The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 07.30.09
Posted by George H. Sirois on 07.30.2009
The “Someone Should Have Listened to Delores Umbridge” Edition...
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and this week's column is dedicated to the memory of J. William Bordeau, who was one of our top Theatre professors at Marymount Manhattan College. While I was never fortunate enough to take any of Bill's classes, I know that he was an absolutely wonderful man who always had time for all students, whether or not you were one of his. He was the first professor to contact me before I came to MMC, and he stepped up as my guidance counselor when my old counselor lost interest in me. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have taken three of my five classes for my last semester.
We lost Bill this past Saturday, and I can't thank him enough for everything he did for our school. It's a real shame that there are so many new students who will never experience his influence, so I'll raise my glass in his honor and offer my condolences to Bill's family.
Yesterday was my 8th day in a row at the new job. Absolutely loving being a part of the workforce again, and everyone there is great – managers and staff alike. If there's a price to pay, it's that the quality of The UBS Evening Television & Movie News may suffer a little in the next few weeks since I'm still getting accustomed to the constantly changing schedule.
Thankfully, Chad Webb bailed me out a bit without even knowing it by posting his rant in The Big Screen Bulletin on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Basically everything that I was going to say in this week's Mad Prophet of the Airwaves about the movie, he covered very effectively, so there's not much else for me to say. But there are a couple extra items that I would like to address, and I thought I'd do that here.
Remember when Delores Umbridge said in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, "Progress for the sake of progress should be discouraged?" Well, apparently David Yates wasn't discouraged because there were so many elements in this film that irked me that didn't have to be there. I didn't mind showing Sirius' face in the flames in the previous film rather than having it form from the embers like it did in Goblet of Fire, but other changes from previous films were made without there being a need for them. The Great Hall in Hogwarts looked so small, like it was just another room. The pensieve that was used in the fourth film looked completely different, like Dumbledore upgraded to a flat-screen in between movies. While these changes could be interpreted as creative license from a director, it just smacked of total disregard for continuity and this could be a big problem in the next two films.
I don't mind a director putting in his own flourishes to tell the story he or she wants to tell. But when you're the latest filmmaker to come aboard a now multi-billion-dollar worldwide franchise and you're being trusted with the last four chapters, there has to be some kind of continuity link with the rest of the films. Changing the look and certain elements of the franchise just because you can doesn't work for me, and judging by some of the feedback I've heard from friends of mine who love these films and saw the latest one, it didn't work for them either. I should be psyched up for the next two films that are going to wrap up everything that we've been watching since November of 2001, but now I'm just worried that I'm not going to like it. And Yates, if I don't like it, it's YOUR fault.
I'll wrap this up and move on with a quote from my friend Ryan Thompson, one of the handful of friends who got me into reading the Harry Potter books years back. "Each preceding movie had at least one moment that gave me chills. This time, the only chills I got were because of the air conditioning."
If you want to read more on my thoughts regarding this film, just look at Chad's Big Screen Bulletin and picture me saying, "Yeah! What he said!" right after you're finished.
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SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
Funny People: Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) writes and direct this dramedy about a seasoned stand-up comedian with a terminal, inoperable health condition (Adam Sandler) who forms a genuine friendship with a young comedian (Seth Rogen).
I'm liking the way this is being advertised, as more of a balanced comedy and drama than as a straight comedy. This way, people going in expecting Superbad won't be caught off guard when Sandler's charcter's health is brought up. I loved Apatow's last two films – The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up - so yeah, we'll be seeing this as well.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
DVD NEWS
For those of you who really enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine - or are completists like me who plan on owning it at some point (although, for the record, I enjoyed quite a bit of it despite its flaws) - you'll be happy to know that Fox is preparing the film for release to DVD and Blu-ray later in the year.
The set will include audio commentary with Gavin Hood, the featurettes "The Roots of Wolverine," "Wolverine Unleashes," "Wolverine Weapon X Mutant Files," "The Thrill of the Chase" and "X Connect on the Set with Gavin Hood," plus a trivia track, deleted scenes and the world premiere .The Blu-ray version will also carry BD-Live technology that will hook up with IMdB. A Digital Copy is included. I assume this means we'll see the other endings that I didn't get to see in the theater.
