July 2010

Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash [...]

Follows the misadventures of young grade schooler Ramona Quimby from Beverly Cleary’s popular children’s book series.

Tim (Rudd) is a rising executive who “succeeds” in finding the perfect guest, IRS employee Barry (Carell), for his boss’s monthly event, a so-called “dinner for idiots,” which offers certain advantages to the exec who shows up with the biggest buffoon.

Schon vor einiger Zeit wurde berichtet, dass Michelle Williams als Marylin Monroe für das Drama My Week with Marylin verpflichtet wurde. Nun wurde verkündet, dass sich Kenneth Branagh (Radio Rock Revolution) zu ihr gesellen und Sir Laurence Olivier spielen...

Für die Komödie My Idiot Brother haben sich nun auch Hugh Dancy, Kathryn Hahn, Shirley Knight und Janet Montgomery verpflichten lassen. Diese gesellen sich zu Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel und Emily Mortimer, die bereits mit den Dreharbeiten...

Ausnahmeregisseur Guillermo del Toro (Pans Labyrinth) produziert und schreibt zusammen mit Matthew Robbins das Drehbuch zu The Haunted Mansion. Doch sein Streifen wird keine gewöhnliche Geschichte über ein verfluchtes Haus und auch keine Fortsetzung...

Kevin Smith (Dogma) hat schon seit einigen Jahren damit gedroht, seinen Red State zu inszenieren, der Elemente aus Horror, Satire und Religion enthalten soll. Nun scheint er es wirklich ernst zu meinen und hat Michael Parks (Satisfaction) für eine der...

Schon seit längerem wird berichtet, dass Daniel Craig (Unbeugsam) sich für eine der Rollen in David Finchers Adaption des schwedischen Thrillers The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo interessiert. Auch wenn Craigs Terminkalender momentan aus allen Nähten platzt,...

Nicholas Sparks' Bücher werden sehr gerne für das Kino adaptiert und The Lucky One ist da keine Ausnahme. Scott Hicks soll nun den Roman inszenieren und Zac Efron (17 Again) interessiert sich für die Hauptrolle. Das Drehbuch von Will Fetters handelt...

Stanley Tucci konnte man neben Meryl Streep in Der Teufel trägt Prada und Julie & Julia in den Kinos bewundern. Nun inszeniert Tucci die Komödie Mommy & Me und hat dafür Streep und Tina Fey (Lügen macht erfinderisch) engagiert. Auch wenn das...

Der Thriller Retreat hat einen prominenten Darsteller für sich gewinnen können. Cillian Murphy (Inception) ist der neue Hauptdarsteller und wird Thandie Newtons Ehemann darstellen. In dem Streifen spielen sie ein Paar, das zu einer einsamen Insel reist,...

Nach dem Erfolg von The Hangover startete Zach Galifianakis' Karriere erst richtig durch. Er hat momentan mehrere Projekte in seinem Terminkalender vermerkt und darunter sind Todd Phillips' Due Date mit Robert Downey Jr. und It's Kind of a Funny Story....

Ausführliche Review zum Film "Zwischen uns das Paradies" mit einer Wertung von 61% Die bereits mit einem Goldenen Bären dekorierte Regisseurin Jasmila Zbanic liefert mit ihrem Spielfilm Zwischen uns das Paradies ein Drama über ein Paar im Sarajevo der Nachkriegszeit ab. Amar, der aufgrund eines Alkoholproblems gekündigt wurde, fühlt sich während seiner Krise immer mehr zu einer fundamentalistischen Religionsgruppe hingezogen, doch seine Freundin Luna weigert sich, ihm zu folgen.

Review in a Hurry: The spinoff movies featuring those acid-bleeding aliens didn't work out so well, so this time, the big, disappearing, dreadlocked hunters from outer space must face off...

Review in a Hurry: It's some kind of magic. Against many odds, a big-budget Jerry Bruckheimer remake—of a story best known with Mickey Mouse in the lead!—manages to hit every mark...

Review in a Hurry: You'd hope an action thriller called Salt might at least have some kick to it and raise your blood pressure a bit. But this muddle, starring Angelina Jolie as a maybe,...

Review in a Hurry: Paul Rudd and Steve Carell reteam for their third outing (40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman), a remake of the French farce The Dinner Game, about a smart guy who gets in over his...

Tom Cruise jumped on a couch. Get over it already. Sure, the guy was a little overzealous, but he's a rich movie star who gets to have sex with Katie Holmes. Get over it. The truth of the matter is, before and after that fateful Oprah episode, Tom Cruise is a good actor. He's also a good actor who picks his projects very carefully and rarely stars in an outright disaster. Looking at his 30-year career, Tropic Thunder is the weakest movie on his resume - and that one won Cruise acclaim.Read FilmJabber's full Knight and Day movie review.

Whoever said "mediocrity sells" is right, as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is gearing up for its second week of release $200 million richer. It's amazing what cheesy dialogue and pouty characters can do for a movie. Bella, Edward and Jacob return for the third movie in the four-and-a-half-part series, and thankfully it's no New Moon: it actually has a plot, climax and purpose for existing.Read FilmJabber's full The Twilight Saga: Eclipse movie review.

The 80's continue to attempt a comeback in 2010 with the release of Predators, a throwback to the original film in the franchise. In this new version, Adrien Brody replaces Arnold Schwarzenegger as the badass muscleman (who saw that coming?), one of several commandos abducted from Earth and thrown together on an alien planet that Predators use as hunting ground.Read FilmJabber's full Predators movie review.

Review by Nathan Samdahl (B-)

Countdown to Zero, the documentary by filmmaker Lucy Walker, traces the history of the most destructive singular invention in human history, the nuclear bomb.  The film also stresses the importance of working towards complete nuclear disarmament and the many ups and downs that have occurred en route to achieving this lofty goal. 
Read FilmJabber's full Countdown to Zero movie review.

Angelina Jolie is the only true female action star. She can sell it and people will buy it. She can be sexy and tough-as-nails at the same time. She has a knack for choosing high-adrenaline pictures. And yet, when you examine her resume, Jolie has yet to lead an action film that has cemented its place in the lore of the genre. Salt, her newest action movie, doesn't change matters. In fact, it is largely a huge disappointment.Read FilmJabber's full Salt movie review.

Mr. Nobody (2010) dir. Jaco Van DormaelStarring: Jared Leto, Diane Kruger, Linh Dan Pham and Sarah Polley*By Greg KlymkiwOh joy! Just what the world needed! More whimsy in the cinema!For this, I blame the French.Though the director of this godawful pastiche of science fiction, magic realism and whimsy Jaco Van Dormael is a Belgian filmmaker, let us not forget that Belgium itself borders on France and half its population, the Walloons, speak French.As much as I'd prefer to blame the movie on the Walloons, the fact remains that this Belgian-French-German-Canadian patchwork quilt co-production has a much greater French pedigree than mere Walloonery will allow. So again, let's do the math by examining the French content of the co-production entities: half of Belgium speaks French, Belgium borders France, Germany was obsessed with occupying France and one of Canada's official languages is French.The sum of the above is clear. We can blame the French with no guilt whatsoever.In fact, by the end of "Mr. Nobody", I was reminded of the lyrics penned by Mel Brooks and sung by the inimitable Dom De Luise in "Blazing Saddles":Throw out your hands/Stick out your tush/Hands on your hips/Give 'em a push/You'll be surprised/You're doing the French Mistake/Voila!Yes, Voila! A French Mistake, indeed!A few weeks ago we were inflicted with the release of Jeunet's execrable (and French) vat of whimsy "Micmacs" and now we must make way for "Mr. Nobody", a dreadfully pretentious movie that purports to be about something, but is finally so confusing and tedious, that it's ultimately not about much of anything. And unlike "Micmacs", which at least tried (pathetically) to be funny, "Mr. Nobody" is mind-numbingly humourless.That said, what might have perked things up in "Mr. Nobody" could have been a few digitally-rendered appearances from the late, great Chief Dan George as Old Lodge Skins from Arthur Penn's film adaptation of "Little Big Man". Given the film's reliance on endless, trippy digital effects, this is not such an odd expectation. "Mr. Nobody" opens with Jared Leto (the bargain basement version of Jake Gyllenhaal) playing the title character in full old-man makeup not unlike Dustin Hoffman's Jack Crabb. Being interviewed by a dweeby journalist, not unlike the one played by William Hickey in Penn's seminal 70s western, Mr. Nobody, it seems, is the oldest man alive in a dystopian future and boy, does he have a whopper to tell.It seems Mr. Nobody is, in reality, a man living in a world where everyone has become immortal except for him and he is part of some odd reality TV death-watch because he has not succumbed to the stem-cell thing-a-muh-bobby that keeps everyone else in the film alive. He eventually begins to tell his story to the reporter and what we get is a story that gives us several versions of his life, most notably three different relationships with three women he loved, or could have loved, or should have loved (Kruger, Pham and Polley).Or, who knows? Or better yet, who cares?This all has to do with the one thing that obsesses him in his dotage - on the verge of death, he contemplates whether he made the right decisions in his life. The tale is told in triplicate and appears to be rooted in two significant moments from his childhood. This is, however, one of the film's many problems. We're shown how his life could have been when he's forced to choose between living with his mother and father when they decide to separate. We see his life with Mom and then with Dad. But as well, the other significant fork-in-the-road moment occurs when he spies three different little girls - all of whom become his wife in the different imaginings of where his life goes. Well, which is it? The first or the second? Why both? Well, because the director wanted it this way, that's why. He assumed, no doubt, that it would give him more options to deliver a "mind-blowing" series of stories.Not content with this incongruity, Van Dormael presents the entire thing in a hodge-podge whilst tossing out teasing references to the "butterfly effect" and "quantum theory". Flash forwards, flash backs - here, there and everywhere - and all presented in this fashion to be significant with a capital "S".I was reminded, somewhat, of Kurt Vonnegut's great book (and George Roy Hill's terrific film adaptation of it) "Slaughterhouse Five" where we bounce between past, present and future. It made sense there because the central character Vonnegut creates is "unstuck in time" - a joyous and painful predicament since the character must, for an eternity, experience his birth, life and death. This fractured, intricately etched approach to presenting the narrative was rooted strongly in the science-fiction "logic" of the piece, whereas a similar approach in "Mr. Nobody" is there because Van Dormael wants it to be there.One of the more idiotic touches in Mr. Nobody is the name chosen for Mr. Nobody in his younger years which is... okay, now wait for it...Nemo.I mean, Good God! NEMO!!!???Is writer-director Jaco Van Dormael on crack? Does he really expect us all to "ooohhh" and "aaaahhh" over the apparent genius of naming the younger version of Mr. Nobody with a word meaning "no man" or, if you will, "no one" in Latin. This reference, of course, conjures up that of Captain Nemo in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", but I suspect Von Dormael was more inspired by the dark fairytale qualities of the brilliant turn of the century comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland". If only "Mr. Nobody" proved to be as significant and original as that work.It's not."Mr. Nobody" is one of those boneheaded exercises that pretends to be more intelligent than it is. Von Dormael, no doubt, believes in his "genius" and so do the audiences that smugly believe they're watching great art. They can be dazzled by the striking visuals and non-linear quality in order to feel good that what they're indulging in is not a machine-tooled Hollywood blockbuster from Jerry Bruckheimer. Van Dormael has created the greatest aesthetic crime - he's machine-tooled an art film for dummies.There's not much to recommend here. However, it does feature a great performance from Sarah Polley as one of Nemo's wives. Playing a bi-polar housewife, Polley takes the kind of chances and delivers the kind of performance that proves once again why she's one of the world's great actresses. She's raw and real, unlike the rest of Van Dormael's candy-floss "complexity". But seeing as she also appears in another current release, Vincenzo Natali's terrific "Splice", you're better off seeing that. You get a great Sarah Polley performance in a movie that respects its audience and manages to serve up something that's as entertaining as it is intelligent.All "Mr. Nobody" serves up, is the pathetic work of one pretentious, overrated, talentless hack - Jaco Van Dormael.He's the real Mr. Nobody.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2010) dir. Niels Arden OplevStarring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Lena Endre, Peter Haber***1/2By Alan BacchusThe success of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millenium’ trilogy books is widely known – a European phenomenon which over this past year has finally broken in North America. All three films based on the three books, including The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest have already been shot completed, and released abroad to mega box office success abroad. So, for once, North America has been left the ‘last to know’ about these stories.Not much has been made of the success of its North American theatrical release yet but it’s a an achievement. Considering the ‘in and out and get to the DVD release’ pattern of most films these days, its 13 weeks in release in a modest number of theatres is remarkable. Though it's only garnered a modest $7.3 million dollar take, the distributors and exhibiters seemed to have hit the sweet spot of its release - just enough theatres for it to maintain a solid word of mouth momentum and profitability and a precedent for how smaller films can have lasting power in the cinema. As for the movie, it’s just as remarkable, a thrilling slice of Euro-pulp - a heavily plotted investigative, serial killer, feminist melodrama. Slick production value, salacious subject matter and an instantly iconic performance by Noomi Rapace makes this the guilty pleasure of the year – a truly epic and inspired piece of airport trash.Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is a shamed investigative political journalist who has found himself sentenced to prison for apparently slandering a prominent politician publicly in his latest article. At his worst moment, he receives a call from an even more prominent Swedish businessman Henrik Vanger, who wants to hire Mikael to investigate the murder of his niece from 1966. With six months of freedom before having to serve his sentence, and without a job, Mikael accepts to the offer and soon becomes embroiled in a complex and sordid 40 year old trail of family squabbles, neo-Nazism tendencies, gruesome sexual fetishness and grisly murder.Meanwhile a young 24 year old tattooed and pierced goth chick Lisbeth Salander (Noomie Rapace), the anti-social yet brilliant investigator who hacked into Blomkqvist’s computer on behalf of Vanger, is on her own path of adventure. Out of the blue she’s been told her guardianship (she's still being recognized as a youth), has been transferred to an especially slimy attorney. He turns out to be a masochist who subjects Lisbeth to humiliating sexual torture, that is, until she turns the tables and exacts some sweet revenge against him. After this escapade she joins up with Blomkqvist to help solve the 40 year old cold case.This rather quick synopsis only scratches the surface of hair-raising peculiarities that make up this narrative. Particularly gruesome is the lengthy build-up to Lisbeth’s history. We don’t know much about her, but her physical appearance suggests a rebellious attitude, a hardened emotional exterior due to some trauma in the past. When the despicable court-appointed guardian enters life her character is taken to the extreme. The actions of the guardian don’t make much sense logically, but it reinforces with severity of Larsson’s pervasive theme of misogyny. The film successfully teases us with flashbacks to Lisbeth as a child and the death of her father via a lit match and some gasoline – a history we just might see fleshed out in ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire?As a serial killer genre film, director Oplev hits all the right buttons stylistically to entrap us into the complex web of evidence, backstory, politics and delightful bad deeds of his killer. There’s a lot of procedural information thrown at us, but it’s expertly revealed like layers of an onion to provide maximum tension. If anything, the final reveals don’t quite elevate its shock value to anything higher than we saw happen to Lisbeth at the beginning. And the rather sappy reunion which happens in the denouement is a tad too soft for this otherwise darkly cynical film.Unfortunately, looking ahead to the other films, it appears the director Niels Arden Oplev only directed the first film and some other director helmed the last two. In a few months we’ll see if the other two meet the expectation satisfied by Tattoo.Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Alliance Films in Canada

