Review: ‘Terminator Salvation’

A Terminator mega-robot is fun to watch only if he (it?) is making his (its?) marauding way toward its target; generally, that’s the good guy in the movie who, by superhuman strength and unprecedented cleverness, will dispatch said Terminator in the last reel. Every Terminator movie has been defined by this simple conflict: man versus super-machine.

Not this time. And that is why, despite spectacular visual effects, a brooding and hyper-popular Christian Bale in the lead role, and marketing that pretty much stamped the title across my kids’ foreheads, Terminator Salvation is not nearly the success that the other three movies were.

John Connor and his mom (and his friends and pretty much everybody else with whom they ever come in contact) become instant targets for future-born Terminator robots. The setup is pretty straightforward. The time is present day. (more…)

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Tags: Christian Bale, JJ Abrams, John Connor, McG, Terminator: Salvation
Posted May 30th 2009 at 11:18 am in Reviews | 145786One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mlong/2009/05/30/review-terminator-salvation-2/Review%3A+%27Terminator+Salvation%272009-05-30+18%3A18%3A34Mike+Long

‘Star Trek’: Abrams Makes Optimism Cool Again

Despite early polling data showing a distinct lack of enthusiasm toward the Star Trek movie reboot by J. J. Abrams (Lost, Alias, Cloverfield, Fringe, Felicity), the film had an excellent opening weekend at the U.S. movie box office.

The film took in an estimated $72.5 million over the weekend. Even when adjusted for inflation, that’s far more than any of the previous Star Trek movies took in.

This has cultural significance beyond the fortunes of the Star Trek franchise and its studio. As I noted in writing about an Abrams interview last fall, Abrams said “he was drawn to the idealism behind the franchise. He hopes to make a more optimistic point of view as popular as the somewhat bleak vision of The Dark Knight was.” (more…)

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Tags: Abrams, dark knight, JJ Abrams, optimism, star trek
Posted May 17th 2009 at 2:31 pm in Entertainment | 1321263 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/05/17/star-trek-abrams-make-optimism-cool-again/%27Star+Trek%27%3A+Abrams+Makes+Optimism+Cool+Again2009-05-17+21%3A31%3A53S.T.+Karnick

Review: ‘Star Trek’ is Slick Fun – Nothing Wrong With That

Every action picture is a science-fiction picture anymore. How else to explain Hero Survival In A Hail of Bullets, Inexhaustible Supply Of Energy In A Street Fight, and the Amazing Car That Still Operates After Driving Off A Building? Star Trek is not an exploration of an alternative physics or the ramifications of technology that’s possible only after the intractable engineering problems have been solved. Star Trek is an action picture set in space. It’s good fun, it’s exciting and engaging, it nods to a few perpetual icons of pop culture, and it’s even suitable for families. What’s not to like?

The most notable achievement here is the extraction of the franchise from fanboy fever swamps into mega-mainstream entertainment. The first three or four Star Trek movies were events with fanfare and media pomp, but after that they diminished into little more than baubled-up TV episodes for fans. You had to know not only the characters but also the Star Trek “universe” to really care about what was going on and why. But this picture works for anybody who even stumbles into it: Kirk is a tough guy, Spock is a smart guy, the rest are identifiably quirky in a Syd Field kind of way, and everybody who aspires to be above the title in their next movie is sexy. (more…)

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Tags: JJ Abrams, Kirk, review, spock, star trek
Posted May 11th 2009 at 12:03 pm in Reviews | 1315582 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mlong/2009/05/11/review-star-trek-is-slick-fun%e2%80%94not-that-there%e2%80%99s-anything-wrong-with-that/Review%3A+%27Star+Trek%27+is+Slick+Fun+-+Nothing+Wrong+With+That2009-05-11+19%3A03%3A28Mike+Long

Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ Goes Where No ‘Trek’ Has Gone Before! $33M in 29 Hours & Almost $77M Possible by Monday!

Rebooting Bond with Daniel Craig was Bold. Christopher Nolan’s Reinvention of Batman was genius. But some thought it was overly-ambitious, even audacious, to attempt to restart the Star Trek franchise. It has begun to pay off already for Paramount Pictures, and there will dividends for years to come.

A shiny new Enterprise is luring in a new generation of STAR TREK fans

J.J. Abrams is officially the Lazarus of movie directors as his all-new Star Trek has gone “Boldly Gone Where No Star Trek Movie has Gone Before.” With a cast of relative unknowns, the 42-year-old has resurrected a franchise that had been killed by insular “nerdyness” and timid imagination. The Gene Rodenberry creation didn’t so much bomb as it died slowly over a period of years. First, the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis starring the Next Generation cast disappointed with a meager $43.3M domestic. Then, the final TV series Enterprise, which starred Scott Bakula, was not embraced by core fans or broader audiences and was canceled after four seasons, ending May 13, 2005.

