A chain-smoking former statistics professor named Vinny Bruzzese — “the reigning mad scientist of Hollywood,” in the words of one studio customer — has started to aggressively pitch a service he calls script evaluation. For as much as $20,000 per script, Mr. Bruzzese and a team of analysts compare the story structure and genre of a draft script with those of released movies, looking for clues to box-office success. His company, Worldwide Motion Picture Group, also digs into an extensive database of focus group results for similar films and surveys 1,500 potential moviegoers. What do you like? What should be changed?

“Demons in horror movies can target people or be summoned,” Mr. Bruzzese said in a gravelly voice, by way of example. “If it’s a targeting demon, you are likely to have much higher opening-weekend sales than if it’s summoned. So get rid of that Ouija Board scene.”

….

“All screenwriters think their babies are beautiful,” he said, taking a chug of Diet Dr Pepper followed by a gulp of Diet Coke and a drag on a Camel. “I’m here to tell it like it is: Some babies are ugly.”

It’s that time again. The 5th Annual PCB Summer Movie List!

With the release of ‘Iron Man 3’ this weekend we’re officially entering summer blockbuster season. Keeping with tradition of the past four years, (yikes, has it really been that long) below are all of the summer movies I’m interested in seeing (subject to change based on buzz and reception). 

I do this mostly as a reference for myself, and like usual I’ll be crossing off the ones I’ve seen and linking to any reviews I write. Look for sporadic reblogs of this post throughout the summer to check in on my progress.

• ‘Iron Man 3’ - May 3
• ‘The Great Gatsby’ - May 10
• ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ - May 17
• ‘The Hangover Part III’ - May 24
• ‘After Earth’ - May 31
• ‘The Kings of Summer’ - May 31
• ‘The Internship’ - June 7
• ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ - June 7
• ‘Man of Steel’ - June 14
• ‘This Is The End’ - June 14
• ‘The Bling Ring’ - June 14
• ‘Monsters University’ - June 21
• ‘The Heat’ - June 28
• ‘The Way Way Back’ - July 5
• ‘Pacific Rim’ - July 12
• ‘RIPD’ - July 19
• ‘The Wolverine’ - July 26
• ‘Blue Jasmine’ - July 26
• ‘Elysium’ - Aug 9
• ‘Kick-Ass 2’ - Aug 16
• ‘The To-Do List’ - Aug 16
• ‘The World’s End’ - Aug 23

mattpatches:

There is a problem in Hollywood that isn’t changing.  Three female directors of 2013, Kimberly Peirce (Carrie), Jennifer Lee (Disney’s Frozen), and Tina Gordon Chism (Peeples), speak on the the movie industry’s gender divide.

danhacker:

Looks like Zack Snyder quietly changed Jimmy Olsen into Jenny Olsen without anyone noticing until now.

mattpatches:

Supporting the films that deserve it.

awesomeacappella:

Major 7 (Johns Hopkins) - “Skyfall” by Adele

collegehumor:

Poor Statue of Liberty [Click for full gallery]

If the apocalypse is indeed happening, make sure to avoid the Statue of Liberty. That shit is always going down. Here’s proof: in chronological order, a list of disaster movies (and television miniseries) featuring Statue of Liberty getting destroyed (..so many from 2008):

funnyordie:

The Sad Off with Samuel L. Jackson and Anne Hathaway

Christmas gets competitive in a showdown between Sam and Anne.

Listening to the lyrics, this makes a lot of sense.

(via mattpatches)

imwithkanye:

This article is everything that there is about me:

An Aural History of the Inception Horn | Vulture

The “Braaaaaaam” has become more famous than the movie that birthed it; it is the Super-Loud Movie Noise of Our Time. But technically, the Inception horn is not just one horn — it is the work of five instruments who came together to play one note at top volume in the name of history. Vulture asked French horn, Bassoon, Trombone, Tuba, and Timpani to tell the story in their own words.

French horn: Hans Zimmer rolls up with his four Grammys and his Oscar and is all “Just trust me, horns.” We didn’t want to.

Tuba: But then we all started playing.

Trombone: And it was like, blam! Magic!

Bassoon: I knew immediately that we were on to something.

Trombone: It was incredible.

French horn: It was like the first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which I saw shortly after its completion, because the Reniassance.

Trombone: And then it just exploded. We’re all in the trailer, people are yelling “Braaaaam!” in the streets, everyone is pressing that button all the time.

danhacker:

I Thought That New Star Trek Poster Looked Familiar

Leave it to slashfilm to quickly pull together all the examples of why that new Star Trek poster looks so very familiar. I guess dudes standing in front of stuff and broken-as-hell buildings are the hot new reused movie poster design trend.

tomhanksy:

Just about time to gather with friends/family and give T.Hanks for all we have. Brooklyn, NY.

collegehumor:

The 5 Types of Romantic Comedy Movie Posters [Click to view all]

Nobody likes being left out.

tomhanksy:

White Chicks. 6’x6’ at Krause Gallery NYC.

Poster: ‘Django Unchained’

danhacker:

The Theatrical Poster For Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’

After countless character posters, Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’ finally gets it’s final theatrical poster, which is pretty damn sweet.

‘Django Unchained’ stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, “and Don Johnson as Big Daddy.” and opens Christmas day.

via:collider