Warning: A minor 'Inception' SPOILER towards the endDear Leo,I think I speak for a lot of film goers in saying that we all are impressed at the rise of your career and the integrity and maturity you have shown your film roles post-Titanic – a film which could have turned you into a completely different actor than the one you are today. In fact, it seemed as if over the past 13years both you and Kate Winslet chose the same path, avoiding trappings of Blockbusterism, youth idolatry, and for lack of a better word‘selling out’ , and converged again recently on Revolutionary Road , which unfortunately represents a sad career misstep which is one of the reasons why this article is being written.Titanic and beyond, the calibre of filmmakers you have worked with is impressive: James Cameron, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and now Christopher Nolan. Clearly you are choosing filmmakers with a track record of greatness, but also with the exception of Mr. Nolan, filmmakers over the age of 60 and, arguably, past their prime.Why not seek out Paul Thomas Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, the Coen Bros, Alexander Payne, Wes Anderson, hell, even Guy Ritchie or Judd Apatow.But most importantly where’s your sense of humour?Each of your post-Titanic roles, with the exception of Catch Me if You Can, and Celebrity (which was a cameo appearance anyways and thus doesn’t really count) have been rot with brooding emotional melodrama, tortured souls and dark journeys into madness and heartbreak. Let’s go through them:The Beach – of course a famous debacle, a film both you and Danny Boyle have probably tried to forget since making it. That saying it looked like you were having fun, frolicking in the wondrously pristine Thai beaches. Sure it’s not a perfect film but there’s some exuberance and energy in your performance which we just don’t seen anymore.Gangs of New York – As Amsterdam, the Irish immigrant seeking revenge against the enemies of his deceased and martyred father, though few could stand as tall as Daniel Day Lewis’ performance in this film, you hold your own as best you can, playing Amsterdam with a hint of Hamlet’s internalised self-doubt and hesitation. I like the film and I like you, but why so serious?The Aviator – Sure, I know, it was a passion project for you, bringing it to Mr. Scorsese personally to direct. As Howard Hughes, the strange and eccentric madman/genius billionaire, you got all the right ticks and quirks of his obsessive personality down pat, but despite the film’s praise and your Oscar nomination, why so serious?The Departed – Again, a very good film. Another Oscar nomination and perhaps your best performance of all these films. You inject in Billy Costigan a bubbling cauldron of tension and rage which, because of your situation as an undercover cop, you cannot express. This is all palpable in your performance specifically your sweaty face and twitchy hands. But again, we never see you crack a smile or make a joke.Blood Diamond –Your Oscar nomination notwithstanding, it’s a bad movie. I’m sorry, it is. Under the blockhead direction of Edward Zwick the important political message of the heinous diamond trade in Africa got turned into an sup-par action movie. But a humourless action movie with a message, again, why so serious? If you’re going to make an action movie, however silly, I’d prefer National Treasure/Pirates of the Caribbean-style Jerry Bruckheimer vehicle.Next up was the abominable Body of Lies, co-starring an actor also plagued with an inability to have a laugh or poke fun of himself, Russell Crowe. Lies seemed to be intended as a 70’s paranoia throwback but just never worked. As Roger Ferris, we found yourself in another tough role, without nary an ounce of lightness or humour to counteract the serious political messages.Revolutionary Road – We enter an especially heavy period in your career. Beginning with Road, your return to the screen with Kate Winslet was a beat down of monumental proportions, taking us into the depths of unenviable despair. Broken dreams, delusions of grandeur, suicides, there was little for us to get behind your performance in this one, flying far over the top with melodramatic emotional histrionics. I blame Sam Mendes on that one. I’m sure you had better takes than the ones chosen for the final cut. I could even detect a hint of regret in your press junket interviews.Shutter Island – Again, we found you taking a character into the lower depths, lower than even Revolutionary Road, this time into true madness, the 1950’s straight-jacketed lobotomy kind of madness. Again, dead wives, dead kids, the Holocaust are at the heart of this one.Which brings up to date with Inception , with Christopher Nolan at the height of career and so you can’t no to a Christopher Nolan film. But again, we see you afflicted with the pain of another suicidal wife, in a complex emotionally heavy role not all that different than Shutter Island.So please take a breather, shave off that goatee, take off that tie, put on some sneakers and chill out. Take a page from Brad Pitt’s book. He’s not particularly funny, but has a knack of choosing a variety of roles from those brooding melodramas like ‘Jesse James’ or ‘Benjamin Button’ but also disposable comedies like ‘Burn After Reading’, the Oceans movies and Snatch. Brad Pitt has much less Oscar nominations than you, equal star status and clout as you. Yet he consistently takes risks, working with new talent like Guy Ritchie, or Andrew Dominik.I think we all know the story how Paul Thomas Anderson sourced you out for the role of Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights but instead chose Titanic. Titanic made you what you are today, but at the same time, gave you a safety net of risk averse comfort which has resulted in many of these serious and unmemorable roles which sadly do not challenge your fine acting skills.Thank you for your attention,Alan

Storm (2010 dir. Hans-Christian SchmidStarring: Kerry Fox, Anamaria Marinca, Stephen Dillane, Rolf Lassgård, Kresimir Mikic***By Alan BacchusIf you haven’t heard of Film Movement, it’s one of the more unique film distributors around, an institution as treasured as say, the Criterion Collection. Film festival-goers know that some of the best films are the ones you have no expectations or advance knowledge about, but unfortunately, despite the quality, many of these never see the light again. Well, the mandate of Film Movement is to ensure these films find a home this side of the continent. And through its unique monthly DVD service club every month one of these films comes directly to you.The selection for June is Hans-Christian Schmid’s Storm, a multilingual German-Dutch-Bosnian-Serbian co-pro which was lauded in Berlinale in 2009, and only now finds its audience in the US and Canada.The title refers to the aggressive action taken against the Serbian leaders for their genocidal atrocities in the 90’s. Brit Kerry Fox plays Hannah the prosecutor for The Hague’s War Tribunal against a wily Serbian commander, a fictionalized version of Slobodan Milosevic or Radovan Karadzic. It would appear to be a slam dunk until Hannah’s key eye witness perjures himself and then dies in an apparent suicide attempt.Hope is restored when the sister of the witness Mira (Anamarie Marinca) reluctantly reveals herself to be the real eye witness. Despite death threats and other terrorism tactics against her and her family Mira ponies up the gumption to talk about the atrocities she’s witnessed and take down the war criminals for good.There’s a distinct Soderbergh/Gaghan neo-political tone which puts itself into the Syriana, Traffic, Michael Clayton brand of thriller. While there's some threats of violence against Mira and covert spy tactics threatening Hannah, the stakes of the film exist in the big picture demand to see the Serbian War Criminals find Justice. Unfortunately we don’t know the Serb too well, despite having the film’s entire opening sequence devoted to his capture.For good and bad, the pacing and volume is also deliberately muted –establishing its credibility and responsibility to the struggles of the characters’ real world equivalents who to this day continue to exact justice. In an effort not to sensationalize the subject matter it also means external conflict and tension don’t quite reach the magnitude we need to truly feel the cinematic emotional punch of the story. After all its lawyers vs. lawyers as the baddies, who, for the most part are faceless suits pulling strings off screen and in the background.That said there’s a fabulous lead performance from Kerry Fox which was virtually invisible to the world cinema landscape at large. Hell, she was better than Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, but I doubt Oscar ever crossed any Academy member's mind. The other added attraction is seeing 4 Month, 3 Weeks, 2 Days’ Anamaria Marinca on screen again. She has such remarkable eyes and reactions, and with very little to work with, she, as in her more famous role, is magnetic.For info about Film Movement Canada’s DVD of the Month Club, click HERE

Despicable Me (2010) dir. Pierre Coffin, Chris RenaudStarring: (Voices of...) Steve Carrell, Jason Segal, Russell Brand and Julie Andrews*1/2By Greg KlymkiwThey can doll these things up all they like, but most contemporary animated films are pretty much interchangeable and in spite of inexplicably over-the-top critical orgasms and astounding boxoffice, Despicable Me falls squarely into the been-there-done-that category. I can understand why most critics are raving about the movie. Most of them aren't what I'd bother to call critics - they're mere hacks (at worst) and/or glorified studio publicists (at best). What I don't understand is all the bucket-loads of family audiences filling the theatres for mediocre crap like this. Are these families that desperate for entertainment they can enjoy together that they'll succumb to almost any familiar, over-hyped picture, or are they merely that dull, unimaginative and stupid?Despicable Me is a pallid reversal on The Incredibles, focusing upon a network of super-villains as opposed to the latter's world of Superheroes. One of the big differences between the two is that The Incredibles is made by a director (Brad Bird) who not only has a great sense of humour and storytelling, but a real appreciation for epic sweep and a true geek's affinity for the kind of derring-do that his fellow "losers" in the audience are also imbued with. Bird's film displays originality, genuine wit and thoroughly pulse-pounding action - action that is rooted in the dramatic beats, but is also expertly designed in terms of overall geography and pace. Despicable Me, on the other hand, is full of stale gags and a ho-hum plot. Most of all, the action sequences are frenetic, chaotic and have absolutely no sense of geography and/or dramatic resonance.The plot, such as it is, deals with Gru (Steve Carrell), the world's Super-Villain #2 and his desire to unseat the young Super-Villain #1, an upstart by the name of Vector (Jason Segal). With the help of three cute-as-a-button orphans, Gru undertakes to become the most evil, heinous villain in the world. This dastardly curmudgeon is, however, transformed into a much kinder individual thanks to the charms of the orphans and his growing (ugh!) love for them.Sound vaguely familiar? I thought so. It's a variation on virtually every contemporary animated movie.For me, I found the whole affair so familiar that I genuinely can't remember much more than the dull plot. None of the jokes resonated with me at all. They were strictly dullsville. The opening sight gag involving the theft of the pyramids in Egypt is decent enough, but has apparently been screened in its entirety for months as a trailer.Even though it's a family picture, would it have been so hard to shoehorn some delightfully, nastily, almost malevolent dark humour? It is, after all, a cartoon and that's the sort of humour both adults and kids love (a la the Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner cartoons from Warners). In the film's favour, we weren't inundated with endlessly annoying contemporary pop-culture references that are supposed to be funny and which, of course, are going to date all the pathetic animated films that do. The look of the film is not without a few shreds of merit, but many of the gadgets and characters - while serviceable for the film's running time - don't last in the memory banks. The vocal performances - while competent - are bereft of the sort of Cliff Edwards brilliance that knocks you on your butt and stays with you forever.The pace, due to the frenetic nature of things, actually bogs the picture down. The Incredibles, for example, is twenty minutes longer and zips by so effortlessly, that one doesn't even want it to end. Despicable Me, on the other hand, inspires endless glances at one's trusty watch.Other than being relatively inoffensive and reasonably watchable for its 95-minute running time, those are about the only things in its favour. Again, all I can ask is this: are audiences so starved for family-friendly material that they'll gladly watch any dung shovelled down their collective gullets? Frankly, there are any number of solid movies on the big screen and available for rent to watch at home that, while not "family friendly" in terms of being machine-tooled as such, families would be doing themselves and their kids a favour to avoid stuff like Despicable Me and see something else instead.My own 9-year-old daughter loves the highly imaginative sci-fi horror picture Splice and has seen it several times on a big screen. It thrilled her, entertained her, stayed with her, provoked numerous helpings and most importantly, stimulated the sort of mind-expanding discourse that more kids would benefit from. Recent movies she watched on video included Oliver Stone's The Doors, the tremendously moving Al Pacino-Johnny Depp crime picture Donnie Brasco, a handful of Sidney Toler Charlie Chan pictures from Monogram and the classic Paul Newman-directed adaptation of Paul Zindel's powerful play, The Effect of Gamma Rays Upon Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. The results she derived with those pictures were equally rewarding as the pleasure Splice delivered to her.So why drag the kids to such unimaginative fare? I don't want to believe that these parents and their progeny are equally unimaginative, but as one animated picture after another with a similar pedigree continues to rake in big dollars, I can only assume the worst.My esteemed colleague here at Daily Film Dose has already pointed out the utter uselessness of the Real-D 3-D technology and I'm happy to do the same. All the technology really does is point to the emptiness of the work itself and worse, it actually renders mediocrity even more mediocre - due to the fact that all the picture's colours are darkened and muted to a point where one wonders what the point of the technology is? My own daughter, usually removes her 3-D glasses and she's not alone. At a recent screening of Despicable Me, I saw a ton of kids do likewise. Now, when I do bother to suggest an animated or family friendly picture to her, my daughter wants to know if it's in 3-D and if so, asks if we can see it in 2-D. The point of this technology is obvious - it has nothing to do with aesthetic considerations, but is simply a pathetic attempt to rope audiences into seeing something that's completely mediocre.And finally, that's pretty much what Despicable Me is. It's so mediocre it doesn't even have the benefit of being dreadful enough to elicit utter hatred.

Love the Beast (2009) dir. Eric BanaDocumentary**1/2By Alan BacchusBefore Eric Bana became famous for either his stand up comedy in Australia or his film work in Hollywood, he was a suburban gear head who loved muscle cars. Well, just one car in particular, his own car, a 1974 Ford XB Falcon Hardtop, the same car that (ahem) Mel Gibson rode in Mad Max. 25 years later, now that he’s famous enough and has the clout to make a personal film and himself and his car, this documentary is birthed.After establishing the background to Bana’s upbringing in Australia and the source of his love for cars the film moves into the structural coat hanger of the story, that is Bana’s participation in a 5 day rally race through Tasmania. Some decent race footage and some genuine speed demon thrills make this section of the film watchable. But the repetitiveness of the message smells just like burning rubber.Helping to analyze or support Bana is fellow car freak Jay Leno, some British TV personality named Jeremy Clarkson and Dr. Phil McGraw. Dr. Phil makes some thoughtful analysis of Bana’s obsessions, but Jay Leno makes only one joke in the film, otherwise staying as straight-faced as his post Conan debacle interview on Oprah, once again proving that he just isn’t funny at all.Save for a brief scene on the red carpet premiere of his film ‘Lucky Numbers’ there’s no inward look at Bana’s celebrity and the effect of his career on his obsession with cars. It’s a shame, because why else would we care about someone else’s car unless it was a celebrity’s? The problem lies with the fact that Bana himself is the producer and director and thus unable to provide a true third person perspective on his own life.Early on one of Bana’s interviewees explains to us how ‘non-car’ people can’t understand why ‘car-people’ can have a genuine relationship to an automobile, which, as non-car person, also explains my thoughts on this film. There isn’t much else going on thematically in Love the Beast that isn’t on the surface or told to us over and over again. Eric loves his car and we should all love it too – not all that fascinating, interesting or thought-provoking unless you’re a gear head like Bana and his mates.Normally I hate the idea of having a director’s commentary on a documentary, after all, wasn’t the documentary the commentary? But in this case, Bana’s second hand ruminations on the film, the subjects, his cars, his celebrity life greatly enhance the film. Also included on the DVDs are lengthier but forgettable interviews with Bana and Clarkson, as well as a trailer, featuring the awesome Band of Horses song, Is There a Ghost, which unfortunately isn’t featured in the film.

