First look at "The Killer Inside Me"
11/11/2009 4:56:00 PM
There are a few still photographs from the film “The Killer Inside Me,” the Casey Affleck-Jessica Alba-Kate Hudson movie that shot in Oklahoma (and in Tulsa for one day), beginning to circulate. You didn’t hear this from me, but if you look online hard enough, there are visual images of the film with Affleck’s deputy sheriff, ahem, disciplining Alba’s prostitute character.
Yes, it’s a spanking. Yes, the movie is going to be down and dirty.
The images shot by director Michael Winterbottom (“A Mighty Heart,” “Welcome to Sarajevo”) are beautiful period reproductions of cinemas, vintage cars and dangerous women. Smoky and seductive and a bit glossy, there’s something there that would likely gain the approval of Anadarko native Jim Thompson (who also wrote the books-turned-into-movies “The Grifters,” “The Getaway” and “After Dark, My Sweet”).
Check out the photos  here and notice the one with Affleck and Ned Beatty, which was shot in Tulsa on Boston Avenue during that June 29 day of filming. In addition, take a look at Tulsa World’s slideshow of photos from that day.
Todd Lincoln attracts a "Twilight" star
11/6/2009 4:35:00 PM
Ashley Greene (left) in "Twilight: New Moon" with Kristen Stewart. |
Tulsa native and now Los Angeles-based filmmaker Todd Lincoln seems to have his most promising film project to date lined up with the news that one of the stars of "Twilight" is thisclose to being cast in a lead role.
Variety reported Thursday that Ashley Greene -- best known to film audiences for playing Alice Cullen, or the sister of studly Robert Pattinson's character -- is in final negotiations to star in "Apparition."
"Apparition" is based on Lincoln's original screenplay, and he will direct the film about a supernatural being that is freed during an experiment by college students.
The film is scheduled to begin production in February for Dark Castle production company, started by Joel Silver ("The Matrix" films, "Lethal Weapon" films), who will produce "Apparition."
Lincoln, a Holland Hall graduate, has been working in Los Angeles for several years making videos and commercials. He also started, along with his pal Jeremy Lamberton, the 10-year-run of the Tulsa Overground Film Festival.
This just in on "This is It"
11/2/2009 3:42:38 PM
When the Michael Jackson documentary "This is It" opened last week, I didn't bother to note anywhere that it would play in cinemas for only two weeks, as it was promoted, because I knew it wasn't true.
Big shocker: An announcement came on Monday that you can buy tickets to "This is It" not through Nov. 12, but through Thanksgiving, after a $100 million opening through last Sunday ($68 million overseas).
So just like with the Hannah Montana concert flick in 3-D and the recent "Toy Story" re-release and others, "two weeks only" is a remarkably flexible term.
Such proclamations might be meaningful if they came with a disclaimer, like "playing for two weeks only, unless the movie tanks," but even the Disney concert film from the Jonas Brothers that went bust in theaters overstayed its two-week welcome with a five-weekend run.
Why the "Wild Things" is a cheat
10/29/2009 1:28:33 PM
I figured the box-office for “Where the Wild Things Are” would drop in its second weekend by more than 60 percent, or about double what so-called “family films” usually fall off by in their second week. Why? Word-of-mouth buzz.
As in bad buzz. As in, “Don’t take your 5-year-olds who are of the age that you read the book to them, because the movie was not made for them, not made for the age group that first falls in love with Maurice Sendak’s book.”
The film’s gross fell by 57 percent, from a No. 1 debut of $32.5 million down to $14 million in the second weekend (while “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” continues to drop by only about 30 percent a week). The “Wild Things” sharp decline was more in line with that of a film targeted at an older crowd, which I believe the makeup of the film to be, despite seeing commercials for the movie during my daughter’s “Spongebob Squarepants” viewings.
“Where the Wild Things” was a huge disappointment for me, because it felt like a lie had been perpetrated. I loved this book as a child. I had expectations that a movie would be similar in tone, filled with imagination and a bit of fear. I expected to take my own children, ages 5 and 9, to see the film at a later time.
