Movie Clerks

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Interviews

To mark the tenth anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s death on May 14, Warner Home Video has unleashed such a massive volume of Sinatra DVDs that viewers will need to break out the hernia belts. There are 22 discs in all, with 11 titles new to DVD, and five box sets. One box set, The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector’s Edition comes with a special deck of “Rat Pack” cards, reproductions of lobby cards, a pressbook and on-set photos, as well John Sturges’ Sergeants 3 (1962), available for the first time. The high point of these discs is the DVD debut of Vincente Minnelli’s Some Came Running (1958), a devastating widescreen melodrama about an army veteran and would-be writer (Sinatra) who returns to his small town.
A goofy dame (Shirley MacLaine) has followed him home, and a boozy gambler (Dean Martin) befriends him, perhaps ruining his chances with […]

Tags: FrankSinatra, Tina Sinatra, TinaSinatra, Frank Sinatra, dvd, film, movie, Cinematical // Add Comment »

Filed under: Animation, Music & Musicals

Imagine the above, with a round white boy (in, I hope, the same duds). Or one round furry dude panda.
It was inevitable, really. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Jack Black and Cee-Lo (of Gnarls Barkley) have covered Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” for Black’s upcoming Kung Fu Panda. At the very least, it should be a bit better than Chris Tucker’s version for Rush Hour 3.
Cee-Lo says: “It was inspiring and an honor to have the opportunity to reintroduce the record to a brand new audience, sprinkled with a little of me on top.” Meow! However, I really doubt that their cover will inspire young tykes unfamiliar with the song to find out that it’s a Carl Douglas tune, and go out to hear more of his music. In reality, we can probably wait 10 years and then hear people say: “Hey, isn’t ‘Kung […]

Tags: Cee-Lo, Kung Fu Fighting, KungFuFighting, KungFuPanda, kung fu panda, Jack Black, JackBlack, Cinematical // Add Comment »

Filed under: Foreign Language, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sundance, Magnolia, United Artists, Fantastic Fest, Remakes and Sequels
The last time I saw my awesome amigo Nacho Vigalondo, it was at a Sundance party during which he was A) very thrilled to have his film play the festival, B) mega-elated that writer/producer Steven Zaillian would be involved in the English-language remake of his film (Timecrimes), and C) seriously drunk and hanging out with an overworked karaoke machine. When I pressed him for additional details, he said something to the effect of “I don’t know yet, but …. Steve SALE-IAN, man! He wrote Bobby Fischer and Gangs of New York, man…” To which I responded, “Yeah, dude. Damn good writer. Plus Schindler’s List, A Civil Action, American Gangster, and the awesome Falcon and the Snowman!”
The drunken Spaniard’s eyes went absolutely wide: “Steve SALE-IAN is remaking my movieeeee!” He was like a little kid […]

Tags: steve zaillian, SteveZaillian, timecrimes, remake, NachoVigalondo, DavidCronenberg, nacho vigalondo, david cronenberg // Add Comment »

Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Politics, Cinematical Indie
Fidel Castro might be showing up as a character in Steven Soderbergh’s Che flicks, but it looks like his daughter, Alina Fernandez, is getting a bit more involved in the movie biz. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Crash co-writer and Oscar winner Bobby Moresco is bringing her story to the big screen. Fernandez will consult, Moresco will possibly direct it, and the project is currently out to writers. However, this won’t be a straight biopic.
It seems that her story will somehow be intertwined with the stories of others, like Crash, to “show the Cuban and American perspectives and ideologies along with Fernandez’s story.” Basically, she’s the product of an affair Castro had while married to his first wife. She “spent her childhood in the country’s shadow, only learning at age 10 that the man who visited her at night and whom she saw […]

Tags: Crash, Fidel Castro, FidelCastro, BobbyMoresco, Bobby Moresco, Alina Fernandez, AlinaFernandez, Cinematical // Add Comment »

Filed under: Cannes, Festival Reports, Movie Marketing, Images, Cinematical Indie, Posters

James Rocchi and I got into Cannes this afternoon, checked into our flat, and then promptly headed out to the Croisette to get our press badges and take a slew of pics. Movie posters abound on the Croisette. They’re draped on luxury hotels and adorning the sidewalks; pretty much everywhere you look, it’s movie marketing central around here. I’ll have a Live from Cannes post up later with some other pics of the Cannes scene and the lovely Croisette, but in the meantime, here’s a bunch of movie poster pics for your viewing pleasure.
We’ll be up bright and early tomorrow to catch the opening film, Blindness, and we’ll be posting regularly throughout the fest, so keep checking back for more. Let us know what you’re most interested in hearing about from the fest, and we’ll do our best to […]

Tags: IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull, hancock, wall-e, indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, cannes2008, tropic thunder, TropicThunder, cannes film festival, featured // Add Comment »

