Furious on Film Movie News Report 04.03.08

Posted by Arnold Furious on 04.02.2008

Jules Dassin, Jason Voorhees, Roger Ebert, Steven Soderbergh, Muppets, Chad Vader. Casablanca and a French thriller somewhat offset by Hollywood Whores. Keeping it classy.

Furious on Film Movie News 04.03.08

Jules Dassin, Jason Voorhees, Roger Ebert, Steven Soderbergh, Muppets, Chad Vader. Casablanca and a French thriller somewhat offset by Hollywood Whores. Keeping it classy.

Issue 133

HERE IS THE GNUS



Jules Dassin (1911-2008) RIP

Credit – Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece -- American director Jules Dassin, whose Greek wife Melina Mercouri starred in his hit movie "Never on Sunday" and six more of his films, died late Monday at an Athens hospital, officials said. He was 96.

The cause of death was not made public. A spokeswoman for Hygeia hospital said only that he had been treated there the past two weeks.

Dassin, a leftist activist whose more than 20 films also included "Topkapi," abandoned Hollywood in 1950 during the communist blacklisting era.

Dassin's Hollywood credits include "Reunion in France," a 1942 wartime romance with Joan Crawford and John Wayne; "Brute Force," a 1947 prison drama starring Burt Lancaster; and the detective thriller "The Naked City" in 1948. The latter, co-written by Hollywood 10 member Albert Maltz, won Oscars for cinematography and film editing.

In 1980, Dassin made the Canadian-backed film "Circle of Two," starring Richard Burton as an aged artist with a romantic fixation on a teenage student, played by Tatum O'Neal. Dassin was disheartened by its weak box-office performance and never made another film.



Dassin will probably be best remembered for 1955's Rififi, which features an incredible 30 minute+ silent robbery sequence. Can you imagine trying to put 30 minutes into a modern feature with no sound in it whatsoever? It's there in Rififi and is quite extraordinary. I reviewed the film not so long ago for Furious on Film. It had been my introduction to work of Dassin. I've got Topkapi on my rental list. I figured I'd work through his better known stuff over the years. It's a pity he went out on such a down note in 1980 but he leaves behind at least one classic film and like any great talent will be missed.

Derek is Jason

Credit: Aintitcool.com.

Derek Mears (The Hills Have Eyes II, The Cursed) will play Jason Voorhees in the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel. The film is set to explore the origins of Jason and will apparently retain the Crystal Lake setting of the original. Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) will direct. The film is due out on February 13th, 2009.



My first reaction to this story was "Tope Hooper directed Texas Chainsaw Massacre". What the hell is wrong with the info in this story? Then I remembered they did that pointless re-make. I say pointless and yet it grossed $80M so the point would be ‘raking cash in'. I find it staggering what people will pay good money to see. So, not content with re-making one classic horror film Nispel is taking on a second franchise. He probably ought to watch out. There are people who get very arsey with directors who do that. My first question is; why re-make something when the franchise is still going? Last time I checked Freddy Vs Jason came out in 2003 and did decent business and ever since then we've heard lots of rumours about possible future films. Instead it seems they're going the prequel route with Nightmare on Elm Street (probably with re-casting because Robert Englund will be too old to play himself). And Friday 13th gets a re-make. To be honest though Friday 13th is something you could conceivably re-make because everyone just turns up to see Jason. No one really cares about the plot. It's a lot easier to offend fans of Halloween because the original was so great. I don't see the point of a re-make, still, because you can just do another sequel. Just keep on going. No one minds how ludicrous it's getting they're only there to see Jason. Put him onscreen and everyone wins. Of course if it's a re-make of the first film then you don't even need to cast Jason because he's not in it.

Dr Sam Beckett & Jason Bourne team up

Credit: Variety

Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap, Enterprise) is set to join The Informant for director Steven Soderbergh. The film already stars Matt Damon. Bakula will play an FBI agent who exposes an international price-fixing scheme with the help of unstable biochemist Mark Whitacre (Damon). The film will be based on a true story.



I'm a total mark for Quantum Leap so it's nice to see Bakula's career has gotten back on track in the past few years. His work on Enterprise has made him popular once more and now he has a shot at the movie career he should have kickstarted a long time ago. About all he managed last time was Major League 3 and a minor part in American Beauty. Better luck this time Scott. Whether this will be any good will almost certainly hinge on how Stephen Soderbergh performs. At one stage seen as the next great director in Hollywood, following a string of hits and big wins with Erin Brokovich, Traffic & Ocean's Eleven, he's now back in the pack fending for himself. He's had a few failed experimental films and a couple of uninspired Ocean's sequels. He's not really hot property anymore. But this does give him time and space to work at creating actual good films again without being handed stupid budgets to create vanity projects. This could be his best film in a while. Provided everything works out. Of course he has some Che Guevara stuff coming out before then.

