Can you believe that someone is accusing the writers of This Means War of being... lazy? "The fact remains, though, that most people don’t launch into film-studies lectures on a first date, not unless they’re in the movie business. When they do so in a romantic comedy it’s a giveaway that the screenwriter was too lazy and unimaginative to give their characters any hobbies that they don’t have themselves. It shifts the story even further away from reality." Seriously! It's getting bad. Someone start a human rights petition. [The Economist via The Awl]
It was indeed a very happy President's Day Weekend in Hollywood, where studios enjoyed the rare treat of five wide February releases raking in $20 million or more. The bad news? The two newest ones brought up the rear. Sorry, Nicolas Cage and Reese Witherspoon — your Holiday Weekend Receipts are here.
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It started with the pudding. Oh, not just any pudding: A perfect pool of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate-hazelnut goodness -- a confection so rich, so irresistible, that even Tom Hardy found himself drawn like a moth to a flame to the dessert table before the press conference for This Means War the other week in Beverly Hills. He grabbed a saucer and ambled over to a pack of bewildered journalists, offering an ebullient bon mot about The Woman in Black. “I’d have eaten through Daniel Radcliffe to get that part!” he raved, or so the story goes, before setting down his dish and disappearing once more into the back hallways of the Four Seasons.
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If men are from Mars and women from Venus, This Means War drifts in cold, empty space somewhere between the two orbits, where, as the famous tagline goes, no one can hear you scream.
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How's this for a dramatic break-up story? After a nine-year relationship with SDB Partners, Chris Pine opted to part ways via email. Having worked with the actor for pretty much his entire career to date, during which time he rose from guest slots on ER and CSI: Miami to nabbing Star Trek and this week's slick rom-com This Means War, Pine's former agents weren't going to be dumped so easily; they're suing Pine for millions in back- and future-commissions with a lawsuit that puts his salaries on blast. All of which means that today we get to play "Guess That Salary - Chris Pine Edition!"
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Anticipating total Valentine's Day box office domination by competitor The Vow -- the Rachel McAdams-has-amnesia-and-can't-remember-she's-married-to-Channing Tatum weepie -- Fox has shifted their McG-helmed spy love triangle action rom-com This Means War again back to Friday, Feb. 17 to avoid being slaughtered. The Reese Witherspoon/Chris Pine/Tom Hardy romp is still sneaking into theaters on Feb. 14 for a limited pre-opening run, but who are we kidding: Channing Tatum + tears + pining is the way to go, especially if there's no shot at Hardy and Pine running off together in each others' arms. [Deadline]
It’s the biggest, most important question of the season, people: Whom will Reese Witherspoon choose, between pillow-lipped Brit Tom Hardy and confident playboy Chris Pine, in the spy vs. spy love triangle rom-com This Means War? While you won’t get any spoilers here for the Valentine’s Day release, let Hardy and director McG tease you with the envelope-pushing alternate ending ideas that didn’t quite make it to the final cut. (And no -- McG didn't learn from Terminator: Salvation, which he admitted he “pussed out on.” Hindsight, my friends.)
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What if Hollywood reformatted the plot of Mr. & Mrs. Smith from he-spy vs. she-spy to be he-spy vs. he-spy over the same she? Then you would have This Means War, the upcoming action comedy from McG which stars Tom Hardy (with his real accent!) and Chris Pine as two secret agents who go head-to-head after learning they are dating the same woman, played by Reese Witherspoon. Oh, and did I mention that This Means War also marks Chelsea Handler's live action blockbuster debut?
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