The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 09.17.09
Posted by George H. Sirois on 09.17.2009
A quick peek at the new releases and an upcoming DVD release, some news about Hulu.com, an early trailer for a very unexpected film in production and the first edition of the new “Re-Writing Miss-tory“ section. All this and Andy Critchell in The “Memo to Sam Raimi” 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!
This week's going to be a fun one, because I came up with a new section to The UBS Evening Television & Movie News. We've been doing this for over 120 weeks now, and when something like this has been going that long, it needs to be freshened up every now and then. We've seen that happen already with Andy Critchell coming aboard and taking The Interactive Babe Photo News Brief to new heights. (When you bring in an expert, it's an automatic Win.) And now we have something else to add to make this news report a more fun and interactive place for everyone, fellow writers and readers alike.
I'll go into more details when the section comes up, but keep in mind that this will replace the Mad Prophet of the Airwaves rant for the time being and you will see guest appearances here from some of your favorite 411Mania writers.
But before we move on with the news, we have to acknowledge the passing of both a beloved actor and a legend of comedy. It was only a matter of time before we acknowledged the passing of Patrick Swayze, but it's a tragedy all the same. Whenever someone in entertainment leaves us, we can't help but think of the various roles that really connected with us, and in Swayze's case, my personal favorite was the man known only as Dalton. I've worn my love for Road House on my sleeve ever since I first saw it on HBO – if you've only seen it on TBS, you haven't seen it at all – and I never get tired of watching it. I just might pop it on again tonight, without the Smith / Mosier commentary track.
And last Friday, on a day that didn't have very much humor to it anyway, the world got a little less funny when Larry Gelbart passed away. If you don't know him by name, you know him by his work: one of the legendary team of Sid Caesar's writers, co-writer of the book for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," developer of the "M*A*S*H*" television series," screenwriter of Oh, God!, Neighbors, Tootsie and Barbarians at the Gate among others, and playwright of "Mastergate" and… My God, the list just goes on and on. He really was something special, and if you happen to see the "Caesar's Writers" symposium, you'll see him at his best among his equally giant teammates.
So raise your glasses, guys. For Mr. Gelbart, and for the man that some knew as Johnny Castle and that I knew as Dalton. You're both already missed.
And now, on with the news…
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
Jennifer's Body: A newly possessed cheerleader (Megan Fox) turns into a killer who specializes in offing her male classmates.
Could this be the moment we've been waiting for? And when I say "we," I mean the people that quickly burned themselves out on Megan Fox and are just waiting for her to screw up? That moment could be upon us if this movie fails to find an audience, since this will be the first time she'll be out in the open without having Optimus Prime to hide behind. We'll just have to wait and see. The movie looks like crap, so I'll be passing on it.
The Informant: The U.S. government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon).
So glad to see Damon picking projects that show just how funny the guy can be. Every commercial I've seen for this brought a lot of laughs out of me, so I'm looking forward to seeing this.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain.
I didn't read the book, but familiar source material for the kids and familiar voices for the adults is the recipe for success with animated movies, so I predict this to be a modest success.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
DVD NEWS
For those of you who actually want to add this to their collection, Warner Home Video is preparing to release Terminator Salvation on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc in December.
The film will appear on DVD with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The only extra on the release will be the Featurette "The Moto-Terminator."
Sounds like a pretty lame release, but if you have a Blu-Ray player – and if you liked the movie enough to buy it – then make sure you get the 3-disc version. The film itself will present itself in a glorious 1080p high definition transfer with DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio.
The extras contain both the Theatrical Cut of the movie, as well as a Director's Cut. You will find a WB Maximum Movie Mode on the disc, as well as the Featurettes "Focus Points," "Re-Forging the Future" and "The Moto-Terminator." The release includes a video archive called "Resist Or Be Terminated" as well as the Terminator Salvation Official Movie Prequel Digital Comic Issue #1.
Look also for BD Live features, such as an upcoming Live Community Screening and the ability to provide your own commentary. The release will be rounded out by a Digital Copy of the theatrical version.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Plan 9
Back in 1997, I wrote a one-act play called "What Would Eddie Do?" It's about a film student who enters a pitch contest and wins the money to turn his idea into a reality. But instead of having faith in his own premise, he sets out to out-do Ed Wood and make an even worse version of Plan 9 from Outer Space than the original.
