Movie Review: Yipes -- We're on Borrowed Time!

Countdown to Zero

From producer Lawrence Bender, who backed the hit global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, comes Countdown to Zero -- about another threat to the world -- nuclear annihilation. There's no doubt, this film will scare the bejesus out of you. Let's face it, things were scary enough during the Cold War when only a few countries had nuclear weapons. Now, not only do many more countries have nuclear capabilities, but we also have to worry about terrorists obtaining materials to make their own bombs. And on top of that, we learn in the film how lucky we've been to survive all the near nuclear accidents that have plagued the world for decades. You can't help but think our luck will run out sooner rather than later.

The film features interviews with world leaders and experts, including Tony Blair, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Robert McNamara, Pervez Musharraf and Valerie Plame Wilson. It also contains chilling vintage footage of J. Robert Oppenheimer -- who was instrumental in developing the world's first atomic bomb. Their words will haunt you -- and also frustrate you (stop giving the terrorists more ideas!).

Sure, it's mostly a downer. But when the film closes with Pearl Jam's song, "The Fixer," you're left with at least some hope that the world can work together to undo the madness -- if leaders would only work together to dismantle the current bombs and better secure the plutonium that's already out there. And we can help. The film's closing credits contain a phone number to which a text message may be sent to protest the maintenance of high levels of nuclear arsenals and lax security of nuclear materials. It may not be the most-completely balanced documentary, but it's quite powerful just the same. Directed by Lucy Walker (Blindsight) and narrated by actor Gary Oldman. [Rated PG; opens wider today]


Grade: B+


Notes:

• Click on the Film Reviews icon at left to read other recent reviews.
• Reminder: if you live in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland (OR), San Diego or San Francisco, you can register for a chance to see the movie for FREE this weekend here.
• Reminder #2: you can watch other great documentaries online for free @ snagfilms.com

Movie Review: It's OK to Skip this Meal!

Dinner for Schmucks

It's really a shame when good actors deliver in a film -- but it's not enough to save a bad script. That's the case with Dinner for Schmucks, a remake of the French film The Dinner Game (Le Dîner de Cons), which itself was an adaptation of a French play. Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, who have previously teamed up in Anchorman and The 40 Year-Old Virgin, reunite for this offbeat comedy which mostly misses the mark.

Rudd plays Tim, a rising executive who succeeds in finding the perfect guest, Barry (Carell), for his boss's monthly "dinner for idiots" event. The gathering offers the executive who shows up with the biggest goofball a greater chances to climb the corporate ladder. Barry is an IRS employee with a bizarre hobby -- he's a taxidermist who builds incredibly-detailed dioramas featuring mice. Carrell (so perfect in the recent release Despicable Me) turns in a great performance as the dimwit. Rudd's straight man persona is more boring than usual (unlike his great turn in I Love You, Man). But Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) is hysterical as Barry's co-worker who also shows up at the dinner.

Sure, there are some funny moments. But the problem with the film is that the dinner doesn't occur until the end of the film -- and by then, you're likely to lose all interest due to the totally unbelievably silly happenings. For a good comedy to work, it has to at least be somewhat believable. Otherwise, how can you relate? The best part of the entire film is the opening credits sequence, where you see Barry's taxidermy work up close -- it's great stuff, but not worth paying to see it in the theater. In fact, if you rent the movie on DVD later this year, you can turn the player off after the opening credits finish rolling. The film also stars Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Ron Livingston (Office Space). Directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers and Meet the Parents series). [Rated PG-13; opens today]

Grade: C+


Note:

• Click on the Film Reviews icon at left to read other recent reviews -- including Inception, Despicable Me, Cyrus, Grown Ups and Toy Story 3.

"Alice in Wonderland" Contest Winner Revealed!

Congrats go out to Megan B. of Torrance, California! Megan had the winning tweet entry in the EntertainmentBlogger "Alice in Wonderland" contest -- and will receive a prize package valued at approximately $125. Click here for more details on what she won!

Thanks to the hundreds of you who entered during the contest period -- resulting in thousands of valid entries.

Remember to continue to follow EntertainmentBlogger on Twitter (@Entertainment2u) and check back here for more contests. In fact, a little birdie tells me a NEW contest is being announced in August!

