Thursday, November 19

• Planet 51 Reviews

  "...delivers a few pleasant surprises, including a smart story..."

  — Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly

  "Although not bowling me over, Planet 51 is a jolly and good-looking animated feature in glorious 2-D."

  — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  "Lacking the crackling energy of Meatballs, Planet 51 never soars to the boundless heights, and skies, its animation so fantastically illustrates."

  — Adam Keleman, Slant Magazine

  "...a jellybean of a movie: bright, colorful, sugary, and with no real content."

  — Tasha Robinson, Onion AV Club

  "...a lame-brained toon that even kids will recognize as an insipid goof on sci-fi conventions."

  — Todd McCarthy, Variety

  
  
  

  Planet 51 Trailer

  An astronaut becomes an alien on another planet

  Posted 11/19/2009 by reelz

  Related: Planet 51

• New Daybreakers Poster, Stills, and TV Spot

  With The Twilight Saga: New Moon opening this weekend, Lionsgate wants to capitalize on the vampire pandemonium to promote its forthcoming vampire flick, Daybreakers.

  Starring Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke, Daybreakers is a darker kind of vampire movie than New Moon. Set in 2019, vampires have taken over and hunt humans for food. The only problem is, humans are becoming scarce. Amidst the vampire's need to farm humans for their blood, a covert group of vampires makes a discovery that may save the human race.

  Written and directed by Peter and Michael Spierig (Undead), Daybreakers won't be released until January 8, 2010. That leaves a few months to enjoy the new photos, poster, and TV spot, which acts as a public service announcement for vampires to turn in human survivors. Check it out below.

  
  

  Posted 11/19/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Willem Dafoe | Ethan Hawke | Michael Spierig | Peter Spierig | Daybreakers

• The Blind Side Reviews

  Even the trailer for The Blind Side had us in tears. What about the movie?

  "...an uplifting and entertaining feel-good, fact-based sports drama."

  — Joe Leydon, Variety

  "The result isn't solid at all — it's more like cotton-candy uplift."

  — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

  "Sticking safely to proven inspirational sports-movie/fish-out-of-water formulas while holding the inherent sociological issues to the sidelines, the dramedy doesn't skimp on the crowd-pleasing stuff, but given the setup, there also was room for more thought-provoking substance."

  — Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

  "The movie's manipulation is loathsome, but the whole thing is so skillful — the schematic structure, its calculatedly competent performances and appealing visuals, the commitment to overcoming adversity — that you may just weep."

  — Aaron Cutler, Slant Magazine

  "Sports movies have a long, troubled history of well-meaning white paternalism, with poor black athletes finding success through white charity. But The Blind Side, based on Michael Lewis' non-fiction book, finds a new low."

  — Scott Tobias, Onion AV Club

  
  
  

  The Blind Side Trailer

  Sandra Bullock stars - Releasing Nov. 20, 2009

  Posted 11/19/2009 by reelz

  Related: The Blind Side

• Cycler Series Headed to the Big Screen

  Angryfilms plans to bring Lauren McLaughlin's Cycler series to the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

  The novels tell the story of Jill, a suburban teenager who for four days each month turns into Jack, complete with male anatomy and 17-year-old-boy fantasies. Jill has maintained her life of ordinary teenage worries, such as going to the prom and dealing with crush, but that changes when Jack, tired of being locked in his room, begins to escape, causing damage to her social life.

  On McLaughlin's website, she explains that Cycler began as a screenplay, ironically enough, and that she later felt compelled to turn it into a book.

  ...I honestly believe Cycler is the story I was born to tell. As for where the original idea came from, I can only answer that it came from the same place all of my stories come from, the question: what if? What if you were neither a boy nor a girl? What if you were both a boy and a girl? For me, all good fiction is a question rather than an answer and those were the questions I needed to ask. Incidentally, I still don't have the answers.

  Cycler was released in August 2008 to critical acclaim. The follow-up, (Re)cycler, was released three months ago and was selected as a nominee for the American Library Association's Rainbow List, which recommends children's books with gay, lesbian, and transgender themes.

  
  

  Posted 11/19/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Lauren McLaughlin

• Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass Gets International Distribution

  When director Matthew Vaughn agreed to direct an adaptation of Mark Millar's Kick-Ass comic book, he decided that he would only do it on his own terms and began looking around for investors to help him finance the $50-million movie. With the funds secured from Hollywood heavyweights, such as Brad Pitt, Vaughn's next challenge was finding a distributor.

