The UBS Evening Movie News 11.01.07
Posted by Arnold Furious on 11.01.2007
The “Replacement Anchor” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm Arnold F. Furious, as you may have noticed George H. Sirois is on vacation this week celebrating his wedding. Everyone at the station wishes him our very best. In the meantime I'll be taking over as lead anchor for a two week stint. You may have previously seen me flashing my news credentials as a substitute for Ben Moser. Always the bridesmaid…
TOP STORY
The first day of mediated talks between the WGA and studio reps seemed less acrimonious than some past sessions, but strike prognosticators were still working overtime in Hollywood on Tuesday.
The parties didn't break until after 6 p.m. and agreed to have at it again today, with the 10 a.m. session in Encino the last before the guild's contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers expires.
Yet even though WGA brass is authorized to call a strike at any time after midnight, they won't do so until at least after they hold a membership meeting 7 p.m. Thursday downtown at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There also appeared to be a gathering consensus that negotiations might stretch into next week.
"Both sides worked on modifications to their proposals, (and) the guild indicated that they were preparing a comprehensive package and would be ready to present it tomorrow," AMPTP president Nick Counter said after the latest bargaining session. "We are committed to a fair, reasonable and sensible agreement that is beneficial for everyone. However, opportunities do not come without challenges.
"We will not agree to any proposals that impose unreasonable restrictions and unjustified costs," he said. "We will not ignore the challenges of today's economic realities, the shifts in audience taste and viewing habits and the unpredictability of still-evolving technology."
The lattermost comment seemed a clear reference to emerging Internet-based businesses, but it was unclear whether the parties had discussed the WGA's demand for greater compensation from those revenue streams. The other big question that hasn't been discussed in much detail involves the guild's demand for more lucrative DVD residuals.
The WGA put out a statement late Tuesday saying "No significant progress" had been made in the latest session.
Interested observers throughout the region -- from top execs and creative professionals to location caterers and even the corner dry cleaners -- are scrutinizing eleventh-hour developments with keen interest. No industryite is without an opinion on the prospect of the first big WGA strike in 19 years.
"It sure feels like it, sadly," one highly placed insider said. "In my mind, it always comes down to the fact that most of the membership doesn't work anyway, and they get to be just the same as everybody else for a day or a week or a month or more if there's a strike. They get to walk a picket line and vent their anger."
But some believe that cooler heads might prevail.
"The guys who have been around a long time don't believe there will be a strike because it's too soon and would be bad business for the WGA," a veteran negotiations-watcher said. "But the younger ones, especially the agents, say we're dealing with this guy (WGA West president) Patric Verrone who is seemingly a shoot-from-the hip, untested guy."
Verrone insisted Monday that he remains hopeful a strike can be averted, with the matter hinging on "what kind of offer is on the table at expiration."
Most specifically, management must do something to move along discussions of the Internet and DVD residuals, he stressed.
WGA East president Michael Winship also displayed a go-slow attitude on a writers strike.
"Winston Churchill said, 'To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war,' " Winship said."I can get behind that."
Recalled John McLean, former exec director of the WGAW: "In 2001, everybody in town thought we were going on strike, and I knew for a week that we weren't. But there were a couple of things to tie up."
The last big work stoppage for writers came in 1988. That's when a WGA strike shut down Hollywood for five months; it followed by three years a two-week writers walkout.
Estimates of regional economic losses from the '88 strike ran as high as $500 million. The industry impact was so pervasive that many suggested afterward that neither side had won in the end -- which negotiating vets say is often the case with protracted labor strife.
"The 1985 WGA strike was a strike that never should have occurred," said Tarzana attorney Stan Landes, then an assistant executive director at the guild. "There weren't really any issues (except for) the issue of producers' gross and how it should be defined. And that should have been arbitrated."
Yet more militant elements of guild leadership insisted on a work stoppage, he said, and the town shut down for two weeks. "It was disastrous for the guild, and the WGA was forced to capitulate on most of its demands," Landes said.
Meanwhile, even highly placed labor-community sources said they have been kept in the dark about the WGA's strategy on a possible work stoppage.
"They've kept that very close to the vest ... which pisses me off, to tell you the truth," one such source said.
Theoretical strike preparations abound -- from a war room being established at WGAW headquarters in Los Angeles to a call for strike captains on the guild's Web site.
