A New Movie Guide

I know, I know: the idea of publishing a reference book in the age of instant communication sounds positively quaint. But the 2011 Edition of Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide is just out, in two paperback formats—mass-market and a larger “trade size”—still alive and kicking after forty-one years (!). True, we can’t offer the immediacy of the Internet, but I still think the book is relevant, and so do a substantial number of readers around the world, thank goodness. We’ve added 300 new reviews, as recent as Sex and the City 2 and Iron Man 2, bringing the book up to a whopping 1,643 pages, and as always we’ve made hundreds and hundreds of changes, corrections, and additions. If a film is remade or followed by a sequel, turned into a TV series or Broadway play, we say so. If an actor who wasn’t well known when a film was—

—made is now recognizable, we add him or her to our cast list, or point out their appearance. We’ve noted early credits for Jay Baruchel, Thomas Jane, Jane Lynch, Bill Nighy, Michael Cera, Rainn Wilson, January Jones, Jeremy Piven, Jane Adams, Hugh Laurie, Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, and Jonah Hill, among others, this time around.

It’s a point of personal satisfaction to lead people to good movies they might not otherwise watch, and in this edition we cite such worthy small-scale films as Summer Hours, In the Loop, The Answer Man, The Tiger’s Tail, Five Minutes of Heaven, Big Fan, World’s Greatest Dad, That Evening Sun, The Maid, Trucker, Me and Orson Welles, and Skin. I hope our reviews will inspire some readers to try them out.

Most of all, my valued team of collaborators and I work very hard to be as accurate as possible, whether it’s confirming a running time or the spelling of an actor’s name. When we do make a mistake, our readers let us know and we’re able to fix the problem in our next edition.

I’m awfully lucky to have a great team working with me, led by managing editor Darwyn Carson, and peopled by dedicated film buffs who are also detail-oriented. My thanks go out to Luke Sader, Mike Clark, Rob Edelman, Spencer Green, Pete Hammond, Joe Leydon, Michael Scheinfeld, Bill Warren, Casey St. Charnez, Jerry Beck, and my daughter Jessie Maltin for sticking with this project year after year.

Brand new "LET ME IN" poster and Comic Con panel

It's safe to say the recent first trailer for LET ME IN, Matt Reeves' (CLOVERFIELD) remake of the beloved Swedish film, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN did a good deal in the way of softening cinema lovers' ill will towards it. Friday's presentation at San Diego Comic-Con, however, did a whole lot more. Read on for a recap and the brand new poster.

By now you're most likely familiar with the tale of Oskar and Eli, the young 12 year old boy and his new vampiric neighbor, and the relationship they share that's inspired awe in readers and audiences. Well there seemed to be two missions of Reeves and his cast this weekend. The first, to prove that Reeves, who signed on to direct the adaptation long before the original film hit U.S. shores, was just as touched and affected by it as all of us and secondly, that his version will not simply be a shot-for-shot retread of what Tomas Alfredson so wonderfully created.

Renamed Owen and Abby, and essayed by two child actors already familiar with mature and dark material (KICK ASS' Chloe Moretz and THE ROAD's Kodi-Smit McPhee), the first extended glimpse was a familiar scene to fans of the story- their first "date". While differences were subtle and small, the scene played out beautifully setting the stage for the real show stopper.

[If you haven’t seen the original or read the novel, you may want to skip this and the next bit] Reeves presented his staging of Richard Jenkins’ character (the sort of protector and slave of Abby) and his chaotic attempt at getting his love the blood she needs. In the original film, he sneaks into a gymnasium’s locker room to wait for his victims. In the clip shown, Jenkins hides in the backseat of a young man’s car and we watch as everything goes wrong, from the boy picking up his friend, to needing gas, to eventually being discovered. The discovery leads to a stunningly filmed car wreck that will prove to audiences Reeves is just as talented behind classical narrative filmmaking as he was a handheld camera. The whole crash plays out inside the vehicle from a stationary POV in the backseat and the visuals on display, as bodies and the contents of the car fly, tumbling over and over again, become a feast for the eyes.

Naturally, the issue of Abby’s gender ambiguity came up in the Q&A and Reeves revealed it’s not explicitly addressed in his film, but the interpretation is not blocked in anyway.

Look for an exclusive interview with Reeves, McPhee and Jenkins on the site soon and check out the latest poster for the film, which serves to continue the excellent job LET ME IN is doing at getting people excited.

