Weekend Box Office

No, that's not a picture of Nicole Kidman standing in the unemployment line. Though anything is possible after the dismal numbers for her new movie, The Invasion, this weekend. The 100 million dollar flick only raked in about 6 million over the weekend, which was even less than I had thought it might. Overall buzz and early reviews were pretty negative, so I guess it's no big surprise.

The comedy Superbad, on the other hand managed to net a solid 31 Million at the box office, scoring itself the top spot. Let's see who looks happier after the weekend numbers...


Here is a rundown of the top 10:

1. Superbad - 31.2M
2. Rush Hour 3 - 21.8M
3. The Bourne Ultimatum - 19M
4. The Simpsons Movie - 6.7M
5. The Invasion - 6M
6. Stardust - 5.2M
7. Hairspray - 4.3M
8. Underdog - 3.6M
9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 3.5M
10. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - 3.5M

3:10 to Yuma

Wow, a western I might actually pay money to see. There's been a lot of info to come out recently about this remake directed by James Mangold, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. There's a review over at Ain't it Cool that gets me pumped to see this, you can read it here. I'm not one for westerns typically, but I'll see just about anything that has Christian Bale in it. I'm still disappointed that Rescue Dawn wasn't released near me. I get Daddy Day Camp, but no Rescue Dawn.

Anyways, I recently watched a clip from the movie over here, and the trailer below and it looks to be one of the best of the genre to come out in a while. Let's hope so.




Here are the posters for the film as well.


I love this one a lot, it's different and sets a great mood.



This one, on the other hand, is horrible. As much as I like Christian Bale, this one seems lazy by comparison.





Did I mention that Christian Bale is amazing?

Movie Snobs Story

Over at Movie Snobs, there's a blurb about the current Smokin' Aces prequel contest over at Joe Carnahan's website and they make mention of my Smokin' Aces poster design that won a contest this past Spring. Go here to check out the story. Thanks to Christine over at Movie Snobs for the cool story!

The Dark Knight Photos!

I was very excited to see some brand-spankin' new Dark Knight photos floating around the internet tonight. I thought I'd share the best right here. The pics show us some photos of Christian Bale as Batman of course, and also some great shots as Heath Ledger as The Joker. He looks a bit too much like The Crow to me, but I think he'll do a great job. What do you think?

If you want to see the rest of the pictures, that have a few spoilers, head over here or here. But do so quickly, as they're going away fast. I guess Warner Bros is having them taken down all over the place.

**UPDATE**
Yup, they're gone on the other sites, but mine are still up!

First 9 Minutes of "The Nines"

Ifilm has released the first 9 minutes of the John August film "The Nines", starring Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Elle Fanning, which made it's debut at Sundance last year. I had watched the trailer recently for the movie and was intrigued and confused. It's very hard to tell what the movie is about and the official synopsis doesn't help much either. Read that below:


The Nines consists of three short films, each featuring the same actors in different — and sometimes overlapping — roles.

“The Prisoner” tells the story of a troubled television star (Ryan Reynolds) who finds himself under house arrest, with his chipper publicist (Melissa McCarthy) and disillusioned next-door neighbor (Hope Davis) providing his only links to the outside world. Mysterious events lead him to question whether one or both women are deceiving him about the nature of his incarceration.

“Reality Television” is a half-hour episode of “Behind the Screen,” a Project Greenlight-style documentary series tracking the process of creating a network television drama. Having shot the pilot, creator/ showrunner Gavin Taylor (also Ryan Reynolds) faces post-production with the help of his best friend (and lead actress) Melissa McCarthy and development VP Susan Howard (Hope Davis).

“Knowing” finds an acclaimed videogame designer (also Ryan Reynolds) and his wife (Melissa McCarthy) facing car trouble deep in the woods. Their daughter (Elle Fanning) uncovers information which leads to a difficult and irrevocable choice.

Together, the three stories form a single narrative that explores the relationships between author and character, actor and role, creator and creation. Alternately funny and unsettling, The Nines is like a riddle where the answer is the question: “How does it all add up?”


