Cast of 'We Bought a Zoo' meets public

Director Cameron Crowe is bringing his latest work, "We Bought a Zoo" to cinemas around new year.

Starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johannson and Thomas Haden Church, it's a heartwarming comedy-drama of how a single father and his young family cheer themselves up after the mother dies.

In "We Bought a Zoo", Matt Damon plays Benjamin Mee, a father who impulsively buys a rundown wildlife zoo to re-energize himself and his two kids, after his wife dies of cancer. The movie is based on a memoir by the leading character in real life, the actual Benjamin Mee.
An Academy Award-nominee in 2004, Thomas Haden Church plays Damon's brother. He says he couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with Damon, one of his favorite actors, and one of his favorite directors, Oscar winner Cameron Crowe.

Thomas Haden Church, actor of "We Bought a Zoo", said, "The opportunity to be in a movie that Cameron is directing and love Matt. Followed his career for 15 years and really admire his choices and I just think he's a remarkable gifted and grounded dude as an actor and also a really great writer...And then Cameron you know is just a legendary writer/director and a guy I really consider to be my generation."

The film's young stars, Elle Fanning and Colin Ford had the advantage of knowing one another before filming began. It turns out that the pair go to the same school. And they're already preparing for what their classmates will say about playing romantic love interests in the film.

Elle Fanning and Colin Ford said, "Elle's in the grade below me so, I always have to add that because I'm in high school and she's in middle school so it makes a big difference. But yeah we were friends before so making the kind of romantic scenes a little more simple because we kind of just plugged our friendship into the spot where that fits."

The cast had the opportunity to work alongside a menagerie of zoo animals. Crystal the Capuchin monkey is everybody's favorite co-star, who always stays on actor Patrick Fugit's shoulder. Actress Scarlett Johansson also stars in the film as an overworked zookeeper, struggling to keep the dilapidated business running.

"We Bought a Zoo" opens in worldwide theaters around new year.


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Cruise tops box office with new 'Mission Impossible' film

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" topped the North American box office over the long Christmas weekend, raking in $46.2 million, industry estimates showed Monday.

The action film, the fourth in the "MI" series, has thus far taken in $78.6 million, according to Exhibitor Relations -- showing that Cruise can still draw a major audience after several box office disappointments.

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" -- a sequel to the 2009 film "Sherlock Holmes" about the character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- slipped from first to second place, taking in $31.8 million from Friday to Monday.

In third with $20 million was "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," the third animated film about the singing chipmunks.

The hotly anticipated "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" -- the Hollywood adaptation of the wildly popular Stieg Larsson novel, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara -- took in $19.4 million in its debut weekend for fourth place.

Since its mid-week release, the film has grossed $27.7 million.

"The Adventures of Tintin," the story of the beloved Belgian boy reporter from director Steven Spielberg, came in fifth place with $16.1 million in US and Canadian ticket sales.

Family film "We Bought A Zoo" starring Matt Damon finished in sixth place, taking in $15.6 million, followed by "War Horse" -- also from Spielberg -- in seventh place at $15 million.

Thriller "The Darkest Hour" opened in eighth place with $5.5 million, and star-studded holiday romance "New Year's Eve" earned $4.95 million for ninth place.

Rounding out the top 10 was "The Descendants" starring George Clooney, which grossed $3.4 million over the four-day weekend.

Final figures were due out Tuesday.


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‘Real Steel’ Is Weekend’s No. 1 Movie, Beating Clooney’s ‘Ides of March’

By Michael White and Alex Nussbaum - Oct 10, 2011 2:55 AM GMT+0700

“Real Steel,” the action tale featuring boxing robots, was the top film at U.S. and Canadian theaters, generating $27.3 million in ticket sales for Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks SKG and Walt Disney Co. (DIS)

“Dolphin Tale,” last weekend’s leader, dropped to third place with $9.16 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement. The weekend’s other new release, the political thriller “The Ides of March,” was second with $10.4 million.

“Real Steel,” inspired by Richard Matheson’s short story, stars Hugh Jackman as an absentee father who trains robots for the ring. The visual effects-laden film, with Spielberg as executive producer, had the third-biggest opening ever for a Columbus Day weekend movie, said Gitesh Pandya, chief executive officer at movie-tracker BoxOfficeGuru.com.

“Breaking $25 million in October is something you don’t see too often,” Pandya said in a telephone interview. “There hasn’t been a big action movie since the summer, and I think action audiences have been craving something like this.”