"Every guild member needs to be involved and informed," the site notes. "To do that, we need more WGAW picket/contract captains. Captains communicate with fellow members, identify and recruit other member leaders and mobilize fellow members to participate in actions to support the campaign for a good and fair contract."
WGA reps passed out informational fliers Tuesday to employees entering studio lots.
Landes said the WGA has shown broad solidarity since its negotiations with the AMPTP began July 16.
"The difference between 1985 and now is that in those days, people who worked in television didn't see any upside in the videocassette controversy of the time," the former WGAW exec recounted. "Now they do, as well as with Internet downloads and so on. So the guild is potentially more united than ever before, primarily because the TV people are now receiving residuals for DVDs."
The guild seems to be taking a hard line on new-media compensation because rank and file has never considered its formula for home video residuals fair, he added.
"If the guild is taking a hard line, it's largely because of the tough treatment they've gotten from this management group in the past," Landes said. "You know what they say, 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.'"
The studios' strike preparations also seem to be well advanced, having long ago accelerated film and TV productions while also stocking up on written materials.
"The studios have so much spec scripts stockpiled that they don't have to buy another script for a year," estimated Frederick James, whose James Co. manages literary talent including Corey Bleekman ("Free Willy") and other screenwriters.
It worries me that both sides are so rigid here. That's never good news when it comes to getting work done. There always has to be flexibility. With studios stockpiling scripts it means anyone writing anything in the next year is effectively going to get nowhere with it. That could be disastrous. Just because they have a lot of scripts doesn't mean they're any good. Meanwhile if the WGA is on strike does that mean all these talented writers are just going to stop writing altogether for as long as this takes? Last time they went on strike it was made clear that the industry wasn't going to be held to ransom but the only person who'll end up paying when this goes south is the paying customer. Chances are we'll get films rushed into production therefore damaging production values. We'll get scripts going into production unfinished. We'll get poor quality films as a result. And who wants that? No one. The paying customer will end up feeling ripped off and the film industry is going to be hurt by that. On the upside this strike could provide new film makers with an unusual opportunity. Chances are that during this strike the best films out there are going to be low budget affairs that didn't need screenwriters. Things written by first time directors. These movies are going to get great press for superior scripts and hopefully might create more awareness of the range of films available to the public. If Joe Esterhas starts re-writing scripts then I'm staying at home.
Credit: Carl DiOrio & Hollywood Reporter.com.
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
American Gangster: In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country in the coffins of soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.
Early reviews have been very strong. Comparisons have been rife with other gangster movies like Scarface or the Godfather. Richard Roeper gave it thumbs up. Kirk Honeycutt called it "smooth and smart". Rolling Stone called it an "awards contender". I think the producers would only really want Ebert to endorse it as well and then they'd be laughing. It's already a critical hit. Which is important.
I personally love this kind of film. Gritty gangster movies are bread and butter for my cinematic love. Goodfellas is my favourite film. The cast for American Gangster is one of the those great casts that should perform under pressure. Having both Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington is a double whammy of awesome casting. Two very underrated actors are in support; Chiwetel Ejiofor and Josh Brolin. If all four turn in strong performances and Ridley Scott keeps the momentum going then it's a winner straight out of the box. It's Mr Moser's pick for release of the weekend and clearly it's mine too. Along with a lot of other peoples.
Consider this the Furious seal of approval. Here's the trailer;
Martian Child: Crushed by the death of his fiancée, a writer (Cusack) adopts a 6-year-old boy in an effort to create a family. The boy, who desperately wants a father, is troubled by the idea that he's from Mars.
I'm torn with this one. I like John Cusack a great deal but I find he makes films I'm not interested in more often than not. If he stuck along the lines of Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity then we'd be laughing. As it stands I find most of his films disappointing concepts. This being no different. The cute kid and the heavy sentimentality here is enough for me to avoid it.
Bee Movie: Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us.
Early reviews have this one penned as a stinker. Currently sitting at 20% fresh on Rottentomatoes.com. I had a little hope for the film because the trailer is quite good but I've never liked Jerry Seinfeld and I found that when I was watching Cars I was put off by Owen Wilson's voice. I imagine the same would be true of Seinfeld during this. Bee Movie is a kids film. Nothing more. Next.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead: When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife hurtling towards a shattering climax.
