The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 11.05.09
Posted by George H. Sirois on 11.05.2009
A quick look at the latest theatrical releases, the trailer for Did You Hear About the Morgans?, an interesting announcement regarding the Oscars, and the latest “Re-Writing Miss-tory” memo. All this and Andy Critchell in The “Memo to Robert Shaye” 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!
CHOSEN ONES, STEP FORWARD!
"Eons ago, on the planet known as Denab IV, its creator Excelsior appeared as a vision to several people he deemed "Chosen Ones." Those lucky few were selected by him to lead their fellow Denarians in keeping the planet as the paradise he always envisioned. As each passing generation of the Chosen Ones reached a certain age, Excelsior visited them in their dreams to give them the wisdom necessary to pick up where the previous generation left off. This continued on until Excelsior's spiritual form was cast down to the planet he had taken such care in crafting.
After over seventeen years of developing the character Excelsior, it's time for his Chosen Ones to step forward and make themselves known. By sending in your $2 pre-order deposit, you will not only reserve your copy of the upcoming novel, but you will also be acknowledged IN THE NOVEL as the first wave of men, women and children to be told the story of Excelsior's return.
That's right. Reserving your copy will put your name in print! But that's not all! By ordering through me, you will guarantee yourself a personalized autographed copy that will be shipped from me to you once the book is published. So make it happen! You're just one click away from bringing Excelsior's story to the masses…"
And feel free to check out the new blog for the novel HERE!
If you guys haven't yet seen Michael Jackson's This Is It yet, I definitely encourage you to do so. Not only for its very unique look at Michael behind-the-scenes or for the best possible look at a concert that would have been just incredible to see. No, two other things make me recommend this movie. First, see it for the guitarist that Michael has in his band, Orianthi. She's about 24, she's hot as hell and she channels Eddie Van Halen AND Slash with her guitar playing. You'll never see someone really "arrive" like she does here, and like Michael tells her in the movie, it's her "time to shine" and she seizes the moment in a very big way.
And the second reason to see this is that you MUST get a look at the new trailer for 2012. It's not only one of the worst trailers you'll ever see, but it's cut together with a really awful-sounding ballad by Adam Lambert that's going to be the cornerstone of the soundtrack. They were obviously trying for something in the league of Aero smith's "Don't Want to Miss a Thing," but they couldn't even get as far as Faith Hill's "There You'll Be." It's really bad. I was thinking about posting it here, but… naah. Instead, I'll post another trailer that I saw that night. It's almost as bad.
This week should be a fun edition of The UBS Evening Television & Movie News. We have our usual goodies on hand - a brief look at new releases and news stories happening in the industry, Andy with his Eye-Candy Corner (hmmm, "Critchell's Candy Corner," interesting ring to it. What do you think, Andy?), and the normal array of plugs for the site and for my book. And of course, we have the new installment of "Re-Writing Miss-tory" with friend and reader Luke Annand putting his own unique spin on the memo concept as he tries to fix The Golden Compass.
So let's get on with things, shall we…?
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
The Men Who Stare at Goats: A reporter (Ewan McGregor) might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets an operative (George Clooney) who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
I have no idea how this is going to do box-office-wise, since it doesn't come off as something that the teenage crowd wants to see. But artistically, it looks like a real winner and I can't wait to see it. The tone for it looks just right, the title could be one of the best titles I've seen in years and there's a top-notch cast leading the charge. Definitely looking forward to this one.
Disney's A Christmas Carol: An animated retelling of Charles Dickens classic novel about a Victorian-era miser (Jim Carrey) taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.
It seems like every decade, we get a new take on this story and it was only a matter of time before we get the computer animated approach. I‘m still partial to what Bill Murray and Richard Donner did with Scrooged, but this looks like it‘s going to be the big winner at the box office this weekend, despite the timing of its release. I‘m probably not going to see it since it‘s very close to the animated style of The Polar Express and that creeped me out.
The Box: The story of a couple (Cameron Diaz, James Marsden) who are given a box by a stranger and told they will be given $1 million if they push a button on the box - but someone they don't know will die.
