Month: April 2009

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Back Seat Producers Season 03 Shows

BSP Episode 090: Eddie and the Cruisers

Betty Lou’s got a new pair of shoes.

And the Back Seat Producers have another new episode.  Three in three days.. When will the madness end?  Probably tomorrow.

This week we discuss the Michael Pare’ performance of the title character, Eddie Wilson, and everything else that went into this 80’s flick that is set in the 60’s about a rock band that never existed, but that had music played for the movie by a band that really did exist.  And talk about acting, this film also starred Tom Berenger, Ellen Barkin and Joe Pantoliano

Oh… and Adam and Stingray are wrong. (-Tony)

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Back Seat Producers Season 03 Shows

BSP Episode 089: Star Trek: Generations

Speeding through space to catch up with all the yummy gooey goodness of Easter candy… errr I mean our episodes.

In this episode we discuss the movie that served to bridge the gap between Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Hang on kids, keep your hands in the space craft and beware of The Ribbon.

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Back Seat Producers Season 03 Shows

BSP Episode 088: The Last Temptation of Christ

Alright, so here is the scoop.  We are just a few weeks away from recording episode #100.  No, seriously… even though This episode is #88, there are currently 10 more episodes that we have recorded but not released.

We are going to make a push to get as many episodes as we can released as quickly as we can.  In some cases this will mean an episode a day.   We’re on the right track and hopefully after this weekend we’ll be a few closer to caught up.

Thanks for your patience and support.

In this episode we discuss Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.  This is a long, deep discussion that goes well beyond the bounds of just the movie and dips into some of our beliefs as well.

We also have a very special guest spot from our good friend, Aron Head.

Aron’s work can be found at:

Ideology of Madness

Mark Andrew Popecast

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News

News Briefs

Carl Icahn has restarted takeover talks with Lions Gate. He has purchased 14.5 percent of the company’s stock and offered to buy up $325 million of the company’s outstanding debt. This comes on the heels of two failed takeover attempts, one for Yahoo and the other for Motorola and a failed previous attempt at Lions Gate in which the takeover king wanted two board seats. Top Lions executives have hired a phalanx of lawyers, investment bankers and publicists; they’ve cut overhead by 8% and cut 45 jobs from their workforce all in an effort to stave off the the hostile bid. Mark Rachesky, a former employee of the company and holder of a 20% share in the company, and a host of current investors and debt holders have come to the aid of of the embattled execs, all expressing their support and confidence. John Kornitzer, the company’s largest debt holder, has publicly stated that he will not sell to Icahn, stating that he wished the man would “go crawl under a rock.”

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has picked up Edward Norton’s By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. The documentary, directed by Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, was produced by Norton’s Class 5 Films. It follows Obama from the announcement on Feb. 10, 2007, of his candidacy for President to his inauguration.

Overture Films has announced it will handle worldwide distribution and marketing for the romantic comedy Paper Heart, which debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and won the Waldo Salt Award for best screenplay. The film, directed by Nicholas Jasenovec and starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, follows Yi as she embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about the one subject she doesn’t fully understand: Love. Cera becomes the object of her affection. Overture will debut Paper Heart in theaters in Los Angeles and New York on August 7, and will expand it on August 14.

Warner Bros on Monday put its Bollywood counterparts on notice that they would sue for breach of copyright if the hit film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was remade in India. Advertisements were placed in the Times of India and trade magazines stating that Warner Bros is the joint author and co-owner of the copyright of the period drama, which earned 13 nominations at this year’s Oscars.

Fast & Furious went from zero to an estimated $72.5 million so fast this weekend that it crashed through box-office records and astounded naysayers who doubted the film would ever be produced. And with year-to-date box office about 5 percent ahead of last year at this time, with $2.39 billion, there are already predictions that 2009 could reach $10 billion. Not only has Universal’s $80 million car action feature claimed the biggest box-office debut of 2009 so far, outpacing last week’s Monsters vs. Aliens $58 million, the film marks the biggest April weekend in box-office history and the studio’s biggest three-day opening.

Kal Penn, (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) a fervent campaigner for Obama during his Presidential campaign the actor ,who taught a class on Asian-American studies at the University of Pennsylvania last year, will join Obama’s team as an associate director in the Office Of Public Liaison.