I thought of my play when I saw this trailer, and it turns out that someone else had an idea to do a remake of Plan 9. Amazing how great minds think alike, huh?
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
In a seven-figure deal, John Logan has been set by Fox 2000 to adapt "The Passage," the Jordan Ainsley vampire novel being developed for Ridley Scott to potentially direct. It marks the first time that Logan and Scott have collaborated since the Oscar-winning "Gladiator."
Fox 2000 acquired the book two years ago, paying seven figures for the three-book series right after its publishing rights sold to Ballantine for $3.75 million (Daily Variety, July 9, 2007). Ainsley -- pseudonym for PEN Hemingway Award-winning author Justin Cronin -- sold the book based on the first 400 pages and an outline, but the film adaptation awaited his completion of the book, which is nearly 1,200 pages.
I'm always happy to share news when screenwriters I hold in high regard get work, s so of course, this gets the priority treatment. I don't know how much of his work wound up in the final cut of Gladiator, but both RKO 281 and Star Trek: Nemesis are scripts I hold in high regard. (I always considered Nemesis to be vastly underrated.)
Hopefully Logan can get his script done soon and Ridley can get going on the project if he is going to stay on to direct. The Twilight movies have about another two years left in them and who knows if vampires in general will stay in fashion long after that series is done? And speaking of trends…
Credit: Variety
Could fairies be the new vampires?: Universal Pictures has acquired screen rights to "Wicked Lovely," the bestselling first book in a fantasy series written by Melissa Marr that will see its fourth installment published next year by Harper Collins.
The studio bought the book to be produced by Wild West Picture Show Prods., and has hired "Edward Scissorhands" scribe Caroline Thompson to adapt it.
Wild West is Vince Vaughn's U-based shingle.
The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl who can see fairies, and must fend off the advances of a fairy king determined to marry her to save the planet from his vengeful mother.
CAA brokered the book deal with Writers House and ICM reps Thompson.
This sounds like an ideal next stop for the pre-teen girl audience that helped make the first Twilight film such a success at the box office. And Caroline Thompson is an ideal person to bring this story to life. The big question is, as I asked before, could fairies be the next trend for other studios to jump on the way they all did with vampires? We'll have to see for ourselves.
Credit: Variety
Guess someone may have to update their commercials: "Free" is pretty much the first word that comes to mind when I think of Hulu, but executives at Hulu investor News Corp. are still mulling the idea of charging for at least some of the videos on the popular streaming TV and movie site.
Bloomberg News reports that News Corp. COO Chase Carey, while speaking at a Bank of America conference in California earlier this week, told an audience that an "ad-supported only" business model—which is the current modus operandi at Hulu—is "going to be a tough place in a fractured world." Instead, said Carey, "you want a mix of pay and free."
Carey's comments echo those made by News Corp. exec Jeff Bercovici, who said back in June that it would be a "logical thing" for Hulu to eventually start charging for at least some of its videos.
These dark hints about Hulu come (as Bloomberg points out) at a time when big media titans like News Corp. are feeling the squeeze from shrinking TV audiences, slumping DVD sales, middling box office receipts, and evaporating revenue from newspapers (News Corp owns The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, among other properties).
The News Corp. execs haven't gone into specific about exactly which videos might become pay-per-view, how much they'd like to charge, or when the pay walls might start springing up.
I've only checked out Hulu a handful of times, and it seems like a place that collects all of the free videos that all the TV channels' sites already post on their sites. So it makes sense that all of that is seen for free and there would be other footage you can see for some kind of fee. Hopefully, it won't be something ridiculous so Cheryl and I can use it to get caught up on various shows since we don't have our cable boxes anymore and our converter boxes STILL WON'T GIVE US ABC OR CHANNEL 11!!!!
