Actually, there's even better news out there, so why not start there?
If you haven't seen "Black Dynamite," there are few rentals I can recommend higher. A spoof that, rather than simply compiling a string of barely related jokes, instead serves a lovingly rude tribute to the blaxpoitation films that inspired it, it's just fall-down funny from start to finish.
And now it seems the movie will live on, sort of, as an animated offering on Adult Swim (yes, please!) The animated series is being developed by Carl Jones of "The Boondocks" (not one of my favorite shows, but this is something quite different), and it will feature the voices of "Black Dynamite" stars Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite himself), Tommy Davidson, Kym Whitley and Byron Minns. No word yet on when this will debut, but you'll know as soon as I do.
But today was supposed to start with news of a potentially great music biopic in the works, so here it is. Now that we're fairly removed from the glut of them led by "Ray and "Walk the Line," I've kind of got a hankering for one again, and certainly for one about the great Jeff Buckley.
Before drowning in a harbor in Tennessee way, way, way too early, Buckley managed to create one amazing album with "Grace," which I still listen to all the time. The only question I had when I first saw this (at Deadline) was why his story hasn't been told until now.
The man taking up the charge is Jake Scott, son of one Ridley, who has directed "Welcome to the Rileys" (which I haven't seen) and music videos for the likes of R.E.M., Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins. Nothing but good news there, so I'll just leave you with my favorite Buckley song, "Lilac Wine," performed live, before a closing shot from Jon Stewart
It's not a shock either that Jon Stewart would devote an entire episode of "The Daily Show" to the departing (huzzah!) Glenn Beck, or that it would be extremely funny. It's so good, in fact, that if he bothered to watch it, I think even Mr. Beck would have to admit he enjoyed it (except, perhaps, when he was compared to mononucleosis). Enjoy this excerpt, and have a great weekend. As for me, I'm off to do so some swimming, and then hopefully for an entertaining double feature of "Your Highness" and then "Hanna." Peace out.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Jeff Buckley biopic in the works (and I even resisted saying "hallelujah")
Thursday, January 27, 2011
YouTube discovery of the day: Premakes
These sensational examples of great video editing have been around for awhile, but so have I and I just discovered them myself, so I had to share them.
If, like me, you'd never heard of film editor Ivan Guerrero or "premakes," they're definitely worth checking out. For his creations, Guerrero takes clips from old films and, well, makes them into trailers of modern movies if they had been made in the 1950s or early '60s.
No words can really describe them, so I've included three here, starting with his newest creation, the "premake" trailer for Disney/Pixar's "Up!", now starring Spencer Tracy and Kirk Douglas. Also included are "Ghostbusters" with Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and Fred MacMurray, and finally "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which canibalizes Nazi-era footage from "Casablanca" and all kinds of other old movies for a wild mix. Enjoy, check out Guerrero's YouTube channel here, and stick around for something exciting from Sundance that hits YouTube tonight.
Finally today, director Kevin McDonald ("The Last King of Scotland" and others) and producer Ridley Scott have teamed up with contributors from around the world to create "Life in a Day," which, if I have this right, will premiere tonight at 8 p.m. EST at the Sundance Film Festival and, at the same time, also makes its streaming debut on YouTube.
Nothing but unquestionably cool there, and here's what the movie is about. McDonald had folks from around the globe send videos of exactly what the title says, a day in their lives. He edited it all together for what should make for one fascinating documentary. You can watch it streaming here tonight. Here's a clip from the movie featuring contributor Ron, who clearly isn't having the greatest of days. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Buffy's back .. sort of .. and a lot of other fun Saturday morning stuff
Actually, there's no possible bigger news out there now than what Ridley Scott is cooking up with Damon Lindelof of "Lost" and "Star Trek" fame, and since this is nominally supposed to be a movie site, let's just start there.
Rumors have been flying for months that Scott would, for his first science fiction movie in 30 years, be making either a sequel or prequel or some kind of extension of "Alien," but instead it sounds like he's thankfully taking on something much more ambitious.
