Month: March 2013

Categories
Movies

Summer Movie Season…take me away!!

Box office report: ‘G.I. Joe’ wins Easter Weekend with a muscular $41.2M; ‘The Host’ can’t generate ‘Twilight’ heat

Turns out putting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson into the lead role is a good idea to keep a franchise going. G.I. Joe: Retaliation soldiered into the top spot over Easter weekend, piling up $41.2 million over three days and bringing the four-day cume to $51.7 million. Retaliation didn’t quite set the record for Easter weekend — those bragging rights belong to 2010′s Clash of the Titans ($61.2 million) — and it didn’t quite match the opening of G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra‘s $54.7 million bow in 2009. But Johnson and Channing Tatum’s starpower helped keep the attrition from the poorly received Cobra to a minimum. Plus, the overseas figures are far out-pacing Cobra, bringing Retaliation to a healthy $132 million global total, roughly matching the $130-plus million budget for Paramount. Not surprisingly, the testosterone-heavy action pic attracted a 61 percent male crowd who gave it a strong “A–” CinemaScore.

Also having a good Friday and good run in general was Dreamworks’ animated Stone Age comedy The Croods, which grossed $26.5 domestically in its second weekend and sailed past the $200 million mark internationally for a 10-day total of $229.1 million. Tyler Perry turned far away from Madea with his steamy thriller Temptation, which paid off for Lionsgate with a voluptuous $22.3 million. Starring Friday Night Lights‘ Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Kim Kardashian, who brought the film outsize media attention, Temptation didn’t reach the heights of Madea’s Big Happy Family opened ($25.3 million) or Why Did I Get Married Too? ($29.3 million), which were both sequels, but it did outperform industry expectations. Tyler Perry’s name still means money, even if precedes the full title Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor. It’s the ninth Perry film to debut over $20 million; the only other directors to have reached that distinction are Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis.

Despite its Twilight connections, no one had overly high hopes for the alien invasion romance The Host, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer. Neither the novel nor the three leads — Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake Abel — were nearly as squeal inducing to the largely female audiences that made Twilight popular. Weighed down by laughably bad reviews and unappealing trailers, The Host disappointed with $11 million in sixth place.

1. G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $41.2 million
2. The Croods – $26.5 million
3. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – $22.3 million
4. Olympus Has Fallen – $14 million
5. Oz the Great and Powerful – $11.6 million
6. The Host – $11 million

In the limited market, the Derek Cianfrance-directed The Place Behind the Pines, starring Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Bradley Cooper, grossed $270,184 in only four theaters. The per-theater average of $67,546 is the second-largest of the year behind the buzzy Spring Breakers.

Categories
People

This Is Very Sad News!! May He Rest In Peace.

Grammy-winning producer Phil Ramone dies

Phil Ramone, the Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer whose platinum touch included recordings with Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, has died at 72.

Ramone’s son, Matt Ramone, confirmed the death. The family did not immediately release details of the death, but Ramone said his father was “very loving and will be missed.”

Few producers had a more spectacular and diverse career. Ramone won 14 Grammy Awards. He worked with Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, Elton John and Tony Bennett.

He produced three records that went on to win Grammys for album of the year — Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years, Joel’s 52nd Street and Charles’s Genius Loves Company. He was a pioneer of digital recording who produced what is regarded as the first major commercial release on compact disc, 52nd Street, which came out on CD in 1982.

He thrived producing music for television, film and the stage. He won an Emmy for a TV special about Duke Ellington, a Grammy for the soundtrack to the Broadway musical Promises, Promises and a Grammy for the soundtrack to Flashdance.

Ramone made an art out of the Duets concept, pairing Sinatra with Bono, Luther Vandross and other younger artists, Bennett with McCartney and Barbra Streisand, and Charles with Bonnie Raitt and Van Morrison. In Ramone’s memoir, Making Records, he recalled persuading a hesitant Sinatra to re-record some of his signature songs.

“I reminded Frank that while Laurence Olivier had performed Shakespeare in his 20s, the readings he did when he was in his 60s gave them new meaning,” Ramone wrote.

“I spoke with conviction. ‘Don’t my children — and your grandchildren — deserve to hear the way you’re interpreting your classic songs now?”‘

A native of South Africa, he seemed born to make music. He had learned violin by age 3 and was trained at The Julliard School in New York. Before age 20, he had opened his own recording studio.

