January and February are habitually known as the dumping ground for studios to test out their films that they have less faith in than their major tentpole or franchise films. That certainly doesn’t seem to be the case this weekend, as 2 very different genre film topping the box office.

First, a second generation sci-fi writer, Max Landis’ Chronicle about 3 friends that develop superpowers and figure out which side, good or evil, they want to fight for. The film, which got an 85% on RottenTomatoes, managed to pull in an estimated $22 million this weekend, which is nearly double what the production budget of the film was. Easily, a success.

Continue Reading →

We show a lot of trailers here at The Flickcast. Most are for movies you will actually be able to go out and see once they hit theaters. Some, like the one we have today from YouTube user blankenheimrobert, are for movies you probably won’t ever see.

Still, that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth watching. In fact, this trailer for the imagined sequel to the classic sci-fi film E.T. is pretty impressive in that the filmmaker had to borrow from so many different movies and add CG touches of his own to make it work. Sure, the visual effects are not exactly perfect nor do all of the scenes exactly fit together without some looking a bit out of place, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pretty fun to watch.

Plus, you really have to appreciate the shear amount of work that must have gone into making this. So, for that reason and because we love to encourage this kind of thing, check out the full trailer after the jump.

Continue Reading →

George Clooney still has it, at least for this weekend.  His latest film The American made an estimated $13M over the weekend, which was good enough for a first place finish.

Labor Day weekend is typically very slow, so believe it or not, that is a healthy box office total. The real shocker is how audiences responded to the film. Cinemascore is a tracking system used to tally audience response to a film.  Exit polls are used as indicators of a film’s longevity at the box office. The American earned a shocking D- grade, meaning audiences really hated it.  It garnered an F from women. (You can read our positive take on the film here.)

Of course, mis marketing the film as an action movie no doubt led to lots of false expectations.  It’s a good film but a tough sell. It is a deliberately paced pot-boiler character study.  Those looking for a jolting action flick probably found themselves snoozing in no time.

Holdover Takers landed the number two spot with $11.5M.   Machete was hot on its heels with an estimated $11.3M.  Considering how graphically violent the movie was, this is a pretty good take, plus its reported budget was only $20M, so it should easily earn back its budget.

Continue Reading →

Real life on again/off again couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long team up in this sweet romantic comedy that realistically depicts the good, the bad, and the ugly about long distance relationships. Erin (Barrymore) and Garrett (Long) meet in a bar in New York one evening.

The two quickly bond over their mutual love of the retro arcade game Centipede, and spend the rest of the evening together. Erin is up front, and lets Garrett know that she won’t be staying in New York much longer.

Her summer internship is going to be over in six weeks, and she will be returning to Stanford to complete school.  They both agree to keep things casual for the next few weeks.

Why is it that when we make these types of vows, we always end up falling the hardest? Naturally the two fall hopelessly in love, and are completely inseparable for those few weeks before she leaves. They share a tearful, protracted good-bye at the airport, and decide to keep the relationship going, despite the distance.

Thus begins our voyeuristic look into the trials and tribulations of their  long distance relationship.  Texting, late night phone calls, more texting, loneliness and uncertainty, and infrequent weekend visits.  Erin and Garrett each face temptations with comely co-workers (Kelly Garner and Oliver Jackson Cohen).

Continue Reading →

Even with a couple of big screen adaptations already out there it looks like the venerable Charlie’s Angels franchise is going to be rebooted yet again. Only this time, it will be back on the small screen where it all started and ABC has chosen the writing team to make it happen.

Former Smallville executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are taking over writing duties on Angels, which ABC is developing for a potential pilot order and midseason launch. The dynamic duo will replace Josh Friedman, who initially was hired to adapt the project but obviously isn’t working out.

Gough and Millar created and launched Smallville and then ran it for seven seasons before leaving the show in 2008. Even with the addition of these two, the rest of the Angels creative team remains the same, which includes the movie’s producers Drew Barrymore, Leonard Goldberg and Nancy Juvonen.

Not that we necessarily need another Charlie’s Angels (nor do we probably need a reboot of Hawaii Five-O or Rockford Files but it seems we may get one of those too), but it might be fun. Plus, these two guys are pretty talented and have shown they can develop a show, get it launched and carry it a long way. Let’s hope they can inject some of the same into their new project.

It’s almost February and some really great movies are hitting store shelves this week for the first time and for the first time on Blu-ray. This week’s releases include This Is It, Surrogates, Whip It, Saw IV, the complete run of NBC’s canceled-too-soon Southland and the Blu-ray release of Wim Wenders’ classic Paris, Texas with Nastassja Kinski and Harry Dean Stanton. (pictured above).