The film, in which Jackman plays a trainer who buys an outdated boxing robot, is a good sign for DreamWorks, which had disappointing results with movies earlier this year, Pandya said. It rebounded recently with “The Help,” a civil rights- era drama that’s taken in $163 million, he said.

Matheson’s Legend

“Real Steel,” which stars Dakota Goyo as Jackman’s son, is one of several Matheson works to be adapted to the screen. Others include the novel “I Am Legend,” which became the basis for the 2007 Will Smith thriller.

“Ides of March” features Ryan Gosling as the idealistic press secretary to a governor, played by George Clooney, who aspires to be president. Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Evan Rachel Wood co-star.

The film, distributed by Sony Corp. (6758), has garnered talk of possible Oscar nominations, giving it a chance for sustained sales, Pandya said. Clooney’s pictures typically take in $10 million to $15 million in their first weekends and have to contend with the star’s high-profile liberal politics, Pandya said.

“There are many people in America who do not want to see his films and a lot of people who love him,” he said. “It is an older-skewing film and the reviews have been good, so I think it should have some good legs ahead of it.”

‘Dolphin Tale’

“Dolphin Tale,” which placed third, stars Harry Connick Jr. and Morgan Freeman. The picture is based on the true story of a dolphin whose tail was amputated because of infection after becoming entangled in a crab trap. The movie has taken in $49.1 million since its release.

Sony’s “Moneyball,” the baseball movie starring Brad Pitt, came in fourth, with $7.5 million in sales.

“50/50,” the Summit Entertainment LLC film about a young man who has cancer, was fifth with $5.5 million in its second weekend. In the movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character confides to a friend, played by Seth Rogen, that he has been diagnosed with the disease. Anna Kendrick co-stars as a therapist who tries to help the patient cope with his situation.

Weekend revenue for the top 12 films climbed 3.7 percent to $84.4 million from the year-earlier period, Hollywood.com said. Domestic box-office receipts this year have declined 3.36 percent to $8.11 billion. Attendance is down 5.4 percent.

The amounts below are based on actual ticket sales for Oct. 7-8 and estimates for today.

                       Rev.            Avg./   Pct.   Total Movie                 (mln)  Theaters  Theater Chg.   (mln)  Wks ================================================================ 1 REAL STEEL           $27.3   3,440   $7,936   --    $27.3   1 2 THE IDES OF MARCH     10.4   2,199    4,729   --     10.4   1 3 DOLPHIN TALE           9.2   3,478    2,634   -34    49.1   3 4 MONEYBALL              7.5   3,018    2,485   -38    49.3   3 5 50/50                  5.5   2,479    2,219   -36    17.3   2 6 COURAGEOUS             4.6   1,161    3,962   -49    15.9   2 7 THE LION KING          4.55  2,267    2,008   -57    85.9   4 8 DREAM HOUSE            4.5   2,664    1,675   -46    14.5   2 9 WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?    3.1   3,011    1,013   -44    10.3   2 10 ABDUCTION             2.9   2,591    1,119   -48    23.4   3 11 CONTAGION             2.8   2,250    1,264   -42    68.9   5 12 KILLER ELITE          2.1   2,411      871   -57    21.5   3   Top 12 Films Grosses:   This Week     Year Ago      Pct.     (mln)         (mln)       Chg. ==================================      $84.4        $81.3       +3.7   Year-to-date Revenue:      2011          2010      YTD           YTD        Pct.     (mln)         (mln)       Chg. ==================================   $8,107.8      $8,389.7     -3.36   Year-to-date Attendance:      -5.40% 

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net. Alex Nussbaum in New York anussbaum1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

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Movie : ' Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol'

Info Movie :
' Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol'
Genres: Action/Adventure, Adaptation, Sequel and Thriller
Release Date: December 21st, 2011 (wide)
Distributors: Paramount Pictures
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Paula Patton
Directed by: Brad Bird
Produced by: Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Chernov
Writers: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and 2 more credits »
Official site : Mission Impossible


Movie Synopsis:

Director Brad Bird and Producer J.J. Abrams bring us the action packed, entertainment event of the holiday season with MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -- GHOST PROTOCOL.
The new film in the series, which has grossed $2 billion dollars worldwide, will feature a new team: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg.


