The Big Screen Bulletin 9.06.10: The American Stands Proud at the Box Office!

Posted by Steve Gustafson on 09.06.2010

Is Halo finally coming to the big screen? M. Night. Shyamalan talks about Unbreakable 2, but is it too late for his career? A new zombie flick starring Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Will Bruce Campbell lead an all horror Expendable team? Plus, clips from Wall Street 2, the box office results, and Tony Acero reviews Live Free, Die Hard! All this and more inside!

Welcome to the Big Screen Bulletin! My name is Steve Gustafson and this is where we hit the big movie news from the weekend and anything else going on in the world of Hollywood!

More Steve? Alright! Get your celebrity and hot girl fix with the ORIGINAL Hollywood 5 & 1!. A perfect cap to the weekend!

Do you enjoy the 5 & 1 format? Then you have PLENTY of options at 411mania! Check out Chris Lansdell in The Game Zone 5 & 1! Then check out The Music 5 & 1 by Adam Hill. Afterwards finish up with The Wrestling 5 & 1 by Larry Csonka!

Oh yeah, besides writing about the zany lives of famous people, I cover movie news! Yes, that's right. Each and every Monday I do the Big Screen Bulletin. Also, peep my old Game section column, The Silicon Valley 10 & 1 by Justin Weinblatt! Great stuff!

I own George Sirois a HUGE apology! I've been sitting on his book review for a week. I had planned to run it in this edition of the Bulletin but after speaking with Tony Acero, we came upon an idea of a joint review and started to vibe on that. Tony just received his book and we were unable to complete it by deadline. But tune in NEXT WEEK for the review! This time we're serious! Sorry George!!! Speaking of, have you read the newest sci-fi masterpiece by George Sirois'? Check it out right HERE!

Speaking of Tony, let us now turn our eyes to the dark corner of the Bulletin. All the way to…

School is back in session! Well, at least for me and let me tell you, these books are more expensive than the Morning After Pill! (Both emotionally and economically.) 5 classes and 6 books to buy made me officially broke! I've gotten very familiar with the dollar menu of all fast food restaurants within a 2 mile radius. Well, that's enough complaining about the monetary loss I have suffered, let's talk about something positive! Football season is in full swing, wrestling is…well, it's wrestling, and my book (yes, I'm writing a book; all of us pretentious people do that) is hitting its halfway point! Moreover, this column has really taken off and I enjoy the feedback (both good and bad) immensely. By the way, just watched Machete and it was all the gory fun and over the top goodness I expected it to be! If you haven't seen it yet, please do.

The good, The Bad, and The Fugly….COMMENTS!
The GOOD:
The comments about bullets, body armor, and grenades by "The Informant" under "The good, The Bad, and The Fugly….COMMENTS!
The GOOD:" are in fact incorrect.
There has NEVER been "bullet proof" body armor. Body armor worn by SWAT has NEVER weight 75 pounds. The military did not really start using even bullet resistant body armor until about the late 1990s. Don't confuse a "flak jacket" like the stuff worn before the late 1990s with a bullet resistant vest. Flak jackets like the PASGT were not rated against bullets; they were only designed to stop shrapnel, shards, and debris from explosives.
Teflon coated bullets DO NOT penetrate body armor any better than uncoated bullets regardless of the type of body armor. And Teflon coated bullets were NOT widely available and were NOT offered in many calibers.
Depleted Uranium projectiles are only available for calibers 25 mm and up. For reference, a .50 caliber is a 12.7 mm and a .308 Win is a 7.62 mm.
Grenades have nominal fuse times of about 5 to 7 seconds. I have NEVER seen a 30 second grenade fuse. You NEVER count down with the grenade in your hand. The grenade has one or two safety pins or clips. You hold the lever or "spoon" squeezing it to the body of the grenade. While doing this, you pull the pin(s)/clip. The grenade is now ready, but the fuse has not started. You can hold a grenade like this for as long as you want, be it a second or a year and it will not go bang. Once you release the lever or "spoon", the fuse is started. You DO NOT HOLD THE GRENADE. You toss the grenade immediately. In fact usually you only release the lever AS you toss the grenade. Grenade fuses are notoriously inaccurate as far as fuse time. A 5 second fuse may last anywhere from 3 to 7 seconds. There is a name for idiots who hold grenades after releasing the lever -- DEAD.
For the record, I am a retired military combat vet. I am a lifelong weapon enthusiast and am well respected in both police and military circles for my weapon knowledge -- if you read gun magazines you may have even read some of my articles. Military Man

Well, that clears everything up, now doesn't it? Admittedly, I had some inclinations towards his argument as I just didn't see a grenade being held for a minute or so without any repercussions. I'm just going to go ahead and take this guy's word for it. My only gripe was that you said we may have even read some of your articles yet forget to put your name. Let us know who you are if you make claims such as these. Thanks again, sir.

