He’s gaining on you, so you’d better look alive

6 comments May 8th, 2008

Want to see the first seven minutes of SPEED RACER? Click here.

 Two observations:

1. It looks amazing. Like no other movie I’ve ever seen. Candy-colored, crystal-clear and the closest a live-action movie has ever come to capturing the visual craziness of a cartoon.

2. I’m not sure I could withstand 2 hours and 9 minutes of this — especially considering this is the (comparatively) quiet part.

And yes, the sequel arrives in two years

3 comments May 5th, 2008

IRON MAN earned a whopping $104 million domestically in its opening weekend (and it was a real weekend, not one of those artifically stretched out holiday weekends, either). If you count the foreign bucks, the Marvel Comics movie snagged $201 million dollars, Euros, yen and other bits of cash. In other words, it can be considered a success.

The critics seemed to like it too, praising Robert Downey Jr.’s performance (like the character of Iron Man, he’s had a few well-publicized substance-abuse issues, too) and Jon Favreau’s direction (hard to believe he was the shy schmuck from Swingers).

 I didn’t get a chance to see it this weekend, with child and lawn care taking top priority. But I’m sure some of you did. So…what did you think?

New HULK trailer

4 comments May 1st, 2008

Right here.

 So what do you think? Strong cast, lots of action, pretty decent computer effects. One thing they don’t show is the reported cameo by Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man’s alter ego). That short scene hints that Marvel wants to create a shared universe in its movies just like in its comic books. Maybe that’ll pave the way for the long-rumored AVENGERS film one of these years.

It’s a great time to be a comic book geek, isn’t it?

The summer movie crystal ball

Add comment April 30th, 2008

The whole point of the summer movie season is to make money (and yes, I realize the point of any movie season is to make money, but during the summer we’re talking about a lot of money), so here – before the first summer movies have even hit screens — are the predictions from Entertainment Weekly regarding the top earners. Drum roll, please…

1. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL: $355.9 million. As long as the movie doesn’t disappoint audiences and the word of mouth is good, this sounds right. It could run all summer long if it has half the wit and excitement of RAIDERS.

2. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN: $310.8 million. Really? I guess the first one was a hit, but I haven’t heard any buzz about this sequel.

3. HANCOCK: $280.4 million. If not more. I mean, I’m not really a Will Smith fan, but this dark comic take on superhero action looks pretty damn great to me, and plus it re-teams the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT couple of Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron.

4. WALL-E: $280.3 million. Sure, if not more. So far, Pixar has a perfect batting record in both the quality and money columns, and the previews of this robot tale prove they’ve inched ever-closer to photo-flawless realism in their technique. Plus, it’s going to be the first movie I take my daughter too, and I’ll bet I’m not alone. With Disney animation MIA, Pixar is the go-to studio for parent-child bonding experiences.

5. IRON MAN: $262.7 million. Heck, I’d go higher. Great buzz, solid reviews and the first would-be blockbuster out of the gate. I think this is more than a movie people want to see; it’s a movie they want to like. Guess we’ll known by Monday, eh?

The other five predictions – including THE DARK KNIGHT, a movie I can’t wait to see – can be found here.

Are you ready for the summer?

6 comments April 28th, 2008

With SPEED RACER opening this weekend, IRON MAN out the next and INDIANA JONES following up on May 22, it’s obvious: Despite the snow in the skies of Rockford, the summer movie season is almost here.

With studios banking (literally) on making most of their profits during the next few months, it’s hard to believe that just a few short decades ago, the big movies came out in the spring (THE GODFATHER debuted in March) or near Christmas (TOWERING INFERNO arrived in December) with kid flicks and low-budget nonsense (as opposed to big budget nonsense) arriving while the kids were out of school. JAWS changed all that, of course, hitting theaters at the end of June 1975 and riding that summer wave of fear and excitement straight to the top of the all-time box office. It was a movie about a shark terrorizing the beach, which meant it was made for summer viewing, but the studios realized that young audiences with lots of free time would go see would-be blockbusters again and again, a theory proved two years later by a little art film called STAR WARS that knocked JAWS off the top of the box office stack and pretty much changed all the rules, including release dates.

STAR WARS, not so coincidentally, is the first movie on the Onion AV Club’s new list, “Part Hype, Part Art, All Movie: 18 Pretty Great Summer Blockbusters Not Directed by Steven Spielberg.” Also included are CON AIR, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, X-MEN 2, BATMAN BEGINS and a personal favorite, FACE/OFF (also the first movie I saw at Rockford’s ShowPlace 16, screened for a public preview of the then state-of-the-art stadium-style theater.) John Woo’s bravura direction, a big budget (that must’ve gone mostly toward ammunition, doves and slow-motion film stock and a pair of hilariously over-the-top performances by John Travolta and Nicolas Cage made it one of the craziest, biggest and strangely most personal action movies ever made. If you’ve never seen it, check it out — on the biggest screen you can find.

Another movie on the list proves how set-in-stone the summer release plan had become by 1984. GREMLINS, directed by Joe Dante, is actually set at Christmas, with snow, lights and the whole holiday bag (including Phoebe Cates’ dad getting stuck in a chimney dressed as Santa), but it was released in June. And it was a huge hit, too. Not even carols and candy canes could keep shorts-wearing moviegoers away.

Coming tomorrow: The big summer movies of this year, and my take. I expect all of you movie fans to toss in your two cents, too.

Bonus quiz: Can anyone tell me what movie (released during the summer, of course) had the title of this blog entry on its soundtrack?