Categories
The Couch Potato Report

If you need a gift idea this Easter long weekend, or a warning of what not to buy, here you go!!

The Couch Potato Report – March 30th, 2013

We visit a futuristic Montreal inside this week’s edition of The Couch Potato Report and Daniel Day-Lewis is Lincoln.

We have a Canadian science-fiction film to start things off with this Easter Weekend.

MARS ET AVRIL – or Mars and April – is based on the graphic novels of the same name. It is about an elderly musician and his instrument maker who both become obsessed with the same woman and is set in a futuristic Montreal, in a world that is about to set foot on Mars.

The beautiful and talented Caroline Dhavernas from the film PASSCHENDAELE and the television series WONDERFALLS plays the woman…Avril.

Shot almost entirely on green screen, with real Montreal settings such as the Habitat ’67 block apartments and the Montreal Biosphère in Parc Jean-Drapeau included to make the future more recognizable, MARS ET AVRIL is a visually interesting film from start to finish, especially for those who know the city well.

MARS ET AVRIL is an odd film, but I was interested in where it was going the whole time…even when it got boring, and it was boring at times…but ultimately I enjoyed it. It isn’t the greatest sci-fi film you’ll ever see, but I did enjoy it.

I also enjoyed Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award winning film LINCOLN, primarily because of Daniel Day-Lewis’ amazing performance.

LINCOLN is about the 16th President of the United States and covers the final four months of his life, focusing his efforts in January of 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the House of Representatives, an Amendment that would outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

The movie itself is only very good, it’s basically a by-the-book history lesson, but what elevates it above many other historical dramas is Daniel Day-Lewis. As I said, he is amazing and so is Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. They are the reason I recommend LINCOLN to you…and I do recommend it

Hey…do you like your movies pandering, predictable and insufferable at times? Have you been waiting for a modern day remake of UNCLE BUCK with not one, but now two people who don’t really know how to take care of kids put in charge when their parents are left with no other options?

Well if the answer to either of those questions was yes, you are in luck!!

PARENTAL GUIDANCE is all of those things!!

This movie stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as grandparents who rarely see their daughter or her husband and three young kids, even though everyone does actually love each other.

When the parents leave town and they are forced to leave their kids with Grandma and Grandpa, problems arise as parenting in the 21st century collides with how it was done in the old days…and hilarity ensues…or at least it is supposed to. Mostly it does not.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE just tries too hard, and ultimately it doesn’t work. I didn’t find it funny or heartwarming…although, I must admit, I did like the ending. If the rest of the film was as good as the ending, I could easily recommend this would be family comedy.

As it is, I do not. You should just skip it, you have better things to do this long weekend.

Another family flick that doesn’t work at all – at all – in any way – is the animated movie RISE OF THE GUARDIANS.

Based on William Joyce’s “The Guardians of Childhood” book series and his “The Man in the Moon” short film this is the story about the Guardians – Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman – who ask Jack Frost to help them stop the villain Pitch Black, who wants to take over the world with darkness….and you won’t care at all.

By the way, yes, you heard me right… RISE OF THE GUARDIANS features Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman as superheroes who have to save the world, and that didn’t work for me, and neither did the crude animation style.

What did work is the voice cast. The film features the great voices of Chris Pine from STAR TREK, Alec Baldwin of 30 ROCK, Hugh Jackman from X-MEN and Isla Fisher and Jude Law, but they can’t save it.

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS might be bright and colourful enough to appeal to very young kids, but not older ones. Skip this one, it just isn’t good at all.

Now, if you want something good, actually something great for the whole family…search for the nature documentary TO THE ARCTIC, narrated by Meryl Streep.

TO THE ARCTIC also features music by Paul McCartney as it shows up the travels and tribulations of a mother polar bear and her two seven-month-old cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home, sometimes spending days at a time just trying to survive.

As I have said many times over the years, I love nature documentaries and TO THE ARCTIC is no exception. The visuals here are spectacular, the narration interesting and playful, and it doesn’t get too preachy about how everything we are seeing needs to be saved. It is preachy at times, but never too preachy.

Bottom line is, I really enjoyed it…and highly recommend it to the whole family.

Finally this week is the blu-ray release of a show that some Trekkies have been dying for, yet others – even those who have to own absolutely everything connected to the franchise – can live without.

THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE!!

ENTERPRISE – as it was actually known for the first two seasons – takes place 100 years before the adventures of James T. Kirk and Spock in the original television series.

