Celebmonkey

Opening This Weekend: 5/9/08

Hoyeah!  Speed Racer is finally here - what a Mother's Day present!   Though you'd hardly know it from talking to me, there are a few other movies releasing today as well.  Check it out!

Speed Racer - Yahoo! Movies says: With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie, Speed Racer teams with his one-time rival - the mysterious Racer X - to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible.  (Sorry, I can't say it any better than that, so they get all the credit!)   Starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, and an actual chimpanzee as Chim Chim.

What Happens In Vegas - Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher learn to love each other after waking up after a hard night of partying in Vegas to find they are married to each other.  Critics are giving this movie mediocre reviews.

Surfwise - A documentary about the Paskowitz family.  Patriarch Dorian decides to give up his medical practice and take up the nomadic life of a back-to-nature surfer, living in a 24 foot camper.  Which is great when you're alone, but maybe not so great when you have a wife and nine children.   This movie is being painted as the story of a man innocently seeking his version of utopia, but I heard him and his family interviewed yesterday and it was really pretty disturbing.

The Fall - Set in the 1920s, this is the story of an immigrant girl and a bedridden man become unlikely friends when they are both patients in a Los Angeles hospital. 

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Heavy Metal Hits the Big Screen with Box Office Smash

It wasn't perfect and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences probably won't be giving it an Oscar nod for 'Best Picture', but make no mistake; 'Iron Man' was damn good.

Since 'Spider-Man' broke box office records in 2002, Marvel Productions has released a steady stream of hits and a few misses - anybody remember 'Daredevil'?  Ugh, what a bloody tragedy that was?  'Iron Man', like the first two installments of our favorite wall-crawler, may have just broke a new mold.

It's not without its plot holes.  Late in the film, the main character - Tony Stark - played by Robert Downey, Jr., is caught unaware in his own home that has more gadgets than the Bat-cave.  It's hard to believe he didn't have the latest security with no less than a 50 yard perimeter detection system installed for such situations.  As a comic book movie, though, there is really nothing to complain about and much to laud.

The action was excellent.  The character development - specifically regarding Tony Stark - was spot on.  The technology, though a bit unbelievable at times, was outstanding.  Hey, man!  It's a superhero movie.  The special effects; well, let's just say it's possible we're seeing the beginning of what truly great computer graphics can do - nearly flawless. The fan boys should be dancing in the streets and the general public should at least be thinking about seeing this gem a second time.  Initial estimates put the box office take at $100.7 million domestic and over $200 million worldwide, making it the second biggest 'non-sequel' opening weekend in history.  Of course, at 10 bucks a ticket, that's getting easier to do.

I won't ruin the plot, but if you're on the fence, JUMP OFF!  Get out there and see it.  Take in a matinee like I did.  It's worth the coin.  Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark perfectly and his comic timing just seems to get better with age.  Gwyneth Paltrow plays the capable Pepper Potts - okay, so this comic was first inked in the '60's - Tony starks assistant.  The film includes Terence Howard as Col. Rhodes and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane.

Whether you're into comics or not, this film is going to cross over in a big way.  I haven't had this much fun at the movies since 'Batman Begins', and with all due respect to Indiana Jones, I don't expect any film except 'The Dark Knight' to unseat 'Iron Man' as my favorite film of the summer.

Opening This Weekend: 5/2/08

Sci-fi comic book adventure?  Foreign film?  Chick flick?  There's a little something for everyone at theaters this weekend.  Before you head out to the multiplex or your local moviehouse, check out this week's offerings:

Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr. plays billionaire industrialist and womanizer Tony Stark.  I've promised not to say anything else - we're going to see the movie tomorrow and slave2celeb is going to review it here.

Made Of Honor - Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey is in love with his best friend but can't tell her until he is asked to be her maid of honor in her wedding.  I don't like chick flicks anyway, but I have got to say that this looks like one of the worst plots ever. 

Mister Lonely - A Michael Jackson impersonator meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator in Paris.  She takes him under her wing and introduces him to an entire household of celebrity lookalikes.  I saw the trailer for this and I can't wait to see it.

