Alt Film Guide

More Rules Changes for the 86th Academy Awards

Andre Soares — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:37:20 PDT

Oscar 2014: (Flexible) maximum of two winners in Best Animated Feature Film category (photo: 2013 Best Animated Feature winner Brave) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced another rule change for the 2014 Academy Awards. This latest change affects the Animated Feature Film category. According to the Academy’s press release, from now on there will be "a maximum of two award recipients" for Best Animated Feature Film, one of whom must have a producer credit. And that’s where things get a bit confusing. Despite the "maximum of two" Oscar recipients, "the director and/or key creative individual shall continue to be a recipient, and in the circumstance of a two-person team with shared and equal director credit, a third statuette may be awarded." In other words, it’s a flexible two-person maximum. Last year, at most two individuals were listed per nominated film in the Best Animated Feature Film category: Tim Burton for Frankenweenie, Sam Fell and Chris Butler for ParaNorman, Peter Lord for The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Rich Moore for Wreck-It Ralph, and winners Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman for Brave. More Oscar 2014 rules changes: Best Foreign Language Film and Documentary Shorts Announced a few days ago, the most important change in the Oscar 2014 voting process affects the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Documentary Short categories. From now on, Academy voters will be able to watch the nominated films either at a theatrical screening or on DVD. That means for the first time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ entire voting membership will automatically be eligible to choose the winners in all 24 Oscar categories. Why the Academy waited until 2013 to come up with this change is unclear. This should have taken place in 1983 — at the latest, as VHS tapes had been available since the late ’70s. Perhaps making thousands of VHS tapes back then would have been too costly? But those people are filthy rich! Anyhow, better in 2013 than in 2033. “This change continues our efforts to expand our members’ participation in all aspects of the Academy’s activities including, of course, voting for the Oscars,” Academy president Hawk Koch was quoted as saying. “Building on this past season’s 90% record voter turnout, we want to give our members as many opportunities as possible to see these great films and vote in these categories next year.” (If that percentage figure is accurate — even if it doesn’t represent voting across the board in the Oscars’ two dozen categories — that’s quite impressive indeed.) So, before the Oscar 2014 winners are selected, the Academy will provide members with DVDs of the nominated films in five categories: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Animated Short Film, and Best Live Action Short Film. Last year’s Best Foreign Language Film winner was Michael Haneke’s Amour, also a Best Picture nominee. The widely acclaimed drama stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Best Actress nominee Emmanuelle Riva, and Isabelle Huppert. The Best Short Documentary was Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine’s Inocente. The Academy’s press release adds that "rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then evaluates all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval." The 2014 Academy Awards will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. 2013 Best Animated Feature winner Brave movie image: Pixar / Disney Enterprises. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Andre Soares — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:21:33 PDT

Alfred Hitchcock San Francisco: Guided tour through the sites of Hitchcock’s movies The San Francisco Silent Film Festival has arranged for San Francisco City Guides to lead "a special, SFSFF-only edition" of its "Alfred Hitchcock’s San Francisco" guided walking tour. This particular two-hour Hitchcock tour will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, atop Nob Hill. From there, the tour will visit the sites of three Hitchcock films: Vertigo, The Birds, and Family Plot. (Photo: Alfred Hitchcock ca. 1960.) The San Francisco Silent Film Festival press release adds that Alfred Hitchcock tour participants will "have plenty of time" to go from the tour’s end at Union Square to the Castro Theatre so as to catch the 1:00 pm screening of Hitchcock’s 1928 silent Champagne. Note: Space for this special "Alfred Hitchcock’s San Francisco" tour is limited. Registration is free — though donations are encouraged — and will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve your spot, click here and fill out the registration form. Alfred Hitchcock movies: Vertigo, The Birds, Family Plot Vertigo (1958), for all it’s worth (currently) considered the "greatest movie ever made" by Sight & Sound‘s pollsters, was both a critical and box-office disappointment upon its release. James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes star. The Birds (1963), not exactly a critical favorite but a box-office success all the same, features Alfred Hitchcock discovery Tippi Hedren (who in recent years has accused the director of being a vengeful control freak who sexually harassed her), Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, and Veronica Cartwright. Family Plot (1976), which turned out to be Hitchcock’s last feature film, stars William Devane (replacing Roy Thinnes), Karen Black, Golden Globe nominee Barbara Harris, and Bruce Dern. Of note: Family Plot reunited Hitchcock with screenwriter Ernest Lehman, with whom the director had had a serious falling out during the making of North by Northwest after Lehman turned down Hichcock’s offer to write the screenplay for the (eventually never made) film project No Bail for the Judge, which was to have starred Audrey Hepburn and Laurence Harvey. The 2013 San Francisco Silent Film Festival will kick off on Jun 14, with a screening of Hitchcock’s 1929 murder thriller Blackmail, starring Anny Ondra and John Longden. Alfred Hitchcock photo via San Francisco City Guides. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Oscar Alert: Julia and Judi, and Meryl Too

