Get Smart and The Love Guru open this weekend in a rare big comedy vs. big comedy battle. Of course, it’s not going to be much of a battle.
In one corner, we have Steve Carell’s Get Smart, which has looked funny from the first preview of Carell stuck in a phone booth. In the other corner, the absolutely God-awful looking The Love Guru, which stars Mike Myers retreading what he’s already done before - only much, much worse (read the Love Guru movie review).
Despite last year’s disaster Evan Almighty, Carell is in the prime of his career. With The Office and The 40-Year Old Virgin still fresh on people’s minds, not to mention the great Get Smart previews, I expect big things for this movie. As for The Love Guru… I am expecting Little Nicky type numbers, only maybe not that bad.
Neither film has received very good reviews, but Get Smart should handily win the weekend. I’m not a box office expert, and in fact I rarely make box office predictions, but I’ve been seeing box office predictions for Get Smart between the $40 and $50 million mark. For The Love Guru, anywhere from $20 to $35 million.
Now, I’m not generally one to oppose weekend box office estimates, but I’m a little surprised by these numbers. I believe Get Smart is going to make close to $60 million, and The Love Guru less than $20. Yes, I think Get Smart is going to do that well at the box office, and The Love Guru that pitiful. I will be disappointed if The Love Guru makes more than that.
I, like many people, have been skeptical about the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. After all, it’s an animated film, and Star Wars isn’t meant to be animated, at least not on the big screen.
Thankfully, the new movie trailer actually makes the movie look pretty decent. The trailer is treated no different than the previews for any of the other Star Wars film, with brooding music that leads to the standard Star Wars music. There’s very little dialogue - playing it safe, I see - and lots of long distance shots, which is where the visual effects look the best. All in all, this is a very good movie trailer, especially given the footage.
Unfortunately, I still think releasing this film to the big screen is a mistake. Yes, it’s going to make much more money than it would have on TV, but there’s just something about releasing an animated Star Wars to theaters that seems damaging to the series as a whole (yes, even given the fact that the prequels weren’t exactly fabulous). Star Wars: The Animated Series is a great idea, and as long as it stays on TV it can remain fairly independent from the movies. However, with its theatrical release upcoming, it’s going to be very hard to separate it out. And considering that the characters look pretty silly, that’s not good.
The new romantic drama Elegy stars the unlikely duo of Sir Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz. I’m not completely sure who’s getting the better deal here, but I’m pretty sure the much-older Kingsley is getting an unfair benefit. And that’s what the movie is about. He has a perfectly fine but ultimately loveless relationship with Patricia Clarkson, who still looks pretty good for her age, but is absolutely enthralled by the younger Cruz. And you know what? Cruz digs his skinny little frame, too.
As far as romantic dramas go, Elegy looks pretty good. The movie trailer is pieced together well, with tantalizing music and a clean, solid look. The trailer maybe shows a bit much, but for movies like this, that’s OK - as long as the ending isn’t revealed, a movie like this can show all the scenes in the world. And the great thing about Elegy? It could go many ways. Given the age difference, it’s possible Kingsley and Cruz won’t live happily ever after. Hell, Kingsley may even die.
Elegy looks pretty good. Kingsley has tainted his reputation so much over the last few years that it’s nice to see him in something a bit more respectable.
A recent survey conducted by FilmJabber.com found that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was expected to be the best of the summer by moviegoers. The Harrison Ford-starring film, the first Indiana Jones movie in nearly two decades, has been buzzing, and 27% of the survey takers said it “will be the best blockbuster of the summer.”
Indiana Jones narrowly beat out The Dark Knight, which came in second with 26%. Third place belonged to the already-released Iron Man, which received 9% of the votes.
However, among men, The Dark Knight was considered to be the best by 34% of the group versus 21% for Indiana Jones. Among women, 31% expect Indiana Jones to be the best movie of the summer. Whereas one might expect Sex and the City to have ranked high in this category, The Dark Knight still came in second with 16%.
All of this bodes well for Thursday’s release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is a frontrunner to make more money than any other film this summer - and perhaps this year. Reviews have been mixed, but I wouldn’t expect anything less. The hype is so high that people are bound to be disappointed - more than likely, this is a film that will thrill and entertain more on a second viewing.
It’s been a couple weeks since Sex and the City made its way to theaters, raking in a whole ton of money. I got invited to see the movie opening night, but opted not to stay up to 3am with a bunch of weeping, screaming women. Part of the reason, I’ll admit, is that I didn’t want to be ridiculed by my guy friends for going to see a midnight showing of Sex and the City. Another reason: I am not that huge of a fan to sacrifice my beauty sleep for a picture like this.
Nevertheless, I finally made my way to see the Sex and the City movie, and it was pretty good. In fact, I thought it stayed extremely loyal to the TV show (it probably helps that the writer/director/executive producer of the show is also the writer and director of the movie) and managed to be just as funny as any individual episode.
And, to be blunt, I am straight and single. I didn’t go see Sex and the City because my girlfriend dragged me to it, and I didn’t see it because of my sexual orientation. Yes, I was one of the few single straight guys in the audience - perhaps the only one.
James Bond really is 007 after yet another accident on the Quantum of Solace cost Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond, three of his fingers. Details of how he lost his trigger finger and two others is still unclear, but at least now he won’t be able to make any un-gentleman-like gestures.
OK, in reality, Daniel Craig only sliced off the tip of one of his fingers, according to Daily Mail, but it is the second injury inflicted to the Bond star while filming Quantum of Solace. The production is beginning (if it hasn’t already) to look like a cursed one, as there have been several accidents, injuries and crazy mayors that have disrupted shooting.
An exterior set was heavily damaged after a fire broke out at the studio; a stuntman drove an Aston Martin into a lake; another stuntman suffered head injuries after slamming head first into another vehicle; and Craig had to get eight stitches to the face a few weeks ago.