Media Morgue

“The Dark Knight” Ledger has the Last Laugh

2008-07-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Genres: Action/Adventure, Crime/Gangster, Adaptation and Sequel
Release Date: July 18th, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Director: Christopher Nolan

JJ Rating: A

Gotham City has a new District Attorney by the name of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and he’s the White Knight that is to save Gotham from the bad, bad mob like men. Then The Joker (Heath Ledger) plays his cards and makes things difficult for the new DA and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman). But Batman (Christian Bale), the Cape Crusader, the rat with wings, Gotham City’s hope, the Dark Knight swoops in and tries to protect the very city he loves from the madness, the chaos, the destruction of the laughing clown of satanic seduction; The Joker. The Dark Knight.

The storyline was believable. It was dark, gritty, witty, fitting and cold. That makes The Dark Knight the closest to Batman ambience as the first, if not closer. Ledger and Nolan’s depiction of The Joker is as gruesome and disturbing as he should be. Harvey Dent was well played by Eckhart with a glow of goodness shadowed by a vale of darkness. Alfred is played by a dry wit Michael Caine with comfort and great regard to the character’s integrity. Batman and Bruce Wayne had Bale’s historic comic book touch that will, and mostly have, canonized him as one of the best Batmen to ever grace the silver screen.

The problem that I have is that Gotham City is nothing. It’s bland and it has no markings that would distinguish it from other cities other than names on buildings that have to inform what city Batman is in, otherwise one wouldn’t know. The Statue of Liberty tells you you’re in New York City. Big Ben and the London Eye show that you’re in London. The strip lit up shows you’re in Las Vegas. The Eifel Tower shows that you’re in Paris. What marking shows you’re in Gotham City? A sign that so happens to state Gotham City General. Otherwise it’s as bland as any other city that has a superhero. Oh wait it’s one of the few that do and plus it’s a fictional city. The Dark Knight accomplishes many feats but what it does not accomplish is cinematography. Vibrant and attractive as it is in story and character the actual visual of what Gotham City should be just wasn’t there, and that is, because of everything else, a major letdown.

I understand that Christopher Nolan wanted to have a realistic approach to The Dark Knight and what he gave is just that. I appreciate his hard work in making that happen and giving us comic fans a film that takes one of the best superheroes seriously. It’s just that Gotham City is a major city in DC Universe and it’s depressing to see it so drab in a way that makes it plain.

The action is engaging, thrilling and sufficient. There wasn’t too much action and when there was action it was believable. Batman fights the bad guys with cunning and heart. The Joker fights with heart of darkness, viciousness and bloodlust that goes unmatched by any other villain in Batman’s catalog. As The Joker points out in the film he has no rules and as his actions dictate he has no rules and yet Batman has them, making it difficult to threaten someone that laughs at everything; even his own pain.

The story was really good. It was a long movie and seeing it at midnight did pull at my eyelids a bit, but it was a story full of lots of things. It tried to tug on heart strings and it almost worked for me. It made a valiant effort in that regard. Dealing with Harvey Dent as a second villain was creative in a way that was slightly shocking. I wasn’t really shocked in this movie because most of what The Joker planned I caught on to what was going to happen. I don’t know if that’s because I could be him or that I’ve seen enough movies to make such valid predictions. Ha. Even though it was predictable it kept my attention the entire time.

The serious moments were dark and brooding as they should be. They were handled well because there was no camp throughout this film even with The Joker’s laughing. It was chilling and exciting to hear his cackling as he takes a human life or makes things explode. His joy and excitement for his vile doings were amusing even though what was going on was not at all close to that. Ledger could not have given more to the role of The Joker if he were perfect.

There are moral issues in this film with what is justifiable and what is not. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox gave a moral touch to the film with his clam and collected character that rarely heard shocking news. The Joker lacked any morals and did as he saw fit no matter if it were against city law or bad guy law. Batman had rules and things he did not intend on doing and The Joker used that to his benefit. The question that vibrates through those pointy ears of his is how far is too far and what can be done that won’t make him just like The Joker?

There is humor. Bruce has humor with his jealous actions because Harvey was with Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) Gyllenhaal brought about an indecisive muse to the Batman/Bruce Wayne double trouble problem. She was a good choice to take on that character. There was The Joker and his whacked one liners that were, of course, dark humor. Then there’s Alfred and his one liners to Bruce and what he was or was not doing. Caine and Bale’s chemistry during those times was like locker room banter.

The Dark Knight is a great film that many will enjoy because they enjoyed the first one and because they enjoy Batman as a superhero and The Joker as the villain. I enjoyed it and liked the first one. I don’t own the first and most likely will not own this one. Batman is not one of my favorite superheroes. This year I’d have to say I enjoyed Iron Man far more than The Dark Knight. But I’m not naïve to take from the greatness of this movie. Though I wish Harley Quinn was in The Dark Knight going around stating Mr. J, but even though she wasn’t I thoroughly enjoyed Ledger as The Joker and that was well worth the ever staggering ticket price at the movie theater. Lots of things have been said about Heath Ledger and the one thing that matters after viewing this film is that he got, and rightfully so, the last laugh.

"Twilight" Trailer Update

2008-07-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

For those big "Twilight" fans out there, the new teaser trailer has been posted.

Can Mag has the scoop. Have a look.

Watchmen Trailer now Online

2008-07-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Set to play before The Dark Knight tomorrow, is the trailer for th yet-another comic book (sorry, "graphic novel") adaptation. This time its "The Watchmen."

Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, the Watchmen was a 12 issue series that ran in the 80's and is the only comic book to ever win a Hugo award. It's also the only comic book to make it to Time Magazine's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.

I guess its not your average comic book.

Here's a description from Wikipedia:

Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who - with one notable exception - lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.

"Metafiction?" I had to look that one up:

Metafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually, irony and self-reflection.

OK, so its going to be a really dark and complex comic book film.

In a word, the trailer below looks stunning. Its got a heavy visual style very reminiscent of Frank Miller's "300" and all that dark, gloomy emo vibe thats so popular with comic books when they want to win over loner comic book geeks. If the story is as good as the cinematography, its going to be a blockbuster.

Here's the trailer for the film, schedule to premiere March 6, 2009:

A Musical Observation: Katy Perry

2008-07-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

I am not a big follower of the Billboard charts, mostly because almost everything I've heard for the past 10 years sounds like crap. Call me old, but there is not much in the way of original, creative songs out there that dont sound like the same old thing. So be it.

So while my significant other was watching "So you think you can dance" an intolerably over-produced television show that contains Mary Murphy cackling and screaming like some over-excited peacock - I heard the performance of Katy Perry and her hit song "I Kissed A Girl:"

I don't believe I'm saying this, but slutty, bar bimbo lyrics aside, there is something about this tune that is actually kind of catchy. The guitars have a certain "chunk" to it that resonates with me personally and the tune has an early 90's, post-grunge goth/dance feel. And I may be nuts, but there is something in there that reminds me a little bit of Siouxie and the Banshees in their heyday.

And naturally the most risque and naughty of songs always seem to come from someone with ultra-conservative upbringing. Before she was kissing girls, Katy Perry was Katy Hudson, a struggling christian gospel singer and the middle daughter of two pastors. Isnt that always the way it goes?

Twilight: A Primer

2008-07-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Apparently, there is a growing, ravenous hoard of people out there that are really into the book "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. Personally, my interest in vampires ended when Anne Rice gave up being the queen of the undead and went and found God or something.

Nonetheless, there is a huge army mobilizing behind the efforts to turn the books into a film. Little did I realize that one of Media Morgue's less frequent contributors, Nefertari was a passionately dedicated (ok, more like ridiculously fanatical) fan of the story and has offered a primer on what all of this is about, should you happen to be one of the few (like myself) who haven't read the books.

Here's Nefertari's breifing on Twilight:

Hello to all you Twilighters and everyone else! Many of you have a least heard about Twilight, at least in passing, but I thought I’d take this chance to educate you all a bit better than Ms. Gail Collins.

The Twilight Saga, by Stephanie Meyer, is about a young girl Bella and the boy of her dreams, Edward Cullen. Turns out he’s a vampire, which that alone makes things difficult, but to add insult to injury, Edward has deal with the fact that he wants to drink Bella’s blood. Talk about love conquering all!

No matter how it sounds, or how people try to explain the Twilight phenomenon can’t be described. How can so many women of all ages everywhere, fall in love with this fictional character, Edward? From a girl who is in love herself, my answer is just read the books and find out!

It’s a great time to be a twilighter. Summit Entertainment is promoting the crap out of the Twilight movie (opening 12.12.08 – two weeks after Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). This week’s Entertainment Weekly magazine features Robert Pattinson (plays Edward Cullen) and Kristen Stewart (Bella) on the cover. Even though there’s been a tremendous amount of backlash – rightly so- I still think it’s going to sell a ton of copies. I myself hate the cover, but will still buy the magazine. Entertainment Weekly probably should have made the make-up artist to do a bit more research before the photo shoot, but it’s over and done with. Robert looks like a zombie and Kristen doesn’t even look like herself.

On the upside, there have been some really great Twilight news pieces out there to enjoy. MTV News, at the end of April this year, announced that they would have “Twilight Tuesdays.” Every Tuesday until the film debuts, MTV will have behind the scenes videos, interviews, first looks, etc…

The movie Penelope went on sale yesterday and in the special features of the DVD was an exclusive sneak peak at Twilight.

Entertainment Tonight also had a segment on the movie Twilight. They showed some more great behind the scenes footage AND an exclusive look at the new trailer. The more I see, the better this movie looks!

And last but not least, on August 2nd, the final installment of the Twilight Saga will be released. Breaking Dawn, the fourth book, hopefully will answer the question that every twilighter has been asking: “Will Edward make Bella a vampire?” I won’t say any more than that for those of you who haven’t read the book. Until next time, I’ll leave you with a few exiting tidbits.

Robert Pattinson, who is a musician, wrote a version of “Bella’s lullaby,” for the movie. We’re still not sure if it’s the one that they’ll use, but I’m sure if they don’t we’ll get to hear it on the DVD features.
After seeing the new trailer, we can pretty much confirm that there will be the Port Angeles scene. Before, no one from the crew/production team wanted to confirm it or not. Seeing Bella and Edward in the Volvo together and almost toughing hands is our clue that it’s included. Yea!

By: Nefertari

On TV: Ax Men on the History Channel

2008-07-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

The success of Discovery's "Deadliest Catch" has spawned a whole slew of "real" reality shows, presenting people doing some of the most ridiculously dangerous jobs the majority of viewers would never in a million years do themselves.

And here is one more.

The History Channel is launching a new series that follows lumberjacks. OK, they call them "loggers" but it's the same thing.

Here's a blatant ad for the show, brought to you by the promotions department at the History Channel:

The video takes the first 25 seconds to make fun of people in a cube farm complaining about their day. Gee, lets pick on the little guy once again.

