I hate to admit this but.....I haven't read the book.
I do know a lot about it though, I just never got around to reading it. And then, I read that it was going to be made into a film -- and I just figured I'd wait and see the flick.
I do that sometimes.....and then I like the film so much, I go back and read the book.
Kinda backward, I guess.
Oh well.....that's just me.
Anyways, I've read some good stuff online about this flick -- it opens October 17th.
Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster (above) for The Secret Life of Bees, based on Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling coming-of-age novel.
And talk about an all-star cast of top-notch female talent, Bees stars Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys and Sophee Okonedo.
The film, which is set in South Carolina in 1964, follows two friends (Fanning and Hudson) who run away from home in order to solve the mystery surrounding one of their mothers. Eventually, the three Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and Okonedo) take the two girls in and teach them how to care for and raise bees. The book itself has a ton of fans, and the film -- especially with this cast -- is expected to win over a slew of new ones as well.
Yay....something to look forward to this Fall.
If you're looking for more info about the film, here's the link to the "Bees" info page on the Internet Movie Database: The Secret Life of Bees
Baby Fish Mouth(www.bfmwear.com) is a children's t-shirt company founded by two college friends and Moms.
According to Danielle Hughes, Baby Fish Mouth President and Co-Founder: "It combines our love of movies and pop culture with our love for our children. Our unique and witty shirts take famous movie lines and put a 'baby' twist on them."
Love The Godfather? 'He made me a bottle I couldn't refuse.'
Swoon for Fight Club? 'The first rule of Day Care - don't talk about Day Care.'
All shirts are 100% cotton, made in the USA and come packaged in their signature movie popcorn box making the perfect gift for any film fan.
They come in short sleeve onesies, long sleeve onesies, short sleeve t-shirts and long sleeve t-shirts.
They are featured in this month's Redbook Magazine.......
and have received glowing reviews on Celebrity Baby Blog, What's Hot for Tots, The Daily Stroll, Mommies with Style and more.
OK, I must confess....one of my first reasons for checking them out?
Their name.
Quick....name the famous 1989 romantic-comedy that the phrase Baby Fish Mouth comes from.
Don't know?
This short video might refresh your memory:
(When Harry Met Sally....man, that totally makes me remember why I love that flick.)
OK, so how did I discover this clever and oh-so-adorable product?
Why....on Twitter, of course!
Yes, I became acquainted with one of the company founders....while reading through my "tweets" last week on Twitter.
Sidenote: If you aren't yet familiar with Twitter (the latest "it" thing in social networking, and totally addictive for internet junkies -- like me), you can watch a short informational video about it on their site and sign up for free at: Twitter.com.
You can also follow me on Twitter along the right side of my blog (my username is KellyGingery), and read a recent USA Today piece on Twitter as well: Click Here
OK......back to Baby Fish Mouth.
So I read the "tweets" talking about their product, and then I clicked the link that led me to their website.
Lo and behold, what did my MovieChickeyes see?
Their cute tees and the great story of how 2 movie-lovin' friends decided to start a business together.
I love that,AND their cute shirts.
So much, it almost makes me want to have another baby.
Ooops.
Sorry........
That thud you just heard was my hubs......keeling over in the background.
Oh well, I'm sure I'll have someone to buy one (or two) for -- someday.
Perhaps you might as well.
So....if you're into movies like I am (OK, maybe not exactly like I am), give this cute site a look.
(I also put a picture link to their site on the right side of my blog)
Baby Fish Mouth. Fashion for Future Film Fans!
Remember, 7 out of 10 children are below grade level in movie literacy. You can help change that.
(Just think of all those future Leonardo DiCaprio's...... )
Early in the new "Indiana Jones" sequel, our creaky, 65-year-old hero stumbles onto a nuclear test site, and the warning siren is blaring. Panicked, surrounded by Potemkin houses, he folds himself inside the lead-lined cavity of a refrigerator. Kaboom: the blast sends Indy hurtling across the New Mexico desert, a mushroom cloud rising behind him. He lands and, logic be damned, tumbles out unscathed. The franchise, though, will never recover.
