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Not much to add with actual theatre counts being reported, though I'm still feeling good that Judd Apatow's Knocked Up will be the big story this weekend and will end up doing far better than most expect. It's not quite getting the 2,900 theatres we expected though, so it will likely come in just under $27 million with a nice Friday and Saturday night and good word-of-mouth to carry it over the next few weeks.
Mr. Brooks and Gracie are both getting more theatres than earlier estimated, although they're likely to play a back seat to Knocked Up and only Costner's star power will be enough to get Mr. Brooks over the $10 million mark. (As we saw with Sandra Bullock in Murder by Numbers, fans of a star don't always necessarily want to see them do something different.) Reviews for both of them are mixed at best and unfortunately, all of this weekend's movies will be relying on reviews to get people interested since they don't have the built-in audiences or sequel factor.
Updated Predictions
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney) - $50.5 million -56%
2. Shrek the Third (DreamWorks) - $32.2 million -39%
3. Knocked Up (Universal) - $26.8 million N/A
4. Mr. Brooks (MGM) - $10.8 million N/A
5. Spider-Man 3 (Sony) - $7.6 million -47%
6. Gracie (Picturehouse) - $2.8million N/A
7. Waitress (Fox Searchlight) - $2.2 million -29%
8. Bug (Lionsgate) - $1.7 million -47%
9. 28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic) - $1.3 million -51%
10. Disturbia (DreamWorks) - $1.0 million -45%
Continue reading "WW 6/1 Update and 6/8 Preview" »
Some might see this, the first weekend of June, as a down weekend in the middle of all the blockbuster summer sequels, but in fact, this brief respite from the sequels may be just what the box office needs to reinterest moviegoers disappointed by the summer's high profile blockbusters.
It's an especially good weekend for Judd Apatow's second major comedy Knocked Up to take full advantage of the success and popularity of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and the popularity of his new movie's star, Katherine Heigl from ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," as it makes a strong play for second place against the blockbuster threequels. It might fall just short of DreamWorks' Shrek the Third in its third weekend, while Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End remains on top for a second weekend.
Continue reading "Preview and Box Office Analysis for June 1 - 3" »
While we usually pick art films, docs and the like as Chosen One, this week we're going to geek out over the latest movie from Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who's currently helming a movie based on Mark Millar's comic series Wanted:
Day Watch (Fox Searchlight)
Starring Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Valery Zolotukhin, Maria Poroshina, Galina Tunina, Victor Verzhbitsky, Dima Martynov
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch); Written by Sergei Lukyanenko, Timur Bekmambetov, Alexander Talal
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "Night Becomes Day"
Plot Summary: The tension between the Light and Dark Others continues as Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) tries to reconnect with his son, who has gone over to the Dark side, while training Svetla, who might be
REVIEW
I still remember the first time I heard about Timur Bekmambetov's Night Watch. I was watching the news and there was a segment on this movie that had just opened in Russia and made more money than Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man 2 in their opening weekends, a huge blockbuster made for very little money that was on its way to becoming one of the highest grossing movies in the country's history. Of course, my curiosity was piqued, as was my anticipation to see this movie, and I finally got a chance about a year later when it screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. Although the movie looked very cool, I was kind of disappointed, mainly because I found the premise to be very confusing even compared to recent Hollywood blockbusters involving pirates. (My Review) The movie was then delayed another eight months before it was finally given a limited release where it floundered in obscurity. (Most people had probably already seen it on import DVD by then.)
I'm glad to say that the follow-up Day Watch is far superior in the same way that X2 is better than X-Men and I'm sure Rise of the Silver Surfer will be better than Fantastic Four. Based on a series of popular Russian fantasy novels, the sequel benefits from the fact that the premise of this war between two ancient factions, the Light Others and the Dark Others, is already established, as is the ways that their respective forces, the Night Watch and Day Watch, keep their counterparts in line so that war doesn't reignite between them. Apparently, Bekmambetov filmed a lot of this at the same time as the first movie, but it looks like he spent a bit more time and had a bit more money for the effects and post-production, and the sequel offers a lot more fun and entertainment.
