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How Important is a Film Title to International Audiences?
International box office is obviously very important to films that are made in the U.S. Many times, domestic productions only become profitable after the world has had a chance to sample the goods. It makes sense that some movie titles will be changed in order to better communicate the movie's concept; especially with so many relying on English-language idioms and slang that doesn't translate well into other languages. Two films released today in France provide good examples.
Frederic Ambroisine, filmmaker and film critic, tweeted today that Get Him to the Greek has received a limited release in Paris, retitled as American Trip, while Youth in Revolt has been changed to Be Bad!. The former sounds vanilla, though the German version, pictured above, looks better; I prefer the Spanish title, Todo Sobre Mi Desmadre, which sounds positively decadent ( All About My Total Chaos?). But I like the idea of Michael Cera trying to Be Bad! (love that added exclamation mark, and the phrase comes straight from the movie). In Mexico it's known as La chica de mis suenos ( The Girl of My Dreams), which sounds pretty sappy. Filed under: Comedy, Movie Marketing, Posters, Twitter Continue reading How Important is a Film Title to International Audiences? Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Shiny New Details on the 'Toy Story 3' Blu-Ray/DVD
 Toy Story 3, the best-reviewed film of the summer ( 99% on Rotten Tomatoes) and, thus far, the highest-grossing film of the year (Disney/Pixar first film to top $400 million domestically), hits DVD and Blu-Ray on November 2nd, well in advance of the end-of-the-year holidays. Disney/Pixar isn't just giving fans a standard DVD or Blu-Ray package, they're giving us several, and that's not including the option of purchasing the Toy Story trilogy in a 10 disc Blu-Ray/DVD collection.
If you're like me, you've already pre-ordered the DVD or Blu-Ray, but if you're undecided, here are highlights of what you can expect from each version: Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy Continue reading Shiny New Details on the 'Toy Story 3' Blu-Ray/DVD Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Hugh Jackman Stars in Cancer Patient's "Thank You" Video to His Wife
In October of 2009, Kristian Anderson was diagnosed with bowel cancer -- and the news got worse: it had spread to his liver. The 35-year-old husband and father didn't let the diagnosis get him down, though -- and has since spent his time between chemotherapy treatments urging men to get tested early and often, saying "If I had got tests done when I first suspected something, I might have only had bowel cancer and they could have just gone straight in and cut it out ... It doesn't matter if it's nothing but the best thing you can do is find out it's nothing."
With his wife Rachel's birthday approaching, Anderson wanted to do something special for her. He got in touch with a local radio show who helped him reach out to actor Hugh Jackman and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. With those two on board (Rachel's from New Zealand, hence the Prime Minister's appearance), Anderson made her a special birthday video that's sure to have you reaching for the Kleenex.
Using hand-written messages on poster board (because he says his wife claims he talks too much), Anderson expresses his love for his wife. In case that wasn't enough, Jackman pops in through the magic of editing to actually voice the sentiment. It's one of those touching, beautiful and sad videos that we see a lot more often thanks to the Internet. Rachel's clearly a lucky lady.
Watch the video for yourself after the jump -- just be prepared for a good case of misty-eye syndrome when it's over. Filed under: Romance, DIY/Filmmaking, Trailers and Clips Continue reading Hugh Jackman Stars in Cancer Patient's "Thank You" Video to His Wife Permalink | Email this | Comments
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'Machete's Michelle Rodriguez on Making "Cool Movies with Chicks in It"
 Michelle Rodriguez is not a shy gal, and she's more than happy to discuss with reporters what she really wants to do with her life -- and that's to write. In an interview with Cinematical about Machete (which I highly encourage you to go see, if you like things that are awesome), she spilled the beans on some scripts she's working on.
"I'm writing three things right now, honey. I'm busting booty!" she said. " Girlfight was my first movie, and now I'm like, ten years later, a decade later, I'm ready to do what I got into the business for, and I'm doing three projects right now... It's gnarly. Hopefully something will pop out of this, and we can start making some cool movies with chicks in it."
The first and most tangible script is a remake of the German films Bandits, about four girls who get together as a band behind bars. "That's gonna be fun to cast, man," Rodriguez said, laughing. "I'm about 40 pages into it, into the second act, and I'm loving it. I've got a new stylized kind of format to shoot it in, and I'm hoping that we find some interesting and some cool director to pull it off. Because it's not every day you come across someone who understands beauty in the [mundane], and I need somebody like that to both shoot it and direct it, so it's going to be tough.
It's not just the story line. The story line, for me, is easy. It comes second nature [to me]. The hard part is going to be finding somebody to interpret it and understand what sexy is and what beautiful is and what pop culture is, because all of these elements are going to be so important to the project." Filed under: Action, RumorMonger, Scripts, Newsstand Continue reading 'Machete's Michelle Rodriguez on Making "Cool Movies with Chicks in It" Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Stars in Rewind: Pee-Wee Herman Fights Crack Cocaine
One of the strangest Public Service Announcements ever filmed has been making the rounds on the Internet over the course of the past few weeks, and we couldn't resist the urge to share it with you.
Pee-Wee Herman ( Paul Reubens) stars in this 1992 PSA warning viewers against the dangers of crack cocaine while explaining exactly what crack is and how no one knows how much it takes to kill you. Pee-Wee then reminds everyone that it's okay to want to be cool, but doing it with crack isn't just wrong -- it could be dead wrong!
The clip is bizarre because Herman is a comedian who appealed to young children (who probably weren't quite ready to start smoking crack yet) and stoners (who'd already found their drug of choice) -- plus how hard is it to take Pee-Wee seriously about anything? I spent the whole time waiting for him to bust out his iconic laugh or start shouting, "I know you are but what am I?" when someone called him a crackhead.
Clearly, videos like this demonstrate why we pretty much lost the war on drugs -- the government guys authorizing these ads obviously had no idea who would get through to their target audience. In Herman's defense, he made the video as part of his plea deal after his arrest for indecent exposure inside a Florida porn theater. Under those circumstances, it seems unlikely that Pee-Wee got to make any suggestions or offer up any potential rewrites to punch up the dialogue a bit.
Check out the video after the jump -- then let us know what you thought of one the lesser films in Pee-Wee's filmography in the comments section below. Filed under: Fandom, Trailers and Clips, Stars in Rewind Continue reading Stars in Rewind: Pee-Wee Herman Fights Crack Cocaine Permalink | Email this | Comments
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