Brewster, this is so cool!

Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night is shaping up as the best cast horror remake we’ve seen so far. A month or so ago it was announced that Anton Yelchin would play the lead as Charlie Brewster, a B-movie loving teen who discovers that the charming single dude next door is actually a vampire, sans sparkles. Then, Colin Farrell landed the role of the lady-killing (literally) bloodsucker, Jerry Dandridge. For fans of the original, who watched Chris Sarandon chew his way through role back in 1986, Farrell’s casting came as a sign that maybe the creative team here knows what they are doing afterall.

Well, chalk up two more wins for casting. The definitive next generation Dr. Who, David Tennant, has just been cast as Peter Vincent, who was played by a neurotically mannered Roddy McDowell the first time around. McDowell’s fraidy-cat who pretended to be a ‘vampire killer’ on late-night tv was the highlight of the original film, along with an occult-obssessed, high-strung teen named Evil Ed, who served as Charlie’s friend and sidekick.

Evil Ed has just been cast too, with Christopher Mintz-Plasse taking over the role. Christopher was most recently seen as the treacherous sidekick Red Mist in Matthew Vaughn’s Kick Ass.

Tennant is an interesting choice for the Vincent role, and he’s a bit younger than McDowell was when he picked up the stake and hammer.Looks like there are also some script/character changes that suit Tenant’s persona a bit more. Apparently in this version, Tenant’s Vincent will no longer be a horror tv show host, but instead a Las Vegas stage magician whose act involves supernatural themes. This actually makes sense, as the concept of the late-night host ended with the 80s, when the likes of Elvira and Dr. Morgus vanished with the emergence of cable. Today’s younger audiences will be lucky to remember even Joe Bob Briggs, who had a hosting stint on TNT in the late 90s.

That’s pretty much all the major roles cast, with Toni Collette rounding out the central cast as Charlie’s mom. The only major character left is Charlie’s girlfriend, unless they have managed to keep Dandridge’s ghoulish man servant, which would likely seem out of place in a more modern version.

Looking forward to seeing the final product on this and hoping that Gillespie can bring enough menace and quirk to the proceedings to justify a remake. Otherwise, what a waste of a good cast.

Atomic Popcorn presents: KICK-ASS a Lionsgate’s film that is going to kick your faces off! We have the pleasure of giving out passes to you fine Baltimore geeks to one of, if not the biggest, Spring event of the year in Baltimore. Kick-Ass is a movie based on the hugely popular comic series by Mark Millar by the same name. Make sure you grab these tickets and fast!!

See you there on April 7th! I will be in the front row ready to kick some ass!

Synopsis:

“How come nobody’s ever tried to be a superhero?” When Dave Lizewski – ordinary New York teenager and rabid comic-book geek dons a green-and-yellow internet-bought wetsuit to become the no-nonsense vigilante, Kick-Ass, he soon finds an answer to his own question: because it hurts. But, overcoming all the odds, the eager yet inexperienced Dave quickly becomes a phenomenon, capturing the imagination of the public. However, he’s not the only superhero out there – the fearless and highly-trained father-daughter crime-fighting duo, Big Daddy and Hit Girl have been slowly but surely taking down the criminal empire of local Mafioso, Frank D’Amico. And, as Kick-Ass gets drawn into their no-holds-barred world of bullets and bloodletting with Frank’s son, Chris, now reborn as Kick-Ass’s arch-nemesis, Red Mist – the stage is set for a final showdown between the forces of good and evil – in which the DIY hero will have to live up to his name. Or die trying…

Check out the trailer below:

KICK-ASS, directed by Matthew Vaughn, opens nationwide on Friday, April 16, 2010.

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR PASS: and enter

ATOMICGDU6 for the RSVP code!

Make sure you check out our other free screenings in the Baltimore Area.