The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in a global terrorist bombing plot. Ghost Protocol is initiated and Ethan Hunt and his rogue new team must go undercover to clear their organization's name. No help, no contact, off the grid. You have never seen a mission grittier and more intense than this.



























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Movie : The Ides of March

Info Movie :
The Ides of March
Genres: Adaptation and Drama
Release Date: October 7th, 2011 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Directed by: George Clooney
Produced by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Official Website: www.theidesofmarch.com

Starring :
Ryan Gosling as Stephen Myers
George Clooney as Governer Mike Morris
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Paul Zara
Paul Giamatti as Tom Duffy
Evan Rachel Wood as Molly Stearns
Marisa Tomei as Ida Horowicz
Max Minghella
Jeffrey Wright

Synopsis:

Stephen is a wunderkind press secretary who has built a career that men twice his age would envy. During a tight presidential primary race, however, Stephen's meteoric rise falls prey to the backroom politics of more seasoned operatives, and his one night stand with a teenage staffer proves to be more complicated than casual. Farragut North is a classic tale of hubris set against a contemporary landscape - about the lust for power and the costs one will endure to achieve it.


Movie Review :



by James Rocchi

Adapting Beau Willimon's play "Farragut North" for the big screen, George Clooney's "Ides of March" starts so strongly -- from the jump, it's an truly entertaining mix of Aaron Sorkin and Sidney Lumet, where idealism and pragmatism fight dirty in the dimmer corners of the halls of power -- that the film's mis-steps later on are not just disappointing but depressing. Clooney has, as in his earlier films, assembled an amazing cast here. Ryan Gosling is a political operative under Phillip Seymour Hoffman trying to get George Clooney's Governor Morris the Democratic Presidential nomination, with Max Minghella and Evan Rachel Wood as junior staffers, Marisa Tomei as a member of the press and Paul Giamatti as Hoffman's opposite for the other contender.


Casting, however, isn't filming, and while Clooney has -- as ever -- assembled a superb technical staff, the screenplay is where things go awry. Cinematographer Phaedon Pappamichael ("Sideways," "Walk the Line," "Knight and Day") captures the wintry haze of battleground state Ohio and the plywood pomp-and-circumstanc​e of the modern campaign trail, while editor Stephen Mirrione ("Traffic," "Ocean's 13," "Go") cuts the close-clipped conversations superbly. Clooney-as-director also earns credit for opening the play up visually, walking the line between showy excess and artlessly hurling theatrical blocking up on-screen. (A moment where we slide in and out of three parallel offices as information passes back and forth is superb, as is a hidden meeting in the shabby privacy of a shaded stairwell.)




The jostle and bump of public pronouncements and private secrets, of press releases and closely-held information is a major part of the fun and charm of the film. At the same time, with no small sense of regret, it must be said there's a hole in the plot of "The Ides of March," and while it cannot be discussed in great detail for fear of ruining the film's central set of surprises and secrets, it is also so clumsy and gigantic that it is less like a pinhole in a cup that lets in disbelief and more like a gaping chasm in the side of a plane that results in a crash. (Let's just say that, for "Ides of March" to work as written, cops, coroners and journalists in Ohio have to be remarkably incurious illiterates with poor vision.) Willimon, Clooney and frequent Clooney collaborator Grant Heslov adapted Willimon's play -- and changed it substantially -- and the fact that three separate set of eyes didn't catch so glaring a problem is both human and disheartening.

Some will suggest that a picayune obsession with plot details is beneath an ambitious political drama about tactics and cynics, polling and governing; I think that if "Ides of March" is going to take a certain dramatic route -- especially a dramatic route like that of a thriller, where one mistake can mean disaster -- it needs to be as cautious of the potential for disaster in that route as it is excited about the possibilities that route offers. And bluntly, there are moments here that are so very good -- like Gosling, livid and silent, thinking a mile a minute while his heart is stopped dead, for one example, a conversation between candidate Clooney and his supportive-but-stres​sed wife Jennifer Ehle for another -- and I could watch scenes of Giamatti and Hoffman being profane and pointed, brusque and blunt, outraged and outrageous, all day.