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
Hello UBS fans! This week I have a gal for you that is a bit of a mystery. She is known only as Nichole S from Dekalb, IL. She is only 20 but is already quite the super-fox. Let's check out her pics:
You can see Nichole on her Model Mayhem page here. I wish I knew her… I mean knew MORE ABOUT her. Yeah, that's it.
And that's all for this week. If you have a request, email me at andy(dot)critchell(at)gmail(dot)com.
RE-WRITING MISS-TORY
We've all gone through this experience at the movies many different times. You're watching a film that you've been waiting to see for at least a couple years, and you're involved in what's happening in the story. But you can tell that something is wrong, whether it's a plot point or how a character is interpreted, and it's keeping you from really loving what you're seeing. The result is a very frustrating experience because you saw the potential for what could be great and the movie just didn't live up to that potential. And what's even more frustrating is the fact that you know the problems you had could have been fixed with just one more script draft, maybe two.
That's what this new section of The UBS Evening Television & Movie News is all about. It is a brief breakdown of what made a specific film miss its mark and what could have been done to fix those problems. It is a chance to re-write film history, or miss-tory as you will.
For each film covered here, the critiques and suggestions will be done in the style of a memo from a person known as the QCC - Quality Control Consultant. It is the consultant's job to be the last fresh pair of eyes looking at the screenplay and identifying any problem areas that can be re-written before the film goes into production.
But here's the key of this section, which is something the other columnists here need to be made aware of. The object of the game… is to be nice. Yes, just as the great philosopher Dalton once said, "Be nice." You have to remember that in this alternate universe we are creating here, the film hasn't been made yet, so there is no reason to go off on, say, Alexandre Aja for the bullshit twist in High Tension. It's up to you, the QCC, to identify the problems with the twist and then offer a suggestion for something else.
And one more thing. Many films are re-written on the set during production. For the purpose of this exercise, let's just pretend that it doesn't happen all that much. Okay?
To start things off, I will be the QCC for this week, and I will be sending Mr. Sam Raimi a memo regarding my critiques and suggestions for the 2007 hit film…
Dear Mr. Raimi:
RE: Preparation for final draft on Spider-Man 3
After reviewing the latest draft that you, Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent have delivered to us, please allow me to, as your QCC on this project, identify the problems I have discovered and offer my suggestions for solutions.
1. The first appearance of the Symbiote: I understand the nod to the 1950s B-movie era with the meteor landing in the park near Peter and Mary Jane. However, it rings as a little too convenient, like a plot device just falling from the sky. It also feels like a wasted opportunity since the previous film introduced Jameson's son, the astronaut.
I recommend a scene similar to the science lab in the first film when Peter was first bitten. This time, the scene would showcase items that Jameson's crew returned from the moon. As the photographer assigned to the event, Peter would leave his bag near the meteor that contains the symbiote, allowing it to leak in until its later appearance in the apartment.
2. The Sandman: The visuals your team has in mind for this character will be extraordinary and we are looking forward to seeing them become a reality. Plus, we appreciate your desire to raise the stakes for The Sandman by getting him involved with the killing of Ben Parker. However, I am sure you recall the altering of Batman's origin in the 1989 Tim Burton film. Changes like that are very dangerous, and could risk unneeded backlash. Plus, it comes off as unnecessarily convoluted. Spider-Man's origin works so well because of how simplified it is.
Another problem I noticed is how Flint Marko falls into the de-molecularization chamber. It brings up painful memories of Batman & Robin, which shows Dr. Victor Fries stumbling backwards into the below-freezing liquid.
I have two recommendations here. One would be Marko agreeing to participate in the de-molecularization experiment in exchange for money being sent to his wife and kid. After he is reduced to sand, he can overhear a conversation about his family not being compensated and lashing out to get the money himself. This would lead to the main reason why he is being hunted down by Spider-Man…
Instead of Sandman being tied to Ben Parker's murder, I suggest he is tied to the death of Captain Stacy. There is very little for this character to do, and after the first third of the script, we do not see him again. This would also allow more for Gwen Stacy to do because it would be her that would have to forgive Sandman. (I also suggest Sandman does not necessarily kill Captain Stacy himself, but have him be killed by either another officer or someone's carelessness at the scene of the crime.)
