32 posts tagged “news”
Okay, so Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes is doing the new Nightmare on Elm Street movie. It's probably a reboot, and, from what I hear, will largely crib from the first movie in the series. Whatever, they recently announced the director. His name is Sam Bayer, and he's never done a movie before, but he's a pop director. Really, this movie will be more about the writing than the directing, but here are some videos by Bayer, to give you a taste of who this guy is.
Even the citizens of Namibia have dreaded this day, but it seems to finally be upon us: people are spending less on the price-gouged foodstuffs available at their local cineplex, no longer compelled by the excitement of a new Zack Efron vehicle to throw their diabetes-inspired caution to the wind and splurging on Goobers and cheese pretzels. Says THR:
Two operators of film theaters on Monday reported weaker U.S. revenue as dwindling concession spending added to smaller admissions figures in the third quarter despite record-breaking results from Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight."
...However, the numbers announced by Carmike Cinemas after the market close paints a different picture. The company reported a $24,000 profit, down from the $2.1 million recorded in the year-ago period as revenue dropped 7.4% to $122.9 million. Admissions revenue fell 6.9% to $81.1 million, and concession revenue decreased 8.3% to $41.8 million, exacerbating the situation.
I've been crying all morning.
[thr]
I have this blog, and I've got this lack of time, but when news of Harry Potter actors acting in movies where they're not doing spells crosses your path, your first line of duty is to drop that syringe and log into Vox like a good boy. Cinematical, via MTV, has our first look at Rupert Grint in Cherrybomb, which is a British film about two dudes, a girl, and lawlessness. They have more at MTV, butI just want to say that I saw Grint's film Driving Lessons, and it was not bad at all.
The wonderous Webmd (because how else would you know you have herpes?) has a peice--I think it's just a blog entry, but it's researched, so that puts it on the level of real journalisms. Anyway, it's about this movement by these college presidents (about a hundred of them) to have the drinking age lowered from 21 to 18 (this age limitation is federal law, not state law, as the states no longer have a say in the matter). Anyway, they have a bunch of points, a couple of which follow this colon coming up:
- Adults over 18 years can vote, marry, sign contracts, serve on juries, and enlist in the military. How can we as a society then tell them they are not mature enough to have a beer?
- Some studies suggest that a higher drinking age barely reduces underage consumption. Worse, those under-aged youths who do drink are much more likely to do so behind closed doors and drink to excess in the short time they have access to alcohol.
- The higher drinking age gives alcohol the allure of "forbidden fruit" and serves as a badge of rebellion against adult authority.
- There were few differences in the incidence of drinking problems in colleges where the drinking age was 18 versus 21 years.
The bottom line is, according to the president of Johns Hopkins College: "Kids are going to drink whether it's legal or not. We'd at least be able to have a more open dialogue with students about drinking, as opposed to this sham where people don't want to talk about it because it's a violation of the law."You can read the rest over thar. [WebMd]
If you had asked me if I ever thought I'd link to a site called Baller Status, I would have thrown a glass of Cisco in your face and asked where do I sign? That day has come, as I have become intrigued by the prospect of R&B singer Faith Evans' memoir, which is available now. In it, she talks about her relationship with Biggie, and basically talks all the shit you'd want to see in a memoir (some famous person's feel the need to be, like, coy and whatnot when detailing their business for public devouring--we just want the good parts thnx!). Anyway, here's a bit about Tupac, courtesy of Baller Status, courtesy of Faith and shit:
In the leaked page, Faith claims that during one evening in Cali, she visited Tupac's hotel room to receive payment for a collaboration she had previously done with the rapper. However, once there, Pac allegedly made sexual advances, and tried to persuade her into being his "bitch" before he'd pay her for her services.
Here's short excerpt of Faith account of the meeting:
"The situation with the money is like this," he. "If I give it to you, then you have to be my bitch."
"Your what," I said. I felt a chill go up my back.
"You heard me. You gotta be my bitch."
