Have I ever told you that I'm obsessed with watching Cirque du Soleil shows? I've seen at least 10 live performances in the past few years and highly recommend them to anyone who's never taken the Cirque plunge. In fact, now you have more of a reason to check out a Cirque show because their latest, Delirium, is coming to a theater near you at the end of the month. Sony Pictures Releasing has set up this new programming division called The Hot Ticket, and they specialize in bringing stuff like rock concerts, Broadway shows and premier sporting events to theaters across the United States and Canada. We've talked about this sort of thing a bunch before, and it's definitely a smart move for theaters; one that might eventually become the norm.
So far, The Hot Ticket is bringing Delirium (I'd shell out money to see Delirious on the big screen too, by the way) to theaters for a limited run of four days (August 20, 21, 23 and 24). You can find out where it's playing near you by visiting The Hot Ticket website. Aside from Delirium, they'll also be bringing the show Rent to theaters in September. As far as the viewing experience goes, here's a quote from their website: "Each presentation from The Hot Ticket will be a limited engagement and events will be shown in 2K and 4K digital theaters to ensure the highest quality viewing experience. With the very best in special event programming and state-of-the-art digital projection and sound in theaters, The Hot Ticket will offer the kind of unparalleled access that will make these events memorable viewing experiences."
Sounds like something worth trying out. What do you think? Is this the future of theatrical entertainment? (Check out some really cool images from Delirium in the gallery below.)
Over the past few weeks, movie ratings have been a popular topic for discussion. While Kevin Smith's upcoming Zack and Miri Make a Pornoappealed an NC-17 rating (and won), The Dark Knight was enjoying a record-setting box office take and a pretty controversial PG-13 rating. Once again, we ask: Why is sex more inappropriate than violence? Should raunchy language and a few "thrusts" be condemned while a dude with half his face falling off and a psychopathic, murderous clown get off practically unscathed? And are there other issues at work here? Does a film with a giant budget and an all-star cast get it "easier" than a smaller film with a lesser-known cast and a director who chain smokes profanity?
No doubt there are shady politics at play here (as is all over this fine country of ours), and over the years there have been a number of films that deserved a different rating. Over on OMG Lists, they currently have up a list of six wrongly rated movies; films that, for one reason or another, deserved either a lower or a higher rating. It's a weird system, for sure -- these days, if you're a comedy, you kinda want that 'R' rating because your box office take will most likely be higher. However, if you're a horror flick, you want to try for a PG-13. Strange world we live in ...
But anyway, among the films featured on their list are Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which, at the time, received an R-rating because of a few profanity-laced scenes, but totally could've gotten away with a PG-13. Or what about Jaws ... with its PG rating! Hey, it's a film about a giant shark that devours people -- bring the whole family!
Hey, when did the LA Times become the new Cinematical (ahem ... and ahem)?
We've got such craziness this week with two big summer films landing in theaters on Wednesday instead of Friday. No, you don't have some fancy holiday weekend coming up (sorry cubicle dude), but the Olympics do begin later this week, and, well, some of us really want to get our Women's Swimming 100m Butterfly on. That said, those mid-weekers have a choice between the weed action/comedy Pineapple Express and the sober adventure/comedy/romance/jeans-wearing sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
I imagine each film has a completely different audience, with one attracting stoners, fans of Judd Apatow-produced content, comedy nuts and the Girls Obsessed with Seth Rogen Association of America (or GOWSRAA), while the other looks to bring in pre-teen and teenage girls (and their parents) who like to watch other girls come of age and explore the rest of their lives ... or something like that. Word has it each flick is worthy of your nine bucks (I've seen Pineapple and can vouch for its coolness), so it's really about which movie fits your cinematic tastes.
So, what are you watching: Pineapple Express or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2?
Cinematical reader Todd Y. clued us into these very cool Star Wars figures re-designed in a Steampunk sorta way. As explained on the site, "Steampunk is a genre of science fiction fantasy that generally contains worlds full of amazing technologies in the form of antiquated systems." Titled Sillof's Workshop, the site houses all sorts of different figures; from Gaslight Justice League and Victorian Avengers to Star Wars: 1942 and Steampunk Empire Strikes Back. Apart from the figures, Sillof has also created some very cool dioramas, sculptures and replica props. We've pulled out some of our favorites from the Star Wars collection and stuck them in the gallery below for you to check out. Afterward, make sure you skip on over to Sillof's Workshop to see the rest.
Behold my 1000-plus words way of asking you this simple question: how many times have you seen The Dark Knight?
Here's a little story I probably tell too often (it's even in my "Meet the Team" bio): Long ago, at an art school that should remain nameless (I hated the place too much to give it any kind of credit), I studied film production, with the crazy notion that I would be the one to bridge the gap between Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino (this was in the mid-90s, when all film students just wanted to be the latter). And while I wasn't any good at being the kind of leader necessary to be a great director, I thought I was on track to (at the very least) become an Oscar-winning screenwriter.