A Jam-Packed MusicMonday

Interviews

• Bush has (finally!) reunited and plans to release a new album this October before going out on tour in 2011. Click here to listen to an interview with Gavin Rossdale by Philadelphia's Radio 104.5. He talks about reuniting the band and why solo albums seem "egotistical."
• You may not know this if you don't live in the Philadelphia area, but former child star Danny Bonaduce is a morning DJ at one of our radio stations, 94 WYSP. Last week, in a reunion that Partridge Family groupies have been waiting for, Keith and Danny Partridge got back together when David Cassidy was on the show. Cassidy challenged Bonaduce to learn to play bass and perform a song during an upcoming local show. Remember, Bonaduce only pretended to play on the '70s TV show. Click here to hear the interview.

Pearl Jam's New Video

A new week -- and a new Pearl Jam video. This time for the song "Unthought Known" -- shot on a laptop in Berlin!





Free Downloads

This week's new offerings:

• The folks behind Lilith Fair have put together a free iTunes sampler of your favorite female artists as a way to say thank you for all of the support. The playlist features songs by Lucy Schwartz, Ash Koley, The Weepies, Sarah McLachlan and more. Click here to redeem 10 free songs if you are in Canada. Click here to redeem the 15-song playlist if you are in the United States. The offers expire September 30.
  
• Spin Magazine has 15 hot tracks for download here. The iTunes offer expires August 31.
• SCI Fidelity Records has a brand new sampler of 14 tracks – over 70 minutes of music – from the String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Keller & the Keels, Lotus, EOTO, Emmitt-Nershi Band, 30db and many more! Click here for the free download.
  
• L.A. rockers Los Lobos will return after four years on August 3 with a new album, Tin Can Trust. Compliments of Entertainment Weekly, you can download the track "Burn it Down" here.
• Download the "U.N.I.T.Y." remix by Queen Latifah here -- compliments of Cover Girl.
• Finally, have you been keeping up with Smashing Pumpkins' free music? They are now up to their fifth free release in their huge rollout -- "Freak;" click here to download it and the previously-released tracks.

Want more free downloads? Well, don't forget to continually check the following sources -- new songs covering all genres are added frequently. Just click on the links below and enjoy some new tunes.

• AbsolutePunk
• Amazon singles
  
• Amazon albums
• The BoomBox
  
• Fuse.tv
• KickKickSnare
• MTV
  
• Spinner
• Stereogum
• VolumeVote
  
• Walmart

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Warner Bros.' fantasy thriller Inception held on to the top spot, as the Christopher Nolan-helmed Leonardo DiCaprio starrer took in an estimated $43.5 million in its second weekend. That represented only a 31% drop from its debut weekend and brought its 10-day total to a dreamy $143.7 million.
• Sony's Angelina Jolie starrer Salt settled for second place in its opening weekend, but the action-thriller's estimated $36.5 million in domestic box office makes a second mission by its butt-kicking CIA operative likely -- yep, sequel chatter has begun.
  
• The other big opener this weekend, Fox's G-rated comedy Ramona and Beezus, debuted with $8 million in sixth place -- failing to take away from the animated hits Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me, which continue to draw big family crowds.
  
• Collectively, the weekend top 10 rung up $148 million, or 7% more than top performers during a comparable frame last year.
• Reviews of Inception, Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, Grown Ups and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, Hollywood.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

Twitter Contest: Mega "Alice in Wonderland" Prize Package Giveaway

Thanks for following @Entertainment2u on Twitter -- and as promised for helping me reach 500+ followers, it's time for a new contest! So let's make it a movie prize package this time around -- and not just any movie, but the highest-grossing film of 2010 so far -- Disney's Alice in Wonderland (note: overtaken by Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 on July 11).

Each day through Tuesday, July 27 is an entry day for the contest. One random winner will win the following prize package valued at approximately $125:

• The special 3-disc combo pack of the film with Blu-ray, DVD and digital copies
  
• The Almost Alice CD soundtrack - with tracks from Avril Lavigne, The All-American Rejects, Owl City, Shinedown, Franz Ferdinand, Wolfmother and many more
• A 27" x 40" theatrical poster
  
• A Mad Hatter t-shirt
  
• A Mad Hatter bookmark
  

July 28 update:

The "Alice in Wonderland" contest is now closed. Thanks to all who entered. Winner will be selected soon. Stay tuned!

