Movies/TV's 3R’s 10.13.09: Marlon Wayans, Jamie Foxx, Texas Chainsaw, Paris Hilton, Predators, More...
Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 10.13.2009
From Venom getting a writer, Adrian Brody joining Predators, Star Trek breaking records and Texas Chainsaw going 3D to a Showgirls sequel, Paris Hilton losing her head, Dollhouse closing its doors, and Seinfeld on Curb, 411's Shawn S. Lealos breaks down the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous from the week in Movies/TV!
Welcome to Week 16 of The 3 R's for the Movie/TV world.
Without any further ado, here is...
THIS WEEK'S RELEASES:
The Right
The Fantastic Mr. Fox is almost here: And here is a behind-the-scenes look at how director Wes Anderson created this stop motion feature.
Predators adds some quality: The Robert Rodriguez produced Predators has added an A-list star to the cast with former Oscar winner Adrian Brody. The movie is being helmed by Antal Nimród, a man with a promising start to his directorial career. His debut film was the excellent Hungarian film Kontroll, followed by the underrated horror movie Vacancy. His next film is December's Armored and he has done enough to catch the eye of Rodriguez who handpicked him for the Predator reboot. The new movie is supposed to take place on the Predator's home world and from the sound of the synopsis will include a number of mercenaries as well. Also announced as cast members are Alice Braga (I Am Legend), Mahershalalhashbaz Ali ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ), Walton Goggins (The Shield), Danny Trejo (Desperado) and Oleg Taktaorv (one of the UFC's original tough guys). Also in negotiations is Topher Grace who doesn't seem to fit in to the dynamic. I don't care. I am pumped for this movie.
Paranormal scares the pants off viewers: Paranormal (read Steve's review HERE) received a limited release and blew away the coffers. It was only released on 159 screens but still managed an amazing $44,000 per screen average. It was enough to shoot the movie to fifth place on the weekend box office charts with over $7 million, the highest ever for an expansion under 200 screens. That's not even the best news. The studios promised that if over one million demanded it, the movie would receive a wide release (a minimum of 500 screens) and it hit that mark. This weekend, Paranormal Activity will get its nationwide release. How cool is that?
J.J. Abram's Star Trek highest grossing of all Star Trek films: The new Star Trek film ended its run with a life of 21 weeks in theaters. The final gross is around $385 million. The movie is great and deserved the audience is received. It might have revitalized the world's interest in the stagnating franchise and I believe it is good enough to even win over the non nerd crowd. The website trekmovie.com did a complete analysis of the film's profits and, after adjusting the totals for inflation, the new Star Trek beat the very first movie's domestic take by almost $20 million. It is the 47th highest grossing film of all time (180th when adjusted for inflation) and outperformed both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Terminator Salvation. Those may just look like boring numbers but it proves the franchise is reaching new fans and that is a good thing. The movie is great and hits DVD next month (Nov. 17).
This movie damn well better get a wide release: I present to you the new trailer for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnusses:
The wRong
New Fame movie mugs Alan Parker : Alan Parker, the director of the original 1980 version of Fame says the remake makes him feel "a bit like being mugged." The producers of the remake claimed they made the film with the blessing of Parker but that turns out to be a lie. "I have never had a single phone call from anyone - the studio, the producers - about this remake," Parker said. "No-one spoke to me about it. To say so is absolute nonsense." I can't bitch too much about the remake sucking because, despite all the fanboys in the world's claims, a remake does nothing to affect the original film. The director of a remake or sequel is not "raping your childhood" because the original movie you loved is still there, untouched (except Star Wars). The big problem here is that the producers of the remake have lied to the fans, maybe to win their approval, about Parker's involvement. Remake all the movies you want but don't make someone look stupid by lying and saying they approved of your nonsense.
Arrested Development finally getting made into a movie: Call me when there is a script and all the main actors are signed to appear in the film. I am so sick of seeing news about this planned movie, only for it to be dismissed at later dates. When, and if, a story is there and the cast is onboard, I might make this a Right.
Venom has a writer: I don't think the character of Venom is going to be able to headline his own movie. He is a monster and while his comic iteration became a protector of the innocent and/or homeless and/or helpless, I don't think he is someone audiences can get behind. The Hulk still reverts to David/Bruce Banner and you can relate to him but Venom is Venom. Even if they throw in Eddie Brock, the guy is an asshole so they would have to change the character a lot to make him sympathetic. To add even more confusion, the man they hired to write, and possibly direct, the movie is Gary Ross. You know him as the man who made movies like Big, Pleasantville, Seabiscuit and Dave. Does this sound like the guy who can make Venom into a movie? Sure, he is the man who is currently working on the script for Spider Man 4, but come one.
Quaid family in more trouble: You might remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned Randy Quaid and his wife Evi were arrested for skipping out on a $10,000 hotel tab in Texas. Well, Evi is now being sued by the arresting officer, Det. James Davis, for allegedly posting a sign across from City Hall that read "Deputy James Davis Take Payouts, Call + Make Offers." The suit is for defamation of character. It is so very wRong, but also pretty funny in a petty way.
