A Little Push - Thoughts on the Hollywood Machine 04.25.09

Posted by Rick Tym on 04.25.2009

Projects from the fake Grindhouse trailers coming your way, the complete 2009 Cannes film Festival lineup, Wolverine workprint versus release print musings and more!

Tidbits and Musings, Some Grindhouse-y, Some Not…

A few things discussed in the lead-off section of this week's Push will be related to the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarentino grindhouse film entitled, well, Grindhouse. Interspersed are some random musings about the news that Robert Rodriguez is planning a reboot of the Predator series. So I guess the title is a bit of a misnomer since all of the stuff that follows is GH-connected, either through Planet Terror (RR's portion of the double feature) or those awesome "fake" trailers that accompanied the theatrical release of GH back in 2007. No mention will be made of Quentin and his Basterds, though. That is a tale for another time…


One man. One mission. Some big-ass blades.
Let's begin with news from Variety telling us that Danny Trejo and his Machete will be coming to the big screen instead of the small one. Actually, Danny Trejo is Machete, a Mexican ex-Federale hiding out as a day laborer hired to assassinate a senator with anti-immigration ideals who is double-crossed and (switching to gritty, deep announcer's voice) left for dead. The double-crosser just so happens to be Jeff Fahey, who plays helicopter and Ajira airplane pilot extraordinaire Frank Lapidus on Lost. While it has yet to be confirmed whether Fahey will reprise his role from the faux trailer, Trejo and Rodriguez (who wrote the feature length script and will co-direct with longtime editor Ethan Maniquis) will begin filming Machete this June.


Let's just hope they keep the awesome tagline: "This time, they bleeped with the wrong Mexican."
A Little Push doesn't think it's alone—nay, it knows it's not— as it giggles like a schoolboy (or girl) at this news. Of the fake trailers embedded in the "intermission" portion of Grindhouse, the preview and concept for Machete was a personal favorite. There are just so many moments of subtle dramedy (Cheech Marin telling his brother Machete "I'll see what I can do" when weighing the options of bloody revenge and its moral impact upon his being a man of the cloth) and over-the-top awesomeness (Trejo frolicking with Fahey's backstabbing (get it?) character's wife and daughter in the water, or driving an airborne motorcycle compete with gatling gun into a pile of wrong-doers) that it was begging to be made. In fact, many (including the Push) would argue that Rodriguez should've made this movie as part of the GH double feature instead of Planet Terror. But no matter; soon the masses will be able to see Machete in all its grainy, blood-and-guts glory—and in the cinema house to boot. It's certainly nice to see Danny Trejo get a leading role in a full-on theatrical release as opposed to being relegated to the direct-to-video market the film was originally intended for. Still, one wonders whether the film will be (switching once again to gritty, throaty announcer's voice) rated X.

Further down on Robert Rodriguez's docket is the reboot or reimagining or whatever the hell you want to call it of the Predator series. Actually, let's just go with "reboot" since that's how RR is referring to it. Last Thursday official word broke that confirmed a January scoop from Bloody Disgusting concerning Rodriguez's foray into "ugly motha-effer" lore, titled Predators.


Once again: ugly motha-(bleep)-er.
Not too much else is known about Predators at this time. However for those not "in the know," Rodriguez did pen a script entitled "Predators" back in the 1990s that never got the green light. That treatment had Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch character being taken to the Predator homeworld, showing how the less-than-photogenic xenomorphs collected other aliens that had defeated its own kind and pit them against each other in gladiatorial battles. Dutch would've been fighting against these other species before (presumably) kicking some Predator ass to earn win freedom (and maybe their begrudging respect, a la Danny Glover and his antique musket prize seen in Predator 2: The Unneeded "We Can't Get Arnie But Kooky Voodoo Dudes and Gary Busey Make This a Worthy Installment!" Sequel). Rodriguez has stated that he is currently working on the Predators script but has yet to say how much of his previous screenplay will make it into this iteration. One thing's for sure: it'll be better than anything in the AVP movies.

Back to the fake Grindhouse trailer well the Push must go to drink from. Another of the intermission previews is going to be made into a full length feature. This time it's Eli Roth and his concept of making yet another holiday scary. No, it's not a monster Easter Bunny (somebody should go write that one though, stat). Instead, it's a slasher flick about a maniac dressed in black that likes to decapitate horny teenage boys and behead those disrespectful enough to dress up as a turkey for parades on…Thanksgiving.


