White Dog Samuel Fuller's follow-up to The Big Red One was shelved by Paramount Pictures before its scheduled release in 1982 because of fears that its premise -- a white dog has been trained to attack black people -- would stir up more controversy than box office. Fuller was understandably outraged; in his autobiography, A Third Face, he wrote: "The studio has used me as a scapegoat for their lack of determination and courage." The film, co-written by Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential), with a score by the legendary Ennio Morricone, later received acclaim when it was released in Europe but never received a home video release in the US and has rarely been seen here. Kristy McNichol plays an actress who adopts the dog; Paul Winfield is as an anthropologist who tries to reverse the training. The Criterion Collection DVD includes a featurette with Hanson, producer Jon Davison, and Fuller's widow, plus a print interview with the dog trainer and essays by J. Hoberman and Armond White. I'm buying, but even if you're not a huge fan of Samuel Fuller, you'd want to check it out. Rent it.
Step Brothers Combining Will Farrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, and Mary Steenburgen under one roof, Step Brothers mines familiar territory with sharp timing and plenty of belly laughs. Mine is, admittedly, a distinctly minority opinion. Available on DVD (single-disc rated, single-disc unrated, two-disc unrated) and Blu-ray, with an audio commentary by Farrell, Reilly, director Adam McKay, and a score by Jon Brion. Other features include deleted scenes and alternate takes, a gag reel, 'making of,' and a couple of gag featurettes. Rent it.
Much more on Wanted, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian after the jump, plus Indies on DVD, Blu-ray Picks, and Collector's Corner.
It never fails to amuse me whenever parents get all worked up about an occasional f-bomb or a flash of boob, but show 'em a story about child genocide peppered with mild misogyny and presto -- you've got a children's classic! Almost two years ago, it was announced that Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón would be taking on an update of Roald Dahl's The Witches, and it was originally reported that Cuarón was going to direct. Now, though, it seems like things have changed, and Empire has broken the news (in an interview with Cuarón) that Del Toro has not only finished the screenplay, but will also be taking the helm for the fantasy update.
Dahl's original story centered on a conspiracy of witches looking to rid the world of children (great bedtime story, huh?), and received the feature film treatment once before. But, that hasn't stopped the studio from going ahead with a brand new version of the dark children's tale, and by the sounds of it, there are going to be plenty of changes in Del Toro's update. Cuarón told Empire, "It won't be like the original Nicolas Roeg version, which was a beautiful film," because (and this is the very exciting part), Del Toro plans to "do it completely in stop-motion animation."
When Nicolas Roeg's version was released back in 1990, a few changes were made to make the story a little less disturbing for the kiddies (including a much lower body count). But for you purists out there, at least we can rely on the fact that at least Del Toro isn't afraid to play rough with kids on the big screen.
Sound off below, and tell us what you think about Del Toro's plan for the 'kiddie-killing' update...
A few years ago, I wrote a Cinematical Seven on my favorite dysfunctional families in films. Everyone has a crazy messed-up movie family they love, whether it's the Hoovers in Little Miss Sunshine or the Bullocks in My Man Godfrey or the Corleones in the Godfather saga. I thought that this year, it would be fun to make a list of families that got along, worked together, and supported one another. You know, happy families ... but not dull, one-dimensional bundles of endless cheer.
It's a lot more difficult to find seven movies with happy-but-not-sappy families than it is to find the screwed-up kind, especially if you are looking for something more interesting than the Cleavers. Since I'm visiting my relatives for the Thanksgiving holidays, I asked them for suggestions. They were all very helpful, and I'm sorry I couldn't include all the suggestions, which ranged from The Thin Man to The Sound of Music to The Hills Have Eyes. Let me know what else we missed in the comments.
Have you ever seen an animated film called Arabian Knight? Or The Princess and the Cobbler? If so then you witnessed the final resting place of one man's life work. His name is Richard Williams, he's a brilliant animator, and the story of how it took over twenty years for his labor of love to be completed, released, and mangled is pretty fascinating. Not to mention heart-wrenching. You can read the full history of the ill-fated project right here, but the short version is this: After more than two decades of development, sweat, and stress, Williams lost the rights to his baby and they eventually ended up in the hands of the Weinsteins. The result was Arabian Knight, which came and went with little fanfare.
