Tower Heist

'Tower Heist'A Universal Pictures release given Imagine Entertainment in colaboration with Relativity Media of the John Grazer production. Created by Grazer, Eddie Murphy, Kim Roth. Executive producers, Bill Carraro, Karen Kehela Sherwood. Directed by Brett Ratner. Script, Ted Griffin, Shaun Nathanson story, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Griffin.Josh Kovaks - Ben Stiller Slide - Eddie Murphy Charlie - Casey Affleck Arthur Shaw - Alan Alda Mr. Fitzhugh - Matthew Broderick Lester - Stephen McKinley Henderson Mr. Simon - Judd Hirsh Special Agent Claire Denham - Tea Leoni Enrique Dev'Reaux - Michael Pena Odessa - Gabourey Sidibe Miss Iovenko - Nina AriandaFurther evidence the working-class is maintenance its pitchforks to storm Wall Street's castle, "Tower Heist" delivers a classic-fashioned comedy caper by which employees inside a tony residential high-rise plan to steal back the millions embezzled through the Bernie Madoff-style body fat cat residing in the building's penthouse. However the large-budget pic goes wonky in order to the financial institution, because of its lackluster pacing and shortage from the characteristics that typically earn stars Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy their income -- namely, laughs. Still, their participation should help safeguard Universal's investment, making certain decent returns in to the holidays. Inside a heist movie, the a shorter period allocated to setup the greater. But helmer Brett Ratner, whose unapologetically broad yet super-clever entertainments have formerly shown an enthusiastic feeling of what auds want, rather draws the setup. Smitten using the building (Trump Tower, but never recognized as a result), he deliberately determines each one of the figures, from smug billionaire Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda, perfectly cast) to dutiful building manager Josh Kovaks (Stiller), who admires Shaw and takes his job incredibly seriously -- until he discovers the Tower's top-floor tenant pocketed the staff's retirement savings. The script, credited to 5 authors, with patience waits for disillusion to sink in, trickling lower with the building and it is personnel, including a unaware expectant-father concierge (Casey Affleck), a bankrupt investor (Matthew Broderick) along with a devastated old doorman (Stephen McKinley Henderson) who attempts to step before a subway train when he discovers what grew to become of his amount of money. The film also offers a first-day-on-the-job bellhop (Michael Pena), whose arrival enables for any remedial tour from the Tower's security procedures, which seem complicated try not to really impact the heist by any means. For that first 40 minutes approximately, the pic plays just like a dull blue-collar drama populated entirely by stereotypes, none more crazy than Murphy, who seems on Josh's way back and forth from work, putting on a do-rag and shouting at his girlfriend on the street -- a welcome go back to the comic's irreverent, 1980s-era persona. Sadly, Murphy, who apparently hatched the project being an all-black response to the "Ocean's Eleven" series, is not within the movie much. When his idea arrived at the screen, it absolutely was rethought so much that Murphy now finds themself the only real black character within the initial crew, enlisted because "he's been arrested a lot of occasions." The gang later recruits a Jamaican safe-cracking maid performed by "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe, who gives Murphy an opportunity to squirm under her sexual advances (amusing) and battle body fat jokes (less). When the wheels finally begin to switch on Josh's intend to steal your money back Shaw embezzled, "Tower Heist" accumulates some much-needed momentum. Ratner finds themself on firmer ground such familiar genre territory, getting formerly done his best product on little-seen heist movie "Following the Sunset," which recognized the only factor more entertaining than really nabbing a multimillion-dollar prize is looking to get away by using it. "Tower Heist" stays the relaxation of their running time monitoring the crew because they attempt to infiltrate Shaw's penthouse, locate his hidden millions and, when that fails, make served by the valued 1963 Ferrari he keeps parked in the family room. However the effects get short shrift -- an unusual choice, after getting introduced Tea Leoni like a supportive FBI agent who concurs to day Josh the Saturday following the heist is planned. The resolution feels rushed, especially as concerns Stiller's character the actor, so great at playing annoyed, may have been better used attempting to thwart the heist from inside, instead of leading it. A subplot by which Josh and Shaw play computer chess indicates there is a fight-of-the-wits aspect towards the caper, although the most entertaining bits showcase the ensemble at their most unaware, as when Murphy tests his amateur cohorts by daring these to steal $50 price of merchandise in the mall -- the scene that best fosters genuine identification with one of these buffoons. Throughout the heist itself, the suspense is palpable, if perhaps because Christophe Beck's funky score blares its horns so insistently, one can't help but feel anxious. However the laughs don't follow, wasting such set pieces as Broderick dangling in the bumper of the sports vehicle suspended 50-odd tales above NY's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade with no madcap hilarity -- or gimme golden-parachute jokes -- they so highly deserve.Camera (color, widescreen), Dante Spinotti editor, Mark Helfrich music, Christophe Beck production designer, Kristi Zea art director, Nicholas Lundy set decorator, Diane Lederman costume designer, Sarah Edwards seem (Datasat/SDDS/Dolby Digital), Tod Maitland supervisory seem editor, Warren Shaw re-recording mixers, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti visual effects supervisor, Mark Russell visual effects, Method Galleries, Phosphene, Large Film Design, Framestore stunt coordinator, Jery Hewitt assistant director, James M. Freitag second unit director, George Aguilar second unit camera, Lukasz Jogalla casting, Kathleen Chopin. Examined at Arclight Movie theaters, Hollywood, March. 24, 2011. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 105 MIN. Contact Peter Debruge at peter.debruge@variety.com

