Will Ferrell is Hollywoods Most Overpaid Actor of the Year

Every year the folks over at Forbes put together a fun little list of the most overpaid actors in Hollywood. It's fun because it's a chance for people to call out some of the big shots who earn a lot of money but fail to deliver massive box office success. Not surprisingly, at the top of the list this year is Will Ferrell, a funny guy experiencing a fair bit of backlash right now, thanks in large part to the dud that was Land of the Lost (hey, I actually liked it). In order to create this list, they compared actor's earnings versus the budgets and profits from their most recent films, and looked for the lowest return. Since it might be unfair to penalize actors for doing smaller art house films, they only take into account movies that opened in at least 500 theatres. They also only chose actors who had at least 3 such films in the last 5 years. Despite all of this, I still can't help but feel that Leonardo DiCaprio ended up on the list because of his choice to do less mainstream projects. At any rate, it makes for an interesting discussion, particularly since this story comes hot on the heels of yet another headline trumpeting the so-called death of the movie star [1]. Check out the top 10 list after the jump, and for contrast, see also their list of Best Actors for the Buck [2]. Do you think all these A-listers are indeed overrated and overpaid? Are movie stars still necessary in this day and age? 1. Will Ferrell -- $3.29 returned for every dollar spent 2. Ewan McGregor -- $3.75 3. Billy Bob Thornton -- $4.00 4. Eddie Murphy -- $4.43 5. Ice Cube -- $4.77 6. Tom Cruise -- $7.18 7. Drew Barrymore -- $7.43 8. Leonardo DiCaprio -- $7.52 9. Samuel L. Jackson -- $8.59 10. Jim Carrey -- $8.62 [1] http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5AC5AI20091113 [2] http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/24/best-actors-for-the-buck-business-entertainment-payback.html

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: November 1st, 2009

This week: The box office says This Is It; The Tourist finally gets its bags packed; Billy Bob Thornton and Dwayne Johnson go Faster; Ricky Gervais hosts The Golden Globes and DeNiro and Stiller are hanging out with the Little Fockers. Box Office Michael Jacksons This Is It topped the box office over the Halloween weekend with an [...]

Billy Bob Goes Faster

Billy Bob Thornton has signed on to star opposite Dwayne Johnson in Faster, a co-production of CBS Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. The announcement was made today by Amy Baer, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Films, the feature film division of CBS Corporation. The project, which is scheduled to start principal photography in mid-January, will be directed by George Tillman Jr. (Notorious, Men of Honor, Soul Food).

Billy Bob Thornton Joins The Rock in Faster Thriller

Billy Bob Thornton has signed on to star opposite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the action/thriller "Faster," which will be directed by George Tillman, Jr (Notorious, Men of Honor, Soul Food).

Billy Bob joins Rock

Billy Bob Thornton has signed on to co-star with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the upcoming action flick FASTER. While this is mildly interesting news on its own, the most fascinating part for me are the character names. Johnson will be playing a character named Driver, who just so happens to be a driver. Thornton will be playing a character named Cop, who just so happens to be a cop. Yet to be cast is a... Read More...

Billy Bob Thornton And The Rock: Together At Last!

In the history of unlikely couples together onscreen, Billy Bob Thornton and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might be the oddest and the most entertaining. Somehow the gods have smiled upon us and the two of them are set to star in Faster, a movie in which the two aren't just chasing each other, but they're nameless characters on the run. Check and mate. George Tillman, who most recently made the Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious, will direct, according to ...