Check out this week’s new releases:

Movies

Atonement ~ James McAvoy (Blu-ray)

Bright Star ~ Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw (Blu-ray and DVD)

Fame (1980) ~ Irene Cara (Blu-ray)

Give ‘Em Hell Malone ~ Doug Hutchison, Thomas Jane (Blu-ray and DVD)

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell ~ Matt Czuchry, Geoff Stults (Blu-ray and DVD)

Continue Reading →

The SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) awards aired on Saturday evening. As far as the actual awards given, it was largely a repeat of last week’s Golden Globes.  However, since Avatar was not nominated in any categories, another film  got to bask in the glow of the evening.

Inglourious Basterds won for best ensemble cast, and Christoph Waltz repeated last week’s Golden Globe win. Other repeat winners included Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Mo’Nique, Michael C. Hall, Julianna Margulies, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, and Drew Barrymore.

Despite the lack of  suspense, the show seemed quite a bit more lively and more entertaining than last week’s rather restrained Golden Globes. Here are a few highlights.

Sandra Bullock beat out perennial favorite Meryl Streep, and this was a vote by her peers.  She clearly has won the respect of a lot of naysayers this year. She gave an adorable acceptance speech, and was truly funny when she introduced Betty White for her lifetime achievement award.  This is shaping up to be the year of the Sandra.

Continue Reading →

The 67th annual Golden Globes awards took place last night, and Avatar walked away top honors of  Best Picture and Best Director, fueling speculation that it is gaining momentum going into the Oscar nomination race. Avatar and Crazy Heart picked up two awards each, but there were no lopsided wins this year.

Critical darling The Hurt Locker was shut out and went home empty handed.  The Hurt Locker has been cleaning up top honors at Critic Circle awards nationwide. Up in the Air was nominated for six awards, but only won for Best Screenplay.

Veteran actors Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep won acting awards, and delivered particularly elegant and classy acceptance speeches.

On the television side, Dexter fared well, with John Lithgow and Michael C. Hall both winning acting awards.  HBO’s film Grey Gardens won two awards as well.  Mad Men won for Best Television Series, Drama and freshman series Glee won for best Television Series, Comedy or Musical.

A complete list of winners follows. Also, be sure to check out our photo gallery of all the winners after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Everybody who has been fretting over Robert De Niro’s career of late can collectively exhale a sigh of relief. After carpet bombing the cinematic landscape with stinkers like The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Hide and Seek, Godsend, and Righteous Kill, De Niro finally settles into a nice little film devoid of gimmicks and action. Playing the widowed patriarch of four grown children, De Niro gives a quietly nuanced performance that grounds the film, and makes you remember why you liked him to begin with.

Everybody’s Fine tells the story of a very ordinary family and the events surrounding a holiday gathering. Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) is recently widowed, and has made plans to have all four of his grown children visit him for Christmas. He prepares the house, buys the groceries, purchases a new grill, and awaits their arrival. One by one each child calls and cancels with generic excuses-”something’s come up”, etc.

This is where De Niro first starts to reel you in. His face drops with each phone call, and you just want to go give him a hug, and go give his kids a good tongue-lashing for abandoning their poor, lonely dad on Christmas.  After contemplating the circumstances, he decides to travel to each one of them, against his doctor’s orders (he takes medication for fibrosis of the lung.)

Continue Reading →

Drew Barrymore makes an impressive directorial debut with this coming of age story set in the world of Roller Derby. This is a sports movie for women, by women, starring women.  I suspect men will have little trouble enjoying it as well. Adorable Ellen Page (Juno) plays Bliss, a socially awkward teenager from Bodeen, Texas, who is thrust into the world of pageants by her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). One day while shopping in a thrift store, she sees three women skate into the store  and leave some fliers about an upcoming Roller Derby.

Intrigued, she recruits her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development) to venture into Austin for the event. She is immediately captivated by the sport. She dusts off her old Barbie skates and tries out for the team. After making the team, she becomes an unlikely hero, using her small stature to weave in, out, and around her competitors. The title refers to a move the team uses when they grab her by the hand and catapult her ahead of the pack “whipping” her into position.

This movie is a blast, despite having all the sport movie clichés. Shauna Cross’s screenplay is not exactly brimming with originality. Underdog, check. Disapproving parents, check.  First love, check. Climatic final match, check.  However, the dynamic cast and the unusual sporting event breathe new life into the genre.  Ellen Page is fantastic, and captures the insecurities of her character perfectly.  A scene where she gets her heart broken takes your breath away.  I actually felt like someone had punched me in the gut.  You see her character harden a bit with steely resolve as she climbs the next rung on the ladder of life.  The mother/daughter scenes hold a lot of emotional resonance, and were very believable.

Continue Reading →