Andre Soares — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:30:51 PDT

Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in August: Osage County: Duel of the Oscar winners [See previous post: "Oscar 2014 Watch: Harvey Weinstein Cannes Film Festival Coming Attractions."] More Oscar 2014 bait: August: Osage County, directed by John Wells, and starring three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, The Iron Lady) and Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich). Is it mere coincidence that Streep’s seventeenth Oscar nomination and third win was for her portrayal of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady — distributed by The Weinstein Company two years ago? Either way, Streep’s Oscar 2014 competition should be fierce, as Julia Roberts doesn’t seem to be wearing any makeup in the family drama. (Photo: Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in August: Osage County.) Adapted by Tracy Letts from his own play, besides Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, August: Osage County also features Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear), Dermot Mulroney, Star Trek Into Darkness‘ Benedict Cumberbatch, Oscar nominee Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff), Ewan McGregor, Oscar winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation), and Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine). Ewan McGregor has never been nominated for an Oscar, but he brings luck to his co-stars: Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn (Little Voice), Oscar nominee Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!), Oscar nominee Naomi Watts (The Impossible), Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners). Oscar 2015 alert Harvey Weinstein also announced that he has bought North American and Spanish distribution rights to Stephen Frears’ Philomena for $6 million (some sources state $6.5 million). That shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that the indie mogul has had quite a bit of luck with Frears (The Queen) and Philomena star Judi Dench. In fact, five of Judi Dench’s six Academy Award nominations have been for films distributed by either Miramax or The Weinstein Company: Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare in Love (Best Supporting Actress winner), Chocolat, Iris, and Mrs. Henderson Presents. The one exception was the Fox Searchlight release Notes on a Scandal. In Philomena Judi Dench plays an Irishwoman looking for the son (Steve Coogan), who, decades earlier, she had been forced to give up for adoption after going to live at a convent. Co-written by Coogan and Jeff Pope (TV’s The Black Widower, The Security Men), the screenplay is based on BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith’s book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. Harvey Weinstein Cannes Coming Attractions Show: Oscar Predictor Of note: Among Harvey Weinstein’s previews screened at last year’s Cannes Film Festival were those for David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, which earned 22-year-old Jennifer Lawrence this year’s Best Actress Academy Award (instead of veteran Emmanuelle Riva for Amour); Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, a box-office disappointment that, even so, earned Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams Oscar nominations; and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, which earned the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award to Tarantino, while Christoph Waltz waltzed away (sorry) with his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar. (Waltz’s first victory was for Inglourious Basterds.) August: Osage County Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts photo: The Weinstein Company. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

