‘Voice’ of WALL-E: Robot sounds toddler-inspired
From Yahoo:
Ben Burtt, the two-time Oscar-winning sound engineer who designed the voices of R2-D2, ET and now the main character in “WALL-E,” says his out-of-this-world audio often comes from the most mundane, Earth-bound activities — like a trip to the grocery store.
When he needed the sound of shopping carts banging together for a scene in Pixar’s robot love story, Burtt took his 10-year-old daughter to a Safeway, where they put their recorder in a cart and pretended to shop (banging into things in the parking lot for good measure).
But when it comes to making robots emotionally resonant, Burtt bases his ideas on the voice of humans. Very small humans.
“The bulk of the vocals, the expressive vocals, are really sounds that are more like a toddler makes … kind of the universal language of intonation,” Burtt said in an interview aired on AP Radio. “‘Oh,’ ‘Hm?,’ ‘Huh!,’ you know? This sort of thing.”
Tropic Thunder Pours Out the Booty Sweat
From E!:
Paramount Pictures is hoping Booty Sweat leaves a good taste in America’s mouth. (We know, it felt disgusting just writing that.)
The studio has announced plans to market a real version of the aforenamed energy drink that can be spied periodically throughout the upcoming Ben Stiller-directed comedy Tropic Thunder, starring Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black as actors who get left behind in an actual war zone after ticking off the director of the war film they’re supposed to be acting in.
While product tie-ins and increasingly viral marketing campaigns are nothing new—what would McDonald’s and Burger King do without Disney, hobbits and superheroes?—Paramount believes that by actually creating a usable product to promote an upcoming film, not to mention one that will compete against Rockstar and Red Bull, they’ve broken the mold.
“Not to my knowledge has this ever been done before,” Paramount’s president of consumer products, Michael Corcoran, told Advertising Age. “We’re very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film.”
‘Wall-E,’ ‘Wanted’ wow box office
From Variety:
Pixar and Disney’s endearing “Wall-E” and Universal’s Angelina Jolie-James McAvoy actioner “Wanted” made for another boffo weekend at the summer box office as overall revenues for the year moved ahead of 2007 for the first time in months.
The critically acclaimed “Wall-E,” directed by Andrew Stanton, easily won the weekend, grossing an estimated $62.5 million from 3,992 runs. The R-rated “Wanted” rocketed past expectations, grossing an estimated $51.1 million from 3,175.
Each made the record books.
“Wall-E” was anything but robotic, scoring the second best June opening of all time, after “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” ($94.7 million). Opening is the third highest among the nine Pixar films after “The Incredibles” ($70.5 million) and “Finding Nemo” ($70.2 million). And at $23.1 million, toon scored the biggest opening-day gross of any Pixar title, reflecting the fact that kids were out of school and free to hit theaters on Friday.
“Wanted” scored the best opening ever for an R-rated film released in June and the sixth best of all time for any R-rated pic. Film, also starring Morgan Freeman, placed No. 2 for the weekend and played well across ethnic groups. U said it’s already eyeing a sequel.
Variety Won’t Credit Collider Yet Again
From Collider:
I’m going to tell you something shocking. Something you will not believe. Variety has yet again written a story that doesn’t credit any online source.
And, of course, the online source is Collider.
As most of you have read, last week I got the producers of 300 to confirm they were trying to make a sequel/prequel to the hugely successful film.
At first I didn’t believe them, but later in the same night I got Director Zack Snyder to confirm the story when he said Frank Miller is going to write something and if they like it, he might direct it.
The story went all over cyberspace. Many websites linked to Collider for the stories and I thought that was it.
I thought wrong.
Maniston Waits Backstage at John Mayer Concert
From People:
Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer continued to keep their romance firmly off the radar Saturday.
Slipping unnoticed into the musician’s backstage area at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London’s Hyde Park, Aniston stood quietly in the wings while the singer ran through a 45-minute set in front of an audience of ten of thousands.
But the actress wasn’t just there to lend moral support: wearing a black-and-white floral halter-neck top and faded flared jeans, Aniston busily snapped away with her camera to record Mayer’s on-stage performance.
It was the second time in two days that Aniston had joined Mayer for one of his gigs. On Friday, she took a seat in the upper level of the gritty south London venue, the Brixton Academy, before leaving with Mayer at around 11:30 p.m.
Frank Miller working on graphic novel, movie follow-ups to 300
From Variety:
Legendary Pictures has confirmed it is developing a “300″ follow-up for Warner Bros. that Frank Miller is writing and Zack Snyder is intended to direct.
Miller is writing the graphic novel the project will be based upon, although at this point it’s not clear whether it will be a prequel or spinoff. Most of the characters, including Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas, died in the original, making a follow-up tricky.
Snyder won’t officially commit until after he sees Miller’s take, but he’s definitely interested, and the prospect of his involvement already has fanboys in a tizzy.
Legendary, which also co-financed and produced Snyder’s “Watchmen” for Warners, considers the project a major priority.
“The vision of Frank Miller’s universe that Zack Snyder brought to the screen in ‘300′ is unlike anything ever seen before,” said Legendary topper Thomas Tull. “We want to be certain that the story originates with Frank and be as compelling as the first.”
Kevin Smith Reviews The Dark Knight
From Kevin Smith’s Blog:
Without giving anything away, this is an epic film (and trust me: based on the sheer size and scope of the visuals and storytelling, that’s not an overstatement). It’s the “Godfather II” of comic book films and three times more earnest than “Batman Begins” (and fuck, was that an earnest film). Easily the most adult comic book film ever made. Heath Ledger didn’t so much give a performance as he disappeared completely into the role; I know I’m not the first to suggest this, but he’ll likely get at least an Oscar nod (if not the win) for Best Supporting Actor. Fucking flick’s nearly three hours long and only leaves you wanting more (in a great way). I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed by it. Nolan and crew have created something close to a masterpiece.
The Afflecks and Damons Go on Double Date
From People:
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck met up with Matt Damon and his heavily pregnant wife, Luciana Barroso, at Nobu Malibu on Saturday night for a two-hour dinner on the patio that included cooked fish and sushi rolls.
“Ben and Matt were entertaining the girls with stories, and they were all laughing a lot,” says an observer of the couples.
When dessert came, the celebratory group toasted – after all, Garner and Affleck’s third wedding anniversary was the following day.
Great Scott! The 2015 McFly Sneakers Are Now (Somewhat) Real
From Wired:
It appears that an inspired-by version of the Official Shoes of Wired’s Gadget Lab, the Nike McFly 2015’s, will be made available by the end of July and will be renamed as the Nike Hyperdunks. I know what you’re thinking (Chicken, McFly!), but get a hold of yourself. They won’t include the awesome air-pressurized auto-lacing mechanism from Back to the Future II.
Instead, the shoes will include so-called ‘Flywire technology,’ which is really PR-speak for the latest and greatest of ultra light materials. They sport the same high-ankle boot style of the original movie, and will be available in late July.
