Meet the Spartans

Spartans Victorious Over Rambo
“Meet the Spartans,” a parody starring Sean Maguire and Carmen Electra in yet another retelling of the historic battle against the Persians, barely outslugged Sylvester Stallone in “Rambo” to seize control of the No. 1 ranking at the weekend box office. In their debuts “Meet the Spartans,” distributed by Fox, pulled in an estimated $18.7 million, while “Rambo” (Lionsgate) came away with $18.1 million, the tracking company Media by Numbers reported. The romantic comedy “27 Dresses” (Fox), with $13.6 million, fell to third place from second last week. The monster movie “Cloverfield” (Paramount), on a gross of $12.7 million, plunged to fourth place from No. 1 a week ago. Fifth place went to the newcomer “Untraceable” (Sony), the horror thriller starring Diane Lane as an F.B.I. cyberwizard. It grossed $11.2 million.

In a close and bloody box office battle, the bumbling warriors of the spoof Meet the Spartans edged out aged mercenary John Rambo of the franchise flick Rambo to win the weekend box office by a tight margin of just $575,000, according to Sunday’s estimates. Meet the Spartans grossed $18.725 mil while Rambo brought in $18.150 mil, but we’ll have to wait for the final numbers to come out on Monday before officially declaring a winner. Still, this is good news for both films — well, good news for the Greek fighters and really good news for the Vietnam vet.

Meet the Spartans came in almost exactly where most predictions (or at least mine) said it would, for its $18.7 mil gross is in line with both the $19.1 mil that Date Movie earned in early 2006 and the $18.6 mil that Epic Movie banked on this weekend a year ago. Troubling, however, is that the movie’s CinemaScore was a terrible C- (coming from a crowd that was, not surprisingly 58 percent male and three-quarters under the age of 25), which means that while it may have won this week’s battle at the box office, it probably won’t have the stamina for a longer war.

Rambo, however, might. The antique action flick, which was written, produced, and directed by star Sylvester Stallone got a nice A- CinemaScore (its audience was mostly older males, duh). While the film’s predecessors in the Rambo franchise came out so long ago (the last one debuted in 1988) that any box office comparisons are moot, it is worth noting that this movie’s $18.2 mil opening compares quite favorably with the $12.2 mil debut of Stallone’s last character resurrection, 2006’s Rocky Balboa. And, actually, forget about character resurrections, Stallone may just have resurrected his whole career with this debut: It is the biggest he’s had as a lead star since Rocky IV banked $20 mil on its first weekend back in 1985 (again, not a totally meaningful statistic since that was during, like, the Cold War, when movie tickets cost much less and a premiere of, say, $8 mil was considered big). So while many may have rolled their eyes and even laughed at the news of a new Rambo movie (yep, guilty as charged), Stallone likely made the right decision to do it.

The weekend’s other major matter to report came two notches below, past 27 Dresses’ nice $13.6 mil second-weekend take at No. 3. That’s where we find Cloverfield, all bruised and battered in fourth place, with a $12.7 mil gross — a whopping 68 percent decline from its record opening last weekend. Now, this was to be expected, considering the fact that the movie’s most ardent ticket buyers checked it out on opening weekend, and many reported that they didn’t love it. But were we in the press too soon to suggest that a sequel may already be in store? Perhaps. Then again, you’ve got to imagine that, with a two-week domestic take of $64.3 mil, the folks at Paramount have to be pleased with their initial $25 mil production-budget investment. What’s more, Cloverfield did beat out the two other new releases: Untraceable rounded out the top five with an unsurprisingly underwhelming $11.2 mil, while How She Move (No. 12) was a non factor, earning just $4.2 mil.

As for the movies that were nominated last week for the Best Picture Oscar, Juno (No. 6) fared best, banking $10.3 mil to push its cumulative gross over the $100 mil mark (it was the 28th and probably last release of 2007 to break the nine-figure barrier). Juno is, after all, the only blockbuster of the group, though most of its rivals saw nice bumps: There Will Be Blood (No. earned $4.9 mil; Atonement brought in $4 mil (a slight 14 percent drop, the only decline within this elite group); No Country for Old Men grossed $2.5 mil; and Michael Clayton racked up another $2.1 mil.

And on another historical note, Alvin and the Chipmunks reached the $200 mil plateau, just as National Treasure: Book of Secrets did in the middle of last week, making 2007 the first year in history to boast 11 such releases. (The previous champ, 2005, had eight $200 mil domestic earners.)

