The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 11.26.09
Posted by George H. Sirois on 11.26.2009
A quick look at the latest theatrical releases, some great news about new Adult Swim DVDs, Oprah’s upcoming HBO project, and a special “Re-Writing Miss-tory” segment from reader Luke Annand. All this and Andy Critchell in The “Memo to Cameron Crowe” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, I hope you're having a great Thanksgiving, 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 $14.95 pre-order deposit (plus $3 shipping & handling), 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!
I couldn't be more thrilled with the response I've gotten regarding the novel pre-orders. So please, keep them coming! I promise I won't let you down!
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG: A fairy tale centered on a young girl named Princess Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) who lives in New Orleans' French Quarter during the Jazz Age.
On the second disc for Wall-E, there‘s a wonderful documentary called "The Pixar Story," in which various Disney executives lament the coming demise of 2D animation. They said the world wasn‘t turning its back on the old-school style, they were just waiting for good 2D movies.
Based on what I saw in the trailers, I think the world is STILL waiting for good 2D movies.
NINJA ASSASSIN: A young ninja (Rain) turns his back on orphanage that raised him, leading to a confrontation with a fellow ninja from the clan.
I don‘t see anything wrong with a movie that tells you what to expect just from the title. For what it is, I‘m very impressed by what I‘m seeing from this. It looks like it has a solid plot and plenty of damn good looking action, so I'm looking forward to a chance to check this out.
THE ROAD: A post-apocalyptic tale of a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) trying to survive by any means possible
On paper, this looks like a can‘t-miss project, but the buzz I‘ve been hearing about this has been less than stellar. Hopefully whatever is holding it back has already been fixed in time for the opening weekend.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
And the Chicken Shall Lead Them!: Adult Swim, the raunchier side of Cartoon Network, is letting its fans design their own DVDs.
Starting Monday, visitors to AdultSwimShop.com can choose 110 minutes' worth of TV episodes, some artwork for the DVD case and disc face, as well as create a menu and title, and Adult Swim will mail the finished product to them for $20.
Adult Swim is Cartoon Network's late-night programming block that appeals largely to teenage boys with such animated shows as "Robot Chicken," "The Drinky Crow Show" and "Lucy, Daughter of the Devil."
Adult Swim's Build a Custom DVD launches with 100 episodes of those shows and others. By year's end, its entire originals library of more than 1,000 episodes from more than 30 series will be available.
"This is for the ultimate fan," said Christina Miller, senior vp at Cartoon Network Enterprises. "And the Web site is a lot of fun, done in the Adult Swim voice."
Adult swim also distributes its content digitally via iTunes, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
The initiative is similar to Warner Archive Collection, whereby Warner Bros. lets consumers select classic film titles online for DVDs that are "manufactured on demand" and mailed.
Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network share the same parent, Time Warner.
Welcome to the future! This is not only a brilliant strategy by Adult Swim to get more attention towards their most recent series that may not get the sort of fan base that Aqua Teen Hunger Force or Space Ghost have enjoyed. (I‘ve seen a couple episodes of "The Drinky Crow Show" and enjoyed them, but I never saw myself buying a full season on DVD.) It is also something that other companies should look at since it will cost very little money to put together and it is a win-win situation for fans of certain series. Now, since no series is ever perfect, fans would have a chance to get the episodes they enjoy the most, just like the old days when they would record them on VHS.
I just hope everyone‘s watching when this starts up next week.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Sex Sells + Oprah Sells will equal Oprah's Sex Sells?: Oprah Winfrey has a surprising project in the works. Her Harpo Films has made a deal with HBO to team on a sexually charged hour-long series pilot about a woman who leaves her seemingly perfect marriage and children in Santa Monica for the underbelly of L.A., where she indulges her secret fantasies and desires.
The pilot is being written by Erin Cressida Wilson, best known for writing 2002 indie pic "Secretary," which starred James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal film in the story of a boss-secretary relationship that veers into S&M. Winfrey and Harpo Films president Kate Forte will be executive producers along with Wilson.
The pilot is a high priority at the pay web. The idea was hatched by Forte, who pitched it to HBO prexy Sue Naegle right after Harpo made a deal to generate series and miniseries.
"It is unsentimental and pretty shocking, and there is something complicated and destructive driving her," Forte said. "It is literally a day at the pool, where she gets up, in sarong and flip-flops, and walks out of her life, leaving everyone behind so abruptly that her husband and kids initially think she's been kidnapped or murdered."