Then, in the middle of my freshman year, I went to see 12 Monkeys. And when it was over, I stayed in the theater and I watched it again. I believe this to be the moment when I decided that I no longer wanted to be a filmmaker and wanted to be a film watcher. But it would take me another year of school -- during which I changed the names in my dream from Spielberg and Tarantino to Gilliam and Hartley -- to realize that I could be a ... professional movie theater employee!
Years more would go by before I actually realized that I was better off writing about the movies than attempting to write for the movies, and fortunately all that time managing multiplexes gave me an extra niche to write about, as well. This week's column, however, despite its long-winded introduction, is not about how I came to write "The Exhibitionist." It's actually more specifically about that repeat screening of 12 Monkeys 12 years ago. Because thanks to The Dark Knight's box office success reportedly linked in part to repeat business, I've been thinking about the few movies that I've actually seen in the theater more than once.
When was the last time you saw a first-run movie on opening night and paid just $1.75? Hardcore horror flick The Midnight Meat Train has been relegated to second-run theaters in its limited, 100-screen release this weekend, as William Goss nicely detailed for us. (Thanks to commenter Christopher for pointing out that Dread Centralcompiled a very handy list of theaters.) Let me testify: watching the movie at a theater with cheap seats did not enhance the experience.
Here's why: The Midnight Meat Train is a very good flick -- I agree completely with our own horror hound Scott Weinberg that "it's one of the most effective horror films of the year" -- and horror fans who sought it out deserved to see it in the best possible environment. I was fortunate in that one of the six theaters playing it in the Dallas / Ft. Worth Metroplex is only about 10 miles away, though I had a devil of a time finding it. Unfortunately, the theater has seen better days, the seating layout is not optimal, and the audio equipment is lacking.
It felt surreal to watch the far inferior The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor at a Cinemark complex with great sound and a huge screen and then travel 10 miles to see The Midnight Meat Train at another Cinemark complex with sound that lacked any oomph and a much smaller screen. Nonetheless, the 9:25 p.m. show drew a mixed crowd of 60-70 people, despite zero advertising in the local newspapers, and folks seemed satisfied with what they saw.
... Because when you woke up this morning, the first thought to hit your brain was, "Wouldn't it be great to get a good look at some naked blue ass at some point today." That's what we're here for!
All kidding aside, Warner Bros. has released some really cool Watchmen character posters, all of which you can check out (in giant form) by clicking through the gallery below. Watchmen was among a small group of films that had a major presence at this year's San Diego Comic Con. Director Zack Snyder had his entire cast in attendance, and he also brought with him an extended trailer for the flick that had fans (including our own Elisabeth Rappe) all giddy and whatnot. I plan to start reading the graphic novel for the first time next week (so I can actually know what the hell I'm writing about as the film's release date grows closer), but in the meantime feel free to tell us what you're most excited about seeing.
I don't know how I never saw these, but some old Canadian Filmmakers Festival posters are sailing through the web, and they show what spoofing should be like. Think Jaws -vs- a fisherman, the little Poltergeist girl swayed by hockey, Superman ready for winter, and Dorothy in a pair of sensible boots rather than slippers. But my favorite is above, because it would make one hell of an awesome comedic remake of The Birds. Canadian geese -- they're the real birdly foe. They take over outdoor spaces, attack you to mark their territory, and they're scarier than Hitchcock's mean feathered fiends. If only these were the sort of spoofs hitting the big screen these days.
Check them out in the gallery below, and read more about the festival over here.
According to a report conducted by Nielsen PreView published today in The Hollywood Reporter, R-rated comedies don't do so hot at the box office. The timing of these findings seems odd, considering that Step Brothers made a solid $30 million last weekend, while analysts are predicting that another summer comedy slapped with the restricted label, Tropic Thunder, will collect at least that much. Right in the middle of those two releases comes Pineapple Express, which, like Step Brothers and Tropic Thunder, has a built-in core audience interested in raunchy masculine humor. The findings of this report suggest that larger audiences don't want to attend R-rated movies, but it's sort of a pointless observation because R-rated comedies are only made for people who want to see them. Everyone else can check out You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Of course, there is the occasional R-rated comedywith cross-over appeal, such as Knocked Up, but studios are probably hesitant to make many of those when a safely PG-13 Juno will suffice. Anyway, it's usually not difficult for Hollywood movies to trim a few vulgarities or the fleeting shot of exposed skin in order to knock down the rating a notch and maximize turnout. Horror films are a different story: They usually make bank with the R-rating intact.
Speaking to the 18 and over audience here: Do ratings play any role in the movies you choose to see?
