News & Movie Buzz

Joe no-shows, Ong-Bak 2 trailer and...Shiantology?

Aug 05, 2009 Comments (0)

Q: ARE MOVIEGOERS DUMB?
A: Probably. Rope of Silicon posted a nicely written editorial questioning if general audiences are too stupid to enjoy smart movies, asking, “Is it the public's fault they don't cross state lines to seek out one of the 35 art house theaters showing In the Loop and instead head out to enjoy [Bruno’s] talking penis at the multiplex down the road?” In a country that made a Kevin James movie a blockbuster, watches “The Bachelorette” on TV and plays Lady Gaga on their iPhones, the answer's a safe bet.
ONG-BAK 2
Muay Awesome The trailer for what’s actually a prequel premiered this week with Muay Thai expert Tony Jaa, who honed his craft somersaulting off elephants in the jungle. Why isn’t this guy an international star, already? Someone call Jackie Chan’s people. Then again, I’ve seen Rush Hour 3….
DEAL OR NO DEAL
Scaling Back Unless you’re Will Smith, A-list stars are no longer able to command that $20 mil salary they could five years ago. (Case in point: Julia Roberts refused to cut her salary for The Proposal, so Disney turned to Sandra Bullock who agreed to even less than they offered Julia.) Now execs are making deals where the talent gets paid after the studio has recouped its costs. Making overpaid actors deliver a hit before raking in wads of cash? Might be the most creative idea Hollywood’s had lately.
G.I. JOE
No-Show Paramount summarily shut all critics other than those from fanboy sites out of advance screenings to avoid early bad word-of-mouth à la Transformers 2, making it the biggest and so far best-reviewed summer movie nobody’s seen.
CHURCH OF SHIANTOLOGY
From the “Now I’ve Seen Everything” Files Someone started a fansite worshiping Shia LaBeouf – literally calling him the “Meshiah” – complete with religious artwork photoshopped with his face on various divine icons. Disturbia, indeed.