Everyone loves Muppets

Credit: CHUD.com

Jason Segel and Nick Stoller, the writer/star and director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, will be writing and directing the next Muppets film. After speculation that the new film would be a radical departure from the older Muppet films, it turns out the story will be fairly traditional. Apparently their Muppet film is going to be incredibly old fashioned, with the familiar Muppet characters putting on a show to save an old theatre (the theatre from The Muppet Show?). The danger? An evil character wants to tear the place down to get at the oil underneath. It's sort of current!



It's been a while since the Muppets got together for a big picture. Probably 1999's Muppets from Space, which wasn't bad. It was no Muppets Take Manhattan or anything but everyone loves Muppets. Of course the franchise has lost some of its gloss since Jim Henson passed away in 1990 but they do still have Frank Oz to do some of the voices so it's not a total loss. Kermit hasn't sounded right since but this should be good family fun. I always get a kick out of seeing Muppets acting alongside famous people. Usually not playing a character. I don't know why that is. I guess it's a flashback to my Muppet loving youth. Only when I was a kid I didn't know who half the actors were. Now I know everyone I can appreciate the daftness all the more. I often wonder how many gags I must have missed when I was a child because the jokes went clean over my head.

Ebert done with TV?

Credit: Associated Press.

Roger Ebert will resume writing reviews later this month, but will not rejoin his syndicated TV show because he's still unable to speak. In a letter published in Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic and co-host of TV's "Ebert & Roeper" said surgery in January ended in complications, and his ability to speak was not restored. He said the return of speech would require another surgery. "But I still have all my other abilities, including the love of viewing movies and writing about them," Ebert said. Ebert, 65, said he's looking forward to his annual film festival starting April 23. "I will resume writing movie reviews shortly thereafter," he said.



Roger Ebert is probably the most successful and popular film critic that there has ever been. He has a connection with the masses and has as much fun bashing a bad film as he does watching a good one. His well thought out reviews often contain little gems about things from his life and he does a great job of tying his life into the movie. It gives the reader a sense of perspective. When reviewing films myself I've always thought about the way Ebert does it and tried to use that as inspiration. For me there's Roger Ebert and then there's everyone else. While I'm fond of many critics, especially Peter Bradshaw, nobody can touch Ebert. I hope he continues to get better and I wish him all the best when he returns to reviewing.

SHILL – If you're not familiar with the awesomeness of Chad Vader…



What do you mean you've never seen…?

Remember in High Fidelity where the potential record buyer is confronted by Jack Black? "Don't tell anyone you don't own Blonde on Blonde?" Well, if you were to enter a serious film buff's rental place, which sadly doesn't exist nowadays thanks to Blockbuster and online rentals, and happened to make a comment about liking movies then I like to think somewhere out there that a clerk still exists who would chastise you for not having seen certain movies. Seeing as that place doesn't exist you'll just have to imagine you're walking into my rental place and happened to mention the greatest film of all time. It's always open for debate but there are certain films you have to have seen to even get involved in the argument. And a couple of those above all others. One is Citizen Kane. I find generally everyone's seen that. But what's that? You've never seen…

#3 Casablanca (1942)



You might just be able to get away with not having seen Casablanca. After all parts of it have been imitated and parodied and copied ever since the film came out. But there's no way you can understand Casablanca and how incredibly emotional the film is unless you've seen it. There's a part in Casablanca where underground leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) walks into Rick's and there are a group of German officers singing away and generally irritating everyone else. Keep in mind this is 1941 when the film was shot and France was occupied. They're not just a bunch of drunks hanging out in a tavern and annoying the locals. They're singing because they invaded France and treated it like a doormat. And most of the people in the bar are French. Laszlo isn't. He's a Czech but he understands what this means to the French people. He takes over the house band and tells them to play La Marseillaise. The band leader looks over tentatively at Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the club owner, who nods to him. Even though Rick knows it means trouble for his business he's had enough of being neutral and wants to get back at the Germans for running him out of France and ruining his relationship with Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). He gives it his approval and the band kicks in. The whole place stands up and sings at the top of their voices drowning out the Germans to the point where they quit and sit down. In particular there's one woman, Yvonne, who's basically traded her identity for the wealth of hanging around with the Germans. But hearing La Marseillaise being sung brings her right back and she's singing as loudly as anyone with tears running down both cheeks. When it's over there's cheering and she shouts "Vive Le France". In that moment you see everything. The Germans think its Laszlo and his leadership that turned the tide but the spirit of the people will always overcome. It's a thing of beauty and the best scene in the film even better than the much repeated "hill of beans" ending. I don't know if I consider Casablanca the best film ever made, because I find it hard to believe the Germans wouldn't just disappear Laszlo, but it's pretty close to being the perfect film. Like always in these debates though if you've not seen the film then you can't judge one way or the other. See it and make your own mind up. Although it certainly has my seal of approval.



THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS (well review)

Apologies for the lack of workrate this weekend only Wrestlemania tends to screw with the preparation of any column and I was finally feeling the fallout of Easter Bank Holiday weekend, which usually delays my rentals. I did get to see American Gangster, which is pretty good, but everyone's seen that. So I thought I'd take on a less well known film equally deserving of praise.

Tell No One (2007) aka Ne le dis à personne



EXPECTATIONS – I have no idea where the recommendation for this came from. Presumably from Lovefilm.com itself, my rental agency online. Although most of the viewer comments were complaints about the subtitles. In that they couldn't be bothered to read them. I know subtitles can be a challenge if you're a slow reader but perhaps not renting French films might in order? Just a suggestion. If you don't mind reading a little bit and not being a total dumbass then foreign cinema has a lot to offer.

TRAILER –



PLOT – We begin with the death of Margot Beck (Marie-Josee Cruz). Distraught about his inability to stop the crime her husband Alex Beck (Francois Cluzet) turns to drink to handle his depression. Eight years later Alex, a paediatrician, receives a mysterious email tipping him off that his dead wife isn't quite so dead, which leads him to wonder how and why she disappeared eight years previously. Why hasn't she contacted him before?

OPINION – There are a few American film makers who could benefit from watching Tell No One. The camera moves are smooth and tidy but remain deadly still when dealing with fast paced action. You can see everything that's happening. It's great. Why move the camera around all the time when you've got great stunt work? Despite heavy borrowing of Western thriller clichés Tell No One works superbly well. Perhaps it's because it's a throwback to the old days of Hollywood and how thrillers used to be shot. The complex plot brings in all sorts of different elements that seem disparate but the storyline brings all the elements together as the story progresses. There's Alex's sister Anne (Marina Hands) who's in a lesbian marriage with a high profile lawyer Helene (Kristin Scott-Thomas making good use of her French language skills). She and Alex have ‘issues' at the beginning of the movie but it's not clear why. Anne's boss is the powerful but benevolent Gilbert Neuville (Jean Rochefort). He starts the movie by dedicating charity work to his dead son Phillipe (director Guillaume Canet). All seems fine on the surface. Then there's the matter of two dead bodies in a shallow grave and Alex's friend Bruno (Gilles Lelouche) who in return for helping with his son's haemophilia feels the need to offer Alex a lot of illegal services. The way that director Canet ties all this together is clever beyond his years. Most directors in their early 30's can't tie together a lot of different elements and keep everything interesting. This was originally going to be shot in America, dumbed down, and made into an action movie. While I'm sure that would have been a fine movie the improved pacing of what is essentially a love story gives the film its heart and makes the chase scenes, when they arrive, mean something. Astonishingly this is only his second feature film after My Idol in 2002. Certainly a lad with a bright future and remaking this film in the States could equal big time awards. Hell, it worked for the Departed. You know how everyone bitches about remakes? Well this is a movie that'd translate really well to American cinema and with a few star actors involved could be a worthwhile cause. Then all those folks who don't like to watch films with subtitles can see what a good film this is.

BEST BIT – The moment when a U2 song triggers Alex's memory and handily deciphers a clue handed to him. Or if you're down with action the seriously underpaid stuntman who got to run across 8 lanes of speeding traffic during the awesome foot chase scene.

RATING - ****1/4. A great thriller with strong characters. I've not even covered half the cast in my opinion section. Having everyone be relevant come the film's conclusion helps immensely. Marginally better and slightly more rewarding than Michael Clayton (and if you think that film is complicated, which I've heard said, you've got no chance with this one). I like how little visual things play out later in the film like the off-hand shot of the street name where Margot's parents live or the flowers by the lake. Everything leads somewhere and is used later.

HOLLYWOOD WHORES!

This week I was reminded of a fine Hollywood Whore. One of my favourites and I'm sure one of yours. I'm quick to remind folks that I'm not referring to the actresses in question as whores. Merely pointing out that they have played prostitutes in films. There are so many of them, oldest profession in the world, that I feel obliged to tip my hat to these fine female actresses. Pimpin' ain't easy but whoring is harder.



Yes, good old Jamie Lee Curtis who played a streetwalker in 1983's Trading Places. Playing the ‘tart with a heart' role she helps out the down on his luck Dan Ackroyd. She was made famous for bearing her breasts in the role but seeing as we don't do nudity here you'll have to settle for the next best thing…it's cold out.



That's been Hollywood Whores this week. I had a few comments last week about this segment cheapening the column somewhat. People agree with that? I can lose it if you like. I'll take a vote on it this week. Give me a yay or nay in the comments section folks.



You stay classy…The World.