Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios Announce ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT Casting
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios today announced the voice cast for ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT, the fourth entry in Blue Sky’s blockbuster franchise, which has grossed over $4 billion in all media.
RAY ROMANO is back as Manny, the woolly mammoth and the herd’s “Big Daddy”; QUEEN LATIFAH returns as Ellie -- Manny’s significant other; DENIS LEARY rejoins the herd as the saber-toothed tiger Diego; JOHN LEGUIZAMO is at it again as the terminally goofy sloth, Sid; and SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT and JOSH PECK reprise possums Crash & Eddie.
Joining the ever-growing Ice Age family for Continental Drift is a stellar lineup, including JEREMY RENNER, an Academy Award nominee for The Hurt Locker and The Town (and whose upcoming films include Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Bourne Legacy), who portrays Gutt, a self-styled master of the high seas who’s determined to make Manny, Sid and Diego part of his crew; WANDA SYKES as Sid’s stowaway Granny, who causes all sorts of problems for our heroes; AZIZ ANSARI as Squint, a prehistoric rabbit who fancies himself a tough guy; actress-pop music star KEKE PALMER as Peaches, Manny and Ellie’s headstrong teenage daughter; hip hop sensation DRAKE as Ethan, a handsome young woolly mammoth who has his eye on Peaches – and JENNIFER LOPEZ as Shira, a sabre-toothed tigress who melts Diego’s heart.
Also taking on starring roles are HEATHER MORRIS, JOY BEHAR, NICKI MINAJ, JOSH GAD, ALAN TUDYK, NICK FROST, KUNAL NAYYAR, ALAIN CHABAT and JB SMOOVE.
Also returning is Scrat (again voiced by CHRIS WEDGE), who in the first Ice Age emerged as a movie icon. In ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT, Scrat’s nutty pursuit of the cursed acorn, which he’s been after since the dawn of time, has world-changing consequences -- a continental cataclysm that triggers the greatest adventure of all for Manny, Diego and Sid. In the wake of these earth-shattering upheavals, Sid reunites with his long lost family, and the gang encounters a ragtag menagerie of colorful new characters determined to stop them from returning home.
ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT is directed by Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier, and produced by Lori Forte and John Donkin.
Twentieth Century Fox releases the animated comedy event, in 3D, on July 13, 2012.
About Fox Filmed Entertainment
One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International, and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Review: "Wedding Crashers" Marries Raunch and Romance
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR: David Dobkin
WRITERS: Steve Faber and Bob Fisher
PRODUCERS: Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, and Andrew Panay
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Julio Macat
EDITOR: Mark Livolsi
COMEDY with elements of romance
Starring: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Christopher Walken, Bradley Cooper, Isla Fisher, Jane Seymour, Ron Canada, Jenny Alden, Ellen Albertini Dow, and Will Ferrell with James Carville and John McCain
Flowing with raunchy and rich language, Wedding Crashers is hilarious counter programming in a Summer 2005 movie season filled with superhero, sci-fi, and horror special effects-flick madness. Vince Vaughn, who once upon a time Hollywood seemed to be grooming to play the leading man, has turned out to be a mad comic actor; he alternates his slacker-wiseguy between being sometimes overbearing and sometimes playing the big, old teddy bear, and we get a little of both here. Owen Wilson’s cool, slow burning, man of bliss doesn’t wear thin, even in bad movies, and Wedding Crashers is by no means bad. The reason is simple: Wilson and Vaughn fit together like a classic comedy duo, playing the best insincerity since Bill Murray and Chevy Chase charmed their way through adversaries, hapless partners, and beautiful gals back in the 70’s and 80’s.
John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Klein (Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators who spend a few weekends out of the year crashing weddings. At these weddings, they’re always on the lookout for Ms. Right, but only to bed her for the night before disappearing back to their straight lives. John convinces Jeremy to take on their biggest crash, the social event of the year, the wedding of the daughter of the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, William Cleary (Christopher Walken), where they’ll pretend to be somewhat distant relatives of the family, the Ryan brothers, venture capitalists. There, John falls in love at first sight with Cleary’s already-engaged daughter, Claire (Rachel McAdams). The duo gets roped into spending a weekend at the Cleary family’s palatial waterfront estate, but soon find themselves over their heads. Jeremy has caught the eye of Claire’s loopy, sex-crazed sister, Gloria (Isla Fisher), and Owen has to compete with Claire’s rich, jerk fiancé, Sack (Bradley Cooper), who is determined to discover the “Ryan boys” real identities.