Details are scant so far, but instead Scott and Lindelof are at work on an original idea, and they've made at least one truly great decision so far by casting Lisbeth Salander, aka Noomi Rapace, in the lead. Anyone who's been here before knows that I have more than a slightly unhealthy obsession with her, so bully.
Little more beyond that is known except it will be titled "Prometheus," there are at least four other major roles to fill, and this is set to be released March 9, 2012. Here's a bit of what Scott had to say about it:
“While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn't be more pleased to have found the singular tale I'd been searching for, and finally return to this genre that's so close to my heart.”
Nothing but awesome there, but frankly, Scott has been a really hit-and-miss director for me. He's certainly made great science fiction with "Blade Runner" and "Alien," but without exaggeration I really think there's a pretty strong argument that his "Robin Hood" was the single worst movie of 2010. Even so, this news is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
But getting to the main event here today, Sarah Michelle Gellar is finally coming back to TV, and it sounds like she just might have something worth watching this time.
Coincidentally enough, during this time of hardly any new TV (except for FX's fairly brilliant boxing drama "Lights Out" - watch it), I've been going back to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" via Netflix streaming, and it's at least as good as I remember. Season six, which I originally thought was a bit of a weak link, has been surprisingly strong, with crazy Willow at the end being even more fun than I remembered.
And here's what SMG (worst initials ever? perhaps) will have appearing on TVs next fall (I assume.) CBS has given a pilot greenlight to something called "Ringer," from "Supernatural" writers Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, and it just sounds like a heck of a lot of fun.
On the show, Buffy will play a young woman who is on the run from the mob, and to hide herself, assumes the identity of her wealthy twin sister, only to find out sis has a bounty on her head too. If I have this right, SMG will be playing two parts. Bring it on!
I tried to remember the last time I've seen her in anything that wasn't "Buffy" or "Angel," but off the top of my head couldn't. After cheating with an IMDB check, it turns out to be "The Grudge" in 2004. While that was a fun little flick, she's pretty much disappeared since, so I can only say welcome back, Buffy!
And in other news, via Michael Ausiello's truly great TV Line site, it seems that Michael Scott, and therefore Steve Carell, will be leaving "The Office" well before this season ends. Here's what executive producer Steve Daniels told Ausiello:
“Steve is leaving earlier than the [season finale]. The big ‘Goodbye, Steve’ thing will be before [May] sweeps.”
While that's a bit of a surprise, the battle to replace him should then take over the end of this season, and it should be a blast (and frankly some much needed new life to what is becoming the weak link in NBC's Thursday night comedy lineup - excepting "Outsourced," which I simply refuse to acknowledge at all). My heart is with Dwight here, but I have to assume they're gonna bring in an outsider, and last I heard Danny McBride was in the running, which would be perfection. Here's more of what Daniels had to say about it:
“Our basic plan is to see the jockeying and interviewing [for Michael's job], and not have that happen off-camera and suddenly present America with the choice. We’d rather play out the stories of the various characters who want that seat, and show them fight for it.”
The new boss will be revealed in what I have to assume will be an hour-long season finale, so let the Dunder-Mifflin infighting begin!
OK, I know I'm all over the place today, but I want to wrap this up with a couple more cool things before I dash off the pool for a swim. Artist Sam Smith, with whom I agree on half of his choices for the best 10 (well, actually 11) movies of 2010, has come up with a simply stunning series of posters for his choices. He can't sell them, but he has posted them all here, and they're very well worth checking out. For a taste, here's his great poster for my single favorite movie of 2010 by a pretty wide margin, "Winter's Bone."
And finally today, perhaps some karmic rooting for Peter Weir's "The Way Back" to play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when it opens in six days. Considering the only other offering is "No Strings Attached" with Natalie Portman and Demi Moore's beau, the odds are actually fairly good. The movie itself will be epic even by Weir's standards, telling as it does the story of a small group of multi-nationals who travel through five hostile countries after escaping from a Russian gulag in 1940. Here, courtesy of Collider, are seven clips from the film, which stars Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan and Ed Harris. Enjoy the clips, and have a fantastic weekend. Peace out.
Friday, May 21, 2010
These damned dirty prequels!
I think in many ways prequel might be an even slimier word than sequel, and if you look around, there's a mounting amount of evidence to back me up on that.
