

Columns By Leonard KladyKlady@moviecitynews.com
Wall-Eed: Dead or Very Alive!
It was another record breaking frame as debuts of the animated Wall-E and the illustrated action adaptation Wantedpropelled ticket sales more than 20% ahead of 2007 figures. Wall-E bowed to an estimated $63.8 million with the shoot ’em up close behind at $51.4 million. The session also saw a buoyant bow of $1.3 million in…
Read the full article »Youth Without Youth
Francis Ford Coppola’s lovely intellectual comic book fantasy, Youth without Youth, is presented as a captivating DVD release by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. To begin with, the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound is fantastic. Its hyper-dimensionality and directional effects significantly enhance a viewer’s involvement with the film’s atmosphere and environment. The sound is then supported by Mihai Malaimare,…
Read the full article »The Duality of Edward Norton
I, and the rest of the world, think that Edward Nortonis a phenomenal actor, but right upfront I will tell you that I don’t believe Edward Norton is our greatest actor right now; I have long thought that that distinction belongs to Daniel Day-Lewis. But as I was sitting in the theater watching him in The Incredible Hulk, stuffing…
Read the full article »Laff Track
The battle of the clowns proved lopsided as the debut of the big screen Get Smart easily out performed the opening of The Love Guru. Get Smart topped weekend viewing choices with an estimated $38.3 million while the Mike Myers untranscendental amusement ranked fourth with a $14.1 million bow. The session was light on new…
Read the full article »Part Four: Subway Shooting
May 28, 1982 SHOOTING NIGHTS IN THE BART STATION I have much more time to write because this a dialogueless sequence which I am not called upon to alter even in the slightest. It will take three or four nights to shoot, so Walter knows that he has some time off before he has to…
Read the full article »Will That be Poppyseed?
The question most asked about living in Los Angeles is: why can’t you get a good bagel in the city? Some would argue otherwise and then there’s the whole explanation that involves water and yeast. With the Los Angeles Film Festival beginning full screenings Friday, this is one of those times of year when there’s…
Read the full article »The Golden Compass: Lost Bearings
When was the last time a movie broke your heart? It happened to me 45 seconds into the New Line Home Entertainment Widescreen release, The Golden Compass , as a voiceover narration proceeded to explain in itemized fashion almost every mystery the narrative holds. Yes, the 2007 film was co-produced with Scholastic and comes in a…
Read the full article »Myers v. Carrell
This weekend we have a very interesting box office match-up, one that we don’t see that often these days where release dates have been picked out years in advance so that nobody else deigns to put a similar film in that spot. This weekend we have two big-budgeted comedies being released widely, starring two of…
Read the full article »Green… With Envy
The not so jolly green giant – The Incredible Hulk – pulverized the marketplace with an estimated $54.9 million to top the weekend moviegoing charts. In another upbeat session, the debut of The Happening exceeded expectations with a $30.8 million bow that ranked it third; a shade behindKung Fu Panda. There was also fierce activity…
Read the full article »Superbad
..MCN DVD Wrap ..The DVD Page Except that the heroes act much more like high school sophomores than seniors, even nerdy seniors,Superbad, doesn’t cop out the way the other 2007 comedy that shared a number of creators and cast members, Knocked Up did, and is a riotously amusing nighttown adventure, similar in a lot of ways…
Read the full article »M. Night Shyamalan – The Next Spielberg? Nope!
It was just a few years ago that M. Night Shyamalan was on the cover of Time Magazine, which had proclaimed him the “Next Spielberg.” It’s incredible that just a few short years and two films later, many folks are wondering if he’s even a competent filmmaker; he has faced accusations of being egotistical and two straight…
Read the full article »Pandering to the Masses…
A pair of unusual martial arts movies kicked up interest in movie going by double digits. The animated adventure Kung Fu Panda led the frame with an estimated $59.8 million debut session followed by Adam Sandler’s political comedy spinDon’t Mess with the Zohan that grossed $40.3 million in its opening weekend. The session was also…
Read the full article »Part Three: Philosophical In San Francisco
May 22, 1982 SF @ Night Watching San Francisco unreel and unfold, my fourth day here, I get a pervasive sense of nobody in this city “meaning it” in the sense that Erik Erikson uses that phrase in his book about Luther. People in LA vehemently, blissed out or dead-souled in their money lust, but peculiarly…
Read the full article »National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
Only a grouch could seriously dislike the high-energy adventure fantasy, National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets, released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (UPC#786936735390, $30). Nicolas Cage, whose often eccentric screen persona fits perfectly with the 2007 film’s fanciful alterations of government institutions and monuments, stars in the tone-perfect follow up to the first National Treasurefeature, with his…
Read the full article »May Review
We’re one month into the season of blockbusters and I’ve found that the only thing that has tired me about the summer movies has been the hype surrounding them. The truth of the matter is that most movies aren’t wonderful or terrible; a lot of them fall into the middle area and the same goes…
Read the full article »Sexyyyyyy…
In possibly the first pleasant surprise of the season Sex and the City led weekend movie going with an estimated $56.1 million in its debut session. Also unexpected was a potent $20.6 million bow for the horror programmer The Strangers that ranked third in the frame lineup. Together they provided for a thrust that translated…
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