Dear Scream Awards: In my mind, Piranha 3D was the best movie of the year after Toy Story 3, so calling it "Best Worst Movie" seems uncool.
I have to agree with that little missive from James Gunn completely. I suppose you can't call "Piranha 3D" a great movie, but it was a hell of a lot of fun for what it was, so putting "worst" anywhere does indeed seem a little misguided.
And later today, there will be the first clip I know of from Gunn's "Super," and its just as deranged as you could possibly expect from a movie that stars Rainn Wilson as a self-made, avenging superhero.
But before the clips, there is a good bit of news about one of my favorite directors. I really have no time at all for "Wizard of Oz" sequels, prequels or "reimaginings" of any kind, so I certainly hope this will somehow come before "Oz the Great and Powerful," which Sam Raimi is also attached to direct, with Robert Downey Jr. starring as the wizard himself.
I'd much rather see him do a remake of "Day of the Triffids," the sci-fi tale of mobile, bloodthirsty plants who start preying on humankind after a meteor show renders more than 99 percent of the world's population blind (yes, really).
That just sounds like the perfect kind of Raimi fun, so it's certainly a good thing that Mandate won the auction to the source material, Jon Wyndham's 1952 novel, and that Raimi says he wants to jump into the director's chair. Definitely stay tuned for more on this as soon as I can find it.
And before we jump into the clips today, there's just one more bit of coolness to dispense. If, like me, you can't wait for the return of Conan to late night on TBS beginning Nov. 8, there's a fun toy to keep you occupied in the meantime. Beginning yesterday, Team Coco began broadcasting a live feed from behind the scenes at their workplace, and as far as I know, it's still going here.
OK, now on to the clips, and I promise the rather epicly funny one at the end will finally make the headline of this post make sense. But first comes, I have to warn you, a thorough monstrosity. Pixar's "Toy Story 3" was pretty much a masterpiece, and easily one of my favorite movies of 2010 so far, but what it has apparently spawned is entirely regrettable: Yes, a "Cars 2." I guess it was inevitable, but "Cars" is by a wide margin my least favorite Pixar movie, and as you'll see from the teaser trailer, the sequel looks like it will be just as bad as you could have possibly imagined. "Enjoy."
Next, as promised, comes the first clip I know of for James Gunn's "Super." Though, without exaggeration, Gunn's last movie, the horror/comedy "Slither," only made about $8 million at the box office, I quite liked it, so I can't wait to see what he has cooked up now. And the good news is that, with this having been picked up by IFC, the skewed superhero tale starring Wilson, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler and even young Ellen Page too will come to TV via IFC On Demand whenever they get around to releasing it. Enjoy the clip, and if you happen to hear when this will finally come out, please do let me know.
And finally today, in a definite case of saving the best for last, the Hollywood Reporter was kind enough to compile this collection of some the most egregious examples of what happens when movies get dubbed for TV. It's hard to pick out which one is the best, but the "Scarface" stuff is seriously funny. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Actually, before I get into that, there are two tidbits about creative folk whose work I often enjoy out there today.
Though he certainly hit a rough stretch in my book with "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "The Darjeeling Limited," Wes Anderson has also made four movies I truly adore in "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox," so any word of the man getting back to work is welcome around here, even if that info comes in the form of the skimpiest of details.
According to Production Weekly's twitter feed, the title of his next movie will be "Moonrise Kingdom" and, best of all, he has plans to shoot it next spring. The only other detail available right now is that he's looking for two 12-year-olds, a boy and a girl, to play the leads.
So, something for children (and not completely jaded adults) like "Fantastic Mr. Fox"? Perhaps, but this will apparently be a live-action affair instead. No matter what, this is good news all around, so stay tuned for more about is as soon I can track it down. ...
In TV news, when it was revealed that "Pushing Daisies" mastermind Bryan Fuller (who also had a big hand in the early stages of "Heroes," before that show completely derailed) had signed a new deal with NBC, that was certainly a promising development. If you've never seen the show that ran for 22 episodes on ABC a few years ago, it was just the definition of whimsy and a perfect little bit of escapist TV.
So I was really looking forward to finding out what he would sink his teeth into next, but according to the always reliable Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly, it's just a remake of "The Munsters," and while that certainly has a little potential in his hands, it mostly just sounds extremely tired.
Even with Ausiello saying the series has been described as "Modern Family meets True Blood," and I have a lot of time for both of those, I just can't say much but meh to this idea so far. ...
And finally today, having given in long ago to any notion that I would somehow boycott Matt Reeves' "Let Me In" on general principles, I've set my viewing schedule for what really should be one of the best movie weekends of the entire year: David Fincher's "The Social Network" on Saturday afternoon, followed by "Let Me In" on Sunday afternoon.
And while Reeves' still thoroughly unnecessary remake of the perfect Swedish vampire coming-of-age tale "Let the Right One In" is doing a more than respectable 83 percent positive at Rotten Tomatoes, Fincher's flick was approaching the perfect score achieved by "Toy Story 2" until a couple of holdouts spoiled the party and knocked "The Social Network" down to 97 percent.
So, who are these two flies in the ointment? Well, they, not surprisingly, have brought their own opinions about much more than the movie itself (and that's their right, of course) into their attempts to judge it.
First up is Armond White of the New York Press, who if he wanted attention, has certainly gotten it this time, with more than 6,000, often very harsh, comments on his review posting at Rotten Tomatoes.
