411 Movies Roundtable: October 2009 Part 1

Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 10.06.2009

The 411 staff takes a look back at the month that was, and discusses the upcoming big releases in October!

Welcome to the monthly 411 Movies Roundtable. The nights are beginning to draw in and it's not quite so light outside any more, and the goddamn TV is already showing adverts for Christmas shopping, so it's clear that autumn is well underway. Of course, I live in the frigid arctic north of Britain, so it may well be better in your part of the world. Nevertheless, we've get some films to preview so let's get to it. This month, Woody Harrelson takes on the undead, the Saw franchise inexplicably keeps coming back to life, and Michael Moore returns to feed us spoonfuls of rich, creamy truth.

This month's picture theme, in keeping with Moore's documentary theme, is people for whom capitalism really was a love story. As always, bragging rights to whoever can name them all.

Let's get down to business...

Introducing this month's participants:

Returning from a month's roundtable absence, Arnold Furious!

Everyone's favorite movie reviewer Bryan Kristopowitz!

Some big love for Steve Gustafson!

He's definitely not wRong or Ridiculous, Shawn S. Lealos!

24 frames of Len Archibald!

Our resident Whedonite Jason Chamberlain!

Another man of the R's, Jeremy Thomas!

...and I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield!

The Month That Was

Arnold Furious

Biggest Winner of the Month: Seeing as I missed last month's Roundtable I'm doing with District 9. Sorry the praise comes so late for Neill Blomkamp and the team behind one of my favourite movies of the year but I was a bit busy 4 weeks back. The movie has continued to do good business off the back of an intriguing advertising campaign and must surely be a wake-up call to Hollywood executives. If this guy from South Africa can make a movie that looks this good and not even play up the special effects as a big selling point for $30 MILLION then some of their huge budget fiasco's could easily be avoided in future. As Empire magazine pointed out "Michael Bay has dreams that cost $30 million".

Biggest Loser of the Month: Kate Beckinsale. She can't act. She's not a draw. Whiteout is a very solid book that I thought would translate well to the big screen until I heard who was cast in the lead. The box office bomb that followed isn't really a surprise. Interestingly enough Whiteout cost more than District 9 to make. Just sayin'.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Roman Polanski getting busted. Yeah, he broke the law... but no one ACTUALLY expected Roman Polanski to get arrested did they? It's just one of those Hollywood things. Roman Polanski isn't allowed back in America because he nailed a teenager. The world has been that way my entire life. Polanski being arrested in the supposedly neutral Switzerland comes as a huge shock. The big question now is; how long will he get sentenced for? And if it's not long does that mean he's back to Hollywood afterwards? Will there be a backlash for something that he did over 30 years ago? Hell, if he'd killed someone he'd have been released by now! This promises to be a story that just won't go away. Expect more on this in the coming months.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Zombieland had me won during the trailer I saw ahead of District 9. I'm a fan of zombies and Woody Harrelson (The Cowboy Way is awesome). Also Boondock II has been a rumour ever since the first one came out and now Troy Duffy has finally found his way back into the limelight. Hopefully he won't fuck it up this time. If you haven't seen the first film btw, go and check it out.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: South Park Season 12. Amazing that South Park is still funny after all these years and occasionally they launch an absolute winner into the world. I've actually only seen a few episodes from season 12 but hey, it's South Park. You can't go far wrong.

Classic Movie of the Month: The Boondock Saints (1999). I might as well claim this one before anyone else does. Troy Duffy's raw and Tarantino inspired directorial style actually managed to capture something real and mix it with gun-toting fantasies. Willem Dafoe is insane as a gay detective chasing after two Irish vigilantes in Boston. "THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!" It kinda makes me feel like riverdancing.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Gordon's alive!" – Can't help but include a bit of Brian Blessed.

