411 Movies Roundtable: September 2007 (Part I)
Posted by Chad Webb on 09.04.2007
The staff shares their thoughts on August, and looks ahead to September's newest releases!
The Movie Zone Proudly Presents:
The 411Mania Movies Roundtable
Well folks, it is the end of summer. The last of the blockbusters have made their way into theaters, and with September comes the start of the Oscar contenders. As you can see, the theme this time is cowboys, in light of 3:10 to Yuma. Before we get into it, I feel compelled to say something about Owen Wilson. While I have never been his biggest fan, suicide attempts are always terrible situations. My thoughts are with him during this rough time, and I hope he can bounce back and work through whatever troubles he had.
In this month's roundtable, I wanted to have the staff comment on more of the limited features from acclaimed directors, instead the throw away flicks we endure every week. You'll notice Good Luck Chuck is absent for this very reason. This issue, everyone agrees on the biggest winner of the month, Jason Chamberlain reminds us of how awesome Clive Owen would have been as Bond, and the word "Snore" is used at least 100 times throughout the column. Enjoy!
The Month That Was
Bryan Kristopowitz
Biggest Winner of the Month: Judd Apatow and the people behind "Superbad." Apatow and his bevy of performers have yet another mega hit on their hands, and now we're all waiting anxiously for his next flick.
Biggest Loser of the Month: Nicole Kidman. "The Invasion" tanked, and for good reason. It's awful. And since she doesn't have a bulletproof franchise to fall back on like Daniel "Agent 007" Craig, she's the one that's going to have to suffer the consequences. Now, maybe the damage to her career will be minimal if her next movie is a hit or a critical favorite, so she at least has that to potentially look forward to.
Biggest Movie News of the Month: "Masters of Horror" finds a new home with Lionsgate. Apparently the fine folks at Showtime and Starz Home Entertainment don't want to deal with Mick Garris and his people anymore, which is a shame because they all did a good job the first two seasons (even if the episodes for season 2 were a mixed bag at best). I wonder, though, if Lionsgate is really going to go all out like Anchor Bay Entertainment did on the DVD side. I hope so. Nothing lamer than a lame DVD.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Without question, "Resident Evil: Extinction." I enjoyed the first two movies, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Russell Mulcahy takes the franchise.
Recommended DVD Release of the Month: "Commando: The Director's Cut" wil be out September 18th. It's about freaking time on that one. And "Face/Off" has a 2-disc special edition coming out on the 11th. That should be cool.
Classic Movie of the Month: "Hard to Kill" (1990). This, of course, is Steven Seagal's second flick, the one he did right after "Above the Law." Seagal plays Mason Storm, a believed dead cop who wakes up after a seven year coma to find out that his wife and son are dead. As soon as he wakes up, Storm becomes a marked man once again, with heavily armed assassins at every corner. With the help of hot doctor Andy Srewart, as played by Kelly LeBrock, Storm is nursed back to full health so he can track down and bring to justice the men responsible for his family's death. Seagal kicks some serious butt throughout, snapping ankles, breaking wrists, shooting bad guys, and breaking pool cues over people's heads (great scene). The main bad guy, played in three scenes by the great William Sadler, is just a scumbag (love the shotgun into the mouth scene at the end). And then there's the great Branscrombe Richmond, who has always been a great bad guy, playing one of the assassins. Just a great butt kicking action movie, the kind the big studios don't seem to be all that interested in making anymore.
Movie Quote of the Month:
Emil: It takes money to make money. We steal money to buy coke, then sell the coke to make even more money. Capital investment, man.
Guy: Yeah, but my bother making it when we can just steal it?
Emil: No better way to steal money than free enterprise. Smoke?
Guy. No. You know, those things will kill you.
Emil: You want to live forever?
From "Robocop" (1987), the conversation between Emil (Paul McCrane) and that guy with the hat before Murphy (Peter Weller) came in and shot the TV.
Owain J. Brimfield
Biggest Winner of the Month:Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, whose comedy stock has gone through the roof following the success of Knocked Up and this month's successful debut for Superbad. It's nice that cinema now has some top-notch comedians who haven't come from the SNL school.
