COCOTEers

Gary Ross is the Third Screenwriter Hired for Spider-Man 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:39:00 +0000

Sony is really going all out on this one. They've hired a third screenwriter to rewrite Spider-Man 4 once again. Back in 2007 it was announced that James Vanderbilt (The Rundown, Zodiac) was the very first writer to work on this script. Then it was announced last year that Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Robots, Inkheart) would work on it. Now it's Oscar nominated screenwriter Gary Ross responsible for Big, Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, and The Tale of Despereaux. He's a good writer and has a long-standing relationship with Tobey Maguire, which is a good thing, but will that work wonders here?

This could be taken as bad news, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. Sony is just making sure they're getting a damn good script. They've got to recover from the bad taste that Spider-Man 3 left in everyone's mouth and they've got boatloads of cash to spend to make sure it's perfect. So why not go through as many big name writers as possible until they find the right one? Most tentpole movies usually do this anyway, we just don't hear about each new one when they're hired. And then there's the concern that maybe there's just too many cooks in the kitchen. Who knows what's really going on, it's far too early to tell. Thoughts? (www.firstshowing.net)

Giant alien robots start life as sketches

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Each 'Transformers' movie robot took several months to create

LOS ANGELES - Giant alien robots don't actually exist. So the dozens featured in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" had to be built from the ground up.

That effort took hundreds of artists, thousands of hours and even caused one computer to explode.

"We lost some machinery," visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar said with a smile. "The thing just kind of gave up."

A high-tech blockbuster, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is practically two movies in one. There's the live-action element, which took director Michael Bay and his cast to Egypt, Jordan and New Mexico. Then there's the animated aspect, encompassing all the robots, which were built by artists at Industrial Light & Magic and Bay's visual effects company, Digital Domain.

Computers, and the artists operating them, worked countless hours to craft battle scenes between the giant 'bots, bring menacing Megatron to life and show the ancient pyramids being dismantled by the gargantuan Devastator.

It all started with a few sketches. Before any work on the film began, before the script was even written, Bay hired a team of artists to draw the robot characters he saw in his head.

"The fun thing about Transformers is it's anything your mind can imagine," he said.

Those images were given to the writers as inspiration, and later to the visual effects creators, who used them as blueprints for the film's biggest characters, said Farrar, a 28-year veteran of Industrial Light & Magic.

"It's not unlike a building, where you've got to have a good blueprint and you spend a long time on the foundation," he said. "Then all the sudden, boop, the building goes up."

Of course, it's not quite that simple. First, artists transform each of Bay's 2-D drawings into 3-D digital images. They note the size specifics of each character (for example, Megatron's feet are 15 feet long and seven feet wide) and how they might look behind various lenses.

Before shooting begins, though, Bay and his crew choreograph where the cameras will be, where robots will be, where the actors will be and how they'll all interact with each other. Everything is pre-planned, Farrar said.

Because when filming starts, and star Shia LaBeouf runs through a forest to escape a robot fistfight, he's actually alone.

"There's nothing there," the actor said in an interview. "This time we didn't even have dudes reading lines back. There's literally nothing."

All that's there, Farrar said, are window-washing poles stretched up to 30 feet high. The actors talk to the poles and must react as though giant robots are responding.

"The actors do have to sell it," he said. "It would be a hoot to show what the sequence looks like with the actors talking back and forth but with nothing there other than a couple of sticks and poles."

Maybe on the DVD, he joked.

Meanwhile, artists spend about 12 weeks building each digital robot, then another 12 to 15 weeks rigging up the skeletal structures that hold all the parts together. Next comes the paint and texture. Chrome or brushed aluminum? Copper or glass?

"It's just the same as you building things in the garage by hand, only it's in the computer," Farrar said. "It's no different. All the tasks are the same, and the same disciplines apply."

Once the live-action shots are complete, robot animation begins. All those detailed transformations, which dramatize how the toy Transformers really work, are meticulously built by hand. It can take weeks to design a transformation seen for just seconds on screen.

After animation comes lighting, which lends even more realism to the robots. Then comes the compositor, "the finish carpenter of the whole process," who adds dust, debris, missiles and other details, Farrar said.

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More than 350 Industrial Light & Magic artists worked on the movie, he said, and they developed new technology to add realism to the robots' design and emotions.

The company said it would take a home computer 16,000 years to replicate their work. (www.msnbc.msn.com)

New Hitman Movie in the Works, Game Coming Next Year

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Fox has gotten the ball rolling on a sequel to 2007's Hitman movie, potentially scheduled for release next year along with the apparently 2010-bound Hitman 5.

I didn't see the Hitman movie, but I assume that it was bad. Was I wrong or was I right? Oh well, it doesn't really matter - after grossing $100 million in theaters and launching the careers of the girl from Quantum of Solace and the bad guy in Die Hard 4, Hitman is getting a sequel regardless of what any of us think.

