Frickin' Eh Movie News 11.17.07: Lack of Creativity Edition
Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 11.17.2007
Game, Star Trek, and Four Christmases casting, Holy Rollers, 21, and the LXG!
I was reading up a bit on Beowulf in the Journal on Friday and found the curious point that many critics are making: that the special effects are new and interesting, but can't be a replacement for real actors. Personally, I think that's a crock of bull. While I haven't seen the movie yet, from what I've seen on commercials and pictures, it has a mythological style to it, but the core of the movie is going to be the same, and in fact will most likely look better because everything will look of the same style, instead of having a live person standing in front of a CG beast (which the final scene of the second Pirates movie proved looks just plain ridiculous).
But I digress. Some people (namely critics) can never be content with anything outside of their small realm. So let's forget that, and everybody go out and see Beowulf! And now, on with the news!
Dreamworks and IMAX Team Up
IMAX Corporation and DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. today announced an agreement to release the studio's first three 3D motion pictures worldwide in IMAX® 3D. The IMAX 3D releases will include Monsters vs. Aliens in March 2009, How to Train Your Dragon in November 2009 and Shrek Goes Fourth in May 2010. A fourth DreamWorks Animation title, Kung Fu Panda, will be released in IMAX's 2D format in June 2008. The IMAX 3D titles are expected to be among the first presented with IMAX's digital 3D projection system, which is scheduled to be launched beginning June 2008. This is IMAX's first multiple 3D picture deal with a Hollywood studio. The 3D titles also will be simultaneously released to conventional digital 3D theatres. Paramount Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the pictures.
Well, it's about time IMAX became something more than just a big screen for elementary school field trips (ah, good times . . .). Unfortunately, two out of these four sound absolutely ridiculous and the other two don't sound all that interesting. But at least it's Dreamworks and Paramount who will be raking in the cash instead of Disney and Sony.
Ludacris Gets Some Game
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges (Fred Claus, Crash, 2 Fast 2 Furious) and stuntwoman Zoe Bell (Death Proof) have joined the cast of Lionsgate's upcoming untitled sci-fi action-thriller from Crank writers/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
Previously titled Game, the film takes place in the near future, when mind-control technology has taken society by storm. In this dystopian world, the ultimate online simulation environment is humans remote-controlling other humans in mass-scale, multiplayer online gaming.
Gerard Butler plays Kable, the No. 1-ranked warrior in the highest-rated game, called "Slayers." With his every move tracked by millions, Kable's ultimate challenge is to regain his identity and bring down the system that has imprisoned him.
In the film, Ludacris is a part of Alison Lohman's resistance group called HUMANZ that is protesting the way that the prisoners are being used as part of these video games. We have no further info on the character played by Bell, although one would expect her to be heavily involved in the battle sequences.
First off, seems kind of silly that they drop the name after all that nice artwork they released a couple weeks ago. Secondly, Ludacris? Really? Talk about a step down in quality. And, as the blurb points out, Bell had better be in some good fight scenes, seeing that she's a stuntwoman. Use what you've got. So, in the case of Ludacris . . . okay, he's not really suited to anything other than bad rapping. Oh no . . .
More Star Trek Casting!
Chris Hemsworth and Clifton Collins Jr. have joined the cast of Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.
Hemsworth (first confirmed by IESB.net) will play Captain Kirk's father, George Kirk. Collins will play Ayel, the cohort and general to Nero, played by Eric Bana.
The duo joins the previously cast Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Winona Ryder, Rachel Nichols and Jennifer Morrison.
This thing has got to be fully cast by now. I mean, seriously. Who else could this thing possibly entail? Unless we start naming off random roles in the credits, like Officer #7. Now that it's filming, though, it should mostly be done. This may be the last time in a while that you see that shiny new badge! But don't hold your breath.
LaBute and Hackford Are Next Door
New Line has hired Neil LaBute to write and Taylor Hackford to direct The Woman Next Door, a remake of the 1981 Francois Truffaut film La Femme d'a cote.
The film marks the first writing assignment LaBute has taken on for another director. LaBute won't begin writing until the WGA strike is resolved, but he couldn't resist Hackford's offer, which was made after the helmer and wife Helen Mirren saw LaBute's play "Wrecks."
"This is a lesser-known Truffaut film about ex-lovers, long separated, who suddenly find themselves living next door to each other," LaBute said. "Each is married. Neither tells their spouse they know each other, and it's a collision course into disaster as they rekindle a volatile relationship, with great passion and suspense. ... Taylor said if he was ever going to remake a movie, this was the one he could do something with."
A "lesser-known Truffaut flim"? I've never even heard the name! Plus it's French, and since I cannot speak French, and live in Alberta (where knowing French is almost a punishable offense) I have never heard of it. Nonetheless, it sounds like a tense romantic drama that has its nose way too high in the air for someone like me.
Duvall Attends Four Christmases
New Line has cast Robert Duvall for the holiday comedy Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon.
The studio is planning on a December production start for the project, which is set up at Spyglass with Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman producing.
Vaughn and Witherspoon also are producing the film, in which a couple struggles to visit all four divorced parents on Christmas Day.
Seth Gordon is directing from a script by the writing team of Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson.
I'm indifferent to Witherspoon and I think Vaughn is one of the few talented comedy actors around nowadays, so bringing aboard an old faithful like Duvall should add a bit of weight to an otherwise passable film. It's a good concept, though – it reminds me of when George thought his parents were going to divorce on Seinfeld. And I always thought holiday movies were made halfway through the year and then released at Christmas, not started one Christmas and released the next. But what do I know? I just write about the movies, I don't make them.
