411 Fact or Fiction Movies/TV: Week 236

Posted by Ben Piper on 07.09.2010

Will Predators kick major amounts of ass? Are people jazzed for a new Pee-Wee Herman movie? Would Colin Farrell be a poor choice to play Ozzy Osbourne? 411's Arnold Furious and Jeremy Thomas debate these and other topics in week 236 of 411 Fact or Fiction: Movies/TV!



Hey, what's up? Welcome back yet again to the column sure to set the commenters off, Fact or Fiction. This week Jeremy Thomas and Arnold Furious are here with their thoughts and opinions of the day. Let's see what's on their minds…



1.Predators will kick major amounts of ass.

Arnold Furious: Fact. I consider myself a fan of the whole Predator franchise. I've seen the Ahnolt based original many, many times. Every time there's a new Predator movie I get excited about it. And yet since the original there really hasn't been a killer movie starring these wonderful antagonists. The sequel, Predator 2, wasn't bad but failed to capture the thrills of the original. Obviously the AVP movies never lived up to expectations and didn't manage to capture the relationship between the Predator & Alien franchises. There are perfectly good novels however they tend to involve knowing what the Predator is thinking. Which you can do in print but not so much on film. If you've read AVP books you'll notice some of the ideas cross over into the AVP movies. But without the Predator's thoughts it doesn't really work. So despite all that great potential the best approach to the Predator as a character was the approach used in the original film. Robert Rodriguez came out and stated that the aim was to make a sequel to Predator that would be like Aliens was to Alien. Hence…Predators. I like the idea behind this. Multiple enemies and impossible odds. Where the trailer fell short was delivering a Predator homeworld that essentially looks just like Earth. I was hoping for something a bit more interesting. Although I guess having jungles makes sense as the Predators are so adept at fighting in them. I'm looking forward to Predators and I'm sure it'll be an entertaining movie.

Jeremy Thomas: Fact. While I was over at a friend's house this weekend, he asked me, "So, do you think they're going to let the good guys win this time?" The good guys, of course, are the Predators themselves. Poor bastards have never gotten a win. In this case, it's pretty hard to imagine that they would lose; after all there's a whole planet of them against seven killers. Unless they're going to hijack a space ship and blow up the planet, it's in the ba—oh crap. Anyway, I'm actually quite excited for this. I think the cast is phenomenal and while it's a very different type of cast than the original, that's perfectly fine because this isn't a remake and it's a sign of the times. In the 80's muscle-bound genetic freaks were the standard action heroes; today we have leaner, faster people leading these franchises. Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga and company should be capable of dying impressively and when Nimrod Antal is on his game, he makes very good movies. (Of course when he's not on his game he makes Armored, but I digress.) I'm looking forward to this and I think it probably will indeed kick major amounts of ass.

Score: 1 for 1

2. You'd be interested in seeing a Black Eyed Peas 3D concert movie directed by James Cameron.

Arnold Furious: Fiction. I love James Cameron. I'm a massive fan. But I don't like concert films. Never have done. I don't even like Martin Scorsese's Last Waltz, which details the last concert of The Band. And that's probably the best concert film ever made. Either that or Gimme Shelter. And those films featured musical acts I like. Black Eyed Peas I only know from that one song about how tonight is gonna be a good night. I don't even know what it's called. No offence, but how would they even fill 90 minutes or so? Maybe I'm just out of the musical loop here. So I looked the band up on Wikipedia and they have 5 albums and a bunch of singles I've never heard of. Apart from "My Humps" and that's because Will Ferrell sings it in Blades of Glory. It's the skating music he wants for himself and Jon Heder to use. So yeah, I'm not really a pop music kinda guy. My wife listens to pop music but she's more of a Beyonce girl. I'll be waiting for Cameron to make another movie.