BUT! Through the magic of Google Video and the passionate efforts of one fan, you can now see a fairly close approximation to the film that Mr. Williams intended. Yep, it's feature-length, unfinished in some parts, but pretty damn cool overall. Especially if you're a big animtion nut, but those folks have seen this "recobbled" cut by now, I'm sure. (And I hope I'm not getting this guy in trouble, but he's also posted full-length versions of two other animated obscurities: Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) and Twice Upon a Time (1983)!)
And yep, this is "old news" to some ... but it wasn't to me.
If you weren't exactly sure what to give thanks for on Thursday, it could now be one of two options: You could either be thankful that there's finally a trailer for the likes of Ace Ventura Jr., or you could be thankful that said spin-off is going the direct-to-video route (as well it should).
Starring as the bastard child of Jim Carrey's pet detective is Josh Flitter, appearing in his first lead role after years of being the tubby sidekick to Emma Roberts in Nancy Drew, Robin Williams in License to Wed and Shia LaBeouf in The Greatest Game Ever Played. It seems that he's inherited his father's hairdo and catchphrases, but no discernable comedic ability whatsoever (maybe that'll kick in with puberty, but I'm sure not sticking around to find out).
Ace Ventura Jr. will begin keeping dusty DVD copies of Son of the Mask company when it hits shelves next March.
[Our thanks go out to Slim Pickins, who tried to warn us.]
I had always heard of 1988's Mac and Me in the most vague whispers of infamy, and so I always knew that I'd eventually get around to seeing it, being such an avid fan of train-wrecks and all. However, leave it to one Paul Rudd to show me the single scene that would jet this puppy right to the top of my Netflix Queue. He did, so I did, and now it's behind me.
Or is it? Surely, some of you have also seen this hilarious E.T. rip-off, in which a young boy (not played by Henry Thomas) cares for an alien creature -- separated from its family, natch -- with a girl his age who believes first (not played by Drew Barrymore), a skeptical older brother (not Robert MacNaughton), and an oblivious mother (not Dee Wallace), feeding it junk food (Skittles instead of Reese's Pieces, etc.) as faceless government agents (not led by Peter Coyote) close in.
Oh, and there's a cameo by none other than Ronald McDonald himself.
So, readers: I beg/plead/implore you to dig up your fondest memories of this film and share them with the rest of us. It's been twenty years; it's time to move on. For the rest of you, check out these clips...
Trailers? Oh yeah, we got your trailers here. Star Trek Like a lot of people, I got my first glimpse of this one when it played with Quantam of Solace last weekend. While this will obviously play hell with Star Trek continuity, I am one Trek geek who is looking forward to the J.J. Abrams take on the franchise. It opens on May 8.
Astro Boy Here's a teaser for the CGI animated adaptation of the classic anime about a robot boy built by a scientist to replace the son he lost. The trailer doesn't give us much to go on, but the impressive voice cast includes Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland, Eugene Levy, and Nathan Lane. Things get cosmic on October 23.
Coraline I find it odd that Neil Gaiman's name isn't mentioned in the trailer, since the film is based on his novella. Gaiman isn't a household name but I would have figured he was well enough known to catch a few people's attention. Nevertheless, this stop-motion animated feature from Henry Selick, the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, deals with a young girl who finds a pathway to a parallel world in which duplicates of her parents sport buttons for eyes. This deliciously creepy looking film will be in theaters on February 6. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs All of our favorite characters return for this third installment of the series, and this time it's in 3-D. The only one we see in this new trailer is Scrat, on the trail of not just another acorn but apparently romance as well. The one hits on July 1.
I'm trying to muster up some enthusiasm for Disney's latest animated film, Bolt. It's cute. It has funny pigeons. My eight-year-old niece is going to like it, especially since Miley Cyrus is involved. It's the first non-Pixar Disney feature produced by John Lasseter, who directed the Toy Story movies and Cars. It's got Hollywood jokes in it, including a director voiced by James Lipton, and a comically pushy agent. And yet I never thrilled to the story or the characters; I wasn't half as amused as I'd been by Kung Fu Panda, a film for kids I saw earlier this year.