Within minutes of the screening I knew I would not be returning for an encore with the little ones. I agree with other critics that many children’s movies have become increasingly shallow and ridiculously manic, and I went in knowing that “Wild Things” by director Spike Jonze (“Being John Malkovich”) would be different.
What I didn’t know was that “Where the Wild Things Are” would bore young kids. I felt cheated — and depressed by all the sad animals on Max’s magical island — as I walked out of the theater. I was not the only one.
“I just got out of that movie, and it sucked,” said a mother into her cell phone outside of theater No. 10 at AMC Southroads 20, a 400-plus seater that was nearly full on a fall break Friday that she was exiting with a couple of boys in tow. “It was terrible, and I was ready to leave after 10 minutes, but I thought it would get better, and the kids had really wanted to see this movie …” the woman continued.
She was passionately ticked off, and so were a few others. “Wild Things” was the first movie in three years of reviewing films for the Tulsa World in which I saw families leaving the theater before the end of the movie for some reason other than for an “accident,” if you know what I mean.
What women want in movies
10/22/2009 2:18:44 PM
What women want? It’s something that I try to figure out daily at home with my wife and two daughters. What women want at the movies? It’s just as much of a Hollywood mystery.
Two recent young female lead performances have arrived with great hype and all the surrounding hoopla that a Hollywood marketing campaign is capable of these days — and they have fallen flat on their pretty faces.
With Megan Fox as the lead in “Jennifer’s Body,” the young woman whose beauty is known worldwide thanks to “Transformers” films but whose acting is still in question, the film was thought to be a no-brainer at the box-office. It arrived with a script by Diablo Cody (Oscar-winner for her hip “Juno” screenplay). It was a vampire tale, a cultural zeitgeist of the moment.
What it didn’t have was women lining up to view in great numbers. An early explanation from so-called experts chalked it up to the film mixing horror with comedy. That commentary felt empty after the hilarious gore of “Zombieland” opened two weeks later at No. 1.
Among the films that “Zombieland” slayed to reach the top on Oct. 2 was “Whip It,” the Drew Barrymore-directed roller derby picture starring Ellen Page (she was Juno). People who have seen the movie seem to really like it. But not many people have seen it, with the box-office at only $11 million going into its third weekend.
Why are these box-office figures so important? Because if women want movies made about women — and they tell me all the time that they want such motion pictures — then they have to go see movies made about women. These two films’ pedigrees were rare: Both had women directors, producers, writers, stars. Both have been rejected.
Maybe these were not movies that women wanted to see. Fair enough. Women of any age are known to be a more discriminating lot than teen boys.
But teen boys and young men rule the movie world, and most of Hollywood’s product is aimed squarely at their demographic. Why? Because they go to the movies more than anyone else, and they are the most likely group to pay to see films multiple times. They even, on average, buy the most concessions. Their films make the most money for everyone, so Hollywood makes movies for them.
Studios would rather make movies for boys who will see anything rather than women who may or may not see movies that studio heads figured that women would want to see. Now, after “Jennifer’s Body” and “Whip It,” they’ll say they still don’t know what women want, and it will have a chilling effect.
Straight women dig vampires because the women want sex with gay men
10/16/2009 9:04:00 AM
When an Esquire magazine writer talks "Twilight" and "True Blood" and then goes all Lord Byron and "love that dare not speak its name" in discussing what's behind the recent craze for vampire literature, movies and more, that's a link I must post for your perusal.
Have fun with this one, ladies...
Read it here.
Bill Hader is a new dad
10/12/2009 2:18:49 PM
Tulsa funnyman Bill Hader became a first-time father last week with the birth of a daughter.
Hannah Kathryn Hader was born last Tuesday, Oct. 6, to Bill and his filmmaker wife, Maggie Carey, according to the actor's publicist.
Hader was born in Tulsa at St. Francis Hospital and attended Patrick Henry Elementary, Edison Middle School and Cascia Hall.
Hader is the son of longtime Tulsans Bill and Sherri Hader, who raised their son here with his sisters, Kara and Katie.
Davis Guggenheim's college roomie
10/5/2009 5:04:28 PM
You never know what’s going to come out during one of those question-and-answer sessions at the Circle Cinema.
