Movies/TV's 3R’s 10.20.09: X-Men, The Avengers, Jack Ryan, Dollhouse, Bon Jovi, More
Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 10.20.2009
From Marge Simpson getting naked, Jessica Simpson getting fat, Texas Chainsaw leaving the 70s and Captain Kirk playing Jack Ryan to Bryan Singer talking X-Men, Jackie Earle Haley playing Sinestro, Southland getting dropped, and Bon Jovi becoming NBC's favorite band, 411's Shawn S. Lealos breaks down the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous from the week in Movies/TV!
Welcome to Week 17 of The 3 R's for the Movie/TV world.
Without any further ado, here is...
The Right
Park has a Thirst for French cinema: Park Chan-wook is arguably the best director working in Asia today. He earned critical acclaim for his Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). The guy is a genius but is also a little eccentric. When asked about his influences he has listed Sophocles, Shakespeare, Kafka, Dostoevsky and Kurt Vonnegut along with actual filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman and Sam Fuller. The guy respects the best in, and out of, the business. His masterpiece was easily Oldboy but has earned rave reviews for his latest film, 2009's Thirst, a movie that features a priest turning into a vampire following a failed medical experiment. While promoting his Director's Cut of Thirst, Park has also begun promoting French filmmaker Costa-Gavras' new film Eden is West. The news gets even better for Park fans as he has agreed to remake Costa-Garvas's 2005 film Le Couperet (The Ax). Le Couperet is a dark comedy thriller about a middle-class worker who turns into a killer after being unemployed for more than three years. Sounds like the perfect vehicle for Park. Check out the trailer for Thirst (with English subtitles).
Bryan Singer returning to Salem?: While appearing at a panel discussion with South Korean director Kim Ji-woon at the Pusan International Film Festival, Singer dropped a bombshell. He announced he is in talks with Twentieth Century Fox concerning his return to the X-Men franchise. For fans with short memories, Singer directed both the first and critically acclaimed second edition of the movies before giving way to vilified director Brett Ratner, who helmed the third. Ratner proceeded to kill Cyclops off-screen and screw up the entire Dark Phoenix storyline in a movie that was a step down from the excellent sophomore effort by Singer. Singer went on to helm Superman Returns, a movie that some fans hate so much that any praise for it brings cries of disdain from the loyal haters. I believe X-Men 2 proves Singer has a lot to bring to the franchise and his comments reinforce that belief. He said he likes to "trick audiences into thinking they're seeing fireworks, but they're learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say. The excitement about working in science fiction and fantasy is -- the stories, if they are good, are about the human condition," Singer said. The entire underlying tone in X2 of acceptance and segregation proves this fact. If his return to the franchise is true, I am excited about a new X-Men movie for the first time in a long time.
Adam Green's new movie is coming soon: I have received word from director Adam Green that his next movie Frozen will be hitting theaters this winter and a trailer is coming around the holidays. For those who don't know who Adam Green is, he directed the very fun throw-back slasher flick Hatchet. His new film is a thriller about three friends on the last day of s skiing vacation in New England. When they take the last lift up the mountain and are accidentally stranded halfway up, they must fight for survival against primordial enemies: cold, wind, rain, snow, and altitude... Check out the trailer for his debut film, Hatchet, which stars Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Tony Todd (Candyman):
Toy Story gets extended: The Disney 3D reissue of Toy Story has made $22.8 million in 10 days. That makes the news that Disney is extending its run to the end of October a no-brainer. It probably won't extend past November 2 though, so if you haven't been to see it yet, get out there and do so. 3D on home theater systems is still working in the stone-age, so the theatrical release is the only way you will see it in all its 3D beauty. Next up for a reissue is the 3D version of Beauty and the Beast, the last animated film to earn a Best Picture nod at the Academy Awards. On a related note, here is the new trailer for Toy Story 3, coming June 18, 2010.
God sent this to us...: Seriously
How about some awesome superhero news: There has been two new additions to the Thor movie: Jude Law and Robert DeNiro. No word on who they are playing. Also in this week's comic news, Green Lantern has cast its Sinestro (the bad guy): Jackie Earle Haley. That is just about a perfect choice. Kudos to all three hirings.
The wRong
Jack Ryan, Captain of the USS Enterprise: I like Chris Pine, I really do. But when word came down that he is in talks to become the next Jack Ryan I wasn't that happy. I am perfectly fine with Ben Affleck's performance as Ryan in Sum of all Fears and feel the roles he has taken on since show he has grown as an actor to fully capture the role. However, studios are all about reinventing things. A few months back, Harrison Ford was in talks to return to the role as well. It would have to take place in later books where Ryan becomes President of the United States, but I can live with that. I don't understand why there is such a great desire to reboot everything. If they want to move on with the Jack Ryan franchise, I vote to go back to Affleck. My main gripe here is that I don't like the fact Pine is taking on two major franchises. He is going to continue on as Capt. Kirk in the Star Trek series and then make the Ryan movies as well. It is overkill and will over saturate the market with his face. I guess he should jump on the money train while he has the chance though. It worked so well for Seth Rogan.