TWC's Coming Attractions: Oscar 2014 Watch

Andre Soares — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:30:05 PDT

Cannes Film Festival 2013: Harvey Weinstein’s Academy Awards Preview Show (Photo: Fruitvale Station, with Michael B. Jordan) Harvey Weinstein’s Cannes Film Festival Coming Attractions Special, a showcase of upcoming The Weinstein Company releases, is now regarded as one of the Croisette’s key film events. Because it provides a hint at who or what will win the Palme d’Or? Get real. Even at Cannes, it’s all about the Academy Awards. This year, Cannes Official Competition Jury Member Nicole Kidman was Weinstein’s co-presenter. And no, there wasn’t any influence peddling involved. Kidman was there because she is the star of The Weinstein Company’s upcoming Grace of Monaco, in which she plays another K-named movie star, Grace Kelly. And let’s not forget that 11 years ago Kidman won a Best Actress Oscar for The Hours, distributed by — at the time — the Weinstein-ruled Miramax. Two movies inspired by real life events and centered on black men Although Nicole Kidman is a likely candidate for the 2014 Best Actress Oscar (and, according to some, Tim Roth is a potential Best Supporting Actor nominee as well), one of The Weinstein Company’s big Oscar releases may turn out to be writer-director Ryan Coogler’s based-on-factual-events Fruitvale Station. Like Benh Zeitlin’s fellow Sundance Film Festival hit Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station is bound to become the 2014 Academy Awards’ indie darling. Coogler’s film depicts the last day in the life of a black man, Oscar Grant (played by Michael B. Jordan), shot dead by a white San Francisco police officer, Johannes Mehserle, on New Year’s Day 2009. Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help) plays Grant’s mother. Best Actor Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) is one of the film’s producers. And that leads us to Lee Daniels’ White House-set drama The Butler, in which Whitaker plays the title role. Supporting him in this Oscar-bait effort is an eclectic all-star cast that includes Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, James Marsden, Alex Pettyfer, Melissa Leo, Robin Williams, John Cusack, Mariah Carey, and Harry Potter‘s Professor Severus Snape Alan Rickman, here playing President Ronald Reagan. Nelson Mandela bombmaker And let’s not forget Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, based on Nelson Mandela’s 1994 memoir, and starring Pacific Rim‘s Idris Elba in the title role and Skyfall‘s Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela. According to the New York Times‘ Logan Hill, in the Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom trailer, Elba’s Mandela "delivers impassioned speeches, sure, but he’s also seen making bombs, blowing up buildings and ripping off his shirt to reveal a buff, action-star chest." In other words, don’t expect this Nelson Mandela to look or act like Morgan Freeman in Clint Eastwood’s tame Invictus. Hill adds that Harvey Weinstein "said the recent Boston Marathon bombings did not make him consider cutting scenes of Mandela making bombs and exploding government buildings. ‘They made the bombs,’ he said. ‘They didn’t blow up anybody, but they blew up buildings, and somebody could have inadvertently been hurt. We tell it the way he told it.’" "Hurt" or blown to pieces. Anyhow, if Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom earns solid critical buzz among U.S. critics, expect the political drama-cum-biopic to enjoy a rewarding stroll on its way to the Oscars. The film’s screenplay is credited to William Nicholson (Les Misérables, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Gladiator). ["Oscar 2014 Watch: Harvey Weinstein Cannes Film Festival Coming Attractions" continues on the next page. See link below.] Fruitvale Station Michael B. Jordan image: The Weinstein Company. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Rhys Meyers to Be Cast in Next Star Wars Installment?

Zac Gille — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:42:19 PDT

Jonathan Rhys Meyers to star in Star Wars: Episode VII? Jonathan Rhys Meyers is "in talks" to star in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII, according to Latino Review. Best known for his role as King Henry VIII in the Showtime series The Tudors, which also features upcoming Man of Steel Henry Cavill, Rhys Meyers has already been featured in one Abrams movie: Mission: Impossible III (2003), in which he supported Tom Cruise. (Photo: Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors.) At this stage, it’s unclear which role Jonathan Rhys Meyers would play in Star Wars: Episode VII, now a Walt Disney Studios production. The next installment in the highly popular franchise is reportedly to continue the Star Wars saga where Return of the Jedi left off. Having said that, in case Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, and Anthony Daniels (perhaps a little rustier?) are indeed returning to the Star Wars fold, then Episode VII must begin a few decades after the conclusion of Return of the Jedi. Filming of the next Star Wars movie should commence next year in the United Kingdom, so it can be ready for release in 2015. Jonathan Rhys Meyers movies The 35-year-old Dublin-born Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been featured in more than 30 movies in the last two decades. Most notable among those are Michael Collins (1994), in which Rhys Meyers plays Collins’ assassin; Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine (1998), opposite Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale; Julie Taymor’s Titus (1999), starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange; and Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham (2002), with Keira Knightley. But Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ most renowned movie role is that of the ambitious social climber in Woody Allen’s unofficial An American Tragedy / A Place in the Sun remake Match Point (2005), featuring Scarlett Johansson. More recently, Rhys Meyers played the lead in Glenio Bonder’s international production Belle du Seigneur, in addition to a supporting role in the Glenn Close star vehicle Albert Nobbs, and the lead opposite John Travolta in the critical and box-office misfire From Paris with Love. Additionally, Isabel Coixet’s thriller Panda Eyes should be coming out in the not too distant future. J.J. Abrams: Star Trek: Episode II before Star Wars: Episode VII As for director J.J. Abrams, Star Trek Into Darkness opened this weekend. Despite mostly positive reviews, 3D surcharges, and the inclusion of late Wednesday and all-day Thursday box-office grosses, the Star Trek sequel opened at about the same level as its 2009 predecessor (over a three-day-weekend period). Star Trek Into Darkness features Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Jonathan Rhys Meyers The Tudors: Showtime / HBO. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Life Imitates Art Imitating Life at Cannes

