Genres:     Comedy
Running Time:     1 hr. 26 min.
Release Date:     July 4th 2008 (limited)
Distributors:     Regent Releasing
Starring:       Lisa Kudrow, Scott Prendergast, Teri Garr, Christine Taylor, Chris Parnell
Directed by:     Scott Prendergast
Produced by:     Sarah Feinberg, Nancy Stephens (II), Jeff Balis

Goofball comedies centered on weird characters are a blast when they find the right balance between irony and the bizarre without indulging in self-pity, as current masters of the genre Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums) and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) can attest. What these directors understand is that in order to make that type of humor work, characters need to have some kind of strength and that overplaying their ridicule might end up killing it.

For his full-length debut, writer/director Scott Prendergast used his own experience as a baby-sitter for his sister-in-law to build a film about a simple guy bordering on autistic who is at odds with some bratty kids. But the real center of the story is without a doubt this big blue mascot suit in which he dresses up for his day job. From giving away flyers on empty roads to awkwardly walking around and getting into fights, this grotesque suit is used as a gimmick to make us laugh, which initially works.

However Kabluey quickly turns into a one-joke movie once the element of surprise has passed, which is often the case when shorts are turned into features. You can’t even fall back on the storyline to make up for it, as male babysitters from hell have become somewhat of a clichй after multiple incarnations including tough guys Arnold and Vin Diesel.

If Kabluey were to pretend to be nothing other than an amateurish indie debut, you could probably cut it some slack. However, the fact that the cast features recognizable faces wasted in poorly written characters — including Lisa Kudrow playing against-type — makes Kabluey a shiny broken toy, a vanity project sunk in dorkiness.

Release Date: July 4, 2008
Running Time: 1:28
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Rosser Goodman
Cast: Brent Gorski Trevor
Jay Brannan Jake
Melissa Searing Andie
Eli Kranski Ephram
Christopher Wyllie Darrell
Writers: Brent Gorski
Official Website: http://www.holdingtrevor.com/

Trevor Holden has just witnessed his boyfriend Darrell overdose on heroin–again. And as his oldest friend, Trevor feels a responsibility to help Darrell in his latest attempt at sobriety, much to the dismay of his own best friends Jake and Andie. But when Darrell starts using again, Trevor is finally ready to call it quits. And just when he does, he meets the ever so charming Ephram. Simply being everything that Darrell is not immediately wins Ephram a number of points. As Trevor’s relationship with Ephram quickly progresses, it starts to put a strain on his friendships with Jake and Andie. Jake, the self-proclaimed sex-addict, is starting to worry a little bit about his past catching up with him, namely in the form of HIV. And Andie, who drunkenly ends her sexual dry spell with a one-night stand, realizes that Jake might have less to worry about than she does. Meanwhile, Ephram accepts a job thousands of miles away in New York City, and he wants Trevor to go with him. Now, what started out as Trevor’s own personal existential journey turns into a path that will lead everyone to what is most important: themselves.

Starring: Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Method Man
Supporting Cast : Mary Kate Olsen, Olivia Thirlby, Famke Janssen, Aaron Yoo
Director: Jonathan Levine
Screenwriter: Jonathan Levine
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

release date: 3 Jule 2008 (limited)

Sundance Review: ‘The Wackness’

Is it too early to declare The Wackness the best film of Sundance 2008? I mean, it’s only day two (or three, if you actually got here on opening day), but I have a hard time imagining a movie I am going to love as completely as I loved this one. To be fair, I’m predisposed to adoring The Wackness - it’s set in New York City in 1994, which was where and when I was living what might turn out to be the best days of my life. But even beyond that, I think the movie is just wonderful and is real, honest, hilarious and even a little bit touching. Let me reiterate: I really loved this movie.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8jLREfD1qE4

Luke is a pot dealer just about to graduate high school. He’s not a loser, but he’s not one of the cool kids. He only gets invited to the parties when they need more weed. Luke is also in a very strange form of therapy - he’s selling pot to his classmate’s shrink father, who is paying him in the form of sessions. The Wackness takes place over the summer between high school graduation and leaving for college as the lives of Luke and his therapist fall apart in major ways. Read the rest of this entry »

A Sony Pictures Entertainment release of a Columbia Pictures presentation in association with Relativity Media of a Blue Light/Weed Road Pictures/Overbrook Entertainment production. Produced by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Mann, Will Smith, James Lassiter. Executive producers, Ian Bryce, Jonathan Mostow, Richard Saperstein. Co-producer, Allegra Clegg. Directed by Peter Berg. Screenplay, Vy Vincent Ngo, Vince Gilligan.

