Movie Muse

The last weekend of July is always a dud at the box office. Last year, “Funny People” with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen took in just $22 million to finish first. The year before, “The Dark Knight” did so in its third week. That’s what I think we’ll happen with “Inception.”

We have a talking animal action comedy this weekend along with a contemporary comedy and a teenage drama. By far the biggest mystery of the group is “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.” The first “Cats & Dogs” came out in 2001 and grossed $200 million worldwide. Hardly the sign of a future franchise, let alone a sequel nine years later. At least there are some solid if not great films still in theaters. Read the rest of this entry »

Wonder where on earth the idea for “Dinner for Schmucks” came from? Well, it’s this little French farce called “Le Diner de Cons” a.k.a. “The Dinner Game.” The two films are far different from one another based on having seen this film and the trailers for “Schmucks,” but both revolve around a business dinner where men bring idiots to be made fun of. Here is my review of the late ’90s comedy. To help you understand, the character of Francois will be Steve Carell’s character in tomorrow’s film and Pierre will be Paul Rudd. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Trailer Wednesday is brought to you by the letter “V.” “V” as in “Violence.” I suppose we should expect nothing less from the first week of trailers post-Comic Con. Although these are mostly teasers, I figured it would be far more interesting than bringing you the latest “TRON: Legacy” trailer or the second “RED” trailer though both films should be great.

We’ll go in order of building suspense. That means starting with the brief teaser for Nicolas Cage in “Drive Angry 3D,” going on to next May’s vampire action film “Priest” starring Paul Bettany and on to the trailer that blew the most minds at Comic Con, Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch.” Read the rest of this entry »

As strange as the title “Hot Tub Time Machine” might seem, it oddly fits this movie. You can only expect so much from a flick that has two nouns in the title that are as seemingly opposite as “hot tub” and “time machine.” It’s the kind of title that says “I’m not going to make sense, but who doesn’t love hot tubs or time machines?” It’s a silly, mindless film that revels in time travel jokes and an assortment of gags related to the discrepancy between being middle-aged now and being a 20-something in the ’80s. It’s the kind of pure sugar fun you need to be in the mood for. Read the rest of this entry »

There weren’t a lot of Surprises at Comic Con this year. Other than Disney’s announcement of a Guillermo Del Toro-helmed “Haunted Mansion” and Marvel’s aside about rights to “The Punisher” being back in the company’s hands, there weren’t a whole lot of breaking news items.

But it doesn’t mean Comic Con ’10 was a wash. There were plenty of films that debuted in Hall H that make for a very promising end of the year and start to 2011.  There were some we’d never heard of or seen anything from and others we’ve been waiting to glimpse for a long time. Below is a list of ten movies that upped their excitement factor with presentations at this year’s Con. Read the rest of this entry »

Few classic era film directors did comedy better than Frank Capra, if any. The over-the-top ridiculous dark comedy farce “Arsenic and Old Lace” is not the three-time Oscar winner’s usual cup of tea (there’s an inherent lack of romance), but he captures the adaptation of the play with a sense of humor that’s critical for a story so ridiculous. Read the rest of this entry »

Not that there’s a rivalry, but Leo beat Angie this weekend at the box office. This proves the age-old argument that boys are better than girls, among other things.

Okay, so maybe not. Jolie continued to show that she’s as bankable as they come and that 35 is still a prime age for an action star, regardless of gender. However, it wasn’t enough to give her action thriller “Salt” the title of number one film in America. “Inception” fell by less than a third of its opening weekend totals, earning a terrific $42.7 million in its second week, which puts it at just below $150 million for its 10-day total. “Salt” took in a very respectable $36 million. Read the rest of this entry »

According to his friends and himself, Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is a five out of ten on a scale of general sex appeal. Funny, because that’s the exact score I give this film. Kirk’s a decent enough guy. A bit scrawny, has some self-esteem issues, but he’s funny at times, genuine and often charming. I don’t know about those negatives, but the positives could also be said about “She’s Out of My League.” Read the rest of this entry »

Not often does an Oscar winner for leading actor or actress dominate the entire picture through and through. Everything in “Gandhi” gravitates around Ben Kingsley in the role of a lifetime, or quite simply: the role he was born to play. Mahatma Gandhi’s story is about the power of one influencing the power of millions. Richard Attenborough’s film aspires to spread that message in this fascinating three-hour biopic about the strength and willpower of the human spirit. Read the rest of this entry »

After a film like “Inception” comes out, you know you can expect a letdown weekend at the box office. Even if Angelina Jolie were doing full-front for “Salt,” it still wouldn’t make headlines this weekend. (Mainly because it would be R-rated and limit the audience, but still …)

Much like “Avatar” last year, this is the film everyone’s being told to see by their friends. Now unlike “Avatar” I don’t expect numbers to actually go up for “Inception” (it’s not the holiday season), but it could see a very minimal drop as people go back to theaters to look for clues to interpret the film’s ending or new people come in to see what all the fuss is about. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it didn’t take long for our first bit of news to come out of Comic Con. On the floor during Preview Night last night, MTV got a chance to speak with “World War Z” creator Max Brooks who said that the film version of his apocalyptic zombie war novel is not only moving forward with Plan B Entertainment, but Plan B’s very own, Mr. Brad Pitt, is currently attached to star. Paramount, who will distribute the film, is eying a summer 2012 release date.

Read the rest of this entry »

Click here and be sure to follow me on Twitter. I’ll have all the most interesting movie bits from Comic Con retweeted from the sites I trust who are in attendance. I won’t always be at my computer, because frankly I have other things to do, but if you just want the best Comic Con news and not to be inundated with updates, I’m your guy. You can follow my specific coverage at PlayerAffinity.com. Either myself or my team will have new stories and panel recaps so you can stay abreast without flipping through the boring information.

Happy Comic Con!

-The Movie Muse

When Tim Burton and Disney present you a pretty little 3-D film with a tag on it that says “Watch Me,” you’re likely to indulge. The prospect of one of the finest fantasy directors (who’s a bit mad himself) creating the beloved and colorful world of Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tales in the era of CGI and 3-D seems flawless. Yet somehow, the magic factor does not find its way where it is needed most: the story. Read the rest of this entry »

Two highly intriguing fall films made this week’s Trailer Wednesday. If you can’t tell, I’m really high on David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” aka The Facebook Movie. Last week brought us the first full-length trailer for the film. Alongside it we have “The Town” Ben Affleck’s sophomore feature after “Gone Baby Gone” a few years back. Read the rest of this entry »

As the “Inception” whirlwind begins to die down, that leaves the third Batman film as Christopher Nolan’s next project, which is essentially our cue as movie bloggers that we can pump up the rumor and speculation stories from here until the film’s release on July 20, 2012. Rumor number one would obviously be the villain. Fan speculation has long favored The Riddler and FirstShowing.net believes they’ve got a reliable source saying not only is that true, but that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is “interested.” Read the rest of this entry »