Most expected depressed box office numbers this weekend , but even negative nellies probably didn’t expect to see this. With Hurricane Irene battering the eastern seaboard, all three new releases stumbled badly on Friday, with opening days ranging from $2.3 million ( Our Idiot Brother ) to $4 million ( Colombiana ). Said one industry insider to Deadline: “Any way you slice it business is getting creamed this weekend.” Thanks, Mother Nature! Your Friday box office is here.
Halle Berry won a battle in court today with ex Gabriel Aubry. But, as this custody battle rages on, it’s clear who the real loser will be: three-year old Nahla. Sources tell TMZ the former couple was in front of a judge because Berry will be leaving to film a movie in Europe and there was an issue over which parent gets to spend time with his/her daughter when Halle is working. Berry won this round, meaning Nahla will be accompanying her mom overseas. The issue is unrelated to a larger problem Berry has brought up to the court, however. She alleges that Aubry has imperiled the safety of their child. Many more hearings will unfortunately take place involving the family. [Photo: WENN.com]
Our Idiot Brother is your typical dysfunctional family film, but one that also doubles as a heartwarming comedy. For the most part, Paul Rudd helps pull it off. As Ned, the only boy in a family full of sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer), Rudd Shines and the supporting cast is top notch. The film’s shortfall, though, is that it lacks real resonance. Our Idiot Brother never quite delivers the emotional or comedic punch you expect – and want – it to. It’s still worth checking out, and maybe you’ll disagree with that take. Watch the trailer below, then read Movie Fanatic’s fukll review of Our Idiot Brother … Our Idiot Brother Trailer
As we discovered when comparing the careers of Shia LaBeouf and Michael J. Fox , as well as Leslie Mann and Madeline Kahn , it’s hard to be original. It’s even harder to be a breakout talent who forges an trajectory that defies categorization and precedent. In the case of Our Idiot Brother star Zooey Deschanel, her career has matched one other raven-haired thespian’s rise to prominence: That would be Andie MacDowell.
Jesse Peretz’s Our Idiot Brother is a feel-good movie for people who resist feel-good movies, a flawed vessel that nonetheless stays afloat by clinging to its buoyant star, Paul Rudd. Its problems are numerous and apparent: The picture meanders listlessly, and in the end it’s really more of a character sketch than a comedy — the movie’s writers, David Schisgall and Evgenia Peretz (the director’s sister), haven’t really bothered much with a plot. Yet I came out of Our Idiot Brother feeling better than I did when I went in. It’s the kind of movie whose value lies between the lines, not directly on them, and if the pleasures it offers are slender ones, at least there’s something good-hearted about them.
Red band trailers are the Movieline reader’s one-stop shop for swear words, PG nudity, and otherwise offensive dialogue. They’re the Costco of cusses. In the new red band trailer for the pleasant-seeming Our Idiot Brother (read the Movieline review here), Paul Rudd befuddles his parole officer, interrupts some schtupping, and survives the cutting commentary of his sister Elizabeth Banks. It’s all very red , you know?
Personally. I love media empire owners. I just thing they are so evil it is amazing….so I’m totally on Rupert Murdoch’s side….I mean he is the man who gave you virgin losers The Simpson’s and Family Guy….let’s not lose focus here just cuz he was “unethical” in getting information for his papers, when none of the media is ethical, that’s why it is the media…it’s gotta dig and go through go through garbage and violate privacy…I mean how the fuck do you think Murdoch got caught…cuz of other tabloids…it’s all very fun….. I am just disappointed because when I heard he got hit in the face with a pie, or that someone tried to put their pie in his face, I thought I’d be finding the Rupert Murdoch hidden sex files…ya know some dirty evil media empire emperor self shot sex tapes…but instead I got this…. Some hipster looking loser, who didn’t even properly execute his attempt, failing miserably and getting arrested and having to pay lawyers bills and all kinds of stupidity for getting more of the whip cream or foam on himself than even near Murdoch….Good hustle college boy….maybe next time you try to pull of a stunt like this you should practice on your idiot friends a few times first…. I hate the expression “epic fail” it’s too internet frat boy, but it definitely applies in this case…so fucking dumb… That said, Team Murdoch.