Last Friday night, an overflow crowd that spilled out of the screening room listened as Davis Guggenheim, the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker of “An Inconvenient Truth,” spoke about his newest project, “It Might Get Loud,” a love letter to the electric guitar with Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White as its stars and that is now playing at the Circle.
Guggenheim was asked to take part in a Skype videoconferencing Q&A with the audience between opening screenings of the documentary. He obliged and spoke for nearly 40 minutes. At one point, he brought up his college days at Brown University, class of 1986, and his roommate and fellow graduate.
Unknown to the Circle staff, Guggenheim’s roomie was none other than Tim Blake Nelson, Tulsa actor/writer/director and one of the Circle Cinema’s board members.
Very cool. Small world.
"Whip It" sneaks into theaters on Saturday night
9/25/2009 10:58:41 AM
You can be the first on your block to say you saw "Whip It" if you attend a sneak preview on Saturday.
The Ellen Page-starring, Drew Barrymore-directed roller derby comedy set in Austin is playing at 7 p.m. Saturday exclusively at Cinemark Tulsa, 71st Street and U.S. 169.
The movie opens to the public next Friday, Oct. 2, and is packed with grrl power, also starring Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Alia Shawkat, Eve and Zoe Bell. Look for my review in next Friday's Scene section.
The film is showing at 500 theaters nationwide on Saturday night, with a promotion claiming that free T-shirts are being distributed, while available.
Disney on twice
9/24/2009 2:44:23 PM
Those looking for Disney-style family fun can double-dip starting next week. The choices: Disney on Ice and Disney in three dimensions.
Disney on Ice “Worlds of Fantasy” is the traditional ice show opener for the Tulsa State Fair, with nine shows spread over four days beginning next Thursday night.
Tickets range from $20-$36 for this greatest-hits package that features appearances on the rink by characters from films as varied as “Cars,” “The Lion King” and “The Little Mermaid.” Tinkerbell and her fairy friends even don skates for this spectacular that always satisfies the kiddies (and don’t forget, fair admission is included in the ticket price, so you can walk out of the show and onto the midway).
Tickets for Disney on Ice “Worlds of Fantasy” are available at tulsaworld.com/exposquare or by calling 376-6000.
Meanwhile, next Friday (Oct. 2) is the start of the “Toy Story” double-feature at movie theaters, with both of the original films from Pixar packaged together for one price. There’s only one reason most parents will fork over the cash to see these movies on the big-screen that their kids have seen countless times at home on DVD: Both movies have been remastered in 3-D.
Now taking your requests
9/17/2009 2:44:03 PM
Jason Davis, manager of the AMC Southroads 20, said in a recent e-mail that he is always looking for submissions on what films people want to see projected in the future for its classics.
“We love to take suggestions,” Davis said in the message. “The success and continuation of the program is determined by attendance. If you like the program, please tell your family and friends!”
He offered his e-mail address — jdavis@amctheatres.com — for you to submit your suggestions or comments.
“I definitely read and try to respond to all feedback (positive or negative),” he wrote.
AMC Southroads 20’s fall classics series that brings film favorites back to the big-screen started last weekend with a chomp: “Jurassic Park” was one of the top-attended films in the program that has brought more than 30 older movies to the theater for one-week runs. “Top Gun” will screen beginning this Friday for a week, then “Jaws” opens on Sept. 25.
You can view the entire fall classics lineup at AMC at tulsaworld.com/fallclassics2009.
Imax without Imax
9/16/2009 3:29:31 PM
No, you are not seeing things. Megan Fox is five stories tall on the Imax screen. But her new film, "Jennifer's Body," is not showing in true Imax dimensions.
For the first time in memory, the Imax theater at Cinemark Tulsa, located at U.S. 169 and 71st Street, will not be playing a film made specially for the gigantic Imax screen this weekend. It may not for a while.
"The decision came as a surprise to all of us," said Heath Poe, projectionist for the Cinemark Tulsa's Imax theater, which opened in 2000.
