Weekend Movies: 'Village' Aims to Scare Audiences
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four major movies enter a crowded market on Friday led by director M. Night Shyamalan's mystery "The Village" which looks to be the weekend's box office champ despite a rash of mostly scary reviews.
"The Village" from The Walt Disney Co. debuts in 3,730 theaters, or 863 more than its next closest rival, Denzel Washington thriller "The Manchurian Candidate" in 2,867 venues, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Inc.
The theater count, plus Shyamalan's strong following and box office history, give "Village" an edge over Oscar-winner Washington's obvious ability to draw crowds.
Comedy "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" is in 2,135 theaters and family film "Thunderbirds" is in 2,057 theaters.
After a rough year at box offices, Disney looks for a hit from Shyamalan, who enjoys a strong following among the young men who make up the core audience of movie-goers. Fortunately for Disney, those audiences rarely listen to critics.
"It's tedious instead of provocative and so unconvincing as to be preposterous," wrote the Los Angeles Times in one of several negative reviews the film received.
The Seattle Times called it "affecting but uneven," while filmcritic.com said "generally excellent filmmaking and clever plot twists redeem things on the whole."
But Shyamalan is, undoubtedly, successful at the box office. "The Sixth Sense" hauled in $294 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices and 2002's "Signs" racked up $228 million.
"If you had to categorize ("The Village"), you could say it is a suspenseful, period love story," he told reporters in a recent interview.
In the film, an isolated farming utopia in Pennsylvania has cut itself off from contact with the outside world and made a deal with creatures living in the surrounding woods: you don't bother us, and we won't bug you.
But when Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) tests this rule, the creatures begin an assault on the town. He, his young lover, Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) and all the townsfolk are in peril.
ELECTION YEAR THRILLER
"Manchurian Candidate," a remake of a classic 1962 film about brainwashing and political assassination starring Frank Sinatra, is winning good reviews and has left early audiences stunned as they contemplate this year's elections.
"I expected it to be provoking," the movie's producer Tina Sinatra, Frank's daughter, said in recent interviews. "When you have a political backdrop and you've got this particular climate, we knew it would support the film," she added.
The reviews for "Manchurian" have been solid, with The New York Times saying director Jonathan Demme has "made a political thriller that manages to be at once silly and clever, buoyantly satirical and sneakily disturbing."
Washington plays a Gulf War veteran who commanded a platoon of soldiers that was lost for three days. In his troop is an aspiring politician who saves the men from being massacred.
Or does he? Fast forward 13 years and the politician, now Congressman Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), is running for vice president. Washington's character, Bennett Marco, thinks he has been brainwashed into believing Shaw's heroics.
He comes to believe the events never really happened. Indeed, he thinks they were concocted to make Shaw a medal winner and eventual U.S. President.
Behind the plot is a private equity fund called Manchurian Global that has investments in the defense industry, and Marco has to expose their scheme before Shaw is put into office.
For a light movie experience, there is road-trip comedy "Harold & Kumar." For kids, "Thunderbirds" is based on the British TV series about the adventures of the Tracy family, who command a fleet of international, ultrasonic rescue vehicles.
All four new films that opened on Friday are hoping to unseat last week's No. 1 movie, "The Bourne Supremacy."
Paramount Pictures is behind "Manchurian Candidate," while New Line Cinema is releasing "Harold and Kumar" and Universal Pictures backs "Thunderbirds" as well as "Bourne."
Commuters, Bryan Adams feels your pain.
The Canadian rock superstar was stopped in downtown Toronto traffic yesterday while shooting a video for his new single, Open Road.
The Toronto Sun got an exclusive peek and interview.
On a small street dressed to look like New York City, the Vancouver singer sat stalled in a classic silver Mustang. Acting bored, he mouthed along to the song's lyrics about breaking out and hitting the open road.
Unlike folks gridlocked in real life, Adams gets to walk away.
Beforehand in his trailer, Adams told the Sun: "The concept is that the traffic is stopped and I can't go anywhere. I get out of my car and go into a building, past all the people who are controlling it. I get into this boardroom and start opening up a winch, which opens up the road."
He says the clip is not so much about traffic as "power, authority, holding everyone back. It's an anti-establishment statement."
Open Road is the lead single from the upcoming Bryan Adams album, Room Service, which hits stores Sept. 21. You can hear it for yourself today, when the song is delivered to radio stations.
This rock track is instantly recognizable as Adams, sounding a lot like his smash 1984 hit Run To You crossed with that other classic Canadian road trip song, Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway.
Truckers, it's time for a new mixed tape.
Adams' music always does big business, in Canada and around the world. To date, he has sold more than 65 million records. Besides Celine Dion, few Canadians can match his global recognition and South Park spoof-ability factor.