"Ides of March," for the most part, is an engaging and exciting look at the machine that grinds and jolts beneath the smoother images offered up in public forums and campaign ads, and at the people behind political candidates. It also, like any politician, makes promises that soar on wings of language to suggest it can do the job, and it's too bad that the brief-but-significan​t very real plot problems in the film make it feel a little like a lame duck with a crippled wing.

taken from : http://social.entertainment.msn.com









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Movie : Killer Elite

Info Movie :
Killer Elite
Genres: Action/Adventure, Thriller and Adaptation
Release Date: September 23rd, 2011http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Distributors: Open Road Films
Starring: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Yvonne Strahovski, Dominic Purcell
Directed by: Gary McKendry
Produced by: Joni Sighvatsson, Steve Chasman, Michael Boughen
Official Website: www.killerelite.com

Synopsis:

Based on a true story, "Killer Elite" races across the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East in the action-packed account of an ex-special ops agent (Jason Statham) who is lured out of retirement to rescue his mentor (Robert De Niro). To make the rescue, he must complete a near-impossible mission of killing three tough-as-nails assassins with a cunning leader (Clive Owen).

Movie Review :


by Todd Brown

For the first ten minutes or so of its running time Gary McKendry's Killer Elite plays like the greatest film John McTiernan never made. The picture kicks off strong with a slick, tightly choreographed action sequence with just the right amount of soul. It's a piece loaded with guns, explosions, facial hair and manly men doing manly things with verve. Sure, Jason Statham is playing a part that he can do in his sleep by this point but he keeps doing it because he does it well and there's a certain undeniable, enormously endearing charm to watching Robert DeNiro running around with a machine gun. It makes no attempt to reinvent the wheel but it does what it does - for this one sequence, at least - with such style that all the picture really needs to do to be a success is stay in that pocket - or close to it - for the rest of its running time.

It does not.

Plagued by a shoddy script and decidedly underwhelming supporting cast Killer Elite stumbles badly after its strong opening and never recovers. Though there are well constructed moments scattered here and there throughout the film it's all too little, too late with the picture being very much less than the some of its parts do to its failure to ever connect those parts in any meaningful way.


Statham is Danny, a high end assassin who we meet on the cusp of his latest job - a complex hit in Mexico. They pull it off but not before Danny takes a bullet in the shoulder, having frozen when he realized there was a child in the target's car. Danny has to be dragged out of the line of fire by his mentor Hunter (Robert DeNiro), and he finds the whole thing so jarring that he swears off the life of a killer forever.

But forever only lasts for a year, Danny pulled back into the game when an exiled oil sheik takes Hunter hostage and will only release him if Danny hunts down and kills the British SAS members responsible for the deaths of his three sons. Danny accepts the job, a move that attracts the attention of a shadowy organization called the Feather Men made up of former SAS soldiers who send their watchdog Spike (Clive Owen) to put Danny down.

The issues with Killer Elite run deep and the vast majority of them lie with a script that simply should never have been filmed, not in its current form. Co-written by McKendry and Matt Sherring - a first feature for both - the script is both wildly over complex in certain areas, jumping from nation to nation constantly, while incredibly underbaked in others.

Key aspects of character motivation and plot are often simply ignored. Owen - whose character should provide the main conflict of the picture - just sort of drifts through, his Spike never really being given any concrete reason to care that Danny is killing off these men. What's in it for the Feather Men? Why are these guys after Danny instead of the regular SAS? No idea, frankly.

For a film as built around star power as this one is it is strangely resistant to having its stars actually share the screen. Owen doesn't show up at all until the half hour mark and doesn't do anything at all substantial until the film is half over. After Statham and DeNiro separate after the opening sequence the major trio of stars have barely any screen time together, a factor sure to disappoint many.

And while Statham, DeNiro and Own all deliver perfectly serviceable performances every other character in the film - every single one of them - is weak. Whether this is a factor of poor writing or poor acting is hard to say, exactly, though it strikes me as a combination of both.

Killer Elite is a surprising selection for a major film festival both in that it is an openly commercial film and that it is one with significant flaws in its execution. Placed in the recent Statham canon - and make no mistake, DeNiro and Owen are in his film, not the other way around - Killer Elite is significantly better than Blitz but a step behind The Mechanic, a film with smaller ambitions but better results.

Taken From : http://twitchfilm.com










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Movie : Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Info Movie :
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney, and 1 more credit »
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Eddie Marsan, Stephen Fry
Genres: Action/Adventure, Adaptation, Mystery and Sequel
Release Date: December 16th, 2011
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures
Official Website: http://sherlockholmes2.warnerbros.com/

Synopsis:

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has always been the smartest man in the room... until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder—a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction—all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history.

