War has been said to be 99% tedium interspersed with 1% pure terror. And so it is with pregnancy, childbirth and baby rearing, only thankfully (else who would do it?), in these pursuits there are also intervals of intense joy. Perhaps appropriately then, something akin to this ratio of tedium to pain and pleasure obtains in the new romantic comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

With a title based on the famously alarmist, best-selling series of pregnancy advice books, one might expect this film to be a cautionary tale of the innumerable ways the process of pregnancy can go wrong, but not to worry. This is a Hollywood product; like a anesthesiologist with an epidural syringe, it does its best to deliver easy laughs and a feel-good ending.

Following the stories of five interrelated couples, the plot is as crammed as a uterus in the ninth month (yes, the pregnancy metaphors must continue). Little wonder few of them make emotional or comic impact, or that several wear out their welcome. Although she’s as impressively long-stemmed and perky-bodied as humanly possible, the appeal of Cameron Diaz has always been inexplicable, and here again she left me wondering.

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Many fans may be holding their collective breaths to catch a first glimpse of Jason Segel’s upcoming Muppets film. But before that, he’s getting down and dirty with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake in Bad Teacher from Columbia Pictures.

From Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story director Jake Kasdan, the film mixes a little bit of Bad Santa and a little bit of Porky’s and throws in even more laughs. Here’s the official synopsis:

The films follows foul-mouthed, money hungry teacher Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz) who sets her sights on her colleague Amy (Lucy Punch) who is dating substitute teacher Scott (Justin Timberlake). Elizabeth, having just been dumped, decides to pursue her new colleague, who also happens to be the scion of a watch fortune.

In case you need more convincing than a cast like that, we also have the official “Red Band” trailer for you to set your eyes on after the jump. Bad Teacher is set to hit theaters on June 17th.

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There have been rumors swirling for a long time that The Green Hornet was a troubled production.  Original director Stephen Chow bailed on the movie; George Clooney was once attached, as was Kevin Smith.

Eventually Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) took over the directing duties.  Seth Rogan co-wrote the movie, and stars as the title character. Many felt that he was all wrong for the role of the beloved superhero, but he did end up losing about 30 pounds to slim down for the role.

After all is said and done, The Green Hornet is a mixed bag.  I liked certain parts, but more often than not I had to keep myself from mentally checking out to go over my grocery list. I had to concentrate on watching the movie, and that is never a good sign.

Seth Rogan plays Britt Reid, the Paris Hilton of the publishing world. The sole heir of a publishing empire, Britt spends his life partying and behaving like an all around jackass.  He has a bad relationship with his no nonsense father (Tom Wilkinson) who has no time or patience for his son’s antics. We are shown in flashbacks that the two never had a warm relationship.

When Britt’s father abruptly dies (from a bee sting), Britt must finally step up and take some responsibility. He makes fast friends with his father’s auto mechanic Kato (who is later revealed to be master gadget maker) and with the support of his new friend, he decides to run The Daily Sentinel, his father’s legacy building publication.

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While most people protest that the main character is the most important part to any incarnation of The Green Hornet, there is a huge argument to be made that the true heroes are Kato and Black Beauty, the tricked out car of The Green Hornet. That’s certainly what they’re going for in Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s upcoming film, as Rogen even toured around the country with Black Beauty last summer pimping the film.

In the film, Rogen stars as billionaire snob Britt Reid, who’s father is murdered, making him vow justice and take down the crime lords in his town. He’s joined by Jay Chou’s Kato, a martial arts and weapons expert who helps Britt fight crime as The Green Hornet.

Written by Rogen and Evan Goldman, the writing team behind Superbad and Pineapple Express, you can expect this film to be less on the serious side, and more mocking the campiness of the original Green Hornet TV series.

In a new clip, we get to see the origin and birth of Reid’s car, Black Beauty. Check it out after the jump and catch The Green Hornet in 3D and 2D theaters on January 14th.

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It’s funny how the general perspective on Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s upcoming Green Hornet for Sony has changed over the past year. The film was destined to fail several times after playing musical chairs with the director, pushing the date back more that 6 months, and converting the film to 3D after it was in the can. However, now that the film has been released to critics, word is coming out that the movie may be worth something after all.

The script comes from Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the best friend team that brought us Superbad and Pineapple Express, so you know these two can at least bring the funny. The biggest concern has been the trailer that was released, which shows the film in a very unfunny light.

After checking out what things looked like on the set, however, this could end up being just an editing error, and the movie may just be what we expect in a campy superhero comedy.

Check out the behind the scenes featurette after the jump and catch skinny Rogen in The Green Hornet in theaters on January 14th in both 2D and 3D.

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It’s been the week of trailers as studios gear up for the all-important holiday movie season. So far this week we’ve seen Red Riding Hood, Cowboys and Aliens, The Mechanic, Green Lantern and quite a few more.

This time around we’ve got another trailer featuring Seth Rogen as action hero Green Hornet. This one goes deeper into the story and gives us a better look at what we can expect action-wise and humor-wise from the movie.

Of course, even though Rogen is keeping it sorta serious here, you can still expect to see quite a bit of humor in the film. After all, if the Iron Man formula has taught Hollywood anything it’s that action and humor go hand in hand. It’s just too bad this movie doesn’t have Robert Downey, Jr. in it. Oh well.

Check out the trailer after the jump. The Green Hornet, which in addition to Rogen features Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz and is directed by Michel Gondry, hits theaters on January 14.

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Not a lot of people are holding out hope for Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet. There seems to be a general consensus from both the studio and the critic community that the film looks pretty awful, to the point where Sony has already attempted to save the film by converting it to 3D and pushing back the release date to a less active weekend.

