Frickin' Eh Movie News 10.28.09: All Hallow's Eve

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 10.28.2009

Paranormal Activity not only jumps in the box office but gets sequel talk already, two new trailers including the first trailer for Matt Damon's Green Zone, more news of Roman Polanski's difficulties, plus much more!

30 Rock is back! And so far it hasn't disappointed. More of the same stuff that we've come to love, with a sharp edge of wit directed at the recession (particularly the second episode, although the "Comrade Obama" bit in the first was priceless). The return of Devon Banks as well is something I definitely welcomed; he's always a great addition to the cast.

Hopefully next week I will have ready a different piece to fill in for the usual Rapid-Fire. It's something I've been working on for a little bit, but I need to do a couple more things before I'm ready to write it. If it's ready, it'll be next week; if not it might be put off for a couple more. But enough about that, let's see what's new in movies:


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

Alright then, to the first order of business, last week's box office: Paranormal Activity jumped right to the top of the box office from three, taking in another $21.1 million. Saw VI opened at second place with $14.1 million, missing out on the top by a fair bit. Where the Wild Things Are fell from the top to third, taking in $14 million in its second week. Law Abiding Citizen fell two spots to fourth with $12.4 million and Couples Retreat fell a spot to fifth, making another $10.6 million. Astro Boy opened at seventh with $6.7 million, and The Vampire's Assistant opened at seventh with $6.3 million. The Stepfather fell from fifth to eighth, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs fell from sixth to ninth. Zombieland rounded out the top ten, falling from seventh and raking in another $4.2 million.

Two openers this weekend. The first is the tribute you've all probably not been waiting for, Michael Jackson's This Is It, sure to do well for the tragedy factor involved. Regardless the quality of the movie, this one will do well. The other movie opening this weekend is Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, starring Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus. I don't see this one doing all that well with the cult status of the first and the relatively lean advertising campaign behind it. So take your pick. I'd expect Paranormal Activity to stick around high on the list for another week, given the Halloween theme of the weekend.


Damon, Brolin Getting Some True Grit?

Variety reports that Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are in talks with Joel and Ethan Coen to join Jeff Bridges in True Grit, the re-imagining of the iconic 1969 Western that Paramount Pictures will put into production next March for a late 2010 release.

The Coens, who previously attached their Big Lebowski star Bridges to play U.S. marshal Rooster Cogburn, are in talks with Damon to play the lawman who teams with Cogburn and a 14-year old girl to track her father's killer into hostile Indian territory.

Brolin (who starred in the Coens' No Country for Old Men) is in talks to play the killer.

The Coens are producing with Scott Rudin and Steven Spielberg.

Oh boy, this is shaping up to be epic. Not only do we have the masters of film, the Coens, at the helm of a powerful story, but we've got two Coen alumni likely to join the cast, and Damon, who is rapidly becoming a well-appreciated and powerful actor in his own right. I'm very excited to see this one get its start.


More Paranormal Activity On the Way?

After its one month climb to the top of the box office, culminating in its first weekend at #1 with $22 million, Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity is clearly a box office phenomenon, a point driven home by the subsequent failure of Saw VI to replicate the success of the previous five installments of the successful horror franchise. The Lionsgate mainstay opened in second place this weekend with $14.8 million, less than half the opening of the previous four movies.

Not surprisingly, the L.A. Times is now reporting that Paramount already owns the worldwide rights to make a sequel to the surprise hit, and the company's chairman Brad Grey tells them that they're "looking to see if that makes some sense."

The article, which you can read here, is a good recap of the story so far, as well as talking about the pros and cons of making a sequel to the movie that cost less than $15,000 to make and less than $11 million paid by Paramount for acquisition and marketing. So far, the movie has grossed $62.5 million and the L.A. Times claims it's on its way to $100 million.

For all the hype this movie has rounded up over the last couple of weeks, and the obvious force behind it, I haven't heard glowing praise from the people I know who have seen it. From what I've heard, it's a movie riding almost exclusively on hype, and I've had it compared to The Blair Witch Project - not only in hype but in quality. There will be a sequel to this, it will be a bit bigger budget and will probably disappoint, but that's the natural cycle.


More Staring at Goats

Overture Films has released this new trailer for director Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats, the film starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Rebecca Mader and Terry Serpico.

