The CLOG - A Clevver Blog

Paramount Pictures has released an eclectic mix of films for its upcoming 2009 film releases.

• Hotel For Dogs (Jan. 16th) - a group of kids turn a rundown hotel into a sanctuary for abandoned dogs.
• Defiance (Jan. 16th) - based on a true story, Daniel Craig stars as the leader of a group of Jews that banded together to fight the Nazis in a forest in Eastern Europe.
• The Uninvited (Jan. 30th) - hot sisters must battle their equally hot (and evil) stepmother.
• I Love You, Man (March 20th) - Paul Rudd stars as a recently engaged man who is void of male friends and must go on “man-dates” in order to find a Best Man for his wedding.
• Monsters vs. Aliens (March 27th) - the people who brought you Shrek delve into the 3D arena with an all-star cast lending their voices.
• The Soloist (April 24th) - Robert Downey Jr. plays a journalist that tries to help a homeless former music prodigy (Jamie Foxx).  The two men form a friendship that changes both their lives.
• Star Trek (May 8th) - J.J. Abrams goes where many have gone before and tries to revive the long floundering franchise.
• Imagine That (June 12th) - Eddie Murphy continues his kid comedy streak in this fantasy film from Nickelodeon Movies.
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26th) - the sequel to the hit film and Hasbro toyline.
• G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Aug. 7th) - following the success of Transformers, G.I. Joe and his team get their own big-budget film.  The Mummy’s Stephen Sommers directs.
• Dance Flick (August 14th) - Damon Wayans’ son stars in this send-up of dance films including Step Up, You Got Served and Flashdance. 
• The Goods: The Don Ready Story (Aug. 21st) - Adam McKay and Will Ferrell produce this comedy starring Emmy-winner Jeremy Piven.
• The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11th) - Peter Jackson directs this film about the ghost of a murdered girl who must choose between vengeance and healing her families grief.  Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star.
• She’s Out of My League (4th Quarter 2009) - Tropic Thunder’s Jay Baruchel snags a girl way out of his league in this romantic comedy.
• Up in the Air (4th Quater 2009) - George Clooney works at love and frequent flyer miles in this comedy/drama from the director of Juno.
• Shutter Island (4th Quarter 2009) - Leonardo DiCaprio reunites with director Martin Scorsese in this mystery-thriller co-starring Mark Ruffalo.

Warner Bros. has released a slew of new pics from this summer’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  The photos appeared in the French magazine CineLive. 

Walt Disney Pictures has released it slate of movies to be released in 2009.  Some look more promising than others.  Which films are you most excited to see?

• Confessions of a Shopaholic (Feb. 13th) - Just in time for Valentines Day, The Wedding Crasher’s Isla Fisher stars as a shopaholic who must get a job at a financial magazine in order to pay her exorbitant credit card debt.   Comedy ensues in the latest from producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
• Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (Feb. 27th) - the director who brought us “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” brings us another movie full of screaming tweens, this time with the uber-popular Jonas Bros.
• Race To Witch Mountain (March 13th) - Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in the update to the cult favorite from the 1970’s.  Will kids brought up on Harry Potter care about tween aliens with magic powers?  We think so.
• Hannah Montana: The Movie (April 10th) - we think the name speaks for itself.  If you have kids, this is where you’ll be the weekend of April 10th. 
• Earth (April 22nd) - celebrate Earth Day by driving your gas guzzler to the local metroplex, buy a paper ticket and sit in an air-conditioned theater watching cute and cuddly animals as they try to survive on the brink of extinction.
• Up (May 29th) - the rulers of 3D animation return with this tail of a crotchety old man and his flying house.
• The Proposal (June 12th) - Sandra Bullock stars as a high-powered book editor that must marry her abused assistant (Ryan Reynolds) in order to avoid deportation to Canada.  I think the same thing happened to my cousin.
• G-Force (July 24th) - the second thought provoking film of the year from producer Jerry Bruckheimer.  This time, an elite squad of guinea pigs fight evil and…Oh, who cares.
• When In Rome (Summer 2009) - Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel go to Rome.  Pretend to hate each other.  Fall in love.  The end.
• Surrogates (Sep. 25th) - Bruce Willis in a sci-fi thriller.  Nuff said.
• Toy Story (Oct. 2nd) - the original 3D classic returns.  This time in 3D.
• Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Nov. 6th) - the Dickens classic gets the Robert Zemeckis 3D treatment with the voices of Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks and Michael J. Fox thrown in for good measure.
• Old Dogs (Nov. 25th) - Robin Williams and John Travolta team up for this comedy about two best friends that are stuck taking care of twins.
• The Princess and the Frog (Christmas 2009) - Disney returns to its hand-drawn animation roots with this new twist on a classic tale.