White has earned the reputation as more than a little of an iconoclast for trashing movies like "The Town" and "The Kids Are All Right," and while I can't go with him completely on either of those, I do have to agree that they were both at least a little overrated.
Where he really stepped in it this year, however, was in his completely wrongminded thrashing of "Toy Story 3," calling Pixar's best movie since "Ratatouille" simply "besotted with brand names" (it's about toys, after all ... sheesh.)
So, what's his beef with "The Social Network"? Well, I encourage everyone to read his full review here to find out, but my reading of it is that he just generally finds Hollywood to be a morally bankrupt kind of place, and while that may or may not be true, letting that generality cloud your view of specific films is a sad approach to take. Here's a sample:
Like one of those fake-smart, middlebrow TV shows, the speciousness of The Social Network is disguised by topicality. It’s really a movie excusing Hollywood ruthlessness. That’s why it evades Zuckerberg’s background timidity and the mess that the Internet has made of cultural discourse.
There's much more like that proving that White craves, along with attention, easy answers in his movies, something I've never had much time for.
The second holdout (and there may indeed be more by the time I finish writing this) is someone named Prairie Miller (yes, really) of a conservative blog NewsBlaze, who, perhaps predictably, has a problem with Hollywood's "in-your face cocky" portrayal of Harvard culture, therefore managing to trash both of this country's supposedly elitist coasts without - much like White - saying much at all about the movie itself. Read the whole thing here, but here's a sample:
Though according to filmmaker David Fincher, who seems to already have an experienced handle on scrutinizing budding sociopaths with Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac, and as mapped out in a series of legal depositions inserted into this film, Zuckerberg had a flair for ripping off both ideas and profits from fellow matriculated collaborators in this venture. Cavalier when not in your face cocky, the gabby snob navigates a Hollywood notion of Harvard in what seems less brainiac boot camp than an Ivy League Club Med where nobody does homework.
Now, both of these writers have a lot more readers than I do, and perhaps rightly so, but is it all surprising that the only two dissenters from what has been almost universally hailed as a great movie have done so due to preconceived notions they clearly took into the movie with them?
Everyone's welcome to their opinions though, of course, and if I have time before I, sadly, have to work on Sunday, you'll get mine on David Fincher's "The Social Network." And with that, have a great weekend, and go see lat least one new movie if you have the time. Peace out.
After a more than slightly disappointing beginning to this movie year, we've been on a real roll of late.
The winning streak started with "Toy Story 3," the perfect ending to a great movie trilogy, and continued with the surprisingly charming "Despicable Me" on through the ambitious mindbender "Inception" (and if you really think you can explain that one to me, bring it on.)
Overall, not nearly as good a movie year as 2009, but it's clearly getting better, and the fall should have some real winners (more on that in coming weeks). Here is one man's opinion about the best movies (so far) of 2010, in order of preference.
10. "Shutter Island": I'd say Leonardo DiCaprio was in a mindbending movie rut if the ones he's been in this year weren't so good. "Shutter Island," a Martin Scorsese movie based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, was a B-movie flick with A-level acting and style. Now on DVD.
9. "Alice in Wonderland": Though many - if not most - of director Tim Burton's adaptations/remakes are tired, this was a welcome exception. It was full of whimsy and surprising restraint from Burton, and for once, Johnny Depp was funny rather than simply creepy in a Burton movie as the Mad Hatter. Now on DVD..
8. "Date Night": This is most certainly the year of Steve Carell on the big screen, and since he's soon likely to quit "The Office," why not? Though this flick with co-star Tina Fey lacked the anarchic spirit of Scorsese's "After Hours," from which it clearly draws inspiration, it was still a fun night out with two very talented comedians. Coming to DVD on Aug. 10.
7. "Despicable Me": Carell again, in a flick that proves Pixar doesn't have the market cornered on mixing wicked humor with heart. After a slow start full of run-of-the-mill jokes, it develops into a thoroughly charming animated tale, and contains my single favorite movie line of 2010 so far: "The physical appearance of the please makes no difference." In theaters now.,
6. "Inception": This is, of course, all anyone is talking about now when it comes to movies, and what more can you ask for than that? Christopher Nolan's dreamscape may well move up on this list over time, but for right now, I need to see it again, because after one viewing it left me with as many questions as answers, and that's far from a complaint. In theaters now.
5. "A Prophet": It has been called "The French Godfather," and though that's clearly a high bar to set, the comparison actually works on many levels. The story about what one man has to do to survive a long stint in prison - from unsavory alliances to even more unsavory activities - is simply mesmerizing from start to finish. Out on DVD Tuesday.
4. "Kick-Ass": Really? Yes, really. Though there are clearly questions about the morality of a 13-year-old, extremely foul-mouthed and even more lethal "Hit-Girl," played by young Georgian Chloe Moretz, there's no denying that it's funny. And this is, after all, a comic-book movie, and one that in the hands of director Matthew Vaughn breathes new life into that very familiar genre. Now on DVD.
3. "That Evening Sun": A definite highlight of the 2010 Macon Film Festival, this stars Hal Holbrook in a revival of the great Southern movie, a genre that's becoming far too much of a rarity. He's angry, ornery and excellent as an old man who escapes from a nursing home to reclaim his former home, now being inhabited by another Macon Film Festival favorite, Ray McKinnon. Not to be missed, and coming to DVD on Sept. 7. And the Macon Film Festival will return Feb. 17, 2011, so stay tuned.
