Ah, another year, another series of enigmatic clues as to how the MPAA ratings board actually makes its decisions. And then an equal number of films try to challenge the mystifying organization to gain free publicity. 2010 was no exception, with a wide variety of contradictions, exceptions and just completely baffling decisions, and so in our grand year-end tradition, let's take a look at the 10 biggest MPAA debacles of 2010.
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Also in this Wednesday edition of The Broadsheet: Christian Bale heads to China for his next film... Topher Grace explains the long delay behind Take Me Home Tonight... Injuries on the set of Uwe Boll's new film have nothing to do with its assumed awfulness... and more ahead.
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Just days after critics finished eviscerating Yogi Bear, they've unsheathed their knives again for the Meet the Parents threequel Little Fockers. Some holiday! Currently the film is hanging out at a 9% fresh rating on Rotten Tomates, which is 5% lower than Yogi Bear. Time will tell whether Gulliver's Travels can top them both, but for now let's take a look at harshest Fockers reviews, if only to see how many puns critics can make on the word "fock."
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Did you think Avatar was going to settle for being the highest grossing movie of all time and then just fade away quietly? No way! This record-breaking juggernaut is also the most pirated film of 2010. On one hand, this makes no sense at all since Avatar seemed like the last film you would want to download, given that its visual, 3-D experience was the main selling point. On the other hand, I guess the hype behind any movie making that much money is hard to ignore, even for internet pirates. In any case, while 20th Century Fox is probably okay with this distinction since the film already killed it at the box office, a few other films on the top ten list probably aren't so happy.
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· In what might be a reference to a certain L.A. Law episode featuring a witness with Tourette's Syndrome, this blooper reel from ALF features the cat-eating puppet yelling the N-word wildly. That just shows you how under-evolved Melmac is. [Bad TV Blog]
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Here's your final Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark update for Tuesday: Actors' Equity says that the accident during the Monday night performance of Julie Taymor's now-seemingly-cursed musical was caused by "human error." Christopher Tierney -- the injured stunt actor who feel into a pit beneath the stage when the line holding him snapped -- is in serious condition at Bellevue Hospital after sustaining broken ribs and internal bleeding. [NYT/ArtsBeat]
December is drawing to a close which means that it is time to stop dwelling on this year's deluge of disappointing entertainment and look forward to the most promising television and film projects of 2011. Herewith, the big and small screen moments I am genuinely excited about in the coming year. As always, I'd love to hear about yours in the comments below.
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Spoiler of the lowest order: Black Swan is chockablock with obvious swan imagery and a black/white motif that swallows the movie -- even if the photography itself is swoon lake. (Laff.) But unless you're hungry for psychodramatic, meth-level convulsions, you can actually glean the best parts of Black Swan through these new posters by design firm LaBoca. Check out their sanguine splendor after the jump.
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As if it wasn't bad enough that George Lopez presides over the 11 p.m. time slot on TBS, the Chola makeover guru is now planning on infiltrating the Los Angeles municipal government. The comedian made the announcement this morning on Good Day LA: "I intend to run for Mayor of Los Angeles...in 8 years," Lopez said. "If Arnold Schwarzenegger can be governor, why can't George Lopez be the mayor of Los Angeles?" By then, G-Lo joked, "the population of Latinos in California will be 96.4 percent." [Deadline]
To be honest, I hadn't given a lot of thought to anything coming up in 2011. Usually, I wait until the last minute to think about anything -- Christmas gifts? That's Thursday's problem! -- let alone a movie that might still be twelve months away. Now, being forced at gunpoint (figuratively; a literal description would be more my Gchat being on a constant loop with the words, "Where's your list?!"), to look ahead to 2011, there are quite a few things that I'm excited about for the New Year. Admittedly, I'd like to throw on a few movies that you've never heard of -- just to create the illusion that I possess some sort of eclectic knowledge to make myself feel better -- but that would be lying. So here's my actual, make-fun-of-it-if-you-want list.
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· Rapper 50 Cent is officially as big as Kanye West. At least when it comes to lampooning his Twitter persona. The grandmother who brought Kanye's tweets to viral life does the same for Fiddy in this new video from Booya Pictures. Because your day just wouldn't be complete without hearing an old lady say anal. Click ahead for some holiday-themed cheer, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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Looks like we'll be treated to 10 Best Picture nominees worth the recognition this year. (Take that, 2009, The Blind Side, and Up in the Air!) But now that 2010 is almost kaput, it's high-time for a reality check of the year's best films -- an unflinching glimpse back at the times when even quality cinema stumbled in its path to greatness. Here, we explore five great films with five really ridiculous (and questionably forgivable) scenes.
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Harry Cranes of the world, prepare to have your mind blown. While conventional wisdom states that no one with a DVR would ever sit through commercials, Neilsen reports that DVR users aged 18-49 are watching more commercials than ever before. Further, commercial viewing on "younger-skewing" shows like Gossip Girl and Glee rises some 50 percent when the broadcast is watched within three days of recording. The catch? The word "watch" has a very wide definition.
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As of this moment, almost every pick on my list of anticipated 2011 film and television projects is perfect. Every selection, in my mind, is exactly what I want it to be. Inevitably, some will disappoint (and some may not even come out this year), but that's the beauty of anticipation; there's no evidence against my unadulterated optimism! Yet. So as we finish counting up the disappointments and pleasant surprises of 2010, let's savor this moment; nobody can prove us wrong if we want to believe that 2011 will be the most knockout year of all-time.
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If Broadway had an NFL-like injury report, Julie Taymor's production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark would be listed as "questionable." In the wake of Monday night's latest injury -- when a stunt performer fell nearly ten feet into a pit beneath the stage -- safety inspectors with the New York State Department of Labor will pay a visit to the production. "We'll be talking to the production team, checking the harnesses, cables, and other equipment, and trying to determine what happened, and we'll have more information after that," said a department spokesman to the Times. Developing... [NYT/ArtsBeat]
