Film Gecko » monsters vs aliens

Twilight heads to FX

Jane Boursaw — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:33:05 +0000

FX is nabbing rights to some great movies this year. The network just acquired the TV rights to all four “Twilight” movies in a package deal that also includes Oscar hopeful “The Hurt Locker,” Nic Cage’s “Knowing,” and the action thrill-ride “Push."

FX will start running last year’s "Twilight," the first movie in the franchise, beginning in late 2011. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” will be available in late 2012. “Eclipse,” which is slated for a June 30 theatrical release, will premiere on FX in early 2013.

Summit has yet to greenlight production on "Breaking Dawn," based on the fourth book in the series, but is there any doubt that will happen?

Other movies to air on FX include "2012," "Star Trek," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," "Monsters vs. Aliens," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," "The Proposal" and "Zombieland."

FX is the movie channel!

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Five Questions for Seth Rogen a.k.a. B.O.B.

Jane Boursaw — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:15:00 +0000

Seth Rogen, featured in tonight’s airing of “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space,” features the voice cast of the original movie, including Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson and … Seth Rogen as B.O.B., the gelatinous blob!

The story follows Susan and the Monsters, who now work for the U.S. government. They’re sent to Susan’s hometown to stop an alien invasion in the days before Halloween. Clever as always, the aliens have adopted the guise of harmless jack-o-lanterns as they lie in wait for the perfect time to strike.

I caught up with Seth Rogen by phone:

1. Do you like Halloween and are you dressing up this year?

Unfortunately, I have to work at 6 AM the next morning, so that kind of puts a slight damper on my plans. I have a girlfriend now and I’ve entered the unfortunate world of paired costuming, which is not fun. I always end up being the lamer half of the costume. It’s like she’s a dog and I’m a fire hydrant, so maybe I’m dodging a bullet this year. As far as Halloween, I had a lot of allergies when I was a kid and I couldn’t eat sugar very often. So for me, Halloween was just a day to gorge myself, which is a tradition I carry through to this day.

More after the jump…

2. Do you get to improvise a lot doing voice work?

You can actually improvise a lot as a voice actor. The time consuming part is really creating the characters and the sets and the worlds. Aside from that, it’s not much different from shooting a live action movie; the characters’ mouths are quite easy to manipulate once all the information is built into the computer.

3. Do you have any favorite Halloween specials?

I always liked the Simpson’s Halloween specials. They were always amazing, and I always looked forward to that on Halloween. And I always watched the TGIF sitcoms because I was a nerd and had nothing to do on Friday nights. So I always enjoyed whatever the sitcoms would do for their Halloween special.

4. Did you have any input into the character of B.O.B.?

Yes, definitely. It was a collaborative process with the directors, Conrad [Vernon] and Rob [Letterman], trying to come up with the character. At first, there wasn’t a ton to work with, but then we slowly realized the joke was that he had no brain and he was very stupid, and we kind of worked from there.

5. Which do you prefer: acting or writing?

That’s a good question. Just acting is not enough; I can say that. To do a little role in something is very fun, but to be on set all day as an actor … it just seems like I’m doing an iota of what I should be doing with my day. I really enjoy writing. My most enjoyable times are when me and Evan [Goldberg] have a script to write and plenty of time to write it in and nothing else to do. But right now, we’re filming (“The Green Hornet”), and I’m one of the producers and the writer and the actor, so it’s busy, but it’s also a lot of fun. When it all comes together, that’s when it’s most creatively satisfying.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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Museum Takes Box Office – May 22-25, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:20:48 +0000

Tops at the box office this weekend was "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." I wasn’t that crazy about the movie (read my review here), but it’s the only new family flick out right now, which is why I think it scored high. It wasn’t bad; just wasn’t as good as the first movie. Take a peek at the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $70M
Terminator Salvation, $53.82M
Star Trek, $29.40M
Angels & Demons, $27.70M
Dance Flick, $13.10M
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $10.10M
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $4.83M
Obsessed, $2.50M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $1.90M
17 Again, $1.28M