Somewhat disappointed this didn't get a wider release. It stars Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and was directed by Sidney Lumet (yes THAT Sidney Lumet). Lumet hasn't had a big hit since the late 80's but that doesn't mean his powers are diminished. It just means a lack of good scripts. It seems he's rushed into a number of projects and not had a lot of support. Which is shocking when you consider what he's capable of; Network for one, Serpico, 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon. Lumet was pretty much the inspiration for George's UBS concept column. The fact he has a potentially great movie out seems lost on the studios and the hype men who just look at numbers and Lumet hasn't scored big in a long time. Many reviews are calling it a return to form for the 83 year old director. Sadly this doesn't get a wide release but if it's on near you it could well be worth a look. It could well get a wider release, or a re-release even if it hits the awards as big as it could do. Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei are all being tipped for a possible Oscar nod.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
DVD NEWS
Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about the horrendous time everyone had making Apocalypse Now, is being released. Comparable to Terry Gilliam's disaster filming his Don Quixote story captured on Lost in La Mancha. Only Hearts of Darkness captures a real descent into insanity. That of Francis Ford Coppola. Apocalypse Now had a series of disasters during it's making including Harvey Keitel being removed as the star after 2 weeks, Brando turning up in horrible shape and not knowing either his lines nor the subject material, director Francis Coppola lost 100lbs during filming, Martin Sheen had a heart attack, a typhoon destroyed all the sets and the 6 week shoot ended up taking 16 months. Now THAT is a troubled shoot.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Charlie Wilson's War
As if Tom Hanks didn't have enough Oscars (currently he has two) here's another one lined up for the taking. Charlie Wilson's War has a fine director and a great cast. Most folks who know movies and trends and awards are tipping this to be big come Oscar night next year. Might as well get in on the ground level and check out this trailer, which thankfully shows it'll be a serious film but tinged with a fine sense of humour.
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
Consider New York escaped. :
Before they shot a frame of film, Gerard Butler escaped "Escape From New York," the remake of the John Carpenter film.
Right after his turn as the Spartan in "300," Butler made a deal to play Snake Plissken in a film bought at auction by New Line. He left for creative differences. New Line is persevering: studio has brought Jonathan Mostow in to rewrite, with an option to direct.
Butler just began production on Lakeshore's "Game," which Lionsgate will distribute. He'll next be seen starring in the Richard LaGravanese-directed "P.S., I Love You," the Guy Ritchie-directed "Rock N Rolla," and Fox-Walden's "Nim's Island."
I know most folks around the 411 network aren't fond of the idea of remakes. Especially those relating to John Carpenter. The director produced a series of high quality films between the late 70's and late 80's including Halloween, They Live, The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China and Starman. Recently Hollywood has developed an urge to start remaking Carpenter's back catalogue. Already Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween and The Fog (2005) have been redone and now Escape from New York joins the list. I can understand an urge to remake a horror film. That's ok even if it doesn't pan out. I can understand Precinct 13 as the original had virtually no budget. I can even understand the Fog because it's an easy film to knock out. But Escape from New York? How can you improve on Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken? Or the low budget work they did on making the city look destroyed. Gerald Butler clearly saw he'd be in line for a huge slating if he even attempted to recreate one of the 1980's most beloved cinematic badasses. The remake is still on and should be released in 2009 although it's unlikely to be a success without a star in the lead. Keep in mind the original had a great supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton and Lee Van Cleef. Good luck finding a cast that strong prepared to sully the memory of a fine film. Especially after the poor showing from the other Carpenter remakes. I don't see what's wrong with re-releasing classics so people can get to see them at the cinema again, which would easily make more money and save angry writers time and energy berating the stupidity and unoriginality of movie studios. Just sayin'.
Credit: Variety.com
Spidey 4 scribe named:
James Vanderbilt has been brought on board to pen the screenplay for "Spider-Man 4" for Columbia.
Laura Ziskin is returning as producer of the billion-dollar franchise, though no deals have been made to bring back series director Sam Raimi or stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.
Plot points are being closely guarded by the studio, though the intent is to scale back the story to include only two villains instead of repeating the "Spider-Man 3" model. The third installment, which grossed $336.5 million domestically this year, saw Spidey battle a busy triumvirate of evildoers in the forms of Venom, Sandman and Goblin and was widely reckoned as overly cumbersome with one too many plot lines.
