Yet, with guests like Ben Stiller and Michael Cera who are big name comedians right now and Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman who are just big names, period, it’s a different way to promote themselves. Maybe it’s not always used as advertising for a specific movie and that’s why Carell sparked some fire. But it wasn’t hard to figure out why Cera or Bradley Cooper were on either… “Ferns” is cheap and funny, so what’s it matter?

This time Galifianakis topped himself with none other than Sean Penn. Apparently Penn has nothing to promote but his charity work so the character for which he was being interviewed was “Spicoli” from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It appears out of the ordinary considering Penn hasn’t done a comedy since, well, Fast Times. Either way, I’m not complaining; good stuff. He plays the straight man really well to Zack’s “brother” Seth who does the interviewing…interesting choice, no?

Check out the video here. What do you think? Funny or better suited for a comedian?

The viral marketing campaign behind Machete has generated a decent buzz for the film.  As I write this post, the trailer for the film just popped up on TV ending with Jessica Alba glaring her eyes while in the shower.  Not a bad way to catch the eye.  The film has been marketed just like Robert Rodriguez;s Grindhouse films, which were beyond atrocious I might add.  Rodriguez is also behind the camera for this film as well.  Danny Trejo, the meanest looking latino in the business, finally gets a starring role in a big feature film.   The movie also stars Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, and Michelle Rodriguez.

Nick P wrote about the Narnia marketing campaign a few weeks back.  He explained how the new Narnia website is an example of how studios are using interactive websites to help generate a buzz for their films.  Machete is also another example of this.

It’s not much of a secret that Machete seems to be on a track to be a financial dud. This was recently confirmed to me by a television promo that hardly showed much footage that wasn’t a headshot that was capped off by a specific narration of what the movie was rated-R for. Kick-Ass was one of the biggest disappointments at the box office earlier this year in April, where after months of fanboy buzz still flopped belly-up with only $20 million. Not much to spare for a sequel. Yet even Kick-Ass was highlighted by colorful, glorified fight sequences and kiddies wearing superhero costumes while kicking ass, whereas Machete is likely to get lost in the mix of Clooney and Barrymore (also worth noting all three movies carry restricted ratings.) Machete showcases a throwback that isn’t packed with Stallone or Lundgren yet long-brooding Hispanic star Danny Trejo. Also rounding out the cast is Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Robert De Niro, and a very naked Lindsay Lohan, among others.

Let’s face it: previous grindhouse-esque movies haven’t exactly had a great past of money-making success. Look at Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse: Planet Terror, the movie Machete was birthed from. Despite a reported $67 million budget it made only $25.4 million coupled with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, the unofficial follow-up to Planet Terror. Though Rodriguez often gets the short stick next to Tarantino, he’s a pretty profitable guy, be it good movie or not so much. The Spy Kids trilogy, Sin City, The Faculty. It’s not too much a mystery why Sin City did so well; it’s when decent films do so poorly that’s often difficult to transcribe. Machete is different from Sin City because it’s not based on a comic book or graphic novel, and though it’s a spin-off of Planet Terror Rodriguez’s flick still stands along amongst the general movie-going public. It isn’t meant to be breezy nor difficult. It traces back to what Tarantino and Rodriguez tried to do with the Grindhouse movies that will leave audiences divided.

Machete is a superhero movie about someone who isn’t a superhero, and who’s riding free. Its box office bomb, if one does indeed happen, will hopefully bring out the passion in fans Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was able to after its wimpy opening weekend. I’m not putting down Machete, and I typically don’t like to read rants in honor of a good movie getting cold because like Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim the journey is just beginning. Forget however great or relaxing it is, Going the Distance seems to stop right here.

Hey, it’s me Nick. You remember? We’ve been friends for years, but this year I’ve been concerned. This year you have been different. I know you pretty well, and with a little help you’ll come out of this fine, but I’m getting anxious!

The reason I’m writing you today is because your younger brother, Emmy, had his award show last night, and it made me think. Over the last year I’ve seen television do a great job bringing original stories to life and I was wondering where you were. Now don’t get me wrong, no one loves to watch the Emmys, but I did it. Exceptional talent and writing winning made me happy, but also made me wonder.