Biggest Loser of the Month:Hollywood. Keanu in a "reimagining" of The Day the Earth Stood Still? ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING REMAKES, TINSELTOWN. Get some new fuckin' ideas. This really is the last straw. Christ, if you want a science fiction blockbuster there are roughly 17 trillion SF authors who could give you a good premise and a decent screenplay. All you'd need to do then is hire some flavour of the month to be the lead and Robert's your father's brother. If you want to go the other route and have an actual intellectual movie (fat chance I guess, but it does happen occasionally), then get someone to film an Adam Roberts or Iain M. Banks novel.
Biggest Movie News of the Month:Ridley Scott's subtle reveal that a sequel to Blade Runner might be in the works. Stop the presses! A sequel to one of the finest films ever made? They'd have their work cut out… but it might just succeed. The BR universe is rich enough for a dozen stories to be told, and with Scott at the helm it could well pan out as nicely as the original.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month:Besides Shoot ‘Em Up it's looking to be a relatively underwhelming month. Having seen Paul Giamatti's scenery-chewing in the trailer for this one, though, plus having read an interesting feature with director Michael Davis recently, I'm quite excited.
Recommended DVD Release of the Month:Take a look at the final volume in the latest season of Doctor Who, which provides an explosive climax to one of the show's best runs in years. David Tennant has never been better, even if John Simm has (anyone remember The Lakes?)
Classic Movie of the Month:The Goonies, everyone of my generation's favourite movie when they were a child. Except for me, who didn't see it until it recently. Bloody good fun, though. How on earth did I miss out on this classic? It's funny to think that lead child actor Sean Astin and writer Chris Columbus would go on to be involved in two of the biggest fantasy franchises of all time, namely Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
Movie Quote of the Month:"Hey you guys!" - the slightly Elephant Man-esque Sloth announces his presence in, yes, The Goonies. if you've seen it, you know how to say the line.
Jason Chamberlain
Biggest Winner of the Month:Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen for the monster success of Superbad. And not only is it a blockbuster, it kicks ass. Some comedies have funny premises, or one or two funny characters. Superbad? I was laughing my ass off every five months, and so was everybody else in the theatre. Not only that, but the characters are SO relatable (though I aspire to the greatness of McLovin, I saw a lot of myself in Evan) and there's even a heartfelt message about friendship buried beneath the sex talk and booze runs.
Biggest Loser of the Month: Fast and Furious 4 has not only been greenlit, it's being fast tracked to beat the strike next year. So are a lot of other movies.
Biggest loser? All of us.
Biggest Movie News of the Month: The rumours keep flying about the impending strikes by the actors, directors and writers guilds, meaning studios are panicking and rushing films of all sorts into production. That is bad, bad news... a lot of movies are crappy at the best of times, now we'll have to endure a lot of crappIER movies, and even worse, crappy movies that given the proper time and care could have been very good.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Bit of a slow month after the blockbuster fest of the summer, but I'll take Shoot Em Up. Looks like the perfect hard boiled action flick!
Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Both Robot Chicken and Family Guy have new sets out this month. That's enough to keep you laughing all month and beyond.
Classic Movie of the Month: Shanghai Noon (2000)- Maybe this movie isn't old enough to be considered a classic, but with the news about Owen Wilson I wanted to shout out one of my favourite films of his. Featuring Wilson as fast talking, completely inept cowboy Roy O Bannon and Jackie Chan as the "Shanghai Kid", it's an action comedy set in the wild west. What more can you want? A sequel, Shanghai Knights, followed in 2003, and I always hoped they would finish the trilogy. Hopefully Wilson can get well and get back to making great movies like this one.
Movie Quote of the Month:
"Yippee-ki-yay mother fucker!"- John Mclaine gives Han Gruber a classic send off in Die Hard.
Trevor Snyder
Biggest Winner of the Month:TIE: Bourne Ultimatum/Superbad. Isn't August supposed to kind of suck when it comes to big movie releases? I guess Hollywood didn't get the memo this year, because this time we got two of the summer's best movies. The Bourne Ultimatum kept the series' winning streak alive. There's no question about it anymore, the Bourne series is now officially the greatest action franchise of the modern era, and probably one of the top 3 of all time. Meanwhile, Superbad lived up to the months of pre-release hype, winning over both critics and audiences, and cementing Judd Apatow's position as the current king of the American comedy film.