The BAD:
Haven t watched DH2 in a while, but I'm pretty sure Walsh wasn't in the van. Jason
Walsh wasn't in the van. Just McClain and his boss were. Walsh was outside keeping the crowds in check Guest #5029
You're right and wrong...Walsh wasn't in the van, but the film was Die Hard With a Vengeance (Die Hard 3), not Die hard 2...Y2J420

Alright, when I saw these comments I immediately went to the film to assure that I wasn't wrong. You see, if I'm wrong I will rightfully admit it and also nod in approval of said corrector but this one really boggled me as I was positive that Walsh was in the van. As they say, "To the tape!" It appears that I was correct in that Walsh is in the van the entire time they are going over who the baddies are which sets this into the bad. Not to insult any of you who said he wasn't because I'm not rude like that, but yes he was there.


The FUGLY:
None

Best Comment:
"I was so upset that I actually stood up and kicked the chair in front of me (Sorry to the guy sitting there!) when the spaceship took off. But I digress."
Hear, hear!!! Agree 157%!!! Ricky T

I've actually refused to see the 4th one due to the hearsay of the atrocity that is Indiana Jones 4. Although, this column may require me to see it in the near future so I guess I better prepare myself. Also, it's considered the best because I like obscure numbers like "157%"


Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard

As with the third film, there was a script that was written without John McClane in mind and was later altered to fit the Die Hard mold. Unlike Die Hard 3, however, this didn't work as well in my opinion. In short, a large "fire sale" happens when a computer mad man infiltrates the FBI computer system among others and puts the country into a chaotic mess of fear. Thomas Gabriel, a former government analysis wants to teach the country a lesson and may or may not have a monetary goal as well. Timothy Olyphant plays him sinisterly while we get Bruce Willis returning as McClane (obviously) with a new partner in Justin Long. Long plays a professional hacker who may or may not have something to do with what's going on. Of course, we can't have a Die Hard without some sort of emotional investment in it, so we are introduced to Lucy McClane, John's daughter as played by the cute Mary Elizabeth Winstead. With the country seemingly at its wits end and his daughter caught up in the mix, will McClane be able to save the day or will this be the last time he's in the wrong place at the wrong time?

The Good
* It's Genero: Again, continuity steers its cute little head. In the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to McClane's daughter Lucy with her boyfriend who is trying hard to cop a feel. He is denied, of course, because she has class and morals…or she just doesn't like her tits being grabbed and shortly thereafter, her father John McClane shows up. She gets a bit upset and calls him John instead of Dad and we learn that her relationship with him isn't exactly a good one when she goes so far as to call him dead. The scene has some humor in it, but it's mostly there to set up the re-introduction to John's daughter, whom we haven't seen since the first movie. The best part of the scene would be the last line of the daughter's where John says "Lucy! Lucy McClane!" and his daughter follows up with; "It's not McClane, it's Genero!" which is the exact problem that McClane had with his wife in the first movie. This is a perfect call back to the first film where his wife says the exact same thing even if perhaps not in those words.

* Timothy Olyphant: The very first time I saw this guy act was in Scream 3, where I felt he did a horrible job. He over acted so ridiculously and just brought an already sinking ship down faster. Most recently I caught him in Crazies which was a throwaway film in my opinion but I saw a completely different actor in Olyphant than in Scream. Which brings me to his performance in Die Hard lingering somewhere in between the two times. This is one of his more subdued roles but he plays it well, mostly with his eyes. His mistake in Scream was that he tried to act psycho when the look is already there and in Die Hard 4 (And I will be calling it that throughout, for brevities' sake) the eyes tell a perfect story of reaction. Anger, frustration, success, etc., he played the character beautifully and I feel the need to give him major props for it. Thomas Gabriel was menacing because of him.

* Call Backs: As with Lucy calling herself Genero, there are also other little pieces of information, dialogue, and scenes that call back to the original Die Hard movies. Keep in mind, this was approximately 12 years after the 3rd one! There's an Agent Johnson introduced and McClane makes a quick snide remark, there's tons of glass and an elevator shaft, there's Bruce talking to the baddie via walkie talkie, he even steals a phone which is something I believe he does in every movie. With the story having a somewhat contrived storyline, there needed to be something to bring it back down to Die Hard lore and I think these things listed above (and any others you may see) do that. In a movie where sometimes it gets bogged down by exposition (more on that later), it's nice to see small reminders that this isn't just an action movie, it's a Die Hard movie.