Jeremy Thomas: Fact. This is barely Fact, but Fact nonetheless. Like Arnold I'm not big on concert films, but I'm actually a fan of the Peas and I'm told they put on a hell of a show. The Peas have a sizable set of hits in their repertoire and three albums worth of material (five if you count the pre-Fergie stuff) to draw from. Add into that the fact that Cameron would likely have a very good idea of how to shoot a concert film in a more visually exciting way than most of them are. Scorsese did a great job with Shine a Light, and Cameron could do the same. I'm not saying that I would be rushing out to see this in the theater, and a friend of Cameron has now denied that he's doing it, but if it did happen I would end up checking it out for sure.

Score: 1 for 2

3. It's a bad idea to film two new Mad Max movies back to back.

Arnold Furious: Fact. You could have finished that question after the word "movies". I'm surely not the only one who doesn't want to see another Mad Max movie? The first two were great. And then they made Beyond Thunderdome, which was stupid and everyone hates. Apart from MasterBlaster, naturally. Keep in mind that George Miller, the guy making these new movies, was onboard for the entire process and you can see how he's allowed to go wrong right under his nose. His work since doesn't convince me as he's mostly made kids movies and not even good ones. Sorry, Moms and Dads, but I hate Happy Feet. I just don't see why they feel the need to make a new Mad Max. Just go and watch the first two again. And then get over it and move on. Lots of movies keep getting belated sequels and very few of them deliver. Look at how disappointing Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was. And that had a great director and the original star. The only good thing about them shooting 2 more movies is that will make it eligible for my Series Link column and I have an excuse to watch the Mad Max films again. Not that you need one.

Jeremy Thomas: Fact. Here's the big problem here. Bringing Mad Max back to the big screen with a new actor—even one I like, like Tom Hardy—is a bit of a risk, and making two films back to back means that if the first one bombs you've spent a lot of money on a film that is dead in the water. Now, do I think it's a bad idea to make more Mad Max films? Not at all. I like post-apocalyptic films and I very much enjoyed the Mad Max franchise. I even have a bit of love for Beyond Thunderdome if you can believe it. My concern is that George Miller is in over his head here. I think he's a great filmmaker and obviously he knows the franchise, but he hasn't made a film of this kind of scope since…well, since Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. No matter how good Lorenzo's Oil was and how much money Happy Feet made, they aren't films like The Road Warrior and Mad Max and the business has changed in many ways regarding action films. Either way I think this film is going to be a hard sell with the public, especially since the character is identified with a man who's back in the doghouse of public opinion after last week. Making two of them back to back is a mistake.

Score: 2 for 3

Switch!!!



4. Despicable Me will be a fun and enjoyable kid's movie in its own right but won't give Toy Story 3 a run for its money in regards to being the best animated movie of the year.

Jeremy Thomas: Fact. I think that Despicable Me will be okay. I'm not dying to see it, though. It just seems a wee bit below the high bar that's been set for animation over the last year and a half. The set-up is interesting and the voice cast is solid but the animation style isn't quite my cup of tea. I have little doubt that it won't be as good as Toy Story 3, which was another great Pixar film. It delivered on almost every level that you could possibly ask for. Frankly, I don't even think that Despicable Me will rank as high as How to Train Your Dragon did for me when it comes to the top animated movies of the year, so how does it have a snowball's chance in hell against Woody and Buzz?

Arnold Furious: Fact. I like the trailer for Despicable Me. It looks like a good movie. And as I said in the Movies Roundtable, it looks rather like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which was a very solid animated film. But the same year Up came out and that movie was just in a completely different class to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I think Pixar's domination of American's animation has been good for the business as a whole because the bar has been raised and now the effort that has gone into lesser animated films has been amazing. In any other time during American animation history these movies would be outstanding. But Pixar's raising of the bar has lead to an overall Golden Age of animation and they remain the market leaders in this field. The only real, genuine, competition for the crown comes from Studio Ghibli's movies and they're not widely seen in the US or any Western markets. Ghibli has two movies out this year; Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and The Borrower Arrietty. The former coming from Isao Takahata who made Grave of the Fireflies & Pom Poko and the latter was written by Hayao Miyazaki. Also Satoshi Kon, the visionary director of Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika (which is pure eye porn) has a new movie out before the end of the year called The Dreaming Machine. Any of those three have a shot at dethroning Toy Story 3 as the best animated movie of the year BUT they are still long shots. Pixar is having such success it's hard to argue with them.

