Larry Crowne
07.5.2011 | By Jack Rico |
06.30.2011 | By Jack Rico |
NEW YORK, NY (June 30, 2011) – Francis Ford Coppola will be presenting portions of his upcoming film TWIXT at a panel discussion on Saturday, July 23 at Hall H. TWIXT stars Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, and Ben Chaplin. Coppola describes the film as, “one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career.”
Coppola has a unique new approach to the presentation of the film that will incorporate live music by acclaimed independent performance artist Dan Deacon. Deacon will attend Comic-Con with Coppola to help demonstrate the interactive experience of the film. The film incorporates both 2-D and 3-D elements.
Like his most recent films, TWIXT follows three self-imposed mandates that Coppola requires in all of his new work: be his own original story and screenplay, have some personal element, and be self-financed. This particular story came to Coppola during a vivid dream he had while on a trip to Istanbul and is inspired by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The film also brings Coppola back to his horror roots that began during his apprenticeship with Roger Corman.
On attending Comic-Con Coppola says, “I fondly recall meeting the Comic-Con audience years ago when I brought them my DRACULA film. That experience made me not want to miss this chance to return with TWIXT.”
06.28.2011 | By Jack Rico |
‘Season of the Witch’ is Nicolas Cage’s (Oscar winner) new check. He sleepwalks through the whole film with a narcotized stare yearning for someone to yank him and offer him Leaving Las Vegas all over again. The movie’s premise is modestly interesting, but the disjointed and uninspiring dialogue, the sparseness of an absorbing material, and the monotone and mechanical acting leaves much to be desired of Dominic Sena’s fifth effort.
Here’s the plot: Nicolas Cage plays an heroic Crusader with his closest friend, Felson (Ron Perlman) who return home after decades of fierce fighting, only to find their world destroyed by the Plague. The church elders, convinced that a girl accused of being a witch is responsible for the devastation, command the two to transport the strange girl (Claire Foy) to a remote monastery where monks will perform an ancient ritual to rid the land of her curse. One by one his fellow travelers meet with misfortune, and the embattled Crusader finds himself facing his most terrifying adversary.
‘Season of the Witch’ is an action adventure film that is inconsistent; it has its highs and very deep lows such as the incredulousness of Cage playing a religious Crusader prompting some inner chuckles on my behalf. There are some intriguing ideas that never fully follow through such as Claire Foy’s witch character which shows up whimsically without any explanation. The film goes hot and cold very frequently and then reaches, during the trip to the monastery, absurdity. No return from there.
Nonetheless, I did, apologetically, like the entertainment value of the action sequences, enough for me not to pummel the film into paper ash. So then, is ‘Season of the Witch’ bad or good enough to eek by and watch? It belongs in the ‘don’t spend your hard earned cash to see this at the theater,’ but if it’s on HBO one night, you can get your kicks and laughs out of Cage’s and Perlman’s Batman and Robin routine without guilt.
06.20.2011 | By Jack Rico |
New York (June 20, 2011) – Woody Allen announced today the full cast for “The Bop Decameron,” his latest film in pre-production. Starring, in alphabetical order, are: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page. Co-stars include Antonio Albanese, Fabio Armiliata, Alessandra Mastronardi, Ornella Muti, Flavio Parenti, Alison Pill, Riccardo Scamarcio and Alessandro Tiberi.
“The Bop Decameron” is a Gravier Productions film produced by Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum. This is Allen’s first film to be financed by the Italian production and distribution company, Medusa Film. “The Bop Decameron” begins production on July 11 and marks Allen’s first time shooting in Rome. His latest film, “Midnight in Paris,” is currently playing in theaters.
06.18.2011 | By Mack Chico |
HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 17, 2011) – Paramount Pictures announced today it will open Michael Bay’s TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON exclusively at 3D and IMAX locations across the country beginning at 9PM local time on Tuesday, June 28th, allowing moviegoers nationwide to be among the first to see the latest installment in the hit franchise, and the first to be shot in 3D. The movie will open wide beginning at 12AM on June 29th.
“Michael Bay has created an incredibly engaging and immersive 3D experience with this latest movie, one that will undoubtedly be among the most entertaining movie going experiences of the summer,” said Paramount’s Vice Chairman Rob Moore. “Providing fans an opportunity to see it early in 3D is a great way to kick off the movie’s opening.”
The premise has the Autobots learning of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it to learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers’ final battle.
06.18.2011 | By Jack Rico |
This has got to be the funniest pair of photos I have seen all year, perhaps in years! Tom Cruise looks so miscast here. The role should’ve gone to Mark Wahlberg. Anyone remember 2001’s ‘Rock Star‘? He was hilarious in it! Not too mention his rock star pipe dreams in ‘Boogie Nights‘.