Case No. 1: Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood." I haven't bothered to comment on the flick until now because, well, I don't get paid to do this and it just made so little of an impression on me that I decided to just let it pass.
But the addition of time has done very little to remove the fairly foul taste it left in my brain. And be warned, if you haven't seen the movie and plan to, I probably wouldn't read any further today, or at least skip forward about four paragraphs or so until the news about James Franco that spurred this rant.
Now, Scott's movie certainly looks good enough. The action is close to first rate, and thankfully it was in good, old-fashioned 2-D. Watching Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett flirt for 90 minutes or so would have been mildly diverting enough for 90 minutes or so, but of course, Scott's movie went for a rather thoroughly unnecessary 2 hours and 20 minutes.
And it's not until near the end of all this that you realize just how much of a con it really is. If you've seen the trailer, you've certainly seen Oscar Isaac as King John unleash the cry of "Outlaw!" In any sort of real action flick that's designed to at least entertain, that would be the sign of at least some kind of conflict to come, right?
Well, not in Scott's flick, unfortunately. It doesn't come until there's about five minutes left in this mess, and all you get after that is a final shot of Russell Crowe finally as Robin Hood. And that's when it finally hits, or at least did me, just why this movie - and prequels in general- are just such empty vessels.
Which brings us to the news of the day about James Franco, an actor I've always quite liked ever since his "Freaks and Geeks" days. Because "prequel" is now the new "sequel" in Hollywood's latest attempt to cover up the fact that it has virtually no new ideas left, he's set to star in "Rise of the Apes," which, as you've probably guessed by now, is indeed a "prequel" to "Planet of the Apes" (because Lord knows Tim Burton's abortion of a remake wasn't enough, right?)
In the flick scheduled to start filming July 5 for its planned June 24, 2011, release, he'll play a scientist who is pivotal in the war between the humans and the apes. If I have this right, and frankly I'm not sure how much I care if I do or not, the scientist is working on a project to search for a cure for Alzheimer's in which testing is done on apes. Feeling bad for one of our simian friends, Franco's scientist apparently rescues one of them and takes him home. How in the world this comes to the toppling of the Statue of Liberty is anyone's guess.
In much better news, along with apparently returning to "General Hospital," it's also just been announced that Franco will star in a Jeff Bushell-penned comedy called "Ricky Stanicky" which actually sounds like it could really bring the funny. The movie centers on three male friends who for decades have used their titular imaginary friend to explain their way out of assorted tight spots. When their wives finally catch on and demand they produce this character, they hire an actor to play him, hence Franco.
Anyone who's seen "Pineapple Express" (and if you haven't, why the heck not?) or of course "Freaks and Geeks" knows Franco has the comedy chops, so here's hoping that will be a lot better than him messing with any damned dirty apes.
OK, what better way to close things out than with Helen Mirren saying "I've got 25 psychotic whores to manage"? Until seeing this trailer, I really wasn't convinced that "Love Ranch," directed by her hubby, Taylor Hackford, would deliver anything worth watching, but I've been wrong at least once before, so why not today? Co-starring Joe Pesci and some young buck for her to cougar around with, it indeed looks like this flick about the onset of legal prostitution in Nevada will be a lot of fun when it drops in June in at least some kind limited run. Enjoy the trailer, and have a great weekend. Peace out.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Warning: This is one movie I'm gonna be seriously obsessed with for the next year or so
OK, I get way too obsessed about movies that won't come out for a long while around here far too often, but you can officially pair this one with Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" as the two I'm most looking forward to in the somewhat near future.
Clint Eastwood has just signed on to direct the biopic of J. Edgar Hoover that is being developed by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment, from a script by "Milk" scribe Dustin Lance Black.
When I first heard that news, my first thought was wouldn't it be fun if Dirty Harry played Hoover, but of course he's far too old by now. It certainly would have been amazing, though. As for who can do it now, Billy Crudup did a much more than passing job in Michael Mann's rather criminally underrated "Public Enemies," so he should certainly be a candidate, but my money would be on them going with a relative unknown to play at least the young Hoover.