Score: 3 for 4

5. Colin Farrell would be a poor choice to play Ozzy Osbourne in a planned biopic of the legendary heavy metal singer.

Jeremy Thomas: Fiction. Collin Farrell would be a perfectly fine choice to play Ozzy. After his downfall for being horrifically miscast in Oliver Stone's Alexander and the abject failure of The New World, Farrell has been slowly and painstakingly rebuilding his reputation. I loved his work in In Bruges, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and Crazy Heart and he even did well in Cassandra's Dream and Pride and Glory; Ondine is high on my list of films to see as well and he's drawn praise for it. He's perfect for this role in my mind, and I would rather see him take it on instead of someone who's higher profile but wouldn't get the material as well. I would liken this to a role like Downey taking on Tony Stark or Mickey Rourke taking on Randy "The Ram" Robinson; he has lived an Ozzy-like lifestyle and can relate on a personal level, which always makes for a better performance. I'm not expecting him to win an Academy Award or BAFTA for this, but he would do well and the film would be fairly enjoyable if done right.

Arnold Furious: Fact. Colin Farrell isn't a bad actor. I quite like him. I thought he was great in In Bruges and he doesn't often disappoint. However Colin Farrell is too well known to play the role. I don't think the audience would be convinced by him in that role. Not like Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles or even Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. Neither had a big leading man reputation holding them back in those roles. That's the first count against him. Ozzy himself prefers an unknown to take the role. Secondly Farrell is Irish. Ozzy isn't. Ozzy was born just down the road from me in Aston. I can't think of an actor off the top of my head that could play Ozzy. I think it'd require extensive searching to find the right actor. They'd need to be able to sing, perform and play the part without resorting to the stereotypes of the modern Ozzy who everyone has seen on The Osbournes. It would have to be a young and hungry actor to play the part. I like Ozzy's idea of an unknown English actor playing the role. It would give the film the raw edge it needs. This is going to be a tricky casting call and one we'll be hearing about for some time. Farrell isn't the right choice.

Score: 3 for 5

6. You'd like to see a new Pee-Wee Herman film produced by Judd Apatow.

Jeremy Thomas: Fact. I saw Pee Wee's Big Adventure when it first came out in 1985 and loved it then; I recognize flaws in it now of course but it holds a sentimental spot for me. I also watched Pee-Wee's Playhouse up until Paul Reuben's arrest for indecent exposure when it was canceled—on the other hand, I wasn't as fond of Big Top Pee-Wee. But still I very much liked the character in my early to mid teens. Paul Reubens is a funny comedian and a decent actor and he's done some good work since , in films like Blow and Mystery Men. His recent video Pee-Wee Gets an iPad was pretty funny too. Meanwhile, Judd Apatow has been doing good stuff obviously, both as a producer and a director. He doesn't hit every one out of the park but I defy anyone to name me a producer who does. He's got the right kind of skill and the proper mindset to bring Pee-Wee back to the big screen. Do I think it will be a great success? Hard to say, but I know that I'd check it out.

Arnold Furious: Fiction. I've never, ever found Paul Reubens funny. Putting on a squeaky voice does not make for big laughs. Otherwise Joe Pasquale would be considered a superstar. I have seen Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I never saw the appeal. As for Judd Apatow; the movies he produces vary drastically in quality. I think the quality of a movie has much more to do with the director. So this project doesn't hold any interest for me. I can see how Pee-Wee Herman fans could get behind it. Having a heavyweight producer attached can't hurt the film at all. If you get a good producer on board early then regardless of the cost the movie can get made. More often than not. Look at Jerry Bruckheimer! If he attaches himself to a movie its pretty much a guarantee you'll be seeing it. Judd Apatow is certainly getting up there in the field of producing. Ultimately this forthcoming movie, and TV series, will only appeal to fans and I know Reubens has plenty. He'll do fine.

Final Score: 3 for 6

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And there you have it, Arnold and Jeremy split the difference. Thanks for playing guys.

See you next week!
-BP

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