Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, Distribution, Movie Marketing

A few years ago, a little film called Bonneville premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. A year went by, and then the film popped up at a few more festivals. Finally, SenArt Films grabbed the feature, and it’s finally making its way to the big screen this year. You’d think that it must be some sort of super-indie to create pretty much zero buzz and not find any takers for well over a year after its premiere, but it’s actually a film that has quite of few big-name actresses in it — Joan Allen, Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, and Christine Baranski. (On the male side of things, there’s also Tom Wopat, yes that Wopat, and Tom Skerritt.)

Now that it will hit screens this February, The Hollywood Reporter has posted about the film’s unique marketing campaign. You’d think with a road trip movie named Bonneville, they might have some sort of car promotion, or maybe even a big party in Bonneville, PA. Not in the least. Instead, they are teaming up with Princess Cruises and hosting sneak previews on a number of the line’s ships. It will be shown on oceanic trips to destinations like Australia, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Argentina.

I don’t get it, but nevertheless, even if you’re not cruising around the world on a Princess ship any time soon, this is what you’ll get if you go see the flick next month — a woman named Arvilla (Lange) is faced with a big life decision, so she grabs her two best friends (Bates and Allen) and they take a road trip across the US in a ‘66 Bonneville convertible. Of course, this trip is a rediscovery, so I imagine it’ll be a bit like Boys on the Side, but for an older generation. Limited release begins on February 29.

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Filed under: Animation, New Releases, Universal, Theatrical Reviews, Family Films

I’m not at all the target age for Veggie Tales, the TV show and videos that aim to make Bible stories entertaining and fun for kids, or that feature non-religious stories teaching good morals. Still, I’ve been exposed to the occasional clip from a Veggie Tales video here and there — the bits that are so funny they circulate the Web. And I do like children’s movies and TV occasionally … we’re big SpongeBob SquarePants fans in this household, even though he’s no longer in vogue. I was therefore a little disappointed that The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie wasn’t all that entertaining on a grown-up level.

The storyline for this latest Veggie Tales endeavor has very little to do with the Bible, except for some parallels hinted at between “our Father, the King” of the movie and a certain religious figure. Larry the Cucumber, a Veggie Tales regular, is cast here as Elliot, a “cabin boy” (busboy) at a dinner-theater restaurant with a piratical theme. (I kept wondering if the writer was paying homage to Chris Elliot in Cabin Boy.) His fellow cabin boys are Sedgwick, played by Mr. Lunt the gourd, and George, played by Pa Grape. (Not being a Veggie Tales viewer, it took me awhile to realize that George was a grape and not a pea … a grape isn’t a veggie, after all. But “Veggie and Fruit Tales” doesn’t have the same ring to it and might sound suspicious to hypersensitive types.) All three cabin boys aspire to perform in the dinner theater production, but Elliot is a fraidy-cat, Sedgwick is lazy and George has no self-confidence.

Continue reading Review: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie

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Filed under: Action, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, Remakes and Sequels

In this business, sometimes interviews are scheduled and sometimes they’re not. I remember attending a party last year, and while outside at one point I found myself standing next to Paul Haggis. Of course I had nothing prepared, but those of us who do this for a living know it’s important to get info when you can, however you can. Something similar happened to Frosty over at Collider, who wound up standing next to director John Singleton while both were waiting for their cars at a hotel valet. Frosty jumped at the opportunity to get the scoop on Singleton’s planned A-Team flick, based on the popular TV show, and surprisingly Singleton was willing to offer up some good stuff.