That is true. Spidey 3 was too messy. Venom was totally excessive and didn't belong in the film at all. Sam Raimi simply didn't like Venom or care for his story so it was a waste of time doing it. Unfortunately armies of fanboys demanded his inclusion and they got what they wanted; an early sub-par Venom who appeared out of place amidst the other villains and managed to wreck the great storylines they had going on as a result.
Spidey 4 is something I'm actually open to though. While it'll need at least a reasonable amount of cast back, specifically Tobey Maguire, and preferably Sam Raimi as director it should have enough appeal to succeed. If they can work around anyone who wants to leave, I'm thinking Kirsten Dunst, then they're onto another winner. Returning to the characters and where their story is going is key to the survival of the franchise. It clearly doesn't need another spotfest like Spidey 3. It needs more J. Jonah Jameson. It needs old school bad guys like the Lizard, who's pretty much lined up as a participant during Spidey 3, and maybe even Kraven the Hunter. The kids will buy into any Spidey movie and the fanboys have had their cravings satisfied. Time to return to the formula that brought the series so much success. Basics.
Vanderbilt brings some interesting pedigree to the table. His previous best work was on this year's Zodiac. Before that he was known as a guy who could get quick results penning Darkness Falls, the Rundown and Basic in quick succession. Given time he can produce goods. Hopefully he'll get plenty of time to work at Spider-Man 4 and revive the franchise. I really hope Raimi and Maguire return as the series wouldn't be half as effective without them.
1. Saw IV - $31,756,764
Total - $ 31,756,764
2. Dan in Real Life - $11,809,445
Total - $11,809,445
3. 30 Days of Night - $6,862,764
Total - $27,480,907
4. The Game Plan - $6,129,720
Total - $76,939,167
5. Why Did I Get Married? - $5,643,899
Total - $47,204,260
6. Michael Clayton - $4,924,374
Total - $28,668,168
7. Gone Baby Gone - $3,817,451
Total - $11,226,975
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D - $3,446,012
Total - $10,100,435
9. We Own the Night - $3,395,012
Total - $25,065,018
10. The Comebacks - $3,371,708
Total - $9,925,268
SEEING AS I COVERED FOR HIM LAST MONTH, HERE'S A PLUG FOR THE RESIDENT DOCTORTHE MOSER!
Ben is a proud part of 411's team of news hounds. Don't get too close though. He goes a little heavy on the Sex Panther.
THE OTHER MOVIE NEWS GUY IS CHAD WEBB, CURRENTLY DECONSTRUCTING AN ALPHABET OF MOVIES.THE WEBBSTER!
He's breaking down the best movies of the alphabet so you don't have to.
IN CASE YOU WERE MISSING GEORGE, READ HIS INTERVIEW WITH STAN BUSH HERE!
AND IT WOULDN'T BE ARNOLD FURIOUS WITHOUT A SELF PLUG AND HERE IT IS!
I'm somewhat the opposite of George. He has problems letting his feelings out. I have problems keeping mine under control. Every column I write is a battle to keep my emotions under control and my swearing to a bare minimum. But that's why I started doing this in the first place. Writing was a way of getting my emotions out so I didn't keep them all bottled up. That's what the Furious Flashbacks and its pre-cursor the Furious Zone were created for. It was a platform for me to rant and shout and let it all out.
I've always been extremely angry but I like the anger. It let's me know I'm still alive. I still care. Without my anger I'd feel somewhat lost. I've been told by several people that alcohol probably shouldn't be my drug of choice because, more often than not, it causes my rants to get bigger and more elaborate. A friend of mine said this week that "get a drink inside him and he thinks he can take the world on". I think that when I'm sober too. I just don't say it. One of my colleagues at work keeps suggesting I smoke more pot with him to try and take the edge off. I think part of the reason why I don't particularly like marijuana is the fact it dulls my anger. I feel less alive. Not caring is just a cardinal sin for me. I'll take my booze and scream at the world.
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.
I suggest you do the same. Make a difference. Donate or volunteer. This is just my suggested charity. There are many others. Don't let apathy rule your world like it does so many others in Western society. Don't say you can't make a difference. Everyone can make a difference.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 37 of The UBS Evening News. I'm Arnold F. Furious, and I'll see you next week!
