In the brand new trailer for New Year's Eve, Garry Marshall's holiday-themed movie event that promises to give the phrase "ensemble romantic comedy" a bad name, Robert De Niro wonders what could possibly beat "New York on New Year's Eve." I'll tell you what: Not throwing all of your actorly credibility out the window confetti-style to appear alongside Zac Efron, Jon Bon Jovi and Ludacris in a movie that features Ashton Kutcher trapped in an elevator with the annoying girl from Glee. You know what other moviegoers might also consider better than seeing Garry Marshall's vision of NYC on New Year's Eve? Tom Six's Human Centipede 2, which inspires similar nausea but for different reasons.
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Accepting an award last weekend at George Mason University, novelist Stephen King treated the audience to a reading of a passage from Dr. Sleep, his still-in-progress follow-up to The Shining. Remember little Danny Torrance, running from his deranged father (Jack Nicholson) in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film version? Well, Danny's all grown up now, using his gift to help people die peacefully. And there are vampires, because why not?
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Earlier this month, Tyler Perry was crowned entertainment's highest paid man. Upon hearing this news on last night's Conan, a staffer decided to get a piece of that $130 million bufferoony paycheck with his own mouthy, Madea-style character, Grandma Deondra. Check out the video and stick around for more Buzz Break.
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Single-named phenomenon Cancer has a deservedly chilly reputation outside of Hollywood, but in films, the heterogeneous class of diseases inhabits a world all its own as a performer, provocateur and villain. In this week's 50/50, Cancer arrives with a harrumph and lingers like a noxious haze, making it the Joan Crawford of 2011. This begs the question: What are Cancer's five greatest performances in cinema? The answer will force you into a beautiful monologue.
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Let's not belabor this: However Adam Sandler's forthcoming dual-role family comedy Jack and Jill turns out, there is no denying that its marketing campaign is deeply, profoundly disturbing. Like, nightmare fuel. Unbelievably misguided, lazy, slapped-together and unsightly. And really, that's not even counting the American marketing at this point.
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Since Joseph Gordon-Levitt is titillating you with cancer this week in 50/50 and Josh Hartnett is storming the art-house circuit with Bunraku, we have no choice but to revisit their joint alma mater, the hallowed halls of Halloween H20. It's not the best Halloween movie, and it's certainly not the worst, but as October dawns and the season of the witch descends, we're due for a fright -- and Halloween H20 delivers. It'll loosen the Activia from your trembling constitution.
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Love him or loathe him, Roman Polanski has officially, finally been recognized by the Zurich Film Festival. His acceptance of the fest's Lifetime Achievement Award comes two years after his previous attempt, when authorities arrested the notorious U.S. fugitive upon arrival at the airport. Thus commenced a 10-month culture-war odyssey that found Polanski in and out of jail while lawyers, commentators, detractors and defenders alike shouted over each other for what seemed like ages. Technically some of them still shout, but Polanski himself may have had the last word in Zurich.
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Happy Wednesday! Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: Summit signs up to go to Area 52... Michael Moore wants his book yanked from shelves in "murderous" Georgia... A closer look at Martin Scorsese's epic George Harrison documentary... and more.
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We may have one Johnny Depp adaptation fast approaching (The Rum Diary opens in theaters October 28), but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about the other Johnny Depp adaptation down the line. Dark Shadows, the actor's next and eighth collaboration with Tim Burton will bring the forgotten '60s goth soap opera of the same name to life. Although it isn't due out until May 2012, Empire does have a sneak peak of the behind-the-scenes action. Do you have your captioning pens handy?
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Adding another layer of intrigue to the saga of Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski and his notorious 1977 criminal case, previously documented in 2008's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, is a new documentary featuring testimonial from Polanski himself. Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir was helmed by showbiz documentarian Laurent Bouzereau and was revealed to be the secret screening set to follow the director's lifetime achievement award ceremony Tuesday at the Zurich Film Festival. Two years ago, Polanski was arrested while en route to the fest. Expect he'll make it through unscathed this time around? [THR]
Today at Fantastic Fest, Movieline got its hands on a VHS tape labeled "September 1988," packaged in an unmarked manila envelope. Perhaps (probably) not coincidentally, the date corresponds to recently released footage from Paranormal Activity 3, the forthcoming found footage prequel about spooky goings-on in the lives of a family haunted by unseen forces. Could this have something to do with tomorrow's hotly anticipated secret screening?
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Let's hear it for all of the readers who submitted some of the most thoughtful and hilarious 10-word reviews that Movieline HQ has ever read in honor of our Deadline Hollywood Game giveaway! As much as we'd love to send you all copies of The Fighter, True Grit, Shutter Island and Up in the Air, we can only gift the DVD bundle pack to one lucky reviewer. And the winner is...
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It's been a while since we checked in with the team behind The Worst Movie EVER! -- which is to say with Glenn Berggoetz, the actor/filmmaker/no-budget impresario whose gonzo epic set a record for box-office futility with an $11 opening. Things have been mostly looking up since then: There was a relatively well-received screening down in Virginia, and, according to Berggoetz, exhibition interest everywhere from a domestic TV syndicate to Brazil, Japan and beyond. But! There have been bumps along the road as well -- ugly, anonymous, death-threatening bumps.
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Another week, another giveaway to reward Movieline's punniest regulars. This time, we are celebrating the Deadline Hollywood Game that our sister site (in conjunction with Paramount) has just launched on Facebook. In honor of the fun new pastime that lets its users play Hollywood actor, agent, producer and director, Movieline is asking our own readers to play guest critic. You submit a review for one of four Paramount titles -- The Fighter, True Grit, Shutter Island and Up in the Air -- and we'll award the winner a prize pack that includes all four films.
Update: The contest is closed! Thanks to everyone who participated. We will now sort through the submissions and notify you of a winner shortly.
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In addition, that is, to an exceptional Alex Gibney documentary premiering tonight on ESPN: "How could the Cubs, up 3-0 and five outs away from the World Series, manage to lose 8-3? Did the players feel the expectation and the dread of its upending and so fulfill their fans' darkest fears? And why was it that once that game six was lost, most of the fans in Wrigley -- and even some of the players, as it turns out -- were certain that they would lose the next day, as if the fates had decided to twist the knife in their wound?" [Grantland]
