The Whole Delivery

Though at least race got some respect today with some of those Golden Globes deserved nominations (outside of Oprah), how mainstream Hollywood has gladly forgotten about Fruitvale Station in terms of the best of 2013 is unsurprisingly tragic. Not a shock that a movie in the summer  that deals with modern day race issues faded to the background. But it shows just how narrow-minded our powerful movie industry is when it has massive advantages over independent films that show the major racial and class differences that permeate still in our society. (This TWD, stay tuned.)

Hopefully this will lead to all the jokes of a Twitter and MySpace movie ending, as "The Social Network" is finally hear for everyone to see. Jesse Eisenburg acts out his fellow "Burg" to a tee in 2010's latest class movie And it is certainly is among the quintessence of 2010 films, an eye brow raising reality considering how derided the original thought of it was. The top two keys that make this "movie of the year" material are its directing and the dialogue. All of it is highlighted in its glorified opening scene, as the Silicon Valley Mercury News' Charlie McCollum notes : You are plopped down in a Boston restaurant in the fall of 2003. On one side of the table, there's Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), then a Harvard student but soon to be the co-founder of Facebook. On the other side, there's Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), a Boston University coed he's been dating. What follows is a verbal knife fight between two smart peo...

Despite a lot of high quality acting around, "Money Never Sleeps" can't come nowhere close to its classic 1987 original Three notable premieres round out September's edition of "The Cinema." Oliver Stone's "Wall Street, Money Never Sleeps", "Legend of the Guardians", and "You Again." It's fair to say that "Money Never Sleeps'" great cast still can't get the movie to reach the heights of its original, The "Owl Guardians" maybe a little difficult for the kids to embrace, and "You Again" will hopefully be a "Never Again." For the sequel to the 1987 classic, Oliver Stone has Michael Douglass back to giving another world class performance. But with him not being the bad guy in this installment, coupled with a script that can't come close to matching the first movie's brilliance, "Money Never Sleeps" somehow just didn't get the quality that it deserved f...

It's Friday, that means it's "The Cinema" time: Without a doubt, the best movie this week is the enjoyable Emma Thompson improving on the first version of Nanny McPhee with "Nanny McPhee Returns!" It is another delight for the kids and adults from a class actress in a fun role. Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel hopes there is another return for this nanny : But this is a most welcome return, a sequel that rises from the “world of poo” of its setting and tickles and warms the heart. Let’s hope Nanny McPhee is “deployed” again, and soon. Another movie out this week is Piranha 3-D, which has been made as a scary fun spoof to Jaws. The one thing people may agree on with this one is, at least this shows the power of 3-D. From Mr. Moore yet again: Nubile “Playboy” bunnies do an underwater ballet pas de deux in 3D. “Piranha 3D” sells itself. It’s not as scary as it needs to be or as clever as it thinks it is, but the new 3D version of “Piranha” is at lea...

The story of Joaquin Phoenix in his journey towards a Hip Hop career is such a fascinating story .... ...Because with how the current game is right now, he probably would be better than 60% of the people in it.

I have to firmly admit, I was very shocked to see the numbers coming in for the box office this week. It was a banner weekend for Syl Stallone and his group of old action heroes, as they are #1 in the weekend numbers this week . Even when The Expendables came on tracking, it looked big. And the timing couldn't have been better what with Lionsgate getting beaten up by Carl Icahn on a daily basis, and Sylvester Stallone needing a fresh hit in his dotage. Kudos to Sly for coming up with such an irresistible concept directing and starring with today's and yesteryear's action heroes like Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and even Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (for nanoseconds in cameos). "Are The Expendables wearing Dependables?" one rival studio exec snarked in an email to me. The star power was just too hard to resist. But clearly the biggest shock of the week is how bad the numbers were for ...

It's one new hero and a bunch of old ones as the focal of "The Cinema" this week. It's been hyped all week by its demographic masses, almost to the level of obsessive. Nevertheless for most, with a near split from legit good critics, it passes the test decently for a good time . And the film's star isn't Michael Cera, but the rising force director that is Edgar Wright. From the Berardinelli man , who sums it up better than everyone one else: It does not follow that a parody has to be funny but, in the case of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the humor is there. A clever send-up of comic book and video games (circa 1990), this movie illustrates that writer/director Edgar Wright can rise to the next level. His two "straightforward" satires, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, which were co-created with Simon Pegg, were uneven but enjoyable. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, however, is more ambitious and outlandish. It's bizarre and surprising and revels ...