Eisenberg and Bartha to Be Holy Rollers
Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha are set to star as drug-dealing Hasidic Jews in Kevin Asch's comic drama Holy Rollers.
The film is ripped from true-crime headlines and follows an impressionable youth (Eisenberg) from an Orthodox Brooklyn community. He's lured into becoming an Ecstasy dealer by a friend (Bartha) with ties to an Israeli drug cartel. Newcomer Danny Abeckaser is set to play the owner of a club where they do their decidedly unkosher business.
Set in 1999, Antonio Macia's screenplay was loosely inspired by real-life 1990s-era crimes where Hasidim were recruited as mules to smuggle drugs into the U.S. Production is slated to begin in the spring in New York.
Holy Rollers marks the feature directorial debut for Asch, who worked at production outfit the Shooting Gallery and went on to produce the feature Point & Shoot.
The brilliance of this film is the fact that the entire thing will be taken from true crime. That's just a cool concept. Look at Blow, look at how good that was, and that was all (roughly) true. I must say, it sounds good. The only thing I worry about is this becoming one of those movies that drug addicts will swear by and recommend to everyone (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Reservoir Dogs, etc), but someone not on drugs just sits there and goes "Huh?"
Burton Bringing Alice and Frankenweenie to the 3D Screen
Tim Burton is pairing up with Disney to direct two 3-D films, Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie.
Variety says the two-movie deal with Walt Disney Studios begins with Alice in Wonderland, which will combine performance-capture imagery, currently seen in Beowulf, with live-action footage.
The script by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast) is based on the Lewis Carroll classic.
Burton, who is wrapping Sweeney Todd at Paramount and DreamWorks, will tackle Alice in Wonderland early next year, with production set to wrap by May.
After "Alice," Burton will helm and produce Frankenweenie, based on his 1984 short film about a pet dog brought back to life by his loyal owner. The movie will be shot in stop-motion animation and shown in digital 3-D.
While Tim Burton is definitely a twisted, strange, disturbed individual, you can't deny he's got directorial skills. That said, any remake of Alice in Wonderland will draw comparison to the original, which could hurt its critical success. Now Frankenweenie, on the other hand, does not have the background of Alice nor the general story appeal on hearing the brief description. It kind of sounds like his last stop-motion film, Corpse Bride. That said, Burton has a certain magic that can turn things into gold, so here's hoping he works his magic again.
Jungle Cruise from Disney Sounds Like Refried Beans (Figuratively Speaking)
Box Office Mojo got a chance to talk to Walt Disney Pictures Chairman Dick Cook and asked him about the Jungle Cruise movie, which will be based on the Disneyland ride much like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise is. Here's a clip from the article:
There will be a family involved. The skipper will play a very important role. He'll be more of an Indiana Jones kind of guy, with a little Jack Sparrow in him, who's going to be able to take this family on an adventure that they never dreamed they were going to be on when they first got on board. In true Disney fashion, it will definitely have the adventure and the intensity—but also the heart and the fun. We hope we have a good outline of where we want to go and what we want to do with it in the next year.
I only mention this because I think it's a bad idea. Disney has a bad habit of trying to desperately rehash successful movies. Already, from this brief description, they are already planning to rip off two huge movies. I loved Pirates, but part of the greatness of them (especially the first) was the fact that we'd never seen anything like Jack Sparrow, and he was so unique. Now they intend to take that success and transform it into a new hybrid character who will ultimately most likely fail. A round of applause for Disney, the Microsoft of movies.
Blackjack!!!
I found this trailer, sans article, on comingsoon.net, and it looks pretty interesting. I remember hearing this story a couple years back, and while I'm positive it didn't happen exactly like it does in the movie (it does say ‘inspired' in the opening) it's still interesting. 21 is about MIT students who gamble to win their tuition, but end up taking it too far. Spacey and Fishburne fit their roles perfectly, and the others seem to handle their roles pretty good. This will be an original movie to keep your eyes out for when it comes out in March 2008.
Rapid-Fire: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003, starring Sean Connery, Peta Wilson, Stuart Townsend)
High on the list of ridiculous but enjoyable movies comes this gem, a movie that is simultaneously fun and frustrating. I present:
The LXG (I've decided to get with the times and acronomize this bastard) is a movie which seems to pride itself on its literary background, but makes up for that sophisticated side by far overshooting the reaches of credibility and logic. There are several ‘clever' points in the movie where the characters use lines from famous works in their ordinary conversation, giving it that witty feel. And of course, all of the characters are drawn from literature, some more faithfully than others.
The good part of this movie is the action. And there is a lot of it. Most of it is over-the-top, but good, too. Nemo's fighting is a tad unrealistic, I have to say. Other than that, it's a good, solid action movie. It also manages to find a good balance of humour with action, mostly thanks to Skinner, but Quatermain also gets some of the goodness.
The bad part (and it's an infuriatingly bad part for someone like me) is the absolute ridiculousness of some parts of the movie. The Nautilus is simply impossible. Watching it again, I see now how it maybe could work, but there is no way in hell that it could pop out of the water and stay upright when it's that high and thin in comparison with its width. I'm sorry, it's not happening. As well, as my father pointed out, the car is not only impossibly ahead of its time, but also happens to be invincible and just happens to be in convertible mode when Sawyer needs to shoot a flare out of the top.
This movie can be enjoyed if you can ignore the infuriatingly silly parts and enjoy the action and wit. It's one of those movies that I expect a lot of people hate and others, while maybe not loving it, will like it.
Closing Time . . .
Well, time to close 'er up for this week. Watch How I Met Your Mother this week - the Slap Countdown runs out Monday!