Amidst all this success, then, it’s no surprise that the total box office take was up nearly 21 percent from the same frame a year ago. And that’s a number that won’t change much, even if the rankings of the movies do wind up switching around a bit when the final figures are released tomorrow. Be patient, people; we’ll just have to wait and see.

Rambo 4

Get updates on Rambo 4 the movie, how it went and what happened to Rambo 4 in the box office…

JOHN RAMBO-4
“Live for nothing or die for something,” says Sylvester Stallone midway through this film. He lives by his word. Not that he has not done much, far from it, for a man who has achieved cult status across the world. Now on the wrong side of 60, he continues to play by his rules. So he still takes on guns with arrows! And comes out a winner!

Of course, he re-invents his popular avatar a wee bit, gives it a contemporary touch by talking of the wrongs in Burma. But that is mere window-dressing. At heart, and in action, he remains very much the Rambo the masses saw and first admired many summers ago. The fierce expression, the rippling muscles, the brooding persona are all there: the ruggedness of his demeanour complemented by a carefully casual attire.

This one here is a mere reiteration of a tale well and often told: the luckless are helpless too. The world has villains. And there rises one man who suffers no wrong.

It has been many summers since the last outing. Time flits by, or does it? Rambo or Stallone now lives in Thailand, where he works on a longboat on the Salween river. On the nearby Thailand-Burma border there is a long-running civil war. And can Rambo be kept out of the trouble? If you have seen any of his past forays, you won’t have to guess an answer.

The not-so-young man’s isolation ends when a group of missionaries search out the “American river guide”. It is difficult for even the relief workers to set foot on the land, the missionaries cry out. Rambo steps in, helping out the abducted, seeking out those in distress.

It is all familiar territory. Where this film loses out is in pace. It is slow, quite slow, to begin with. In fact, the first half is used largely to build up the story and Stallone gives only a couple of fleeting glimpses of his talent: untamed energy, and a man valiant and fearless, quite a throwback to the times when being a chocolate boy was not in! Also, there is a dank quality to the early reels: the film appears too dark for too long as the captives are shown in godforsaken land! And there are not many shots of the river during daytime!

The things get better in the second half with the hero getting a free run to show us his worth. There are no surprises in narration, hardly any in drama. Yet you will enjoy the latter reels better as the pace picks up, the action is high-octane. And the film comes to life. Therein lies hope for it at the box office.

Watch Stallone one more time. You loved the first time. You did not mind the skirmishes in the intervening period. Despite its drawbacks, an avid Stallone fan won’t have too much to complain here.

Rambo proves old soldiers don’t die: they make sequels: An iconic action-hero of the 1980s whose rise coincided with the waning years of the Cold War, John Rambo’s return is proof that in Hollywood, old soldiers never die — they just make sequels.

And as the decorated Vietnam veteran exploded into US cinemas on Friday amid a hail of gunfire — 26 years after making his debut in “First Blood” — no-one was more surprised than the actor who plays him, Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone, 61, revealed in an interview with AFP that he never envisaged Rambo’s character driving one of the best-known movie franchises in history, earning 600 million dollars and spawning three sequels in the process.

“When I made ‘First Blood’ in 1982 I had no idea that I’d be ringing in the New Year 26 years later with the third sequel,” Stallone said.

“I originally thought that ‘First Blood’ was a good action picture that might catch on with war veterans and some action movie fans but I had no idea that it would become a worldwide phenomenon.

“The first script I saw had come close to being made by Steve McQueen, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman and any action star of the time,” Stallone replied.

Although Rambo started out as an anguished, sensitive character tortured by the experience of Vietnam, Stallone says the latest portrayal is in keeping with the second and third sequels, where he is a muscle-bound one-man army.

“I rewrote the (First Blood) script to give the character Rambo a little humanity. Now he’s just mad at the world and wants justice,” states Stallone.

While the Rambo franchise became redundant with the end of the Cold War, Stallone says he began thinking about reviving the character as he brought another of his heros out of retirement, punchdrunk boxer Rocky Balboa in 2006’s film of the same name.

“I got the idea for ‘Rambo’ while training for ‘Rocky Balboa’,” Stallone recalled. “I figured I was getting into shape for one then why not the other. “To me both characters are average everymen in different worlds. One wears a funny hat, the other a bandana and neither of them speaks much but they both communicate well through their actions.

“What I realized after I completed ‘Rambo’ is that he and me are a lot, lot older now and they, like Rocky, are now resigned forever film-wise to a wheelchair as in ‘Did I ever tell you how I once took on a continent?’ or some other big lie old men share to entertain their friends with.”

