Results tagged “dannymcbride”

       

Up in the Air is a comedy-drama directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking and Juno.) It is an adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name, written by Walter Kirn. According to Reitman, “The movie is about the examination of a philosophy -- what if you decided to live hub to hub, with nothing, with nobody?” Well, what if the “you” was George Clooney? In that case, you would be dressed as dapper as could be, wantonly leaving women in your wake as you fly on to your next destination.

       

It was good to see Sam Raimi dipping his toes into the horror pool again with Drag Me to Hell. Even better to see the great Alison Lohman headlining a film. She's had me since White Oleander and secured my eternal loyalty by stealing Matchstick Men. I'm glad that Sandra Bullock's career hasn't gone south like, say, Meg Ryan's, but I still ain't gonna watch The Proposal. One of the summer's biggest flops was Land of the Lost, and yet I still laughed quite a bit when I saw it. Such is the allure of Will Ferrell: he either works for you and you don't care or you don't care. If you haven't acquainted yourself with the films of Atom Egoyan, start acquainting! Adoration isn't up to the level of Where the Truth Lies or Exotica, but it's worth your time.

       

Every January the quaint Mormon hamlet of Park City, Utah is overrun by tens of thousands of people eager to attend the films (and parties) of the Sundance Film Festival. Having attended the festival for the last three years, I can highly recommend the experience. In fact, I'd say that everyone should try to attend at least once. From the freezing weather to the immense crowds to the abundance of cinema, alcohol and sleeplessness, it is a film festival that is unique to the world, and tomorrow night a little bit of Sundance comes to Los Angeles.

       

Buzz on the The Hangover is so hot that Warner Brothers is already moving ahead on a sequel before the film is even released. Every summer a comedy breaks out of nowhere to be a huge hit. Will this be the one? It probably won't be Land of the Lost. By most accounts, it's a Bewitched Will Ferrell flick instead of an Anchorman one. Away We Go will not work for everyone since it's so amazingly precious. Then again, what else would you expect from the hipster triumvirate of Dave Eggers | Sam Mendes | John Krasinski?

Boobies, bathroom humor and bongs collide in Pineapple Express, the latest DVD release from indie writer/director extraordinaire, David Gordon Green. The film follows two dimwitted stoners, Dale (Seth Rogen) and Saul (James Franco), whose connections to the underworld of illegal drugs inadvertently make them witnesses to murder. It's the classic tale of marijuana dealer meets boy, boy meets marijuana dealer and over the river and through the woods into a drug dealer's hideout with guns they go.

In what can only be considered a shocking debut, can maintain any momentum going forward is debatable since almost half of its weekend gross came from Friday audiences who rushed out to see the film to the tune of $26.9M.

These days in Hollywood, ''low budget" films usually end up costing more than the runway rentals to land Steven Spielberg's ego. That's why it's so exciting to see truly low-budget films actually get made without all of the self-examination and scrutiny that comes with the ability to shoot more than one take. And it's even more fulfilling to have someone else notice.

There's really no point in me carping or teasing about Sex and the City since it's obviously not a movie for me. Early ticket sales are showing it to be a surprisingly big hit in its first weekend. Maybe it's success will convince HBO to get off its ass, throw out a big pile of money and put together features for on the big screen if Milch would explain what it was all about.

One of the great things about living in Los Angeles is that there are countless opportunities to see movies in advance for free. Spend any afternoon at the Burbank Town Center or the Third Street Promenade and you'll see people hanging around movie theaters with clipboards and flyers for upcoming screenings. Next week, as part of MTV's Sneak Peak Week, five of the summer's biggest comedies will be screening around town. All you have to do is show up early (real early!) with a ticket and get in line. Bring a book and an iPod. Details below: