Movie of the Day: "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999)

Since it's prom season, we're back with some of the best prom-themed movies for a shortened Movie of the Day series this week. First up it's 10 Things I Hate About You, which is one of the better of the rush of late 90's teen movies that all came out around the same time. I'm not gonna pretend this is the greatest movie in the world, but since it's based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, it is actually a little bit cleverer and funnier than most romantic comedies. Plus It's worth it to see a young Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, who's so cute and charming here that it makes you sad all over again about his premature death. He and Julia Stiles have real chemistry and make a cute pair, and since this was filmed in my hometown, on a personal basis, I get a kick out of recognizing every single location spot they used (including the giant castle-like high school, which I'm sure was the main attraction for setting the movie here).

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Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Her" (2013)

Her is finally out on blu-ray this week, so here's a chance to catch up with Spike Jonze's Oscar-winner if you haven't seen it. Joaquin Phoenix gives another outstanding performance as the sweet and lonely Theodore, an average guy living in the near future where people can befriend and even fall in love with their operating systems, which have now evolved into artificial intelligence at a level that dwarfs even human's. This is a lovely romantic fantasy that also features Scarlett Johansson giving her best performance ever as the voice of Samantha, Theodore's OS. It won a very well deserved best original screenplay Oscar last year, so you should definitely give it a look.

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FIRST LOOK: Ben Affleck as Batman

Well, here it is. A day after teasing the Batmobile, we now get a full picture of Ben Affleck in the new Batsuit, as well as a clearer look at the car.

So yeah, the car to me looks like Tim Burton's and the big reaction to the suit seems to be over the short ears, which is a different look. But I still think Ben Affleck will bomb hard in this role, and that the whole movie sounds like a mess with the million characters they've introduced. As for the suit, I mean, I guess it looks all right, but I've never been somebody who gets excited or disappointed over how the costumes look (unless it's completely unrecognizable or something, which Batman never is). What do you guys think?

A Tribute to Katharine Hepburn

Another Hepburn has a birthday today and I'd be remiss to let this one go unnoticed. The great Katharine Hepburn, one of the biggest stars in the history of the movies, who died at 96 in 2003, living a long, fruitful life as one of the most unique and memorable screen presences of all time. Named by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star of all time, actually- and here's what for me are her most essential films:

1) The Philadelphia Story (1940)

She became a star in the early thirties with movies like Little Women and Alice Adams, but this is the one that directly cemented her on screen persona the way she's remembered- the upper class, intellectual, fiercely independent modern woman, who, because of the time, always has to get taken down a peg or two by the men just so they can stand in her presence. That's kind of annoying, but when Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart are fighting over you that's not a bad place to be, and the acting is amazing from all three leads in this one.

2) Woman of the Year (1942)

The first (and my favorite) of the nine movies she made with Spencer Tracy, her legendary on and off screen love interest. There's a slight mystery to the exact nature of their 27 year relationship, but here where they met, there's no doubt that the sparks were there. The chemistry between them is charged and this remains their most romantic movie, despite being a battle of the sexes comedy where Kate, of course, is the one that must ultimately be molded again to fit the man's idea of what she ought to be. It's ok though- they could knock her down on screen all they wanted but it could never happen off. She was just too much herself.

3) Summertime (1955)

In this one Kate is an older single woman alone on a summer vacation to Italy. What a concept, right? Of course it's been stolen many times since then, from Under the Tuscan Sun to Eat, Pray, Love, but David Lean's original is the best. This is what could be called a gooey chick flick now, but it's unapologetically romantic (she has a summer fling with the hunky Rossano Brazzi) and thanks to being filmed on location during the height of tourist season, functions as the best kind of travel porn, as Italy always does. One of the best of the 50's tearjerkers.

4) Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Before Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant was probably her best match on screen, and this is without a doubt, for me her funniest and most out there performance. Bringing Up Baby is the most classic example of a screwball comedy and it's so nutty that it may not necessarily be for everyone, especially modern viewers, who aren't used to this kind of comedy at all (I've heard that some people hate this movie in particular, actually). But the performances from the two leads are so bold and full on that it's gotta be worth at least trying out. Grant and Hepburn are hilarious as a befuddled scientist and a possbily insane kook who purposely sets out to trip him up. I love this movie exactly because it's the kind that can't be made anymore- I don't think anyone would be brave enough (actor or director) to even try.

5) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

This was the last movie that Hepburn and Tracy made together before he died, and though the subject's dated now, Hepburn is one of the great movie moms, and in her later years has lost absolutely none of her fire and intelligence as the progressive parent who must face her daughter's choice of a husband. I love her in this because, unlike some stars in their older years, who tend to lose that charisma that made them when they were young, Katharine Hepburn really never did, and throughout her nearly 6 decades in the movies she remained nothing but herself to the very end, a source of comfort and reassurance that nothing, not age or men or even illness (she had Parkinsons in her later years) was ever going to bring her down one notch. And it never did.

Zack Snyder Teases the new Batmobile

Zack Snyder shows off a photo of the partially covered new Batmobile from his Batman/Superman movie (speaking of, when on earth are they going to give it a title?). I don't know though- it looks like it may resemble the Tim Burton one. What do you think?