Movie Preview :





Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes was, for me, one of those Hollywood confections where the whole does not quite equal the sum of its parts. Robert Downey Jr created a pleasingly offbeat take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous super-sleuth, and the 2009 film offered some nicely realised, wonderfully atmospheric images of 19th-century London, yet something was missing. The flirtatious banter between Holmes and Rachel McAdams's Irene Adler failed to crackle with the required electricity, and Mark Strong's turn as Lord Blackwood felt like just another rent-a-villain in a career that is fast becoming defined by them.

Nevertheless, the film did very little wrong (if you could ignore Ritchie's usual mildly irritating penchant for slo-mo, fast-mo jiggery pokery) and set things up nicely for the sequel via its late-on hint at the introduction of Holmes's traditional nemesis, Professor Moriarty. So here we are, encore une fois, with the debut trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and the good news is that the story this time around apparently has a whole lot more Conan Doyle in it, being loosely based on the author's famous short story The Final Problem. Holmes acolytes will be aware of that tale's status in the canon: I don't want to reveal any spoilers, suffice to say it's a hugely eventful outing for the great detective (and the one in which we first meet Moriarty).

At first glance, it looks like we're back in full-on action-dandy Holmes territory, with Downey Jr spending much of the trailer in drag, and quite a bit of the rest of it engaged in fisticuffs. We get more than a glimpse of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace in her debut English language role as a suspiciously Scandinavian-sounding Gypsy fortune teller, and there's a snatch of Jared Harris's Moriarty. No Stephen Fry – who was cast as Holmes's elder brother Mycroft – however, and no McAdams, who apparently makes some sort of re-appearance.

As one might expect from Ritchie, it's a slick, fast-paced promo for what will most likely be a breezy, watchable sequel. But will A Game of Shadows elevate this iteration of Holmes to higher ground when it arrives in cinemas just before Christmas, or would you rather be watching Benedict Cumberbatch on the telly?

Taken From : http://www.guardian.co.uk






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Premiere of the television series "The Kennedys"

图Actor Tom Cruise poses with his wife and cast member Katie Holmes at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Katie Holmes and her husband actor Tom Cruise chat at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Tom Cruise poses, as his wife and cast member Katie Holmes watches, at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Barry Pepper poses at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Charlotte Sullivan poses at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Tom Cruise poses with his wife and cast member Katie Holmes at the premiere of the television series "The Kennedys" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California March 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily
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Entertainment> Celebrities `Avatar' blasts off with $232.2 million worldwide

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. arrives at the premiere of 'Avatar' in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009. [Agencies]

LOS ANGELES – James Cameron launched his science-fiction epic "Avatar" into a safe orbit as the costly film soared to No. 1 with $73 million domestically and $159.2 million overseas, for a $232.2 million worldwide total.

With that big a start, distributor 20th Century Fox was quick to proclaim it made a good investment with the estimated $400 million spent to make and market the film, which is Cameron's first narrative feature since 1997's "Titanic," the king of modern blockbusters.

"Absolutely. No question," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for the studio, which reported stellar reaction in exit polls from audiences after seeing "Avatar." "The word of mouth is something that I don't know I've ever seen in this business before."

"Avatar" was a test case for the future of digital 3-D projection, which until now has been a hit with audiences mainly on animated family films.

The film fell short of the record for December debuts of $77.2 million set two years ago by Will Smith's "I Am Legend." But it did break the record for a film opening in 3-D, previously held by last summer's "Up" with $68.1 million.

"What they spent on this movie was totally justified, and they're going to more than earn it back," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"Avatar" stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in a love story amid human-alien conflict on a distant moon in the 22nd century.

Storms on the East Coast kept many people at home, cutting into weekend movie business.

"The weather really, really hurt," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony, whose comedy "Did You Hear About the Morgans?", opened at a weak No. 4 with $7 million. Sony had expected the movie to debut at about $8 million.

The movie stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant as a couple whose crumbling marriage gets a fresh jolt after they see a murder and are sent into witness protection.

The overall box office shot up on the strength of "Avatar." Hollywood's domestic revenues came in at $134 million, up 51.5 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Yes Man" opened at No. 1 with $18.3 million, according to Hollywood.com.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Disney's animated musical "The Princess and the Frog," slipped to second place with $12.2 million, raising its total to $44.8 million.

Paramount's recession story "Up in the Air," which led last Tuesday's Golden Globes announcement with six nominations, broke into the top 10 as it widened to more theaters ahead of its nationwide expansion Wednesday.