'Relatively' serious

Woodsy Allen and Angela Lansbury meet round the Rialto. Steve Guttenberg and Marlo Thomas John Turturro and Aida Turturro Among the surreal celebrity moments being treasured within the opening-evening party of "Relatively Speaking": Steve Guttenberg being congratulated by Angela Lansbury while Phil Donahue looked on.Such apparently disparate luminaries were come up with Thursday evening at Bryant Park Grill to celebrate the Broadway opening in the trio of just one-act plays composed by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woodsy Allen. Guttenberg, who's rooming in Gotham with co-star Mark Linn-Baker for your limited engagement, stars inside the play composed by Allen. Donahue was there with wife Marlo Thomas, the topliner of May's outing.Thomas mentioned she'd unlikely the three large-title authors being the ceaseless presences they switched to become, attending every testing and every preview performance."They're funny, but they're serious people," she mentioned. "They're set on their work."

REVIEW: The Three Musketeers is a Tedious, Incoherent Drag

If Sherlock Holmes could be successfully steampunked into a rakish action hero, there’s no reason The Three Musketeers couldn’t be gearpunked into some tolerable 17th century equivalent — and Athos, Porthos, Aramis and young D’Artagnan are actually soldiers, so no serious character tweaking is required to send them off into repeated swashbuckling setpieces. It’s not the addition of airships and male dangly earrings that make Paul W.S. Anderson’s take on Alexandre Dumas’ classic, much-adapted adventure such a drag, it’s everything else — the incoherence, the anvil-heavy dialogue, the lack of anything beyond the broadest of characterizations. Even the action sequences, which are Anderson’s primary selling point as a director, have a weightless, Wacky Races quality to them — no one who’s not an extra ever really seems in danger of getting hurt. The musketeers and their various enemies bounce through blimp battles, cannon fire and giant swordfights, and at worst their brocade outfits get a little dusty. With the stakes so low, why not just skip to the end, when there are guaranteed to be the most explosions and you’ll get to see who wins, before the inevitable sequel setup? This latest incarnation of The Three Musketeers has some promising casting: It’s always a pleasure to see Christoph Waltz, even in the silly role of the scheming Cardinal Richelieu. And Mads Mikkelsen shows up for a few scenes and a duel as Rochefort, the head of Richelieu’s guard and a man with an unfortunate tendency to stop to talk instead of just killing someone. Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson and Luke Evans are all fine as Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and Orlando Bloom has some fun channeling Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow as the vampy, eviled-up Duke of Buckingham. Unfortunately, it’s Logan Lerman’s D’Artagnan and Milla Jovovich’s Milady de Winter who get the largest portions of screen time, and both are like nails on a chalkboard. Lerman, the teenage star of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, makes the introduction of Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams in the Indiana Jones saga look like a masterpiece of charm and charisma. His D’Artagnan is a smirky, preening brat who, thanks to how his introduction is compressed, seems to do nothing but challenge people to duels for the first half of the story. Jovovich, Anderson’s wife and muse, has proven herself capable of being a perfectly viable action heroine, but she’s at a loss here playing a character who’s been reworked from ruthless spy to double agent with no clear motivation other than wreaking havoc, and a soft spot for love that’s counter to Dumas’ branded woman’s tendency to use, discard and/or murder her lovers. It’s amusing that she’s given a swordfight scene in a full corseted gown with panniers, but it remains a ridiculous update of a formidable