Scott Bakula from QUANTUM LEAP plays Captain Jonathan Archer of Earth’s first Warp 5 starship, the Enterprise….picking up, actually beginning STAR TREK’s adventures.

Of all the STAR TREK shows, ENTERPRISE has always been my least favourite, but I admit that I did really enjoy watching the series this week on blu-ray. The show hasn’t been remastered, like the previous TREK shows have, but it is in HD and features a wealth of brand new retrospective features.

Huge fans…don’t miss STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on blu-ray. Casual fans, I’d wait until the price goes down in a few months.

THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, the entertaining nature documentary TO THE ARCTIC, the boring animated family film RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, the pandering and predictable would-be family comedy PARENTAL GUIDANCE, Steven Spielberg’s very good LINCOLN, featuring an amazing performance from Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis and MARS ET AVRIL, the very interesting sci-fi drama set in a futuristic Montreal, are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report

The likeable made-in-Quebec movie ESIMESAC, the very good British film THE SWEENEY, Brad Pitt stars in KILLING THEM SOFTLY, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus from SEINFELD plays the Vice President of the United States in the very entertaining show VEEP.

I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

Categories
Awards

This should be AMAZING!!!

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony: Rush May Play with Dave Grohl, Public Enemy to Reunite with Terminator X

Final preparations are underway for the 28th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 18th at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. In addition to performances by this year’s living inductees – Rush, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and Heart – Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson will sing in honor of the late Donna Summer and Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer will pay tribute to the late blues great Albert King. Usher will perform a tribute to Quincy Jones and Cheech and Chong will induct producer Lou Adler in honor of both artists’ Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Among the show’s other stars will be Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (inducting Rush), Don Henley (inducting Randy Newman), and Spike Lee and Harry Belafonte (inducting Public Enemy). The show will be broadcast on May 18th on HBO. Every living artist being inducted is set to attend this year, and onstage reunions are possible.

The 2013 ceremony is shaping up quite differently than last year’s event at Cleveland Public Hall, where Axl Rose backed out days before the event, Rod Stewart contracted strep throat and was unable to fly out for a planned reunion with the Faces, late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch was ill and unable to appear with his bandmates, and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin also stayed home. “There’s always drama,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Joel Peresman tells Rolling Stone. “Last year was unquestionably different than most, but this year came together a little quicker, a little faster.”

The 2013 induction ceremony has made waves with Rush fans, who have been loudly petitioning for the Canadian rockers’ inclusion for many years. It’s unclear what material Rush will perform at the ceremony, but it’s quite possible they will perform with Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl. “Dave and Taylor were one of the first people we thought about to induct Rush,” says Peresman. “They said ‘yes’ in about two seconds. I’m hopeful [they’ll play together]. More than a few times in the past, people have got caught in the moment and decide to perform. That’s what happened last year with Green Day – they were just there to present an award to Guns N’ Roses and after hanging around rehearsals, they decided to play.”

When Rolling Stone spoke to Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart last December, they said they were unwilling to reunite the classic 1970s lineup of the band. “We’ve been playing with our new band much longer,” said Ann. “This is one of those things we need to dust off among ourselves.” It’s possible their position has changed since then, but Peresman remains somewhat cagey. “They’re working it,” he says.

Randy Newman will perform with John Fogerty and Jackson Browne. “We were looking for some ideas of L.A.-based inductees to play with Randy,” says Peresman. “John Fogerty was suggested and he really liked the idea.”

Cheech and Chong are set to induct Lou Adler, the director of their 1978 classic film Up in Smoke. “They have to get on a plane right after their performance and take a red eye to Ontario for a show,” notes Peresman. “Lou meant so much to them.” Carole King – whose classic 1971 album Tapestry was produced by Adler – will perform after their speech.

Even Public Enemy DJ Terminator X – who now works as an ostrich farmer – is planning to attend the event. He left the group in 1999 and has been largely off the grid ever since. “I requested a contact for him and a month passed by and nothing happened,” says Peresman. “Finally, one of our production people did some kind of database search to write him a letter to find him. He said nobody had reached out, but he would be honored. He’s coming and bringing his father. Chuck D asked us his for his contact. We hope they get in touch.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction event typically concludes with an all-star jam, though it’s a bit hard to picture one within this year’s diverse lineup. “I can see Chuck D rapping something and Flavor Flav doing something with the guys from Rush onstage,” says Peresman. “You have Dave Grohl around, Don Henley there . . . Who knows what will happen? We have some very interesting people.”

