The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 08.06.09
Posted by George H. Sirois on 08.06.2009
The “Happy Birthday to Me” Edition...
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and if you're on Twitter, you can find me HERE! And don't forget, for all of you who are new to 411Mania.com, make sure you check out all of our zones. We have some of the best writers on the Internet right here, and we love to hear from all of you! So keep coming back to read what we have for you, make us your homepage and if you have Facebook, make sure to join our group HERE!
You read the headline right. Today's my birthday, so have a drink for me in celebration. And since it is my birthday, I thought I'd give you guys some gifts, including a UBS report that I could really be proud of. The past couple of weeks weren't favorites of mine, so this time around I wanted to really give you guys something worth reading. I hope I did just that.
Shall we begin...?
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
Julie & Julia: Meryl Streep plays Julia Child in this new film about a frustrated temp secretary (Amy Adams) who embarks on a quest to cook all 524 recipes in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
Seeing the commercials for this really took me by surprise. It looks like it will be a lot of fun, and when she's on and working with the right people, Nora Ephron can bring the quality. It seems like the type of movie that you shouldn't watch AFTER dinner since you're going to be so damn hungry once the movie's over, you'll want to get another dinner. It's rare to see a movie out there that I know my mother wants to see as much as I do.
G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra: An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.
The closer we get to this film's release, the more excited I am about it. Granted, the news that Paramount's not screening for critics is a little bit of a blow, but they're likely thinking, "Screw it, it's not their kind of movie." So while I'm looking forward to seeing this, I'm still going in with such low expectations that if they get Snake-Eyes right, I'll be happy with the whole damn thing and anything else they get right is gravy.
I do have to say, though, that just because there's a song called "American Bad Ass," they didn't have to use it for the commercials since they had to gut the lyrics to the point where it sounded really comical. Here's what the real lyrics are during the part that they used:
I'm an American Bad Ass
Watch me kick, you can roll with Rock
Or you can suck my dick
I'm a porno flick, I'm like Amazing Grace
I'm gonna fuck some hoes after I rock this place
Here's what they used in the commercial...
I'm an American Bad Ass
Watch me kick
I'm like Amazing Grace
I'm gonna rock this place
Good job, guys.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: District 9
BONUS YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: District 9: The Original Short Film
This is the short film by Neil Blomkamp that the feature film is based on. Watch and enjoy. :-) (If you needed any more proof that I'm a giving person, this is it. It's my birthday today and I have a present for you guys!)
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
Some much deserved publicity for the first man who saved Batman: Comic book icon Neal Adams and his Continuity Studios have signed with ICM for representation in all areas.
The agency will work to take Adams' creations across all forms of media as well as help him make the transition to feature film writing and directing. In that latter fashion, Adams would follow artists-turned-helmers such as John Cassaday, who directed an episode of Fox TV series "Dollhouse," and Frank Miller, who helmed "Sin City" and "The Spirit."
Adams received acclaim for his art on such 1960s and '70s comics as "Uncanny X-Men," "Green Lantern and Green Arrow" and "Batman," books to which he brought a more realistic look and definitive modern imagery. He is the co-creator of Ra's Al Ghul, the villain in "Batman Begins."
In 1983, Adams struck out on his own, establishing Continuity Studios. Among his creations are "Knighthawk," a grim avenging hero who was saved by cloned parts as a child; "Ditz the Scatterbrain," a teenager who learns she is the daughter of an ex-astronaut and an alien and discovers she has the power to enter other being's brains and control them; "Crazyman," a chemically imbalanced man who, with a hollow promise that he will be cured, is recruited by the government as a "Plan B" for dangerous and unwinnable missions; and "Bucky O'Hare," a green, anthropomorphic hare who, with a crew of other mammals, including one boy, battles toads in an intergalactic war.
Other titles include "Ms. Mystic" and "Toyboy."
Adams, whose Continuity also has made a name for itself in the advertising world working on CGI-animated commercials, recently undertook a new collaboration with Marvel Entertainment, creating a new form of digital comics that pushes the envelope in the field of motion comics. The first issue, "Astonishing X-Men," written by Joss Whedon with art by Cassaday, was produced and co-directed by Adams through Continuity.
Adams continues to be managed by Spellman Entertainment Partners.
