tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178158642011-12-14T21:37:32.736-05:00More than popcorn. Less filling. <p> <b>**********This site is UNDER CONSTRUCTION***********</b> <p> Welcome to MovieThink.com, a website dedicated dissecting the art and commerce of modern film. Here you can find select <b>movie reviews</b> and <b>movie news</b>, as well as essays on the art and industry of film. We're just getting started so please check back frequently. PLEASE NOTE: All content posted here is currenly in DRAFT mode.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.comBlogger391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1134378906983084602005-12-12T04:07:00.000-05:002005-12-12T04:15:07.006-05:00

MOVIETHINK.COM has moved from this blogspot address to its permanent home at www.moviethink.com. This version of Moviethink.com will no longer be updated. We are still under construction at this time but we invite you to visit.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1134026248358655232005-12-08T00:58:00.000-05:002005-12-08T02:35:14.653-05:00

Wow -- Dreamworks has launched a website with a preview trailer for DREAMGIRLS a full year before the movie hits theatres. It's an ever-growing trend in movie marketing, to start seeding expectations and get that movie in front of audience eyeballs, building up the movie's brand awareness over time.And why shouldn't they? The internet, that great equalizer, has created a whole new marketing

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1134027029098279552005-12-07T18:23:00.000-05:002005-12-08T02:35:56.153-05:00

From The Hollywood Reporter:John Singelton will helm CONVOY, about Afghan contract truck drivers, for Paramount.Jay Wolpert has been hired to adapt PETER AND THE STARCHASERS, based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, for Walt Disney's Feature Animation division.Sarah Michelle Gellar will reprise, briefly, her role in THE GRUDGE remake sequel.Jeff Daniels has taken a role in THE LOOKOUT

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133923779891657092005-12-06T21:35:00.000-05:002005-12-07T10:51:01.150-05:00

I had a chance to view the trailer for X3 and my reaction was: PLEASANT SURPRISE.As a child, I grew up with the X-MEN comics and had dreamed of a movie ever since it was first announced in 1982 or 1983 (wow). When BLADE opened the door for the X-MEN movie, I hoped and prayed that the universe and its characters, who I revered as much as some revere THE LORD OF THE RINGS, would get fair treatment

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133913606940717262005-12-06T18:39:00.000-05:002005-12-06T20:39:29.256-05:00

Time's excellent coverage of Steven Spielberg's new movie MUNICH is, in addition to being some pretty great journalism, also the movie marketing coup of the year. A controversial film about the Israeli response to the assassination of eleven athletes at the 1972 Olympics, MUNICH looked like a hard sell to an American populace that likes its cinematic entertainment prepackaged and easy to slurp

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133906637621838162005-12-06T16:57:00.000-05:002005-12-06T17:03:57.633-05:00

Stephen Sommers, director of THE MUMMY films and VAN HELSING, has returned to write and direct Dreamworks' WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE remake. The other Steven -- Spielberg -- will produce.Sommers is a perfect filmmaker to tackle this kind of retro-scifi piece of pop filmmaking. He was rumored to be working on a FLASH GORDON movie as well, another good fit. He's a terrific pulp filmmaker who seeks to

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133841386665053822005-12-05T22:52:00.000-05:002005-12-07T10:10:19.006-05:00

A sequel to last summer's THE FANTASTIC FOUR has been greenlit by Twentieth Century Fox. The entire cast will return, as well as originating director Tim Story. The villian, however, will not, it is being reported, be Doctor Doom.The first film, despite being a critical and fan flop, made $350 million wordwide. Hopefully, the studio and the filmmakers will listen to to earthquake-like fan

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133793230175537142005-12-05T09:29:00.000-05:002005-12-06T09:28:58.946-05:00

I just had a geekasm.USAToday has a preview site of X-Men 3 (or X3), featuring the first look at two major new characters to be introduced into the X-Men movie universe -- Beast (Kelsey Grammar) and Angel (Ben Foster). See the preview here.Ainitcool.com also reports that Fox has registered a website domain that hints at the movie's title as "X-Men: The Last Stand" and that a trailer will be

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133748538333391622005-12-04T20:45:00.000-05:002005-12-04T21:23:44.690-05:00