I like the shot of the guy with four of his fingers missing that says, "To me, this is just a paper cut."

No, pal, thats an early retirement.

I wonder how a show like this will present environmentalists. Will they paint them as radical tree-hugging hippies, or hide from the issue altogether to instead focus on how tough it is to cut down trees all day? I'm not doubting that logging is a tough as hell job, but is there enough interest in this to keep viewers watching?

You can find out more about the series over on the History Channel website.

2008-07-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

News from E! online via Yahoo, as they report that a musical adaptation of "9 to 5" is being planned.

According to the article, the show will feature 20 songs written and composed by Dolly Parton. It will have its premiere and seven week pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles, before opening in New York at the Marriott Marquis Theatre on April 23, 2009.

The show will feature "Wicked" stars Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty, as well as "West Wing" star Allison Janey.

I met Dolly once while visiting a friend at a studio. I popped in between takes, trying not to interfere and she walked right up to me and said "Hi, I'm Dolly." Immediately my first thought was "well no kidding." but I managed to keep myself in check and greeted her back. We ended up have about a 10 minute conversation about mostly small talk, but I never forgot how outgoing and friendly she was. Dolly is a five star professional. Glad to see she's still figuring out a way to make a living.

E3 Update: Day One

2008-07-16T11:36:00.001-07:00

My "E3 insider" (which is code word for a friend of mine that wanted to write about E3 when I was unmotivated to do it) had some interesting things to say about day one of the Electronic Entertainment Expo - better known as E3.

Here's his report from his website:

Microsoft went first and dropped some bombshells. Well I'm exited, and it mostly that they cut a deal with Netflix. Basically, in the fall update, XB 360's everywhere will become Netflix box at no extra charge. There were many other things like the addition of avatars, which some have started calling Mii-60's, and a overhaul of the dash that looks a little less useful. But I live with it, because it adds a party up function that lets people stay in a group, jump into games, look at photo's, and watch netflix together. The other thing that has fanboy bums a twitter is the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII, a Sony staple, on the 360. It's interesting, but not my bag, but good for them.

Sadly, Nentendo didn't have much to say in their press romp. An add on to make the Wiimote more accurate and some new games mixed into much patting on the back for the Wii.

Sony didn't have much to say either, but they did announce a 254 player squad based shooter coming up that sounds pretty awesome. But that's about it.

Turning an XBox 360 into a Netflix box is a nice addition, and that extra income Netflix will get from this will help them in the long run. However, the one thing that bothers me about all this new technology is the idea of nickle and diming someone for extra stuff. Sure the netflix add on is free, but ordering the movies certainly is not. Soon your basic low-cost gaming system ends up costing you a ton from month to month.

We'll try to coax our insider for more updates this week. Stay tuned.

PBS To Air King Lear Un-edited

2008-07-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

Good News: PBS Chief Paula Kerger told reporters that PBS will air a performance of "King Lear" that includes a full frontal nude scene in it.

Bad News: Its a nude scene with Ian McKellen.

At the Summer US Press Tour, Kerger answered a question from a snarky critic (not me) about airing the production of King Lear unedited. The stage play contains a scene in which McKellen, portraying the king as he slowly goes insane - tearing his royal clothes off. The reporter then askes how Kerger feels about showing nudity on television.

Lisa de Moraes from the Washington Post scribed Kerger's comments:

"The film is just being shot, and I haven't actually seen the final version yet," Kerger says in response to the critic's question. "We're actually going to bring it to press tour in January, so you'll have a chance to see it then."

At this point, the reporter quips that his readers cant wait till January to find out the answer.

Honestly, bub. No one is holding their breath wondering whether or not Sir Ian is going to unsheathe his royal scepter on public TV.

And this is PBS we are talking about here. They run on the thinnest of shoestring budgets, being given a pittance of funding from the federal government that every year gets slashed a little more (Bush cut the funding for PBS in half this past January). Do you really think that a network this desperate for funding would bite the hand that feeds it? My guess is that the scene will either be carefully edited with well placed camera framing, or they will resort to the ubiquitous dark shadowy patch for any offending parts.

I applaud PBS taking the hard stance against censorship, but at the same time, I think they know what can be done tastefully to preserve artistic integrity.

We'll keep a watch on this story as it develops. (boy that sounds bad considering what we're talking about here.)

As always, stay tuned.

Movie Trailers: Opening this Weekend

2008-07-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

OK kids, and away we go...

This is the weekend a lot of people have been waiting for. This weekend sees the premier of the hotly anticipated film that has had critics, fanboys, science fiction freaks, film buffs and just about everyone I've come in contact with literally frothing at the mouth over finally seeing this on the big screen. Its been hyped, gone viral, had underground virtual reality games based around it, and according to everyone that thinks they know something about film, this will be an academy award winning performance for actors, directors and maybe even the lowly production assistant.

Yes folks, this is the premier weekend for "Space Chimps"

See what I did there. Thats a thing.

OK, here are the trailers and synopsis for the three films opening this weekend. One's the latest incarnation of a filthy rich, high-tech vigilante with a penchant for theatrics, one's a chick flick with Meryll Streep singing and dancing and one's got the voices of Andy Samberg and Patrick Warburton as monkeys. OK, chimps. You essentially have at least one choice for every family member this weekend. One for the kids, one for the ladies and one for the rabid geeks. As always, clicking on the film's poster will take you to the official site for that film. Enjoy.

The Dark Knight (PG-13)

Synopsis (courtesy Sizzling Popcorn)
With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and the committed new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham City for good. The triumvirate initially proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces The Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.

