The UBS Evening Movie News 04.12.07
Posted by George H. Sirois on 04.12.2007
The “Is there anything else you need before I punch out, Ms. Hayek?” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest chapter of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and it's safe to say that this top story is being posted around the Internet as an excuse to post the typical hot pictures of our subject. Well, I'm not going to go that route here. (But I will be posting those pictures in the "Interactive Babe of the Week" section, so if that's all you want, I won't be offended if you scroll down.) So, away we go…
BREAKING NEWS
Author Kurt Vonnegut passed away last night in Manhattan. He was 84 years old. Some of Vonnegut's novels that were adapted into films include Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, Slapstick (Of Another Time), Long Walk to Forever and Breakfast of Champions. According to Vonnegut's wife, he suffered irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago.
I'll always remember him from his memorable cameo in the 1986 film Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield. "And another thing, Vonnegut, I'm gonna stop payment on the check!"
TOP STORY
MGM has formed a partnership with actress / producer / director / choreographer Salma Hayek and her partner Jose Tamez to develop, produce and acquire mainstream films that either draw on Latin themes or feature Latin talent, both in front of and behind the camera.
The label, dubbed Ventanazul, will be housed at MGM and will follow the revamped studio's model of forging alliances with talent and providing them with creative control over their content while utilizing MGM's distribution and marketing infrastructure. The studio recently teamed with Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner in the rebirth of United Artists.
The Oscar-nominated actress also is the executive producer of the freshman TV hit "Ugly Betty." Projects produced by Ventanazul, which means "blue window" in Spanish, will be financed by MGM and with outside structured funds.
Remember when I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about how Hollywood needs to start up a new era to weed out the crap that's being shoved down our throats and bring in some original voices? Well, it looks like that's just what's happening here. You have Tom Cruise – one of the top stars of the past three decades – re-starting United Artists, which saw its greatest glories in the 1970s, the period that launched the revival of Hollywood after the studio system collapsed. And now, you have a brand new production company that follows the same model of that era – providing talent with creative control and using the overseeing studio, in this case MGM, for distribution and marketing.
If both of these production companies take off, we could very well be seeing the dawning of a new era in Hollywood. The lure of creative control will be too great for writers, directors and actors that are anxious to sink their teeth into something different. Plus, they have the advantage of learning from the mistakes of the past – too many egos spoiling it for everyone – and hopefully they won't repeat them.
Source: Hollywoodreporter.com
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
Disturbia: Shia LaBeouf plays a teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer. Based on what has been shown in commercials and trailers, the filmmakers obviously knew they were creating a teen version of Rear Window and decided to run with it. Surprisingly enough, it looks pretty good and I'm interested to see how this one will play out.
Slow Burn: A district attorney (Ray Liotta) is involved in a 24-hour showdown with a gang leader (LL Cool J) and is, at the same time, being manipulated by an attractive assistant district attorney (Jolene Blalock) and a cryptic stranger. Solid actors all around, and Ray Liotta could use this to continue the momentum he has with Wild Hogs' success. (And if this one doesn't do it, maybe one of the other five movies he has in pre and post-production will help.) This looks like a decent enough thriller that should have a good pace and energy to it to have the 24-hour format.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters: An action epic that explores the origins of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, who somehow become pitted in a battle over an immortal piece of exercise equipment. It's not the funniest film I've seen so far this year (that honor goes to something I'll be mentioning next week), but it's definitely up there. Be prepared for a consistently funny movie that plays perfectly into the sense of humor that the show has been famous for using, lots of stuff that doesn't make a lick of sense, plenty of non-sequitors and some of the oddest lines of dialogue you'll ever hear. As a fan of the show, I came out very satisfied.
Source: TheMovieBox.net
UPCOMING DVDS
Well, for those of you who felt the need to just wait for this to come out on Netflix, get ready. Ghost Rider is coming out on DVD, so we can all see for ourselves if this is truly as lame as people say. There will be two versions coming out on June 12th. One is a single disc with the "Spirit of Vengeance: The Making of Ghost Rider" documentary and commentary tracks. The two disc special edition comes with an extended cut of the film (I vaguely remember Mark Johnson saying that what was in theaters was the final cut), the documentary, a featurette on the comic book origins of Ghost Rider and animatics.
Warner Bros. has announced the home video release of Letters from Iwo Jima, and just as it was suspected when Flags of Our Fathers came out as a bare-bones disc, there are quite a few options that involve both films.
