Frickin' Eh Movie News 12.09.07: Procrastination Edition
Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 12.09.2007
A double-shot of new trailers, The Dark Knight teases, Snake Eyes is cast for G.I. Joe, and Bond gets an adversary!
Well, the snow has settled and the daytime temperatures have crept slightly above -20 C, which is exciting. This weekend The Golden Compass opened, which looks like it's going to be a great movie. I have a desire to see it. I read the books a long time ago, and I only vaguely remember the polar bear/daemons and all that jazz, but I'm excited about it. I am really hoping it succeeds. Well, on with the show!
Jackson Visits Unfinished Country
Samuel L. Jackson is attached to star in Unfinished Country, screenwriter Mark Wheaton's Training Day-style thriller for Blue Star Pictures and Inferno Entertainment.
The Hollywood Reporter says Jackson plays Elton, the chief administrator of an overcrowded hospital located in the middle of South Africa's violent Soweto ghettos. Elton's methods of treating patients are put into question when a young U.S. medical student arrives to do his residency and the hospital gets caught in the crossfire of local gang warfare.
The fact-based Unfinished Country takes place in the largest hospital in the world, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The film will be shot on location in South Africa.
Samuel L Jackson is a fantastic actor, but this is going to be a slightly more serious role than I'm used to seeing him in. Nevertheless, I expect he will do a great job. The concept seems to be similar to Hotel Rwanda, which is a great movie for its own reasons, so I look forward to this one, too.
Prince Caspian Appears
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media have revealed the new trailer for highly-anticipated The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, coming to theaters on May 16. Again directed by Andrew Adamson, the fantasy based on C.S. Lewis's novel stars Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis, Vincent Grass, Ken Stott, Pierfrancesco Favino, Sergio Castellitto and Liam Neeson.
It's looking good, I must say. I kind of liked Narnia – I always thought it was like a better Lord of the Rings, with kids. This one looks even better than the first – more action, less buildup to the story (since we already know a lot from the first one) and, hopefully, a slightly more mature set of kids (although they were always more enjoyable than other kid movies). This is a good first look at what could be a pretty good movie.
Jolie Goes Undercover
Paramount Pictures has acquired life rights to intelligence operative Kathi Lynn Austin, whose adventures in arms trafficking and terrorism will inspire an action thriller vehicle for Angelina Jolie, reports Variety.
The trade says that Austin, who has most recently worked on contract for the U.N. Security Council, has undertaken field missions in Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and Central America. The drama will focus on a fictional arms dealer inspired by Victor Bout, the shadowy Russian who is considered one of the world's most prolific dealers in illegal munitions.
Media Talent Group's Geyer Kosinski will produce.
The catalyst for the package was Kosinski, who manages Jolie and has looked long and hard for a premise that's rooted in reality and has franchise potential.
This sounds eerily real, and that's kind of creepy. I've never heard of Kathi Lynn Austin, and I don't know what exactly life rights are (or how much they would cost) but it sounds like there could be some very interesting movies made about it. Sounds like the kind of movie my dad could make some conspiracies about. I'm very interested to see how this all turns out.
Bond Gets A Villain
Fox News broke the casting several weeks ago, and now Empire magazine has confirmed it - Mathieu Amalric is the villain in Bond 22.
Amalric has received raves from critics for his role in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
The new James Bond movie, again starring Daniel Craig, will pick up right where Casino Royale ended and is scheduled for a November 7, 2008 release.
And James Bond gets worse and worse every day that passes. Another critically acclaimed actor comes into a franchise that should not have him. Amalric doesn't look all that villainous to me. I had hopes Bond 22 would bounce back and be better than Casino Royale. I was wrong.
Ray Park Becomes A Ninja For G.I. Joe
/FILM has learned that Ray Park (Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, X-Men) has been cast as Snake Eyes in director Stephen Sommers' G.I. Joe, coming to theaters on August 7, 2009. Master ninja Snake Eyes is one of the original members and a key character in "G.I. Joe."
Park joins Sienna Miller in the live-action film based on the Hasbro toys, comic book and TV series.
Paramount is targeting a mid-February start date. Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers) is producing alongside Hasbro's Brian Goldner.
The man who was Darth Maul gets a big-ticket role. At least, I assume Snake Eyes will be a big character. He is a ninja, after all. According to IMDB, Park doesn't do a lot in the way of movies, although he's got a whole bunch coming up (and his first role was in Mortal Kombat 2, which can't be good). He wasn't great in X-Men, but let's face it, you couldn't do much with that role. Hopefully we see the best of Ray Park as Snake Eyes.