Judge's Decision: Yeah, I'm there, vat of popcorn in my lap, cell phone turned off, sitting center of the focal point of the speakers, center of the house. All hype aside, the film looks stunning. It's dark. It's mean, it's damn impressive and Christopher Nolan knows how to be dark, mean and impressive. From all the notes I've read about the production, Nolan had a field day with this one. And combine all that effort with the tragic loss of Heath Ledger just after wrapping photography and the fact that he gives a jaw-dropping amazing acting performance as the Joker and you have something that for its genre will stand tall among the titans. Will it break $100 million in three days? My guess is no, but after the first weekend, expect the numbers to continue to climb. This will be a monster opening.

Mama Mia! (PG-13)
This is the story of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads. An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna is about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends---practical and no-nonsense Rosie and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya---from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own.

Judge's Decision: Its a chick-flick based on a chick-musical with a bunch of chicks and a few guys that look like buffoons and there's singing and dancing and the Greek isles and more singing and dancing and laughing and (gag, puke, choke, gasp) I can't breathe!

This will come in second in the box office and will be watched by everyone that doesnt like Batman.

Space Chimps (G)

Synopsis: (Thanks to Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide)
A computer-animated comedy following the descendants of the first chimps in space as they blast off for fun and adventure on a far-away planet. Ham III (Samberg) is the grandson of Ham, the first-ever chimp astronaut. This ne'er-do-well chimp may not be the most qualified ape for the job, but a scheming senator (Tucci) has recruited him for a most dangerous mission. It seems that a powerful tyrant (Daniels) has overtaken an alien world, and now it's up to Ham III and his trusty simian crew (Hines and Patrick Warburton) to help overthrow the deep-space despot. Perhaps with some training from Ham III's mentor (Kenan Thompson) and the help of a friendly alien (Kristin Chenoweth) this fearless group of anthropoids can make the universe a safer place for aliens and humans alike.

Judge's Decision: I cant really say much about this. Its got great character voices, and I'm sure it will be fantastic computer animation and it will have a story that's heartwarming and filled with hope and goodness and stuff little kids will love, but did you happen to notice that The Dark Knight was opening this weekend? Do you really think that any kid old enough to speak will make a choice to see this over Batman? Come on, only extra conservative soccer moms that want to take their kids to something wholesome will be filling the theater for this one. My guess is that Space Chimps will probably come in 4th or 5th in the box office race behind Mama Mia!

Overall my prediction for the weekend top five are this:

1. Dark Knight - $75 million
2. Hellboy 2 - $17 million
3. Mama Mia - $16 mil
4. Space Chimps - $13 mil
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth - $10

Tune in Monday to see how far off I was.

"I Can't Believe that was Him/Her"

2008-07-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Master Wordsmith? Yep!

Yeah, I gave up on the whole "What to watch" series... too depressing. However, for your summer entertainment, allow me to offer you a list of '80s movies replete with future stars. It's an amusing game look at an old movie, often at the minor roles, and see how their fortunes evolved over time.

When doing the casting for the Fox series "24", producers obviously had to go no further than the 1989 Comedy hit, Major League. A keen observer might have noticed that the surly, Cuban, "Jobu" worshiping, curveball missing heavy hitter was non other than future President of the United States and insurance spokesman Dennis Haysbert. Dennis will live in my heart as part of what I believe to be the funniest exchange of religious ideology ever to grace the silver screen:

Pedro (Haysbert): I like your Jesus very much, but he no help me hit curveball.

Freddie: Are you telling me that Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?!

Moving on to another '80s classic, 1984's Revenge of the Nerds, we see a cast repleate with surprises that mark today's TV landscape. Starting with the obvious, Anthony Edwards (ER, some wierd alien movie)and David Carridine (34 "Nerds") Sequels, we see many other hidden stars on the Screen for this film.
Remember the dorky violin player with the wierd haircut who barely spoke? Well, Poindexter got over his elocution problems and became a hotshot reporter, Danny, on the series The West Wing, and was featured in the cast of Aaron Sorkin's aborted follow-up, Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip. The actor? Timothy Busfield.

And who could forget the Jocks' abusive coach bellowing:

"you just got your asses whipped (pronounce the "h") by a bunch of g*ddamn nerd. NERDS!!!"

Later in life, that coach would settle down into domestic bliss with Rosanne Barr/Arnold/Crazy Lesbian. The Actor's name? John Goodman.

And speaking of "24", before playing Jack Bauer's crazy/mean dad in that show, James Cromwell Played Lewis' dad ("I've got the 'ol cruise control set at 35mph")in Nerds.

Some other examples: Pretty in Pink featured (in addition to the Molly Ringwald), James Spader (Boston legal),and Andrew "Dice" Clay as the bouncer.

Lucas: In addition to Winona (Sticky-fingers) Ryder, and Cory Haim, this film featured a young Jeremey Piven (Entourage)as "Spike".

Before he was "McDreamy" geeky Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy) courted a hot blonde (Amanda Peterson) in 1987's Can't Buy Me Love. Also featured in the film was Seth Green (Austin Powers II, III and a bunch of other stuff)as Chuckie.

Oh, I could go on and on...but why deprive you the opportunity to mine these classic movies yourself, and come up with discoveries of your own.

Share them in the comments here!

Hollywood Rumors: The Wachowski's Next Film

2008-07-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Filing this one under "Dear god no! Why don't they ever learn??" comes news from a reader at CHUD (Cinematic Happenings Under Development) that says that hot on the heels of their CGI-laden psychedelic hackery of our childhood hero Speed Racer, the Wachowski brother's next film will be an adaptation of DC Comics character "Plastic Man."