While not everyone will understand what's going on--especially those trying to see it without having seen the first movie--the movie provides the type of fast-paced entertainment that guys from the MTV/video game generation will appreciate, so that Day Watch is just as enjoyable as any of the mega-release sequels this summer. You can read my full review if you want to know what I thought specifically worked or didn't work, but action fans looking for something different this summer might want to give this a look. It certainly got me a lot more excited to see how Bekmambetov's work on Universal's Wanted, based on Mark Millar's comic, turns out when it comes out next March. Opening in New York and L.A. on Friday, this is recommended if you like The Matrix or Blade trilogies, or some of the Michael Bay's wilder movies.
(Check out what else is coming out in limited release, as well as a couple of mini-reviews at the link below.)
Continue reading "The Chosen One 6/1: Day Watch" »
Opening early on Thursday night might prove to have been a mistake for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which set a new Memorial Day weekend record over last year's X-Men: The Last Stand, but might be seen as a disappointment (at least in this country) compared to last year's Pirates sequel, even with an impressive $156 million estimated gross in its first five days of release, including Thursday previews. Currently estimated to have made $115 million over the three-day weekend puts At World's End in line as the fourth highest opening movie ever but third when compared to May's other high-profile blockbusters, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third. Then again, including its international box office, At World's End scored $401 million this weekend, setting a new global opening record, so take that, Spidey and Shrek!
Continue reading "Weekend Box Office May 25 - 28" »
The picture is becoming a bit clearer on how Pirates of the Caribbean might fare over the four-day weekend now that we have rough Saturday numbers. Unfortunately, the $37.7 being estimated for Saturday by Showbiz Data. That's a 13% drop from Friday, showing that it's not holding up its business over the weekend even compared to Dead Man's Chest which made $44.4 million on its second day. With that in mind, At World's End will probably end up with less than $120 million over the three-day weekend (Box Office Mojo has it at $112.5 million) and less than $140 million for the four-day weekend.
While it will still set a new Memorial Day record, beating last year's X-Men: The Last Stand, it's doubtful it will make it into the top 3 opening weekends as it's likely to end up behind Shrek the Third in that respect. With Thursday previews, it will end up with roughly $150 million in its first five days, which is nothing to scoff at, though it will be hard for it to attain the amount of money of its predecessor with that soft an opening.
After making $14 million in Thursday night pre-opening screenings, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has grossed an estimated $43 million for its first Friday, not a huge number by any account--last year's X-Men: The Last Stand made more than that on its first Friday including midnight screenings--but it's not the end of the world either. (And I greatly apologize for using the most obvious pun.) Combined with Thursday, it has grossed $57 million in roughly 30 hours, slightly more than what Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest made on its first Friday including midnight screenings. With an extended four-day holiday weekend, the threequel should perform similarly well in its opening weekend.
Continue reading "Pirates' $57 Million Opening! (updated)" »
In the last 24 hours, both Fandango and MovieTickets.com have sent out press releases reporting that Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is outpacing both Dead Man's Chest and Spider-Man 3 in terms of ticket sales, although a lot of those sales will be for the Thursday night previews and for Friday, and it might be hard for the movie to hold up that sort of business for the entire four-day weekend. Then again, it has topped Spider-Man 3 for one major record already, that being the widest release ever into 4,362 theatres, so maybe other records will follow. (Click on the link to read the rest of the updated analysis and a preview of next weekend.)
Updated Predictions (4-Day)
1. Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney) - $164.3 million* N/A
2. Shrek the Third (DreamWorks) - $82.3 million -33%
3. Spider-Man 3 (Sony) - $18.0 million -38%
4. Bug (Lionsgate) - $5.1 million N/A
5. 28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic) - $3.5 million -36%
6. Disturbia (DreamWorks) - $2.5 million -33%
7. Georgia Rule (Universal) - $2.4 million -35%
8. Waitress (Fox Searchlight) - $2.1 million +94%
9. Fracture (New Line) - $1.7 million -35%
10. Delta Farce (Lionsgate) - $.9 million -50%
*Note: This number doesn't include Thursday night previews which could be anywhere from $10 to 15 million.
Continue reading "5/25 Update and 6/1 Preview" »
ComingSoon.net's reviewers have spoken giving Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End an average rating of 6.5/10. Now it's your turn to let us know what you thought of the third installment of Disney's popular franchise starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. If you've seen it, you can tell other ComingSoon.net readers what you thought by posting a comment below!
The 2007 New York Asian Film Festival presented by Subway Cinema will be taking place from June 22 through July 8, and this year, they're switching venues, starting out the fest at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue, between 3rd and 4th Streets) then moving to the Japan Society (333 East 47th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues) from July 5 - 8.
