Speaking of old…. Dax Shepard deployed one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book on the Conan show on Monday when he diverted attention from the lame box-office performance of his movie Hit and Run by poking fun at the aging action stars who kicked his cinematic ass, the cast of The Expendables 2 . Shepard told host Conan O’Brien that the cast of the Sylvester Stallone-directed The Expendables 2 were “all show and no go” when it came to their collective well-muscled appearance. “It looks like the zombie apocalypse is saving the earth,” Shepard said in reference to the veteran ensemble. Alas, Hit and Run might have benefited from scenes of a zombie apocalypse, or something that would have raised moviegoer interest. The picture, which also starred Bradley Cooper and Shepard’s real-life girlfriend Kristen Bell grossed just $5.9 million in its initial five-day opening. The movie ranked 10th for the weekend, well behind The Expendables 2 , which saw a $13.5 million weekend and a 15-day domestic box-office take of $52.3 million. Feeling a little insecure there, Dax? Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Also in Tuesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Leonardo DiCaprio , Tobey Maguire and Tom Hardy team up for an anti-poaching project. Ewan McGregor will receive San Sebastian honors. Morgan Freeman and Elizabeth Banks board an animated project. And fire once again hits Tyler Perry ‘s Atlanta studio. Wong Kar-wai Named Jury President of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival Wong Kar Wai is currently working on The Grandmasters, which features Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang in the leads. Bron in Shanghai, Wong grew up and is associated with Hong Kong. He made his directorial debut in 1988 with As Tears Go By . Said Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick: ““Wong Kar Wai is one of the most celebrated filmmakers of our time. His distinctive signature and the poetry of his works have fascinated all of us. For him to become jury president, is a wish come true.” Ewan McGregor to Be Honored at San Sebastian Film Festival The 60th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival will bestow a Donostia Award this year on actor Ewan McGregor in a tribute to his career. The Donostia Award will be presented at a ceremony September 27th followed by the European premiere of The Impossible . Around the ‘net… Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Tom Hardy Team for Anti-Poaching Pic The three will produce a not-yet named animal-trafficking drama for Warner Bros. Hardy formulated the idea based on friends’ accounts as special forces who engaged as anti-poaching operatives in South Africa and elsewhere. The idea is to make it in the vein of Steve Soderbergh’s Traffic , THR reports . Ron Howard, Brian Grazer On Board to Film Jay-Z Music Festival Howard and Grazer will film Jay-Z’s Budweiser Made in America music festival taking place September 1 – 2 in Philadelphia. The feature will be released next year. “This will not be a concert film; it’s a reflection of the fabric of what it means to be Made in America – what the festival represents, why Jay is doing it and how he relates to each artist,” Howard said in a statement, Deadline reports . Morgan Freeman and Elizabeth Banks to Voice Lego Banks and Freeman will voice lead characters in Warner Bros. Lego , an animated 3-D film that is slated to open in February 2014. The plot revolves around an ordinary Lego figure who is mistakenly believed to be the “Master Builder” and is sent to help stop an evil Lego from gluing the universe together, Deadline reports . Again, Fire Erupts at Tyler Perry’s Atlanta Studio For the second time in several months, a fire broke out at Tyler Perry’s Atlanta studio. The blaze happened this morning on the roof of a three-story building that was undergoing repairs. No injuries were reported and it was brought under control within an hour, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports .
While the GOP gathers in tropical storm-plagued Tampa to Do That Thing They Do, this week’s new DVD selections feature a rallying cry against the status quo and an overblown, flag-waving spectacle based on a board game that, all things considered, is still pretty fun to watch. HIGH: #ReGeneration (Virgil Films; $19.99, DVD) Who’s Responsible: Written and directed by Phillip Montgomery; narrated (and produced) by Ryan Gosling; appearances by Noam Chomsky , Howard Zinn, Talib Kweli. What It’s All About: The film’s marketing suggests it’s a documentary about the Occupy movement, but it’s got a more ambitious agenda than that. #ReGeneration feels less interested in the economic roots of the protests than in the cultural underpinnings of Occupy (mass media manipulation, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, corporatization, the crumbling educational infrastructure, our interactions with computer and TV screens instead of each other). Interview subjects include activists, intellectuals, high school students, the founder of Adbusters magazine, and just plain folks who feel somewhat helpless about their ability to change the world. Why It’s Schmancy: Packing such ambitious subject matter into 81 minutes leads to a certain lack of focus, but the movie ultimately stands as a rallying cry for the new “Me Generation” to rediscover a sense of community and to fight back against being turned into wage-slave drones controlled by shadowy figures on high. It’s also probably one of the few documentaries you’ll ever see that features critiques of the media from both the legendarily leftist Chomsky and Libertarian Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson . Why You Should Buy It: The bonus features are relatively meager, but the deleted scenes include more thoughts from the late Zinn ( A People’s History of the United States ), some interesting interviews with Japanese teens and their parents (who seem to be dealing with the same cultural issues as their North American peers) and the use of the phrase “Coca-Colonization,” which I kinda love. LOW: Battleship (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; $34.98 Blu-Ray, $29.98 DVD) Who’s Responsible: Written by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber, “Based on Hasbro’s Battleship”; directed by Peter Berg; starring Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Rihanna What It’s About: Nefarious aliens follow a beacon signal sent out from Earth — stupid science! — and the planet’s only hope to repel the invasion is a cocky, trouble-making Naval officer (Kitsch) and his plucky crew. Will they save the day? Will Kitsch win the hand of girlfriend Brooklyn Decker over the objections of her dad, the admiral (Neeson)? Will this ludicrous but entertaining action extravaganza find an audience on home video after tanking at the box office? Why It’s Fun: Granted, a big, loud, stupid and expensive movie based on a board game pretty much encapsulates everything that’s wrong with Hollywood these days. But as big, loud, stupid summer movies go (and the fact that it’s on DVD before Labor Day tells you something about its fate in theaters), Battleship is surprisingly entertaining in its silliness. Despite its illogical story line, the hackneyed characters and the movie’s unapologetic, join-the-Navy bursts of jingoism, it never lags. That sounds like damning with faint praise, but how many other elephantine high-concept explosion-fests in recent years can make the same claim? Why You Should Buy It: The DVD includes the requisite making-of and meet-the-cast extras, and the Blu-Ray throws in a few additional ones, including the previsualization of an alternate ending and a look into the special effects and the legendary USS Missouri (which plays a key role in the film). If you’re looking for something to throw into your home theater system to show off the booming sound and the crisp hi-def images, this one will hit the mark. Alonso Duralde has written about film for The Wrap , Salon and MSNBC.com. He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network) . He is a senior programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival. He also the author of two books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (Limelight Editions) and 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Well, another power couple have locked lips and the result may be nothing short of earth-shattering. No longer relegated to the sidelines in this Summer filled with Batman and Spider-Man hoopla, Wonder Woman and Superman have hit the headlines with a snogging session that has turned the super-hero universe into a flutter – or at least some raised eyebrows and a little good-old fashioned gossip. Could their off-screen romance some day even make it to the big screen? The smooch took place in the final throes of issue No. 12 of DC Comics’ year-old Justice League series which introduced new stories, costumes and even origins of the members of this longstanding super posse. (The publisher introduced the Justice League of America as they were called then in 1960, three years before rival Marvel unveiled its equivalent, The Avengers.) DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee told A.P. via ABC News that the kiss is not a “stunt or an alternate reality smooch.” “This has been in the works for some time and we certainly wouldn’t have pulled the trigger without there being great creative benefit to the liaison,” he said in an email to A.P. “Beyond the joy and sorrows of new love, there are potentially huge ramifications and dramatic ways this single relationship between these iconic characters will change the entire political and interpersonal landscape of the DC Universe.” All of that from a kiss? What happens when they finally hook up? This is not the first time the super-hero power duo have had a fling, by the way. In the ’80s they had a short-lived moment of passion, but Superman ended up with Lois Lane. They also canoodled in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Strikes Again a decade ago. Beyond the smooch heard around the world, Wonder Woman has some other news to boast since her last foray into the headlines. Her costume has changed and she is now the daughter of none other than that zenith of Greek Mythology, Zeus. You go grrrl! Given Hollywood’s penchant for hot power couples and the lure of box office dollars that often follow super heroes generally, when will Wo-Supe (or maybe it’s Super-Wo?) share that kiss on the big screen? Tell us what you think…. [ Source: A.P. via ABC News ]