Keep in mind, you must remain a follower through the duration of the contest to be eligible to win! Good luck!

Notes:

• Only one tweet entry per Twitter account per contest day.
• Entries are only valid if you are following @Entertainment2u on Twitter from point of entry through duration of contest.
  
• Contest ends on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM ET.
  
• One winner will be randomly chosen from all qualified entries. He or she will be sent a direct message via Twitter -- and have 48 hours to respond with mailing address.
• Read full detailed rules here or by clicking on the image above.
• Original contest post date: Monday, June 21, 2010
• Please note that you do NOT need to comment below about your tweet entries. All tweets are tracked on Twitter -- and each tweet has an equal chance of being the random winner!
• Click here to return to the EntertainmentBlogger home page.

MusicMonday: Great Alternative Music

Local Radio Finds a
New Home -- on the Web

By now you've probably realized that I love alternative rock music. Here in Philadelphia, we had a great modern rock station (WDRE) that was wildly popular. Then the corporate bigwigs came in and changed the format. Luckily many involved with the station then moved over to another station with a similar format, Y100. Then the same corporate bigwigs messed up again and changed that station's format.

So, one of station's devoted employees, Josh T. Landow, launched an online alt-music station called Y-Rock. A year later, another FM outlet -- WXPN -- picked it up and branded it as Y-Rock On XPN, adding over-the-air programming to its online component. Then last month, XPN was hit by layoffs and Josh was off the air yet again.

Well you can't keep good music and good guys down. Together Josh and a crew of volunteers have launched Y-Not Radio -- and will continue to bring the same high quality alternative, modern, and indie rock programming that they always have -- just online instead of over the airwaves. The good thing is -- you don't have to live in the Philadelphia region to enjoy! Click on the image above to listen to great alternative music -- anytime, anywhere.



Pearl Jam Video and Free Download

The newest single off of Pearl Jam's Backspacer album is "Amongst the Waves." You can download a FREE live version of the song via the band's official site here. It was recorded right here in Philly (yep, I was there!). And check out the video below.

More Free Downloads

Want more free downloads? Well, don't forget to continually check the following sources -- new songs covering all genres are added frequently. Just click on the links below and enjoy some new tunes.

• AbsolutePunk
• Amazon singles
  
• Amazon albums
• The BoomBox
  
• Fuse.tv
• KickKickSnare
• Mashable
  
• MTV
  
• Spinner
• Stereogum
• VolumeVote
  
• Walmart

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Warner Bros.' fantasy thriller Inception had a dream opening, as the Christopher Nolan-helmed Leonardo DiCaprio starrer took in an estimated $60.4 million in opening domestic box office. That was on the far high side of pre-release projections -- and a career-high opening weekend for DiCaprio.
• Last weekend's champ Despicable Me moved to #2 this weekend with an estimated $32.7 million. The animated film’s strong hold of 42% of last week's audience puts its brief ten-day stint at $118 million.
• Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced adventure fantasy The Sorcerer’s Apprentice grossed only $17.3 million and a third spot for the three-day period. The Nicolas Cage starrer has now earned a lackluster $24 million after five days of release.
• Collectively, the weekend top 10 rang up $166 million, or 9% more than top performers in the same frame last year.
• Reviews of Inception, Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, Grown Ups and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, Hollywood.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

Movie Review: Christopher Nolan is an Expert Dream Weaver

Inception

Writer, director and producer Christopher Nolan, who gave us The Dark Knight and all its glory, is back with another imaginative world -- this time, the visually-stunning world of dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island) stars as Dom, a thief-for-hire who can extract corporate secrets from sleeping minds. But Dom has a secret of his own -- one that is preventing him from being reunited with his children. Now he is given a chance to have his personal dream fulfilled -- if he can complete an assignment from a tycoon, played by Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima). But there's a twist -- Dom must work with a team to plant an idea into the mind of an unsuspecting heir to a business empire (Cillian Murphy) -- an inception, rather than an extraction.