Harpo Films previously set at HBO "Ida Tarbell," a miniseries about the true-life muckraking journalist who helped expose the unfair practices of John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil monopoly.
On the film side, Harpo Films is producing for Focus Features a Sam Mendes-directed adaptation of the Joseph O'Neill novel "Netherland" and is partnered with Playtone for an adaptation of the David Wroblewski novel "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" at Universal.
You have to wonder if Oprah‘s going to start hyping this new show on her program before she ends it in 2011. Will she be adding whips and chains to "Oprah‘s Favorite Things?" Will the audience members look under their chairs and find handcuffs?
In all seriousness, this just shows how smart Oprah is since she‘s tackling projects that nobody thought she‘d do. HBO seems to be getting back into the swing of things with the success of True Blood, so a show like this would fit right in with the new wave of programming. Hopefully this comes off well for everyone involved.
Credit: Variety
The Old Lion Just Can't Catch a Break: MGM's murky future should start coming into focus by the end of the year. The beleaguered Lion, which put itself up for sale Nov. 13, is expected to begin receiving bids within the next several weeks, a source close to the process indicated.
Investment bankers Moelis & Co., hired in May by MGM, started sending non-disclosure agreements to possible bidders as a prelude to seeing MGM's internal books. An MGM spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that Moelis is setting up a "virtual room" -- an Internet site to give bidders access to the studio's internal financial data -- but would not comment further.
Floor price for the assets -- the 4,000-title library, the logo, the United Artists operations, rights to the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises and half-ownership in the upcoming "Hobbit" films -- is believed to be $1.5 billion. Those in the know say the bidding is likely to go no higher than $2.5 billion. Time Warner is viewed as the frontrunner among the bidders as it has more than $9 billion in cash on hand from the recent spinoff of its cable systems sale of its cable systems and is seen as potentially interested in exploiting the Bond franchise (Warner Bros. is the only studio other than MGM/UA to have released a Bond pic, "Never Say Never Again"). Plus, Time Warner acquired the pre-1985 MGM library through its 1996 buyout of Turner Broadcasting.
News Corp. is also seen as a possible bidder due to Rupert Murdoch's penchant for dealmaking. And Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns indicated last week that the minimajor would be interested in looking at MGM's financials.
Reps for Time Warner, News Corp. and Lionsgate have refused to comment.
In a sign of its dire straits, MGM has released only one movie this year -- a revamp of "Fame." It's releasing "Hot Tub Time Machine," "The Zookeeper" and "Red Dawn" next year and "Cabin in the Woods" in 2011.
For the time being, current MGM leadership will stay in place and production chief Mary Parent will continue to shepherd a small production and development slate. It remains co-financier with New Line on "The Hobbit," set to go into production around spring in New Zealand with two films shot back-to-back by Guillermo del Toro.
You have to feel for MGM when you hear about stories like this. When you see a studio with such a rich history going through so many problems, it‘s disheartening for the whole industry. However, they‘re not doing themselves any favors with the choices they make for their films. Only one movie all year and it‘s the remake of Fame??? Really, guys?!
So you hope that the old lion can get itself out of its rut soon, but you also hope that they bring in some fresh blood that has a better idea of how to run a studio.
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
So have any of you seen the new USA show White Collar? It's pretty good actually. And the surprise of the show was the casting of Tiffani "Kelly Kapowski" Thiessen as the wife of one of the show leads. She does a real nice job too. Still, it's hard to think of her as anyone other than Kelly. I was always a Jessie man myself but Kelly was always top shelf and was super fine on The College Years. These days she is looking good, check out this video:
Of coutse, she looked better a few years ago when she did this super sexy photo shoot, let's check out some of the pics:
Kelly, er I mean Tiffani just recently announced she is preggo so congrats to her and Zach!
See you next week!
RE-WRITING MISS-TORY
We have a very reliable and passionate reader and previous participant taking the Re-Writing Miss-tory baton for this week, Luke Annand. And he chose a very interesting subject for his memo, the 2004 Cameron Crowe film…
To: Cameron Crowe, writer and director of ELIZABETHTOWN. January 1st, 2004
From: Luke Annand from Nov 21st, 2009
Subject: How to fix ELIZABETHTOWN
Date: Nov 21st, 2009
To Cameron Crowe
My name is Luke Annand. You do not know me, but I am writing this in hopes that like Dwight's Faxes to Himself from the Future (you'll get the reference in a few years), I can prevent a fiasco of sorts befalling you with your latest project, ELIZABETHTOWN.
