The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 1.14.10
Posted by George H. Sirois on 01.14.2010
This week, we have the teaser trailer for The A-Team, my opinions on the big news pieces revolving around Late Night and Spider-Man, a very important lesson for this week’s Mad Prophet rant and some great news regarding both my book’s future and my own immediate future. All this, plus Andy Critchell’s Photo News Brief and MORE in The “What Did I Learn?” 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.
It took me ten more days than I expected, but this past Sunday night, I reached my 50th pre-order deposit for "Excelsior!" Many thanks to everyone who sent them in already, and the next goal is to reach 100 deposits before it is sent off to the publisher. Remember, sending in your deposit early not only guarantees you a personally autographed copy of this book that is very special to me, but it also guarantees your name will be printed in the acknowledgements section in the back of the book. Who doesn't want to see their name live forever?
And feel free to check out the new blog for the novel HERE!
Now, I mentioned the good stuff with the book, but what about me? Glad you asked. Well, as of this March, I will be starting the journey towards getting my Masters degree! Yes, the New Year's Resolution I declared for myself several years ago, and continued to declare for myself since then, is FINALLY beginning! And even better, this won't be just any degree I'm going after, just to improve my chances of getting a better job. This will be a Masters of Arts in Teaching, with a concentration in Communication Arts, so I'm a big step closer to being able to teach writing at a college level.
As promised, there's a Mad Prophet rant this week, coming in the form of a very special lesson for all of you. And with that, on with the news!
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
THE SPY NEXT DOOR: Former CIA spy Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) takes on his toughest assignment to date: looking after his girlfriend's three kids.
Once again, I know I'm not the intended demographic for this. However, the trailer looks awful and the poster looks even worse. I can understand Jackie wanting to do a fun little kids film, but… come on, man.
THE BOOK OF ELI: A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man (Denzel Washington) fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
Sadly, this isn't based on Ralph Vacchiano's book that I reviewed last year: "Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback." But I'm always up for a good post-apocalyptic movie and given the talent involved, and how the trailer looks, I'm very interested in seeing how this one will turn out.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The A-Team
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The first two stories may seem like old news considering how thoroughly they've been covered here, but there's no way these stories could go by without me getting to comment on them.
The gauntlet has been thrown!: Conan O'Brien says he will not do "The Tonight Show" if it airs at 12:05 a.m. He released the following statement Tuesday afternoon: People of Earth:
In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.
Yours,
Conan To quote the great poet Martin Lawrence: "Shit just got real." I personally think that NBC has to re-consider this setup and just move Leno's show to Sunday nights. Give the guy one show a week, give his writing staff one show a week (especially since the current writing staff isn't churning out quality nearly good enough to go five days) and let Conan stay where he is.
As a fan of his for many years, I applaud this move by Conan and I hope this forces NBC to come to the folly of their ways before it's too late and they do irreparable damage to the name of The Tonight Show.
You just know Letterman is laughing his ass off about all of this.
Credit: New York Times
I guess this means Sam WON'T be coming to Top of the Rock: Columbia has scrapped "Spider-Man 4" and is rebooting the franchise. The studio is parting ways with director Sam Raimi and "Spider-Man" stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst and is taking the web slinger's alter ego, Peter Parker, back to high school.
The new movie, which will have a new director and cast but still be produced by Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin and Marvel Studios, is eyeing a summer 2012 release. It will use a script by James Vanderbilt and put the focus back on a teenager grappling with normal teen problems while also dealing with his superpowers.
News of the reboot follows weeks of script problems in which the studio was at loggerheads with Raimi over which villains to use in the fourth movie. The clashes were kept mostly under the radar but last week erupted into the public when it became clear that the studio was not going to meet its start date and subsequently its May 6, 2011, release date.
The scrapping of the movie is not without cost. Millions have been spent on the fourth installment and on the script alone, whose writers have included Vanderbilt, David Lindsay-Abaire and Gary Ross. Alvin Sargent was in the middle of the latest draft when the plug was pulled. Preliminary special effects work also had been done.