Coming fast after the news that Gore Verbinski is quitting the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to focus on his big screen adaptation of the game Bioshock comes the news that Sony Pictures is planning to adapt Shadow of the Colossus for the screen.The game focuses on a character called Wander who must wander through a cursed waste called the Forbidden Land and slay 16 enormous “colossi” in order to save the life of a girl, Mono. The game was much praised for its gorgeous art and high-quality score, and is sufficiently bare-bones of plot that there’s lots of wiggle room for screenwriters.

Sources:
TheWrap.com
IMDB
EmpireOnline

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News

Weekend Box Office For April 3 – 5

#1 Fast and Furious from Universal takes the #1 spot this weekend earning $72.5 million in 3461 theaters. Budget for Furious was $85 million.

#2 Monsters Vs. Aliens from DreamWorks drops to #2 this weekend earning $33.5 million in 4109 theaters. Budget for Monsters was $175 million.

#3 The Haunting in Connecticut from Lionsgate drops to #3 this weekend earning $9.5 million in 2732 theaters. Budget for Haunting is unknown.

#4 Knowing from Summit drops to #4 this weekend earning $8.1 million in 3323 theaters. Budget for Knowing is unknown.

#5 I Love You, Man from Paramount drops to #5 this weekend earning $7.8 million in 2829 theaters. Budget for I Love You, Man is unknown.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

#6 Adventureland Weekend Gross: $6,010,000 / Theaters: 1862 / Gross $6,010,000 / Budget: unknown

#7 Duplicity Weekend Gross: $4,300,000
down 44% / Theaters: 2522, down 57 / Gross $32,376,000 / Budget: $60 million

#8 The Race to Witch Mountain Weekend Gross: $3,351,000, down 42% / Theaters: 2825, down 443 / Gross $58,388,000 / Budget: unknown

#9 12 Rounds Weekend Gross: $2,300,000, down 56% / Theaters: 2331 / Gross $9,022,000 / Budget: unknown

#10 Sunshine Cleaning Weekend Gross: $1,879,000, up 47%% / Theaters: 479, up 312/ Gross $4,775,000 / Budget: unknown

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:

Box Office Mojo

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Text Reviews Theatrical Review

Theatrical Review: Fast & Furious

Outlaw-with-a-code Dominic Toretto finds himself teamed up again with FBI Agent Brian O’Connor after someone close to both is struck down in a dangerous deal.

That’s it. Basically all you need to know going in to see Fast & Furious. But I figure those going to see this are probably those that are familiar with The Fast & The Furious franchise in the first place. This is the first movie since the first in the series to re-team stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in their respective parts, though both have appeared separately in the other movies (the second one teaming Walker with Tyrese Gibson and the third featuring Diesel in a cameo part at the movie’s end).

Let’s face it, this series is a B-movie series featuring A-list stunts and state of the art effects. I’ve said it before about the series, it doesn’t try to be high art by any means, but more high state-of-the-art. Director Justin Lin knows this, and did it very well with the third in the series, Tokyo Drift and now he gets to demonstrate that again with the original stars of the franchise.

This won’t “wow” anyone with it’s less-than-pithy dialogue or it’s somewhat simplistic characters, and that’s not really the point, it’s more to deliver some high-octane thrills, but to it’s credit, there are things that get you involved with it’s characters, and further, this movie does have continuity with the others, including Tokyo Drift with a stunning opening scene that sets up the relationship that was alluded to at the end of that movie, and almost indicating that this film could very well be taking place concurrently with that one.

If you enjoy the series, and I have a ball with it, then I truly think this is a good addition to it. As a fan of video games like the Need For Speed series and Rockstar’s excellent Midnight Club series (Midnight Club: Los Angeles is just about the closest thing out there to having a Fast & Furious game- despite there being a real Fast & Furious game), this series is made for that crowd, and for the car crowd and just for those that enjoy some pretty high testosterone fun. The only actual race in the movie, was especially fun for me being a fan of these games.

Anyway, it’s really well made, stars Diesel and Walker deliver the goods as far as this milieu is concerned and it’s just a lot of fun. It won’t change anyone’s world and it won’t go down as one of the best movies of the year, but it’s a great diversion for those that love this stuff, and I do and I can certainly recommend this to fans of the series.