According to IESB, 20th Century Fox has hired Kyle Ward to pen the script for Hitman 2: Hit Manner (title unconfirmed). Ward's not inexperienced in the subtle art of the videogame to movie adaptation, having scripted the Kane & Lynch movie, which apparently stars Bruce Willis and is due to start production later this year.

The Hitman sequel will be based on the storyline for Hitman 5, and begin with Agent 47 in some kind of horrible state. Let's hope that he didn't decide to make like Max Payne and put on some pounds and forget how to do his laundry. According to IESB's report, Hitman 5 is scheduled for release by the end of 2010, which could probably indicate a timeframe for the movie as well, if Fox decides to give us a double dose of Agent 47. (www.escapistmagazine.com)

Hollywood’s appetite for game-based movies continues with Uncharted film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:01:00 +0000

The appetite for game-based movies isn’t slowing down as Columbia Pictures plans to produce a movie adaptation of Sony’s hit game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

The Uncharted game is a very Tomb Raider-like experience, with a guy Nathan Drake in the lead role instead of Lara Croft.

Set in lush jungles, the 2007 game was one of the prettiest games that helped the PlayStation 3 grow its audience. It sold more than a million copies in its first 10 weeks.

Naughty Dog developed the game and recently showed off Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, at the recent E3 show in Los Angeles. I thought Uncharted 2 was one of the most promising games this year.

Since the Tomb Raider movies did so well — selling — and because the game itself was billed as a “summer blockbuster” action game, it’s not surprising that Hollywood came calling.

The screenwriter is Kyle Ward, who is also writing the film adaptation of the Kane & Lynch video game movie. That one stars Bruce Willis. Ward is also writing Hitman 2 for 20th Century Fox. The Hitman movie, based on an Eidos stealth assassination game, was actually pretty entertaining.

The Uncharted movie is being produced by Avi Arad, Charles Roven, Ari Arad and Alex Gartner. Avi Arad, former head of Marvel’s film productions, is also working on a film version of the video game Mass Effect.

Movie adapations of video games go all the way back to Super Mario Bros. of 1993. Some of those, such as Doom and Wing Commander, were critically panned as awful duds, though they still made some money. Others were knock-out hits, including the Tomb Raider trio of movies starring Angelina Jolie, and the Resident Evil movies as well. (http://games.venturebeat.com)

Oscars' big plot twist: 10 best-picture nominees, not 5

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:49:00 +0000

The move - which catches the studios off guard - comes as ratings for the show have sagged.

In January, all of Hollywood wondered exactly how close "The Dark Knight" came to earning an Oscar nomination for best picture. Now we know the answer: It missed by 12 months.

If the "The Dark Knight" had been released this summer instead of last, it would have been part of the new Academy Awards era that began Wednesday with the out-of-the-blue announcement that the best picture category at the Oscars will double in size to 10 films.

The uncharacteristically bold change caught Hollywood studios off guard and reset all the expectations for Hollywood's biggest prize, which now would seem to have room on its short list for well-regarded popcorn films such as this summer's "Up" and "Star Trek."

That would be a major change for a traditionally staid award gala that is far more comfortable with art-house fare and lavish period pieces than summer blockbusters, even the well-reviewed ones. The bigger-tent approach in the marquee category is a return to form of the academy's early years, which commonly saw 10 to 12 nominees in the 1930s and '40s. The change is a direct result of a two-year, in-house search for ways to broaden the appeal of the show, and with good reason -- viewership is sagging, most dramatically among young people who know they won't hear the names of films they love when the envelopes are opened.

"Last year there were more movies that I thought might have fit in the nominations," Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis said Wednesday, acknowledging that hits such as "Iron Man," "The Dark Knight" and "Tropic Thunder" resonated far more with moviegoers than with academy voters.

The 2008 award show marked the lowest ratings ever for an Oscar telecast. That was a wake-up call for members of the academy and network partner ABC, which has broadcast the show since the Ford administration. Commercials sold during the show -- and priced based on ratings -- are big business for ABC and, more than that, the primary lifeblood for the academy's coffers.

The organization took steps to shake up the broadcast this year, and after it aired show producers Bill Condon and Larry Mark joined a review to look at ways to improve the show. It wasn't an entirely new discussion: There had been talk through the years of adding a best comedy category. But this time the suggestion that stuck was the pitch by the two producers that the best picture category be expanded to 10 films. Ganis said the final call was not made until Tuesday night.

Critical reception

It's clear that Ganis and ABC would love a Kentucky Derby-style crush of suspense at the ABC broadcast of the 82nd Academy Awards next March, but Wednesday's news had many in the industry privately outraged at the prospect of a watered-down honor. At least one top Oscar strategist pointed out that with a 10-nominee field, a far smaller percentage of votes will be required to claim the film industry's most coveted prize.