Some of the hilights include the New York premieres of the Zhang Ziyi action epic The Banquet and Park Chanwook's I'm a Cyborg, but That's Okay (shown in conjuction with Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival) and a Pakistani "exploitation extravaganza" called "From Lahore With Gore" featuring Pakistan's first spatter film Hell's Ground. You can read the full line-up at the link below and look for our coverage in the next month. More information and ticket sales can be found at Subway Cinema.
Continue reading "2007 NY Asian Film Festival Line-Up" »
A Star-Studded Tribute During The New York Film Festival on Friday, October 5; Gala Marks Biggest Benefit In the History of The Film Society
NEW YORK (May 22, 2007) --The Film Society of Lincoln Center will salute New Line Cinema's 40 years of extraordinary moviemaking at a black-tie gala to benefit the Film Society's campaign to build a new film center. On Friday, October 5, during the 45th New York Film Festival, New Line Cinema's Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne will host a star-studded evening at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Time Warner Center.
Continue reading "New Line Cinema Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Lincoln Center" »
This week's predictions can be found here or you can check below after the jump.
It's Memorial Day weekend once again, usually the biggest moviegoing weekend of the year, and the big story this weekend is that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the third installment of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's blockbuster franchise, will be doing its best to win back some of its box office records stolen by Spider-Man 3 a few weeks back. Although the holiday weekend could give it a bit of an advantage with almost no one working or going to school on Monday, it won't help that Disney is opening the movie on Thursday night, and that business is likely to take away from the weekend. Regardless of that, whatever amount of money it makes, the only record it will be breaking will be the one set for Memorial Day weekend by X-Men: The Last Stand last year.
Continue reading "Preview and Box Office Analysis for May 25 - 28" »
I apologize that I'm going to cop out on picking a Chosen One this week because frankly, all of this week's limited releases are decent and worth seeing and they each have something to offer, even if though there are no real standouts.
Opening on Wednesday:
The Boss of It All (IFC First Take) - Eclectic Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (Dogville, Dancer in the Dark) is back, this time with a dark comedy about an actor hired to pretend to be the boss of a company to throw the workers of an office off-track when the real boss makes a bunch of unpopular decisions. It will open at the IFC Center on Wednesday.
Mini-Review: Fans of "The Office" will get a kick out of this funny and quirky departure for von Trier, which has such a clever premise that you can almost count the days until Hollywood tries to adapt it into a whimsical comedy vehicle for Tim Allen, Will Ferrell or the like. Like much of von Trier's previous films, the production values are very rough, particularly the editing, which is somewhat distracting until you get used to it, but he's created a funny group of characters and thrown them into a situation that only gets more outlandish as it goes on. What really drives the movie is the performance by Jens Albinus as the pretentious dramatic actor who has to pretend he knows what is going on, and Peter Gantzler as the real boss who hired him as the patsy. These two actors are great together, really setting up some funny scenes when they meet in a neutral place to discuss how to deal with the workers. A nice change of pace for von Trier, who makes a brief appearance to let the audience know not to expect too much, and one that will hopefully cleanse his palate for whatever he chooses to do next. Rating: 7.5/10
Continue reading "Limited Releases for May 25 - 28" »
This is it. The last weekend of what's likely to be the most frontloaded May in box office history, as the third of the 2007's Terrible Threesome of Threequels is finally released. In some ways, it almost feels like a let-down that the sequel to the previous box office record holder is opening so early in the season and over Memorial Day, because there'll be even more expectations than there would have been if it opened later in the season on a non-holiday weekend. So far, we've already had one movie make $151 million in three days and another make $122 million, so if Pirates doesn't make $180 million or more in four days, is it just going to seem like a big yawner, since it may be the last time we see these kinds of numbers for a long time? (Maybe not until Indiana Jones?)
Continue reading "The Battle Cry! 5/25/07" »
As the only new movie in theatres, DreamWorks' Shrek the Third was expected to do huge amounts of family business this weekend, but it surpassed most expectations with an opening weekend of $122 million and an additional $900 thousand in Thursday night preview screenings, making it the third-largest opening ever and setting a new opening record for an animated feature, a record previously held by Shrek 2. While that amount might seem like a bit of a letdown compared to the recent record set by Spider-Man 3, especially after Shrek the Third's $39 million opening day, it's a respectable number for a family movie as well as a second sequel, having averaged a whopping $29,597 in its 4,122 theatres. (That's fewer theatres even than Shrek 2.) It's a great start for the DreamWorks animated film, and the first in the series distributed by Paramount, though it might be harder for it to attain the type of long-term box office of the previous sequel with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End nipping at its heels next weekend.
