Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week’s eleven trailers include several peeks at next summer’s blockbusters, which are presumably rolling out in front of the big holiday releases. But there are some smaller (and stranger) titles hiding in there as well; check ‘em all out after the jump. Read More »
The most surprising thing about Martin Scorsese’s new film Hugo (out Wednesday) is how much more there is to it than has been indicated in the ad campaign, which presents the picture — probably wisely, from a mass-market standpoint — as a standard children’s adventure with a dose of magic and a dash of slapstick, all in 3D (of course). To be clear: it is all of that, though done with a skill and intelligence that puts most “family movies” to shame.
But Scorsese also uses the film as something of an Introduction to Cinema course for its young audiences — and, frankly, for older moviegoers who may not be as well-versed in the form as the encyclopedic director. There’s nothing dry or educational about it, but within the confines of the big-budget studio 3D holiday movie, he is also presenting the story of film’s earliest days — specifically of Georges Méliès, the artist behind hundreds of early silent fantasies, including the immortal 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we got a first look at Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator, his upcoming Larry Charles comedy which we didn’t realize is based on a romance novel by Saddam Hussein. We were excited to hear that Disney has signed on Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof to write and produce a mysterious science fiction project called 1952, but we wanted some more details about the film. We watched John Carpenter’s video introduction to They Live, which is playing tonight at a special screening at the Alamo Drafthouse. We wondered if you get in more trouble at school for your penis prank when the results show up on Google Earth for the next two years. We traveled back in time to Brooklyn in the summer of 1974 thanks to this living wall outside of the National Gallery in London that was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield, With Cypresses. We searched for clues about the upcoming season of Breaking Bad in this newly-released promo poster. And finally, we laughed out loud as Sean Penn channeled his Fast Times character Jeff Spicoli in this clip from the 2011 Guys Choice Awards.
As has already been well reported, many of the Kazakh people were less than thrilled with Sacha Baron Cohen’s depiction of their country in Borat — never mind that America didn’t exactly come out smelling like a rose, either. But instead of complaining, Kazakh filmmaker Erkin Rakishev is responding with a feature of his own. My Brother, Borat follows Borat’s brother, Bilo, on a quest to vindicate the nation he claims Cohen besmirched. For our part, we have to agree with Cinematical‘s summary of the project: “The movie’s very existence makes at least one Kazakh man look every bit as clueless as the Americans Cohen was actually targeting.” Watch a video about My Brother, Borat — which will be available for download early next year — after the jump.
1. So it’s official: Joaquin Phoenix was faking it for the past two years in the name of performance art. The real question is, can you muster the energy to pretend that you still care? [via NYT]
2. Sacha Baron Cohen will play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in a film that’s being scripted by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon). [via Deadline]
3. Inspired by the success of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Brian Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me) is writing the script for a new live action version of Pinocchio. Expect it to be awesome. [via Variety]
4. Jon Stewart announced last night that he’ll lead a rally on Washington on October 30 to encourage angry citizens to “stop shouting, throwing and drawing Hitler mustaches on people other than Hitler.” Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert will be holding a “March to Keep Fear Alive” in the same exact spot on the same day. [via PopEater]
5. Oprah is covering the costs of everything for her audience’s all-expenses-paid Australian giveaway — including passport costs for people who can’t afford them and the IRS taxes on the prize. [via TMZ]
1. Madonna is plotting a collaboration with visual artist Marilyn Minter. [via NYDN]
2. Bigger, better images from Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox [via Slashfilm]
3. Casting news for Michel Gondry’s Green Hornet: Nic Cage in talks to play the villain; Cameron Diaz, Seth Rogen’s love interest. [via Variety]
4. Jay-Z’s new song from his upcoming album The Blueprint 3 will drop this Friday and feature Rihanna and Kanye West. [via Ace Showbiz]
5. Will Sacha Baron Cohen follow up Bruno with a serious role in a Scorsese film? [via Daily Mail]
We hate to say it, but it looks like the eight month delay (Eight months! Drat you Warner Bros.) may have been a good idea — Harry Potter dominated the weekend, with the largest world-wide opening of any film. Ever. And some of that money was ours. This week’s other newby, (500) Days of Summer debuted in twelfth place, which may not make our list, but considering that it only opened in 27 locations and is expanding, we expect to see it up here very soon. We’re so happy for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Read More »
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Bruno opened in the number one slot this weekend, but signs may not be so good for its future. Transformers:RotF fell to third place under the consistent Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The only other new offering of the week, I Love You, Beth Cooper, came in a weak seventh place. Sadly, we didn’t even know it had come out yet. Read More »
1. Bruno‘s performance peaked on opening night and had a huge drop the rest of the weekend, finishing with $30.4 million. [via Yahoo!]
2. Brooklyn band TV on the Radio isn’t as popular with fans in the UK. [via NME]
3. “A made-for-tv gun battle erupted outside a Brooklyn baby shower for the wife of a star of the HBO crime series The Wire Sunday, killing one teen and wounding two men, cops said.” [via NYDN]
4. Green Day’s drummer would like to have Banksy tattoo rats on his chest. [via NYP]
5. Why is Target afraid of being associated with Anna Sui’s Gossip Girl-inspired collection? [via NYDN]