That was a needed one for Will Ferrell, to have a good week to go along with very good reviews for his movie . The Other Guys (Sony) expectedly knocked off Inception as the #1 domestic movie with a right-on-target $13.2 million Friday and $12.6 million Saturday and an estimated $9.8 million today from 3,651 theaters. That was a very big $35.6M opening weekend for the $90M budget buddy cop comedy. Sony Pictures' summer hit streak (Karate Kid - $173M, Grown Ups - $152M, Salt - $78M) continues with what the studio believes will be another strong performer this weekend. Opening weekend exit surveys showed the gender breakdown for the film skewed male (56%) and somewhat younger with 55% under 25, including 18% under 17. Inception continued its strong effort with another impressive weekend at #2, while Step Up 3D knew that it was in trouble finishing behind the Chris Nolan powerhouse movie in 3rd with just $15.5 million garnered. And for sure, we can all say that "Charlie ...

Indeed so, as "The Other Guys" produces an unexpected tweet for the masses, and is certainly Will Ferrell's best effort in several years. Him and Mark Wahlberg show fine and fun chemistry, and Adam McKay directs this movie away from the usual run of the mill crap that permeates our movie comedy culture now. The Roeper man says Kevin Smith should take notes on how to make a fun cop buddy film: It's a smart perspective, focusing on the low end hapless guys on the force instead of the headliners. And as the astute James Berardinelli says, McKay is able to get the best out of Ferrell : It's like a Batman movie that tracks one of Commissioner Gordon's underlings. Also, the filmmakers don't overplay their hand. Once they have milked the idea for maximum comedic value, they switch up things. As with many action-comedies, this one expends a little too much running time on narrative and the comedic momentum flags during the final half hour as the more tradit...

Chris Nolan is virtually running the summer : It's a third straight week for Inception ruling the box office, bringing home a little over $27 million. That just edged out Dinner With Schmucks, which should be fortunate to beat SALT after how they had to revamp the marketing plan real quick for a mediocre comedy as Nikki Finke talks about. But not a good return for the former High School Musical stars latest movie : 6. Charlie St Cloud (Universal) NEW [2,720 Dates] Friday $5.6M, Saturday $3.8M, Weekend $12.1M Rival studios thought Friday's result for this Relativity/Universal drama was frontloaded by Zac Ephron's High School Musical fans. So right. The pic fell a jaw-dropping -32% from Friday to Saturday, which is either a big error or proof that Zac needs to stick to light comedy. Actually, weeks of tracking had indicated a $13M weekend, in line with other movies of this genre. (Miley Cyrus' The Last Song debuted Easter weekend and its 3-day was $16M as a result...

The dream still runs our reality : 1. Chris Nolan's Inception for Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures was still the No. 1 movie for its 2nd weekend in release, inciting exactly the intense interest from watercooler talk everyone thought it would. It went into Friday having made $100+M in the U.S. and Canada in just 7 days -- only the 5th film and the only original 2D movie to accomplish that this year. Inception made a big $13.2M Friday and $16.6M Saturday from 3,792 locations for a Superglue-like hold of -31% compared to its opening Friday-Saturday-Sunday for a $43.5M weekend and new cume of $143.6M. Ah, what dreamy legs for Nolan and the great cast on this $160M-budget scifi caper. Internationally, Inception had made a World Cup-slowed $16.5M going into Friday. But this weekend, it added 29 markets including Australia, France, Japan and Mexico and rolls out in about 50 territories by August 1st. I'll have an update Sunday AM. Based on the calendar year, Warner Bros has crossed th...

Good movie, good buildup hype, equals great numbers : North American box office numbers show that Universal Pictures is enjoying something it hasn't had in a very long time: a big fat hit film. That's because weeks of great parent-kid family tracking for Despicable Me 3D translated into what even rival studios told me was "amazing" attendance of Friday's $21.7 million and Saturday's $21.3M for a $60.1M weekend opening despite having two other 3D family films in the marketplace. Still, Despicable Me found 3,476 theaters, of which 1,551 locations were in 3D, and managed to double Universal's expectations of opening domestic grosses. Exit polling data showed the film received an "A" Cinemascore and the audience was 55% kids 12 years and under and parents. Still big numbers for Twilight , as it comes in #2 with a little over $33 million and its cume worldwide is $456 million. Staggering number. Predator comes in at No. 3 with decent numbers, whi...

It's Friday, and that means the Cinema is in full effect. And the top movie this week with the most attention is let another quality cartoon movie in CGI. Though it may not be on the lofty levels of the Pixar movies and "How To Train Your Dragon", it is quite possibly a Top 15 movie of the year . The terrific Liz Weitzman of the New York Daily News is great with this review highlighting why "Despicable Me" has enough fun to work and work real well: Granted, it's a far cry from the Pixar classics. But Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud's nicely quirky, animated comedy has just enough edge to entertain every member of the family. Much of the credit goes to Steve Carell, who voices our anti-hero, Gru. Once the world's meanest villain, Gru has recently been upstaged by new kid Vector (Jason Segel). Determined to revive his fading reputation, Gru decides to shrink, and then steal, the moon. The first step in this plan requires him to invade Vector...

