SXSWers will get a peek at Will Ferrell's Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre this week in Austin, but here's a quick taste of what you're in for: Ferrell as a Mexican ranchero singing the moonlit ditty "Yo No Se" in a scene from the film, which is best described as something of a Spanish telenovela satire grindhouse comedy.
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Avengers director Joss Whedon spent much of his weekend in Austin at SXSW pounding the pavement for The Cabin in the Woods (that is, when he wasn't busy dancing into the wee hours of the night) but he also managed to mostly deflect the laser geek gaze of the bloggerati when it came to divulging information about his upcoming Marvel superhero pick. That said, he did offer up one huge clarification on a matter Avengers fans have been trying to root out via various clues and tea leaves: Who are the villains under Loki's command?
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Last night at SXSW, Broken Lizard alum Jay Chandrasekhar debuted his latest comedy, The Babymakers, which features Olivia Munn as a woman whose not-so-potent husband (Paul Schneider) breaks into a sperm bank to retrieve his own, um, donations so they can get pregnant. Given the film's balls-out embracing of sex jokes and a subplot concerning racy photographs, one could view those recent hacked photos of Munn in provocative poses as brilliantly conceived viral marketing, a fact that hasn't escaped Chandrasekhar. He offered Movieline his two cents on the matter with a nod to Munn's own recently-released photo response.
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Talking about Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s savvy and surprising genre deconstruction Cabin in the Woods, the opening night film of SXSW 2012, is a tricky thing partly because nobody involved wants any part of the film spoiled for their opening weekend audience and also, more importantly, because those surprises really are best left discovered by virgin eyes. So rest assured: All spoilery plot details, character developments, casting choices, kills, and surprises that follow in this piece have been redacted for the preservation of discovery, leaving only all the vital bits of information up for discussion. Like, after filming in 2009 and being delayed for so long that star Chris Hemsworth is now kind of famous, is Cabin in the Woods actually any good?
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Let's see — after Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and now reportedly Tom Cruise, who's left to consider to star opposite Beyoncé Knowles in Clint Eastwood's long-planned, probably-never-gonna-happen Star is Born remake? George Clooney? Brad Pitt? Liam Neeson? Viggo Mortensen? Jean Dujardin? Philip Seymour Hoffman? Albert Brooks? Charlie Sheen? Matthew Broderick? Peter Dinklage? Richard Dreyfuss? (Too busy.) Ned Beatty? Danny McBride? Roberto Benigni? Peyton Manning? Who did I forget? [Deadline]
Congrats are in order to Eddie Murphy, who with his latest comedy A Thousand Words joins the heralded ranks of filmmakers who've achieved perfection, of a sort -- the perfect 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's the white whale of film criticism, a feat so rare that only films like One Missed Call or last year's Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star have earned the distinction. So let's raise a glass to A Thousand Words' now-guaranteed eventual Razzie nomination and remember a few of the best-worst films to earn the double zero distinction!
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With John Carter currently drawing both mixed reviews and potentially catastrophic early box-office returns, Movieline today revisits our conversation with director Andrew Stanton and producer Lindsey Collins about the film's troubled back story — and what they and Disney really have to lose. - Ed.
A trade report last month suggested that Disney’s March sci-fi tent pole John Carter was in serious trouble owing to Pixar vet Andrew Stanton’s relative inexperience directing live-action film, citing rumors that production reshoots and late-game rejiggering had bloated the budget from $200 million to as much as $300 million. Speaking with press Thursday, Stanton called the report “a complete and utter lie,” insisting that he stayed on time and on budget – but it’s easy to see how the Pixar way of moviemaking may have made for a bumpy transition for the filmmaker.
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There's an old Korean proverb intoning that anyone who attempts to make a sequel to Beverly Hills Ninja starring David Hasselhoff will eventually get the cosmic punishment he or she deserves. If you don't believe that, then ask Jay So, the plaintiff in a new lawsuit involving the unfinished Beverly Hills Ninja 2 and six figures' worth of unpaid development work.
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Get ready for some twee twinkling on the Croisette -- Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is set to open the 2012 Cannes Film Festival! Last year's opener, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, went on to enjoy a rousingly successful theatrical run on its way to a Best Picture nomination; Anderson's comedy, about a pair of pre-teen lovebirds on the lam in 1960s New England, will open stateside just over a week after its May 16 Cannes debut and marks his return to live-action film after his most recent film, the Oscar-nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox.
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When Darren Aronofsky directed a sumptuous Revlon commercial for mascara last year I called it his "least-daring work to date," but now comes a new project to trump that dubious accomplishment. Behold, the Oscar-nominated Black Swan director's gripping ad for Kohl's department store featuring J. Lo singing and dancing to a Kiki Dee cover song, a video that makes Jessica Biel plumping her lashes look like Requiem for a Dream.
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Each year SXSW plays host to a slate of risk-taking fare of all kinds, from true indie offerings to upcoming studio releases geared to a slightly more open crowd, and the 2012 film line-up features no shortage of movies poised to earn that precious film festival commodity: Positive buzz. But some projects have more at stake than others -- say, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's long-awaited Cabin in the Woods, Will Ferrell's Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre, or the directorial debut of actor Matthew Lillard. On the eve of SXSW 2012 (which runs March 9-17 in Austin, Texas), check out the ten SXSW titles with the most to prove going into their festival debuts.
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Movieline's New York-based readers had a chance over the last few days to review their favorite Shakespeare screen adaptation in exactly 10 words for a chance to win tickets to tomorrow's opening-night screening of the documentary Shakespeare High. After browsing the entries left both here and on Twitter, we have settled on a winner!
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This is real: Paramount is in talks with Magical Elves to direct their Katy Perry 3-D concert documentary -- as in Magical Elves, the producing duo comprised of Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, who previously produced the Paramount smash Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in addition to creating reality TV "classics" like Project Runway and Top Chef. The film will follow the singer on and off-stage, with Footloose director Craig Brewer also onboard to executive produce. The question is, can Perry bring the star power and fan adulation that drove predecessors Never Say Never and Michael Jackson's This Is It to huge box office returns -- or will it take some fairy-esque magic to translate Perry's candy-colored pop persona into movie gold? [THR]
While the latest chapter in the rapidly expanding mythology of Harvey Weinstein involves the mogul shooting down a pitch from President Obama ("I sent him an e-mail back saying he was the most overqualified book scout I've ever had"), I remain preoccupied with the saga surrounding Bully, the Weinstein Company doc still embroiled in a battle with the MPAA ratings board to overturn its R for strong language. The publicity clamor continued Wednesday with a young bully victim dropping off a petition with a reported 200,000 signatures to MPAA HQ and Ellen Degeneres discussing the "controversy" on her show. But it's what quietly came the day before that seems the most intriguing.
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Thanks to the magic of DVD and editing software, Star Wars fans have had their way with George Lucas's space saga for years now, re-editing bits and parts of the films into fan cuts to celebrate their favorite parts of the franchise (and fix its most cringeworthy bits). So why should famous fanboys be any different? Like, say, Topher Grace, who this week hosted a one-time only screening of his Star Wars: Episode III.5: The Editor Strikes Back, edited down from the prequels into an 85-minute cut that leaves most of the snoozey old space politics (and Jar Jar Binks' screen time) on the cutting-room floor. To the blogs!
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