Adams, 45, not only sounds the same as ever, he looks forever teen. For the video clip, he sported a leather jacket and jeans, his hair slightly shorter now but still slightly spiked.
Maybe it's the fame that keeps him young, or perhaps keeping a motorcycle. (He says he stills rides even after having been shot in the back with an air rifle in the streets of London, England, last year.)
Or maybe it's the travel. Adams still routinely tours the world, living out of suitcases. This is where he recorded Room Service.
"I had a big studio which used to travel with me, but you couldn't move it from place to place.
"I would need to rent a house for six months and work. This time, I got rid of that system and got it into two suitcases. It's the marvel of digital technology."
Bryan Adams says Room Service is his most global record.
The song Open Road, for example, was completed over two continents while he toured.
"The basic track was recorded in Vancouver, at the Warehouse studio," he said.
"The vocal was done in Paris, and my guitarist Keith (Scott) did his part backstage in Lethbridge, Alberta."
No word on whether Adams penned anything new sitting in the car between takes.
The video for Open Road should be ready for telecast in about two weeks.
'Batman Begins' Trailer Gives Glimpse of Cowl
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Warner Bros. has sent out the bat signal. The first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated "Batman Begins" is now available for public delectation.
The fifth Caped Crusader installment revisits the mythos behind the comic book superhero. "Batman Begins" explores why Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is driven to take up the cowl for his own particular brand of vigilantism in Gotham.
Little is known of the plot, but on the side of good are the following: Michael Caine as the trusty butler Alfred, Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel, Liam Neeson as mentor Henri Ducard, Morgan Freeman as former Wayne Enterprises board member and Gary Oldman as Lieutenant James Gordon.
Of course, Batman's life would be hollow without the bad guys, who include: Ken Watanabe as Ra's Al Ghul, Tom Wilkinson as crime leader Falcone, Rutger Hauer as a businessman who has designs on Wayne Enterprises and Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow.
The latest of the Batman adventures is scripted by David Goyer and Christopher Nolan, who will direct. Goyer also wrote big-screen adaptations for the "Blade" trilogy.
Get your fill of the trailer now at www.batmanbegins.com, since the film isn't scheduled for release until June 17, 2005.
Everclear Best-Of Boasts Unreleased Songs
Two previously unreleased tracks bolster "Ten Years Gone - The Best of Everclear 1994-2004," due Sept. 28 via Capitol. Along with such hits as "Santa Monica," "I Will Buy You a New Life" and "Father of Mine," the collection features "New Disease" and "Sex With a Movie Star."
Both of the tracks were recorded in the sessions for the Art Alexakis-led band's last album, 2003's "Slow Motion Daydream." Japanese versions of the set carried "New Disease" as "Your New Disease" (also available online to domestic owners of the enhanced disc).
Also included are a pair of songs the band placed on movie soundtracks. "Local God" was among the cuts on Capitol's modern-rock heavy 1996 "Romeo + Juliet," while Everclear's cover of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" was included on Polygram's 1999 "Detroit Rock City" soundtrack.
As previously reported, Alexakis is representing Portland, Ore., as an elected delegate at the Democratic National Convention, which closes tonight (July 29) in Boston. Now the sole remaining original member of the band, he is planning a fall Everclear tour followed by a new studio album in 2005.
Here is the "Ten Years Gone - The Best of Everclear 1994-2004" track list:
"Wonderful"
"Santa Monica"
"Everything to Everyone"
"AM Radio"
"Volvo Driving Soccer Mom"
"I Will Buy You a New Life"
"Learning How To Smile"
"Strawberry"
"Local God"
"Summerland"
"Fire Maple Song"
"When It All Goes Wrong Again"
"Heroin Girl"
"The Boys Are Back in Town"
"Father of Mine (Radio Mix)"
"Brown Eyed Girl"
"Sex With a Movie Star (Good Witch Gone Bad)"
"The New Disease"
"New York Times"
"Song From an American Movie Pt.1"
"Rock Star"
Weezer leader heading back to school
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is heading back to school once the band finishes up work on their fifth studio album, Rolling Stone reports.
Cuomo will be going back to Harvard University to resume his English Literature studies this fall.
He originally began studying at the Ivy League school in the fall of 1995, but left in 1997 following the dismal sales performance of Weezer's sophomore album "Pinkerton."
Weezer's as-yet-untitled new album, produced by Rick Rubin, is due in late 2004 or early 2005.
Weezer Frontman Chronicles 'Epiphany'
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has revealed details of the creative struggle to realize the band's fifth album, preparation for which has dragged on much longer than originally planned. In a nearly 2,000-word essay posted on his personal Web site, Cuomo chronicles the radical lifestyle changes he says led to a spiritual and musical "epiphany."