Does Stallone have any other characters he’d like to revive?

“I’ve got a lot of characters I’d like to kill and bury from sight like Judge Dredd or ‘Judge Dreadful’ as I call the picture,” he replies, referring to the critically panned 1995 science-fiction film.

As he has got older, Stallone says he has come to better understand the harsh critical reception that several of his past films endured.

“Pretty much every character or films that critics hated of mine I can find something now to agree with them on,” he says.

“I was channel surfing recently and saw ‘Rhinestone’ so I watched it because I hadn’t seen it for a while.

“When I heard myself singing in the picture I thought ‘What was I thinking? Can’t I send Rambo over just to shut this guy up?’,” jokes Stallone, referring to the forgotten 1984 musical flop.

Even so Stallone believes that some of his films never got the recognition they deserved, most notably 1981’s “Night Hawks”, which sees him playing a New York City cop battling an international terrorist mastermind.

“The movie came out twenty years before 9/11 and no studio has made a movie about terrorism as real and scary as this picture,” Stallone said.

“That’s one character I wouldn’t mind playing again but I didn’t create it so I have no idea who owns the rights to it.”

One character and actor Stallone misses is the late Richard Crenna, who played his superior officer in the first three “Rambo” films before he died three years ago.

“Richard was a very witty, calm and easygoing man which the crew and I loved because the three prior films were physical nightmares to make.

“I miss him and I considered him a friend and someone who never got the credit he deserved for making my character appear human on screen.

“I think Sam Elliott who basically plays the same part in ‘Rambo’ has a lot of Richard’s skills.”

Stallone, who directed John Travolta in the 1983 “Saturday Night Fever” follow-up “Staying Alive”, says he now plans to devote his time to film-making.

“Acting today on screen is about trying to respond to comic book characters and big-budgeted special effects.

“I want to direct heart-warming dramas or an offbeat comedy like that John Landis movie I did ‘Oscar’. I want to bring small human stories back to Hollywood.”

So how does a broody Vietnam vet with a long-term case of post-traumatic stress disorder keep busy in the backwaters of Thailand for 20 years between Rambo III and the sequel called just plain Rambo? Judging from the appearance of Sylvester Stallone, who co-wrote, directed, and stars in the hell-with-it-all bloody fourth run of the stomping action franchise, John James Rambo at 61 has kept fit via a regular regimen of wrangling poisonous snakes, running a longboat, and keeping his head bandannas clean. Unfortunately, that quiet life is interrupted by a party of howlingly naïve Christian missionaries and medics from Colorado who request Rambo’s navigational services. The do-gooders are headed upriver to assist ethnic Karen refugees in Burma (apparently no one’s told Rambo that the country’s called Myanmar now), underdogs who have been fighting a brutal civil war with the ruling military junta for 60 years.

The fools have chosen a profoundly dangerous route, of course, as befits any war pic involving the word ”upriver.” It’s a given that Rambo will initially say no, followed by grrr. Also a given is the capture of the hapless missionaries, the arrival of a search party of colorful mercenaries, and Rambo’s mournful decision to blow all of Burma to hell to rescue the hopeless lot of them — mercenaries and missionaries alike. Baby-stabbing, decapitation, gang rape, and rivers of blood: Rambo is up to its boot tops in numbing violence.

The brutality, tough enough to take, would be intolerable if Stallone didn’t toss the movie like a cant-clearing grenade at notions of stay-the-course righteousness (not to mention at the sermonizing of more faith-based agonies staged by Mel Gibson). Rambo teaches that fighting sucks, good intentions can be futile, and coalitions of the willing are a charade: A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. Sometimes that means tying on the old bandanna to hack one’s way out of the Hollywood jungle so disorienting to aging action stars.

Enjoy!!!

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

National Treasure: Book of Secrets: I have seen the movie and I liked the puzzles and stuffs in it… don’t use much logic and enjoy!!!

Let’s see the reviews of this movie…

Review No. 1:

Nicholas Cage is back on the hunt for puzzles and treasure once again as scholar-adventurer Benjamin Gates in National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Returning is Jon Voight as Gates’ father, Patrick; Diane Kruger as ex-girlfriend Abigail Chase; Justin Bartha as assistant Riley Poole and Harvey Keitel as FBI Agent Peter Sadusky.

Joining the adventure is Helen Mirren as Gates’ mother, Emily Appleton.