  A sneak peek of the movie was shown at this year's Wizard World Chicago comic convention, followed by a plea from Millar to "go on the Internet immediately after this happens and just give your honest opinion." Shortly after, a bidding war for the U.S. distribution rights broke out between three studios, with Lionsgate ultimately capturing the prize.

  Now, Kick-Ass will go international. In a deal struck between Lionsgate International's sales unit, Mandate International, and Focus Features International, Universal Pictures International will distribute Kick-Ass in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Latin America.

  Kick-Ass stars Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Moretz, and Nicolas Cage.

  
  
  Next Showing: Kick-Ass is scheduled to open April 16, 2010

  Posted 11/19/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Matthew Vaughn | Kick-Ass | Mark Millar

• New Moon Fan Reviews

  Critic reviews for the second Twilight Saga movie have run the gamut. However, when it comes to die-hard fans, the decision to see New Moon was made weeks ago. Entertainment Weekly reports that the movie is breaking pre-sales records and that Fandango has sold out several thousand New Moon showtimes.

  But what will Twilight fans think of the movie? Will it be worth the wait? For a good indication, we looked to an early review posted on the fansite Novel Novice Twilight. Here's a recap of what their reviewer had to say:

  Okay, I'm just going to say it. The Twilight Saga: New Moon is not a perfect movie. Critics — the really nasty ones — are going to nitpick and tear it to shreds. Which is really a shame, because while it is not a perfect movie — it's a wonderfully enjoyable movie. (For this fan, at least.) I’ll be honest, New Moon is my least favorite of the books — but I felt a new sense of appreciation for it while watching it unfold on the big screen.

  The Twilight Saga: New Moon is also a huge step-up from Twilight, in many ways. The overall scope and feel of the entire movie is both bigger and better.... And oddly enough — it actually felt to me like there was more romance between Bella and Edward in New Moon than there was in the first movie.... Can I also just say thank you to the folks who injected New Moon with all the action scenes?

  For more fan reviews, come back tomorrow for our First Fans segment. And let us know what you think of the New Moon by posting a comment on the movie page.

  
  

  Posted 11/19/2009 by reelz

  Related: Taylor Lautner | Robert Pattinson | Kristen Stewart | Twilight | The Twilight Saga: New Moon

• David Lynch's Next Project? Documentary on Transcendental Meditation

  If you're a David Lynch fan, you probably know he's been spending the bulk of his time on transcendental meditation lately. He's even started his own foundation, which seeks not only to promote awareness about meditation, but also to bring it to schools nationwide.

  With so much time devoted to the practice, Lynch has not made a feature since Inland Empire (2006). But in a recent interview with Vulture, the 63-year-old director said that his next project will be a documentary about the founder of transcendental meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Maharishi spent more than 50 years teaching and advocating the meditation technique to people worldwide, even attracting the attention of The Beatles in the late '60s. He lived into his 90s and died of natural causes in February 2008.

  While it sounds like a fascinating project, it certainly doesn't sound like the "typical" Lynch fare, and the man himself stated as such in the interview.

  It won't be a so-called David Lynch film, really; it will be about Maharishi and the knowledge he brought out. It'll hold a lot of abstractions. We're on our way to India in December to start the India part of it ... I don't think it'll be a talking heads kind of thing, but we're going to do a lot of interviews with people. We'll interview — I hope — in India, a 97-year-old man who was with Maharishi from the beginning and get stories of times that weren't so well recorded.

  If you're unfamiliar with the work of the Maharishi, check out his address from Lake Louise, Canada in 1968, or the interview (below) he gave on Larry King Live in 2003.

  
  

  Posted 11/19/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: David Lynch

• Summit and Stephenie Meyer in Breaking Dawn Talks

  With the release of the New Moon movie imminent, Stephenie Meyer answered fan questions on her official site, and touched on the question of a Breaking Dawn movie.

  On the possibility of a fourth movie she said, "At this point in time, we're in talks. I would love to see BD made if it could be made well. It's a little bit trickier than the others." A "little bit trickier" is an understatement, Mrs. Meyer — surely "almost impossible" would be a better term to use?

  With accelerated growth children who kill their mothers, no action, and a plot slower than The Order of the Phoenix, Breaking Dawn could very easily be the end of Meyer's reign of success. We'll have to wait and see if Summit officially announces the movie after New Moon's guaranteed success — after all, Twilight fans are going to need something to keep them going until the Eclipse release in June.

  And who knows, maybe a re-worked movie could help the cause. For our thoughts, see Breaking Dawn: Will the Movie Beat the Book?

  
  

  Posted 11/19/2009 by Jenny

  Related: The Twilight Saga: New Moon | The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn | Stephenie Meyer