Now here's a trend I can get behind: "[U]p to December, there hadn't been a single Russian film in the top 20. The film expected to create a bombastic box-office crater -– war epic Burnt By the Sun 2, at $40m the country's most expensive production ever –- fizzled out embarrassingly when part two was released in May. A few years ago, Russians learned to stop worrying and love the blockbuster as they began producing SFX-laden spectaculars like Night Watch; now they're learning about the flipside -– the car-crash pleasures of rubbernecking a box-office flop." [The Guardian]
Considering how unabashedly Quentin Tarantino wears his cinephilia on his sleeve, it's always fascinating to get a peek inside that movie geek brain of his to see what's swimming around. And thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives, the world now knows which 11 films of last year topped QT's best-of list, which just missed the cut, and which movies, interestingly enough, earned his "Nice Try" award.
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"Move, b****, get out the way!" said Cars 2 to Green Lantern as the Pixar sequel burned rubber over all over the competition this weekend. Hey, if Mater and Lightning McQueen can eat sushi and have car doors and live in a world with sidewalks but no humans with no discernable method of procreation in place, Cars 2 can speak in the parlance of Ludacris in my head. Especially when it defies everyone - skeptics, haters, that 34 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating -- to rake in $68M in its opening weekend. Let's review the weekend receipts!
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Financing is still the main obstacle that stands between Terry Gilliam and his long-gestating Don Quixote project, and he's got at least one scapegoat to blame for sucking up all the money in Europe: Woody Allen. That's just one of the amazingly honest, semi-joking truth bombs he dropped on a Vulture reporter while discussing the failure of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, the "green" movies -- Green Lantern and Green Hornet -- the problem with comic book movies these days, and more.
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Attention, Los Angelenos! Film Independent's 2011 LA Film Fest kicks off this week, offering a variety of new films, festival darlings, retrospectives, and special events from June 16-26. After the jump, scroll through 18 of the must-see films, Q&As, and events to catch during the fest, from guest director Guillermo del Toro's many planned appearances to Ryan Gosling's Drive, Green Lantern, and the historic (and insanely unpredictable) combination of Erykah Badu and Ricky Gervais.
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What's a Green Lantern? Why are your local nerds suddenly chanting the same oath over and over again? What the heck is a "construct?" Newbie Green Lanternites can learn all this and more in WB's new behind-the-scenes featurette for the June 17 superhero flick, while hardcore fans get new glimpses of Parallax doing its thing on an entire city block. There's something for everyone!
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Cannes has the glamour of the Croisette, Sundance boasts the first discoveries of the year, and Toronto and Venice have awards season buzz in their corner. Even Tribeca, finally, has its own distinct identity. But the Los Angeles Film Festival has often been too many things to people, and being smack dab in the middle of the entertainment industry has contributed in the past to that identity crisis. This year's edition may change that.
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With summer movie season nigh, Movieline turned to the critics to see which blockbusters and potential sleepers are at the top of the experts' most anticipated lists. From star-powered vehicles to long-awaited sequels, space superheroes to Spielbergian sci-fi, our pundits' picks ran the gamut, but one film emerged the clear front-runner. Is it the same event movie you can't wait to see?
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Variety reports that Warner Bros.'s last-minute Green Lantern VFX efforts have gone over budget to the tune of $9 million as the studio races to finish -- and, one hopes, finish in high quality -- the final touches on the CG-heavy June 17 release. Coincidentally, today WB released new images of Green Lantern Corps. members Kilowog and Sinestro, which look pretty darn impressive. Check 'em out after the jump and hear more of the summer blockbuster squeeze hitting a number of this season's biggest releases.
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Deadline reports that visual effects veteran Tim Miller (X-Men, X2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) has graduated to the helm of Fox's Deadpool, which is currently being written by Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. But with its star currently carrying another studio's comic book tent pole (Green Lantern), how soon will Deadpool happen with Reynolds -- and will it be the Deadpool movie that Reynolds wants to make?
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Friday at WonderCon, Blake Lively revealed how she nabbed the role of Carol Ferris in Green Lantern: Warner Bros. execs saw her striking turn as a drug-addicted hot mess in The Town and invited her to read for the part. Coincidentally, Amy Adams landed her Lois Lane gig on the heels of her performance in The Fighter, so let's call it a trend -- the Massachusetts Moxie Leading Lady Rule, in which throwing down on the streets of the Bay State proves that you're more than capable of hanging with supermen.
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