Critics enjoy the visual ride but not much else about Pixar’s latest. By Eric Ditzian Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) in “Cars 2” Photo: Disney Animated films, much like the big-screen work of Adam Sandler, are so often review-proof. “Hop” didn’t give a hoot that critics eviscerated the Easter Bunny tale, opening to $37.5 million domestically on its way to a $176.8 million worldwide total. And hey, “Grown Ups” and “Just Go With It” were two of the most savagely critiqued comedies in recent memory, yet each one deposited a couple hundred million dollars in Sandler’s already astonishing box-office pot of gold. So does it really matter that critics have flagged “Cars 2,” Pixar’s latest offering and its first sequel outside the “Toy Story” franchise, for a dizzying array of cinematic violations? Nope. The CGI flick is poised to race away with around $65 million this weekend. Kids, and the parents who hold their hands on the way to the theater, will be leading the charge. And they won’t care at all that reviewers have harrumphed at the convoluted storytelling, because they’ll be too busy gawking at what even critics admit are top-notch visuals. But if you’re old enough to read this, perhaps you might care. And thus we present a deep dive into the “Cars 2” reviews: The Story “Who decided to make Larry the Cable Guy the star? I don’t know, but his Mater, the dopey, good-hearted tow truck from the first ‘Cars,’ is the focus of the sequel, which is sort of like basing a fourth ‘Toy Story’ on Slinky Dog. The star of ‘Witless Protection,’ among other delights, can only carry a film so far. This time out, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is goaded, with Mater’s help, into entering the World Grand Prix to face the cocky Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro). … Mater somehow gets himself involved in international espionage. Someone is trying to sabotage the Grand Prix, and spies Finn McMissle (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) are trying to figure out who and why. Mistaking Mater for a fellow spy — the idiot act is flawless, Finn tells him — Mater is soon wearing disguises and working undercover, haplessly bumbling his way to success.” — Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic The Storytelling ” ‘Cars 2’ plays out like two scripts that have been stapled together. Scenes from one script alternate with scenes from the other, and there are separate batches of characters in the U.S., Italy and England, most of whom don’t have much to do (every movie could use more of Bonnie Hunt, who voices Lightning’s girlfriend, but that’s especially true of this movie). The testing of the Mater/Lightning friendship has charm and gives ‘Cars 2’ what heart it has, but the film spends most of its time on the spy plot, which is not terribly involving.” — Chris Hewitt, St. Paul Pioneer Press The Visuals “Every frame is rendered so beautifully you wish you could pause it: the uncanny wetness of the ocean waves as Finn performs a daring oil-rig maneuver; the glowing lights of nighttime Paris; the sparkling sunshine on Corsica streets as cars zoom through; the gentle gray mists of London. (Note, though, that the 3-D effects are very subtle; my guess is that you wouldn’t miss a thing by seeing this movie in 2-D.)” — Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times The Missteps “The tone and emphasis of ‘Cars 2’ veers off course from the start. Too many guns, for one thing. The whole thing is too weapons-dependent to be charming. There’s plenty to watch here, and preteens who found the first ‘Cars’ a bit pokey won’t have the same reaction to this frenetic, globe-trotting follow-up. But I got little pleasure from seeing these cars (plus boats, and a plane) thrown into the spy thriller genre. It’s an intriguing story risk at best, a protracted stunt at worst. The greatest Pixar films have sampled, free-form, an unpredictable variety of moods and styles. Here the mash-ups refuse to jell, and even Michael Giacchino’s score sounds like someone less talented than Michael Giacchino composed it.” — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune The Final Word ” ‘Cars 2’ is probably the slightest of Pixar’s films — it sort of plays like an espionage-driven episode of the ’60s ‘Speed Racer’ cartoon, only with the Mach 5 doing all the talking in a universe eerily devoid of humans. But if it’s going to be diet Pixar, at least it’s action-packed diet Pixar — with overwhelming, detail-choked production design that occasionally had my jaw lowering like a forklift.” — Michael Russell, Oregonian Check out everything we’ve got on “Cars 2.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
