Archive for June, 2010
Katie Price’s hen ‘do
She’s technically already married, but that didn’t stop Katie Price having a hen party before her second wedding to hubby Alex Reid.
The former glamour model and her pals celebrated at London’s May Fair hotel, but it wasn’t as much of a knees-up as you might expect – the bride-to-be reportedly shunned all booze and, despite being the guest of honour, drove her friends home at the end of the night.
On the night, Katie showed off a cake with a Barbie in a pink, frilly wedding dress – a hint at what she’ll wear at her wedding at the weekend, perhaps?
The 32-year-old reality TV star secretly married cage fighter Alex in Las Vegas earlier this year, but they are having a blessing in the UK to share their happiness with friends and family.
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Heartbreaker review
by Andy Gibbons
What is it?
A hugely successful romcom which has gone down a storm in its native France.
Alex (Romain Duris) has a way with women, a way which he has turned into a profession as he, with the help of his sister and brother-in-law, uses his charm, good looks and wit (and any other advantage he can gain) to break up couples for a living. But the team have a strict moral code; they will only interfere when it is obvious that the woman is unhappy (knowingly or unknowingly) in the relationship. However needs must and when an unpaid debt sees Alex in danger of losing some limbs, he takes on a job to wreck the upcoming wedding of Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and all round good egg Brit Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln) but the closer Alex gets to his prey, the more complicated things become.
What’s good?
Duris is certainly a worthy leading man and makes Alex a likeable character. He and a well cast Paradis play off each other well and their Dirty Dancing routine may well make a few potential brides melt in the middle. Much of the action is based in Monaco which, let’s face it, is impossible to make look bad on screen so allow yourself to soak up the Principality in all its glory as Alex and Juliette explore.
What’s bad?
While I see why they can be conceived as necessary, the husband and wife combo who back Alex up on his jobs feel a bit forced – the husband especially is thrown in as the comic relief, comic relief which for me just wasn’t that funny. And the pacing is all over the place – the first hour whizzes by while the remaining 45 minutes drag on and on and on.
So basically…..
Heartbreaker starts really well; a little adventure in Morocco followed by a montage of some of Alex’s recent jobs sets the tone well and the whole idea is certainly a very fun concept. However once Alex starts to fall for Juliette and the ‘rom’ part of the ‘romcom’ kicks in, things lose some momentum and it all gets a bit predictable. Still it’s bright and breezy enough to raise a smile so, as a date movie, you could do a lot worse. And given its success, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that a US remake is already in the pipeline.
Heartbreaker is in UK cinemas from July 2nd
Deathly Hallows trailer goes online
by Andy Gibbons
The first trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is now online – and it’s a belter. Here’s the official blurb from Warner Bros. and you can watch the trailer in full by clicking on the picture of Harry below.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, the seventh and final adventure in the Harry Potter film series, is a much-anticipated motion picture event to be told in two full-length parts.
Heading the cast, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The ensemble cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Helen McCrory, Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Julie Walters and Bonnie Wright.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is directed by David Yates and produced by David Heyman and David Barron, with Lionel Wigram executive producing. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, based on the book by J.K. Rowling.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films production, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which marks the latest installment in the most successful film franchise of all time.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 will be released in cinemas November 2010. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be released in cinemas July 2011.
New Potter pictures appear online
by Andy Gibbons
With the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows due to debut online today, USA Today have managed to get their hands on a bunch of new stills below from the eagerly-awaited two part adventure. I’ve posted a couple below but head over to the US papers website (click on their name above) to view all nine.
When In Rome review
by Andy Gibbons
What is it?
Director Mark Steven Johnson’s first foray back behind the camera since 2007‘s truly risible Ghost Rider.
Beth (Kristen Bell) is a high-flying, career-orientated New York City gal whose previously traumatic love life has left her a bit down on romance. But when her sister announces a whirlwind wedding in Rome, Beth crosses the Atlantic to The Eternal City to do her sisterly duties. At said wedding she meets charming sports reporter Nick (Josh Duhamel) and decides to give love a go only to find him smooching an amorous local. One drunken escapade later, which sees Beth ‘liberate’ coins from the fountain of love, an ancient curse leaves her the object of some unwanted attention from the men whose cash she swiped. Meanwhile Nick is keen to prove he’s worth a second chance.
What’s good?
Performance wise, Danny De Vito stands out as one of Beth’s love struck suitors – he manages to act everyone off the screen despite a limited role – and Kristen Schaal is pretty fun as the waitress at a too-cool-for-school New York restaurant. And Rome always looks stunning on screen although most of what we see is limited between Beth’s arrival at the airport and the church hosting her sister’s wedding.
What’s bad?
The whole thing just feels a bit flat. With Beth’s unlikely Romeos (a motley crew consisting of De Vito, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Dax Shepard – such a lucky girl!) getting a bit too much screen time, it’s hard for her relationship with Nick to fully blossom and there are times when she’s not an especially sympathetic character which makes it hard to care. Bell and Duhamel are fine but they’re no Bogart and Bacall and when any film tags a montage of the cast dancing over the final credits, then you know you’re in trouble.
So basically…..
This is the kind of movie that would have starred Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock if it had been made six of seven years ago so if that’s the kind of film you would have gone to see, then When In Rome should suit you (and anyone else keen to escape the World Cup) just fine. But for anyone else, it’s just another pretty forgettable piece of romcom fluff.
When In Rome is in UK cinemas from June 25th.
Amy Winehouse moves in her new man!
Amy Winehouse has reportedly asked her new boyfriend to move into her new home, despite the fact they’ve only been dating for a few weeks.
The singer hasn’t been in a relationship with film director Reg Traviss for long, but he has already won the approval of her parents. Her mother Janis has even claimed Amy is “a little girl in love”.
