On Gear Live: Limited Edition White Beats by Dr. Dre hands-on

Latest Video: FilmCrunch 067: Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, Premonition reviewed

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, and Premonition in this episode of FilmCrunch.
Play Video
Close Player   Episode Permalink Comment on this Video Subscribe to this show via iTunes, Miro, or RSS Download for: iPod High Definition

Box Office Breakdown: Marley & Me Ends 2008 on Top

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Miramax, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Period, Religious, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Marley & Me

Aside from a few changes at the bottom of this week’s Top Ten, every single movie remained planted in their positions from last Monday. Since Friday’s new entries (Good, Defiance) were only offered in limited release, there really wasn’t much of a battle.

Over the last three days, tacked on another $24 million and officially crossed the $100 million mark. The Fox adaptation became the 25th film from 2008 to accomplish that. Meanwhile, the only new charter was #10’s . Although it was only shown in 612 theaters (that’s down two from last week), the Fox Searchlight feature helped push The Spirit down to #13. The probable Oscar contender also earned a better per screen average than all the films ahead of it.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Marley & Me Ends 2008 on Top

Read More | Variety

Advertisement

Inglourious Basterds Gets 2009 Date

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Universal, Weinstein Company, Action, Adventure, Drama, Period, Upcoming Releases

Inglorious Bastard's Brad PittStill getting used to the spelling of ‘s new film? (It was once spelled Inglorious Bastards.) Well, you’ll now have until this fall to get the title mastered.

The WWII drama about Jewish-American soldiers on a mission to kill to Nazis has just been scheduled for an August 21 release. The film, which will be be distributed by the Weinstein Company in the States (by Universal internationally), marks Tarantino’s attempt at a period film. Production began in Germany back in October.

stars Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, BJ Novak, Eli Roth and Diane Kruger.

Read More | Variety

National Society of Film Critics Picks Waltz with Bashir

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: FOCUS, Fox Searchlight, Miramax, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Foreign Language, Period, Political, Comedy, Awards, Lists

Waltz with Bashir

One year after honoring There Will Be Blood, the National Society of Film Critics has named its favorite film of 2008. Although it’s primarily been considered in the Best Animated or Best Foreign Language categories, Ari Folman’s was selected as this group’s top film of 2009.

The animated Israeli film - Folman’s memoir of his country’s 1982 Invasion of Lebanon - is currently up for a Golden Globe.

Here are the remaining 43rd Annual National Society of Film Critics Awards winners:

In Theaters This Weekend: January 2, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, Independent, Period, Political, Religious, Lists, New Releases

Defiance

Here are some few new suggestions for the first weekend of 2009:

  • Defiance* (R): starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schrieber, Jamie Bell (directed by Ed Zwick)
  • Good* (NR): starring Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whittaker (directed by Vicente Amorim)

*limited and/or gradual release


First Look: Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck in State of Play

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Universal, Drama, Political, Thrillers, Trailers, Upcoming Releases


In State of Play, Russell Crowe stars as an investigative reporter (Cal McCaffrey) who is tasked with covering the murder of a congressman’s mistress. Ben Affleck plays Stephen Collins, the U.S. Congressman who also has old ties to McCaffrey. The movie which once had Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in the two lead roles was directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland).

Matthew Michael Carnahan (Lions for Lambs), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton), Billy Ray (Breach) and Paul Abbott (the writer of the original BBC series) all share writing credits on the big-screen adaptation.

- also starring Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and Jason Bateman - opens April 17, 2009.

Read More | State of Play

Box Office Breakdown: Marley & Me is the Weekend’s Top Dog

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Miramax, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Political, Religious, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Marley & Me

When it comes to the box office, has no problem pushing best friends (Courteney Cox), exes (Brad Pitt) or former leading men (Jim Carrey) aside.

After a record-breaking Christmas Day, pulled in approximately $36.4 million over the last three days. The PG-rated film, which earned nearly $51 million since December 25, gave Aniston bragging rights and Owen Wilson his best Friday-Sunday gross ever.

Although he eventually lost out to Jen, Brad Pitt really had nothing to complain about. , the weekend’s #3 finisher, had the 2nd best ($12 million) Christmas day opening. Meanwhile, Bedtime Stories - starring Adam Sandler and Courteney Cox - now ranks 3rd ($10.6 million) on the all-time Dec. 25 debuts list.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Marley & Me is the Weekend’s Top Dog

Read More | Variety

Revolutionary Road Another Hit for DiCaprio and Winslet?

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Paramount, Adaptation, Drama, Romance, New Releases, Theatrical Reviews

Revolutionary Road

Eleven years ago, and made film history in Titanic - truly, an on-screen pairing even more epic than Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. With Revolutionary Road, the two are reunited.

But despite this star power, many critics aren’t raving about . MSNBC called the flick “another sinking ship,” to poke a little fun at the Titanic history of this on-screen couple. The same review goes on to call the movie a “dreary film adaptation” and says both main characters are “thoroughly mediocre, uninteresting people.”

The Associated Press calls the film “brutally tedious,” hardly high praise. Many reviewers are comparing the subject matter of the film to a watered-down version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and the look of the piece to TV series Mad Men.

Somewhere in the middle of it all are DiCaprio and Winslet, whom - everyone seems to agree - both delivered great performances. If nothing else, the film is worthwhile for these two alone. And not all the reviews are negative - Variety calls the flick “constantly engrossing.”

That’s hopeful, right?

Read More | MSNBC

In Theaters This Holiday Week: December 25, 2008

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Period, Political, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

The Spirit

Here are some possible suggestions for your holiday weekend:

Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Say Yes to Jim Carrey

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists

Yes Man

How will remember Winter Solstice 2008? As the weekend he placed second.

Prior to Friday’s premieres, number crunchers were already predicting a close race between headliners Jim Carrey and Will Smith. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., ‘s ultimate victory felt slightly hollow. The comedy’s $18.2 million gross was nowhere near the figures Carrey used to generate. (Bruce Almighty‘s premiere earned $68 million in 2003; Liar Liar took in $31.4 million in 1997.) Yes did, though, do better than 2005’s Fun with Dick and Jane. (That film raked in $14.1 million during its open.)

Will Smith didn’t have much to celebrate over the last three days either. His latest film, , only took in $14.8 million. That’s a number almost unheard of in Smith-land. The drama, directed by Pursuit of Happyness’ Gabriele Muccino, was the actor’s lowest grosser since Ali. (That film earned $14.7 million when it debuted in December 2001.)

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Say Yes to Jim Carrey

Read More | Variety

Beyonce Fights Off Ali Larter in Obsessed

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Drama, Thrillers, Trailers, Upcoming Releases


So this is what qualifies her to be Wonder Woman?

Back in November, Cadillac Records’ Beyonce Knowles talked about her desire to play the female superhero. In her interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said her work on a recent movie had her eager to do something a bit more physical.

“I play a wife fighting for her family and I have this big, big fighting scene with Ali Larter, who is an incredible actress. It took us days just to film it. I had my boots on and, wow, I got into it. So I really want that now. Now I have to do an action film. It’s like dancing and choreography. And the superhero movies now, they’re not corny, not corny at all, so that’s what I want to do. And I would love if it could be Wonder Woman.”

Well, in case you were wondering, this is the film she was referring to.

Click to continue reading Beyonce Fights Off Ali Larter in Obsessed


Advertisement