In TV land, this phenomenon is known as "jumping the shark": the moment when a once proud series swan-dives into putridity. It's a reference to a dreadful, late-era episode of "Happy Days" in which a water-skiing Fonz lofts himself over the fin of a great white. But Indy fans were so demoralized, they coined a new phrase just for movie-franchise meltdowns. Ergo: "nuking the fridge."
The phrase was born on May 24—two days after the film opened—and it went viral on movie message boards. In barely a month, it has blown through several Web. 2.0 benchmarks: YouTube tributes, "fridge" haikus, merch-hawking Web sites, "Word of the Day" status on UrbanDictionary.com. "You're expecting [the movie] to be as great as you remembered it," says Beth Russell, creator of nukingthefridge.com, "and after the fridge scene, it was like, 'Oooo-K'." A new legend is born, for all the wrong reasons.
So now you know.
Hey, I'm just here....workin' hard to fill y'all in on everything that is wacky, wonderful and pop culture crazy.
You can thank me later.
When you say: "My husband's hair has totally nuked the fridge".......
Think of me.
When you realize: "Going to my in-laws for dinner has totally nuked thefridge".....
Think of me.
And when you finally win the lottery with that silly scratch-off game that you obsessively play.....
Seriously.....think of me.
Oh yes, and because I like to share -- I've also included a few links to some of the crazy sites mentioned in the Newsweek piece:
But....it's MY movie blog, and I found this video below from current.com to be quite humorous -- so it's on my movie blog.
It's called: "Target Women: Feeding Your F---ing Family"
The Current website has all sorts of news and interesting videos. I find the Target Women series to be especially humorous -- hmmm.....I have no idea why.
They have one about botox, bridezilla shows and yogurt advertising to women.
Check 'em out, I think you'll agree......they're pretty funny, and fairly accurate about some current media portrayals of women.
Attention Males: Don't worry, if you have a sense of humor -- you can safely watch 'em as well.
:)
OK, so click the video below to watch it and see for yourself.
(Hey, it's Monday y'all....I figured we could use a little laugh.)
The just-released teaser poster above, for the upcoming 2009 flick Jennifer's Body, is very interesting to me.
Why?
Well, in addition to my life-long love of movies, I also have great affection for the advertising and marketing of motion pictures.
I LOVE movie posters. I hung them on my wall growing up, and currently have more than a few of them framed and hanging in my home.
This is one of my faves:
(OK.....OK.....I'm a little retro, I admit it.) Ya see....I've pretty much been around advertising and marketing of some form for most of my life. Mainly fashion and entertainment-related. Both of my parents were involved in it.....and I worked in it as well.
So what's my problem today?
That silly poster.
It illustrates one of the main things that makes me crazy about Hollywood and movie marketing today.
Uh.....helloooo, does anyone have an original idea or thought out there? Ya know, in La-La land?
Perhaps I should provide a little background first.
I've been somewhat interested in the now-filming Jennifer's Body, since I first read that it would be Diablo Cody's screenwriting follow-up to last year's award-winning Juno. (Diablo won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It was her first-ever screenplay. It was, and she is now...a big deal.)
Iknew Jennifer was a teen-age take on horror/zombie-type flicks (with a lot of sex and gore thrown in for good measure, and box-office).
A newly possessed cheerleader turns into a killer who specializes in offing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror?
Admittedly, not my favorite type of flick -- but still.....I was intrigued. I get a kick out of Diablo. I find her original and quirky, and she doesn't seem to care what traditional Hollywood thinks. That could be all image and hype, I dunno. I'm sure it will become clear soon enough. Her future movies (and their sucess or failure) will speak for her.