"Up in the Air" came in at No. 8 with $3.1 million. The film stars George Clooney as a man addicted to the frequent-flyer life as he travels the country firing people at downsizing companies.

Two music-themed films had strong starts in limited release as they position themselves for Academy Awards attention. The Weinstein Co. musical "Nine" opened big with $246,933 in four theaters, for an average of $61,733 a cinema, compared to an average of $21,147 in 3,452 theaters for "Avatar."

Based on the stage musical that was inspired by Federico Fellini's film masterpiece "8 1/2," "Nine" has an all-star cast that includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson. "Nine" goes into nationwide release Christmas Day.

Fox Searchlight's "Crazy Heart," starring Jeff Bridges as a boozy country singer trying to turn his life around, pulled in $84,204 at four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, averaging $21,051 a cinema. The film expands to four more markets on Christmas Day.

No one expects "Avatar" to be another "Titanic," which started with a modest $28.6 million opening weekend domestically but held on at No. 1 for months. The film finished with a record $600 million domestically and $1.8 billion worldwide.

Before "Avatar" opened, Cameron had said the movie might not have a "slam-dunk opening weekend" but that its profitability hinged on how well it held up in subsequent weekends.

Unlike other Hollywood franchises, which usually are based on comic books, TV shows, toys or other existing stories and ideas, "Avatar" was an original tale whose concept was not pre-sold to audiences.

Much of the action takes place among 10-foot-tall, blue-skinned aliens created by digital cameras that captured actors' performances, with computer animation adding the details of the characters, along with the exotic backgrounds and other effects.

Some reviewers found the story and characters two-dimensional, but critics generally were wowed by the dazzling images Cameron created.

"I think it is the must-see film event of recent memory," Fox executive Aronson said. "I do believe it is a game-changing movie. It will change the way people think about movies, the way they see movies, what they want to see in movies."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Avatar," $73 million.

2. "The Princess and the Frog," $12.2 million.

3. "The Blind Side," $10 million.

4. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?", $7 million.

5. "The Twilight Saga" New Moon," $4.4 million.

6. "Invictus," $4.2 million.

7. "Disney's a Christmas Carol," $3.4 million.

8. "Up in the Air," $3.1 million.

9. "Brothers," $2.6 million.

10. "Old Dogs," $2.3 million.

taken from : China Daily

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Entertainment> Movies Mundane "Morgans" wastes talented cast

Entertainment> Movies

Mundane "Morgans" wastes talented cast

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-16 10:17

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NEW YORK - As with most mainstream comedies, you get nearly all of the story line and most of the best jokes in "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" from its trailer.

This fish-out-of-water romantic comedy about a warring upscale Manhattan couple forcibly relocated to the American heartland is marginally better than writer-director Marc Lawrence's "Music and Lyrics" and "Two Weeks Notice," but not even the estimable comic chops of Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker can lift it above the level of ordinary. The Columbia Pictures release opens Friday.

The titular couple is Paul and Meryl, whose marriage is on the rocks because of his recent infidelity. Now Paul's desperately trying to get her back, but his attempt at reconciliation is dashed when they stumble on to a murder and are forced to enter the Witness Protection Program.

Safely ensconced in a small Wyoming town under the watchful eyes of the local sheriff (Sam Elliott) and his shotgun-toting wife (Mary Steenburgen), they find themselves gradually warming up to each other again while dealing with their cell phone-free cultural dislocation. This includes shopping at the local big-box store, milking cows, shooting guns and running away from the occasional bear. Meanwhile, they're being pursued by the vengeful hit man (Michael Kelly), who eventually shows up for the inevitable climactic shootout.

Offsetting the story's predictability is Lawrence's ability to craft genuinely funny one-liners, which are expertly delivered by Parker in a variation of her high-strung Carrie Bradshaw character and Grant with his amusingly droll laid-back manner. Happily, the Midwestern characters are not reduced to stereotypes, with Elliott and Steenburgen quite winning as the Morgans' protectors and Wilford Brimley providing some fun moments as a cantankerous cafe owner. On the minus side, Elisabeth Moss is utterly wasted as Meryl's no-nonsense personal assistant, even if she does get to show a more glamorous side than with her "Mad Men" character.

taken from : China Daily

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"Up in the Air" leads Golden Globes with 6 nods

George Clooney in a scene from "Up In The Air".

