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 »
There is apparently no end to Lilo & Stitch creator Chris Sanders' talents, from doing a great Nicolas Cage impression to braving the bitter cold at the NYC premiere of The Croods - with no jacket! more »
If you're going to watch Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds traipse through the stinker that is Safe House, at least have fun with the unofficial Safe House Drinking Game, courtesy of the fine folks at Film School Rejects: "TAKE A DRINK WHEN YOU SEE: a flag, an explosion, a close-up on a computer screen... TAKE A DRINK WHEN SOMEONE SAYS 'Frost,' 'house,' 'file' or 'files,' the name of a city..." Might I also suggest taking a swig every time you find yourself on the verge of a shaky-cam migraine? Prepare to get wasted. [Film School Rejects]
Safe House is a twisted claw of a movie, a picture so visually ugly that, to borrow a line from Moms Mabley, it hurt my feelings. Let’s forget, for a moment, about the sub-sub-sub-Training Day plot, in which a wily old-coot operative played by Denzel Washington simultaneously annoys and educates spring-chicken CIA agent Ryan Reynolds. The plot mechanics don’t matter much. What does matter is the inexplicable horror of how lousy this film looks. Movies aren’t strictly a visual medium -- they’re too complicated for that -- but there’s something wrong when the only thing you can think of while watching a picture is, “Damn! My eyes!”
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"Usually when I hear the words 'family drama,' I run," said Willem Dafoe, who nevertheless found something to savor in writer-director Dennis Lee's Fireflies in the Garden. Little did Dafoe or his castmates Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Emily Watson, Hayden Panettiere and least of all Lee himself know that their particular family drama wouldn't make it to American theaters only today -- nearly four years after its Berlin Film Festival premiere in 2008.
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If Sean Penn didn't love the abstract narrative Terrence Malick employed in Tree of Life, maybe he'll dig the pretty-similar, much more conventional stuff in the long-delayed Fireflies in the Garden -- a Tree of Life Lite starring Ryan Reynolds as a middle-aged man who returns to his Texas childhood home to deal with his strained relationship with his stern father (Willem Dafoe). Period flashbacks, memories of an angelic mother (Julia Roberts), and a pivotal death that inspires exploration into deep emotional scars? The only things missing are the cosmic clouds of particles laden with meaning. Would Penn approve?
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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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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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