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The Return of Jessica Alba?
Filed under: Casting, Deals, RumorMonger, Fandom, Newsstand
Sure, some would suggest that Jessica Alba really can't return to form since there never was a form to begin with. But there definitely was a time when Alba was an "It" girl -- the type to grace numerous magazine covers and star in big, flashy films like Sin City and The Fantastic Four. But then her star began to fade as she clumsily starred in one cruddy flick after another (Into the Blue, Good Luck Chuck, The Eye, Awake, The Love Guru), and with other, more sensational young actresses attempting to make their mark in Hollywood, Alba sort of fell by the wayside.
But now the gal has positioned herself with a few pretty interesting upcoming projects, including two produced by Robert Rodriguez (Machete, The Insiders), one that's based on a very good novel (An Invisible Sign of My Own) and one that finds the actress taking things farther than she's ever gone before (The Killer Inside Me). While I'm sure the girl will manage to land roles beyond these four projects, they will still serve as proving ground for Alba. Is she a "real" actress? Can she turn out an awards-caliber performance? Can she still sell lots of movie tickets? Is she worthy of our attention?
Before you answer those questions, head after the jump to find out more about her new films.
Is This the Next 'District 9'?
Filed under: Deals, Fandom, Newsstand
By: Zachary HermannCount Sam Raimi among the people who saw District 9 and thought, "Gee, why can't more studios put out budget-conscious gems like this?" The Spider-Man director will be playing Peter Jackson to his own Neill Blomkamp of sorts, a Uruguayan director by the name of Federico Alvarez. After the buzz around Alvarez's alien invasion short (posted below for your viewing pleasure) Panic Attack! had him making rounds in Los Angeles, Raimi's production shop Ghost House Pictures signed the director for what will be Alvarez's feature film debut.
The reports have been translated from Uruguayan newspaper El Paris, but here's what everyone seems to agree on -- the feature, like District 9, will be budgeted in the $30-40 million neighborhood and Raimi will take on a mentor role, thus saving Alvarez from the ugly, business part of things. The picture will shoot in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay and will likely involve giant robots, which play a big part in Panic Attack! What is unclear is if this feature-length will be based on Panic Attack! at all.
Read the rest and watch the original short over at SciFi Squad
Discuss: What Were Your Best Black Friday Deals?
Filed under: Deals, Home Entertainment
As my Twitter feed fills with constantly re-Tweeted online bargains (be still, my weeping wallet), and as our own site did its best to prepare you readers for today's Thunderdome of savings, it's likely that a great many of you ventured out to capitalize on Black Friday in all its mania.There were certainly deals to be had on movies and home entertainment equipment alike, and that's really what we want to hear about (not that a thirty-dollar camping tent isn't impressive or anything).
Where'd you go? How long did you wait in line? How cold was it? How busy was it? What did you get? What was already gone? Did you upgrade to Blu-ray this year? And did any of our readership outside the States take advantage of the online deals without leaving the comfort of your own home?
So go ahead, brag and boast about your claimed trophies. Me? I've got an empty wallet to console.
Black Friday Movie Deals: Amazon.com
Filed under: Deals, Home Entertainment
At first I thought this would be too difficult. Target, Best Buy, Walmart ... all those stores offer a very manageable number of Black Friday movie deals. Surely Amazon.com would prove way too massive of an undertaking ... but nope! Of course Amazon.com is offering a lot more movie deals than the non-virtual stores are, but they've made things quite easy by categorizing everything, and with handy links and everything!First off, here's the Amazon Black Friday sales page, movies-only division. But that page offers way too many options, so let's pick out some of the best standard (non-blu-ray) dvd deals: Blazing Saddles ($5.99)! The Marx Brothers Collection ($17.99)!! The Goonies ($6.99)! The Nightmare on Elm Street box set ($24.99)! Spaceballs ($8.49)! And on and on it goes. New, old, classic, crappy, there's a good deal in here whatever you're after.
And what I'm after is blu-rays! 2001: A Space Odyssey ($9.49)! The Silence of the Lambs ($8.99)!! Watchmen director's cut ($16.99)! Goodfellas ($10.99)!! And those crafty Amazoners are planning to change the titles every day. It's like they want you to visit their website six times a day!