Suicide is the flavor of the day: Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis are teaming up to write a feature film about the double suicide of artists Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake. I am less then excited about the project. For one thing, Van Sant has done nothing but arty pictures over the last few years, with the obvious exception of Oscar nominated Milk. His most obvious attempt at a suicidal soul was Last Days, a movie that paralleled the last days of Kurt Cobain. It was - different. Add in Ellis, the author of American Psycho, who recently called The Hills "the greatest show that I have ever seen in my life." The guy lives on pop culture and I don't see his writing style mixing well with that of Van Sant. Add to that fact the subjects of this story are a video game designer and a digital artist who believed they were being stalked and harassed by Scientologists before killing themselves. I can almost see Van Sant (Gerry) directing the suicide scene as he holds a single shot for ten minutes with no music as Blake walks into the Atlantic Ocean to die. No thanks.
Is Zac Efron actually in a movie I want to see?: Maybe... Does this mean Armageddon is coming three years early?
Jon Favreau won't be directing The Avengers: Jon Favreau, the man who made Iron Man cool again, has announced he will not be the director for The Avengers. "They'll have to [find a different director], because I'm not going to be available," he told MTV in an interview last week. This sucks because I wanted to see the fun of Iron Man in The Avengers and I give a lot of credit for how great that movie was to Favreau's directing. I mentioned a few weeks back Favreau was going to be directing Cowboys and Aliens and that might be what is keeping him from helming the Marvel movie. Favreau also voiced concerns in the interview about how The Avengers movie is going to be hard to pull off. "Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with Avengers you're going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor." I am now worried about this franchise and that sucks because the prospects have me so excited.
So how about that economy?: The U.S. dollar has dropped so much it is hurting business in other countries. Green Lantern, scheduled to be shot in Australia is returning to the U.S. and might end up being shot in Louisiana. It is not a wRong because I love getting business for local film crews. However, how it got back here is a giant wRong. The movie was pulled from Australia because our dollar has gotten so bad that very soon, the dollar will be worth as much as AUS$1.10 (The Canadian dollar is also surging towards parity with the U.S. dollar). This means the film would cost almost $20 million more thanks to our shitty economy. This will cause many films to return to the U.S. to save money, which on its own is a Right. The fact that it is because the U.S. economy is still in the toilet is never a good thing.
The Ridiculous
He Said, He Said...: Last week there was a scathing story in the L.A. Times ripping into director Wes Anderson for not only directing Fantastic Mr. Fox by e-mail but saying that Anderson was not even in the United States and refused to enter the production facilities working on the stop motion animated film. It quoted both director of photography Tristan Oliver and director of animation Mark Gustafson complaining that Anderson made everyone's job harder by not doing his job as an on-set director. In a recent interview with Wes Anderson, he admits the interview with his dp was six months ago and they were having a bumpy road at the time. He also mentions that it didn't make him (he was called a sociopath in the article) or his dp (who he said was complaining about how hard his job was) look very good. Either way, the accusations and the article are both pretty damn Ridiculous.
More Chainsaw News: I talked about my opinion of Twisted Pictures getting their hands on Texas Chainsaw last week. I will just give you the latest quote from producer Mark Burg and let you know that I am still disgusted at this upcoming 3D Chainsaw movie. "What we're going to do with it is bring it to 2010," says Burg. "Make it current day and come up with a new story that takes some of the basic plot points, if you will, and make it a current day movie. I don't want to make another Chainsaw in the '70s, that doesn't thrill me. I haven't seen first draft yet, but we're working on it. Stephen (Susco)'s such a smart guy. We're coming up with the idea. It's a 'what if?' It's 35 years later, there's a relative going back. Why is he going back? I don't want to set it in a dusty town. How do we make it more urban but keep that feel. There will be some relatives, some new people. There's still the subtext of 'are they eating these people?' The whole idea of cannibalism, we're bringing it back."
Just, wow...: Remember when I complained last week about the Thomas the Train theatrical movie on the way? Barney the Purple Dinosaur and Bob the Builder are also coming. The movies are being targeted for pre-schoolers. I took a 5 year old to see Ice Age. I had to leave the theater twice because he wouldn't settle down. Leave this on TV where kids are supposed to watch it.