Biggest Loser of the Month: The Emmys. Ladies and gentleman, joining the ranks of such great past Emmy hosts as Garry Shandling, Ellen Degeneres, and Conan O'Brien, allow us to present…Ryan Seacrest?? It's not like I've taken the Emmys seriously in the last few years anyways, given their propensity for ignoring the truly deserving shows (Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars). But announcing Seacrest as the new MC pretty much signals a new low. Oh well, at least I know I won't have to tape it this year and fast forward to the funny bits, like I usually did when the host actually had talent.
Biggest Movie News of the Month: Normally, I would say the official announcement of Stephen Sommers as the director on G.I. Joe, as any real news on that highly-anticipated film is a pretty big dead. But, I'd say Owen Wilson's suicide attempt kind of blows that one out of the water, huh? Maybe it's not officially "movie news," per se, unless you consider the potential impact on his movie career (he's already been dropped from the cast of Tropic Thunder). Still, in a summer full of celebrity scandals and shocking news stories, this one is by far the most surprising.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: The cheesy movie lover in me says Resident Evil: Extinction, but the movie snob in me says Eastern Promises. I'll give it to Promises, if only because A History of Violence was my favorite movie of 2005, and I'm really hoping Cronenberg and Mortensen can bring the goods again.
Recommended DVD Release of the Month: I'm looking forward to picking up the first season of 30 Rock, but the real treat this month is MGM's Scream Legends Collection: Vincent Price, a five-disc set which collects seven classic Price films including my two personal favorites, The Abominable Dr. Phibes & Dr. Phibes Rises Again, as well as The Witchfinder General, arguably Price's finest performance (for those of you wondering, the other films in the set are Tales of Terror, Madhouse, Theater of Blood, and Twice Told Tales). There's also a bonus disc with new featurettes on Price, and all for a pretty affordable price ($39.95). For classic horror fans (or at least the ones who don't already own these films), this is a must-buy.
Classic Movie of the Month: In light of Owen Wilson's "troubles," let's cut him slack and instead focus on the good times; specifically, Bottle Rocket, the hilarious crime-film that signaled not only his arrival, but also his brother Luke and director Wes Anderson. All it took was one viewing of this flick back in 1996 to know that these guys were new talents worth keeping an eye on. And it was definitely Owen (who also co-wrote with Anderson) who stole the show as Dignan, one of the most incompetent, yet endearing crooks in movie history.
Movie Quote of the Month:
"On the run from Johnny Law... ain't no trip to Cleveland." – Dignan (Owen Wilson), in Bottle Rocket
Dave Tomlinson
Biggest Winner of the Month:Tomlinson: No doubt here, Superbad is your winner. Don't get me wrong, I dug Knocked Up but bad put it to shame. Perhaps it was my own trip through high school as a self processed nerd, but I felt like I could relate to these guys better. Bourne was pretty good too.
Biggest Loser of the Month:Tomlinson: War. On paper it sounded so good. You take Jet Li and Jason Statham… let them beat the shit out of each other. And it started off promisingly enough, but the end is such a kick in the balls that I really couldn't enjoy anything about this flick. Plus the two only have one fight and it's only about 5 minutes long. Lame.
Biggest Movie News of the Month: Tomlinson: Hey, even the slimmest chance that Peter Jackson is coming back for The Hobbit is good enough for me. Anything less and New Line is just shooting themselves in the foot, so lets get it done boys.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: Tomlinson: Tough choice. Whereas the last few months have had one or two blow away blockbusters, September is being defined by a handful of smaller flicks. Shoot ‘em Up, Resident Evil, 3:10 to Yuma, Eastern Promises and then of course The Kingdom at the end of the month. How am I supposed to pick between all those?!
Recommended DVD Release of the Month: Tomlinson: If you haven't caught It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX, then by all means pick up the DVD next week. It's prrobably the funniest show on TV these days, and maybe in the last 5 years or so. Really only South Park or Arrested Development come to mind in being in the same league of genius humor. I'm going to try and get a review up next week, look for it.