As for the subject himself, there can't be many more fascinating - albeit widely reviled - figures of the 20th century, on the one hand creating the FBI and taking on all kinds of gangsters while on the other hand, well, apparently cross-dressing at homosexual orgies (not that there's anything in the world wrong with that.) A complicated dude to say the least, and after what Black did with the life of Harvey Milk, I'm confident he's given this the full treatment it requires.
And, frankly, I have to admit that Eastwood's never been one of my favorite directors, mostly due to his complete aversion to subtlety. That said, I've seen "Gran Torino" three times now and like it more each time (though, and if you still haven't seen this but want to, PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, did he really have to die in the shape of a cross? Sheesh.) I'm fairly certain the man has at least one more great movie in him, so here's hoping this is it.
In much lighter and hopefully funnier news, though I gave up actually smoking pot at least 15 years or so ago (though mi hermano and I tried it during a stop in Amsterdam during the 2006 World Cup, just to make sure I never need to again), I've always loved stoner movies, and I think I always will, especially with this cast.
Jason Segel of "How I Met Your Mother" (and, of course, "Freaks and Geeks," which I try to mention at least once every day) and Ed Helms of "The Office" have signed on to star in "Jeff Who Lives at Home," a stoner comedy from the Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, which will begin shooting next month in Louisiana.
The flick chronicles a day in the life of two brothers, one a stoner who lives at home (Segel, natch) and the other a dude who has things more together but is very overbearing (Helms, natch again.) Just in case that wasn't enough funny for you, Judy Greer is about to join in too as Helms' character's wife. Nice.
Like I said, I'll always be hooked on good stoner flicks, so certainly count me in for all of that. And all I have after that today is a trio of videos (actually, that's not quite true, because some genuine "Mad Men" madness turns up at the end too.)
First up comes the music video for the Runaways' song "Cherry Bomb," performed by the movie's stars, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. Actually, I have no idea if Stewart actually learned to play the guitar, but that's certainly Dakota singing, and as anyone who's been here before knows, you can count me as being in the camp that thinks "The Runaways" is somehow not going to completely suck when it finally comes out April 9. Enjoy.
You know, I've met more than a few Canadian people in my already fairly long life, and I say this with the utmost respect and kindness, but Canadians really are some odd birds. Just in case you needed further proof, check out this trailer for "Suck," which unfortunately looks like it will live up to every ounce of its title's promise. It does, however, somehow star Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Alice Cooper and, yes, even, Moby, so it's at least worth watching the trailer. Not too oddly at all, I checked the IMDB but was unable to find any kind of release date for this, which is probably on DVD in some form already. Enjoy.
And finally (well, before the "Mad Men" goodness, at least), here's the newest trailer for Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," which will be out to assault all your sense and sensibility on May 14. I still can't yet see any way this is going to be any good, but I've been wrong at least once today already I'm sure, so enjoy the trailer.
And, really finally, even though I'm far too old and, well, everything to ever play with dolls, who could resist at least looking at these Mattel creations based on the characters from "Mad Men"? If you have more disposable income than me and want something funny to put on your mantel, you certainly could do a lot worse. They go on sale in July for a rather ridiculous price of $75 each! Anyways, enjoy the photo, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"Avatar" the trilogy? Plus, a Tuesday trove of clips
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.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
For Tuesday, a cache of clips
With the Golden Globes nominations coming later this morning, here's hoping that my favorite movie of this year (and it's held the top spot for a long time now), Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," fares very well.
So far from the critics associations, it has won at least a couple of screenplay awards (notably from the New York Film Critics Online awards) and of course pretty much universal recognition of Christopher Waltz as best supporting actor, and when the list goes to 10 has even made the best picture cut for a few too (a precursor for the 10-picture Oscar field)?
If I had a vote, which I obviously don't, I'd give it to QT for just a wildly fun story told with the most style and guts of the year, which is just about exactly what I ask for from a movie. Number two, which meets all those criteria except for perhaps the "fun" part, is Kathyrn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," which has emerged along with "Up in the Air" (which I have yet to see) as the most likely contenders for best picture, along with perhaps "Precious."
