New Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Character Posters Revealed!

Warner Bros has given Potter fans something to be excited about-the official character posters for Half -Blood Prince have been revealed! Check them out-



‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ Takes #1 Spot- Box Office Results 3/27-29/09

A haunted house and a kidnapped wife were no match for a 50 ft. woman and a blob of blue goo. DreamWorks Animation's latest Monsters vs. Aliens destroyed competitors The Haunting in Connecticut and 12 Rounds by opening with $59.3 million. The overall movie-going business jumped 37% compared to last year at this time. This weekend was also the third-most attended ever for the month of March.

The 3-D marvel is the third-highest opening of March, behind 300 and Ice Age: The Meltdown, the eleventh when it comes to computer-animated movies. The kid's flick received generally good reviews (70% of critics recommended it according to survey site RottenTomatoes.com). While it did make a smashing opening at the box office, it still has a long way to go to make more than the 2001 Disney-Pixar animated alien movie Monsters Inc., which made just over $525 million worldwide. "3" seems to be Monsters' lucky number-the comedy was also the third-highest money-making IMAX debut behind The Dark Knight and Watchmen. But it set a new standard for family films, eliminating Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and other DreamWorks hit Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa.

Coming in at #2 with $23 million was the teen horror/thriller The Haunting in Connecticut, landing in the Top Ten for supernatural horror flicks, but still landing behind the movie that it was constantly compared to-2005's The Amityville Horror. Like Amityville, Haunting in Connecticut was allegedly "based on true events", which audiences seem to get fright and joy out of. Other movies like Haunting that caught audience's attention were The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Boogeyman, and The Unborn (2009). According to Lionsgate's exit polling, 62% of the crowd was female and 44% were between 17-24 years old.

Last week's winner, the thriller Knowing, dropped 40% to $14.7 million. The drop was minimal compared to other films, including The Forgotten. The Paul Rudd-Jason Segel buddy comedy continues to do well, dropping a not-too-bad 29% to $12.7 million, making its 10-day run up to $37.1 million. The star's previous comedies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Role Models had bigger second weekend falls. Speaking of falls, Tony Gilroy's Duplicity dropped 45% to $7.7 million.

America didn't forget Disney's family-friendly sci-fi Race to Witch Mountain, which stars Dwayne Johnson. Dropping 55% to $5.8 million, the movie's total comes to $53.5 million in 17 days so far. The remake has made more than the original, Escape to Witch Mountain, though. The ever-expanding Sunshine Cleaning had a satisfying weekend, going from 64 theaters to 167. The comedy that's being compared to the 2007 breakout hit Juno plans to expand even more to 500 theaters come Friday.

The John Cena action fling 12 Rounds bombed opening weekend, making a disappointing thud with $5.3 million. His similar movie, 2006's The Marine, opened better with $7.1 million.

The graphic novel adaptation Watchmen looks to be on its way out, this weekend at #8 making a mere $2.7 million. It dropped 60% since last weekend.

Here are the official box office results according to BoxOfficeMojo.com-

TW

LW

Title (click to view)

Studio

Weekend Gross

% Change

Theater Count / Change

Average

Total Gross

Budget*

Week #

1

N

Monsters Vs. Aliens

P/DW

$59,321,095

-

4,104

-

$14,454

$59,321,095

-

1

2

N

The Haunting in Connecticut

LGF

$23,004,765

-

2,732

-

$8,420

$23,004,765

-

1

3

1

Knowing

Sum.

$14,702,187

-40.2%

3,337

+5

$4,406

$46,217,199

-

2

4

2

I Love You, Man

P/DW

$12,671,533

-28.9%

2,717

+6

$4,664

$37,078,306

-

2

5

3

Duplicity

Uni.

$7,672,485

-45.1%

2,579

+5

$2,975

$25,754,865

-

2

6

4

Race to Witch Mountain

BV

$5,801,775

-54.6%

3,268

+81

$1,775

$53,459,752

-

3

7

N

12 Rounds

Fox

$5,329,240

-

2,331

-

$2,286

$5,329,240

-

1

8

5

Watchmen

WB

$2,732,439

-59.8%

2,010

-1,500

$1,359

$103,273,462

$150

4

9

7

Taken

Fox

$2,695,342

-33.6%

1,961

-700

$1,374

$137,068,886

-

9

10

6

The Last House on the Left (2009)

Uni.

$2,644,295

-54.2%

2,251

-151

$1,175

$28,492,330

-

3

Posted at at 3/30/2009 08:07:00 PM on Monday, March 30, 2009 by By Nick | 0 comments   | Filed under:

'Where the Wild Things Are' Teaser Trailer Just Released!


As we approach the release date of the new Spike Jonze hot topic Where the Wild Things Are, the
official teaser trailer to hold us over until October 16 has just been released! The trailer, in my opinion,
is very exciting and mysterious. Exciting because we get to see/hear the first glimpse of the "Wild Thing",
voiced by Forest Whitaker, and mysterious because it'll be fun to discover how Warner Bros converts a
children's picture book into a feature-length film. In the trailer, we also see Max (see the sort-of interview
with Max Records in the blog archive) riding and running with the beasts, that look surprisingly fake in this
creepy adaptation-and I love it. The Jonze screenplay/directing might be a bit iffy, but I'm pretty stoked to
see how it all plays out on the big screen.
Surefire to be the next big thing at Hot Topic stores (I'll certainly be purchasing a Wild Things T-shirt!),
Where the Wild Things Are looks like a through-glass masterpiece that doesn't get the recognition of
awesomeness that it so rightly deserves. Definitely should be one of the best movies of 2009. This is on
my "must-see" list for the year, along with only a few others- Up, Funny People, and Inglourious Basterds.