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Star Trek rules box office universe – May 8-10, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:26:48 +0000

I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that "Star Trek" ruled the box office universe this weekend, beating "Wolverine" by a million light-years. Here’s the scoop from Box Office Mojo:

Star Trek, $75.20M
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $26.40M
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $10.25M
Obsessed, $6.56M
17 Again, $4.23M
Next Day Air, $4.11M
The Soloist, $3.94M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $3.26M
Earth, $2.66M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $2.19M

Image: © Paramount Pictures

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Wolverine grabs box office – May 1-3, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:45:54 +0000

Hugh Jackman and his alter-ego Wolverine grabbed the top spot at the box office this weekend, with Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner coming in a distant second, and “Fast & Furious” dropping off the list to 11th place. Check out the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $85.05M
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $15.41M
Obsessed, $12.05M
17 Again, $6.36M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $5.80M
The Soloist, $5.65M
Earth, $4.34M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $4.16M
Fighting, $4.01M
State of Play, $2.76M

Image: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, TM and Copyright 20th Century Fox Film Corp., 2009

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Obsessed takes box office – April 24-26, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:56:14 +0000

Moviegoers were "Obsessed" this weekend, heading out in droves to see Ali Larter and Beyonce duke it out over a man. Here are the weekend numbers from Box Office Mojo:

Obsessed, $28.61M
17 Again, $11.51M
Fighting, $11.02M
The Soloist, $9.71M
Earth, $8.82M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $8.52M
State of Play, $6.84M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $6.43M
Fast & Furious, $6.20M
Crank: High Voltage, $2.61M ((Read my interview with Clifton Collins, Jr.)

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State of Play, 17 Again win Box Office – April 17-19, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:36:22 +0000

"17 Again" and "State of Play" are both great movies, for different reasons. And everyone else thought so, too, based on the box office numbers from this past weekend. Here’s the scoop from Box Office Mojo:

17 Again, $23.72M
State of Play, $14.07M
Hannah Montana: The Movie, $13.40M
Monsters vs. Aliens, $13.24M
Fast and Furious, $11.77M
Crank: High Voltage, $6.96M (Read my interview with Clifton Collins, Jr.)
Observe and Report, $4.17M
Knowing, $3.57M
I Love You, Man, $3.32M
The Haunting in Connecticut, $3.11M

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Miley Cyrus takes box office – April 10-12, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:07:19 +0000

Miley Cyrus and her alter-ego Hannah Montana scored big at the office this weekend, but only slightly edging out "Fast & Furious" for the top spot. I actually popped in to see the first scene in "Fast & Furious" again – it was that good.

Meanwhile, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen’s romantic romp "Duplicity" is still hanging in there at No. 10. I’m not surprised, because it’s a really cute film, like the old-time movies with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. Here’s the rundown from Box Office Mojo:

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Fast & Furious takes Box Office – April 3-5, 2009

Jane Boursaw — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:36:24 +0000

Vin Diesel and "Fast & Furious" raced into the top slot at the box office this week, and I’m not surprised. I loved it, especially the opening scene! Reese Witherspoon is still up there in second place with "Monsters vs. Aliens." Here are the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

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Michael Bay: Transformers will never be 3D

Jane Boursaw — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:27:11 +0000

I noted in my "Monsters vs. Aliens" review how much I liked the 3D format. I usually don’t like 3D movies and find them distracting, but I thought it worked really well for that movie.

Meanwhile, Roger Ebert dissed the format in his review of the movie. It’s a big discussion in the movie biz right, with DreamWorks pushing its slate of 3D movies. I think it works for some, but not all, movies.

My friends at Cinema Blend caught up with Michael Bay at ShoWest and posted a a great piece about his thoughts on the matter. When asked if would consider making a "Transformers" movies in 3D, he said "I don’t know … I might be old school … I think it might be a gimmick." For more of his thoughts, watch the video below.

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