2. "Toy Story 3": Is Pixar's marquee trilogy also now the best movie trilogy of all time? The argument can certainly be made, since it started with a groundbreaking original, upped the ante with a second chapter that was even better in terms of story and humor, and then finished up (we assume) with a final chapter that was both a rousing adventure and a definite charmer, and yes, the ending did make this grown man cry (admit it, you did too.) In theaters now.
1. "Winter's Bone": Debra Granik's movie takes a classic film genre, the film noir, and sets it in just about the bleakest possible setting, the Missouri Ozarks. And though it can often indeed be as depressing as that sounds, it's also riveting as newcomer Jennifer Lawrence tries to unravel the mystery of what has happened to her deadbeat father, who has put up the house she shares with her two young siblings as a guarantor that he'll appear in court on charges of making meth. This is, indeed, the perfect kind of movie for the Macon Film Guild to offer this fall (though I don't have any say in that), and worth seeking out now in select theaters.
Honorable mention: "Youth in Revolt", "Edge of Darkness", "Ghost Writer", "The Crazies", "The Good Heart", "OSS 117: Lost in Rio", "Splice", "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", "Get Him to the Greek" and "Cyrus"
So, there you have it. Please feel free to share any you think I may have snubbed (and there's surely more than one), and to offer any of your favorites from this movie year so far. Peace out.
How bad have the movies been this summer? This morning, I was struck by two signs.
First, the idea that "Jonah Hex" would be this year's first (that I know of) "zero percent fresh" movie at Rotten Tomatoes. Think about that for a second. Of all the people in the world who call themselves critics, they couldn't find one to say this comic book flick starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox doesn't just suck?
By this morning, however, it was up to a more robust 9 percent fresh, with three or so "positive" reviews, one of which had the following summarizing phrase: "You could do worse than this and if you have been going to the movies this summer with any regularity, you most likely already have." Nothing like a ringing endorsement, eh?
And secondly, the Hollywood Reporter, in apparent seriousness, ran the following headline: "Early Oscar Contenders Scarce." Really? Having seen my fair share of stinkers already this year, I didn't have to take the time to read that article.
However, I do still try to be a glass half full kinda guy, and along with the U.S.A. playing Slovenia this morning in the World Cup, there is, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a "100 percent fresh" movie opening this weekend, Pixar's annual offering, "Toy Story 3." The closest thing I've seen to criticism of that so far is that it's a roller-coaster ride that never lets up. Sounds like summer to me, and I'll be going to see it in glorious 2-D (because I already wear glasses, and don't need to pay $3 more or so just for a second pair, thank you very much) this afternoon.
And speaking of potentially great movies, Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World" just keeps looking better and better as they keep releasing trailers. I suppose it could be overload by the time this finally opens in August, but with as thoroughly fun as it looks to be, I'm nowhere near that point yet. My favorite line in this latest international trailer: "Prepare to die, obviously." Enjoy, watch the U.S.A. this morning, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. Peace out.
You know, I really do try to keep things positive around here, but given both the almost complete failure of "Iron Man 2" (well, not financially, of course) and the relative dearth of truly good movies that have preceded it this year, I think it's a fair question to ask: Will there be any great - or at least really good - movies in wide release this summer?
Well, just to prove I'm not a complete cynic, there are at least two that will indeed play everywhere that will surely fit that bill, and I threw in a third that I will certainly make the trip to see when it opens soon in Atlanta. There are, in fact, well more than 10 movies that I want to see between now and the end of August. I'm not usually much of a numbers guy, but I've rated them from 1 to 10 on a scale of just how likely they are to escape from my local multiplex without sucking. If there are any worthy entries that I have just snubbed, please feel free to let me know. Enjoy!
Friday: Robin Hood The reviews for Ridley Scott's epic prequel (and at 2 hours and 20 minutes, epic I guess it better be) are just the definition of a mixed bag. Roger Moore, not James Bond but a movie critic I always trust, gave it three stars, but most of the geeks I've seen call it a failure. That has me slightly expecting the latter, but at least they decided not to convert it to 3D, and that's enough to make me take a chance on it this Saturday afternoon. Chances of not sucking: 6/10.
May 28: Micmacs Jean Pierre Jeunet's latest movie is indeed the only one on this list you won't be able to see everywhere in America, but here's hoping that when it finally does get a nonfestival, U.S. release that will mean it comes to Atlanta for at least a week. The flick about a ragtag band of misfits who take on an arms manufacturer looks like it's almost completely suffused with that whimsically fun Jeunet spirit. Judge for yourself with the trailer below. Chances of not sucking: 9.5/10
June 4: Get Him to the Greek I know there are plenty of people who find him to be thoroughly annoying, but I find Russell Brand's shtick to be very funny, and at least here he's not appearing in a thoroughly unnecessary remake of "Arthur" (yes, really, but at least Helen Mirren will be in it - in the Sir John Gielgud role). Here he continues his Aldous Snow role from the rather average "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and Jonah Hill is the poor sap who has to babysit him. Chances of not sucking : 7/10 (though I'm probably being at least a bit generous there.)