Where the Wild Things Are is set to release October 16, and I'll be following it until it slams on the silver
screen.

Posted at at 3/28/2009 01:38:00 PM on Saturday, March 28, 2009 by By Nick | 0 comments   | Filed under:

Opening March 27, 2009

Hey, glad I caught you before you went out to spend Friday night! We've got 3 major (and 1 minor/major) movies opening this weekend, March 27-Monsters vs. Aliens, The Haunting in Connecticut and 12 Rounds ( and Sunshine Cleaning). Read up on what I'm thinking of 'em and stay tuned for my top pick for the week!







Dreamworks, you never disappoint! Their latest, Monsters vs. Aliens, is by the same people who did the epic hits Kung Fu Panda and Shrek. This is targetted at kids, obviously, but that doesn't mean adults can't enjoy this animated gimmick as well. Aliens casts huge actors/actresses, as Dreamworks policy-Rainn Wilson, Seth Rogen, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd (must really be raking in the cash this month, already having released the bromantic comedy I Love You, Man with Jason Segel last weekend), Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Colbert, Amy Poehler, Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski. PHEW, that was long! I'm looking forward to seeing the film I'm absolutely positive America will make #1 at the box office. But come on, no Steve Carell? You've got other NBC comics, why not him?









The Haunting in Connecticut. Based on the true story? Well...sort of. The plot tells of a family that moves into a Connecticut (Southington, to be exact) home and starts to experience some paranormal activity going on. As you all may know, my hometown is in Connecticut-Colchester, Connecticut. I'm stoked to check this out, although I hear most of it is fiction, not fully based on true events. Still, it happened, and so did this teen horror flick. And sure, we'll welcome it.












John Cena. Trying to follow in 'The Rock's" footsteps now, are we? Cena stars in the latest "pure action" film that studio Fox Atomic want fans of Speed and Die Hard 2 to get into, since the producer of Speed and director of Die Hard 2 took part in making this. It's basically about how Cena's wife is kidnapped and now he has to save her. -Yawn-. Been there, done that. His other flick The Marine didn't go over well (it only made $18.8 million nationwide during it's run in theaters) either. It looks pretty cool, but not very high on my "must-see" list. Can't be on a lot of other people's, either, as it's not opening in many movie theaters opening weekend. Guess we all can't be as successful as Dwayne Johnson. Sorry, Cena.









Sunshine Cleaning reminds me a of a Juno-Little Miss Sunshine cross. Funny, but touching. That's why I want to see Sunshine (that and the fact that it stars one of my favorite actors of all-time Alan Arkin). It's about a mom who wants to raise money for a tuition to send her son to private school, so she starts a biohazard/crime scene clean-up business with her sister (played by Emily Blunt, who also stars in the quiet Great Buck Howard, out in select theaters today). Probably one of those silent hits that doesn't make a lot of money and not nominated for an Oscar (too early, the Academy Award nominees usually crash onto silver screens towards the end of the year). Sunshine Cleaning opened at the Sundance Film Festival January 18th, opened in limited release March 13th, expanded a week later and is now being released wide today. Can't wait for this one!






I'm actually looking forward to seeing all of these great flicks. Sunshine Cleaning and Monsters vs. Aliens are my top 2 this weekend, but only one of them can be my #1 pick-and that movie is...Monsters vs. Aliens. The Dreamworks and Pixar films are always insanely awesome and hilarious. Plus we got Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and 4 other NBC sitcom stars-and Stephen Colbert. Fan-TAS-tic!

‘Monsters vs. Aliens’-Reese Witherspoon and Seth Rogen Interview

He's a blob of blue goo and she's a 50 (well, 49' 11") foot woman. What's not to love about the two? The stars of the new Dreamworks animated kid's movie Monsters vs. Aliens speak out on their roles as B.O.B and Ginormica, what movies they're looking forward to seeing and what their latest projects are.

The voice-over business is nothing new to funnyman Seth Rogen. He's starred in Horton Hears a Who!, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Shrek the Third, and the Academy Award nominated Kung Fu Panda.He's also worked with the legendary Seth McFarlane, who's created mega-FOX hits such as American Dad, Family Guy (both of which Rogen has guest-voiced on) and the upcoming F.G spin-off Cleveland. Not to mention he's starred/written/produced comedy giants Superbad, Pineapple Express and the soon-to-be gem The Green Hornet, even if we have to wait until summer 2010.

Reese Witherspoon, on the other hand, has no voice-over acting experience whatsoever besides her one-episode fling on The Simpsons and her two-episode gig on King of the Hill. She has, however, starred in teen comedies like Four Christmases, Legally Blonde and Just Like Heaven. The 43-year old actress also won an Oscar for her role as June Carter in the Johnny Cash biography Walk the Line. She's now in talks with director James L. Brooks and Cameron Crowe to do a movie over the next 2 years.


 


 

Q: REESE, SINCE YOU'RE 5'2", HOW WAS IT PLAYING A WOMAN THAT WAS 430 FEET TALL FOR A CHANGE?

