The UBS Evening Movie News 01.10.08

Posted by George H. Sirois on 01.10.2008

The “Incredibly Biased Review of Sweeney Todd” Edition




Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and you'll be able to see my "incredibly biased" review of Sweeney Todd later on in this report. But first, we got some very interesting news to report. There's more to talk about regarding the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray war, the WGA strike and its unfortunate ripple effect, a quick look at the upcoming movies for this weekend, and a very special "Know Thy Enemy" edition of the Babe Photo News Brief. So let's kick things off with a look at how the new United Artists is doing business…


TOP STORY

United Artists on Monday announced an interim bargaining agreement with the WGA as speculation swirled over whether other indie film companies also might make deals with the guild.

Details of the pact weren't disclosed, just as with the interim contract the WGA reached last month with David Letterman's Worldwide Pants.

But in a joint release, the WGA and the MGM-owned UA said "the comprehensive agreement addresses the issues important to writers, including new media."

The WGA's industry-wide negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers broke down in part over guild demands for greatly expanded compensation for new-media content, with the studios' organization offering only modest hikes.

UA's agreement with the WGA, announced on the 64th day of the guild's strike against Hollywood studios, had been anticipated (HR 1/7). It means guild scribes can go back to work on UA film projects, though Oliver Stone's "Pinkville," shelved in November over script problems, won't be taken out of turnaround.

The agreement does not extend to MGM, but it does represent the first such deal with a film company. An insider said MGM technically might have prevented the UA move but as a practical matter was bound by the spirit of its agreement with division heads Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise to let the indie go its own way.

The parent studio issued a statement Monday criticizing the move.

"MGM understands the desire of United Artists to resume its business activities but respectfully disagrees with its decision to sign an interim agreement with the WGA," the UA parent said. "MGM remains committed to working with AMPTP member companies to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with the WGA that positions everyone in our industry for success in a rapidly changing marketplace."

MGM chairman Harry Sloan was unavailable to elaborate on the statement.

"United Artists has lived up to its name," WGA West president Patric Verrone said. "UA and the WGA came together and negotiated seriously. The end result is that we have a deal that will put people back to work."

Wagner, who serves as UA chief executive, called the interim agreement "important, unique and good business sense" for the indie.

"In keeping with the philosophy of its original founders, artists who sought to create a studio in which artists and their creative visions could flourish, we are pleased to have reached an agreement with the WGA," Wagner said.

UA postponed production on Stone's My Lai massacre project "Pinkville" in mid-November, saying it needed a script rewrite that couldn't be done because of the writers strike. But several other UA projects in various stages of development can now get back on track.

"This agreement is virtually identical to the agreement signed by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants," Verrone said in an e-mail to members. "It features all the proposals we were preparing to make when the conglomerates left the bargaining table a month ago. Those proposals include appropriate minimums and residuals for new media (whether streamed or downloaded, as well as original made-for content), along with basic cable and pay-TV increases, feature animation and reality TV coverage, union solidarity language and important enforcement, auditing and arbitration considerations.

"We expect this deal to encourage other companies, especially large employers, to seek and reach agreements with us," he added. "As those deals are announced, we will report them immediately to you."


It's funny how so many people love to take potshots at Tom Cruise – and I've been guilty of a few myself – but when his company does something great for the industry like this, we don't hear very many reactions about it. He and Paula Wagner have really got something with UA and I couldn't think of a better company to reach these kinds of negotiations with the WGA.

The beautiful thing about this deal is that it represents everything that United Artists was all the way until Heaven's Gate brought it crashing down. They always had a way of going about their business that catered to the writers and directors first and the producers second. That obviously attracted some of the finer writers and directors and the studio played a big part in Hollywood's rebirth in the late 60s and 70s. So, what better way to cater to the creative people than by going past the producers and negotiating with the WGA themselves? If this comes off well, I can't help but wonder about how the other smaller studios will react.

Credit: HollywoodReporter.com


SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER

UPCOMING FILMS

The Bucket List: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play a pair of terminally ill hospital roommates who decide to live life to the fullest while they still can.

If it were two other actors, I wouldn't be as interested. While it looks – as Nicholson himself says in the movie – cutesy, it still looks like a movie in which I'd come out somewhat satisfied.


In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale: Jason Statham plays a man who has to rescue his kidnapped wife and avenge the death of his son.

I admit, I've never put myself in front of a screen while a Uwe Boll movie was on. And maybe that's for the best since he's been the Internet's favorite punching bag for quite some time now. I think this is coming out at a really bad time since, from what I've seen on the commercials, it just looks really cheap and almost amateurish compared to all of the other fantasy epics that have come out. Despite its visual effects, it looks like its budget is just a notch above Cave Dwellers. Maybe that's just Boll's style, I don't know.