The Ridiculous
National Lampoon's Vacation finally getting a sequel: Remember that crazy Chevy Chase movie called Vacation where he and his family go on a vacation filled with crazy antics and Beverly D'Angelo naked? Well, it's finally getting a sequel. Wait, what? European Vacation? What the hell is that? Christmas Vacation? Vegas Vacation? Ok, fine, ignore all the news media that act like this new movie is the "follow-up" to the original Vacation. Anyways, the new Vacation will center around Griswold child Rusty, now all grown up, and on a vacation with his family. Hey! We can finally see what Anthony Michael Hall looks like now that he's all grown up! Or will it be Ethan Embry? No? Well, it's at least got to cast Randy Quaid as crazy Eddie. He is the only one who stuck around for Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure.
Maybe if Americans actually read more...: Add another pet peeve to the ever growing list of things that annoy me. I mentioned a few months back that there is an American remake of the awesome horror flick Let the Right One's In, of which the original was released last freaking year. Why don't people just go rent the original and "suffer" through the subtitles to watch a great movie? Well, most people won't so the only way to get the story to these people is to remake it American-style. Now there is news of another remake, this time of the Iceland thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam, with Mark Wahlberg set to star. The movie was released in Iceland last year and just hit the European Film Market this year. It is their submission for this year's foreign-language Oscar. Hell, studios aren't even waiting for the movie to hit America on DVD before they start talks to remake it. Also expect Hollywood to change the name so people in the Midwest don't think it's some dang foreign film. Below is an interview with the director of the original. There is some non-English talk at the start but the interview itself is in English.
What in the blue hell?: Marlon Wayans is in negotiations to play Richard Pryor in a biopic of the comedian's life, directed by Dreamgirls director Bill Condon. In slightly better news, Jamie Foxx is in talks to reunite with his Ray director in a biopic over the life of Mike Tyson. Want to see what you might expect from these "biopics"?
Showgirls sequel in the works: The plot sounds like a revenge thriller which has nothing to do with the original. The only reason anyone cares about the original movie is because of the NC-17 rating and that chick from Saved by the Bell showing us what God gave her. I don't care about a sequel and neither should you.
Texas Chainsaw Derails: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is, in its heart and soul, a dirty, grimy Indie horror movie. The entire thought of a serial killer family who makes and sells "beef" made from their human victims is proof this is not a glamorous, glitzy horror movie. The main face of the family wears a mask created from the skin of his victims. This is as dark and gruesome as it gets. I have never been a fan of the original movie because I don't like it when it gets that dark, nihilistic and "real." Despite my lack of love for the franchise, its charm is the violence and the remake, while not loved by the masses, retains the violent brutality of the original. Love them or hate them, Platinum Dunes makes movies look and feel like period pieces, not like the over stylized PG-13 horror films kids today seem to enjoy. Platinum Dunes is no longer the caretakers of the Chainsaw franchise which, up to this point, has been dealt with on a per-pic basis. The new holder of the reins has signed on for a multi-picture deal. That Production Company is Twisted Pictures, the makers of the Saw franchise. While that is not reason to fret on its own merits, the press release Twisted Pictures sent out is. Their plan is to "contemporize the storyline for a 3D film that would be scripted by Stephen Susco (The Grudge)." The words "contemporize" and "3D" tell me these guys know nothing about the Chainsaw franchise.
Seinfeld's fans enthusiasm is far from curbed: The new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm has started off with a bang. If you remember right, the new season will also mark the long awaited reunion for the actors from the hit sitcom Seinfeld, a show co-written by Curb creator Larry David. The season will revolve around David directing the reunion episode of Seinfeld, and while the actual reunion show is not really being shot, enough will be shown "behind the scenes" to allow viewers to know what has happened to their favorites since the show went off the air in 1998. On the second episode of the new season of Curb, all four Seinfeld cast members appeared together on TV for the first time since the finale and Curb scored its highest ratings ever. 1.6 million viewers tuned in for the episode and when combined with the rerun one hour later, the number rose to 2.6 million. In comparison, the premiere episode brought in 1.9 million viewers for the two showings. I guess Seinfeld still equals ratings.
Stephen King's Haven is coming: A new Stephen King television series is in the pipeline and it is based on his novella The Colorado Kid, King's experiment in the crime/thriller genre. Not much is known about the project except news that Universal Networks International is co-financing it, giving them exclusive pay cable TV rights everywhere in the world except the US, Canada and Scandinavia. The possible home for the show is rumored to be an NBC channel, including NBC itself or SyFy. I know this isn't much in the way of news but I am a huge Stephen King fan so I am excited. I am curious about the tie-in with The Colorado Kid because the show is about a cursed town in Maine and an FBI agent who comes to the town to try to control the supernatural events.