Last but not least, for those who love not just the deals but also the crazy pressure that comes with Black Friday, Amazon is now offering some nifty "Lightning Deals" that are scheduled throughout the week and last only a few hours. For example, tonight you can purchase the X-Men Origins: Wolverine blu-ray for $9.99. That's a pretty good deal on a very recent blu-ray release. Too bad the movie stinks.
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Deals, Box Office, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
Indie Roundup gathers a selection of indie film news from the past seven days and offers a peek ahead to what's coming.
Deal. Do not despair that the first month of the new year will be filled solely with the expansion of award contenders. Distribution rights in the US for Sweetgrass have been acquired by The Cinema Guild, according to indieWIRE, and the documentary will open at Film Forum in Manhattan on January 6, followed by a rollout across the country.
Directed by Ilisa Barbasch and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Sweetgrass "follows the last sheepherders to trail their flocks up into Montana's Beartooth mountains for summer pasture," per its official synopsis. After debuting at the Berlin Film Festival last year, the doc played the festival circuit quite successfully, picking up positive critical notices. Check out the splendid trailer in all its quiet, chud-chewing glory after the jump.
Online / On-Demand Viewing. Debuting on demand next Sunday, Clarkworld paints a portrait of filmmaker Bob Clark. Best known for his perennial holiday favorite A Christmas Story, Clark also made the groundbreaking Porky's, which set the tone for all raunchy teen comedies to come, and the significant slasher pic Black Christmas, another flick that was a trendsetter (or at least ripped off at will). Director Deren P. Abram talked with Peter Billingsley (former child star turned filmmaker), Kim Cattrall, Jon Voight, Denise Richards, Mary Steenburgen, John Saxon, Scott Baio, and other people who weren't even in any of his movies! We have the trailer for this one after the jump, too, which makes for an interesting contrast with the one for Sweetgrass. Look for the movie on cable systems via Cinetic FilmBuff.
After the jump: box office talk; trailers for Sweetgrass and Clarkworld.
Black Friday Movie Deals: Toys "R" Us
Filed under: Deals, Home Entertainment
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Our good friend and EIC Erik Davis had a very thoughtful idea for the holiday season: Why not scan the early flyers for the Black Friday sales, and report back to you -- the ravenous movie junkie -- to let you know where to find the best treats on the day after Thanksgiving? The next big brick and mortar retail stores we'll be scouring for Black Friday deals is Toys "R" Us . While there isn't a great selection of DVD/Blu-ray players, those parents looking to save on kid-friendly titles should find more than enough to pick up here. Note that the doorbuster items are marked with a *
Toys "R" Us is open at 12:00am on Black Friday. Their online sale starts at 12:01am EST on Thanksgiving Day.
Our previous Black Friday Movie Deals:
Best Buy
Target
Walmart
Kmart and Sears
DVD/Blu-ray
20 Select DVD Movies $9.99
30 Select DVD Movies $4.99
Aliens In The Attic DVD $9.99
All $9.99 Sony DVDs - 60 Titles (In-Store Only) $3.99
Aristocats DVD $9.99
A Tale Of Tails DVD $4.99
Babe DVD $4.99
Barbie Thumbelina DVD $4.99
Blues Clues World Travelers DVD $4.99
Bolt Disney DVD $9.99 *
Christmas Star DVD $4.99
Coraline DVD $9.99
Curious George DVD $4.99
Diego Saves Christmas DVD $4.99
Hanna Montana The Movie Blu-Ray $14.99
Hero Rails DVD $9.99
Hotel For Dogs DVD $9.99
Jonas Brothers Disney DVD $9.99 *
More after the jump
Black Friday Movie Deals: Kmart and Sears
Filed under: Deals
Our good friend and EIC Erik Davis had a very thoughtful idea for the holiday season: Why not scan the early flyers for the Black Friday sales, and report back to you -- the ravenous movie junkie -- to let you know where to find the best treats on the day after Thanksgiving? The next big brick and mortar retail stores we'll be scouring for Black Friday deals are Kmart and Sears (here are the deals for Best Buy, Target, and Walmart). Neither have a particularly large selection of sales going on in the movie department, but if you're heading to either store for other pick-ups, you might want to keep your eye out for some of the following.
Oh, and the Kmart sale is from 6am to 11am while Sears' runs from 4am to noon.