Well, I watched the clip and I still don't know. Hopefully after watching the whole movie, out August 31st, maybe I'll have an idea. If not, then I give up.

Smokin' Aces Prequel Contest

Over at Director Joe Carnahan's blog there's a contest going on to name the Smokin' Aces prequel that is supposedly going to start filming this year already. There is no real compensation for the winner apart from being able to brag about it to their friends. (I can relate) It's an interesting idea to allow fans to be so involved in a film like this, even though I'm not sure this movie will be any good. The short synopsis that Carnahan gives doesn't tell us much. Not even sure who from Smokin' Aces might show up. My money is on the Tremor Bros, as that seems to be who JC had been hinting at months ago. I guess we'll see. Go here to see the contest unfolding.

In Theaters This Weekend

Here are the two big releases in theaters this weekend.

Opening Friday is Superbad, the new comedy produced by Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up), co-written by Seth Rogan (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up), and co-starring Jonah Hill (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up). Noticing a trend here? Anyways, I'm actually looking forward to seeing this one. I enjoyed Knocked Up quite a bit earlier this year, and the buzz on this one so far is very positive. It is currently sitting at a solid 90% on rottentomatoes.com. I'm not sure how much of the fat kid I can stand, but the skinny kid from Arrested Development is pretty damn funny. I'll be sure to post a review here once said movie has etched itself into my cerebelium. Here is the special R rated trailer complete with adult language!



The other big release this weekend is The Invasion starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. It is essentially a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which kinda says it all. Oliver Hirschbiegel ("Downfall") was the director, but the Wachowski Brothers ("The Matrix") supposedly were brought in for some rewrites and reshoots with Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to spruce it up. That doesn't sound too promising. It always seems like a bad move when a director is replaced.
I really don't have very much interest in this movie at all. In fact, the only thing this movie seems to have going for it is Daniel Craig, and a trailer with an awesome Sigur Ros song... check out that trailer and judge for yourself.

Celebrity Photoshop

If you head on over to IWANEXSTUDIO and click on the portfolio link it will show you some interesting before/after shots of celebrities after photo retouching. It shows the lengths gone to ensure that the celebrities we see are as unnatural as possible. The one of Kelley Clarkson is especially drastic, making her look about 20 pounds lighter.

Being a graphic artist, I found out that it isn't all that difficult to alter people's appearances dramatically to make them look younger and more fit. Here are a few examples of some women's pictures I practiced on awhile back.



Here is a closeup before and after. I narrowed her jawline which alone makes her look completely different.

...and this was one I did to show what this older woman would look like 10-15 years younger.



It's all fascinating from a technology standpoint, but more nauseating when you think that people think this is what women and men do and should look like, and they strive to look as perfect when it's simply not possible.

Dexter Season 2 Marketing

In celebration of the new season of Dexter starting in September on Showtime, there is an awesome new viral marketing tactic they're using over at www.icetruck.tv It's a site that allows you to send a friend a cryptic video showing them as a next possible victim in a killing spree. It's incredibly inventive and it appears that this is the type of marketing were bound to see a lot more of in the future. It was already used incredibly well last month for the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. Go here to read all about that one http://www.moviesnobs.net/the-%20dark-knight-viral-marketing/

If you haven't yet checked out the best new show of last year, get the first season of Dexter on DVD August 21st

Flight of the Conchords cancelled?

I was unhappy to hear that one of my favorite new shows, Flight of the Conchords on HBO, may not be picked up for a second season. This came with the news that another new HBO show, John from Cincinatti, was getting dropped.
I'm hoping this isn't true, as I haven't liked a show like this in quite a while. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it's a comedy that follows an indie-folk band from New Zealand as they stumble through life here in the states. Needless to say, they're quite dopey and it's hilarious watching them deal with situations like dating, being roommates, and getting gigs in the city. There are also random musical sequences thrown in for comedic effect. Here's a taste



They also just released an EP called "The Distant Future" last Tuesday which features songs from the show and will be releasing a full-length sometime in October


Check out FOC on HBO, and hopefuly they won't be MIA next season.

**UPDATE**
Today 8/17, it was announced the Flight of the Conchords will be picked up for a 2nd Season!