This strikes me as one of the many movies that would make a wonderful short film but doesn't have enough in it to make for an effective feature. It does have a hell of a "what would you do?" premise that should carry it through to a decent box office take.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Cheryl & I got hit with a barrage of bad trailers before This Is It started, on top of the one for 2012. Here's another bad one. Feel my pain!
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
The "Why?" News Bit of the Week: The Berenstain Bears are heading to the big screen.
Walden Media has picked up the movie rights to the classic children's book series with Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps banner on board to produce.
Nelvana, the animated division of Canada's Corus Entertainment, which has been producing the cartoon series airing on PBS, is also producing.
The aim is to make a family comedy that will mix live action with CG characters.
Created by Stan and Jan Berenstain in 1962, "Bears" follows a family of bears living in a place called Bear Country, with the books' goal of helping kids deal with life issues ranging from bullying to a mother's pregnancy.
There have been 250 titles to date with 260 million books sold.
There have been several NBC specials in the late 1970s and early 1980s as well as two animated series.
Billy Rosenberg will oversee the project for 21 Laps and Walden's Evan Turner will shepherd the project with the company's Michael Bostick. Doug Murphy and Irene Weibel will manage the project on behalf of Nelvana.
Levy is best known as the director of "Night at the Museum" and its sequel, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian."
I'm putting the blame on the box office (not artistic) success of Alvin and The Chipmunks for this. Since parents who are familiar with properties feel comfortable taking their kids to see the movie adaptations, there's little doubt we'll be seeing more news just like this.
What bothers me is that the main characters were so basic – their names were Papa, Mama, Sister and Brother – that they may not make the transition to the big screen without compromising what made them so appealing. So no matter what you get, you're not going to get what will remind you of either the books or the animated series. And that makes me ask, why even go through with this?
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Planes, Trains and The Shadow: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are joining forces to co-host the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, the telecast's producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman said Tuesday.
Doubling down on comedy, the producers said: "Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past, and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event."
As a solo act, Martin hosted the 73rd and 75th Oscars in 2001 and 2003, respectively, earning an Emmy nomination for his first turn at bat. He's also been a presenter on a number occasions, most recently in February when he appeared with Tina Fey to hand out a trophy.
Although Baldwin hasn't hosted the show, he has appeared as a presenter, most recently in 2004 when he was nominated as best supporting actor for "The Cooler."
But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hasn't relied on two performers since 1957 when Jerry Lewis and Celeste Holm made an odd-couple teaming. Technically, though, that wasn't considered a co-hosting situation: It was the era of bi-coastal Oscar ceremonies, and Lewis presided over the main event in Hollywood, while Holm played the role of New York master of ceremonies, beamed in from a simultaneous affair in the Big Apple.
And the struggle for the Oscars to regain its lost audience continues. Not only do we get double the nominations, now we're getting double the hosts. I actually think they should have held back on something like this since the 10 nomination setup makes it more likely that one or two movies that the general public actually gives a shit about will make it to the Best Picture list. But I can understand their desperation. They want to make sure this year's telecast is a home run. However, if it isn't, THEN what do they do? We'll just have to wait and see.
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
Hello fans! This week is part one of a special two part Interactive Babe Photo News Breif. Let me introduce you to Miss Ava Rose. She is an adult actress from the great state of Alaska. She is 23 and has been in the business for 3 years. Let's check out the pics:
Not too shabby huh? Here is an interview with Ava:
And finally, you can follow Ava on her Twitter HERE and on her Myspace HERE. She updates her Twitter a lot and is usually pretty funny.
Now I know you are asking yourself, why did he say this was a special two part episode? Well, here is a clue:
See you next week for an explanation and the conclusion of this two part nail biter!
RE-WRITING MISS-TORY
As I said before, this week we have faithful UBS reader and friend Luke Annand contributing to the legend-in-my-own-mind that is "Re-Writing Miss-tory." He put an interesting spin on the format, instead sending his grievances to Bob Shaye at New Line Cinema instead of Chris Weitz for the 2007 film…
To: Bob Shaye, CEO of New Line Cinema
From: Luke Annand, Editorial Second Opinion and fan of THE GOLDEN COMPASS
Re: Editiorial cuts needed to fix film.