Clash of the Titans (2010) dir. Louis LeterrierStarring: Sam Worthington, Mads Mikkelson, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arteton, Jason Flemyng***1/2By Alan BacchusClash of the Titans is one helluva movie.The best Hollywood action film of the year.Unfortunately it was unjustly dimissed upon by many critics earlier in the year, largely I suspect due to 3-D-ification bullshit which distracts the viewer from the experience of a wonderful, exciting, slightly campy adventure picture.The fact is, in good old fashioned two dimensions, Louis Leterrier has managed to capture the sense of fun adventure of the Harryhausen sword and sandals pictures (its main influence 1981’s ‘Clash of the Titans’ as well as ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ and host of other b-movie adventures) with refreshing restraint.Leterrier plays it all so very humble – it runs a scant one hour and forty minutes, not including credits, a welcomed minimalist philosophy which he seems to have extended into his creative rendering strategy.While more comparable and more respected genre fantasies like ‘Avatar’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ wallow in overwrought super-seriousness ‘Clash of the Titans’ serves only to give its audience a good time, not to shower them with engorged special effects or convoluted plotting, or even overly designed sets, locations, monsters and like his main influence Ray Harryhausen, he keeps it simple stupid.The Greek myth of Perseus provides the story for this adventure tale – though I haven’t brushed up on my Greek mythology, the original ‘Clash of the Titans’ is the real starting point for Leterrier. In flashback we meet a young Perseus, who is found by a humble working class fisherman, floating in a coffin with her dead mother. The fisherman raises Perseus to respect the Gods, but when Hades (God of the underworld) rears his evil head to destroy the populous city of Argos and kills his father in the process, Perseus becomes anti-religious and hell bent on revenge against Hades.Perseus is taken in by the remaining Argos military and is recruited to help fight Hades and save the city from total destruction by the monstrous Kraken. Why not just kill everyone all at once? It’s part of the diabolical plan of Zeus to reestablish fear among the masses, fear of the Gods, and thus reclaim the order of world. Perseus’ quest has him fighting off giant scorpions, Medusa, his vengeful mutated stepfather Carabos, the Kraken and eventually Hades himself.Leterrier’s version of the story departs significantly in a number of places for the better. Chiefly he discards the romantic angle of Perseus’ love for Andromeda, who in both films, must be sacrificed to appease the Kraken. Too many disposable blockbuster movies force feed us romantic subplots to increase the personal stakes of its hero, and giving us hyperbole like, 'it's not really action film, it's a love story'. Instead Perseus’s goals are refreshingly egalitarian, saviour of humanity, and on a personal level to avenge the death of father by the Gods.The action scenes are conceived and choreographed in what seems consciously reactionary to the trend of overly-produced special effects extravaganzas of today. The giant scorpion battle for instance is a simple man vs. scorpion battle something which would have easily been conceived by Harryhausen himself. And there’s no need to mutate the scorpions or anything, they are just really big b-movie monster which as rendered expertly by CGI look as real as any human in the picture. Unfortunately and admittedly the Medusa sequence is CGI-heavy and thus one of the weaker sequences in the film, but not before Leterrier redeams himself with the fantastic climax with the Kraken.The Olympus scenes are dramatized with wonderful campness. When we first glimpse the set and costume design of the heavenly Olympus we’re reminded of a couple other Titans-era fantasy classics – Richard Donner’s “Superman: The Movie” and John Boorman’s ‘Excalibur”. The glowing armour worn by Liam Neeson, Danny Huston, Alexander Siddig and the rest of the actors playing the Gods throwback to the design of Marlon Brando’ costume in ‘Superman’ or the shiny armour in ‘Excalibur’ or even the neon glow of ‘Tron.’Neeson’s banter with fellow Schindler’s List-alum Ralph Fiennes is fun and free of the complicated dialogue of say the Harry Potter of LOTR films, which feels so desperately reverent to its source material. Sam Worthington is not great, but decent and is a good non-brooding alternative to big heads like Russell Crowe. Mads Mikkelson, the unsung Dane, emerges as the most sympathetic and the hero we silently cheer for. Thus his unworthy and uneventful death is a disappointment. The estrogen is supplied not by the sacrificed heroine Andromeda, but Gemma Arterton playing the helpful Lo, a hero cursed with everlasting life (also look out for her as the title character in a J Blakeson's awesome three-hander noir 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed'). Her girl-next-door demureness and silky pasty white skin which is surprisingly covered up with toga cloth, is a great tease. She’s one of the boys for most of the picture, until a genuine and understated attraction emerges with Perseus. Thankfully Letterier doesn’t betray us and force feed us that the romance he chose to avoid.“Clash of the Titans” need only be reverent to the sense of adventure of the great fantasy pictures of the late 70’s early 80’s. Louis Leterrier has admirably made a reactionary film to ‘Avatar’, respecting the audience and the genre enough not to compete with James Cameron, but to do a picture justice what someone like Stephen Somers would have fucked up beyond belief."Clash of the Titans" is available on Blu-Ray from Warner Home Video

The Losers (2010) dir. Sylvain WhiteStarring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, Jason Patric*1/2By Alan BacchusIf this was the year of the 1980’s Delta Force throwback which includes, so far, the dull as dirt, A-Team, it’s a failed revival. Perhaps the third film in this trilogy, Slyvestor Stallone’s The Expendables might redeem these other films, but it would take a miracle to overcome the stench of decay that is The Losers.Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Clay, the leader of a Delta Force/Black Ops/Green Berets-type of military squad who in the opening scene survives an assassination attempt by some other drug-supported clandestine organization. Despite being thought dead the force reunites to exact revenge on their betrayers, led by some secret information supplied by a really skinny tough gal played by Zoe Saldana. Their team includes the usual roll call of specialities, demolitions experts, small arms specialists etc etc all of whom contribute in a series of surveillances set pieces, ‘clever’ heist sequences and big wheeling chases and gunfights between the endearing Expendable-Loser- Z-Team and the bad guys.Of course there’s double-cross and Jason Patric hamming up as the sophisticated baddie. Not even Ray Liotta would touch this one.The film version of the popular graphic novel of the same name (which I haven’t read) doesn’t so much play as a Delta Force throwback as an over-the-hill mid 90’s Tarantino ripoff. The Tarantino-esque ensemble of actors spewing out some awful eye-rolling, overly loquacious quirky dialogue and, as the still above depicts, the slo-mo shot of the Losers walking towards the camera at a transition point in the film.It’s no surprise the film is co-written by Peter Berg, the all style, no substance director of throwaway action pictures, The Rundown, The Kingdom, Hancock. Berg is not at the helm of this picture though. Stomp the Yard’s Sylvain White gets the gig. White is even more aggressive with his visual palette, throwing every stylistic toy at us in a attempt to be cool. Everything is overlit and overly colour processed. Swish pans punctuated by music stings transition every other shot with another. The staccato-like camera shutter thingee which makes action looks sharper is also constantly employed, and of course there’s a few ironic pop songs thrown in, such as Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ – which, thanks to The Sopranos, was already rendered old hat, again!Unfortunately it all feels like hackneyed Guy Ritchie cinema language, but not the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels/Snatch Guy, but the Revolver Guy when he was ripping off his own tired works. So it’s third hand theft of Tarantino.If anything we can admire the attempt at creating a fun action picture which doesn’t take itself seriously and exists solely to stimulate our eye and ear candy-craving short attention spans. Unfortunately with a style so overused and played out it’s too close to its sources to be ironic and not smart or funny enough to be an homage. Well, maybe an homage to ‘Smokin’ Aces’.“The Losers” is available on Blu-Ray from Warner Home Video

Insomnia (2002) dir. Christopher NolanStarring: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt***1/2By Alan BacchusAfter the success of Memento, choosing to direct this film based on the 1997 Erik Skjoldbjærg Swedish thriller was a smart career decision. For several reasons, 1) he didn’t have to write the film, and thus exercised his muscles at adapting someone else’s work 2) he could shoot it back to back with Memento, and even before the previous film had come out 3) he was working with a more conventional story with the rules of the procedural/serial killer genre as a safety net.The result is a resounding though modest success, not a mindblowingly ambitious production in the vain of the Batman pictures, or Inception, or even The Prestige, but an unpretentious yet beguiling little one-off nonetheless.Will Dormer (Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Donovan) are a pair of big city LA cops who have come to a cosy little northern Alaskan town to investigate a grisly murder of a young teenaged girl. Dormer in particular is carrying the baggage of an internal affairs investigation of tampered evidence of his earlier case with him. The stress of this case combined with the ever-present sun, which because of their high latitude receives perpetual sunlight, puts Dormer in a perpetual haze. Despite this Dormer is all business and picks apart the case with the precision of a surgeon, instantly taking command of the case.But on their first sting, Eckhart is accidently shot and killed by Dormer, and a split second wrong choice by Dormer to cover it up results in a steady downward spiral of with Dormer personal ethics getting foggier and foggier. Dormer finds himself teaming up with the serial killer to cover up his partner's killing and save his own ass. He would be home free if it were not for a spry and ambitious brownnoser, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) who is close on Dormer’s trail.There was no need to fuss with the original material as Hillary Seitz script is written with efficiency, a near carbon copy to Nikolaj Frobenius and Erik Skjoldbjærg’s screenplay. It’s an unflashly yet deceitful story which provides a number of unexpected turns, not twists in the sense of shocking moments of revelation, but choices made by the protagonist which turn the vice of tension and stakes. These moments are spaced out throughout the 90mins of the film – first there’s the death of Eckhart and his Dormer’s decision to cover it up. Then there’s the introduction of Robin Williams as the serial killer, at the halfway point, a new active character in the film and the quiet partnership they form together. And lastly the slight twist of betrayal of Dormer against Finch in the end.Along the way Nolan finds time to draw just enough attention to a couple of smaller powerful moments of insight into Dormer’s character. The most important of which is when Dormer refuses to sign Ellie’s police report on the Eckhart’s death. It comes towards the end when Dormer is at his most haggard. With the report closed off the trail of Dormer’s coverup would have been cut off too, but Nolan makes Dormer stop and pause and without overt motivation tells Ellie to double-check her report before filing it. It’s dramatized without much of a beat, but looking back it serves as Dormer’s unspoken confession and desire to give himself up and one of the most important moments in the film.Insomnia is a mostly dour thriller, but what serial killer films aren't? It doesn't have the visceral impact of Seven or Silence of the Lambs. It's part of the simmering tension which underlies the story, but never really explodes with the force of those other two films. Nolan’s frequent musical collaborator other than Hans Zimmer is David Julyan who composes a moody score not unlike his work on Memento and The Prestige, and perhaps influenced by the atmosphere scores of Howard Shore – it compliments perfectly Nolan’s slow and steady pacing, foggy mountain vistas and overcast sunlit visuals.Despite the praise and mondo box office success, from these eyes, Inception was more of mess of ideas than anything else and it will be a while before Nolan will get back to the intimate close-off style of filmmaking of Insomnia or Memento – we’ll have to wait after the third Batman movie before finding out.'Insomnia' is available on Blu-Ray from Warner Home Video

Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco. Courtesy of WireImage.
Sometimes skepticism gets in the way of everyone’s enjoyment.  This idea occupies the same flavor territory as “ignorance is bliss.” It is a vote for the willful flooding of the brain with seratonin and other happiness-inducing substances, something that often happens when we turn off the internal mechanisms that regulate intellect in favor of turning on,  say, G4’s late night programming.
The next eleven days are not part of this idea. At the Television Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour, currently underway at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA.,  skepticism hangs heavily in the air. There are a couple hundred of us here, and we’ve seen the fall pilots. Not only that, we get to confront the people who are bringing them to us — executives, producers, and the stars — and find out what they were thinking.
That, in essence, is the point of TCA: to look under the hood of each network’s programming and see whether the new fall crew has any hope, or if old favorites are worth sticking with. A pilot can look perfectly fine, but unless the people writing it know what they’re doing, it won’t have a chance as a series. The opposite can be true as well; “30 Rock’s” pilot, for example, was mediocre. That’s putting it kindly. But after a chat with Tina Fey, it was easy to have faith that it would improve. Midway through the first season, it did.
All of this is in service of you, the television viewer. You know how difficult it is to decide what to watch in the best of circumstances. Now the networks and cable channels want you to make room for new series, most of which won’t make it through the winter.
Mind you, there are a few CBS shows that we can say, with a degree of certainty, that you’ll be happy to load onto your DVR.  CBS’s new crop looks fairly typical and as such, its TCA day was generally painless and free of controversy…save for the panel for “$#*! My Dad Says.” Even that wasn’t awful, per se; rather, it did precisely what a TCA panel is supposed to do. It showed us why that show, in its present incarnation,  is destined to crash and burn.
At one point, “$#*!” executive producer Max Mutchnick explained how he and David Kohan came to be a part of the project by saying, and this is a real quote, “We got involved because, when we heard this and we read about this, we saw Justin’s beautiful tw*ts.” Yes, that’s right — he referred to tweets by using a vulgar reference to female genitalia. And he kept on doing it.
By the time Mutchnick tried to correct himself by calling tweets “twits” and about the 10th time series star William Shatner referred to it as “The Twitter,” the panel had lost control of the room.  It was a beautiful cringeworthy moment.
Overall, CBS started the day with its greatest assets and stumbled on down the mountain from there.  Keep reading for the full diary.

“The Big Bang Theory“ presented the very first panel of the Tour, a welcome entry at 9:15 a.m. While it’s no surprise that the stars Jim Parsons,  Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar and Johnny Galecki were happy to bask in the love-fest — a rare commodity in a room full of critics — even executive producer Chuck Lorre was in a pretty good mood. And why not? Not only is “Big Bang” moving to Thursdays, a TV network programmer’s ultimate show of faith, but Lorre has another series premiering in the fall,  “Mike & Molly,” which is getting a relatively warm reception.
Fans will be happy to know that “Big Bang” plans to have a number of familiar guest stars return, including Melissa Rauch and, happily, the very evil, very funny Wil Wheaton.
Also returning is Mayim Bialik, whose character Amy Farrah Fowler is set to have “a very specific relationship” with Sheldon. Interesting.
Billy Gardell and Reno Wilson. Courtesy of WireImage
Moving on to “Mike & Molly,” a comedy starring Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy, things became a tad awkward as some critics tried to dance around the fact that the stars happen to be overweight.
In fact, nobody actually wanted to use the word “fat” or talk about fat jokes until Gardell, a plain-spoken comedian, essentially gave us permission to do so.
“Of course I think I’d like to lose some weight,” he said, talking about his size.  “I mean, everybody’d like to be a little bit better than they are, you know, but everybody has a different tick, man.  Mine just happens to be pizza.”
When the room stayed silent, he quickly added, “It’s okay.  You can laugh at that.  I’ve got a mirror.  Lighten up.”
The core of “Mike & Molly” is a very sweet love story about people trying to move forward in their lives, and that sweetness permeates the pilot. But as both McCarthy and Gardell point out, it also takes the unusual step of putting two plus-sized actors at the center of a show.
Gardell observed, “when you’re a fat guy in Hollywood, you’re the bad guy, the cop, or the neighbor.  That’s what you’re doing.  ‘Bring them to me!’ ‘You kids get out of here!’ ‘He’s going to kill us both!’” he vamped as the room broke up with laughter.
Given that experience, to be one of the leads in a CBS comedy is “like I got the Willy Wonka ticket, you know? ‘Run, Charlie.  Run home as fast as you can.’”
“Mike & Molly” could be a tougher sell at first, but “Hawaii Five O” is one of those pilots kissed by fortune and good buzz from the jump.  From the moment Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park were named to the cast, people have been curious about this show. (TV superfans, by the way, were likely just as excited to hear James Marsters and Norman Reedus would appear as the bad guys.)
The only negatives critics could pick at had to do with the pilot’s violence, and it’s true: a lot of auxiliary characters get shot in that first hour. Take into account that this is an action series on CBS, a network that climbed to the top of the ratings on miles of simulated entrails courtesy of “CSI,” and it’s not really a big deal. The scenery is beautiful, and the theme song lovingly resurrected by the same musicians who recorded it the first time.
Also — and this is very important to a number of people — it looks like it’ll keep O’Loughlin on the air for more than half a season.  Remember, he’ s the star of “Moonlight” and “Three Rivers,”  so CBS has gotten his hopes up before. But with “Hawaii Five-O,” “There’s something special about it,” he admits. “I mean, if this one doesn’t go, I’ll be completely bewildered. I mean, I’ll have no idea how television works at all.”
Those represent CBS’s winners. Another entry, “Blue Bloods,” could go either way. Many agree it’s a well-made pilot, but the actors could not get their New York accents straight.  The one thing everyone could get behind is that it gets points for bringing Tom Selleck back to network television.  Meanwhile, Selleck was quick to assure us that while “Blue Bloods” is fine and dandy, he still intends to produce more Jesse Stone movies.  Great news for your Aunt Doris!
Further down the slide is “The Defenders,” a show starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell. Both showed up and answered random questions about sets and their enjoyment of gambling, which is what happens when a show is so painful to watch that nobody in the room really wants to engage in a meaningful discussion about it. Rather, we were left to contemplate the shelf-life of a series that represents the meeting of a showkiller (O’Connell) and a man at the center of an unkillable sitcom (Belushi). The good news is Belushi is more fun and palatable here than he was in “According to Jim.” Unfortunately it’s still not a very good show.
Mind you, at least the armada of producers behind “The Defenders” had an inkling of how to present the subject matter. They compared well to “$#*! My Day Says’” executive producers  Mutchnick and Kohan, who clearly have no idea how Twitter works and as such, probably should not be driving the “$#*! My Dad Says” party bus.
A lack basic understanding of Twitter isn’t the problem here, though — that tidbit simply illustrates the producers’ overall cluelessness.  The main issue is that the real Shatner is far goofier and more engaging than the old guy he’s portraying. The pilot is being re-cast, but unless the producers drastically rewrite the script, we predict this will be one of fall’s first flushes. No, we couldn’t resist.
Thus ended Day 1. Day 2 represents the CBS Corp. cleanup, including Showtime and The CW.
You can follow what Mutchnick would call our “beautiful tw*ts” at http://twitter.com/IMDbTV, where we tweet the freshest TCA news as soon as we get it.
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“Everything on television is born under a death sentence, they just don’t tell you when the execution date is.” – Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the “Law & Order” franchise
It has been a long time since anyone who cares about TV took NBC very seriously. From the top down, the network spent more than a decade making a hobby of ruining its brand and trashing its relationship with viewers.
But what’s done is done…we hope.
On Friday, network executives Angela Bromstad and Jeff Gaspin humbly expressed their hope that viewers are willing to get over the multiple betrayals and move forward. Join us, they said in so many words, won’t you?
This fall NBC has a couple of decent shows — and the guts to let “30 Rock” air a live episode on October 14 — so they’re not completely blowing smoke. That said, none of the critics here seem particularly excited about NBC’s new crop. The J.J. Abrams-created romantic spy dramedy  “Undercovers” is a bit of an exception; most poeple seem to like it, but even that excitement is slightly muted.
Instead, as we watched most the new candidates make their cases onstage, we couldn’t help thinking of Dick Wolf’s fresh quote on a TV show’s life expectancy. Among the seven new series NBC showcased, only “Undercovers” has a pilot indicating the show could have the goods to make it to a May finale.  Another, “The Event,” is already pleading for your faith that it knows where it’s going, and a third, “Outlaw,” is banking on the audience’s decades-long love affair with Jimmy Smits. The L.A. version of “Law & Order” is still casting and, according to Wolf, still figuring out what it’s going to look and feel like.
Then there’s “Outsourced” and “Chase“…we’ll rip into those in a bit.