Redbelt - Mike Terry is a Jiu-Jitsu teacher who has avoided the prize fighting circuit but struggles to make ends meet with his self-defense studio.  He is  "conned by a cabal of celebs and fight promoters to enter the ring in order to regain his honor."

Son Of Rambow -  A coming of age movie about a sheltered young British boy, "raised in isolation among...a puritanical religious sect in which music and TV are strictly forbidden."  His whole world changes when he sees a pirated copy of "Rambo:  First Blood," and he and a friend decide to make their own epic action film.

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'Go Speed Racer, Go!' Video Preview

I may be setting myself up for disappointment, but I am ridiculously excited about the new Speed Racer movie.  That's why I'm so very pleased, dear readers, to bring you a preview of the music video for the movie's theme song.  I thought I would hate it, but I am pretty pleased with it.  Hopefully the movie won't suck!

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Opening This Weekend: Stoners, Surrogates, and Sex Clubs

Ah, the weeks just seem to fly by and the summer movie season is almost upon us like a pack of wild, rabid, ravening wolves on steroids.  I'm positive Tarantino made a flick about that....hmmm.  Oh well, here we go.

Baby Mama - A 37-year-old, career-minded Kate - Tina Fey - decides she wants a baby but can't seem to get her own eggs to stick.  She hires former SNL pal, Amy Poehler, as a surrogate and the jocularity flows like breast milk.  After Poehler's character, Angie, gets pregnant she ends up homeless and on Kate's doorstep.  Kate has already been 'nesting' like mad in preparation for the new arrival but finds living with Angie a difficult, unorganized, and eye-opening experience.  It's the 'Odd Couple' meets Le Mas class as these two disparate personalities both try to figure out how to be mothers - and not kill each other.  It's been done before, but Fey and Poehler are pretty good at what they do so let's give it a chance.  The film's rated PG-13.

Then She Found Me - Colin Firth and Helen Hunt are two relatively neurotic, middle-agers who fall in love.  Good date movie, I'll bet.  Okay, Helen Hunt also plays a schoolteacher who's husband recently left her and who's adoptive mother died; she's a bit of a mess.  Firth appears to be playing his normal, quirky self so the chemistry should be good but, honestly, who the hell knows.  See it and find out, but definitely take someone with whom you're planning - or hoping - to have sex.  Anything else could be a waste of $10.  This film also stars Matthew Broderick and is rated R.

Deception - There are probably a half a dozen movies by this title but this one is lucky enough to star Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, and the amazing 'where has she been lately' Michelle Williams.  Of course, Michelle has been taking care of her daughter in the wake of Heath Ledger's passing but that doesn't explain her film obscurity over the past few years.  In this flick she plays the object of McGregor's affliction as he finds himself 'sucked' into the hot sex club lifestyle after picking up and answering Jackman's cell phone.  Jackman plays a powerful attorney who introduces the nerdy McGregor to the new life.  All too soon, however, the fun turns into disappearing girls and $20 million in missing cash for which our new boy toy gets blamed.  This flick has been described as 'sexually charged'.  Personally, it sounds like a lot of heavy breathing but not much real action.  You'll have to see it to find out.  Deception is rated R.

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - Pot smoking anti-heroes Harold and Kumar are back.  After trying to smuggle a bong on board an airplane, the boys are busted and immediately sent to Guantanamo Bay for processing.  Sadly, the ridiculous premise that two 'foreign looking' men would be shanghai-ed by the feds and shipped off for a little 'extradition' isn't as ridiculous as it once was, but the idea of the Ku Klux Klan mistaking the two for 'Mexicans' is bizarrely funny.  Throw in Neil Patrick Harris as, well, himself and you've got a great recipe for foul-mouthed, over-sexed drug humor.  Harris was such a hit in the first movie that they had to call him back to reprise his role as a thirty-something 'Doogie Howser' gone horribly awry.  Well, it looks like more of the same so if you liked 'Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle', take a chance.  You'll probably have fun.  This film is, at the very least, rated R.

Well, it's not the most high powered weekend for movies, but that's probably because 'Iron Man' opens next week and this is just the deep breath before the plunge into record-breaking box office madness!