A Blu-Ray and HD-DVD/DVD combo disc will be available. The Blu-Ray version is in 1080p and contains PCM Japanese 5.1 Surround and Dolby Digital 5.1 while the HD-DVD version will be in 1080p and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 5.1 and Dolby Digital Japanese 5.1. The DVD version is anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The Blu-Ray and HD-DVD versions will both contain the documentaries Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of Letters from Iwo Jima, The Faces of Combat: The Cast of Letters from Iwo Jima and Images from The Frontlines: The Photography of Letters from Iwo Jima along with the wold premiere in Budo-kan in Tokyo and the 2006 press conference. A two disc DVD will also be available with the DVD from the HD-DVD/DVD combo and a second DVD with the features from the high def releases.
Additionally a five disc set will be created in cooperation with Dreamworks SKG which will contain the two disc version of Flags of our Fathers and a two disc Letters from Iwo Jima along with the bonus disc Heroes of Iwo Jima The Blu-Ray is priced at $34.99. The HD-DVD/DVD combo is $39.99. The two disc DVD is $34.99. The five disc set is priced at $49.96. All versions will arrive at the same time on May 22nd.
For those of you that missed the initial sale of the 14-disc set of Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition, I have good news for you. The set will be back on shelves on May 29th for a suggested retail price of $99.92. (It's a safe bet amazon.com will have it for over $20 cheaper.) If you're a Superman fan and you haven't gotten this, you really owe it to yourself to get it. The glitch with the discs has been taken care of, so you get the correct versions of Disc 1 of Superman and Superman III. Just in case you don't know the specifics about this set, you get the following:
4 discs for Superman: The Movie – Includes theatrical version, director's cut, two commentary tracks, the making-of featurettes from the 2001 disc, the feature-length 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men with George Reeves, a handful of Fleischer cartoons, trailers and more
3 discs for Superman II – Theatrical version, Richard Donner Cut, two commentary tracks, making-of featurettes, trailer and more
1 disc for Superman III – Commentary track, deleted scenes, making-of featurette, trailer
1 disc for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace – Commentary track, some of the most Godawful deleted scenes you'll ever see, trailer
2 discs for Superman Returns – Full-length documentary on making of the film
You Will Believe – The story of the Christopher Reeve Superman films, also includes the never-before-seen pilot "The Adventures of Superpup"
Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman – An A to Z documentary made by Kevin Burns and narrated by Kevin Spacey
Bryan Singer's Production Journals
Source: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK - ROB ZOMBIE'S HALLOWEEN
It's not a movie I'm really anxious to see, but it does play into what I'll be talking about further down in this report. So… enjoy…
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
Once Again, Goyer to the Rescue
David Goyer, who said in February that he was no longer involved in Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming "The Flash," is jumping back into the DC Comics universe for Warners with a new project titled "Super Max."
The film, which Goyer revealed Saturday on the WizardUniverse.com site, will be built around the Green Arrow, who is tossed into a maximum security prison for super-villains when he is wrongly convicted of a crime. Goyer and his wife, Jessika Borsiczky Goyer, are attached to produce. No director is yet on board.
The project is based on an original idea by Justin Marks, who is writing the screenplay.
Within 10 minutes of entering the prison, the Green Arrow will be stripped of his identity, Goyer told the site. "They shave his goatee and they take his costume and send him to prison for life, and he has to escape. It's like 'Alcatraz,' and he has to team up with, in some cases, some of the very same villains he is responsible for incarcerating in order to get out and clear his name. Of course, tons of people try to kill him while he's in there. We've populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe." You have to give David Goyer credit. The man struck the first blow for Marvel movie supremacy with Blade. Then while that franchise ran out of gas, he rejuvenated Batman with Batman Begins. This time, he realizes that comic book films have gone into a very repetitive funk – origin story, meeting villain, winning the battle, maybe getting the girl, wash rinse repeat – and even though he didn't write this screenplay, he came across the perfect project to shake up the genre. Kudos to Justin Marks for coming up with a storyline like this, and I hope he's ready for all the love letters he'll be getting from fanboys everywhere.