I got up and moved farther away from where he was standing.
"I'm not anybody's bitch," I said, trying to keep my voice even and steady.
"You Biggie's bitch."
Then later on, Faith says Tupac became angry after she asked for her money, cursing at her, before she stormed out of the room in tears:
"Look," I said. "You hired me to do a song. I did it. I want money and that's it."
"Oh word, it's like that? You just want your money?"
"You told me it wouldn't be a problem," I said. "The only reason why I came up here is because you said --"
"So you not trying to suck my d***?"
"What!" I screamed. "What are you talking about."
Tupac raised his voice. "You know you want to suck my d***, bitch! Don't f***ing lie." I burst into tears and grabbed my purse. "I have to get out of here."
... If you'd like to get your own copy to see what else Faith reveals, it is available now in bookstores, and/or Amazon.com
for just $16.50.
Happy holiday.
Sometimes (read: always) I wish I lived in an area where there was more happening instead of basically nothing--meaning, I wish I lived in a city, so I could just hop a train somewhere cool. I mean, yeah, being in Jersey, I can basically do that anyway, but that's not my point. My point is, I want what I don't have, not what I could have if I tried a little harder. Anyway, things:
Over at the Editing Room, they've got the abridged script for the Dark Knight, and it's not bad, but it's got a bristling comments section going for it. I was lured in and contributed some of my office-addled insights, like this gem:
Lastly, as this thread seems to be devolving, there is a difference between rating a movie, and rating the experience of watching it. I the TDK is pretty darn entertaining as a movie, in the theater, that I sat there and watched (twice). As soon as I left the theater the first time, I was able to point out flaws, but when I went back to watch, I could care less about the flaws, because I was having a good time, because that’s what the movie is: a good time. It gets a lot of gas for dealing with psychological issues, and for being almost unrelentingly somber, and I think that’s why it gets a pass with so many people: it’s okay that it’s imperfect because it seems to mean well. It treats the comic with respect and blahblah…
So, yeah. In Rod’s review/script for GVS’s Psycho remake, he points out that there is a lot that isn’t entirely awesome about the movie because it wasn’t so awesome in the original. But Psycho transcend’s the criticism beause it upped the ante at the time and people have been ripping it off ever since. That is the case here, sort of, at least according to the media, so that’s TDK’s burden and is why it’s probably so easy to get excited about, and so easy to hate as well. RANT!
OMG I'm so fucking insightful!
The Hollywood Reporter also has a story about the Dark Knight (because it's fun to talk about), and along with it, they've got a sampling of the hefty bundles of millions it's gotten for everyone's favorite charity case, Warner Brothers:
$871.5 million
Worldwide boxoffice cume$489.4 million
Domestic boxoffice cume
(second highest ever)$158.4 million
Opening weekend (best ever)$49.8 million
Worldwide Imax gross (highest ever)34%
Percentage of Imax viewers seeing the film for at least the second time18
Days to reach the $400 million domestic benchmark (fastest ever)
Sources: Nielsen EDI, Imax Corp. and THR research; figures as of Sunday night
I'm so happy for them! Next and last, Aaron Sorkin, the mushroom-enthusiast and West Wing show creator, is putting his considerable, mind-bending talents toward the feat of writing a Facebook movie. Sigh. Look, what I'm posting are reasons to drink this weekend. Says THR:
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg while studying at Harvard along with pals Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. At first, membership was restricted to Harvard students, then expanded to all Ivy League schools before going on to open up for all universities and high schools in Canada and the U.S. The site now has more than 100 million users worldwide.
Despite offers in the billions of dollars, Zuckerberg has steadfastly remained independent.
Endeavor-repped Sorkin last wrote "Charlie Wilson's War," while Rudin has "Revolutionary Road," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and the film adaptation of the Broadway play "Doubt" coming out this fall.
"I feel about this introduction the way I felt about 'Sophie's Choice': It could have been funnier," Sorkin finished.