So bad it's good. Kinda like dark meat. Of a turkey. The Push is respectful of all races and creeds.
The Push's feelings on Eli Roth's works are not particularly strong. Cabin Fever started out great and kinda degenerated into a slight migraine as it plodded along. (One of the film's characters, the gun-toting Bert, was played by James DeBello, who is from the Push's hometown, which is kinda cool. I used to shoot some stick with the guy when he was a wee-er lad. Kid was a shark when it came to nine ball. But I digress…) The Hostel films are take ‘em or leave ‘em as well for this news reporter—they are neither as heinous as many make them out to be, nor are they "groundbreaking" or "genre-smashing." (I may have made that second one up.) Still, every time you see an interview with Roth he seems like a stand-up guy. Plus he was in Death Proof! There's your link of Grindhouse continuity right there. Anyway, he was pretty decent in Stuntman Mike's opus plus he's buddy enough with Quentin to be in Basterds. There's not too much of a point to be made with all this rambling other than the guy at least works hard at the things he's passionate about, plus he's taking that ambition and clout from the Hostel films and Cabin Fever (which was made for $1.5 million and grossed over $33 million internationally) to pen a major budget sci-fi script which, if/when bought, would hopefully leave him some leftover bank to film Thanksgiving. Say what you may, but Roth's enthusiasm is off the charts for both the proposed big budget science fiction movie and the small slasher flick. The Push knows it wants to see it happen. How about you guys and gals?

For continuity's sake I will mention that as of press time it is unknown whether or not Thanksgiving will be a theater or DTV release. Or if Roth's even going to get the budget to shoot the larger sci-fi piece that would presumably have some bling left over to make the movie at all. He has been talking about $85 million or so, $80 mil of which would go towards the effects-laden extravaganza and the remaining $5 mil earmarked for the copious amounts of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn syrup that will surely be needed for the horror venture. What will be coming to DVD and Blu Ray for the more traditional Halloween holiday season is the long awaited horror film Trick ‘r Treat. (There's my linking of DTV matters to provide the hustle and flow from all things GH-related to something that's not.)


Finally. Although it still would've been cool to see it in an actual theater.
The Push has not seen a concrete street date for Tick ‘r Treat's home market release other than "October 2009." While it will be great to see this film at last, one can't help wonder how much more fun it would've been in theaters seeing it with an audience. That's the fun of most horror films, as we all know—the communal sharing of laughter while having the sh*t scared out of us and the anticipation thereof. Better though to have the work available to us in some fashion, even if it was slated for theatrical release two years before the DVD will be made available to those of us that have been waiting for it since '07.

Wolverine!

Is the same! More specifically, the "completed" theatrical version of the new X-Men Origins film may be the same as the workprint. Without revealing spoilers, it seems as though much of the CGI work evident in the internet leaked print earlier this month has a finish that's quite south of "glossy," which is most evident in some de-aging work done in some scenes implemented to provide continuity between Wolverine and the other X-Men films. (This week's theme of continuity continues! And man, even though I said it wouldn't be spoiler-ish I bet I get yelled at in the comments section because the de-aging in question is probably about as subtle as a fart in church right about now.) Also, the workprint runtime of 107 minutes is identical to the final product. This news comes not only from some press screenings that have taken place over the last week but from an AICN source who has seen both and made his/her own rough comparisons. As other articles have already stated, of course some scenes may have been changed or removed to make the running times exactly the same. And maybe the CGI just plain stinks. However, the conspiracy theorist in me says that Fox has a bit of a lemon on its hands and the spin control being implemented by Fox may not hide the fact that the workprint was more on the side of well-done than rare or medium.


Dammit!
The Push is just reporting the news this time around with regards to Wolvie. No doubt those pumped up to see their favorite adamantium clawed X-Man will still go out in droves to enjoy the show. More important than the quality of the finished product, this entire situation opens a new chapter in the book about internet piracy, intellectual property leaks and their effects on the Hollywood Machine. How will this affect all those downloaders out there? You know, if Fox loses a ton of revenue because of this? Only time and the box office tally will tell.

