables is not only action though for it has a crisp comedy and fun side to it. The dialogue of the characters are at point very hilarious. Two of the dialogues I remember are one from the scene between Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis and another between Jet Li and Stallone.
“Never mind him, he wants to be President,” says Stallone when Schwarzenegger refused the job in Vilena, South America.
Then there is the dialogue where Jet Li is trying to justify a raise in pay because he thinks he works harder because he is smaller. Then, when Lundgren tries to chase them and kill them, Stallone asks Jet Li to go to the back of the car and shoot the enemies. Stallone reasons out that he needs to do that because he is small.
For those who are seeking an intelligent and a movie with depth, well you will be frustrated with The Expendables. The plot of this movie is very typical and I would say shallow. It fails to even stir someones imagination and the love story also fails to excite the audience.
Do not expect awesome storyline and dialogue from The Expendables since this movie is probably done just to give us a taste of all the action starts packed in one movie doing what action stars do.
The musical score for The Expendables is also great and it fits every sequence. It is like you are being driven inside the movie in every music played on the action-packed scenes.
I do recommend this movie since it is one action act that someone should not miss.
The movie is full of blood and gore and lots of fighting and explosions. You will surely remain glued to your seats till the every end and gasping at the amount of action and killing the movie has.Though, “The Expendables” is a far match against Ninja Assassin and other Japanese-made hardcore action movies, this is the first American Hollywood film that shows a seeming hardcore action.
The Expendables is not only action though for it has a crisp comedy and fun side to it. The dialogue of the characters are at point very hilarious. Two of the dialogues I remember are one from the scene between Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis and another between Jet Li and Stallone.
“Never mind him, he wants to be President,” says Stallone when Schwarzenegger refused the job in Vilena, South America.
Then there is the dialogue where Jet Li is trying to justify a raise in pay because he thinks he works harder because he is smaller. Then, when Lundgren tries to chase them and kill them, Stallone asks Jet Li to go to the back of the car and shoot the enemies. Stallone reasons out that he needs to do that because he is small.
For those who are seeking an intelligent and a movie with depth, well you will be frustrated with The Expendables. The plot of this movie is very typical and I would say shallow. It fails to even stir someones imagination and the love story also fails to excite the audience.
Do not expect awesome storyline and dialogue from The Expendables since this movie is probably done just to give us a taste of all the action starts packed in one movie doing what action stars do.
The musical score for The Expendables is also great and it fits every sequence. It is like you are being driven inside the movie in every music played on the action-packed scenes.
I do recommend this movie since it is one action act that someone should not miss.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Having retooled and neatly anglicised the zombie movie on Shaun of the Dead and the cop thriller in Hot Fuzz, director Edgar Wright finally has the Hollywood budget his imagination so richly deserves.
But he's not done with his genre-splicing yet.
In fact, Scott Pilgrim vs The World is quite the mash-up, a post-adolescent romantic comedy combined with a videogame fantasy and shot through with indie-rock cool and all sorts of editing sleight-of-hand.
Its closest cinematic cousin is this year's Kick-Ass, another Brit-directed geek empowerment fantasy coming, as this does, from a left-field graphic novel - Canadian Bryan Lee O'Malley's manga-influenced series about 22-year-old Toronto slacker-bassist Scott and the pursuit of the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers.
Here Wright has compressed that six-part series into one mad fireworks display of a movie. One which runs on videogame logic, breaking out into high-flying chop socky - complete with points and power-ups - at every possible opportunity.
It also references everything from 90s sitcoms to 60s supergroups (there are characters called Stephen Stills and "Young Neil"), plus superhero movies - Chris Evans of the Fantastic Four turns up looking like Wolverine while Brandon Routh, the last big screen Superman, is now possessed of vegetarian superpowers.
And it's set in snowy Toronto. Though you'll only hear Scott say "Ay?" once.
So it doesn't lack for style, energy or - even with its magpie tendencies - originality.
Underneath all the flash, its story is an old one: Boy has to fight for the girl of his dreams.
Only Scott must fight Ramona's "seven evil exes" Mortal Kombat-style. They come in all shapes and sizes - fortunately, for running times' sake, two of them are twins.
Good thing he's put his time in at the arcade with Knives Chau, his teenage girlfriend who is about to have her heart broken by this lethargic lothario, even if she is the number one fan of his pop-punk band Sex Bob-Omb which is aiming at the big record deal at an upcoming contest.
That battle of the bands finale scene is something. The opposing groups' music becomes transformed into giant game monsters which fight for supremacy.
All of which might say something about how the joystick generation has displaced music from the centre of pop culture. Though this isn't exactly striving for deeper meaning, just flashy geeky cool and yet more of those fight scenes which leave the defeated decimated into a pile of coins.
Yes it does become wearying along the way and there are one or two evil exes too many. And despite Michael Cera employing his much-practised dweebish charm as Scott, he's more convincing as a virtual fighter than a lover. Mary Elizabeth Winstead certainly makes Ramona feisty and alluring. But while little cartoon hearts flutter from the pair's embraces, there's just not enough to make you care about whether they end up together.
The film certainly kicks bottom and stays amusing as Scott progresses through the levels.
But he's not done with his genre-splicing yet.
In fact, Scott Pilgrim vs The World is quite the mash-up, a post-adolescent romantic comedy combined with a videogame fantasy and shot through with indie-rock cool and all sorts of editing sleight-of-hand.Its closest cinematic cousin is this year's Kick-Ass, another Brit-directed geek empowerment fantasy coming, as this does, from a left-field graphic novel - Canadian Bryan Lee O'Malley's manga-influenced series about 22-year-old Toronto slacker-bassist Scott and the pursuit of the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers.
Here Wright has compressed that six-part series into one mad fireworks display of a movie. One which runs on videogame logic, breaking out into high-flying chop socky - complete with points and power-ups - at every possible opportunity.
It also references everything from 90s sitcoms to 60s supergroups (there are characters called Stephen Stills and "Young Neil"), plus superhero movies - Chris Evans of the Fantastic Four turns up looking like Wolverine while Brandon Routh, the last big screen Superman, is now possessed of vegetarian superpowers.
And it's set in snowy Toronto. Though you'll only hear Scott say "Ay?" once.
So it doesn't lack for style, energy or - even with its magpie tendencies - originality.
Underneath all the flash, its story is an old one: Boy has to fight for the girl of his dreams.
Only Scott must fight Ramona's "seven evil exes" Mortal Kombat-style. They come in all shapes and sizes - fortunately, for running times' sake, two of them are twins.
Good thing he's put his time in at the arcade with Knives Chau, his teenage girlfriend who is about to have her heart broken by this lethargic lothario, even if she is the number one fan of his pop-punk band Sex Bob-Omb which is aiming at the big record deal at an upcoming contest.
That battle of the bands finale scene is something. The opposing groups' music becomes transformed into giant game monsters which fight for supremacy.
All of which might say something about how the joystick generation has displaced music from the centre of pop culture. Though this isn't exactly striving for deeper meaning, just flashy geeky cool and yet more of those fight scenes which leave the defeated decimated into a pile of coins.
Yes it does become wearying along the way and there are one or two evil exes too many. And despite Michael Cera employing his much-practised dweebish charm as Scott, he's more convincing as a virtual fighter than a lover. Mary Elizabeth Winstead certainly makes Ramona feisty and alluring. But while little cartoon hearts flutter from the pair's embraces, there's just not enough to make you care about whether they end up together.
The film certainly kicks bottom and stays amusing as Scott progresses through the levels.
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