Bryan Kristopowitz

Biggest Winner of the Month: The Weinstein Company, which has a hit on its hands with Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, which is still earning decent money a month after its release. Bob and Harvey aren't out of the woods yet, but this gives them a bit of breathing room, at least for now anyway.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Roman Polanski, for finally getting arrested after 31 years essentially on the lam. He got picked up in Switzerland and, quite possibly, could end up behind bars if and when he is sent back to Los Angeles. That's gotta suck. And Megan Fox hasn't exactly had a good month, either.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: The Polanski arrest is pretty big news, as is the recent cast shake up at Law & Order: Criminal Intent, with Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Eric Bogosian, and Julianne Nicholson leaving the show. And the deaths of Patrick Swayze and Dick Durock are pretty big, too.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Capitalism: A Love Story looks great, as does Zombieland and The Invention of Lying, Whip It and Where the Wild Things Are, Law Abiding Citizen looks kind of cool, Antichrist, and, of course, the big one, Saw VI.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Hardware, the awesome sci-fi horror flick from 1990 starring Dylan McDermott finally gets a proper DVD, as does the Fred Dekker classic Night of the Creeps The long delayed Trick 'r Treat finally gets released, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, The Gate, Mr. Ed season 1, Drag Me to Hell, Happy Birthday to Me, Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost, Transformers II, the great Robert Urich show Vegas finally gets a set, a new Planes, Trains, and Automobiles the complete Fawlty Towers, something called Monty Python: Almost the Truth, Monty Python: The Other British Invasion, and something called Stan Helsing that sounds kind of funny (it's one of those Leslie Nielsen low budget spoof things. Kenan Thompson is in it, too).

Classic Movie of the Month: Punisher: War Zone (2008): The flick isn't quite a year old yet, and it didn't make much money when it was released in theatres, and as a result has a bad reputation, one that isn't deserved in my opinion. It's got everyone. A great Punisher in Ray Stevenson, a great villain in Jigsaw (Dominic West), and some great, gory action sequences. The Punisher doesn't mess around. Easily one of the greatest B-movies of all time.

Movie Quote of the Month: Dr. Sam Loomis: "Michael? Why now? You've waited ten years. Why come back now? I knew this day would come. Don't go to Haddonfield. If you want another victim, take me. But leave those people in peace. Please, Michael? Goddamn you." - Donald Pleasance, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Steve Gustafson

Biggest Winner of the Month: Comic book fans and fans of comic book movies. I think. Warner Bros. created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power of this full operational Death Star! Wait. Too Star Wars. They formed the subsidiary to take advantage of the power AND value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms. Way too early to see how this is going to pan out but hopefully we get some good QUALITY projects out of it. I know I'm excited. Are you?

Biggest Loser of the Month: MGM. Oh, MGM, what are we going to do with you? Looks like some studio execs might be hitting the pavement with Styrofoam cups in hand for $170 million in order to get through to the end of the year. The company requires a $20 million short-term cash injection to cover overhead and $150 million to start shooting on Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit. The implication everyone is talking about: BANKRUPTCY! They held a conference call that pretty much asked creditors to forgo interest payments on MGM's $3.5 billion debt until next February, freeing up cash that the studio can spend on putting movies into production. At stake: Losing the rights to the James Bond franchise, which it regained control of from Sony after the latter's two-film deal expired with the release of Quantum Of Solace. I've said it before, In this situation, if you're losing money and/or aren't making money then you either step aside for someone who can or shut it down. Why give more money and chances to a group who can't cut it? 3.5 billion equals a lot of bad decisions.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: What a crazy story this is becoming? Film director Roman Polanski being arrested is splitting people down the middle. Polanski will probably remain in prison for several months as he fights deportation to the U.S. in a three-decade-old sexual assault case. Details of the case are well known, so I won't go into details but the public is fired up in support AND in a call for justice. No matter where you stand, if he wasn't "famous" would you still feel the same way?

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Where the Wild Things Are. What else could it possibly be?

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Transformers 2! Psych. You couldn't make me get that DVD if you wrapped it in $100 bills and had Megan Fox deliver it to me personally. Now, if you got Olivia Wilde to deliver it.... ok, I'd take it but after unwrapping it I'd spike the DVD into the trash. Wait. What was the question? Oh. DVD recommendation. Umm, how about The Maiden Heist? Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H. Macy, Marcia Gay Harden... how bad could it be?