With amazing detail, Nolan has created a very stylized, multi-layered thriller. The architecture of the dreams is something to behold -- with all the CG tricks and real-location beauty working together for brilliant results. But the movie excels on more than extraordinary visuals and exciting action. DiCaprio turns in yet another strong performance -- and Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) is exceptional as his long-suffering wife, Mal.

But is Inception a great movie? Not exactly -- but it's a very good one. Sure, it has the most original material of any movie so far this year, but it still borrows from action movies that have previously dabbled in the space-time continuum arena -- most notably, The Matrix. I also found casting a bit odd. I loved supporting players Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer and Ellen Page in Juno and Whip It -- and they're fine here, but at times I felt that they seemed too young to carry their more adult roles. And a favorite of Nolan, two-time Oscar winner Michael Caine (Alfred in the Batman series) was also sadly underutilized this time around. Finally, clocking in at nearly two-and-a-half hours, an overly-long opening sequence could have been trimmed a bit to give the film a tighter fit. But these are minor issues -- and Inception should not be overlooked. It's a big-screen must -- and I recommend seeking it out on IMAX to maximize appreciation of Nolan's amazing dream world. [Rated PG-13; in theaters now]


Grade: B+


Notes:

• Click on the Film Reviews icon at left to read other recent reviews -- including Despicable Me, Cyrus, Grown Ups and Toy Story 3.
• Look out for more movie reviews in the coming weeks -- including one for the new Steve Carell/Paul Rudd comedy, Dinner for Schmucks.
  

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• Both of the two big newcomers outpaced expectations. Universal's 3-D animated family feature Despicable Me topped the weekend box office with an estimated $60.1 million. Meanwhile, Fox's R-rated horror thriller Predators earned $25.3 million to debut in third place.
• Elsewhere, Summit Entertainment The Twilight Saga: Eclipse earned $33.4 million in second place during its second weekend. The sequel's cumulative box office is now at $237 million through 12 days in release. Its immediate predecessor in the series -- The Twilight Saga: New Moon – rang up $235.7 million in its first dozen days as part of a $296.6 million domestic run.
• With $22 million this weekend, the cumulative total for Toy Story 3 is now $340.2 million -- making it the #1 movie of 2010 so far (overtaking Alice in Wonderland which finished at $334.1 million).
  
• Collectively, the weekend top 10 rung up $191 million, or a whopping 44% more than top performers in the same frame last year.
• Reviews of Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, Grown Ups, Cyrus and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

Movie Review: Another Animated Must-See

Despicable Me

Anyone else notice the latest Hollywood trend? The most inventive, and therefore most critically-acclaimed films over the past several years are animated features. From Universal Studios and Illumination Entertainment, Despicable Me is the latest computer-animated 3-D feature film -- releasing right on the heels of the extraordinary Toy Story 3 from Disney/Pixar. And it's nearly as entertaining.

Steve Carell excels as the voice of Gru, an evil super-villain who is trying to outdo Vector, another super-villain (voiced by Jason Segel from I Love You, Man). Along the way, we are treated to an army of mischievous little minions and an arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays and battle-ready land and air vehicles. But it's the heart-warming interaction with three little girls that enter Gru's life that will leave the biggest impact. Can someone so super-bad change his ways?

There are some top-notch 3-D effects in the film -- so I would recommend you spend the extra bucks this time and put on those goofy glasses. And definitely stick around for the closing credits because some of the best 3-D visuals appear there. The great voice cast also includes Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Miranda Cosgrove and Kristen Wiig (Extract, Adventureland). Co-directed by Pierre Coffin, Sergio Pablos and Chris Renaud, who was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short, No Time for Nuts. [Rated PG; opens tomorrow]

Grade: A-


Note:

• Click on the Film Reviews icon at left to read other recent reviews -- including Cyrus, Grown Ups and Toy Story 3.
  