The story should sound familiar to anyone who grew up with Lassie movies or other animal-road-trip films, but with a Hollywood twist. The title character, a cute dog called Bolt (John Travolta), is fiercely attached to "his person," teenage Penny (Miley Cyrus). Bolt saves Penny's life on a regular basis as she and her dad are pursued by the evil Dr. Calico and his nasty cats ... or so he thinks. The truth is that Bolt is the star of a TV series, but the cast and crew are very careful not to let him know that he's not in real-life situations. So he believes he's a genetically engineered dog with laser eyes and amazing strength and a supersonic bark. When Bolt is separated from Penny and ends up halfway across the country on his own, for the first time he's in a world that isn't a soundstage or his trailer. Now, how will he get back to Penny?
The Captain Marvel film seems to finally be moving forward again, if this Variety item is anything to go by. Get Smart's Peter Segal has set a first-look deal at Warner Bros., and as part of the deal the studio acquired the John August-scripted Captain Marvel which Segel is still in line to direct.
The film was originally set up at New Line, but we all remember what happened there, so Marvel fans will be relieved to know he's got a new studio to call home -- and one that all his DC friends are at. I'm curious about the title switch ... are they going to retitle it Captain Marvel, and risk everyone being confused as to which comic brand he belongs to?
The last word we had on the project was precisely a year ago, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson signed on to play the villainous Black Adam. Variety makes no mention as to whether he's still attached. I hope he is, the fans chose him! You can't recast after a stunt like that.
Considering it has a script, a director, a villain, and a studio, all Shazam/Marvel needs is its hero, and it could be on the big screen before Warner Bros decides what to do with Superman. I'm not the biggest fan of the character, but he's a perfect one for the kids, especially in this era of dark and gritty superheroes.
Cinematical has been given an exclusive look at the first official still for Astro Boy (see above), while our very good looking cohorts over at Moviefone have just debuted the first teaser (see below or over on Moviefone in glorious HD). Based on the popular Japanese manga and television series, this computer-animated 3-D version of Astro Boy is being produced by those wizards over at Imagi Animation Studios, and stars the voices of Freddy Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane and Eugene Levy.
From the synopsis: "Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers. Powered by pure positive "blue" energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly-not to mention the purest spirit on the planet. Embarking on a journey across the planet to discover his powers, Astro Boy encounters a netherworld of robot gladiators and other comic characters, and learns the joys and emotions of being human. When he learns his friends and family are in danger, Astro Boy marshals all his awesome super powers and returns to Metro City, in a valiant effort to save everything he cares about and to embrace his place in the world."
Astro Boywill soar into theaters on October 23, 2009.
In anticipation of what's sure to be the first trailer (or teaser) for Night at the Museum 2, USA Today has unloaded the first official batch of photos -- most of which show off a few of the new characters, a couple of returning characters and a cameo from Jonah Hill (who plays a security guard). Above, you'll see Ben Stiller, returning as the bumbling guard, and Bill Hader, who's playing General George Custer. Director Shawn Levy and Stiller both chat up the film, claiming it's definitely better than the first one. And with a cast that includes Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais (all of whom are returning), Christopher Guest, Hank Azaria, Craig Robinson, Ed Helms, Eugene Levy, Bill Hader and Amy Adams, you can't really go wrong.
In the sequel, Stiller's Larry Daley goes in search of his friends (and museum pieces) Octavius (Coogan) and Jedediah (Wilson) after they're mistakenly shipped to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. On whether this will turn into a franchise for the studio, Levy says, "There are rumblings of another installment. We would love to take this premise (further). But even to say there's a likely third film is premature. We're not going to jinx things." We've included a few more images below, then feel free to hop on over to USA Today for the rest.
Two new releases this week, including an animated comedy and a teen romance with a hint of horror.