See you next Friday.

Opening This Weekend: Serial Killers, Breakups, & Badass Chop Socky!

Another weekend with a little something for everyone - except, maybe, the kids.  This weekend's flicks have plenty of violence and/or adult content so keep the munchkins at home.

88 Minutes - This film stars Al Pacino as forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Jack Gramm, who gets a bizarre phone call telling him he has 88 minutes to live.  The 88 minutes takes place in real time - anyone remember 'Nick of Time' with Johnny Depp - as Pacino attempts to solve a copycat murder all while trying to keep himself from becoming the next victim.  The ordeal puts into question his testimony that sent another man to death row and Pacino finds he has to count even those closest to him as suspects.  Leelee Sobieski also stars.  '88 Minutes' is rated R.

The Life Before Her Eyes - Evan Rachel Wood stars as a young Uma Thurman...interesting.  Wood's character, Diana, can't wait to be an 'adult' and forays into sex and drugs while her best friend, played by Eva Amurri, watches on.  Years later, a grown up Diana - Uma Thurman - deals with the long-term aftermath of a senseless act of violence at school.  As she works at coming to grips with here past, she must also handle a distant husband and strong-willed daughter who is too much like her mother.  This film is rated R.

Pathology - What a fresh concept!  Over privileged doctors deciding to play God by planning the perfect murder based on their medical knowledge.  Ugh!  Oh well.  Ted Gray, played by Milo Ventimiglia, is a top med student in his pathology program, dealing with disease, cancers, and all sorts of biological imperfections.  His skills draw the attention of elite interns who invite him to be a part of their 'club'.  Ted learns that the club also has sinister intentions such as planning the perfect murder without leaving any evidence behind.  Will Ted be seduced by the idea of rich kids planning the perfect murder?  Who knew it was possible?!  Pathology is rated R and also stars Alyssa Milano - perhaps making it worth the price...of a rental.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - A film that should be called 'Forgetting all that stupid billboard advertising we had to endure for the past three months' is about a guy who gets dumped, cries about it, takes a trip to Hawaii only to find his ex there with a new boyfriend, and falls for the hospitality director.  What is this, 'The Love Boat'?  Judd Apatow of 'Knocked Up' fame directs so there might be some good low brow adult humor.  Other than than that, haven't we seen this a couple of thousand times before.  I would be less critical but the billboard marketing ploy to drive traffic to the movie's website completely turned me off.  But if you liked 'Knocked Up' and 'Superbad', check it out.  The film stars Jason Segel and Mila Kunis.  It is, of course, rated R.

The Forbidden Kingdom - If you're a kung-fu geek like me, a plot for this film is not required.  The first meeting of Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the same film is like the signing of the Magna Carta.  This is a definite must see for any and all Chop Socky aficionados.  Two kung-fu masters in medieval China must train a dumb white kid from the 21st century in order to free the Monkey King and defeat evil.  C'mon, what else do you need?  Sadly, initial reviews say the the kid - played by Michael Angarano - has a little too much face time, but the choreography is spectacular.  Though it may seem like a fun kids' movie, reports say that it's much too violent so keep that in mind.  A must see - even if it sucks.  It's rated PG-13.

Well, there you have it.  Another week, another 10 bucks/ticket.  Next week, prepare yourselves for the opening of the blockbuster summer starting with 'Iron Man'.

Geeks of the world...unite!

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Gillian Anderson Does Maxim

Check out sexy Gillian Anderson in May 2008 Maxim!  She looks incredible for a woman on the threshhold of 40, or for any woman at all, really.

She is, of course, hyping X-Files 2, which is set for release on July 25th.   Conspiracy theorists and sci-fi fans, get ready!    Hot pictures of Agent Scully not enough?  We've got more for you!  Scroll down for the movie trailer.... and if you missed Gillian and David Duchovny at Wondercon in February, check out the coverage of their panel here.

 

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Opening This Weekend: 4/11/08

Haven't made your weekend plans yet?  Check out what movies hit theaters starting today!  Have a good one!