It just seems that the film is destined for Jonah Hex-style obscurity. With that said, you should know exactly what to expect when going into the film. You could end up having the time of your life if you have little-to-no expectations, and the film could end up surprising you entirely.

The newest trailer lends to that theory. Written by Rogen and Evan Golberg, the same team who did Superbad, the film is a comedic send up to the classic pulp hero. Inglorious Basterds’ star Christoph Waltz even steps in as the film’s baddie, which should raise the film’s geek cred.

Check out the newest international trailer for the flick after the jump. Then, lower your expectations and check out Rogen’s The Green Hornet in theaters on January 14th, 2011.

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I just saw Knight and Day and in a summer notably lacking in quality, this one stands out as being the worst film in terms of the script and editing. The 2 and a half minute trailer was better than the entire film. In the film a rogue FBI agent, Roy Millerand the FBi, steals a never-ending battery that looks like the generic D Energizer kind. June, a hapless bystander, gets caught up in the action. Together they must keep the battery safe while on the run from arms dealers and the FBI.

In editing class you’re taught that if a movie is well edited then you won’t question the loopholes until hours later when you’re at home, hence the term refrigerator moment. Quite apropos when you consider Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. In Knight and Day, however, I started questioning the flick while it was still playing.

For starters, whenever characters would mention anything of importance, it was never once brought up again or answered in any kind of way. None of the characters had any semblance of a back story. There was no time limit set for the mission, no sense of urgency, and no one saved anything, much less the world. In essence the film lacked discernible goals. This film brings new meaning to the term, “We’ll fix it in post”.

What follows is a list of questions. I would say there are spoilers, but since there are absolutely zero twists, turns, or creativity in the script, there are no spoilers. Anyone who can answer these questions solely based on the film will receive a highly valued, Flickcast Certified No. Prize. Go ahead smarty pants, make my day.

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Toy Story 3 had another stellar weekend at the box office and held off new releases Knight and Day, and Grown Ups.  It made over $59 Million over the weekend.  That is a drop of around 46%, but that is not unusual when a movie has a huge opening weekend.  The film still enjoyed a healthy $14,600 per/screen average.

Toy Story has now made $226.5 Million in its first 10 days in release.  It is on the fast track to becoming the number one animated movie at the box office this year (Shrek Forever After currently stands at $229 Million after five weeks.)  It’s also doing a bang up job abroad, earning another $100 Million overseas in the same time frame.  So far, it looks like Toy Story 3 will become one of the biggest films of the year.

Grown Ups may have taken a critical drubbing, but audiences didn’t seem to mind.  They snatched up a cool $40 Million in ticket sales, to make the movie the number two offering of the weekend. Love him or hate him, Adam Sandler is reliable at the box office.  This will be his tenth movie to open at above $34 Million.  There are not  many stars working today who can match those numbers.

The same cannot be said for Knight and Day, the Cameron Diaz/Tom Cruise spy caper/romantic comedy. The movie opened on Wednesday, but benefited very little from that early opening. Wednesday night the film earned a little over $3 Milion, a paltry sum for two former box office draws.

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I enjoyed Knight and Day quite a bit more than I expected to. Mind you, the bar was scraping the ground when I entered the theater. I thought the movie would be a complete disaster. Tom Cruise wore out his welcome with me long before the infamous couch jumping antics,  and while I generally enjoy Diaz, I just wasn’t sure about her playing opposite Cruise.

Cruise stars as CIA agent Roy Miller, who is on the run from his handlers.  He is feverishly  casing an airport when he spies June (played by Cameron Diaz.) Shortly thereafter, he  deliberately bumps into her, staging a “chance” encounter.

A few moments later, the two run into one another again, and you can practically see the gears going in June’s head.  Cute guy+fate = romantic opportunity. Her daydreaming is derailed when she is denied entrance onto the plane that her new friend is boarding.  He assures her, “Everything happens for a reason.”

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It’s been quite a journey for the production of Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet. We all remember when Asian actor/director Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) was signed to direct and play Kato, and that changed. Then Michel Gondry came aboard, and Nicolas Cage was attached to play the antagonist, and that changed. Christoph Waltz then got the part, but the studio felt the movie would look better in 3D.

Finally, after all of the pieces finally fell into place, we’ve got ourselves a trailer, and not a bad looking one to boot.

The film stars Rogen as billionaire brat Britt Reid, who pretty much does what he wants, and couldn’t care less about the consequences. He’s introduced to Kato (now played by Jay Chou) and they decide to take back their crime-infested city by adopting the persona of The Green Hornet, a masked crime fighter.

The film has been panned by critics who have gotten glimpses of footage, and even the studio has pushed the film back to try and salvage what money they’ve already spent. There’s no telling whether or not the film will be a bust or not, but at least we have a fancy trailer to keep us thinking.

Check it out after the jump, and catch Rogen’s Green Hornet in theaters January 14, 2011.

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In absentia of our diligent box office reporter Shannon Hood I’m stepping in to bring you up to speed this week. The top three spots were taken by two remakes and one sequel, the former making me feel like I’d gone through a time warp back to the ’80′s.  It was exciting and a little disconcerting all at the same time.

Taking the top spot was the remake of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid.  For the purists out there you can rest easy knowing the producers did not use the same characters from the original.  While the premise is basically the same Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) have been replaced by Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Personally, I thought Jaden Smith was too young to portray the character properly but the audience seemed to disagree with me.

The Karate Kidwent onto make $56 million in its opening weekend.  Given that the budget was $40 million this is certainly decent returns and I have no doubt will lead to a sequel, if not a trilogy.  Way to go Jaden!  Your superstar dad, Will Smith, must be very proud.

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