Frickin' Eh Movie News 11.11.09: Return of the Flood

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 11.11.2009

What Joe Johnston thinks about making a fourth Jurassic Park, what movie Len Wiseman will be directing next, who is joining Aronofsky's Black Swan, and the people who will be voicing Yogi Bear and Boo Boo. All that plus more!

Thanks to yet another minor flood in my apartment (the second in three months, neither my fault) what should have been my productive week thanks to two and a half days off school and one day off work has become my horribly behind week. Now I've got reading, writing, essays, and everything else to try and finish, and while I'm sure I will get them done, there were other things I wanted to do, too. Oh well, it'll all work out in the end, I suppose. Let's jump into the news, then . . .


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

As far as the box office went last weekend, Disney's A Christmas Carol topped the charts with $31 million in its opening week. Michael Jackson's This Is It fell a spot and made another $14 million. The Men Who Stare at Goats opened at third with $13.3 million and The Fourth Kind opened, ironically enough, at fourth with $12.5 million. Paranormal Activity fell from second to fifth with $8.6 million. The Box opened at sixth with $7.9 million. Couples Retreat fell from fourth to seventh, Law Abiding Citizen from third to eighth, and Where the Wild Things Are from fifth to ninth. Astro Boy fell from seventh to tenth with $2.6 million.

There are only two wide openings this weekend, one big, one not so big. To start with the smaller of the two, Pirate Radio, about eight DJs and their love of rock ‘n' roll. The big opener is the epic 2012, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring John Cusack. I will hopefully be seeing this one when it opens. So take your pick.


Se7en Team Reunites To Bring You Peter Proud

Heat Vision reports that the makers of Se7en are developing The Reincarnation of Peter Proud for Columbia Pictures.

David Fincher is attached to direct the adaptation of the Max Ehrlich novel, which will be written by Andrew Kevin Walker. Fincher will produce with Michael De Luca.

Fincher and Walker respectively wrote and directed the 1995 thriller Se7en for New Line when De Luca was its president of production.

Ehrlich wrote the adaptation of his own book. The novel and original film were released in 1975, the latter directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Michael Sarrazin and Margot Kidder.

The book centers on a college professor who begins having recurring dreams and nightmares and, realizing they are images of a past life, decides to search out the source of the visions. With his girlfriend in tow, he discovers a woman and her grown-up daughter who are keys to his past life.

The trade adds that they are going back to the novel as the source material and will contemporize the story.

I think citing this as a reuniting of the Se7en team may be a little misleading (although, as you see, I did it) as this movie looks like the general plot will have very little in common with their first outing. However, if you put all the creative talent that produced Se7en with an already well-established story, you've got a chance at something good.


Ashley Greene Sees The Apparition

"Twilight" franchise star Ashley Greene is in talks to star in Dark Castle's The Apparition.

The story, inspired by true events, centers on a young couple haunted by a supernatural presence unleashed during a college experiment. The film starts shooting on February 1st.

Joel Silver is producing with Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. Steve Richards, Sue Baden Powell and Daniel Alter executive produce.

Todd Lincoln is writing and directing.

Ah, the Twilight alumni now moving into their own, and everyone seeing that they can't really do much unless it's Twilight. I am, of course, getting ahead of myself; perhaps they are all incredibly talented actors just stuck in a fairly unimpressive franchise, and on their own they will do wonders. We'll just have to see. Although with unoriginal, garden-variety movies like this, I'm not sure it will be an overly inspiring example.


Joe Johnston Thinking About Jurassic Park

Ain't It Cool News got a chance to talk to The Wolfman director Joe Johnston and the interview briefly turned to the possibility of a Jurassic Park 4. Johnston directed the third film in the franchise, which was released in 2001.

"There is a great story for the fourth one that I would be interested in getting involved with and it's nothing like the first three," Johnston told the site, "It sort of takes the franchise off in a completely different direction, which is the only way I would want to get involved."

He added that it likely won't be another storyline about a group of people struggling to survive a dinosaur attack. "We've done that and it's been done three times..."