This time, Gates’ latest mission involves the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War, where evidence proclaims that Gates’ great-great-grandfather (Joel Gretsch) was involved in Lincoln’s murder.

Refusing to believe that his ancestor was both a murderer and a traitor to America, Gates sets out to prove his ancestor’s innocence, leading him and his team from Europe to Her Majesty in London to the White House to Virginia, where the Book of Secrets, handed down from President to President, is revealed.

Book of Secrets is a family affair because it continues to explore more into the Gates family.  It is good to see Voight and Kruger take more active roles in this sequel rather than sit on the sideline like the original.
The chemistry between Cage and Mirren is wonderful; and, the relationship between Voight and Mirren, who truly act like old, bickering, estranged former spouses is facinating.  Bartha does have perfect timing as both comic relief and sidekick as well as opportunist to Cage’s Indiana Jones-like Gates.

Like the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, this film has something of everything for the whole family.

Unlock the mystery with Nicholas Cage and cast, with National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Review No. 2:

National Treasure: The Book of Secrets returns to troubled treasure-hunter Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage) whose ancestors always seem to get mixed-up in historical conspiracies. This time, his great-grandfather Thomas Gates gets associated with the murder of Abraham Lincoln after a disturbing discovery in John Wilkes Booth’s diary. Together with his team, Ben now breaks into landmark buildings on both sides of the Atlantic – Paris, London, Washington D.C. and Mount Rushmore all get proper screen-time in the globetrotting adventure which again leads to remarkable conspiracies. After the finale of The Rock, Nicholas Cage once again has the chance to uncover secrets about the JFK assassination and this time he does it all to a rocking score.

Just like the previous episode, this movie was scored by Trevor Rabin as well, who might be familiar as the member of ‘Yes’ who left the band to dedicate his full attention to film scoring. While (co-)composing the music for Jerry Bruckheimer’s Armageddon and Con Air, Rabin has developed his own individual style which is essentially a combination of face-rocking power anthems, rock guitars and synthesizers pretending to be orchestras. Although the number of actual live players have considerably increased making Rabin’s music more varied, his sound became a bit tiresome after so many summer blockbusters were scored in this style. In 2004, Rabin wrote the music for the original National Treasure with one memorable theme and a couple of good tunes that didn’t endure the test of three years in memory. For the sequel, he returned with a score that is exactly as anthemic as the previous one but becomes more streamlined and generally more pleasant.

As far as sequel scores go, National Treasure: The Book of Secrets is a strong offering rehashing the best parts of its predecessor while adding new goodies to enjoy. The ‘National Treasure Theme’ makes enough appearances in tracks like ‘Spirit of Paris’ and ‘Gabby Shuffle’ without suffocating the movie with repetition. Trevor’s patented power anthems could be added to the checklist, but this time he goes more orchestral than in the beginning of his career, adding curious choices of instrumentations to his score. Traits of the traditional Americana sound are present to represent the historical conspiracies, but they’ve been updated to reflect upon their consequences in the present. Ben’s own theme also gets this treatment, although I had to revisit the first score to remind myself of how it actually goes. The official release of the score really focuses on the action material so thankfully the adrenaline never stops pumping. The biggest downside of the music is that the locations Ben and his friends visit are handled with the usual clichéd instrumentations – when will I stop hearing accordions whenever a movie cuts to Paris?

There are two fundamental mistakes with National Treasure: Book of Secrets, neither of which have anything to do with the actual music. The first one is only a real kick if you are a soundtrack collector and enjoy the shiny discs on your shelf, because this score is an iTunes only release and chances are it won’t get an actual CD treatment in the near future. Now if you’re an iPod-type person, the second problem will still affect you – the album is incredibly short at 22 minutes and 35 seconds – CDs with this kind of running length would never survive the wrath of collectors. However, since we are talking about iTunes and the price is reasonable given the length of music provided, fans of Trevor Rabin and the contemporary action music sound should definitely check out this downloadable original soundtrack.

Cool score, but points deducted for the release problems.

