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Frankly My Dear...

    Frankly My Dear...

    Eduardo Sanchez’s ‘Lovely Molly’ premieres at Toronto

    Posted: 12 Sep 2011 04:56 AM PDT

    “Blair Witch Project” co-director Eduardo Sanchez no longer lives in Orlando, and hasn’t had much movie luck in the dozen years since that film made him and the Haxan Films team household names in the horror world.

    But “Lovely Molly” has a little Toronto buzz, and premiered there this weekend. We’ll see what comes of it, but here’s the trailer.

    Film Slam Sunday — ‘Broken Triangle’ takes top local short film honors

    Posted: 12 Sep 2011 04:41 AM PDT

    Sunday’s monthly Film Slam put another movie in this winter’s Brouhaha Film and Video Showcase at The Enzian. The winning film in each month’s Slam finds its way there, and this month, “Broken Triangle” won honors.

    “Play it Like a Train Whistle” was second and “Tell Tale” came in third.

    ‘Salmon Fishing in Yemen’ may go to CBS Films

    Posted: 12 Sep 2011 04:35 AM PDT

    Lasse Hallestrom directed the film of “Salmon Fishing in Yemen,“  and Simon “Slumdog” Beaufoy scripted it.

    Several actors I have talked to over the past year mentioned being happy to star in it — Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas are the leads, with Amr Waked.

    Now Variety is reporting that the finished film is being pursued by the stumbling CBS Films, which has had trouble getting a hit out of its first year and a half of releases. McGregor stars as a man whose journey of self-discovery takes him to the troubled desert state, and his involvement in efforts to bring a salmon fishery there.

    Yeah, it’s a work of fiction, based on Paul Torday’s 2008 novel.


    The Weekend’s bombs — ‘Creature,’ ‘Bucky Larson’ but not Kevin Hart

    Posted: 12 Sep 2011 03:55 AM PDT

    “Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star,” didn’t make a star of Nick Swardson. And “Creature” didn’t launch anybody’s career horror. Both opened very poorly and neither will cover its costs (low low costs) theatrically. “Creature” earned a measly $220 per screen — that’s about two, maybe three tickets per showing, all weekend.

    I have to keep track of everything going into wide release, and I was surprised to see this “Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Paid” concert film opening here — in multiple theaters.

    I’m familiar with Hart’s big screen work, but this stand-up movie had no promotion, no studio pushing it, no buzz, no advertising that I ran across. Totally off my radar.

    But on just 97 screens, it racked up an impressive $20,000 per screen over the weekend.

    I guess my fears that, “Wait, is he a bigger stand-up deal than I realize? Is he box office with this corner of the audience, or that one?,” were on the mark. Need to catch that one today, if I can squeeze it in.

    Today’s Interview: Julianne Hough

    Posted: 12 Sep 2011 03:48 AM PDT

    She’s a two-time “Dancing With the Stars” winner, as the pro ballroom dancer partner everybody wants to team with.
    She’s a country singer.
    And she’s an actress. Julianne Hough, she of the other-worldly eyes and the Queen of All Media ambition, co-stars in the new “Footloose,” playing the sassy rebel daughter of Pastor Dennis Quaid and grieving mom Andie MacDowell.
    She wears the big-ish hair, the short jeans skirts and cowgirl boots of her corner of rural Georgia with style and is catnip to all the boys. Especially co-star Kenny Wormald.
    Got questions for Julianne? No “Dancing With the Stars” stuff, if you please. Ancient history. I mean, she’s 23 now and may be looking at a new career on the big screen if this new “Footloose” hits (It could).
    Post your questions as comment below, and thanks for your help.

    Movie Review: The Lion King 3D

    Posted: 11 Sep 2011 05:45 AM PDT

    Nobody really knew Matthew Broderick could sing, back in the early ’90s. Still, it’s a little bit of a surprise to recall that Disney used somebody else to do his crooning in 1994’s “The Lion King.” A year later, Broderick would storm Broadway in the musical revival “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

    “Lion King” was the movie that Disney insiders regard as a high-water mark for traditional Disney animation, the exclamation point on the success story that began with “The Little Mermaid” and continued with “Beauty and the Beast.” That cell-animated (with some digital sequences) classic earns a nice 3D dressing up in “The Ling King 3D,” Disney’s two-week re-issue of the film, opening Friday. That’s to be followed by an early October release on BluRay.

    It still looks lovely, with beautifully drawn lions and hyenas — plus a warthog, a meerkat, a mandrill and a hornbill, and assorted other denizens of the African savannah. The wildebeest stampede is almost as novel and breathtaking as it was when the film was new.

    And those voices — Nathan Lane’s career had a major uptick after his turn in this, and Lane and his “Guys and Dolls” co-star Ernie Sabella made Disney’s greatest comic team — pre-Buzz and Woody.

    “So kid, what’s eatin’ you?”

    “NOTHING! He’s at the top of the food chain!”

    Jeremy Irons must have worn a mustache into the recording booth to voice Scar, the villain. There’s a mustache twirl in every treacherous line. James Earl Jones, as the king, Mufasa, gave the story’s message weight.

    “Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.”

    Maybe “Hakuna Matata” has become a musical cliche, but the Jackson Five-ish “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” still tickles. And Elton John’s anthems “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “The Circle of Life” are likewise so much a part of the culture as to seem worn, but still soar.

    The 3D doesn’t add much  — only depth — to this film, which won a couple of Oscars upon its release. A wildebeest or hyena almost falls into your lap, here and there.

    Once upon a time, pre-video, Disney re-issued its classics to theaters for short runs so that a new generation could experience them the way they were meant to be seen. That makes this “Lion King” revival part of a grand tradition, 3D or not. Some who were just children 17 years ago have the chance to make this the first Disney film their kids see in a theater. Lucky them.

    MPAA Rating: G

    Cast: Matthew Broderick (Simba), Jeremy Irons (Scar), Nathan Lane (Timon), Ernie Sabella (Pumba), Moira Kelly (Nala), James Earl Jones (Mufasa)

    Credits:Directed by Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, produced by Don Hahn. A Walt Disney Pictures release. Running time: 1:29