The Orphanage: A single mother (Belen Rueda) hopes to refurbish the orphanage where she was happily raised, but has second thoughts when her young son acquires a new and invisible friend.

I usually don't care for reviewers that say it's this year's (insert movie here), but considering that Pan's Labyrinth was my favorite film of last year and that's what this one's being compared to, that's a pretty solid endorsement for me. The commercials look damn creepy and the early buzz on it has been great. So yeah, I'll be checking this out soon enough.

Credit: TheMovieBox.net


DVD NEWS

It was a safe bet to assume that this year's Consumer Electronics Show was going to have at least one company releasing a DVD player that plays both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. And Samsung made sure they wouldn't disappoint. At the show, they announced its second-generation Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player, and it definitely has an edge on its predecessor in the style department.

The glossy, piano-black, and just 2.3 inch-high BD-UP5500 comes with most of the older UP-BD5000's features, including full support for Blu-ray and HD DVD interactive features, playback of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD soundtracks, as well as the ability to upconvert standard DVDs to full-on 1080p. Also included is out-of-the-box support for Blu-ray profile 1.1 (which allows for picture-in-picture commentaries on newer Blu-ray discs), an Ethernet port for downloading new firmware and accessing online content, and HQV processing for enhancing HD and SD video.

Reports are coming in that the deck will retail for $599—still pricey, but a veritable bargain compared to the $799 BD-UP5000.

Credit: Yahoo.com


JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT

This Strike Brought More Than Just Bad Reality TV: Up to 1,000 employees on the Warner Bros. lot theoretically could be laid off anytime after Friday under federally mandated notices the studio recently distributed.

The notices, or so-called WARN mailings, represent the first concrete sign that the WGA strike could trigger massive layoffs in Hollywood.

A WB studio spokeswoman declined to say how many workers might be laid off or when actual pink slips would fly, but she stressed the notices were mandated under the U.S. Department of Labor's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications regulations.

The WARN notices are mandated in strike situations, to give employees some advance notice of possible job eliminations.

"These WARN notices were sent because, in certain circumstances, federal and California law can require employers to give notice of staffing changes," Warners spokeswoman Stacey Hoppe said. "Due to the ongoing WGA work stoppage, some studio divisions will have to lay off employees. We regret the impact this will have on our employees, and we hope to bring them back to work once the WGA strike ends."

Those receiving WARN notices are employees of Warner Bros. Studios Facilities, primarily production workers and others involved in lot maintenance and facility management.

The Warners notices were actually sent Nov. 12, stating that those receiving the WARN mailings could be subject to layoff 60 days after posting of the notifications.

News of the development circulated Tuesday, the 65th day of the writers strike. It wasn't immediately clear if any other major studios have issued similar notifications.

But there already have been widespread cost-cutting moves on most studio lots.

At Fox and elsewhere, overtime pay has been curtailed for many positions, and industryites coast to coast have been finding their department budgets scrutinized more thoroughly than usual.

Elsewhere, TV production companies have shed workers as show after show has run out of scripts and shut down operations, and now film producers with overall deals on the various lots are coming under similar scrutiny.

Some TV studios, including Warner Bros. TV, are expected to send out force majeure letters shortly to terminate overall deals with select writer-producers. And on the film side, Vertigo Entertainment and Universal recently parted ways upon expiration of their production pact.

In the 1988 WGA strike, almost every studio eventually laid off scores of workers as the five-month work stoppage dragged on.


I've said this before and I'll say it again. I support the writers, I want them to get what they deserve since they're the ones that literally lay the creative foundation for any movie or television show, but man, it really sucks to see so many people getting laid off. The top brass at the studios don't give a shit about them, since to them, all this is doing is cutting costs during a low production period. And it makes the writers look like the bad guys for going on strike.

Honestly, what's the harm of giving the writers what they deserve?! It wasn't too long ago that they had to force the studios' hand to just get tickets to world premieres, and for so long writers were looked at as persona non grata on the sets.

Now, I'm not asking the writers to cave in just so they can get back to work and keep all of these people from getting laid off. I'm asking the producers to grow a set and acknowledge that what the writers are asking for is fair enough, get back to the negotiating table with a legitimate offer that's not a slap in the face, and keep everyone working. It's only going to make you guys look good in the long run, and who knows? Maybe a little extra incentive might provide you with, dare I say it, better scripts!


Bugs Bunny Bitch-Slaps HD: Warner Bros. Entertainment said Friday it will release high-definition DVDs exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format, becoming the latest studio to reject the rival HD DVD technology and further complicate the high-definition landscape for consumers.

