'Monsters vs. Aliens' invades theatres

By Sarah Sluis

Releasing in 4,104 theatres on over 7,000 screens, Monsters vs. Aliens will saturate the market this weekend. The credit crunch, however, will prevent the 3D rollout Paramount had hoped for: Only 2 out of

7 screens will show the movie in 3D.

Theatres and studios only recently agreed on the virtual print fee (a way for theatres and studios to share the costs of conversion to digital and 3D), but the financial crisis has cut off lending, leaving theatres unable to secure financing, and American moviegoers with limited places to see Reese Witherspoon as a 3D Ginormica/Susan Murphy.

Whatever the film's take this weekend (likely: high), much of it will be coming from 3D venues, which charge a roughly 25% premium. Add in the extra $1 to see it in IMAX 3D, and you're looking at 3D ticket prices ranging from $12.50 in Indiana to a monster-sized $18.50 in the Big Apple. Still, audiences have shown that they are more than willing to pay extra for 3D, and the novelty factor makes 3D screens profitable weeks after a film's release. This year's 3D pictures Coraline, My Bloody Valentine, and Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience earned a disproportionate percentage of their gross from 3D venues, which only increased as the weeks wore on. Presumably, this can be explained by theatres scaling back the 2D screens, as well as audiences specifically seeking out the 3D experience (I assume many 3D venues sell out opening weekend). Billed as the first movie "fully authored" in 3D, and certainly the one with the widest release, many eyes will be looking to see if Monsters vs. Aliens will pop.

Competing with the family crowds, The Haunting in Connecticut will roll out to 2,732 theatres. A

typical teen-oriented horror picture that's tracking well with teen girls (the "new" audience for horror movies). According to our critic John DeFore, the pictures mines "cancer, an abandoned mortuary and necromancy" for its screams.

Finally, 12 Rounds will open at 2,331 locations. The B-actioner, filmed in New Orleans to take advantage of a tax credit, has that Saw/psycho mastermind element to it: an escaped criminal seeking revenge puts a police officer through 12 rounds of challenges in order to rescue his kidnapped wife. The World Wrestling Federation (WWE) produced the flick, so take that as an endorsement, or a warning.

Next week our Executive Editor Kevin Lally will be reporting from Las Vegas on ShoWest, so look for his posts.

CGI 'Monsters vs. Aliens' first entry in DreamWorks' all-3D plan

By Sarah Sluis

Last week I saw a preview of scenes from Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D.  The film, which will release on March 27, 2009, also recently unveiled its trailer online.

Unlike home-runner Pixar, DreamWorks' animated pictures have been much more uneven, critically and commercially.  Monsters vs. Aliens comes eight years after Pixar's Monsters, Inc., and employs a similar monsters-are-our-friends take on the freakish creatures.  Although I wish the two studios could stop their critter competition (rats in Ratatouille and Flushed Away; fish in Finding Nemo and Shark's Tale; insects in A Bug's Life and Antz), the latest offering looks like a worthy match to Pixar's offering.

Conceptualized and animated entirely in 3D, the film forgoes using the popping effect to shock (a la my previous benchmark, Universal Studios' theme park ride Terminator in 3D) but often makes something as simple as an over-the-shoulder shot pop out, bringing the 3D effect to the most quotidian of film compositions.  The first set-piece, in which the United States president (Stephen Colbert) attempts to make contact with the alien spaceship, makes the most cinematic use of 3D--staircases jut out from the center of the screen, helicopters swoop in, and missiles (including one emblazoned with "E.T. Go Home") fire to impressive 3D effect.  The new wave of 3D glasses are clear and not meant to cause headaches, but it took me the greater part of one sequence for my eyes to adjust and the whisper of a headache to subside.  The polarized glasses also have some unintended effects: the red EXIT sign multiplied by seven and cast itself into my left eyeline.  Not the biggest deal, but if you're paying the premium price ($15.00 for an adult 3D ticket in Manhattan, a $3.00, 25% markup), you want the image to look perfect.

From a storytelling perspective, there is much to commend: little details, like a series of preemptive comedic shrieks, temper the scare factor for youngsters.  For adults, the voice casting plays on the star personas (roly-poly Seth Rogen plays a blob, "House, M.D."'s Hugh Laurie plays a mad scientist cockroach, Stephen Colbert as the President...).  Along with a smattering of Shrek-like allusions to classic monster and alien films, the snappy dialogue, visual gags, and mild gross-out humor will please adults and kids alike.  Watching the film, I knew exactly which moments would prompt eager kids to whisper to their parents with glee ("Daddy! That man just scanned his butt!").  The film also avoids one of my biggest pet peeves: when a marketing campaign gives away too many plot points, forcing the audience to spend half the film waiting to get to the moment you saw or predicted from a thirty-second commercial.  Based on the introduction of the clips, it appears the monsters' defeat of the aliens marks the turning point, not the climax, earning the film major points according to my rubric.  Perhaps DreamWorks is taking a lesson from Pixar and its tantalizing teaser trailers.  With most animation moving into 3D, and DreamWorks committed to making all of their films in 3D from this point onward, the relative success of Disney competitor Bolt 3D stands to foreshadow Monsters vs. Aliens' success this March.

'Monsters vs. Aliens' trailer parades pop-culture references

By Sarah Sluis

Via NYMag's Vulture blog, here's the trailer for DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens.  The kitschy title, which brings to mind 1950s and 1980s action/creature films, is just one of the movie's many borrowings from popular films and culture.  Like DreamWorks' fractured fairy tale Shrek, a lot of the pleasure should come from identifying the cultural references and enjoying the new spin given to them.

Just a few film/cultural references I noted from the trailer:
-A war room, clearly inspired by Dr. Strangelove
-A bipartisan alien that (my opinion) looks like a cross between President Bush and Senator Obama
-Missile inscribed with an E.T. tagline (Dr. Strangelove AND E.T. reference)
-Blob (1958's The Blob)
-Fighter jets attacking a mysteriously shielded mothership (Independence Day)
-Legs of moving warship look like the vehicle from Empire Strikes Back
-The other four monsters are a mad scientist cockroach, an ancient fish, an insectosaurus, and a fifty-foot woman: all clever spins on monsters we have seen before.  I especially like the insectosaurus, a combination that actually seems to cancel out the "threat level" instead of making the creature more intimidating.

The film will release in  InTru3D, as well as RealD and IMAX, which will add to the box-office gross and make the movie an "event" film not to be saved for its DVD release.

Readers - any references you'd like to add?