Remember When Movie Studios Had Patience? Me Neither: Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is planning to re-release Grindhouse as two separate films - after the double-bill flopped at the box office. The film, a double-feature directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez made just $11.6 million in its opening weekend in the US. Producer Weinstein is disappointed - and thinks Tarantino's Death Proof, starring Kurt Russell, and Rodriguez' Planet Terror, with Rose McGowan, will perform better on their own. He tells PageSix.com, "I don't think people understood what we were doing. The audience didn't get the idea that it is two movies for the price of one. I don't understand the math, but I want to accommodate the audience." Come on, Harvey! Have a little bit of patience here! You released a three-hour gorefest on EASTER WEEKEND, which is usually a time when families are together no matter what religion they are. No matter what kind of counter-programming you'd try to pull, family movies are going to win the weekend. Give it a little bit more time, at least until the end of the month. Put some advertising dollars behind it. Let the word of mouth build. If the Weinsteins pull this immediately and re-release it as two movies, it's going to smack so hard of desperation and audiences won't see it as anything less. And based on what I've heard about the film, if audiences had to choose one film over the other, they may end up choosing to see Planet Terror over Death Proof, which won't make Tarantino look very good.
Lions and Jackie and Jet, Oh My!: Lionsgate has come aboard as domestic distributor of the action epic "The Forbidden Kingdom," which it will co-release in the U.S. with the Weinstein Co. The film marks the first onscreen pairing of martial arts stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The project had previously been referred to as the untitled J&J project. Principal photography is scheduled to begin May 2 in China. Rob Minkoff will direct from an original screenplay by John Fusco that is based on the Chinese legend of the Monkey King. The film's producer is Casey Silver of Casey Silver Prods. Relativity Media is financing the film, with the company's Ryan Kavanaugh serving as executive producer. Action choreographer Wo Ping is creating the fight sequences, and the director of photography is Peter Pau, who won an Academy Award for the cinematography in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Mind you, I'm not the biggest fan of the Martial Arts film genre, but I've seen quite a few of both Jackie's and Jet's films, and just the possibility of seeing them together on the big screen really gets the blood pumping. There's a lot online about the previous adaptations of this story, and they all do it far more justice than I ever could, so I'm not going to try and explain it all here. Needless to say, this will be one hell of a complex story that Jet and Jackie will be involved in. And if that doesn't attract your interest, this version is written by the writer of Young Guns and Young Guns II, two very big guilty pleasures of mine.
Sources: Hollywoodreporter.com, WENN.com
FILM MUSIC NEWS
* Score Interview of the Week: "The Hoax" by Carter Burwell
* AFM Musicians Union Warns About Buyout Orchestras
* New Film & TV Music Awards
* Gordon and Umebayashi Join Soncinemad Program
* George S. Clinton to Receive BMI's Richard Kirk Award
* ASK Video Ships New Pro Tools Tutorial DVD
* UK Composer Site Opposes PRS Rate Cuts
* Soundtrack Reviews: "The Number 23" by Harry Gregson-Williams,
"The Last Mimzy" by Howard Shore
* Technology: "The Technology Behind the Royalties"
Download This Week's Issue at: www.filmmusicweekly.com.
MISS MATA HARI AND HER SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
And the Baby Goes to…: Larry Birkhead has been named the biological father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter Dannielynn after a lengthy paternity case. A delighted Birkhead and his attorney Emerick Knowles staged a press conference outside the Bahamas courthouse, where recent DNA test results were announced yesterday. Photographer Birkhead has been battling paternity since the baby girl was born in the Bahamas last September. Outside court, he said, "I'm excited." Asked what he thought his ex-girlfriend, Smith, would think of the news, Birkhead told reporters, "I think she would be proud that I fought it." Birkhead's next step will be to fight for custody of the little girl he has only briefly seen in the six months since her birth. But he plans to process the good news he is Dannielynn's father first, adding, "That's all up in the air." Birkhead will return to court on Friday for what is believed to be the start of his custody battle. Anna Nicole's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, who is listed as the baby's father on her birth certificate, has been acting as her guardian since Smith's death in February. Sources close to Stern claimed last week that he wouldn't challenge Birkhead over custody if the photographer was named the baby's biological father. Stern confirmed this when he joined Birkhead on the steps of the Bahamas courthouse. He said, "My feelings for Dannielynn have not changed. I'm not going to fight Larry Birkhead on custody. We're going to do what we can to make sure that the best interests of Dannielynn are carried out, and I'm going to do whatever I can too make sure he gets full custody. As far as I'm concerned, Larry can come over (to) the house and spend as much time with her as he likes right now. I'd like there to be a gradual transition period for her so there's no harm caused to her." Seriously, I'm glad that they're not going to draw this out anymore and that Dannielynn has a chance to grow up as a normal kid. Well, as normal as possible. Best of luck to everyone involved, and kudos to Stern for being the bigger man and making sure that Birkhead gains full custody.