Well, at least I got to see Sam Raimi at the Top of the Rock Observation Deck while he was still on the project. It's a shame that he isn't getting the chance to put the series back on the right track after the missteps of Spider-Man 3, and it's an even bigger shame that it's THAT film that closes the book on Raimi's turn with the character: one of the most compromised comic book films I've ever seen.
I would have advised Sony to take a few years away from doing this reboot, but apparently with the Hulk / Incredible Hulk movies coming only five years apart, it looks like five years is the new grace period, as opposed to the eight year period established with Batman & Robin and Batman Begins. Besides, I can't think of any other Marvel properties that Sony owns, so I can understand them wanting to get going with this as quickly as possible so they're not lost in the upcoming Avengers shuffle.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
A Shout-Out to the Writers!: Some critics may have taken potshots at James Cameron's screenplay for "Avatar," but it has earned a nomination from the Writers Guild of America, which announced nominations for the 2010 WGA Awards on Monday.
Cameron -- who was also nominated by the WGA for "Titanic," though that movie failed to earn a best screenplay Oscar nomination -- will compete for the honor with Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, nominated for their fractured romance "(500) Days of Summer"; Jon Lucas & Scott Moore for breakout summer comedy "The Hangover"; Mark Boal for his Iraq War study, "The Hurt Locker"; and Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for their modern-day retelling of the story of Job, "A Serious Man."
In the adapted screenplay category, the nominees are "Crazy Heart," screenplay by Scott Cooper, based on the novel by Thomas Cobb; "Julie & Julia," which Nora Ephron adapted from two books, "Julie & Julia" by Julie Powell and "My Life in France," by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme; "Precious," which Geoffrey Fletcher adapted from Sapphire's novel "Push"; "Star Trek," Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman's reboot of the franchise created by Gene Roddenberry; and Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner's "Up in the Air," their adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel.
This year's WGA noms don't necessarily serve as a harbinger of eventual Oscar noms because several high-profile films in the awards hunt -- such as Nick Hornby's "An Education," Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," Tom Ford and David Scearce's "A Single Man" and Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and Thomas McCarthy's "Up" -- were not eligible for consideration because they weren't filmed under the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement or under a collective-bargaining agreement with guilds in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand.
What I love about this list is that there are so many incredible screenplays that aren't eligible for the WGA award, but they likely won't be left out in the cold for Oscar time. Too many times, the WGA, SAG, DGA and PGA awards make it so easy for us to determine what would be the top contender for the Academy Awards, and we can take solace in the fact that this won't be the case this year, at least for the writers. So here's a big thumbs-up to all of the talented screenwriters who were able to get their moment in the sun. Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you in the Kodak Theater soon.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Sequel News of the Week: Paramount is bringing G.I. Joe back for a second tour of duty. The studio is moving forward with a sequel to last summer's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," inspired by the Hasbro toy, and is in negotiations with "Zombieland" scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to pen the script.
Reese and Wernick recently signed on to write 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" spinoff "Deadpool." "G.I. Joe" hauled in $302 million at the worldwide box office last year.
The studio has also made the move to transport the untitled "Star Trek" sequel into theaters on June 29, 2012, tying it to the lucrative July 4 weekend.
Released last May, the J.J. Abrams-helmed "Star Trek" cumed $385.5 million at the worldwide box office. "Star Trek" alums Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have teamed on the script for the sequel with "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof, who also worked on last year's reboot.
Abrams will produce the follow-up with his Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk, but he has yet to ink a deal to direct the sequel.
I'm pleased to hear about both of these sequels moving forward, since I was an absolute lover of Star Trek and I was surprised to have enjoyed G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra as much as I did. What I'm wondering about, however, is who will be in the director's chairs for both films. Last I heard, there was some, let's say, friction between Paramount and Stephen Sommers on the G.I.Joe set, and it's not yet 100 percent that Abrams will be working on the next Star Trek film.
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
For my babe this week, I have chosen the lovely Candice Swanepoel. Candice is from South Africa and she's made quite a splash the last couple of years at the Victoria's Secret fashion show. It is easy to see why; she is a straight up fox! Let's check her out:
That's it for me this week! Back to you George!
MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES
Don't say I ever did anything for my readers. In today's rant, I'm going to give you all a special tip when you're purchasing DVDs. Are you listening? Good. Here we go… KEEP. YOUR. RECEIPTS.