Nevertheless, Tom Cruise plays Stacee Jaxx in ‘Rock Of Ages‘ about a small-town girl who arrives in Hollywood at the height of the 1980s rock-music scene. Cruise isn’t the girl by the way.
Adam Shankman directs this rock musical for New Line with a cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman, Bryan Cranston, Mexican actor Diego Boneta, and Julianne Hough, Ryan Seacrest’s flavor of the month.
Laugh your head off at these two pics below as much I did. Happy Father’s Day Tommy!
06.7.2011 | By Jack Rico |
‘Sanctum’ IMAX 3D is a survival action thriller that, although conceptually intriguing, never delivers a payoff that satisfies the pocket or the 3D experience it boasts about.
James Cameron executive produces this story, based on real events, of a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea. Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) has explored the South Pacific’s Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank’s team-including 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?
These types of movies aren’t new to the screen. The 70’s were famous for their disaster films such as The Poseidon Adventure, When Time Ran Out, and the Oscar nominated The Towering Inferno amongst others, with the focus on the characters’ attempts to avert, escape or cope with the disaster and its aftermath. Then there was a resurgence in the mid to late 90’s with films such as Stallone’s Daylight, the remake Poseidon and The Ghost Ship.
The premise of Sanctum is as interesting and absorbing as anything out so far this early 2011. The fact that Cameron is involved and that it was shot in 3D, and it would be released in IMAX, are all great bait to a story that is high on bad acting, recycled and cliched dialogue (“What could possibly go wrong with…” insert bad joke here) and cheap visual effects. The film was shot on a budget of 30 million dollars, not the 237 million dollars Cameron spent on Avatar. Australian director Alister Grierson, who never handled a 3D camera before in his life, is directing only his second picture, and perhaps, gave to some of the B like quality of the movie. You know it wasn’t Cameron. ‘Sanctum’ was not shot in film and it’s obvious, specially when it’s juxtaposed to special effects rendering sequences of caves. However, credit must be given to anyone who is directing underwater for half of the movie. That sounds like a tough task. The 3D experience was subpar for me. I had a chance to see the film in an IMAX 3D theater and I noticed that the sound was off. It sounded far away instead of next to you like most IMAX films. I also had some problems with the IMAX glasses, different than regular 3D glasses. The light of the film kept on penetrating the darkness of my glasses producing an irritable sensation for some key scenes. I had to keep on swiveling my head to find a point where it didn’t bother me. Was it the glasses? No. I changed them just to make sure. This happened occasionally, but nevertheless, it didn’t happen to me when I went to see Tron: Legacy in December. When it comes to 3D experiences in an IMAX theater it’s hard to say Sanctum was an experience. Between sound and imagery, it failed to mesmerize the senses.
Also perforating my ears was the dialogue from John Garvin and Andrew Wight. I don’t know which one was more at fault. When one is watching the characters onscreen trying to survive a disaster and they are engulfed by the ocean itself, all there is left to entertain you is great acting and engaging dialogue to get you through the events. This was not the case here as trite, cornball words were the du jour of the day. Seriously, it was awful. Aside from the dialogue, the rest of the film had its hits and misses. Some of the highlights were the sights of the cave, the underwater sequence shots, and the acting of Richard Roxburgh who should be Stellan Skarsgård’s twin brother. The pacing of the first 40 minutes took its time to build, introduce and flesh out the characters properly. It establishes some of the forth coming problems we are about to witness and lays out the villains and heroes of the movie. This is well done and it manages to hold some interest while it lasts. Right after that, in act II, the movie begins to introduce the lousy acting and dialogue into the action scenes. Interestingly enough, in the 70’s, disaster films were always cast with heavy weight actors which gave credibility to what you were watching unfold. Overall, this is a B cast, excluding veteran actors Richard Roxburgh and Ion Gruffudd. The level of mediocre acting is typical of what one associates with the genre. The dramatic moments are cheesy and painful to watch, specially the father and son scenes. Wakefield’s character mostly, is a vexing figure throughout the whole film. He possesses a very righteous personality, that combined with his histrionic acting, results in aggravating viewing. The tension is paltry at best, perhaps because there are no monsters, killer sharks, hungry piranhas or ravenous crocodiles. I thought there would be an unknown creature lurking in the murky and cold below. The soundtrack also didn’t do a good job of creating the suspenseful atmosphere.
Ultimately, Sanctum didn’t live up to expectations. With the high rise of 3D and IMAX tickets, this experience perhaps does belong in the deep unexplored bottoms of the Earth.
