Re: [scifinoir2] Digest Number 95
- Original Message - From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 10:09 AM Subject: [scifinoir2] Digest Number 95 There are 2 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Re: Craig Brewer's 'Hustle' generates Oscar talk From: Kelly Wright [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2. Whedon flock ready for 'Firefly' resurrection From: Brent Wodehouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message: 1 Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 00:31:15 - From: Kelly Wright [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Craig Brewer's 'Hustle' generates Oscar talk Check out Elvis Mitchell's excellent interview with Craig Brewer (see link below): http://www.kcrw.com/show/tt If you didn't know Brewer was a white guy, you wouldn't know he was a white guy. Craig's PR machine is really working well, gotta hand it to him on that score. Seems like the ads for Hustle and Flow in the local papers get larger everyday. However . . . what prompts you to make that statement about him? Don't let this pr fool you, Brewer's as much a cultural tourist as Tarantino with perhaps less sense. I mean, I've spoken to this kid a couple of times and I'd never think this about him. Interesting tidbit, when John Singleton signed on as producer he thought he had clout and influence because 2 Fast and 2 Furious had done $236,041,731 in worldwide box office. He found out that silly negro, tricks are for kids. He ended up funding the movie by mortgaging his house. Also check out the Hustle and Flow website: http://www.hustleandflow.com/ Be sure to click on Memphis Insider where Brewer gives you a tour of his favoritie hangouts in Memphis. I know where I am getting my breakfast sandwiches, fried chicken and ribs next time EYE am in Memphis! ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella \(formerly Tracey L. Minor\) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Craig Brewer's 'Hustle' generates Oscar talk http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0722hustletalk0722.html Bruce Newman Knight Ridder Newspapers Jul. 22, 2005 12:00 AM Message: 2 Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 21:46:17 -0400 From: Brent Wodehouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Whedon flock ready for 'Firefly' resurrection http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050722/en_nm/film_firefly_dc Whedon flock ready for 'Firefly' resurrection By Anne Thompson Fri Jul 22 LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Now that Star Wars, Star Trek and The Matrix are fading into the sunset, what will take their place in the hearts of sci-fi fantasy fans? TV auteur Joss Whedon and Universal Pictures are hoping that it's Serenity, his movie version of 2002's aborted Fox space Western TV series Firefly, which opens Sept. 30. Universal launched its grass-roots awareness campaign for Whedon's directing debut in April, recruiting Whedon's loyal fans to help sell Serenity, which features the original Firefly cast. The studio previewed the rough cut nationwide in markets where Firefly performed best, culminating last weekend with a rousing screening at the Comic-Con International confab in San Diego, where Whedon and his cast conducted a panel for fans. Back in 2001, when Whedon sat down to write his follow-up to the two hit Fox series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, he wanted to try his hand at a space Western. I thought, 'Wagon Train' in space, he said on the phone from Cape Cod, where he is conceiving his upcoming Wonder Woman script. He didn't know that Gene Roddenberry had set out to do the same thing back in the 1960s, when he created Star Trek, a smart TV show that was saved by its fans. History is repeating itself. Starting Friday night at 7, the Sci Fi Channel is showing all 13 episodes of Firefly - in the correct order. Fox never got the show, Whedon said. It was a bad match. After premiering the series late after a World Series game and running 11 episodes out of order, Fox dropped it. I told the cast the day the show was canceled that I would not rest until I found another home, Whedon said. I felt like I had let them down. Not wanting to admit failure was part of it, too, Whedon admits. I didn't want people thinking that the show didn't work. Nothing I've ever done has ever emerged so instantly. Even the pilot was the way it should be. There was never an awkward growing phase. It felt right. Every actor felt so right, they worked so well together. I couldn't bear to let the universe go, or let the actors out of my sight. When overseas markets demanded a DVD release, Fox Home Entertainment complied. The Firefly DVD sold more than 200,000 copies. Whedon felt vindicated.
[scifinoir2] Wal-Mart cancels experiment with in-store dating
From the sublime to the ridiculous. This was a scary experiment. I know Wal-Mart is already starting to dominate the world in terms of retail, groceries, even automotive care. They're changing the shape of shopping--for good or ill. They've have all kinds of impacts of people's lifestyles (I know people who think of trips to Wal-Mart on the same level as going out to the movies!) But the thought of people making love connections in the aisles?! How creepy is that? Also, the article references a dude over 60 but I'm assuming it's setup for folks of all ages, just as the store's clientele varies in age? How would a young woman in her 20's stop unwanted advances from an old geezer. 'Scuse me dearie, but you're certainly looking spiffy tonight! Great set of gams you got there chicky! How's about me and you stepping out and cutting the rug? Oh--can you pass me that bottle of Geritol first? Wal-Mart Nixes 'Singles Shopping' ROANOKE, Va. - Wal-Mart has ditched a program that helped single shoppers find love in the discount store's aisles. Officials at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., ordered their Roanoke store to put an end to Singles Shopping, the only program of its kind at Wal-Mart's U.S. stores. Taking a cue from Wal-Marts in Germany, the month-old program encouraged customers on Friday evenings to pick up a red bow they could place on their shopping carts as an invitation to other singles. Flirt points were set up in various sections of the store. A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment on the reason behind the program's cancellation. But customer Dale Firebaugh, who showed up Friday night hoping to meet his match, said store employees told him several people had complained. I'm disappointed, said Firebaugh, 63. Where can someone over 40 who doesn't smoke or drink or go to bars meet someone? ___ Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Box office results for this weekend.
I'm a little surprised Charlie is still doing so well, after the mixed reviews about Depp's creepy Willie Wonka. More surprised that Wedding Crashers is doing that well. As for The Island? Can't say I am surprised. First, you know I'm not a fan of the directing style of Michael Bay and his ilk. The film's trailers throw out the concept, then assault you with lots of vehicle crashes, explosions, and people running. Looked no different from Bad Boys or The Rock or something. That did nothing to make me want to see it despite McGregor and Johannson, actors I really like. I went to see Batman Begins for the third time, which is becoming, as I expected, my favorite of the scifi/comic films of this part of the year. Hustle and Flow is on the agenda for this evening. Depp still tempting moviegoers with 'Chocolate' LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory conquered moviegoers' taste buds for a second weekend on Sunday, while the costly new sci-fi movie from action director Michael Bay flopped. Charlie sold about $28.3 million worth of tickets in the three days beginning Friday, taking the 10-day total for the Johnny Depp fantasy to $114.1 million. Director Tim Burton's $150 million adaptation of the famed Roald Dahl book about oddball confectionery mogul Willy Wonka is on track to hit $200 million, said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Time Warner Inc.-owned Warner Bros., which released the film. It was followed closely by the comedy Wedding Crashers, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, which held at No. 2 with $26.2 million, and a 10-day haul of $80.9 million. It was released by New Line Cinema, also a unit of Time Warner. Twentieth Century Fox's comic-book adaptation Fantastic Four was No. 3 for a second weekend with $12.3 million, and a three-week tally of $122.6 million.Bay's The Island opened at No. 4 with $12.1 million, having cost just over $120 million to make. The film stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as inhabitants of a utopian society with a terrible secret.Clearly this is a disappointing opening, said Jim Tharp, head of domestic theatrical distribution at closely held DreamWorks SKG Inc. We can only hope that the film finds its audience in the coming weeks. While the studio knew it had a problem on its hands, it had hoped The Island would open nearer $15 million, Tharp added. Bay is best known for such big-ticket action films as Pearl Harbor and Armageddon, which enjoyed explosive openings even if critics were appalled. This time, critics and moviegoers were on the same page. TICKET SALES DOWN The top 10 list of films at U.S. and Canadian theaters contained four other new entries, but their arrival was unable to prevent overall year-on-year sales from resuming their downward trend, following a two-week winning streak. The top-12 films grossed $128.1 million, down 7.8 percent from the year-ago weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. Before the short-lived uptick in sales, business had fallen for 19 weekends in a row, the longest slump in more than two decades. Paramount Pictures' Bad News Bears, starring Billy Bob Thornton in the role of the curmudgeonly baseball coach memorably played by Walter Matthau in the 1976 original, opened at No. 5 with a modest $11.5 million. The acclaimed hip-hop movie Hustle Flow, starring Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler who dreams of becoming a rapper, was No. 7, with an impressive $8.1 million, having opened on far fewer screens. The low-budget film was acquired for $9 million at the Sundance Film Festival in January by Paramount's art house wing, Paramount Classics. It was followed at No. 8 by Lions Gate Films' horror film The Devil's Rejects, which opened with $7 million, a figure that matched its production budget. The film was directed and written by rock musician Rob Zombie, and represents a follow-up to his debut effort House of 1000 Corpses.The documentary March of the Penguins jumped two places to No. 10 with $4.3 million after expanding its theater count in its fifth weekend of release. It was distributed by Warner Independent Pictures, also a unit of Time Warner, and has earned $9.3 million to date. Fox is a unit of News Corp. Additionally, Fantastic Four was produced in association with Marvel Enterprises Inc.. Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc. Lions Gate Films is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