First up was a panel for “The Event,” which is a show about…honestly, I can’t tell you. It’s not that I’ve been sworn to secrecy, it’s that the pilot is fairly elaborate and involves a lot of time jumping, a guy running from security on what it supposed to be a pleasure cruise, and a crisis involving an airplane. People have mixed feelings on “The Event,” largely born out of “24” and “Lost” fatigue.
The executive producers were careful to let us know, many times, that the inciting moment that occurs in the pilot will be explained in the second episode, and that the writers do not intend to drag things out like a certain other show. One even went so far as to call the premiere an “invitation” to the series.”
“You have to go on faith that we know what we’re doing,” said series creator Nick Wauters. “We will reveal as many answers as we can and set up more mysteries.”
Here’s the flaw in that plan. If people do not care about what happens in the pilot, they will not be back for the second episode.  Meaning, the producers are putting a lot of faith in the audience’s patience for mysterious shenanigans.
In contrast, “Undercovers” grabs you, drops you right in the middle of the party for an hour and then gives you the option of heading for the door, which is what any well-made pilot should do.  “Lost” followers might be a bit taken aback by its light, frothy tone (courtesy of E.P. and “Felicity” alum Josh Reims)  but overall the first hour gives us multiple payoffs immediately. There are two gorgeous leads (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw), there’s the crisp and humorous script and heavy dollops of action.
Then came Wolf, who gave no clear indication that “Law & Order: Los Angeles” (or LOLA, as NBC would like us to call it) would be remarkably different from the classic version. That would be fine, about ten years ago. There are a few reasons “Law & Order” died following one of the longest runs on television history; one is that the franchise has saturated the cable TV schedule thanks to syndicated cycles. There is never, ever a day that you can’t find at least two “Law & Order” episodes playing somewhere. While that’ s a testament to the franchise’s success, its also proof that Wolf might want to update its tone. He’s a smart man, he knows this.
As such, we’re betting “Law & Order: LA” will look more like the “NCIS’s” and “Criminal Minds” of the world, with more action and fewer Dragnet-style, “just the facts, ma’am” moments. One exciting item that came out of Friday’s panel was the hire of Terrence Howard as the second Deputy District Attorney, a position he’ll split with Alfred Molina. Each will appear in half of the first season’s episodes.
Wolf’s appearance represented the apex of the day. The afternoon brought “Outsourced,” an alleged comedy about an American manager who is ordered to head up a call center in India.  The cast includes Diedrich Bader, an actor who has not let his relative success get in the way of his charming personality. One desires nothing but success for Bader. One also wishes he were in any show but this one.
There are a number of problems with “Outsourced,” although a favorite theme of Friday’s panel had to do with the perceived stereotypes in the pilot. Two more prevalent issues, however, became apparent when one critic told the producers that he had to show the pilot to his teenage son to gauge whether it was funny or offensive. The man said his son informed him that it was funny because it’s offensive.  I submit that a) it is neither absolutely offensive nor at all funny, and b) if you have to ask anyone else, regardless of age,  if a sitcom pilot is funny, the pilot doesn’t work.
“Chase” is a different animal, basically an NBC version of a high-velocity CBS procedural. Kelli Giddish heads up a team of U.S. Marshals whose job is to track and capture a dangerous criminal every week, which leads to a lot of scenes that have Giddish’s and fellow castmate Cole Hauser’s’ characters getting inside the heads of the felons in order to guess where they’re going. Unless you’re a fan of that procedural style, this show will not be for you.
One bad sign for “Chase” is that this writer was in a minority of critics who admitted, out loud, that they liked the pilot (even if I would not go out of my way to watch subsequent episodes).  Then again, many critics couldn’t stand “Criminal Minds” when it first came to TCA. Look at where that ended up.
Other highlights of from Friday:
– NBC’s executives made a few special announcements about adjustments to the fall schedule, including early premieres for “Parenthood” (now starting its new season on September 14) and new series “Outlaw” (debuting 9/15). “Law & Order: SVU” will get a two-hour premiere on 9/22, leaving “Law & Order: LA” to bow on 9/29.
– Rob Lowe is officially a series regular on “Parks and Recreation,” and Drew Carey will make a multi-episode guest appearance on “Community.”
– Fall will include a test of how well the audience loves Jimmy Smits.  Yes, he was darn sexy in “L.A. Law,” and he even mentioned Victor Sifuentes during “Outlaw’s” panel, but that was a long time ago. Plus,  “Law” operated on a far less ridiculous premise than a womanizing  Supreme Court justice with a gambling problem (??) who quits (!!!) to defend people caught up in hopeless cases. Oh, Jimmy…good luck with the Nielsen ratings jury on that one.
– “School Pride,” an unscripted series executive produced by “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines, would likely be called “Extreme Makeover: High School Edition” if it were on ABC, because that’s what it is. Each week a crew goes to a different inner city school lacking decent facilities and gives it a structural and cosmetic upgrade.  It’s a heartstrings-tugger with its intentions in the right place. Yet to be proven is if it’s a good fit for this network.
– There was no presentation for “Top Chef: Just Desserts,” but chef’testants were on hand to present four delicious, eye-popping creations, including a margarita truffle and a bite-sized lemon meringue treat topped by sparkling blueberries. This made the announcement of the “Ghost Hunters“/”Real Housewives of Atlanta” crossover event much more palatable.
Next up: ABC.
Follow IMDbTV on Twitter to get the latest breaking information on Fall TV developments as they’re announced at TCA.
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Last night, 8 minutes of TRON: Legacy were unveiled, Guillermo del Toro announced a new project, and Battle: Los Angeles began its attack for supremacy over higher-profile blockbusters. And all that happened while stars like Angelina Jolie, Bruce Willis, and Helen Mirren made 2010 an especially royal year at Comic-Con. Perhaps the only disappointment was Brad Pitt’s non-appearance for the Megamind panel, though watching Tina Fey cradle and caress a Pitt standee was an acceptable substitute.
Angelina Jolie
TRON: Legacy was the presentation of the day — better said, overall, the Disney panel was the most surprising and fan-friendly. Legacy offered up insights from Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, and Bruce Boxleitner, and it was the presence of TRON writer/director Steven Lisberger that created some moments where you could feel the 28 years between the original movie and its sequel bridging together. Director Joe Konsinski thrilled the crowd by involving us in an audio recording — fans chanted and stomped on command — that might be used for the film’s sound mix.
After Bridges, Boxleitner, et. al headed off-stage, suddenly the video screens flickered back to life, and Johnny Depp and a bottle of rum delivered a message from Captain Jack Sparrow on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (no real news, just an invite to see the fourth chapter of the saga). And then, Guillermo del Toro made his mysterious and much-publicized announcement: his next project will be … writing, producing, and possibly directing a live action version of Disney’s Haunted Mansion with a story that will reintroduce the Hatbox Ghost. His  joke about not returning Eddie Murphy’s calls for the project was one of many harsh/hysterical quips from the day.
Battle: Los Angeles captivated the Hall H crowd, with the alien invasion movie looking like Black Hawk Down meets the video game “Modern Warfare”.  Live wire Michelle Rodriguez stoked the Q&A, though I’m still wondering if Aaron Eckhart is too pretty to be a Marine.
Angelina Jolie’s face looked amazing on the JumboTron screen, though the best thoughts on Salt and preparation for the action movie came from co-star Liev Schreiber, who considers the threats to his health and beauty before agreeing on any stuntwork. My eyes are on Salt’s opening weekend, and I still hope that Tom Cruise turns out to be the real Evelyn Salt.
Highlights from the evening: watching Robert Rodriguez and Danny Trejo make tacos for a hungry Machete crowd; bearing witness to Mr. Cartoon and some of the promotional art he created for the Machete event (stay tuned for more from him on a larger scale); listening to the cast of The Expendables help usher Sly Stallone into IGN’s Action Hero Hall of Fame; being so excited by the presence of William Fichtner that we temporarily forgot his name until a new friend at Lionsgate said, “You guys are IMDb, you should know it.”
Touché!

Kynt and Vyxen from "The Amazing Race"
Today, when I first got to the Convention Center, I decided to check out the Autograph Area, where fans speak directly to artists, filmmakers, and actors from shows of both the past and present, plus get photos, program books, and artwork signed.  It was still early so there wasn’t much going on, but I did see actors Morgan Fairchild, Erin Gray, Richard Hatch, Mark Shepphard, and also Kynt and Vyxen from The Amazing Race.  Guillermo del Toro was supposed to arrive at any moment, but the line was so long, I couldn’t get even close.
Next, I headed over to Ballroom 20 where I spent most of the day watching the major TV panels.  My first panel was “Caprica“, moderated by Geoff Boucher of Hero Complex.  The panel  featured actors James Marsters, Sasha Roiz, Alessandra Torresani, and Magda Apanowicz, as well as executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.  Eick brought a bottle of tequila with him, and he and Moore took several shots as they talked about the future of the show.   It was a lively discussion as they explored several themes from the show, including marriage and what it means to be human, especially for a society which the audience knows is ultimately doomed.  I was very intrigued to hear that they had begun to write “Caprica”, before they began writing the final two seasons of “Battlestar Galactica”. So as a result, they were able to resolve certain issues on Battlestar… and avoided painting themselves into a corner.  The second half of the first season of “Caprica” will begin airing in January of 2011, and Moore seemed confident that the show would get signed for at least one more season (if not two!).
The Barenaked Ladies
“The Big Bang Theory” panel was up next and kicked-off with a sing-a-long, performed live by  The Barenaked Ladies.  Wil Wheaton moderated the panel that included executive producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Brady, along with actors Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar.  Wheaton led a fun panel  as they mostly talked about how endeared the cast was to each other.  In fact, when an audience member asked Parson how he was able to find inspiration to play Sheldon, he beamed that it was so easy to play the part because of the great writing and “everything was there on the page”, prompting Lorre to walk over and give him a hug.  They didn’t reveal too much for next season but they did confirm that Mayim Bialik will be back to play Sheldon’s love interest and that Steve Wozniak will guest star on the show.
As I was waiting for the “Bones” panel to begin, I wanted to grab some water, so I asked a woman sitting behind me if she could watch my seat.  It turns out that she was Kathy Reichs, the forensic anthropologist and crime writer that the series is loosely based on.  After a lively panel, that mostly involved flirtatious bickering between Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, creator Hart Hanson called Reichs up on stage.   She was also at Comic-Con promoting her new book, and all of the members in the audience received a copy.
The Joss Whedon Experience was next on the agenda.   This has become an annual tradition, for Whedon to talk directly to the his fans about what he’s working on.  I also saw Whedon yesterday at EW’s Geek Gods panel, as he sat down with J.J. Abrams and moderator Jeff Jensen.  I was really excited to see two of my favorite writer/directors on stage together, but I have to admit it felt a bit anti-climatic.  Don’t get me wrong: it was cool to hear how Abrams owns the original tongue from The Exorcist (sent to him by Dick Smith the make-up artist after he wrote a fan letter) and that Whedon was definitely directing The Avengers (was it a question?). But I think I was expecting them to read Holy tablets straight from the mountaintop.  But today, Whedon was laid-back and comfortable as he leaned on the front of the table as he answered questions  directly from his fans.  One fan asked him about his writing process, which he summarized as “Fun, Hunger, Porn, Depression, Fun.”  At the end of the panel, a strange audience member tried to get Whedon to say who his favorite actor he has worked with.  Turns out it was Nathan Fillion in disguise, complete with a fake mustache and trench coat.
My last panel for the day was “True Blood“.   Tim Stack from EW moderated the panel featuring the majority of the cast, including Joe Manganiello, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Deborah Woll,  Nelsan Ellis, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley, Anna Paquin, and Stephen Moyer, as well as creator Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris, the author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels that the show is based on.  Alexander Skarsgård wasn’t in town because he’s shooting a film, but Paquin and Moyer carried out a cardboard cut-out and set it up on a chair.  Alan Ball shared an exclusive clip that showed scenes from the second half of the series, that revealed a whole lot of drama including Sookie being attacked by Sophie-Anne,  and hinted at Alcide and Sookie taking their friendship to the next level.  I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so you’ll have to wait and see!  One thing they did confirm for sure was that Manganiello is officially a series regular on the show.   Now there’s something to howl about.
- Michelle Bryant

An altercation over seating in Hall H has resulted in one Comic-Con attendee being stabbed over his left eye and another conference-goer arrested for the crime. The incident occurred after the Resident Evil: Afterlife panel and there was a delay before Universal’s Cowboys & Aliens/Paul presentation.
The violence broke out after an argument over saved seats; ultimately, one man stabbed the other with a pen. The perpetrator was promptly arrested and police began an investigation inside Hall H. The victim has been taken to a local hospital.
Panels were delayed temporarily as police began their investigation and the scene of the altercation was cleaned up. Police continued their questioning of witnesses as the Cowboys & Aliens/Paul presentation began.
More news on this story as it develops.