Images from JACKASS 3D Event at Comic-Con and Steve Watches 8 Minutes from the Soon to Be Classic Film

I saw a lot of awesome movie footage at this year’s Comic-Con. While many things impressed me, only one thing made me laugh so hard that I almost couldn’t take it: Jackass 3D. In an abandoned parking lot last Friday night, Paramount showed about 8 minutes of the movie in a converted trailer and it played huge. Literally everyone I spoke with afterwards was raving about the footage and if you’re a fan of the Jackass franchise, it looks like the 3rd film is going to be the best.
Also, this isn’t some converted 3D movie like Clash of the Titans or Last Airbender. When they shot Jackass 3, they used 3D cameras and it shows! During the 8 minutes of footage we saw some crazy stunts and it looked amazing in 3D. While Jeffrey Katzenberg and James Cameron have been raving about 3D and how it can help the movie going experience, I’m wondering what they’ll say when they see Steve-O in a portopotie getting thrown around with feces flying everywhere – including on the cameras and in his mouth. It was some of the sickest and most awesome movie footage I have ever seen. Much more after the jump:

As I said, Paramount held the Jackass 3D event Friday night by creating a beer garden in an abandoned parking lot near Comic-Con. They invited a ton of press, and they also opening it up to regular folks. Of course no beer garden would be complete without beer, so they set up a bar in the middle of the parking lot serving a lot of alcohol in Jackass beercoozies.

While we waited for the presentation to start, the cast of Jackass was mingling with the crowd and they were taking pictures and answering fan questions. Unlike some press opportunities at Comic-Con, there were no ropes or distance between the guests of honor and everyone in attendance.

After a few drinks and some socializing, we eventually sat down in the trailer to watch the footage.

The thing to know is…the first half (or maybe even the first 70% of the footage) seemed like test footage for doing the movie in 3D. The footage was almost all in slow motion, but the depth in the frame was incredible. The footage featured a lot of the cast on a soundstage getting pummeled. One of the scenes had someone getting hit by a paintball gun a crazy amount of times and the entire sequence was perfectly shot for 3D.

The camera started on the left and dollied to the right. As it dollied, the person in the center of the frame was close to the camera while the person getting shot was further back so you could really see the distance. As the camera moved, the shooter looked at the camera and was smiling while firing. Towards the end of the shot, he let at least 15 bullets fly and with the sequence being done in slow motion and in 3D, it was amazing. We were all laughing hysterically while the person getting shot was screaming in pain. Typical Jackass.

After watching a bunch of test footage (which all looked great), we finally got to a sequence that looked and felt like Jackass.

If you ever saw Poo Cocktail, the sequence shown was a newer version called Poo Cocktail Supreme and it featured Steve-O in a portopotie attached to two huge cranes and a bungie cord.

The set-up is Steve-O is sitting on the seat. The entire portopotie has already been filled with feces. After someone cuts the cord, the portopotie flies up what looks like hundreds of feet in the air and the feces literally goes everywhere. Imagine shit flying at the camera, on Steve-O, on his face, his open mouth…everywhere. And unlike the previous Jackass stunts, it’s all in 3D and it looks like it’s flying at you. While some of you might think this is wrong on many levels, I haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time. Seriously. If I could have watched the entire movie that night, I might have declared Jackass 3D the best film of the year. It was that good.

Of course when Steve-O landed and someone had to get him out of the chair, everyone started throwing up. More laughter. Steve-O finally got up and he’s covered in shit and then started to chase down people to cover them in feces. Cue even more laughter. Again, the Jackass 3D footage couldn’t have played any better.

After that sequence we saw a few other things and they all looked great in 3D and everything was extremely funny. I really mean it when I say, I could not be more excited for this film. Based on the footage shown at Comic-Con, I am 100% sure Paramount is going to make a lot of money later this year. Also, everyone is going to be talking about the movie when they finally start to see footage and the trailer in 3D.

Unlike some films that play it safe with 3D and only use it sparingly, I think the new format has actually inspired and refreshed the Jackass franchise. Since I only saw the footage once and didn’t take any notes (deal with it, I wanted to enjoy the footage) I can’t really write about all the little scenes and shots they showed us that demonstrated why the 3D looked so good and so funny. Just take my word for it.

Circle October 15th on your calendar. That’s the day you’re going to be crying in your local theater from laughing too hard.

Since Paramount showed us footage at Comic-Con and with the release date only a few months away, I’d imagine we’re going to get a trailer any day now. We’ll obviously post it as soon as it goes online. Also, I didn’t take any pictures while the event was going as I didn’t have my camera. The images in this article were taken while Paramount was setting up.

Rihanna to Play BATTLESHIP with Peter Berg

Rihanna will make her film debut alongside Alexander Skarsgard and Taylor Kitsch in director Peter Berg’s feature-length adaptation of the classic Hasbro game Battleship. The basic premise centers on a battle over land, sea, and sky against a “superior” alien force. According to Variety, Kitsch will play a Naval officer with Skarsgard cast as his older brother; no word yet on what role Rihanna has signed on for. For more info on the movie, hit the jump.