Continue reading "Weekend Box Office May 18 - 20" »
While most of the projections for DreamWorks' Shrek the Third seemed to have been in the range of $100 to $115 million--here at the Weekend Warrior we low-balled it with $107.8 million--the ogre threequel opened with an estimated $40 million on Friday according to ShowBIZ Data, which is pointing to a weekend well above all predictions.
Continue reading "Shrek the Third Opens with $40 million!" »
The wait is ogre, and it's time for your opinions! DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third is now playing in theaters and we want to hear from you whether you liked the threequel. Have you seen it? Then tell other moviegoers what you thought by posting a comment below!
Only a couple days after posting our original predictions and the Weekend Warrior is still rather apprehensive about nailing down a prediction for Shrek the Third, because it's really very much an anomaly even in this summer of sequels and threequels. After all, it is the only animated film to have a second theatrical sequel--something that can't even be said about The Lion King which had a bunch of DVD-only sequels--though excitement just doesn't seem to be as high for the third Shrek movie as there was for the sequel three years ago.
You can read the rest of my late week analysis after the...
Revised Predictions:
1. Shrek the Third (DreamWorks) - $107.8 million N/A
2. Spider-Man 3 (Sony) - $30.0 million -49%
3. 28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic) - $5.3 million -46%
4. Georgia Rule (Universa) - $4.0 million -42%
5. Disturbia (DreamWorks) - $3.1 million -35%
6. Fracture (New Line) - $1.7 million -44%
7. Delta Farce (Lionsgate) - $1.5 million -55%
8. The Invisible (Touchstone) - $1.1 million -46%
9. Hot Fuzz (Rogue) - $1 million -42%
10. Meet the Robinsons (Disney) - $.85 million -52%
Continue reading "5/18 update and 5/25 Preview" »
Before we get to this week's predictions, I just want to take a second to thank everyone for their comments and feedback on the new direction of the Weekend Warrior. I know it might seem like a pretty major change, but as always, the hopes are to evolve and try to continue to provide information in the best way to possible without alienating long-time readers. One of the things I'm going to do is include the predictions on the actual blog post, though if you want to get theatre counts and drop-offs, etc, you'll have to go the chart.
This week's predictions can be found here or you can check after the bump. Of course, the big news this week is the release of DreamWorks' Shrek the Third, which will be looking to set another record for an animated feature.
Continue reading "Predictions and Analysis for May 18 - 20" »
Only one movie in wide release this week, but plenty of other things to see for those in New York, L.A. and other select cities including this week's Chosen One, which conveniently opens on Wednesday...
Once (Fox Searchlight)
Starring Glenn Hansard, Marketa Irglova
Written and directed by John Carney (On the Edge)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rated R
Tagline: "How often do you find the right person?"
Plot Summary: The life of a street musician in Dublin (Glenn Hansard of Irish band The Frames) is turned upside-down when he meets a precocious Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova
) who helps to make his musical dreams come true.
REVIEW
INTERVIEWS (with John Carney & Glenn Hansard)
Although plenty of other journalists have jumped on the bandwagon of this movie, I think I honestly can take credit for being one of the first people to write about this small Irish indie film when it played at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. (If you don't believe me, here's my original post.) The low-budget movie was quickly picked up by Fox Searchlight and they've been doing a lot of preview screenings to spread word-of-mouth and so far, I haven't found a single person who hasn't liked the movie, let alone loved it, and that's a true testament to what John Carney has done in this music-driven dramedy that stars Glenn Hansard, frontman for the popular Irish band The Frames, and his musical collaborator Marketa Irglova. The simple plot involves a chance encounter between the two in Dublin that turns into something more. What makes this simple movie so special is the songs written and performed by the two leads and the way they're tied into the story of this week-long relationship. It wasn't too surprising to me when the movie won the Audience Awards in the dramatic world competition, something surely helped by Hansard and Irglova's support of the film with mini-concerts after each screening. I don't want to say too much more since I want to save something for my review, but if you're in New York or L.A. anytime this weekend (the movie opens on Wednesday) and you have someone you like or love, than do yourself and them a favor and take them to see one of the best unlikely romance movies since Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.