Warner said it decided to go with Blu-ray because consumers have shown a stronger preference for that format than HD DVD.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger," Barry Meyer, Warner Bros.' chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

"We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," the statement said.

Warner Bros., owned by Time Warner Inc., had been releasing high-definition DVDs in both formats.

The studio said it would begin releasing Blu-ray titles this year, but noted that Warner Home Video will continue to release new titles in HD DVD until the end of May.
Hollywood studios have been split on which of the two formats to back. Both formats deliver crisp, clear pictures and sound but are completely incompatible with each other and do not play on older DVD players.

Among the studios that have decided to go with Blu-ray exclusively are The Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which also owns DreamWorks SKG, dropped its support for Blu-ray and said it would start distributing films exclusively in the HD DVD format.
Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric, also releases films only in HD DVD.


Man, just when you think it couldn't get any worse for HD, one of the few studios that had been supporting them for so long decides to split as well. Now, contrary to what people may think, I'm not biased for either Blu-Ray or HD. I appreciate them both, and would like to see both formats thrive. HD is less expensive to produce, they have added features that a standard DVD doesn't have and they're more cost-effective, especially when you look at the Toshiba player that was as low as $99.

Blu-Ray, on the other hand, offers even better sound and picture quality since they have more room on their discs, and while they're more expensive, they're becoming more manageable cost-wise and it shouldn't be long before they will be rivaling HD in price.

Personally, I'm holding back on any sort of upgrade until I know for a fact if there's a clear-cut winner. But this new report that came in from Blu-Ray.com isn't all that re-assuring for HD fans. (Obviously, the news on this site has a Ray Wing Bias – I should trademark that – but since New Line's a part of Time Warner, you can correctly assume that this is true.)


Following Warner's lead, sister company New Line has confirmed that it will support Blu-ray Disc high def releases exclusively. New Line has previously delayed their day-and-date new releases on HD DVD due to the format's lack of region coding, effectively making titles such as Shoot 'em Up, Hairspray, and Rush Hour 3 exclusive to Blu-ray. Although a 2008 release slate for the studio has not been released, an announcement may be possible at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.


So for the record, we have Paramount, DreamWorks and Universal are for HD-DVD. All three of them have great catalogs that should keep their customers interested. But on the other side, there is Disney, Sony, Fox, MGM and now Warner Bros. and New Line for Blu-Ray. Like I said before, the HD side should get some business if they dip into their libraries and spit out some extra special editions of some of their films. (HD's are much less expensive to produce.) But Blu-Ray's really making an aggressive push to start off 2008. Let's see what happens, and THEN we can buy whatever's standing.

Unless you can shell out the $599 for the Samsung combo player. Then, more power to you…

Credit: Associated Press, Blu-Ray.com


VOX POPULI

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: January 4 - 6, 2007

1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets - $20,062,684
Total: $170,870,795
2. Juno - $15,860,744
Total: $51,667,586
3. I Am Legend - $15,717,458
Total: $228,055,662
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks - $15,546,125
Total: $176,283,861
5. One Missed Call - $12,511,473
Total: $12,511,473
6. Charlie Wilson's War - $8,106,250
Total: $52,552,540
7. P.S. I Love You - $7,834,467
Total: $39,202,724
8. The Water Horse - $6,230,489
Total: $30,823,470
9. Sweeney Todd - $5,536,538
Total: $38,608,100
10. Atonement - $5,064,577
Total: $19,155,607

Credit: BoxOfficeGuru.com



Click here to take part in the latest discussions in the Past/Current Movies Thread at the 411Movies/TV Forum.


THE INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF

Well, it seems "Know Thy Enemy" did its job last Sunday. My Giants surprised even themselves and FINALLY knocked off Jeff Garcia. And they even shut the mouths of Ronde and Tiki Barber while they were at it, so double kudos to all!

This time, however, things are looking more than a little bleak. I'm a Giants fan and a realist, which can be a dangerous combination, and both on paper and on the field, Dallas is the better team. They've shown that a lot this year, and there's no surprise that the Giants are going into Texas Stadium as 7 ½ point underdogs.

But on top of being a realist, I'm also an optimist and I have this feeling that, no matter what the outcome, the Giants are going to come out swinging and not stop until it's all over. So, to do my part, I am continuing my "Know Thy Enemy" section here in the Photo News Brief with a look at someone who may be a new best friend to fans everywhere if she even shows so much as a toe at that stadium. May I present to you the bane of the Dallas Cowboys' existence, Miss Jessica Simpson!