WITHERSPOON (Laughs). It was an interesting sort of challenge because my character goes from being a regular-size girl to being this giant superhero kind of girl. They wanted me at the end of the movie to kind of talk with an action star voice, which is not a voice I know or have in my repertoire. So they kept trying to coach me to be more like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone. [Superhero voice attempt #1] "I am Ginormica!" And they were like, "No that sounds like a robot." [Superhero voice attempt #2] "I am Ginormica!" "Can you drink some tea? That doesn't sound very good." So that took me a long time. That was probably the hardest thing for me to do.
 
Q: SETH, YOU'VE PROVEN YOU'RE A VERY FUNNY GUY. DOES IT CHANGE FOR YOU WHEN YOU'RE JUST USING YOUR VOICE? WAS THIS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE FOR YOU?
 
ROGEN: I think it's actually a lot easier to be funny when you have like hundreds of geniuses who are paid to animate your every facial expression with painstaking thought and minutiae. I just kind of mosey on set most of the time and spit out the lines and pray something good happened. These guys really put a lot of thought into every second of the movie that winds up in front of you guys, and I think they add a lot of the humor that's in it. You know. I actually didn't even know a lot of the stuff that Bob does until I'd seen the movie. I would watch it and say, "Man, this is hilarious. 
I wish I was that funny." But no, it's them.
 
Q: WHAT DID EACH OF YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT PLAYING YOUR CHARACTER AND WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU FACED?
 
WITHERSPOON: Well, like Seth was saying, I had no idea that — it was such a different movie when I actually saw it. They put together a rough cut, and I had to go in and animate all the "effort" noises (makes imitations of noises while Seth guffaws) and that kind of stuff so that is always so disorienting and strange. I guess this was the first movie I ever did that had this much action in it, so I think I was sort of surprised about that and kind of thrilled, because I can't imagine any other world in which that opportunity will present itself to me. So it was awesome to realize I was creating a female super hero. It feels like a unique opportunity for me and my daughter who was really into this movie. I was with my son and my daughter, we were walking, and I was like, "Who's your favorite superhero?" And my son was like, "Well, there's Batman, there's Spider-Man, there's Robin, there's…" And I was like, "Well Ava, who's your favorite superhero?" "I don't know. The girl who's in
the Justice League? I can't remember her name." So it's cool to be able to create that kind of character.
 
SETH. Oh, I just enjoyed the whole thing, you know. It's fun to see yourself kind of thrown into these worlds and hear your voice coming out of these hilarious creatures. It's a great movie. I just enjoy watching it. There was nothing really that difficult about it. Some of the effort stuff, like trying to verbalize what it might sound like to get stretched out by a monstrous shoe or something like that, can become — it's not that difficult. It's not that bad. It's a lot of fun, I've got to say, and I enjoyed every aspect of it.
 
Q: REESE, IF YOU COULD BE GINORMICA AT WILL, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD DO?
 
WITHERSPOON: The first thing I'd do is put on that cat suit and never take it off.

ROGEN: (Laughs) me too!

WITHERSPOON: No working out, no dieting. She just looks hot all the time. I was like I'm into this. My girlfriend and I saw the movie together and she brought her kids, and she turned to me halfway through the film and she was like, "You look really hot!" (Whispers) "I know. It's not me! It's awesome." That's probably the first thing I'd do.
 
Q: ARE YOU MORE AGGRESSIVE IN THE SUPERMARKET NOW THAT YOU'RE TALLER?

WITHERSPOON: Oh, I don't know. No. It's still me at concerts or the supermarket, dealing with people's backs and their armpits and stuff. That's sort of the challenge of being 5 foot 2.

Q: YOUR CHARACTER COMES INTO HER OWN IN THIS MOVIE. WHAT WOULD YOU HOPE LITTLE GIRLS THAT SEE THIS CHARACTER WILL GET FROM IT?

WITHERSPOON: I think it's got an incredible message about finding yourself and your identity. I think everybody -- not just girls, but guys, too -- struggle with who are you? Are you a person who lives in the shadow of another person just so you don't have to be alone or afraid or find your own strengths, or are you someone who is willing to take a chance on being a little scared of the unknown and maybe possibly accomplishing great things in your life? (Whispering to Seth) That was good!
 
ROGEN: (Laughs) really good! I'm going to take a moment from that. I've been leading my life all wrong, guys.
  
Q: YOU'VE LENT YOUR VOICE TO A COUPLE OF ANIMATED THINGS LATELY, SETH. IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE DONE THIS, REESE?

WITHERSPOON: Yeah. This is the first time.

Q: CAN BOTH OF YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT ARE THE CREATIVE REWARDS AND HOW IMPORTANT BEING INVOLVED WITH ANIMATED FILMS IS TO YOU CAREER-WISE?
 
ROGEN: I don't know. It's fun. It's a different process entirely. I'm sure you've heard the expression that acting is reacting. Well, if you remove other actors from that equation, then the art of reacting becomes quite different, I would say, but it just is kind of a different thing. You go in there and you play around and you have a lot of time to experiment and it's just a lot of fun, I think. It feels much more like playing than acting. There's not a lot of technical aspect to it. There's no lights or cameras or physicality you have to be aware of, or even other actors that you have to be aware of for the most part.
 
WITHERSPOON: You don't have to be sensitive about their light.
 