Anyways.....I've been keeping up with Diablo's MySpace blog posts during the filming, and I'm hoping her unique stamp will help it rise above the usual dreck of this (very crowded) genre.
OK, 'nuff about that.
On to my rant for today.
Look at the teaser ad below (released about 4 days ago) for an upcoming new HBO series called TrueBlood, about vampires living in a suburban neighborhood.
(I know, I know....it sounds something like Desperate Dracula Housewives, but it's from Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under, so I'm gonna reserve judgement for now.)
Here's the TrueBlood pic:
Huh.
Looks somewhat familiar, I just can't put my finger on it. (or should I say, tongue?)
Oh yeah, that's it.
It looks just like the Jennifer's Body poster (which was released after the TrueBlood pic). Do ya think Jennifer's marketing people saw the HBO art?
Ya think?
Seriously.....these are smart and creative types, doin' all this stuff. Gettin' paid a lot of money, I'm sure. Hey....I used to work among 'em.
What's wrong people?
Tired.......lazy.......just plain bored with trying to come up with a new and different way to sell blood-sucking female hotties to the young males of the world?
Guess what?
Both marketing camps are even lazier than we thought.
Seems both images may have been ripped off from a somewhat "infamous" shot of everyone's favorite former blood-sucker (and now saintly mother-of-six)........
Angelina Jolie.
Shocker.
An image of Angelina and blood.
Who woulda thought?
All I gotta say is this.......
Screenwriter Diablo Cody (in all of her "girl-power" glory) may have written this flick, but I'm almost positive that the current marketing and advertising for Jennifer's Body is being done by a bunch of guys.
A buncha guys who've been checkin' out too many other movie ads (and tabloids...and probably, porn).
Sheesh.
Whatever.
I don't know about you.....but I have a gut feeling that the full-body/half-naked shots of pretty & young Jennifer's Body star Megan Fox --
-- looking something like Britney Spears on a psychopathic bender -- will be released soon enough.
Hey, this gang may not be creative or original.....but at least they know their audience.
By the way, this video has been up on YouTube just over a year....and has been viewed over 40 million times. (I'm sure Hollywood is knockin' at their door, as I type.)
Well, unless they release it the same weekend as -- Hellboy 3.
Not so great.
We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Yep, so don't know if ya heard (or care....but stick with me here), but Hellboy 2 caused Meet Dave to literally flame-out at the box office this past weekend.
Actually.....that's been accepted fact in Hollywood for quite some time, but this weekend's 107 million box office take (Tuesday night through Sunday) for Hancock pretty much cemented his "good-as-gold" star status. Some quotes from today's Variety.com:
Pic is the eighth Smith film in a row to open at No. 1 domestically, as well as his fifth -- and most successful -- Fourth of July outing. Film’s performance is widely viewed as a testament to Smith’s box office allure, considering that “Hancock” drew generally dismal reviews. Nor did “Hancock” have the same degree of broad appeal that other Fourth of July tentpoles have enjoyed.
“The Will Smith business is a great business to be in. It’s not just a matter of audiences loving him, but they love the characters he plays,” said Sony prexy of domestic distribution Rory Bruer.
“If he isn’t the most bankable guy in our business, I don’t know who is,” a competing studio exec said.
So we went to see Hancock on Thursday evening, the theater was approx. 3/4 full. They were definitely into it. So were we.
Here are a few of my quick thoughts:
-- I liked it, very much.
-- Would I recommend it? Yes, definitely.
-- I understand what some reviewers disliked: It's 2 different films in 1. I kinda liked that.
-- The beginning is what you expect -- funny Will Smith, drunk Hancock, making all sorts of messes.
-- Revelation: Jason Bateman is funny also, and totally attractive and very charming. He definitely needs to work more. Like Will, he is VERY likeable. He and Will have GREAT chemistry together.
