When I watched Toy Story 3 last week, I couldn't shake the feeling I'd seen it all before -- and it wasn't just the similarities to Toy Story 1 and 2 that were ringing a bell. Then it hit me: Toy Story 3 is just like A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg's underrated 2001 mess-terpiece. One is critically revered and destined to become one of the highest-grossing films ever, and one... wasn't. Still, they've got an awful lot in common. Spoilers ahead.
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And the children shall lead them. In an effort to goose sagging ratings and shrugged buzz, American Idol announced today that it would lower its minimum age requirement from 16 to 15. "A lot of young, talented people are now seeking careers and representation before they turn 16," said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. Translation: Expect to see the Simon Cowell-less Idol do whatever it can next season to find the next viral youngster, even if it means forging a birth certificate for 12-year-old Greyson Chance. [USA Today]
"A promotional campaign for the third Twilight movie at Burger King takes advantage of the rivalry between Twilight fans enamored of the two main male characters. The campaign, scheduled to get under way on Monday, supports a game that Burger King customers can play [...] The game has two panels, one labeled "Team Edward," after the vampire heartthrob, and the other labeled "Team Jacob," after the hottie werewolf. In the campaign, dueling devotees of the two characters are seen marching into a Burger King restaurant, urging customers to play the game by scratching off the panel with their favorite character." -- NY Times, June 18
INT. STERLING COOPER DRAPER PRYCE -- DAY
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After a difficult month that included the release of an embarrassing Mamma Mia! audition tape, an even-more-embarrassing attempt to rediscover relevance via a parody of his audition tape and one DUI, where his blood alcohol level was reportedly nearly three times the legal limit, Chris Klein has checked into rehab for alcohol addiction. Klein's publicist confirmed "After recent events, Chris was forced to take a clear look at a problem he has been trying to deal with himself for years. He understands now that he can not beat this disease alone." [People]
Does the thought of sitting through The Avengers -- with its jumble of superheroes both old (Iron Man) and new (Hawkeye) -- make you recoil in disgust? Good news: You're not alone. While superhero fatigue might not be an American Medical Association recognized disease, it sure feels legitimate. And perhaps Marvel has read that writing on the wall -- or maybe they're hoping the obvious schadenfreude they experienced this weekend over the DC Comics bomb Jonah Hex doesn't come back and bite them in the ass. Either way: Rumors are swirling that -- like PIxar -- the comic book studio will start producing short films to run in front of their tentpole releases as a way to tell stories with the characters who aren't ready to make A-squad. Good idea! But which 5 Marvel heroes would benefit from this most? Embrace your inner Comic Book Guy and click ahead to find out.
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It only took forever, but exactly six theaters in Japan have answered the call to screen the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove. This follows a bout of feverish nationalist protest by a small but vocal minority who'd pledged to lobby against any venues that dared exhibit the dolphin-hunting expose. The free-speech crowd found momentum of its own in the meantime (thanks in part to the country's cinema federation and a couple influential daily newspapers), nudging a half-dozen venues into opening the film July 3. Should be fun! Will let you know how that goes... [NYT]
After the Bollywood blockbusters 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan found lucrative Stateside receptions in late 2009/early 2010, the follow-up epic Raavan had far less luck over the weekend. An estimated $551,000 opening on 119 screens may look all right at a glance, but compared to those aforementioned titles -- which respectively opened to $1.6 million and $1.9 million in the same number of theaters -- this is what you might call a bomb. (Particularly with the global reach of stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.) Better luck next time, gang -- maybe go for the 3D conversion? [Box Office Mojo via TOH]
· Not a moment too soon (the film started shooting today), Demi Moore signed on to the ensemble cast of Margin Call, the frantic day-in-the-life drama about a cluster of Wall Streeters grappling with the early signs of the financial meltdown. Moore is set to play a "chief risk-management officer at a firm," which, if hindsight is any guide, implies not just a little villainy. Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci co-star. [Deadline]
Michael Shannon goes bad, and the Vincent Gallo/Michael Madsen pairing you've always dreamed of will come to fruition as Hollywood Ink continues after the jump.
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Finally, finally, FINALLY. After months of forcing ourselves to dine on just-decent enough movies -- yeah, I guess Iron Man 2 was fun, Mickey Rourke was a hoot at least -- we have ourselves a true blue certified, Good Movie to talk about...contrarian d-bags be damned. And as a result, the moviegoing masses -- sick of having to subsist on a thin diet of gruel and MacGruber -- flocked to Toy Story 3 in record breaking numbers. Oh, and Jonah Hex totally bombed. Grab your favorite strawberry-scented bear and click on for the weekend receipts.
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Up until now, summer 2010 seemed like a vast wasteland of disappointment. Shrieking harridans and chubby, middle-aged marksmen marred the multiplex week after disappointing week. But like an oasis in a desert of suck came Toy Story 3. And it was brilliant and funny and exciting. But it was also possibly one of the tear-jerkingiest movies to come out of Pixar yet. Click through to see what scenes caused the most waterworks, but, of course, beware of spoilers.
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35 years ago this weekend, audiences had the living crap scared out of them by a shoddily constructed, malfunctioning shark named Bruce in a movie that went 100 days over schedule, cost nearly twice its original budget, and was helmed by a neophyte director who only had one other movie to his name. Happy Anniversary, Jaws! Not only did you shake off all your initial troubles, you became the very first movie in history to gross more than $100 million dollars at the domestic box office and to this day, you're still scaring people into not venturing too far from the shore when they hit the beach. Celebrate by watching the original trailer after the jump.
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Summer 2010 has been rough going for pretty much everyone other than alcoholic billionaires and hackneyed ogres. It's only mid-June but the corpses of the fizzled and the failed -- Prince of Persia, Sex and the City 2, Robin Hood, and now Jonah Hex -- line the multiplex like a morgue. And today Fox is worried that their big summer action flick, Knight and Day, might be the next stiff up on the slab.
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Her comically bad Saturday Night Live performance aside, pop strumpet Ke$ha -- gotta love that dollar sign -- seems to have a knack for creating ridiculously infectious radio hits that television and movie marketers can't stop exploiting. For instance, the ubiquitous "Tik Tok" has appeared in numerous trailers, was the unofficial theme for upfront week and even replaced the famous Danny Elfman opening on an episode of The Simpsons. The fact that Ke$ha's latest single, "Your Love is My Drug," is even more catchy than "Tik Tok" simply cannot be lost on Hollywood. But which upcoming movie will exploit "Drug's" constant radio presence during the summer of 2010 to liven up its trailer? Movieline investigates.
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Good news for both perverts and tech geeks! Hustler is producing an Avatar-themed porno entitled, This Ain't Avatar XXX, which will be available in glorious 3-D, joining Hustler's previous porn parodies This Ain't Star Trek XXX and Whorry Potter and the Sorcerer's Balls. The smutty take on James Cameron's blockbuster is, uh...coming out in September and, frankly, what they did with penis ponytails in the actual movie was weird enough. I don't want to think where they'll be doing with them in this version. [Huffington Post]
Normally horror remakes are treated like wholesale junk -- and with good reason, right A Nightmare on Elm Street? -- but here's one to keep an eye on: Craig Gillespie's Fright Night. Already boasting an impressive cast -- featuring Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and, as the vampire, Colin Farrell -- the remake has added Verge alumna Imogen Poots as the female lead. She'll play "the girlfriend," which sounds lame until you remember the original Fright Night and consider how many scenes she'll have opposite Farrell's evil vampire. [THR/Heat Vision]