Berg has already confirmed that, unlike several other summer blockbusters set to come out in 2012, Battleship will not be in 3D. The film will instead focus on classic naval warfare and — as Hasbro CEO and producer Brian Goldner told MTV a while back — telling a “unique story.” Of course, this doesn’t explicitly rule out a conversion to 3D in post-production.

Venice Announces International Jury, Led by Tarantino

We already knew that Quentin Tarantino was chairing the international jury at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. Now the Fest announces that he will be joined by Guillermo Arriaga, Arnaud Desplechin, Danny Elfman, Luca Guadagnino, and Gabriele Salvatores.

The jury awards the official prizes of director Marco Mueller’s Venice Fest which takes place on the Lido from September 1 through 11 and is organized by la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta. They announce the prizes on closing night: the Golden Lion (best film), Silver Lion (best director), Special Jury Prize, two Coppa Volpis (best actor and best actress), the Premio Marcello Mastroianni (best new young actor or actress) and two Osellas, for best technical contribution and screenplay.


Bio details on the jurors are below.

The personalities selected to compose the Jury are:
The Mexican Guillermo Arriaga, considered one of the most influential Latin-American writers (his most famous novels include , include The Night Buffalo, A Sweet Smell of Death, and Guillotine Squad), scriptwriter for the acclaimed films by Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel, he made his debut as a director in The Burning Plain, in Competition at Venice in 2008;
Lithuan actress Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė, one of the most talented actresses of the Soviet Union who thanks to her acclaimed work on stage and screen (Burnt by the Sun, Moskva) has often joined Hollywood productions (Mission: Impossible, Seven Years in Tibet);
French director and screenwriter Arnaud Desplechin, considered one of the finest heirs to the Nouvelle Vague, often in competition at Cannes, and in Competition at Venice in 2004 with Kings and Queen (Rois et Reine), a film that won all-round acclaim, returning to the Lido in 2007 with his documentary The Beloved (L’Aimée);
American musician and composer Danny Elfman, famous in the ‘70s with the Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo music band, and in the ‘80s became one of the most important composers of film soundtracks (60 scores to his credit) of his generation. In particular he is the author of the scores for Tim Burton’s films (he also is the voice of Jack Skellington) and for many other major Hollywood directors;
Italian director and screenwriter Luca Guadagnino, one of the most important in new Italian cinema, associated with Venice since his debut as a director (The Protagonists, 1999), and subsequently returning to the Lido three more times, last year with the extraordinary success of I am Love (Io sono l’amore), presented in the Orizzonti section, which is now winning great international acclaim, screened at many festivals and sold in 23 countries;
And director and screenwriter Gabriele Salvatores, Oscar recipient for Mediterraneo in 1991, among the Italian authors internationally more appreciated, and now enjoying great success once again for Happy Family, a choral comedy that has conquered the acclaim of audience and critics, here and in America.

Another Foreign Piranha 3D Poster

Here’s the latest foreign movie poster for the upcoming horror film “Piranha 3-D” by director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension) stars Ving Rhames (The Wrath of Cain, Surrogates), Eli Roth (Inglourious Basterds, Thanksgiving), Steven R. McQueen (The Vampire Diaries), Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss.

Synopsis: In Lake Victoria Arizona, a tremor causes the lake’s floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas… They’re back! Every year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 for a single, wild weekend - the 4th of July, a riot of sun, drunken fun and sex-crazed mayhem. But this year, there’s something more to worry about than hangovers and complaints from local old timers. Lake Victoria sits in the crater formed by a prehistoric volcanic eruption, and when earth tremors tear open a crack in the lake floor, all hell breaks through. Piranhas - a million ravenous, razor-toothed monsters, unchanged since the dawn of time. Unstoppable killing machines acting blindly under one primeval impulse: to hunt down anything that moves and strip it to the raw, bleeding bone. In seconds.

Stay tuned to moviemytes.blogspot.com for the latest from “Piranha 3-D”.

'Kajraare' will not arrive on 6th Aug., shifted ahead'

KAJRAARE has been pushed ahead! Initially slated for release on 6th August, the film will now release on Eid, on 10th September. That's the buzz in the industry. The postponement has come as a surprise, since the promotion of the film is in full gear.

Bhushan Kumar, the producer of KAJRAARE, sheds light on the issue, "Yes, we are not releasing the film on 6th August. In fact, we haven't taken a call on the new date yet." The buzz is that the film will now hit the screens on Eid. Will it withstand the tough competition posed by DABANGG and WE ARE FAMILY? "It's uncertain at the moment. We will arrive at a decision [on the new date] within a week or so," he states.

Why this sudden shift? "Our distributors are of the opinion that we shouldn't release the film during the holy month of Ramzan. Also, since we are planning to have a really big release in Pakistan, releasing the film during Ramzan would've hampered the business prospects. In view of the fact, we decided to shift the film to a latter date," the head honcho of T-Series reveals.