The year is drawing to a close, which means that it is time to start thinking about all the things you did not accomplish in 2011. (That Ghostbusters 3 script? Still unread. That copycat Wedding Crashers crime you committed in college? Still unresolved in court.) But before you do that, let's take a look back at some of my favorite Movieline stories that punctuated this remarkably unproductive calendar year.
more »
This past October, we looked long and hard briefly at the most pirated films of all time -- a fairly predictable list that included blockbuster titles like Avatar, The Dark Knight and Transformers. Today, TorrentFreak has released a more current snapshot of the movie-stealing industry: A list of the top ten pirated films this year. Surprisingly, there are a few films on this list that you probably paid to see.
more »
With a whopping $489.1 million global box office take under its belt, surely Warner Bros. could afford to settle its legal dispute with the tattoo artist who copyrighted Mike Tyson's tribal face design that Ed Helms sports in The Hangover Part II. And while details are hazy on WB's dealings with said artist, it appears that the beef has now been "amicably resolved." No digital erase-job for the DVD release! Creative copyright ostensibly protected! Happy endings for all! [The Wrap]
The good folks over at NextMovie continue their brilliant series Rappers Review Movies with a pairing even more perfect than the times they got MC Hammer to review Thor, and had Lil' Mama critique the latest Big Momma's sequel. After the jump, behold West Coast party rappers Tha Alkaholics play film critic -- liquor store purchases in hand, natch -- with (what else?) The Hangover Part II.
more »
What does Kung Fu Panda 2 have to do with King of the Hill, Midnight Run, and Animal House? Ask screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who co-scripted and co-produced the Oscar-nominated 2008 global hit Kung Fu Panda and its sequel, in theaters this weekend. After working their way up the ranks with TV comedy gigs, the duo has emerged one of DreamWorks Animation's strongest writing teams -- and to think, it all started with a stuffy office job in Boston...
more »
When he sat down with Movieline to talk The Hangover Part II (in theaters today), comedian-turned-actor Zach Galifianakis expressed a desire to balance his comedic work with dramatic roles. "I would love to do it if I could pull it off," he said. "I don't know if I can, but I would like to." Given that aspiration, Galifianakis couldn't have picked a more perfect film for his round of Movieline's My Favorite Scene -- one featuring funny man-turned-Oscar winner Robin Williams.
more »
Not even lackluster reviews can stop Todd Phillips' highly anticipated R-rated The Hangover Part II. Wednesday's midnight shows brought in a whopping $10.4M, Warner Bros. has the Bangkok-set sequel planned for the biggest opening ever for an R-rated film, and it's going into a five-day holiday weekend. Pundits estimate a $100M or higher opening take, and you know what that means: get ready for a Hangover Part III. [Deadline]
Physician-turned-comedian Ken Jeong (AKA Dr. Ken) got his start on the big screen with comic bits in films like Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, and Role Models, but he made his most memorable on-screen appearance in Todd Phillips' 2009 surprise hit The Hangover as a flamboyant gangster named Chow. This week in The Hangover Part II, Jeong returns to cause more mayhem on the streets of Bangkok with an entrance that manages to one-up the shocking sight of springing, fully nude, from the trunk of a Mercedes.
more »
Because of his unique brand of hilariously discomfiting stand-up comedy and, in particular, his mock-confrontational talk show satire Between Two Ferns, which lampoons the celebrity interview itself with clear-eyed vitriol, you might not peg Zach Galifianakis for a warm interviewee. But, like most comics, he's nothing like any of his own characters -- including Alan Garner, the delusional man-child who, along with his fellow "Wolf Pack"-ers (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and, this time around, a monkey) wakes up in a seedy Bangkok hotel room after yet another night of black-out debauchery in The Hangover Part II.
more »
"Unapologetic" was the word most frequently used by director Todd Phillips and his Wolf Pack cast and writers to describe the outrageous shenanigans that go down in The Hangover Part II, which finds the heroes of The Hangover once again dealing with a bad case of morning-after confusion. This time, they awake disoriented in Bangkok, a place that takes monkeyshines to a whole new level. "Sometimes to make a movie about mayhem," Phillips admitted at Wednesday's press conference, "you have to go to mayhem."
more »
Forget disgruntled theater owners: the tattoo artist who inked Mike Tyson's face back in 2003 is suing Warner Bros. over The Hangover Part II, claiming copyright infringement of his famous work. The tribal face tattoo, which Ed Helms spoofs in the sequel in a clear nod to Tyson, not only shows up in the film, it's prominently featured in the film's marketing campaign -- and that could mean big trouble for Warner Bros.
more »
Yesterday the internet was abuzz over a report that Todd Phillips got his Hangover 2 capuchin monkey addicted to cigarettes, but today animal lovers can breathe a sigh of relief. Phillips, via email, explains to Movieline that the whole story was intended as a joke. (What's more: He assures us that Crystal the monkey didn't actually do cocaine in the film, either. Phew!) Hit the jump for the director's explanation in full.
more »
SNL superstar Kristen Wiig breezed into Austin midnight Sunday for what director Paul Feig accurately termed "Kristen Wiig Appreciation Night" -- a double header of this Friday's Paul followed by a special work in progress screening of this summer's Bridesmaids. The May 13 comedy marks Wiig's first honest-to-goodness starring vehicle, an event in itself, but here's even better news: Bridesmaids isn't just the smart and grounded antidote to the shrill chick flicks we all hate; it's the most raunchy, sweet and wonderfully vulgar R-rated comedy in recent memory. Bring it, Hangover 2.
more »
In conversation with Movieline's Elvis Mitchell Friday at SXSW, director Todd Phillips talked all things Todd Phillips: His fascination with awkward male relationships, the status of The Hangover 2, how heartbroken he was when his HBO documentary Frat House was shelved by a lawsuit, and wise words he once received from James Cameron. And somewhere between sharing revelations from Due Date (a test of how forgiving an audience could be of Robert Downey Jr.) and expressing love for both Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen (they're both "my boys"), Phillips accused Warner Bros. of violating DGA rules in the name of milking the home-video market.
more »