Most importantly, Singleton said he really wants Woody Harrelson for the part of Murdock. During the on-the-spot interview, he noted, “And I don’t know who is in the cast yet…but I do know that the only person I want right now is, that I really, really want is Woody Harrelson to play Murdock - the guy who is crazy but he’s kind of real smart, a jack of all trades. That’s the only person I really, really want.” Excellent choice if you ask me, and one I’d really like to see happen. Additionally, Singleton said that they’ll be asking all cast members to sign onto multiple films, which means they’d like this one to go the franchise route. Right now, the only other potential cast member is Ice Cube, who’s in talks to play B.A. Baracus. As far as tone goes, the director said: “It’s not a comic movie farce like Starsky and Hutch, it’s kind of in the tradition of the 80’s action pictures, the man’s movies like Die Hard, Predator, Commando, or even Lethal Weapon - more so than anything else. The action is very serious, but there is humor. That’s what we are going for.”

I dig it. You can head on over to Collider to read the rest of the interview, which briefly touches upon budget and a few other things. How do you feel about this A-Team movie? Is this the type of film that will come down to its cast, its script — or is it all a complete waste of time? Sound off below …

[via Slashfilm]

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Filed under: Comedy, Horror, Fandom, Obits

TV personality and actress Maila Nurmi, better known to horror buffs as Ed Wood’s Vampira, has passed away at aged 86, according to ShockTillYouDrop. With her coal-black hair and ghostly pale skin, Vampira became a cult sensation in the 1950s as she introduced films on The Vampira Show and interviewed guests. As a sort of pioneer of horror-comedy, Nurmi would encourage those she interviewed to talk to her pet spider or have them sign an epitaph instead of an autograph, things like that. Nurmi’s persona of Vampira would reach its apex when Ed Wood cast her to essentially play the same character — “vampire girl” — in his infamous flop Plan 9 from Outer Space. The persona she created would also be made fresh for a new generation when Lisa Marie put her stamp on the character in Tim Burton’s 1994 semi-classic Ed Wood. Best line: “I’ve got real offers from real studios, buddy — I don’t need to b**w some dentist for a part.”

If you’re interested in reading up about Nurmi’s life, you’ll find a lot to get into — as a teenager she was a model for Man Ray as well as a pin-up girl for men’s magazines. As Vampira, she was actually quite a success for a time and was nominated for an Emmy at one point and also seems to have had a fling with James Dean shortly before his untimely death. In later life she opened an antiques store and also suffered a number of personal tragedies including being burned in a fire. She also feuded with and sued Cassandra Peterson — TV’s Elvira — who she accused of stealing her act.

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Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Exhibition, Columns, Western

Most people have a favorite place to sit when going to the movies. Some people like the back row; some people like the centermost spot (middle seat, middle row); some people like to sit near the front so that they can stare up at the screen and let the picture fill the limits of their peripheral vision.

I figure that last preference made more sense fifty years ago, when Cinerama and CinemaScope presented vast, expansively shot epics and westerns that were made to surround our senses and engulf our whole eye-span. Nowadays, most movies are too fast-cut and often the camerawork is too shaky to really work for close viewing. Have you ever been forced to sit in the first few rows when a movie is sold out? Wasn’t it hard to tell what was going on most of the time?

Personally, I like watching movies close up, when it’s appropriate. Unfortunately, it rarely is. But movie theaters can’t just start removing those front rows because they aren’t good for the moviegoer’s eyes. No, that would mean a lot fewer tickets sold, a lot fewer popcorns sold, and a lot less money going to both the theater owners and the movie distributors. So, moviemakers should go back to making movies that are more accommodating to the theatrical audience, right? Yeah, that’s not going to happen.

Continue reading The Exhibitionist: The Best Seat in the House

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Filed under: Documentary, Foreign Language, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sundance, Podcasts, The Rocchi Review: Online Film Community Podcast

Woody Allen’s leaft New York with Cassandra’s Dream, but someone else is coming to town in Cloverfield. Speaking of wanton destruction, the WGA strike’s still going on — so it seems like a good idea to get out of town for Sundance, doesn’t it? Joing James this week to talk about all these topics and more is film critic David Fear of Time Out New York. Cinematical’s Podcast content now has even better sound quality, and is now in iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:

As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here — and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical’s podcast content at this link.

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