Paramount Pictures has just released the movie trailer for the upcoming movie Hotel for Dogs, which debuts January 16, 2009. You can watch the Hotel for Dogs movie trailer below:
Here is the official synopsis for Hotel for Dogs:Hotel for Dogs, stars Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle in a smart, funny comedy adventure that shows how far love and imagination can take you. When their new guardians forbid 16-year old Andi (Roberts) and her younger brother, Bruce (Austin) to have a pet, Andi has to use her quick wit to help find a new home for their dog, Friday. The resourceful kids stumble upon an abandoned hotel and using Bruce’s talents as a mechanical genius, transform it into a magical dog-paradise for Friday – and eventually for all Friday’s friends. When barking dogs make the neighbors suspicious, Andi and Bruce use every invention they have to avoid anyone discovering “who let the dogs in.”
Amidst hangovers, bad weather and way too much television, I’ve caught up on some of the contest and giveaway maintenance for FilmJabber, which, I will admit, is the least exciting part of running a successful movie website. While I am happy to give out DVDs and other prizes to so many people, packaging, stamping and sending sixty or more prizes at a time gets rather tiresome.
Nonetheless, I’m set to send out a massive wave of DVDs this week, assuming I don’t get busy with other things. I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, I do have two movie contest updates:
The Golden Compass DVD giveaway
I received five additional DVDs for giveaway, so that means a whopping eight people won a DVD. Some will receive the standard one-disc version, while a few others will receive the two-disc special edition. Click on the link above to see if you were added to the original winner list.
2008 Summer Movie Survey
Congratulations to Ralph Siegel of Plainview, NY for winning a copy of Eastern Promises upon completing FilmJabber’s 2008 summer movie survey. I’ll be doing a new survey soon, and am hoping for even more responses than this one.
With not a lot of movies out in theaters right now (there are some good ones, but with only one to two big release coming out a weekend, it’s pretty easy to keep on top of the films), it’s a good time to get caught up on some recently released DVDs. But what to see? Here are some suggestions, based on DVD releases since the beginning of May:
I’m Not There
Cate Blanchett should have earned an Oscar for her performance in this absolutely strange but brilliantly conceived drama about Bob Dylan.
Rambo
My roommate doesn’t think so, but the new Rambo movie kicks ass. Gritty, bloody and thankfully not very cheesy, this is a must-see for action fans.
Funny Games
I haven’t seen this one, and I can imagine that the 1998 original (a foreign film, French, I think) is better, but this one just looks f**ked up. The movie stars Naomi Watts and Tim Roth as parents who find themselves victims to a pair of crazed psychopaths. No, it’s not a horror movie.
The Red Violin
This movie was originally released in 1999, but Lionsgate just released a new version of the DVD. There’s nothing special about that, but if you haven’t seen this film, it is one of the better movies of the last decade. It’s about the life a violin over the course of several centuries.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
I wasn’t expecting much from this sequel, but if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find a pretty entertaining and exciting adventure story. Nicolas Cage goes searching for the Lost City of Gold to prove his ancestor’s innocence in the President Lincoln assassination, and ends up kidnapping the President in the process. No one said the plot made much sense.
Teeth
This movie is about a girl who realizes that her vagina has teeth that bite of men’s junk when she gets angry. No joke. The concept alone makes this one worth seeing, but it’s actually a pretty well conceived picture.
The Great Debaters
Denzel Washington’s follow-up directorial piece is a surprisingly good and uplifting film about the first black debate team to take on a white team in the 1930’s. The movie covers racism and a range of other topics.
The Bucket List
This comedy, which stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, may not win any awards, but the pairing of the two is brilliant. The movie, about two dying old men who decide to do everything they ever wanted to do before they die, is funny and entertaining.
Youth Without Youth
This one isn’t for everyone, but it is the first movie by Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather trilogy) in a long time. The movie is philosophical and Kafka-esque, as it’s about an old man, who, after being struck by lightning, becomes much younger.