BEVERLY HILLS - Film drama "Up in the Air" soared away with six Golden Globe nominations on Tuesday, more than any film, while Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep and Matt Damon each earned two nominations for the major awards show.

"Up in the Air," starring George Clooney as a corporate hatchet man forced to consider his life's direction, took home nominations for best film drama and for Clooney as best actor. Jason Reitman grabbed a nod for director and best screenplay with co-writer Sheldon Turner, while both Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga will compete for supporting actress.

Reitman told Reuters the combined nominations for his actors were especially gratifying. "We're celebrating this as a family, which is how we made the movie," he said.

Close behind was "Nine," about the life and loves of an Italian film director, with five nominations, including best musical or comedy. Its stars, Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard, received nods for actor and actress in a musical or comedy, respectively. Penelope Cruz landed in the supporting actress group, and "Nine" received one nod for best song.

Bullock scored nominations for best dramatic actress for football film "The Blind Side" and actress in a musical or comedy with relationship movie "The Proposal."

"I am beyond stunned," Bullock said in a statement. "Just to be included in the company of these amazing women I have so admired through the years, has left me slack-jawed with awe."

For her part, Streep will compete against herself for best actress in a musical or comedy with two movies, culinary movie "Julie & Julia" and relationship film "It's Complicated."

Matt Damon also received two nominations, one for best actor in a musical or comedy for "The Informant!" and a second for supporting actor with "Invictus."

The Golden Globes, given out on January 17 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are among the most-watched awards and a key indicator of which movies will compete for the world's top film honors, the Oscars, in March.

Among other movies to watch in the weeks ahead will be science-fiction adventure "Avatar," which earned four Golden Globe nominations, including best drama, best director for James Cameron and original song and movie score.

GLORY FOR "INGLOURIOUS"

Quentin Tarantino's World War Two fantasy, "Inglourious Basterds" also earned four nods: drama, director, screenplay for Tarantino and supporting actor for Christoph Waltz.

Rounding out the best film drama nominees were Iraq war movie "The Hurt Locker" and urban drama "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire," which each earned three nominations.

"Hurt Locker" brought a best director nomination to Kathryn Bigelow and a screenplay nod for Mark Boal.

"Precious," a dark tale about an abused young woman, landed newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in the category for best actress and Mo'Nique in the supporting actress group. The movie's director, Lee Daniels, failed to earn a nod in that category, but was nonetheless excited about the film and its actors.

"We (initially) expected to go straight to DVD, so anything beyond that is great," he told Reuters.

Joining "Nine" in the race for best movie musical or comedy were "Julie & Julia," box office sensation "The Hangover" and indie hit "(500) Days of Summer," which claimed a best actor in a comedy nod for its star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Competing against Clooney for best drama actor are Jeff Bridges playing a country singer in "Crazy Heart," Colin Firth as a grieving man in "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus" and Tobey Maguire in "Brothers."

In the group for best actor in a comedy or musical, Gordon-Levitt and Day-Lewis will face competition from Matt Damon in "The Informant!," Robert Downey Jr. for "Sherlock Holmes," and Michael Stuhlberg for "A Serious Man."

Along with Bullock and Sidibe, best dramatic actress nods went to Helen Mirren for "The Last Station," Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria" and Carey Mulligan with "An Education."

Rounding out the list of nominees for best actress in a musical or comedy was Julia Roberts in "Duplicity."

Foreign language nominees were Italy's "Baaria," Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's "Broken Embraces," Chile's "The Maid," France's "A Prophet" and Germany's "The White Ribbon."

taken from : China Daily

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Sci-Fi Plot Revealed for Stallone's Rambo V: The Savage Hunt

September 5, 2009
Source: Ain't It Cool News
by Brandon Lee Tenney

Just a few days ago news broke confirming that the fifth installment of Sylvester Stallone's Rambo series had been greenlit by Nu Image / Millennium Films and was already in the works (and even hard a storyline about human trafficking across the Mexico border). Well, hold on to your bandanas, because AICN's Harry Knowles just had a conversation with Mr. Stallone himself in which he reveals the shadows of what will become Rambo 5. First, we have an official title - Rambo V: The Savage Hunt - and a poster (a glimpse of it seen above). Second, well, this Rambo may prove to be a bit different than those four previous movies.