MusicMonday: More Free Summer Downloads

Hope you all had a great Independence Day weekend -- sure was a hot one here. If you're not lucky enough to be at a beach, it's best to stay inside with the A/C cranked listening to some new tunes. So here are this week's free offerings:

• The third annual Mayhem Festival kicks off this Saturday and will be co-headlined by Korn and Rob Zombie. Click on the image at right for a list of tour dates. And click here to get a free, 9-song Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Tour digital sampler, featuring Mayhem artists Rob Zombie, Lamb of God, Five Finger Death Punch, Hatebreed, Winds of Plague, 3 Inches of Blood, In This Moment, Norma Jean and Atreyu.
• Landmark Music Summer 2010, the new digital compilation featuring 11 new songs, is now available for free download! Compliments of the movie theater chain and Filter Magazine, the new edition of Landmark Music features songs by Jessica Hoop, Andrew Bird, The Watson Twins, Trevor Hall, Merle Haggard, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan and more. You can select individual tracks for download or take the entire playlist for your personal collection. Click here to download.

And don't forget to continually check the following sources for more free downloads -- new songs covering all genres are added frequently. Just click on the links below and enjoy some new tunes.

• AbsolutePunk
• Amazon singles
  
• Amazon albums
• The BoomBox
  
• Fuse.tv
• KickKickSnare
• Mashable
  
• MTV
  
• Spinner
• Stereogum
• VolumeVote
  
• Walmart

Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

Notes:

• Click on the chart to enlarge.
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse topped the box office this weekend with $69 million. But the latest Twilight movie fell short of its predecessor at the North American box office despite selling a hefty $161 million worth of tickets during its first five days. The previous film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, earned $179 million in its first six days in November, without the benefit of a holiday.
• Distributor Summit Entertainment now predicts Eclipse will end up with a six-day haul of about $181 million after sales for the U.S. Independence Day holiday on Monday are counted. The studio originally forecast a six-day tally of $199 million.
• Despite mostly poor reviews, The Last Airbender exceeded expectations and opened at #2 with $40.6 million for the three-day period. Including Thursday sales, the latest from director M. Night Shyamalan stands at $53.2 million.
• Meanwhile, Toy Story 3 slipped to #3 with $30.2 million. Its total rose to $289 million, making it the 10th biggest title in Disney history, the company said
• Reviews of Toy Story 3, Grown Ups, Cyrus and other movies not in the top ten can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures are released on Monday.
• Sources: Nielsen EDI, ew.com, AP
  

Movie Review: A Sundance Hit Opens Wider

Cyrus

The most talked about indie film at the moment was a big hit at Sundance and other recent film festivals. But is Cyrus worth the hype? Not really -- I think it's good, not great. Written and directed by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass (Baghead), this dark comedy is stronger than its material thanks to terrific acting by the cast.

John C. Reilly (Step Brothers, Boogie Nights) stars as John -- he's in a real rut as his ex is re-marrying while he hasn't seemed to find a way to move on. He meets Molly (Marisa Tomei from The Wrestler) at a party and instantly they fall for each other. The only problem is Cyrus (Jonah Hill) -- a 21-year-old man-child, mama's boy who will do anything in his power to keep his mother Molly and John from moving forward. It's in the demented scenes between Reilly and Hill that the film excels. Hill (Get Him to the Greek) is a revelation as the disturbed young man, and O'Reilly continues to prove that he can handle a mix of comedy and drama to near-perfection.

The problem is, despite the great acting and some funny moments, it was hard for me to embrace the characters because they were both somewhat unbelievable and unlikable to me. Am I really supposed to believe that John's ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) would put up with his moroseness for the seven years since their divorce? Do people as beautiful as Molly really fall for ogres like John? So since I really didn't care about any of the characters, I wasn't totally vested in how things would end up.

In sum, don't believe all the hype -- Cyrus won't be the greatest indie film you'll see this year -- but don't totally dismiss the movie either. The great acting alone makes the film so much more enjoyable than most of the huge-budget crap the big studios are churning out this summer. [Rated R; in select cities]


Grade: B


Notes:

• Cyrus continues to roll out this month. Click here to learn when the film will be in your market.
• The good news about a slow roll-out? Free advance screenings are still available for some major cities. Click here for passes in select cities.
  
• Click on the Film Reviews icon at left to read other recent reviews -- including Grown Ups and Toy Story 3.