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MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES

For twenty years now, I've been a huge fan of Tim Burton and his movies. Something about his style, something about the look of all of his films really appeals to me. And if you look at the overview of his first six films, you can see a maturing process taking place.

You have the loud and brash man-child that is celebrated in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, the colorful and yet trouble-making rebelliousness in Beetlejuice, the darker and more sinister side of a comic book that would attract an older teenager in Batman, the double-shot of dealing with isolation in Edward Scissorhands and lashing out at those would isolate you in Batman Returns, and then finally an attempt by an adult man to break into the system while refusing to conform to those around him in Ed Wood. And before Ed Wood, you have a hero try to be something other than what he is and getting himself into trouble for it in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Since Ed Wood, Burton's been on a serious nostalgia kick as his later works have either been inspired by the popular culture of his youth (Mars Attacks) or stories he had heard when he was a kid (Sleepy Hollow). After that, he stumbled badly with his remake of Planet of the Apes - the only Tim Burton film I really didn't care for at all – but he re-gained his footing with Big Fish, at least in my eyes. This one divided a lot of fans, but I really loved it. It felt like a more controlled take on his typical directorial vision, definitely a more mature look that would appeal to people not normally Tim Burton fans. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was decent, but not something I'd go out of my way to own.

When I heard that Tim Burton was going to be adapting Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I was ecstatic. My favorite director bringing my all-time favorite musical to life, and for me, this would be the closest I would ever come to seeing this on stage since I missed the revival from a couple years ago. (A huge regret since everyone I knew that saw it said I would love it.) I first saw the 1982 filmed version of the musical with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury during my junior year in high school. My drama teacher Mr. Damron (without whom I would have never gotten over my stage fright) showed it to us, and my heart fell to it immediately. The performances, the story and, of course, the Stephen Sondheim music and lyrics were just breathtaking to me, and I've been a devout lover of this musical ever since.

I was very much on the edge of anticipation, despite my disappointment with a few other favorite musicals in the recent past. The Producers could have been something more than just moving the musical from the stage to the outdoors, and The Phantom of the Opera… well, I still haven't forgiven Joel Schumacher for screwing THAT up. As fine as I am with Gerard Butler as an actor, I hope he never sings like that again.

I had no idea how Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman were going to carry a musical, but I was still anxious to see this despite my reservations. All I wanted was for the spirit of the original musical to still be there, that menacing undertone and the anti-hero sentimentality that Sweeney himself has. If the singers couldn't carry a tune, well, that might cause a few problems.

Thankfully, not only did I not have to worry about the spirit of the original musical being honored, but it turns out everyone could sing! Depp brought a little extra gravel to his voice that made him sound like a lead singer in a rock band and Rickman did just fine keeping up with Depp during "Pretty Women." And as for Carter… WOW! Not only could she sing, but as Mrs. Lovett, she almost runs off with the whole damn movie! Her timing was spot on, her haggard look was perfect for someone in a run-down area like Fleet Street, and her performance was equally creepy and hilarious.

Yes, hilarious. A film about a vengeful barber slicing the throats of innocents in order to practice his craft before he can get to the man who wronged him is funny as hell! It's equally creepy, of course, but you try not laughing during the whole sequence where Mrs. Lovett sings of spending all her days with Sweeney "By the Sea." The costumes, the mannerisms by the two leads, the art direction and the look of that sequence alone are vintage Tim Burton and I couldn't get enough of it.

As the film began, and I realized that I wouldn't get to hear "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," I was a little disappointed since that's one of my favorite pieces in the musical. But as time passed, I noticed that the music of the ballad is used in the score and it's constantly there, almost to the point where you would think that's all there is to the score. And as the film kept going, I also realized that there was no chorus at all. None of the people in Fleet Street broke out in song; the only ones that sung were the principals. That was a risky decision, but one that paid off since that just made this very non-musical looking musical look even less like a musical.

All of the performances worked so well because of how under-performed they were. There was no big belting out of any number other than Sweeney's "Epiphany," which is a song about lashing out at any customer who comes through his door. Just like the original production, there is very little here that is conventional and even less that comes off as warm and fuzzy, like any other typical musical.

I could keep going, but I don't want to spoil it for you. If you're a fan of the original musical, by all means, see this! All of your fears will be put to rest as soon as the first song begins. (Oh, and speaking of which, the kids who play Anthony, Johanna and Toby are all very good. Especially Toby, that kid's gonna go far!) If you're not a Tim Burton fan, it may not appeal to you as much as it did me. But all I can say is that – in my opinion – this is the perfect adaptation of Sweeney Todd. Everything works, and I can't wait to have it in my collection.

So ends my incredibly biased review…



And that's a wrap for Chapter 47 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week!