Now it has been reported by Heatworld that Reg will be moving into Amy’s new home in Camden with her because she dislikes being alone.
The 26-year-old was previously married to Blake Fielder-Civil, but their union was marred with controversy over their drug abuse. Amy’s father Mitch famously disliked his son-in-law, but seems to have taken a shine to Reg, even referring to him as “a really nice chap”.
Let’s hope it works out this time for Amy!
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The curse of Jonah Hex?
by Andy Gibbons
Given the way Toy Story 3 dominated the US box office chart over the weekend (I would describe an opening weekend of just over $110 million as pretty dominating), it’s perhaps understandable that the abject failure of another big budget summer hope has gone largely overlooked. Until now.
At the same time that people were flocking to catch up with Woody and the gang, very few could be bothered with the big screen debut of comic book outlaw Jonah Hex. The all-action western, which features a decent cast including Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich and Michael Fassbender, bagged a paltry $5.4 million during its first three days in cinemas across the pond and only just managed to crack the Top 10, opening in seventh spot behind the likes of Get Him To The Greek, Prince Of Persia and Shrek Forever After (which has been out in the US for over a month!).
Before Jonah Hex was released, it had a bit of a buzz about it – the comic book on which its based is suitably cultish and the on-set pictures of Megan looking foxy as tart with a heart Lilah certainly got pulses racing. Even the trailer showed promise. So who’s to blame? Well there were rumours of a troubled production and a period of reshoots earlier this year seem to lend some weight to that. It’s also fair to say that the critics weren’t kind; the film currently has a 14% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with various reviews calling the movie inane, sloppily edited, painfully awkward and unintentionally funny, the most chopped up, stitched together Frankenstein job in recent memory and bracingly inept. As we all know though, critics only have limited influence so I can only guess that, when faced with the behemoth that is Toy Story 3, no one else can even come close (even though The Karate Kid added $30 million to it’s account over the same weekend).
At the moment Jonah Hex is due to open here on September 3rd with it’s only real competition that week coming from new Steve Carell / Paul Rudd comedy Dinner For Schmucks – whether or not Warner Bros. get behind it or let Jonah ride quietly off into the sunset though remains to be seen.
Chanelle Hayes ends relationship with Jack Tweed
Former Big Brother contestant Chanelle Hayes has allegedly ended her romance with Jack Tweed.
The Daily Mail has reported that the 22-year-old has grown tired of Jack’s partying, especially after he was spotted leaving a club recently with another woman. Chanelle is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend Matthew Bates’ child and started seeing Jack, Jade Goody’s widow, earlier this year.
The pair have been seeing each other for a few months, and despite sticking together through her pregnancy and his recent rape trial (of which he was acquitted), it seems they weren’t meant to last.
Chanelle and Jack aren’t the only celeb couple to have split over the past few days – Kelly Brook has split from Danny Cipriani, Prince Harry’s relationship with Chelsy Davy has come to an end and Leona Lewis has parted ways with her childhood sweetheart.
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Ben Barnes talks Dawn Treader – MSN exclusive
by Andy Gibbons
Now I know it’s not really the done thing to doorstep actors to talk about their upcoming projects but when I saw Ben Barnes (aka Prince Caspian) wandering down the road round the corner from my house this morning, I couldn’t not take the opportunity to quiz him very briefly about the upcoming third film in the Narnia series, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Graciously he didn’t have a problem with me interviewing him in the middle of the street and here’s what we discussed….
With the trailer for The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader debuting this week the buzz has really started, it promises to be a big Christmas release….
Yeah, I hope it is. Personally I’m quite excited that it’s going to be 3D. It’s my favourite of the seven books, I think it’s one of the best stories and it’s got some good human characters as well – I think Eustace, who Will Poulter plays brilliantly, is a really funny character. It’s got a lot of the fun magical stuff of the first ones and I’ve got some fun action stuff which is cool. It’s going to be good I think.
We saw our first glimpse of footage this week with the trailer (you can watch it below) but we don’t see much of you in it. Have you seen it and how do you think it reflects the film?
I have seen it and I think they’ve done the right thing in trying to show the scope of it and trying to show the different things in it. Obviously I was the focus of the marketing campaign of the middle film so it’s probably not very sensible to do the same thing again.
So is there less pressure on your shoulders this time round?
Yeah, I’m off the hook a bit on this one.
You’ve got a new director in Michael Apted – what’s he brought to the movie?
Just a sort of an outside eye and a very human touch really. I think he was as anxious as any of us going in to it. When we first met and spoke he told me how anxious he was about the scale of it but I think he did a great job and I think it’s going to have an interesting flavour to it. Saying that I haven’t seen it yet.
This is the first Narnia film without Disney behind it (Twentieth Century Fox partnered up with Walden Media after Disney dropped the franchise) – did that affect production at all?
Fox were very hands on during the whole process which was completely expected and understandable. It’s nice that, in a way, to have someone who really cares about it – not that Disney didn’t, it was obviously very precious to them too – but in terms of people going to see them film, apart from the logo at the beginning I don’t think it’s going to make a huge amount of difference.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is due in cinemas on December 10th 2010.
Toy Story 3 opens big across the pond
by Andy Gibbons
Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich has just announced via his Twitter that the third part of the animated series has proved popular during its first day in cinemas across the pond yesterday.
“Thanks to all of you who helped Toy Story 3 bring in $41 million yesterday! Biggest animated film opening day EVER” he revealed.
Given those numbers, insiders are claiming that the movie could earn as much as $120 million during its opening weekend, which isn’t bad given that Pixar’s previous opening weekend record was $70 million, held by Finding Nemo back in 2003.
