
Big, loud and without a brain, “Battleship” sinks so fast you’ll wonder how anyone thought this could’ve been good.
Here’s how sledgehammer-tactful it is: It opens with the Japanese Navy defeating Americans in a soccer game at Pearl Harbor, then later has a token Japanese American help his fellow patriots save the island. If you’re going to invoke a day that lives in infamy, a bit more subtlety and grace is required.
But the movie is a lot worse than that. Imagine Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” as a midshipman and you have Taylor Kitsch’s Alex Hopper, an irresponsible hotshot who’s really smart but can’t get out of his own way. His brother (Alexander Skarsgard) gets him to join the navy to set him straight, but all Alex does is date the admiral’s (Liam Nesson) daughter (Brooklyn Decker) and screw around.
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There are people who would tell you Kate Beckinsale (above) is nothing more than a beautiful woman with no acting talent. I say nay-nay to that, and think comparing her to the popular choice for beauty and talent Charlize Theron (upcoming “Snow White and the Huntsman”) is unfair since they both do different things exceptionally well. While Theron is great at drama, she was never good at action films (“Aeon Flux” was terrible), and where Beckinsale excels at kicking ass (“Underworld” for the win) she hasn’t really tested out her dramatic side. Beckinsale was never really given a meaty role that she could just dive into, until now; she has been cast in the upcoming drama “The Trials of Cate McCall.” According to Deadline, she will star alongside Nick Nolte (“Warrior”) and James Cromwell (“Eraser”) in a story in which she plays a former hotshot prosecutor who threw her career away when she became an addict. Hoping to regain credibility and win custody of her estranged daughter, the lawyer takes on the appeal of a wrongly convicted murderer. Directed by Karen Moncrieff (“The Dead Girl”), Kate has a real chance to prove what she is worth working alongside the two veteran actors, and this could be the chance she needs to not be deemed “another pretty face.” Taylor Lautner It looks like computer generated films are becoming the way of the future. “Thunder Run,” an upcoming all computer-generated 3D action-thriller, has just secured financing from Paradox Entertainment. According to Screen Rant, the film is an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent David Zucchino’s “Thunder Run- The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad,” and tells of the capture of the Iraqi capital by American forces at the onset of the Iraq war in April 2003. It is being adapted by Academy Award winner Robert Port (“Twin Towers” (short)) and Ken Nolan (“Black Hawk Down”), and will be directed by Simon West (“Con Air”). So not only do we have an amazing behind the camera team, but the cast is pretty excellent as well: Gerard Butler (“Reign of Fire”), Matthew McConaughey (“Reign of Fire”), and Sam Worthington (“Man on a Ledge”). When they say it will be all CGI in my mind that brings me back to “Beowulf,” but it could quite possibly be more like “Avatar.” Either way the question still needs to be asked; what’s the point of making it all computer-generated? Wouldn’t it be easier and more “realistic” if they just filmed it like an actual war movie?
Ooh la la, Mesdames et Messieurs, it's Cannes time. Like we always do about this time, this year's Cannes Film Festival and its many splendors start today, Wednesday the 16th. I'm covering the festival this year, but my accommodations aren't terribly convenient for the South of France (being in New York City), and there's some concern that there isn't enough bandwidth for me to astrally project. So I may not be able to catch a ton of screenings, but I can provide a handy-dandy list of things that totally fucking rule about Cannes: The two THR is reporting that the always-cute Rachel McAdams (“Morning Glory”) has joined both “About Time” and “A Most Wanted Man.” The former is directed by Richard Curtis (“Love Actually”) and is described as, “a fantastical feel-good movie” about a man (Domhnall Gleeson) and his ability to travel back in time. He eventually meets the girl of his dreams (McAdams), and if this is in any way realistic she will probably end up with someone else. The latter is directed by Anton Carbijn (the boring “The American”), and has Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Along Came Polly”) playing a near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late father’s ill-gotten fortune. A young female lawyer (McAdams) and private British banker become entwined in his fate, and all the while they are being watched by a covert German spy unit. I have to say the thriller sounds a lot more exciting then yet ANOTHER time-traveling romance movie. As much as I love McAdams, she does tend to settle into these cute feel-good roles instead of challenging herself with more difficult fare.
Is it worth $10? Yes
The Grey stars Liam Neeson as Ottway, a tough yet vulnerable man with a painful past. It is this past that leads him to accompany a group of oil drillers out into the Alaskan wilderness and protect them from the ferocious wolves that prowl the area. The film itself is a terrific survival story, teeming with suspense, and set against the backdrop of some beautiful Alaskan scenery. Rent It.
“The Avengers” dominated its competition again this weekend, and Box Office Mojo has the numbers for us. The ensemble film earned another $103.2 million domestically, bringing its domestic take to $373.2 million. It has now broken a few more records like: fastest movie to $300 million/$350 million, and highest eight/nine/ten-day grosses. Internationally the film has earned around $800 million, and it has now crossed the $1 billion mark collectively. It is the fifth Disney movie ever to do so, joining: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Toy Story 3,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Settling for second place, the Johnny Depp starrer “Dark Shadows” earned a measly (by comparison) $30 million. Third place went to “Think Like a Man,” which held strong after four weeks in release and earned another $6.3 million. The film has a domestic take of about $81.9 million. “The Hunger Games” is still haunting me, and held on to the fourth place spot with another $4.4 million. Rounding out the top five was “The Lucky One,” which earned another $4.1 million, and now has a domestic gross of about $53.7 million. Hopefully the release of “Battleship” on Friday helps kick “The Hunger Games” from the top five at long last. |




(“The Twilight Saga”) is trying desperately to get out from underneath the shadow of the Werewolf character that made him famous. Unfortunately, due to some poor choices, it looks like he is going to have a more difficult time than his co-stars did. According to 
best parts of “Tropic Thunder” might be reuniting for another comedy. 