Anyways, since the Globe nominations aren't even announced for a couple of hours or so (yes, I get up early), that's enough of that. In other news, "Gilmore Girls" fans, of which you can proudly count me one, should take note that Lorelai herself, Lauren Graham, is making her return to broadcast TV Monday, March 1, at 9 p.m. in NBC's "Parenthood."
The premise itself - an offshoot of the overrated movie of the same name - sounds rather meh to me, but with "Friday Night Lights" showrunner Jason Katims behind this and Peter Krause of "Sports Night" (and other shows, I know, but that's my favorite) also starring, I'm certainly gonna give it a shot, mostly to see Lauren Graham in the spotlight again.
That makes for a potentially fun night on NBC when paired with "Chuck" at 8, which thankfully returns to its Monday home Jan. 11 (after a two-hour premiere the previous night, huzzah!), even if it all still does somehow lead into Jay Leno's entertainment-free hour.
And what about "Friday Night Lights" itself? When will that be returning to NBC? Best as I can tell, not until summer, which is certainly a long time to wait to find out how things will shake out after Coach Taylor's move to the new East Dillon High School.
And in another tidbit before the clips begin, here's hoping Natalie Portman can avoid getting punched in the face by David O. Russell during the filming of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." It seems the volatile director - known as much for movies like "Three Kings" and "I Heart Huckabees" as for his infamous tirade in the face of Lily Tomlin on the set of the latter - has either signed on or is about to to write and direct the movie based on Seth Grahame-Smith very funny update on Jane Austen's novel.
Now on to the clips. First up, appropriately enough, is Quentin Tarantino announcing what are - so far at least - his nine favorite (nine, I suppose, since he of course left out his own movie) flicks of 2009. I'll let you discover the other eight for yourself, but I have to say I thoroughly agree with the love for Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell," which I'm certain will make my top 10 for the year. Enjoy.
Next up comes a couple of clips for the next best thing to a new White Stripes album (where the hell is that?), the upcoming documentary "The White Stripes: Under the Great White Northern Lights," which I think is coming to DVD soon. First up is a kick-ass clip of them performing "Shake Hands" live, and after that is the rather mundane teaser trailer. The band's Web site, by the way, has just about the ultimate time-waster, a video jukebox that's a great way to avoid, say, working for 45 minutes or so. You can find it here, and I recommend it highly.
The White Stripes: "Let's Shake Hands"
THE WHITE STRIPES | MySpace Music Videos
Next up is is an even more "Kick-Ass" clip, I suppose, since it comes from the upcoming Matthew Vaughn movie of the same name. I believe this clip originally aired this year at the San Diego Comic-Con, but it's new to me, and perhaps to you too. The flick, about kids who decide to become superheroes, looks like it will be really funny - hopefully in the right ways - when it hits April 16. All I can tell you so far is that there's something oddly enjoyable about watching Nicolas Cage shoot a young girl in the chest from short range. Enjoy.
And finally, saving I think the worst for last, here is the first trailer I know of for Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," set to drop in May. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since it stars Russell Crowe, but I'm just not buying the prince of thieves as "Gladiator" angle he clearly seems to be going for here. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.
P.S.: Any misspellings you see here surely exist, but since the Blogger spell check wasn't working, please accept my apologies instead.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Oh, that's what I should be reading.
Read the Twilight books on hols. Really enjoyed them in a sort of 'creepy old man reading delusional, horny, daughter's diary' way.
No, the title of this post doesn't refer to the Twilight books, which I'd never bother to read, but I just thought that tidbit from Simon Pegg was just way too funny to pass up.
What I'm actually referring is the quartet of Red Riding novels by David Peace, "Nineteen Seventy-Four," "Nineteen Seventy-Seven," "Nineteen Eighty" and "Nineteen Eighty-Three." If you're unfamiliar with Peace, he's also the author of "The Damned United," a damned fine book about football coach Brian Clough that's now been made into a feature film starring Michael Sheen, if you're lucky enough to see it.
The Red Riding novels, a different kettle of fish, sound a lot like a "Prime Suspect" kind of thing to me, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. The books have already been made into a three-part British miniseries, which was unfortunately not yet available through my Netflix account, described as "a study of power and police corruption framed around the investigation of the disappearance of several young girls."