The site commented that they should stay away from an island setting this time. "Why would anybody go back to that island?" Johnston said. "It was hard enough to figure out the second and third reason for them to go, but it would take it off in a whole other trilogy basically, but when it gets to that level it's sort of about studios and Steven [Spielberg's] thing and who knows. I think we are at that point where we are due for another one if we are going to do it."

Universal Pictures has not targeted a release date for a fourth film.

Ah, of course, the now-popular method of completely abandoning the origins of a movie and completely going in a different direction. Now, in this case, it may work for them, because as he says, going back to the island would require a bit of a stretch. But if that doesn't happen, then what? How exactly does this movie exist if not within Jurassic Park? Obviously they've got some idea, it's now just a matter of the studio deciding if they want to give it another swing, or if they have the sense to let the movies remain finished.


The Voices of Yogi Bear

Anna Faris, Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake are in talks to star in Yogi Bear, Warner Bros.' big screen adaptation of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

The film is being directed by Eric Brevig and produced by Donald De Line and Karen Rosenfelt as a live-action/CG hybrid.

Faris will play a nature documentarian who follows the antics of a bear in fictional Jellystone Park. Aykroyd will voice Yogi, and Timberlake may voice Yogi's companion, Boo Boo.

The studio hopes to get Yogi Bear under way in New Zealand in December. Brad Copeland penned the current script with Joshua Sternin and Jeff Ventimilia writing the original draft.

Faris is a good choice I think, her voice should fit the movie well and especially the character they've given her, but part of that is because it's not an established character within the show already – she can make it her own. The other too, though . . . I don't know. I have a hard time seeing either of the other two actors pulling off the voices sufficiently, and I'm wondering really if they even need big-name actors to voice the two iconic characters. Wouldn't it be better to get a really talented but unknown voice actor who could do the voice spot-on, rather than throw in a distinct but not quite right big name actor? That's just me, though.


Cooper Takes Over From LaBeouf in Dark Fields

Bradley Cooper is set to star in Dark Fields, a thriller being directed by Neil Burger for Relativity Media. Shia LaBeouf was originally attached to star.

Heat Vision says that the story follows a down-and-out writer (Cooper) who gets his hands on a top-secret pharmaceutical drug that makes one smarter. He experiences sudden financial and social success but soon discovers that the drug has lethal and lasting side effects. Before long, mysterious antagonists are pursuing him.

The script is based on the book by Alan Glynn, with the screenplay written by Leslie Dixon (The Thomas Crown Affair).

Universal will distribute via Relativity's Rogue Pictures.

This actually sounds like a Shia LaBeouf movie, just judging from what he's been taking lately. So it's kind of surprising to hear that Bradley Cooper will now be in the role. That's not saying I don't like the idea; I think we've been flooded maybe with a little too much Shia over the past little while, and Cooper is a very talented actor in his own right, so hopefully he gets his chance to shine. The story of this movie sounds interesting, if not horribly original. We'll just have to see where it goes from here, I guess.


Black Swan Draws In Co-Stars

Darren Aronofsky's next directorial effort, and supernatural thriller, Black Swan has found its co-stars.

According to /Film, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey will join previously announced cast members Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.

The film centers on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance. But it's unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions.

I still think this will be an interesting, albeit very strange, movie. Probably somewhat in the vein of The Fountain which I enjoyed just because of how strange it was. All three of these people will round out the movie nicely, each have their skills, and now it's just a matter of seeing a trailer to get a feel for the movie.


Wiseman Directing Nocturne

The Hollywood Reporter says that 20th Century Fox has bought an untitled pitch (going by the name "Nocturne") about the end of the world, with Live Free or Die Hard and "Underworld" helmer Len Wiseman in talks to direct and produce.

The project is based on an original idea about a group of people who survive the end of the world and the mystery surrounding how they got to that position. The studio is seeking writers for the project.

Wiseman is attached to Atlantis Rising and Shrapnel but does not have a go picture.