Doesn't It Defeat the Purpose When You Tell US Magazine?: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are secretly planning a flashy engagement party and wedding ceremony - on the same day. Sources tell Us Weekly magazine the stars of The Notebook are planning to keep their nuptials top secret - by marrying hours after agreeing to wed. An insider says, "They want to get engaged and married on the very same day to keep it very private." If you want privacy, why tell the gossip mags? You know what should be done sometime? Hollywood couples should just… get married at a private ceremony without any invitations to the press. Imagine the shock that would be felt if US Magazine asks a couple when they're getting married and the couple responds that THEY'RE ALREADY MARRIED! Heads would most certainly roll in the world of gossip.
So Much for BFF: Troubled pop star Britney Spears reportedly cut all ties with socialite Paris Hilton after she realized their hard partying was doing no good for her image. The singer became a regular on the Hollywood club scene last November - shortly after filing for divorce from estranged husband Kevin Federline - when she was seen hitting the town with the hotel heiress and actress Lindsay Lohan. But according to a former PR representative of Hilton's socialite pal Kim Kardashian, Spears allegedly ended the friendship as soon as she saw her reputation plummet, reports The Scoop. Well, better late than never, I suppose. It looks like Britney's serious about re-boosting her career and distancing herself from Paris can only be a good thing. What does Paris have to offer anyway? "Come with me, or you're going to have to do something beneficial to your career to be in the papers?" Based on the damage hanging out with her has already done, Britney, get some competent nannies and get thee to a recording studio, STAT!
Sources: WENN.com
VOX POPULI
TOP 10 MOVIES
1. Blades of Glory - $22,522,330
Total: $67,905,237
2. Meet the Robinsons - $16,715,437
Total: $51,947,271
3. Are We Done Yet? - $14,262,724
Total: $18,517,017
4. Grindhouse - $11,596,613
Total: $11,596,613
5. The Reaping - $10,025,203
Total: $11,958,518
6. 300 - $8,368,382
Total: $193,402,459
7. Wild Hogs - $6,644,971
Total: $145,260,566
8. Shooter - $5,856,494
Total: $36,712,076
9. TMNT - $4,825,445
Total: $46,607,331
10. Firehouse Dog - $3,838,916
Total: $5,101,907
TOP 10 DVD RENTALS
1. The Pursuit of Happyness
2. Happy Feet
3. Blood Diamond
4. Eragon
5. Casino Royale
6. Rocky Balboa
7. The Holiday
8. Children of Men
9. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
10. Stranger Than Fiction
SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE WEEK
You can pretty much refer to the entire disc as one big special feature, because it goes perfectly with the 25th Anniversary DVD of the original Halloween. Halloween: 25 Years of Terror is an interesting full-length documentary that takes its viewer through the history of the franchise, all the way to the rumors about the ninth film that never came. Not only do we get a look at how each film was made, but we also get reactions from the filmmakers and critics, clips from the 25th anniversary convention, and videos put together by fans to show off how much of a fan they are. (Some of the videos are more than a little out there.)
Since a lot of people that read this site are wrestling fans, it's likely you'll get the analogy that I'm going to throw out here: Michael Myers is the ECW of horror icons.
For those who don't get it, I'll explain. When Extreme Championship Wrestling was born, it built up a rabid cult-like group of fans on the east coast that helped build that promotion to such a degree that they officially became the third most popular organization in all of wrestling. Plus, Paul Heyman and company did it on a very low budget and without corporate sponsorship. But then, in 2001, ECW collapsed and Paul Heyman ended up going to the WWF.
The next time we saw ECW, they were put in the middle of the InVasion and paired with WCW. Their first appearance there was encouraging, but then they made Stephanie McMahon the new owner of ECW and all good will about the company was flushed. ECW stayed dead once the InVasion ended, but a few years later, it resurfaced as a one time only pay-per-view. This was supposed to be the curtain call for the promotion, and it would allow fans to get some kind of closure.