I'll see that as soon as I'm able, and I've already just ordered "Nineteen Seventy-Four" from the Amazon, but of course an American version (bastardization?) is also already in the works.
Ridley Scott has been hired to direct and Steve Zaillian to script a two-hour movie (shortened from the original five hours) flick which will transplant the action from the U.K. to the U.S., because I guess that's just supposed to be more palatable to us somehow. I'll keep an open mind about all that until I've at least read the four books and seen the original miniseries.
All I have after that today is a couple of fun videos, starting with this series of six clips from Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," courtesy of Collider. The more I see of this stop-motion animated flick based on and expanded from the classic children's novel by Roald Dahl just makes me think it's gonna be a real winner when it comes out Nov. 25. Enjoy.
And lastly today, since my (and many other people's) most-anticipated movie of the year finally comes out tomorrow, here's a "Where the Wild Things Are" featurette showing how big a part actual kids played on the set of Spike Jonze's flick. Due to furloughs, vacations and other fun stuff, I'm gonna have to work instead of seeing this tomorrow, but I'll certainly be there Saturday morning, and I just can't wait. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Where the Wild Things Are Exclusive Featurette
Trailer Park|MySpace Videos
Monday, November 05, 2007
"American Gangster:" American classic
Anyone who visits here from time to time already knows that I often get way too excited about movies, way too long before they even approach the multiplex.
Why? Well, first because I just love reading and writing about movies, but second because, when I manage to believe all the hype I do my minuscule part to create, it makes it just that much more sweet when it turns out to be true.
It happened once this summer with "Ratatouille," which was even better than I could have imagined. And now it's happened with "American Gangster," a flick which it seems like I've been excited about for three years now and is so good that it's knocked Brad Bird's delightful movie right out of the top spot.
I tell you all that as a lead-in to this warning: This won't be a review as much as a rave, because I loved just about every minute of Ridley Scott's best movie yet (and I say that as someone who hasn't always liked his movies as much as the rest of the world; "Blade Runner" is just as good as everyone claims it is, but "Gladiator" was average at best in my book.)
So, what's so great about "American Gangster," for the few people out there who haven't seen it yet (it took in a rather whopping $46.3 million at the box office in week one.)
What I liked most was the pacing. As we're introduced to the slowly converging paths of heroin kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and do-gooder cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), Scott wisely keeps the scenes to no more than a couple of minutes each, and moves fluidly between the two worlds. Until the inevitable bullet barrage that brings it all crashing down, Scott never resorts to the shaky jump-cuts that the kids who have followed him use to substitute for real urgency, instead just letting the story unfold at it own pace. The final effect, while not quite - as Washington Post critic Stephen Hunter said - making its 2:20 seem like 40 minutes, is still a rousing tale very well told.
And just as much credit for that goes to screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who has worked with Scott previously on "Hannibal" and also managed long ago to write and direct another of my favorite movies, "Searching for Bobby Fischer." He and Scott make it clear through their actions rather than any way-too-wordy speeches that what bonds Lucas and Roberts is their moral code, even if they use that to rather different ends. It's what makes the ending, which still manages to be a bit jarring, easier to swallow.
But no great American gangster flick (and yes, I will go so far to put this one in the same arena with the first two "Godfather" movies or any of the great '30s movies and believe it will be able to hold its own) would be complete without its own "Is this the end of Rico?" moment. Scott's is admittedly rather cheesy, but it just worked for me. Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen the movie, skip this sentence: For Lucas' character, being cuffed on the steps of his church, with his family being herded back inside so they won't have to watch, is just as ignominious an end as dying in the gutter.
Before I end this admittedly one-sided love letter to "American Gangster," a word or two about the casting is in order. At its center this is a very elaborately constructed movie about two men, and they will indeed square off again in February on Oscar night. By a nose, I'd have to give the edge to Denzel, who will certainly be taking home the first Best Actor statue he deserves, rather than awarded to make up for past omissions.
