How improv helped Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner in 'The Lion King'

Comedians Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen take on popular characters Timon and Pumbaa in Disney's masterful new version of "The Lion King."

Read more on Balitang America.

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Review: Salacious, subversive 'Sausage Party'

With a poster proudly announcing that this animated film is by the guys who brought us "This is the End" (specifically Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg), we automatically know "Sausage Party" won't be for kids.

We immediately expect what kind of comedy this film will be pushing -- crass, rude, profane, off-color, gross. We know this movie will definitely NOT be for kids. It is not the first CGI-animated film to be rated R in the US for nothing. You know if you are its target audience or not, so watch this at your own risk.

Once upon a time, the groceries in Shopwell believed that once they get picked up by one of the human customers, they would live happily ever after. Frank the sausage and Brenda the bun looked forward to getting put into that shopping cart and spend eternity together doing more than just touching fingertips. However, they would soon discover the harsh and horrible truth about what really happens to food items after they leave the store.

The story of the central characters Frank and Brenda (Seth Rogen and Kristen Wiig) were on a predictable romance track. More interesting side stories were provided by supporting characters, like insecure dwarf sausage Barry (Michael Cera), Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton) and Kareem Abdul Lavash (David Krumholtz) representing the Jew and Arab rivalry, a lesbian taco Teresa del Taco (Selma Hayek), Native American Firewater liquor (Bill Hader), a suicidal bottle of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) and a Stephen Hawking-like chewed-up Gum (Scott Underwood). Someone's imagination really went wild here. He was most probably high when he came up with these ideas.

In a clear parody of Disney and Pixar films, the rather sacrilegious opening song "The Great Beyond" was by no less than composer of "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin" -- Alan Menken himself! In that song, the various foodstuff were blissfully living their lives in the supermarket shelves waiting earnestly to be bought and brought home by humans, whom they consider their gods.

This innocent idealism would later be shattered when they reach the kitchen. The film takes a dark and disturbing turn when we get a view of what food items feel when they are being peeled, chopped, cooked and chewed. Those scenes were not easy to watch, especially that one with those cute little baby carrots (Sugar Lyn Beard). You will never look at a cookbook the same way again after you see that major horrific revelation scene here.

Even if it was expected, I did not like the profanity which was so rampant in this film. There was a dirty word present in almost all the lines, it was already so numbing in its frequency. Every scene with that hateful main villain Douche (Nick Kroll) and store manager Darren (Paul Rudd) was vile and repulsive, especially when Douche was in the open fly of Darren's pants.

Like the other Rogen films, there were drug references and scenes aplenty here as well. Of course, James Franco would again voice a drug addict here. And then there was the very violent free-for-all in the supermarket aisles as the food items attacked the humans.

The posters and trailer were selling this as an all-out animated sex comedy. However, those people who only came expecting to see raunchy scenes alone may be disappointed. This animated feature actually tackles a variety of heavy topics like race and religion throughout its 89 minute running time. The outright sex part came only at the last 10 minutes, an extended, comically graphic sexual orgy of food items that push the limits of the R rating, certainly not for the prudish nor the squeamish.

Overall, this was not my cup of tea. Some interesting, innovative and inspired moments of out-of-the-box daring comedy all over, but the general flow and spirit of the movie did not really sit well with me. Must be my age. 4/10

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

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'The Interview' makes first million in roller-coaster release

LOS ANGELES - "The Interview" took in more than $1 million (642,772 pounds) in a limited Christmas Day release, a decent start for the raunchy comedy that appeared dead after Sony Pictures pulled it from theatres last week following a devastating cyberattack blamed on North Korea.

Even though the film was very much in the zeitgeist and also up for rental on YouTube and Google Play, it was unclear whether the Seth Rogan movie would recoup the $44 million it cost to make, or the additional millions spent on marketing.

The comedy, steeped in gross-out, bathroom humour that depicts a fictional plot to assassinate North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, managed to fill a few hundred theatres that made a last-minute push to screen the film.

"They (Sony) got $1 million in sales, that's a nice bit of gravy... knowing the main release isn't happening the way it should be," said Gitesh Pandya, editor of boxofficeguru.com.

"The Interview" was shown in 331 mostly independent theatres in the United States - less than 10 percent of its planned wide release - after major U.S. movie chains balked at showing the movie due to security concerns.

It was expected to gross at least $20 million over the long holiday weekend if in wide release, according to Boxoffice.com.

Sony Pictures also released the movie online via Google Inc's YouTube and Google Play, Microsoft Corp's Xbox gaming console and Sony's own dedicated website. It is looking for more partners for digital distribution, though hundreds of thousands of people have reportedly downloaded it from pirate sites.