Andre Soares — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:15:12 PDT

Cannes Film Festival 2013 highlight? (Photo: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim in Asghar Farhadi’s The Past) So far, what’s the most memorable event at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival? Perhaps the screening of Asghar Farhadi’s Palme d’Or competitor The Past, starring The Artist‘s Bérénice Bejo (replacing Marion Cotillard) and A Prophet‘s Tahar Rahim? Variety‘s Justin Chang called Farhadi’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning A Separation "an exquisitely sculpted family melodrama in which the end of a marriage is merely the beginning of something else, an indelible tapestry of carefully engineered revelations and deeper human truths." (Scroll down to check out The Bling Ring cast Cannes 2013 photos.) Or perhaps Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davies, which impressed The Independent film critic Geoffrey Macnab with "the sure-footed way the Coens combine comedy, music and brooding film noir elements"? Or maybe the fact that Carey Mulligan had two major films screening at Cannes: the aforementioned Inside Llewyn Davies and, out of competition, the festival’s opening-night gala movie The Great Gatsby? Or perhaps, as reported in The Guardian, the highlight of sorts of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was The Bridge TV series producer Lars Blomgren remarking, "I have always worked in both [film and television] and I think it is film that will have to change. A lot of creativity has moved over to TV." If that weren’t all, Blomgren added that he prefers Cannes’ TV festival Mipcom to the town’s more renowned film festival because Mipcom "is more focused and there is less b.s." Jewelry heist: Cannes’ own The Bling Ring But no. So far, the 2013 Cannes Film Festival’s most memorable event — or at least the one with the biggest real-world repercussion — had little to do with moving images screened in a darkened room. Shortly after the premiere of Sofia Coppola’s real-life-inspired The Bling Ring, starring Harry Potter‘s Emma Watson as one of a group of teenagers who stole about $3 million worth of goods from the homes of Los Angeles’ rich and famous, a jewelry heist worth more than €300,000 took place at the Cannes’ Hotel Novotel, located not far from the Palais des Festivals. According to reports, the jewels were stolen from the hotel room of an employee of Swiss jeweler Chopard, which makes the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and other trophies. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock’s French Riviera-set To Catch a Thief, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The latter, by the way, is the subject of The Weinstein Company’s upcoming Grace of Monaco, whose trailer was presented by Harvey Weinstein himself at the festival. Speaking of Weinstein, not even he has come up with a jewelry heist as a tie-in to one of his Oscar-contending movies. Don’t expect him to do so this year either, as The Bling Ring will be released (on June 14) by A24 in North America. Claire Julien (The Bling Ring) poses inside a Lamborghini Gallardo Spider at the Cannes Film Festival The Bling Ring cast: Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang, Sofia Coppola, Emma Watson, Israel Broussard at the Cannes Film Festival’s ‘Movie Star Lounge’ in the Carlton Hotel Emma Watson of The Bling Ring in the Carlton Hotel’s ‘Movie Star Lounge’ The Bling Ring‘s Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang, Sofia Coppola, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson photos: Annalisa Flori / Getty Images. Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim in Asghar Farhadi’s The Past photo: Cannes Film Festival. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Star Trek Sequel to Trail 'Original' Reboot at Domestic Box Office?

Zac Gille — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:51:43 PDT

Star Trek Into Darkness weekend box office: Downright disappointing domestic debut (photo: Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness) J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, featuring Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, took in an estimated $22 million at 3,668 North American venues on Friday, according to studio figures found at Box Office Mojo. Is that good or bad? Well, let’s just say that this weekend Star Trek Into Darkness should end up collecting approximately $20-28 million less at the domestic box office than early estimates indicated. (Check out comparisons between the Thursday opening of Star Trek Into Darkness and the more impressive debuts of other movie sequels.) Star Trek Into Darkness vs. Star Trek: Opening-weekend box office Star Trek Into Darkness will likely gross at most $83-85 million by Sunday evening, and $70-72 million over the three-day weekend. Paramount is, with fingers crossed, hoping for those figures. A more likely scenario, however, would be approximately $62-66 million over the weekend, for a four-day cume of $75-79 million. (Addendum: Paramount was lucky — in case their weekend estimates are accurate: $70.55 million, and $84.09 million for the four-day run.) Last night, we were wondering if the Star Trek sequel would have a solid or a disappointing opening; considering the film’s inflated early estimates, "solid but hardly outstanding" seemed to be the right assessment. Now, if the current estimates are on target, a more accurate assessment of Star Trek Into Darkness‘ performance at the domestic box office would be "downright disappointing." For comparison’s sake: without the assistance of 3D surcharges, the opening-weekend gross of the 2009 Star Trek reboot was $79.2 million, or about $84 million today. In other words, even including late Wednesday and all-day Thursday screenings and extra IMAX locations and 3D, there’s a good chance Star Trek Into Darkness will trail the "original." It gets a tad more worrisome: The Star Trek reboot cost $150 million, whereas the sequel has a heftier $190 million price tag (not including marketing and distribution costs). And next weekend, Star Trek Into Darkness will have strong competition for box-office dollars from two newcomers: Justin Lin’s Fast & Furious 6 starring Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel, and Todd Phillips’ The Hangover Part III, with Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha. Star Trek Into Darkness: International box office The Silver Lining for both Star Trek Into Darkness and Paramount is, as usual, the international market. This past week, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek sequel was reportedly running about 70% ahead of the original in seven territories: Mexico, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, Australia, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland. According to Deadline.com, Star Trek Into Darkness is expected to bring in $9m in Russia this weekend, against $2m for the original film. This weekend’s international box-office total is expected to reach $35 million, with a number of key markets yet to be visited by the Enterprise. Those rosier figures help you to understand why the Star Trek sequel was post-converted to 3D. After all, unlike most other Hollywood blockbusters, the 2009 Star Trek earned less than half of its box-office gross outside North America: $257.73 million domestically vs. $127.95 million internationally. Why? The likely explanation is that Star Trek is a cult phenomenon in the United States, but way less so elsewhere. Paramount had to lure more — way more — international moviegoers to their $190 million-budgeted sci-fi extravaganza. If 3D was going to be the most effective bait, then the studio was right to add another dimension to Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The original Star Trek cumed at $385.68 million worldwide. Official weekend box-office estimates come out on Sunday morning. Weekend box-office actuals will be released on Monday. Star Trek Into Darkness cast In addition to Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, the Star Trek Into Darkness cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch (as a less campy version of Ricardo Montalban’s Khan), Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Peter Weller, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Alice Eve, Noel Clarke, plus cameos by Thor: The Dark World‘s Chris Hemsworth and the Star Trek television series’ Leonard Nimoy. Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness photo: Paramount Pictures. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Will the Star Trek Sequel Easily Surpass the Opening Weekend Box Office Take of Its Predecessor?