But the supporting cast as well was full of pleasant surprises. Idris Elba of "The Wire" makes an early appearance as one of Frank's rivals, and another HBO vet, John Hawkes, who played Sol Star on "Deadwood," is here as one Roberts' key recruits in his anti-drug crusade. Others who make the most of little screen time (and who I always like to see) include Jon Polito, Carla Gugino, Joe Morton (wearing the world's cheesiest wig) and, in one of his best appearances outside of the movies of Spike Lee, Roger Guenveur Smith as Lucas' cousin and connection to the heroin that would build his empire. 
Actors who have for years now only annoyed me on the big screen, Cuba Gooding Jr. and T.I., also manage to turn in solid performances (perhaps a fork in the road and a return to the right direction for Mr. Gooding, who is sensational as rival gangster Nicky Barnes.) And finally, a word of apology to Ruby Dee, who plays Lucas' mother: I thought you had died shortly after your husband, the great Ossie Davis, as happens with so many devoted couples, but I was certainly happy to find out I was wrong this time.
If none of this convinces you to go see this one, there's probably nothing else I can say, so I'll just cut this off and head out to see "Into the Wild." Peace out.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
"Bee Movie": Much abuzz about nothing
I apologize for that not-terribly-clever headline, but I offer it to kind of prove a point: It's about as funny as most of what you'll encounter in Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie."
Which is a real shame, 'cause for the first fifteen minutes or so it's thoroughly charming and, more importantly, funny. Life in the hive, dominated by the leviathan Honex corporation (producing, of course, honey), makes for a rapid succession of very funny jokes about the life span of bees, working for your whole life, etc. With a lot more focus this could have been a kind of bee "Office Space," but alas it was not to be.
Because this flick thinks it has to be a lot more than that, our hero, Barry B. Benson (voiced with less than his usual smugness by Mr. Seinfeld) has to leave the hive, and that's where things fall apart. As my mind often does when movies start to lose its attention, I drifted to other movies I've had a beef with, in this case Tim Burton's thoroughly unnecessary "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," but in reverse. What they both lacked after brilliant openings, as "Bee Movie" left the factory and Burton's "Charlie" went into it, was almost any sense of wonder at all.
Now, I understand that (with big help from Larry David and others) Mr. Seinfeld created a sitcom that was "about nothing," and managed to make a very funny one at that. To make an entertaining 90-minute animated movie about nothing, which he tried to do here, would be no mean feat, but despite being intermittently funny throughout it really doesn't even come close.
What's the big drama once our hero Barry leaves the hive? A lawsuit, and believe it or not, it's even less compelling on screen than you could possibly imagine it would be, despite the best efforts of John Goodman as the opposing attorney. Barry, of course, also meets and becomes smitten with a florist voiced by Renee Zellweger, who I'll return to later with, I'm warning you now, some venom.
First, a word about the overall look of "Bee Movie" which, again outside of the hive, is just depressingly generic. If you've seen Miyazaki's "Kiki's Delivery Service" (and if you haven't, why not), try not to think too much about young Kiki soaring over Miyazaki's majestic landscapes of Europe as you watch Barry and the "pollen jockeys" flying over the CGI, paint-by-numbers version of what is somehow supposed to be New York City in "Bee Movie."
What this newfangled animation does to scenery, however, is far less destructive than what it does to people, specifically poor Ms. Zellweger as the florist Vanessa. As animators try to make their human characters more real, it just gets more and more perverse, in this case turning Vanessa's face into what Ms. Zellweger's looks like each time directly after she's sucked off the pounds put on for a "Bridget Jones" movie. Not pretty. It doesn't help that Vanessa's voice and mannerisms just make you want to choke her and end it all.
So, as you can tell, I really didn't care too much at all for "Bee Movie," but before I go I'd like to offer a special note of encouragement to the very young lady who, as her mother informed us before the movie started, was enjoying (or not) her first moviegoing experience with this one. Take heart, young one, because there are much better flicks than "Bee Movie" out there for you to behold. For a start, have your mom rent "Ratatouille" next Tuesday to see what a wonder great animation can really be, though you might want to have her fast-forward through the rather scary opening sequence.
As for me, there's a hopefully much better movie in my immediate future, with a screening of Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" at noon. Peace out.