This year also marks the second time the event has ever been held in Los Angeles. “It makes it easier from a production standpoint,” says Peresman. “A lot of the crew are L.A. based, as well as the performers and presenters.” The event is usually held at New York’s Waldorf Astoria ballroom and is mostly closed to the public. Starting in 2009, however, they began staging it at Cleveland’s Public Hall every third year. “Six thousand people fit in that room and the energy is just terrific,” adds Peresman. “The first time we did it in Cleveland, one of the managers of one of the acts was angry that we were in Cleveland. After the show, he came to me and said, ‘If any of the acts ever get inducted again, I only want the show to be in Cleveland.'”

The induction ceremony will return to New York next year. It is already getting Nirvana fans buzzing, as the grunge rockers will be eligible for induction for the first time; artists are allowed in 25 years after the release of their first single or album, and the band’s debut single “Love Buzz” came out in 1988.

Tickets to this year’s show are sold out, but limited benefit-level tickets and packages are available through LPA Events. Contact lauran@lpaevents.com for more information.

Categories
Concerts

I wish that Saskatchewan was in North America!!

Mumford & Sons Announce North American Tour

Mumford & Sons will tour through out North America this summer before embarking on their Gentlemen of the Road Stopover festival-type tour. The Summer Stampede 2013 tour will run through the U.S. and Canada. The tour will kick off on May 21 in Calgary, AB and end on June 20 in Colorado. The folk-rock band will be headlining Bonnaroo and Sasquatch.

The band were reportedly to headline Lollapalooza but won’t be able to due to scheduling. They will be performing at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival during Lollapalooza.

Mumford & Sons will start their Gentlemen of the Road Stopover tour on August 23. “The Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers are all about live music. We get to put them on in towns not normally frequented by touring bands in busses or splitter vans,” they said in a statement last month. “We deliberately look for towns that have something unique, or some vibe of which they are proud, explore them and enjoy what they have to offer.”

Pre-sale tickets to their North American tour will be available on March 25 and the rest on April 5.

Check out the tour dates below:

May, 21 Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
May, 22 Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
May, 24 Surrey, BC – Holland Park
May, 26 George, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
May, 27 Portland, OR – Rose Garden Arena
May, 29 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre
May, 30 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre
May, 31 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre
June, 02 San Bernardino, CA – Glen Helen Regional Park
June, 03 Chula Vista, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
June, 05 Phoenix, AZ – Desert Sky Pavilion
June, 06 Taos, NM – Kit Carson Park
June, 08 Austin, TX – Austin 360 Amphitheater
June, 09 Austin, TX – Austin 360 Amphitheater
June, 11 Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
June, 12 The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June, 13 New Orleans, LA – Mardi Gras World
June, 15 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music Festival
June, 17 Bonner Springs, KS – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
June, 20 Telluride, CO – Telluride Bluegrass Festival
August, 2-04 Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
August, 23-24 Simcoe, ON – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
August, 30-31 Troy, OH – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
September, 6-7 Guthrie, OK – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
September, 13-14 St. Augustine, FL – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover

Categories
Awards

He could be great!!

2014 Oscars Date Set as Justin Timberlake Hosting Rumor Heats Up

The 2014 Oscars have been ski-booted into March.

Allowing for the completion of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has set a later-than-usual date of March 2 for the 86th Academy Awards.

Once again, ABC will do the broadcasting honors.

The calendar-marking move (oh, and the 2015 Oscars will be that Feb. 22, FYI) comes hot on the heels of a National Enquirer report—which then spread like wildfire—that Justin Timberlake has vaulted to the top of the list of possible hosts and is in talks with the Academy to emcee Hollywood’s biggest night.

Well, they know he already has a suit and tie, not to mention song-and-dance skills, charisma and a humongous young fan base.

Sure, J.T. lovers are all for it, but the big reveal likely remains months away (Seth MacFarlane wasn’t announced as the 2013 host until October) and it’s possible there may be another flavor of the month by then. Gossip Cop also quoted a source as saying the speculation was “premature and ridiculous.”

But, as Timberlake has proved with his recent onslaught of new material and TV appearances, some celebs never go out of style.

Categories
Movies

Making money with the movies!!

Box office report: ‘The Croods’ scores rock solid $44.7M, ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ strong in second

This weekend, The Croods proved that cave people have more pop culture appeal than just Geico commercials.

