Showbiz Sandbox 18: It’s All Fun And Games Until Celebrities Start Dyin’
September 3, 2009
Landing at the top of the North American box office this weekend was “The Final Destination” with “Halloween 2,” directed by Rob Zombie, coming in third. Zombie may not be part of that Old White Male club of directors that the New York Times highlighted this week, but apparently he can make a successful film. After reviving the “Halloween” franchise, Rob Zombie will continue to advance the horror porn genre with a remake of the 1958 classic, “The Blob.”
The biggest story of the week was Disney’s purchase of Marvel Comics. What will this mean for “Iron Man”, “Spider-Man”, the “X-Men”, and “Fantastic Four”? Maybe we’ll find out when Disney continues its takeover of the world with their own version of Comic-Con; the D23 Expo in Anaheim. The four day event will celebrate — and sell — all things Disney with celebrity appearances and slick sneak previews of upcoming films, television shows and theme park attractions.
Speaking of theme park attractions, Michael Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide. (Okay it only feels like it’s becoming a theme park attraction.) Read more
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Showbiz Sandbox 15: Ferris Bueller Is A Jerk!
August 10, 2009
Korbi Ghosh of Zap2it’s Korbi TV blog joins us again to discuss Paula Adbul leaving “American Idol,” Jeanine Mason winning “So You Think You Can Dance,” and this past week’s Television Critics Association press tour. But we begin with Box Office News: “G.I Joe” won the weekend with over $56 million, although bad word of mouth will probably result in a steep drop by next weekend. Co-host Michael Giltz watched the movie in a packed theater and gives his review of both the movie and actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum.
“G.I. Joe” was not screened for critics (never a good sign) but that didn’t stop Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal from reviewing it based on the trailer alone. Morgenstern writes, “At first I felt shut out, but then I realized I was missing the point of a double blessing. Paramount has spared me the pain of sitting through another military-toy epic (the recent “Transformers” sequel having been a near-death experience), Read more
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Showbiz Sandbox 14: Zooey Deschanel Proves It’s Twee To Be You And Me
August 3, 2009
First off, we took care of a little internal business by welcoming entertainment journalist Michael Giltz as an official co-host.
Alonso Duralde joins us this week. Alonso is the film critic at MSNBC.com and the author of “101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men
We asked Alonso to join us because of a story he wrote for msnbc.com called “Do You See What I Twee?”, as it related to the latest movies. He described the essence of twee as “avoiding the fashionable, the obvious, the predictable, the mundane in an attempt to be, for lack of a better phrase, showily unshowy…It’s about replacing one calculated technique of visual and cultural cues with another.” It’s an apt description of one of the more popular movies out this summer, “(500) Days of Summer,” and its lead, Zooey Deschanel. We also just love saying the word “twee.” Read more
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Showbiz Sandbox 6: Down With ‘Up’ And Other Contrarian Opinions
June 1, 2009
We are excited to be joined by journalist Anne Thompson of Thompson On Hollywood who recently returned to the United States after covering the Cannes Film Festival. You may remember Anne as the West Coast Editor for Premiere Magazine and Film Comment, not to mention her stint as the Deputy Film Editor at The Hollywood Reporter. She’s also written for a plethora of media outlets including, The New York Times, Washington Post, Wired and LA Weekly. Anne fills us in on who scored big at this past year’s festival and who wound up spinning their wheels.
There was plenty to talk about this week with Pixar’s tenth animated film “Up” winning praise from both critics and audiences. The film earned $68.2 million during it’s opening weekend in North America, but not a dime from Karen Woodward who’s not a fan of animated films (or as she calls them. . . cartoons). “Up” may just give “The Hangover” a run for its money when it opens next week. The comedy flick from director Todd Philips has been receiving a lot of buzz as a potential sleeper hit. Another animated film trying to capture people’s attention is Robert Zemeckis’ take on “A Christmas Carol”. Though it’s not due out until November of this year, Disney has launched a promotional tour which will have clips of the film visiting 40 cities over the next six months by train. Actor Jim Carrey tells us why another version of the classic tale is being made. Read more
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Showbiz Sandbox 4: Yes We Cannes!
May 18, 2009
Entertainment journalist Michael Giltz joins the conversation to discuss everything from the Cannes Film Festival to who might win American Idol (he’s voting for Kris Allen).
Many members of the press, as well as festival-goers, took a pass on Cannes this year, but we recap some of the films that have screened thus far. Mariah Carey showed up in Cannes with a body double to confuse the paparazzi. Carey and Lenny Kravitz personally tell us about their festival film “Precious”. Meanwhile Lars Von Trier shocks the festival with his misogynistic “Antichrist”. The good news is Roger Ebert is back in Cannes.
“Angels & Demons” makes $48 million domestically and $104 million internationally in it’s first weekend. MGM is fighting for it’s life, but the remake of “Fame” may just save it. This week in New York the television networks hold their upfront and we take a quick look at what is rumored to be on the fall TV schedule. ABC has already announced they have picked up another season of “Scrubs” though Zach Braff will only show up for six episodes. Fox has said yes to another season of “Bones”. It also looks like the “Gossip Girl” spinoff may be picked up. The New York Times throws a few punches at NBC programming head Ben Silverman and but in the end it may not matter since the website Hulu is making most networks question their business model.
Speaking of Hulu, they’re going to start showing Bollywood films. Elizabeth Edwards writes a tell all book about her breast cancer and her husband Senator John Edwards’ romantic affair. Farah Fawcett discusses her own bout with cancer s well as fighting the tabloids in a stark interview which appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Finally, Jerry Lewis is planning a comeback. . . at 83-years old!
Trade Journos No Shows At Cannes
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rex-weiner/trade-journos-no-shows-at_b_201908.html
MGM Fights To Survive
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/can-mgm-survive-studio-desperate-to-restructure-debt-hires-financial-adviser-to-help/
A Lot At Stake At TV Upfronts
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003685.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
ABC Renews Scrubs
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i505437152ed71367b14b89a4b157dea2
Bones Renewed For Fall
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003809.html?categoryid=14&ref=ra&cs=1
Is the Gossip Girl spin off back on?
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/05/gossip_girl_spinoff_will_run_f.html?f=most-commented-24h-10
NBC Hired A Hitmaker. It’s Still Waiting
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/business/media/17silver.html?_r=1&hpw
Hulu’s Tug of War With TV
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-hulu11-2009may11,0,5771665.story
Bollywood Goes Hulu
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/05/bollywood-goes-hulu.html
Elizabeth Edwards: John “Made One Mistake”
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30681150/
Farah Fawcett: “Under A Microscope” And Holding Onto Hope
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-fawcett-interview11-2009may11,0,5790379.story
Jerry Lewis To Announce Comeback
http://www.showbiz411.com/?p=278
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