Zac Gille — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:18:42 PDT

Star Trek Into Darkness box office: Solid or disappointing domestic debut? (Photo: Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness) J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, starring Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, has to date grossed $13.4 million in North America, including from 336 late-night Wednesday IMAX shows and all-day showtimes at 3,668 locations on Thursday. As explained by Ray Subers at Box Office Mojo, first-day figures may have been below par because Paramount Pictures changed Star Trek Into Darkness‘ release date last week — the Star Trek sequel was to have opened on Friday. (Addendum: Barring an unexpected Saturday and Sunday surge, “disappointing” is the word for Star Trek Into Darkness’ domestic box-office debut.) For comparison’s sake: With $11.53m on Thursday proper, Star Trek Into Darkness had the 11th biggest Thursday opening ever (not adjusted for inflation). Its Thursday debut, in fact, fell way below those of other May releases, e.g., George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ($50.01 million in 2005), Andy and Lana Wachowski / Keanu Reeves’ The Matrix Reloaded ($37.5 million in 2003), Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones ($30.14 million in 2002), Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($25.04 million in 2008), and even McG / Christian Bale’s Terminator Salvation ($13.37 million in 2009) and David Fincher / Brad Pitt / Cate Blanchett’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ($11.87m in 2008). Bear in mind that none of those movies was originally released in 3D — i.e., unlike Star Trek Into Darkness they didn’t have the advantage of movie-ticket surcharges. Opening-weekend box office: Star Trek Into Darkness vs. Star Trek According to early, rough estimates found at Deadline.com, things have been looking up for Star Trek Into Darkness on Friday. The Star Trek sequel is expected to collect somewhere between $25-27 million today, which would translate into $80-90 million by Sunday evening, and a four-day cume ranging from $93-$103 million. For comparison’s sake, the original Star Trek reboot (in this case, we have an "original" reboot), without the assistance of 3D surcharges, collected $26.89 million on its opening Friday (not including Thursday night shows) — or approximately $28.5 million adjusted for inflation. Star Trek‘s opening weekend take was $79.2 million, or about $84 million today. Note: We’re comparing oranges and tangerines here, as the original Star Trek opened on Friday. In those early box-office figures are on target, Star Trek Into Darkness will be having a good, though far from outstanding (considering it’s a sequel, in 3D), opening weekend in North America. Whether the Star Trek sequel will ultimately be a box-office hit depends on how it’ll hold up next weekend, when Captain Kirk and Spock will face off against newcomers Fast & Furious 6 starring Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel, and The Hangover Part III, with Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. Star Trek Into Darkness: International box office Outside the US/Canada, Star Trek Into Darkness is reportedly running 70% ahead of the original, having already grossed $47 million in seven territories: Mexico, the UK, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland. Deadline.com reports that in Russia Star Trek Into Darkness took in $1.4 million on opening day this week — or about four times the amount earned by the original. And those figures help you understand why the Star Trek sequel was post-converted to 3D. Unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster, the 2009 Star Trek earned less than half of its box-office gross outside North America: $257.73 million in the US/Canada vs. $127.95 million internationally. How come? Well, Star Trek is an American television cult phenomenon; it’s considerably less popular elsewhere. Paramount had to do whatever it takes to bring in more — way more — international butts into theater seats for their $190 million-budgeted spectacle. If 3D is the bait, so be it. The original Star Trek cumed at $385.68 million worldwide, having cost a reported $150 million. Star Trek Into Darkness cast Besides Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, the Star Trek Into Darkness cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, Noel Clarke, in addition to cameos by Chris Hemsworth and Leonard Nimoy. Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness photo: Paramount Pictures. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Clooney and Bullock Go Flying in Cuaron's Latest: Watch Trailer

