Posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 by Peter Sciretta
A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 3D has begun to test screen in Los Angeles, and the first reactions have hit the web. Hit the jump to find out what moviegoers thought of an unfinished cut of the film.
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Wes Craven‘s Scream 4 had an early test screening in Pittsburgh on January 6th 2011, and the first impressions have begun to appear online. Hit the jump to find out what people think. I’ve removed all possible spoilers, so feel free to check it out.
Posted on Friday, December 17th, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
A test screening for the new Judd Apatow-produced Paul Feig-directed comedy Bridesmaids took place tonight in southern California. The film is written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, and tells the story of two feuding bridesmaids played by Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig. Also starring Maya Rudolph as the bride, and a supporting cast that consists of Jon Hamm, Matt Lucas, Ellie Kemper, Dianne Wiest and others.
And despite the Bridewars sounding logline, the reunion of Apatow and Feig (who worked together on the now cult classic television series Freaks and Geeks) and the hilarious female cast, has many excited. So what is the early word? Find out now after the jump!
You’ve probably noticed the influx of Pixar postings every-time the Emmeryville animation studio produces a new film — yup, I love Pixar. But the one film in the entire Pixar catalog that I don’t love (not to say that I don’t like it, it’s just a few steps below the rest) is Cars. To me, it almost feels like one of the movies Dreamworks Animation had produced at that point of time. And if it weren’t for the heart of the Route 66 storyline, I probably would’ve enjoyed it a lot less.
The film wasn’t considered a huge box office success, grossing $461,981,604 worldwide — less than Pixar films of previous years like Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo (which in comparison made $867.8 million worldwide). But the merchandising for the film has brought in billions in sales, which is why Disney green lit a sequel and began construction on a huge CarsLand expansion of the Disney California Adventure theme park.
Last year we heard mumblings that Cars 2 was having massive story problems. John Lasseter, director of Toy Story 1 & 2, A Bug’s Life, Cars, and now the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, had been brought back to Pixar to help fix the issues. The film’s release date had been pushed back a couple times and Disney has since confirmed that Lasseter will be the credited co-director of Cars 2. But don’t let that information scare you. Any employee of Pixar will be the first to tell you that every movie they’ve made has been a disaster at one point, that the key to their success is reworking and reworking a project until it becomes something great. In fact, this is what happened with Ratatouille and Toy Story 2, both of which are incredible films.
But now someone claims to have screened an early cut of the film, and has posted a review online. What did they think? Find out after the jump.
Posted on Monday, November 29th, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark had its first preview performance on Broadway Sunday night. So how did Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor‘s (Titus, Frida, Across the Universe) $65 million big stage comic adaptation hold up? Find out after the jump.
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Posted on Monday, November 8th, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
/Film reader Dustin E caught a screening of the Guillermo del Toro-written/produced Troy Nixey-directed horror thriller Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark at a special screening presented during the Virginia Film Festival. Dustin says the film is “a great little throwback horror flick that will definitely please fans of the genre.” Hit the jump to read his full review.
One of my highly anticipated films of 2010 is Mark Romanek‘s big screen adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro‘s novel Never Let Me Go. The book was named one of TIME’s 100 Best Novels (from 1923 to the Present), featured on many top ten books of 2005 lists, and a finalist in the National Book Critic Circle Award. For those interested, you can buy the softcover for only $11.20 on Amazon.
Beach author and 28 Days Later/Sunshine screenwriter Alex Garland penned the adaptation for the dramatic thriller, about a group of children who spent their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school, who as they “grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.” The film stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, Nathalie Richard, and Andrea Riseborough. Watch the trailer here.
Over the past couple weeks, a few reviews have started to leak online. Read the early reactions after the jump.
Posted on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Warner Bros held the first test screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I today in Chicago, and /film reader “Kyle” has sent us his early reader reaction. Hit the jump if you’re curious.