Classic Movie of the Month: Mr. Saturday Night. The rise and fall of Buddy Young Jr. (played by Billy Crystal), a stand-up comedian and his brother/manager, Stan (played by David Paymer). Through a series of flashbacks, the movie traces the brothers from childhood entertaining their family in the living room, through Buddy Young's early days in the Catskills, where he meets his future wife (Julie Warner), to hitting the big time with his own television show. Then as the once popular comic is past his prime, it chronicles his self-destructive behavior while an agent (Helen Hunt) attempts to get him work and the toll it takes on the comic's relationships with his family. This movie is also Crystal's directorial debut.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Maybe poker's just not your game, Ike. I know: let's have a spelling contest." - Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), Tombstone

Shawn S. Lealos

Biggest Winner of the Month: Quentin Tarantino. While the rest of the month was not very big for many movies, Inglourious Basterds continues to rake in the dough. During the month of September it became Tarantino's biggest financial hit ever. People who were writing him off got to see one of the best movies to come along in years. It is currently sitting at $114m in the U.S. (Pulp Fiction made $108m) and $243m worldwide (Pulp Fiction made $213m). This is great news for a great movie.

Biggest Loser of the Month: MGM. It was announced this week that MGM is facing possible bankruptcy. 2009 has seen a series of flops such as The Taking of Pelham 123 ($65m BO with a $100m budget ), The Pink Panther 2 ($35m BO, unknown budget although the first movie was $80m) as well as this past week's Fame starting off pretty low ($10m, 3rd place finish). 2008 was worse with Valkyrie barely making its budget, while Quantum of Solace, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, The Longshots, College and Superhero Movie all fell short of their budgets. A studio with that many movies in the hole is heading towards a bad end. Bondholders are deciding if they want to force the studio to go bankrupt to recover their money ($4 billion, which half would be recovered at auction). One of the first assets that could be sold is the James Bond franchise. This also puts Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit on hold until things are worked out. MGM believes bankruptcy would ring the death bell for the studio. The only hope is if they can convince bondholders to let interest payments slide until February 2010. If they do not, Bond and The Hobbit will both be MIA for the time being. It is bad times for MGM.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland for his thirty year old underage sex case. I mentioned something about this in my 3R's column, kind of poking people with a stick to see if they bit. They did. As of this writing a number of people have stood up for Polanski to be released and all charges finally be dropped. To remind people of history, Polanski was accused of raping a 13 year old girl. After testimony, prosecutors agreed to lessen the charges to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. However after Polanski served time in prison receiving psychological evaluation, the judge made it known he was going to ignore the plea bargain and slam Polanski with a much harsher punishment than agreed. Polanski fled to France and has lived there ever since. Recently, his attorneys have fought to have all charges dropped on the grounds of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct. The filing says that Judge Rittenband (now deceased) violated the plea bargain by keeping in communication about the case with a deputy district attorney who was not involved. What happens next is anyone's guess but it is, by far, the biggest news of the month.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Despite the fact that Zombieland kicks all kinds of ass, my most anticipated movie is still Where the Wild Things Are. Spike Jonze is going to rule with this movie and I cannot wait.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Trick ‘r Treat, October 6. I have read so many great things about this movie that the minute it was listed on Amazon, I preordered the Blu-Ray. I don't get too excited about many blind buys but my expectations are raised on this one and I can't wait to get it and see what all the hype is about.

Classic Movie of the Month: It's October, so let's go with a horror movie - George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. It is almost a perfect horror movie with social commentary, great gross out moments, and some pretty funny bits as well. It is well worth your time if you are one of the unfortunate few who have not seen this.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Who's Bill Murray? That's like asking who's Gandhi." - Tallahassee, Zombieland

Len Archibald

Biggest Winner of the Month: One name: Tarantino. Inglorious Basterds proved a few things; 1) Tarantino can make a mainstream film that feels like a mainstream film and opens with the hype of a mainstream film. 2) Tarantino can open in SUMMER and make cash for the studios and 3) He can mature as a screenwriter, filmmaker and is capable of crafting a movie that can reach the popular and artistic heights of Pulp Fiction. I tip my hat to you, sir.