The $135 million film, which features vocal performances by Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds, bashed up a strong $44.7 million in its first three days — the second best debut of 2013 behind Oz‘s $79.1 million bow. The colorful family film was produced by DreamWorks Animation, whose last film, Rise of the Guardians, severely underperformed and forced the company to take an $87 million write-down. Thus, The Croods‘ success (for reference, Rise opened with just $23.7 million on its way to a $103.2 million domestic finish) is vindicating for the Jeffrey-Katzenberg-owned studio.

For distributor Fox, who inked a five-year distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation last year, The Croods is poised to become a massive success. The film opened in the same range as 2012′s Ice Age: Continental Drift ($46.7 million) and higher than the studio’s 2011 release, Rio, which began its flight with $39.2 million.

With an “A” CinemaScore and Easter/Spring Break ahead for many young school-goers — plus the fact that there are literally no family or animated films hitting theaters until Epic on May 24 — The Croods could evolve into a box office mammoth. A $200 million domestic finish wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Internationally, The Croods proved equally appealing, bowing with $63.3 million for a sizzling $108 million global total after its first three days.

In second, FilmDistrict’s White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen scored an impressive $30.5 million from 3,098 theaters, making its debut the best action start of 2013 — ahead of A Good Day to Die Hard, which took in only $24.8 million in its first weekend.

Olympus, which stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman, cost Millennium Films $70 million to produce, but with an “A-” CinemaScore, the presidential thriller may enjoy better-than-expected legs. Interestingly, Olympus isn’t the only White House action movie hitting theaters in 2013. Sony’s Channing Tatum/Jamie Foxx vehicle White House Down is currently slated for a June 28 release.

Olympus arrives on the heels of numerous older-male-targeting action flops like Bullet to the Head, Parker, and The Last Stand, which makes its success all the more impressive. FilmDistrict did manage to reach men, who made up 53 percent of the opening weekend audience, with television ads on Spike, History, ESPN, Comedy Central, Discovery, The Walking Dead, NCAA tournament coverage, and Fox’s Sunday animation block, but it’s also telling that women comprised 47 percent of the audience. According to exit polling, crowds were 73 percent above the age of 25.

The film also marks a return-to-form for leading man Butler, whose last three wide releases, Chasing Mavericks ($6 million total), Playing for Keeps ($13.1 million), and Movie 43 ($8.8 million), have all badly flopped. Olympus Has Fallen‘s strong opening weekend is Butler’s career second-best behind his breakout 300, which bowed with $70.9 million in 2007.

Down two spots to third place, Disney’s $215 million Sam Raimi-directed adventure Oz The Great and Powerful fell 47 percent to $22 million in its third weekend, lifting its total to $177.6 million overall. Worldwide, the film has earned $356.4 million, though international receipts ($178.8 million) haven’t been as robust as most were expecting.

Halle Berry’s schlocky thriller The Call dropped 49 percent in its second weekend to $8.7 million, giving it a respectable $30.9 million ten-day total. The $13 million production, distributed by Sony’s division TriStar, has now earned more than the last film starring Berry in a leading role, Cloud Atlas, which tanked with only $27.8 million against a $100 million budget.

Rounding out the Top 5 was the Tina Fey/Paul Rudd comedy Admission, which only earned $6.4 million from 2,160 theaters in its first weekend. Audiences rejected the Focus Features film, which fortunately cost just $13 million to produce. Admission marks the first real bomb for Fey, who previously found success with Mean Girls ($86.1 million), Baby Mama ($60.5 million), and Date Night ($98.7 million) — all sharper, edgier comedies than this.

For Rudd, on the other hand, Admission is the fourth bomb out of his five last releases. Though the actor’s previous film, This is 40, quietly blossomed into a mid-level hit at the holiday box office with $67.5 million, his other recent efforts all began in the same sad range as Admission. 2010′s How Do You Know ($7.5 million debut, $30.2 million finish), 2011′s Our Idiot Brother ($7 million debut, $24.8 million finsh), and 2012′s Wanderlust ($6.5 million debut, $17.5 million finish) each hurt his box office credibility. Rudd tends to fare better in dude-movies like Role Models, I Love You Man, and Dinner For Shmucks, which each earned about $70 million domestically.