* Car Darts: Alright, this entire sequence was a thing of beauty in my opinion. The tunnel scene, although full of stunts that are highly unlikely, was so well done and looked completely bad ass. From the beginning stages of it when all the lights shut off and you've got cars flying at the screen, to the sweet ass car flipping in the air towards McClane and Farrel only to be stopped by a taxi and another car, leading all the way to one of my favorite scenes. McClane has had enough and does his patented sarcastic talking to himself while hopping into a police car. He drives towards the exit of the tunnel while a helicopter is low enough to see him. McClane guns it and rolls out of the car while the car continues UP a toll booth, crashing into the helicopter like a freakin lawn dart. Had the man in the chopper died, I totally would have given this the Best Kill title but that goes to….

* Maggie Q: Ok, maybe I'm being a bit biased here because her death wasn't all that spectacular, but damn she's cute and it was a pretty sweet fight scene. It appears that PG-13 will allow a female getting her ass beat by Bruce Willis, but won't allow the words "mother fucker" in the movie. Pity. Nonetheless, the scene is much more practical than movies of 07 where seemingly everyone knew how to fly and could flip more than Justin Gabriel at the gay parade. It also showed that Maggie Q and her stunt woman can take a major beating.

The Bad
* Circus freaks: It's a bit funny while watching the film, Bruce Willis says a line that I was practically thinking at the same time. Near the beginning of the film, when the baddies are trying to kill Farrel, Willis saves him and they are attempting an escape from his house. We then see two French flying freaks show off their Ringling Brothers skills from one roof to another, hopping on a fence, bouncing off of trash cans and being all together….well, un-Die Hard like. Now look, I can see how these special attributes may appeal to many but it didn't to me. I don't think the extra flips in the beginning scene or even later on in an ice filled room where one is running around like-once again, Bruce calls it- a fucking hamster give any extra appeal to the movie. Nothing too big, just didn't like them.

* That's My Freeway!: This is also very small, but it became more and more noticeable as time went by. While McClane is driving a large truck that doubles as the work station of Thomas Gabriel, he hops on a free way that says 118. Now, being a resident of the great state of California, specifically Los Angeles, I know the 118 and it's not in Virginia or the nation's capitol. There's also the fighter jet sequence a little later that is filmed on a freeway that looks a lot like the 105 near San Pedro. Not to say this is a big mistake as they can make the movie wherever they want and call it fucking highway 69 if they wanted to, it's just always cool to see certain things like this going on…as a matter of fact, I don't even know why this is in the BAD section…eh, fuck it.

* Kevin Smith: Ok, ok, now before you get your keyboard ready to flare me, let me explain. James, the director and even actor is a capable one. He's funny and he makes great films. I am a big fan. That being said, this movie didn't work out too well for him. It appears that he took the script and rewrote his lines to put a little bit of Kevin Smith flair in it. However, it just seemed like an out of place part in an otherwise pretty steady going film. He was essentially there for exposition purposes, but his acting seemed…off. His character is simply for story and little else, but it seemed a bit forced to be a comedic spot as well, and it didn't necessarily need to be. From his mean mother to his "command center" it was a big joke that just wasn't all that funny.

* OnStar: In a movie like Die Hard, you have to suspend your beliefs a bit. I mean, I can't put in The Bad that Bruce Willis' blood disappears and reappears throughout the movie, I can't point out all the "He wouldn't survive that shit" moments, and I don't want to pinpoint the fact that there is no such thing as a Fire Sale, the takeover of one man via computer is highly unlikely, and a 52 year old cop cannot do half the shit that McClane did. But there comes a point where something is in a film that doesn't necessarily need to be and makes you feel awkward about the whole thing. McClane is attempting to steal a car and rather than hot wiring it, Farrel speaks to the OnStar representative to try and coax her into starting the car. Well, there's a few things wrong with this. Let's start with the obvious; I don't believe any OnStar company has the ability to start your car from their workstation at all. If they do and I just don't know about it…that's weird. Secondly, there is a supposed downfall of communications at this particular point, meaning satellite and all things not landline so please tell me how Ms. OnStar is speaking to Farrel. Lastly, this is really the only scene that Justin Long bothered me in. He's at his whiny best complete with nose flare and it's really, really annoying. You know, in Die Hard 1-3 if McClane wanted to steal a car, he stole a fucking car.