ROGEN: Exactly. Nothing. You can just take as much time as you want. You can spend three hours doing one line if you really, really wanted to, which I would never do on a set with other people whose time I was wasting.
 
WITHERSPOON: I'd be really annoyed.
 
ROGEN: She would kill me. (Laughs) But she wasn't there. So that was nice. As far as career-wise, there's no conscious importance to these movies. Personally, I just think they're cool movies and it's fun to see yourself in them. 
 
WITHERSPOON: It's a great opportunity, I think, to reach a wider audience. For me, I just love to travel internationally. This is like the first movie that I've done that kind of transcends language, because I'm always talking and talking and talking in movies. So it's nice to actually be able to go to other countries and have them completely understand the concept of the movie and enjoy it in the same kind of way. That's kind of a good thing for me. That's the first time I've been able to travel and they get when I'm making the movie so that's great, and also it's a great opportunity to work with a lot of great comic actors. We're all so busy doing other kinds of movies that it's only ever possible to work with this many amazing talented people in this capacity because it doesn't take up a huge amount of all of our time.
 
Q: SETH HOW DOES DOING A COOL MOVIE LIKE THIS FALL INTO PLAYBOY'S CONTENTION THAT YOU'RE THE LUCKIEST MAN ON EARTH, AND REESE, AS A PRE-EMPTIVE MEASURE, DO YOU WANT TO SAY ANYTHING TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF FRESNO?
 
WITHERSPOON: We're sorry. Fresno is a lovely place.
 
ROGEN: Fresno's nice.

WITHERSPOON: We killed San Francisco. We didn't bother Fresno.

ROGEN: (Laughs) Exactly. Fresno comes out unscathed. They have a little crater, that's all. It could be a tourist attraction. Yeah, I think I'm lucky to be in a movie like this. I don't want to talk too much about Playboy, though. (Laughs) Cause it's FILTHY and this is a kid's movie. Don't do that, keep your mind out of the gutter, dude.
 
Q: FOR BOTH OF YOU, WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF MAKING THIS FILM?
 
ROGEN: Mmmm. Best part of making it. I like watching it. I've got to be honest. I'm kind of an End Results kind of guy. To me, it's cool to be able to sit in a movie theater and see the movie in 3-D and have people for once in my life of all ages laughing at the content of the material. To me, that's the most fun part of it.
 
WITHERSPOON: Probably getting to take my kids to a movie that I'm in and having them really enjoy it and having them think I'm actually kind of cool because usually they think I'm a really big dork. They're like, "Mom, stop singing in the car because you're really annoying me." But now they're like, "Hey Mom, can we go see your movie?" So that's kind of good.
 
Q: WHICH OF THE BIG SUMMER MOVIES ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING?
 
ROGEN: That's a good question. What have we got? We've got Wolverine Origins. That's coming. I'm in. Transformers, I'm in. Star Trek, I'm in.

WITHERSPOON: Oh, I want to see Star Trek.

ROGEN: Every one. I'll see everyone. (To Reese) Which ones do you want? All those? Are you going to see them all?
 
WITHERSPOON: I like J.J. Abrams. I think Star Trek will be very cool. I think that will be interesting.
 
ROGEN: That will be good. I'm excited. Good pick. Good pick.
 
Q: SETH, THIS IS ONE OF THESE TIMES WHEN YOU'LL BE OPENING IN TWO MOVIES CLOSE TOGETHER, ONE A VENTURE INTO RAUNCH, THE OTHER FAMILY FARE. DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A PREFERENCE? AND DO YOU EVER WORRY ABOUT BEING LOCKED INTO THE ADOLESCENT RAUNCH IMAGE, AND WILL GREEN HORNET BE A FUSION OF BOTH?
 
ROGEN: Yeah, honestly I'm very thankful that people are allowing me to do this. I'm kind of shocked that I've gotten away with it, that I can do a movie like Observe and Report and a movie like Monsters vs. Aliens. One which has been described as transgressive and the other which is a delightful family romp. So I personally am very thankful. I do like both those kinds of movies. I try to do the types of movies that I like to go see, and I genuinely like to go see both those types of movies. Being responsible for the writing of a majority of my movies, I don't feel typecast, and if I did I'd probably write myself a different role, and as far as Green Hornet goes, yeah, I mean it will be a PG 13 movie. I think it has a lot of the humor that people are used to from us but obviously finessed in a way so that more people can enjoy it. And it's a big action movie, also, so that helps it round itself off.
 
Q: WHO WERE YOUR COMEDIC INFLUENCES?

ROGEN: I don't know. All the funniest guys ever. Bill Murray, Jerry Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Jim Brooks and those guys. Everyone, you know. Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Kids in the Hall. Everyone who's funny.
 
Q: REESE, I'M SURE YOU'VE BEEN APPROACHED TO DO OTHER KINDS OF ANIMATED FILMS IN THE PAST. WHAT MADE THIS ONE SO SPECIAL FOR YOU?
 
WITHERSPOON: Yeah, I've been offered a lot of animated films. Sometimes, they were playing the girlfriend and sometimes the girl who got rescued by a guy. And I just felt like this was the first opportunity that was presented to me where the woman was at the center of the movie, so that's kind of a unique opportunity for me to create a character that had strength, had a journey, had a whole storyline. So that's what really appealed to me.