Ray Subers, our colleague at Box Office Mojo, reports on Day 3 of Comic-Con.
Maggie Q at the Nikita panel
With an influx of families and other weekenders, Saturday is probably the busiest of Comic-Con’s four days. Fortunately, I had already gotten a solid feel for how lines work at the Con, and was therefore able to get in to a substantial number of panels throughout the day.
My first panel was for Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants. Admittedly, I haven’t watched the show in years, but the panel itself was an absolute blast. In attendance was a wealth of cast and crew along with SpongeBob himself, Tom Kenny. They showed a five-minute making-of video, which was both funny and enlightening. Next, they took questions from the audience, most of which came from the children in attendance. After three days of listening to adults mostly ask wordy, awkward questions, the kids’ simple yet hilarious inquiries were a breath of fresh air. My favorite of the day came from a very young child with clear studio executive aspirations who asked “How much does it cost to make an episode of SpongeBob?” To conclude the panel, they premiered a straight-to-DVD episode called ‘Trench Billies,’ which finds SpongeBob and Patrick unwillingly adopted in to a Beverly Hillbillies-type underwater clan.
I was going to stay behind for the premiere of The Event, but had to run to a Leverage press event instead. This seems like a good choice in hindsight, as we were able to spend a considerable amount of time with each of the actors in attendance. While Timothy Hutton and Beth Riesgraf had lots of interesting insights to share about the show, the most fun came when Aldis Hodge and Christian Kane (sipping on a Bud Light) sat down at my table. They spent nearly 20 minutes joking around with us, sharing good stories, and reflecting on the show’s success and how that’s affected their lives. Neither of them appeared to have any ego whatsoever, and they seemed truly grateful for all of their success.
After Leverage, I made my way back to the exhibit halls for the SyFy Channel’s Warehouse 13 and Eureka panels. Both panels began with an extended trailer and were hosted by a member of the other show. The hall was packed with excited fans of the shows, which are clearly perfectly engineered for the Comic-Con audience. Each cast seemed to have good chemistry, and there was the nice added bonus this year of having James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar on ‘Battlestar Galactica’) in attendance thanks to his new role on Eureka. As far as newsworthy items go, ‘Eureka’ announced that Felicia Day will be taking on a guest-starring role, while future crossover episodes between the two shows are strongly being considered.
Next up was the premiere of the pilot episode of CW drama Nikita, which I admit wasn’t my cup of tea. While it had solid action and an intriguing premise (though I liked it better when it was called Alias), it was riddled with painful expository scenes and spy show clichés. The unfavorable rumblings I heard afterward don’t bode well for word-of-mouth, though I won’t attempt to deny the drawing power of a scantily-clad Maggie Q. Speaking of Maggie Q, she came on stage afterward with fellow star Lyndsy Fonseca and executive producer Craig Silverstein, though it was a brief appearance and was mostly spent trying to describe how this ‘Nikita’ differs from prior incarnations.
My final panel of the day was for Fox’s Human Target, which developed a nice little following through its first season. Mark Valley, Chi McBride, Jackie Earle Haley and new showrunner Matthew Miller were on stage to discuss the second season of the show, including the addition of some regular female cast members like ‘Rome’s Indira Varma. Chi McBride, who killed with a William Shatner impersonation, was talking about some of the other TV shows he’s done, paused, and said “I’m just doing my IMDb page.” Thanks for the shout-out, Chi!
That’s all for my Comic-Con 2010 coverage. My personal highlight was definitely The Walking Dead panel (this is a guaranteed hit), while the most disappointing presentation was probably for The Cape. Overall, the Con was exhausting, stressful, and tons of fun, and I’m glad to have been able to experience it with the rest of the excellent IMDb team.
–Ray Subers

Without question, the most benevolent moment of Comic-Con 2010 was Ryan Reynolds’s reciting of the Green Lantern’s oath for a boy who asked him what is was like to say, “In brightest day, in blackest night…” Reynolds fixed his gaze, got into bedtime-story voice, and communicated said oath directly to the child. Cut back to the amazed fan, who then held up his power ring to Reynolds, who did the same and return, and the biggest lump since Toy Story 3 formed in my throat. I thought about how cool it must be to be a younger person who gets this kind of access to one of their superheroes. (A parallel: Imagine it’s early 1978 and you have the chance to ask Christopher Reeve what it was like to be Superman.) At this point, Ryan Reynolds literally is still becoming the Green Lantern since the film has 4+ weeks of shooting left in New Orleans. For me, as this moment transpired, Reynolds become something more than a lovable performer, and I cannot wait to travel to Oa with him.
*******
I am thinking about Jon Favreau, who helped restoke Hall H after the widely reported altercation between two men that temporarily halted the day’s movie panels. (We apologize for misreporting on the story and have learned from the experience.) Favreau, who is at the tail end of witnessing Iron Man 2’s worldwide dominance, unveiled footage of Cowboys & Aliens, which I understand was arguably the best-received trailer at this year’s Con. A new friend from the awesome website io9 remarked that was a genuine surprise, and that it balanced story, emotion, and aesthetics. In 2007, he was still a relatively green director, and certainly not experienced with guiding a comics superhero to the big screen. A mere 3 years later and he’s Jon Favreau: superheroic moviemaker.
*******
On villains and sidekicks: will we wind up rooting for Hugo Weaving as Red Skull over Chris Evans as Captain America? Might Kato be used to coax nonplussed Green Hornet fans back in caring about the movie?
*******
The cast announcements for The Avengers didn’t surprise, but I sense its release will be a defining moment for comic-book movies. The last time a group of superheroes came together, Halle Berry had enough power to expand her role in franchise that crashed to the ground under the direction of Brett Ratner. With Marvel at full strength and pushing into 2012 and beyond, their power might even defeat the Joss Whedon curse.
–Arno

Julianne Hough says she thought he was gay before dating him.

Julianne Hough - Ryan Seacrest - Gay Lesbian and Bisexual - Gay - Dancing With The Stars

Lilo goes to jail and things might be getting better for Mel Gibson.

Mel Gibson - Lindsay Lohan - Arts - Television - People

'Britain's Got Talent' performer cites humiliation in lawsuit against Cowell.

Simon Cowell - Got Talent - Television - Arts - Programs

An odd selection has been made for the new CEO of the oil company.

BP - Petroleum industry - Business - Energy - Watches

Jimmy Kimmel compares Hilton's jetsetting with a Florida family's road trip.

Paris Hilton - Recreation - United States - Travel - Travelogues

'Kings of Leon' vs. pigeon poop and 'American Idol's' new lawsuit

Kings of Leon - Arts - Musical ensemble - Bird - Leon

Angelina Jolie looks so femme fatale-tastic staring out from the poster for 'Salt,' with her black wig and heavily lined eyes, that it's hard to imagine that the title role in the movie was actually written for a guy.

Angelina Jolie - Salt - Social Sciences - Psychology - Evelyn Salt

Celebrity Breakdowns

Sandra Bullock - Jesse James - People - Celebrities - Entertainment

Perhaps the most mind-churning mainstream film of recent years, Inception is testament to the power of great costume design. Not only does it look sumptuous, thanks to all those 3 pc suits and silk ties, but because of costume designer Jeffrey Kurland and director Christopher Nolan’s commitment to clothing serving an implicit function, Inception is at least partially decipherable by what the characters wear. The screen is filled with costume clues to interpret.

Jeffrey Kurland has been costume designer on thirty seven feature films, including Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and Collateral (2004), though Inception is his first collaboration with Chris Nolan. Here he explains to Clothes on Film his sartorial choices for the movie and how they integrate with the story.

Clothes on Film, Chris: Was it your intention to give each character a signature look, e.g. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur in 3pc suits, or Ellen Page’s Ariadne nearly always wearing patterned silk neck scarves?
Jeffrey Kurland: I set out, as I always do, to design all of the costumes for Inception to best serve the emotional and physical needs of each of the characters.
If a signature look for each character emerged, it was not through a pre-designated plan but through the physical development of that character.

The costumes, i.e. the suits, coats, dresses, etc in Inception were all designed by Jeffrey Kurland. They were made to order.
COF: The first time we see Marion Cotillard as Mal she is encircled in an angular upturned collar, somewhat like a wicked witch. What was the purpose behind her look and how did it evolve throughout the story?
JK: When we are first introduced to Mal we wanted to stir the audience’s curiosity with a sense of mystery. As the film proceeds we find that Mal is femme fatale, mother, wife, architect and the emotional center of Cobb’s world. All of these character traits combined became the basis for her character’s design and palette.

The fabrics for all the costumes, including the majority of ties, were collected from many sources both in the United States and abroad.
COF: How much does costume reflect the inner machinations of the plot, particularly in a film such as Inception? For example, Cobb’s children are wearing the same clothes at the end of the story as they are in his dream ‘memory’ throughout the film. Is there something to be interpreted here?
JK: Costume design reflects greatly on the movement of the plot, most significantly through character development. Character development is at the forefront of costume design. The characters move the story along and with the director and the actor the costume designer helps to set the film’s emotional tone in a visual way. In a more physical sense the costumes’ style and color help to keep the story on track, keeping a check on time and place.
On to the second part of your question, the children’s clothing is different in the final scene… look again…

Each costume was cut and assembled by talented artisans: tailor Dennis Kim, dressmaker Mary Ellen Fields of Hargate Costumes, shirt maker ANTO Beverly Hills, and an army of seamstresses and finishers. Ager dyers and fabric specialists added to the mix.
COF: The male characters’ suiting is very up to date, even forward thinking, such as the peaked lapels on Ken Watanabe’s single breasted suit, or the Nehru collar and popper studs of Michael Caine’s shirt. Was your intention to create a pseudo-futuristic vibe?
JK: Not wanting to date the film, I was trying to create an upscale world of business and intrigue with architecture being a constant metaphorical thread running throughout… definitely forward thinking, without being futuristic. That enabled me to travel from reality to dreams and back, keeping a certain amount of stylization that would serve all the situations presented in the script.

Most of the footwear for the film was purchased, although some of the shoes were custom made.
COF: Ken Watanabe as Saito wears a Nagajuban under his lounge jacket at one point, a subtle blurring of East and Western culture. How detailed was your research into Asian dress traditions?
JK: I did research traditional Japanese dress thoroughly, knowing that I wanted that influence in Saito’s first costume. The scene being in a mysterious and unidentifiable place was the perfect setting to introduce a highlighted reality. Being a powerful Japanese businessman in what was eventually revealed to be a dream; I wanted to show an adherence to and a respect for the old, but still showcasing him as contemporary and cutting edge.

Tom Hardy’s watch as Eames was an antique piece.
COF: How involved was director Christopher Nolan in how the characters should dress?
JK: Director Chris Nolan was very involved, and extremely collaborative in every aspect of this film and its look. His fingerprint is everywhere. Happily, the costumes were no exception.
COF: What was the significance of Arthur and Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Cobb both wearing leather jackets for the initial ‘Inception’ sequence?
JK: Arthur’s character was a cab driver in this dream and Cobb’s character was a kidnapper/thug. To be true to the scene and convincing to Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy’s character), they were dressed accordingly. Their leather jackets were different in fit and style but still kept a cohesive look respecting the architect and the dream.

In an early scene Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur wears a green raincoat. This was an original design by Jeffrey Kurland.
COF: How important was your use of colour and texture in the film, particularly with regards to the high quality 65 mm shooting format showing up every detail?
JK: All of the costumes and the fabrications for Inception were carefully chosen for their texture, patterns, and colors. Each character had a palette that was symbiotic with their character and style. I especially enjoyed working with director of photography Wally Pfister whose light and shadows complimented and defined the patterns and colors in the costumes.

With thanks to Jeffrey Kurland.
Jeffrey is currently working on Captain America: The First Avenger with Anna B. Sheppard, due for release on 22nd July, 2011.
© 2010, Chris Laverty.

Related posts:

1. Film Review: Inception
2. Captain America: Costume Leaks All Over the Place

Dir: Harold Zwart; Starring: Jackie Chan; Jayden Smith; Rating: * * *

Dir: Joe Carnahan; Starring: Liam Neeson; Sharlto Copley; Jessica Biel;
Rating: *

Eric Elmosnino delivers an uncanny lead performance as dissolute Casanova,
Serge Gainsbourg.

Dir: Oliver Stone

This item has nothing to do with Mel Gibson. It has something to do with Avatar, but only tangentially, since I’ve had a confession to make ever since I read, a few days ago, that James Cameron and Fox are preparing a theatrical re-release of the Blue People Chronicles next month in a “special edition”

People are always asking me if I ever get tired of going to the movies. The honest answer is: No, I never get tired of going. But I do get tired of second-tier mediocre Hollywood product, and when you’ve consumed enough of it to wear you out, there’s only one thing that can trump that

Sometimes one moment in a movie encapsulates the whole experience.  Remember the moment in Toy Story 3 where a Spanish-speaking Buzz Lightyear did the paso doble? Or the one in Twilight : Eclipse where Jacob had his shirt off? (Uh, which moment when he had shirt off?) Recently, Owen and I got to talking about

This particular blog post isn’t an analysis, or a description, so much as it is a confession: I found myself more or less entirely baffled by Inception. I tried, I really tried, to figure it out, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it — not really. For approximately two out of every three

By all means, let’s keep talking about Inception: What a pleasure it is, in this arid summer for big movies, to have a big movie out worth talking about! (Anyone have anything to talk about in the matter of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice? Anyone?) If you’d like to take a break, though, from the topic of

Her name is Salt. Evelyn Salt. Or maybe it’s Croft. Lara Croft. The characters played by Angelina Jolie look great doing a lot of amazing stuff. They’re sleek, they’re slinky, they’re cool under pressure, they’ve got great delts, lats, and biceps. But they can’t always pass a challenge called the Bechdel Test that’s so simple,

The most relentlessly plugged nugget of information surrounding the snappy/ preposterous espionage-action thriller Salt is that Angelina Jolie took on the title role after Tom Cruise turned it down. That may well, in fact, be true. But the fact that you’ve read about it in virtually every review of the movie, and every feature pegged

Predators

OPENING: 07/09/2010

STUDIO: Fox

RUN TIME: 106 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Fear is Reborn
Opening Statement
While I’m a fan of John McTiernan’s savage sci-fi thriller Predator, pretty much everything else about the Predator franchise to date has been uniformly unimpressive. Sure, Predator 2 and even the two Alien vs. Predator movies have their defenders, but to me they all played like weak attempts cash in on the popularity of the original. Now we have Nimrod Antal’s Predators, which easily bests the other sequels but still fails to match the first film.