When was the last time that we were given a really good sketch-comedy film, packed with big names and famous faces each taking just a few minutes to put us in hysterics and then pass the screen to the next wacky cameo? Remember The Kentucky Fried Movie, the 1977 masterpiece of tastelessness that shocked audiences all the way into risque comedy history? What about Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life? Even Weird Al Yankovic’s brilliantly absurd UHF is considered a classic in its own right these days. So why the significant lack of sketch films in the modern age? They seem like such a perfect vehicle for studios to load with stars and rake in the returns. You’d think more people in Hollywood would be jumping at the chance to revive the genre.

Luckily, there’s a whole slew of names to the sketch-comedy rescue!

Relativity Media has gathered an impressive array of talent for a new sketch movie that’s set to hit production by May. So far, we know that different segments will be directed by Brett Ratner, Peter Farrelly, Bob Odenkirk, Griffin Dunne, and even Zach and Miri Make A Porno actress Elizabeth Banks making her debut behind the camera.

The list of actors signed on for the as-yet-untitled laugh-fest is even more noteworthy. Gerard Butler, Kieran Culkin, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Liev Schreiber, Sean William Scott, Tony Shalhoub, Emma Stone, Matt Walsh, Patrick Warburton, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet are all expected to make appearances, most of them probably pretty brief.

So in honor of this news, Atomic Popcorn wants to know: What’s your favorite sketch-comedy movie?

There was an immensely positive buzz going on about Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic Kick-Ass at San Diego Comic Con this year. Some who saw footage from the film are saying it is the most phenomenal comic book movie of all time, which is high praise indeed.

I don’t quite get that from this trailer, but I see the potential. I think the film will obviously venture into gritty territory that this green-band trailer can’t explore, so I’m definitely going to withhold judgment until I can see the final product.

That said, this movie has a great young cast: Chloe Moretz (from 500 Days of Summer), Aaron Johnson from the upcoming Nowhere Boy, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Superbad.

Check out the trailer below, and make sure to catch the film when it’s released on April 16 of next year.

Year One wants it’s audience to believe it’s Agent Sands at the end of Once Upon A Time In Mexico. The film blindly fires it’s comedy at us, hoping things will hit us and evoke mountains of laughter. Why shouldn’t it? It’s directed by Harold “Egon” Ramis who’s done some decent comedy directing and is responsible for Ghostbusters and Caddyshack. The movie’s headlined by timid nerd Michael Cera, whom everyone adores, and Jack Black, who can be great when he wants to be. The talent is certainly there to make a fun, if useless, summer comedy. Yet like the aforementioned Sands, Year One misses just about every shot of comedy it unleashes.

Year One is terribly constructed together to the point where Ramis should feel ashamed he took part in it. Scenes start, climax, and then cut to the next scene without finishing the previous joke or giving us a clue as to what occurred. Picture sleeping with the chubby and ugly cheerleader and she leaves right before you both finish. Other, better films are guilty of this as well but they at least have the decency to mention what happened the next scene later. It leads into a point about the editing in this film, which is absolutely atrocious. Pieces are just slopped together, often times without any consistency. For instance, why does Jack Black’s hair change from black to blonde over the course of a scene? Editors Craig Herring and Steve Welch should do community service for what a sloppy job they do on this picture.

Nice, but mine are bigger.

Sloppy though, seems to be the keyword for this picture. The script by Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky, and Lee Eisenberg is full of half-assed ideas that come from a History of the World Part I/Life of Brian double feature. Unlike those films, theirs lacks the consistency both comedy and filmmaking wise to be anything remotely decent. Perhaps they chose to set the film in a prehistoric age because that’s how all of their jokes feel. All of the “laughs” rely on dick and fart jokes which is going to appeal to anyone ten and under. Certainly the film gave me this vibe it was trying to appeal to a young audience but even then, the jokes are almost twenty years too late. Ramis’ direction, unfortunately, doesn’t do anything to elevate the material either. Presumably, he shot what was on page and did simple pointing and shooting. To paraphrase, the man did a lazy job with a sloppy script.

