You may feel the need to rush to the refreshment stand for a steaming cup of hot cocoa during The Grey, and that's a perfectly normal reaction. Writer/director Joe Carnahan went for realism and not comfort when shooting The Grey, and being out in the freezing cold definitely gives the film an air of authenticity. Unfortunately, not quite as much care seems to have been given in bringing the wolves so central to the story to life authentically. While the acting (with Liam Neeson in the lead) is terrific, the effects are a bit of a letdown.
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(Photo from The Grey © Open Road Films)
It's January - and what have we learned about this month? That January is typically when studios release films they don't have high expectations for. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part January is 'dump' month. Now, I'm not saying Man on a Ledge is a horrible movie, but there's a good reason it's hitting theaters in January. It's fun enough for what it is, but it definitely isn't one of those movies you need to rush out and see.
Read my review to find out what worked and what didn't:
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(Photo from Man on a Ledge © Summit Entertainment)
Relativity Media looked in the mirror and what they saw made them decide to move the release date of their Snow White project back two weeks. Mirror Mirror starring Lily Collins, Julia Roberts and Armie Hammer will now be attempting to enchant audiences on March 30th rather than March 18th. The move puts the Snow White fantasy film closer to the Easter holiday, which could help its chances at attracting a younger audience, and puts it up against Wrath of the Titans.
Also finding a new delivery date is the romantic comedy, What to Expect When You're Expecting. Lionsgate's opted to move the opening back a week to May 18th, which puts it off the same date as The Dictator and Dark Shadows and onto the same date as Battleship. Battleship and What to Expect are not going after the same audience, so this shouldn't have much of an impact on the rom com's box office take. Based on the bestseller, What to Expect When You're Expecting stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, and Joe Manganiello (best known for playing the hunky werewolf Alcide on True Blood).
And not finding any love from the MPAA is 20th Century Fox's This Means War. The studio went to war...well, not really, it was more like a polite request for reconsideration...over the film's R rating, and unfortunately the studio lost. The MPAA is going to stick with its R rating for the action/romantic comedy due to "some sexual content." According to the MPAA, it's totally okay to blow people to smithereens, but anything racy is a no-no. [Update: Fox cut out a couple of Chelsea Handler's jokes and the MPAA agreed to a PG-13 rating instead. Crisis averted.]
There's nothing new to report on the Bridesmaids 2 front (Kristen Wiig doesn't want to do one and it seems neither does anyone else in the cast), however there is a bit of Bridesmaids 1 news. The Academy says six actresses from the Bridesmaids ensemble - Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig - will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards. And no, that's not much of a consolation prize after being overlooked in the Best Picture category. The upcoming Oscar ceremony will be the first time any of the six have been tapped to present an award, and it's also the first time either Wiig or McCarthy have been nominated (Wiig for screenwriting, McCarthy for Supporting Actress).
(Photo from Mirror Mirror © Relativity Media)
Steven Spielberg's apparently not ready to slow down. Although he missed out on an Oscar nomination for Best Director this year, he's upping his chances for future consideration with Lincoln heading to theaters later this year and maybe, if the deal goes through, a Biblical epic for Warner Bros. Deadline's reporting WB wants Spielberg to helm Gods and Kings after he finishes up Robopocalypse (I love that book but it freaks me out!).
An inside source told Deadline that this Moses story will not be anything like 1956's The Ten Commandments and instead will be gritty and realistic. "There have been glossy versions of the Moses story but this would be a real warrior story," says Deadline's source.
The studio's been after Spielberg for months, but now it appears as though the papers are close to being signed. And if all goes as planned, Spielberg will begin work on this Moses film in April 2013.
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(Photo of Steven Spielberg by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