release date: 2 july 2008

John Hancock - Will Smith
Mary - Charlize Theron
Ray Embrey - Jason Bateman
Red - Eddie Marsan
Jeremy - Johnny Galecki
Mike - Thomas Lennon
Aaron - Jae Head

An intriguing high concept is undermined by low-grade dramaturgy in “Hancock.” This misguided attempt to wring a novel twist on the superhero genre has a certain whiff of “The Last Action Hero” about it, with Will Smith playing an indestructible crime-buster in a pointedly real-world context. Although it will inevitably open very large, this odd and perplexing aspiring tentpole will provide a real test of Smith’s box office invincibility.
The central idea of Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan’s script — of Smith’s John Hancock being an ornery, unwilling hero who escapes from his ordained role in life via booze and general cantankerousness — is amusing and plausible enough to sustain the first section of the film. What the writers and director Peter Berg do with the concept in the end, however, is nowhere near sufficiently thought out, and narrative illogic and missed opportunities plague the film increasingly as it cartwheels through its surprisingly brief running time.

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Weekend Estimates June 27 to June 29, 2008

Angelina Jolie’s action thriller Wanted had the best opening ever for an R-rated film released in June and the 6th best opening of all the time for any R-rated film, according to Variety.
But Wanted didn’t open at No. 1. WALL-E, the Pixar Animation tale about a robot, opened with $62.5 million in ticket sales, while Jolie’s assassin thriller Wanted raked in $51.1 million, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
According to the AP, WALL-E drew moviegoers of all ages.
“The real secret is they’re not children’s movies. They’re movies for everybody. Children absolutely adore them, but parents enjoy them on a different level,” Mark Zoradi, president of Disney’s motion-picture group told the AP.
Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, told the AP, “We knew WALL-E would be huge, but it’s not the same audience as Wanted.”
The same New York Times critic who dissed the Sex and the City movie gave Jolie a rave review.
“With her mean smiley-sneer and snug clothes, her heels and hieroglyphics, she cuts the kind of disciplinarian figure who can bring antsy boys of all ages to their knees or at least into their theater seats,” Manohla Dargis wrote.

http://www.usmagazine.com

This week begins with a whimper as Monday box office results reveal that last week was better. Despite two new debuts from high profile actors, top 10 box office had combined receipts of $17,716,720, down 14% from last Monday’s $20,586,002. There are two reasons for this. The first is that this week’s openers are not as strong as last week’s openers. And the second is that last week’s openers are dying faster than Dane Cook’s career.

Get Smart finished in first place for the fourth consecutive day and, barring something unforeseen, will keep this streak alive until it falls to third place on Friday. The Steve Carell comedy earned $5,119,453 yesterday, which is a total representative of 85% of The Incredible Hulk’s business last Monday, $6,010,045. I say this as a point of reference for making the statement that Get Smart had a much better first weekday than Hulk. The explanation is that the spy spoof earned only 70% of the weekend box office of its comic book counterpart. Closing the gap this much percentage-wise is not wholly unexpected given Hulk’s now-proven lousy legs, but it’s one of only three true positives in yesterday’s top ten.

To my surprise, one of the other positives is The Love Guru, the Mike Myers comedy rejected by North America en masse. The film follows up on a dreadful $13.9 million opening weekend with $2,649,125. This may not sound like much, but it is representative of 19.1% of its initial three-day total. For comparison’s sake, Get Smart is at “only” 13.2% of its weekend number, a performance we have already described as good. Now, I want to stress that it’s a trick of box office mathematics for smaller films to have better hold-over in terms of percentage declines, as has been discussed on the site many times. A $40 million opener is not the same as a $100 million opener in this manner nor is it the same as a $14 million opener. There is a tiering system at work, but even allowing for this, a 19.1% holdover on Monday is strong for almost any title. I hate Myers as much as the rest of you do, but this is a positive after a week of negative press for him. Of course, it’s also far too little, far too late.

The final positive in the top ten is the impressive staying power of Kung Fu Panda. After falling only 34.2% in its second Monday last week, the title performs even stronger at the start of week three. A decline of only 27.2% gives it a running total of $158,861,401. It should be around $169 million by the weekend, meaning it has switched from a possibility to beat Madagascar to a strong likelihood. And, on a personal note, I highly recommend the movie to all of you, particularly the readers who are also parents.

In terms of last week’s openers, we chronicled their plight all of last week. The data points all added up to hefty weekend declines, and the prophecy was fulfilled when The Incredible Hulk fell a stiff 60% and The Happening fell off a cliff with a 66% drop. Both films continued their disappearing acts with Monday box office. Hulk dropped 56% to $2,649,125, mirroring its Ang Lee predecessor. That title fell 60% on its second Monday to $2.461 million. In terms of where both films were at after the same time frame, 11 days, The Hulk was at $103.1 million while The Incredible Hulk stands at $99,704,555. If we account for box office inflation, 2003 Hulk is 22% ahead of 2008 Hulk in terms of actual tickets sold.