DreamWorks Puts 'Real Steel' In Their Ring
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sports, Deals, Paramount, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg
If you held out faint hope that Hugh Jackman wouldn't be helping Shawn Levy box robots, and would abandon it for a feature film adaptation of A Steady Rain, kiss it goodbye now. Variety reports that DreamWorks' Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider have green-lit Real Steel, making it the studio's first big financial project since it split with Paramount, and had to find its own money.Spielberg was attached to the project as executive producer when it was first announced, and it seems that it's been a real passion project for him. DreamWorks bought the project back in 2005, and it was one of the films they held onto after splitting from Paramount. "When we took it with us, we really highlighted it as something we would put the pedal to metal on," said DreamWorks co-president of production Mark Sourian. "It's a project that Steven always wanted to do. It just came together rapidly after we left Paramount." The film will be made for the relatively low budget of $80 million, and will begin production next June.
With a low budget to avoid Transformers excess, perhaps the magic of Spielberg and Richard Matheson can overcome the kiddie tendencies of Shawn Levy, and turn it into something special. A lot of commenters mentioned that Matheson's story was adapted into an episode of the Twilight Zone called Steel. Happily, it's online and I've embedded it below the jump. It really is a good episode, and while Levy keeps stressing that his Real Steel is grounded in its "father-son relationship," I hope it can retain a bit of Matheson's grit. I could be happy with a robot version of Million Dollar Baby.
What a Surprise: 'The Howling' Gets a Remake
Filed under: Horror, Deals, Scripts, Remakes and Sequels
What a complete non-surprise! Now that New Moon is raking in the cash, and doing what very little it can for the werewolves of the world, the vamps are gearing up for some further sharp-toothed competition. Variety reports that The Howling will return to the big screen by the hands of indie producers Joel Kastelberg and Etchie Stroh under the name The Howling: Reborn. Since it's been over three years since we first heard rumors of a remake, my guess is that this is a whole new can of worms.A former marketing executive for studios like MGM and New Line, Joe Nimziki wrote the script and will direct it when the feature starts shooting this February. Once that's all done, they're hoping to get this howler into theaters for Halloween. The plot is being kept under wraps, but the original followed a TV newswoman who goes on a retreat after an ordeal with a serial killer, only to be thrust into a world of
Now here's where I say this is a missed opportunity. It's inevitable that each old-school horror flick will get rebooted. But why not try to up the ante, or at least insert wow-factor? We've seen the increased interest in Elm Street since Jackie Earle Haley took over, and that's a pretty mainstream franchise. Now imagine what The Howling could be if they coerced John Sayles into writing it again -- maybe not to be campy like the first, but a well-written piece of horror. That man is a pro at taking characters and situations and spinning an intricate web, so imagine if he intermingled his indie talents with his old-school horror ways. At the very least, it'd make the project immediately buzz worthy to a larger audience.
As it stands, do you want more Howling?
Mike White Starts a Santa Claus Civil War
Filed under: Comedy, Deals, Scripts
Not pleased with the likes of our latest serving of A Christmas Carol? Want a little more originality served with your ho-ho-ho's? This might be the answer: Variety reports that Paramount Pictures has tapped Mike White to write the script for a new comedy called Santa Wars. Oh yes, it's just like you'd imagine.This project will follow the story of two rival factions that emerged within a group of professional Kris Kringles, and how they "became arch enemies during a Santa Claus civil war." And I should probably point out -- this concept is based on a true story. It all stems from a segment on Ira Glass' radio show This American Life, which aired last December and talked about how two professional Santas formed the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, only to become bitter rivals.
Talk about picking the perfect pen. White is the writer of all things weird, whether that be with creepy stalkers, transcript trouble, discontent with mundane life, rock 'n' roll classes, strange wrasslers, or dog obsession. Furthermore, he's jumped back and forth between mainstream and edgy indies, which means the potential for a film that will appeal to more than just the casual, family fare moviegoer. Let's just hope Paramount ignores this year's strange release schedules (Valentine's Day in the summer, Christmas before Thanskgiving) and serves this puppy up during the right season.
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Alec Baldwin Becomes Latest to Threaten Retirement
The First 'Iron Man 2' Poster Appears!
The Return of Jessica Alba?
Now 'New Moon' Prevents Skin Cancer!_thumbnail.jpg)
Discuss: Who Would be the Most Profitable Director if ...
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