The source says that Producer Joel Silver was on German radio talking about it and that it will will have Keanu Reeves as the main character and the film is targeted to have a global release at the end of 2009.

Fantastic, bombastic, super-elastic crap.

Keanu Reeves as Plastic Man? About as believable as Keanu Reeves as Johnathan Harker in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. Then again, isn't Keanu pretty much "plastic man" in every film he's in?

I have some big suspicions about this rumor. I think this is way too soon to have a film like this released. Even with a spec script already written (long before the matrix came along) and the Wachowskis were working on the development while still doing post production on "Speed Racer," there is no way you could fast-track something this big in a little over a year.

Despite my better judgement, I've put in a call to Keanu's agency to see if we can get any kind of confirmation on this. Naturally I am not expecting a call back, but at least I tried.

If we learn anything more, we'll post it. As always, stay tuned.

Dark Knight Hype Train Kicks Into High Gear

2008-07-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

This Friday, audiences will finally get to see the latest film in the Batman franchise. And with the amount of publicity, marketing and strong word-of-mouth filibustering from over-excited fanboys, it's a safe bet that the film is going to be one of the biggest openers this Summer, if not this year.

But that doesn't mean that the film is any good.

Christie Lemire from the AP said that the film was an "epic that will leave..."

[Sorry, that's all we can legally quote from the AP article without having to pay their extortion money to quote their silly, self-important little words.]

Of course, expect the boys at "Aint it Cool News" to be soiling their little black capes over just what a cinematic genius Christopher Nolan apparently is, and they already have, posting a review one would expect from these guys. There is even a growing grass-roots effort on the net to award Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his role as the Joker in the film.

But is all this pre-release propaganda going to live up to the hype, or are audiences once again going to look at this $150 million investment and think "not bad, but could be better?"

All I am saying is that you need to look at a film (any film) objectively and - as much as you can be - completely unbiased. How well does the flick stand on its own, excluding all the hoopla from ego-maniacal bloggers, rabid fanboys and multi-million dollar marketing departments?

Joe from the Movie Blog elaborates on this Dark Knight example:

Let’s get something straight. I loved The Dark Knight. I gave the movie an 8.5 out of 10. It’s fantastic on many levels. Very fun movie… yadda yadda yadda. But it seems like some guys had so pre-invensted themselves into believing the movie would be awesome long before they ever saw it, that when the movie turned out to be really good, they praised it like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s not.

In other words, put everything you have heard or been told about the movie aside and just watch the film and decide for yourself if you think its a good movie.

There is no doubt this film will be a box office smash, but is it actually any good? That answer is entirely up to you.

"Legen-f'ing-dary" Actor Carradine Drops the Bomb Live on Air

2008-07-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is big news in Chicago:

According to the Chicago Tribune, Actor David Carradine dropped the dreaded "F-bomb" on a WGN morning show today:

Carradine, who had been introduced by co-anchor Robin Baumgarten as "legendary," repeated the adjective, inserting an F-bomb in between "legen" and "dary."

Co-anchor Larry Potash immediately scolded Carradine and apologized to viewers on his behalf. Carradine's appearance continued a few more minutes, ending before 8 a.m.

Wow. An actor on a live TV show said a naughty word. Is this really what "news" has been reduced to? Never mind all the other things being done behind our backs, with the Bush administration killing the 4th ammendment, the decimation of habeus corpus, and the neo-McCarthyism that exudes in this current political climate (you may be a terrorist and not even know it. Better check yourself in just in case) - Despite a plummeting stock market, a nosediving dollar and ever increasing costs for oil while oil companies post record profits - despite the continous violation of rights and the presidential-signed abolishment of tenets that were established 500 years before the United States was even conceived, despite all the atrocities that take place in our own country, not to mention BY our country around the world...

and THIS is what the Chicago Tribune thinks is newsworthy.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” Paved With Good Intentions

2008-07-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Horror, Thriller, Adaptation and Sequel
Running Time: 1 hr. 50 min.
Release Date: July 11th, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and some language.
Distributors: Universal Pictures Distribution
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

JJ Rating: B+

When an ancient treaty is broken between mankind and those that are not human, problems start happening and the only people that can stop it are those that aren’t really people to begin with. Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Hellboy II has something that makes it interesting as a story and a movie that other superhero movies have as well, but because Hellboy is different it makes it unique enough to not have to be compared to other superheroes from D.C. or Marvel. Sometimes it’s easy to watch superhero movies and compare because they have similarities that give one the ability to do so. But because Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) are so character driven with powers as secondary they make for great superheroes. So imperfect and so different that they are what make this movie fantastic.

Perlman is so exactly needed for this role and on this second film much better than the first one. Blair has fire as her power and yet her passion in the character smolders so rightly that she’s hot. Jones is odd as he needs to be with a character that reads things with his hands, which was one of the funny scenes in the movie dealing with Abe and Liz and a door.

Speaking of good scenes it was pretty awesome with the humor and the action. There were good fight scenes. Hellboy fights a monster with a metallic hand and it’s a smart and clever fight, which is most of the fights in the entire movie. There’s not a lot of expending of powers needlessly.

Hellboy wants to be part of the public eye and when he does become part of the public eye he doesn’t like what is said about him. Enjoying the awe of the great comments but disliking the balance of the evil comments. Plus Hellboy is like a child at heart and it causes him to have immature reactions to things. Such as what Liz finds important in their relationship. So he just has different mindset that is closer to a child’s way of thinking than an adult.