John Rambo will be returning to the Pacific Northwest, back to his roots, if you will. There we'll be seeing Rambo on the hunt, the one doing the chasing rather than the one being chased. The film will center around a US Military installation that's experimenting on its soldiers, attempting to "tap into [the] savagery that we have deeply embedded [inside] us." Basically, these elite soldiers are to become purely instinctual killing machines without a shred of regret, with nary a single qualm about taking a human life. Who would guess that this experimental program turns out to work exceptionally well? And then backfires terribly. That's when Rambo, as part of a Black Ops squad, is brought in to hunt down this unfeeling, moral-less killer.

Well I'm sold. I don't know about you, but having written and read all that back, I'm sold. I trust Stallone after witnessing what he was capable of bringing to his exceptionally affecting 2006 film Rocky Balboa and 2008's Rambo-can-still-kick-ass fourth installment of the Rambo franchise. The guy knows his characters. And more so, he's confident in his characters. Mix that with some classic government conspiracy, a dash of some sci-fi super soldier, and John Rambo doing what he does best in the forests of the good ol' U. S. of A. — well, let's just say I've pitched my tent outside the movie theater already. Are you ready to join me in line?

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'Ice Age,' 'Transformers' tie at box office with $42.5m

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Prehistoric creatures and robots were in a photo finish for the Fourth of July box-office crown Sunday, with “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” tied with $42.5 million each.

Final numbers Monday will sort out which movie actually came in first, Paramount’s “Transformers” or 20th Century Fox’s “Ice Age.” Numbers reported during the weekend are estimates based on the studio’s projections for how much business the movies will do on Sunday.

“I’ve seen squeakers before in my time, but never one like this,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

In past close finishes, studios have accused each other of inflating their Sunday estimates to gain first-place bragging rights, only to have another movie take the No. 1 spot once final numbers are reported the next day.

“This shows a lot of respect between the two studios,” Dergarabedian said. “They’re just saying `Look, as of right now, it’s too close to call.’”

Universal’s crime saga “Public Enemies,” starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, debuted a solid No. 3 with $26.2 million.

It’s rare when box-office rankings are so close, particularly in summer, when movies typically have huge opening weekends then trail off to make way for the next blockbuster.

But the action adventure “Transformers” held up well from its $109 million debut the previous weekend, while the animated sequel “Ice Age” packed in family crowds.

With a $293.5 million domestic total after just 12 days, “Transformers” shot past Disney and Pixar Animation’s “Up” to become the year’s highest-grossing movie. The sequel reunites human stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox with shape-shifting robots in a war against evil machines.

“Ice Age,” the third installment in the cartoon franchise, brings back voice stars Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Queen Latifah as the gang of extinct animals encounter a lost world of dinosaurs underground. Since opening Wednesday, “Ice Age” has taken in $67.5 million.

Other studios generally were tracking “Transformers” and “Ice Age” within a few hundred thousand dollars of each other.

“It’s just so close,” said Bert Livingston, Fox distribution executive. “It all comes down to Sunday for us. We are elated to be in that rarefied air with one of the biggest event movies ever.”

With the Fourth of July falling on Saturday, usually Hollywood’s busiest day, revenues trailed off as people skipped movies to watch fireworks and go to cookouts or other outdoor activities.

“Public Enemies,” starring Depp as 1930s gangster John Dillinger and Bale as FBI man Melvin Purvis, pulled in an audience of older adults who often do not pack theaters for summer’s action tales, family flicks and comedies.

“We felt this was going to be the right moment to insert something with a little bit more substance into the mix,” said Adam Fogelson, Universal’s president of marketing and distribution.

“Up” reached a milestone of its own, its $6.6 million weekend lifting its domestic haul to $264.9 million, passing “The Incredibles” ($261.4 million) to become No. 2 on the Disney-Pixar hit list behind “Finding Nemo” ($339.7 million).

With $10.4 million, the Warner Bros. bachelor-party comedy “The Hangover” became the year’s fourth movie to cross the $200 million mark, climbing to a domestic total of $204.2 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1 (tie). “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” $42.5 million. 1 (tie). “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” $42.5 million. 3. “Public Enemies,” $26.2 million. 4. “The Proposal,” $12.8 million. 5. “The Hangover,” $10.4 million. 6. “Up,” $6.6 million. 7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” $5.3 million. 8. “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” $2.5 million. 9 (tie). “Year One,” $2.1 million. 9. (tie). “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” $2.1 million.

taken from : China Daily

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