Facts of the Case
The film begins with our hero (Adrien Brody, The Darjeeling Limited) falling from the sky. He doesn’t seem to know how he got in this predicament, but soon a parachute opens and he floats into a mysterious jungle. Within moments, several others are floating in around him. Brody and the others (a motley crew played by Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Louis Ozawa Changchien and the spectacularly-named Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) tensely introduce themselves, and soon discover that they all have one thing in common: they’re hardened individuals well-equipped for a situation like this. Well, everyone except Topher Grace, who is a mild-mannered doctor.
After some searching, the group makes a startling discovery: they’re not on planet earth anymore. It seems they’ve been transported to another world and dumped into some sort of game preserve. The incredibly deadly aliens that brought them to this place are planning on hunting the humans for sport. And so the fight for survival begins.
The Evidence
It’s clear that those involved in making Predators are big fans of McTiernan’s 1987 film. The jungle setting is near-identical, the structure is very similar and various references are made to that iconic film. Director Nimrod Antal and producer Robert Rodriguez make an impressively valiant effort at recapturing what made the first film so memorable, and they almost succeed. Like the first movie, this one waits a pretty long time before it actually allows the monstrous Predators to appear. This is meant to build suspense, but the one thing the film fails to take into account is that we’re already very familiar with what the Predators are and how they work. Scenes that are nearly mirror images of scenes from the first movie just don’t work as well simply because we’ve already seen them.
Lest you think that I regard the original Predator as a flawless piece of cinema, let me assure you that isn’t the case. That movie has some significant flaws, but it’s quite well-directed and the primitive final half-hour is strong enough to erase one’s memories of the weaker moments. Predators is weak in precisely the areas where the original was strong, as the movie just sort of runs out of steam by the time Adrien Brody gets into mud-coated Predator-hunting mode. The action scenes are directed in a rather generic, uninvolving manner, so it’s only natural that the action-heavy third act would be the weakest.
I had hopes that a gifted actor like Adrien Brody might bring something meaty to the proceedings, but Brody proves surprisingly bland in the central role. Beefing up a bit and adopting Christian Bale’s Batman rasp, Brody humorlessly stomps through the proceedings without making much of an impression. Most of the other actors are one-dimensional character types who each bring a single element of personality to the proceedings. There are some highlights, though: Walton Goggins is gleefully creepy in his turn as a serial killer, while Laurence Fishburne melds his usual gravitas with an appealing loopiness as a man who has been surviving on this planet entirely longer than any human should have to.
If Predators is weak where Predator was strong, it’s only fair to note that Predators is occasionally strong where Predator was weak. Some of the less explosive moments in the film actually manage to resonate, particularly a brief scene between Brody and Braga in which they contemplate whether this new environment is actually better-suited to humans such as themselves. The characters are constantly forced to choose between survival and clinging to whatever they have left of their humanity. They are presented with variations on this choice on numerous occasions, and it’s quietly moving every time.
Closing Statement
I do genuinely appreciate the effort Antal and Rodriguez have put into restoring the franchise; and those who are fans of the series in general should find this one of the more satisfying efforts. I can’t really recommend it to those who aren’t already big fans of Predator, but you could certainly do a lot worse at the movies right now.
The Verdict
6/10

Inception

OPENING: 07/16/2010

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

RUN TIME: 148 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Your Mind is the Scene of the Crime
Opening Statement
After achieving remarkable success both critically and financially with The Dark Knight, Director Christopher Nolan has taken a break from Batman to pursue his own original idea: Inception, based on a script that Nolan developed for over a decade. The result is a film that sees Nolan reaching dizzying heights as an artist; an intelligent, original serving of thunderous elegance that towers over the rest of the summer movie crop like a giant in Lilluput.

Facts of the Case
In order to accept the film, you must accept its basic conceit: that advanced technology has been developed which allows people to share dream experiences together. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed) is a man who has used this technology for selfish means, as he’s a specialist in entering the dreams of others and extracting valuable secrets from them. This is a complex and challenging art that requires significant planning and assistance.
However, Dom’s newest client (Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai) isn’t interested in the extraction of ideas. He wants to know if inception (the planting of an idea into another person’s mind through dreams) is possible. Dom insists that such a thing would be very difficult, but that it could be done. Without further ado, he hires a team of experts (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Dileep Rao and Tom Hardy) in various aspects of dream invasion to assist him in the mission. Their target is the son (Cillian Murphy, Batman Begins) of a dying CEO, and they must convince him to make a particular decision upon his father’s death.
The Evidence
There are a lot of additional nuances to that plot that I haven’t really gotten into, but that’s because it would take an inordinate amount of time to explain the many complications at work in the essentially simple framework of this story. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen another movie that had to devote the vast majority of its running time to explaining itself. Inception is not about what happens but how it happens, and Nolan essentially uses the film as a canvas for unraveling his meticulously constructed ideas. If that sounds dull, be assured that nothing could be further from the truth. Inception is thrilling both intellectually and otherwise, with layers of intelligent excitement poured on top of a moving emotional foundation.
Nolan is a filmmaker who pays close attention to detail and takes great care in the construction of his films. As such, his dreamscapes are not free-flowing fantasy worlds full of random whimsy but rather specifically-organized layouts with precise rules and regulations that govern them. There are some who might suggest that dreams deserve to be treated as something more unpredictable and unruly, but I found Nolan’s carefully organized menace nothing short of fascinating. By giving dreams a set of complex ground rules, Nolan creates a very stable foundation on which to build his wild architecture. To witness the unbending logic which is dictating the frenzied action as the film barrels into its third act is unbelievably satisfying and exciting.
Inception is bursting at the seams with ideas, one of which is that it is possible to have dreams within dreams… and dreams within dreams within dreams, too. However, there is a difference in the perception of time from level to level. When you’re dreaming, time moves slower than it would in real life. Time moves even slower in the level below that, and so on. So, what feels like 10 seconds on the first level of dreaming feels like an hour on the third level. This idea fuels a magnificent sequence in which various members of the team are carrying out different tasks on each of the levels, synchronizing their efforts through the use of an Edith Piaf song set to go off at a specific point. This could have been a mess, but Nolan and editor Lee Smith (this year’s Oscar winner, I think) present the whole affair with an almost musical pacing and unwavering clarity (the actual music helps too, as Hans Zimmer turns in an effectively stormy score).
The emotional core of the film is largely found in the performance of Leonardo DiCaprio, who turns in a performance eerily similar to his work in Shutter Island. Without wanting to spoil either film, let it be said that both films feature remarkable similarities both in terms of the subject matter and in the back stories of the lead characters. DiCaprio is every bit as good here as he was in Scorsese’s film, proving once again just how much he has grown as an actor. He’s ably supported by a game supporting cast, with Ellen Page standing out as a young woman who persists in attempting to understand what secrets Dom Cobb has buried away. Marion Cotillard (Public Enemies) also pulls off a tricky performance as Cobb’s wife, who quite literally haunts his dreams on a regular basis. Everyone does good work and most of the significant characters are given a chance to shine at some point (though Michael Caine has roughly two minutes of screen time), but most of the major requirements in terms of acting are on DiCaprio’s shoulders. Fortunately, he’s now fully capable of carrying that weight.
Closing Statement
If I have one concern/complaint with the film, it’s that Inception is so wrapped up in its ideas that it doesn’t really take enough time to ponder the ethics of those ideas. What Dom Cobb and his gang are engaged in is essentially a form of mental rape. This activity deserves some serious discussion and debate, but that’s brushed off pretty quickly (Nolan is more concerned about the effects these activities have on the perpetrators than the victims). Of course any half-perceptive viewer will recognize these things on their own, but I can’t help but wish a stronger opposing point-of-view had been represented in the film.
Even so, that’s a small complaint about a film that I could continue praising for quite some time. Instead, I’ll simply tell you that Inception is an absorbing ride from it’s unusual opening scene to its masterful closing shot (a final image rivaled only this year by the closing frames of The Ghost Writer), and that it’s one of the year’s best films. See it without hesitation.
The Verdict
10/10

Winter’s Bone

OPENING: 07/11/2010

STUDIO: Anonymous Content

RUN TIME: 100 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Bred and buttered.
Opening Statement
Winter’s Bone is a chilling tale set in rural Missouri which couldn’t have been cast any better. Jennifer Lawrence brilliantly leads the ensemble as a seventeen year old looking for her miscreant father in a small community of people, many of which are blood related. With a budget of only $2 million dollars, director Debra Granik has assembled a film more powerful than anything I have seen this year.

Facts of the Case
Seventeen year old Ree Dolly cares for her little brother, sister and emotionally ill mother in their rural Missouri home. The sheriff comes by the house looking for the father, who is due in court within days, but has since disappeared from town. A bail bondsman comes by the house to let the family know that their deadbeat dad has put the house up as part of the bond and if he doesn’t show in court, they will be soon become homeless. Ree begins her search for her father in the obvious places, but soon realizes that to get the information she needs, she will need to talk to the shady people with whom he has had dealings. In this part of the Ozarks, almost everyone is related, but few are willing to help.
The Evidence
It is strange how the films that I look forward to the most often disappoint, like when Indiana Jones was running from the spaceship or when Batman had a case of laryngitis that wouldn’t go away. In both of these instances, I knew something was terribly wrong. In recent years, the films that leave the most lasting impressions are the ones out of left field. In 2007, it was No Country For Old Men and in 2008, it was Let The Right One In. In 2009, that film was Drag Me To Hell, and this year the film that has blown me away is Winter’s Bone. After a string of mediocre films, I am once again reminded of why I love going to the movies.
I know different types of films appeal to different types of people, but I seem to have an affinity for either cold, depressing dramas or psychological horror films. Winter’s Bone falls into the former category, but has several scenes that will get under your skin without question. In the same way as John Boorman’s Deliverance, we meet the type of mountain people that those who read online film reviews should never meet in a dark alley—or anywhere for that matter. Ree’s family is poor, squirrel-eatin’ poor to be exact, but Ree does her best to bring up her little brother and sister responsibly. She teaches them to cook for themselves and quizzes them on various math and spelling words. Ree has to fend for herself since her mother is depressed and hasn’t said a word in years. While Ree and her siblings are kind-hearted individuals, her kinfolk are indeed a scary bunch, the kind of people who keep several tireless cars on the lawn and a pet ferret in the corner of the living room. (No offense to our lesser distinguished readers of Cinema Verdict who might own a ferret or two. I hear those footlong rats taste wonderful.)
Jennifer Lawrence plays Ree, the teenager searching for her missing father who is also one of the many local manufacturers of crystal meth. To keep the house, Ree must track down her father and make sure he gets back to court in time. She starts by talking to her uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes), the first of many men with whom direct eye contact is not recommended. When we first meet Teardrop, he is nonchalantly loading his pistol at the kitchen table we can sense instantly that this is a tightly wound individual. Teardrop sports a small tattooed cross under his left eye and repeatedly pulls a bag of cocaine from his pocket for a quickie. John Hawkes is just one of the outstanding performers in the film, and Teardrop is the kind of guy who can become completely unhinged at any moment. Ree knows that too, probably from past experience, and Lawrence exhibits that fear to a T.
Aside from a “doobie for your walk home”, Ree gets little to no help from Teardrop. She then seeks help from Little Arthur, another crank dealer in the area. With no support from him, she moves on to Thump Milton, a distant relative who runs the town and won’t speak a word about the information he clearly knows. All of the people she deals with along the way feel unbelievably real, and moreso, look like true hill folk. Everyone in the film is dirty and has a dishevelled look about them. Merab, daughter of Thump, is played by Dale Dickey and looks every bit the part of a mountain woman who has felt the effects of a very hard life, possibly one with frequent meth use. Dickey is frightening and a pivotal scene involving Merab near the end of the film is bone chilling.
Winter’s Bone is a film about blood ties and how much those really mean. Will feuding families of the same bloodline willingly watch a seventeen year old and family lose the house because of the iniquities of her father? In the end, it is a question of which people are truly heartless and at what cost. Debra Granik has done a masterful job at exploring this subject in a rural part of Missouri most of us will thankfully never see. Granik’s effective use of gray and blue tones perfectly bring out the nature of both the bleak, winter setting, but also the coldness of the story’s characters. This is a film that you won’t forget for some time and although it won’t have the mass appeal of Inception, it has far more complex characters and believable situations…if you are into that sort of thing.
Closing Statement
Winter’s Bone is an unforgettable film and ranks up with Deliverance in the creepy-hillbilly genre. The gritty acting combined with great dialogue make for one of the most realistic dramas I have seen in years. We see characters in various levels of depravity and get a view of an inpoverished world completely foreign to most of us.
The Verdict
10/10

Salt

OPENING: 07/23/2010

STUDIO: Sony

RUN TIME: 100 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Who is Salt?
Opening Statement
I have to admit, the trailers for Salt didn’t exactly inspire much excitement in yours truly. It looked like a fairly typical action film rooted in a typical “innocent person wrongly accused” plot; a bit of generic noise to fill a gap in the summer movie season. I’m glad to have been proven wrong. Salt is one of the loopiest films of the summer, but also a tremendously well-crafted thriller and a grandly entertaining experience.

Facts of the Case
Angelina Jolie (Changeling) plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA Agent who’s been given the task of interrogating a Russian spy claiming a desire to defect to the US. During her interview, the Russian suggests that there is an assassination being plotted by a mole within the CIA. He claims that this mole’s name is Evelyn Salt. The interview grinds to a halt, and Salt’s superiors demand that she be put into custody until the matter can be examined further. Not willing to sit around and answer questions, Salt makes a run for it and attempts to escape the grasp of the CIA and FBI while simultaneously looking for a way to clear her name. So begins a tense, action-packed journey to a surprising finish line.
The Evidence
It becomes clear rather quickly that Salt is a film that has been dipped in a giant vat of crazy sauce. We realize this as soon as the Russian defector fills us in on a super-secret Russian program which brainwashes orphans and trains them to become sleeper agents in America. Apparently, the man we know as Lee Harvey Oswald was actually one of the first notable members of this particular program. This plunge into territory that even Oliver Stone might find over-the-top is only the beginning of the eyebrow-raising developments Salt has to offer of the course of its lean 99-minute running time. This much must be said: this movie is neither formulaic nor predictable.
The director is Phillip Noyce, a talented guy whose work includes serviceable Hollywood fare (Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, The Bone Collector) and ambitious dramas (Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Quiet American). While Salt isn’t on the level of the latter two films, it represents Noyce hitting an all-time high as an entertainer. The action scenes in the movie are crafted with remarkable skill and precision, steadily increasing the level of tension and excitement as the film proceeds. There’s a refreshing amount of professional nuts-and-bolts craftsmanship on display, as the scenes are largely staged without the aid of CGI or silly special effects. It’s such a nice change of pace to witness an action movie in which the presence of computers is almost entirely unfelt. Real stuntwork, real sets and practical effects are the name of the game in Salt, and these elements are being employed by a director who knows what he’s doing.
The film was originally intended as a vehicle for Tom Cruise, who would have been wise to stick with it. Salt proves considerably more enjoyable than Cruise’s limp summer action/comedy Knight and Day, though it’s doubtful that Cruise could have managed to be as enigmatically compelling in the lead role as Angelina Jolie. It’s a treat to witness the actress handle this material; she’s effortlessly confident and undeniably effective as an action star. Actors are traditionally called upon to show us what they’re feeling, but Jolie’s task in Salt is to make us question whether what’s she emoting is honest or an act. The film’s ad campaign has been built upon the question “Who is Salt?” That’s a question you’ll keep asking yourself for quite a long while.
The show belongs to Noyce and Jolie, but both receive crucial support from a host of talented supporting cast and crew members. Liev Schrieber (Defiance) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) are both crisply professional in their roles as government agents attempting to capture Salt and get to the bottom of the mystery. Oscar-winning Cinematographer Robert Elswitt brings an exceptional level of visual flair and atmosphere to the sort of film that usually doesn’t receive such treatment. Composer James Newton Howard delivers an exceptionally exciting score which does a nice job of adding to the film’s sense of momentum.
Closing Statement
I can certainly see why someone might come out of Salt shaking their head at what they had just witnessed. The film is unapologetically mad, as Kurt Wimmer’s screenplay often feels like it was written by an insomniatic 15-year-old in 1985 (I mean that in the best possible way). Even so, I was thrilled to witness a film that managed to blend such fine technical merits with a delightfully unconventional plot. Most of the folks at my screening were chuckling happily at the film’s conclusion, which I believe is precisely the reaction the film is aiming for. So grab a bucket of popcorn and add some Salt. Odds are you’ll have a good time.
The Verdict
8/10