Jack Black and Michael Cera do make for a solid team though and play off of the other well. Likely it’s due to the fact both men are essentially playing themselves in caveman’s clothing. The flick does absolutely nothing to make you accept these two are playing different people other than dress them differently. Black though, seems to be doing a parody of his Po from Kung Fu Panda as he proclaims “I’m the chosen one!” His typical shtick is at play here though, so those turned off by him will find nothing to accept here. Cera tries with his timid nerd act that does work in spots. Seemingly, he’s the only one doing something in favor of the film rather than taking a meh attitude toward it. His low-key take is refreshing when you consider what everyone else in the film is doing.

The biggest of these offenders is not Hank Azaria but Oliver Platt as the High Priest. Normally Platt is enjoyable but here he’s repulsive, and not because his character calls for it. Platt’s character is implied to be gay, since apparently all priests in comedies have to be. Trouble is, it’s annoying, unfunny, and should make said homosexual priests feel ashamed. Azaria’s a different matter, as he interpreted his role of Abraham as Cap’n Abraham of the S.S. Choppin’ Skin. Every line is muttered like a drunken pirate leading one to think Azaria was a Captain Sparrow reject. Unlike his other recent history adventure, Azaria doesn’t bring the film down and does have the best line in the whole film. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is his son Isaac and while it’s impossibly hard to hate the kid, he’s essentially McLovin in different clothes. Vinnie Jones is Vinnie Jones, and Olivia Wilde makes for some really nice eye candy. David Cross portrays Cain and seems to pop in and out when the script needs him, while Paul Rudd feels all but wasted as Abel.

Year One is lazy, unprofessional filmmaking. Ramis is better than this, Apatow is better than this, even Jack Black is better than this. I keep reassuring myself the only reason Ramis did this was so we could get Ghostbusters 3. At the same time, he shouldn’t have succumbed to such a stupid, idiotic and retarded monstrosity of film. Much like it’s premise, Year One should be buried, ancient history when it’s all said and done.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

This movie is crude, vulgar, childish, nerdy…and oh yeah… freaking hilarious (not that you couldn’t tell that by the redband trailer). This is the kind of movie where you expect all the funny parts to be what you saw in the trailer spots on TV, but there’s so much more. Although it starts a little slow telling the stories of two buddies ‘living the dream’  working for an energy drink company, it picks up pretty quickly when they get sentenced to a month of community service for an accident on their promotional tour.

Danny and Wheeler (Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott) face jail time if they can’t pull off a month of working with two outcast kids at the Sturdy Wings mentoring program. Run by recovering addict and general madwoman Gayle Sweeny (Jane Lynch) the guys find themselves trying to hold their own with 15 year old nerd wonder Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and 10 year old foul mouth Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson). Between Gayle’s ramblings and Ronnie’s wisecracks you’ll find yourself wanting more of the awkwardness they contribute.

The lessons in sarcasm by Danny, and the lessons in love by Wheeler, highlight the time between the ‘bigs’ and ‘littles’ as the mentors and kids are called. Camping trips, real life fantasy role playing and awkward social interactions give plenty of fodder for the sight gags and one liners that keep you chuckling though the movie.

There’s a good storyline and messages in the film about friendship, being yourself,  and about what all those 30 and 40 year old guys still living with their parents do on the weekends to ‘socialize’ – but don’t let a moral hold you back from seeing this gem.

The only problem I saw in this movie was how little we see of Danny’s girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) Her role doesn’t allow her to be the funny-woman we’ve seen in movies like Zack and Miri or 40 Year Old Virgin.  Besides that, please remember that this is a rated R movie. I was embarrassed for the numbers of families in the theater who brought kids that looked to be 8-10 years old. Maybe they thought the child stars meant it was family friendly, but the language and nudity were definitely not.

Great movie, lots of laughs.

Rating: ★★★★☆