Continue reading "The Chosen One 5/16: Once" »
I've discussed the MPAA quite extensively in my column over the past year, but this time I want to talk about how the rating is becoming detrimental to the business by hurting quality movies that younger audiences would probably enjoy and appreciate if not for the restricting nature of the MPAA's rating. There's actually two sides of this coin, especially this summer, in which studios are trying to get lower ratings for their sequels to bring in a wider audience than the previous installments, just as movies that could find a wider audience are potentially being hurt by the MPAA's stringent regulations.
Continue reading "The Battle Cry! 5.18.07" »
"What goes up must come down" seems to be the motto this weekend. After a record-setting weekend with Sony's Spider-Man 3 riding high, having grossed $151 million in a single three-day weekend, it divebombed in its second weekend after gradually dropping from day-to-day over the past week. Still, it remained well above the rest of the pack as four new movies opened with very little fanfare and even two movies that should have been sure things failed to meet expectations.
Continue reading "Weekend Box Office May 11 - 13" »
The 32nd Toronto International Film Festival® opens September 6 with the world premiere Gala Presentation of Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces.
Produced by Robert Lantos, and based on the international bestselling novel by Anne Michaels,Fugitive Pieces is a powerful, poetic, and emotionally-charged drama about love, loss and redemption. Jeremy Podeswa (The Five Senses) brings the beauty and passion of this much beloved novel to screen with a cast that features Stephen Dillane, Rade Sherbedgia, Rosamund Pike, Ayelet Zurer, Robbie Kay, Ed Stoppard, Rachelle Lefevre, and Nina Dobrev.
Continue reading "Fugitive Pieces Kicks Off 32nd Annual Toronto Film Fest" »
One of the new things that I'll be doing on the blog is posting my updated Thursday numbers in a separate post. Regardless of whether they're that different, I'm not sure how many people will figure out how to access the numbers earlier in the week, so for those who don't, my final predictions will be posted every Thursday night along with a preview of the next week. (If you want to make life easier, you may want to subscribe to the blog's RSS feed so you can know whenever the blog is updated with a new post.)
Here are the updated predictions and for those who can't read them:
1. Spider- Man 3 (Sony) - $66.0 million -56%
2. 28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic) - $16.8 million N/A
3. Georgia Rule (Universal) - $11.5 million N/A
4. Delta Farce (Lionsgate) - $5.7 million N/A
5. Disturbia (DreamWorks) - $3.8 million -35%
6. The Ex (The Weinstein Co.) - $2.5 million N/A
7. Fracture (New Line) - $2.2 million - 40%
8. The Invisible (Touchstone) - $1.8 million -48%
9. Meet the Robinsons (Disney) - $1.6 million -37%
10. Lucky You (Warner Bros.) - $1.5 million -42%
Continue reading "5/11 Update and 5/18 Preview" »
This week, we have four movies in wide release with the Universal chick flick Georgia Rule starring Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan opening in the most theatres, as well as Fox Atomic's 28 Weeks Later, Larry the Cable Guy's Delta Farce and the Weinstein Company dark comedy The Ex, starring Zach Braff and Jason Bateman. You can read the Weekend Warrior's predictions here and can read more in-depth analysis about this week's movies in wide release below.
Continue reading "Box Office Analysis May 11 - 13, 2007" »
With the new blog format, we're going to be doing things a little differently, and one of those things is by having a separate section for movies opening in limited release including the weekly movie recommendation, The Chosen One. Here's where you'll find info, mini-reviews and links to interviews for all the movies opening in less than 500 theatres every week. And if you're not in one of the markets where these movies open, then you can take note of movies to add to your Netflix account when they become available on DVD:
This week's The Chosen One is...
The Hip Hop Project (THINKFilm)
Starring Chris "Kazi" Rolle, Diana "Princess" Lemon, Christopher "Cannon" Mapp, Russell Simmons, Bruce Willis, Sway, Doug E. Fresh
Directed by Matt Ruskin (debut)
Genre: Documentary
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "If you had the whole world listening, what would you have to say?"
Continue reading "The Chosen One 5/11: The Hip Hop Project" »
With Spider-Man 3 running rampant over the box office, it will be almost impossible for any of the four new movies to make much of a mark against its guaranteed second weekend at #1, even with a substantial drop-off from its record-setting opening.