We had nothing to worry about: Remember the hoopla surrounding Paris Hilton's scheduled appearance on Supernatural? We should have trusted the creators of the show, who have not let us down before. Hilton ended up playing a pagan god who took her form and then "schools the brothers on the poor quality of idols these days, taking jabs at Us Weekly and herself." Then Sam bloodily beheads her. I am starting to wonder if Paris is in on the joke and everyone against her are the actual marks. Now, about her pot bellied pig. We all know what happened to Tinkerbell...
House continues to Rock: Well, I wasn't sure how to react when House seemed to be making a step backwards in the second episode this season. Taub quit and Foreman fired Thirteen and suddenly the show returned to Foreman, Chase, Cameron and House once again. However, this last week's episode knocked me on my butt when Chase faked a blood report and purposively allowed a ruthless dictator to die, basically committing murder in doing so. It has already been reported that Cameron is being written out of the show for plot reasons and this is probably the lead in. Previews for this week's episode look like it will not allow the criminal act to be pushed under the rug. Suddenly a show that is as formulaic as anything else on TV is becoming must-see TV for me and I have no idea what is going to happen next. House has suddenly become awesome again.
The wRong
The Dollhouse may be closing its doors: I love Joss Whedon and want to see where he takes his new show, now in its second season, but you can't ignore ratings. Two weeks ago Dollhouse hit series low ratings with fewer than 2.1 million viewers. The fansite, ActiveDollhouse.com is trying to save the series, in a strangely familiar scene to last year when it was brought back from the brink of cancellation. They are asking fans to (1) watch it, (2) stream it online, (3) buy episodes online at iTunes or Amazon, (4) Buy Season One on DVD, and (5) Spread the word on Twitter using the tag #Dollhouse. It may be too little too late, but if you care, the most important thing might be to stream the episode online since most of you probably aren't Neilson families. The ploy only worked slightly last week as it made an improvement and only scored its second lowest audience ever. At least it has lasted longer than the superior Firefly. Maybe Whedon needs to move on to Scy-Fy where his shows might earn a longer lifespan with a lot better marketing. Friday nights might be the worst place for this show to live and, opposite Medium, it never stood a chance.
Chris Elliott is Alyson Hannigan's dad on How I Met Your Mother: Wait, what?
The Ridiculous
Obviously they aren't making my dream come true: Fantasy Island is returning to TV once again. The original series was an all-star extravaganza as every week a plane would land on the island (with Tattoo yelling "DA PLANE, DA PLANE!") and Mr. Rourke, the host would grant the guest's wishes. The original Rourke was played spectacularly by Ricardo Montalban (KAAAAAHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and his guests were played by whatever B-list stars they could swing for the week. The show has already come back once with A Clockwork Orange's own Malcolm McDowell stepping into the white suit. Well, this new version is a - wait for it - reality show. The contestants are not the guests however, but instead the contestants will step into the white suit of Mr. Rourke and try to orchestrate the "dreams coming true" sequences. Then the guests will vote on who did the best and eliminations will occur. Make me one of the guests and my dream will be No More Stupid Reality Shows. Make that dream come true.
Like sands through an hour glass...: While daytime soap operas are falling after decades on the air, nighttime soaps are looking to gear up for another run. With more recent teen soaps 90210 and Melrose Place (don't tell me they aren't soaps, because they clearly are) making a comeback the King of all Nighttime Soaps is being primed for a possible return. Who doesn't remember the zenith of the nighttime soap craze where all the talk around the water coolers was about "Who Shot JR?" According to the New York Times, a new Dallas is being developed for TNT. The show will focus on John Ross, JR and Sue Ellen's kid and Christopher, the adopted son of Bobby and Pam. Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray have all been contacted about reprising their roles in the pilot but none have been confirmed. Screw fresh, new ideas...
Oh yeah...: CBS is planning on remaking Hawaii Five-O as well.
Posted By: Owain J. Brimfield (Registered) on October 13, 2009 at 07:39 AM
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and Antal Nimrod are just some of the big/stupid names involved with Predators. Looks like I'm giving this one a miss.
I'm pretty sure the cast of Seinfeld appeared in the 3rd ep not 2nd ep of Curb.
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on October 13, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Adrien Brody has done what in the action realm? King Kong? Brody's got name value, but other than the Pianist, he hasn't done much to wow me.
Posted By: Big Fat Fag (Guest) on October 13, 2009 at 12:24 PM
In other Seinfeld news, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is fucking MILF-tastic these days. She's easily 1,000 times hotter than she ever was on Seinfeld. I bang the shit out of that hot mama.
Posted By: Zingy (Guest) on October 13, 2009 at 06:35 PM
I think marlon wayans can do it
Posted By: Joe (Guest) on October 13, 2009 at 10:13 PM
As much as I hate to say it, it's pretty clear at this point that Paris Hilton is in on the joke. Between Supernatural and her self-parodying appearance in Repo: The Genetic Opera, I have a feeling she's a lot more savvy than we give her credit for.
Now I have to go sanitize my brain for saying something nice about the woman.
Posted By: Jeremy Thomas (Registered) on October 13, 2009 at 10:16 PM