Yes, there are supposed "recognized critics" that hate this film: Now meet the two jerks that wanted to be jerks and ruin the 100% over consensus for this film : Cinema Blend's perfect take : It’s not their hatred of Toy Story 3 that’s so galling, it’s their utter failure in amongst that hatred, to come up with even one relevant criticism of the film. Neither of them really ever discuss the movie itself, they’re too busy stroking their own egos or attacking the world which refuses to think like them. White is obsessed with product placement, which doesn’t exist. Smithey seems only concerned with production budgets. It’s suspicious that they’ve waited until the last minute to publish their reviews. Rotten Tomatoes orders review links based on when they’re posted. So the longer you wait to publish your review, the more likely it is that it’ll be at the top and viewed by thousands. What does it mean when the only two negative reviews of a film are intentionally posted la...

The Cinema has returned folks, with 2 well-received debuts and one that will certainly be considered as one of the worst movies of the year: First, it's the movie that you probably are sick of seeing commercials of. It's Get Him To The Greek . Thankfully however, it is far from a disaster to most. In fact, the consensus really like it , and it seems to be this year's Hangover for a few maybe. And P. Diddy acting great? Apparently just so, in the mind of Rich Roeper: But "The Spill Crew", always a great indicator on any film, especially summer comedians, said that this was middle of the road at best and very annoying: They really didn't like Russell Crowe, and they made some really really good points on this film. Nevertheless, it has much of the consensus for I guess going so wild, and them liking P.Diddy's craziness (even though I wasn't much of a fan of that 6 black kids Jordan line that is running through every commercial of this movie.) ...

I give you the legend that is Ebert and one of the greatest reviews ever : Some of these people make my skin crawl. The characters of "Sex and the City 2" are flyweight bubbleheads living in a world which rarely requires three sentences in a row. Their defining quality is consuming things. They gobble food, fashion, houses, husbands, children, vitamins and freebies. They must plan their wardrobes on the phone, so often do they appear in different basic colors, like the plugs you pound into a Playskool workbench. It is worth the whole read and thensome. In fact, there will be many standout interviews that will highlight how unbelivably awful this movie is to society. To Tevin, have a good sleep/start to your day:

This was all Nikki Finke who broke this story. All her : I've just learned that Paramount won't be picking up Megan Fox's option on Transformers 3 -- and that it was "ultimately" director Michael Bay's decision. (So he gets his revenge for her remark comparing him to "Hitler".) Right now Bay and writer Ehren Kruger et al are finishing up the script for the threequel and "giving Shia a new love interest makes more sense for the story," an insider tells me. Bay will start casting immediately for the new female co-star. Let's hear your suggestions, readers... So did Megan deserve to get fired? I say yes. No actor/actress can expect to go around dissing a director and expect to work together as if nothing happened. Much less the egotistical Bay. But in Fox, he had met his match. Why, as recently as this week Megan was quoted as dissing Bay yet again. In recent months she has shown off a more natural skin hue instead of her usual orange...

The backup plan for most this weekend was not to watch "The Backup Plan" A big lost for her, and also thankfully, a "loser" movie : It was a very lackluster weekend for North American grosses and probably will be until the summer movies get going. Tops again, but with the lowest #1 gross so far this year, was the charming but slow-starting How To Train Your Dragon 3D from DreamWorks Animation distributed by Paramount. And it's the 5th weekend in release... How embarrassing for The Back-Up Plan with its horrible concept. It debuted No. 1 Friday but fell to No. 2 Saturday. J-Lo's pic is the 2nd straight loser from newcomer CBS Films which kept delaying the release for obvious reasons: because everyone knew Jennifer Lopez can't open a movie anymore, except Les Moonves. (Sheesh, J-Lo can't even keep a record label...) Before this, J-Lo's most recent rom com, May 2005's Monster-In-Law, opened with $23.1M. Yet a CBS exec emails me that The Bac...

Since there was no The Cinema last week thanks to technical difficulties, much love has to be given for how great the praise has been for the movie "Kick-Ass." It does everything to represent its title more than any other movie, for it does kick-ass. Besides the near consensus love for it that you can read for sure, here is a review from the legends at Spill that truly represents its quality ( viewer and listener discretion is advised ): High quality fun movie.

It's the Cinema this week.....and really, the main movie this week is of course Date night. Basically the main report form this movie form everyone is the fact that Tina fey and Steve Carell saved a cliche and poor script. As always, the usual astute Rick Goren sums up what it really is: Tina Fey is really funny. Steve Carell is really funny. Date Night stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell. Ergo, Date Night must be really ... sorry, I wish it worked that way almost as much as the studios do. But no. All that starring talent isn’t exactly wasted here; it’s just diluted, watered down enough to demote “really funny” to sort of funny, now and then, here and there, some of the time. Hey, it’s the movie biz. This much can be said for the script: It dares to go where even Shakespeare feared to tread, venturing beyond the wedding that ends the typical comedy and plodding on into the boggy territory of happily-ever-after-land – deep into a good yet weary marriage. And this much can’t be sa...