I was very much looking forward to seeing The Switch because I am a huge fan of Jason Bateman and of course, Jennifer Aniston.
After hearing all of the bad reviews, I was scared to see this movie. But, I am here to tell you that I did see The Switch tonight and despite the chatter, this movie does not suck.
It actually will make you laugh at times and tear up at others. Any movie that can playfully and artfully make you laugh and tear up, is A-OK in my book.
I would categorize the movie as a heartfelt and some-what romantic comedy – but the focus is not so much on the love between a man and a woman as it is about the development of love between a father and a son. Bateman and newcomer Thomas Robinson who plays Bateman’s 6-year old son steal the movie. Their relationship is so adorable, charming, and touching, you just want to hug them both; for different reasons of course 😉
The biggest box-office hit of all time, Avatar, is being re-released on the big screen this weekend after an extremely-brief hiatus: Until the 12th of this month, the original movie was still being shown in a limited number of theaters.
The souped-up Special Edition of Avatar, which grossed $750 million in the U.S. and Canada alone during its initial run, includes nine minutes of new footage and will play on about 900 screens–all of which can project it in digital 3-D, including Imax.
The new footage will include an extended love scene between hero Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his Na’vi love, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), an extended death scene of Tsu’tey (Laz Alonso) and additional explanations on why the humans decide to wipe out the Na’vi.
You may call him “genius.” Or you may call him “greedy.” But because of this premature and revised re-release, I will also call out Avatar director, James Cameron, as “unfair” to the people who already dished out up to $20 or more per ticket to see the original Avataronly a short while ago who are now faced with the decision of whether or not to shell out more money to see the additional footage. And how about those that poured out even more dough to buy one of the 19 million copies of the movie already sold on DVD?
Cameron tries to explain the re-release by saying he thinks there were still people who wanted to see Avatar when the movie lost most of its 3-D screens to Alice in Wonderland in March. Cameron says Avatar was still selling out in theaters when the movie lost screens to Alice and other 3D movies, so, he decided three days after Alice was released that he would re-release Avatar in August. He then added the extra scenes because so many scenes had to be cut of the original release which he feels when added back, will more fully portray his original vision.
My Two Cents Worth: What I ask in response to all of that is: If this movie is being re-released solely for the people Cameron says missed out on seeing the original, and not simply out of greed, why add the footage he felt should be cut out in the first place? I just don’t buy that Cameron threw in the additional footage of a love scene for any other reason than just to make people go back for seconds or thirds so Avatar can break its own damn record. Whatever, it was a great movie either way the first time around and I am glad I saw it. You can do whatever you like with the re-release, but I just don’t need to spend another $20 to see an extra 9 minutes of film. Who’s with me?
P.S. Avatar will also be re-released in 14 overseas markets this weekend, including Britain, Russia, Australia, India and South Korea. The movie grossed $2 billion overseas during its first release.
Here is an interview with Cameron regarding extra footage in Avatarand the upcoming re-release of of another one of his movies, Titanic, in 3-D.
From Moviefone.com: The Weekend (August 20-22, 2010) : 1. ‘The Expendables,’ $16.5 million (3,270 screens), $64.9 million total 2. ‘Vampires Suck,’ $12.2 million (3,233), $18.6 million 3. ‘Eat Pray Love,’ $12.0 million (3,082), $47.1 million 4. ‘Lottery Ticket,’ $11.1 million (1,973),new release 5. ‘The Other Guys,’ $10.1 million (3,472 screens), $88.2 million 6. ‘Piranha 3D,’ $10.0 million (2,470),new release 7. ‘Nanny McPhee Returns,’ $8.3 million (2,784),new release 8. ‘The Switch,’ $8.1 million (2,012),new release 9.‘Inception,’$7.7 million (2,401), $261.8 million 10,‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,’$5.0 million (2,820), $20.7 million Top 10 movies of summer 2010: 1. ‘Toy Story 3,’ $403.7 million 2.‘Iron Man 2,’$312.1 million 3.‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’$297.2 million 4. ‘Inception,’ $261.8 million 5.‘Shrek Forever After,‘ $237.7 million 6.‘Despicable Me,’$230.7 million 7.‘The Karate Kid,‘ $174.9 million 8.‘Grown Ups,’$159.0 million 9.‘The Last Airbender,‘ $130.1 million 10.‘Salt,’$109.9 million
Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara have been cast in the lead roles of Columbia Pictures’ three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy under the direction of David Fincher.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – the first film of the series, which also includes The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest – begins shooting next month in Sweden and is set for release October 21, 2011.