Wow -- HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE is the #1 movie in America, again, for the third week in a row, amassing about $230 million in domestic receipts, and is the first film since MEET THE FOCKERS last Christmas to maintain the top slot for three weeks in a row. That's a surprising metric considering there were films like STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH and WAR OF THE WORLDS this summer and I

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133676840360676952005-12-04T00:56:00.000-05:002005-12-06T20:55:27.713-05:00

I saw AEON FLUX last night and walked out devastated. It sounds dramatic, but my reaction, which of course is entirely subjective, was so unexpected I didn't really know if I was even going to put any words down about this movie. AEON FLUX is a massive artistic failure. It's not even bad in a funny way that one can laugh with it, or even at it. The movie is just unwatchable. And when I see a

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133534629890083642005-12-02T09:36:00.000-05:002005-12-02T14:43:54.176-05:00

At last, a trailer for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST has hit the web. A pirated (couldn't resist) one had circulated around a bit before, but this is the official one and it looks absolutely fantastic.The first PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN was a truly unexpected surprise; when I'd first heard a movie was in the works based on a theme park ride I had shivers, but not the good ones.Movies

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133484467902132032005-12-01T19:23:00.000-05:002005-12-01T23:25:41.800-05:00

Intriguing tid-bit from THR -- Some blogger (is this going to become a four-letter word now in Hollywood?) has posted a massive directory of agencies, producers and studio executive contact information on his blog. Much of this information is actually available if you know where to find it (published industry directories, Writers Market Place, etc.), but this is the first I've heard of anyone

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133448149088129852005-12-01T09:24:00.000-05:002005-12-01T09:42:29.100-05:00

Peter Weir, one of modern cinema's greatest directors, is working on a project with Johnny Depp after his very successful MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD, one of my favorite films of 2003. This new film, SHANTARAM, based on a novel by Gregory David Roberts, is about a drug addict who escapes prison, flees to the slums of Bombay and becomes a doctor, subsequently finding himself

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133422778389994422005-12-01T02:38:00.000-05:002005-12-01T04:25:28.423-05:00

Every once in a while a movie comes along that completely redefines what cinema can be. SIN CITY, released in the spring of this year, is one of those films, and a new deluxe DVD soon to be released (December 13th) has made me pause to reflect on the impact this film has had on me. Unlike other movies, which disappear from my thoughts as soon as I'm in the parking lot, this one has stayed with me

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133235539977840222005-11-28T22:26:00.000-05:002005-11-28T22:38:59.996-05:00

Courtesy of Ann Thompson at the Hollywood Reporter, which is where I first saw this, comes the first critic's review of Peter Jackson's KING KONG.Here's the review.Sounds like a great, escapist three hours to spend in the theatre. Three hours? That sounds awfully long run-time for a genre picture, but Jackson's earned the right to be a little long-in-the-tooth, just like James Cameron. On the

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133188885480732442005-11-28T09:17:00.000-05:002005-11-28T20:54:45.336-05:00

On this morning, Monday, November 28, 2005, the Cinema Gods have seen to fit to smile upon me in a synchronous way. I woke up this morning, took a shower, and then was told by my wife, still half-asleep herself, that it looked like someone had left a "toy" outside our front door. Piqued by the fact that my wife didn't have enough curiosity to investigate further herself, I raised an eyebrow and,

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133150075131426332005-11-27T21:44:00.000-05:002005-11-27T23:23:52.450-05:00

JUST FRIENDS is the funniest movie I've seen since WEDDING CRASHERS. Cut from the same mold as that film and the likes of MEET THE FOCKERS, this is the story of a young man trying to win the heart of an old flame, but whose every maneuver only makes things comically worse for himself.Ryan Reynolds is Chris Brander, who, as the prologue set in 1995 so cleverly sets up, is an overweight, ostrasized

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133145045200448612005-11-27T21:03:00.000-05:002005-11-27T21:43:16.996-05:00

My wife just called me downstairs from the loft (El Writing Space) to tell me that NBC was running a sneak preview of Peter Jackson's KING KONG. So naturally I bounded down the stairs and dropped myself in front of the television, eyes wide with anticipation.I was not disappointed.This preview was the first standalone scene from the movie to be shown to general audiences and it was fairly

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132901596727424032005-11-27T01:08:00.000-05:002005-11-28T21:23:50.970-05:00