Meanwhile, executives at major studios groaned at the prospect of even more award-season jockeying and advertising campaigns.

"The general amount of Oscar spending has effectively doubled," said an exasperated Mike Vollman, marketing chief at MGM/UA. "Thank you very much!"

The cash-strapped studios have been going in the other direction, pulling back on Oscar campaign spending, especially considering the tepid payoff at the box office even with an Oscar nod.

Jeff Blake, chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution at Sony Pictures' Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, said he would resist any additional spending on the "for your consideration" ads that run in the Hollywood trades and newspapers such as this one.

"Just because they've doubled the number of nominations," Blake said, "that doesn't mean that as a marketing department we should figure out a way to double the amount of money we spend in hopes of getting one."

Not everyone was focused on the bottom line. Many around Hollywood were looking for the upside, especially the makers of big-budget summer films and special-effects fare who have been frustrated that they can win over ticket buyers and, increasingly, movie critics but not frosty academy voters.

Laura Ziskin, two-time Oscar telecast producer as well as a producer of Sony's "Spider-Man" franchise, which has pulled in more than $2 billion worldwide, was elated to hear that box-office heroes might have better trophy luck.

"I think it's fantastic," Ziskin said. "What could be bad? From a horse-race standpoint, it makes it more exciting. In some years, it's hard to think of five movies to nominate, but that's just a comment on the state of the business. The tricky part about the Oscars is how do you keep what's great about it? How do you keep what's traditional about it and also make it fresh? I have a better chance of getting nominated. It gives you a more interesting mix. What's wrong with popcorn movies if they're good?"

Samuel L. Jackson, one of the busiest actors in the summer-movie sector, said it would have been better to set up a separate category for action films or top-grossing releases. Under this new system, he doubts fanboy fare would ever get more than a nomination. "They don't give Oscars to movies people want to see. Who the hell wants to see 'The Reader'?"

He may have a point. There's no guarantee that the academy will use these five extra slots on mainstream hits as opposed to adding in more of the adult dramas it so often embraces.

"I think it's going to help the musicals and comedies and the genre films, but I don't think this means they will be winning," agreed Jon Favreau, director of "Iron Man" and "Elf." "I think this means more people are in on the party, but I think you will still see [the same types of] films sweep. The nominee list is going to look like an Iraqi presidential ballot with all the names. I also think it could hurt small films that have won in the past, like 'Crash' and 'Slumdog Millionaire,' which may suffer when there's more choices."

Plot twist

The news from the academy media conference in Beverly Hills was a bit of a thunderbolt rare in a town where secrets circulate as fast as the latest red-hot script.

"We were completely surprised and I can tell you that no one here pressured the academy to do this," said Jasmine Madatian, senior vice president of publicity at the Walt Disney Studios. "It's going to force everybody to take another look at it . . . you can't ignore this kind of change."

Ganis proudly described the announcement "as a bombshell" and said that it was kept under wraps because the board was "really into it happening in a way that would make an impact." He said a major advocate of the change was Tom Sherak, a veteran marketing executive and the chairman of the review panel, while Condon was a key voice for the category expansion.

The Awards Review Committee recommended the idea to the full academy board Tuesday night, which voted almost unanimously to expand the category.

Across Hollywood, industry insiders were calculating who the winners might be under the new system. Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, said independent films clearly stood to gain.

"It's great for the independent community, there are more chances to win," Bernard said. "Certainly there are probably 10 movies every year that could have easily been chosen, so it's interesting to put them all into the mix. The big question: How are you going to get all the members to watch the 45 DVDs that show up at their house on Christmas Day?"

Animated films may also draw more prestige. Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) is the only animated feature ever nominated for best picture. Now Disney/Pixar's "Up" looks like an early lock with the double-digit roster of nominees. (www.latimes.com)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (UK)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:02:00 +0000

The biggest movie of the summer is finally here, but that's the problem with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - it's just too bloody big. Epic, spectacular but unfortunately far, far too long; the film proves that when it comes to Michael Bay blockbuster movies, you can have too much of a good thing.

The first instalment of the sure-to-be-long-running franchise was a perfectly formed slice of funny, explosive, slo-mo mayhem that found a massive worldwide audience. For the sequel, it was clearly the director's intention to paint Revenge of the Fallen on an epic canvas. It's more of the same - a lot more.

Two years on from Transformers, the Autobots are still on earth, now allied with the US military, working together to protect the earth from further Decepticon attacks.

We wouldn't mess with Optimus Prime.

Meanwhile, the boy at the centre of events last time around - Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky - is trying to forget that he discovered a robot alien race, and is instead worried about starting college, and holding onto his ridiculously hot girlfriend Mikaela - (played by a hotpant-clad Megan Fox).