Q: WHAT DO YOU HAVE COMING UP NEXT?

WITHERSPOON: I'm doing a movie with Jim Brooks next and Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson and Bill Murray. I don't know what the title is.

Q: ARE YOU FILMING IT NOW?

WITHERSPOON: Someday. (Laughs) I've been making it since September. I've been talking about it since September. I'm starting to feel like one of those people that goes to Hollywood parties and goes, "Yeah, I'm making movies with Jim Brooks."

ROGEN: (Laughs) Exactly. For six years.

WITHERSPOON: I've only been making movies with Jim Brooks for about two years now. And one day we'll start filming and it's going to be fantastic. Maybe.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR ROLE?

WITHERSPOON: I play a professional athlete. There's comedy. There's definitely comedy and drama. All that stuff.

Q: WHAT SPORT?

WITHERSPOON: Softball.

Q: WORD BY WORD WE'RE GETTING IT. (Laughs)

ROGEN: Exactly! (Laughs) It's awkward when you don't know how much to reveal. That's what I always do when people ask me. Look, I have no idea what to say. No one else has said anything.

WITHERSPOON: Am I allowed to? Am I going to get fired? They can still fire me. We haven't shot the movie yet.
 
Q: SETH, CAN YOU BRING US UP TO SPEED ON THE GREEN HORNET? WHAT'S THE DEAL?
 
ROGEN: Michel Gondry is going to direct it. Me and Evan (Goldberg) are in the process of rewriting it with him right now. We should start shooting it in the end of June, around then.

Q: HOW IS IT CHANGING FROM WHAT IT WAS BEFORE?

ROGEN: You can't have a guy like Michel around and not get a bunch of new ideas thrown at you. That guy — as soon as he's in the room, anything seems possible. It's really exciting to work with a guy like that. We hire directors specifically who we think are smarter than us and who can do things that we can't do, and he more than fits that criteria.
 
Q: THE FUNNY ASPECTS THAT WE NORMALLY SEE IN YOUR CHARACTERS — ARE THEY DIRECTLY RELATED TO WHO YOU REALLY ARE? ARE YOU THAT FUNNY NORMALLY?

ROGEN: I'm hilarious every second of the day, my friend, a non-stop roller coaster of laughter. I don't know. I guess it depends. Some of the characters feel closer to me, some of them feel farther, but it never feels like a real — it's not like working coal mines or anything. I mean, we make goofy jokes all day. It never feels like it's that difficult a job. I have to be honest.

Q: WHICH ONES ARE CLOSER?

ROGEN: I think the guy I play in Knocked Up is probably the closest to me in a lot of ways, and all the other ones are kind of not that much like me. That's not a great thing to admit, but not any more. None of them are like me any more because, as you can see, I'm amazing (Reese giggles).
 
Q: DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER THE FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE YOU SAW AS A KID AND WAS THERE ANYONE THAT SCARED YOU?
 
WITHERSPOON: Oh my god, I saw The Hobbit once.
 
ROGEN: Oh that one's really scary, The Hobbit.

WITHERSPOON: He pulls the eyebrow… Oh that's so scary. The Hobbit, he pulls the eyeball, Golum. That's so scary.

ROGEN: Yeah, yeah. The Hobbit was scary.
 
WITHERSPOON: That scared me for a good long while.

ROGEN: That was good.
 
Q: SETH, THIS IS KIND OF A FOLLOW-ON TO THAT PREVIOUS QUESTION ABOUT THE CHARACTERS WHO ARE LIKE YOU, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE YOU'RE IN GREAT GREEN HORNET SHAPE. WHEN YOU GET THE CALL FROM JEFFREY KATZENBERG THAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO A VOICE IN A MOVIE, AND THEN YOU SEE THAT THE CHARACTER IS A GELATINOUS BLOB WITH NO BRAINS, AND HE SAYS, "WE THOUGHT OF YOU RIGHT AWAY." IS THAT GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS?
 
ROGEN: Exactly. I was glad to see that it was animated first. That was nice. But yeah, I figured I've played a few gelatinous blobs with no brain. It's time I do it in the animated world as well as the live-action one. Yeah, I'm in on the joke. I get it. I was flattered more than anything. It's just nice to talk to Jeffrey Katzenberg to his face and not just send him love letters behind his back.
 
Q: DID EITHER OF YOU HAVE ANY INPUT INTO YOUR CHARACTER? ALSO, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE? ANIMATION MIGHT TAKE TWO OR THREE YEARS. DID YOU HAVE TO GO BACK AND PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF?
 
WITHERSPOON: Yeah. The input came I think when my character kept evolving. When I first saw the art work on the movie, I think I was the fourth lead or something. And then slowly she became a bigger part, and I guess they kind of really liked her story line, so it kind of came forward a little bit more, and then — yeah, I saw the first art work about four years ago. I only started doing the voice two years ago. But yeah, we did a lot of time.

Q: HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU GUYS TO DO IT?

WITHERSPOON: I'd say I think I had about 20 sessions in two years.
 
ROGEN: Yeah, I probably did it between 10 and 15 times. It's quite an elaborate character I'm doing, so it was pretty difficult to get back into that — the vocal exercises. (Laughs) Where was the range? What octave? Was it a D Flat? Yeah.
 