-- Jason is so likeable, as a matter of fact.....that near the middle of the film -- when the plot begins to go in a somewhat different direction (a major twist is revealed, I won't spoil it here).....the audience makes an audible gasp. Something is about to maybe....possibly happen, that we don't want to happen. We're kinda like: "Oooh, don't do that." We like Jason and his character that much.
-- Then something totally different does happen, it is a shock and the movie begins it's turn in a different direction.
-- It's not a bad direction, but it definitely makes Hancock feel like 2 completely different films.....a comedy and a more dark character study.
-- I found it interesting. The actors definitely pulled it off.....so it didn't bother me.
My bottom line.... this movie succeeds because of 2 things:
Will Smith and MAJOR cast chemistry.
Will and Jason have it. Will and Charlize have it. Jason and Charlize have it.
The storyline may be a little muddled at times, but those 3 make up for it -- big time.
It makes me remember why I was even interested in this flick, way back when I first heard about it many months ago.
I saw this production photo on the internet last August:
Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron, laughing while filming a scene from the movie (back then, it was titled: John Hancock). There was just something about this shot....the way they looked, his smile -- her laugh. I saved the photo on my computer. I just wanted to know more about this flick.
I looked up the production info and synopsis on IMDb.com (The Internet Movie Database.....one of my go-to sites for movie scoop).
It sounded interesting, so I kept tabs on it. I just had a gut feeling about it.
Hmmm.....guess my gut was right.
OK, enough about me and my gut.
Click on the word "comments" below and let me know your Hancock thoughts.
Have you seen it? Will you see it? Do you like Will Smith? Do you listen to what reviewers say? Do you care?
Yep......Will Smith still pretty much owns the 4th of July weekend box office, that's for sure.
Remember, he's been here before.
Independence Day. Men In Black. Wild, Wild West.
(Hmmm.....forget that last one. I'm sure Will is tryin' to.)
Anyways, it's safe to say that Will Smith is a pretty much universally-loved movie star who people like to go watch do his thing in big summer flicks.
Especially around the 4th of July.
Especially if he's fightin' off bad guys and blowin' stuff up. Yeah....that definitely packs 'em in.
However, more than a few industry insiders (and critics and bloggers....) have recently questioned whether Mr. Smith's power as a movie star (who can actually "open" a picture) will be dimmed by this film (and it's many negative reviews) if it underperforms at the box office.
You know what? I'm gonna go on the record and say........"NO."
Seriously, I'm still not convinced that your average everyday movie-goer even pays attention to reviews and/or movie critics in general.
They might read a review about a flick if they've never heard of it or wanna get some plot scoop.....but I don't believe it influences their trip to the theater, one way or another.
I gather more information than most about upcoming flicks, and I just read reviews for a little extra opinion or insight. They never influence my final decision to actually see a flick.
In fact, Hancock has been on my radar for quite some time....since it was originally titled: Tonight, He Comes. (Uh, good move on changin' that title there fellas.....somewhat of a marketing problem, I'd guess.)
So I always thought it sounded like an interesting premise....a fresh take on the superhero genre. With a good script, a great cast (Helloooo, Will Smith -- Mr. Box Office Gold) and a decent director -- what a fun time at the theater.
I'm not the first to point this out by the way.
Many others (mostly critics) have said that's why they are so disappointed in this flick. It had such promise, and doesn't live up to it -- at all.
OK.....enough about this film that I haven't seen yet.
I plan to remedy that tonight around 7:30 pm.
Our plan is to go tonight, the entire family -- and finally see what all of the fuss is about.
My hope is that the theater is packed. That's my favorite way to see a flick like this.
I'm thinkin' I'll probably like it......there truly aren't many flicks that I don't like. I can usually find at least something good.
"How about that soundtrack? And those costumes.....you have to admit, the characters didn't make much sense -- but they sure looked good!"
Yep, this blog is called Movie Lovers Only for a reason.
I love movies.
Hmmm.....I guess we'll see how I feel about that in the morning. Happy 4th of July everyone........
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