1. The Croods – $44.6 million
2. Olympus Has Fallen – $30.5 million
3. Oz The Great and Powerful – $22 million
4. The Call – $8.7 million
5. Admission – $6.4 million
6. Spring Breakers – $5 million

In sixth place, the Disney-girls-gone-bad film Spring Breakers found $5 million from 1,102 theaters. The A24 release has garnered massive publicity thanks to the allure of seeing onetime Disney starlets like Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens (who, granted, didn’t have a squeaky clean reputation) traipsing about in bikinis while wielding guns, but the deeply strange R-rated art piece, which also stars James Franco, confounded many young moviegoers this weekend, and word-of-mouth is destined to squash Spring Breakers‘ hopes of mainstream success. Still, the film cost only $2 million to produce, and it should ultimately become a profitable venture for the fledgling studio.

Way, way further down the chart, Lindsay Lohan’s latest, InAPPropriate Comedy, which was directed by ShamWow shiller Vince Offer, had one of the worst debuts of the year. I thought it deserved its own post.

Categories
The Couch Potato Report

The weekend is here…how about a movie?

The Couch Potato Report – March 23rd, 2013

Inside this week’s Couch Potato Report are 1, 2, 3, 4…yup, all of them. All of this week’s films are about fighting and war.

Yes, it’s all about fighting and battles and war this first weekend of Spring. War, what is good for? Sometimes it’s good for informative and entertaining documentaries and films.

The CBC television series LOVE, HATE AND PROPAGANDA looks at how propaganda influenced significant moments in history, the wars that took place at the time, and the lives of the people who lived through them.

It is hosted by THE HOUR’s George Stroumboulopoulos and the latest installment is all about THE WAR ON TERROR.

LOVE, HATE & PROPAGANDA is engaging, interesting and informative. It stands above other documentaries on this subject matter – and there have been dozens of them since 2001 – when it shows us actual footage from news stories and the battles that have taken place. The footage is very graphic at times, so it isn’t always easy to watch, but that footage is very effective at helping to tell the story.

Unfortunately LOVE, HATE AND PROPAGANDA – THE WAR ON TERROR also drags at times as the “experts” who offer opinions and facts about the war aren’t always that compelling.

The good far outweighs the bad here though, and so I can easily recommend LOVE, HATE & PROPAGANDA – THE WAR ON TERROR.

From a documentary about the war on terror, we move now to a movie…based on real events, mind you…but it is a movie.

The Academy Award winning film ZERO DARK THIRTY looks at the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his death at the hands of the Navy SEAL Team 6 in May of 2011.

ZERO DARK THIRTY is director Kathryn Bigelow’s follow up to THE HURT LOCKER and it is an incredible film.

Even though we all know how it ends, it is very tense, features some great action scenes and has some great performances from Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain and James Gandolfini from THE SOPRANOS.

ZERO DARK THIRTY has some very graphic torture scenes and so it isn’t always easy to watch, but I still think it is an amazing film.

If you didn’t see it in theatres, don’t miss it now.

Some lighter action and battles now, not based on real life, but the fantasy works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Director Peter Jackson heads back to this world he knows so well, and follows up his LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY with THE HOBBIT – AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.

AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is the first part of an all-new trilogy, with Part Two coming this December, and the finale in December of 2014 and it is an impressive piece of work. The film moves at a faster pace than the LORD OF THE RINGS movies and has more action and adventure…plus it has many of the timeless characters we all love, like Bilbo, Frodo, Gollum, and Gandalf.

A warning…as with the other films that have been released in this series, there will be an extended version of THE HOBBIT – AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY released somewhere down the road, probably as early as this Christmas, just in time for the second film. So if you can hold off, you might not need to own it as the extras are good, but not impressive.

But the film is worthy of your time…all 169 minutes of it.

“Sitting on the fence” is a common idiom used to describe one’s neutrality, a hesitance to choose between one side or another.

I have three films for you now that you should be on the fence about, reluctant to make a decision about whether to watch them or not, and for all three, if you are on the fence… if you don’t think you’ll like them… don’t watch any of them because you won’t like them.

For instance, even though it has some incredible costumes and performances, if you don’t think you want to sit through a two-and-a-half-hour musical about the French revolution…do not watch LES MISERABLES.

But if that sounds great to you…get off the fence and don’t miss it!!

With a cast including Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as Javert and Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter this latest version of LES MISERABLES is based on the 1980s musical, which was based on the 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo.

Set in 19th-century France, this is the story of ex-prisoner Jean Valjean who has been hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert, after he breaks parole.