DVR to the rescue: In today's television world, Neilson Ratings are not as important as they used to be. DVR is an important added factor in determining the actual ratings for shows that are on during times where it is unlikely fans would be home to watch them. I mentioned last week that Dollhouse is in trouble because of extremely poor ratings thanks to its Friday night time slot and competition from Medium. Well, numbers have come in from DVR recordings and both Dollhouse and Smallville added significantly more viewers in the seven days following their initial airings in DVR views. Dollhouse jumped from 1.5 million viewers to 2.25 million while Smallville climbed to 2.3 million viewers. Also leading the jump is 90210, Melrose Place and Fringe, with a 38-40% bump. Awesome news for Dollhouse as well as future genre shows. Thanks to the advent of DVR numbers, shows getting buried by networks still have a fighting chance. Dollhouse was saved by these numbers as Fox claims they will air all the Season 2 episodes despite still not being happy with the actual Neilson numbers.
Spike TV scares up some stars: Last week, Spike TV recorded Scream 2009, the network's fourth annual broadcast of the event honoring sci-fi, horror and fantasy work in TV and film. While any genre awards show is usually lots of fun, this one drummed up some quality talent to appear at the event. Appearing at the show is Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man), Liv Tyler (LOTR), Sam Raimi (Drag me to Hell), Elijah Wood (LOTR), Quentin Tarantino and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee. Also appearing at the show is the cast of HBO's True Blood and Twilight star Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) will be showing footage from New Moon. Oh yeah, also appearing is every fanboy's wet dream, Megan Fox. The show will air on Tuesday, October 27 at 10 pm EST.
Best Commercial Ever:
Kanye to get his?: On November 7, Taylor Swift will host Saturday Night Live and when asked about the types of skits she will be involved in she said "I've been thinking about skit ideas for a long time. There are definitely some hilarious things that have happened to me over the past couple of months that I think will be pretty substantial skits." It is a little obvious where they are going but ripping on Kanye is always fun. Swift has also announced she wants to be in a digital skit. I figure they will be a little obvious and have someone come on stage during the opening monologue and interrupt her. It will be awesome if they save it for an Andy Samberg digital short, though.
Jon Bon Freaking Jovi: NBC-Universal and Bon Jovi are teaming up to make November Bon Jovi month. Yep, the band's new album The Circle drops on Nov. 10 and NBC-Universal will do everything it can to make sure you know it is coming. It will be Bon Jovi Month on "Today," with the band appearing on the program on four consecutive Wednesdays. Jon Bon Jovi will be a featured guest on Bravo's "Inside the Actors' Studio" and will be the focus of a "USA Character Showcase." Jon will appear on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams and the band will be featured in a "The More You Know" public service campaign. Finally, the music of Bon Jovi will be "heavily integrated" into NBC's network and cable programming. Why is this Right? Because Jon Bon Jovi is a God.
The wRong
Seth MacFarlane sells out: On Nov. 8, there will be a television show called Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. The show will air for thirty minutes with no commercial breaks. However, don't get too excited. Instead of going to commercials, Seth and Alex will step off the stage to pimp Windows 7. Yep, the variety comedy show is actually just a way for Windows 7 to get more advertising. I guess Seth feels he can do whatever he wants because that night's Fox schedule looks like this: American Dad at 7:30, Family Guy at 8:00, Family Guy Presents at 8:30, Family Guy again at 9:00 and The Cleveland Show at 9:30. Surprising that a guy whose show was cancelled at one point now runs three shows every Sunday night, including the highest rated show of the evening (Family Guy). I guess Seth is successful enough to sell out occasionally.
Southland gunned down: I can't stand to see a show cancelled because the network believes it is "too dark for network TV." I guess they prefer cookie cutter episode-of-the-week police procedurals. The Shield never would have lasted on network TV. Southland was cancelled for this exact reason before the first episode ever aired, although six episodes were shot. I like how the network decided it was too dark before allowing the viewing public the chance to see for themselves. The only good news coming out of this is it might get picked up by TNT, but for now it is MIA.
The Ridiculous
Isn't it called a Marketing Department?: Glee was angling for inclusion into the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade when they received puzzling news. NBC chose to block the show's cast from performing in the parade. Their reason for this is because they believe having the entire cast of Glee in the parade would be "too much promotion." Wait, isn't that what the network should be wanting - more promotion for one of its new shows? The parade has featured stars from other networks in the past including American Idol and High School Musical. Look at how that promotion hurt those franchises. Glee executive producer Ryan Murphy said "I completely understand NBC's position, and look forward to seeing a Jay Leno float." Someone needs to fire this marketing director.
Jessica Simpson doesn't like fat jokes: A skit on Fox NFL Sunday mocked Jessica Simpson's weight and she didn't take kindly. The spoof featured animated versions of Dallas Cowboys players including an animated version of Marion Barber asking why Tony Romo dated her, "even after she blew up bigger than Flozell Adams." Well, Burger King is the official sponsor of the show so people blamed them, which makes those people complete idiots for thinking that an advertiser gets to see and approve everything that goes on a show before it airs. Fox apologized for making fun of Simpson's weight, though, and called it a poor attempt at humor. That is a good point, as she is a little too big of a target. Simpson herself was shocked at the skit, chiming in on Twitter by saying "I will never understand why people attack for a laugh. Own your beauty and don't listen to the judgement." Then she ate another Ding Dong.