(more…)

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Tags: 17 again, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner, alastair fothergill
Posted May 8th 2009 at 10:40 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1306069 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/08/star-trek-estimates/Abrams%27+%27Star+Trek%27+Goes+Where+No+%27Trek%27+Has+Gone+Before%21+%2433M+in+29+Hours+%26amp%3B+Almost+%2477M+Possible+by+Monday%212009-05-09+05%3A40%3A03Steve+Mason

Review: Star Trek

J.J. Abrams reboot of the much beloved “Star Trek” franchise is reminiscent of the films that came before, but not the best of them. Like the other odd-numbered disappointments, this entry, number 11, works best when concentrating on character, but falls flat due to a dull villain with nothing to do other than act as a macguffin. After a splendid first hour expertly sets up and re-introduces the characters, the second half turns as derivative as a video game with superb special effects supporting poorly choreographed and frantically edited action sequences that carry no suspense because the outcome is obvious and the personal human drama missing.

“Trek” opens with what turns out to be its best scene and one of the best in the franchise; the circumstances around the birth of James Tiberius Kirk. Our hero is well-served here with an imaginative and exciting mythology that shows the filmmakers understand the unique importance of the character. This sequence is also effective in setting up our villain, the Romulan Nero (an almost unrecognizable Eric Bana), who’s leaping about in time hell-bent on the worst kind of revenge against the Federation for something yet to happen. (more…)

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Tags: Chekov, Chris Pine, franchise, JJ Abrams, Johnny Cho
Posted May 8th 2009 at 1:27 pm in Featured Story, Reviews | 1302104 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/05/08/review-star-trek/Review%3A+Star+Trek2009-05-08+20%3A27%3A53John+Nolte

Critics Love the All-New ‘Star Trek’ & Thursday Night Previews Deliver a Possible $6.5M-$7.5M!

Several sources at competing studios have told me that J.J. Abrams’ all-new reboot of Star Trek (Paramount), which debuted last night at 7pm at many of its 3,849 locations, may have grossed as much as $6.5M-$7.5M. Studio honchos are “locked down tight” about actual numbers, but that is in the same ballpark as Transformers (Dreamworks/Paramount), which grabbed $8.8M in its previews starting at 8pm on Monday, July 2 during the summer of 2007. (What portion of ticket sales fall into Thursday and what percentage fall into Friday will likely be an open question even after final numbers are in.)

William Shatner (left) with Captain Kirk 2.0 Chris Pine

Keep in mind that Paramount never changed its Star Trek marketing to promote the 7pm Thursday start, so the opening night audience was likely heavy on Trekkers or Trekkies (not sure which term is “politically correct” anymore). So this was a “soft” opening and what amounts to a night of word-of-mouth screenings. Keep in mind that Transformers premiered during the summer when kids are more available while Star Trek has made its premiere during the school year.

(more…)

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Tags: 17 again, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner, alastair fothergill
Posted May 8th 2009 at 11:00 am in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1299863 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/08/early-star-trek/Critics+Love+the+All-New+%27Star+Trek%27+%26amp%3B+Thursday+Night+Previews+Deliver+a+Possible+%246.5M-%247.5M%212009-05-08+18%3A00%3A48Steve+Mason

Open Thread: ‘Star Trek’

Have at it.

Discuss. Debate. Write your own review…

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Tags: big hollywood, Chris Pine, JJ Abrams, Open Thread, reboot
Posted May 7th 2009 at 10:40 pm in Entertainment | 129898One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/05/07/open-thread-star-trek/Open+Thread%3A+%27Star+Trek%272009-05-08+05%3A40%3A19Big+Hollywood

J.J. Abrams’ Reboot of Classic ‘Star Trek’ Could Reach $65M for 4 Days! Easily Biggest ‘Trek’ Opening Ever & $200M+ Domestic is Possible!

The all-new J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek (Paramount) will win the second weekend of the Hollywood Summer Box Office season by at least a couple of light years over Fox’s fast-fading X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but some of the astronomical numbers I’ve seen floating around in the blogosphere are very over-heated. Make no mistake, this movie will open extraordinarily well, but it’s not going to play out as a typical front-loaded blockbuster. Moviegoers need time to shake off the disappointment of the final TV series Enterprise (starring Scott Bakula and canceled after four seasons) and the disastrous 2002 final film Star Trek: Nemesis ($43.3M domestic). It will take time for a new generation of fans to discover the magic of Gene Rodenberry’s vision of the future through Abrams’ magical lens.

As of Wednesday night, Star Trek is cruising with 94% Fresh (positive) reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics are slinging some seriously glowing hyperbole.

