From green hornets to dreamy vampires, 2011 brings a slew of new flicks to the big screen. Here's a sneak peek at the movies that may have you lined-up at the theater this year.
Hollywood is hoping "green" is the prime color of 2011, cashing in big at the box-office, with several a-list stars vehicles and franchise sequels.
With director Michel Gondry 's The Green Hornet adaptation opening nationwide in just over a week's time, Columbia Pictures is trying to get potential moviegoers excited by releasing four new preview clips from the movie, which straddles the line between action and comedy. Featured for the first time in a movie clip is Edward Furlong , who plays Tupper, a mininon of crime kingpin Chudnofsky (Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz ), the Green Hornet's ( Seth Rogen ) main adversary. Also featured in one of the clips is an extended look at Gondry's latest contribution to action movie visual effects — Gondry helped develop the "bullet time" technique that made Keanu Reeves such a badass in The Matrix trilogy — "Kato Vision," which has only been glimpsed in previously released trailers and clips.
As is usually the case for New Year's weekend, there are no new wide releases, leaving the field for holdover domination and a couple smaller pictures to make a last-minute Oscar-qualifying limited opening. Little Fockers once again topped the box office over the weekend, although it was much closer than expected. The big news was the incredible staying power of True Grit, which dropped just 1.7% from last weekend's terrific opening sprint. The critically-acclaimed Coen brothers western grossed another $24.4 million, compared to last weekend's $24.8 million opening three-day haul. Drops like that are generally reserved for the likes of Avatar and The Sixth Sense. With $86.6 million in twelve days, the film is easily the highest-grossing picture for the Coens. The film is obviously playing like a general audiences smash and has become a front-runner at this year's Oscars. It is also on track to crack $100 million in the next week or so, and it will easily surpass the $113 million gross of Wild, Wild West to become the second-highest grossing western in US history, behind the $184 million haul of Dances with Wolves. Oscar win or no Oscar win, this is a huge and genre-reviving triumph for everyone involved.
Welcome to January, a traditional "dumping ground" month for the film industry that tends to see the release of a bunch of movies studios really don't have that much faith in and won't distract them from their Oscar campaigns. Heck, there weren't any new releases last weekend. Talk about a dull month for movie fans.
On a cold day in mid-November, Josh Burgett and Dennis Bickmeier, Michigan International Speedway’s top sales executives, met for the first time with a local account executive from ESPN.
After lunch at a tavern in East Lansing, Mich., the trio marched into the office of a large local corporation and pitched the company on a race title sponsorship. Burgett and Bickmeier explained signage and hospitality opportunities, and ESPN’s Matt Tamborini fielded questions about the demographics of ESPN’s race audience.
My son has only one question regarding 2011 and its movies: Are those machine guns the Green Hornet has on the hood of his vehicle available for purchase without a permit?
You try to raise these kids right, and then everything in popular culture conspires to turn them into weapons fetishists. Oh, well. I hope the big-screen "Green Hornet" beats the odds and brings some spark and zip to the proceedings, the proceedings being the latest Hollywood attempt to cash in on boomer nostalgia for an old childhood title, while enticing the new generation with the big guns.
Sony has released 7 movie clips from Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet which stars Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz and Tom Wilkinson. If you’re asking how can Seth Rogen be an action hero, these clips will show you. As you’ll see, The Green Hornet is a twist on the superhero genre since it’s the sidekick who does most of the fighting.