The Imax theater -- the only one in Oklahoma -- was not among those selected to open "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," a 3-D film modified for the Imax screen, this Friday. The theater has been showing the new "Harry Potter" flick for weeks, along with nightly 10 p.m. screenings of "Star Trek" the past couple of weeks, and management had hoped to screen "Cloudy" as new product.
So, rather than continue those pictures, for which attendance has naturally declined after more than two months since opening, Cinemark Tulsa is going to project onto the Imax screen a 35mm print of "Jennifer's Body," the new vampire comedy starring "Transformers" hottie Fox and written by Diablo Cody of "Juno."
The 35mm print will be stretched to fit about 85 percent of the Imax screen, Poe said.
He added that the next film scheduled for an Imax release is "Where the Wild Things Are," which is scheduled to be released on Oct. 16. Until that time -- or perhaps until the Nov. 6 release of "A Christmas Carol" -- the theater will likely continue to show various upcoming films from 35mm prints.
Depp opposite kemosabe? Waltz around a hornet?
9/14/2009 2:23:04 PM
A couple of interesting casting tidbits fall into the categories of predictable, what-the-... and delicious.
Predictable: At the D23 convention this past weekend(Disney's answer to Comic-Con, with a nod toward Walt Disney founding the studio in 1923), Johnny Depp appeared decked out in the apparel and mascara of a certain pirate we all know and love. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," the fourth movie in the series, will arrive in summer 2011. The first three movies grossed more than $1 billion in North America alone.
Unpredictable: Disney executives also announced that Depp will portray Tonto, faithful sidekick to "The Lone Ranger," in a live-action film of the long-running TV western. There was no word on who will be wearing the mask and white hat. There was no word on who will be held responsible for this hair-brained scheme.
Delicious: I remember watching movies from the 1960s and 1970s with all-star casts that included a few foreign stars, and I remember how often those actors I didn't know nearly stole the show.
Now I'm wondering the same thing about Christoph Waltz, who as the sadistic Nazi Col. Hans Landa makes "Inglourious Basterds" made for a brilliant movie bad-guy, lifting up the fun but uneven film.
Brad Pitt is amusing, but Waltz was a killer.
Now, less than a week after Nicolas Cage dropped out of playing the villain role in next year's comic-book movie "The Green Hornet," Waltz has taken his place.
I had already questioned the casting of Seth Rogen in the Hornet role. Now I'm wondering if the comedy star isn't going to be blown off the screen.
Suddenly, thanks to the talented foreigner, I'm intrigued to see a movie that a week ago sounded like a bad joke.
The summer movie post-mortem
9/10/2009 5:15:22 PM
What were your favorite movies this summer? The biggest letdown? Would you rate the season as “awesome, eh, or sucked?”
Yes, apparently a recent movie site poll was conducted by teen boys.
More than 600,000 voters registered opinions at moviefone.com, and in results that I received the other day:
"The Hangover" won “movie most worth your cash” over “Star Trek.”
“Year One” barely won (lost?) “movie least worth your cash” over “Land of the Lost.”
“The Proposal” took “best chick flick” over “500 Days of Summer.”
Will Ferrell won (lost?) worst performance over Jack Black and Megan Fox.
“Harry Potter” took best sequel over “Transformers 2.”
“Bruno” won (lost?) most disappointing movie that was highly anticipated over “Transformers 2.”
“500 Days of Summer” and “The Hurt Locker” virtually tied as “best movie no one saw.”
“Eh” took 57 percent of the vote in rating summer of 2009 movies, followed by “awesome” at 37 percent and “sucked” at 6 percent.
“Iron Man 2” took more than half the vote as most anticipated summer of 2010 film, over “Toy Story 3,” Twilight: Eclipse,” “Sex and the City 2” and “Green Hornet.”
The return of Star Trek -- to Imax
9/2/2009 11:22:41 AM
The stellar motion picture revamp of "Star Trek" that proved to be a hit with fans and newcomers alike returns to Tulsa's Imax this Friday.
The plan calls for "Star Trek" to play for two weeks at about 100 Imax theaters nationwide, splitting time with the new "Harry Potter" picture.
Tulsa's Imax schedule calls for late-night showings, with 10:05 p.m. the screening time for the first week, in which most people will see it this holiday weekend.
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