Date: Sept 2nd, 2007
Bob
I've just gotten out of the recent test screening of THE GOLDEN COMPASS. And man, it was incredible.
Speaking as a fan of the books (It was my HARRY POTTER before HARRY POTTER was even published), I was very happy with the efforts Chris Weitz and Co. have put into bringing Phillip Pullman's award winning novel to life. The parallel world of the novel is fully realized, the casting is right on (Nicole Kidman is so perfect as the mysterious Mrs. Coulter, Ian McShane (Swearengen himself!!) as Iofur Raknison is the best vocal casting of the bunch, and the newcomer you got for Lyra, Dakota Blue Richards, is exactly the way all the fans of the book envisioned her), the daemon effects are flawless (if we lose the Best Visual Effects Oscar to fuckin' TRANSFORMERS I will be very pissed) and the action/fx sequences (particularly the armored bear fight) is riveting stuff. And while some purists may be upset for exorcising some of the more atheistic, anti-Catholic rhetoric of the novel, the implications and themes are still there for the message of the story to be realized.
That being said, I feel that the film still needs serious work in the edit suite for it to work just as an entertaining movie, let alone as the first part of another billion dollar fantasy blockbuster trilogy. I know you want this to be the next LORD OF THE RINGS. If you want to make this a reality, there are two major things that need to be done in the edit suite that I personally am willing to do myself for free in order to make it happen. Call it a birthday gift.
1. The movie moves too fast. The reason why FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is considered to be the best of the RINGS movies is that Peter Jackson took his time. He paced the first film the way that one reading the novel for the first time would experience. He allowed for the audience to get to know the characters and the world of Middle Earth before moving forward with the plot so that when the big moments of the film happened, it had the appropriate awe and impact of the novel. But with THE GOLDEN COMPASS, everyone seems to be saying their lines as fast as possible, and the flow of the film is a hurried pace to get from one scene and plot point to the next. There's no time to take in the characters and world of the film, thus robbing the audience of any emotional investment with the film. If the editor merely slows things down and let the scenes and characters happen organically, then the film would be so much better. And don't give me that "3 hour run time" complaint. If a film is edited properly and the audience is invested in the story, those three hours will fell like an hour and a half.
2. The books ending is cut out completely. Imagine seeing STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE where the movie ends with the X-Wings flying towards the Death Star on their run and then credits. Unthinkable, right? You don't see the epic battle between them and the TIE-fighters, Vader sensing Luke's presence, the ticking clock that is the Death Star getting in range to blow up Yavin, Luke using the Force to sense how close he is to the thermal exhaust port, the cheer inducing moment of Han Solo coming back to save things at the last minute and the destruction of the Death Star and medal ceremony at the end. Basically, all the character and spectacle moments that made the movie the highest grossing movie of all time at that moment.
That is the equivalent of what happens in this movie. The last chapters of the book is literally what makes the book the book. It is an ending that involves the reveal of the villain's true motives, an inadvertent betrayal, a shocking death that impact's Lyra and a freaking hole being ripped into a parallel universe. And I know we have this ending. I've seen bits and pieces of it in the trailers. I know the rationale behind it, but cutting this ending is kind of a "putting the cart before the horse" attempt to generate the sequel that may or may not happen.
I urge you take these suggestions seriously. I've talked to Chris about this (and off the record, he told me that if this doesn't pan out he's considering directing one of the installments of this really fucking stupid tween thing called TWILIGHT), and he wholeheartedly agrees with me. These changed have to made. The movie will be better for it, the audience will love it and actually demand as sequel as opposed to it being forced on them, and you will in fact have your next LORD OF THE RINGS franchise.I hope you will take these editorial notes and my offer into consideration.
Peace
Luke Annand
I strongly suggest you check out Luke's blog "Ramblings of a Film Geek in Regina," which can be found HERE.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 137 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell and Luke Annand, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