What I like about Hellboy II is that it has a twist on bad vs. good by using something that is solely thought of as bad in a good way. Hellboy is a demon turned good. The problem I had with this film was that the young Hellboy was a tad cartoony. Though the actor who played him did a great job, it was the teeth that threw me. Something was off with the sound and the way he was talking. It kind of took me out of the film and that’s something I have to take issue with.

Prince Nuada (Luke Gross) and the Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) were interesting addition as was the new addition to the team, Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). The story for Hellboy II is good. It’s creative and different. The cool part of this story was how the decided to tell the back story. The flashbacks seemed to use wooden puppets, which was unique, itself. I liked it. Johann Krauss adds humor, Princess Nuala added heart and Prince Nuada added passion. They gave the story a different spin than the first one.

Then there was the Toothfaries. They deserve their own paragraph. They are a character that is creative. Their name is far softer than what they actually are. When Krauss uses one and Hellboy argues with it, it is one of my favorite scenes in the entire movie.

The eye candy in this film is just awesome. I think Guillermo Del Toro’s creative eye is extraordinary in every aspect that is necessary to give a movie a different twist to what it normally could have been. He’s the twist of lemon that makes the grilled chicken taste different in a palpable manner.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a gratifying movie. The plot serves a three course meal to the moviegoer. If you like the first one then you’ll surely like this one. Hellboy was paved with good intentions and those good intentions and creative mind with great execution give us another entertaining movie for the summer. Yay

Sequel News: More Sex and the City and another School of Rock

2008-07-14T07:55:00.001-07:00

According to Nicole Sperling at Entertainment Weekly, based on the success of their first filmed attempt, (its cleared $362 million world wide) the boys from HBO are fast-tracking a sequel to "Sex and the City."

At HBO's annual press tour on Friday, Michael Lombardo, president of HBO's programming said, "We're really heartened by the fans' enthusiasm. Absolutely, there is a lot of energy behind doing another SATC movie."

Naturally, Lombardo wouldn't discuss any more of the details about the film, but expect that the four founding members of the New York chapter of the estrogen mafia will be in full force once again to show the world that women are strong and sexy and independent and New York is fabulous or something.

Meanwhile, hot on the Manolo-sheathed heels of this news, comes information from Variety that Paramount is in the works to make a sequel to School of Rock, reuniting Jack Black with director Richard Linklater and producer Scott Rudin.

OK, the first one was cute, in a "oh look, Jack Black is strutting around like Angus Young" sort of way. But now the story seems to be that Black's Dewy Finn will be taking the class on a road trip across the US for some reason. I think I can speak for most audience members when I say that I was pretty much done with this film once I saw it. Is there enough to keep people interested the second time around?

“Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” full of Character and Hope

2008-07-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

Genres: Kids/Family and Adaptation
Release Date: July 2nd, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: G
Distributors: Picturehouse

Directed by: Patricia Rozema

JJ Rating: B+

Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin) is a mini reporter. She has a great eye for detail. She also has a great heart for her family and friends. She especially loves her father (Chris O’Donnell). When her father has to leave to find work, Kit and her mother take in borders to get through the Great Depression. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.

It is children’s movie, for sure. But it was a good movie. It was a good movie because it was character driven and that is an important thing. Each character lived within the movie and was believable. The story was set during the Great Depression and that’s unique for movies of this generation since most movies that venture to the past go towards the time of Kings and Queens or WWII. So it was cool that this movie ventured through one of America’s down times with a positive and hopeful spin.

Abigail Breslin, Stanley Tucci, Glenne Headly, Jane Krakowski, Julia Ormond, Joan Cusack, Chris O’Donnell, Max Thieriot, Brieanne Jansen, Zachary Mills and Willow Smith all did a great job in connecting with their characters as well as the chemistry between one another.

The story was good. It dealt with Kit who wanted to be a reporter and she would write her own little stories on her typewriter. It was how she dealt with stressful situations; she wrote. She meets all kinds of characters that come to stay at the house because her mother decides to take in borders to help stay afloat while her husband looks for work in another city. Then there are hobos that are decent in everyway but looked down upon because they don’t have the means to live anywhere but in a hobo town. Lots of history on what it was like for so many different people then, even it if it’s a lighthearted look; at least it gives a view to that time that seems to give us a glimpse of what might be a repeat in history happening right now.

I think that if you have kids this movie would be good to see because it’s entertaining for adults and children. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was entertaining and fun look at a time where it wasn’t so much fun to be an American. Plus even if it’s not based on a true story there are some historical facts that one can teacher their child about. It would be good to build upon so that children will not look down on others just because they fail to have a lot of possessions.

I was pleasantly surprised by the way they characters were handled and how they were presented. They were all so full of life and weirdness that they were more believable than many characters in other films. They were there to give a different perspective during a dark time. They all had their back stories and why they were the way they were and it was pleasant to see a film that could pull that off. I give kudos to everyone that participated in this film, well done.

Weekend Box Office Recap

2008-07-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I said that "Hellboy 2" would easily take the top spot in the box office, and that "Hancock" would be bumped to 4th or 5th place. However I clearly underestimated just how astoundingly bad Eddie Murphy's film would be, and how strongly the audiences would be able to see through the thin veneer of the glossy trailer.

"Meet Dave" ended up bowing at seventh place and bringing in a minuscule $5.3 million. The numbers show that audiences would rather watch a movie that's been at the box office for over three weeks than have to endure Murphy's latest hurricane-like vortex of suck.

