Jacob Hall
‘The Good Dinosaur’ Trailer: Pixar Rewrites History With a Charming Adventure
Like all of Pixar’s teaser trailers, the first preview for The Good Dinosaur is all about mood, emphasizing a distinct feeling over characters and plot. But as the title implies, it’s really all about dinosaurs. Colorful, adorable dinosaurs who, thanks to director Peter Sohn and the Pixar braintrust, aren’t wiped out by an apocalyptic asteroid 66 million years ago and live on to have all kinds of adventures. Take that, science!
Cameron Crowe Apologizes For ‘Aloha’, Casting Emma Stone as a Native Hawaiian
Aloha may have opened to scathing reviews and poor box office, but the latest film from writer/director Cameron Crowe did touch a nerve. It just so happened to a nerve that no one ever wants to touch. Despite being set on Hawaii, the cast is chock-full of the whitest white people in Hollywood, including Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin. That wouldn’t have been a problem if the only character with a distinctly Hawaiian background wasn’t played by the ludicrously pale Emma Stone. Yes, Stone was cast as a character named Allison Ng, so you can see why feathers were ruffled, especially since Hollywood already has a poor track record with racial representation in movies.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘San Andreas’ Shakes Everything Up
In news that should surprise absolutely no one, the massive disaster movie starring Dwayne Johnson stomped all over the box office this weekend, effortlessly topping the top 10. San Andreas may not have matched flashier, more high concept “CGI buildings fall down” adventures like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, but it has proven that audiences will still flock to mass destruction like no one’s bu
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Tomorrowland’ and ‘Poltergeist’ Struggle Against the Mighty ‘Pitch Perfect 2’
Tomorrowland may have taken the top spot at the box office in its debut weekend, but things still look awfully grim for the George Clooney sci-fi vehicle. Not only did the film open far below expectations, it faced serious competition in Pitch Perfect 2, which continued to kick aca-butt in its second weekend. And it wasn’t the only new release to under-perform, with the Poltergeist remake also falling short of early predictions. If you were a new release this weekend, things were awfully rough.
New ‘Pixels’ Trailer Pits Adam Sandler Against Video Game Aliens
It’s no secret that Pixels began its life as a short film, a special effects demo that showed off some inventive and amusing imagery that wasn’t required to have things like, you know, a plot or characters. So the feature version of Pixels had to find an excuse for classic arcade characters to invade Earth and that excuse was aliens. Who look like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong for some reason. And whose greatest opponent is Adam Sandler. Okay. The new trailer isn’t going to change your mind if that premise still sounds like nails on a chalkboard.
Disney Planning TV Channels Centered Around Marvel and ‘Star Wars’
Acquiring Lucasfilm and Marvel were just two minor steps in Disney’s grand plan to eventually own everything you love and control your life as Entertainment Overlord Supreme of the Planet Earth. But to be fair, they are a benevolent god. A caring god. A god that wants to make its riches available to you, should you want to indulge yourself. So prepare thyself: TV channels based entire on Marvel and Star Wars content may be coming.
SNL Forces the Cast to Apologize to Their Actual Mothers
Last night’s generally unremarkable episode of SNL peaked early when it took advantage of its proximity to Mother’s Day to do something kind of remarkable. As part of her opening monologue, guest host Reese Witherspoon declared that the show was going to mark the occasion by bringing each cast member out with his or her mother...and then forcing them to apologize for their childhood transgressions.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Avengers 2’ Leaves ‘Hot Pursuit’ in the Dust
As expected, Avengers: Age of Ultron dominated the box office for the second weekend in a row, pulling in numbers that would be the envy of most summer blockbusters’ opening three days. And while the only new release of the week faltered, it was a surprisingly strong week overall, with many of the films in the top 10 faring well despite facing one of the biggest movies of the year.
‘Vacation’ Red Band Trailer: Ed Helms Takes His Family on a NSFW Road Trip
The new Vacation may bear the same name as the old Vacation, but it’s actually a sequel, taking place a few decades after the first ill-fated Griswold family trip to Walley World. The first trailer for this new version has arrived and while it has the same title and premise as its predecessor, it bends over backwards to let you know that Ed Helms is the same Rusty Griswold from 32 years ago, all grown up. Can we call this a rebootquel?
The Rapping Granny From ‘The Wedding Singer’ Dead at 101
Ellen Albertini Dow, the character actress best known for her scene-stealing performance in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer, passed away yesterday. She was 101 years old.