In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is actually true, astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission. The movie opens November 6th.

How can you not fall in love with this movie from the trailer? It looks absolutely fantastic. A star-studded and eclectic cast who looks (at least from the trailer) like they have nailed every part, a hilarious and dark story, and all of it looks like it has been worked to perfection. Check out the trailer. I know I'll be seeing this one.


Footloose Director Cuts and Runs

Kenny Ortega has dropped out as director of Footloose over differences with Paramount Pictures on tone and budget, reports Variety. Ortega directed Wednesday opener Michael Jackson's This Is It.

The studio is starting the search for a new director to keep the project on track for a March production start, when star Chace Crawford is on hiatus from "Gossip Girl." Crawford is starring with Julianne Hough, the "Dancing With the Stars" dancer and country singer.

The trade says that Ortega wanted to make a film with elaborately staged musical numbers at a budget of about $30 million. Paramount production chief Adam Goodman wanted an edgier drama with less emphasis on the musical numbers and a budget around $25 million or less.

Ortega directed all three "High School Musical" films.

I suppose I would be far too optimistic in hoping that this would somehow kill the movie. From the sounds of it, too, this is for the best. Ortega would have just made this High School Musical 4 if he'd had the chance, and it's probably a good thing there was a conflict now. I personally think drama is the way to go, but of course I have a long-standing dislike of musicals, so I may be a tad biased. We'll just have to see where this one goes from here.


Bond 23 Starts By End of 2010

CommanderBond.net alerted us to a video in which Daniel Craig says that James Bond 23 will start filming at the end of 2010. The star was asked about the next film as he exited the stage door for "A Steady Rain," a Broadway play he is currently performing in with Hugh Jackman. As you can see in the video below right before the one-minute mark, Craig says "We start at the end of next year."

It will be the third 007 installment starring Craig. His previous two films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, earned $594 million and $586 million, respectively, at the worldwide box office.

Peter Morgan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writing the script for the 23rd film, which does not have a director attached yet.

I haven't included the video, if you really want to see it click here. There should be no surprises as to what I'm going to say, mostly the usual moaning and wailing about how I don't want this to be made, so I'll just let you fill in the blanks. But for those of you looking eagerly toward the next in Bond's new direction, now you know.


Polanski May Be Extradited

CNN reports that the United States has formally asked Switzerland to extradite film director Roman Polanski.

The Academy Award-winning director was arrested in Switzerland last month on a U.S. arrest warrant stemming from a 1977 sex case involving a 13-year-old girl. He is fighting extradition.

The maximum sentence Polanski can receive for the crime in question in California is two years.

The U.S. Embassy in Berne submitted the formal extradition request to Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice on Thursday night. Swiss justice officials will now forward the extradition request to the Canton of Zurich, where Polanski is being held, so an extradition hearing can be held.

If a decision is made for Polanski to be extradited, the director may appeal to the Federal Criminal Court.

Polanski pleaded guilty in August 1977 to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl five months earlier. Polanski fled the country before he was sentenced, after he learned the judge might not go along with the short jail term he expected to get from a plea agreement.

Polanski's just got all kinds of troubles, and the more I read about everything he's done, the more I'm not sure which side of things I stand on. I don't know about this one . . . Polanski probably should be extradited, it seems like the proper thing to do in the course of the law, but we'll have to see.


District 9 Director Taking on New Sci-Fi Film

Media Rights Capital (MRC) has come on board for the next film by District 9 writer/director Neill Blomkamp, reports Variety.

The untitled sci-fi project will begin production by the middle of next year. Bill Block will produce.

MRC is giving Blomkamp creative freedom and a production commitment that isn't contingent on domestic distribution. The director and Block will get an ownership stake in the finished product.

The trade adds that Blomkamp will immediately start writing and preparing the visual effects.

Blomkamp has created a huge profile with District 9 so he might as well stick to his guns and do what he's obviously very good at. Hopefully his first wasn't just a one-time fluke and he can produce something just as good the second time around.


Green Zone Trailer Debuts

Yahoo! Movies has premiered the trailer for Universal Pictures' Green Zone which you can watch using the player below! The film opens March 12.

Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) re-team for the electrifying thriller, a film set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate unforeseen consequences.

During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission.

Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region. And at this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth.