Bolt What's It All About: Animated family feature from Disney about a canine actor who doesn't realize the amazing feats he performs on television are really just special effects. Featuring the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, and Malcom McDowell. Why It Might Do Well: The trailer is appealing and slapping Miley Cyrus's name on anything geared at kids is like having a license to print money. Combine that with an 85% fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com, and this one should open to impressive numbers. Why It Might Not Do Well: The Madagascar sequel is still out, so it may siphon off some of the audience Bolt is shooting for. Number of Theaters: 3,500 Prediction: $42 million Twilight What's It All About: A teenage girl moves to Washington state to live with her father and soon falls in love with a local boy. Her new heartthrob, however, has no heart beat as he and his family are vampires. Why It Might Do Well: Twilight is based on a best-selling series of novels with an ardent fan following ensuring that come this Friday theaters will be filled with goth-tinged teen angst both on an off screen. Why It Might Not Do Well: I don't see that happening. In fact I think this will be the number one flick. Number of Theaters: 3,200 Prediction: $44 million
The big question is how well Quantam of Solace is going to do in its second week. I'm betting that both of the new releases will outdo Mr. Bond, leaving him shaken but not stirred. Here's my prediction. 1. Twilight 2. Bolt 3. Quantum of Solace 4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 5. Role Models
If teens who lust for vampires, or fight dastardly sorcerers, aren't your thing, what about mind readers? Variety posts that MGM has picked up a young adult novel by Amy Kathleen Ryan called Vibes, and Nancy Drew scribe Tiffany Paulsen is on board to adapt it. The book focuses on a girl named Kristi who wakes up one day to discover that she can read people's minds. She learns what people think of her (like that she's fat or gross), but finds that her gift isn't helping her actually read people. She's a Sookie without the sexy vampire!
In other news, Variety reports that Warner Bros. is hungry for Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One. They cut a seven-figure deal to score The Notebook scribe's latest bestseller, which will be produced by Denise Di Novi, an old pro in the world of Sparks on screen (she produced Rodanthe, Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle). This latest novel focuses on a Marine named Logan who is lucky enough to survive three tours in Iraq. He thinks that his fortune is attached to a photo he carried of a woman he never met, so he sets out to meet her. And, I'm sure, to fall in love. For now, however, you'll have to appease yourself with other Sparks fare, like Dear John, which is currently in production.
From the star, director and studio behind The Game Plan comes... another movie pairing up Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with kids! Okay, this one -- Race to Witch Mountain, a remake of Disney's own Escape to Witch Mountain from 1975 -- seems a fair bit more tolerable than that one was, as cab driver Johnson is forced to team up with UFO expert Carla Gugino on an unexpected mission to get two unique children (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) to the above-mentioned location of their spaceship.
A couple of things should be said for the trailer, which we've included after the jump.
There is an unavoidable watermark on it, but other than that, it seems to be a fully digital trailer and not bootlegged from sneaks of Bolt this past Saturday. (Okay, I get it: Star Trek is Star Trek... and you know who else pulls a very similar 'letting a vehicle crumple around you' trick? Bolt does.)
Said watermark and the YouTube premiere suggests that this hasn't been officially released by the studio yet, so I'd be willing to bet that this trailer gets taken down by the end of the day. Good luck!
More power to Johnson for throwing himself wholly into work like this, even if we can already see his character growing out of skepticism and towards accountability over the course of these two minutes. (Besides, Brendan Fraser can't hold a monopoly on all the family adventure hero roles.)
With that said, thanks to Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel for digging this up, and onto the trailer! Race to Witch Mountain opens next March.
Either writer/director/producer/caterer Guillermo del Toro came across a gap in his schedule for the next five decades, he's allergic to rest, or he's afraid that Luc Besson might beat him to it, but the man has decide to act as executive producer on a stop-motion version of Pinocchio that he's developing with the Jim Henson Company.
Mind you, this is already in addition to his coming duties on The Hobbit, Frankenstein, Drood, next week's Rosenberg bar mitzvah over in Glendale, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a couple of other projects as well (with any luck, a third Hellboy film is among them).
According to Variety, del Toro is currently working on the screenplay with Gris Grimly, whose strikingly illustrated children's books I've only very recently been introduced to, and Grimly will then co-direct with Adam Parrish King, he of much sound editing background (which really ought to be just as convincing as the animation, no?). Tentatively speaking, del Toro's Pinocchio will be out by 2011.
It never fails to amuse me whenever parents get all worked up about an occasional f-bomb or a flash of boob, but show 'em a story about child genocide peppered with mild misogyny and presto -- you've got a children's classic! Almost two years ago, it was 
The Captain Marvel film seems to finally be moving forward again, if this .jpg)
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Bolt
If teens who lust for vampires, or fight dastardly sorcerers, aren't your thing, what about mind readers? 
From the star, director and studio behind The Game Plan comes... another movie pairing up Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with kids! Okay, this one -- 
Either writer/director/producer/caterer 