Comedic actors don’t ever age well. Time and success rob even the most gifted funny people of the edge and hunger that made them so hilarious in the first place. It seems that the career path of most comedy stars seems to follow the same, achingly horrific trajectory – risky roles in oddball movies, then a transition either to a soft-around-the-edges sitcom or the occasional dramatic film turn until finally you are either dressing up in a fat suit and whoring for Walt Disney (the Eddie Murphy Syndrome) or dressing up like a doctor / biker / serial killer / Wal-Mart photo attendant for reasons no one understands at all (the Robin Williams Conundrum).
Every generation has to deal with its comedy heroes gradually sliding towards the family-friendly side of the unfunny ledger, but when it happens all at once - in a single film - right in front of your eyes, the effect can be similar to having your own youth stolen from you like an AIG executive with his hands deep in Granny’s retirement fund. I am referring of course to Grown Ups, the film where four famous stand-up comedians commit career suicide at the altar of their own burgeoning transition into middle age.
Grown Up is the kind of film that no comedic actor should ever, ever make, no matter how many dump trucks full of money are backed up to the front of their houses. This stinking pile of wistful ‘the way we were’ bullshit is exactly the type of wallowing, humor-free moralizing that makes you want to zip-tie a plastic bag over your head before you yourself hit the age of 40. Guess what? If we are to believe the message that Grown Ups has to offer us, it turns out that family life changes you from the cool guy you may have once thought you were into the kind of responsible father of two who should never have a camera turned in his direction unless he’s making a night deposit at an ATM or filming some kind of MILF-related amateur porn.
Too bad that Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade didn’t get this memo before signing on to star, because they subject the audience to one and a half hours of awkward moralizing, trophy wives, spoiled brats and boring in-jokes that are never explained during a tedious weekend spent at some dead dude’s lake house. Think of every teen comedy involving summer hijinks you have ever seen and then age the cast 25 years, remove every single joke in the script and add a running gag about a four year old who is still breastfeeding – in public, no less – and you get the general idea of why Grown Ups sucks so much.
I can’t wait until they make the sequel to this film, which will be called ‘Senior Grown Ups’ and which will consist of two hours of footage of a geriatric Adam Sandler and Chris Rock lying side by side in a hospital ward. The only dialogue will be the gentle sobbing of their adult children punctuated by the beeping of the life support system, which critics will hail as an enormous improvement over the first Grown Ups movie. Where are Kevin James and David Spade’s characters in this movie? In my fantasy, Kevin James and David Spade are already dead. And cremated.
By the way, you might have noticed that I didn’t mention the Sandler’s cabana boy Rob Schneider was in this film. I didn’t think I’d have to bring it up, because he’s contractually obligated to appear in every Sandler movie until the end of time in a role that is specifically designed to make you realize that talent plays absolutely no part in 99 percent of Hollywood casting decisions. Is Rob Schneider also the Grown Ups sequel, ‘Senior Grown Ups,’ you might ask? Yes. Yes he is. Rob Schneider, the herpes of Hollywood, is eternal. You keep that shit forever, like luggage.

Sci-fi sequels are almost always crippled by the same fucking ridiculous Hollywood brain fart: if one of something was scary / cool / interesting, then TWO OR MORE of the same thing would be MEGA scary / cool / interesting. It boils down to the fact that what makes a good sci-fi movie so appealing in the first place is the original idea behind it, and attempting to equal or surpass that idea in a sequel is almost always completely impossible.
That doesn’t stop studios from trying, of course, and the result is a clusterfuck like Predators. After attempting to murder the franchise by replacing Schwarzenegger with DANNY FUCKING GLOVER in Predator 2 and then shitting on the entire fan base for the series with the two Aliens vs. Predator movies, anyone even tangentially involved in the production of these enormous failures should have been jettisoned into the sun like the nuclear weapons in Superman IV. But no, instead 20th Century Fox decided to hire Robert Rodriguez in a vain attempt to recapture the glory that faded more than 20 years ago. Like James Cameron before him in another series that has gone to hell, he took a look back at the original flick, realized there was no way he could top the tension, action or insanity and decided it would be better to just stuff the movie with as many Predators as he could and hope no one noticed the lack of plot, talent or acting.
So let’s set the stage – a bunch of ‘badass’ humans headed by ‘legendary badass’ Adrien Brody get air-dropped onto an alien planet where they are hunted down, one by one by a race of super advanced Predators. Essentially, this is game over, right? I mean, just one of those things took out Arnie’s elite commando unit, on their own turf, all the way back in 1987. Sadly, time has not been kind to the Predator race, as it appears that they have lost about 800 IQ points in the intervening decades. Despite being introduced as a team of three ‘Super Predators,’ check out how these seven-foot tall ug-mugs end up dying:
1 – Blown up in a tunnel by a Russian dude who just happened to have C4 strapped to his body.
2 – IN A FUCKING SWORD FIGHT WITH A DUDE WHO HAS TWO FUCKING FINGERS!
3 – As the result of an emotionally touching piano solo performed in the middle of the jungle by Adrien Brody.
I may have made that last part up, but then again, maybe I didn’t. Maybe this movie really is that stupid. Hell, I WISH I had fabricated that sword fight death, because if the enormous Native American dude in the original Predator couldn’t manage to kill one with his giant Bowie knife, then there’s no way the scrawny yakuza dude in the shimmer suit takes one out with a blade. Why not just have the two of them sit down and play fucking chess, Ingmar Bergman style, all the while growling back and forth across the board about the intricacies of life’s mysteries. Or maybe cuddle a little bit. Or roast marshmallows over a campfire underneath the planet’s triple moons. For fuck’s sake, give me something I can believe in, Mr. Rodriguez.

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In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal's new 3-D CGI feature, "Despicable Me." Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.

A man with a remarkable talent for violence must fight to survive when he sets out on an extraordinary journey in this fantasy from director Nicolas Winding Refn. One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) is the nickname given to a nameless, mute warrior who has become a slave to Barde (Alexander Morton), a wealthy Scotsman who obtained One Eye for his remarkable fighting skills. One Eye is a fierce warrior but shows little loyalty to his master, and when the opportunity presents itself, One Eye murders Barde and his mercenaries and sets off on his own, with a young boy (Maarten Stevenson) tagging along to speak on his behalf. Eager to leave Denmark behind in favor of freedom and adventure, One Eye throws in his lot with a band of Christian Vikings, who've set out on an ambitious quest to travel to Jerusalem and claim the Holy Land as their own. But the voyage to the Holy City is a difficult one, and the Vikings are met with violent resistance, forcing One Eye to rely on his talents as a warrior to protect himself and his young apprentice. Valhalla Rising received its North American premiere at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival.

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobbs rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossibleinception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

A bold new chapter in the Predator universe, "Predators" was shot on location under Rodriguez's creative auspices at the filmmaker's Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, and is directed by Nimrod Antal. The film stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they've been brought together on an alien planet... as prey. With the exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers - mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members - human "predators" that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators.

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Coverage of the Western Australian Football League (WAFL).

Remember the 2003 comedy/holiday classic ELF? Buddy must find his way in the human world after leaving the North Pole and find his father when he realizes he is not an elf.

"HELP" is a ghostly horror

In what's supposed to be a cheeky homage to '80s crime-fighting fare like Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon and of course, Die Hard, Cop Out is nothing more than a 107-minute string of bad jokes without the benefit of a punch line.

The ads for Clash of the Titans suggest epic entertainment, superb special effects and the catch phrase of the year so far—"Release the Kraken!"—but there's nothing epic about Titans other than the sense of disappointment it leaves in viewers.

Dinner for Schmucks, a remake of the French farce The Dinner Game, expands on the original in many ways that improve the story, but it adds a heavy dose of sexual content that prevents the film from being easily recommendable.

Aside from Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me, kids have really gotten the short end of the cinematic stick this summer. And sadly, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which is so bad it should've gone straight to video, doesn't exactly up the ante.

The spiritual-warfare-themed plot of this production takes theater-goers into the depths of hell; specifically, the home-office of a senior demon named Screwtape. Onlookers are granted access to his private chambers to observe him as he dictates a series of letters to his nephew, a novice tempter.

Guests Diana Falzone, Jesse Joyce and Dana Vachon break down actor, Tim Robbin’s, midlife crisis.Add this to your queueAdded: Thu Jul 22 15:16:09 UTC 2010Air date: Wed Jul 21 00:00:00 UTC 2010Duration: 43:44

TV Guide Magazine did something recently they've never done before.They celebrated the 40th anniversary of the famous San Diego Comic Convention by creating a separate 'Comic Con Special TV Guide Magazine' which was supposed to show up at news stands everywhere around July 26th.I found it by accident at my grocer's on Friday, July 23rd. Interestingly, 4 different covers were created for this auspicious occassion. One of them is our beloved trio of Peter, Olivia, and Walter.The other three shows honored to have a cover spot include The Big Bang Theory, Smallville, and Vampire Diaries.If you are a die-hard Fringe fan you will want to pick up this issue. Inside you will find 8 pages of fun, Fringe-y stuff.The first two pages are basically for Fringe newbies:A Fringe A-Z covering everything from the 'Alterna-Verse' to Zeppelins.The second two pages are Damian Holbrook's Favorite Ten Season I and II episodes.(Fun, but I would have included 1.02, 1.05, and 1.06, to add a few).The fifth page features 'Five Questions For The Cast.' It is interesting that they asked Josh Jackson and Anna Torv pretty much the same questions(hmm, appears there's a Star Wars vs. Star Trek rivalry here.) Jasika Nicole and John Noble got slightly different questions. As for Lance Reddick and Blair Brown's questions and answers, one must visit the tvguidemagazine.com link and wade through a bunch of stuff to find those. But for you Fringe fans, I'll add the link below.The sixth page of the Fringe section is entitled 'Burning Questions,' and I want to warn you that if you are a no-spoilers die-hard you do NOT want to read this page! Brilliant Executive Producer Jeff Pinkner couldn't keep himself from dropping little tidbits of spoilerish stuff here, and I absolutely love it!The last two pages are 'Secrets of the Set.' This is a rehash of an article that appeared in TV Guide Magazine earlier this year, but it's always fun to re-visit the lab and the crazy props that live there.All in all, the Comic Con Special edition of TV Guide Magazine with Fringe on the cover is a lot of fun. You'll probably find yourself paging throught it more than once then handing it over to your new Fringe friend recruits. Before you order it check your grocer's first. They were still on display at my grocer's Friday night in Massachusetts.Link to Lance Reddick and Blair Brown's 'Five Questions For The Cast':http://www.tvguide.com/News/Fringe-Questions-Cast-1020811.aspxLink to Fringe Cover of Comic Con Special edition of TV Guide Magazine(ebay):http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190423736646

Ali invites the final two bachelors to Tahiti to meet her family.Add this to your queueAdded: Sat Jul 31 21:59:09 UTC 2010Air date: Mon Aug 02 00:00:00 UTC 2010Duration: 41:47

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Leonardo DiCaprio finds himself charting dreamscapes in "Inception"

A joint biography of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and their traveling circus of money, booze and mutual obsession.

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star in "The Other Guys"

Once upon a time, Gibson was actually a fine actor who starred in excellent films, even blockbusters.

X-Men fans united on last weekend for the Marvel Comics X-Men panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, where the comics company discussed what will happen in the X-Men titles in the next few months.

Of course being that Second Coming just finished, the consequences of the event were discussed as well as the upcoming event Curse of the Mutants and a little bit of what is involved in this event.

The biggest thing that Marvel wanted to talk about was the reboot of all the Wolverine family books. Wolverine is starting over at issue #1 and the Wolverine Weapon X writer Jason Aaron will be writing it. Oh I know what you're going to say, what is happening to Daken? Well, don't worry, Dark Wolverine will be a separate series starting over at #1 as well. X-23 will also start a new ongoing series as well which has only been miniseries thus far and Marjorie Liu will be working on it as well [...]

A joint biography of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and their traveling circus of money, booze and mutual obsession.

Sacha Guitry, a French master on par with Renoir and Truffaut, has never caught on with American cinephiles. A new boxed set may help change that.

Obviously the message of the film is that making fun of others is cruel, unfair, even monstrous. That’s what they say at least, but in actuality the film spends almost two whole hours doing just that. Tim literally runs into the biggest schmuck imaginable in Barry (Steve Carell), an impossibly awkward and entirely friendless taxidermy enthusiast who is obsessed with making storybook dioramas using dead mice wearing clothes.

Director Martin Campbell says the Green Lantern shoot, which is nearing completion in Louisiana, is progressing nicely. "It's a very strenuous shoot, very tough, but everyone's been really great," said Campbell at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. "To be honest, it's gone very smoothly. And so far, touch wood, the weather's been very good in New Orleans, just for what we wanted. And yes, a strenuous shoot but we're almost there. And then the real work begins with obviously the effects which is a lot."
Campbell and his Green Lantern cast - Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong and Peter Sarsgaard - showed off footage in front of the Comic Con crowd, including some shots of Reynolds as fighter pilot Hal Jordan and as his alter-ego Green Lantern. Reynolds also won over the crowd by perfectly reciting the Green Lantern oath.
Check out our interview with director Martin Campbell and the first set of character posters from the superhero film which is set to hit theaters in June 2011:

• Interview with Green Lantern director Martin Campbell
• Green Lantern poster gallery

(Photo &copy Warner Bros Pictures)

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Steve Carell and Paul Rudd reunite after finding success in Anchorman and The 40 Year Old Virgin for Dinner for Schmucks, a mean-spirited comedy that's sporadically funny but mostly just uncomfortable to watch. Rudd and Carell do have chemistry on screen, it's just too bad they've wasted their talents on such a mediocre film. Read On...

• Review of Dinner for Schmucks

More on Dinner for Schmucks:

• Dinner for Schmucks photos
• Trailer and clips from Dinner for Schmucks

(Photo &copy Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks)

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The rumors have been bubbling under for the past few weeks about whether director Robert Rodriguez ( Sin City ) might be called upon to direct Deadpool , the planned spin-off from last year's X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Ryan Reynolds reprising the role of the "Merc with a Mouth" he played in that movie.

Last week at Comic-Con, Rodriguez was asked by  MTV  about the project and he confirmed he had received the script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick ( Zombieland ) but wasn't sure if he would direct or not.

Just one week later and the L.A. Times is reporting that Rodriguez is now in active negotiations to direct the movie and that it would likely happen after he finishes Spy Kids 4: Armageddon , which he's currently shooting...

24 Frames is reporting that Despicable Me creators Illumination Entertainment is developing a new Curious George movie for Universal Pictures to distribute.

The site says that "The movie is expected to feature the wry animated images of 'Despicable Me' and will spin a new story of George the monkey/chimpanzee (depending on whether you favor H.A. and Margret Rey's text or the tail-less images) who's taken out of the jungle by an eccentric explorer to live in the city, where mischief always seems to find him."

The 2006 Curious George , voiced by Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore, earned $69.8 million worldwide. That film was produced by Imagine.

Larry Stuckey, who penned the upcoming Little Fockers , is writing the new film.

Brian Geraghty, Josh Peck and Margarita Levieva will star in ATM , a thriller from the Safran Co. and Gold Circle Films, says The Hollywood Reporter .

They will play three co-workers who make a late-night visit to an ATM and end up in a desperate fight for their lives when they become trapped by an unknown man.

The movie is scheduled to start shooting in Winnipeg, Manitoba in late September.

David Brooks is directing from a script by Chris Sparling ( Buried ).

New details for GTA V, SOE turns EverQuest II into a free-to-play MMO and StarCraft II finally arrives in this week's recap.