June 4: Splice It's entirely possible that I'm just being duped here, but I have a real hunger for intelligent sci-fi, and all signs so far point to this being a bit of that. Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody star in this Vincenzo Natali flick about two scientists who mess around with human DNA and come up with something, well, not entirely pleasant. Odds of not sucking 7.5/10
June 18: Toy Story 3 I may be the only person who thinks this, but Pixar has kinda been on a losing streak of late. Now, keep in mind, I mean that only in comparison to the long string of winners (with "Cars" being the exception) before that. "Up" was far from the best animated movie of 2009 ("Coraline," "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and "The Princess and the Frog" were all better in my book), and as charming as "Wall-E" was, "Kung Fu Panda" was just a lot more fun. This summer, they've gone with a definite known entity, and though the toys in peril storyline will be gratingly familiar, I'm sure at least the introduction of Ken will be funny. I'll be there to find in GLORIOUS 2D. Chances of not sucking: 8/10.
July 2: The Last Airbender M. Night Shyamalan? Really? Well, he desperately needs a winner, and he's at least starting with great source material in the wildly entertaining Nickelodeon animated series. He's taking it live action, of course, and bringing Dev Patel and The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi along, so here's hoping this isn't the total disaster it certainly has the potential to be (hey, the man does have a record here.) Chances of not sucking: 6/10.
July 9: Despicable Me I'm betting that, with Steve Carell voicing Gru, who wants to take over the world by stealing the moon, this flick will be funnier than "Toy Story 3," but I've been wrong at least once, and probably already today. Enjoy the latest trailer I could find. Chances of not sucking: 7/10.
July 16: Inception OK, here it is, the make or break movie for this summer, because if this one somehow sucks, we're really screwed. With it being a genuine mindbender from Christopher Nolan starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page, however, I'd say the chances of that are very slim. Not entirely sure yet, but I think this will be my one midnight movie for the summer. Chances of not sucking: 9/10.
July 23: Dinner for Schmucks This Jay Roach flick has at least two very funny things going for it in Carell and the even funnier Paul Rudd, but there's one big problem: The French original that it will have to live up to set the standard for comedy very high. From what I've seen so far in trailers, they made at least one very big change that doesn't bode well: In the Francis Veber original, they never make it to the titular dinner because they just annoy each other so much, but that will change in Roach's take. Do yourself a favor and rent Veber's "Le Diner de Cons" before going to see this one. Chances of not sucking: 7/10.
July 23: Salt Phillip Noyce makes the short list of my very favorite directors largely on the strength of three flicks: "The Quiet American," "Catch a Fire" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence," but before making that trio of winners he was also quite adept at producing solid spy thrillers, including "Clear and Present Danger" and "Patriot Games." The latter should serve him well with this flick, which stars Angeline Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy. Chances of not sucking: 7.5/10.
Aug. 13: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World Along with "Inception," this is the other flick I'm most looking forward to for this summer. Having read a couple of the Scott Pilgrim funny books, I'm confident that Edgar Wright is the right man for this, and that Michael Cera is too as our titular hero who has to battle the seven exes of his would-be paramour, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead.) As you can see from the trailer below, Wright's flick will at least look like nothing else you'll see this summer. Chances of not sucking: 9/10.
Aug. 13: Tales from Earthsea This, unfortunately, won't be a Hayao Miyazaki movie, but any summer offering from Studio Ghibli is reason enough to rejoice for me. This one is actually directed by Miyazaki's son, Goro, and is based on the novel by Ursula K. Leguin. But will the master himself manage to make another movie? Nothing listed yet at the IMDB, but certainly keep hope alive, because his last one, "Ponyo," was simply fantastic. Chances of not sucking: 8/10.
Aug. 20: The Switch The last time I took a chance on an August comedy almost entirely because Jason Bateman was in it, I was thoroughly burned with "Extract." I do, however, have enough of a reservoir of goodwill for the man to take a chance on this turkey baster comedy that also stars Jennifer Aniston, though not with terribly high hopes at all. Chances of not sucking: 6/10.
And there you have it, my guide to summer 2010. Please feel free to add any wide-release movies you think I might have slighted, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Actually, if I can start with a movie you all should go see ('cause I do try to keep a positive outlook on things from time to time), if you live in one of our major cities, go see Jacques Audiard's "Un Prophete" while you still have the chance.
One thing people should learn early in life is to believe at least almost everything their parents say, and this is one case that proves that solidly. When my parents compared Audiard's movie to "The Godfather" in terms of both story and quality, I was sure they had to be exaggerating, but thankfully not.
Indeed, the journey that's undergone by the titular character (Tahar Rahim) does in a way mirror the development of Michael Corleone, and it's simply mesmerising to watch (and I promise you won't even notice until the very end that it's nearly three hours long.) The movie is about what he has to do to survive a six-year term in prison, but there's a whole lot going on in that deceptively simple story arc, and the flick is packed with little moments that are magical as stand-alone nuggets but just devastating when you pile them all together (my favorite would have to be when he sticks out his tongue while going through airport security because that's the only way he knows to get searched. Priceless.)
I had never heard of Audiard until last weekend, but now at the top of my Netflix queue to be watched this weekend are his last two movies, "The Beat My Heart Skipped" and "Read My Lips." And I really can't recommend a movie much higher at all than I can "Un Prophete," so please go see it while you still have the chance.
OK, after that today, it's not quite so sunny (until the grand finale, which will thankfully feature the blissfully silly trailer for Jean Pierre Jeunet's "Micmacs," shortened, I believe, from "Micmacs Tire a Larigot.")