Q: REESE, YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN INVOLVED WITH CHARITIES AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO GIVE BACK. IN THIS DIFFICULT ECONOMY, CHARITIES REALLY SEEM TO BE UNDER ATTACK. DO YOU FIND THAT PERSONALLY CHALLENGING AND HOW PRO-ACTIVE ARE YOU?
 
WITHERSPOON:  I think there are some amazing people out there doing work with different organizations. There's also a wonderful organization called Service Nation which is organizing just an opportunity for people to give back through service work, which I think is economical in these times. It's a great way to get kids involved. And they work in everything from Habitat for Humanity to Teach For America and stuff like that. So I think it's not just about giving money, it's about giving time and energy and effort.

I think the need is there, more so than ever, and I think what people crave more even than financial means is the idea of giving your time and support. And people need other people's support at this time, and then that kind of hands-on, face to face is what I think we're missing. Sometimes I feel like we're so connected to the internet and talking on cell phones that there's a lot of space between people, and hopefully this is going to bring communities together and create more of that kind of feel in the world. Hopefully.
 
Q: DO EACH OF YOU HAVE A FAVORITE SUPER HERO?
 
WITHERSPOON: I liked Wonder Woman as a kid. I watched Linda Carter over and over and over again. And I had my Golden Lasso and my whole costume. I think I wore it for seven Halloweens, so she'd probably be my favorite.
 
ROGEN:  Oh, I don't know. Batman. 

Q: HAS THERE BEEN TALK OF A SEQUEL? OBVIOUSLY GINORMICA WANTS TO GO TO PARIS, SO THERE MIGHT BE A POSSIBILITY OF HER GOING TO PARIS? ALSO, HOW DO YOU GUYS FEEL ABOUT 3-D?
 
WITHERSPOON: I haven't heard anything about a sequel. I think we're just like…
 
ROGEN: The movie should come out first probably (laughs). That would be rad if they just decided to forego that step in the process
 
WITHERSPOON: The 3-D is really interesting. I think it's kind of different than 3-D you've seen before where it jumps out at you. This more surrounds you. You feel more immersed in it. I'm excited. My kids have seen the movie, but they haven't seen it in 3-D. They're going to see it in 3-D soon. Like as soon as possible. Like my son wakes up every morning and he goes, "When do I get to see the movie in 3-D?" (Laughs) "I don't know. Somebody call somebody and tell them you're in a hurry!" I'm really excited because I think it's kind of a new movie-going experience for them. And with what I hear Mr Katzenberg talking about, it seems like it's going to be definitely a new cinematic experience that a lot of filmmakers are going to be incorporating in their films.
 
Q: SETH, WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT JELLO? ARE YOU A BIG FAN OF JELLO? WHAT KIND OF JELLO DO YOU LIKE?

WITHERSPOON: It's lying and very deceptive Jello.

ROGEN: Yeah, just say that. Exactly. If it's nice to me, I like it. I give what I get when it comes to Jello. I will say that the notion of things floating in a Jello mold is a decidedly American invention, and as a Canadian, it's something I'm a little disturbed by and don't quite understand. How does it get in there? What is the point of it? What is it? What are those things? What is that? Is it food? Is it marshmallow? What is that? I don't know. But other than that, I'm pro-Jello ultimately.
 
Q: DID THIS FILM INSPIRE YOU TO WANT TO PLAY MORE SUPER HEROES? MAYBE WONDER WOMAN IN ITS NEW VERSION?
 
WITHERSPOON: I don't know.

Q: WOULD YOU LIKE TO?

WITHERSPOON: I don't know. (Laughs) It seems kind of challenging. Maybe Seth can let me know how Green Hornet goes.
 
ROGEN:  Physically, it already sucks, I'll tell you that.
 
WITHERSPOON: It's so hard. I'll be totally honest with you. If I never had to see the inside of a gym again, I'd be a very happy person. The idea of it, there's people who love it and it's just their thing and it 's like I can do it, and I can do it for my job because I'm really lucky to get this job and have a job, but it's not my first choice of morning activity.
 
Q: WERE THERE ANY FUNNY OR MEMORABLE MOMENTS WHEN YOU WERE DOING THE VOICEOVERS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?
 
ROGEN: Well apparently when the other actors aren't there to read with you, there's a delightful man who's very talented who does impressions of the other actors, and he'll read the lines with you and apparently he does a great impression of me. Reese actually had the bright idea to ask him to impersonate her for him (me?) and he actually does a pretty good you. I actually met him before I met you and then when I met you, I was like "Hey, you're kind of like the guy I read with."

WITHERSPOON: I have that weird red Mohawk.

ROGEN: Exactly. He has kind of a weird faux hawk.

WITHERSPOON: He has a Kramer doo.

ROGEN: He does have a very Kramer-ish hairdo. My one regret is that I didn't ever get to hear him do me. I wish I got to hear him do me, but he does you fantastically.
 
WITHERSPOON: He wouldn't do my voice in front of me. I don't know why. He was shy.
 
ROGEN: It's great. It's dead-on. He's could be doing your press right now. (Laughs)


 


 

The two can be heard in Monsters vs. Aliens, in theaters today.

Thanks to MoviesOnline for the exclusive interview!