Daily Box Office for Monday, June 23, 2008
Rank Film Distributor Daily Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Get Smart Warner Bros. $5,119,453 New $43,802,933
2 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks $3,030,526 - 27.2% $158,861,401
3 The Incredible Hulk Universal Pictures, Marvel Studios $2,649,125 - 55.9% $99,704,555
4 The Love Guru Paramount $1,789,785 New $15,696,915
5 The Happening Twentieth Century Fox $1,297,044 - 58.6% $52,046,539
6 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $1,027,200 - 31.2% $291,988,244
7 You Don’t Mess With the Zohan Sony/Columbia $1,011,662 - 54.1% $85,320,080
8 Sex and the City New Line Cinema $931,268 - 39.1% $133,384,037
9 Iron Man Paramount $552,947 - 23.3% $305,369,088
10 The Strangers Focus Features $307,710 - 52.7% $50,067,445
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

Language: Hindi

Release Status and date: Releasing on Jun 27, 2008

Ranbeer Talwar (Saif Ali Khan), one of the country’s top industrialists, is a loner, not out of his free will but just because he lost everyone, he ever loved. Life turns around 360 degrees when he faces the most uncomfortable situation of his life. In a very unusual court verdict, he is to look after four orphan children.
Unfortunately, the orphans hate him and want revenge from him for some reason and Ranbeer cannot meet their eye for certain reasons. The children do not want to live with a man they hate and they go ahead to make it quite evident. Their life together is very unhappy, one day they pray to God for help, and he does help them. He sends his most mischievous, childlike, lovable angle to the rescue, with a mission to bring Ranbeer and the kids together.
Geeta (Rani Mukherjee) comes cycling down a rainbow… and bursts into Ranbeer’s house as the self-proclaimed new nanny. And then starts the roller coaster ride of fun, emotions, magic and love.
An angel who doesn’t know what love is, A man who always lost love, 4 orphans who need love all come together to bring you a film with fun, excitement, masti, tears, magic and love truly…
…Thoda Pyar, Thoda Magic!

Gunnin for That #1 spot

Genres: Documentary and Sports
Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
Release Date: June 27th, 2008 (limited)
Distributors: Oscilloscope Pictures

Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot is a 2008 documentary directed by Adam Yauch, founding member of the Beastie Boys. The movie will premiere at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival in April 2008 and will open in theaters June 27th, 2008.

Starring: Bobbito Garcia
Directed by: Adam Yauch
Produced by: Adam Yauch, Jon Doran
Company: Oscilloscope Pictures

It’s hard to imagine the basketball junkie who won’t fall madly in love with Adam Yauch’s new documentary, Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot, simply because it’s a very sincere and admirably straightforward story about eight young men and their passion for the game. Sure, all eight of the high school basketball wizards have their dreams set on NBA fame, but at this early point in their career, these guys just enjoy the game that much. At this point it’s not about money, contracts, or endorsements. It’s almost time for all that jazz, but what’s most important right now, in these formative years, are teamwork, dedication, and talent.

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Starring: Michael Douglas, Joan Allen, Paul Giamatti, Danny Glover, Nathan Lane, Liam Neeson, David Strathairn, Donald Sutherland, Kirk Douglas, Walter Bernstein
Director: Peter Askin

Genres: Documentary, Adaptation and Politics/Religion
Running Time: 1 hr. 36 min.
Release Date: June 27th, 2008 (limited)
Distributors: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Trumbo tells the remarkable story of Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, one of the famed Hollywood 10, who were indicted and convicted for contempt of congress during the HUAC trials of the late forties. Adapted from the play created by Trumbo’s son Christopher Trumbo, the film chronicles Dalton’s life, from his rise to being one of the most sought after screenwriters working in Hollywood to being placed on the Hollywood blacklist to writing under pseudonyms and winning an Academy Award. All in all, Dalton Trumbo is responsible for some of the great film works of the 20th century including Spartacus, Roman Holiday, Johnny Got His Gun and Papillon. Many of the stories he wrote strongly mirrored his own life often involving characters that were alienated from society and that stayed true to their morals and beliefs in the face of adversity. Director Peter Askin weaves together stock footage, interviews and most importantly the reading of some of Dalton Trumbo’s beautifully crafted letters by a tour de force ensemble of actors to tell a great story of a great man.

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