Classic Movie of the Month: Tomlinson: I dunno, go check out A History of Violence to see Cronenbergs last flick, a great little character study. Then go see Eastern Promises which looks… wait for it… promising! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.
Movie Quote of the Month: Tomlinson: "I hate this place! This zoo, this prison this reality, whatever you want to call it! I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell… if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it! I can taste your stink and every time I do I feel as though I've been somehow infected by it. It's repulsive, isn't it? I must get out of here, I must get free. And in this mind is the key, my key. Once Zion is destroyed there's no need for me to be here don't you understand?! I need the codes to get inside Zion and you're going to tell me how. Or you're going to die!" Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) in The Matrix
Arnold Furious
Biggest Winner of the Month:Greg Mottola. First time director and his debut film sits atop the box office chart for two weeks. Superbad looked good during a summer of forgettable comedies and kid flicks. The result was interest across the board and good word of mouth. I wouldn't be shocked if it became a cult classic to boot and made a tonne on the DVD market.
Biggest Loser of the Month: Total Film. Top 100 Directors feature? You cocksuckers. And after that affront they go one better and put Peter Jackson in the top 10. I'm sure no one will exactly agree with my list but outside of the most markish mark for Lord of the Rings there's no one that would put Jackson in the top 10. And a guy like Soderbergh in the top 20. Foreshame!
Biggest Movie News of the Month: George Lucas looks to be pushing ahead with his WW2 film called Red Tails. He's gone ahead and hired a writer. The concern being that he's more interested in the special effects than the storyline but then the last time he wrote something himself people weren't impressed.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: I don't know why I bother answering this. It's like the kiss of death for a film. Last month I brought up how interesting Invasion should be based on the rocky film making process and I was completely wrong. So this month I've just scrolled down and picked out my favourite director with a film out this month; Ang Lee. His film Lust, Caution should be well worth a look.
Recommended DVD Release of the Month: This Is England. Yobbish 80's nostalgia giving the reverse V sign to anyone that looks at it funny followed by a Glasgow Kiss. Get in!
Classic Movie of the Month: Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring. After sticking my oar into Peter Jackson above I feel a little guilty and thought I'd share my enjoyment of this modern classic. Great pacing. Especially considering how weighty some of the early parts of the book are. The fine introductory sequence is a great way to set things up and it's a real visual feast without the process of dumbening that frequently assaults Hollywood flicks. Wait, dumbening isn't spelt like that.
Movie Quote of the Month: "I am McLovin" – Christopher Mintz-Plasse provides several million teenagers with something to shout at him for the next decade or so in his film debut "Superbad".
Chad Webb
Biggest Winner of the Month:All I can think of is Superbad this month. If any film qualifies as a sleeper hit, it is this one. Getting #1 at the box office 2 weeks in a row is not too shabby, and I guarantee it will be an even bigger success on DVD.
Biggest Loser of the Month: William Shatner is my choice. Leonard Nimoy is selected to reprise his iconic role in the upcoming Star Trek XI, but Shatner, the one and only Captain Kirk, is snubbed. This is not a decent break for Shatner. It sucks actually.
Biggest Movie News of the Month: Obviously the looming strike is big news, but for me the rumor that Peter Jackson and New Line could perhaps mend old wounds is exciting as hell. I hope something works out.
Your Most Anticipated Movie of the Month: This is a toss up between In the Valley of Elah and Eastern Promises. I'm anxious to see what Haggis has in store for us, and I love David Cronenberg. I can't choose just one.
Recommended DVD Release of the Month: As usual, a number of releases catch my attention. Grindhouse: Death Proof comes out, as well as Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, and Knocked Up. All three are definite buys.
Classic Movie of the Month: This month my choice is Akira, the groundbreaking Japanese anime film from Katsuhiro Otomo. To briefly explain the plot, it involves a secret military project and a biker gang in Neo-Tokyo after World War III. This movie really blew me away when I first saw it. The fact that the animation is this glorious in 1988 is astounding. In addition, the plot was very complex, intriguing, and absorbing to watch unfold. The futuristic themes, combined with the philosophy and the action result in a masterwork that encompasses everything an epic should. Out of all the anime pictures I have seen, this definitely ranks up there with the best. It made the genre what it is today. It is a classic in every sense of the word.