Unfortunately, as Optimus Prime solemnly intones, "Fate never calls on us at the moment of our choosing." The Decepticons are on the move again, with the very ancient and very evil Transformer - The Fallen - masterminding a diabolical plan to destroy the Autobots and the Earth itself and secure the future of his race. Soon our planet is once more a battleground for these ancient robotic foes to wage war.

It's a fine set-up that is forcefully established in the movie's superb opening hour. Bay masterfully zips between events at Cybertron (the Transformers' homeworld), Sam's opening day at college, the drama on a variety of military bases, and throws in several robot-on-robot battles for good measure, all at a breakneck pace that leaves you breathless.

Another quiet, reflective scene from Michael Bay.

We have Sam's fantastically funny relationship with his barmy parents, now trying to cope with their darling son leaving home. One hilarious set-piece that sees his mother accidently eat a chunk of marijuana on Sam's first day at college had the audience in stitches, and confirms Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky as the two most likable characters in the franchise.

The Beef himself is also obviously born for the role as their son. He has less to do this time around, but still manages to convey the kind of awkward, geeky charm that makes us (just about) believe that Megan Fox might be into him. He's the latest in a long line of little heroes who ends up excelling in the face of epic and dangerous circumstances.

It is also clear that Bay has refined and improved his technique when it comes to directing action since the first Transformers. Many found the robot-on-robot fighting in T1 over-edited and made even more confusing because they took place in unclear backgrounds (i.e. a smashed-up downtown LA) - often you couldn't even tell which Transformer was fighting which.

Bay has - to an extent anyway - cleared this up in ROTF, with more lingering tracking shots, cleaner environments and establishing framing. He's undoubtedly helped by what we're sure is a truly astronomical special effects budget, which sees the denizens of Cybertron - at the request of fans - given far more screen time than before. He can simply afford to show more 'bots this time around.

Indeed the film reaches its pinnacle with one such action set-piece that takes place in a forest - a brilliantly crafted sequence that is kinetic, emotional and genuinely thrilling. Unfortunately however, it is a climax that comes only an hour or so into the movie - the remaining 80 or so minutes just never quite scale the same heights.

That's the one BIG problem with ROTF; the movie stops dead halfway through, and then spends the rest of its overlong run-time building up a head of steam again, painstakingly setting up the eventual climax.

Megan Fox has fallen over.

Bay takes an age meticulously manoeuvring all the film's protagonists into place for a vast, epic confrontation in the middle of the Egyptian desert. But by the time this all-in royal rumble between the Autobots, Decepticons and US Army finally arrives, you are too numbed, exhausted and inured to actually give a damn about the outcome.

Don't get us wrong, we love Michael Bay and the particular grab-bag of delights only he can bring to blockbuster movies; huge explosions; quick, intense dialogue; lingering , pornographic shots of both girls' asses and military hardware. 90 minutes of Bay-ness makes for a thrilling flick, but if the clock starts ticking past the two hour mark and beyond, it all becomes just too much; your mind and senses need a rest.

Bay could have cut 40 minutes from the bowels of Transformers 2, and it would have been a far more effective movie. Unfortunately, the director fell into the same trap with Pearl Harbour and Bad Boys II - each filled with spectacular moments, but both becoming bloated, arduous cinematic experiences that ultimately outstay their welcome.

Is this issue going to place the franchise in any kind of trouble? Of course not; ROTF will make gazillions, and it still deserves to. The team behind the Transformers movies have hit upon a formula that mixes E-number-fuelled Saturday morning cartoons with '90s-style military action movies, and it works in a spectacularly un-ironic, gloriously juvenile way.

It is just kind of inexcusable that with such a ridiculously enjoyable formula, viewers of ROTF still spend the movie's final half hour nursing a numb head and arse, and willing the noise to stop. Transformers 2 proves that sometimes less is more.
(www.movies.ign.com)

The Hangover

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:50:00 +0000

hree magic words: Bachelor Party, Vegas! That's all most men need to hear. Vegas is the perfect destination. You can throw money around like the New York Yankees, or you can party on a Dame Dash budget if you need to. It's much different than other locations because so much crazy stuff can happen in a 48 hr period. This also makes Vegas, the perfect location for any season of The Real World, The Bachelorette, any other Reality TV dating show, and College Hill.

I had a friend kicked out of a club in Vegas literally seconds after we arrived for doing something I can't repeat. It's been a nice running joke for a few years now. Let's just say he stole a famous Al Pacino line in Scarface.

My last trip to Vegas involved about 30 people. I was on crutches and still managed to have a really good time. Three of my friends were "escorted" out of their room for making too much noise. Somehow they ended up with a better suite after getting kicked out.

The Hangover is a comedy set in Las Vegas. It follows groom Doug (Justin Bartha), his brother-in-law to be Alan (Zach Galifianakis), friends Stu (Ed Helms aka The Office's Andy Bernard) and Phil (Bradley Cooper). The four of them set out to have the time of their lives before heading back for Doug's wedding. The three friends awake the next morning with no recollection of what happened. Soon they realize Doug is missing and his wedding is the next day. They spend the rest of the movie retracing their steps in hopes of finding Doug before its too late.