Be Kind Rewind
This picture received mixed reviews, but still looked pretty good. The movie stars Jack Black as a video store guy who accidentally erases all of his store’s tapes, forcing him and his colleague to make their own versions of popular movies.
Jumper
This Hayden Christensen sci-fi action film isn’t particularly great, but if you want mindless action and cool special effects, Jumper has more than enough to keep you satisfied. If only the film had a smarter plot, it really could have been something.
Control
This black-and-white film examines the rise and fall of the lead singer of the 1970’s band Joy Division in a very non biopic kind of way, which is rather refreshing considering all of these biographies about musicians tend to end up looking about the same.
The Jack Black family film Kung Fu Panda, the first big animated movie of the year, earned $20.3 million on Friday according to Box Office Prophets, which means that the DreamWorks picture is expected to make approximately $65 million over the course of the weekend. Aside from the Shrek movies, this is DreamWork’s biggest animated opening ever.
As for Adam Sandler, who didn’t suffer either. Most analysts had his movie pegged at making $15-20 million less than the more family-friendly fare opening this weekend, and they were right. However, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, where Sandler plays a former Israeli counter terrorist who moves to New York to fulfill his dream of cutting hair only to be pursued by his former enemies, earned $15.2 million on Friday, which should lead to a $41 million opening. Those who were questioning whether Sandler’s time was fading after the disappointing Chuck and Larry were… wrong.
From the numbers I pulled yesterday, Entertainment Weekly was closest to estimating Panda’s numbers, as it had predicted $60 million in box office receipts. They were the second worst at predicting Zohan’s numbers, however. Box Office Report came closest to predicting Zohan’s numbers with a $38 million box office estimate.
As a Seattle Seahawks fan, I am by nature a Lofa Tatupu fan. The young, under-sized linebacker has given a boost to the defense and has gone to the Pro Bowl all three years of his short career. In the offseason, Tatupu signed a new $42 million contract with the Seahawks.
So, I was saddened to see that Tatupu had been arrested for a DUI. This is old news by now, as this happened quite some time ago, but how utterly disappointing! What a stupid, stupid way to risk your career. Will the Seahawks can him? I can’t see them doing that, but Seattle has taken action in the past. Either way, I’m disappointed in the guy for not putting a tiny fraction of his salary to a pay for a driver.
By the way, if you like to know about celebrities who mess up their own lives, you should head on over to this celebrity DUI website. The website has much more content than that, but for my audience, I figure that’s what will be most appealing.
Two big films open this weekend, both looking at diametrically different audiences. In one corner, we have You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, the Adam Sandler comedy almost guaranteed to capture a good chunk of the lucrative teenage fan base, and in the other, Kung Fu Panda, the first major animated film of the year. It’s Sandler versus Jack Black, gross-out vs. PG, old versus new.
Neither film looks particularly good. Kung Fu Panda seems like a lot of special effects without much substance, as the previews fail to suggest that there’s much of a story or comedy to be found. Seriously, the previews aren’t funny at all, and if I want to watch Kung Fu, I’ll watch Bruce Lee. As for Zohan, I always hold out hope that Adam Sandler can deliver something entertaining – and there are some funny moments in the previews – but after I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry turned out to be pretty terrible, I am hesitant.
Needless to say, neither film inspires much love from me, and unless I want to see Sex and the City this weekend, this may be a good couple of days to relax and enjoy the warm weather. Unfortunately, I live in Seattle, where it’s in the 50’s and raining.
On to the weekend box office predictions for the movie. I’m no box office expert, so I’ll leave the analysis to all the so-called box office experts floating around on the Internet. May was a tough month for box office analysts, though you can hardly blame them. Who would have thought Iron Man would open to $100 million? That Prince Caspian would so under-deliver? That Sex and the City would dominate so mightily? That The Strangers would actually do well? Anyway, here are the weekend box office predictions for the June 6 – 8 weekend:
Rotten Tomatoes says Panda will earn $52 million versus Zohan’s $35 million
EW.com has Panda making a whopping $60 million against Zohan’s $32 million
Box Office Guru puts Panda at $52 million and Zohan at $35 million
So, it looks like Adam Sandler really doesn’t stand a chance, which is not really too surprising. Kung Fu Panda appeals to the masses; You Don’t Mess with the Zohan will appeal to Sandler fans. It’ll be interesting to see how Panda actually does, though, as there are bound to be some more box office disappointments over the course of the summer.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may have been a bit cheesy, but the movie is based on a real legend. John Trybus from Archaeology Magazine notified me a few weeks ago about a new section on their website devoted to Indiana Jones, and there’s an interesting article about the “real” crystal skulls.