It's been called one of the greatest documentaries ever made. It's a 170-minute-long juggernaut of a film. The fact it was snubbed by the Oscars created such a public outcry that the Academy was compelled to change the very voting process for the documentary field. And, like finding a piece of filet mignon at the local fast-food joint, Hoop Dreams is now nestled in alongside old Buffy re-runs, Simpsons clips and other offerings at Hulu.com.
Directed by Steve James, Hoop Dreams follows two young men from Chicago and their struggles and triumphs on and off the basketball court as they aspire to go from grade school promise to high school stardom and hope make it to the NBA. Shot over a period of years, Hoop Dreams has been called one of the finest documentaries of all time, and the indie-consultancy group Cinetic has made it available on-line at Hulu.com. And, of course, part of me is looking for the cloud around this silver-lined opportunity: What's Cinetic hoping to get out of this? What's Hulu hoping to prove? And if you're hoping to prove the viability of Hulu as a distribution model for documentaries, why would you pick a 14-year-old film that already has a great Criterion DVD? And finally, as much as I admire Hoop Dreams and the idea of it being available on-line, I have to wonder if anyone is going to sit in front of their computer screen for the full 171-minute running time of the film. ...
I'm sure Scott and Elisabeth will chime in at some point within the next week with their favorite and not-so-favorite moments from this year's San Diego Comic Con, and so I thought I'd get the ball rolling with something a little different. Welcome to our first annual Comic Con awards! Pretty self-explanatory; we hand out awards in several different film-related categories, offer up an explanation for our choice and then attend a swanky, imaginary after party. Here goes ... Most Buzzed-About Footage
Tron 2-- Out of all the footage that screened during Comic Con, it was that damn Tron 2 teaser thrown in during the Escape to Witch Mountain panel that took everyone by surprise. However, after it screened, it was all anyone was talking about -- so much so that it was the first question three different complete strangers asked me whilst talking about The Con: "Did you see the Tron 2 footage? How awesome was that?" (Shhh ... leaked footage) Biggest Surprise
Fanboys -- When it takes two years for a film to arrive in theaters, that's usually not a good sign of things to come. When, throughout those two years, the film's director is replaced by some hack, the script is re-written to wipe out a crucial plot element and thousands of fans stage a boycott of The Weinstein Co. (said film's distributor) ... well, that can't be a good thing either. So then it was definitely a big surprise to watch the final cut of Fanboys at Comic Con and walk away with giant smiles on our faces. From my mini-review: "I will say, though, that this is not just a film for Star Wars fans -- it's a film for any geeky dude or dudette who's ever horsed around with their friends, gone on a nutty adventure and inserted random movie quotes into every other line of dialogue." The film should hit theaters on September 19th (hopefully in a wide release). Read Scott's full review.
By: Kim Voynar (original publish date: February 19, 2008)
(With the Cine-staff off on a late-July mini-vacation, we thought it'd be fun to bring you some of our favorite pieces from years past. Enjoy!)
There's an interesting article over at This is London about a man who's protesting high prices at theater concession stands by handing out free snacks and a flier comparing cinema prices for snacks to store prices. Adam Glennon, a postman, was told he had to leave the theater for bringing his own snacks in.
Glennon says his snack stash was discovered when a security guard demanded to know what was in the plastic bag he was carrying into a screening of Cloverfield. The guard says that they routinely search bags for recording equipment, but if they happen to discover a stash of snacks in the process, they enforce the cinema's policy of "no outside food or drinks," and make movie-goers throw out their contraband munchies or leave the theater (they do give patrons who refuse a refund for their ticket price).
Outraged at this, Glennon decided to launch a one-man protest against the high prices concession stands charge to moviegoers. I noticed recently that a chain drugstore near a movie theater I was heading to was adverstising on their outside sign their lower prices for movie candy, and I wondered when I saw that what the theater chain thinks about that.
I realize that movies make a lot of their money back on the exorbitant prices they charge for greasy popcorn and overpriced candy, but it also seems like they could offer their higher-priced snacks to those who want the convenience of having them there, while not being quite so militant about their rules on outside food. Four bucks for a bottle of water or a smallish bag of popcorn is a bit much. The other issue for me is, all the snacks in the movie theater are unhealthy options, loaded with carbs, fat and sugar. I can't get a protein bar or carrot sticks to munch on during a screening, much less a decent coffee.
What do you think? Do you sneak in your own snackage when you go to the cinema? Or do you respect the rights of the movie chains to charge you more for snacks than you'd pay buying them at the drugstore on your way there?
By: Christopher Campbell (original publish date: February 3, 2008)
(With the Cine-staff off on a late-July mini-vacation, we thought it'd be fun to bring you some of our favorite pieces from months past. Enjoy!)
