Skip to main content

Monday Morning Discussion: What Could Have Made 'Sucker Punch' Better?

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 28th 2011 10:25AM
Filed under: Movie News, Columns, Cinematical


As of Monday morning, Zack Snyder's 'Sucker Punch' is bathing in a sea of rotten reviews -- a 22 percent fresh score where even the 25 so-called fresh ratings aren't so stellar. The best of the reviews boast phrases like "glorious disaster," "idiotic," "doesn't quite cohere," "style over substance," "barely passes" ... You get the picture.

Men and women, young and old, aren't so thrilled about the story of a girl sinisterly thrust into an insane asylum and scheduled for a lobotomy, who somehow falls into a fantasy world of sex work before falling even deeper into a dreamy, scantily-clad whirlwind of guns and fighting.

The expensive, $82 million film couldn't even beat out 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2' at the box office this weekend, earning less than $20 million in its battle against critical derision.
Continue Reading

Cinematical Originals: From Margin Calls to a Gritty 'Django'

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 25th 2011 8:00PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical


Zip out for the weekend before our great Friday night content? Miss a day of movie coverage? Check here every Friday afternoon for all the great original content Cinematical published over the last week and play catch up!

Reviews

'Margin Call' Review: Last Call Before The Financial Meltdown
Jenni Miller reviews J.C. Chandor's directorial debut, and isn't thrilled: "What could have been a dynamic narrative instead ends up as baffling and quite often as boring as an Economy 101 textbook."

'Sucker Punch' Review: Zack Snyder's First Misfire
Todd Gilchrist isn't swayed by the latest Snyder flick: "Here, he simply didn't bother enough with the basics of storytelling – in particular, clarity of purpose and depth of feeling – to make his pop-culture mash-up into more than the sum of its parts."

'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules' Review: Kid Favorite Returns for a Rambling, Wimpy Sequel
One more not-so-flowing review for this week, with John Gholson writing: "It passively avoids anything resembling a good time, and coasts instead on the brand name of a book series that a lot of kids enjoy, trading laughs (and effort) for an empty-headed, quick-buck, lowest-common-denominator time at the movies."
Continue Reading

Actors We Miss: Robert Culp

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 25th 2011 7:30PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical


Just over a year ago, on March 10, 2010, actor Robert Culp passed away after a fall outside Runyon Canyon Park. He was 79 years old.

Culp's death was one of those gut-punch news moments. Though he was no longer a prominent part of the cinematic or television landscape, and was at an age where news like this was to be expected, it seemed unreal. We were used to the actor always being there -- not as an imposing, larger-than-life celebrity, but as the subtly magnetic, distinctively voiced uncle you take for granted and always count on. Boasting a career spanning 57 years, and ending only with his death, it seemed like he could never leave.
Continue Reading

Brad Pitt's 'Moneyball' Drums Up Early, Positive Buzz -- Especially for Jonah Hill

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 25th 2011 10:35AM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
Early buzz is starting to pour in for Brad Pitt's 'Moneyball' -- slated to hit theaters on September 23 -- and if early-screening moviegoers are right, this will be one of the must-see films of the fall.

The sports drama -- rewritten by Aaron Sorkin (who just won an Oscar for 'The Social Network) and directed by Bennett Miller -- digs into Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the general manager of the cash-strapped Oakland A's. After the team loses many of its key players, Beane hires an economic genius (Jonah Hill) and they begin using advanced statistical analysis that gives them a hidden advantage over other, wealthier teams. Other supporting players include Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright, so while Hill mixed with Pitt might make this seem comedic, it is, indeed, a drama -- one that's attracting some great buzz and gushing about love and triumph.
Continue Reading

Parents Poll: Will You Take Your Kids to See a PG-13 Version of 'The King's Speech'?

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 24th 2011 4:00PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
The time has come. This year's Best Picture Oscar winner, 'The King's Speech,' is heading back to screens in a new, Harvey Weinstein–approved, PG-13 edition.

The Weinstein Company has issued a press release stating that their "family-friendly" version will hit screens on April 1, and will be the only version in theaters. (Meaning: If you didn't see it yet, you can only see it on the big screen in all of its muted glory.)

TWC distribution head Eric Lomis says: "We are thankful to the MPAA for their wisdom and swift action in approving the release of 'The King's Speech PG-13' release. The action enables those whom it speaks most directly -- young people who are troubled by stuttering bullying and similar trials -- to see it."

Oh, the irony...
Continue Reading

Trailers: 'Mr Popper's Penguins,' Last Night' and 'The Big Bang'

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 24th 2011 2:00PM
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Video, Cinematical
A whole slew of trailers are popping up on the web this week. We got the full 'Captain America: The First Avenger' trailer last night, and now three more.

First up: Ace Ventura found his penguins!

His name is now Mr. Popper, as part of the classic children's book, and the animals have whittled down to a bunch of pesky penguins, but the goofiness remains. In this cinematic version of 'Mr. Popper's Penguins,' the man doesn't breed a whole bunch of them, but rather inherits some and watches them take over his life. This includes teaching them dance moves to the applicably chilly stylings of one Vanilla Ice.

Check it out for yourself after the jump, along with peeks into 'Last Night' and 'The Big Bang.'
Continue Reading

Robert Pattinson on 'Breaking Dawn': 'I Just Can't See How It's Going to Be PG-13'

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts), Posted Mar 24th 2011 11:15AM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
The 'Twilight' circus is coming to an end. Over the last few years, we've seen a lot. It started with a pale, lip-biting girl heading to rainsville and falling for a rude dude who's actually a vampire trying to quell his inner bloodlust. But then he went away for her protection and she got mixed up with a bunch of overly emotional werewolves who hate shirts ... until the bloodsucking beau came back and everything seemed peachy. Unfortunately, a vampire scorned decided to muck up the poor pale girl's graduation plans as she tried to get her chaste boyfriend to have sex. Now, with the red menace behind them, one would assume that Bella and Edward could live happily ever after.

But Stephenie Meyer wasn't done with the ridiculous after 'Eclipse,' and now Summit and Bill Condon are prepping the final, two-part insane-stravaganza, 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.' We're about to see beds obliterated during passionate nights, a young girl go through nine months of pregnancy in the blink of an eye and the most messed-up delivery scene ever crafted: teeth through placenta.

It doesn't sound like kids-type fare, and as Robert Pattinson told Entertainment Weekly, "I just can't see how it's going to be PG-13 ... unless they cut everything out."
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Hot Topics

From Our Partners