Prom Night - Teenagers are confronted with a "dark secret" from their past on their prom night in this remake of the 1980 movie of the same name, which starred Jamie Lee Curtis.  This one stars Brittany Snow.

Street Kings - Keanu Reaves is a cop on a mission to track down his former partner's killers.

Smart People - A Victorian literature professor is jolted out of his emotional "deep freeze," with consequences for everyone in his life.  Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Page star.  Also featuring the fabulous Christine Lahti (am I the only one who remembers Chicago Hope??).

Dark Matter - A drama about the world of astrophysics.  Seriously, I didn't know it was that dramatic.

Chaos Theory - Ryan Reynolds and Emily Mortimer star in this movie about an efficiency expert whose wife tries to get him to loosen up - and as his life unravels, many unexpected things surface. 

The Visitor - Another movie about a passionless academic "sleepwalking through his life."  Walter Vale returns from a conference to find a young immigrant couple squatting in his apartment.  He allows them to stay, and his relationship with them wakes him up again.

Young@Heart - A documentary about a senior citizens' chorus in New England.

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Opening This Weekend: 4/4/08

It's Friday, and that means movies!  Here's what's new in theatres this weekend.  Now grab your popcorn, set your cell to silent and enjoy!

Leatherheads - George Clooney recruits a young buck college football star played by um... some other guy (just kidding, John Krasinski) to help save his 1920s football team after their sponsor pulls out.  Off the field they vie for Renee Zellweger's attention.   Although I'm sure we don't like seeing Dr. Doug punched in the face in the trailers, this looks like a fun movie.

Shine A Light - Scorsese scores again with this rockumentary about the Rolling Stones' 2006 concerts at the Beacon Theatre in New York.  See if you can spot the Clintons in the audience!

Nim's Island - I confess I don't understand this movie plot at all, though I've read three reviews of it this morning.  Nor do I understand why Jodie Foster made this movie.  Maybe she needed the money?  Jodie Foster is an agoraphobic San Francisco author.  Abigail Breslin is the daughter of a marine biologist who's favorite literary character is, of course, from the books Foster writes.  Breslin's father, whose life somehow parallels that of Foster's character, goes missing, and somehow Jodie gets involved.  OK, you're going to have to go see the film.

The Ruins - Bizarre things happen in this horror/thriller when six friends go explore an archeological dig in Mexico.  And I mean BIZARRE.

My Blueberry Nights -  Jude Law and Norah Jones star in this movie about a young woman on a road trip across America and the personal revelations she experiences on her journey.  Limited release.

Sex and Death 101 -  A guy is about to get married when he receives a mysterious email  listing everyone he's ever had sex with - and everyone he ever WILL have sex with.  Limited release.
 
The Flight Of The Red Balloon - No, no, no, a thousand times no.  Someone decided to make a movie "inspired by" the movie I saw in every French class I ever took from 7th grade to 12th grade - Le Balloon Rouge.   Go watch it if you want, but I'll be over here grumbling about how people just can't leave s**t alone.

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Lindsay Lohan To Play One of Charlie (Manson's) Angels

Just about a month ago, Lindsay Lohan told Paper Magazine she

"want[ed] to find a great script, a great role....Now I know what it's like to be an out-of-work actor, and how much it scares me."

Looks like LiLo better get her agent's check in the mail, because voila!  Girl's got a movie!  She's going to be playing Nancy Pitman, aka Brenda, in the upcoming film Manson Girls. 

Brenda joined Charles Manson's cult when she was 16 and became one of his most devoted followers.  She was home with Manson the night that other members of "The Family" killed Sharon Tate and four other people.  While she did not directly participate in that infamous murder, she is believed to have helped Manson remove evidence afterwards; she served 18 months in prison as for accessory (after the fact).  She must have been attracted to cults in general because she later joined the Aryan Brotherhood.

Manson Girls is being made by producer Brad Wyman and (if IMDB is to be believed) writer Matthew Bright.  While Wyman's Hollywood pedigree is pretty solid (he produced Monster, which won Charlize Theron an Oscar), Bright's is full of slashers and violent sci-fi/fantasy films.   

I guess LiLo's fear of being an out of work actor was greater than her desire for a "great" script...

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