Not Another Teen Movie (2001) - Gallen's hilarious youth movie spoof

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A group of loud-looking teen characters clutter this poster for Joel Gallen's Not Another Teen Movie

At John Hughes High School the school's #1 hunk makes a bet: That the school's worst-looking girl Janey can be transformed into the prom queen in a short amount of time!

Not Another Teen Movie is written by Mike Bender (Mission: Improbable (2000, TV short)), Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson (Extreme Movie (2008), both), Phil Beauman and Buddy Johnson (Scary Movie (2000), both) and directed by great American filmmaker, debuting Joel Gallen (Top of the Pops (1987, TV show)).

It is a surprisingly successful spoof of American teen movies of the preceding two decades; especially John Hughes' movies, but also the latest teen hits get a serving of amicable ridicule here. The style is low-brow and doesn't shy away from an exploding toilet scene, a babe who's topless throughout the film and so on. Yet it remains affectionate and is loaded with promising stars to-be in very engaged and uniformly overacted, charming performances: Chris Evans (Snowpiercer (2013)), Jaime Pressly (6 Months Rule (2011)), Eric Christian Olsen (License to Wed (2007)) and others are splendid, and Randy Quaid (Kingpin (1996)) is fantastic as Janey's alcoholic father.

 

Watch a funny 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 66.4 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.42 times its cost)

[Not Another Teen Movie premiered 7 December (USA) and runs 89 minutes. The film reportedly spoofs at least 44 different movies. Shooting took place from February - April 2001 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Vanilla Sky and holdover hit Ocean's Eleven, to a 12.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 38.2 mil. $ (57.5 %). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 5.3 mil. $ (8 %) and France with 4.2 mil. $ (6.3 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Gallen hasn't made a theatrical feature since but has instead been busy directing and producing especially TV specials but also TV movies, shorts and documentaries. Evans returned in 2 TV credits and a short prior to his theatrical return in The Perfect Score (2004); Chyler Leigh (Supergirl (2015-21)), who plays Janey, in 9 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Brake (2012); and Pressly in Survival Island (2002). Not Another Teen Movie is rotten at 30 % with a 4.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Not Another Teen Movie?

The Nanny Diaries (2007) - Johansson and co-stars elevate Berman & Pulcini fluff

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Scarlett Johansson and a boy look wronged, wearing party hats, on this cute poster for Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's The Nanny Diaries

Annie is a newly minted bachelor student with New York at her feet, but the possibilities prove too overwhelming, and so she takes on a year as a nanny for a well-off Upper East Side family. And who does she meet in their building but a charming young fella...

 

The Nanny Diaries is written and directed by married master New-Yorker filmmakers Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini (American Splendor (2003)), whose 2nd film it is. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 2002 novel by Emma McLaughlin (The First Affair (2013)) and Nicola Kraus (Over You (2012)).

Basically too cutesy, The Nanny Diaries also wears the leg iron that our deeply privileged white protagonist's challenge in the film is her well-paid job for the rich New York family. - Hardly 'about life at the top, as seen from the bottom', as the tag-line above suggests.

The plot is served as soft sweetness and a pronounced women's picture. It is nevertheless salvaged by Scarlett Johansson's (The Avengers (2012)) own personal sweetness, a wonderful boy (Nicholas Art (Knight and Day (2010))) as her charge, who manages to be both a pain in the ass and lovable; and Laura Linney (The Details (2011)) and Paul Giamatti (The Last Station (2009)) as the fairly intolerable parents. There's excessive use of voice-over but pretty shots of New York here. The Nanny Diaries is not a great film, but it is highly pleasing company.

Related posts:

 

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini: Girl Most Likely/Imogene (2012) - Wiig is great as another dysfunctional woman in Berman & Pulcini's unfocused fare
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

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2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
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The Extra Man (2010) - One of the year's best films is this overlooked comedy gem 

American Splendor (2003) or, Happily Unhappy Together

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 47.8 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.39 times its cost)

[The Nanny Diaries was released 24 August (North America) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place from April 2006 - ? in New York, New Jersey and Toronto, Ontario. The film opened #6 to a 7.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it since declined, grossing 25.9 mil. $ (54.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 3.5 mil. $ (7.3 %) and South Korea with 3.4 mil. $ (7.1 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The-Numbers.com estimate that the film made an additional 38.4 mil. $ on the home video market. Berman & Pulcini returned with The Extra Man (2010). Johansson returned in Will.i.am: Yes We Can (2008, music video) and theatrically in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). The Nanny Diaries is rotten at 34 % with a 5.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Nanny Diaries? 