Posted at at 3/27/2009 11:52:00 AM on by By Nick | 0 comments   | Filed under:

The Haunting in Connecticut Poster/Trailer

I know The Haunting in Connecticut opens in theaters Friday and I’ve yet to talk about it, but I wanted to blog a little about the poster and the trailer now. As you all know, my hometown is in Connecticut, so this new Lionsgate flick grabbed my attention. It’s about a family that relocates due to their son’s health and soon begin to experience supernatural behavior in the new home (hint: the house is a mortuary).

Okay, so the poster-


Okay, THIS looks pretty creepy. It shows the son with this-I'm guessing-spirit coming out of his mouth? And the tag line saying "Some things can never be explained." Um...Wow. Does this not look like another movie like January's The Uninvited? Honestly, it just gives off that vibe, that same old stupid vibe. Okay, now it says in bold on the heading of the poster "Based on True Events". The real story is pretty much what the movie is about. The Snedeker family encounters the paranormal in their house in Southington, CT. But this movie was filmed in Canada! Should it have been filmed in Connecticut, to make the teen-horror film authentic? You tell me in the comments.


The trailer-

"Who put these things under the floorboards?" "I've seen this kid!" "Kyle, what have you done to yourself!"

The music they play throughout this is creepy as shit! I'm serious, did you hear that? And this kid, Kyle, looks like a

major jackass. "Down here?" "It's nice and it's coed." I want to punch him in the face! But the trailer makes The

Haunting in Connecticut look very creepy and make your blood run cold. Did you notice how they never showed

who the kid was that was stalking them? Reminds me of Signs, because as I recall in that flick, they never fully showed

who the aliens were, only what their weakness was. I'm looking forward to seeing Haunting, opening tomorrow only in

theaters.

‘Knowing’ Suspenseful, Thrilling Yet Unlikely and Familiar

I know what you're thinking. You liked Knowing? Why yes, yes I did. It jumps right into the plot-an MIT agent, played by Nicolas Cage (very, very convincing in this sci-fi/thriller, really holds his own), must stop national disasters from occurring after his son, played by Chandler Canterbury, discovers a slip of paper that tells the date and death toll of events that have occurred and those that have yet to. It opens with a 1959 classroom full of students drawing pictures for the time capsule that they plan to bury and dig up 50 years from now (so, in other words, present day). Lucille, a Ring style looking little girl, is, instead of coloring, writing a series of numbers on a piece of parchment. After her teacher takes the paper away from her, she flees to the gym closet and finishes scratching the rest of the numbers into a door. It's pretty creepy, and gets you revved up for what's going to happen next. Now, 50 years later, Cage's son (who is a dreadfully bad actor, I'm sad to say) Caleb's class is singing at the grand-unloosening of the time capsule that Lucille's class had previously buried. Each class member gets one of the drawings that the 1950-era students have made for them-except for Caleb. He receives the mysterious numbers that were sketched out by the psychotic child. Soon, Cage's character notices the 9/11 disaster: "9110127500", written on his son's finding. September 11, 2001. Death toll-2, 7500. Spooky. Knowing is directed and produced by Alex Proyas, who also wrote/directed the cult classic Dark City and directed the Will Smith futuristic action flick I, Robot.

I was thinking to myself throughout the entire film-this kid (Cage's son) is the most depressed thing I have ever seen. His dad's become a depressed alcoholic since his mother passed away (typical scenario), and he doesn't really pay attention to him or show any emotion at all. And get this-his dad actually tells him that Heaven doesn't exist! Who would you do that to a kid, let alone your own son?

The special effects were very cool (the plane crash scene especially). They're very realistic, and all in all a sight for sore eyes. The level of special effect greatness is not among those films such as Michael Bay's Transformers and Peter Jackson's King Kong, but they still leave your mouth ajar. They are similar to Steven Spielberg's sci-fi remake War of the Worlds, though. The explosions, the flames-very much the same. Very much awesome. Speaking of movies like Knowing, I was also reminded of The Sixth Sense. Caleb claims that these "people" whisper to him. I was just waiting for the horrible child actor to say to Cage "I see dead people."

The story isn't all that original; I was reminded of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening almost entirely. A teacher who tries to stop the world from entering apocalyptic doom. Bor-ing. Maybe, but that doesn't mean that Knowing wasn't a good flick. Sometimes, it does, however. Recall David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button constantly being compared to Robert Zemeckis's Forrest Gump? I found the entire journey to stop the sun from flaming into the Earth's ozone layer to be highly suspenseful and very enjoyable. So enjoyable, in fact, that you forget that the movie is nearly 2 hours long (well, 2 hours and 2 minutes long to be exact).

Despite Canterbury's lousy performance (seriously, he ruins every great scene he's in) and an odd, biblical ending that tones down your feeling towards the plot, Knowing is a spectacular way to get lost in a War of the Worlds-y apocalypse swirling with explosions and pretty sweet special effects. Nicolas Cage gives his all, and it gives Proyas another movie to be braggadocios about.


3/5 burgers.