The surprises the four buddies run into are the things that make Vegas great/scary/fun/exciting/exhausting.

This movie is a riot! What I liked most about the movie was the dialogue. It was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Some of the one-liners are pretty funny. They both did an amazing job on the script. There is a great quote that says, "A movie must have a beginning, middle, and end, but not necessarily in that order." The Hangover is true to that quote. It is a brilliantly told story that is both smart and funny.

Zach Galifianakis was perfect Alan the chubby, bearded, socially awkward man. Or as my friends will refer to him "Fat Jesus". (Side note: His IMDB photo looks nothing like him) Zach was great in this movie and I'm sure will have audiences repeating some of his lines all summer long.

I also loved Ed Helms as Stu. A lot of fans really enjoy him as Andy Bernard on The Office. I've enjoyed seeing his brand of sarcasm on the Daily Show a few ago. You may also recognize him from smaller roles in movies over the past few years. Helms performance gives you some of that same comedic energy during this movie. The Hangover will give moviegoers a chance to see how truly funny he can be on the big screen.

My suggestion: This was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. I haven't laughed this hard since Heidi and Spencer got married on The Hills. If you like Wedding Crashers, Old School, and Superbad, this is definitely a movie you will want to see. Not to mention, it definitely makes you want to go to Vegas. My friends and I would have boarded a plane right after the movie if we could. The Hangover may be the surprise hit for the summer. I can't wait to see it again.(http://blog.seattlepi.com)

The Taking of Pelham 123

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:44:00 +0000

This weekend I decided to watch The Taking of Pelham 123. I'll admit, I have yet to see the original. Luckily my TiVo was set to record it at 6:00am this morning.

Pelham 123 is the name of the train that is taking hostage by a man named Ryder (John Travolta). With the train stopped on the tracks Ryder is contacted by dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington). Ryder tells Garber he is holding the passengers hostage in return for $10 million in ransom. This leads to a thrilling standoff between Ryder, Garber, and the NYPD.

A few things I learned from the Taking of Pelham 123………………

$10 million really isn't a lot of money. After I buy my home and brand new ride, I'm left with play money. I'm not taking penitentiary chances for anything less than $100 million. I'm in the gym a lot, but I'm not doing time with cellmates named Truckstop and Blood Clot Jimmy. I'm good!

Denzel can act. I mean he can really act. I'm amazed at how I'm able to believe he's a stern coach, a drug dealer, a corrupt cop, and a subway train dispatcher. I think take Denzel lightly at times because he is so good. I look at his filmography and realize how many good films he's been a part of. Denzel is going to narrate my life story or play my dad. I'm good with either one.

Travolta should play more bad guys. I liked him as Ryder. He was such a gritty character. I liked him as Howard Saint in The Punisher, Gabriel in Swordfish, his dual roles in Face/Off, and who could forget Vincent Vega. Travolta's scenes with Denzel were priceless. I wish they had more screen time together. My mom loves Grease but the moment he drops an F-bomb in this movie, she's going to flip out.

Hostage movies are always the same. Crazy guy + hostages + ridiculous demands – a few hostages + hero = climatic face off at the end. I wish someone would change it up some. The genre of movies is starting to become WWE predictable. The next hostage movie should throw us a curve ball. I want see a hostage situation that ends horribly. In this economy people would understand Joe Schmoe from down the street and his streetwise friends holding people hostage for money. They aren't criminals or killers, so the movie ends terribly for the group. You could call the movie Joe Millionaire. A hostage movie would make for a great dark comedy. I don't know if that's ever been done before.

The city of New York needs a break. They are always picking on that poor city. At least once a year there is some monster, terrorist attack, super-villain, or natural disaster that destroys the big apple. Why not Chicago? Miami? San Francisco? There are more cities that deserves God's wrath.

The age of good movies without big budget special effects is back. In the past 12 months I've already seen The Wrestler, State of Play, Tyson, Cadillac Records, The Express, Appaloosa, The Soloist, Seven Pounds, and RockNRolla. Hopefully we'll see more of these movies in the next 12 months.

We've seen an enormous amount of old movies being re-made. I figure we should start remaking movies people really want to see. I'm thinking of movies that would be 10 times better solely based on advancements in special effects. Here is my list of movie: Lost Boys, Predator, Ghostbusters, Bloodsport, Teen Wolf, and Top Gun.