Whatever, Aaron. Lastly lastly, your boy Mike Phelps is gonna host SNL. Later daaaaays!!!
I'm kind of lazy. I'm working on so muc at once, that my pet project (this) gets neglected, since it's only a pet, and shits in a box and licks itself clean, I think it doesn't ever really need me, but it does. Movie things.
The aforementioned Kick-Ass, based on the comic series, picks up more cast, as, according to Cinematical:
[...] they've cast the lead: it'll be 18 year-old Aaron Johnson, whom you may remember as little Ed Norton in The Illusionist. Joining him will be Nicolas Cage and TV vet Lyndsy Fonseca. Fonseca will play the love interest, while Cage will play the father of Elizabeth Rappe's future daughter, "a vicious, foul-mouthed 11-year-old who chops down criminals with a katana." Apparently he's trained her to do that as part of his quest to take down a druglord.
I've seen Matthew Vaughn's (the director's) Layer Cake, and it wasn't bad--it was stylish, and I hope he can make a half-decent superhero movie that isn't living in the Dark Knight's shadow. This is a pretty low-profile character, so he should be aight.Next!
Another movie that I have on notice (I'll drizzle in info on some more of them as time goes on) is Inglorious Bastards. In the last few weeks, casting rumors have had actors coming and going--at one point Simon Pegg, soon to be of Star Trek fame, was attached, but he's apparently out. Here's what IMDB is offically saying the cast looks like, as of today:
Cast
 |
Brad Pitt | ... | Aldo Raine |
 |
Mike Myers | ... | General Ed Fenech |
 |
Eli Roth | ... | Sgt. Donnie Donowitz |
 |
B.J. Novak | ... | PFC Utivich |
 |
Samm Levine | ||
 |
Nastassja Kinski | ... | Bridget Von Hammersmark (rumored) |
Gotta love that 'rumored'. Why even include it? Also, the character names don't matter as much as the fact that someone is agreeing to be a part of it, which is the good news.
Finally--Harry Potter has been moved back to too far to be worried about right now, but here's a link to some pictures from the film/set, like it helps or something.
Shit yeah!...These eleven months are fuckin flying by, bro!
Lastly (more definite than 'finally'), people have seen Guy Ritchie's Rocknrolla, and they don't hate it, so that's a positive.
Hard Candy basically sucked anyway, amiright?
Kick-Ass is a movie based on an ongoing comic series published by Marvel. It's about a high school kid who tries to become a superhero though he has no powers or that good of a reason. Matthew Vaughn, who directed Layer Cake, and who was going to dirct X3 but decided not to, is going to direct this (he used to prouduce movies for Guy Ritchie. It's not filmed yet, but the kid who played McLovin, from Superbad, is supposed to play one of the villians, so maybe it will be worth watching.
Well, it's been a long, speedo-y, body-imaging destroying week, but it, like the circle of existence itself, comes to an end, as Michael Phelps has finally won the Olympics, forever. They will be missed.
[Times, obs; picture Deadspin]
Webmd has this story about how some skin moisterizures contain carcinogens, and have been giving cancer to test subject. The test subjects are animals obv, so you don't have to be sad, just scared:
Four commonly used moisturizers promoted skin cancers in mouse studies.
Mice are not men. But the unexpected finding suggests that these -- and perhaps other products -- may not be as safe as they're thought to be.
The moisturizers tested in the study were Dermabase, Dermovan (a wholesale-only product discontinued in 2006), Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream, and Vanicream.
In a mouse model of sun-related skin cancer, frequent application of each product resulted in more skin tumors and faster tumor growth, says study leader Allan H. Conney, PhD, director of the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research and professor in the school of pharmacy at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J.
"This was unexpected. We really did not expect to see the tumor-promoting activity of these creams," Conney tells WebMD.
I'll say! I expected to just lube up to prevent ashiness, now my skin is dying and shit. Thanks a lot, fuckers--and go New Jersey research programs!
[Webmd]