Now, I'm usually not one to tell people not to see movies in any form, being a firm believer in the right of people to make up their own damn minds, even if that means you go see Miley Cyrus' new movie this week. When it comes to the 3-D virus, however, a stand has to be taken, and this is indeed the week to do it (though, in case you're wondering, yes, I am well aware that I don't have to power to lead it ... nonetheless ...).
And yes, I do concede that (very rarely) the 3-D gimmick does have merit. I saw "Avatar" two times and loved it more the second one, and I thought the 3-D was used to even better effect in Henry Selick's thoroughly charming "Coraline." But, as far as I know (and I only have doubts about the latter), those were two movies conceived and shot in 3-D, rather than simply "converted" to it afterward (which is when it's outed as the complete gimmick it is.)
I would be willing to just dismiss the 3-D phenomenon as a passing fad and continue to see all my movies in glorious 2-D ("Alice in Wonderland," by the way, was fantastic when viewed the old-fashioned way, and cheaper too!), but it's of course gone well beyond that stage already. When you have studios like Warner Bros. (and possibly others already too) announcing all their "tentpole" movies from now on will be released in 3-D (exaggerate much?), it's time to learn to just say no, because clearly they can't.
So, what prompted this screed? Well, two things. First up comes the rather welcome news that in the wake of the disappointing opening of "How to Train Your Dragon" (is $44 million really disappointing? Apparently so), stock in Dreamworks dropped 8 percent on Monday. Now, I haven't seen the movie (as already established, this arthouse snob spent Saturday afternoon watching "Un Prophete" instead), but every war has to start somewhere, and if this 3-D flick has to be the first fatality, so be it.
The second thing that set me off is that Louis Leterrier's remake of "Clash of the Titans" opens this week, and as tempting as it is pop for those goofy glasses to see the Kraken in 3-D, this man at least is gonna see it in good, old-fashioned 2-D, and I'm enlisting you to do so too (if you see it all.) After all, Regal and AMC, at least, have already raised 3-D ticket prices across the board, with other companies sure to follow suit and, if no one squawks (as I'm trying to do now), more increases sure to come.
And it obviously doesn't stop with "Clash of the Titans." Other upcoming movies for which you can make the rational choice of 2-D over 3-D include Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," "Shrek Forever After," "Toy Story 3," and since seemingly every other movie is at least now "converted" to 3-D, a whole lot more I'm surely overlooking here.
But you get my point. As soon as they started raising prices arbitrarily, the 3-D bug morphed from a trick into a cancer, and there's no way to stop it than just saying no, starting right now.
Whew. That's a whole lot of bile for a Tuesday morning, and I can't think of anything better to sweeten it up than this fantastic trailer for Jean Pierre Jeunet's "Micmacs." I thought the American release window for Jeunet's latest had already come and gone, but this is one case in which I'd be thrilled to be wrong. It indeed just played the SXSW festival, and gets another U.S. release on May 28, when I'll surely be there to see it. As you'll see from the trailer, "Micmacs" is about a band of misfits who join together to take on an arms manufacturer, and it definitely looks like its filled with plenty of Jeunet spirit. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.
Before I get into all that, I suppose congratulations of sorts are due to John Francis Daley, aka Sam Weir of "Freaks and Geeks" fame, because getting a job of any sort in this brave new world is certainly something to celebrate, but couldn't he have done better than this?
It seems that Sam Weir and writing partner Jonathan Goldstein have been hired to "reboot", "reimagine" or whatever the hell they call ruining perfectly fine movies these days "Vacation." This time out, Chevy Chase will return as Clark Griswold, but the main focus will be on son Rusty as he takes his own family on some kind of surely disastrous road trip.
All I can really say to that is a resounding sheesh, but if you're a fan of "Friday Night Lights" (and if not, how in the world?), it's a big day of news, both good and bad. Folks like me who don't get DirecTV will enjoy hearing that the show's fourth season is finally set to return to NBC beginning April 30, and I just can't wait to see what happens with coach Taylor at the new East Dillon High School.
At the same time, however, the always reliably TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello is reporting that the show's runners have been informed that the "Friday Night Lights" will go out for good after shooting wraps on the fifth season in June.
While I'll certainly be sad to see the best drama on television now (yes, really, better than "Mad Men" and anything you might come up with in my book) go, it does give Jason Katims and his fellow creators plenty of time to give this thing a proper ending. I certainly don't expect Connie Britton to remain unemployed for any long stretch of time, and it will be fun to see where she ends up next (and I'll definitely follow.)
And finally, in a final bit of good TV news before we dive into a sea of trailers, veryfunnyman Larry Charles has booked a new gig with CBS for a new pilot. Though perhaps best known for "Borat," Charles has for years done much funnier work with "Seinfeld" and then the even better "Curb Your Enthusiasm." For CBS, he'll team with frequent collaborator Ant Hines to create a show about a dad, played by Paul Kaye, who reenters the life of his now-famous daughter. I'm not sure Charles' truly caustic wit will fit at CBS, but I'll certainly tune in to find out.
OK, from here on out it's all about trailers (and a featurette too), and there are some great ones.