Zac Gille — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:28:37 PDT

Gravity trailer goes ‘bong!’ as George Clooney and Sandra Bullock go flying George Clooney and Sandra Bullock become the victims of an unfortunate incident while watching the sun rise. Skin cancer? Nope. Do they get mugged? Nope. What happens then? As you can see in the Gravity trailer below, following a loud Bong, Bam, Boom! Clooney and Bullock quite literally go flying. Something — was it a meteorite? Intergalactic debris? — has collided against their spacecraft (or space shuttle or whatever). See, they’re watching the sun "rise" from way up there. Check out the Gravity trailer below. (Photo: George Clooney in Gravity movie.) Gravity trailer: 2001: A Space Odyssey Meets Lost in Space Meets Apollo 13? The Gravity trailer, or rather, teaser, provides quite bit of action with minimal dialogue. It’s impossible to tell what kind of relationship (veteran astronaut) George Clooney and (medical engineer and tyro astronaut) Sandra Bullock share. Will he feel sad if she dies? Will it be good riddance? And perhaps most importantly, will they find safety and a happy ending? Well, it’s hard to tell. Gravity is a Hollywood movie, after all, but one directed by Y Tu Mamá También and Children of Men‘s Alfonso Cuarón. Also, it’s not a summer movie, as it opens in North America in the fall. In other words: Who knows what’s going to happen to Clooney’s and Bullock’s characters? Now, although the Gravity special effects look just fine — visually, the film is reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey — it’s hard to imagine what looks like a minimalist solar-system drama getting shortlisted for the Best Visual Effects Academy Award when the competition is bound to include more bombastic fare such as Marc Forster / Brad Pitt’s World War Z, Guillermo del Toro / Charlie Hunnam’s Pacific Rim, and Shane Black / Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man 3 — to name only three summer-season movies. Gravity cast and release date Gravity, which really isn’t a big-screen version of the Gravity Falls television series (or of Lost in Space), stars the aforementioned Oscar winners George Clooney (Syriana, one the producers of Ben Affleck’s Argo) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side). The supporting cast includes several meteorites (or debris?) and a couple of space suits. No kidding. If Clooney and Bullock get shortlisted for the 2014 Academy Awards, Gravity will join Steve Binder’s Give ‘em Hell, Harry!, starring James Whitmore (and only James Whitmore), as one of those rare films that received Oscar nominations for the entire cast. Of note: Before George Clooney was cast, Gravity‘s veteran astronaut was to have been played by Robert Downey Jr. Prior to Sandra Bullock’s casting, the space-traveling newcomer was at some point or other to have been played by Angelina Jolie, Marion Cotillard, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, and Natalie Portman. The Gravity screenplay was written by Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón (Year of the Nail). And if any U.S. critic dares to tell us that Gravity either has or lacks gravitas, off with his/her head! Gravity‘s North American release date is October 4, nearly a year after its originally scheduled November 2012 launch. George Clooney in Gravity movie photo: Warner Bros. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Del Toro Goes the Transformers Way? Watch New Trailer About Death Along the Pacific

