Archive for the 'film' Category

Most recently, word had it that Patrick Swayze had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment. And now it looks like he's at least well enough to get back to work.

Although details about his health is unknown, The Hollywood Reporter attained confirmation from A&E executives that the actor has been cleared to work on a new series The Beast. The network has picked up 13 episodes of the crime drama.

Swayze will be starring as an "unorthodox but effective FBI veteran" partnered with a young pup of a partner. A novel formula for a buddy cop premise, I know, but at least it's good news for Patrick, who could some right about now.

According to the actor, "I have searched for quite a long time to find a character that is this mutilayered, unpredictable and downright entertaining as well as a project this current and cutting-edged."

Photos: Bauer-Griffin Online

You gotta see this. Senior citizens who know how to rock.

OK, don't judge me too harshly, dear readers. I'm about to be straight up. I was on the treadmill in the gym for about an hour over the weekend, and the only channels on the TVs were some kids channel and ESPN. Since I didn't feel like watching sports, I was very easily brainwashed by the repetition of BRATZ movie trailers over and over and...now, I kind of want to indulge in this guilty pleasure. In celebration of my mental re-programming, we are offering an ASL giveaway. Woo hoo!

We are offering THREE PRIZE PACKAGES that include the soundtrack, t-shirt, sun screen, lip gloss, and post cards from the BRATZ movie to three lucky readers. To enter, simply email me at lisa@socialitelife.com with BRATZ GIVEAWAY in the subject and your full name and mailing address in the body of the email. We'll be drawing the winners at random, after all entries have been received.

Deadline for entries is Monday, August 6th at 3PM EST. Good luck, kiddos!

Filed under: Obits & Memorials

• Edward Behr (c.1926-2007) - British writer of Half Moon Street, starring Sigourney Weaver. He also appears as himself in Otto Preminger’s doc Rosebud. (International Herald Tribune)
• Jo Durden-Smith (1941-2007) - Documentary filmmaker who wrote and directed A Horse Called Nijinski, which was narrated by Orson Welles, and produced the rock docs The Stones in the Park, The Doors Are Open and Johnny Cash in San Quentin. He died following a stroke May 10, in the UK. (Guardian)
• Kei Kumai (1930-2007) - Japanese filmmaker who directed The Sea Is Watching (pictured), which was written by Akira Kurosawa. He also directed Tunnel to the Sun, Lady Ogin and Death of a Sea Monster, all starring Toshiro Mifune, and The Sea and Poison, which won the Silver Bear at the 1987 Berlin Film Festival. He died of a brain hemorrhage May 18, in Tokyo. (Variety)
• Bruno Mattei (1931-2007) - Italian cult filmmaker who directed Hell of the Living Dead (aka Zombie Creeping Flesh), Womens Prison Massacre, Violence in a Woman’s Prison, Rats: Night of Terror and Zombie 3. He was also the co-editor of Jesus Franco’s 99 Women, for which he also directed the hardcore sequences, and Count Dracula. He died of cancer May 21, in Rome. (Contact Music)
• Bud Molin (1925-2007) - Editor on all of Carl Reiner’s films between 1970 (Where’s Poppa?) and 1993 (Fatal Instinct). He also edited They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!, Police Academy 3: Back in Training, The Man With One Red Shoe and Up the Academy, for which he was also the second unit director. He died May 21 in Rancho Mirage, California. (Variety)
• Charles Nelson Reilly (1931-2007) - Actor and television personality who played “Don Don Canneloni” in Cannonball Run II and appears in an uncredited role in Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd. He also voiced characters in Don Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven, Rock-A-Doodle and A Troll in Central Park. He died of complications from pneumonia May 25, in Los Angeles. (NY Times)
• G. Srinivasan (c.1958-2007) - Indian producer of Mani Ratnam’s last four films, including the director’s latest, Guru, which stars Aishwarya Rai. He died May 27 when he fell into a 50-foot gorge near Halan, India. (Earthtimes.org)
• Robert Sully (1918-2007) - Actor who appears in Meet Me in St. Louis, A Guy Named Joe and When Worlds Collide. He died May 15 in Santa Barbara, California. (Santa Barbara News-Press)
• Alberto Verso (1941-2007) - Italian costume designer for Ripley’s Game and The Truce and assistant costume designer for The Night Porter, Waterloo and Visconti’s L’Innocente. He died May 16 in Rome. (IMDb)
• Ben Weisman (1921-2007) - Composer of the scores to Andy Warhol’s L’Amour and Ed Wood’s short Crossroads of Laredo. He also wrote tunes for many of Elvis’ movies, including Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, Clambake, Blue Hawaii and Roustabout. He died May 20 in Los Angeles. (Variety)
• Gretchen Wyler (1932-2007) - Actress who played one of the few female characters in The Devil’s Brigade and “Aunt Kissy” in Private Benjamin. She died of complications from breast cancer May 27, in Fresno, California. (FresnoBee.com)

