If you want to see a war drama Ryan Philippe stars in Stop Loss and there is the film 21. Want a good laugh instead? Superhero movie staring Leslie Nielson, Drake Bell and Run FatBoy Run staring Simon Peg, directed by David Schwimmer both look hilarious. Maybe it’s because I am bias to Simon Peg and Leslie Nielson is perfect in the screwball comedies. ( Had a flashback to all the Naked Gun movies.) You can’t go wrong with either one.
Ah Speed Racer. The 60s cartoon has hit the big time. Well at least the big screen. Here is a very short, quick history lesson on Speed Racer. The cartoon original generated from Japan and was given the name Speed Racer for the American/English version. Speed Racer’s car is called the Mach 5. Can’t have a Speed Racer movie without Racer X and Trixie. Wow. How do I know these things? Now about the movie. It stars Into the Wild’s breakout lead actor Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer. Christina Ricci plays girlfriend Trixie with Matthew Fox as Racer X. The film was directed and written by the Wachowski Brothers and produced by Joel Sliver after the numerous changes of hands since 1992. Industry buzz was that Zac Efron and Shia Labeouf both auditioned for the role of Speed Racer and Vince Vaughn was rumored to be producing and staring as Racer X until the Wachowski Brothers picked it up. Ok now that all that technical stuff is out the way, I have to say I am not too excited about this. First I think the major reason it is just seeing the light of day after ten years of trying to get it to the cinemas is the fact that it’s hard to adapt such a cartoon to be portrayed by real , breathing people. I compare it a studio trying to bring Popeye and Olive to a theater near you. It necessarily can’t work. Speed Racer was shot completely in front of a green screen for that reason. I don’t know if this will work or not, but we all shall see. Trailers for the movie are not up to par in my book and movie goers might opt to go see Iron Man instead. Too bad as Warner Bros. has shelled out a lot of money for advertising. So in the next month or two expect an array of Speed Racer collectibles to hit the markets from toys to video games. This may or may not fair well opening weekend but I do not expect it to knock Iron Man from the number one spot. In conclusion, some things are better left to the drawing boards…
Check out the Speed Racer Trailer below. Go! Speed Racer Go!
Tobey Maguire has signed up to star and produce Afterburn based on the the comic published by Red 5 comics. Read more about it over at Hollywood Reporter. Afterburn hit shelves for the first time this past January.
This is not a gossip blog. I tried that and realized that I could not possible write about the stupidity of celebrities and wannabes every day. My head would of have exploded. I do though want to follow up on my post from a few days ago featuring Owen Wilson and his promotion/non promotion stint for his new film Drillbit Taylor. As you know, the movie is considered a flop. It opened at #4 making just over $10 million dollars. It’s ashame because I think movie goers who enjoy this type of comedy and Owen Wilson would have loved it. Whatever happened or didn’t happen it seems that promotion is still full steam ahead. Well at least if you are tabloids. Yes again another week of Wilson’s fake non promotion is surfacing in the tabloids. Like me, Fox News was on it. It was pretty obvious actually. Well I ran across something else this morning that I found interesting. Apparently OK! and People are reporting that Wilson and Hudson spent Easter Weekend together, giving us all the juicy details except they missed one particularly, important detail needed to make the story believable. I don’t know, maybe having them at the same place at the same time. Kate Hudson was in London this past weekend making a guest appearance on ITV’s Ant& Dec Saturday Night Takeaway. Now when I first read this tidbit I surely thought it was a mistake or a re-run. I wanted to make sure that Ant& Dec is not a pre-taped show which would make sense of this whole mess, but no. The show is live every Saturday GMT. When I thought it all didn’t make sense, that two tabloids would make such a vital gossip mistake, it all really made sense. Read the rest of this entry »
There are several reasons why I am excited about this release that will kick off the summer film season. The trailer is enticing, there are some great actors involved, ( Robert Downey Jr., Terrance Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow) it’s another well loved comic coming to the cinemas; but the real reason I am excited is because of the director, Jon Favreau. I could sit here and talk about Iron Man the comic or how great the stars will be in this, however that is not my focus for this release. Yeah he is probably more well known for being actor Vince Vaughn’s swinging buddy in a few films and are wondering how the hell did he get helm this one. This movie is a big deal for him, probably the biggest career boost he will have since Swingers. I am genuinely excited for him and can not wait to see the final product. Everything looks to be fantastic and I see a blockbuster hit. If you are not familiar with any of his work, I am not going to recommend going back and looking at films from 10 years ago, instead go hit up your local Blockbuster or Netflix cue and get Zathura, his 2005 film which I see as a nice directorial prequel to Iron Man. One last thing. Iron Man opens May 2, 2008. The trailer can be seen below. Goodluck Jon!
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE
Mar. 21 - Mar. 23
Box Office
1. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (FOX) 3,961 $25,100,000
2. Meet the Browns (LIONSGATE) 2,006 $20,000,000
3. Shutter (FOX) 2,753 $10,700,000
4. Drillbit Taylor (PAR) 3,056 $10,200,000
5. 10,000 BC (WB) 3,454 $8,700,000
6. Never Back Down (SUMMIT) 2,729 $4,900,000
7. College Road Trip (DISNEY) 2,575 $4,600,000
8. The Bank Job (LIONSGATE) 1,613 $4,100,000
9. Vantage Point (SONY) 2,124 $3,800,000
10. Under the Same Moon (TWC/FOX SEARCHLIGHT) 266 $2,600,000
It’s almost that time of year. SUMMER MOVIES! Seriously, looking at the impressive film role call, it’s non stop from May until the end of August. Hope you all have a nice savings going as this looks to a great season for big movies. I will from now until the start of the season in May with the release of Iron Man on May 2nd will do my own little pre-review of the films set to hit theaters this summer. I think there will be enough films for everyone’s taste. Below is a list of the big blockbusters for the summer/release dates. Highlighted are the ones I will without a doubt be plucking out $10 to see. Stay Tuned and Happy Easter!
May
Iron Man - 5/2
Speed Racer -5/9
What Happens in Vegas - 5/9
Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian -5/16
Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 5/22
Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio will reteam for a dark thriller titled “The Low Dweller” that Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media has bought after a heated bidding war.
Scott and DiCaprio will produce the film, with DiCaprio attached to star and Scott eyeing to direct. The project has echoes of “The History of Violence” and “No Country for Old Men,” is a spec from first-time writer Brad Ingelsby, a twentysomething working as an insurance salesman in Pennsylvania.
Ingelsby had been working on the script in his spare time and has yet to step foot in Hollywood. But he has hit the spec jackpot, with the project selling for $650,000 against $1.1 million.