Sunshine (2007) - Boyle's great-looking, suspenseful sci-fi

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+ Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year

Critical hype that's barely readable features on this visually promising poster for Danny Boyle's Sunshine

The sun is dying, and consequently, so is mankind. A second manned space mission is launched in 2050 to reignite the sun with a nuclear bomb. But the Icarus II mission encounters many problems along the way...

Sunshine is written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later... (2002)) and directed by great English filmmaker Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave (1994)). It is arguably one of Boyle's best films and could even be called the most exciting space movie since Alien (1979).
Sunshine has beautiful images (terrific, ambitious cinematography by Alwin H. Küchler (Morvern Callar (2002))), impressive visual effects, a handsome, talented ensemble cast, and good suspense.
What isn't wholly great is the film's ending, which is strange, as a mysterious, deformed person from the first Icarus mission is roaming onboard. SPOILER It all ends in a psychedelic conclusion, where Boyle sticks closely to the film's unexceptional score (by John Murphy (The Man (2005))).

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2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
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The Beach (2000) or, Paradise Never Lasts

Watch a trailer for the film here 

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 32 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.8 times its cost)
[Sunshine premiered 23 March (Bochum Fantasy Filmfest Nights, Germany) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place in London, England, Sydney, Australia and in Stockholm, Sweden for 3 months, starting in August 2005. The film opened #25 to a 242k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 461 theaters, grossing 3.6 mil. $ (11.3 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was main production country the UK with 6.4 mil. $ (20 %). North America was the 2nd biggest, and 3rd biggest was France with 3.1 mil. $ (9.7 %). The film won 1/2 British Independent Film awards. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It was criticized by scientists for scientific inaccuracies; for instance reportedly billions of the nuclear bomb targeted at the sun in the film would actually be needed to cause a reignition. Boyle said that he would not return to the sci-fi genre after the lengthy production process with Sunshine. The film made in excess of 15.83 mil. $ on North American home video sales; if added into the calculation, it would change the film's status to that of big flop instead. Boyle returned with Alien Love Triangle (2008, short) and theatrically with Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Cillian Murphy (Cold Mountain (2003)) returned in Watching the Detectives (2007). Sunshine is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.84/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sunshine?

Avengers: Endgame (2019) - The superhero super-pack deliver a massive, thrilling culmination

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+ Best Blockbuster of the Year (2,797.3 mil. $ gross) + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 761.9 mil. $ range

A traditionally character-stuffed poster for Anthony and Joe Russo's Avengers: Endgame

In the wake of Thanos' decimation of the Avengers and half of all life in the universe as such, the remaining heroes gather around a time-traveling plan to reverse the disaster and defeat the purple giant.

Avengers: Endgame is written by Christopher Markus (You Kill Me (2007)) and Stephen McFreely (Pain & Gain (2013)) and directed by great Ohioan brother filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo (Pieces (1997)). It is by far the best of the now four Avengers movies, as well as the provisional climax of the now 22 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The film picks up after the surprising ending of the preceding chapter, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), which killed off several major characters, (Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Peter 'Star-Lord' Quill among others), which has added some emotional depth to the narrative, - whether it is fully absorbed or not, (I for one have a hard time getting very emotionally invested in the Avengers superhero mashup, but I can recognize the narrative's bloom anyway.)
Absent in Infinity War, Paul Rudd's (The Catcher Was a Spy (2018)) Scott 'Ant-Man' Lang turns up with the impetus for the solution to the catastrophe: And no one with pop culture background should be surprised to learn that it is a time machine. Rudd also adds fun, - as does Chris Hemsworth (In the Heart of the Sea (2015)) as a flabby, almost obese Thor, - to the increasingly complex plot, which is luckily highly entertaining, even if certain parts of it fly by without achieving full comprehension. Brie Larson's (21 Jump Street (2012)) Carol 'Captain Marvel' Danvers turns up, - and for us who haven't yet seen Captain Marvel (2019), she arrives out of the blue, full of power, but without us gaining much insight into who she is here.
Excitement is successfully built up in the long narrative, and the co-working of the many characters that we have gotten to know through the various individual character movies, is satisfying. The action sequences and especially the ending are thrilling, and Josh Brolin's (The Dead Girl (2006)) motion-captured Thanos is plenty fascinating as a villain and visually enticing piece of work to center another film.
The ending of this super-length superhero extravaganza also has a super-length denouement, SPOILER as Tony 'Iron Man' Stark (Robert Downey Jr. (Bowfinger (1999)) is buried and Steve 'Captain America' Rogers (Chris Evans (The Paper Boy (2003, short))) passes his gauntlet on to Sam 'Falcon' Wilson, the new Captain America, it seems, and it almost - only almost - wears out the film's welcome.
The list of stars in Endgame seems never-ending, and thankfully, Marvel and the Russos have succeeded in making a great and very impressive piece of entertainment out of this colossal spectacle.