The Fugly
* Exposition: I was once told that if a story or film has too much exposition, it's too contrived and needs to be trimmed down. Well Die Hard 4, you are a victim of this Too Much syndrome. I counted at least 5 different times where they had to slow the movie down to explain exactly what was going on and each time they did, it was essentially the same shit with a little bit added each time. True, there are times when an action film needs some time to breath, and what else are you going to put in these scenes if not some story? But I still feel-especially for an action movie-if you have to explain your story too many times then it probably has too much going on in it.

* Fighter Jet on the Freeway: Man I hated this scene. Everything involved in it was just too over the top for me (This coming from the guy who thinks a flying car into a helicopter is bad ass). But really, a fighter jet vs. Bruce Willis and Willis wins? Haha! This could have been left out and it would have been just fine. I don't know who's idea it was and who's planning lead to it but I think it was a bit too much. A damn fighter jet just soarin through the skies of DC, bustin some caps all along the side of a truck with Bruce Willis in it…didn't seem really Die hard to me.

* Lean, Mean, Green Screen: During one of the down time moments of the movie, we get some pretty good dialogue between Farrel and McClane and they kind of connect. That chemistry is needed for the film, obviously. The dialogue itself is powerful as we get the "That's what makes you that guy" line that I really enjoy, but what bothers me and what puts this in the Fugly would be the entire background of the car. In 2007, there shouldn't be a scene like this in any movie unless it's on youtube. It seems to me that the car is on a treadmill in front of a green screen or a rotating backdrop that continues on endlessly.


The Big Picture
Looking back on this, I realized I left a lot out of The Good section like the father/daughter relationship and the similarities that they had as characters (smart asses, shoots a foot, she's stuck in an elevator), or the fact that Justin Long did a great job in the film as a geek who's only experience with death are the video games he plays, and even the President Mash Up video was pretty sweet along with the Capitol building blowing up ala Independence Day style. So there's that. At the end of the day, Die Hard 4 gets a major thumbs up from me as even with a story that seems a bit too 24 for John McClane and a whole lot of exposition to back it up, it's still a action packed film with some kick ass fight scenes and big time explosions.

The Good Bad and Fugly YouTube video of the week:




And now...



Hello Halo!
In an article talking about the popular Halo franchise, Variety published quotes from Franchise Development Director Frank O'Connor about whether we'll ever see a Halo movie.

Please say yes, please say yes…

The trade says that Microsoft is still developing scripts by Alex Garland, Stuart Beattie, D.B. Weiss, and Josh Olson as potential blueprints. I will say this, that's a lot of chefs making the soup. "We're still interested in making an excellent Halo movie," O'Connor said. "We've created an awful lot of documentation and materials to support a feature film. We have a good idea of what kind of story we want to tell, but won't move on it until there's a great reason to do it. We're in no particular hurry." The film would likely be a standalone story and not "a verbatim retelling of the game," O'Connor added. Microsoft is also "intently watching" the TV landscape as a potential outlet for a Halo series. The next game in the franchise, Halo Reach, hits stores on September 14.

I'm torn on this one. While I'm a huge Halo fan, will it fall curse to the video game adaptation curse? Neil Blomkamp did those excellent shorts and showed us what it could be, but the impression I'm getting is they are in no hurry and if this does get done, a lot of hands will be involved. Which is usually a bad thing.




Greed (For Clips) is Good.?
Are you ready for Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps? Early reviews have been positive for the sequel and I thought it would be nice to wet the appetite a little. Here are 4 clips to get you in the right frame of mind. In the first one, Gordon Gekko's (Michael Douglas) relationship with his daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan) isn't good and this is our first taste of not only Winnie's angry feelings towards her father but her fiancée Jacob's (Shia LaBeouf) fascination with him.



In the next clip, we see an illustration in which rumors, even when people know they aren't true, can drastically impact the price of a stock
.


In this clip Oliver Stone relives everyone's reaction to the financial crisis of 2008.



Last, Stone attempts to show the way in which one, small piece of hard journalism on a small website could impact the financial community in rooting out corruption.




Breakable??
This guy is at an all time low. Not only are audiences groaning at the mere sight of his name on the upcoming Devil but he seems to be in panic mode as far as his career.

Those who have been anticipating the highly unlikely sequel to M. Night. Shyamalan's film Unbreakable will be happy to hear that at least some elements of the proposed story will actually end up hitting the big screen in some form. In a recent interview with MTV, Shyamalan revealed: "I cannibalized the idea for the sequel to Unbreakable for one of the Night Chronicles." Apparently the idea was a villain who was originally written to appear in Unbreakable, but ended up being saved for the second film when the original script became too cluttered.