The new movies that should bring in the most audience this weekend are Fox Atomic's long-awaited sequel 28 Weeks Later and Universal's counter-programming effort, Georgia Rule, teaming Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan. Although the latter is opening in more theatres, one can expect that the huge audience that adored Danny Boyle's original post-apocalyptic zombie flick will be curious enough about what happens next to go see the latter despite the lack of important elements like Boyle and actor Cillian Murphy.
Continue reading "Predictions for May 11 - 13, 2007" »
Welcome to the first Battle Cry to be written in this new "blog format" and if this blog works out the way we're hoping, I might be posting these sorts of opinion pieces more frequently. (If you haven't done so, please take a second to sign-up for Typekey in order to participate in the Q 'n' A portion of the Weekend Warrior Blog.)
I still have a long rant about the reporting and analysis of tracking information in me that I'm saving up, but this week I want to talk about the summer movies, the blockbusters and the sequels, and why I think that none of them are going to get a fair shake from critics.
Continue reading "The Battle Cry! 5.11.07" »
Welcome to the Weekend Warrior in its new blog format!
The time has come for the next step in the evolution of The Weekend Warrior, as it goes into its fifth year at ComingSoon.net and we try to change with the times to provide information in a format that people are becoming more accustomed to.
I may live to regret this decision to move the Weekend Warrior, because I'm not 100% convinced that it's the best way to present the material--after all, isn't the adage "if it's not broke, don't fix it"?--but considering how long and unwieldy the column has gotten, it makes some sense to break it up. After all, the internet seems to be changing with a desire for bite-size pieces rather than epic sprawling essays as the internet becomes a viable alternative to watching television.
Continue reading "Introducing...The Weekend Warrior Blog!" »
This past weekend Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 took previous box office records and punched them right in the stomach, then spun webbing around their head till they couldn't breathe anymore, then threw them out a glass window on the 50th floor of a New York office building. In other words, it made a lot of money. According to this studio estimates, $148 million domestic, $375 million worldwide. So what is the magic formula that makes this series of films the unstoppable juggernaut they are?
Continue reading "Marvel Has Some Heroes For Hire" »
Taking part in the Tribeca ESPN Film Festival--a subdivision of the festival done in conjunction with (you guessed it) ESPN--are two very different documentaries about competitive sports, Seth Gordon's The King of Kong about the battle between two arcade game competitors and Michael Apted's football (soccer) doc The Power of the Game, which tries to show how the sport has affected people in different countries.
Continue reading "Reviews: The King of Kong, The Power of the Game" »
Spider-Man 3 is now playing in a record number of theaters worldwide and we want to know what you think of the third movie in the popular franchise. Have you seen it? Then tell other moviegoers what you thought of the sequel by posting a comment below!
Every once in a while, the Tribeca Film Festival surprises with something that's far better than it looks in the preview, and that's certainly the case with Charlie Bartlett, a high school dramedy starring Anton Yelchin, who played the kidnapped teen in Alpha Dog and whose debut in David Duchovny's "House of D" premiered at the festival a few years ago. Yelchin plays the title character, a wealthy teen who finds popularity by becoming the pill-prescribing therapist for his high school classmates, in a movie that's a clever throwback to the movies of John Hughes, most notably "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
Continue reading "Review: Charlie Bartlett" »
Continuing our coverage of the movies premiering at the 6th Annual Tribeca Film Festival with two "boy-meets-girl" comedies of sorts, both directorial debuts, one quite good and the other, well not so great. Paul Soter, one-fifth of Broken Lizard, wrote and directed Watching the Detectives, a comedy starring Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu, while Marc Klein adapted Melissa Bank's "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing" into the dramedy Suburban Girl, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin.
Continue reading "Reviews: Watching the Detectives, Suburban Girl" »
Unfortunately, we've fallen way behind on our coverage of movies playing at the Tribeca Film Festival, but hopefully, we'll be catching up in the next few days, as we have a lot of ground to cover and a lot of movies to review. As part of our first Tribeca Review Extravaganza, we have three comedies and a drama, as we look at Zak Penn's poker mockumentary The Grand, Jamie Kennedy's comedy doc Heckler, Adam Carolla's The Hammer and Descent, a revenge drama starring Rosario Dawson.
Continue reading "Reviews: The Grand, The Hammer, Heckler, Descent" »
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About May 2007
This page contains all entries posted to ComingSoon.net Blog in May 2007. They are listed from oldest to newest.
April 2007 is the previous archive.
June 2007 is the next archive.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
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