Related posts:

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 356 mil. $
Box office: 2,714.1 mil. $ and counting
= Huge hit (has returned its cost 7.62 times as of writing this)
[Avengers: Endgame premiered 22 April (Los Angeles, California) and runs 181 minutes. Shooting took place in Georgia, including Atlanta, and in the UK from August 2017 - January 2018. Re-shoots took place from September - October 2018 and in January 2019. Evans and Hemsworth were paid 15 mil. $ each for their performances. Russian authorities delayed the film's release in Russia to protect local films' performances. It opened #1 to a 357.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 2 weeks and spent the following 2 in the top 5 (#2-#3), where it may yet return. It has grossed 815.7 mil. $ domestically, where several AMC theaters stayed open 24 hours a day to screen the film around the clock. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets yet are China (614.3 mil. $) and the UK (111.4 mil. $). It is the highest-grossing film of the year, highest-grossing superhero movie of all time, 2nd highest-grossing movie of all time (only beaten by Avatar (2009)), and 5th highest-grossing of all time when adjusted for inflation. It made 1 bil. $ in 5 days, - the fastest ever for a film. The Russo brothers are in pre-production with their next film, Cherry (2020), a war/drug/heist-themed drama with Tom Holland (Spider-Man). Downey Jr. returns in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle (2020), Evans in Knives Out (2019), and Brolin in Dune (2020). Avengers: Endgame is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Avengers: Endgame?

The Iceman (2012) or, Richard Kuklinsky: Coldhearted Mass Murderer

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Michael Shannon doesn't look like the kind of guy you'd normally want to share a dinner with on the poster for Ariel Vromen's The Iceman

QUICK REVIEW:

Polish-American Kuklinsky is a tightly wrought, uncharismatic man, who becomes a hitman for the mob over several years without his wife and two daughters suspecting anything.

Michael Shannon (They Came Together (2014)) gives an unadorned, strong performance as the title psychopath, who is unfortunately a killer without any redeeming qualities. Also for this reason his wife, portrayed by Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted (1999)), comes off as dumb and uninteresting. - What does she see in him?
Iceman is very unglamorous, almost uglified in its earthy, cold hues, and it is not a very compelling film. People die right and left, - only little else seems to be happening, really, - without it getting us to care much about the misdeeds regardless. SPOILER - Besides feeling that Kuklinsky deserves the punishment he finally receives.
Iceman features a star parade which unfortunately doesn't save it, and among them Stephen Dorff (Somewhere (2010)) is hard to swallow as Shannon's brother.
The Iceman is written by Morgan Land (Rx (2005)) and Israeli co-writer-director Ariel Vromen (Danika (2006)), based on Anthony Bruno's book The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer and Jim Thebaut's documentary The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer.
The Iceman story's biggest interest lies in the double life and compartmentalization of his two lives that Kuklinsky managed to hold up for years.

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: Estimated 10 mil. $
Box office: 4.4 mil. $
= Mega-flop
[The Iceman was shot in New York City, LA and Shreveport, Louisiana December 2011 - January 2012. It premiered at Telluride, was shown at Toronto and Venice International Film Festival, and never crossed 300 screens in North America, where it received mixed reviews and only grossed 1.9 mil. $ (43.2 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 0.8 mil. $ (18.2 %) and Hong Kong with 0.6 mil. $ (13.6 %). The Iceman is fresh at 66 % with a 6.2 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Iceman?