(more…)

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Tags: "Wrath of Khan", 17 again, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner
Posted May 6th 2009 at 6:05 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 129382One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/06/finaltracking58/J.J.+Abrams%27+Reboot+of+Classic+%27Star+Trek%27+Could+Reach+%2465M+for+4+Days%21+Easily+Biggest+%27Trek%27+Opening+Ever+%26amp%3B+%24200M%2B+Domestic+is+Possible%21+2009-05-07+01%3A05%3A05Steve+Mason

JJ Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ Victory Lap

Even before “Star Trek” launches into the stratosphere this weekend, director JJ Abrams is taking a victory lap.

With the film hogging 81% of all ticket sales at Fandango.com as well as the covers of Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly and Wired (which Abrams guest edited), the director has just done a great sit down with Charlie Rose. 

Now Rose can be an enormous chucklehead when interviewing Hollywood types (especially pretty ones), but that doesn’t matter. Abrams is smart enough to make it interesting on his own.

He talks about the influence of Richard Donner’s “Superman,” which he says gave “a kind of legitimacy” to comic book subjects they’d never received before. Donner “respected the characters as much as the audience,” Abrams says. “They were funny. They were real.” (more…)

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Tags: Charlie Rose, Jaws, JJ Abrams, star trek, Superman: The Movie
Posted May 6th 2009 at 4:27 pm in Celebrity News | 129186No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ttapp/2009/05/06/jj-abrams-star-trek-victory-lap/JJ+Abrams%27+%27Star+Trek%27+Victory+Lap+2009-05-06+23%3A27%3A46Tom+Tapp

‘Wolverine’ claws to $34.75M Friday & Could Scratch Out $86.8M Opening! All-Time 4th-Best Performer for First-Weekend-of-May Summer Kickoff!

In my Final Weekend Tracking column posted on Wednesday, I predicted that X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) would reach $92M on opening weekend, despite soft reviews (now only 38% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). My first fearless forecast of the 2009 summer blockbuster season appears to be close to dead-on (missed by only 5%).

Star-turned-producer Hugh Jackman has scored his second-biggest opening ever and, easily, his biggest as a solo star. Wolverine has mauled the competition with a massive $34.75M opening day (including $5M or so in Thursday midnight sales). That could translate to a 3-day of $86.8M, getting Hollywood’s most lucrative season off to a spectacular start.

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted May 2nd 2009 at 5:29 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1244022 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/02/estimates51/%27Wolverine%27+claws+to+%2434.75M+Friday+%26amp%3B+Could+Scratch+Out+%2486.8M+Opening%21+All-Time+4th-Best+Performer+for+First-Weekend-of-May+Summer+Kickoff%212009-05-02+12%3A29%3A38Steve+Mason

The Summer Blockbuster Season is Set to Start Huge! Spin-Off ‘Wolverine’ could Claw to $92M Opening Weekend!

The great thing about a sequel is that it has a built-in audience. The problem with sequels is that, as the numbers after the title go up, so does the production budget. Very hard to know for sure, but sources have told me that the production budget for X-Men was in the $75M range. X-2: X-Men United may have had a budget of about $110M, while the cost of X-Men: The Last Stand was, in all likelihood, as much as $210M. Why doesn’t it make sense to just churn out X-Men 4?

Look at these numbers.

(more…)

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Tags: 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner
Posted Apr 29th 2009 at 10:10 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 121806One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/29/finaltracking51/The+Summer+Blockbuster+Season+is+Set+to+Start+Huge%21+Spin-Off+%27Wolverine%27+could+Claw+to+%2492M+Opening+Weekend%212009-04-30+05%3A10%3A03Steve+Mason

America Loves a Girl-on-Girl Smackdown! Beyonce’s ‘Obsessed’ is the Biggest Last-Weekend-of-April Opener Ever with $11M Friday & a Possible $27.5M 3-Day!

Recording superstar Beyonce Knowles is building a bankable resume for herself as an actress with Sony Screen Gems’ Obsessed as the latest title burnishing her resume. Co-starring the excellent Idris Elba (The Wire), this low budget, PG-13 genre pic has scored a far-above-expectations $11M on Friday, and it will likely reach $27.5M for the weekend. That is the best opening yet for the former Destiny’s Child lead vocalist as an above-the-title star, topping 2003’s The Fighting Temptations and Cadillac Records from late 2008.