Lately, I've been thinking much about Michael Crichton. He's a writer I've admired on many levels and whose career I've followed closely ever since I read CONGO at the age of twelve. His work is all too often criticized as slickly commercial pop fiction. Of course, it's easy to criticize, it's much harder to do. When anyone reaches Crichton's stature commercially, they're bound to take a lot of

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132995643234050902005-11-26T02:56:00.000-05:002005-11-26T05:43:56.310-05:00

Mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) is trying to survive the night. On a slushy, rainy Christmas eve in Wichita, Kansas, Charlie has just stolen two million dollars with his buddy, Vic (Billy Bob Thornton). All they have to do is sit tight, act normal and in the morning they'll be free and clear with a fortune and Wichita in their tail lights. But things don't go as planned and Charlie finds

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132975187886580332005-11-25T20:25:00.000-05:002005-11-26T04:28:12.053-05:00

Joaquin Phoenix becomes the Man in Black, the legendary Johnny Cash in WALK THE LINE, the riveting and very watchable biopic about the decade-plus courtship between the singer and June Carter, who would eventually become his second wife.With two major biographical movies this year -- WALK THE LINE and CAPOTE --and the success of RAY in 2004, it's official: the biopic is back. And why not?

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132894598221505632005-11-24T23:47:00.000-05:002005-11-24T23:57:54.650-05:00

The trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's next film, LADY IN THE WATER, is now available online. The story focuses on an apartment manager who discovers a water nymph living in the apartment complex's swimming pool. The manager is played by the awesome Paul Giamatti (SIDEWAYS). This teaser reveals tantalizingly little about the plot, but it does establish the context of the manager's life quite well

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132595632255384222005-11-21T12:52:00.000-05:002005-11-21T12:53:52.263-05:00

Aint It Cool.com has a link to some early scenes showing Tom Cruise and Keri Russell in action on the set of MI3.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132469264506928152005-11-20T01:11:00.000-05:002005-11-28T23:47:07.766-05:00

Harry Potter returns in the HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, the fourth film in the epic, episodic series about a boy wizard's mythological destiny to confront his ultimate nemesis, He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named. GOBLET OF FIRE is the darkest, meanest, Potter story yet, and also the most adult.Unlike previous Potter movies, this one starts off with a bang and just keeps going. There are no brief

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132353033217620912005-11-18T17:30:00.000-05:002005-11-24T00:08:14.820-05:00

I missed the midnight show of Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire (darn it), but I am definitely going to go ASAP. With a brit at the helm, I have every expectation that this will be the best yet; the story of this episode is certainly the most thrilling in the series thus far.Which brings me to a point: I haven't ever understand the critical backlash against Chris Columbus, director of the first

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132331898201389732005-11-18T11:38:00.000-05:002005-11-24T23:58:15.750-05:00

The Superman Returns official teaser trailer has landed! Bryan Singer's reimagining of the world's greatest superhero hits next summer, and the early buzz from ComicCon and the web is that it's going to be a monster hit. Superman Returns continues the mythology of the first two Christopher Reeve-starring Superman films, recasting the major roles. Brandon Routh plays Clark Kent/Superman, Kevin

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132203943674749432005-11-16T23:57:00.000-05:002005-11-26T02:50:24.960-05:00

Another poster entry. IGN Film Force has posted a huge version of the new V FOR VENDETTA movie, the Wachowski Brothers' MATRIX follow-up. V, based on the graphic novel, takes place is a dystopian future England and centers on a terrorist named V who is determined to right wrongs by the Nazi government (which won World War II). The flavor of the poster is definitely propagandish and cooly retro.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132202829854545792005-11-16T23:33:00.000-05:002005-11-16T23:53:35.900-05:00

An original poster from Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS has been sold for a record-setting $690,000, making it the most expensive movie poster purchase of all time. METROPOLIS, of course, is Fritz Lang's silent masterpiece from 1927, a film that in its day was the most expensive ever made and which set the standard for science-fiction cinema for decades to come.The memorable art-deco design of the film

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131998107081231142005-11-14T14:51:00.000-05:002005-11-24T11:10:20.226-05:00

Derailed, based on the novel of the same named by James Spiegel, is a neo noir about an ordinary everyman who makes a single misstep in an already fragile existence, and is subsequently sucked into a web of deceit, blackmail and murder. If that premise sounds familiar, it is. But it’s also still a very workable premise for a modern thriller, though the results here are somewhat mixed.Charles