As long as it's not a 2012-type end of the world, they should be fine, because as everyone will know this Friday, that's already been done. I personally like Wiseman, I think he's a talented director and I'm looking forward to seeing him work his magic again. As far as the story, it's fairly slim on the details right now so we don't know much, but it should be a fairly original take, relying heavily on flashbacks or converging timelines or something similarly interesting, if they can work it right.


Mad Men Creator Lands Star-Studded Cast For New Movie

Variety is reporting that "Mad Men" creator/executive producer Matthew Weiner had planned to spend some of his hiatus directing his first feature, a romantic comedy that he wrote during his "Sopranos" days.

The indie film, titled You Are Here has lined up a cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis.

Scheduling issues with the timetable for production on "Mad Men's" fourth season has forced a postponement of the project, however. The talent are reportedly committed to juggling their schedules to make it work in 2011.

I'm not sure I understand exactly what an indie movie is anymore. Before, for me, it was a low-budget movie with a small, unknown cast. Now every second movie is being called an indie, even movies with three of the biggest stars of the day in it, such as this one. Weiner has a lot going for him right now, he might as well dive into something else and keep the ball rolling. Hopefully he can get this moving, because just from the cast, I think this will be a big performer.


Rapid-Fire: The Manchurian Candidate (2004, starring Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep)

I bought this movie a long time ago on the suggestion of a friend and a cheap-movie bin, but it's been one of those movies that's been sitting on my shelf and just never got watched. This week I present:

The plot of this movie is relatively complex, and I knew part of it going in, if not enough of it to quite piece together the ending (which is usually good). After returning from the Gulf War, the most heroic of the soldiers of one squad runs for vice-president, but as the vote gets closer, some of the other soldiers begin having flashbacks, revealing a conspiracy about the whole thing. If you even have an inkling of the plot you can almost instantly piece together most of what's happening fairly early in the movie, and while things do change a little bit by the end, it's not as masterful of a plot as I was led to believe.

The movie takes a while to get going, and even when it gets going, it is constantly bogged down, never really getting up and going. Part of this is due to Denzel Washington, but most is just the lack of things happening. Ben Marco (Washington) tries to uncover the plot and is constantly digging around but never really gets rolling all that much. There are good points, to be sure, but it just feels like it's lacking something. The end isn't much better; it resolves everything the nice and happy way, of course, but why it happens like that is beyond me, considering what they established in the plot.

I am not a very big fan of Denzel Washington, and the reason (at least partly, I think) is that he doesn't actually do a lot of acting, or maybe just not a lot of outward acting. He talks precious little, except at the high points; the rest is just silence, looking around, all that, and it always makes for very flat, unimpressive characters, and Ben Marco is definitely one of those. He does little to drive the movie in any way. On the other hand, Schreiber does a fantastic job, and he is a colourful, enigmatic character that you don't quite know what to make of at any point. He's conflicted and charismatic and he is very good in his role. Streep as Raymond Shaw's mother is annoying and you hate her character right from the start, but that's the point, and as such, she's very good at it. As far as the rest go, the little time Jeffrey Wright spends on-screen is excellent, and most everyone else does a good job, if not a standout performance.

Overall, the benefits don't really outweigh the problems with this movie. The slow pace, relatively predictable plot, and lackluster performance by Washington all hurt this movie. It's definitely not one you'd watch more than once, that's for sure. It has its moments, and it does all work together kind of, but it wasn't worth much more than a passing glance for me.


Closing Time . . .

I watched the first episode of the show V last week, and I must say, I was pretty impressed. It had its low points, particularly the mother/son conflict that was just annoying me, but it looks as though it has set itself up for a really great run. It also scores points with me for turning what looked like a really predictable plot point and twisting it right on its head at the end of the episode, and some creative camerawork at the start of the episode. It's definitely one I'll be watching more often. Despite some very negative reviews, I'll still be trying to go see 2012 this weekend – I am not a believer in taking what others say at full truth, considering a great many movies I have been completely mislead about. So until next week . . .


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