The quality on television (if you know what to watch) is outstanding. Breaking Bad has to be one of the most compelling dramas I’ve ever seen, so it was nice to see its two leads, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul pick up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series wins. Given the best show on television, Dexter, didn’t have its lead win, but John Lithgow won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series which may have been the best acting in recent memory. (I cannot comment on either of the female winners for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Series because I have never seen The Closer or Nurse Jackie, but if you have positive things to say I’ll check them out.) I’m not a Glee fan, but I love seeing Jane Lynch win for anything. That woman is one of the funniest actresses out there, so Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series is great for her. The same goes for Jim Parsons who’s been amazing on The Big Bang Theory for the last few years, taking home Lead in a Comedy Series.

This brings me to the Outstanding Drama and Comedy Series, which went to Mad Men and Modern Family, respectively. Mad Men took home its third Emmy and it doesn’t look to be handing it over anytime soon; it’s a good show, but, man, it can be slow. But Modern Family!!!! It’s nice to see a truly original series take the cake on this one as well as Eric Stonestreet for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

But forget the awards for a minute, Film. Television has all these great shows; shows about killers, drugs dealers, unique families, detectives, lawyers, doctors… These are all things done a million times, yet television is the one that is giving them a unique spin. It’s the one showing fresh new faces.

Yes, I know TV is different, and what am I doing complaining to you. It’s not your problem. But Film, in a time of such creativity, I expect more from you. You know your potential and so do all of us. We’re not angry; we’re just disappointed. Hope to see you doing better soon.

Love,
Anyone who’s seen a movie this summer

You Again is about a successful PR pro Marni (Kristen Bell) who heads home for her older brother’s (Jimmy Wolk) wedding and discovers that he’s marrying her high school arch nemesis (Odette Yustman), who’s conveniently forgotten their problematic past.  Then the bride’s jet-setting aunt (Sigourney Weaver) bursts in and Marni’s not-so-jet-setting mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) comes face to face with her own high school rival.  The claws come out and old wounds are opened in this crazy comedy that proves that not all rivalries are forever.

Funny or Die is known for making hilarious videos and web series, many which include celebrities of all kinds.  Check out the homepage of FunnyOrDie.com to see a hilarious new video for YOU AGAIN featuring Betty White, Kristen Bell, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, and Director Andy Fickman!

Led by Hollywood favorites Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl and also starring Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, and Rob Riggle (The Hangover, The Daily Show), this action-packed film can be yours on September 7th via DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital Download and On Demand!  

• “Killer Chemistry: Behind the Scenes with the Killers’ Cast” featurette

• Gag reel

• Deleted / Alternate / Extended Scenes

Here are a couple of the many clips featured on the DVD.

Clip 1 – Elevator:
http://pr.mammothnyc.com/Killers/KillersEPKClipElevator.mov.zip
Clip 2 – Girlfriends:
http://pr.mammothnyc.com/Killers/KillersEPKClipGirlfriends.mov.zip
Clip 3 – Jen, I’m Back:
http://pr.mammothnyc.com/Killers/KillersEPKClipJenI’mBack.mov.zip
Clip 4 – Skeet Shooting
http://pr.mammothnyc.com/Killers/KillersEPKClipSkeetShooting.mov.zip
Clip 5 – Trust Circle
http://pr.mammothnyc.com/Killers/KillersEPKClipTrustCircle.mov.zip

Enjoy

Keep Bantering

However there was a more than $10 million drop to #3 with The Expendables, which grabbed another $9.5 million. Last year the top four movies on top had million dollar weekend grosses in the double-digits. The Expendables passed its $80 million budget to $82 million in three weeks…

Sorry if I need to cut this kind of short – Eat Pray Love nabbed $7 million at #4, also passing its $60 million budget this weekend with $60.7 million, and The Other Guys rounds out the top five with $6.6 million.