Twentieth-Century Fox has filed a court order in Los Angeles to delay the release of the highly anticipated “Watchmen” film that is set to hit theaters March 6th.  Fox claims that it has owned the rights to a “Watchmen” film since the 1980’s and never relinquished those rights or cleared Warner Bros. to make the film based on the legendary graphic novel.

Last week a Los Angeles judge ruled in favor of Fox and stated that the film directed by “300’s” Zack Snyder violated Fox’s copyright.  A trial has been set for January 20th.  An attorney for Warner Bros. has said that a settlement in the case was unlikely and that Fox has no rights to the distribution of the film.

Twentieth-Century Fox has released the first trailer for next year’s “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.”  The only catch?  It was launched on the Japanese website for the film and is entirely in Japanese with no English subtitles.

The film stars “Smallville’s” Kristin Kreuk in the title role as the fan favorite character from the popular videogame from Capcom.  Personally, I think it was good casting, but Ms. Kreuk should have worked a little harder on her thighs.  They’re looking a little puny for Chun Li.  Study up on your Japanese and see for yourself and let me know what you think.

Owen Wilson plus Jennifer Aniston plus a cute puppy equaled big bucks at theaters this holiday weekend as families came out in droves to see Marley & Me giving it the biggest Christmas day opening ever with $14.7 million with a four-day total of $51.7 million despite stiff competition.

The other big family film to open was Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories that came in second with a respectable $38.6 million for the four-day weekend narrowly beating out the Brad Pitt starrer The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which brought in $39 million for the four-days.

Overall ticket sales were extremely high bringing in $204 million in total ticket sales - breaking 2003’s three-day Christmas box-office record of $186.2 million.  Despite a strong showing from several new films and many holdovers, one major flop was Lionsgate’s The Spirit which came in ninth place with a four-day cume of $10.4 million.

Despite a weak economy, overall yearly tickets sales managed to pass the $9 billion mark for the third year in a row.

Mama Mia DVD Release Beats The Dark Knight in Sales

Mama Mia starring Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, and Pierce Brosnan has taken over the DVD charts and passed The Dark Knight as the top-selling DVD in the United States, according to Nielsen VideoScan data issued Wednesday.

Released on December 9, the Batman sequel still remains the top-selling video release of the year selling an estimated worldwide total of 13.5 million in 1 week.

Watch The Dark Knight trailer

You can also watch the Mama Mia trailer here as well

ABC and dick clark productions announced today that multi-platinum, three-time Grammy Award-winning artist, acclaimed producer and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am is scheduled to perform his latest song, “It’s A New Day,” celebrating the historic victory of President-elect Barack Obama, on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009.” “It’s A New Day” follows on the success of Will’s Emmy Award-winning “Yes We Can Song,” which received over 15 million views on YouTube.

Also performing on the special from Times Square in New York will be the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Lionel Richie, while Natasha Bedingfield, Fall Out Boy, Jesse McCartney, Ne-Yo, Pussycat Dolls, Solange and Robin Thicke will celebrate and perform during the Hollywood Party segments of the broadcast which will be hosted by Fergie.  Country music star Kellie Pickler will report live on what’s happening in and around Times Square.

Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 will air on ABC live starting at 10:00PM ET/PT.

Warner Bros. Pictures has decided not to release The Dark Knight theatrically in China citing political reasons.  “Based on a number of prerelease conditions that are being attached to The Dark Knight as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forgo a theatrical release of the film in China,” said a spokesperson for the film.

Though no specific conditions were addressed, scenes in the film depicting Batman kidnapping a Chinese executive in Hong Kong are the most likely culprits.  The Chinese Ministry of Culture is the governing body that determines which films are allowed to be released in the country and most likely demanded the scenes to be cut.

With worldwide earnings of $996 million, a release in China would have helped the film get closer to Titanic’s $1.8 billion take, but with most of the Chinese population likely to have seen the film on pirated DVD’s already, the lack of a Chinese release isn’t that significant.

Walt Disney Pictures has pulled out of coproducing and distributing the third Narnia film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader citing “budgetary and logistical reasons.”  Dawn Treader was prepping with the original cast returning and a budget close to $200 million.