Your Cannes 2009 Lineup

The title says it all. Below is the complete listing of films (including country and director) screening at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, taking place in (you guessed it) Cannes, France running from May 13th through May 23rd.


Opening Film: Up U.S., Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Closing Film: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky France, Jan Kounen

In Competition

Bright Star Australia-U.K.-France, Jane Campion
Spring Fever China-France, Lou Ye
Antichrist Denmark-Sweden-France-Italy, Lars von Trier
Enter the Void France, Gaspar Noe
Face France-Taiwan-Netherlands-Belgium, Tsai Ming-liang
Les Herbes folles France-Italy, Alain Resnais
In the Beginning France, Xavier Giannoli
A Prophet France, Jacques Audiard
The White Ribbon Germany-Austria-France, Michael Haneke
Vengeance Hong Kong-France-U.S., Johnnie To
The Time That Remains Israel-France-Belgium-Italy, Elia Suleiman
Vincere Italy-France, Marco Bellocchio
Kinatay Philippines, Brillante Mendoza
Thirst South Korea-U.S., Park Chan-wook
Broken Embraces Spain, Pedro Almodovar
Map of the Sounds of Tokyo Spain, Isabel Coixet
Fish Tank U.K.-Netherlands, Andrea Arnold
Looking for Eric U.K.-France-Belgium-Italy, Ken Loach
Inglourious Basterds U.S., Quentin Tarantino
Taking Woodstock U.S., Ang Lee

Screening Out of Competition

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Canada-France, Terry Gilliam
The Army of Crime, France Robert Guediguian
Agora Spain, Alejandro Amenabar

Midnight Screenings

A Town Called Panic Belgium, Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Ne te retourne pas France-Belgium-Luxembourg-Italy, Marina de Van
Drag Me to Hell U.S., Sam Raimi

Special Screenings

Petition China, Zhao Liang
L'epine dans le coeur France, Michel Gondry
Min ye France-Mali, Souleyumane Cisse
Jaffa Israel-France-Germany, Keren Yedaya
Manila Philippines, Adolfo Alix Jr., Raya Martin
My Neighbor, My Killer U.S., Anne Aghion

Un Certain Regard

Samson & Delilah Australia, Warwick Thornton
Adrift Brazil, Heitor Dhalia
The Wind Journeys Colombia, Ciro Guerra
Demain des l'aube France, Denis Dercourt
Irene France, Alain Cavalier
Air Doll Japan, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Independance Philippines-France-Germany, Raya Martin
Le Pere de mes enfants France-Germany, Mia Hansen-Love
Dogtooth Greece, Yorgos Lanthimos
Nobody Knows About the Persian Cats Iran, Bahman Ghobadi
Eyes Wide Open Israel, Haim Tabakman
Mother South Korea, Bong Joon-ho
The Silent Army Netherlands, Jean van de Velde
To Die Like a Man Portugal, Joao Pedro Rodrigues
Police, Adjective Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu
Tales from the Golden Age Romania, Hanno Hofer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru
Tale in the Darkness Russia, Nikolay Khomeriki
Tzar Russia-France, Pavel Lounguine
Nymph Thailand, Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Precious U.S., Lee Daniels

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Cannes hopefuls! Whether in or out of competition, midnight screening or opener or closer, all hope to make their mark upon the cinematic landscape. A Little Push can only dream of the day it would have the chance to soak up all this movie sensory overload. Maybe someday…

Outtro

Man, does anyone else around here miss Al Norton and his Two Tivos To Paradise column, or what? The Push sure does. We are waiting eagerly for your return, Al. Thanks to the addition of a DVR to the Push household, there has been a slight upturn in television viewing over the past few months. The Office in particular has been enjoyed in all its rewound and fast forwarded glory. While the Michael Scott Paper Company storyline ended with a bit of predictability, it still was a heck of a funny time while it lasted.


Good times.
Lost of good sports stuff to DVR this weekend as well. Yanks-Red Sox, the NHL (yes, I'm rooting hard for a Flyers comeback) and NBA playoffs, and another PPV offering from the WWE this Sunday night with Backlash. Let's hope it's a little (or a lot; your mileage may vary) better than the blue-hued Wrestlemania 25 show. Until next time, enjoy whatever your particular cup of entertainment tea may be, and thanks for reading A Little Push!

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