Now, let's go back a bit to a time when I learned this lesson the hard way. Last Christmas, I was blessed by my father-in-law with a very generous Visa gift card. For those who know me well enough, it might as well have been shaped like an arrow with the words, "You're Going to Best Buy" scribbled on it because that's exactly what I thought as soon as I opened it.
Anyway, I was dropped off at Best Buy and set loose among the DVD shelves. Being the fan of deals that I am, my eyes gravitated towards the Warner Home Video 4-Film Favorites sets and the discs that are at the $5 shelf. One of my biggest snags was the 4-Film Favorites set of Police Academy 1-4 for only $12.99, and another one was a rare upgrade: the "Music Edition" of the 1996 Romeo + Juliet. (We had the barebones version with the theatrical trailer as the only special feature.)
With the combination of my Best Buy score and an even bigger one at a nearby Blockbuster Video that was going out of business (among our purchases there were Saw I-V for less than $20), it was obvious that something had to be done to reduce the sudden bulk in my luggage. So I got rid of over 80 percent of the disc cases and put the discs in white paper sleeves I got from Wal-Mart. (Most of my collection is in a series of CD books, but I keep any box sets or special editions in their original cases.) Oh, and there's one other thing that I did: I tossed my Best Buy receipt.
When I got back home, one of the first discs I put into the player to check out was the Police Academy one, so I could enjoy the special features on the first film. The special features that were promised on the back of the box were the commentary track and the making-of retrospective featurette. Unfortunately, to my horror, I realized I was watching the bare-bones full-screen version of the original film. This was the one released in the late 90s that only has a couple of text pages and trailers for all seven films in the series.
I called up Warner Home Video, since I experienced a similar problem with my Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition box set in 2007. You might remember that happening, when the bare-bones version of Superman III was in the set instead of the Special Edition, and they were able to fix this problem for all of their customers who called. Well, I wanted history to repeat itself, with WHV sending me a pre-paid envelope, me sending the incorrect disc back and then getting the correctly pressed disc in the mail sometime later. But alas, that's not what happened. I was told to bring the disc back to Best Buy since that's where I bought it and hope they were able to make an even exchange.
And this is where today's lesson comes in: since I didn't keep the receipt, there's no way of telling that this came from Best Buy and therefore there's no way Best Buy could help me.
To make up for this little problem, I looked on amazon, got myself a used copy of the 20th Anniversary Special Edition of the first film, tossed away the snap-case and put the disc in with the other films in the 4-Film Favorite box. Only cost me an additional $5 and all was well. Right?
Well, not quite. A couple days ago, Cheryl and I wanted to watch the special features on the Romeo + Juliet disc, so I put that disc in the player. I was greeted with the exact same menu screen as the bare-bones version and – surprise, surprise! – the theatrical trailer as the ONLY special feature! Yes, that's TWO MISTAKES in one purchase! And once again, there's nothing I can do about this because… say it with me, class… I didn't keep the receipt!
So I can't stress this enough for all of you. Keep your receipts until you can confirm that everything you have purchased is exactly what was promised to you. As long as you do that, you shouldn't have a problem.
And as for Warner Home Video and 20th Century Fox Entertainment, I must remind you that there are still plenty of customers who have not abandoned standard DVDs. We still purchase as many as we can and we love our collections. So get your shit straight and deliver what's promised on your cases!
That is all.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 147 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell, I'm and we'll see you next week!
The Conan Army is marching forward! And we will remember to keep our receipts!
Can't wait for the book! How much are you selling the movie rights?
Posted By: stevethegoose (Guest) on January 14, 2010 at 01:29 AM
The mistake Sony did with Spiderman is that they could have made the franchise like Harry Potter. Like Batman, Spiderman has some many villains that are recognizable by the general public.
Part 3 should have been just Sandman & New Goblin. Part 4 have Lizard and Kraven. Part 5 & 6 could have been done back to back with Black Spiderman, Venom, and Carnage. From there you still have Rhino, Vulture, Electro, etc. to make another trilogy and a spinoff w/Venom. Just like television, executives have no patiance.
Posted By: cotti (Guest) on January 14, 2010 at 01:30 PM
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