First up comes the first trailer I know of for "Get Him to the Greek," an offering from the Judd Apatow camp which stars Russell Brand in a continuation of his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" character, Aldous Snow (along with the Dracula puppet show, the funniest thing about that flick.) The new movie, set to drop June 4, was created by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, and also stars Jonah Hill, who's charged with getting Brand's beyond debauched rock star to a gig at the titular Greek theater. Silly? Absolutely, but I'm betting on a lot of funny here too. Enjoy.
Next up comes also the first real trailer I know of for "Toy Story 3," which is sure to dominate the weekend when it opens June 18. In the third installment, the toys are (once again!) put in a tight spot and forced to escape, this time from a daycare center full of very eager rugrats. The plots for these just get more and more tired, but in the trailer below the moment when Ken meets Barbie at least shows director Lee Unkrich and crew have some inspired ideas in their bag. Enjoy.
Though he looks at least as creepy here as he did as Tim Burton's vision of Willy Wonka (which is, unfortunately, permanently seared on my brain), Johnny Depp appears to be having a lot more fun as the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland," so hopefully we will too when this comes out March 5. The best thing in this featurette is seeing the Mad Hatter take up his sword to join the battle with the forces of the Red Queen, just surreally fun. Enjoy.
And finally, I'm not sure what's craziest: That Nickelodeon's great animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is now a live-action flick set to come out July 2, that both Dev Patel and Asif Mandvi of "The Daily Show" are in it and don't look entirely silly, that it's directed by M. Night Shyamalan or that it simply looks like it could be really great. Decide for yourself. Enjoy, have a great weekend, and please, if you live in Macon, go see either of our Oscar offerings this week, "Crazy Heart" and/or "A Single Man." I've seen them both, and while "Crazy Heart" is worth watching for the great performance of The Dude, Tom Ford's "A Single Man" is simply sensational, with Colin Firth at his best. Peace out.
If one dose of James Cameron's "Avatar" was enough (or more than enough) for you, this can't come as good news: He has at least two more visits to Pandora in mind.
Personally, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but by the end I certainly felt I had enough, especially since the battle royale finale seemed to wrap things up rather neatly. Cameron, however, has other ideas in mind. Here's what he had to say to MTV:
"We'll follow Jake and Neytiri. I have a trilogy-scaled arc of story right now, but I haven't really put any serious work into writing a script."
But will it be another 15 years or so before we get a second installment? Probably not. More from MTV:
"From the time we capture and finish the capture, it's literally nine to 10 months to get the CG characters working, to get their facial musculature working. So now we have Jake, we have Neytiri. Sam can step right back into it, the characters will fit them like a glove, and we'll just go on. So a lot of the start-up torque that had to be done for one movie really makes more sense if you play it out across several films."
As for the original itself, the final box office tally bought a bit of good news: It's opening weekend total was actually $77 million domestic, $4 million more than originally calculated, but still just short of Will Smith's December opening record of $77.2 million with "I am Legend."
Worldwide, "Avatar" topped $230 million in its first weekend.
And, in a final bit of trivia about "Avatar," since that's still what I have on the brain, RealD has announced that nearly $40 million of its domestic take was from 3-D viewing, more than half the total. While that certainly seems impressive on the surface, and an omen to people who, like me, still enjoy good, old-fashioned 2-D most of the time, remember that each person who watched the movie in 3-D paid at least $2 more to do so, and even more if it was in Imax. Just sayin'.
All I have after that today is a quintet of clips, which offer varyings amounts of cool.
First up comes the U.K. trailer for Ridley Scott's take on "Robin Hood," which stars Russell Crowe and is set to come out in May. Though I'm still not completely sold on the need for this, the U.K. trailer is a lot less "Gladiator" than the previous U.S. cut and therefore by force at least an improvement. Enjoy.
Horribly inappropriate cursing from young children? Wickedly cool (hopefully) stylized violence? In the right dose I can certainly enjoy both of these guilty pleasures, which we'll get plenty of from Matthew Vaughn with "Kick-Ass" in March. Though the f-bomb from young Chloe Moretz in this redband introduction to her character, Hit-Girl, is just perfectly dropped, the later c-word (I did warn you, watch it with headphones on at work) is a lot more jarring. Enjoy.
Next up come two peaks at animated offerings coming next Summer, first what I believe is a TV clip introduced by director Lee Unkrich for Pixar's "Toy Story 3." I'm frankly getting a little tired of the "toys in peril and need to escape" storyline, but it's Pixar, so I'll certainly be there to check it out in June. Enjoy.
Next is one I'm much more excited for, an odd teaser of sorts for "Despicable Me." The animated offering stars Steve Carell as the evil Gru, who hatches a plot to steal the moon. Silly, sure, but I predict a lot fun too. This odd little clip features a couple of Gru's minions. Enjoy.
And finally, saving in my opinion the best for last, here's the third clip I know of for "Youth in Revolt," which is set to star veryfunnyman Michael Cera and finally come out in early January. Anyone who's been here before knows I love the novel by C.D. Payne, and in this clip we are introduced to Francois Dillinger, the ultra-smooth and ultra-dangerous alter ego of our hero, Nick Twisp. Enjoy.
P.S.: The Blogger spell check is, once again, not working, so please excuse any misspellings on my part. Peace out.
"Anyone can go to Baghdad. Real men go to Tehran" - Dick Cheney, from the first few pages of the working script for Oliver Stone's "W."
Though he, as of yet, hasn't taken up my suggestion of Dwight Schrute to play Karl Rove, Oliver Stone has indeed scooped up at least one very funny guy for his Bush biopic: "Daily Show" vet Rob Corddry will play press secretary Ari Fleischer (remember him?)