A reformed Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s young daughter, Cosette, and everyone’s lives change forever.

I was on the fence about LES MISERABLES when I first saw it in theatres, and yet I went anyway. Thinking I’d been too harsh on it, I watched it again on blu-ray and I had the same feeling both times.

I didn’t care. I like the cast, I enjoy musicals, I respect the fact that the actors all sang live under tough filming conditions, but I just didn’t care. It’s too long, and it never won me over or made me sing along.

So if you are on the fence, skip it. If you can’t wait to see it…then enjoy!!!

With his films THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, KNOCKED UP, SUPERBAD and BRIDESMAIDS Judd Apatow is a filmmaker who has – deservedly – become a household name amongst fans of comedies and comedic dramas over the past decade.

His latest film THIS IS 40 looked funny when the trailers debuted last year, but unfortunately it continues the downward trend that he began with his last directorial effort. FUNNY PEOPLE with Adam Sandler. That movie was a mess, and like all Apatow films was far too long.

THIS IS 40 is not a mess, but it is a comedy…a comedy…most comedies are about 90 minutes…the unrated version of THIS IS 40 that is now available for home viewing is two hours and seventeen minutes!!

That is waaaaaaay too long!!

Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are the two main stars of THI SIS 40 and they are playing the same characters who were friends of Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in KNOCKED UP…but those two aren’t in this movie…instead we get the life of Pete and Debbie and all they do is fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight. Everything with this two leads to a fight…and they are both at fault.

THIS IS 40 is supposed to be a comedy, it is supposed to be funny, but it’s actually so dramatic and angry that I only laughed a few times, and usually only at the secondary characters. Mostly it just made me uncomfortable as I didn’t care to watch a movie full of people fighting, with everyone…even doctor’s.

I like the actors, I like the characters they play, and I like their friends and employees…I just needed to see less of all of them. This movie could have been 45 minutes shorter without taking anything away from the main story and the character’s struggles.

Instead, THIS IS 40 is a drama, promoted as a comedy that isn’t funny. It is a very dramatic movie about life, love and relationships.

So if you are on the fence, skip it…you will not enjoy it. At all!!

The last of the “Sitting on the fence” flicks that I have is one that doesn’t give you all the answers to all of the questions it poses, so if you are someone who likes to know why things happen in movies and what motivates the main characters, stay away from RUST AND BONE.

Personally, I really enjoyed this one…but you might not.

RUST & BONE is a foreign film from France that stars Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard from INCEPTION and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. She plays a killer whale trainer, who loses her legs in a tragic accident.

The film is also about a selfish and self-destructive man who takes his son from Belgium to France to start a new life. After arriving, and presumably before, he betrays everyone in his life, even his son, yet somehow he starts being nice to the woman, even after she falls in love with him.

But he’s not really in love with her…as I mentioned he is selfish and self-destructive…and you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it does drop.

RUST & BONE primarily interested me as I am a huge fan of Marion Cotillard, but it kept my attention and I enjoyed the performances and the odd love story at its core.

If that description has you on the fence against it, skip it. It won’t win you over.

But if you are curious…search it out. You might not get all the answers, and the ending is a bit cliché, but I really enjoyed it.

Finally this week is a film that comes from the same vein as THE HOBBIT and the LORD OF THE RINGS films, Ron Howard’s 1988 fantasy film WILLOW, which was conceived and produced by George Lucas.

WILLOW is the story of a shy little person who must summon the courage within himself to leave his village and travel a great distance to deliver an infant princess to safety.

Along the way, he is joined by a warrior, the evil queen’s daughter and a rag tag army full of others who believe in the cause.

WILLOW is a little bit like LORD OF THE RINGS, and a little bit like STAR WARS, and the performance of Warwick Davis – who was recently seen in the television series LIFE’S TOO SHORT – is what is most impressive thing about it.

WILLOW has never been a great film, but he is great, and the film now looks amazing in HD on blu-ray.

Fans of the film should not miss it!! Plus, it comes with some great retrospective features, and deleted scenes introduced by Ron Howard.

