BLOGS
Recently in Animation Desensitization Category
A holiday-themed movie made the most of the long holiday weekend, as Four Christmases easily unseated Twilight for the top spot at the weekend box office. In fact, even Bolt edged in, leaving Twilight in third for the weekend.
So, on a whim I decided to have lunch at celebrity hotspot the Ivy yesterday. That's right, I just hopped in my private jet and flew three hours for an overpriced salad. And it's a good thing I did, too, because I'm able to bring you a conversation I overheard between the canine star of Bolt and what I gathered was his agent. Seems the pooch is worried about being able to pull in big box office numbers for his bosses at Disney, and why wouldn't he be? He faces some stiff competition.
I know that there were plenty of fans of last year's Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. I mean, there had to have been -- it made over $200 million at the box office. I, however, was not one of them. When the trailer came on in the theater I was sitting in, I remember actually willing one of the springs in the seat back to pop loose and stab me in the chest so I didn't have to watch the rest of it. Imagine my horror this morning when I happened across an MTV.com article where the producers announced there would be another film. And they're calling this one a "squeakuel." Kill me now.
I Want My DVD: The New Releases
Just in case you're not reading our DVDs Unwrapped blog, we thought we'd clue you in on the latest DVDs we've gotten the chance to review. We were going to review Sukiyaki Western Django, but we decided to keep our sanity.
In a battle that had all comers bearing their claws, it was the pack of citified zoo animals in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa that managed to come out on top. The DreamWorks sequel raked in a whopping $63.1 million on 4,056 screens, which just slightly edges out this summer's Wall-E for the biggest opening weekend for an animated feature this year. That haul is also more than three times the moolah brought in by the second-place Role Models, which, despite ads featuring funny kids sass-mouthing Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd, is an R-rated movie not for the kiddies. The only other new release in the top ten was Soul Men, which landed in sixth place with a tally of $5.4 million on 2,044 screens.
Having learned the hard way on Halloween nights as a child, snarfing candy hand over fist, I've long been a big believer in the old adage that you can have too much of a good thing. One person that doesn't seem to feel that way is James Cameron, who has spent the last ten years working on bringing his next project, Avatar, to the big screen. And in a plane just off the big screen. And now in a plane just off the even bigger screen. Lost yet? What I'm referring to is today's announcement that not only will Avatar be released in 3D, but it will also be released in IMAX 3D.
I Want My DVD: The New Releases
Just in case you're not reading our DVDs Unwrapped blog, we thought we'd clue you in on the latest DVDs we've gotten the chance to review. Sadly, we were turned down for a review copy of Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter, but we'll keep trying.
Journey to the Center of the Earth -- Possibly the greatest 3-D movie made entirely to show off the wonders of 3-D you'll see this year. Of course, it's no The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, but then, what is?
The Strangers -- When Dave Chappelle (dressed as Lil Jon) talked about giving himself "a stranger," I don't think he meant breaking into his own home and terrorizing himself for the better part of a night. But maybe he did. We don't know his life!
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- Love it or loathe it, this is an out-of-this-world DVD set. Above and beyond. To the moon, Alice. In other words, it may have been created by aliens.
The Incredible Hulk -- A pretty incredible collection of extras, including an alternate opening where you can see Captain America stuck in a block of ice. Be prepared to "freeze"-frame. Get it?
Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Edition -- It's the newest edition of the Disney classic, straight outta the vaults and fully restored with bonus songs and some sweet documentaries. Fun for a girl or a boy! (Boys, be prepared to fast-forward.)
Check out more DVD reviews in DVDs Unwrapped!
If you were wondering if it was possible for Tim Burton's new, partially live-action, partially motion-capture Alice in Wonderland movie to get any weirder, the answer is "yes." We've already got "method actor" Johnny Depp eating his hat (though, to be fair, it sounds like he only took one bite; because that makes it less weird, right?) and Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter just being themselves, but all you have to do is add in one Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, and you've got what could be the weirdest movie in the history of cinema.
Leonardo DiCaprio is an anime hoarder. Not only does his production company, Appian Way, have the classic Japanese animated film Akira set up at Warner Bros. as a two-movie live-action epic, Appian has now set another classic anime up at Warners: Ninja Scroll. The gory, over-the-top period film, which pits a vagabond ninja against the super-powered assassins known as the Eight Demons of Kimon, will be written by Watchmen screenwriter Alex Tse. Leonardo DiCaprio will not appear in it, thank God.
MOST RECENT POSTS
Five Reasons Why The Pirates! Band of Misfits is Worth Seeing
Aardman's Peter Lord Sets Sail With A Band of Misfit Pirates
Animators Turned Live-Action Filmmakers: From Tim Burton to John Carter's Andrew Stanton
The Lorax: Who'll Speak for the Trees?
Happy Anniversary: Three From Studio Ghibli
Beauty and the Beast 3D: Tale as Bland as Time
The Adventures of Tintin: Raiders of the Lost Unicorn
The Smurfs Trailer: What We Hated, What We Smurfed
BLOG ARCHIVES
The Moviefile
May 2012
16 Entries
April 2012
22 Entries
March 2012
26 Entries
February 2012
24 Entries
January 2012
25 Entries
December 2011
27 Entries
November 2011
22 Entries
October 2011
22 Entries
September 2011
29 Entries
August 2011
27 Entries
July 2011
30 Entries
June 2011
25 Entries
May 2011
13 Entries
April 2011
23 Entries
March 2011
22 Entries
February 2011
33 Entries
January 2011
39 Entries
December 2010
21 Entries
November 2010
29 Entries
October 2010
23 Entries
September 2010
25 Entries
August 2010
26 Entries
July 2010
29 Entries
June 2010
36 Entries
May 2010
22 Entries
April 2010
26 Entries
March 2010
30 Entries
February 2010
19 Entries
January 2010
19 Entries
December 2009
15 Entries
November 2009
21 Entries
October 2009
27 Entries
September 2009
30 Entries
August 2009
28 Entries
July 2009
34 Entries
June 2009
27 Entries
May 2009
24 Entries
April 2009
23 Entries
March 2009
18 Entries
February 2009
30 Entries
January 2009
56 Entries
December 2008
51 Entries
November 2008
61 Entries
October 2008
102 Entries
September 2008
86 Entries
August 2008
99 Entries
July 2008
116 Entries
June 2008
95 Entries
May 2008
86 Entries
April 2008
67 Entries
March 2008
14 Entries