Casting Notes: Billy Bob Thornton Goes Faster with The Rock; Dannny Huston Seeks Justice for Lincoln Assassination; Jovovich Joins Psycho Thriller

The casting news tonight is all over the place: First we have Billy Bob Thornton teaming up with Dwayne Johnson in Faster, a George Tillman Jr. (Men of Honor, Notorious) action drama vehicle. Johnson will star as Driver, an ex-con out for revenge  following his brother's murder. Thornton plays Cop, a (you guessed it) police officer tailing Driver. There's also Killer, a hitman who's after Driver for some reason (my god, maybe he killed Driver's brother?!). The latter role remains uncast. Danny Huston has signed on to Robert Redford's period drama, The Conspirator, as a prosecutor in the Lincoln assassination trial. The film will specifically center on Mary Surratt, portrayed by Robin Wright Penn, who was infamous as the lone female co-conspirator in the assassination. Huston will also be joined by James McAvoy as Fredrick Aiken, Surratt's reluctant defense lawyer, as well as Justin Long, Tom Wilkinson, and Kevin Kline. This is ...

Billy Bob Thornton Moves FASTER in George Tillman Jrs Upcoming Action-Drama Starring Dwayne Johnson

Taking a break from making radio talk show hosts uncomfortable, Billy Bob Thornton has signed on to play opposite Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming action/drama (you’ll get all of the action and none of the fun!) FASTER.  Thornton was most recently seen in the action/unintentional-comedy flick “Eagle Eye”.  While he was also in “The Informers” [...]