Movie of the Day: "Terms of Endearment" (1983)

Well, what did you expect? It may have been predictable but what else could I possibly choose on the day itself- James L. Brooks' 1983 classic is the definitive Mother's Day movie, there's just no denying it. Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger are the ultimate mother-daughter pair, their incredible performances (and those of the supporting cast) hitting every note across the entire human emotional spectrum. It's a movie not just about their relationship with each other, but also their relationships with their friends, husbands, lovers and children as no less than 15 years pass over the course of these two women's lives. It's really hard to strike the right tone in a movie like this, where it's just as funny as it is sad at times, often like life itself, and yet it never for one moment hits a false note. You'll laugh and sob in equal parts- so sit back and enjoy this one with your own mother if you can. I can't recommend it enough- this Best Picture winner is one of my personal top ten favorite movies ever.

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BOX OFFICE 5/09-5/11: 'Neighbors' Demolishes 'Spider-Man'

Neighbors way, way exceeded expectations this week, pulling in a massive $51 million over the Mother's Day weekend. The R-rated comedy with stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne attracted an audience that was 53% female (maybe thanks to having a female co-star or perhaps a shirtless Zac Efron) and over age 25, although it only got a "B" Cinemascore. Sometimes the Cinemascore ratings can mean less with comedies though, as they are often scored lower than action movies or dramas, and yet still manage to earn big totals at the box office overall.

Meanwhile, Amazing Spider-Man 2 suffered a huge drop this weekend, falling 59% to $37 million- that's further than any of the last three Marvel movies (showing that the Cinemascore rating on action movies can still predict whether a film has legs or not). It has $147 million total and $550 million worldwide, which are obviously still good numbers, but whether or not it ends up with just over $200 million domestic depends on how well it holds up to direct competition with Godzilla next weekend. In the other holdovers, The Other Woman came in with $9 million, bringing its total to $61 million, with Heaven is For Real and Captain America rounding out the top five.

Top 5:

Neighbors- $51 million
The Amazing Spider-Man 2- $37.2 million
The Other Woman- $9.3 million
Heaven is For Real- $7 million
Captain America: The Winter Soldier- $6.5 million

In limited release, Jon Favreau's Chef opened on six screens with a $34k per screen average, which is fairly decent, even if it seems like the kind of movie with recognizable names in it that should have at least been given a wide release. Next up it's Godzilla, trying to redeem itself as a franchise after the bungled 1998 version kind of destroyed the monster's rep. See you then!

Movie of the Day: "Imitation of Life" (1959)

Time to pull out the tissue boxes, everybody- today's Mother's Day movie is a major tearjerker from the 1950's, and by the end it's practically daring you not to tear up. Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life is about two moms, a white woman (Lana Turner) and a black woman (Juanita Moore), and their relationship with each other and their respective daughters. Actually, even though Lana Turner and Sandra Dee get top billing, the major story here is the Juanita Moore/Susan Kohner relationship, and both actresses got Oscar nominations for their roles. Kohner is a light skinned girl who can "pass" for white and wants to disown her own mother in order to do it. The tragedy of this situation is the focal point of the story, and like in Mildred Pierce, it kind of makes you hate the kid in this movie, even though she's slightly redeemed at the end (but not before it's too late). Douglas Sirk's movies were considered trashy soap operas at the time of their release in the 1950's, but audiences loved them and they remain engrossing today, like the best soaps will always be. This is a remake of a 1933 movie with Claudette Colbert (one of the earliest movies about race relations ever), but this one can tackle the issue more directly thanks to the time in which it was made and it gives the Juanita Moore character a more fleshed out role.

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TRAILER: "Ida"

Ida premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year and is now in limited release, but it's worth looking for. It's a Polish drama about a young nun in the 1960's who discovers the truth about her family background and is currently sitting at an impressive 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. This is another film that's currently making the rounds at the spring film festivals around the country, so keep an eye out for it. It may be a contender for Foreign Language Film category at next year's Oscars:

TRAILER #2: "Maps to the Stars"

The second trailer for Maps to the Stars makes it look even more disturbing and Cronenberg-esque. It's nice to see the always underrated Julianne Moore in a good part again too. No release date for this one yet, but we'll soon hear how it's received when it plays at the Cannes Film Festival in a week or two:

Movie of the Day: "The Joy Luck Club" (1993)

Today's film celebrating movie moms is The Joy Luck Club, from 1993, a very emotional and moving story about four Chinese immigrant women and their adult Chinese-American daughters. It was based on the great book by Amy Tan (one of my favorites) and tells the story of the present day lives of the daughters and in flashback, the previous lives of their mothers in China before coming to America. It deals with the culture clash between the mothers and daughters as it explores how different the women's lives are from the past generation. The sad thing about this movie is that to this day it's still one of the few mainstream films ever made that focuses on the lives of Asian-Americans, who remain a severely overlooked minority group in Hollywood.

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TRAILER: "Snowpiercer"

The long-awaited Snowpiercer, from South Korean director Bong Joon Ho, is finally coming out on June 27th. This movie's been delayed for months, because the director was caught up in a fierce battle with American distributor Harvey Weinstein (a confrontation you never want to enter, frankly) over releasing his cut of the movie, and not Weinstein's, who wanted at least 20 minutes chopped from the film. Bong Joon Ho won out however, so we're getting his original version when it hits theaters, and it definitely looks unique. An action-packed sci-fi based on the French graphic novel Le Transpersoneige, Bong shot 80% of the film in English and with an ensemble cast of both American and South Korean actors. His other movies are the acclaimed Memories of Murder, The Host (which I loved) and Mother, so I'm looking forward to checking this one out.