Alvin Chipmunks, Bee Movie Images
Pictures from Upcoming DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox Films Now Online
Alvin and the Chipmunks and Bee Movie images are now online. Bee Movie hits theatres November 2nd, while Alvin arrives December 14th.
A couple of movies are priming the pump, trying to build up an Internet buzz prior to their mid-winter releases. DreamWorks Animation is putting comedian Jerry Seinfeld into CGI for his star vehicle Bee Movie, while Twentieth Century Fox is updating 1950's-era kiddie music sensations Alvin and the Chipmunks for the new millennium.
Bee Movie Images
Bee Movie is getting a pretty fierce push from DreamWorks Animation these days. Other than the Shrek series, the company hasn't yet had an out-and-out hit and the signs of strain are starting to be visible. If CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg wants to pursue his vision of one sequel/one original flick per year, then he needs to have a cash cow franchise (other than a certain Scottish ogre) to generate sequels.
Blackfilm managed to score some more images from Bee Movie (more than the official website contains, interestingly enough). Most of these images will be familiar to anyone who saw the first official trailer, but there are some new ones.
None of these images give away any clues as to the movie's plot, but we do see a large, jowly guy talking to our hero Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld), more images of Zellweger's florist character, and more looks at Barry interacting with other characters in the movie. We also see some of the stars, such as Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Matthew Broderick, posing "naturally" by their microphones.
Could Bee Movie be Katzenberg's next Shrek? The parallels are there: take one highly-respected comedian (Jerry Seinfeld or Mike Myers), add an all-American leading lady (Renée Zellweger versus Cameron Diaz) and throw in a story that nods and winks to the audience at various intervals. Bee Movie can't really riff on Disney flicks the way Shrek did, but Zellweger is a much more versatile actor than Diaz. I'm still not sure how Seinfeld will translate to the under-12 set, but I'm willing to give this flick the benefit of the doubt.
Bee Movie opens November 2nd.
Alvin and the Chipmunks International Poster
Unlike Bee Movie, I have no doubts about the quality of Twentieth Century Fox's upcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks. This sucker is going to be a gigantic, steaming turd splattered all over the Christmas season.
Does that previous description sound harsh? Not really. You know a movie's trouble when (a) the leading actor doesn't actually interact with the CGI characters and (b) there's an "eating poop" joke right in the fraggin' trailer! What the **** is the MPAA smoking these days? Something's definitely weird when a group so notoriously sensitive about what the kiddies of America see on their screens let this gag pass (puns so intended) without any comment or censorship. Did Fox slip the MPAA a couple of bucks, three kilos of cocaine and several rent boys when we weren't looking?
Okay, so I'm a little sensitive to indiscriminate poop jokes these days, but still . . . What's worse is that this movie slowly dragging the once-promising career of Jason ( Name is Earl) Lee down the toilet along with it. Dude, what were you thinking? First Underdog (a flick that disappeared almost as fast as it showed up) and now this?
Okay, rant over. Here's the Scandinavian poster for Alvin and the Chipmunks, retitled Alvin Och Gänget. I presume the tagline "Alla kan bli stjärnor" is another way of saying "Here comes trouble" but, judging by the somewhat psychotic expressions on Alvin and Company's faces, we don't need anyone to tell us that.
Alvin and the Chipmunks hits theatres (splat!) on December 14th.
