Back in the day, I loved, loved, loved me some Donna Summer. I'm still a fan. The Wrap has confirmed that she died sometime this morning (Thursday, May 17, 2012). Her family released the following statement:
"While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy," the statement reads. "Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time."
I will miss the five-time Grammy winner, still known as the "Queen of Disco." Rest in peace, Donna Summer
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Happy Birthday, Albert
Or Happy Birthday, Al, as I've pretty much always called you since we first met 28-freaking-years-ago this coming August. I can't remember your age, but it's really more a state of mind, innit?
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
"Music of the Vampire" an Average Scooby-Doo Toon
Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012) – Video
Running time: 78 minutes (1 hour, 18 minutes)
DIRECTORS: David Block
WRITER: Tom Sheppard
PRODUCERS: Spike Brandt and Tom Cervone
EDITOR: Kyle Stafford
COMPOSER: Andy Sturmer
ANIMATION STUDIO: Digital Emation Inc.
ANIMATION/ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY/MUSICAL
Starring: (voices) Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey DeLisle, Mindy Cohn, Jim Cummings, Jeff Bennett, Mindy Sterling, Christian Campbell, Rob Paulsen, Jim Wise, Julianne Buescher, Obba Babatunde, and Robert Townsend
Beginning in 1998 with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Warner Bros. has released direct-to-video animated movies based on the Scooby-Doo cartoon franchise. Except for a few years when two movies have been released, there has been at least one movie a year. Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire is the 17th movie in this direct-to-video series. It is also the second musical in the series, following Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King (2008).
After battling a giant cockroach monster, the Mystery Inc. gang: Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard), Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Grey DeLisle), Velma Dinkley (Mindy Cohn), and, of course, Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker), are in need of a vacation – a monster-free vacation. They hop in the Mystery Machine and end up in bayou country (Louisiana?) where they eventually come to Petit Chaure Sourie Ville, which means “Little Bat Town.”
They have been invited to the small town by Vincent Van Helsing (Jeff Bennett), a direct descendant of the famed vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing. Vincent has a museum and a parcel of land that he leases to a traveling vampire-themed festival owned by the unscrupulous Lita Rutland (Mindy Sterling). Part of this traveling show is Fangenschanz, a cheesy version of Cirque du Soleil with actors dressed as vampires. During a performance, the Fangenschanz troop apparently awakens a centuries-old vampire, Lord Valdronya (Jeff Bennett). Now, that he is awake, Valdronya wants a bride, and Daphne is the bride he wants.
For the past few years, I’ve been looking forward to each new Scooby-Doo direct-to-DVD movie. However, I didn’t have high hopes for Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire, especially after learning that it was a musical. The eight songs (two of which are reprised) aren’t bad, but they aren’t exceptionally good, either. I have seen some good Scooby-Doo movies; this isn’t one of the particularly good one, although it does have some nice moments. My niece, who was visiting recently, watched it numerous times during this just-passed Mother’s Day weekend. I don’t like Music of the Vampire as much as she apparently does, but she is currently in an I-love-everything-Scooby-Doo phase.
What else can I say? I am guessing that children that like Scooby-Doo will like Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire. Adults who are down with the Doo may not like this, or, like me, they will try to find things in Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire to like.
5 of 10
C+
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
"Scooby-Doo" the Movie is Kinda Doo-Doo
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some rude humor, language and some scary action
DIRECTOR: Raja Gosnell
WRITERS: James Gunn; from a story Craig Titley and James Gunn (based upon the characters created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera)
PRODUCERS: Charles Roven and Richard Suckle
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Eggby (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Kent Beyda
COMPOSER: David Newman
COMEDY/FAMILY/FANTASY/MYSTERY with elements of action
Starring: Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Rowan Atkinson, Isla Fisher, Miguel A Nunez, Jr., Neil Fanning (voice), Scott Innes (voice), J.P. Manoux (voice)
Why does there need to be a feature-length, live action, movie based on the long running “Scooby-Doo” animated series? There are a number of reasons. It’s an exploitable “intellectual” property owned by a giant corporation. It’s a recognizable property and brand name, and frankly, only in recent years has the property owner begun to maximize the licensing potential of this property. Also, most movies from the larger film studios are notoriously expensive; “new” ideas are risky, but remakes and adaptations of stories from other media are the way film studios go when they want to play it safe. To many people, however, both young and old (after all, the Scooby-Doo cartoon concept is over 30 years old), this isn’t a property; it’s Scooby-Doo, man, so a lot of moviegoers were eagerly awaiting the 2002 “live” action debut of Scooby-Doo. And I place live in quotation marks because our favorite cartoon dog is one of many things in this film that isn’t exactly live.