Ron Howard’s 1988 fantasy adventure film WILLOW, the very entertaining drama RUST & BONE, the dramatic and angry “comedy” THIS IS 40, the Academy Award winning bore – that others will love – LES MISERABLES, the very good LORD OF THE RINGS prequel THE HOBBIT – AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, the exceptional ZERO DARK THIRTY about the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the very well done 2 part CBC special LOVE, HATE AND PROPAGANDA – THE WAR ON TERROR are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report

We’ll visit a futuristic Montreal in the science fiction drama MARS ET AVRIL and go back in time for Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN. Plus, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON debuts on blu-ray, and Brad Pitt stars in KILLING THEM SOFTLY

I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

Categories
Music

Bring it on!!!!

Fall Out Boy Tease Courtney Love, Elton John Collaborations on New Album

Elton John and Courtney Love will appear on Fall Out Boy’s upcoming record Save Rock & Roll, if the band’s hints on Twitter are any indication.

After bassist Pete Wentz initially asked yesterday, “Wanna guess what blonde hair singer we got on the record?” fans offered answers ranging from Miley Cyrus to Pink to Madonna before the Fall Out Boy account Tweeted today, “It’s Courtney bitch” along with a six-second clip with rapid-fire pictures of the Hole frontwoman. The video also included a short snippet of what might be their collaboration, though it was nothing more than someone (possibly Love) deadpanning, “It’s Courtney bitch” before a chorus cried, “Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat!”

Amidst the flurry of fan guesses, Wentz also confirmed that John would appear on the record. Rumors had been swirling that the rock icon would contribute after frontman Patrick Stump Tweeted a picture of the two in the studio last week with the hashtag “#saverockandroll.”

Along with Love and John, Fall Out Boy have been teasing a collaboration with rapper 2 Chainz on a remix of “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up),” their first single since 2009. The rapper appears in the track’s video and also performed the song alongside the band at the NBA All-Star Weekend concert.

Around the same time, the band told Billboard about the Save Rock & Roll’s guests. Wentz said, “If people are excited about the 2 Chainz idea, there’s more exciting stuff.” Guitarist Joe Trohman added, “More left-field stuff. But to me, it doesn’t feel left-field. We all like different stuff.”

Categories
Nirvana

I am soooo glad they did make it!!

How Nirvana Made ‘Nevermind’

Nirvana’s second album shot up from the Northwest underground – the nascent grunge scene in Seattle – to blow hair metal off the map, kick Michael Jackson off the top of the Billboard album chart and turn the band into overnight stars. Though Nevermind’s success would take a toll on Nirvana’s tortured leader, Kurt Cobain, no album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation – a nation of teens suddenly turned punk. Cobain’s slashing riffs, corrosive singing and deviously oblique writing, rammed home by the Pixies-via-Zeppelin might of bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, put the warrior purity back in rock & roll.

But as the sessions were about to get under way, neither the band nor producer Butch Vig knew just what they had on their hands. “The week before I flew to L.A. [to produce Nevermind], Kurt sent a cassette, which was done on a boombox,” said Vig. “It was really terrible sounding. You could barely make out anything. But I could hear the start to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ and I knew it was amazing.”

Vig, along with mixer Andy Wallace, made sure that Nevermind’s brilliant songs didn’t get lost in the same cheap production as on the band’s first album, Bleach. Vig spent a little more than a month recording and mixing the album with Cobain, Novoselic and Grohl at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California.

“They were living in this apartment complex, and it was chaos,” Vig remembers. There’d be graffiti on the walls, and the couches were upside down. They’d stay up every night and go down to Venice Beach until six in the morning. I’d go into the studio at noon and they’d wander in around four.”

Rowdy lifestyles aside, Vig says the recording went smoothly, except when it came time for the restrained “Something in the Way.”

“No matter how subtly they’d try to play,” Vig says, it was too aggressive. “Kurt walked into the control room and said it just had to sound like this – he was barely whispering, and playing the guitar so quietly you could barely hear it. It was mesmerizing. I pulled a couple of mikes in, and we built the whole song around it.”

Mixing the record, the band and producer hit another snag. “Kurt kept trying to bury his voice,” says Vig. “I kept arguing, ‘You can’t do that. Your vocal performance is as intense as the drums and the bass and the guitar.'”

Vig eventually won the argument, but his mixes didn’t make it onto the album. The band decided to hire an outside engineer. Andy Wallace, who’d worked with Slayer, gave Nevermind its incredible sonic sheen – something Cobain never admitted to being comfortable with. Talking about “Teen Spirit,” he told Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad, “It’s such a perfect mixture of cleanliness and nice, candy-ass production. . . It may be extreme to some people who aren’t used to it, but I think it’s kind of lame, myself.”