My suggestion: Pelham 123 is a great thriller. It's a nice movie to go see. You get to see two wonderful actors in some really good scenes. I wish I could see these two in more movies together. I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. In the spirit of finals week I will give this movie a B+. Well worth seeing. (http://blog.seattlepi.com)

Drag Me to Hell

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:46:00 +0000

Drag Me to Hell, from Sam (SpiderMan) Raimi is in his Evil Dead mode and gear: a scary movie that’s really scary and a horror flick that, despite a hell-bound plot that‘s not too original and has notable holes, managed to keep the audience with whom I saw it, jumping and screaming -- and then laughing and applauding after each fresh jump and scream, all the way to the last shot. I won’t say I was one of the screamers. But I did jump more than once -- and I’ve seen David Lean‘s Great Expectations, Brian De Palma’s Carrie and the Evil Deads and Rosemary‘s Baby and the like, so I knew what to expect.

Here‘s what we get. Alison Lohman is young bank office manager Christine Brown, who’s in competition with office sneak Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee), both bucking for a promo from fake-kindly boss Mr. Jacks (David Paymer). Mindful of the mortgage crisis (the movie has incredible crash timing) tells her not to be too nice. So unlucky Christine denies a mortgage payment extension to the fiercely unkempt, raggle-toothed and gnarly-nailed Mrs. Ganush (played by Lorna Raver, the big hit of a very good cast) -- who begs for more time so she won’t lose her home, and pulls out her gooey false teeth when the stunner Christine confers with Jacks and comes back to refuse the extension. Then, as they say, all Hell breaks loose.

Hell hath no fury like an elderly martgage victim. Despite the best efforts of touchy psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), of fellow Satan victim Shaun Sen Dena (Babel‘s Adriana Barraza) and stalwart fiancé Clay Dalton (Justin Long) -- who keeps, however, going home at inopportune moments -- Christine is in for some really bad times. (President Obama might consider requiring all bank executives be forced to watch Drag Me to Hell once a week.) But, as with Up, I think I should shut up about the rest. I will however advise cat-lovers of possible havoc to their sensibilities. And the kitten doesn’t suffer as long as the bank officer.

Another caveat. Drag Me to Hell is a terrifically entertaining movie, though the script, by Sam and Ivan Raimi, is no great shakes. But the direction is gruesomely fabulous. And, as with Nightmare on Elm Street, there’s a jocular air to it all that keeps the movie amusing as well as horrific. Give the devil his due -- which was certainly missing in the much harder-trying Angels and Demons. This movie -- I can’t help it -- should hand you a hell of a time. (www.moviecitynews.com)

The Man Behind Moon: An Interview with Duncan Jones

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Brainy British writer-director Duncan Jones, 38, has made an impressive feature debut, the indie sci-fi thriller Moon, which opens in New York and L.A. on June 12. Smart, suspenseful, and artfully crafted on a modest budget of $5 million, it stars Sam Rockwell, often a supporting actor, but here carrying the entire film in two roles.

As Sam Bell, the lone moon-based employee of an energy company harvesting the lunar surface for its reserves of Helium-3, he’s become delusional toward the end of his three-year contract. After a near-fatal accident, he’s revived by the moon station’s robot Gerty, only to meet a genetically identical version of himself (albeit buffer and angrier). In a director’s statement, Jones said he was inspired by two books: “Full Moon” by Michael Light, a photographic essay on NASA’s lunar expeditions, and “Entering Space” by Robert Zubrin, who makes a plausible case for interplanetary colonization. I tracked down copies and brought them with me to my interview with Jones, in Chicago on a recent promo tour. He pounced on them with the delight of greeting old friends again.

DJ: You can see where the visual references came from. There’s a terrific one later on in the book [thumbing through “Full Moon” until he comes to a photo of Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan covered in grime inside the mission’s lunar module]. We based the interior of the rover [on that shot]. I love that picture! He even looks a little bit like Sam! My initial desire was to replicate that shot, but on our budget we weren’t quite able to get there.

AG: Close enough! In your movie Sam Rockwell’s character—although a very intelligent, capable, responsible engineer—lacks an astronaut’s glamour. He’s really a maintenance guy, a custodian.

DJ: Again, look at these pictures: these are guys with grubby jobs. Every day is not about doing incredible science; it’s basically being the guy who can keep all this equipment running. We were invited to screen at the NASA space center, just after SXSW; they’d heard on the Internet that the film had a large segment about Helium-3 mining. And about 80% attending were NASA employees, and astronaut Tom Jones was there as well.

We did a Q&A afterwards; it started off with them asking me a few questions, but most of it was me asking them questions: “Did I get this right? Can you extrapolate and see bases looking like this in the future?” There was a woman in the audience who said, “We’re working on moon bases, and a lot of our NASA designs right now are lightweight, things that we would bring with us. This looks like something that you built there. What are your reasons for that?”

And I made my suggestions that using the lunar regolith [soil content] and this potential frozen ice water that’s at the poles, you’d be able to create some kind of concrete. And another woman raised her hand, saying, “I’m working at NASA on something called ‘mooncrete.’” And they just started discussing amongst themselves the science behind building a base that looked like our base. It was incredibly cool—very, very exciting.