Review No. 3:

Part II of this American treasure hunt series brings together a formidable line-up of actors—Cage, Mirren, Voight, Keitel, Harris. And then goes ahead and shamelessly wastes their histrionic skills in roles that could well have been played by rank amateurs. Only the lure of big bucks and the promise of some fun and entertainment could have driven these guys to sign up for the film. But while they must have garnered the big bucks for sure, the film utterly lacks in any zing or excitement to have kept them going. No wonder each of the thespians seems to be on autopilot or appears to be sleepwalking through their performances. Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) is back at booty-hunting, his task this time being to unearth the hidden City of Gold. But gold-digging is only half the story. He also has to clear the name of his ancestor who is being accused of assassinating Abraham Lincoln by this strange guy called Mitch Wilkenson (Harris) who flaunts a page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth (the same who history records as having killed Lincoln). Each of the characters is as flat as he or she can get, the only frisson—a badly cutesy one at that—coming from the bickerings of the two couples—Cage and Kruger, and Voight and Mirren. Sidekick Bartha provides a concession to comedy, coming back in the sequel to make a fool of himself. The film is packed with ciphers and symbols, clues and codes, crypts and vaults, car chases and dashes across Paris, Buckingham Palace, Oval Office and Mt Rushmore.

The plot is illogical to the core, which one would have accepted had the film been a sheer roller-coaster ride, leaving you little time to notice the holes in the plot. In fact, though, the film is so boring that even reacting to all the flaws seems to be too much of an effort. Nothing more than an exercise in inanity, all the film succeeds in doing is giving a rather silly (unintentionally so) picture of Americans, their obsession with royalty, their president (who gets so easily kidnapped and has a secret book he doesn’t seem to pay much attention to) and specially the harebrained FBI agents.

Enjoy !!!

Beowulf Movie Story

In a legendary time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf battles the demon Grendel and incurs the hellish wrath of the beast’s ruthlessly seductive mother. Their epic clash forges the timeless legend of Beowulf.

Set in a magical era veiled by the mists of time, replete with heroes and monsters, adventure and valor, gold and glory, one exceptional man, Beowulf, emerges to save an ancient Danish kingdom from annihilation by an ungodly creature. In return, this legendary six foot-six-inch Viking, brimming with daring confidence and ambition, succeeds to the throne.

The name Beowulf resounds throughout the kingdom and songs are sung of his exceptional prowess and deeds after he comes to the rescue of King Hrothgar, whose kingdom has been devastated by Grendel, a ruthless monster who has tortured and devoured its residents, leaving them in a constant state of panic and fear.

In ridding the kingdom of this savage beast, Beowulf gains fame and fortune for himself. Great riches and overwhelming temptations are thrown at him. How wisey he chooses to handle his newfound power will forever define his fate as a warrior, a champion, a leader, a husband and, most importantly, as a man.

Groundbreaking director Robert Zemeckis offers a unique vision of the Beowulf saga in a way that it has never been told before. “Beowulf” stars Ray Winstone in the title role and Anthony Hopkins as the corrupt King Hrothgar, as well as John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother.

Unlike anything you will see this year, “Beowulf” represents a decade long quest for New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman (the graphic novels Mirrormask and Sandman), and Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Roger Avary (“Pulp Fiction”) to see the myth adapted to the big screen. With Real D, Dolby Digital 3D and IMAX 3D “Beowulf” delivers an unparalleled immersive experience that transports you to the age of heroes.

The movie is slated to release on 23rd November nationally in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Source: AOL India Hollywood | Beowulf | Beowulf Movie Story

Beowulf

The plot of the movie story is

“The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel’s mother, who begins killing out of revenge.”

This ancient tale addresses all the crossroads which we encounter in life. i.e. Love, betrayl, religion, honesty, loyalty etc

This movie is set to hit the Indian Cinema halls on 23rd November 2007.

Watch Beowulf site for more information.

Trailer of the movie

Beowulf Trailer 1

Beowulf Trailer 2

Enjoy and do comment your reviews of the movie…

Harry Potter Videos

Harry Potter Videos: Some moments from the movie

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix

International Trailer

 

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix

ABC Family behind-the-scenes video

 

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix

Domestic Trailer

 

Enjoy!!!

 

Hollywood and India

Watching Hollywood movies in India is treated like a sign of modernization, style icon and fashion. When I was a teenager, there were people who use to treat convent students as style icons, modern and fashionable, the reason for these were: they speak US English, they watch Hollywood movies and they sing english songs.

But now this is nothing new to the generation today, we are much aware of these things and we actually started doing good judgments on Hollywood and bollywood movies. As of now Hollywood is getting interested to start moving towards India and captures the audience of Bollywood.

Hmm sounds good. A lot of things have changed in years and definitely they are changed for good.

Let’s keep watching trends and posting your views.

Hello Hollywood!

Hollywood movies is now a passion in Indian viewers…

Every age group love to watch hollywood movies…

They now have changed their taste….

See more on Hollywood News