Frickin' Eh Movie News 09.02.09: September Edition

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 09.02.2009

New Agora trailer, Green Hornet gets delayed, Fantastic Four being reworked, and more!

It's September, and university will be back in full swing by the time you all read this article. The summer definitely went too fast.

I bought and have been watching the final real season of Scrubs. When the original talk of the show simply rotating interns was thrown around, I thought it was a pretty bad idea. But now that I'm rewatching the entire eighth season, I really wish they had chosen to go that route. The more I watch it, the more the new interns have grown on me, and I think they really could have been able to carry the show. Obviously not as well as the old cast, but they'd have done a good job, and now I'm doubly dreading the new direction they're going in. At least we've got eight great seasons to enjoy. But enough about that, let's jump into the news:


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

The top of the box office last weekend went to The Final Destination, which roped in $28.3 million. In second spot was Inglourious Basterds, which made another $20 million. Halloween II opened at third with $17.4 million. District 9 fell from second to fourth with $10.7 million. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra fell from third to fifth with another $8 million. Julie & Julia fell a spot to sixth, while The Time Traveler's Wife fell from seventh to fourth and Shorts fell two spots to eighth. Limited release Taking Woodstock opened at nine with $3.7 million. Rounding out the top ten was G-Force, which fell from seventh and took in another $2.8 million.

Three wide openings for your viewing pleasure, and it's the opposite of last weekend. First off, we have All About Steve, starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, and what I assume will be a fairly silly romantic comedy of less-than-stellar proportions. As well, we have Extract, starring Mila Kunis and Jason Bateman. This one's a comedy from Mike Judge, but I don't know if it's got the promotional power behind it to do very well. And finally we have what will almost surely prove to be the winner of the weekend, Gamer. Starring Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall, this is one of those ‘dire future where killing is fun' kind of movies, but the trailers seem to be lacking something. We'll have to see. And that's that for the box office.


Rambo 5 Coming Soon

Nu Image/Millennium Films has given the green light to the fifth installment in the "Rambo" franchise, with Sylvester Stallone starring and directing, repeating his duties from 2008's Rambo.

Variety says the storyline for the fifth film revolves around Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The production will start in the spring.

Just let poor Rambo die alone in the jungle already, please? These new installments are merely life support for a series that they know they can milk, and it's getting fairly sad. The last Rambo was subpar in nearly every way, and I can't imagine another one will be any different. Sigh . . .


Cage Driving Angry . . . in 3D

Heat Vision is reporting that Nicolas Cage has signed to star in Drive Angry, a 3D revenge action movie that Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine 3D) will direct for Nu Image/Millenium Films.

Written by Lussier and Todd Farmer, the story centers on a man (Cage) driven by rage who is chasing the people who killed his daughter and kidnapped her baby. The vendetta/rescue spins out of control as the chase gets bloodier by the mile, leaving bodies strewn along the highway.

The studio is planning to begin production in April in Louisiana.

Actually, this sounds pretty good. I like Cage, despite his hit-and-miss record, and I also like revenge movies, so this should be pretty good. Driving is also good, and it doesn't seem like there are a lot of good cross-country driving movies nowadays. Hopefully this one lives on in the tradition of movies like Vanishing Point - definitely bloodier, I'm sure, but still enjoyable driving films.


The Imaginarium Opens Christmas Day

ComingSoon.net has learned that Sony Pictures Classics plans to release Terry Gilliam's new movie The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus on Christmas Day, confirming earlier conjecture about the possibility.

Featuring the final screen performance by the late Heath Ledger, who earlier this year won a posthumous Oscar for his performance in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the film will be making its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 18 and be released in the UK on October 16.

The movie also stars Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law , Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield and Verne Troyer.

I was very cautious and slightly worried about this movie from the start but the more I see and hear of it, the more I am intrigued and think this will be a solid movie, despite being largely billed as Heath Ledger's last film. At least, that's what I'm hoping. Opening on Christmas Day, however, is a tad dicey, as they now have to face Sherlock Holmes, which not only has a larger profile but is getting quite a bit of early hype. They'd better start pushing this one hard if they plan to perform well.


Trailer for Agora Hits

The new trailer for Alejandro Amenábar's epic Agora has come online and can be watched using the player below. The new official website has also launched where you can learn more about the movie, get downloads and more!

