Yep, the Sucker Punch trailer is cute when remixed with clips of classic Disney princesses. Mulan is really a kickass woman. But this mash-up mostly just reminds me of how many Disney ladies didn’t kick ass. Alice? Esmerelda? Million-watt smiles, disappointing pugilists. Click ahead to watch.
Let’s hear it for Mars Needs Moms ! The Robert Zemeckis-produced animated film crashed into the uncanny valley over the weekend with an estimated gross of just $6.8 million — which would be bad enough if Moms didn’t cost Disney a reported $150 million to make. ( Replacing Seth Green’s voice costs Benjamins , yo.) With Mars Needs Moms well on its way to becoming one of the biggest Hollywood debacles ever, what better time to remember some of Hollywood’s other biggest debacles? Ahead, nine of the worst bombs to ever detonate at a theater near you.
You’ve seen them in the video store and lurking around the corner of your Netflix queue. Familarly-named movies that seem to be design to cash in on a better known entity. But at this point, the direct-to-video cash-in is a time-honored tradition: for every Transformers , there’s a Transmorphers , for every Paranormal Activity , there’s a Paranormal Entity . And now we’ve got a two-fer: a gay themed Twilight -esque thriller called Vampire Boys . The acting is a bit…ripe but honestly, is it that much worse than the real Twilight ?
Despite the fact that by all accounts, Baz Luhrmann is likely well into pre-production on The Great Gatsby — which will likely be shot in Australia, and in 3-D , and feature Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan in starring roles — the elusive director refused to admit anything at a dinner for Geoffrey Rush in Brooklyn on Thursday night. “I’m not doing Gatsby right now for this reason,” he told Vulture when asked why he was shooting Gatsby in Australia when his “team” was mostly located in New York. “Because despite what might be out there, I have made no comment about anything. So until I say it, it’s not said, you know.” Not really.
So Sarah Silverman walks into an unspecified hotel hallway and meets President Barack Obama. They get to talking about nudity in film and afterward, his aides tell the raunchy comedienne that she can never, ever speak of their meeting. What does she do? She shares the details with Howard Stern.
After three summers in a row of Pixar movies that moved more than half of the audience to tears, the new trailer for Cars 2 seems to more or less guarantee that we’ll be able to leave the tissues at home this time. The plot setup seems even more convoluted in this trailer (something to do with international espionage and…racing), but that doesn’t mean you can’t kick back, relax and enjoy the pretty colors, wink-nudge one-liners and wacky antics of Larry the Cable Guy.
It’s a pain to waste your time watching a bad movie, but how much more frustrating is it to watch an okay movie and realize how much better it might have been with just a couple tweaks here and there? The Adjustment Bureau was, as the President might say, likeable enough — an intriguing concept, congenial stars, and a cool look to the whole thing — but as Roger Ebert says , it’s “a smart and good movie that could have been a great one if it had a little more daring.” So what are the five easy ways that The Adjustment Bureau could go from DVD recommendation to a must-see-movie?
Considering Twentieth Century Fox executives are probably still counting the cash they made from Avatar , it seems silly to pass around the collection plate for them after a down year of releases in 2010. That said, which surprising Fox production managed to top the ticket sales of such high profile disappointments as The A-Team , Knight and Day and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ? Hint: Lesbians.
Back in 2006, Topher Grace wrapped production on That ’70s Show and transitioned seamlessly into the ’80s. That is, the Connecticut-raised actor starred in (and executive produced) an ’80s romantic comedy opposite Teresa Palmer , Anna Faris and Dan Fogler called Take Me Home Tonight . And this weekend, after a few years and a few distribution switch-ups, the film is finally being released .