Chris Evans is set to pocket a bumper payday for co-hosting One Show on Fridays, according to The Sun.The paper reports that the 44-year-old will earn half a million pounds a year for working…

Cheryl Cole has begun a month long holiday in Los Angeles while she recuperates from malaria - staying at Simon Cowell's mansion.According to the Mirror the mogul has given Cheryl and her close…

Big Brother's latest evictee Ben has questioned the long-term potential of John James and Josie's romance, calling them "very different people."The writer and broadcaster, who lost out to John…

Watch Marquez vs. Diaz 2 “The Fight of the Year: The Rematch” live online for free. Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez is back and he will be facing Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz once again in the ring at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday night at July 31, 2010. This fight is presented by the Golden Boy Promotion and dubbed as the Marquez vs. Diaz 2 “The Fight of the Year: The Rematch.” This event can be watch via HBO Sports on Pay-Per-View. Marquez got a professional ...Marquez vs. Diaz 2 “The Fight of the Year: The Rematch” is a post from: Watch Movies Online Free

Watch True Blood season 3 episode 7 online for free. True Blood’s episode 7 on its 3rd season is entitled as “Hitting The Ground.” Scheduled to air on Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 9PM ET/8pm CST. The current episode will show how untoward and unpredicted consequences happened when Sookie tries to rescure Bill from his current situation. On the promo trailer that I have seen from the said upcoming episode, it shows Sookie in the hospital with a bite in her neck almost bleeding to death. Bill of course shows a really worry face in the vid. Here’s the complete synopsis of the upcoming “Hitting the Ground”Sookie’s attempt to rescue Bill has unforseen consequences. Meanwhile, Jason seeks the truth about Crystal. Sam must step in when Tommy gets involved in a dog fighting ring, all thanks to Melinda and Joe Lee’s quest for money. Eric figures out how to get the information he wants from Sophie-Anne. Debbie plans to get even with Alcide while Russell ignores the Magister.The following video shows what I am talking about:Later go back here to watch True Blood season 3 episode 7 online for free. You can also watch previous episodes here. Just hit the search and you’re set to watch True Blood season 3 online. Have fun!

As France's first lady makes her big-screen debut, we look at which film roles would best suit her international counterpartsCarla Bruni-Sarkozy is the first lady all other first ladies aspire to be. Always impeccably turned out, with enough sophistication, personal history and physical stature to ensure she'll never be overshadowed by her husband, she's living proof you don't have to pack your life into a box just because you're married to a world leader. Where Carla Bruni-Sarkozy goes, her contemporaries follow.Which means that we should all probably brace ourselves for a flurry of first-lady films soon. This is down to the much-publicised bit-part Bruni-Sarkozy has landed opposite Owen Wilson in the new Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris. So what if, as some reports suggest, it took her 35 takes to silently walk into a shop with a baguette in her hand? All that matters is that she's a legitimate film star now, and that her international counterparts are all secretly desperate to copy her. But which ones? And what would they star in? Time to assess the movie-making potential of other first ladies (and gentlemen) ...Samantha Cameron – If ever there was a woman born to star in a Richard Curtis film, it's Samantha Cameron. She ticks all the boxes. She's posh, she's British, she lives in Notting Hill (well, used to) and Hugh Grant has already played a less annoying version of her husband. Throw in a scene of her crying in an airport on Christmas Day and there you have it – the world's first Samcamromcom.Michelle Obama – As a high-earning law school graduate, you might think Michelle Obama would be above something as tacky as the movie industry. Then again, look at her famously well-toned arms. Guns like that are crying out to be cast in an action film; maybe a remake of Rambo III, or something that involves punching through several giant sheets of metal at once.Joachim Sauer – The husband of Angela Merkel is notoriously publicity-shy but the world of sci-fi would kill for a professional quantum chemist like him. Perhaps he could be cast in the next X-Men film – possibly as an unassuming villain whose attempts to conquer the planet using the Thomas-Fermi model of density functional theory are consistently thwarted by the public's failure to grasp what the Thomas-Fermi model of density functional theory is.Sonsoles Espinosa – Spain's first lady has a highly distinguished classical singing career. A former member of León's celebrated university choir, she has performed at Madrid's opera house and taught music at one of Spain's most prestigious schools. With a pedigree as flawless as hers, there's only one film Espinosa could make – High School Musical 4: Funky Fiesta!Tim Mathieson – Although the boyfriend of Julia Gillard, the new Australian prime minister, is now officially in the property business, most of his life has been spent as a hairdresser. There has to be a remake of You Don't Mess With the Zohan on the cards, albeit a version where the protagonist's impressive Krav Maga sequences are replaced by something more Australian – possibly a drunken bottle fight in a farmyard.Those are my suggestions. Your turn.

• Woody Allen
• Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
• Samantha Cameron
• Michelle Obama

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The 14th Annual LA Shorts Fest which “honors those individuals who have achieved excellence in short films” ended in Hollywood tonight and the festival’s six winners were announced:

Best Experimental: Stanley Picle, Vicky Mather
Best Animation: Zero, Christopher Kezelos
Best Comedy: The Man Who Married Himself, Garrick Hamm
Best Drama: Paraphernalia, John Williams
Best Foreign Film: Between Heaven and Earth, [...]

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Review of the Day – 07/21/2010
Review date: Jul.172010
Review by: ped from Redlands, CA

FiveFingers Sprint Sprint (Men’s)
Some have called FiveFingers Sprint the most versatile footwear they own. Adjustable hook-and-loop closures cross over the instep and surround the heel for a personalized, secure fit. A thin abrasion-resistant stretch polyamide fabric follows the contour of the foot for comfort. And a flexible, non…

Vibram five fingers multisport

4out of 5

Gift: No
Sizing: Feels half size too small
Pros: Comfortable, Durable, Lightweight, Breathable
Best Uses: Road Running

Reviewer Comments: I bought the Vibram shoes after reading “Born to Run” and deciding to learn Evolutionary Running.
AFTER ABOUT SIX WEEKS of wearing these shoes I consider them the most comfortable footwear I own. Ordinary shoes are now something I try to avoid. My former running shoes with all their padding have been demoted from most comfortable to least comfortable.
FITTING. Choosing the right size was a little tricky. I followed the fitting instructions exactly and concluded that I was midway between sizes 44 and 45. However, both pairs were too small, I settled on a size 46. The heel and instep adjustments made it possible to get just the right fit eventually.
QUALITY. Construction of these shoes is simple, and the quality seems good. I think they will last a long time, even with running.
ADJUSTING TO THE SHOES. Adjusting to the shoes is relatively easy, although I still sometimes have trouble getting all toes into the right pockets. Changing running style to run in these shoes takes some real effort and persistence. The shoes force one to run on toes.
RUNNING on one’s toes is an entirely new experience for a heel strike runner grown to like expensive padded running shoes. I have run for forty years as doing heal strikes.Although the Vibram shoes were comfortable from the start, there was some minor chafing around the toes when I started running in them. I had to learn to run all over again by running only a mile at a time. Now I am gradually increasing the distance and beginning to get the feel of the different style known as evolutionary running.
ONE DOWNSIDE of the shoes: The thin soles transmit a lot heat from hot pavement. After about a mile I can feel the hot pavement all too well, and so I simply avoid running on hot asphalt on hot days.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT. I am highly pleased with the shoes and delighted to move into jolt free toe running. It will take some time, but I am sure it is worth it. The Vibram shoes make it easier. And the shoes are exceedingly comfortable for general wear.
Originally posted at REI (legalese)

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Review of the Day – 07/27/2010
Review date: Jul.072010
Review by: Sue from Pembroke Pines, FL
I am: Value Oriented

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 (WIN)
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 software combines power and simplicity so you can easily go beyond the basics to tell great stories with your photos. Make your photos look extraordinary, share your life stories in creative ways, and easily manage all y our photos. Works great with iPhoto!
Ne…

Should have purchased it sooner!

5out of 5

Pros: Easy To Navigate, Versatile, Easy To Customize, Easy To Collaborate Across Programs, Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons: Spend too much time with
Best Uses: Educational Purposes, Family photography, Hobbies, Presentations, Professional Quality
Primary use: Personal

Reviewer Comments: I love Photoshop Elements. I should have got it sooner. I’m using it to touch up photos (no more bad shots) and to create title slides for my home movies. I’m sure I’ll be using it for a lot more in the future. My husband complains I’m spending too much time at the computer.
Originally posted at Staples (legalese)

Review of the Day – 07/29/2010
Review date: Jun.262010
Review by: getting ripped from New Castle DE
I am: Competitive Athlete

Animal Pak Training Packets (44 Count)

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These vitamin packs are great

5out of 5

Pros: Boosts Energy, Quickens Recovery Time, Good Value
Cons: Have not found any
Best Uses: Everyday, After Workout

Reviewer Comments: I have found by taking the Universal Animal Paks it has given me great muscle recovery and a good bit of energy .I say this because I have been using this product supplement for about five months now and days when I had forgotten to take them my muscles showed soarness a considerable amount more than taking them .If you want to get serious about getting your body in the best shape it can be this a great vitamin pack to add to your diet .
Originally posted at A1Supplements.com (legalese)

Ekta Kapoor has chosen the actor to play the lead in the desi TV version of The Twilight Saga.

Watch Bas Ek Soch from Tere Bin Laden Video

Dimpy addresses the media a day after the story broke out that she had been beaten regularly by her husband Rahul.

Indiatimes Movies yet again presents to you another set of personal moments from the life of some Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities.

Aamir Khan's Peepli Live is a satire on farmer suicide and media melodrama directed by debutante Anusha Rizvi.

Salman Khan is known for guiding and helping his actresses when is comes to films and career. Interestingly, the actor’s has found a new muse in the form of his ‘Veer’ co star Zarine Khan.

It’s not uncommon for a person to devise nick names for friends and Deepika is no different

Neil Nitin Mukesh has given up on a bad habit

Canada-based Lisa Ray is in no hurry to act and is instead keen to spread cancer awareness and write a book.

Sonam Kapoor and Abhay Deol in Aisha

Kajol and Kareena reprise the roles of Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts in Bollywood remake of 1998 Hollywood film 'Stepmom'...

National Award winning film on groom abduction in Bihar

Do Sportsmen make for better brand ambassadors than film stars?

Was Akshay's meet with laxman a PR activity?

Should Sangeeta-Azhar settle for a divorce?

According to Penn and Teller, America’s seniors are stripped of their dignity thanks to ongoing stereotypes about old people. They investigate the widespread beliefs that old people can’t drive, don’t have sex, and smell bad.
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Audrey remains in Haven to investigate her mother’s connection to the Colorado Kid, but ends up working with Nathan to determine the cause of a mysterious plague that targets fields and livestock alike.
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With low oil and drinking water, and a damaged helicopter, the Sea Shepherds’ hunt for the Japanese whaling fleet has been brought to a halt. While on their way back to port, the radar shows two colossal storms that they can’t avoid.
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With the success of the dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream concept behind the film "Inception," NPR's Bob Mondello talks to guest host Audie Cornish about Hollywood's long obsession with the dream sequence.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Academy Award winner Kevin Kline has worn many hats -- and many different styles of facial hair -- on film, the stage and television. His latest role is that of Henry Harrison, an eccentric playwright, in The Extra Man. He speaks with Liane Hansen about how his film is like Midnight Cowboy and what his mustaches say about his characters.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

In December 2005, Tono Zuniga was charged with murder in Mexico and sentenced to 20 years in prison. But Zuniga knew nothing about the crime, and had eyewitnesses to support his claim. Presumed Guilty, a film about Zuniga's plight, exposes a criminal justice system that often assumes guilt rather than innocence.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

This summer's movies are a diverse bunch, but there's one popular genre that's been left out of the mix this year: the disaster movie. You could call this lucky timing, since with the Gulf oil spill, we're experiencing some actual disasters this summer. And that's got critic Bob Mondello thinking about the differences between movie disasters and the real thing.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Most of us hear "Hef" and think of an overdressed, oversexed octogenarian with oodles of cash and even more Viagra. A new documentary sets out to change all that -- and critic Jeannette Catsoulis argues that it's a great success, revealing a committed social reformer -- the "libertarian inside the libertine."» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Charlie St. Cloud purports to grapple with matters of life and death. But this ode to "moving on" from grief packs so little genuine emotion that it will touch only the most susceptible of viewers -- that is, the teenage girls who will flock to see heartthrob Zac Efron cry while not wearing a shirt.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

On paper, Dinner for Schmucks seems to have it all: a star-studded cast that includes reliable funnymen like Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, a veteran comedy director (Jay Roach) at the helm, and a premise lifted from a great French farce. But in reality, Schmucks is much less than the sum of its parts.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Don Gonyea talks to actor Robert Duvall about his latest movie, Get Low. It's based on the true story of a Tennessee recluse who throws himself his own funeral. It opens in theaters July 30. » E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The Bachelorette was down, but still the top program of the night and again led ABC to a comfortable Monday victory.

via press release: INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY DOES IT AGAIN; POSTS DOUBLE DIGIT DELIVERY GROWTH IN JULY July ’10 Marks 12 Consecutive Months Of Double Digit Year Over Year Delivery Gains In All Key Demos ID’s ratings success continued in July 2010 prime, once again experiencing significant double-digit delivery growth in all key demos vs. July 2009: [...]

via press release: REVISED: MSNBC TOPS CNN IN TOTAL DAY FOR JULY Network Continues to Crush CNN in Primetime MSNBC Reaches More Viewers A25-54 Than Fox News Channel or CNN in July NEW YORK – July 27, 2010 – MSNBC topped CNN in viewers 25-54 for total day in July. This marks the fourth month [...]

via press release: SEASON FINALE IT’S ONE OF THE MOST ROMANTIC AND DRAMATIC NIGHTS EVER ON ABC, ON THE SEASON FINALE OF “THE BACHELORETTE,” MONDAY, AUGUST 2 And Immediately Following the Season Finale, Both Chris L. and Roberto Join Ali to Look Back at the Dramatic Ending to Her Journey to Find Love, on “The [...]

via press release: BRAVO WORKS IT OUT WITH NEW DOCU-SERIES, “THINTERVENTION WITH JACKIE WARNER” PREMIERING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 AT 10 P.M. ET/PT NEW YORK – July 27, 2010 – Bravo announces the series premiere of “Thintervention with Jackie Warner,” an emotional and lifestyle changing new docu-series inspired by renowned fitness expert Jackie Warner’s mission to [...]

As is typical, USA topped primetime viewing both overall and with adults 18-49.

via press release: USA’S ‘COVERT AFFAIRS’ PARTNERS WITH THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO HONOR THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT As Part of Network’s Characters Unite Campaign, Series Star Christopher Gorham to be Featured in an Original PSA on Combating Discrimination NEW YORK, NEW YORK – July 27, 2010 [...]

via press release: July 10 Becomes Disney Channel’s Most-Watched July Ever and 2nd Most-Watched Month on Record in Total Day in Total Viewers Stands as July’s No. 1 TV Network in Total Day in Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 Ranks No. 1 in Prime for the 65th Consecutive Month in Kids 6-11 and for the [...]

I'd predicted that Mad Men would finally eke out a 1.0 rating with adults 18-49 in its fourth season premiere, but it was not to be.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann saw its lowest viewing average in over two years, since April 2008.

via press release: USA SHATTERS RATINGS RECORDS IN JULY, WITH LARGEST DELIVERY EVER FOR A CABLE NETWORK COVERT AFFAIRS Garners Largest P18-49 Audience of any Series Launch (YTD) and Grows in its Second Week among Total Viewers BURN NOTICE and ROYAL PAINS are July’s Top Two Scripted Series on Cable Among  P25-54 & P18-49 NEW [...]