I just have to come out and say what I am sure many other critics will be saying for some time: "Meet Dave" is this year's "Pluto Nash" and should be the final nail in the coffin for Eddie Murphey's on-screen acting career.

When a film is not screened for the press, its usually a huge red flag. Still I am rather surprised at just how bad it actually did at the box office.

Meanwhile, Will Smith's popcorn flick "Hancock" had the biggest drop of any film in the top ten and still managed to rake in $33 million for its second weekend.

And New Line Cinema's marketing department should be commended for conning audiences into seeing their 3D gimmick-flick remake of "Journey to the Center of the Earth." It scored $7,300 per screen on 2,800 screens to take third place.

Here's the top ten for this weekend. Expect some big upsets and huge changes in these numbers for next week, when The Dark Knight flys from its cave.

1 (new) Hellboy 2: The Golden Army $35,884,000
2 (1) Hancock $33,000,000
3 (new) Journey to the Center of the Earth $20,580,000
4 (2) WALL-E $18,509,000
5 (3) Wanted $11,586,190
6 (4) Get Smart $7,105,000
7 (new) Meet Dave $5,300,000
8 (5) Kung Fu Panda $4,300,000
9 (8) Kit Kittredge: An American Girl $2,356,720
10 (7) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $2,250,000

Movie Trailers: Opening This Weekend

2008-07-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

Three more movies enter the box office race this weekend. One is a sequel to a comic book, one's a remake of a classic, and one has Eddie Murphy desperately trying to hold on to his star power with the dullest, most uninteresting title for a Summer film.

Here are the details, along with the trailers and synopsis of each film. Clicking on the poster will take you to the film's official website.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (PG-13)

After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, hell on Earth is ready to erupt. A ruthless leader who treads the world above and the one below defies his bloodline and awakens an unstoppable army of creatures. Now, it's up to the planet's toughest, roughest superhero to battle the merciless dictator and his marauders. He may be red. He may be horned. He may be misunderstood. But when you need the job done right, it's time to call in Hellboy.

Along with his expanding team in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense---pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz, aquatic empath Abe and protoplasmic mystic Johann---the BPRD will travel between the surface strata and the unseen magical one, where creatures of fantasy become corporeal. And Hellboy, a creature of two worlds who's accepted by neither, must choose between the life he knows and an unknown destiny that beckons him.

Judge's Decision: Sure, rottentomatoes rates it at 87%, but how much of that is over-inflated by hype and carefully-planned marketing? Will this be just another summer popcorn flick, or is there anything of actual worth in it? My guess is that it will be the former and not the latter. Guillermo del Toro's vision is all over this one, but most of the big, scary characters look like rejects from his earlier work. (Oh look, a creature with lots of eyes in his wings, what else ya got, Benny?) The first Hellboy made a little over $23 million back in April of 2004. Not necessarily the greatest numbers, but I guess enough to warrant a sequel so long as its got a lot of hype to work the fanboys into a frenzy beforehand. Still, Ron Perlman's a pretty cool guy and I'm happy to see him become an action star again. My prediction is that the Hellboy sequel will bring in around $30 million, easily taking the top spot this weekend and bumping last week's winner, Hancock down to 4th or 5th place.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (PG)
During a scientific expedition in Iceland, visionary scientist Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser), his nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and their beautiful local guide, Hannah (Anita Briem), are unexpectedly trapped in a cave from which their only escape is to go deeper and deeper into the depths of the Earth. Traveling through never-before-seen worlds, the trio comes face-to-face with surreal and unimaginable creatures--including man-eating plants, giant flying piranha, glow birds and terrifying dinosaurs from days past. The adventurers soon realize that as volcanic activity increases around them, they must find a way back to the Earth's surface before it is too late.

Judge's Decision: This one is all about the 3D bells and whistles and this is the first live-action film to be shot in digital 3D, using the "D-Cinema" projection process. This new process doesnt require the theater to have two projectors to display the 3D image. (see the Wikipedia page for more info on this technology)

However, just because you shoot something in 3D doesn't mean it's any good, and to attempt to tread in the footsteps of Jules Verne is to tread on thin ice. In the end, this is all about gimmicks: Lots of action, lots of CGI and lots of gratuitous "throw-stuff-at-the-camera-to-freak-audiences-out" shots. My guess is that this film will probably bring in under $20 million for its opening bow and come in second place.

Meet Dave (PG)
A massive fireball from space hits New York's Central Park and an ordinary man emerges unscathed. The man turns out to be a spaceship operated by 100 human-looking aliens who are one-quarter inch tall and seeking a way to save their planet; complications ensue when their captain falls in love with an Earth woman who's always picked losers for previous romances.

Judge's Decision: Yes, he was nominated for an Oscar at one time, but as the saying goes, "you're only as good as your last project," and unless he's playing an animated jackass, Eddie Murphy's days as a top box office draw are over. This film looks uninteresting, uninspired and full of stupid, family-friendly slapstick comedy one comes to expect from Murphy the past decade or so. My guess is that most people will choose not to meet Dave and this film will come in third in the box office with a take of about $15 million.

Paramount Kills Heavy Metal Project

2008-07-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Paramount has apparently lost its balls.

Back in March, we reported that Par was going to be taking a stab at remaking the 1981 film "Heavy Metal," and that director David Fincher was attached to helm the project.

However, according to Entertainment Weekly's "Hollywood Insider," it looks like thanks to their new and apparently gutless production execs, Paramount has decided that doing a remake of the R-rated animated flick might be "too risque" for modern day audiences:

The project is an amaglam of erotic and violent storylines penned by well-known sci-fi scribes like Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), Joe Haldeman (The Forever War), and Neal Asher (Gridlinked). The concept is to use eight to 10 of these shorts in a single movie with each segment helmed by a different director (Fincher is on deck to direct one).