Today, as millions of (mostly) men are watching the Super Bowl, possibly witnessing the Patriots make history (sorry Erik), millions of (mostly) girls are watching Miley Cyrus (aka "Hannah Montana") make history of her own. As you read this, across the country the 3D concert film Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour is selling out its show times for the day. Actually, it's more likely that at many theaters show times have long been sold out.
On Friday, when the Disney release opened, I took a look at the status of the weekend show times in the tri-state area on Moviefone, Movietickets.com and Fandango. Most times were already unavailable. But I had no way of knowing how recently those times had sold out, because tickets went on sale back on December 1, and many people (our own Kim Voynar and her daughter included) bought theirs way in advance. As Kim mentioned last week, Fandango announced that more than 1,000 show times had already been sold out and that theaters were trying to squeeze in more screenings. The online ticketing company also announced that since December 1, the film has been one of its top selling titles and that this past week the film accounted for 91% of all the company's online ticket sales (compared to 1% each for Rambo, 27 Dresses and Cloverfield).
This was one of the panels I was most looking forward to because I desperately wanted to walk away from it with even more good vibes than I already had. Though I still chuckled every time someone prefaced a question with "This is for McG ...," the guy definitely "brought it" to Comic Con. You could tell this dude really wanted to sell the audience; he wanted to sell them on another Terminator flick, he wanted to sell them on it being directed by a dude named McG and he wanted to bottle up his enormous energy and sell that too. The guy was amped up to a level just beneath "Okay this is uncomfortable," and the panel audience was virtually high-fiving him the entire time.
The Footage
I wasn't sure what we'd be seeing as far as footage from the film went, since they were still right in the middle of shooting and, well, you wouldn't expect anything too polished. But to my surprise they managed to throw together an enticing little two-or-so-minute teaser that was gritty, grimy, familiar and --pardon the language -- pretty f**king rad. I was too engulfed to write down every second of the thing, but it basically consisted of a number of quick snippets of gunfire, Anton Yelchin (as a young Kyle Reese) saying stuff like, "Come with me if you want to live," a little of Sam Worthington (who seems like the kind of guy that'd clock you for staring at him for more than three seconds), Moon Bloodgood (hot name for a hottie actress), Common (who I assume plays the obligatory post-apocalyptic black dude) and, of course, those T-600 robots (the film takes place in 2018, 11 years before Arnold's T-800 existed).
Our Comic Con came to a sweet finish last night at the Wrath of Con mega party hosted by folks like IESB, Bloody-Dee and Lakeshore. The roof at the Hard Rock Hotel here in San Diego was packed with writers, celebrities, dancers, rock stars and girls with tape on their boobs. It was a pretty fun night, and since the Crank 2 trailer screened at one point, the whole thing is a write off! While our tired Cinematical crew travels home today, here's a bunch of stuff to keep you busy till we come back tomorrow with the remainder of our coverage, including a very cool interview with James Gunn and our annual "Celebrities Love Weinberg" gallery.
The Terminator: Salvation panel was a blast, McG came out pumped and the extended trailer looked awesome. We'll have more from the panel and our interviews, but a couple things: The next trailer will debut with Quantum of Solace, it's not a definite PG-13 at this time (they have the studio's blessing should it turn into an R-rated affair), the film will end on a cliffhanger, the Con poster is to the right and a model of the T-600 is above, and, finally, watching Yelchin (as a young Kyle Reese) say "Come with me if you want to live" in the trailer gave me goosebumps.
AICN tells us that Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander has been booted from the film. She didn't show here at Con because she was on her "honeymoon," and she's wrapped up in a non-disclosure which means she ain't talking either. Why can't anyone make a Punisher flick without f**king it up? Is it really that hard to get one right?
John Campea interviewing the girls from Bitch Slap in their hotel room ... in bed with them ... has to go down as THE interview at Con. Special Cinematical props go out to the entire team from Bitch Slap for marketing the hell out of their film at Con, guerilla-style throughout the entire weekend.
Sam Raimi told the audience during his Drag Me to Hell panel that he's considering an Evil Dead 4.
EW has a whole slew of photos from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
Watchmen website now online. I'll be reading this as soon as I get home.
Moviefone has some great preview and wrap up posts, along with even more galleries.
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It's been called one of the greatest documentaries ever made. It's a 170-minute-long juggernaut of a film. The fact it was snubbed by the Oscars created such a public outcry that the Academy was 
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The Terminator: Salvation panel was a blast, McG came out pumped and the extended trailer looked awesome. We'll have more from the panel and our interviews, but a couple things: The next trailer will debut with Quantum of Solace, it's not a definite PG-13 at this time (they have the studio's blessing should it turn into an R-rated affair), the film will end on a cliffhanger, the Con poster is to the right and a model of the T-600 is above, and, finally, watching Yelchin (as a young Kyle Reese) say "Come with me if you want to live" in the trailer gave me goosebumps. .jpg)
Who's buying this Heath Ledger as