"Considering the incredibly challenging circumstances, we are extremely grateful to the people all over the country who came out to experience 'The Interview' on the first day of its unconventional release," Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures president of distribution, said in a statement.

The controversy gave the film exposure to audiences that might never have gone to see the movie, and many who showed up on Christmas Day said they were there to support free speech.

One of those was David Humdy, 65, an entertainment industry accountant who saw the film in Los Angeles and declared it "silly, entertaining, better than I thought."

So far, Sony has not released online sales figures, but the screwball comedy was the top film on YouTube and Google Play.

Pandya believes Sony Pictures will be able to absorb losses easily, as it is not unusual for a film of its budget to fall short.

"It's hard to find a way that they recoup it all because they did end up spending a lot of money on marketing for a theatrical release that never happened," he added.

Pandya estimated that "The Interview" would have grossed about $5 million on Christmas Day had it been in wide release.

It did take in an estimated $3,142 per screen without the benefit of playing in the largest multiplexes. That is about double the amount if the film had been in wide release.

The two biggest Christmas Day releases, Universal's "Unbroken" and Disney's "Into the Woods," respectively grossed $4,980 and $6,182 per screen, according to studio estimates.

(Additional reporting by Mary Milliken; Editing by Dan Grebler)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

YouTube shows 'The Interview' before theaters

LOS ANGELES -- Sony Pictures made "The Interview" available online on Wednesday, a day before its theatrical release, after reversing a decision made a week ago to cancel the movie's release following a massive cyberattack.

The film was available for rental on Google Inc's YouTube site as of early Wednesday afternoon. Microsoft Corp and Sony itself are also showing the comedy, a day before its scheduled premiere at some 320 independent theaters.

"We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release," Sony Entertainment chief executive Michael Lynton said in a statement.

He added that Sony had first reached out to Google, Microsoft "and other partners" on Dec. 17, the day the studio said it was canceling the movie's Christmas Day release.

The movie, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco and is about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, triggered the most destructive cyberattack ever to target a U.S. company, resulting in the release of hundreds of embarrassing emails and confidential data.

U.S. President Barack Obama last week blamed the cyberattacks on North Korea and added to a chorus of criticism by politicians and Hollywood actors, screenwriters and directors accusing Sony of caving to the hackers' demands by censoring itself.

In addition to YouTube Movies, Google Play, Microsoft's Xbox Video, the comedy will be available on a dedicated website, www.seetheinterview.com, to rent for $5.99 or buy for $14.99. No cable or satellite TV operator has yet agreed to make "The Interview" available through video on demand (VOD).

The showing is a chance for Google and Microsoft, which have been bit players in a VOD market dominated by Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc and cable and satellite operators, to raise their profile.

It was unclear the extent to which the online release would dampen moviegoers' appetite to see the comedy in the independent theaters that announced on Tuesday they planned to show it.

Many Christmas Day screenings were sold out, including one that begins right after midnight at the 184-seat Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles.

"I need to say that a comedy is best viewed in a theater full of people, so if you can, I'd watch it like that," Rogen tweeted. "Or call some friends over."

Google said it had weighed the security implications of screening the movie - described by reviewers as "profane" and "raunchy" - after Sony contacted the company about making it available online.

'Imposing censorship'

"But after discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)," Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, wrote in a blog post.

Google has an "enormous" infrastructure that is well tested in fighting off denial of service and other attacks, said Barrett Lyon, principal strategist with F5 Networks and an expert in Internet network security. "I wouldn't imagine seeing 'lights-out' at YouTube," he said, adding that Microsoft could be more vulnerable

Sony pulled the movie after major theater chains refused to show it. That followed threats of September 11, 2001 style attacks from Guardians of Peace, the group that claimed responsibility for the cyberattacks against Sony.

The White House on Wednesday praised the decision to release the film.

"As the president made clear on Friday, we do not live in a country where a foreign dictator can start imposing censorship here in the United States," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement. "With today's announcements, people can now make their own choices about the film, and that's how it should be."

A national security official said on Tuesday that U.S. authorities did not take the hackers' threats against theatergoers seriously.

CNN, which first reported that Sony was in talks with Google's YouTube on releasing the movie, said the studio also had held talks with Apple about making the comedy available on its iTunes store but that the negotiations broke down.

Obama vowed in a news conference on Friday to respond to the cyberattack "in a place and timing and manner that we choose."

Japan, meanwhile, has begun working to ensure basic infrastructure is safe and to formulate its diplomatic response, officials said, fearing it could be a soft target for possible North Korean cyberattacks in the escalating row over the Sony Pictures hack.

And South Korea is seeking the cooperation of Chinese authorities in a probe into a cyberattack on its nuclear power plant operator after tracing multiple Internet addresses involved to a northeastern Chinese city near North Korea, a prosecution official said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com