3. The two love triangles: Now that Gwen Stacy has been introduced, there are some wonderful moments involving her and Spider-Man, specifically the re-creation of the kiss with Mary Jane in the first film. However, after that scene, there is little we see of Gwen until the jazz club scene before the third act.
I suggest more interaction with Gwen, with her wanting vengeance for her father's death. Spider-Man would grant that wish with the scene in the subway, and we would see an admiration for Spider-Man similar to what Mary Jane had with him in the first film. (With Mary Jane becoming more and more bitter about her recent stint on Broadway, we need to have a female character that isn't looked at as a downer.)
And then there is the other love triangle: between Peter, Mary Jane and Harry. This is handled very well with Harry & Mary Jane dancing in the kitchen. I would suggest crossing this scene with shots of Peter getting more attention from Gwen. This would be another good way to keep her in the picture instead of just popping up again for the jazz club scene. Speaking of that scene…
4. The jazz club scene: This should definitely remain the back-breaker scene for Peter to realize how far gone he's gotten and finally get rid of the black suit. However, it needs to be toned down a bit, specifically the moment where we see Peter at the piano. This is a scene that was used in the first Hot Shots, and when a parody movie does a scene like that, it would not work to try it again in another movie.
I suggest Peter and Gwen dancing to start off, and Peter leading Gwen so that the two of them are right in front of the stage where Mary Jane is singing. Peter could motion to the band to pick up the tempo when Mary Jane stops singing, and then you can lead into the moments where Peter is almost showing off his spider powers just to get under Mary Jane's skin.
5. Spider-Man in the black suit: There are only three large action sequences where we see Spider-Man in action instead of Peter Parker. Yes, the two are one and the same, but we don't get to see the black suited Spider-Man in action very often. The closest we get to see how the black suit has heightened his aggression as a hero is the still pictures Peter shows to Jameson.
I suggest a montage of Spider-Man being very un-hero-like with his crime fighting, scaring criminals more with his new attitude and turning off the people who used to cheer for him. We could even show parents shielding their children's eyes whenever they see him swinging through New York City.
6. Venom: Once Eddie Brock becomes Venom, the character comes off very wrong. He continuously says "I" instead of "we," which is a signature aspect of Venom's personality and when he talks, I noticed in the script he just sounds like a more sinister version of Eddie's voice.
I suggest adding a demonic voice to talk with Eddie's voice at the same time, and replacing the "I" with "we" in all of his dialogue.
7. Harry learns the truth about his father: Harry's butler comes out of nowhere near the end and tells him how Norman Osborn was really killed. It comes off as too out-of-nowhere and way too convenient.
I suggest the butler attempting to tell him earlier in the film, perhaps when Harry is leaving the theater after Mary Jane's performance. Also, there could be a few moments of his butler being relieved while Harry has his amnesia. Finally, there could be the scene when his butler finally tells him, as you have it here.
8. The final confrontation: Mary Jane has been in peril twice already. It's time for a twist on the formula. Since Gwen would be more involved, Eddie should kidnap her while The Sandman kidnaps Mary Jane. And since the audience is well aware that Gwen dies at some point, Venom could be the one to do it and then blame Spider-Man for putting him in the situation.
With these suggestions, the final re-writes could provide a better balance to action involving both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, it could keep the origin story unchanged, Sandman would have more to do and would have a richer character and the fans would be satisfied with the treatment of Venom. I hope these find you well and I look forward to reading the next draft.
George H. Sirois
Quality Control Consultant
Columbia Pictures
And that's a wrap for Chapter 130 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
That would be the Spiderman 3 that I would have loved to see.
Posted By: COTTI (Guest) on September 17, 2009 at 08:43 AM
Agreed!
I wonder what movie is going to get the treatment next week?
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on September 17, 2009 at 11:35 AM
That Spiderman 3 would have kicked ass.Since your doing comic book movies next week you should do xmen the last stand.
Posted By: david (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 05:47 AM
I agree, i wasnt expecting much from the re-write section but all ure ideas were bang on. You could also have added when hiring venom dont get topher grace for the role. But thats a nitpick!
Posted By: Shooter (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 12:08 PM
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