Biggest Loser of the Month: See Biggest Movie News...

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Oh, I dunno... How about ROMAN POLANSKI ARRESTED by Swedish police for statutory rape charges stemming from over 30 years ago? The Oscar-winning filmmaker of such gems as Knife in the Water, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist and Chinatown plead guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old in 1977 in the United States, but fled the country before he could be sentenced and a warrant for his arrest was issued in 1978. He had been living in France ever since. The red-tape will delay him returning back to the United States, but it's all but a done deal. The messed up thing? The victim, Samantha Geimer, who long ago identified herself publicly, has joined in Polanski's bid for DISMISSAL, saying she wants the case to be over. Crazy.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: I would have said Antichrist, but now that I've seen it, it has to be between Where the Wild Things Are, Whip It, A Serious Man and The Invention of Lying.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: [Apparently Len forgot to fill this one out, the big goof - Owain]

Classic Movie of the Month: Since it is October, there is really only one movie to go with. It's cliché, but John Carpenter's Halloween isn't just one of the greatest horror movies ever made, it is one of the greatest films made, period.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Forget it, Jake – it's Chinatown." I think this is pretty self-explanatory.

Jason Chamberlain

Biggest Winner of the Month: Throwing it to QT. Inglourious Basterds was a hit and rightfully so. It's a damn good flick. It's good to know he man like a Tarantino flick and still bring in the big bucks.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Is there any other choice? Roman Polanski. He finally got arrested for the small matter of popping a 13-year-old back in the 70's. I can hardly believe the dude has been ‘in exile' that long! Well, ok, he pled guilty originally and plea bargained, only to be threatened with a 50-year sentence, at which point he bolted to France. Whatever the circumstances, this issue has haunted Polanski's steps for decades. Perhaps finally dealing with it will give all the parties involved some peace. I do wonder what course justice should take here. There's no arguing the seriousness of the crime he committed, but a long time has passed, and the victim herself, now a middle aged woman, wants the entire thing dropped. One thing is for certain though; the media is going to have a field day with this, and nobody involved, including the victim and her family, is going to have much peace for quite some time.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: I've already covered Roman... this news of Johnny Depp maybe, perhaps backing out of future Pirates movies is really disappointing to me. I love the Pirates movies (the first two were great and the third one not as good, but it has grown on me) and the best part about them is Depp, hands down. Captain Jack Sparrow is such a unique, iconic character and the best part of the possibility of future movies was simply seeing more of him. I hope whatever issues currently lie between him and Disney are worked out. These rumours of replacing Depp with Russell Brand as Jack's brother have me dry heaving. How stupid can a studio be? You know what, don't answer that.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: This month, I'm most looking forward to seeing MJ perform one last time in This Is It. Some of the things I hear he was doing for this concert series sound pretty crazy, and I hope this film will help us all to remember the dude the way he'd want to be remembered; as a great performer and entertainer. Oh, and Zombieland!

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Revenge of the Fallen. Say what you will about this movie, it is going to look and sound bitchin' on my home theatre set up!

Classic Movie of the Month: Superman: The Movie. Can't you just hear that song? Christopher Reeve as the last son of Krypton, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Marlon Brando as Jor El! Does it get any better?

Movie Quote of the Month: "Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you've been raised as a human, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered. Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son." – Jor-El teaches his son of his true heritage in Superman: The Movie.