Filed under: Drama, Casting, Deals, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand
As soon as this story hit, I had to check to make sure a) it wasn’t April 1st, and b) we all still lived on the planet Earth. Yes, I’m not kidding about this one — The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Werner Herzog is remaking Abel Ferrara’s gritty, NC-17-rated cult classic,Bad Lieutenant, and none other than Nicolas Cage is going to star. Nic Cage! Werner Herzog! Am I the only one who’s completely blown away by this bizarre news? (Though, to be fair, we did kinda see this coming …)
Cage will take on the role originally played by Harvey Keitel; he’ll slip into the part of a drug and sex-addicted corrupt cop, though there’s no word on how far they’ll take this version of the film. However, exec producer Avi Lerner did promise this new take will “deliver as much filth as […]

Tags: nicolas cage, NicolasCage, The Bad Lieutenant, TheBadLieutenant, HarveyKeitel, harvey keitel, werner herzog, WernerHerzog, abel ferrara, AbelFerrara, Cinematical // Add Comment »

Filed under: Action, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek

When Marvel officially announced the release date for Thor last week (June 4, 2010), news quickly followed that Matthew Vaughn was no longer directing, a script was being fine-tuned and Marvel was in search of an actor to fill Thor’s mighty shoes. Seeing as he’s blonde, a very popular actor and has starred in films like Troy, the first name to pop into the minds of fanboys (and girls) everywhere was Brad Pitt. And whaddya know: Latino Review is saying this week that Pitt is at the top of Marvel’s wishlist. Who woulda thunk it?
On paper, this does seem like a logical — and realistic — choice. Pitt is at a similar point in his career as Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton and even Johnny Depp (who surprised fans by starring in three Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney). If there ever was […]

Tags: BradPitt, brad pitt, thor, marvel, JohnnyDepp, johnny depp, EdwardNorton, Edward Norton, iron man, featured, IronMan, robert downey jr, RobertDowneyJr, Cinematical // Add Comment »

Filed under: Comedy, Paramount, Celebrities and Controversy, Distribution, Politics
Well, for a tempest in a teapot the controversy over Mike Myer’s comedy The Love Guru seems to be heating up by the day. CJ Report confirmed that the British Film Institute has responded to Hindu protests, and has issued a statement that the prestigious institution will “not be screening this title nor will be involved with a possible release of it.” Now this doesn’t mean the film will not be shown in the UK, but the BFI’s refusal to support the film must come as a blow to Myers, a committed anglophile.
Guru is the story of an American born guru who returns home to help coach a lovelorn hockey player with a struggling marriage. Sure, it looks silly, and a little stereotypical, but so did The Party and a lot of people seem to like that movie. According to CJ Report, […]

Tags: the love guru, TheLoveGuru, MikeMyers, mike myers, JessicaAlba, jessica alba // Add Comment »

Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Home Entertainment, Trailers and Clips

Those crazy cats from The Onion are back with a news story that takes a look at a new tour which gives folks a chance to check out the archaic system that was renting movies. Yes, it’s a joke, and your local Blockbuster store is still around (and open!), but I could totally see something like this existing in, say, 10-20 years from now. Follow their news reporters inside an actual Blockbuster store, where they find actors playing Blockbuster employees, as well as actual renters. Real renters! I love the couple who say they can’t believe how people used to live like this. Then you get the tourists with cameras taking shots of two “historical performers” having a conversation about a video. Love it!
What do you think? How far are we away from something like this existing in real life? And […]

Tags: TheOnion, the onion, blockbuster, Cinematical // Add Comment »

Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Magnolia, ThinkFilm, Box Office, Cinematical Indie, Roadside Attractions
Apologies for the one-day delay, but, as it happens, the indie weekend charts changed in the interim. Early on Sunday, estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo indicated that Tarsem Singh’s The Fall (Roadside Attractions) won the weekend, but when the figures were tabulated, Lloyd Kaufman’s Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (Troma) sneaked into the top position with a take of $10,624 at one theater in Manhattan. Ed Gonzalez of The Village Voice says the film “chronicles what happens when a fried-chicken shack goes up on a Native American burial ground” and called it “a predictably hit-and-miss yukfest.”
Doug Pray’s Surfwise (Magnolia) surged near the top, grossing $10,304 at another theater in Manhattan. The doc follows a doctor who abandoned his practice to become a surfer and live in a camper, packing along his wife and […]

Tags: Oss117CairoNestOfSpies, oss 117 cairo nest of spies, IndieWeekendBoxOf..., poultrygeist night of the chicken dead, PoultrygeistNightOfTheChickenDead, TheBabysitters, the babysitters, surfwise, indie weekend box of..., bloodline, TheFall, The Fall, BattleForHaditha, noise, america the beautiful, BeforeTheRains, before the rains, AmericaTheBeautiful, battle for haditha // Add Comment »