Unfortunately, what the first few script (surely a work in progress) pages reveal is that the movie itself could also be laughably bad. The "Axis of Evil" conversation that starts it off is just ridiculous (and, if it really happened that way, just scary as hell.) I didn't want to ruin it for you, so you can read it and judge for yourself here.
The order of the day here, however, is animation, easily one of my favorite subjects. Pixar and Disney have unveiled a rather ambitious slate that takes the studios through 2012, and though you won't find the name of animation master Brad Bird anywhere, there's still some really cool stuff. (Bird, if I'm not mistaken, is moving into the realm of live-action films with "1906," a historical drama about the fire that ravaged the then-quite-corrupt city of San Francisco.)
First up, of course, is Pixar's Wall•E, which promises to be all kinds of weirdness when it's released June 27, but hopefully also chock full of charm (man, could we use some of that in movies now!) Here are other highlights of what's coming down the pike from both animation houses:
Bolt (Disney, Nov. 26, 2008) I can't say you're gonna get me too excited when your lead character is voiced by John Travolta, but the plot for this one sounds like it could be pretty fun. He voices Bolt, a Hollywood superdog who gets accidentally shipped to New York City and has to find his way back home with two companions, a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens and a TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino.
Up (Pixar, May 29th, 2009) Being someone who's perfectly happy to go to bed no later than 10 p.m. (and often earlier if the Braves aren't playing on TV), I say it's way past high time that a movie was made about a super hero who just happens to be in his 70s. With the new news that our hero will be voiced by certified grump Ed Asner, I'm nothing but jazzed for this one.
The Princess and the Frog (Disney,Christmas 2009) I'd be much more excited for this one if they had actually managed to pick a black composer (rather than the omnipresent and increasingly insipid Randy Newman) for this, Disney's first grand animated musical with a black heroine, but I guess we should be thankful for baby steps. Besides, there's a lot of good going on here anyway. The story takes place in New Orleans, it stars Anika Noni Rose, and it should be a return to the kind of old-fashioned animation that made Disney famous in the first place.
Toy Story 3 (Pixar, June 18th, 2010) I sure hope this trilogy doesn't go the way of "X-Men" and "Spider-Man," as it has thus far (the first one very good, the second great but the third one simply craptastic.) A while back, in an article about the merging of the studios, the Wall Street Journal let fly that the plot for the third installment will be this: “Woody the cowboy and his toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college.” Sounds cool enough to me, so bring it on! The next Pixar sequel on the list, however ... more on that later.
Rapunzel (Disney: Christmas 2010) Don't have much to say about this one except that, after a one-movie-only respite from the 3-D/CGI onslaught, Disney will be going all modern with this one.
Newt (Summer 2011: Pixar) When it's not making sequels, it looks like - thankfully - Pixar is gonna just keep getting weirder with its storylines. In this one, the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, but of course they can't stand each other. Even with the rather tired tag line "Love, it turns out, is not a science," this could still be a lot of fun.
The Bear and the Bow (Christmas 2011, Disney/Pixar) A load of quality voice talent is already on board for this trip to "rugged and mythic" Scotland (whatever that means.) Reese Witherspoon is an impetuous princess who would much rather shoot her bow and arrow, Emma Thompson voices her mother and Billy Connolly (of course!) voices her father.
Cars 2 (Summer 2012, Pixar) This is the only true turkey I can see in Pixar's near future. The first "Cars" was my least favorite Pixar movie by far, with that long middle passage that was simply a road to nowhere, so I just can't get excited much at all about a sequel. Besides, does the world really need more Larry the Cable Guy in any form?
King of the Elves (Disney, Christmas 2012) This is definitely a case of saving the best for last, methinks. Disney will take on Philip K. Dick's foray into fantasy storytelling. It tells the tale of a dude living in the Mississippi Delta whose reluctant actions to help a desperate band of elves being menaced (of course) by a troll leads them to name him their king (why can't I have days like that?)
That did go on for a while, but hopefully the news was worth it!
"The Office" is open!
Though "Friday Night Lights" and "The Wire" helped me make it through the writers strike in a reasonably good mood, there was no show I missed more from week-to-week than "The Office," which thankfully returns to NBC tonight at 9 p.m. (followed by a new "Scrubs" too.)
You know, it's more than a little disturbing to find out your TV is smarter than you are. I went to set the DVR to tape both of these, only to find that it had saved my recording request from before the strike. I know I'm more than a bit of a Luddite, but that still kind of amazes me. Anyways, here's what's coming in the next four episodes:
"Dinner Party" (9 tonight) Pam and Jim find they have run out of excuses and are forced to go to Jan and Michael's house for dinner. When Andy and Angela are also invited to dinner, Dwight's jealousy gets the best of him.
"The Chair Model" (April 17) Michael's fascination with a woman modeling a chair in an office supply catalog makes him feel things he hasn't felt in a while. With Michael distracted, Kevin and Andy team up to win back Dunder-Mifflin's stolen parking spaces, forcing them into a showdown with the bosses of the five businesses of the office park.
"Night Out" (April 24) Michael and Dwight decide to surprise Ryan in New York for a night of clubbing and meet his friends. Meanwhile, the Scranton branch is upset when they find out they have to come in on a Saturday for Ryan's Web site project. Jim's plan to save them has unexpected results. (Michael and Dwight on the town? I'm there!)