antagonist that turns her into a simpering dolly. Putting a weapon in the hand of a female character isn’t a guaranteed way of making the role stronger — Jovovich breaking into a highly guarded area in what appears to be her action lingerie shows her character to be capable, sure, but primarily there for decorative purposes. The Three Musketeers keeps the basic framework of Dumas’ story, with a few major tweaks. Most notably, the secret affair between Queen Anne (Juno Temple) and Buckingham, the exposure of which could trigger a war between France and England, has inexplicably been turned into a scheme concocted by Richelieu. In the film, Anne only has eyes for her awkward but adoring husband King Louis XIII (Freddie Fox), and her entanglement with the Duke is entirely the Cardinal’s invention. Presumably an infidelity storyline would not be PG-13 appropriate, though the arranged dynastic marriage of teenagers is totally fine. D’Artagnan’s love interest Constance (Gabriella Wilde) has similarly been sheared of her inconvenient husband and untimely end, and here is just a lady-in-waiting who D’Artagnan first tries, unsuccessfully, to woo while simultaneously fighting off dozens of swordsmen. The film leaps numbingly from action sequence to action sequence, none distinguished enough to leave a mark, even the addition of an introductory segment involving the musketeers breaking into Da Vinci’s vault, which is apparently hidden under a canal in Venice, in order to steal one of his plans. By the time a dirigible is impaled on Notre Dame’s spire, it may begin to occur to you that most of the goings-on in this film could probably have been averted by the royal couple just sitting down and having a conversation, especially if they really are the nice, in-love kids they’ve been made out to be. That would leave more time for Athos, Porthos and Aramis to drink, bitch about how time has passed them by and try on new jackets, which are the true highlights of this otherwise tedious affair. If D’Artagnan was sent out for takeout, that might keep him off screen until the credits — unless, that is, they somehow get a greenlight for a follow-up.

TV Ratings: Fundamental steps 'Modern Family,' 'Happy Endings' Dip Slightly With World Series

Peter Hopper Stone/ABC According to preliminary amounts, ABC's Modern Family outshine game one of the Mlb World Series game involving the Texas Rangers as well as the St. Louis Cardinals inside the internet marketer-coveted 18-49 demo. It's the second year back to back the ABC comedy assigned the earth Series inside the demo.our editor recommends'Glee,' 'Modern Family' win Peabodys'Happy Endings' scores ratings high, keeps more 'Modern Family' lead-in Still, Fox, which broadcast the sport live throughout primetime, won the evening overall -- and may have triggered Modern Family to dip slightly. ABC and CBS tied in second getting a 3.3 rating. PHOTOS: Round the Number of 'Modern Family' On ABC, The Middle (2.9, 9 million) and Suburgatory (3.1, 8.8 million) were flat. Modern Family (5.6, 12.8 million) was lower five percent, Happy Being lower six percent (3., 6.9 million) and Revenge lower 7 percent (2.5, 7.9 million). CBS' Survivor: South Off-shoreline was up three percent (3.3, 11.millions of), as was Criminal Minds (3.9, 13.millions of). CSI was flat getting a couple.6 (10.6 000 0000). PHOTOS: Fall TV Preview 2011: The Returning Shows NBC showed up third place getting single.7 rating. Up With The Evening (2.1, 5.6 000 0000), Harry's Law (1.2, 8.millions of) and Law & Order (2.1, 7.5 million) counseled me flat. Univision rated single.5 The CW reaches fifth getting b .6 A repeat of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Ringer was up 13 percent in general audiences from the other day with 1.2 million (together with b .4 rating). America's Next Top Model (.8, 1.9 million) out-rated NBC inside the 18 to 34 demo inside the 9 to 10 p.m. hour. VIDEO: Emmy Roundtable: Comedy Stars Telemundo showed up last getting b .5. TV Ratings Modern Family