You know, for being one of the greatest detectives in pop culture history, Batman sure needed to be saved quite a bit over the years. Most recently, Christopher Nolan saved him from the crapfest that was Batman & Robin. Years earlier, before the Death in the Family storyline that made all the news, there was Frank Miller saving the character from slipping into irrelevance by giving us "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Year One."
But almost two decades before that, there was Neal Adams saving Batman from the 60s Adam West series by giving us a Batman that was the closest to Bob Kane's original comics of the late 30s and early 40s. He helped give back the edge to the character and if there's anyone in the business that deserves to get more acclaim, it's Adams. So this is good news to me.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Well, if one pirate in particular isn't coming back anytime soon, then...: Warner Bros. has set Michael and Peter Spierig to direct and John Brownlow to write a new version of "Captain Blood," the 1935 swashbuckler pirate classic that starred Errol Flynn as a wrongly imprisoned British doctor who escapes to become a pirate in the Caribbean.
The Spierig brothers got hired because of their innovative idea to set the pirate film in space.
After WB and producer Bill Gerber dusted off the library title and had Brownlow do a faithful first draft, they sought out pitches from filmmakers. The Spierig siblings won the gig with a bold animatic presentation, Gerber said.
"At first, I felt like I was in that scene in 'The Player,' where Buck Henry pitches the sequel to 'The Graduate,'" said Gerber. "But when I took a look at their animatic depiction of a pirate battle in space, it had such a distinctive visual look to it that I said, 'Great, I get it.'"
Gerber said that despite the radical period and venue switch, the film will be fairly faithful to a plot in which the doctor, Peter Blood, joins up with a French pirate (played in the original by Basil Rathbone), only to clash with the buccaneer when the woman he loves (Olivia de Havilland) is captured by the pirate skipper.
"There are some things you don't mess with, and that is as classic a movie storyline as you will ever find," Gerber said.
At first, it sounds like a bad idea since it's pretty close to that Treasure Planet animated movie that never went anywhere. But then, you can't help but think that this is a good time for a fresh live-action take on an old pirate classic since the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy brought in boatloads of cash. I suppose Warner Bros wants to jump on this now since the fate of the fourth Jack Sparrow film is currently in limbo.
Of course, we've seen several cases when a studio tried to jump on a bandwagon and failed, so we'll just have to see what happens in time.
Credit: Variety
Where exactly is that "funhouse mirror" pointed?: Inside-showbiz tale "Hollywood Car Wash" is headed for the bigscreen as David Foster ("Collateral Damage") and Ryan Heppe have snapped up feature rights to Lori Culwell's debut novel.
"Hollywood Car Wash," winner of 2007's Project Publish award, centers on the rise and fall of a fresh-faced actress who goes from small-town Michigan co-ed to Hollywood star overnight. Book was published by Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster, in May.
"It's easy to forget that we work in a very unique and entertaining industry, and there's a great deal of fun to be had in holding up a mirror to ourselves -- especially if it's a funhouse mirror," Heppe told Daily Variety.
Stephan Cox and Michael Greco have penned the adaptation.
This seems like an ordinary piece of movie news, right? Books get optioned by studios all the time. We've seen it happen with some of the best movies ever, and some of the worst. But here's the thing. Remember what Ryan Heppe told Variety? About how "there's a great deal of fun to be had in holding up a mirror to ourselves?" Well, this is the last line of this piece of news...
Foster and Heppe are also producing a bigscreen version of "T.J. Hooker" with series creator Rick Husky.
Let me tell you why I laughed out loud when I got to this part. When you hear about producers working on an adaptation of a show as irrelevant as T.J. Hooker, you would think it was a subplot on an episode of "Entourage." This is how far they're going right now, digging for material that has any kind of existing fanbase. If this actually came out in theaters, it would come and go in a heartbeat because the majority of moviegoers have little to no idea who the hell T.J. Hooker was. Did they decide a "Hart to Hart" movie was pushing it? I guess this is that funhouse mirror making itself known, eh Ryan?
1. Funny People $ 22,657,780
Total: $22,657,780
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $17,909,385
Total: $255,672,245
3. G-Force: $17,515,489
Total: $66,918,912
4. The Ugly Truth: $13,187,433
Total: $54,668,841
5. Aliens in the Attic: $8,008,423
Total: $8,008,423
6. Orphan: $7,525,419
Total: $27,066,812
7. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: $5,526,015
Total: $182,068,804
8. The Hangover: $5,194,475
Total: $255,890,892
9. The Proposal: $4,931,064
Total: $148,964,741
10. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $4,688,329
Total: $388,189,320
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
Hey kids! Your girl this week is the lovely Christy West. She's a model and she is blonde with big boobs. I know some of you get tired of seeing blondes with big boobs and I know that I seem to have gals like that quite a bit, but at the end of the day, blondes with big boobs are hot. That's really all there is to it. It's just science people! Anyway, here she is…
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?
MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES
About five years ago, audiences were given the sixth film from Disney & Pixar, Brad Bird's instant classic The Incredibles. I wound up being the last among my friends to see it, and the reviews I got from them were surprisingly pretty mixed. There were thoughts that the movie was too long and - this is the big one - that it wasn't very funny. Now, think about what movies Pixar had given us from 1995 - 2004: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo. There were some dramatic moments in all of them - the song for Jesse in Toy Story 2 is still effective – but the overall aspect these movies have is humor.
Why wouldn't audiences think their new film was any different? Just look at the original teaser for The Incredibles and you'll see what I mean...
When I finally saw the movie, I fell in love with it and it's still one of my two favorite Pixar movies. But I was also prepared not to go in expecting 80 percent comedy and 20 percent drama. This one had, I'd say 33 percent comedy, 33 percent drama and 34 percent action, very different from any of the other Pixar films, but here's the thing. When a studio puts together a teaser like that to put the audience in a certain state of mind, can you blame the audience when they feel a bit shocked and turned off by what they see?
Here's another big example. Earlier this year, we were given Pixar's 10th film, Up. Cheryl and I were primed for a truly original adventure that was going to represent the best of what Pixar had given us for the past decade and a half. And how could we not be ready for that? Here's the trailer they gave us...
For those of you that saw the movie, I'm sure you had the same feeling we did during the first fifteen minutes. Now, I'm not bashing it AT ALL because I thought the montage that unfolded was one of the most beautiful pieces of film I've ever seen, and the score was equally perfect, but because we had seen the trailer, both Cheryl and I knew how this was going to turn out before the montage even started. This darling little character that we got attached to so quickly was going to leave us, and it was an emotional punch to the gut when it happened.
The rest of the movie did Pixar proud as the story featured a really good blend of comedy, drama and action, but once again, the comedy was on the front burner in the trailer. Now, am I asking that they fill their trailers with the dramatic moments instead of the humor that brought them such success? No. But I feel there needs to be at least a little nugget thrown in just so people don't go in expecting nothing but comedy and are turned off by what winds up being a wonderful film regardless of how much humor is in it.
Here's a good example of preparing the audience and maybe paying the price in box-office dollars, Judd Apatow's new movie Funny People:
Now, do we see humor here? Sure, since this is Apatow & Sandler coming together. Pretty big deal, right? But we also see a touch of the drama since Sandler's character's condition, just in case people would be going into this movie expecting something like Sandler's older films written by Tim Herlihy. The trailer showed us just what the movie is supposed to be: an equal mixture of comedy and drama. (I'll find out soon enough if it succeeded, but Chad's review gives me hope.) However, the movie also wound up having a less-than-stellar opening at the box office.
So here's my question I want to throw to you guys: is it better to make money or is it better to be honest with your audience? And yes I understand - as I've said many times before - that the movie business is a business, but if you're a filmmaker, what do you feel better doing? Do you just want to put all your funny material on the commercials and trailers, or do you want to properly prepare your viewers for what they're going to see?
Let's hear it, guys. Which way do you go...?
And that's a wrap for Chapter 124 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
I commented on the Funny People review page. If you are reading this George, let me tell you there is not a very good blend of comedy and drama in Funny People. It is a sort of failed hybrid to be honest. Everyone has their opinions, but I usually appreciate almost all movies- and i totally felt like Funny People was a complete and utter letdown
Posted By: Cody B (Guest) on August 06, 2009 at 12:54 AM
My problem with the Funny People trailer is it gave away too much of the movie. Yes, it did show that it would be a mix of comedy & drama but I get the feeling the more serious parts would be dealt with in a more light way. But if you watch the trailer you get the whole story, he gets sick, then better, learns a lesson about not taking life for granted and wants to make things right...so on and so forth.
Since I'm here...District 9 is almost here!
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on August 06, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Oh...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on August 06, 2009 at 12:48 PM
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