AG: The great thing about Zubrin’s book is that not only does he couch the science in comprehensible terms, he also speculates how profit might be made from moon colonization.

DJ: That’s the key. Right now, the space program is being pushed fastest in the private sector by guys like Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic—you know, space tourism--because there’s money to be made there. What Zubrin says about Helium-3 mining is that it’s a potential market dependent on nuclear fusion power becoming viable. But once we’ve got fusion power working, all of a sudden the moon becomes a huge resource of energy, a strip mine with a surface landmass the size of Africa.

AG: You’ve said that this screenplay was written especially for Sam, after you had initially approached him about a different project that fell through. What was that?

DJ: That was a film that I’m hoping to do next, called Mute, which is also science fiction, but which was a bit ambitious, a bit too big for a first feature film. I’d sent the script to Sam through his agent, and Sam had loved it, and wanted to play the lead role. But unfortunately in my mind the lead role was always this big, hulking guy, and Sam, as fantastically talented as he is, is not a physically huge man.

But we got on incredibly well, and just started talking about the films we both loved, and that period of science fiction, from the late Seventies and early Eighties—films like Outland and Silent Running and Alien. A lot of the time those movies were about blue-collar guys, and how they’re affected by the alien environments; the focus was on the people, instead of going from one action set piece to the next, which is what a lot of science fiction now tends to be.

AG: The special effects in Moon are interwoven so seamlessly they don’t break the illusion the way FX sometimes do in big-budget films.

DJ: There are certain scenes in the film where our most complicated special effects are our most invisible ones. There are some things that we did, technically, that no one’s really ever done before. And yet, because what’s going on between the characters is really quite emotional, for a lot of the audience, they’re not even going to notice.

AG: Could you give an example?

DJ: There are scenes where Sam is having a conversation with himself. [Late in the film] one of the Sams is feeling quite down, and the other Sam is trying to be supportive, and he has his hand on his shoulder, and he’s helping him put his hat on. There’s this physical interaction going on between these two characters played by one actor in a two-shot. That’s where we’re pushing the envelope a bit.

AG: There’s another film you reference in Moon, although indirectly. Because of the tremendous impact of 2001: A Space Odyssey, we’ve seen countless lifts, homages, and parodies of that movie’s villain, the spacecraft computer HAL. But your guardian robot, Gerty—voiced by Kevin Spacey—plays on audience expectations that he might not be acting in his charges’ best interests.

DJ: That was the intention. I would have been a fool to think that people weren’t going to make a comparison to HAL from 2001. The idea was to let the audience make those assumptions up front, so that over the course of the film as Gerty proves to be something very different from HAL, the audience is surprised, because they’ve already made this investment that Gerty is just like HAL. That’s why it was so exciting for me--and necessary--to have a voice like Kevin’s. He came in for half a day for a sound recording session, tried a couple of different versions, and just got it. And he’s such a gifted mimic; he threw in a couple of impressions of Christopher Walken doing Gerty’s lines.

AG: I hope those will appear on the DVD version.

DJ: [Laughing] I’ll have to check whether I can do that!

(www.moviecitynews.com)

The top movies at the North American box office

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Following are the top 10 films at the North American box office for the three-day weekend beginning on June 12, led by the comedy "Hangover" in its second week of release, according to studio estimates compiled on Sunday.

 1 (1) The Hangover ... $33.4 million
 2 (2) Up ............. $30.5 million
 3 (*) The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 .... $25.0 million
 4 (4) Night at the Museum ............$ 9.6 million
 5 (3) Land of the Lost .............. $ 9.2 million
 6 (*) Imagine That ... $ 5.7 million
 7 (5) Star Trek ...... $ 5.6 million
 8 (6) Terminator Salvation .......... $ 4.7 million
 9 (7) Drag Me To Hell ............... $ 3.9 million
10 (8) Angels & Demons ............... $ 4.2 million

NOTE: Last weekend's ranking in parentheses. * = new
release.

TOTALS TO DATE

Star Trek ...... $232.1 million
Up ..............$187.2 million
Night at the Museum ........... $143.4 million
Angels & Demons ............... $123.3 million
Terminator Salvation .......... $113.8 million
The Hangover ... $105.4 million
Drag Me to Hell ............... $ 35.1 million
Land of the Lost .............. $ 35.0 million
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 .... $ 25.0 million
Imagine That ... $  5.7 million

"The Hangover" and "Terminator Salvation" were released by
Warner Bros Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N).

"Up" was released by Walt Disney Pictures, a unit of Walt
Disney Co (DIS.N).

"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" and "Angels & Demons" were
released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp (6758.T)
(SNE.N).

"Land of the Lost" and "Drag Me To Hell" were released by
Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co's (GE.N) NBC
Universal.

"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" was
released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp (NWSA.O).