Beyonce does battle with the sexy Ali Larter (HEROES) in OBSESSED

OPENINGS FOR BEYONCE MOVIES
1. Austin Powers: Goldmember – $70.3M opening
2. Obsessed – $27.5M opening (projected)
3. Pink Panther (2006) – $20.2M opening
4. Dreamgirls – $14.1M wide break (after a platform start)
5. The Fighting Temptations – $11.7M opening
6. Cadillac Records – $3.4M opening

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted Apr 24th 2009 at 11:11 pm in Entertainment, Political Humor, Steve Mason's Box Office | 116742No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/24/estimates423/America+Loves+a+Girl-on-Girl+Smackdown%21+Beyonce%27s+%27Obsessed%27+is+the+Biggest+Last-Weekend-of-April+Opener+Ever+with+%2411M+Friday+%26amp%3B+a+Possible+%2427.5M+3-Day%212009-04-25+06%3A11%3A11Steve+Mason

Hollywood’s Worst Release Date: Beyonce’s ‘Obsessed’ Could Edge Disney’s Baby Polar Bears in ‘Earth!’

The final weekend of April has never been Hollywood’s favorite release date. In fact, it is generally considered to be among the worst release dates on the calendar. Whatever opens on the final weekend of April gets absolutely crushed by the official start of the summer blockbuster season on the first weekend of May.

The 4 new wide releases and 1 major specialty release set to debut this weekend will face an onslaught of mega-hits over the next month. How can Obsessed (Sony), Earth (Disney), The Soloist, (Dreamworks/Paramount), Fighting (Rogue) and The Informers (Senator) possibly find an audience with X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros) arriving next weekend followed by, in successive weeks, Star Trek (Paramount), Angels & Demons (Sony), the combo of Night at the Museum 2 (Fox) and Terminator: Salvation (Fox) and Disney/Pixar’s Up?

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 5:47 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1145145 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/23/finaltracking4-23/Hollywood%27s+Worst+Release+Date%3A+Beyonce%27s+%27Obsessed%27+Could+Edge+Disney%27s+Baby+Polar+Bears+in+%27Earth%21%272009-04-24+00%3A47%3A04Steve+Mason

The Real Hollywood Supports Our Troops

As a veteran, I want to say “Thanks” to Hollywood.

Too often, the only thing we hear about the Industry is that a new movie is coming out that portrays our soldiers as near mindless half-wits turned into raving murderers by America’s unjust wars. But that kind of nonsense is not the whole story.

Recently, J.J. Abrams, the director of the new “Star Trek” re-boot packed up cast members like Chris Pine, Eric Bana, and the lovely Zoe Saldana and flew off to premiere their film. This premiere was not for a bunch of overpaid, over-pampered movie stars in some gaudy theater. Instead, it was in a dusty hangar in the Middle East, and the audience was made up of our troops. And that is not the exception. (more…)

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Tags: "Extreme Makeover", Chris Pine, Eric Bana, Jeff Ross, JJ Abrams
Posted Apr 13th 2009 at 5:58 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Military | 1044384 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2009/04/13/the-real-hollywood-supports-our-troops/The+Real+Hollywood+Supports+Our+Troops2009-04-13+12%3A58%3A28Kurt+Schlichter

The All-Time Top 10 Movie Posters (one man’s opinion) – #1 JAWS, #2 CHINATOWN, #3 THE DARK KNIGHT

Over the weekend, I was pondering why the low budget, standard genre pic The Haunting in Connecticut (Lionsgate) has become a nifty little box office hit. The film added almost $9.5M over the weekend for a new 10-day cume of $37M, and the only conclusion I have been able to reach is that it’s all about the poster.

Creepy, right? I have not seen Haunting and will probably wait for DVD or pay cable, but that is a weird, startling, attention-grabbing image. As a movie junkie, I love good movie art. The best movie posters are evocative. They capture what a movie is all about without giving away the mystery. There are certain movie posters that instantly put me back in that theatre experiencing the film for the very first time. The best movie posters are not just promotional tools. They stand as a work of art on their own. These are my favorites, buit it is by no means a definitive list. Feel free to add your favorites (and subtract any of mine).

(more…)

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Tags: 2001: a space odyssey, a clockwork orange, academy award, alan ball, alfred hitchcock
Posted Apr 6th 2009 at 8:27 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 9912237 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/06/posters/The+All-Time+Top+10+Movie+Posters+%28one+man%27s+opinion%29+-+%231+JAWS%2C+%232+CHINATOWN%2C+%233+THE+DARK+KNIGHT2009-04-07+03%3A27%3A28Steve+Mason

Star Trek: 90210

What to resent more? The fact that they’re raping my childhood or that they’re forcing me to use the term, “raping my childhood?”

Here you have these larger-than-life, legendary characters to work with and what are they doing? Making the Starship Enterprise look like a casting session for “High School Musical: The Pouty Prom.” (more…)

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Tags: Bruce Greenwood, JJ Abrams, Star Trek 11, william shatner
Posted Mar 10th 2009 at 5:49 pm in Entertainment, Video | 77254302 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/03/10/star-trek-90210/Star+Trek%3A+902102009-03-11+00%3A49%3A45John+Nolte