Trailer: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Posted on July 11, 2013 at 8:00 am
Yes, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the classic book, but the original was a lot of fun and this one looks like a blast.
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Great Review of My 101 Must-See Movies Book!
Posted on July 10, 2013 at 8:00 am
Many thanks to Tom Sanchez for his thoughtful and perceptive review of my book, 101 Must-See Movie Moments (Must-See Movies)
–in other words, he liked it!
Nell Minow is old-school, like a critic should be. She has seen untold thousands of films—Hollywood hits new and old, plus art-house and foreign films—and she draws upon her wealth of experience and critical skill to present this conversational and enlightening collection of gems.
Best of all, he says I inspired him to check out some of the movies in the book — that’s exactly what I hoped for.
Isn’t It Time for a Woman to Direct a Superhero Movie?
Posted on July 9, 2013 at 8:00 am
Susan Wloszczyna has a terrific column on RogerEbert.com and the headline gets right to the point.
DEAR HOLLYWOOD: HIRING WOMEN DIRECTORS COULD RESCUE THE SUPERHERO MOVIE.
LOVE, HALF THE HUMAN RACE
And where is that Wonder Woman movie, anyway?
Box Office This Week: Despicable Me Beats Lone Ranger — So Does Kevin Hart
Posted on July 8, 2013 at 3:43 pm
The 4th of July weekend is always one of the biggest box office weeks of the year and this year broke the record again. Sequel Despicable Me 2 was the undisputed champ, with a whalloping $82 million, helped out a bit by the 3D surcharge. This was a big boost from the original’s $56 million open. For me, the meaningful number is not the total but the per-theater take. For “DM2” it was an impressive $20,645. “Lone Ranger,” battling bad reviews and, with a two and a half hour running time, fewer shows to sell tickets to, made $29 million, with an anemic $7539 per theater.
The movie that performed above expectations — Hollywood expectations, not the predictions of anyone who’s been paying attention to Hart’s mastery of viral marketing and popularity with his audience — was Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, with $10 million in box office receipts and $11,530 per theater. “The Heat” held on for a strong second-week showing against tough competition. But perhaps the most impressive ticket sales number of the weekend was for the film that could be this year’s breakout indie, The Way Way Back, starring Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell. It made a stunning $30,263 per theater.
Charade
Posted on July 8, 2013 at 8:00 am
A| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Profanity: | Mild language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking, smoking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Peril and violence, characters injured and killed |
| Diversity Issues: | None |
| Date Released to Theaters: | 1963 |
| Date Released to DVD: | July 8, 2013 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B00COHGPNS |
I’m delighted that one of the all-time great romantic thrillers is being released for the first time on Blu-Ray this week. Director Stanley Donen out-Hitchcock’s Alfred Hitchcock with this witty, elegant, sophisticated bonbon starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. It has a swoony score by Henry Mancini and a nicely twisty plot. And one of the most delicious last lines in movie history.
Hepburn plays a Parisian woman whose estranged husband is murdered and thrown off a train. She realizes she knew very little about him. And she realizes some very bad people knew a lot about him. When he was in the army, he and some of his friends stole some money. And then he stole it from them. They are after the money, and that means they are after her.
I won’t spoil any surprises by saying more. But I will strongly recommend that after you watch the movie, you watch it again to listen to the commentary from director Stanley Donen and screenwriter Peter Stone, filled with marvelously entertaining anecdotes about the making of the film. I love the story about Cary Grant’s haircut. My favorite part, though, is whenever a close-up of Audrey Hepburn comes on the screen. They just pause. And then one of them says, a little breathlessly, “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Yes, she is.
