“Nothin’ But a Good Time” promises the tagline of Rock of Ages, referencing one of the two dozen or so classic ’80s rock songs its cast energetically deflates into innocuously pleasing sing-a-longs. It’s an admirably honest proclamation of the film’s limited aspirations, one which it fulfills with all the grace of a monkey hurling its own feces at the screen.
Credit where credit is due, Rock of Ages stops just shy of having literal monkey shit flung at its audience; although monkey sight gags are in fact a primary source of the film’s humor, should we choose to accept that the innumerable moments in which a trained monkey behaves contrary to that of an untrained monkey qualify as humor. Said hilarity includes but is not limited to: monkey wearing a dictator outfit, monkey throwing stuff, monkey not throwing stuff, monkey grinning, monkey screeching loudly, monkey having a silly name, monkey serving drinks, monkey not serving drinks, monkey doing other things that resemble what humans do, and homosexuality. That last one has nothing to do with any monkey related shenanigans, but apparently it’s just as noteworthy, as was evident from the fits of hysterical laughter that surrounded me when two male characters share an out-of-nowhere romantic musical number together — complete with obligatory make-out session. (A gay guy directed the film, so it’s okay to laugh!)
If all that, and Tom Cruise in assless chaps, sounds like a promising night of fun and laughs to you, Rock of Ages should prove more than serviceable. Granted, of course, that you’re also an advocate of the recent surge of jukebox musicals, none of which lend themselves very well to things like “story” and “character development”, but all of which feature songs you already know and enjoy and can sing the lyrics to, so who gives a fuck, right? Read More »
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On August 10th 2011, I traveled to Toronto and visited the set of Len Wiseman‘s Total Recall remake. The movie was shot at Pinewood Toronto Studios, the same studio where Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Universal’s The Thing remake were filmed. I was on set two thirds of the way through filming. After the jump you can watch a video blog I recorded with Frosty from Collider discussing our impressions from being on set, alongside a comprehensive list of over 45 things I learned on set.
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“This is the best bad idea we have, sir, by far.”
Here’s the trailer for Argo, Ben Affleck‘s third film as director. The film follows the efforts of an operation to rescue six diplomats hiding in Tehran during the Iranian revolution in 1979. The trailer begins in serious political thriller mode before the real plan is revealed and it moves into an Oceans Eleven tone for a moment. But it swings back as the real importance of the mission becomes clear.
This trailer demonstrates that the material could really put Affleck to the test as he has to balance a tricky combination of tones and situations. But his cast is excellent: Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Zeljko Ivanek, Richard Kind, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina, Michael Parks, Kerry Bishe, Kyle Chandler, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Victor Garber, and Taylor Schilling. The footage looks great, and keeps this locked as one of our most anticipated movies of the year. Check out the trailer below. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 by Angie Han
If I asked you to guess what Robogeddon was, would you surmise that it was a new TV project by James Cameron? Also after the jump:
- The final season of Breaking Bad will be split in two
- Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope get renewals
- Southland will probably be back for a fifth season
- Another, longer behind-the-scenes Veep featurette
- Lauren Cohan is now a regular on The Walking Dead
- Kristen Wiig still deciding about Saturday Night Live
- Of course Game of Thrones will be back for Season 3
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Let me say one thing first: this is the sort of role I think Tom Cruise does well. A variation on the arrogant, overbearing personality with a core of self-doubt has served him well in a few films here and there. So I hoped that playing big-time rock star Stacee Jaxx in Adam Shankman‘s ’80s cock rock jukebox musical Rock of Ages might work, too. But based on this new full-length trailer, I don’t think anything really works in Rock of Ages. I know there will be people who dig this, and given that it took time and effort to create I hope someone digs it. Go forth and have a great time, please. But I can’t lie: this one made me cringe more than I would have expected to.
Check out the trailer below. Read More »
I guess this should really be called the Total Recall Trailer Teaser Trailer, because once again this is essentially a trailer for a trailer. But at thirty seconds, this clip features enough footage to count as a standalone teaser. The full Total Recall trailer, showing off what director Len Wiseman has done with Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and Bryan Cranston, will be shown during the Celtics/Heat game on ABC Sunday April 1, and will then appear on Apple in extended form.
In the meantime, check out this trailer tease below, and begin your predictions about whether Wiseman’s take on the Paul Verhoeven / Arnold Schwarzenegger film will be a summer gift, or an April Fools prank. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 by Angie Han
Brad Anderson‘s The Hive has cast its first non-Halle Berry role. Abigail Breslin has just signed on to the Rich D’Ovidio-scripted thriller, which will enter production in Los Angeles this summer. Berry plays a 911 call operator who comes face-to-face with her own worst fears as she tries to save a teenage girl (Breslin) from a vicious killer.
Breslin’s switched easily between genres over the course of her career, but she has relatively few straight-up thrillers under her belt so The Hive represents a bit of a change of pace for her. Breslin is currently shooting Ender’s Game, from director Gavin Hood. [Variety]
After the jump, the stellar comedic cast of A.C.O.D. somehow gets even better, and Marcia Gay Harden gets a job in Get a Job.
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Posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 by Angie Han
While the Madagascar franchise has never drawn Pixar levels of respect (what does, really?), for kid-oriented entertainment you could do a lot worse that these films. The series has generally been cute, mildly amusing, and totally inoffensive — which may not sound like glowing praise, but that’s a lot more than I can say for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked — and the newest entry, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted seems to be along the same lines.
Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith are on board once again as a quartet of Central Park Zoo animals just trying to get back to New York. Unfortunately, they wind up in Europe instead, where they’re chased by a ruthless animal control squad led by Capitaine Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand). In an effort to escape their clutches, they take up with a circus traveling across the continent, meeting new friends like Vitaly the tiger (Bryan Cranston), Gia the jaguar (Jessica Chastain), and Stefano the sea lion (Martin Short) along the way. Watch the first full trailer after the jump.
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