‘Where the Wild Things Are’-First Look

The children's book, which is being turned into a very creepy movie, is a classic. But can Hollywood do it justice when it's released in theaters this fall? The half animated, half live action Spike Jonze flick stars many A-listers-Forest Whitaker, Catherine Keener and James Gandolfini, just to name a few-but one unknown child actor really stands out. Max Records, 11 years old, will be playing, strangely, "Max": the child who's anger issues cause him to escape to a land where beasts roam. The same name casting is odd, eh?
"It's just fortuitous, kismet, circumstance," says writer/director Spike Jonze, Wild Things being his first major blockbuster, who cast Records after a friend sent him a tape. "Max is the soul of the movie; I can't imagine anyone else playing him. He's a very special sort of kid. Deep and thoughtful. Sweet and sincere." You can see the same-name actor in a preview for Where the Wild Things Are this Friday before the animated Dreamworks comedy, Monsters vs. Aliens. The sixth-grade, Portland, Oregon star spent 4 months on the film, which was shot outside Melbourne, Australia. He's been in videos for Death Cab for Cutie and Cake, but has almost no acting experience besides that. "I wasn't a huge movie person," he says. "I'm not into what won the Oscars this year."

What he is "into", however, are books. Wild Things, he says, just happens to be one of his all time favorites. "It's sort of different and not a simple story". We'll see if that's true when it's released this October.

If you want to see more of Max Records, you can catch him in The Brothers Bloom, which opens May 29, along with Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo. Max says he would like to continue to act. "But not gigantic parts. I'm in school and stuff. It's too disruptive." He did get some pretty exciting encouragement-from Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are.

"I got to meet him last September." Max said. "Good job." Is what Sendak told him.

Where the Wild Things Are opens October 16th in theaters worldwide, and I'll be blogging about it following it's release.

Inglourious Basterds Trailer Released


The new Quentin Tarantino war epic Inglourious Basterds trailer was released today! Basterds is about Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers. I think this trailer is AWESOME! And the fact that it's written/directed by Quentin Tarantino makes me love this new preview even more! B.J Novak of The Office, Mike Myers, Cloris Leachman and Brad Pitt all star in Inglourious Basterds. I love Novak and Myers, but Pitt better not mess up what could be one of the funniest/most kick-ass movies of Summer 2009! But we have to wait until August 21 until it hits screens…I'll be updating the blog with whatever info I can find on this epic following it's release!

Here's the new trailer for Inglourious Basterds, courtesy of IMDb.com-



‘Knowing’ Smashes Box Office-Results 3/20-22/09

A "bromance" and two spies couldn't beat a world on the brink of apocalyptic doom. Despite bad reviews, Nicolas Cage's latest sci-fi/thriller Knowing debuted at #1 this weekend with $24.8 million, according to studio estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com Sunday. The Alex Proyas fantasy about an M.I.T teacher who comes across a slip of paper that reveals disasters that have/haven't occurred in the past half century, opened with about $4 million more than expected from Summit Entertainment. A lot was doubted from this film-only about a quarter of the nation's critics recommended it, according to site RottenTomatoes.com.

I Love You, Man, despite good reviews, debuted at #2 on the box office, with a fair $18 million. The comedy, which stars dynamic duo Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, was given an average of 4/5 stars from critics. Landing smack-dab between the stars' last year comedies, Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which opening weekends' grossed $19.2 and $17.7 million. Two spies who try to con their boss, Duplicity, opened at #3, with an expected $14.4 million. The results answered the question that was on everybody's mind-can Julia Roberts still open a movie? Apparently not.

The previous weekend topper, Race to Witch Mountain, dropped 3 spots to #4, with a subtle $13 million. The Disney hit is doing quite well so far, nationally rounding up an estimated $45 million. Still lower than Dwayne Johnson's 2007 kid-friendly flick, The Game Plan, which grossed an estimated $90.7 million in its run at the box office.

The graphic novel antihero epic Watchmen continues to see its audience fade away; this weekend dropping 62% to $6.7 million from $17.8 million. The Last House on the Left, the latest Hollywood horror remake, also perished at the box office this past weekend, dropping 58% to $5.9 million. Obviously released due to the success of the Friday the 13th
remake last month, not doing as well as planned. The Sean S. Cunningham "Jason" horror remake has now grossed $64.7 million nationwide, Last House only grossing $23.9.

Estimated results from March 20-22 according to BoxOfficeMojo.com-

TW

LW

Title (click to view)

Studio

Weekend Gross

% Change

Theater Count / Change

Average

Total Gross

Budget*

Week #

1

N

Knowing

Sum.

$24,604,751

-

3,332

-

$7,384

$24,604,751

-

1

2

N

I Love You, Man

P/DW

$17,810,270

-

2,711

-

$6,570

$17,810,270

-

1

3

N

Duplicity

Uni.

$13,965,110

-

2,574

-

$5,425

$13,965,110

-

1

4

1

Race to Witch Mountain

BV

$12,786,041

-47.6%

3,187

-

$4,012

$44,496,593

-

2

5

2

Watchmen

WB

$6,801,114

-61.8%

3,510

-101

$1,938

$98,140,886

$150

3

6

3

The Last House on the Left (2009)

Uni.

$5,776,160

-59.1%

2,402

+1

$2,405

$23,902,420

-

2

7

4

Taken

Fox

$4,057,695

-38.2%

2,661

-197

$1,525

$133,096,403

-

8

8

6

Slumdog Millionaire

FoxS

$2,676,369

-46.5%

2,067

-511

$1,295

$137,178,177

$15

19

9

5

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail

LGF

$2,566,535

-49.8%

1,835

-368

$1,399

$87,264,219

-

5

10

9

Coraline

Focus

$2,130,746

-21.6%

1,431

-337

$1,489

$72,841,173

-

7

Posted at at 3/23/2009 07:42:00 PM on by By Nick | 0 comments   | Filed under: