The Screening Log - blogging film

Weekend of August 28 – 30, 2009: Bloody freak accidents beat Michael Myers killings

New Line Cinema’s “The Final Destination” slashed its competition at the North American box office this weekend as the horror sequel took the No. 1 spot with a solid $28.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The David R. Ellis-directed fourth installment in the popular series delivered a better opening weekend than its predecessors, scoring an average of $9,079 per theater at 3,121 locations. The film is currently playing in 3D and standard format.

'Final Destination' beats 'Halloween II' Friday

Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 2:17PM | By

"The Final Destination," the fourth installment in the popular horror series, took the top spot at the North American box office Friday with an estimated $10.9 million in ticket sales.

The David R. Ellis-directed sequel, which opened in 3D and standard format at 3,121 locations this weekend, delivered a better Friday start than the $7.1 million daily gross generated by its predecessor "Final Destination 3" in 2006.

Movie Review: "Taking Woodstock"

Friday, August 28, 2009 at 12:00AM | By

Seen on: July 31, 2009

The players: Director: Ang Lee, Writer: James Schamus, Cast: Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert, Imelda Staunton, Demetri Martin, Kevin Chamberlin, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber

Facts of interest: Lee also directed "Brokeback Mountain."

The plot: The film chronicles the events that eventually led to the gigantic Woodstock Festival in 1969.

Our thoughts: I wasn’t alive yet when the ultra-popular Woodstock Festival rocked the little town of Bethel, New York in the summer of 1969, but after watching Ang Lee’s wildly entertaining new film “Taking Woodstock,” I kind of wish I could’ve been part of this historic three-day concert event. What an experience this must have been!

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Monday

24Aug2009

This week's new movie releases - August 28, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009 at 4:18PM | By

Opening this week are David R. Ellis' "The Final Destination"; Rob Zombie's "Halloween II" with Tyler Mane; and Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" with Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch and Imelda Staunton.

THE FINAL DESTINATION (will open in 3D)

Synopsis: On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O'Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave...

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Monday

03Aug2009

What to expect at the movies in August '09

Monday, August 3, 2009 at 10:28AM | By

August of 2009 has arrived, and it will be quite the busy movie month. July was not a bad month, and although some films really disappointed me, others definitely kept me entertained. But hey, that's a thing of the past now. Let's look at what this year's August has in store for us hungry moviegoers:

The first weekend of the month is certainly action-packed, as Stephen Sommers' "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" rolls onto the big screen. I've heared it's silly but wildly amusing, and hey, sometimes, that's exactly what I'm looking for in a summer flick. Plus, it's got Sienna Miller kicking butt and wearing ridiculously tight costumes, so, what more could you want?

Also opening on the 7th is "Julie & Julia," a comedy with the great Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, who already proved they've got what it takes to star in a film together. For those prefering something more intense than a bunch of cooking/life lessons, this weekend's also got "A Perfect Getaway" lined up, a thriller with Milla Jovovich. Does that one get me excited? Not so much.

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Thursday

23Apr2009

62nd Cannes Film Festival announces lineup

Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 12:35PM | By

And what a lineup we've got at the 62nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival this year! Let's dive right in. As previously announced, Pete Docter's 3D Pixar flick "Up" will open the festival and screen out of competition. The festival will open its doors May 13 and will run through May 24. The closing film will be Jan Kounen's "Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky."

Here are the films fighting for the top prizes: Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds," Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock," Ken Loach's "Looking for Eric," Lars von Trier's "Antichrist," Gaspar Noe's "Enter the Void," Pedro Almodovar's "Broken Embraces" (Los Abrazos Rotos), Jane Campion's "Bright Star," Tsai Ming-Liang's "Visage," Alain Resnais' "Les Herbes Folles," and Johnnie To's "Vengeance."

Also screening in competition are "Fish Tank" by Andrea Arnold, "Vincere" by Marco Bellocchio, "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo" by Isabel Coixet, "The White Ribbon" (Das Weisse Band" by Michael Haneke, "Un Prophete" by Jacques Audiard, "A L'Origine" by Xavier Giannoli, "Kinatay" by Brillante Mendoza, "The Time That Remains" by Elia Suleiman, and "Bak-JWI" by Park Chan-Wook.

The feature film jury this year will be presided by Isabelle Huppert. Also on-board are Asia Argento, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Lee Chang-Dong, James Gray, Hanif Kureishi, Shu Qui and Robin Wright Penn.

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