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With all of the competition at the box office and in the home video marketplace, it's all too easy for even the very best of movies to fall by the wayside. That's why we at ReelzChannel always try to do our best to encourge you to see movies that we're pretty sure you're going to enjoy, if you simply take the time to look for them. One such movie is Bernie, which recently made resident movie expert Richard Roeper's list of the "five best films that almost nobody saw" this year. With Bernie now available on home video, we feel compelled to once again suggest you take another look at the Richard Linklater tragicomedy that features Jack Black giving what Roeper describes is "one of the best performances of his career."
Another new home video release featuring one of the "best comedic character actors" working today is The Dictator, the fourth feature film starring fearless comedian and social commentator Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat). Described by Roeper as a "politically incorrect version" of Coming to America, the movie centers on the antics of an antisemitic, anti-Western dictator from a fictional Middle Eastern country and contains "plenty of tasteless gags" in keeping with Cohen's previous movies. And, if you're not in the mood for comedy, A Separation, the winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film — the first Iranian movie to win the award — is also out on home video this week. The domestic drama focuses on an Iranian couple who separate and pulls back the curtain on the traditions and customs of modern Iran in a movie Roeper classifies as both "brilliant" and "heart-breaking."
Catch Roeper's reviews on Hollywood Dailies weekdays 5:30p ET / 2:30p PT
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Competitive birding — the observation and identification of birds within a specified time or area for monetary gain or simply bragging rights — may not seem like an activity with obvious comedic potential, but when the cast includes the likes of Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Jack Black there's sure to be plenty of yuks to go around.
In director David Frankel's (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me) new movie, The Big Year, the trio of funnymen play fanatical birders competing to spot the greatest number of bird species in a year in which El Nino has sent a large variety of breeds into the U.S. Each of the men is competing for different reasons, but they all soon come to realize there are more important things than winning the competition. The theatrical trailer was released a few weeks ago and now four new preview clips have debuted online, offering a better explanation of the competition and a brief introduction to Kenny (Wilson), Stu (Martin), and Brad (Black).
watch the new preview clips >> Posted 09.30.11 by BrentJS -
The first teaser poster and trailer for director David Frankel's (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me) upcoming comedy, The Big Year, have debuted online. Adapted from Mark Obmascik's 1998 novel The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Howard Franklin (The Man Who Knew Too Little), The Big Year stars Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black as a trio of friendly rivals going through a "mid-life crisis," a "work-life crisis" and a "no-life crisis," respectively, who decide to shuck their responsibilities and dedicate a year of their lives to racing around North America in a contest to see who can spot the greatest number of bird species.
WATCH THE TRAILER >> Posted 09.07.11 by BrentJS -
DreamWorks Animation has released a new teaser poster and "freakin' awesome" new trailer for the sequel to Kung Fu Panda. Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Spawn TV series), Kung Fu Panda 2 (formerly advertised as Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom) finds Po the Dragon Warrior (voiced by Jack Black) and the Furious Five —Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), and Viper (Lucy Liu)—questing to end a new menace that wields the power to end kung fu forever. Additional voice talents include Gary Oldman, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michelle Yeoh, and Victor Garber.
watch the new trailer >> Posted 03.05.11 by BrentJS -
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, but ask DreamWorks Animation and it is "The Year of Awesomeness" because 2011 will see the release of Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom. Jack Black returns as the voice of Po, now protecting the Valley of Peace as the Dragon Warrior.However, when Po's new life of awesomeness is upset by the emergence of a mysterious villain bent on unleashing a weapon that will destroy the power of kung fu, he must reunite with the Furious Five—Tigress ( Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen) and Viper (Lucy Liu)—in an adventure that will take them across China and into Po's past to find the power to vanquish this new threat.