Agora, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival and is also showing at the Toronto Film Festival next month, stars Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Ashraf Barhom, Michael Lonsdale, Rupert Evans and Homayoun Ershadi. This is how the film is described:

4th century A.D. Egypt under the Roman Empire... Violent religious upheavel in the streets of Alexandria spills over into the city's famous Library. Trapped inside its walls, the brilliant astronomer Hypatia and her disciples fight to save the wisdom of the Ancient World... Among them, the two men competing for her heart: The witty, priviliged Orestes and Davus, Hypatia's young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians.

This looks pretty good. I learned a bit about Hypatia in one of my history classes, and this should be an excellent movie. It's got the style and epic look, plus the story to back it up. I am of course particularly interested in the story because it's a very dark chapter of Christianity. Check out the trailer and see what you think.


Halloween 3D To Arrive in 2010, Loses Rob Zombie

The Los Angeles Times reports that The Weinstein Company is moving forward with Halloween 3D, a sequel to the Rob Zombie movies to be released in the summer of 2010.

Co-Chairman Bob Weinstein said Rob Zombie won't return for Halloween 3-D. He said the studio is in negotiations with a new director, whom he declined to name, who has experience in horror and has a "different take" on the franchise.

Halloween II opened in third place this weekend with an estimated $17.4 million from 3,000 theaters. First place went to The Final Destination, which was filmed in 3D.

3D definitely seems to be the way everyone is going nowadays, particularly for horror movies (which makes sense), but it's getting a little silly, I think. Losing Rob Zombie is a fairly big thing. Not everyone was a fan of the new take on the Halloween series, and I heard some bad things about the movies, but overall I don't think it was abysmal by any means. It will be interesting to see who they pull in to take the reins and how well they can handle the franchise.


Green Hornet Moves Back to December

Seth Rogen's movie based on the pulp and television hero The Green Hornet has been moved from its original date of July 7, 2010 to its new date of December 17, 2010, according to Box Office Mojo.

No reason for the move was given, but one can presume it's to give the movie more time for post-production--principal photography hasn't begun yet--and to get it away from Robert Rodriguez's Predators relaunch.

Currently, Sony had set a Dec. 17, 2010 release date for the 3D Smurfs movie, which one assumes will be moved itself, since currently, it's up against Warner Bros.' animated Yogi Bear movie.

UPDATE: HitFix.com has gotten in touch with Seth Rogen for a reaction/explanation of the delay, and Rogen told them that he and his creative partners Evan Goldberg and director Michel Gondry are "relieved and psyched about the change" because it does give them more time to finish and promote the movie, including an appearance at next year's Comic-Con.

That's a long time to wait for this movie, but hopefully it turns out better this way. If they really can add more polish to the movie and make it a bit bigger profile, then this will be well worth the delay. As long as they don't squander the extra time, they'll be sitting pretty. But only time will tell . . .


Rob Zombie To Remake The Blob

Rob Zombie, whose Halloween II opens today, will write, direct and produce a remake of the 1958 horror classic The Blob, which starred Steve McQueen.

In the original, an object from space crashes into a field, containing a red blob-like substance that absorbs the humans it contacts and grows exponentially.

"My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing -- that's the first thing I want to change," Zombie told the trade. "That gigantic Jello-looking thing might have been scary to audiences in the 1950s, but people would laugh now."

Zombie will produce with Genre Co.'s Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten; original "Blob" producer Jack H. Harris; and Judith Parker Harris of Worldwide Entertainment Corp. and Andy Gould.

They are developing the project as an R-rated film that will cost around $30 million to make.

Production will begin next spring.

There are many, many problems with this idea, I think. On the positive, though, Zombie does seem to have experience remaking and reworking old horror movies. Does it always work? No. The negative, of course, being that tearing apart cult classics (which they're obviously going to be doing if they're remaking the entire antagonist) is on the top of my do-not-do list. Also, who is of the caliber today to replace Steve McQueen? This entire thing rubs me the wrong way, but it's still too early to tell.


Fantastic Four Getting a Reboot

Variety reports that 20th Century Fox has begun overhauling the "Fantastic Four" movie franchise to take the Marvel property beyond the two films already made.

Akiva Goldsman has been hired to oversee the reboot as producer. Michael Green, the co-exec producer of TV's "Heroes" who co-wrote Green Lantern, will write the script for the new Fantastic Four film.