The first film in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe released in 2005 earned worldwide revenues of $745 million while this summer’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian dropped significantly taking in $419 million worldwide.

The film’s production company, Walden Media, has tapped director Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough) to helm the project for a proposed May 2010 release.  With Disney pulling out, it is unclear which, if any of the talent attached will return for the third film.  Walden Media is proposedly in talks with Twentieth Century Fox to take over distribution.

Universal Pictures has released a trailer for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian just in time for the holidays.  Ben Stiller returns as Larry, the night watchmen at the Museum of Natural History where the exhibits come to life at night.  This time, the exhibits are placed in storage while the museum is closed for upgrading and stored at the Smithsonian.  There, Larry must deal with a whole new crop of exhibits coming to life including Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, Eugene Levy as Einstein, Hank Azaria as Kahmunrah and SNL’s Bill Hader as General Custer.  Returning are Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevely, Owen Wilson as Jedediah and Steve Coogan as Octavius.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian hits theaters May 22nd.

Recently named as one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Singers of All Time - and as the only person under the age of 30 to be honored - Christina Aguilera is definitely back in the spotlight. And it’s right in time for the holidays and wrapped up in a pretty red bow, with a collection of some of Aguilera’s greatest hits. “Keeps Gettin’ Better” is her latest album to hit the marketplace with a Top 10 debut on the Billboard charts.

The Target-exclusive album documents her struggle to break-out of the pop-star mold that she was placed into during her early singing years. Some of the album highlights bringing us back to early-Christina include ‘Genie in a Bottle’, ‘Dirrty’ as well as her 3-Grammy-winning songs, ‘Lady Marmalade’, ‘Beautiful‘ and ‘Ain’t No Other Man‘.

Plus, there’s an interesting addition to the 16-track album. “Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Greatest Hits” features new radio-mixes of popular songs, ‘What a Girl Wants’, ‘Come on Over Baby’ and ‘I Turn to You’. And, watch out for some updated versions of old-school-Aguilera tracks. You’ll hear two brand new songs called ‘Keeps Gettin’ Better’ and ‘Dynamite’.

Christina Fans - get geared up. The singing sensation is reportedly considering recording a brand new album in early-2009.

Christina Aguilera Album Preview

Titled the Best of Hilary Duff, the 12-track album hit stores in mid-November and sold 55-hundred copies in its first week. The LP showcases some Duff favorites, including Stranger, With Love and So Yesterday. Its being reported that fans are super-bummed that it doesnt include some other classics by the artist, including Beat of my Heart and Our Lips are Sealed. Gossip mills are saying that because its the last album to be released while Hilary is with Hollywood Records, that the label got cheap and cut-down the track number.

However, fans can catch 2 brand new songs - the first being Reach Out. It clearly samples part of Depeche Mode’s ‘Personal Jesus’. Straight from Duff, the song is dancey and features a new rapper named Prophet. While busy working with OneRepublics Ryan Tedder, Hilary also recorded a new hit called Holiday a song she classified as very personal. Many listeners are saying the catchy, pop track Holiday is even better than Reach Out.

Because Best of Hilary Duff is the last CD on her current label Hollywood Records, Duff is already on to another label and recording a new, edgier album starting in December 08.

What do you think about the greatest hits album and the new tracks? Are there any old Hilary songs that should have been included on the CD? And what are you looking forward to on her next album?

Hilary Duff Album Preview

USA Today has released the first pics from Jerry Bruckheimer’s summer film G-Force.  The man who brought us such summer hits has Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and the Pirates of the Caribbean films is turning his golden touch to kid friendly action films featuring crime-fighting guinea pigs.  Guinea Pigs?  That’s right, guinea pigs.  G-Force follows an elite squad of rodents and features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan, Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage.  The film is being directed by effects guru Hoyt Yeatman (The Fly, The Abyss, Armageddon).

With the talent involved, I’m going to give the film the benefit of the doubt, but Bruckheimer may need to clean house and bring in some fresh blood into his company.  In addition to G-Force, Bruckheimer will release the romantic comedy crapfest Confessions of a Shopaholic starring Isla Fisher just in time for Valentines Day.  G-Force hits theaters on July 24th.

The Los Angeles Times has released a behind-the-scenes look at James Cameron’s Avatar.  The film is a mix of live-action and CGI that is being shot on special 3D cameras that Cameron helped develop specifically for the film.  The film stars Sam Worthington as a paraplegic war veteran stationed on another planet that falls in love with an alien.  Avatar is scheduled to be released on December 18th, 2009.