Rooney Mara’s casting for the much sought-after role of Lisbeth Salander is quite a bit surprising given that such A-List actresses such as Ellen Page (Inception), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Kristen Stewart (Twilight series) were also trying for the same role. I would venture that most people do not yet know who Rooney Mara is because her previous acting credits only include Youth in Revolt and 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. But this project will re-team Mara with director David Fincher, with whom she worked on The Social Network set for release Oct. 1 about the rise of the popular social media network site Facebook. So, Mara is sure to be a household name soon.
When The Other GuysWill Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg and Adam McKay sat down to interview each other for Moviefone, nothing was off limits. Not even Will Ferrell’s ATM PIN number.
The three had no shortage of stories to tell about their co-stars and crew. Adam admits working with Sam Jackson was “the most afraid I’ve been to give anyone direction.”
Mark said: “I play golf with Sam and have hung out with him and I’m still kind of scared of him.”
When posed the question “Who would win in a fight between casts of The Other Guys Adam claims he could take out Scorsese in a brawl, no problem, while Will plans on giving Martin Sheen an elbow to the chops.
I loved playing Battleship as a kid but I never saw it as a blueprint for a feature film. I still don’t but others in Hollywood seem to have that vision in mind.
They’re actually making a movie about the classic Hasbro board game and E! News reports that Rihanna, the 22-year-old pop-R&B singer will be making her feature-film debut in the action flick.
Rihanna is slated to be joined by Friday Night Lights’ Taylor Kitsch and True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård as brothers who fight for their planet’s survival against an otherworldly forces.
The role will be a huge departure for Ruffalo, who is mostly known for his work in dramas such as Shutter Island and his breakout role in the 2000 Oscar-nominated indie You Can Count on Me.
The Avengers, which is expected to hit theaters on May 4, 2012, will be directed by Joss Whedon, and will star a number of superheros played by Robert Downey, Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson.
Hollywood is having a shakeup and a meltdown, and I don’t like it.
First, we learned that a no-name actor, Andrew Garfield, is replacing Tobey Maguire as the new Spider-Man. As if that wasn’t a big enough blow, we just learned that Edward Norton is being replaced as Bruce Banner by Marvel in The Avengers for “an actor yet to be named.” That’s just scandalous. No one puts baby Norton in the corner. Especially not for a “to be named” replacement.
Now, I admit, I don’t care much for the character of The Hulk so I did not see The Incredible Hulk(2008) which starred Norton. Long-admiring Norton’s acting capabilities, however, I am sure he did an outstanding job and did not deserve to be cut out. And I just don’ like this pattern which is emerging in Hollywood.
Marvel President of Production, Kevin Feige, said in a statement that the reason Norton wasn’t cast has nothing to do with financial reasons, “but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble.”
Ouch. Harsh and unnecessary words Mr. Feige. And what the hell does that mean anyway? That Norton is not a team player? That he will not get along with other actors cast in The Avengers, including Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Samuel L. Jackson?
Well, Norton sure sounds like a good sport to me as witnessed by his message which he sent through Facebook. Here is what he has to say about the situation:
“I am so appreciative of the outpouring of support from fans of the Hulk and The Avengers that I feel it would be rude not to respond. So here goes: It seems it won’t work out for me to continue playing Bruce Banner for Marvel in The Avengers.
I sincerely hoped it could happen and be great for everyone, but it hasn’t turned out as well as we hoped. I know this is disappointing to many people and that makes me sad. But I am very sincerely grateful to Marvel for extending the offer and even more so for giving me the chance to be a part of the Hulk’s long and excellent history.”
Ed -What a classy way to respond to a crappy situation. I will forever be a fan.
Do you know who Andrew Garfield is? I sure don’t. But I guess Sony Pictures does because they just confirmed today he is the new face of Spider-Man and Peter Parker moving forward. At least for the next installment of the movie which I have heard will be a pre-quel. So just who isAndrew Garfield?
He was born in Los Angeles and raised in England. He is a 26-year-old actor who has been in only a handful of films, including last year’s Red Riding and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as well as the 2007 film Lions for Lambs, opposite Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise.
That does not help me at all.
But wow–what a lucky break for this guy. The latest Spider-Man will hit the theaters in exactly two years (July 3,2012) and will be in 3D. Hmmm…Can’t say that “I can’t wait.” Now that we know who Andrew is, next question is: where is Tobey Maguire?
When a $15,000 movie makes $200 million worldwide like Paranormal Activity did, you knew there would be a sequel! So, sit back, hold on tight to the person next to you and watch this trailer. If you want to see the whole movie, you will have to wait until October.