Williams Visits Shutter Island
Michelle Williams is joining Shutter Island, playing the wife of U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the Martin Scorsese-directed drama for Paramount Pictures.
Variety says Williams is in talks to join DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley in the film, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane. Laeta Kalogridis wrote the script, and Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brad Fischer and Scorsese will produce.
The drama revolves around the trip made by Daniels to Shutter Island in 1954 to figure out how a multiple murderess escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane on the remote island. He is grieving the recent death of his wife, who was killed in a fire by one of the inhabitants of the facility.
Scorsese and DiCaprio were critically well-received with The Departed, so I expect this will be more of the same. The story sounds like it could potentially be quite complex, but that should make it even better. Scorsese will have no problem handling a twisted script like this. The rest of the cast looks great. This should be one to watch for.
Speed Racer Trailer Races In
Warner Bros. Pictures has revealed the new trailer for the Wachowski brothers' big screen Speed Racer adaptation, hitting theaters on May 9. The family action-adventure stars Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Kick Gurry, Paulie Litt, Roger Allam, Ji Hoon Jung, Melvil Poupaud, Richard Roundtree and Christian Oliver.
As much as it saddens me to say this, this trailer doesn't really excite me. The style is cool and the effects look good, but it's just not doing it for me, for some reason. Maybe it's the family nature they're pushing, or maybe it's that the car doesn't look quite right, but something just doesn't sit right with me. I'm still going to hold out for a triumphant return to grace, but right now, I'm not jumping for joy over this.
First Look At The Dark Knight
ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! has your first look at the new teaser poster for next summer's highly-anticipated Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
I am looking very forward to this, and the poster doesn't hurt things at all. It does exactly what it says – it teases, and I'm excited. Look for this one in the coming year.
China Versus Hollywood
China has denied a report that it has barred the release of any new American movies in the country for at least three months. The report appeared Thursday in Daily Variety, which described the decision as China's "most drastic measure ever against Hollywood." The trade publication cited unnamed sources as saying that the ban could even continue until May. However, the Associated Press quoted an executive with state-run China Film Group as saying that it is still reviewing Hollywood films. It also quoted Mike Ellis, a representative of the Motion Picture Association of America in China, as saying that the group has not received official word of such a ban. Variety had claimed that the alleged ban resulted from disagreements with the U.S. over trade policy and the fact that American films have proved to be more successful than Asian films in Chinese theaters recently.
As much as this sounds like a bad thing for Hollywood, since they're obviously losing a very, very large market, isn't Hollywood always complaining about how many bootlegs are coming out of China and how they're losing billions of dollars because of it? This should be a blessing for the industry if their claims are true. Or maybe this is all nonsense.
Rapid-Fire: The Mummy (1999, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah)
This week on Rapid-Fire, I'm taking a look at a movie that was big when I was in elementary school (late elementary school, mind you). That movie is . . .
Watching it again, I can remember why we liked it back in the day. It's got a good amount of humour, good action, that adventure aspect to it, and just a hint of a love story. But watching it again, I can also see some of the subtler parts of the movie.
I realize now that one of the reasons the movie still stands up is the fact that it never really takes itself seriously. A good portion of it tries to stay faithful to Egyptian mythology and they certainly have the look down; I imagine Egypt could look like that. However, there are numerous points where it takes a jab at the traditional action/adventure movie. When O'Connell asks who the guards are and gets the response and simply says "Okay" and starts shooting them jumps to mind, but there are several good points that make you chuckle when you notice it.
The acting is pretty good. Fraser is an excellent actor, and pulls off his role perfectly. The rest of the cast holds up their parts well, with the exception of maybe the Americans, who get a little irritating at points. Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep) says almost nothing in the movie, and yet comes off as an evil dude, which is pretty impressive. Weisz is okay and Kevin O'Connor (Beni) is one of my favourite comedic relief characters of all time.
As a final note, on rewatching some of these movies from five to ten years ago, I've noticed how badly the special effects hold up most of the time, and yet, this movie is much better than the others. The mummy itself doesn't come off looking completely fake, which is impressive.
The Mummy is a good action/adventure movie with good acting, a decent story, and a casual air to it. This is a fun watch that is entertaining and enjoyable.
Closing Time . . .
Well, another week down, and it's not far off until Christmas already, which is a bit disturbing. I'm heading into test territory for the next two weeks (well, week and a half) so that'll be fun all around. Regardless, have a good week and stay warm!