I'm curious to see how much fact and how much ‘artistic liberty' has been taken with the story. I know enough about the subject, thanks to a History class I took last year, to know the general background to the story, but I'm hoping they don't take too opinionated of a stance, because that's the danger with all of the movies based on the Bush/Iraq strand. But so far, from this trailer, it looks pretty good; maybe a bit too much like "Jason Bourne in Iraq", but good nonetheless. We'll see where it ends up; in the meantime, check out the trailer.


Mad Max 4 Getting Started

Just a few days after it was reported that Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are in the running to star in George Miller's fourth Mad Max movie, The Daily Telegraph says that work on the film will start immediately and that filming will take place in Sydney and Outback NSW.

The newspaper says that a lot of the work will be done at Redfern's CarriageWorks and there will also be 30 weeks of filming in Broken Hill. It is estimated the whole project will take two-and-a-half years to complete.

Miller said: "The production agreements have been a long time in the making and Premier Rees and his team have worked like Trojans to ensure this substantial investment comes into this country. Not only does it help fuel the local economy but it means many talented people get a chance to practice their craft and lift their skills."

CarriageWorks will be used for the development work for the film, as well as Miller's Happy Feet 2.

Filming is expected to start next year.

As far as remakes go, I'm very cautious about this one. I love Mad Max, I think the original three movies are masterpieces, even if they are of a cult variety, but I can't honestly support this movie. Mad Max without Mel Gibson, first off, is just plain sacrilege; for all the stupidity he does, that is his role, and he should be in it. As much as the special effects of the day would help update it, and still having Miller at the helm is also good news, but I still can't stand behind this one.


Rapid-Fire: Sleepy Hollow (1999, starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Christopher Walken)

I find in my possession precious few Halloween movies; I'm not a big fan of horror or gory movies, so that might be part of the reason, plus there aren't really that many Halloween movies, either. Every year I mean to review Hocus Pocus but I always forget about getting my copy back from my sister until it's too late. But instead I found this one, and so this week, right before Halloween, I present to you:

This is, of course, the timeless tale of Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow, and the Headless Horseman. You should know the general gist of the story so I won't waste time repeating it. This one is slightly modernized, adding a bit more depth to Crane's background, I think (although I can't honestly remember the original story in its completeness).

The effect of the movie, then, is almost entirely atmosphere, and rightly so. The story will throw no surprises at you; some things may have changed slightly, but on the whole, the movie's power is all transferred through the atmosphere. The moody, dull grey of the entire movie, the dark atmosphere, the very well-done old style and look, and the strange, eclectic machinery of Crane. All of it works together to make a fairly eerie Halloween movie which could give you a bit of a scare under the right circumstances.

Some of the special effects are just cheesy compared to our standards today, and parts are fairly silly; almost anything with the Headless Horseman is a little silly, mostly because he just doesn't have a head and it looks silly. There are of course other points, but that's the main one, and it does detract ever so slightly from the overall feel.

As far as the acting goes, Depp's portrayal of Crane is good, as to be expected from Depp; he has the slight terror down perfectly. He also, of course, looks the part, and Tim Burton has done a good job all around making everyone look sufficiently creepy. Ricci as Katrina van Tassel has a fairly small part, but looks like she belongs there, so there's nothing to complain about. Walken has a limited role, but he looks and fits the part. Everyone else does a good job, and there's really no specific weak points anywhere.

For all that, though, the movie can't escape its overall averageness. This one just doesn't carry that Tim Burton charm and polish; it has a lot of weaknesses, the acting isn't as strong as it should be, and it could have been made a lot more terrifying, even with just changing some of the backgrounds and props. It can't surpass that mediocre quality, but it is an enjoyable movie, a decent interpretation of a great story, and perfect for the Halloween season.


Closing Time . . .

Halloween is this Saturday, so if you're planning on going out, you'd best have your costume ready. For me, it'll be as a pimp, and that will be a very last-minute matter if I do end up doing anything. If you'd rather stay in and enjoy a scary evening to yourself or with friends, I will suggest to you the movie Trick ‘r Treat. This one jumped straight to DVD release due to a couple problems with the studio, but from what I've heard, it's an excellent movie, and fits doubly so with the Halloween season, so if you're looking for something, that might be one to check out. But anyway, until next week . . .


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