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131875554855584432005-11-13T03:50:00.000-05:002005-11-25T00:56:24.853-05:00

A recent spate of really good movies (JARHEAD, CAPOTE, KISS KISS BANG BANG, ZATHURA, HARRY POTTER 3) has caused me to reflect on the flood of commentary I've listened to in the media all year long about the decline in ticket sales and how it portends doom-and-gloom for the movie industry. I say hogwash.Yes, audience attendance is the lowest in a decade. Yes, ticket and concession prices are up.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131871690547155582005-11-13T02:40:00.000-05:002005-11-28T12:06:56.790-05:00

In a word: Finally!I love noir films. Classic noir. Neo noir. Sci-fi noir. It is my favorite genre. The whole arena of tough-talking-crime-movies is something I can't enough of -- bad good guys, femme fatales, mysteries to solve, the world of night and shadow. There are so many conventions that they've become cliched and even slipped into parody (like the Naked Gun series and Dead Men Don't Wear

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131854986077972572005-11-12T23:00:00.000-05:002005-11-12T23:14:41.043-05:00

Want to win a trip to the world premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia? Fandango.com has a contest that promises just that. You must have a Fandango account to register.Learn more at: http://www.fandango.com/Narnia

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131852327985794682005-11-12T22:18:00.000-05:002005-11-12T22:41:18.896-05:00

Variety reports that New Regency has hired Doug Liman to direct JUMPER, an adaptation of the Steven Gould's novel of the same name about a teenager with the ability to teleport himself from location to another (like Nightcrawle in the X-Men) to escape his abusive father. David Goyer (Blade, Threshold) wrote the script, which will get a rewrite by Jim Uhls (Fight Club). Jumper is planned as a

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131834779853749272005-11-12T17:32:00.000-05:002005-11-25T01:06:28.406-05:00

In CAPOTE, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has found his signature role, the role that will define his career. Most familiar as a character and supporting actor for the last decade in wide range of films (TWISTER, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, and many others), Hoffman can not only expect nominations -- and wins -- for Best Actor from every award segment of Hollywood, but to finally become a household

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131779910232885972005-11-12T02:01:00.000-05:002005-11-12T22:06:30.460-05:00

At the screening for Zathura, I was unexpectedly enchanted by a trailer for a computer-animated movie called Monster House. I was surprised because (a) I hadn't heard of this film and (b) it was from two of the biggest story-tellers around, Steven Spielber and Robert Zemeckis.I was taken aback because the animation looked so good, like something like Pixar would do. In fact, I thought it was a

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1132460463973382622005-11-11T22:00:00.000-05:002005-11-20T00:24:40.683-05:00

JARHEAD is the first really intriguing movie of the 2005 Fall movie season. A sometimes searing and humorous, but frequently emotionally disengaged, indictment on the absurdities of modern war, it boasts a truly star-making performance by Jake Gyllenhaall, and uniformly stellar supporting performances from Chris Cooper, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx and Dennis Haysbert.JARHEAD, directed by Sam

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131738639769527022005-11-11T14:42:00.000-05:002005-11-15T00:55:09.846-05:00

Zoom!Zathura is a rollicking space adventure directed with flair by Jon Favreau (Elf, Made, and the co-star of Swingers) that harkens back to the glory days of Amblin Entertainment and mid-80s fare like Explorers, The Goonies and The Last Starfighter.Cut from the same mold as its predecessor, Jumanji, Zathura is the story of two brothers, Danny and Walter, who stumble upon a magical game in the

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1131737035119090402005-11-11T13:49:00.000-05:002005-11-12T22:53:51.330-05:00

Moustapha Akkad, the Syrian-born producer of the Halloween film franchise, was killed in the recent triple bombings in Amman, Jordan. Akkad helped revolutionize modern horror films as the chief fiancier of the original horror franchise, the film that put director John Carpenter on the proverbial map.Akkad produced all of the films in the Halloween series, and directed a few other well-respected

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17815864.post-1133066117405754692005-11-01T23:34:00.000-05:002005-11-26T23:55:26.030-05:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Buy Posters at AllPosters.com &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005405799174111545noreply@blogger.com0