Movie Quote of the Month: From Akira - Kiyoko: "The future is not a straight line. There are many different pathways. We must try to decide that future for ourselves."
Coming Attractions
September 7th
3:10 to Yuma
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster
The Plot: Small-time rancher Dan Evans (Bale) agrees to transport captured outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) to a nearby town until the daily train can take him to Yuma for trial. Holed up in the same hotel, the two men engage in a battle of wills as the hours tick by ...
Kristopowitz: This looks like a pretty decent action packed western based on the previews. But for some reason I get the feeling that this movie isn't going to be the "gritty" old school "shoot them all" western that the preview makes it out to be. There's going to be a whole bunch of "acting" getting in the way of the action.
Furious: Great cast with a fine director. There's every chance this will be a worthwhile remake. Originally the story was written by Elmore Leonard so you know it has a pedigree. Meanwhile Mangold has previously directed Walk the Line so you know he's good at drawing good performanes. Bale is on fire right now so even playing the good guy shouldn't slow this one down. I look forward to a renewed sense of energy from Crowe who has the chance to duel with Bale in acting terms. Has great potential to be the best film of the month and good box office could hopefully help bring back the Western as a viable commodity.
Brimfield: Bale did ‘battle of wills' to great effect with Hugh Jackman in The Prestige, so teaming him up with an actor on equal footing should reap the rewards (even if Crowe as an outlaw is a little bit obvious casting).
Chamberlain:This sounds pretty cool... I'm interested to see Bale and Crowe play off each other.
Snyder: Nice to see the western making a comeback, and with Mangold, Crowe, and Bale, it's in pretty good hands. Watching Bale and Crowe play off of one another should be worth the admission price alone.
Tomlinson: As I've stated elsewhere I'm usually not much for westerns, they have to be really good for me to get into them. Tombstone, Seraphim Falls the list of Westerns I've really enjoyed is short. I'm hoping to add another to that list here, as this looks really promising, with a great cast and intriguing story to boot.
Webb: I trust that James Mangold will not deliver a total dud of a remake, but I do have doubts. I loved the original, and from the trailer, this new version could be good, but if the studio prefers action over drama, problems will arise. It can't be all that bad with Crowe and Bale as the leads can it?
Shoot ‘Em Up
Director: Michael Davis
Stars: Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci, Paul Giamatti
The Plot: A loner who goes by the name Mr. Smith (Owen) pacts with an unlikely ally (Belluci) to protect a newborn baby from a determined criminal (Giamatti).
Kristopowitz: On one hand this movie looks like a lot of fun. And on the other it looks like one of those pretentious action movie send ups that big stars like to get involved with for some reason, perhaps to get the critics who usually don't like action movies to crap their pants with how "original" and "hip and edgy" it is. I'm hoping that it isn't a total mugfest and it's an actual, you know, good action movie. I'm hoping.
Furious: This looks stupid and horrible. Giamatti looks like he's totally hamming it up. On the upside lots of things will get shot and Monica Bellucci is smoking hot. Just a pity she can't seem to select English language movies that I want to see.
Brimfield: This looks fantastic. An inspired cast, a rumoured twelve gunfight sequences (allegedly each showing off something we've never seen before) and a cameo from Chris Jericho. Quite frankly, all it needs is some gratuitous nudity and zombies, and all the boxes are ticked.
Chamberlain: Another movie that will show how awesome a James Bond Clive Owen would have made. Looks badass.
Snyder: This reminds me of something like Crank, the kind of balls-to-the-wall, doesn't care about logic and proud of it, crazy-ass action flick I love. The real kicker here, though, is the presence of world-class actors Owen and Giamatti, which brings a whole other level of awesomeness to the table.
Tomlinson: The title for this could easily have been Crank with better actors which is fine with me as I really dug that flick. I mean how can you get better than gun fight in mid air? Plus here's hoping for a little full frontal nudity from Monica Belluci. Who's with me?
Webb: I admit, an action comedy with Paul Giamatti and Clive Owen could be a lot of fast paced fun, but the title just bothers me. Is that the best they could come up with? The director, Michael Davis, has done nothing I am familiar with, but I do know he wrote Double Dragon, if that says anything to you.