"Did I Stutter?" (May 1) When Stanley snaps at Michael during a meeting, Michael tries to give Stanley an attitude adjustment. Dwight decides to buy Andy’s car. Meanwhile, Pam deals with an unexpected inconvenience after spending the night at Jim’s.
Sounds like a lot of fun stuff, but rather than let me prattle on anymore about it, here's a clip of Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer telling two rather dippy Utah news anchors about tonight's episode (note the 3-2 Orioles victory over the Mariners in the sports ticker!) Enjoy, and remember to tune in tonight. Peace out.
If the perhaps final "Friday Night Lights" that aired a few weeks was indeed a finale, it would certainly be an odd way to go out.
In ways it did feel like an ending of sorts, with Smash (Gaius Charles) finding out he just might still have the chance to play (very small) college football and show honcho Peter Berg even making a very funny appearance as an old flame of Tami Taylor's (the simply fantastic Connie Britten) who gets into a drinking and then wrestling match with coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler.)
But it also, of course, had some aspects of a perfect cliffhanger, with Street (Scott Porter) waiting to find out if he will be a daddy and Lyla (Minka Kelly) and Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) perhaps about to start knocking boots again. (If this all sounds rather like a tawdry soap opera, it often is, but like "The Last Picture Show," it's also a fantastic portrait of life in small-town America.)
And I tell you all that to tell you this: NBC, which has until now shown little inclination to bring the show back for a third season despite its rather attractive demographical (is that even a word?) numbers, may be having a change of heart.
In order to salvage my favorite network TV drama (by far), NBC is currently in negotiations with the CW, Comcast Entertainment Networks, TNT and DirecTV to see if it can find a "shared window" plan which would have the show air on multiple networks (which I can only assume would divvy up the production costs, too.)
NBC is apparently asking a high price (especially for a show that it seems to have so little love for), but here's hoping someone takes the bait and saves this TV gem.
Be Kind, play wide?
I was so psyched until Wednesday morning when my local multiplexes updated their weekly movie offerings that, with the arrival of Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind," we would finally have the first truly great (or at least really fun) movie of 2008.
Well, as some of you who live in a small city (well, town, really) like me might be finding out, apparently putting Jack Black and Mos Def in a movie all about the love of movies isn't enough to insure any kind of distribution at all. I will apparently have to drive almost 60 miles this Saturday morning (which I will definitely do) just to see it at the rather palatial AMC Southlake Pavilion south of Atlanta.
There's no real point to this portion except to let me vent a little, which is also a welcome release. I do have to ask, though: What in the world does a movie have to do to play in anything except "select cities"?
Fincher set to dive into a "Black Hole"
Complain about its length or its lack of focus if you have to, but for my money there were very few movies (only four, to be exact) better than David Fincher's "Zodiac" in 2007. And I'd put even money on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," his take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald tale about a man who ages in reverse through the 20th century, being among my favorites of this year too.
And now comes word that he's attached to a new project that seems right up his alley. Though I can't claim to have read the "Black Hole" series of graphic novels by Charles Burns, they seem, from what little I've been able to piece together, to exist in that splendidly sordid realm where Fincher feels most at home.
In the graphic novels, at least according to Publisher's Weekly, the setting is Seattle during the early '70s. A sexually transmitted disease, the "bug," is spreading among teenagers. Those who get it develop bizarre mutations—sometimes subtle, like a tiny mouth at the base of one boy's neck, and sometimes obvious and grotesque. The most visibly deformed victims end up living as homeless campers in the woods, venturing into the streets only when they have to, shunned by normal society. All I can say to all that is bring it on!
In case you need any more inducement to get geeked up about this, here's what Daniel Clowes of "Ghostworld" fame has to say about Mr. Burns at Amazon.com:
"Charles Burns is one of the greats of modern comics. His comics are beautiful on so many levels. Somehow he has managed to capture the essential electricity of comic-book pop-art iconography, dragging it from the clutches of Fine Art back to the service of his perfect, precise-but-elusive narratives in a way that is both universal in its instant appeal and deeply personal."
Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman are writing the script for this project which would should definitely keep Fincher on a roll.
Now that's a lead
In a good article about movie studios bringing their video game development in-house that you can read here, the Wall Street Journal leads off by revealing what may (or may not) be the plot to Pixar's 2010 release, "Toy Story 3":
In Pixar's coming movie "Toy Story 3," Woody the cowboy and his toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college.
Now, if that is indeed the case, it does sound like a fun way to bring a new batch of kids into the franchise. That plot summary, however, does differ wildly from what's up at the IMDB:
The adventure continues as Toy Story 3 makes its way into theaters in 2010. In this new adventure, Buzz Lightyear has encountered a malfunction and is being sent to Taiwan to be fixed. It appears that these malfunctions are occurring with toys all around the world! Now, Woody and a group of his friends are on a mission to save Buzz's destruction.
No matter which one is right, we'll have to wait a couple of years to find out, but isn't it so much more fun to wonder about such silly things than say, whatever work you have to do? Peace out.
When I was very young, my father brought home a little movie called "Spinal Tap," and I have never been the same since. Along with being a movie junkie and a devoted fan of the hapless Baltimore Orioles, I have recently returned to the town I grew up in, Salisbury, MD., to work for The Daily Times newspaper.