Andre Soares — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:31:18 PDT

Pacific Rim Trailer: Jaegers fight Kaiju to save humankind from extinction — but should they bother? Michael Bay’s Transformers 5 (or 6 or 7, sorry, lost count) has a new trailer — er … scratch that. Let me start again: Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim has a new trailer. Before you check it out, remember that every similarity between del Toro’s Pacific Rim and Bay’s Transformers movies (and Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and Peter Berg’s Battleship and Gareth Edwards’ upcoming Godzilla remake and TV’s The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and …) is mere coincidence. After all, the Pacific Rim screenplay (credited to del Toro and Travis Beacham) is based on an "original story" — aka film treatment — penned by Beacham. Now, check out the Pacific Rim trailer below. (Photo: Pacific Rim movie star Kaiju.) Pacific Rim Trailer insights So, what does the new Pacific Rim trailer tell us about the film’s plot and characters? Well, the trailer opens with the following line: "We always thought alien life would come from the stars, but it came from deep beneath the Pacific." In other words, no Pacific Rim-mer has ever watched any Japanese monster movie or Spielberg’s War of the Worlds or Eugène Lourié’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. As for any profound insights into plot and characters — you must be kidding. In fact, watching the Pacific Rim trailer made me wonder if Guillermo del Toro’s latest will feature any recognizable narrative or three-dimensional human beings, 3D glasses notwithstanding. For the trailer is all about the giant Transformers robots — er … the Jaegers, who will fight the monsters from beneath the sea, aka Kaiju, to the death. Or to the last scrap of rusty metal. Nothing else matters. A feast for the eye, a pain in the ear I doubt it that Pacific Rim will get Academy Award recognition in the acting categories or for Best Original Screenplay — though one never knows with the Academy — but Oscar nods for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Recording are all but guaranteed. Possibly Best Cinematography as well? Say what you will about the film’s plot and acting (if any), but Pacific Rim looks like a feast for the eye and torture to the ears. Tell me you’re not impressed by the Kaiju vs. Jaeger fights. One they’re done with one another, they’ll also be done with Tokyo or Singapore or Sydney or Santiago or Lima or Vancouver or wherever they’ve performed their massive boxing match. And chances are that once they’re done, you’ll be a little more hard-of-hearing as well. And finally, here’s hoping Pacific Rim will offer at least a bit of irony. The kaiju are defeated, millions of humans (even those along the Atlantic) cheer in unison believing themselves safe from extinction — as the polar icecaps keep on melting away at an ever faster pace. So much for “canceling the apocalypse.” Pacific Rim cast and release date The Pacific Rim cast includes Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, Queer as a Folk), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Idris Elba (Luther), Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel), Clifton Collins Jr., Charlie Day, Max Martini, Heather Doerksen, Burn Gorman, Robert Maillet, Timothy Gibbs, Diego Klattenhoff, Robert Kazinsky, and Robert Morse. At one point, Tom Cruise was considered for a key role in Pacific Rim; it’s unfortunate that didn’t work out. Warner Bros. could then have sold the (reportedly) $150 million-budgeted Pacific Rim as a War of the Worlds sequel. The Pacific Rim release date in Canada, the US, Mexico, the UK, and several other European territories is July 12, 2013. The movie will open the day before in about a dozen countries, including Argentina, Australia, Italy and Russia. France, Finland, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, and Japan will have to wait a little longer — release dates for those countries range from mid-July to mid-August. Pacific Rim movie star Kaiju image: Warner Bros. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

Whedon's MUCH ADO to Kick Off Academy's Summer Film Series Oscars Outdoors

Andre Soares — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:11:33 PDT

Joss Whedon Much Ado About Nothing: Oscars Outdoors film series Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing will kick off the 2013 "Oscars Outdoors" summer movie season on Wednesday, June 5 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ open-air theater in Hollywood. Much Ado About Nothing stars Amy Acker (Alias), Alexis Denisoff (How I Met Your Mother), Clark Gregg (Iron Man), Nathan Fillion (Waitress, Castle), Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods) and Sean Maher (The Playboy Club), all of whom are expected to join The Avengers director Joss Whedon for a post-screening Q&A moderated by KCRW’s Matt Holzman. Oscars Outdoors screening films also include two upcoming releases: Morgan Neville’s documentary about backup singers, Twenty Feet from Stardom (June 6), and Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellow Destin Cretton’s relationship drama Short Term 12 (July 20), featuring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2‘s Rami Malek. Oscars Outdoors classics: From What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? to Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Among the various classics, semi-classics, and curiosities that are part of the Oscars Outdoors schedule are the Robert Aldrich-directed Bette Davis / Joan Crawford sleeper hit What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962); Ernest B. Schoedscack and Merian C. Cooper’s 1933 blockbuster King Kong, starring Fay Wray and Willis H. O’Brien’s stop-motion-animated ape; Pedro Almodóvar’s brilliant Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), with Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas; and Harold Lloyd’s classic silent comedy Safety Last (1923). Here are a few more: Walt Disney’s animated Peter Pan (1953); Giuseppe Tornatore’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner Cinema Paradiso, with Jacques Perrin and Philippe Noiret; Howard Hawks’ saucy comedy-musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell; George Lucas’ sleeper blockbuster American Graffiti, featuring pre-stardom Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford; and the John Travolta / Olivia Newton-John horror musical Grease, made even more frightening as it’ll be a sing-along presentation. Oscars Outdoors runs through August 24. The 2013 Oscars Outdoors schedule is as follows: Wednesday, June 5 KCRW’s "Matt’s Movies": MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (2013), featuring a post-screening Q&A with Joss Whedon, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisoff, Clark Gregg, Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz, Sean Maher Thursday, June 6 TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM (2013) Q&A with director and cast Friday, June 14 NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION (1983) Saturday, June 15 PETER PAN (1953) Friday, June 21 L.A. STORY (1991) Saturday, June 22 BEETLEJUICE (1988) Friday, June 28 WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) Saturday, June 29 GROUNDHOG DAY (1993) Friday, July 12 CLUELESS (1995) Saturday, July 13 KING KONG (1933) Friday, July 19 POINT BREAK (1991) Saturday, July 20 BIG (1988), featuring Zoltar and giant keyboard Saturday, July 20 SHORT TERM 12 (2013) Friday, July 26 BLAZING SADDLES (1974) Saturday, July 27 WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (1988) Sunday, July 28 KCRW Summer Nights: STYLE WARS (1983), featuring KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez Friday, August 2 AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973), featuring classic cars Saturday, August 3 GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953) Friday, August 9 SAFETY LAST (1923) Saturday, August 10 MONSOON WEDDING (2001) Friday, August 16 BORN IN EAST L.A. (1987) Saturday, August 17 RUSHMORE (1998) Friday, August 23 GREASE (1978) sing-along Saturday, August 24 CINEMA PARADISO (1988) Tickets will be available beginning Wednesday, May 22, at www.oscars.org/outdoors, where you can also find more information about the screenings. Tickets to each Oscars Outdoors screening are $5 for the public; free for children 10 years and younger; and $3 for Academy members and students with ID. Seating is unreserved. The Academy Hollywood campus is located at 1341 Vine Street in Hollywood. For additional information call (310) 247-3600. Oscars Outdoors photo: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S. Nathan Fillion in Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing photo: Lionsgate Pictures. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.