As Scooby-Doo begins, the gang of Mystery Inc. disband due to internal strife. Fred “Freddie” Jones (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is full of himself and believes that he is the group. Daphne Blake (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is tired of her teammates viewing her as a weak link, and Velma Dinkley (Linda Cardellini) wants credit for her intellectual contributions to the group. As the unhappy trio departs, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby (a CGI character) inherit the Mystery Machine, that van that has carried the kids across continents to solve mysteries, and retire to live their lives eating rude junk food.
The gang inadvertently reunites when the owner of Spooky Island, Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson) invites the former teammates separately by invitation to his island to solve the mystery behind the strange behavior of his resort island’s guests. What they find test their individual skills and forces them back together, but can they solve a mystery that might involve their past?
Scooby-Doo alternates between several phases. Sometimes, it’s really dumb, while other times it’s too lame to be dumb. It’s bad, ridiculous, and doesn’t make sense, which is odd because the creators behind the original cartoon series often went to great lengths to give plausible explanations for their often surreal, bizarre, and implausible stories. Yet, there were times when I really found some of the material to be funny. I can’t kid myself. This movie is for children, and not necessarily dumb children. It’s for children and for adults who love Scooby-Doo and are thrilled by the idea of a Scooby movie. Audiences can look forward to this kind of movie now thanks to the ability to render the strangest looking characters and give them complex movements with the aid of computer software. At one time, a Scooby-Doo movie would have meant an actor playing Scooby in an awful looking costume that wouldn’t fool anyone in believing he was Scooby. Now, computers can create an animated Scooby that looks more real and has more range of motion than the original character that was created using traditional cel animation.
Audiences are consumers, and consumers are suckers for the familiar brand names. While we might see Scooby as a beloved character, he’s a product. No studio is going to risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in sales on a film through theatrical release, home video, television, and merchandising just to make a smart and witty movie. The Scooby cartoons were never smart and witty, anyway. Except for an occasional odd, short film from an inventive animator for the Cartoon Network during the 1990’s, the filmography of Scooby has been one of simpleminded entertainment for kids. And I have to admit that I watched lots of Scooby for over two decades.
Director Raja Gosnell, a former film editor, is a perfect choice to direct this. His knowledge of how film works allows him to create a functional film out of what amounts to a poor script. The story actually has something that’s vaguely neat and interesting – an idea here or there that might work. However, the writers seem mostly to be hacks that specialize in B movies. They’re used to doing atrocious work that is “not supposed to be taken seriously.” So I don’t know if the studio wanted this to stay dumb, or that this was dumb by either the writers’ choice or ability. Either way, they couldn’t seem to hold onto what inspiration they had, and I wonder if these guys even know how to aim it when they’re in front of a urinal.
The casting of this movie is mostly wrong. Matthew Lillard seems born to play Shaggy, and Linda Cardellini is tolerable as Velma; after a while, they all sort of grow on you like fungus, and you accept them. I have to admit that despite my reservations, I grew to like the computer generated Scooby. I thought of it as Scooby the same way I would a cel-animated Doo. I really didn’t like that the film introduced adult “personality” traits to the characters: lust, envy, insecurity, hate, revenge, anger, etc.
This film is mostly trash, something light and fluffy, a curiosity piece, in a manner of speaking, so see it for Scooby and Shaggy if for no other reason. There are some really sweet moments that I can’t reveal without spoiling the film, and the sets and costumes were really nice.
5 of 10
C+
NOTES:
2003 Razzie Awards: 2 nominations: “Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie” (Warner Bros.) and “Worst Supporting Actor” (Freddie Prinze, Jr.)
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez to Star in "Getaway"
(Selena Gomez and Ethan Hawke in a photograph from Dark Castle Entertainment and After Dark Films' upcoming feature, Getaway. Photo by Simon Varsano.)