Bizzers honor Calley's impact

CalleyHours after Sony Pictures named a park in the center of its Culver City lot in honor of late chairman John Calley, Sony topper Amy Pascal and hundreds of other friends and family attended a memorial service that served as a tribute to his memory.Pascal was joined at the dais by Howard Stringer, Buck Henry, Mel Brooks, Dana Delany and Warren Beatty; other guests included Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, scribe Robert Towne, producers Brian Grazer and Yair Landau, Sony Classics prexy Michael Barker and CAA's Bryan Lourd."The world isn't the same," remarked Pascal. "John was a true original, a masterful manipulator and the most insanely seductive person I've ever known. He didn't care what anyone else thought. He had the appropriate amount of cynicism about Hollywood but he made sure to never let it get the better of him." Despite the fact that Calley never went to college, Pascal called him "one of the most educated men I've ever met. He was so good at spinning people around in circles so he could get what he wanted. He would bring people into his office to fire them and they'd leave thinking he was a fantastic guy." Before Pascal left the podium, she told the crowd, "There are a few people you meet who change your life, and he changed mine."A highlight reel featuring movie clips and tributes from collaborators Tony Bill, Norman Jewison, Maria Bello, Robin Swicord also screened, though the audio and video were out of sync. "If you'd told John Calley that his memorial reel would be out of sync, he probably would have said, 'So was I, much of the time,' joked Stringer, who added that Calley had "an unusual lack of ego. He ran three studios with maximum taste and minimal tyranny."Brooks, who confessed that he "loved to bullshit and hangout in Calley's office," said that during the making of Warner Bros.' comedy "Blazing Saddles," he used Calley to broker peace between himself and Ted Ashley, who objected to several of the film's raunchier gags. "John set the environment where creative work could happen," said Swicord, while Bello added that "John loved to sleep because he loved to dream, and if he were still here, he'd probably describe his life as a happy accident."The reel featured Calley talking about the pressures of being a powerful studio head making multi-million dollar decisions. "It's scary, but if you use your gut and you've got a good one, then you'll do very well."Delany made sure to wear a dress to the event, "because as we all know, he liked legs." With tears welling up, Delany spoke of how she visited Calley's Century City condo every week toward the end of his life, which she described as "physically challenging but mentally and emotionally rich." She also recalled a time when Calley was in bed with Elaine May, who rolled over and asked him, "you want me to leave now so you can fantasize about me?" to which Calley replied, "yes." The actress continued to give a glimpse into her close personal friendship with Calley: "He was a man of great curiousity and ideas who was still trying to figure life out and distill life to its purest form. He was on the verge of death many times but he refused to give up and had the strongest will to live of anyone I've ever met." Delany recounted that when she asked Calley why he kept removing his breathing tube in the middle of the night, worried that he was trying to end his life, he replied, "I have no desire to commit suicide. I think I'm quite remarkable." That feeling seemed to be shared by everyone who met him, as evidenced by the outpouring of emotion at an intimate reception following the memorial. Contact Jeff Sneider at jeff.sneider@variety.com