The shift came in the wake of Weezer's re-emergence with 2000's "The Green Album," which Cuomo says sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. But its 2002 follow-up, "Maladroit," "was not the big hit that it had threatened to be," after which Cuomo "fell into a life of ego and vice."
"I asked myself, 'Is my life really supporting the production of the music I know I am capable of creating?' I had to admit that music no longer gave me the feeling of sublime ecstasy that it once had," he says. "Although I had already written another large pile of songs for our fifth album, I put all plans to record on hold. There was a revolution brewing in my mind, soon to be triggered by the man we had hired a few months earlier to produce the album, Rick Rubin."
Cuomo goes on to describe how Rubin introduced him to the love poetry of Hafiz and Vipassana meditation in February 2003. "In accord with my understanding of these teachings, I abruptly dropped all of my business responsibilities and hard-won power, and isolated myself once again," he says. "I fasted and lost 15% of my weight. I took a vow of complete celibacy. I gave away or sold most of my possessions, my house and my car and lived in an empty apartment next to Rick Rubin's house for the rest of the year. I moved to settle outstanding lawsuits and reconcile myself with enemies. I apologized to many people. I volunteered six days a week at Project Angel Food in Hollywood, preparing meals for people with HIV."
"Since then, I have found that the areas of tension in my mind -- the fear, the anger, the sadness, the craving -- are slowly melting away," Cuomo continues. "I am left with a more pristine mind, more sharp and sensitive than I previously imagined possible. I am more calm and stable. My concentration and capacity to work have increased greatly. I feel like I am finally much closer to reaching my potential."
Weezer's official Web site says the band is still in rehearsals in anticipation of hitting the studio. "The music I have created over the last six months has brought me much enjoyment," Cuomo says.
However, the singer is returning in the fall to Harvard, which he last attended in 1997, potentially affecting the release of the as-yet-untitled new set. "It is understood that the school break wouldn't interfere with the album's release, as most albums have a 3-4 month period of planning, marketing, etc, before release anyway -- about the amount of time the semester would require," Weezer's site said earlier this month.
Regina teacher Manoah Hartmann voted from Canadian Idol
TORONTO (CP) - Performing the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams wasn't enough to save Regina teacher Manoah Hartmann from the Canadian Idol chopping block Thursday night.
The 25-year-old Victoria native received the least number of votes following Wednesday's singing competition, which was watched by over two million people, said broadcaster CTV. The station said it received 2.2 million votes.
Not that anyone cares, but there are now eight contestants vying for the Idol title.
MGM Mum on Whether Brosnan Will Return as Bond
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mum's the word, 007.
Film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc on Thursday kept its lips pursed as tight as any secret agent with a license to kill on whether Pierce Brosnan would play James Bond in the next superspy movie set for release in November 2005.
The Irish-born actor has portrayed the fictional hero of the multi-billion dollar film franchise four times since 1995's "GoldenEye," but this week he said he has holstered his gun for good.
"That's it," he told Entertainment Weekly magazine in a story published on Tuesday on its Web site. "I've said all I've got to say on the world of James Bond."
"Bond is another lifetime," the 51 year-old actor said, adding: "Behind me."
But in the world of covert espionage (i.e.: Bond movies and Hollywood deals), things are rarely what they appear. MGM, which along with EON Productions owns the Bond movie rights and distributes the films, has not yet counted Brosnan out.
MGM Vice Chairman Chris McGurk told reporters and financial analysts the company and EON are still developing the 21st Bond film in the 42 year-old series. A script was complete, a director was being hired and then they would see about Bond.
"At that point, we're going to address the casting issues. It's the same process we went through with 'Die Another Day,"' which was the most recent Bond movie, McGurk said.
"We're deep in development, and right now, we're still targeting November 2005" as the release date, he added.
Brosnan completed his contract to portray the British superspy, codenamed 007, with the 2002 film that co-starred Halle Berry. Until the Entertainment Weekly interview, he had often told reporters he was open to another turn as Bond.
Hollywood insiders speculate Brosnan may be starting negotiations for the next movie in the press. His media representative referred calls to MGM, which declined to comment beyond McGurk's statement.
Since 1962's original Bond flick, "Dr. No" starring Sean Connery, five actors have played the spy first made popular in Ian Fleming's novels.
Connery ("Goldfinger" and "Thunderball") Roger Moore ("The Spy Who Loved Me") and Brosnan have been the most successful. The other two Bonds were Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby.
"Die Another Day," was the biggest Bond box office hit racking up a total of around $425 million in worldwide ticket sales, and in 2003's second quarter MGM took in another $140 million from the film's DVD and home video sales.