Obviously, that would not be the case, because once the figures came in and everyone realized how much of a success ECW One Night Stand was, Vince McMahon got the idea to re-launch ECW as a third brand of WWE. Unfortunately, that rabid cult-like audience that made the original ECW what it was tuned out once they realized that McMahon's vision was nowhere near what they wanted and the first pay-per-view for the new ECW drew one of the lowest buy-rate numbers in WWE history. This would wind up being the last exclusive pay-per-view for the brand, as McMahon is now convinced that ECW exclusive pay-per-views just wouldn't draw.
Now, with all that in mind, take a look at Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise. The original film was financed independently, costing only $350,000. It became an instant hit, grossing over $50 million and becoming one of the most successful independent films of all time. After a sequel that did decent business and an experimentation that didn't work at all, executive producer Moustapha Akaad decided to go back to the basics, and give the fans what they wanted. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers opened up at Number 1 in the nation and stayed there for another week, pushing another sequel into production. Once Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers came out, the franchise went into a 6-year-long standstill.
In 1995, the rights to the series went to Dimension Films, and they went on to give us their version of a Halloween film. What they decided on was gore over suspense, more Friday the 13th than Halloween, and that turned the fans off big time. Only when a Producer's Cut surfaced, did fans realize that there was something of quality under the flash and sizzle that Dimension and director Joe Chappelle put in. Three years later, Jamie Lee Curtis was brought back into the fold and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later was put into production. This was billed as the curtain call for the franchise, a chance for Michael Myers, his sister Laurie Strode and their fans to get the closure they deserve. The film was a hit, bringing in $55 million on a $17 million budget, and it looked like the Halloween franchise would end on a high note.
Not so fast! Once Dimension and the Akaads realized that Halloween H20 was a hit, they put another film into production despite the previous film being looked at as the last one. The next chapter of the franchise, Halloween: Resurrection flushed away every single thing that made the character of Michael Myers what he was and replaced it with dull, faceless characters, cheesy slasher-film dialogue and a healthy amount of gore. This was why Michael Myers was brought back? So he could become just another masked slasher? Apparently, Moustapha Akaad wanted to keep the character alive, and Dimension wanted to make money off a familiar character, and by doing so, they all turned off the loyal fanbase that helped make Michael Myers the success he was.
Notice the similarities? Both Halloween and ECW started out as independent success stories that fell out of the public eye for a period of time. They were then picked up by much more successful people in their respective businesses, and then turned into something by those businesses that stripped away what made them so successful in the first place.
Just imagine what both ECW and Halloween could have been if they had just been allowed to be themselves. In the case of ECW, all WWE had to do was allow Paul Heyman to run the show booking-wise, set each show in the smaller arenas and re-build the company by giving the fans the alternative wrestling show that they desired, which was what pulled them towards the original ECW in the first place.
The same could be said of Michael Myers. Despite what the Weinsteins would think, the formula to make a successful Halloween film is very simple. Keep the budget low, keep the suspense high, give us some likeable characters that we would not be happy to see die, and keep the playful stalker side of Michael Myers intact. The fans get what they want, they bring their friends, and since you didn't spend that much money in the first place, you get a higher return.
Now, we're going to get a rebooting of the franchise instead of a continuation that would have cleaned up the mess that was Halloween: Resurrection. This once proud franchise has to end with Busta-freakin'-Rhymes getting the last shot on Michael. That's nauseating to think of it, how it could have ended with Laurie Strode standing triumphant with her axe in her hand, and instead Michael's last moment has Busta Rhymes breaking through the wall of the Myers house and yelling "Trick or treat, motherfucker!"
The feeling amongst the filmmakers is that Halloween needs a reboot, that there's no point in continuing the franchise since Resurrection made over 20 million less than H20. Apparently, Michael Myers doesn't work anymore. He needs to be modernized and re-imagined for a new audience. Don't these people realize that they're the ones that are guilty of turning Michael Myers into what he was in that last film? The Michael Myers fans know would never just walk away from Busta Rhymes because he told him to. He would have pinned him up against the wall, taken a step back and admired his work.
Oh well. Maybe a re-booting is what's needed. After all, Laurie Strode's dead. Both the character Sam Loomis and the actor Donald Pleasence are gone. Maybe Rob Zombie will deliver something special for both old fans and new fans. The teaser trailer didn't look too bad. But just as fans of the original ECW won't forgive Vince McMahon for taking something they built up and taking away everything that made it special, then saying that it couldn't hold up a pay-per-view on its own, there are plenty of fans of the original Halloween franchise that won't forgive Dimension Films for turning Michael Myers into just another slasher.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 8 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week!
