trailer: everything must go

anchorman. talladega nights. step brothers. old school.  just a few of the amazing comedies that the beloved will ferrell has headlined. but his latest certainly doesn’t fall in line with these slapstick credits!

watch the trailer (above) of will’s new movie everything must go in which he plays a man who lives on his front lawn and sells all his belongings after losing his wife & job. thoughts?

it’s obvious this has a comedic element, but there’s definitely some underlying drama goin’ on. it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll be able to pull viewers away from ron burgundy and into nick halsey, his character in this new flick.

everything must go has been getting good reviews for the most part: “it is a sweet — and often very honest — look at life, and another example of how criminally underused will ferrell’s talents are” (via moviefone). but there’s definitely one thing critics universally agree about – that this will not be a big money-maker at the box office. with a budget of only $8 million, the studio at least won’t be losing money. i’ll be interested to see the numbers though! catch it in theaters may 13th.

 

 

‘mars needs moms’ bombs

 

well this just might be a first!

disney release mars needs moms debuted in theaters this past weekend, to less-than-impressive numbers. i know what you’re asking yourself… what is mars needs moms? (see trailer above).

RIGHT?!

i’ve got a fairly healthy obsession with the movie industry, habitually checking news and box office up-and-comers. even I felt a little in the dark about this flick!

it seems to be quite the dud. after costing disney over $150 million to produce, moviegoers only shelled out $6.8 million during its opening weekend. OUCH.

disney president of worldwide distribution chuck viane says of the flop, “the right audience came, but not in the numbers we needed. i’m disappointed for the filmmakers. they spent at least two years of their lives making a terrific movie that people won’t see.”

in my opinion, it was a huge marketing slip-up. usually, you see promos for movies on TV, internet, radio and you then make the decision on whether or not you want to see it. we didn’t even get the chance to decide cuz we didn’t see those promos! perhaps we’ll see it fair better over the next few weeks?

‘hitch’ takes to TV

did you like the movie hitch?

good! then set your DVR. FOX has won the rights to the TV series adaptation of  the 2005 rom-com. writer peter chiarelli of the proposal is set to pen an “action-packed” hour-long script and pending approval, will hit your TV’s sometime next year.

based off the ‘date doctor’ premise, hitch will most likely work off the idea of mentoring a new client for each episode.

thoughts? without will smith and kevin james, this could be a bumpy road. but i’m willing to give it a chance.

no fair lady

not a very fair fight, if you ask me!

actress emma thompson has been tapped to write the screenplay for the remake of my fair lady and has quite the opinion about the original’s star, the iconic ms. audrey hepburn! she says:

“i was thrilled to be asked to do it because, having a look at it, i thought that there needs to be a new version. i’m not hugely fond of the film. i find audrey hepburn fantastically twee. twee is whimsy without wit. it’s mimsy-mumsy sweetness without any kind of bite. and that’s not for me.

she can’t sing [her singing was dubbed in the film] and she can’t really act, i’m afraid. i’m sure she was a delightful woman – and perhaps if i had known her i would have enjoyed her acting more, but i don’t and i didn’t, so that’s all there is to it, really.”

lay off, emma! i mean, seriously, hepburn is one of the most beloved actresses of all time. in addition to slamming the original’s star, emma also plans on giving the classic story a “feminist makeover.” she goes on to explain that main character eliza doolittle is “sold into sexual slavery” by her father. wait, i must’ve missed that part?!

based on these revelations, do YOU plan on seeing the remake? i think i’ll pass.

‘black swan’ gives chills

oookay. i tuned into this trailer of black swan, expecting to get an inside peek into the world of competitive ballet. NOPE. it’s creepy.

starring natalie portman, mila kunis and winona ryder, black swan is due out in theaters december 1. i suppose i should’ve known there’d be twists with director darren aronofsky of requiem for a dream and the wrestler fame at the helm!

more than anything, though, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding portman and kunis’ love scene (of course). kunis says, “anything sexual in this film is not there for the sake of being sexual. i think people are hoping it’s like two girls making out and pillow fighting. it’s not smut.”

then what is it? the synopsis explains:

“nina (portman) is a ballerina in a new york city ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. when artistic director thomas leroy decides to replace prima ballerina beth (ryder) for the opening production of their new season, swan lake, nina is his first choice. but nina has competition: a new dancer, lily (kunis), who impresses leroy as well. swan lake requires a dancer who can play both the white swan with innocence and grace, and the black swan, who represents guile and sensuality. nina fits the white swan role perfectly but lily is the personification of the black swan. as the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side – a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.”

enough with that. watch the trailer above. does black swan catch your interest?

xtina acting!

christina aguilera is spreading her wings into the movie scene. shocker, right?! the singer landed the lead role in burlesque (trailer above), due out near thanksgiving.

hoping for something original? not here! the tired story is about a small-town girl who books a one-way ticket to LA in hopes of becoming a star. she longs to perform at a burlesque club, which, for most, is the job you take when your real dreams fall through. ha!

she’s gotta convince club managers cher and stanley tucci to give her a shot. sounds a bit like demi moore’s dud striptease or elizabeth berkeley’s showgirls. which, if you don’t know by now, is NOT a good thing.

good luck with the release, xtina! i could barely even sit through the trailer.


wave bye-bye to the oscar!

i bet this guy is just kicking himself right about now… co-producer of the academy-award nominated film the hurt locker took a fairly unconventional approach to garnering support for his film. nicolas chartier sent out a mass email to beg for votes!

umm, can we say against the rules?! take a look at chartier’s desperate email below…

i hope all is well with you. i just wanted to write you and say i hope you liked hurt locker and if you did and want us to win, please tell (name deleted) and your friends who vote for the Oscars, tell actors, directors, crew members, art directors, special effects people, if everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film, we need independent movies to win like the movies you and i do, so if you believe the hurt locker is the best movie of 2010, help us! i’m sure you know plenty of people you’ve worked with who are academy members whether a publicist, a writer, a sound engineer, please take 5 minutes and contact them. please call one or two persons, everything will help!

what the heck was he thinking? and did you catch that dig at favored best picture winner avatar? even though he quickly realized his HUGE mistake and wrote an apology letter, the damage had already been done.

deemed an “ethical lapse” by the academy executive commitee, they have ruled to bar the hurt locker producer from the awards ceremony. it’s truly sad, because the movie was actually pretty darn good. did he ruin the hurt locker‘s chances for picking up the best picture award? i guess we’ll see!

it’s oscar time

ahhh my favorite time of the year. the academy awards! tune in to catch the coverage on sunday, march 7th at 5pm PST on ABC.

co-hosted by two of hollywood’s funniest – steve martin and alec baldwin – it’ll be a pretty entertaining show. and ladies, there’ll be plenty of eye candy. award presenters include such gorgeous men as ryan reynolds, keanu reeves, bradley cooper, chris pine & gerard butler.

an amazing line-up of movies are in the running for the night’s top honors… should be exciting! check out all the nominations below, with my picks in pink!

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Directing
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air

Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey SidibePrecious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Writing – Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Writing – Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

Music (Original Song)
“Almost There” – The Princess and the Frog
“Down in New Orleans” – The Princess and the Frog
“Loin de Paname” – Paris 36
“Take It All” – Nine
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart”) – Crazy Heart

Music (Original Score)
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Foreign Language Film
Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

Film Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Documentary Feature
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria