Although state-of-the-art in its rendering of textures, movement and stereography, DreamWorks’ latest 3D toon, The Croods, adopts a relatively primitive approach to storytelling with its Flintstonian construction of stock, ill-fitting narrative elements. Part family adventure story, part romance and part eye-popping thrill ride, this tale of a prehistoric family seeking a new home in a dangerous and geologically volatile environment won’t have the broad appeal of DreamWorks’ Shrek and Kung Fu Panda pics, or Fox’s own B.C.-era Ice Age franchise. But it should prove a solid earner after its March 22 release in a frame relatively free of rival predators. more »
When the Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, viewers across the globe were treated to Seth MacFarlane tossing out jokes that were exhausted before they were tried. Every line about how early the nomination announcements were fell flat on the West coast, so I can only imagine how weak they played in time zones that were already awake. His general onstage demeanor wasn’t doing him any favors either. He appeared shaken and unprepared, and while I doubt the nomination announcement was heavily rehearsed, I’m concerned about the man’s ability to compose himself on a global stage. He's good on video and audio, but how is he live? (Recall last year's Emmys, where he couldn't even find his mic.) more »
The Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin starrer was initially set for an early September release, but the tragedy in Aurora, CO at a The Dark Knight Rises showing at a multiplex threw the title into a tailspin. The Ruben-Fleischer-directed film about the L.A. police department's war against organized crime in the '40s and '50s. Gangster Squad is now set for a January release.
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Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs, G.I. Joe 2 director looks to new project based on Mattel toys; Iran may boycott the Venice Film Festival over sanctions; and Emmet/Furla Films and Envision Entertainment set significant funds for future projects.
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It seems like only yesterday comic book fans were all excited about the very first Spider-Man movie — Sam Raimi's 2002 take on the webslinging superhero, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. With Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone stepping in to lead Marc Webb's high school-set The Amazing Spider-Man, a lot of people are wondering if the reboot is any different at all. Time will tell if fans decide Amazing is better or worse, or maybe just the same as Raimi's Spider-Man — but looking back on interviews from 2002's Spider-Man junket, it turned out some of the exact same questions were asked of both sets of directors and stars.
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Comic-book movies can be many things — ridiculous, entertaining, stupendously dull – but very rarely are they erotic. I’m not talking about the garden-variety sexually neutral charge thrown off by a fit actor, man or woman, who happens to look good in a latex suit. Even in the best comic-book movies, made by filmmakers who know what they’re doing — people like Sam Raimi, Bryan Singer, Guillermo del Toro and Jon Favreau — sex is often treated as a mild embarrassment, a thing that just doesn’t mix well with action inspired by comic-book panels. And so amid all the questions about whether or not the Spider-Man franchise ought to have been rebooted just 10 years after Raimi kicked off his own spin on it, maybe the real question to ask of Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man is — when it comes to sexual chemistry, why can’t more comic-book movies be like this one?
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So says Marvel superproducer Avi Arad, describing the spark between the on- (and rumored off-)screen Amazing Spider-Man couple: "On camera the chemistry is real. Those scenes are where Marc Webb really gets into his element. It’s the hardest thing to do and they do it. These two are like Hepburn-Tracy of modern time. It’s a war of brains that turns into attraction." Does that make Spider-Man their Woman of the Year? Discuss. [ScreenCrush]
The new four-minute preview from The Amazing Spider-Man promises an extended look at "the summer's most anticipated film" — Sony's bracing, ballsy rebuke to The Avengers, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises. Only you know how truthfully that claim applies to you, but this much is true: There's not very much "new" here.
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As previewed earlier today for select audiences around the globe, here's Sony's brand spankin' new theatrical trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. (Find my full detailed Spider-Man preview Q&A recap, including descriptions of the sizzle reel that has not yet been released, here.) Take a look and weigh in, Spidey fans -- is this the version of the Marvel superhero we both need and deserve?
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Forget blowing a million or more on a Super Bowl ad; the day after upcoming tentpoles John Carter, Battleship, and G.I. Joe targeted football-watchers with pricey TV spots, Sony went after niche fans with an international simulcast screening of new footage and a 3-D preview of the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer set to hit tonight at midnight PT. Though it included some unfinished visual effects, the sizzle reel featuring 30-40 percent new footage (according to a rep for the studio) hinted at the scope and darkly humorous tone of the Marc Webb-directed reboot.
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It's crazy to think that Viola Davis's Oscar-nominated breakthrough in Doubt came only three short years ago, considering how forcefully the theater and film veteran has emerged as one of the more compelling actresses of her generation. As Aibileen Clark, an unassuming middle-aged maid in 1960s Mississippi in Tate Taylor's ensemble drama The Help, Davis wears the emotional toll of the Jim Crow South in her gait and gaze, an everywoman living through one of the most difficult times in America's past. And yet, thanks to the film's origins and the controversy surrounding her role, Davis nearly balked at taking on the "extraordinary" project.
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One of the highlights of yesterday's Comic-Con events was definitely the panel for the Amazing Spider-Man, where director Marc Webb and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans took the eager fans on an emotional Hall H journey. There was laughter, there were almost tears and there was terrifying footage of The Lizard. In cased you missed it, check out the highlights below.
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Well, if we weren't going to get Natalie Portman in Lionsgate's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies adaptation, Emma Stone makes for a feisty replacement. Stone has reportedly been offered the role of heroine Elizabeth Bennet in the Craig Gillespie-directed pic, based on Seth Grahame-Smith's popular parody spin, which introduces an undead epidemic to Jane Austen's classic novel.
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Another day, another set of publicity stills from upcoming movies for all of us to wrap our snarky heads around. Peek into the distant future (all the way to fall 2011) and help Movieline figure out what's going on in these images from Brett Ratner's tower heist flick Tower Heist, Tate Taylor's period novel adaptation The Help, and John Singleton's Abduction, AKA Taylor Lautner Gets $7.5 Million to Play Tom Cruise.
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