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Box Office, Fandom, Family Films, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

Although it’s on course to finish with the highest four-day Memorial Day weekend debut ever, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End took in only $112.5 million from Friday to Sunday — and that was in a record-squashing 4,362 theaters; 110 more theaters than Spider-Man 3. If you tack on the $14 million it took in during those Thursday night screenings, you’re looking at $126 million; a number that’s certainly respectable, even though it comes nowhere near the three-day opening for Dead Man’s Chest ($135.6 million) last year. So what happened? How did both Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) and Shrek the Third ($121.6 million) top Pirates in the three-day totals when it clearly beat those other two in terms of entertaining its fanbase?

The only major reason I could come up with was good weather. Seriously. This weekend produced sunny skies for the majority of the country; here on the east coast, it was near 90 degrees for all three days — the perfect beach weather, and definitely the best Memorial Day weekend in the past few years. Could it be that people were too busy firing up the barbecues and breaking out the sun screen to shell out 10 bucks to go see a movie? I know I was. Granted, Pirates did have heftier competition; keep in mind Shrek the Third still took in $51 million while Spider-Man 3 managed $13 million. If Shrek wasn’t in the picture, there’s a pretty good chance Pirates would have soared past Spidey. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. When it was all said and done, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End had the fifth-biggest opening ever, but is that enough for Disney to continue the franchise? And now that its biggest threat is out the way, are there any other films coming down the pipeline that are strong enough to top Spidey’s massive $151 million opening?

So, I ask you: In your opinion, how come Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End finished behind both Spidey and Shrek in its opening weekend?

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Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

I’m fine with the government providing financial assistance to the movie industry (via subsidies and such), but when it is directly involved with the marketing of a film, I think that’s a bit too much. The U.S. Mint has gotten together with the Franklin Mint and 20th Century Fox to create a limited edition version of the U.S. quarter that features an image of the Silver Surfer on the tails side. These coins, which have already been released into circulation, also include the address for the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer website. There are only a total of 40,000 out there, so if you manage to find one, you might not want to go and use it in a vending machine; you should probably hold on to it. Besides the fact that it’s a collectible (people are already selling them on eBay), there’s also a contest open only to people who find one of the coins — with the prize being a trip to the London premiere of FF:ROTSS.

Recently another government agency, the U.S. Postal Service, participated in movie marketing by placing 400 R2D2 mailboxes on sidewalks throughout the country. Of course, this was to celebrate the anniversary of a movie (also released by Fox) that has become something of a national treasure. The Silver Surfer coins are less forgivable because they advertise a new release that may not even be a big success. For that reason, the stunt seems to imply that our government agencies are for sale to advertising agencies. What, now, would stop the Federal Reserve from replacing George Washington with Spider-Man on limited edition one-dollar bills? How about we offer up the sides of government buildings and vehicles (including military vehicles, too) for logos and billboards? And why not have the President tell us to drink Coca-Cola at the end of his State of the Union speech?

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