As Ridiculous as Jon and Kate are, nothing is more disgusting than: what Richard and Mayumi Henne did to their children in an attempt to get their own reality show. For those who have not heard, the couple faked a ballooning accident and had police and authorities chasing the balloon which they claimed to contain their six year old son. The couple had appeared on Wife Swap at one time and had pitched the idea of a Storm Chasing Family as a reality show idea only to be turned down. Well, it turns out the balloon did not contain their child when he was found hiding in a box in the couple's attic. The boy was interviewed about the hoax and threw up on two different occasions while admitting his dad told him to hide because they were doing this to get on TV. Charges are being filed against the couple for conspiracy, attempting to influence a public servant, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and false reporting to authorities. Some of the most serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. These people are complete trash and this is an indication of how reality shows are influencing our society.
This:
2009, MY YEAR IN RANKINGS
** Click on movie to read the review **
NBC would think that it's too much promotion for Glee because Glee doesn't air on NBC. It's a Fox show.
Posted By: Guest1234 (Guest) on October 19, 2009 at 11:36 PM
thanks to my dial up. i don't know what god sent us or the last two ridiculous things were...i hate the new format...why no mention of the venture brothers?
Posted By: the danger stranger (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 12:11 AM
The God Sent Us is the trailer for the Expendables. The only video on Ridiculous is the Wes Anderson interview where he said what I mentioned. The last Ridiculous on TV is the Marge Simpson Playboy cover. The Best Commercial ever Right is the Steve Nash Vitamin Water ad. The Zac Efron movie is Me and Orson Wells.
What happened to The Venture Brothers that was news worthy?
Posted By: Shawn S Lealos (Registered) on October 20, 2009 at 12:18 AM
Ain't nuthin' wrong with Jessica Simpson.
Why didn't the TCM producer feel it pertinent to mention that the biggest change to the franchise is gonna be a PG rating?
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 07:33 AM
Seth McFarlane sold out? Why, because he decided to briefly talk about Windows 7 and probably take home a fat check?
Considering the fact that Fox cut the cord on his show years ago for basically no reason, I don't blame the guy for taking the money and running with it.
Posted By: Nick (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Venture Bros. aired their first new episode in a while. It was about killing Hitler. It's quite amusing.
Posted By: Ford (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Friggin' Mark Burg...
He needs to learn to just be quiet about developing projects. Even when something he's producing has some good elements, all you'll be able to hear from listening to his comments is, "I want your money and to destroy everything good that I can get my hands on."
Posted By: Ash (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Thrilled about seeing Bon Jovi on TV so much!!!
Posted By: Serpephone (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Yep, I've been saying this for a while, now...
Zac Efron is following the "Leonardo DiCaprio" template to become a movie star. This is his "What's Eating Gilbert Grape".
Seriously, in 10 years, High School Musical is going to be a blip on this guy's career. He is a helluva lot more talented than people give him credit for.
Posted By: The 8th Samurai (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Shouldn't a movie actually be good when you name it #1?
Posted By: Reggie Dunlop (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 01:02 PM
"Make it current day and come up with a new story that takes some of the basic plot points, if you will, and make it a current day movie"
Oh, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3? How fucking original.
Posted By: Guest#7573 (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 01:37 PM
"Seth McFarlane sold out? Why, because he decided to briefly talk about Windows 7 and probably take home a fat check?"
Well yeah... that is pretty much the definition of "selling out." The guy is one of the highest paid producers in television right now, he doesn't need the money, so him pimping Windows 7 is lame.
Posted By: Guest#7508 (Guest) on October 20, 2009 at 03:05 PM
The Thor and Green Lantern casting news is all still rumor, is it not?
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on October 21, 2009 at 02:22 PM
for one the venture brothers is still awesome...i found it noteworthy. i guess i'm expecting too much. you don't usually mention when shows come back awesome.
Posted By: the danger stranger (Guest) on October 21, 2009 at 02:24 PM
"Seth McFarlane sold out? Why, because he decided to briefly talk about Windows 7 and probably take home a fat check?"
Well yeah... that is pretty much the definition of "selling out." The guy is one of the highest paid producers in television right now, he doesn't need the money, so him pimping Windows 7 is lame.
-------------------------------------
Why complain, though? Odds are, him pimping windows will be 1,000,000x more funny than actual commercials, so what's the big deal?
Posted By: Bitchbitchbitchbitchbitch (Guest) on October 25, 2009 at 08:26 AM
Copyright � 2011 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.