Jeremy Thomas

Biggest Winner of the Month: Sony and Columbia, who had a much bigger hit than I think anyone expected with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. When the reviews started coming in, I think a lot of people were shocked to see how well it passed the muster, myself included. It's been the #1 film two weekends in a row, and while that's probably all the further it's going with that it will still end up being quite the success for the studios.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Gamer. Sure, Jennifer's Body underperformed, but I don't think that was expected to be a blockbuster and least it was good (yes, you heard me). Gerard Butler's action/sci-fi flick took a huge dump at the box office and sucked mightily to boot. Michael C. Hall was the only remotely good thing about it and it finished a shockingly disappointing fourth on its opening weekend it was expected to win. Don't worry about the cast though; Butler has plenty more chances and money from *shudder* Ugly Truth to keep him happy while Hall is back to rocking the serial killer lifestyle on Dexter, so they'll be just fine.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: Roman Polanski's arrest narrowly beats out MGM's financial woes and Patrick Swayze's death. I've spoken at length about it in my news report, but suffice it to say that this story is going to be languishing in the headlines for a while now, and caps a thirty-year drama. Hard to get too much bigger than that.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Definitely Zombieland. There's some other intriguing films coming out, but this is the one I'm jazzed for and have been since I first heard about it. I just hope (REALLY hope) that this turns out to be more of a District 9 at the box office and not a Snakes on a Plane. I guess we'll know soon enough!

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: It's October, so I'll go with the all-horror DVD anticipation. For starters the long-awaited Trick 'r Treat makes its debut on DVD after having been given a long, storied delay by Warner Bros. for unexplainable reasons--especially considering the amazing reviews that the few who have seen it have given. Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell is getting an unrated director's cut that is near the top of my "to buy" list. And lastly, the surprisingly good Orphan comes out four days before Halloween, for those last minute scares. Gotta love it.

Classic Movie of the Month: It's Halloween, so I'm going with the seminal horror film. William Friedkin took a script by an author who adapted his own work in 1972 and went behind the camera to make a classic. The end result was The Exorcist, which to this day stands as the greatest horror film ever made. There's not much more to say than that.

Movie Quote of the Month: "Your mother's in here, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I'll see that she gets it." - The Demon, The Exorcist

Owain J. Brimfield

Biggest Winner of the Month: The folks behind the upcoming Elm Street remake, which hot off the heels of the amazingly successful trailer for Avatar, garnered an astonishing 1.6 million views on MySpace. I'm genuinely surprised there are that many people who still use MySpace, but still, great advertising for the return of Freddy.

Biggest Loser of the Month: Roman Polanski for finally getting served after about a billion years for a crime he committed way back when. Now, I really have no opinion on this one way or the other, but I'm not really surprised it became big news. What did genuinely surprise me, though, is the number of people seemingly in support of Polanski. Let's reiterate: a large number of people are supporting a child rapist essentially escaping justice. Seriously, I don't really mind whose anal passage the man once violated, but I'm genuinely perplexed more people aren't supporting the arrest in a world where most citizens would normally be happy for pedophile-hunting to become a national sport.

Biggest Movie News of the Month: The death of Patrick Swayze, who had been stoically battling cancer for the past several years. Unlike MJ though, the outpouring of sympathy for Swayze's family is genuine, as the man was by all accounts a class act both on and off the big screen. I may have to watch Road House again in memory of the man.

Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: I wasn't initially stoked about the premise, but the trailer for Zombieland had me in stitches and this could well be up there with Shaun of the Dead and Slither as one of the best horror comedies of the decade.

Recommended DVD Release of the Month: There's a ton of great stuff finally getting released here in the UK this month, but top of my list is House season five and The Big Bang Theory season two, both of which will be on my doorstep on the day of release, assuming Amazon gets their act together. If not, there'll be hell to pay!

Classic Movie of the Month: Staying away from the obvious choice of a Polanski or a Swayze flick, I recently rewatched Full Metal Jacket, which I hadn't seen in over a decade, and was pleasantly surprised by how much better it was than I remembered, and how much it's contributed to pop culture in the ensuing years.

Movie Quote of the Month: "I am so happy that I am alive, in one piece and short. I'm in a world of shit... yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid." - Joker (Matthew Modine) delivers a bittersweet closing narration to Kubrick's war flick.


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