TFC Journal at TheFilmChair.com

“First and foremost, I’m sorry, both for what I’m about to tell you and for the hysteria with which I’m about to tell it, which is in no way directed at you, nor is it related to a female issue of any kind.”
–Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) before revealing that she and Ned are not engaged.

Up (2009)–****

The greatness of Pixar isn’t hard to define. It is, however, hard to believe. After 14 years, the animation studio still has greatness in spades, and Up, the latest wonder from the folks who brought us Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Ratatouille, is beyond great. It’s perfect.

From its opening moments where a young Carl meets Ellie, the love of his life, to the final shot of Carl (Ed Asner) and his young Wilderness Explorer friend Russell (Jordan Nagai) together on a school auditorium stage, Up embodies all that is great about cinema and, more importantly, about life.

Read the rest of this entry »

Drag Me to Hell (2009)–***1/2
Quickie Review

A loan officer from the country seeks upward mobility in Los Angeles at the expense of an old woman trying to keep her home. The old woman takes revenge by cursing the loan officer. Scary, funny, and just pure Raimi goodness, this demonic horror picture is an instant genre classic. Its PG-13 rating helps more than hinders, proving horror pictures can still be frightfully entertaining without the blood and guts. (We are lucky enough to get some great gross-out moments, though.) While some directors seem to lose their touch after taking on big Hollywood productions, Sam Raimi, ever the craftsman, shows that he still has it. Starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long.

Drag Me to Hell is now playing.

ABC may have killed Bryan Fuller’s Pushing Daisies months ago, but the charming little romantic comedy will be revived for its final moments (120 minutes) starting tonight. In three short episodes, we surely won’t have all of our questions answered, but will we find the closure to move on? Or will we want to hang on to the decaying corpse of a show like Chuck does her father’s?

There’s talk of a comic book series, but it may be best just to let this whimsical treat rest in peace. No comic will be able to give me that same melting feeling I get when Ned gives Chuck that sad, cute half-smile. Nor will it be able to replicate the pleasure from hearing Olive perform the best of Broadway. Some things only television can do.

Wait, there are going to be zombies in the comic? Sorry, TV. There are some things only comics can do.

Pushing Daisies airs tonight at 10 p.m. on ABC

I know Diseny made a big deal about its The Princess and the Frog trailer.  That labored preview pales in comparison to this effortless teaser for Toy Story 3.  It’s amazing that a Pixar trailer, in just one minute and 43 seconds, can be more enjoyable than anything Disney Animation Studios has done in years.  And that includes first non-Pixar branded movie of the Disney-Pixar era, Bolt.

Toy Story 3 hits theaters on June 18, 2010.

Top Story: The highly-anticipated Steven Spielberg adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will hit theaters just in time for Christmas 2011. Paramount Pictures and Sony have the date for the motion capture feature based on the classic Hergé comic strip for Dec. 23, 2011. The film’s international appeal means it will bow overseas ahead of the U.S. release in October and November. The Peter Jackson-Steven Spielberg collaboration will be the first in a franchise with Jackson producing this film and Spielberg directing. The superstar filmmakers will flip roles for the sequel. (Variety)

In Other News: Well, that was quick. Columbia has nabbed the rights to Captain Richard Phillips’ life as well as his upcoming memoir. Phillips is, of course, the captain of the U.S. ship who was held hostage for 4 days by Somali pirates. (Variety)

Director Paul Verhoeven will return to Hollywood to direct a The Surrogate for Fox.  The film follow a couple who are desperate to have a baby but find out the surrogate they selected is insane. (THR)

Warner Bros. has picked upt the rights to the graphic novel Hedge, which will be a star vehicle for comedic actor Danny McBride. (Variety)

Chevy Chase has joined the cast of Hot Tub Time Machine starring John Cusack and Rob Corddry. (THR)

Opening Today:
Up
Drag Me Into Hell

Fin.

Top Story: Tom Cruise is on board to star in the action comedy Wichita. The infamous crazy person superstar will play opposite Cameron Diaz in the James Mangold film. (Variety)

In Other News: Seann William Scott and Adam Brody have joined the cast of Kevin Smith’s buddy action comedy A Couple of Dicks starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. (THR)

Director John Stockwell has signed on to helm, what’s this, an action comedy! He’ll take on the project Roadkill written by Nick Ball and John Niven. (THR)

And in non-action comedy related news, DreamWorks Animation has announced its slate through 2012, which includes How to Train Your Dragon (March 26, 2010), Shrek Forever After (May 21, 2010), Oobermind (Nov. 5, 2010), a sequel to Kung Fu Panda (June 3, 2011), The Guardians (Nov. 4, 2011), Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots (March 30, 2012), and Madagascar 3 (Nov. 12, 2012), along with other titles in development. (Variety)

Fin.

There are good divas (Beyoncé). There are bad divas (Heidi). There are even divas-in-waiting (Miley). And then there’s Katherine Heigl.

The actress who once co-starred in the movie that made Seth Rogen famous and also took her name out of Emmy consideration last year because she’s too good for TV of her character’s weak story is still under the delusion that she is the queen f’ing bee of Hollywood. This time Heigl, who seems destined to commit career suicide, was dropped as a potential player in New Line and director Garry Marshall’s A-list ensemble rom-com Valentine’s Day because she demanded too much money. The NY Post’s Page Six had this scoop

An insider told Page Six, “Producers at New Line originally had Katherine on their casting list. They wanted her for the project, but during the talks, she came back demanding $3 million for the role.”

Our source calls that number “ridiculous” because the movie has “an ensemble cast where there is really no one lead role. Actors are only filming between three and 14 days, and no other actors asked for nearly that amount.”

Seriously, who the eff does she think she is? Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Shirley MacLaine, and Jennifer Garner, what we call real movie stars, are on board and Queen Katherine can’t lower herself to star in a movie with those people for less than seven figures. Would somebody please save her from herself?

Top Story: Get that Emmy ready. Barry Levinson will direct Al Pacino in an HBO biopic of Dr. Jack Kevorkian.  The film will follow Kevorkian’s development of his ‘Mercy Machine’ and his first assisted suicide in the early 1990s. (Variety)

In Other News: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost think Seth Rogen will make a great alien.  Rogen will voice the extraterrestrial Paul in the Pegg/Frost-starrer appropriately titled Paul.  Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch have also joined the cast. (Variety)

Dustin Hoffman has joined Paul Giamatti in Barney’s Vision, which is based on Mordecai Richler’s final novel. (Variety)

FX has nabbed the exclusive TV rights to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. (THR)

Fin.

You know why.

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