'Logical' Downpour During Gatsby Red Carpet in Cannes

Zac Gille — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:41:06 PDT

The Great Gatsby Cannes 2013: Leonardo DiCaprio on logically soggy red carpet Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby opened the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday evening. The Gatsby red carpet looked like a cross between the Academy Awards (Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire) and Dancing with Stars (loud music, with a handful of dancers performing in ’20s-costumes). (Photo: Leonardo DiCaprio on the 2013 Cannes Film Festival’s The Great Gatsby red carpet.) On the Cannes Film Festival’s video of the Great Gatsby red carpet, you can watch Carey Mulligan getting nearly decapitated by a take-no-prisoners umbrella; Leonardo DiCaprio telling an interviewer, "I can’t hear a word you’re saying," and then walking on as if said journalist was invisible; and Tobey Maguire getting called, "Eh, Tobee!" But what do we learn from those brief interviews? That being in Cannes is "exciting" (DiCaprio, Maguire) and "meaningful" (Luhrmann, referring to the fact that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote much of The Great Gatsby on the French Riviera). Also, that the downpour that turned the red carpet into a red creek was "logical" because, according to one of the Cannes journalists, "it rained during the entire production." You can check out the The Great Gatsby red-carpet video here. Baz Luhrmann’s 3D-fied The Great Gatsby, which grossed a surprising $50.08 million at the North American box office this past weekend, received mostly thumbs down from American critics. But negative reviews or no, Luhrmann, whose Moulin Rouge! opened the Cannes Film Festival twelve years ago, has modestly pointed out that his film has helped to sell more copies of Fitzgerald’s novel in a week than were sold during the author’s lifetime. Besides Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, The Great Gatsby features Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Debicki, Callan McAuliffe, Max Cullen, Gemma Ward, Barry Otto, Amitabh Bachchan, and Jack Thompson. The 2013 The Great Gatsby screenplay was penned by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Snippet from French review of The Great Gatsby "From [the film's] first frames," writes Jean-Luc Wachthausen in Le Figaro, "[Baz Luhrmann] sets the tone, crazy, electric, by filming in vertiginous fashion the high-society parties Gatsby throws for the beautiful eyes of Daisy (Carey Mulligan, perfect as a fake innocent), with whom he is madly in love. The champagne flows, the dancing is frenetic, the music is deafening — Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, and rapper Jay-Z flirt with Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ — in this orgy of luxury where women wear the chicest clothes and men compete in shiny cars." The Great Gatsby opened in France today, coinciding — or rather, timed — with the out-of-competition Cannes gala (or perhaps it’s the other way around). The Baz Luhrmann / Leonardo DiCaprio collaboration opens in several dozen countries (including the UK, Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, and most other European territories) in the next couple of days. It’ll reach Australia and Mexico at the end of the month, and Brazil and Japan in June. Leonardo DiCaprio screengrab via the Cannes Film Festival website. This post was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/). Not to be republished without permission.