10.7.2008 | By Alex Florez |
Alex Florez’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan review says your patience for Adam Sandler’s hummus jokes will tell you almost everything. The comedy is built around a superhuman Israeli agent who wants to quit fighting and become a hairdresser, and the movie either feels ridiculous enough to enjoy or exhausting fast. Read More
10.7.2008 | By Mack Chico |
Rated:
Release Date: 2008-06-13
Starring: M. Night Shyamalan
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Official Website: http://www.elincidente.es/
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie, The Happening, is not merely bad. It is an astonishment, so idiotic in conception and inept in execution that, after seeing it, one almost wonders whether it was real or imagined. It’s the kind of movie you want to laugh about with friends, swapping favorite moments of inanity: “Do you remember the part when Mark Wahlberg … ?” “God, yes. And what about that scene where the wind … ?”
The single most absurd element of The Happening, the wellspring from which all other absurdities flow, is its conceit: Across the Northeastern United States, people are succumbing to a toxic airborne agent that makes them commit suicide, often gruesomely. At first it hits major population centers, followed by smaller towns, and on down to groups of even just a handful of people. Initially, it’s assumed to be some kind of terrorist attack. But as we learn pretty early in the film, it’s not. It’s trees. Yes, the trees (and perhaps some bushes and grass, too, the movie’s never too clear on this point) have tired of humankind’s ecological despoilment and are emitting a complicated aerial neurotoxin that makes us kill ourselves en masse. I bet you wish you were the one who came up with this blockbuster idea.
10.6.2008 | By Mack Chico |
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” was barking up the right tree with movie-goers, who put the Disney comedy at No. 1 for the weekend with a $29 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Featuring a talking Chihuahua with Drew Barrymore’s voice, the family flick about a pampered pooch lost in Mexico led a surge of new movies that boosted Hollywood business, which generally has slumped the last two months.
The top-12 movies hauled in $95.4 million, up 42 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when “The Game Plan” was No. 1 with $16.6 million.
The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, the DreamWorks-Paramount thriller “Eagle Eye,” slipped to second-place with $17.7 million, raising its total to $54.6 million.
Hollywood’s other new wide releases had fair to poor premieres.
Sony’s “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings as teens who fall for each other on a wild New York City night, had a sturdy No. 3 debut of $12 million.
The Warner Bros. Western “Appaloosa,” which had played two weeks in a handful of theaters, expanded solidly to come in at No. 5 with $5 million. “Appaloosa” was directed by Ed Harris, who stars with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger.
Vivendi Entertainment’s “An American Carol,” a satire of Hollywood’s liberal politics from director David Zucker (“Airplane!”), debuted at No. 9 with $3.8 million. The movie stars Kevin Farley as a Michael Moore-type filmmaker aiming to abolish the Fourth of July holiday.
Universal’s “Flash of Genius,” starring Greg Kinnear as the engineer who invented intermittent windshield wipers then spent decades suing automakers over the innovation, opened weakly with $2.3 million, finishing at No. 11.
Two other movies, the comedy “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” and the apocalyptic “Blindness,” both bombed.
Miramax’s “Blindness,” featuring Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Mark Ruffalo in a nightmare tale about a plague of sightlessness, took in just $2 million, averaging an anemic $1,185 in 1,690 theaters.
“How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,” released by MGM and starring Kirsten Dunst and Simon Pegg in a celebrity satire set at a slick magazine, did $1.4 million in 1,750 theaters for a feeble $801 average.
By comparison, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” averaged $9,020 in 3,215 theaters; “Nick and Norah” pulled in $4,957 in 2,421 locations; “Appaloosa” did $4,799 in 1,045 cinemas; “An American Carol” took in $2,325 in 1,639 sites; and “Flash of Genius” did $2,120 in 1,098 theaters.
In narrower release, Bill Maher’s documentary “Religulous” opened well, placing No. 10 with $3.5 million in 502 theaters, averaging $6,972. The Lionsgate release follows Maher as he travels the world to mock one of his favorite topics, organized religion.
Anne Hathaway’s “Rachel Getting Married” had a strong start in limited release, taking in $302,934 in nine theaters for a whopping $33,659 average. The Sony Pictures Classics drama stars Hathaway as an addict who leaves rehab to come home for her sister’s wedding and forces her family to relive the anguish of past tragedy.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” $29 million.
2. “Eagle Eye,” $17.7 million.
3. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” $12 million.
4. “Nights in Rodanthe,” $7.4 million.
5. “Appaloosa,” $5 million.
6. “Lakeview Terrace,” $4.5 million.
7. “Burn After Reading,” $4.08 million.
8. “Fireproof,” $4.07 million.
9. “An American Carol,” $3.8 million.
10. Religulous, $3.5 million.
10.4.2008 | By SBC Staff |
Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior.
Release Date: 2008-10-03
Starring: Lorene Scafaria, Rachel Cohn (novela), David Levithan (novela)
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/
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If you like romantic teen movies and love Manhattan’s lower east side, you’ll be infatuated with the new cinematographic work of Michael Cera, North America’s sloppy king. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is an honest romantic tale full of authenticity, with a simple principle and a dialogue that’s intelligent and current.