The 2005 Fantastic Four and 2007 sequel "Rise of the Silver Surfer" were directed by Tim Story and starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis. Since the deals for the reboot are just getting made, it is unclear if any of them will return.

Fox controls the "Fantastic Four" movie franchise in perpetuity -- as long as it continues making the films. Marvel is a producer and financial participant through a licensing agreement.

A reboot? I know the first two movies didn't perform overly well or get particularly good reviews, but I've never really had a problem with them. I really enjoyed the first one as a unique superhero concept, and although it certainly fell apart quite a bit in the second one, I still think it had some life and promise. I'm expecting this to lose the previous cast and probably pick up a darker edge, as seems to be the norm lately. Let's see how this one plays out.


Oscars Changing Decision-Making Process

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed today that it will be using the preferential voting system to determine which of the 10 contenders for its Best Picture award will receive the 2009 Oscar. The system has long been used in the round of voting which determines the nominees in most categories, but it has not been used on the final ballot for Best Picture since 1945.

In June the Academy's Board of Governors extended the Best Picture category from five to 10 nominees, which necessitated a change to the voting system for the category. With 10 nominees, the preferential system is one that best allows the collective judgment of all voting members to be most accurately represented.

"Instead of just marking an 'X' to indicate which one picture they believe to be the best, members will indicate their second, third and further preferences as well," Academy President Tom Sherak said. "PricewaterhouseCoopers will then be able to establish the Best Picture recipient with the strongest support of a majority of our electorate."

In 1934 and 1935, there were 12 nominees for Best Picture and the preferential system was used to determine the winners. From 1936 through 1943, there were 10 nominees for Best Picture and the preferential system was used for final balloting. In 1944 and 1945, the preferential system continued to be used, though there were only five nominees in the category.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar® presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

This is quite a bit of a change, although the actual voting process won't be noticeable to the average viewer, I imagine. What will make a big change will be the number of nominees, and it's a strange change. Why do we need more nominees? There are usually barely enough movies that fit the criteria already, so ten is really going to be stretching things. It's going to be a big change, that's for sure.


Rapid-Fire: Rounders (1998, starring Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Gretchen Mol)

At one bar I go to somewhat frequently they always play movies (or, sometimes, Robot Chicken) and the other night they were playing this movie, although at the time I didn't know what it was. But it looked interesting and looked like it had a good cast so I looked it up and rented it. So this week I present:

I didn't even know this was essentially a card movie when I tried to find out what it was. The gist of the movie is this: Mike (Damon) is a card player who lost it all and then swore off cards to focus on law school. But when his friend Worm (Norton) is released from prison and has to pay off a big debt, Mike has to give him a hand.

The plot might not sound all that exciting, or even all that good. But amazingly, it works. The movie isn't just about cards; it spans crime, cards, the law, and some life philosophy thrown in there, too. And like I said, it all works together to make a really solid, diverse, and engaging movie. Card movies are always hit and miss and can stumble really badly if they're not done right. It's what weighed down Casino Royale and ground it to a halt, and 21 just narrowly escaped it. But this movie isn't solely focused on the games, and there is just so much else going on, it doesn't matter.

As far as the acting goes, I really wish I had seen this before Damon became famous with movies like the Bourne trilogy, because he really proves his stuff in this one. He does a great job as Mike and steals the show. Norton's character is supposed to be a lowlife scumbag cheater, and if there's one role Norton handles perfectly, it's that one. You really end up hating Worm by the end. Mol as Mike's girlfriend is good, although she had too small of a role; but as I said before, Damon steals the show. John Malkovich is an entertaining and realistic antagonist, and it's a pleasure when he graces the screen. John Turturro is one of the few people who kind of drop the ball; his role is bland and has almost no depth, and while he doesn't have much to do, it's still a bit of a disappointment.

This movie should be seen whether you're a fan of card games or not, because it goes much deeper than that. The acting shines through and makes this worthwhile, and is balanced with a deep, philosophical story behind it all. While the ending is no surprise, it's just the whole experience wrapped together that makes this worth watching.


Closing Time . . .

Alright folks, that's all for this week. Now it gets ridiculously busy once again. I'll see you all here next week!


[All news, images, and other stuff from www.comingsoon.net, www.imdb.com, www.rottentomatoes.com and www.youtube.com.]