Wedding Crashers is both witty and fearless when it comes to taking on the idea of marriage. It’s not exactly cynical, but it’s far from treating marriage and family with reverence. Still, like Old School did a little more than two years ago, Wedding Crashers goes all mushy in the third act as Jeremy gets serious for the first time about a real and deep relationship and John pouts over true love lost. Wedding Crasher’s turn towards the profound doesn’t ring hollow like Old School’s did. The film seems to suggest in a natural and unforced fashion that the boys can’t keep up the ultra-immature routine for the rest of their lives; they must eventually become mature men. They’re too old to act so adolescent and unripe and so callously towards people for their own gratification – certainly not at an occasion where families come together for an event that (usually) unites two families and promises to enlarge them both and continue their lines into the future.
Besides Wilson and Vaughn, most of the rest of the cast is D.O.A. Bradley Cooper does a good turn as the “villain,” and his character begs the audience to know him more, but he’s ultimately tossed aside for the happy ending. Ron Canada as the butler, Randolph, and Ellen Albertini Dow as the harshly frank Grandma Mary are also shortchanged, which ultimately shortchanges the audience. There is a sorry streak in this film’s script that keeps the other madcap characters muzzled because the film must in due course affirm American family’s values. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is OK for our entertainment and art to tear at our institutions as often as they enforce them.
Not that Wedding Crashers doesn’t remain a bit unhinged even to the end – Will Ferrell’s cameo appearance in the last act allows the film to retain a nice big chunk of its pitiless nature. That makes this flick more than just a guilty pleasure, it is knock down, sidesplitting, riotous, totally freaking funny movie.
7 of 10
B+
Thursday, August 4, 2011
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Reaches $1 Billion in Worldwide Box Office
“TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON” CROSSES $1 BILLION WORLDWIDE
HOLLYWOOD, CA (August 3, 2011) – Worldwide box office receipts for TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, have hit $1 billion, Paramount Pictures announced today. To date, the third installment of the hit Transformers franchise, and the first shot in 3-D, has grossed $338 million in U.S. (through Monday) and $663 million internationally (through Tuesday).
“TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is the first billion dollar grossing movie in the history of Paramount Pictures, marking a substantial milestone in the 99 year life of this legendary studio," said Brad Grey, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures. “We are grateful for the extraordinary work of Michael Bay and his film-making team, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and everyone at Paramount around the globe who played a part in helping make this latest TRANSFORMERS one of the 10 highest grossing films worldwide of all time".
Earlier this summer, Paramount was the first studio to reach $1 billion in domestic grosses, aided by the $180.7 million opening of TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON over the July 4th holiday. This is the fifth year in a row that Paramount has reached the milestone before any other studio. Paramount Pictures International crossed the $2 billion mark on July 30th, making it the first for any studio this year to reach the benchmark. The studio has had six consecutive movies earning over $100 million at the domestic box office in 2011.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White with John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. © 2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. © 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
For more information, go to http://www.transformersmovie.com/
ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Paramount Television & Digital Distribution.
HOLLYWOOD, CA (August 3, 2011) – Worldwide box office receipts for TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, have hit $1 billion, Paramount Pictures announced today. To date, the third installment of the hit Transformers franchise, and the first shot in 3-D, has grossed $338 million in U.S. (through Monday) and $663 million internationally (through Tuesday).
“TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is the first billion dollar grossing movie in the history of Paramount Pictures, marking a substantial milestone in the 99 year life of this legendary studio," said Brad Grey, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures. “We are grateful for the extraordinary work of Michael Bay and his film-making team, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and everyone at Paramount around the globe who played a part in helping make this latest TRANSFORMERS one of the 10 highest grossing films worldwide of all time".