Out of the top five-

• The special re-release of James Cameron’s Avatar containing nine minutes of extra footage came in twelfth with $4 million at 812 locations.
• With a 424 site expansion Get Low’s weekend profits were boosted 144.9% from last tally, bringing in $1.7 million.
• Jean-Francois Richet’s Mesrine: Killer Instinct, which has already made a splash everywhere but the States, managed $150,000 at 28 sites.

Here are the box office results according to studio estimates Sunday-

1. 1. The Last Exorcism…$21.3 million
2. 2. Takers…$21 million
3. 3. The Expendables…$9.5 million
4. 4. Eat Pray Love…$7 million
5. 5. The Other Guys…$6.6 million
6. 6. Vampires Suck…$5.3 million
7. 7. Inception…$5.1 million
8. 8. Nanny McPhee Returns…$4.7 million
9. 9. The Switch…$4.7 million
10. 10. Piranha 3D…$4.3 million

I relate the movie as well to the great Exorcist, in my opinion one of the first and last epics of horror cinema. Every film based on an exorcism since then, to my memory, has basically been a PG-13 satire. (And strangely, I believe most were released in August.) The Last Exorcism is actually more Blair Witch than The Exorcist, which I could respect as somewhat original. Maybe if everything about this didn’t scream the logic of Blair Witch and steal most of the movie’s set-up, structure and, by the final ten minutes, ending. I should reveal to you, I’m not too big a fan of the style Exorcism was shooting for, because it seems with everyone that tries to establish something similar to Blair Witch I can’t help but walk out feeling cheated.

With The Last Exorcism I felt I had witnessed more a cerebral drama than I had a horror, which is more than any of the previous movies of its kind we’ve gotten this year (Piranha 3D excluded, of course) could say. It’s a movie full of odd twists, less of anything all too frightening to ever be called something terrifying beyond a marketing campaign. By feeling it has to live up to a fabled standard Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity have already set, The Last Exorcism devolves into a series of rambling shocks that don’t seem to lead anyplace.

One of the things I did like about it was its sense of humor and remarkable ability to poke fun at itself. The great way the movie establishes tongue-in-cheek is in its main character Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a renowned Louisiana priest who’s (surprise!) dramatically losing his faith. He receives a letter in the mail asking upon him to perform an exorcism, so he travels out to a farm to make good on their “urgent” request. However when he arrives he realizes the procedure is not to be done on a grown adult, yet a sixteen-year-old girl named Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell.) He brings along a camera crew (another poor idea, the movie uses multi-cam) to capture the fake exorcism he’s to perform, as to end the madness of the entire idea that the devil could possess a human body. Fabian as Marcus is fantastic, and it’s a kick to see his expressions change when everything isn’t what it seems on the Sweetzer farm, and how he constantly searches for a reasonable truth around every corner. Ashley Bell as Nell, the supposedly possessed teenager, hits hard with her thousand-yard stare.

In a nutshell however, what differentiates The Last Exorcism from previously mentioned Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity is the viewer’s pre-recognized idea of God and the devil and everything in-between. The movie, directed by Daniel Stamm and penned by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, seems to stop at establishing a haunting set-up and follows by-the-number shocks to pass off as scary. It’s only in the film’s final half hour where it quits acting like something you’ve seen before and tries to do something innovative, which I could also relate to Ti West’s The House of the Devil. It’s the wasted first hour The Last Exorcism has a hard time building off of, and that’s the final chance the movie has to do something original. If you do see it however, be sure to go in with an open mind. It’s much more fun watching with a willing crowd.

RENT IT.

Somewhere hits December 22^nd.

The movie itself is released at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10^th and is about a man who decides to become a superhero (Wilson) after his wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a “seductive” (quoting from the official TIFF plot synopsis) drug dealer (Kevin Bacon.) After his first step up, what the synopsis describes as taking a “monkey wrench to the foreheads of a couple who cut in line at the movies,” a young woman from a local comic book store (Ellen Page) soon joins him as his, quote, “sexually charged sidekick.”

Take a look at the image above and tell us what you think.