Monday, September 21, 2009

FILM NEWS: "Meatballs" at #1, Hudson + Bernal?, New Villain in Green Hornet, and more

Wow! I can't believe Jennifer's Body did soooo badly. Opening in almost 3,000 theaters, it only managed to place at #5 with $6.8 mil. Apparently, the world has reached their maximum quota of Megan Fox in-take and is now suffering from an overload and overshare of info. My mom read me her Rolling Stone interview (because she was practicing her English, not because I'm lazy), and I learned that she got her period when she was 10, she has the libido of a 14-year-old boy, she's only had sex with two men in her life, and she's a pathological liar. I know more about her than I know about my best friend. Alas, I'll be seeing the film this week against my better judgment. I just know I'll wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Surprise, surprise Jennifer Anniston's Love Happens actually did pretty well considering the tough competition. Unfortunately, even though she opened at #4 with $8.4 mil, the critics weren't in the least bit impressed, citing sheer boredom as the cause for the film's failure. That's...embarrassing. The film I'm saving for a stressful weekend is The Informant. While parents were busing hauling their broods to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which took the #1 spot with $30 mil, Matt Damon's quirky comedy took the #2 spot with a respectable $10.5 mil. Critics loved it and I'm sure I will too. Unfortunately with the premiere of the adaptation of the kids' classic, the post-apocalyptic 9 got shoved down from #2 to #6. It's still a winner in my book, and probably a shoe-in for a Oscar nom.

Ejected from the top 10 were the wintry thriller Whiteout, which had the most confusing and uninformative trailer, departing with a measly $8 mil, the beloved Julie & Julia, retiring with a hearty $88 mil, the cult-favorite District 9, with an unexpected $126 mil, and the practically-ignored action flick Gamer, with a pathetic $18 mil. I need to catch up on my in-theater films, since Whip It, which comes out this Friday, will be my third must-see. Luckily, I'm still on the fence about the action comedy Zombieland and Ricky Gervais's The Invention of Lying, so I don't have to worry about squeezing them in.

• I love Kate Dennings—no lie. And my love for her grew exponentially when I saw Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. Unfortunately, she's often relegated to the sidekick role. But I suppose I should be happy at least that she'll be in good company for her next film, Liars (A-E). She'll play the bff to Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), who'll play a woman who was dumped on the eve of Obama's victory and is inspired to retrieve lost items from all of her ex-boyfriends. I know what you're thinking. Yes, she can! ;)

• For those of you who dug Tim Pocock, who played young Scott Summers, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you'll be happy to know that he'll be returning in the teen-oriented X-Men: First Class, which starts shooting next Spring.

• There's a slight possibility that Kate Hudson will crawl out of that hole she dug when she had herself branded the rom-com queen. Gael Garcia Bernal might sign on to star opposite her in the dramatic romance Earthbound, about a terminally ill woman who falls in love with her doctor. Fingers crossed.

• Finally! A Wall Street film I might actually want to see. (Sorry Shia, Wall Street 2 just isn't that alluring.) Chazz Palminteri, the actor who wrote the critically acclaimed A Bronx Tale, is writing the indie drama Wall Street Mafia. It'll be based on a true story about an FBI investigation of the mob's involvement in the world of finance during the 90s. It's kind of like The Departed in that it'll have a young executive who leaves his Brooklyn background to join the suits in Manhattan, only to find himself having to choose where his loyalties lie. Hmm, who should get cast? It has to be someone who looks both gritty and clean-cut. But for variety's sake, I say nix the idea of casting Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Emile Hirsch.

Christopher Waltz, the breakout star of Inglorious Basterds, scored the villain role in Seth Rogen's Green Hornet, replacing Nicholas Cage. I don't know about you, but I think the movie's credibility just rose a couple of notches.

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