Earlier this summer, Paramount was the first studio to reach $1 billion in domestic grosses, aided by the $180.7 million opening of TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON over the July 4th holiday. This is the fifth year in a row that Paramount has reached the milestone before any other studio. Paramount Pictures International crossed the $2 billion mark on July 30th, making it the first for any studio this year to reach the benchmark. The studio has had six consecutive movies earning over $100 million at the domestic box office in 2011.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White with John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. © 2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. © 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
For more information, go to http://www.transformersmovie.com/
ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Paramount Television & Digital Distribution.
Review: "Police Academy" is Still Really Funny (Thanks for the Movie Memories, Bubba Smith)
Police Academy (1984)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Hugh Wilson
WRITERS: Neal Israel and Pat Proft and Hugh Wilson; story by Neal Israel and Pat Proft
PRODUCER: Paul Maslansky
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael D. Margulies
EDITORS: Robert Brown and Zach Staenberg
COMEDY
Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, G.W. Bailey, Bubba Smith, Donovan Scott, George Gaynes, Andrew Rubin, David Graf, Leslie Easterbrook, Michael Winslow, Bruce Mahler, Ted Ross, Scott Thompson, Brant Van Hoffman, and Marion Ramsey
Police Academy is a comedy film that debuted in early Spring 1984 and went on to become a box office smash hit. The film also spawned six sequels, an animated television series, and a short-lived live action TV series.
The movie takes place in an unnamed city. The newly-elected mayor decides that the Police Academy will now be open to any and all applicants regardless of height, weight, sex, intelligence, etc, and the floodgates of oddities and eccentrics bursts open. The story focuses on a group of good-hearted, but incompetent misfits led by Cadet Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), a prankster who was forced to join the Academy to avoid jail time. The instructors, in particular Lt. Thaddeus Harris (G.W. Bailey), are not going to put up with Mahoney’s pranks, and Harris is also determined to get rid of any cadet who wouldn’t have made it into the Academy under the old rules. However, Mahoney is determined not to let Lt. Harris get his way, so he leads his misfit friends into proving that they can protect and serve.
The 1984 R-rated Police Academy spawned a slew of PG-rated sequels, and while some of them are funny, the original is still the best. Over two decades later, the first film is still as funny today as it was then, and I have to admit to laughing hard and often while watching this. Basically, Police Academy was the Anchorman and Dodgeball of its day. The script doesn’t let you know the characters, although the jokes and humor are almost entirely character based. There isn’t a whole lot of comedy based on the setting (except for a gay bar); these characters could be played for jokes even if they weren’t at a Police Academy (in fact, future films often moved them outside the Academy).
Co-writer/director Hugh Wilson and fellow writers Neal Israel and Pat Proft (both known for writing movies that send-up or spoof just about anything) keep the often juvenile humor coming, and most of it works. Also, one cannot over emphasize how important the affable and likeable Steve Guttenberg playing the smart-assed/wise guy/jokester was to making this franchise’s early films work so well.
Police Academy – still going strong over a quarter-century later, and I think I’ll watch it again to remember Bubba Smith as Cadet Moses Hightower.
6 of 10
B
Thursday, August 04, 2011
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
"Scarface" Returns to Theatres for One Night Only - August 31st
Presented by NCM Fathom and Universal Studios Home Entertainment in More Than 475 Select Movie Theaters Nationwide on August 31
Special Event Includes the Debut of Exclusive Featurette Showcasing the Pop Culture Phenomenon That Redefined the Gangster Genre
Centennial, Colo. – August 1, 2011 – Blasting onto the silver screen with the intensity of its original release nearly 30 years ago, the pop culture phenomenon Scarface, starring Al Pacino and directed by Brian De Palma, returns to movie theaters in a one-night Fathom event on Wednesday, August 31 at 7:30 p.m. local time. Presented by NCM Fathom and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, audiences nationwide will get the opportunity to experience one of the most influential gangster classics ever made like never before — with all-new restored high-definition picture and enhanced audio. Fans who attend this special event will also get an exclusive look at a 20-minute special feature that showcases interviews with popular filmmakers and talent expressing how this epic feature redefined the gangster genre, leaving an enduring influence on cinema.