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Nick (Michael Cera) is a solitary character that wonders the world; meanwhile Norah (Kat Dennings) is an insecure person that is looking for herself. Although they don’t have anything in common except music, a casual encounter at a punk concert will become a romance that will change their lives forever.

This film perhaps won’t define the youth of our generation like “Sixteen Candles†from the master John Hughes, but it achieves to capture a real portrayal of the youth in NYC in 2008. This is credited to the young director Peter Sollet (Raising Victor Vargas, Five Feet High and Rising) who guides himself through big filmmakers such as Richard Linklater and Woody Allen, except that there are no neurotic characters or super-complex dialogues. What is evident is the relaxed vibe of the characters and of the movie. It’s a world where the only worry is the time it takes one to forget about one’s ex.
The main characters, Cera and Dennings are the new Allen and Keaton of today. There is a magnetism that exists between them and individually. The camera adores these two and their futures are almost guaranteed.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is directed to a young audience that is looking for love that is innocent and real, without radical idealisms or complicated answers to questions. This is a movie that will make you smile when you are sad and will make you remember the moments when love was pure and innocent.
10.4.2008 | By SBC Staff |
Director Rodrigo Garcia is ready to work with his famous friends on a new project. He is teaming up with the “Three Amigos” for a new drama titled Mother and Child. Read More
10.2.2008 | By Ted Faraone |
Anyone who has problems with cinematic squalor should avoid “Blindness”, helmer Fernando Meirelles vehicle for Julianne Moore released via Miramax. Much of it is set in a detention center for the newly blind, a facility lacking doctors, nurses, and even janitors. After what appears to be a couple of months, judging by Moore’s roots, it, and the cast, get pretty filthy. Read More
10.1.2008 | By Mack Chico |
Rated: R for sexual content, nudity and strong language.
Release Date: 2008-04-18
Starring: Jason Segel
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.forgettingsarahmarshall.com/
09.27.2008 | By Jack Rico |
Newman died Friday only a few months after pictures surfaced of him looking frail and thin as he was wheeled from the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, where he was said to be receiving treatment for lung cancer.
During Newman’s rise to fame in the 1950s, cigarette smoking was used in the movies and on television to convey masculinity, sophistication and sex appeal.
Late in his career, Newman — who at one time was considered a heavy smoker — famously quipped, “It’s absolutely amazing that I survived all the booze and smoking and the cars and the career.”
It’s been reported that he quit smoking some 30 years ago.
09.26.2008 | By Mack Chico |
Rated: R for language and some sexual content.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: Neil Burger, Dirk Wittenborn
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.theluckyonesmovie.com/
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I can’t believe I’m going to say this, and probably never will again, but this is one of those rare times that I found a soldier film to be ‘delightfully lovable’. Yes, I said it. It is due in part to an endearing story concocted by director/writer Neil Burger and a great group of actors who turned on the charm.
In ‘The Lucky Ones’, three wounded soldiers come back from the war cherishing to return to a life of normalcy, or at least what is left of it. With flight delays threatening to hinder their plans, they rent a car to St. Louis where they hope the city’s airport will have a batch of planes ready to depart to Las Vegas. The road trip back home is where the true journey begins for these three servicemen.
Tim Robbins is a wonderful every-man’s actor. He manages to capture the reality of daily living in all his characters. Michael Peña continues to deliver solid performances demonstrating a range of emotion in his roles, even if they are confined in lawmen and soldier characters. I mustn’t dismiss though, the unexpectedly comical, yet solemn performance of Rachel McAdams, who in my mind, was the star of the film. I would dare say, this is an Oscar nominated performance. She is not known for her comic timing, nor delivering amusing lines with deadpan expressions, but McAdams not only proved she is actually funny, she showed she can carry and steal a movie from under the nose of a proven veteran actor such as Robbins.
If you are feeling lucky and in the mood for a small, independent, but very good film in the tradition of Little Miss Sunshine, do yourself a favor and see ‘The Lucky Ones’.
09.25.2008 | By Mack Chico |
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and for language.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: John Glenn, Travis Wright, Hillary Seitz, Dan McDermott
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.eagleeyemovie.com/
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Eagle Eye has all the trademark elements of a box office hit: it is a a political thriller, it has action, car chases, explosions, sarcastic one liners, good acting and – the film begins with a great action sequence and ends on the same note. For a Friday night out with your friends, what else do you need?
Shia LeBouf has been Hollywood’s “It” boy for a year now and he has been delivering on the hype. With blockbuster after blockbuster, he is positioning himself as the A list actor of the future. Eagle Eye is his new Tom Clancyesque’ project about a kid who has been summoned to kill the president by a god-like computer owned by the government.
Even though the film is surprisingly good – Billy Bob Thornton deserves plenty of credit for that – expect the ridiculous and the absurd, a la Diehard. Most of those films were fun, in a guilty pleasure sort of way.
Nevertheless, some thought did go into the premise. Director D.J Caruso (Disturbia, Two for the Money) wants us to be aware of several key messages – to what extent does technology control our lives, the invasion of privacy by the government and the ineptitude of our political commanders.
Since most of us know how this is eerily similar to real life, the film serves as an inside look at how things would play out if someone had the “cojones” to do something about it. Eagle Eye is pure high-octane fun and exactly what going to the movies is all about.
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