You always hear about how Shyamalan has peaked. How he relied to much on "the twist". And for a while I defended him. But it's becoming more and more apparent that he bought into his own hype and is having trouble finding that creative spark again. Would I like to see an Unbreakable sequel? Yes. With Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson reprising their roles. Maybe he needs to take it small again, do some low-to-mid budget films. Is M. Night done?




Horror Expendables?
I thought this was a joke. A very cool joke, but a joke nonetheless. Bruce Campbell wants to do a horror actor version of The Expendables.

How insane would that be?

"Yeah, The Expendables, or more like the It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World of horror. I want to get so many horror movie stars that people can't possibly not see the movie. I want to give them other stuff to do. I want to have Kane Hodder be very particular about what he eats. I want Robert Englund to be a tough guy, like he knows tae kwon do or something. I want to find out the hidden sides of all these people. Some will play themselves, some will play alternate characters as well. I may approach Kane Hodder to play Frankenstein. He could be Kane Hodder himself fighting himself as Frankenstein. It could be crazy. It's a silly concocted story that we hope to do maybe in a year or so."

Look, I'm not a fan of horror films. Scratch that. I'm not a fan of modern horror films. But I have a love and respect of the classics and this could be a very cool idea. The big question is will anything come from this interview or will we all be talking about this in 10 years saying, "Man, how radical would THAT have been?"




Zombies!
Are you sick of zombies yet? Diablo Cody is said to be crafting another unique take on the horror genre with an adaptation of S.G. Browne's dark comedy Breathers: A Zombie's Lament. The film is a zombie-led romantic comedy following Andy, a dead man who discovers himself newly re-animated as a decaying zombie and must figure out what it means to live as an "un-dead" in a society that denies his kind basic rights. Pajiba reports Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are loosely attached to star.

If they can get these two on this project than I guess we can make room for another zombie flick.




And the Winner is…
We talked about this last week, and we have a winner! Deadline reported that Paula Patton has nabbed the female lead role alongside Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner in the newest Mission: Impossible movie. Patton had been in the running with Lauren German and Kristen Kreuk, she is the one who will be playing a young operative who works with Ethan Hunt (Cruise) on the Impossible Mission Force.

I'm liking this franchise reboot more and more.




Casting of Madness!!
The next project from Guillermo del Toro is the long waiting adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountain of Madness which is being produced by James Cameron and shot in 3D.

Those are some big guns right there.

Though production isn't expected to begin until May of 2011, apparently Universal and del Toro are already in the midst of searching for their cast. Collider reports that the studio would like James McAvoy or Chris Pine to lead the film while del Toro is much more interested in bringing Tom Cruise on board. I'm not too familiar with the book but Cruise and Pine/McAvoy are very different actors. Any one out there know about this and can fill me in on who would be the better guy in the role?






1. The American $12,968,000 ($16,114,000) Read the review!
2. Takers $11,450,000 ($37,900,000)
3. Machete $11,300,000 ($11,300,000) Read the review!
4. The Last Exorcism $7,645,000 ($32,477,000) Read the review!
5. Going the Distance $6,885,000 ($6,885,000)
6. The Expendables $6,592,000 ($92,159,000) Read the review!
7. The Other Guys $5,400,000 ($106,866,000) Read the review!
8. Eat Pray Love $4,850,000 ($68,954,000)
9. Inception $4,530,000 ($277,103,000) Read the review!
10. Nanny McPhee Returns $3,575,000 ($22,441,000)


While The American took the top spot according to estimates, don't be surprised if the top 3 settle in different positions. While no one was a huge winner this holiday weekend, audiences had plenty to choose from in the theater. The rest of the top 10 held ground, with no big story or shock with any of the returns.


Before I say GOODBYE!
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the other OUTSTANDING articles on www.411mania.com. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't peep around the site. I always get my daily habit of reading. Here's a small sample!

*****Top 5 Non Bad Ass Roles from Bad Ass Actors by Trevor Snyder
*****Ten Deep: The Top Ten Movie Gangs by Mike "Godzilla" Gorman
*****Furious on Film Movie News by Arnold Furious.
*****Around the World in 24 Frames: Mr. Hulot's Holiday by Len "Award Winning" Archibald
*****411 Fact or Fiction Movies/TV by Ben Piper This week Chad Webb and Jason Chamberlain debate!

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