The film arrives on September 15th.
Credit: DVDReview.com
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
Some info for the "Twilight" fans that read my report (both fans): Bryce Dallas Howard has joined the cast of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," the third installment in Summit Entertainment's vampire franchise. She replaces Rachelle Lefevre as the character of Victoria. Lefevre originated the role in "Twilight" and appears in the upcoming sequel "New Moon," but Summit says scheduling conflicts forced her to leave the picture.
Pic starts shooting in Vancouver in August under the direction of David Slade. "Eclipse" has a release date of June 30, 2010.
"We are incredibly happy that Bryce has agreed to come into the franchise," said Erik Feig, Summit's president of worldwide production and acquisitions. "Rachelle brought Victoria to great screen life and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character. The franchise is lucky to have such a talented actress as Bryce coming in to fill the role."
Howard most recently appeared in "Terminator Salvation." Her credits include "Spider-Man 3," "Lady in the Water" and "The Village."
When I told Cheryl about this news, she responded with, "Who's the director of the first one that really fucked it up?" Catherine Hardwicke. "Yeah, she really fucked it up." (Couldn't have said it any better myself.) Since I barely finished Chapter 1 before I put the first book down - not my thing, but it's not made for my demographic either - I didn't see that Hardwicke also got the hair color for Victoria wrong. She was supposed to be a redhead, and Lefevre played her as a bleached blonde. So yeah, there's another thing not to like about the movie.
What's really going to be interesting is how Bryce Dallas Howard plays this character. She's supposed to be the villain, so it would be a refreshing change of pace from what we've seen Howard playing before. And since Hardwicke's no longer involved with the series, it just might be.... you know.... good.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Fox pulls out: Fox has decided not to broadcast a "Family Guy" episode next season that deals with abortion.
The episode, which is titled "Partial Terms of Endearment," was produced by sister company 20th TV. Fox released this statement:
"Fox will not air the 'Partial Terms of Endearment' episode of 'Family Guy,' but we fully support the producers' right to make the episode and distribute it in whatever way they want."
The episode came to light when producers talked about the plans on the show's Comic-Con panel, reported this weekend on Live Feed.
Can't really blame Fox for this one. Thanks to the DVD market, fans will be able to see this episode just like they saw "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," so we know they won't be disappointed. And they'll be able to avoid the potential bad publicity by not airing the episode. Sure, Comedy Central isn't quite as meticulous when it comes to South Park, but it's a whole other world dealing with a basic cable channel instead of one of the big four major networks.
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
Earlier this week, I was checking out the new design of the Yahoo homepage and noticed right away that the most popular searches box was at the top of the page. The number one search that day was someone named Camilla Belle. Now I had no idea who that was so I clicked the link and learned that she is some actress that just broke up with one of the Jonas Brothers. I guess that had the Disney crowd in a real tizzy. The important thing though is that it introduced me to the woman who would become my babe of the week. Let's check her out…
And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed. Also, don't forget to check me out over in the wrestling zone where I write the hottest new TV Report, ECW Extreme Extracts. Here is the latest entry. I'm also keeping a blog here on 411 which you can read here. Of course, if you were smart and checked out my blog, you would have already seen a picture of this week's gal. If you didn't, well keep an eye on my blog for a preview of next week's girl. Did I mention there is a prize?
And that's a wrap for Chapter 123 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
Judd's new movie is Funny People not Knocked Up....
Posted By: xugreatone (Guest) on July 30, 2009 at 07:01 AM
you have the new apatow film as "knocked up" and the comment regarding "funny people" edittttttttttt
Posted By: stephen (Guest) on July 30, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Oops. Thanks guys. That's fixed now...
Posted By: Sirois! (Registered) on July 30, 2009 at 01:15 PM
8 days in a row? Aren't there laws against that? Is Csonka your boss there?
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on July 31, 2009 at 09:55 PM
Bill bordeau was my acting professor at MMC many years ago. I have never forgotten his commitment, compassion and enthusiasm. He inspired me as a student and an artist. He will be missed.
Posted By: Pepper (Guest) on August 01, 2009 at 11:26 PM
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