watch the teaser trailer >> Posted 01.03.11 by BrentJS -
For the first time in more than a decade, a new Muppets movie is in production. Titled simply The Muppets (formerly The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time!!!), the new movie is a labor of love for producer, co-writer, co-director and star Jason Segel, who first pitched the idea to Walt Disney Pictures in 2008 with his Forgetting Sarah Marshall director, Nicholas Stoller, co-writer of the movie's screenplay. In a recent interview with MTV, Segel confirmed the new title and cleared up a couple of the rumors that have been surrounding the movie in recent months.
what did Segel say about The Muppets? >> Posted 12.27.10 by BrentJS -
Sneaking into theaters this December is a modern-day adaptation of Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black. Fox has released a new trailer for the movie, which appears to be (quite) loosely based on the Jonathan Swift novel of the same name unless we're misremembering and Swift's story centered on a mail-room employee who is given a chance to become a travel reporter with an assignment that takes him to the Bermuda triangle and, ultimately, the island of Lilliput, where the inhabitants are only inches-tall. We're pretty sure there's still some of Swift's political satire in there as well amongst the references to Star Wars and Twilight.
Watch the trailer >> Posted 11.03.10 by Ryan -
Following on the heels of news that movie maestro Steven Spielberg plans to direct an adaptation of author Daniel H. Wilson's as-yet-unpublished novel Robopocalypse, it appears as if another of Wilson's novels could be heading to the big screen. According to io9, Jack Black and Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink have purchased the rights to Wilson's 2005 semi-satirical novel How To Survive A Robot Uprising, in which Wilson dispenses practical advice on how to defend against intelligent machines bent on world domination, with plans to turn it into a movie. According to io9's "inside source," Pink is currently at work on the script and any decisions about casting and directing will come after the script is completed.
Posted 10.25.10 by BrentJS -
With Disney taking the axe to Miramax's output and staff, we guess it's no surprise that one of the latter studio's planned projects — Richard Linklater's Liars (A-E) — is now in limbo.
The next planned effort from the director of A Scanner Darkly, Fast Food Nation, Before Sunrise, and Dazed and Confused was supposed to be one of the projects protected from Disney's cuts. But Movieline recently caught up with Linklater, who indicated unequivocally that the project is on hold indefinitely.
It's no longer happening, unfortunately. It didn't really work out. It's tough.
Tough indeed, because Linklater had already cast Rebecca Hall and Kat Dennings in the romantic comedy, which involves a road trip in which the two lead characters visit Hall's exes and attempt to retrieve personal effects.
The sudden dissolution of the project also means that Linklater has nothing on the horizon, which will come as a disappointment to his fans. Many were anticipating a possible sequel to School of Rock, but in the same conversation with Movieline, Linklater said that he has spoken with Jack Black and that there are no plans to go forward with that idea.
I don’t think I have anything coming up! Everybody asks me about School of Rock 2,and that’s not really happening. It’s not on the front burner. MikeWhite was writing on it a long time ago, but it’s become dormant ... I saw Jack the other night, andwe talk about it. We’re not gonna do it just to do it. Let’s just sayit’s still kind of on the backburner and it’s no one’s next project.
It's a shame Linklater won't have any projects forthcoming, although we don't imagine it will take him long to come up with something else. For now, we're anticipating Me and Orson Welles, which arrives in limited release next Friday.
Posted 11.17.09 by reelz -
This morning, Jack Black and Michael Cera were on the CBS Early Show to promote Year One, which will be in theaters Friday.
When asked about the plot, Black made good on his well-known arsenal of musical trivia and referenced a few notes from a Genesis song (get it? Genesis ... movie about prehistoric times?). He then likened the Harold Ramis-directed comedy to another well-known comedy from 30 years ago:
So we're cavemen ... prehistoric dudes, and we're just sort of wandering through Biblical times. A lot like, you know, one of the old Biblical comedies like Life of Brian, in that flavor.
It would probably be foolish to expect Year One to deliver the same level of hilarity as the 1979 movie. That's a tough act to follow. On the other hand, we have to admit that the costumes and set design look very similar.
Compare the two trailers to see what we mean:
Posted 06.15.09 by reelz