Judge Revokes Lindsay Lohans Probation Lohan Posts Bail

First Released: October 19, 2011 5:46 PM EDT Credit: Getty Images Caption Lindsay Lohan is brought away in handcuffs at her probation progress report hearing in the Airport terminal Courthouse in La on October 19, 2011LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Lindsay Lohan carried a brand new accessory Wednesday following a judge suspended her probation: Handcuffs. The actress was taken into custody of the children and escorted from the hearing after Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner suspended her probation because she was ousted from the community service assignment in a womens shelter. There's been breach after breach, Sautner stated. Bail was set at $100,000, and Lohans spokesperson Steve Honig stated it had been immediately published. It had been unclear, however, if Lohan have been launched. Were coping with someone on probation, stated Lohans attorney, Shawn Holley. Many people on probation dont always do things perfectly. A town district attorney suggested incarceration, but Sautner set a November. 2 hearing to determine whether Lohan should serve another stint in jail, where she's been sent four previous occasions simply to be launched early because of jail overcrowding. If jail meant something within the condition of California now, maybe Id put her in jail, Sautner stated. The expansion marked the most recent legal problem for that 25-year-old Lohan, who had been given probation for any 2007 drunken driving situation along with a misdemeanor thievery situation this season. Lindsay is wishing this matter is going to be resolved on November. 2 and also the court will reinstate probation and permit her to continue fulfilling her community service, Honig stated. Lohan have been purchased in April for everyone 360 hrs in the Downtown Womens Center, a company that can help destitute women. Nine of Lohans visits in the center were just blown off and she or he turned up once and left after an hour or so, Sautner stated. Lohan has since began serving hrs using the American Red-colored Mix, but Sautner stated that will not count because it wasn't a part of her sentence. Throughout the tense proceedings, Sautner hammered Lohan for neglecting to appear on her four-hour visits in the womens center and taking six several weeks to accomplish a court-purchased Shoplifters Anonymous course. The judge also asked how Lohan might have complied together with her court-purchased weekly mental counseling when she was driving Europe from Sept. 9 to March. 5. I have no idea how she did that personally each week, stated Sautner, who recommended Lohan complete no less than 16 hrs of her community service in the county morgue prior to the November. 2 hearing, when Lohans probation officer along with other authorities will testify about her efforts to accomplish her sentence. Rapidly after being taken into custody of the children, Lohan published bail and was launched, a Sheriffs Department representative confirmed to gain access to Hollywood. Throughout the hearing, the actress attorney noted that the bail bondsman had supported these phones courthouse, that Sautner responded, Surprise. A mugshot of Lohan won't be launched. Lohan, apart from a job in last years film Machete, has seen her acting career evaporate recently. She has been around perpetual trouble since May 2010. Another judge determined she violated her probation inside a 2007 drunken driving situation and sentenced her to jail and rehab. She faltered after being launched early from the rehab facility early and was delivered to the Betty Ford Center, where she got within an altercation having a rehab worker who later prosecuted. Within days of her release from Betty Ford, Lohan was charged with going for a $2,500 necklace without permission from an trendy jewellery store near her home within the Venice neighborhood of La. Sautner determined the The month of january incident constituted a probation breach, and Lohan was purchased to endure mental counseling and perform 480 hrs of community service, with 120 hrs to become spent in the morgue. Lohan later pleaded no contest to some misdemeanor charge within the thievery situation and offered 35 times of a four-month sentenced on house arrest. Copyright 2011 by Connected Press and NBCUniversal. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Fox Buys CIA Drama From Imagine, Family Comedy From Large Bang Recurring Duo

Fox has bought a CIA drama from author Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies) together with a multi-camera comedy from actor-authors John Ross Bowie and Kevin Sussman, best renowned for their recurring roles on CBS’ hit comedy The Big Bang Theory. The hourlong project, from former CIA officer-switched-author Weisberg, Imagine TV and last century Fox TV, is known to love a higher-stakes character-based drama concentrating on the youthful assistants of high-ranking authorities inside the U.S. Intelligence community. The show happens within the walls in the CIA, together with the DIA, NSA, FBI as well as the intelligence components within the White-colored House. The comedy, from Bowie and Sussman, Principato-Youthful Entertainment and also the new the new sony TV, is tentatively titled The Ever After Part. It concentrates on an elegant couple visiting extreme measures to assist their eccentric 5-year-old daughter, including moving while using grooms tyrant mother to take advantage from the great public school in their area. Peter Principato, Paul Youthful and Joel Zadak of Principato-Youthful, which handles Bowie, will executive produce, and Sussman’s manager Jill McGrath will co-produce. Bowie and Sussman met and increased being pals while guest starring together round the Large Bang Theory, where they recur as Leonard and Sheldon’s enemy Craig Kripke and comic store owner Stuart, correspondingly. The Two written comedy spec Dark Minions, which caught The brand new the new sony Televisions attention and introduced for the new project. Sussman is to apply APA.