Tickets for the Scarface Special Event (http://www.fathomevents.com/classics/event/scarface.aspx?utm_source=PR_Scarface&utm_medium=Press_release_Scarface&utm_campaign=PR_Scarface) are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the NCM Fathom website (theaters and participants are subject to change). TheScarface Special Event will appear in more than 475 select movie theaters across the country via the new digital cinema projection systems.
“Almost 30 years after its initial release, Scarface remains iconic and stirs passionate responses from audiences around the world,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom. “Now, fans can experience Scarfacelike never before in theaters with spectacularly updated visual and sound quality, and never-before-seen elements in an historic, one-night event.”
Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama and masterful collaboration between acclaimed director Brian DePalma and Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Oliver Stone. Produced by Martin Bregman, Academy Award® winner Al Pacino stars as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who finds wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams…at a price he never imagined. Scarface was nominated for three Golden Globe® Awards (including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Score), and was named one of the Top 10 Gangster Films of All Time by the American Film Institute.
This one-night, in-theater event celebrates the first-ever Blu-rayTM release of Scarface on September 6 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Fans of Scarface will enjoy the restored high-definition picture and 7.1 audio plus see exclusive new bonus content that reveals the film’s iconic legacy as one of the greatest crime sagas of all time. For a limited time only, the Scarface Special Limited Edition Blu-rayTM comes with collectible SteelBookTM packaging, 10 exclusive art cards, a digital copy of the film and a DVD of the original 1932Scarface, making it a must-own addition to every film fan’s library. And, for the ultimate collector and cigar enthusiast, an elegantly hand-crafted Scarface-themed humidor will also be made available in an exclusive, never-before-available, limited edition.
About National CineMedia (NCM)
http://www.nationalcinemedia.com/content/pdf/National_CineMedia_NCM_Media_Networks_Background_Fact_Sheet.pdf operates NCM Media Networks, a leading integrated media company reaching U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and throughmobile technology. NCM Cinema Network (http://www.nationalcinemedia.com/cinema-network) and NCM Fathom (http://www.nationalcinemedia.com/ncm-fathom) present cinema advertising and events across the nation’s largest digital in-theater network, comprised of theaters owned by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) and other leading regional theater circuits. NCM’s theater advertising network covers 170 Designated Market Areas® (49 of the top 50) and includes approximately 17,200 screens (16,100 digital). During 2010, over 680 million patrons attended movies shown in theaters currently included in NCM’s network (including Consolidated Theatres, Rave Cinemas, Coming Attractions and Digiplex Destinations). The NCM Fathom Events (http://www.nationalcinemedia.com/content/files/Fathom_Backgrounder(1).pdf) broadcast network is comprised of over 600 locations in 163 Designated Market Areas® (all of the top 50). The NCM Interactive Network (http://www.nationalcinemedia.com/interactive-network) offers 360-degree integrated marketing opportunities in combination with cinema, encompassing 43 entertainment-related websites, online widgets and mobile applications. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 48.6% interest in and is themanaging member of National CineMedia LLC. For more information, visit www.nationalcinemedia.com or http://www.ncm.com/ or http://www.fathomevents.com/.
About Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios. Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal , one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51% interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49% stake.
Negromancer News MEGA ALERT - Laurence Fishburne Cast in Superman Movie
Entertainment Weekly has a hot exclusive! In an article posted last night, EW announced that Laurence Fishburne has been cast as "Perry White" in the upcoming Superman film reboot, Man of Steel, which is due in theatres June 14, 2013.
Perry White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, the newspaper where both Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane are ace reporters. Christopher Nolan is producing Man of Steel with Zack Snyder directing from a David Goyer script. The film is supposed to begin shooting this fall.
Perry White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, the newspaper where both Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane are ace reporters. Christopher Nolan is producing Man of Steel with Zack Snyder directing from a David Goyer script. The film is supposed to begin shooting this fall.
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