So Fincher and current Heavy Metal publisher Kevin Eastman are now hitting the street, shopping the script around in the hopes that another studio will pick up the project.

Have we really regressed so far? Are we now more politically correct than we were in the 80's, or are the new execs at Paramount more concerned about preserving their newly upholstered asses?

Either way, I'm not a fan of remaking stuff that we've already seen, as creativity and originality take a back seat to good old corporate greed, while the studios pander to ignorant audiences nostalga. There are plenty of good stories out there that can and should be told. There is no need to re-visit stuff we've seen before.

If we find anything new about this project, we'll report it here.

As always, stay tuned.

What To Watch When There's Nothing to Watch II

2008-07-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Original Cast of MST3K: Old, Ugly, but Still Funny

Another Installment of the compelling series, which will continue until I run out of Roman numerals I know how to write.

Today's Topic: Mystery Science Theater 2.0 and 2.5: More Snark for the Buck

As I was watching another Web-TV series at the request of my editor, who for the sake of anonymity we'll refer to here as "Heartless Bastard", I noticed the presence of an old friend. (by "Friend", I mean "Guy who was on a TV show I liked" how lame is that...) The Web series is called "The Writers Room", and it stars a bunch of people you don't know, a PICTURE of Kevin Pollack (The Usual Suspects, Lame Shatner Impression) and the "friend" to whom I refer.

The "friend's" name is Frank Coniff, known to fans, as "TV's Frank" (Left) from the original Mystery Science Theater 3000. This discovery led me to wonder, not for the first time, whatever happened to the wonderful folks who gave us MST3K. The answer, for the most part, appeared to be: "got fat and continued marginal writing work."

It turned out that I could not be more wrong. (I tried...oh, yes...I tried.)After Leaving the show back in the mid-1990's, MST3K's creators went on to do many facinating projects, about which none of us could care less...except their latest...
The original cast of MST3K (Joel H., Elvis W., Mary Jo P, Frank C. and Trace B.) is currently engaged in a project called Cinematic Titanic wherein they (get this...) watch bad movies and snark on them!!!! They have only two releases as of this writing, but if you missed the old MST3K, and are not a robot fetishist, this serves as a decent substitute. Check it out at Cinematictitanic.com.

I sense that some of you fans are crying out "what about Mike and those guys?!" To those, I say, first of all, shut up...you are yelling at a blog...and second, fear not! The "other" full cast of MST3K is ALSO engaged in an endeavor ripping off...I mean borrowing... the MST3K concept.

For those of you who do not know, among MST3K fans (known as Mysties), the debate between Joel and Mike as the host of the show is as intense as the ones among Trekkies,Trekkors, and Trekkettes, between Kirk and Picard, Spock and Tuvok,and Seven-of-Nine's left breast and right breast. Now, you don't have to choose, as Michael J. Nelson and company present: Rifftrax.com.

The second MST3K cast, (pictured below) and many "guest riffers" record and sell commentaries to movies that have been released in modern times. These tracks of riffs, or "rifftrax", if you will, can be synched up to a DVD of the movies, and one can listen to the old gang snark along to your favorites. (They've been cranking these out about once a week for over a year, so there are over 70 titles to choose from.)

If you miss the infantile sketches interspersed between movie segments, fear not. Mike N., Bill C, and Kevin M. also have a production company called The Film Crew wherein they riff on the older movies, and have a "shell" story about providing audio commentary to old movies whose DVD release lacks such amenities.

Any one of these is about as good as the average MST3K episodes, and have the benefit of cultural references that are not 15 years old.

Neither of the old gangs have lost their touch. Now, though, you have to pay money for their touch. (sounds kinda perverted, but you know what I mean....)

It all adds up to: "better than re-runs and lame reality TV to kill a few hours".

"Weekend" Box Office Recap

2008-07-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

"Hancock" had the ninth highest Thursday opening on record, bringing in $17.1 million. It also had the 15th highest Wednesday opening, bringing in $17.3 mil. How a film can have more than one record "opening" is beyond me, but hey, since when did Hollywood make any sense?

And the numbers listed below represent just the Friday through Sunday totals. Confused yet? I know I am.

Read J Jammer's full review of the film here.

As a result, Will Smith's reluctant superhero raked in $66 million over the weekend to take the top spot in the box office. This put's Hancock's 5 and a half day opening weekend numbers at right around $107.3 million and makes it Smith's biggest opener to date.

Wall-E, on the other hand had a slightly less than expected total for its second weekend at the box office and dropped 47% from its opening weekend to take second place.

Meanwhile, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" went from limited to wide release, produced a gain of over 3,000 %. However its wide release total was only $3.6 mil and came in 8th place.

The biggest loser this weekend (as expected) was Mike Meyer's comedy "The Love Guru" which fell 68% from its previous week and dropped it out of the top ten to rest at 11th place.

So here's the top 10 for this past July 4th weekend.

1 (new) Hancock $66,000,000
2 (1) WALL-E $33,417,000
3 (2) Wanted $20,606,950
4 (3) Get Smart $11,125,000
5 (4) Kung Fu Panda $7,500,000
6 (5) The Incredible Hulk $4,975,305
7 (7) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $3,940,000
8 (23) Kit Kittredge: An American Girl $3,600,790
9 (9) Sex and the City $2,345,000
10 (10) You Don't Mess With the Zohan $2,000,000