There’s no point writing more than that – check out the article and see for yourself. Needless to say, the “real” skull doesn’t look as alien as the one in the movie.
Featuring clever and natural dialogue that is anchored by uniformly impressive performances from the young (mostly) Canadian cast, Young People F*cking is a refreshingly real sex comedy sure to be a cult favourite with many.What makes YPF stand out from the endless parade of soulless sex romps are the embarrassingly accurate observations and organically derived laughs.It struggles only in maintaining its tone as the slice of life insights are unable to carry to weight of an entire narrative.
The film follows the sexual pursuits of five separate pairings (and triplicate) as defined by non-diegetic on screen titles: the friends, the couple, the exes, the first date and the roommates.Each story is unraveled on its own without need to intermingle characters for purpose of connectivity; they are connected thematically, defining an overall dramatic arc and observation about modern relationships.
Best friends Matt and Kris (Aaron Abrams & Carly Pope) decide to take their platonic friendship to f*ckbuddy status.Kris is more comfortable with the arrangement, needing to urge on her friend with booze as he struggles to sexualize his longtime female companion.Amusement is derived from the friendly discussions that arise and honest revelations about how it feels to watch a buddy provide oral sex.
Abby (Kristin Booth) & Andrew (Josh Dean) play the couple, who find themselves in a sexual rut, going through the motions without any real desire.It’s a painfully relatable depiction of long term relationships and the discussion of fantasy screws while Andrew goes down on Abby is absolutely hilarious.Who knew that anything involving Ian Ziering could be laugh-out-loud funny?
The most complex and dramatic story comes from exes Mia & Eric (Sonja Bennett & Josh Cooke).The pair comes together for one last meeting and attempt to revisit a sexual encounter without strings and emotional entanglement.Unsurprisingly, it inspires memories, both fond and unhappy, which make the simple shag that much more complicated and difficult.
The first date segment is an amusing look at male/female manipulation and power struggles as Ken (Callum Blue) tries to get into Jamie’s (Diora Baird) pants by convincing her that he’s not interested in a one night stand.The mismatched dynamic and unique neuroses demonstrated give a needed sense of unfamiliarity to the overall text of the film.
Unsurprisingly, the most overtly comedic storyline involves a sexually liberal couple, Gord & Inez (Ennis Esmer & Natalie Lisinska), who invite Gord’s reserved roommate Dave (Peter Oldring) into the bedroom for a threesome.Dave is initially keen on the idea, until he notices that Gord intends only to observe and narrate the sex act while eating cookie dough.The needed chemistry and awkwardness between the three is what makes this sequence as bizarre and memorable as it proves to be.
If there is one indie comedy to see in the summer of 2008, it is Young People F*cking.Giving the genre a much-needed kick in the formulaic arse, it proves to be one of the most genuine and true comedies in some time.One would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t find charm and amusement in this movie.
After complaining about the lack of a really good English-language movie trailer, the English-language version of the Russian X-Files: I Want to Believe movie trailer has popped online over at YouTube. Now that the trailer’s in English, we can actually get a few clues about the plot – but still, Carter and 20th Century Fox are keeping the plot well under wraps.
Here’s the new X-Files: I Want to Believe movie trailer (I expect a higher quality version to pop online sooner than later):
Check out my Control movie review, which I just posted online last night. The movie is about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of the 1970’s rock band Joy Division. The movie arrives on DVD today, June 3, 2008. Filmed in black and white (well, actually, color and then converted to B&W) – Control is pretty good, though ultimately unforgettable.
Check out my 