You are not a hack. Between the script for FAST TIMES all the way to ALMOST FAMOUS and even VANILLA SKY (I know some people hated it, but I and a few others really liked it), you are definitely a writer/director who bares your soul with each project and creates modern-day classics, not to mention create awesome soundtracks that are among the best.
So when a personal film like this ends up tanking not only at the box office but also critically and most importantly with your fans, everyone loses. It's more painful to watch than a bad summer blockbuster. And given the long stretches of time between your films (here in 09 we're still waiting for your follow up), us fans wouldn't want to have to wait too long to get that taste out of our mouths.
So I write this in the future, hoping that this'll reach you in the past (sounds like an awesome classic rock song, doesn't it) so that the fiasco you talk about in the opening scene doesn't happen.
I love what you're going for with this film. It's clear that while ALMOST FAMOUS is about your relationship with your mother, ELIZABETHTOWN is all about your relationship with your late father. It's incredibly personal and it shows.
The opening scene is some of the funniest and darkest stuff you've written. Billy Wilder would actually be proud (and that says a lot). And then the sucker-punch of Drew's sister calling him to be the bearer of bad news was just the great capper to make what he just went through insignificant. And the following scene at the airport is a great moment to show the dynamic between the family members and the main conflict of the film (Drew confronting this massive side of his family he never met).
The scenes with the family itself are fantastic in showing how much Drew never really knew his father and how it's too late for him, as well as how much these crazy relatives loved him. You wrote Drew for Orlando and you definitely give him a lot to work with to show he's more than just a pretty-boy. And between Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer, Paul Schneider, Jessica Biel, Bruce McGill and Loudon Wainright III, you got a fantastic cast that inhabit these characters perfectly. And while the road trip stuff at the end was a little self-indulgent, I think with a little more tweaking in the edit suite, it could work.
But there is one major element that seriously undermines everything that you're going for with this film. The character of Claire. I understand why you would put her in the film (free spirited girl to show depressed guy the joys of life), but this is not the way to do it, nor the place.
There's a movie Zach Braff has debuting at Sundance you should see called GARDEN STATE. It pretty much has the exact same plot as ELIZABETHTOWN (depressed guy's parent dies, goes back home, meets girl who he falls in love with and accepts life), but has a more GRADUATE tone to it in that it captures a generational malaise. It also has a similar character to Claire in the form of Sam played by Natalie Portman. In GARDEN STATE, she is lovely, charming, funny, optimistic and quirky without being irritating and basically brings the main character to life.
Claire, on the other hand (or maybe it's the way Kirsten Dunst plays her, I'm not sure), comes off more as a creepy stalker. She pries into Drew's personal life, follows him around despite having a demanding job that takes her everywhere, rattles on about some guy we never see, keeps making these grandiose proclamations that sound second rate, and has no chemistry with Drew. The straw that broke the camels back for me was how she was able to create an 18 CD detailed road trip itinerary that times Drew to the exact minute the songs, places and emotions he should be feeling at that exact moment. How the Hell can she create this in almost no time after meeting this schmuck on a red eye flight? I'm all for suspending disbelief, but this was taking it too far for me.
And what's worse, this takes up a large chunk of the film which takes away from the main conflict with the extended family and robs moments of the film that should be the emotional highlights (Hollie's tap dancing on stage in tribute to her late husband, the look of spiritual clarity on Heather's face during the sprinkler's flooding the room and of course the "Free Bird" number). Without the proper build-up, these moments just seem awkward and out of place. Because we've spent so much time with the stalker flight attendant and not on the family or Drew's depression over the fiasco, both of these plotlines have no emotional pay-off, thus undermining a film that could be a modern day classic.
My suggestion is simple. Eliminate the Claire character, jettison the love story and focus more on the extended family and Drew dealing with his fiasco (maybe intertwine them) as well as everyone mourning the late father. The film will be so much better for it and you'll have another modern day classic instead of a fiasco.
Peace
Luke Annand
P.S. Don't worry about the soundtrack. Soundtrack is awesome.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 140 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell and Luke Annand, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