"Imagine That" and "Star Trek" were distributed by
Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc (VIAb.N).
(www.reuters.com)

Still ringing at the box office: No cure needed for 'Hangover'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:51:00 +0000

This hangover just won't quit.

The Warner Bros. comedy "The Hangover" hauled in $33.4 million to remain No. 1 at the box office for the second consecutive weekend.

The tale of a Las Vegas bachelor party gone to extremes raised its total to $105.4 million after 10 days in theaters. It was the first summertime movie to finish No. 1 two weekends in a row.

Disney's latest Pixar animation hit "Up" came in a close second again with sales of $30.5 million.

Sony's thriller "The Taking of Pelham 123" left the station with just $25 million onboard to land third in its debut weekend.

"Pelham 123," a remake of the critically acclaimed 1974 suspense flick, has high-test star power with Denzel Washington and John Travolta facing off over a crackling radio after Travolta's character hijacks a Lexington Ave. subway train.

Prerelease buzz positioned "Pelham 123" as the year's first summer action flick for grownups.

Still, Daily News movie critic Joe Neumaier wrote last week that director Tony Scott's film didn't measure up to "the much-loved and far superior" original.

Other movie reviewers - and apparently many moviegoers - agreed.

Screenwriter Brian Helgeland, of "L.A. Confidential" fame, made several major departures from the original movie, including transforming Travolta's character from calculating and calm to punchy and erratic, and giving the dispatcher played by Washington a dark secret to suggest a flawed hero.

The updated script also adds modern technology like cell phones and thermal imaging and even a Wall Street twist.

"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," raked in $9.6 million to land No. 4 at the weekend box office. "Land of the Lost" was fifth with ticket sales of $9.2 million.

Eddie Murphy delivered a dud with the Paramount family comedy "Imagine That," which debuted at No. 6 with a lackluster take of $5.7 million.

The movie features Murphy as a work-obsessed dad whose daughter's three imaginary friends make him a financial whiz with their stock-market picks. (www.nydailynews.com)

Top 10 Box Office

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:26:00 +0000

(www.movies.com)

"Terminator" tops overseas box office

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:26:00 +0000

"Terminator Salvation" broadened its international presence over the weekend and claimed the No. 1 spot at the overseas box office, while the previous week's champ, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," slipped to second place.

With the comic fantasy "Land of the Lost" opening overseas next weekend, the international circuit lacked a high-profile debut this round.

"Terminator Salvation" grossed $67.5 million from 8,325 screens in 70 markets. The fourth title in the sci-fi action series had been in foreign release for a fortnight, playing mostly limited dates in the Middle East and Asia. The Christian Bale/Sam Worthington vehicle broke wide over the weekend, finishing in first place in all but four of the territories it played.

The leading market was the U.K., where "Salvation" grossed $11.6 million from 900 locations. Russia produced $8 million from 786 sites, the 10th biggest weekend opener ever for a Hollywood title in the market.

"Terminator Salvation's" early foreign gross is $97.2 million. With $4.4 million from paid previews in Japan factored in, the cume is $101.6 million.

Last weekend's No. 1 foreign attraction, "Battle of the Smithsonian," generated $26.7 million from 8,300 screens in 66 markets. Its foreign total stands at $148.4 million. The worldwide tally is $275.7 million.

The family comedy starring Ben Stiller premiered at No. 1 in Korea ($4.8 million from 542 spots) and finished first in its second China weekend with $2.1 million from 818 locations.

No. 3, Tom Hanks-starring "Angels & Demons," drew $22.3 million from 9,190 screens in 100 markets, hiking "The Da Vinci Code" follow-up's international gross to $293 million.

Fourth was the animation feature "Up," which opened at the top of the box office in Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela for an overall weekend tally of $7.8 million from 1,270 screens in four markets, including Russia. The international gross for "Up" stands at $13.5 million in 10 days of release. Worldwide total is $150.8 million.

The 11th "Star Trek" edition finished at No. 5, dialing up $6 million in its fifth weekend, playing 4,370 screens in 62 markets, for a solid international total of $112 million (worldwide, $334.8 million). Its foreign total is easily the biggest overseas tally of any of the "Star Trek" titles. The series' top grosser previously was 1996's "Star Trek: First Contact," with offshore box office of $57.4 million.

"Hannah Montana: The Movie," the teen pop saga starring Miley Cyrus, generated $5.6 million from 2,100 screens in 21 markets, for an international gross thus far of $43.5 million.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" drew $3.2 million during the weekend from 5,096 sites in 48 territories, hiking its foreign cumulative gross to $176.2 million. "State of Play," the thriller starring Russell Crowe, grossed $2.5 million from 1,170 sites in 28 markets for a total of $28.1 million.

Sam Raimi's horror picture "Drag Me to Hell" opened in the Philippines and Thailand and generated an estimated $2.4 million overall from 860 screens. The movie's cumulative gross for 10 days stands at $7.3 million. (www.reuters.com)