Filming is Underway on “Getaway”
Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon Voight star in the thriller from Dark Castle Entertainment and After Dark Films
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography has begun on Dark Castle Entertainment and After Dark Films’ high-octane action thriller “Getaway.”
The film stars Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke (“Training Day”), actress and international music sensation Selena Gomez (“Wizards of Waverly Place”), and Academy Award® winner Jon Voight (“Coming Home,” the “National Treasure” films).
Courtney Solomon (“An American Haunting”) and Yaron Levy (director of photography on “Transit”) are teaming to direct “Getaway.” Solomon is also producing the film, together with Moshe Diamant and Chris Milburn. The executive producers are Joel Silver, Alan Zeman and Steve Richards. The screenplay is by Gregg Maxwell Parker and Sean Finegan, with the latter also serving as co-producer.
Ethan Hawke plays Brent Magna, a burned out race car driver who is thrust into a do-or-die mission behind the wheel when his wife is kidnapped. With Brent’s only ally a young hacker (Selena Gomez), his one hope of saving his wife is to follow the orders of the mysterious voice (Jon Voight) who’s watching his every move through cameras mounted on the car Brent’s driving.
The behind-the-scenes team includes production designer Nate Jones, editor Ryan Dufrene, and costume designer Irene Kotcheva.
“Getaway” began shooting on location in Sofia, Bulgaria. Future filming will take place in the United States.
The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Review: Lean "Haywire" is Hard and Mean
Haywire (2011)
U.S. release – January 2012
Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violence
EDITOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER/DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
WRITER: Lem Dobbs
PRODUCER: Gregory Jacobs
COMPOSER: David Holmes
ACTION/DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Angarano, Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender, Matthieu Kassovitze, Anthony Brandon Wong, and Bill Paxton
Haywire is a 2011 action movie and espionage thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. Released in the United States earlier this year, Haywire focuses on a female secret operative who must go rogue in order to stay alive.
Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) works for a private firm employed by the American government to perform covert operations. Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) is the firm’s director and, until recently, he was Mallory’s boyfriend. He sends Mallory and a team to Barcelona, Spain to rescue Jiang (Anthony Brandon Wong), a Chinese national being held hostage. After the mission, things go haywire. Mallory goes on the run with Scott (Michael Angarano), a young man she meets at a restaurant. Aaron (Channing Tatum), a member of her team, is pursuing her. Now, she must outwit her pursuers on both sides of the Atlantic if she is going to outlast them and discover who betrayed her.
Although he didn’t write the script, Haywire is a definitely a Steven Soderbergh movie, as he not only directed it, but also photographed it (under the name Peter Andrews) and edited it (under the name Mary Ann Bernard). The film is fast and spare, unlike the extravagant norm of many Hollywood spy and espionage thrillers and action movies. Haywire skewers closer to reality, from the gritty hand to hand combat to Gina Carano’s body and facial features. Mallory Kane looks like a woman who has really served in the military and is trained to do security and covert ops work.
However, there is much about this movie that is flat. There is too much impersonal dialogue and delivery between the characters, and the few scenes of intimacy and personal relationships come across as phony. Much of the cast is underutilized. There isn’t enough of the fantastic Michael Fassbender, and Bill Paxton as John Kane, Mallory’s father, looks as if he is chomping at the bit to do more in this movie.
Still, Haywire is a nice anecdote to the overcooked action, post-human cinema tech, and computer-generated effects that dominate most of the action thrillers now splashed across American movie theatre screens. I like the rough-and-ready Mallory Kane that actress Gina Carano creates. I want more of her, especially if Soderbergh would direct a hypothetical sequel. Haywire is a lean, mean, fighting machine, a breath of fresh air in Hollywood kick-ass cinema.
6 of 10
B
Thursday, May 10, 2012
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"Marvel's The Avengers" Has Earned Over $1 Billion in Worldwide Box Office
“Marvel’s The Avengers” to Cross $1 Billion Globally in 19 Days
Super Hero team-up tallies an estimated $373.2 million domestic, $628.9 million international
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Marvel’s The Avengers is expected to cross the $1 billion threshold at the global box office on May 13, its 19th day in release, The Walt Disney Studios has announced. This is the first Marvel Studios film and the fifth Walt Disney Studios release to reach this important milestone.