Matthew and Camila Take the Premieres One at a Time

A Look At That WALMART Exclusive TRANSFORMERS: ROTF Blu-Ray & DVD With The IMAX Cut.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN BLU-RAYWALMART BIG SCREEN EXCLUSIVE2009/Rated PG-13/ 150 minsAvailable Today  List Price $39.98Who could have guessed Michael Bay would make what is perhaps the most controversial film of the year? Even though the 'Transformers' sequel is one of the highest grossing films in history, I really thought the general consensus was that most audiences hated it. Boy was I wrong. Now I have nothing against anyone liking or disliking any film, that's their prerogative. But the vicious disagreements concerning this film have got way out of hand. At the end of the day it is just a movie about giant robots fighting each other, I mean c'mon guys. Despite the fact that a small number of elements did work for me, as a fan of the franchise since childhood, I was personally disappointed in both films. But I didn't lose any sleep over it and put it behind me as soon as I walked out the theater. Movies, good and bad can be so powerful that just about anyone can find themselves getting fanatical so I guess we can chalk it up to human nature. Yes, bigger... ...but bigger isn't always better. At the time this film was released, I blamed acclaimed screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for it's rather lacking story, till I realized they were probably following Michael Bay's lead (even though rumor has it Bay wrote most of the story himself due to last year's writer's strike). Shia LaBeouf is a talented actor who has been able to hold his own with the likes of Harrison Ford, Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Voight (who wisely opted out for this one), but at times his performances can be erratic. He was rather terrible in the first film, because he took the term hormonal teenager to the extreme. The film made the mistake of devoting screen time to him rather than focusing on the Transformers, who became guest stars in their own movie. His performance this time 'round is a lot worse along with Meagan Fox, who has become a teen idol merely by showing her cleavage and wearing lip gloss. For a kids cartoon, there was actually a bit of depth and humanity within the original animated series and you forgot these characters were fictional robots. This is a kids movie and its been dumbed down to the extreme. Much of this sequel is a chase film. The Decepticons chase Sam and the Autobots protect and defend him. He runs from college to New York, New Jersey, the Smithsonian and finally the pyramids in Egypt. Sounds like a smooth scenic trip when in actuality its a bumpy ride. It's like run, run, run, explosion followed by run, run, run, explosion, with boring exposition in between. A lot of work went into the design of the robots, their photo-realism as well as the personalities given to them by the animators and voice actors. At times my heart warmed to the thoughts of seeing different versions of beloved characters from my childhood and at others, I sat there wondering what the f**k is this? Just when there's something to appreciate or dare I say, awe inspiring within this film, either something really dumb happens or things get blown up. You could almost set your watch to it or make a drinking game out of it. Apparently the dumber the better. Fight sequences you thought looked cool in the trailer turn out not to be as epic as you hoped and are rather brief. Only two battle scenes are presented in the high resolution IMAX format and they are choreographed and edited badly. Christopher Nolan proved he is a greater master of the medium with 'The Dark Knight' last year, because those IMAX sequences looked intricately planned and served as a storytelling device. Bay's work in the format feels like a last minute afterthought (which it was) and brings out the flaws in the CGI animation. I will admit, that certain elements made me smile, such as voice actor Peter Cullen's iconic characterization of my childhood hero Optimus Prime, as well as his and Bumblebee's heroism and ability to kick some serious ass. I wanted to see giant robots beat the crap out of each other and there's more of that here than in the first film. But all of it feels like nothing without some substance to back it up. If James Cameron were directing, I bet she'd be like this all the time. This film made a killing at the box office and will no doubt make a killing on home video. It's biggest draw are no doubt adolescents and even though some haters of this film may think parents who buy the video for their kids are irresponsible or insane, it's rather harmless entertainment. Several of the big chains like Best Buy and Target have their own exclusive versions of the video release, which entail some form of special collectable packaging. Walmart went one further and paid Paramount to give them the exclusive rights to sell Bay's IMAX cut of the film on DVD and blu-ray. Most audiences didn't see this version because not every city has IMAX theaters. You would think that after Paramount and Bay took a note from director Chris Nolan and partially shot 'Transformers' in IMAX they would make that version easily available on blu-ray just as Warner Bros. did for 'The Dark Knight'. It's a scam, a gimmick they want fans to buy every special packaging or version of the film available and may actually get their way. What's funny is that even though the IMAX version is 60 seconds longer and features sequences that fill the entire 16:9 HDTV frame, it's still the same damn movie.IMAX and I'm talking the real IMAX, is presented in a 1.44 to 1 aspect ratio. 'The Dark Knight' had plenty of sequences where the aspect ratio would shift from 2.40 to 1 scope to IMAX full frame. There's also IMAX Digital, which involves digital projectors using a standard 1.85 screen in a regular ole' theater. This is the version Walmart's got. Just like 'The Dark Knight', a 1.44 to 1 image would not make an impact in the HDTV ratio because it would be pillar-boxed with black bars on the sides. Then when the film would shift to standard lettter-box with bars on the top and bottom it would really be distracting, so the original IMAX image has been cropped a bit. The problem is that 'The Dark Knight' has about six major sequences shot in IMAX where as 'Transformers' has two and they don't last that long. The Optimus Prime brawl is perhaps the most exciting action sequence in the film and watching the scene shift from scope to IMAX or 16:9 is slightly dramatic. The only other time we see this are shots of the colossal Decepticon Devastator and we know just how controversial that character and his steel scrotum was. Well maybe not as controversial as those Autobot twins a buddy of mine called Sambots but you get the idea.  I can really say what the sixty second difference is between both the standard cut and this one, but I imagine it consists of additional shots instead of more plot.  (As if this movie had a real plot.)The thing is, if you want the blu-ray, Walmart did something smart. They're selling it this week for only 13 bucks. Not $13.99, 13 bucks even.  Forget Best Buy's doorbuster deal of 21 dollars or any other sale price Target is promoting, I can't think of any major blu-ray release of a new film hitting stores for that cheap. I mean it's cheaper than any of the DVD versions. Forget Walmart's website, in-store they are selling it for 13 bucks. Now I'm sure some of you are already saying I don't care, I'll never buy that crappy movie (I didn't either, I got mine for free from a friend) but there are many that wish to purchase 'Transformers' and I have to admit Walmart has the best deal. The thing is, everyone doesn't have a Walmart in their area (including me) so some can either get a friend who does to pick one up or just cut their losses. It is 'Transformers' afterall, not 'The Godfather'.I have to say the presentation on this IMAX or Big Screen edition as they are calling it is superb. You can notice the image quality slightly improve during the shift to the IMAX scenes even though there are barely any. The DTS HD Master Audio track is also outstanding and will probably be a popular demo in homes during the years to come.If you pick up the standard b