The news comes just a week after Marvel’s The Avengers shattered records with a $207.4 million opening weekend, the biggest domestic debut of all time. The film has now earned an estimated $373.2 million at the domestic box office and $628.9 million internationally. As one of only 12 films in history to gross $1 billion, it joins Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Alice in Wonderland, Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on Disney’s list of billion-dollar films.
“We’re obviously thrilled with the global success of The Avengers,” said Robert A. Iger, Disney’s Chairman and CEO. “It’s a fantastic movie and an extraordinary franchise that will continue with more great stories and compelling characters for years to come.”
Marvel’s The Avengers has set several domestic box office records including the industry’s all-time second weekend record with an estimated $103.2 million, fastest film to reach $200 million (3 days), fastest to $300 million (in a record 9 days), and highest Saturday ($69.5 million) and Sunday ($57 million) totals. In addition, its opening day of $80.8 million is the second-highest single-day gross of all time. Moviegoers gave Marvel’s The Avengers a rare A+ CinemaScore.
Internationally, Marvel’s The Avengers began opening April 25 and is the biggest opening weekend of all time in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, and United Arab Emirates. Marvel’s The Avengers has now opened in all major markets except Japan (August 17).
On May 8, Disney announced that a sequel to Marvel’s The Avengers was in development, following last month’s announcement that a follow-up to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger will be released April 4, 2014. A sequel to last summer’s Thor is scheduled for release November 15, 2013, and the third installment of the hit Iron Man series, which has earned over $1.2 billion worldwide, will arrive in theaters May 3, 2013.
Marvel’s The Avengers is the first Marvel Studios film to be marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios.
About Marvel’s The Avengers
Marvel Studios presents Marvel’s The Avengers – the team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and directed by Joss Whedon, Marvel’s The Avengers is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series The Avengers, first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since.
Marvel’s The Avengers is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film was produced by Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The story was by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon and the screenplay was by Joss Whedon. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit http://www.marvel.com/.
Super Hero team-up tallies an estimated $373.2 million domestic, $628.9 million international
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Marvel’s The Avengers is expected to cross the $1 billion threshold at the global box office on May 13, its 19th day in release, The Walt Disney Studios has announced. This is the first Marvel Studios film and the fifth Walt Disney Studios release to reach this important milestone.
The news comes just a week after Marvel’s The Avengers shattered records with a $207.4 million opening weekend, the biggest domestic debut of all time. The film has now earned an estimated $373.2 million at the domestic box office and $628.9 million internationally. As one of only 12 films in history to gross $1 billion, it joins Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Alice in Wonderland, Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on Disney’s list of billion-dollar films.
“We’re obviously thrilled with the global success of The Avengers,” said Robert A. Iger, Disney’s Chairman and CEO. “It’s a fantastic movie and an extraordinary franchise that will continue with more great stories and compelling characters for years to come.”
Marvel’s The Avengers has set several domestic box office records including the industry’s all-time second weekend record with an estimated $103.2 million, fastest film to reach $200 million (3 days), fastest to $300 million (in a record 9 days), and highest Saturday ($69.5 million) and Sunday ($57 million) totals. In addition, its opening day of $80.8 million is the second-highest single-day gross of all time. Moviegoers gave Marvel’s The Avengers a rare A+ CinemaScore.
Internationally, Marvel’s The Avengers began opening April 25 and is the biggest opening weekend of all time in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, and United Arab Emirates. Marvel’s The Avengers has now opened in all major markets except Japan (August 17).
On May 8, Disney announced that a sequel to Marvel’s The Avengers was in development, following last month’s announcement that a follow-up to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger will be released April 4, 2014. A sequel to last summer’s Thor is scheduled for release November 15, 2013, and the third installment of the hit Iron Man series, which has earned over $1.2 billion worldwide, will arrive in theaters May 3, 2013.
Marvel’s The Avengers is the first Marvel Studios film to be marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios.
About Marvel’s The Avengers
Marvel Studios presents Marvel’s The Avengers – the team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and directed by Joss Whedon, Marvel’s The Avengers is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series The Avengers, first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since.
Marvel’s The Avengers is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film was produced by Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The story was by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon and the screenplay was by Joss Whedon. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit http://www.marvel.com/.
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